Of course, what Duan Hai was really worried about was the fact that he brought Yang Kai back to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion from Du Wan’s place.
Just now, Xu Qi had said to him that someone of Old Man Du’s status was unlike to ever visit Bright Thunder Spirit Religion in person, but only an hour later Du Wan had appeared in front of him
Duan Hai’s heart pounded as he tried his best to maintain his computer, somehow forcing out a big laugh as he stepping forward and politely bowed, “Greetings, Old Man Du.”
He then turned to Cang Yan and cupped his fists, “Brother Cang Yan.”
Du Wan nodded slightly in response while Cang Yang said nothing.
Xia Cheng Yin quickly picked up the conversation, “Elder Duan has worked hard, sit down.”
Duan Hai took a seat, his expression a bit unnatural because Cang Yan of Soaring Heaven Sect’s pair of sharp eyes had been staring at him the whole time, an aggressive light flashing across them, making him feel a bit uneasy.
As if realizing Duan Hai’s inner turmoil, Cang Yan’s glare became even more intense.
Letting out a dry cough, Duan Hai asked, “May I ask what matter Religion Master has summoned me for?”
“Nothing important,” Xia Cheng Yin smiled, “Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan just came here to find someone in our Spirit Religion.”
“Find someone?” Duan Hai’s uneasiness grew even stronger, his face twitching slightly as he forced himself to keep smiling and asked, “Who might they be looking for?”
He had a premonition things were about to become bad.
“The young man you brought here from the Alchemist Guild two months ago,” Du Wan said in a friendly tone.
Duan Hai desperately wanted to cry but was unable to shed any tears while in his heart he was cursing Xu Qi’s eighteen generations of ancestors, saying that a man of Old Man Du’s status would never come to Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. A powerful sense of helplessness overcame Duan Hai.
Although he was greatly flustered inside, Duan Hai didn’t reveal anything on his face as his thoughts turned quickly, trying to find a way to resolve the immediate problem.
“Elder Duan?” Old Man Du quickly noticed that Duan Hai seemed to be somewhat disturbed and quickly asked.
“Eh, ah…” Duan Hai quickly adjusted his expression.
“How has my little friend been since coming to your Spirit Religion?” Du Wan asked with concern.
“Very good, I have sent a young female disciple with excellent aptitude and good looks to attend to any of his needs these past two months. Honored Guest Yang has also produced a lot of high quality Spirit Grade pills for my Spirit Religion.”
“En, naturally, in some places, little friend Yang’s understanding of the Alchemic Way and his techniques are far superior to even this old master.”
As soon as this was said, Xia Cheng Yin and Cang Yan both stared towards Du Wan in shock.
“This old master isn’t exaggerating. The truth is, I believe little friend Yang’s Alchemy technique was taught to him by an incredibly powerful master.”
Duan Hai face nearly drained of all colour. From the words of Du Wan, he realized that he had made a big mistake. [How did that little brat really have a strong background? Which top Alchemist was he the disciple of? Otherwise, how could Old Man Du have given him such a high evaluation?]
In an instant, Duan Hai felt his hands and feet go numb as cold sweat dripped down his back.
“Is this Honoured Guest so incredible?” Xia Cheng Yin also showed a look of interest, “Being able to hire such an outstanding character, it is my Spirit Religion’s good fortune indeed! Duan Hai, you must not be negligent with his treatment, offer him the very best conditions, otherwise, Brother Cang Yan might very well snatch him from us.”
The corner of Duan Hai’s mouth twitched violently as he let out a strained laugh and nodded, “Subordinate will do his best.”
“En, where is he now? Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan both wish to see him. Duan Hai, quickly invite him here,” Xia Cheng Yin wore a look of anticipation, very much wanting to see Yang Kai, wondering what kind of person he was to receive such high praise from Old Man Du.
Duan Hai’s forehead couldn’t help leaking a drop of sweat as he sat in place, not moving.
“Why are you just sitting there?” Xia Cheng Yin asked slightly unhappily.
“Religion Master…” Duan Hai’s expression cramped as he stammered with great difficulty, “Right now… I’m afraid… it’s slightly inconvenient for him to come here.”
“Why isn’t it convenient?” Cang Yan, who had not spoken since Duan Hai’s arrival, suddenly asked coldly, his expression extremely unfriendly.
Duan Hai trying to shirk responsibility like this in such an unnatural tone made Cang Yan quickly realize something wasn’t right, focusing a sharp glare on Duan Hai as he coldly interrogated, “It couldn’t be, he’s had some kind of accident?”
“No, no, he hasn’t been involved in any kind of accident,” Duan Hai quickly waved his hand, “It’s just, it’s really not convenient for him to come here right now.”
“Duan Hai!” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression also became somewhat disgruntled, “What are you trying to say? Old Man Du and Brother Cang Yan traveled all this way specifically to see this Honoured Guest, how can you stubbornly refuse them? This is not how my Spirit Religion shows hospitality.”
“Religion Master…”
“Where is he now?” Xia Cheng Yin asked impatiently.
Knowing that trying to avoid the subject any further would only make things worse, Duan Hai grit his teeth and replied, “The Wind Eye.”
“Why would he be at the Wind Eye?” Du Wan’s expression changed dramatically.
Bright Thunder Spirit Religion’s Wind Eye and Thunder Eye, naturally Du Wan had heard about them. The two restricted areas were holy lands for those who cultivated Wind or Thunder Attribute Secret Arts or Marital Skills, but what would an Alchemist like Yang Kai need to visit the Wind Eye?
“Earlier, he said he wanted to refine a pill with the help of the power of the Wind Eye, so I brought him there,” Duan Hai’s mind flashed, thinking up a good excuse.
Cang Yan turned his eyes to Du Wan questioningly.
Du Wan nodded slightly in response, “It’s possible, some Alchemists can take advantage of the powers of Heaven and Earth to perform some special Alchemy techniques, often allowing them to gain twice the result with half the effort, but doing so requires profound skill and methods. Little friend Yang’s abilities are really worthy of praise.”
Duan Hai couldn’t help breathing a sigh of relief, realizing that the random excuse he came up with was at least somewhat reasonable.
“Since he is currently making use of the Wind Eye, perhaps you two would like to stay a few days in my Spirit Religion while we wait for that Honoured Guest comes out?” Xia Cheng Yin asked Old Man Du and Cang Yan.
Old Man Du smiled lightly, “This old master doesn’t mind, Cang Yan, what’s your opinion?”
“I want to see him now!” Cang Yan declared firmly, his expression indifferent as he spoke this unreasonable request without any hesitation.
Xia Cheng Yin laughed awkwardly, “Brother Cang Yan, you must have heard that the Wind Eye and Thunder Eye are both restricted areas of my Spirit Religion. Outsiders are not allowed to step inside them, and if we were to all suddenly show up there, it may disturb that Honoured Guest’s Alchemy. Why not wait a few days instead?”
“What bullshit restricted area!” Cang Yan sneered disdainfully, in the next moment fully releasing his Divine Sense, obviously not willing to speak any more nonsense with these two from Bright Thunder Spirit Religion. After searching for a moment, he stood up, shot out of the palace, and flew directly towards the location of the Wind Eye.
“Hey, Brother Cang Yan!” Duan Hai was shocked and wanted to stop him but he was a step too late.
“This uncle really has an anxious temper,” Mi Na, who feared that the world would not be chaotic, saw Cang Yan fly off and showed an excited look, quickly urging Du Wan, “Old Man Du, let’s go too.”
Du Wan shot a glance over at Xia Cheng Yin and saw that the latter’s expression was quite unpleasant. Cang Yan not giving him any face had obviously made him somewhat annoyed, but since the former was already gone, it was pointless for him to get angry so he just nodded and said, “We might as well all go take a look.”
Saying so, Xia Cheng Yin also stood up.
“If so, then I’ll thank Religion Master Xia in advance,” Du Wan apologized.
“Old Man Du is too polite,” Xia Cheng Yin naturally dared not accuse this Saint Grade Alchemist.
And so, this group of people hurriedly pursued Cang Yan quickly towards the Wind Eye.
Duan Hai’s face was, by now, a pale shade of white, as his mind was a complete mess. He thought that he could delay things for a day or two and then use that time to escape from Bright Thunder Spirit Religion to avoid this disaster, but he hadn’t expected to fall short at the last moment.
If he tried to leave now, it would only draw more suspicion towards him.
Behind Xia Cheng Yin and Du Wan, Duan Hai’s mood was complex as he thought to himself that he had quite possibly made a grave mistake.
A short time later, everyone arrived at the location of the Wind Eye, Cang Yan landing first.
Staring at the floating whirlpool filled with rich Wind Attribute energy, Cang Yan couldn’t help revealing a hint of dread. Such concentrated destructive power was enough to cause even him to shrink back slightly.
Glancing around the surrounding area and not noticing any trace of Yang Kai, Cang Yan’s expression quickly became ugly.
Xu Qi, who had been standing there the whole time, was somewhat shocked, unable to understand what was going on. After seeing Xia Cheng Yin and Du Wan though, Xu Qi’s heart jumped, quickly pretending to be calm and stepped forward to politely greet them, asking Duan Hai in the next moment, “Senior Brother, what’s all this about?”
“Old Man Du and Cang Yan are here to observe Honoured Guest Yang’s Alchemy,” Duan Hai replied casually.
Xu Qi blinked a few times and instantly understood the deeper meaning behind Duan Hai’s words.
As fellow brothers, the two of them had worked together for many years, and although they couldn’t say they understood everyone the other was thinking without any words, this brief eye contact and set of simple words had allowed Xu Qi to understand what Duan Hai really wanted to say.
“Where is he?” Cang Yan turned his head and stared gloomily towards Duan Hai.
Duan Hai opened his mouth but didn’t know how to answer, quickly turning to look at Xu Qi, “Junior Brother, where is Honoured Guest Yang? When I left a moment ago, wasn’t he right here?”
Xu Qi understood immediately and replied, “He entered the core of the Wind Eye, saying it was more convenient for him to perform Alchemy there.”
“Entered the core?” Everyone’s cried out in shock, their expressions going pale.
“How could he enter the core?” Old Man Du’s lips trembled, “Forget about him only being at the Peak Immortal Ascension Boundary, even if he was a Third Order Transcendent, entering the Wind Eye’s core would still be a death sentence! How could you let him do that!?”
Xu Qi smiled awkwardly and replied, “I couldn’t stop him, Honoured Guest Yang said not to worry and that he had his own method of protecting himself.”
“This…this…” Du Wan wore a look filled with anxiety.
Cang Yan on the other hand didn’t say anything, releasing his powerful Divine Sense again, piercing it into the raging Wind Eye, a moment later letting out a painful roar and stumbling back a few steps, his face pale.
He wanted to use his Divine Sense to explore the inside of the Wind Eye and inevitably suffered some damage as a result.
Cang Yan’s eyes flashed as he turned to stare coldly at Duan Hai and Xu Qi, “Did he enter on his own, or was he thrown in?”
Xia Cheng Yin frowned and angrily said, “What does Brother Cang Yan mean? Do you think my Spirit Religion’s Elder will harm an Honoured Guest?”
Cang Yan smiled coldly, his eagle-like eyes glaring towards Duan Hai and Xu Qi as his aura became dangerous.
Duan Hai and Xu Qi didn’t dare return his stare, shifting their eyes away awkwardly.
Du Wan also noticed this and his old face couldn’t help sinking, seeing Duan Hai continuously try to avoid responsibility really was suspicious.
The people here were all powerful and experienced masters, naturally none of them was an idiot; although Duan Hai and Xu Qi sang the same tune, the lie they had woven was by no means perfect, everyone had seen some clues by now.
“What exactly happened?” Xia Cheng Yin’s expression became sullen as he questioned the two Elders coldly, “Brother Cang Yan is accusing my Spirit Religion of impropriety, so you two should give me a clear explanation and rebuttal!”
“Religion Master, please understand!” Duan Hai shouted, “Honoured Guest Yang’s Alchemy skill is outstanding, we could not favour him enough! How could we possibly harm him?”
