Chapter 507: It's Your Fault

Previously, because of the sudden appearance of the Miracle of the Nether Spring, Xiao Ru had excitedly favored the Thunderbolt Sect. She was extremely displeased with the Qianjian Sect for suddenly emerging and, to display her authority, she had tried to knock them down to a Three Moon Sect.

But later, the appearance of Lu Chao—the fourth Miracle of the Nether Spring—prevented Xiao Ru from enforcing her authority.

Xiao Ru didn't recognize her mistake, nor did she feel she should act fairly. Instead, she believed Lu Chao and the Qianjian Sect were repeatedly slapping her in the face, causing the situation to escalate to its current state.

There was no other way. The Qianjian Sect had to protect its Four Moon Sect status, which meant they would inevitably offend Xiao Ru completely.

However, Ren Tang didn't care. He glared at Lu Chao...

"How ridiculous! You, Lu..."

"It's you who offended Xiao Ru! If you hadn't stepped forward and claimed to be a Miracle of the Nether Spring, why would Xiao Ru hate our Qianjian Sect to the bone? Why would she have secretly targeted Fourth Junior Brother?"

"Fourth Junior Brother suffered this hardship, and it's all your fault!"

As Ren Tang roared furiously, Lu Chao's eyes narrowed sharply, and he stared back at him.

He hadn't paid much attention to this man before.

After all, Lu Chao had only been a bystander. But as someone who had long led troops to conquer the Azure Flame Domain, Lu Chao's sharp battlefield instincts finally told him that there was something seriously wrong with this Ren Tang.

Before, Lu Chao was an observer, but now that he had helped the Qianjian Sect win a battle, he had truly entered the fray.

His fate had unknowingly become tied to the Qianjian Sect, so of course, he had to take things seriously.

"W-why are you looking at me like that?"

Under Lu Chao's gaze, Ren Tang's hair stood on end for some reason. He felt as if Lu Chao had seen right through him.

Just then, Qian Ya snapped back to her senses and shouted sharply...

"Second Junior Brother, how dare you speak to Young Master Lu like that?"

"If Young Master Lu hadn't stepped forward to reveal that he was also a Miracle of the Nether Spring, would we have even gotten the chance for a third match?"

"If it weren't for Young Master Lu, would we have had the chance to keep our status as a Four Moon Sect?"

"If Young Master Lu hadn't fought for our Qianjian Sect in the final battle, we would only be able to watch helplessly as the Thunderbolt Sect celebrated their promotion to Four Moon Level, and listen to the mockery of the Shengting Sect and others."

"And yet you turn around and blame Young Master Lu for helping us?"

Qian Ya was truly furious now. He was their benefactor, yet her second junior brother was treating Lu Chao with such an attitude.

He was even trying to pin the blame on Lu Chao, claiming he was the one who had harmed their fourth junior brother.

In response, Ren Tang's face flushed bright red, utterly humiliated by Qian Ya's words and left with no way to back down.

Forgetting everything else, he roared madly, "What's the damn point? We might as well have not kept our Four Moon Level status! Now we've offended Xiao Ru—someone from the Biyue Lineage of the Green Bone Palace!"

SLAP—

Suddenly, a heavy, crisp sound rang out as a slap landed across Ren Tang's face. It was the second time he'd been slapped.

But this time, it wasn't Qian Ya. It was... Sect Leader Qian Zeng.

"You bastard..."

"Our Qianjian Sect struggled for generations to climb to the status of a Four Moon Sect, and you're saying we should just give it up?"

The members of the Qianjian Sect trembled, each one of them clenching their fists tightly.

It was incredibly difficult for any sect to rise through the ranks.

Below the Moon-level Sects were the Star Level Sects. The Qianjian Sect had overcome countless hardships and obstacles to climb up step by step. Their status had been earned with the blood and toil of countless ancestors.

This was especially true for the Elders of the Qianjian Sect. They had been young once, too.

They had fought bloody battles for the Qianjian Sect, and countless of their martial brothers had fallen, becoming mere bones, just to reach the rank of a Four Moon Sect.

THUD! Ren Tang was slapped to the ground.

He clutched his face tightly and roared at everyone, "Then what are we supposed to do? Wait for Xiao Ru to annihilate our sect?"

At his words, the members of the Qianjian Sect trembled once more, momentarily at a loss.

Suddenly, Lu Chao took off his outer robe and tossed it back to Ren Tang with a look of disgust...

"If it were me, I would do everything in my power to take Xiao Ru down."

"It's like sailing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall back."

"Isn't that just the cruel rule of this Heavenly Destiny World? Besides, you still have Senior Sister Qian. As long as she passes the Green Bone Palace's entrance test, would Xiao Ru dare to touch even a single hair on the Qianjian Sect's head?"

After saying this, Lu Chao fell silent.

The eyes of the Qianjian Sect members lit up, and they all turned to look at Qian Ya.

An Elder suddenly realized something and quickly asked, "Ya'er, what about your Heavenly Destiny Bone? Wasn't it injured?"

Only then did everyone else remember. Qian Ya had previously said it would take three months for her to recover.

Qian Ya smiled...

"It's all thanks to Young Master Lu. I have a Heavenly Destiny Ice Flame Bone, while Young Master Lu possesses both the Fire Roaring and Water Chant Bones. He's the one who helped me recover."

"It's just that there's a traitor in our midst, which is why we had to keep it a secret from everyone."

Qian Ya then explained why she had to spend an hour alone with Lu Chao every day.

In an instant, everyone's gaze toward Lu Chao was once again filled with gratitude.

Only Ren Tang was left dumbfounded. He finally understood that the situation between Lu Chao and Qian Ya wasn't at all what he had imagined.

Their daily private meetings were simply for the sake of her healing.

At this, Sect Leader Qian Zeng's expression turned serious. He thanked Lu Chao profusely and then announced that everyone would return to the Qianjian Sect before discussing anything further.

And so, everyone from the Qianjian Sect departed.

Ren Tang, of course, could only return with the others. But he didn't feel any sense of relief just because Qian Ya and Lu Chao weren't the shameless couple he'd imagined.

He stared daggers at Qian Ya and thought venomously, 'Damn bitch. To think she hid it from me... To think she was on guard against me.'

Even though he was the traitor, he was furious that Qian Ya had hidden the matter of her healing from him.

「Half a day later...」

Lu Chao followed the members of the Qianjian Sect back to their mountain headquarters.

The Qianjian Sect's main base wasn't located within Rising Moon City...

...but rather at a place called Moon Sword Mountain. Because of the Qianjian Sect's presence, it was now commonly called Qianjian Mountain.

Lu Chao didn't say much more to Qian Ya and the others.

He simply requested a courtyard and paid no more mind to the Qianjian Sect's affairs.

The Qianjian Sect would now conduct a thorough investigation to find the traitor, but Lu Chao had no desire to interfere further. He was almost certain it was Ren Tang, but without evidence, he couldn't be bothered to get entangled in the sect's internal disputes.

The most important thing now was...

'I've reached the Creation Realm. Within the Star Moon Level Bones, is there one that can hide the aura of my Life-taking Bone?'

Lu Chao murmured to himself as his consciousness entered his Bone Inner World...

He looked up at the starry sky of his Bone Inner World. He could clearly see the Star Moon Level Bones in the distant expanse. Within the layered glow of moonlight, he could make out around twenty of them.

'Moon Earth Dragon General Bone, Moon Earth Slaughter Sword Bone...'

He already possessed these two Star Bones, but the ones before him now were their Moon-level Earth Bone equivalents.

Lu Chao continued to examine them one by one. Some were recurring Star Heavenly Destiny Bones, just at a higher level. Others were ones he had never even heard of; without plucking and devouring them, he would have no way of knowing their names.

Among all the ones he could name, he found none that could hide the aura of his Life-taking Bone.

As for the nameless ones, he could only try to sense them, probing their attributes and characteristics...