Chapter 102: Yandang Plunders the Mixed Element Sect

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Yandang Plunders the Mixed Element Sect

After the auction at Mr. Hong’s Auction House in Nanling County on the eighth of the twelfth month last year, the Sect Leader of their Mixed Element Sect, Nan Shuzheng, had died there. Elder Qu Lingce and two other elders had returned wounded.

Since then, the Mixed Element Sect had sealed its gates. Disciples were forbidden from taking a single step outside the sect, on pain of immediate expulsion.

These past three months were the most chaotic period for the Mixed Element Sect. If not for two Supreme Elders holding down the fort, the sect would have likely disintegrated, or at the very least, splintered into factions.

Thankfully, after more than a month of infighting, on the eighteenth day of the first month, the two Supreme Elders overruled all dissent and backed Nan Shuzheng’s daughter, Nan Chuting, as the new Sect Leader.

The Mixed Element Sect had been established for over five thousand years. When had a woman ever held the position of Sect Leader?

Even some of Nan Shuzheng’s once-loyal followers no longer supported Nan Chuting.

The two Supreme Elders launched a bloody purge, killing nearly a hundred people, finally quashing the defiance of those in the Mixed Element Sect who opposed the decision.

Though Nan Chuting had a slender and graceful figure, a palm-sized birthmark on her face had made her infamous for her ugliness throughout the entire Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm.

As a result, though she was already thirty-three, she remained an unmarried maiden. No one dared to ask for her hand, and no one wished to.

However, her talent for Cultivation was extraordinary. Perhaps because she had endured endless mockery, both overt and subtle, due to her appearance since childhood, she matured earlier than most and had dedicated herself to the Martial Dao from a young age.

In truth, her talent was no less than Chu Fan’s; it was simply that her appearance caused it to be overlooked by others.

She reached Foundation Establishment Perfection at age seven. At eleven, she mastered the Opening and Closing Realm and entered the Fusion Realm. She experienced Heartbeat at fourteen, formed her Golden Core at twenty-two, and stepped into the Nascent Soul Realm at thirty-one.

Despite her extraordinary talent in the Dao of Cultivation and her incredible diligence, deep down, she was still somewhat insecure.

In public, she liked to affect a bold and straightforward demeanor. In fact, ever since coming of age at fifteen, she had stopped wearing women’s clothes entirely, opting instead for men’s martial attire and a silver mask to hide the birthmark on the left side of her face.

In fact, over the years, Nan Shuzheng had sought all kinds of remedies in an attempt to remove the birthmark from her face. Even the Hundred Flowers Wanderer had personally taken a hand, but ultimately, it was all for naught.

Lin Shumin, son of Great Elder Lin Kangbo, the Saint Heir of the Mixed Element Sect.

According to ancestral tradition, upon the death of the Sect Leader, the Saint Heir is the first in line to inherit the position.

Consequently, Lin Shumin had the most support during the initial power struggle. He was quite talented himself, having formed his Golden Core at the age of twenty-eight.

Coupled with the support from the faction led by his father, the Great Elder, the position of Sect Leader should have been a foregone conclusion. But who could have predicted that the two Supreme Elders would personally intervene and overrule all opposition?

Lin Shumin was, without a doubt, the most frustrated person in the Mixed Element Sect.

Not only had the position of Sect Leader been snatched away, but he hadn’t been able to leave the mountain for months. He couldn’t even visit his mistress on the outside to blow off some steam.

After the Mixed Element Sect had been sealed for over three months, its grain supplies were finally running low. After begging and pleading, Lin Shumin finally managed to get permission to descend the mountain to purchase grain.

The moment he was off the mountain, he sent the others to procure the grain while he himself took two Guards to a clothing shop.

The moment Lin Shumin stepped inside, his two Guards drove out the other customers. Then, they stood guard at the entrance like a pair of door gods, prohibiting anyone else from entering.

Lin Shumin, however, bee-lined for the back room. The moment he saw the female Shopkeeper, he swept her up and started mauling her with kisses.

Only when the female Shopkeeper was kicking her legs and gasping for breath did Lin Shumin finally release her. But then he slung her over his shoulder and carried her straight up to the loft.

Lin Shumin, enjoying his welcome rain after a long drought up in the loft, had no idea he was being watched.

Chu Fan and Yun Xi hadn’t gone into the clothing shop. Instead, they sat waiting under the awning of a teahouse across the street, sipping cheap tea.

Chu Fan hadn’t expected the wait to last a full two hours.

With his powerful Spiritual Power, even without deliberately trying to listen, the lewd sounds from the loft across the way reached his ears clearly.

He felt nothing but helplessness.

’Having such strong Spiritual Power isn’t always a good thing. When the tenth of the tenth month comes, I’ll have to ask Yan Ying to help me find some Martial Arts Techniques that use Spiritual Power.’

When Lin Shumin emerged from the clothing shop, his face was flushed and radiant. Flanked by his two Guards, he swaggered out like a duck, looking incredibly smug.

"Should we follow?" Yun Xi asked in a gruff male voice.

"No need. As long as they’re in this city, they’re within range of my senses," Chu Fan said.

"Then what was he doing in the shop for so long?" Yun Xi asked.

Chu Fan looked at her in surprise and asked, "Do you really want to know?"

Seeing Chu Fan’s mischievous grin, Yun Xi didn’t quite understand. She feigned annoyance and said, "Fine, don’t tell me then."

Chu Fan leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words. Blushing furiously, Yun Xi swatted him on the shoulder.

It was a good thing Yun Xi was disguised as a man. If she had hit him while in her true form, that light tap alone would have probably been enough to give Chu Fan a nosebleed.

The two of them waited for another half an hour before Chu Fan finally stood up.

After getting up, he and Yun Xi found a deserted corner and leaped into the air. In a forest west of the city, they caught up to a grain caravan.

Lin Shumin and his two Guards were right in the middle of the group. Aside from the three of them, there were dozens of laborers and more than ten disciples of the Mixed Element Sect.

Chu Fan and Yun Xi appeared at the head of the caravan, blocking their path.

Chu Fan was now disguised with a hooked nose and a pair of sinister eyes that gave him a malevolent air. With a dry blade of grass dangling from his lips, he leaned casually against a tree, his arms folded.

Yun Xi, on the other hand, had transformed into a fair-skinned young man and stood right beside Chu Fan.

"Well, well, if it isn’t the Saint Heir of the Mixed Element Sect. Why’s a big shot like you personally handling a grain shipment? How about you ditch them and join our Red Blood Mansion instead?" Chu Fan said in a wild, unruly tone.

Upon hearing the three words "Red Blood Mansion," the Mixed Element Sect disciples instantly grew wary, drawing their Swords one after another.

"What I do is none of your business! Your Red Blood Mansion is certainly arrogant. Don’t you know this is Mixed Element Sect territory now?" Since Lin Shumin couldn’t discern Chu Fan’s and Yun Xi’s Cultivation levels, he grew bolder.

"Mixed Element Sect territory? Isn’t this the Celestial Qi Kingdom? Since when does the Mixed Element Sect claim territory in the mortal world?" As he spoke, Chu Fan contemptuously plucked the blade of grass from his mouth, bent it, and began cleaning his ear with it.

"Aren’t you from the Red Blood Mansion sticking your noses where they don’t belong?" Lin Shumin retorted angrily.

"Not at all. It just so happens that we at the Red Blood Mansion are also short on grain lately. So, we’re planning to ’borrow’ this shipment from Lin the Saint Child. We’ll return it in a hundred years, with interest."

By now, Lin Shumin, of course, understood their intentions. But with more than a dozen of his own men, why would he take these two seriously?

"You think the two of you can just rob my Mixed Element Sect’s provisions? You must have a death wish."

"Hahaha!" Chu Fan laughed heartily. "In the entire Eastern Domain, there’s nothing our Red Blood Mansion doesn’t dare to do. I’ll give you one last chance. Leave the provisions, and you can walk away. If not... you won’t be walking away at all."

"I’d like to see just how you plan to stop us from leaving," Lin Shumin retorted, drawing his Sword as well.