“Creak...”
The Grand Elder reached out and slid the coffin lid open.
“Where is the sect master?”
Looking at the empty coffin, the Grand Elder’s eyes widened in shock, and he couldn’t help but cry out.
“Where is the sect master?”
Huo Furong also cried out in disbelief!
Lu Ming took a deep breath. There was no avoiding this now.
He looked at the three elders, who were all staring intently at him.
“Let me explain... No, I mean, let me defend myself...”
Lu Ming then rattled on, explaining everything that had happened.
The three elders listened, completely dumbfounded.
“So, you’re saying the sect master is lost?” the Grand Elder asked.
“Maybe the sect master just wanted to go out for a stroll to clear his head?”
The Grand Elder was speechless. “Do you actually believe that?”
Lu Ming slapped his chest.
“Of course! That’s how I comfort myself!”
The three elders were collectively exasperated.
The Grand Elder asked helplessly, “You’re quite good at claiming grandfathers, aren’t you?”
He really didn't know what to say. The boy had randomly claimed some old man as his grandfather, and it turned out to be their own sect master.
It truly was a case of birds of a feather flocking together.
“Of course. The moment I laid eyes on the sect master, I felt a deep sense of warmth and familiarity. He looked just like a beloved elder...”
“So you used your beloved elder to block lightning, and then you went and lost him...”
Lu Ming choked on his words. “I... I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“How about this, Grand Elder? Can you divine the sect master’s location so we can go look for him?” Lu Ming quickly tried to make amends.
“Can you calculate it?” the Second Elder asked.
The Grand Elder nodded. “I’ll try...”
His expression turned solemn as he began to perform the divination.
First, he nodded, then he frowned... then his expression relaxed, only to frown once more...
Lu Ming stared at the Grand Elder’s shifting expressions, his own heart fluctuating wildly in tandem.
Is he really being this thorough?
Only after a long while did the Grand Elder open his eyes.
“The good news is, the sect master’s life-or-death seclusion was a success. The bad news is, there are no traces of him. I can't find him, and I have no idea where he was teleported to...”
Hearing this, Lu Ming and the others looked at one another.
Well, they would still have to search for the sect master in the future.
Just then, Huang Tianbao scratched his head. “Since the sect master successfully broke through, shouldn’t we celebrate? How about a feast?”
Smack!
The Grand Elder slapped him upside the head. “The sect master is missing, and all you can think about is a feast?”
Huang Tianbao muttered aggrievedly, “But they don’t contradict each other!”
The Grand Elder pressed a hand to his forehead. What kind of exasperating disciples had they recruited?
Only the dog seemed remotely reliable!
After Lu Ming and his companions left, the Second Elder asked, “Is it true? You really couldn't divine the sect master's whereabouts?”
“I didn't even try!”
Hearing the Grand Elder's response, both the Second Elder and the Third Elder were shocked.
“Then what were you doing just now?”
The Grand Elder stroked his beard, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. “I only calculated whether the sect master was alive or dead. I didn't divine anything else. If that is indeed how things are meant to end, he will show up on his own without us having to look for him...”
The Second Elder and the Third Elder exchanged a glance, remaining silent.
After a long silence, the Second Elder spoke up. “Do you think Lu Ming, this anomaly, can truly change the situation?”
The Grand Elder stroked his beard once more. “I don’t know. However, I’ve noticed that his fated-to-die countenance has shifted slightly...”
“Really?” The Second Elder and the Third Elder stared at the Grand Elder in shock.
The Grand Elder nodded and continued, “It was his bizarre perception of reality that saved him in the Equality Secret Realm. I saw it with my own eyes. Relying on his own strange perception, he blocked the mental attacks of the Equal Buddha...”
“Perhaps it is precisely because of this bizarre perception that he has survived.”
“What perception?” Huo Furong scratched her messy hair and asked.
The Grand Elder’s expression turned incredibly odd. “He kept muttering that he was a 'pig's trotter'...”
“A pig's trotter? Like, a pig's foot?” Huo Furong asked in confusion. Hanyan also looked at the Grand Elder with a puzzled expression.
“I don't know! Either way, I saw him constantly muttering about being a pig's trotter, and he actually withstood the Equal Buddha's mental attack...”
“No wonder he's an anomaly... He really does have some tricks up his sleeve,” Hanyan couldn’t help but mutter to himself.
It seemed his eye for talent was truly extraordinary back when he recruited Lu Ming.
Suddenly, he jerked his head up. “When you sent me out to recruit disciples back then, did you already calculate all of this...?”
Hearing the Third Elder’s question, the Grand Elder gave a faint smile. “At the time, I only divined that there might be a sliver of an anomaly out there, so I told you to go try your luck. I didn't expect you to actually bring back such a massive surprise.”
As he spoke, the Grand Elder looked at Hanyan, feeling quite speechless.
It had to be this fellow. If he or Huo Furong had gone back then, they might not have successfully recruited Lu Ming.
If he had gone himself and seen Lu Ming’s fated-to-die countenance, there was no way he would have brought him back...
Bringing him back would have just been waiting for death together, wouldn't it?
Even if Huo Furong had gone, she wouldn't have recruited him after seeing that he lacked spiritual roots.
Only a unique character like Hanyan could have done it...
“Alright, we still need to find a way to let Lu Ming roam free. His path to survival does not lie within the Qingshan Sect...”
“Why? Why must we push Lu Ming out?” the Second Elder asked in confusion.
“I don’t know. The hexagram simply indicated that if he stays in the Qingshan Sect, his ultimate fate is to be hunted down and killed right on our doorstep...”
“Look at him now. He’s been running around outside for so long, and hasn’t he managed to carve out a path to survival for himself?”
The other two thought about it and realized it made perfect sense.
...
In a small sect in the Northern Province.
At this moment, a sect was being utterly annihilated by a fellow with a pale face and dark circles under his eyes.
Hanging from his waist was a Heavenly Demon Sect identity token. Although it wasn't exactly identical to the ones Lu Ming and his companions carried, it looked close enough.
This person was none other than Ye Fan. Back in the Xinghe Dynasty, he had dispatched the Soul Transformation cultivators of the Haoran Sect.
After that, he went after the cultivators of the Dingyuan Sect and the Zixuan Sect.
There was strength in numbers. He refused to believe he couldn't track down this Qingshan Sect...
He had even found out that the Chixia Sect—the small sect from the Hengduan Mountains that had targeted both him and Lu Ming—had been completely wiped out.
The Chixia Sect's Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators were all dead.
According to the survivors, none of them knew how or when the higher-ups of their sect had died.
Only as time passed did everyone realize that the entire leadership of the sect was gone.
Consequently, the Chixia Sect was swallowed up by other sects.
He was absolutely certain that the deaths of the Chixia Sect's leadership were closely linked to the Qingshan Sect.
This Qingshan Sect was definitely not some simple, worn-out little sect.
Thus, he had not only informed the Haoran Sect, but also the other two sects.
Even after notifying them, Ye Fan still felt uneasy.
He had already caught wind that the Huaguoshan lineage had departed from the demon race territory.
It was highly obvious that Lu Ming and his group had returned.
He worried that Lu Ming and the others might be hiding in the Northern Province under the guise of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Since he had already gone to such great lengths this time, he had to ensure that the wretched mortal was absolutely dead.
Therefore, he devised a plan: he would impersonate Lu Ming to stir up chaos in the Northern Province, turning the local forces against them.
This was also because he was unaware of the subsequent events that had transpired among the demon race.
After all, the news of a group of Unity-stage cultivators being robbed was tightly kept under wraps, with absolutely no rumors leaking out.
Otherwise, he would never have come to the Northern Province.
For at this very moment, the Unity-stage cultivators of the three major forces who had returned to the Northern Province were also searching for the Heavenly Demon Sect.
However, their search was focused on the demon race territory, believing that the Heavenly Demon Sect was still hiding there.
Rate on N.U.
