Ye Tianxin asked, perplexed, “Brackish Mountain? Where’s that?” She had never heard of such a place, therefore, she concluded it must be some remote mountain village.
Yu Shangrong replied honestly, “It’s my hometown. It’s a place that’s only a shadow of its former self. There’s nothing but coldness and darkness there…”
Ye Tianxin was even more confused. She wondered why Yu Shangrong would describe his hometown as cold and dark. At the very least, he had a hometown to return to. The fairfolk had nowhere to return to. Upon thinking about this, she asked with a sigh, “Second Senior Brother, do you blame me?”
“I’ve heard about what happened,” Yu Shangrong said.
Ye Tianxin was happy with his answer. It seemed like her senior brother did not blame her. She suddenly remembered her conversation with her Seventh Junior Brother, Si Wuya, and asked, “Second Senior Brother, do you believe that someone in this world can live for 2,000 years?”
Yu Shangrong was slightly taken aback. This question had an edge to it when it was directed to a Nobleman. After all, for Noblemen, it was already a luxury being able to live to 1,000, let alone 2,000. “Why? Do you believe it?”
“Second Senior Brother… I’ve been looking for an item all this time. It’s called Cheng Huang. There are many that said that anyone who rides on Cheng Huang will live for 2,000 years. Despite looking for it for so long, my search has borne no fruit,” Ye Tianxin replied.
If Ye Tianxin had told anyone else about this, they would have persuaded her to stop her futile search. However, Yu Shangrong was different. He firmly believed one needed to have goals to achieve before one’s death. He smiled faintly and replied, “Don’t lose your determination, and keep searching…”
“What… What if the chances are slim?”
“It’s better than none.”
Ye Tianxin was speechless. It was true. A slim chance was better than none. She bowed. “Thank you for your counsel, Second Senior Brother…”
Yu Shangrong nodded. “The sun is setting… You should head back, junior sister.”
“Mhm. Take care, senior brother.” Ye Tianxin bowed again before she turned around and left.
Gradually, darkness descended.
Yu Shangrong did not move. He looked on silently as the sun set behind the mountain. He gripped his Longevity Sword tightly as he stood riveted to the spot.
Bam!
A crack appeared in the rock. The Longevity Sword was wedged between it. Yu Shangrong sat down cross-legged as he joined his palms together.
Whizz!
His Hundred Tribulations Insight avatar appeared. However, its size was not huge. In fact, it was only half his height. He had intentionally made his avatar as small as it could be. He raised one palm, facing up, before his avatar hovered above his palm. It resembled a golden statue on a Golden Lotus. However, the Golden Lotus was no longer purely gold. Instead, it was mottled with purple spots that seemed to be spreading. It seemed as though the purple spots were pest had infested the lotus leaf.
Yu Shangrong circulated his Primal Qi. His Golden Lotus spun rapidly and shone brightly.
Whizz!
After a round of treatment, the purple spots merely showed signs of slowing down after being suppressed by his powerful cultivation base. They did not disappear.
Yu Shangrong frowned slightly. He did not achieve this victory easily. In fact, it was slightly difficult compared to his other battles. Even when he sparred with his Eldest Senior Brother in Radiant Cloud Forest back then, he was not forced to use all of his might. In his opinion, Zhang Yuanshan was only the sect master of a second-rate sect, someone cowardly who stubbornly clung to life. He should have been able to deal with Zhang Yuanshan with just a single sword strike. Who knew Zhang Yuanshan would give him so much difficulty?
“A grand shaman from Lou Lan?” Yu Shangrong muttered to himself and scoffed, “You’re lucky that you encountered me and not…” He did not finish his sentence. He recalled his avatar, and with a push of his feet, he flew northward.
…
After the battle on the green jade altar ended, the Nether Sect’s disciples wrote about it to their sect master, Yu Zhenghai, who was in Yi Province.
“Notify the other branches. Just say that things bode ill for Mister Second after his fight with Zhang Yuanshan.”
At the very least, this was what they thought based on their observation. Their words could be interpreted in many different ways that all seemed to mean the same thing. Yu Shangrong could be hurt, gravely injured, missing, died… There were many ways to interpret their words…
That was how a new rumor began to spread in the cultivation world.
The major sects of the cultivation world sighed in relief. Public opinion was powerful enough to melt metal. When there were enough people spreading the rumor, there was no longer any need to verify its authenticity.
As time passed, the rumor became more and more exaggerated. Every storyteller would add their own twist to it.
“In the battle on the green jade altar, the Sword Devil, Yu Shangrong, couldn’t defeat Zhang Yuanshan and was grievously wounded.”
“Why did the cowardly rat, Zhang Yuanshan, suddenly attack?”
“The Sword Devil had been too full of himself. In the end, he met his demise.”
“The era of the Evil Sky Pavilion is about to come to an end…”
Since Yu Shangrong did not appear since then, it added to the credibility of the rumor.
…
Under the cover of night, in a graveyard.
A black figure hovered in the air. Its feet were only half a foot above the ground. It flew around the graveyard at this low altitude as its body emitted a dense purple fume.
The sound of soil loosening rang in the air.
The black figure flew back to its starting point and landed on the ground. He nodded with satisfaction. He held two ropes with a single hand. At the end of the rope was Kong Yuan who was still dressed in his monk’s robes. On the other end was Zhang Yuanshan who was dressed in his Daoist robes.
“The witchcraft spell has taken effect… Yu Shangrong will vanish from this world. Next, it’ll be the Evil Sky Pavilion’s turn… Junior sister, I will drag the entire Evil Sky Pavilion down to accompany you in the other world.”
…
Seven days later. In the great hall of the Evil Sky Pavilion.
Lu Zhou had been meditating on the Heavenly Writing scrolls for quite some time. His extraordinary power was now completely replenished. He was thinking about the Nine-leaf stage when Mingshi Yin walked into the hall with a letter in his hand.
Meanwhile, Little Yuan’er was practicing her control over the Nirvana Sash inside the great hall.
“Fourth Senior Brother, look at this… I can mold the Nirvana Sash into various shapes now! Master taught me…”
“That’s great.” Mingshi Yin gave a perfunctory reply and walked swiftly into the great hall. “Master, a letter from Jiang Aijian.” He opened the letter as he spoke.
Jiang Aijian was efficient indeed compared to the old men from the Old Age Pavilion who were only skilled in bragging and flattery. He had only been gone for seven days, but there was already a result.
Mingshi Yin read, “Old senior, there’s no need to investigate the matter you’ve entrusted me to investigate. The entire cultivation world is saying that things don’t look well for the Sword Devil after losing to Zhang Yuanshan. However, the veracity of the rumor has yet to be confirmed. I’ll try to verify the rumor as fast as I can. The other thing I want to report to you is that the Nether Sect has conquered Yi Province. Wei Zhuoyan is an impostor, after all. He doesn’t have the power to quell the disturbance in Yi Province. There’s more to say, but I’m running out of space. Please turn to the back of the letter…” Upon reading the last sentence, Mingshi Yin frowned. ‘What’s he playing at? There’s more on the back of the letter? I didn’t notice anything when I opened the letter…’
In any case, Mingshi Yin cleared his throat and continued reading, “With rumors of Golden Court Mountain’s barrier disappearing, Mister Second’s unknown state, and your approaching great limit, you should be careful of the Noble Path forming an alliance. It’s been a long time since I’ve penned a letter to you, old senior. If I can get another good sword as compensation, I’ll surely be more motivated. Ha-ha-ha…” Mingshi Yin’s expression turned stiff when he read the end of the letter. Only the first part of the letter was useful. He felt as though he should not have even bothered to read out the second part of the letter.
Mingshi Yin said to Lu Zhou, “Rumors, these are all rumors… With Second Senior Brother’s cultivation base, there’s no way Zhang Yuanshan would be able to even touch a strand of senior brother’s hair. Moreover, Zhang Yuanshan is nothing but a coward.”
However, Lu Zhou did not share the same opinion. Based on the reward he obtained, the matter seemed more complicated. He was only certain that Zhang Yuanshan had died. However, he was not sure if Yu Shangrong was unharmed. After all, up until now, none of his disciples had died so he was not sure if the system would even notify him of his disciples’ deaths.
Lu Zhou slowly rose to his feet. He stroked his beard and paced as he said, “Your Second Senior Brother prefers to act alone. He doesn’t like to write letters.”
“You’re right, master. He’s a grown man. He should know better to report on his well being every once in a while,” Mingshi Yin said.
“Let him be.” Despite Lu Zhou’s words, he truly did not wish for any harm to come to Yu Shangrong. If he were to lose such a great helper, he would definitely have trouble coming to terms with it.
After a while, Mingshi Yin bluntly asked, “Master… What should we do about Eldest Senior Brother? He has conquered Yi Province now. Clearly, he plans to against the Imperial family.”
Lu Zhou did not answer Mingshi Yin. ‘I’d like to capture that rascal as well and ask him about what happened in the past…’
The problem was, things were not so simple… The Nether Sect had many branches and hidden bases. After his battle with Yu Shangrong in Radiant Cloud Forest, nobody knew where Yu Zhenghai was hiding at the moment. Yi Province was huge. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Moreover, the Nether Sect had expanded its forces from tens of thousands of members to hundreds of thousands of members in a short time. There were also the Four Great Protectors who were all skilled in their own right. They also had Si Wuya as the brain of the operation.
Lu Zhou stroked his beard as he pondered this. He had never met Yu Zhenghai since he transmigrated here. They had several close encounters, but that was it. The sect master of the greatest fiend sect under the heavens ran away quicker than most. ‘Am I that terrifying?’
“Have Jiang Aijian pay more attention to Yi Province… If there’s time, I’ll go to Yi Province and personally capture that rascal.”
“Yes, master.” After saying this, Mingshi Yin’s eyes darted around as he said, “Master, with the rumors going around, people are going to assume we’re a pushover. I ask for permission to descend the mountain and beat those people.”
At this moment, Duanmu Sheng walked in with his Overlord Spear in hand. “You’re thinking of playing outside, aren’t you?”
“Of course not!” Mingshi Yin said.
Mingshi Yin was about to expound on his loyalty when the heavy thud of someone falling to their knees rang in the air.
“Greetings, master!”
