Chapter 370: Found You

Though the small world had been a trap, the medicinal herb Xie Ningyuan needed was at least real—a lure to bait him.

Therefore, upon escaping, his first thought was to deliver the herb to the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect. His master might still be waiting for him.

Xie Ningyuan stepped out of the void. Without bothering to greet anyone else, he went straight to his master’s residence.

However, the person waiting inside for him was not his master, but...

"Master Ting Chan?"

The man standing by the bed with his back to him slowly turned. "You’re back."

Xie Ningyuan was surprised but didn’t think much of it. He just took a few quick steps forward. "How is Master? I’ve brought back the medicinal herb!"

However, as he drew closer, with Ting Chan no longer blocking his view, he saw his master lying on the bed, already dead.

There were still fresh bloodstains by the corner of his lips, a clear sign he had just died.

Xie Ningyuan froze. For a moment, everything before him felt so unreal that his mind couldn’t process it, and he even forgot to feel sad.

Not until Ting Chan suddenly struck out with his palm did he seem to wake from a dream, instinctively blocking the blow.

However, Ting Chan was at the Body Integration Realm. With Xie Ningyuan’s Realm having fallen, how could he possibly be his match? Even though he tried to block, he was still sent flying by the palm strike, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.

That palm strike was a killing blow. Thanks to the Bodhi Pearl in his Dantian helping out at the critical moment, he was only severely injured.

But at the same time, the light of the Bodhi Pearl also dimmed, clearly indicating it no longer had the strength to help him again anytime soon.

Xie Ningyuan clutched his chest and looked up, his eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at Ting Chan. "...Why?"

Ting Chan’s expression was indifferent, his gaze holding the same disgust as always.

"I didn’t kill you before because I didn’t want to reveal any flaws in my plan, but now you’re meddling in too many things."

"Heh heh, with your Realm having fallen, you’re no longer my match. Just... be a good boy and die!"

In an instant, the Great Array around the entire courtyard activated, sealing it off from the outside.

Seeing Ting Chan strike out with his palm again, Xie Ningyuan immediately activated his Defense Treasure to its maximum limit.

But after holding for only two or three breaths, the Magic Treasure let out a CRACK, unable to bear the strain, and looked like it was about to shatter.

Xie Ningyuan, however, used that moment to form hand seals and activate an escape secret technique. At the same time, he borrowed the sliver of Heavenly Punishment Power brought back by the Bodhi Pearl, ultimately ignoring the Array. The moment his Magic Treasure shattered, he vanished from the spot.

Ting Chan stared at the empty courtyard, his brow furrowed slightly. ’He actually got away again.’

After a moment of silence, he deactivated the courtyard’s Array. "Someone, quick! The Buddha Son Jichen has killed Tingjue!"

"The entire sect, hear my command! Immediately issue a warrant for his arrest throughout the Cultivation World! This traitor must be captured and brought to justice as soon as possible!"

Xie Ningyuan’s secret technique couldn’t take him very far. Fortunately, he had a sliver of strength left, enough to tear open the void and escape.

Stepping out of the void, he collapsed in a mountain forest, spitting up another large mouthful of blood.

Leaning against a nearby tree trunk, Xie Ningyuan’s gaze was vacant.

Even now, his mind was a complete mess, and everything still felt utterly unreal.

He had suspected many people of wanting to harm him, but he had never once suspected anyone from the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect.

In his heart, although he disagreed with the Ten Thousand Buddha Sect’s philosophy and found them overly fanatical regarding Demon Cultivators, he still believed they were a group of kind-hearted people.

Master Ting Chan had a bad temper and clearly disliked him, but he had still saved him time and time again.

’But now... he killed my master, and he wants to kill me too?’

But why? He couldn’t understand!

To think that he had risked his life, that he had been just one step away from saving his master, only to end up helplessly watching his master’s body grow cold.

The qi and blood in Xie Ningyuan’s body roiled, and, already severely injured, he nearly fainted.

But then he thought of the other person he was constantly worried about, and he forced himself to hold on.

He activated his Communication Talisman, wanting to contact Lu Sangjiu and ask about her situation.

The moment he activated the talisman, however, a flood of messages from many people poured in, most of them from Lu Sangjiu and her group.

His heart instantly sank. Ignoring the messages, he immediately used the Hairpin he had given Lu Sangjiu to sense her location.

"...The Western Demon Realm?!"

Xie Ningyuan’s heart sank again. ’How could she have entered the Western Demon Realm?’

After quickly reading everyone’s messages, he got a rough idea of what had happened. But most of his replies to them went unanswered, like a stone sinking into the sea.

Just as he was growing more and more anxious, a message finally came back from Feng Lin.

He opened it eagerly, only for Feng Lin to deliver yet another piece of terrible news.

"Mr. Xie, Ms. Lu and the others are in trouble! Come to the Divine Tomb Sect in the Western Demon Realm and find me, quickly!"

Xie Ningyuan felt a wave of dizziness. But since Feng Lin only said they were in trouble, not that they were dead, it meant there was still a chance!

He immediately swallowed several Elixir Pills, meditated briefly to absorb them, and once he felt some strength return to his body, he eagerly tore open the void again and headed for the Western Demon Realm!

’Little Jiu, wait for me!’

Meanwhile, Lu Sangjiu had just reached the fourth stage of the third-floor trial.

The guardians of the first and second stages had the same Late-stage Golden Core Cultivation as her, but their actual strength differed due to their various specializations and combat abilities.

The third stage jumped straight to Early-stage Nascent Soul, and the fourth was Mid-stage.

With her current strength, dealing with the Nascent Soul Stage was still relatively easy. However, she realized that at this rate, the fifth stage would be Late-stage Nascent Soul, and the sixth might be as well, but the seventh would definitely be the Divinity Transformation Stage!

Soloing a Divinity Transformation cultivator was difficult with her current strength, but not impossible.

Especially since she still had that Heavenly Luo Pill, there was basically nothing to be afraid of.

But she couldn’t help but sweat for the others... If the strength levels of all the stages were arranged like this, the others might still have a fighting chance, but Shen Yuzhao would undoubtedly be in extreme danger.

And if the trials were scaled according to each person’s individual strength, wouldn’t Duan Xingyun, at Late-stage Divinity Transformation, have to face a Body Integration Realm opponent?

The more she thought about it, the more worried Lu Sangjiu became. At the same time, an idea began to form in her mind... ’If I just forcibly destroy this place and go find the others, would that count as passing this stage?’

But she was also worried that doing so would ruin their opportunities. After all, wasn’t the process of fighting the guardians a form of guidance in itself?

As she pondered, she cut down the guardian of the fourth stage and arrived before the door to the fifth.

She rested on the spot for a while. Just as she was about to get up and push open the great door to the fifth stage, she suddenly heard a tremendous RUMBLE, and the space she was in began to shake violently.

Her expression changed as she shot to her feet. Looking up, she saw a crack suddenly split open in the dark space above her.

A sweet, pleasant woman’s voice sounded at the same time. "Hee hee... Found you."