Chapter 257: Inhumane

Chapter 257 -251: Inhumane

At the mention of this, Lu Qingyu couldn’t help but bristle with righteous indignation. He was still bitter about having been plotted against all those years ago.

Chen Qingyang could only agree, “Senior Brother is right. From what I’ve seen, both the Daoist and Demon Sects are masters of infighting.”

Lu Qingyu snapped out of it and gave a derisive smile. “I wonder, does any of what I said worry you, Junior Brother?”

Chen Qingyang immediately shook his head, appearing far more relaxed than one might expect. “These matters are too far removed from me to even consider. If things truly reach that point, well, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

“Besides, the world doesn’t end at the Cyan Nether State. It’d just take a bit of effort, is all. Worst-case scenario, I’ll just flee somewhere else.”

“Haha…” Lu Qingyu chuckled again. “I’m afraid it would be very difficult. Your roots are here. Everything you know is here. How could you just abandon it all so easily?”

If anything, this statement revealed that Lu Qingyu himself had never been able to let go of the Tai Xu Sect.

Chen Qingyang didn’t argue the point, only replying, “Perhaps.”

He then took a sip of tea and set the cup down.

After a moment of thought, Lu Qingyu changed the subject. “My intention was for you to go out to train and broaden your horizons. Aside from this unexpected incident, what did you gain on your trip?”

‘On that subject, there really was quite a lot.’

‘Putting new experiences aside, just the fact that his cultivation had jumped two realms and he’d saved up over eighty thousand Immortal Seedlings were things that would have been nearly impossible to achieve back at the Sect. And that wasn’t even mentioning his trip to the Demon Realm or his plans to visit the Six Sects of Qiming.’

“I gained quite a lot, actually. I even got to witness the power of our Daoist Sect’s Tai Hao Sword Institute Sword Formulas for the first time… Oh, right. Senior Brother, have you ever heard of the Nine Abyss Soul Devouring Technique?”

‘He was a former Golden Core True Monarch, after all; his knowledge was vast. If even he had never heard of it, then the origins of Zhang Jiu’s Dharma Gate would be peculiar indeed.’

“The Nine Abyss Demon Devouring Technique!” Lu Qingyu’s ears perked up, and he repeated the name. “Where did you hear about it?”

Chen Qingyang immediately recounted his encounter with Zhang Jiu, making a few slight adjustments to the story. He made sure to mention that the man’s cultivation was only at the Essence Condensation Second Realm, so as not to expose his own.

‘No matter the situation, it was always wise to keep a few cards up his sleeve.’

After hearing the story, Lu Qingyu fell silent for a moment. “I would’ve actually preferred his cultivation to be a bit higher—ideally, in the Foundation Establishment Realm. He would have caused the Demon Sect a lot more trouble that way.”

“From the sound of it, Senior Brother, you’re familiar with this Dharma Gate?”

Lu Qingyu nodded. “A long time ago, the Demon Sect was at the height of its power, far surpassing even the Tai Xu Sect. But for some unknown reason, a sudden internal schism greatly diminished their strength.”

“According to rumor, it was caused by this very Nine Abyss Demon Devouring Technique. Any Demon Sect Disciple who practiced it would use their fellow disciples as Tripod Furnaces, and for a time, everyone lived in fear. The Demon Sect paid an enormous price to exterminate these practitioners and completely eradicate the Cultivation Technique. After that, nothing more was heard of it…”

“…Of course, there is another theory that this Dharma Gate, along with the Demon Sect itself, originated from beyond the heavens.”

‘No wonder that Zhang Jiu was so cautious, always putting on a weak facade. He was like a tiny parasite latched onto the behemoth of the Demon Sect. By the time the Demon Sect finally noticed him, he would have surely grown to a considerable level of power.’

‘He had considered passing the news to the Demon Sect and letting them eliminate Zhang Jiu, but it seemed that would no longer be necessary.’

“Then, Senior Brother, do you know of a Pure Yuan Master? He’s a disciple of Venerable Meng and is now Zhang Jiu’s master.”

Lu Qingyu shook his head. “Ah, Junior Brother, you don’t seem to understand. I haven’t concerned myself with the outside world for a thousand years. Besides the other True Monarchs, I truly don’t know any of the newer Masters.”

A Golden Core True Monarch had to have the bearing of a Golden Core True Monarch, after all. That single sentence laid it all bare.

Chen Qingyang burst out laughing.

Lu Qingyu gazed out the window again. “Our business here is concluded. You should head back. Now that you’re an Inner Sect Disciple, you’ll have plenty of chances to leave the Sect. In addition to focusing on the Tai Xu Returning to Truth Technique, you must also diligently study the True Understanding of the Circulation of Stars Demon Suppression Array. Once you have mastered that Array, no one will ever be able to track your Qi Mechanism again.”

The point he’d made was critically important. Chen Qingyang didn’t have to worry about such things now because his cultivation was still low. But one day he would inevitably distinguish himself, and those with ill intentions could use that Array to monitor his Qi Mechanism and keep track of his every move.

He bowed with hands clasped. “Thank you for the warning, Senior Brother. It would be even better if you also had the True Understanding of the Ten Thousand Souls Locking Dome Array. Then I could come and go as I please through both the Daoist and Demon Sects!”

Lu Qingyu laughed. “Why don’t you master this one first!”

‘For him to give such a reply… could it be he knew a thing or two about even the Demon Sect’s most secret arrays?’

But when Chen Qingyang tried to press him for more, Lu Qingyu refused to say another word.

…

After staying on Nine True Mountain for only a day, Chen Qingyang set off the next morning. He used the One Breath Ten Thousand Miles Technique and made his way straight toward the gates of the Tai Xu Sect.

The technique was fast, but it consumed a great deal of energy. Fortunately, Chen Qingyang had plenty of Spirit Stones, so he used the journey as an opportunity to further practice and master the Dharma Gate.

He cultivated as he traveled, and after five or six days, he passed through the gates of the Tai Xu Sect.

At this time, besides the Brocade Box, he was also carrying a cloth satchel. Inside were several Magical Artifacts he had collected from the Demon Sect Disciples.

He hadn’t taken these in combat, but rather had picked them up when he went back for the Immortal Grass. At the time, he had been focused solely on escaping with Yun Ci in his arms and hadn’t had the presence of mind for anything else.

Instead of going back to Cyan Bamboo Peak, he first took them to Gentle Breeze. They were just a few pieces of junk, but they fetched a total of 110,000 Spirit Stones. As was his custom, he didn’t leave a single stone for Shopkeeper Wang, instead exchanging the entire sum for Top Grade Spirit Stones before leaving.

‘Twenty years was a long time, and not even one had passed yet.’

Without a moment’s rest, he hurried on to Fulu Workshop. There, in the Commander’s Lower Palace, he met the Chief Steward, Senior Brother Liu, as well as his Fourth Senior Brother, Ji Rang, who had just rushed in from outside.

“…The moment you left, I thought that I shouldn’t have arranged for you to go to the Yong Kingdom,” Senior Brother Liu said. “After I heard what happened there, I’ve been worried sick. It’s been almost three months, and you’re only just now back!”

Chen Qingyang couldn’t blame him; it had been his own choice, after all. Still, he needed a plausible excuse, so he gave them a rough account of his experiences in the Yong Kingdom, making it clear that his long absence had been beyond his control.

“Junior Brother, you are truly lucky,” Ji Rang lamented after hearing the tale. “You have to understand, four hundred Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivators went on that mission, plus another seven or eight thousand other disciples. Sigh… Not a single one of them came back…”

“Senior Brother, I heard six Foundation Establishment Masters went as well. Did any of them make it back?”

At the mention of this, Ji Rang’s sigh was even heavier. “At first, we thought none of the six had returned. But then, news spread that Master Yun Ci of the Four Golden Peaks had come back to the Sect a few days ago. She was personally received by a Golden Core True Monarch, who must also be curious as to why she was the sole survivor. After all, in a situation like this…”

Ji Rang was implying that she was being investigated on suspicion of colluding with the Demon Sect. Otherwise, how could she have possibly survived?

“So… what did Master Yun Ci say?”

Ji Rang said, “Who knows? Our own Master might know, but I wouldn’t dare ask her. First Senior Brother might know too, but he wouldn’t tell me. Junior Brother, you shouldn’t worry about all this. Just take care of yourself. Be sure to go pay your respects to Master first thing tomorrow morning. Don’t make her wait.”

Chen Qingyang said, “Senior Brother is right. I must pay my respects to Master. But are there any other rumors circulating in the Sect about this?”

He was simply trying to find out if Yun Ci had mentioned him, and what the Sect’s reaction had been.

This time, it was Senior Brother Liu who replied. “Junior Brother Chen, you just haven’t been in the Sect long enough. The Sect doesn’t usually have a big reaction to incidents like this. Even if there are some minor ripples, they mostly come from idle gossip—just like what the three of us are doing right now!”

Chen Qingyang was silent for a moment.

‘He’s right. It makes sense!’

For an entity the size of the Tai Xu Sect, the loss of this many disciples was a drop in the bucket. The deaths of more than half the population of the Yong Kingdom were even less worthy of mention.

The True Monarchs may possess compassion, but they also firmly believed in the detached fairness of the saying, “Heaven and Earth are not benevolent; they treat the myriad things as straw dogs.”

As the saying goes, “Better you die than I.” Any justification would suffice. Ironically, the person who seemed most invested in the matter had become that expelled Purple Sun True Monarch.

“Senior Brother… is absolutely right!”