Chapter 50: Alarming the Higher-ups
In the secret chamber, Chu Huaixu’s thoughts were racing.
He first made bold conjectures, and would later find ways to carefully verify them.
At this very moment, he had no idea how much of a stir he had caused.
The cultivators gathered outside the cold pond were growing in number.
A large number of Sword Cultivators converged here. Of the nine outer court deacons, all but the two who had descended the mountain were present.
The female deacon Mo Qingmei stood with another outer court female deacon, Tang Qiuyue.
Mo Qingmei still possessed a mature charm, while Tang Qiuyue was rather plump but appeared kind and approachable.
“I don’t know what’s happening, but I certainly feel the Sword Spirit is very excited,” Mo Qingmei said to Tang Qiuyue.
“Excited?” Tang Qiuyue found it strange. She wasn’t a Sword Cultivator, so she looked at the swords of the others.
She couldn’t discern anything.
A large number of Sword Cultivator disciples had gathered by the edge of the cold pond.
Everyone, like them, was holding their natal swords and discussing amongst themselves, chattering like magpies.
This made the surrounding noise level comparable to the outer court marketplace.
Logically, when such heavenly phenomena occurred in the outer court, and so many disciples gathered here, the deacons should be in charge.
However, the deacons were also bewildered and didn’t know what was going on.
Liu Tianfeng, facing the inquiries of his colleagues, didn’t know how to explain.
“A Secret Realm of this caliber shouldn’t be causing such a spectacle, should it?” a deacon surnamed Wang said.
“Brother Liu, are you saying your son Chengqi is still in the Secret Realm? Could it be he obtained some great opportunity?” a deacon surnamed Chen said with a smile.
Niu Yuanshan, listening from the side, glanced at the cold pond without voicing his opinion.
He certainly didn’t think that Liu Chengqi was the cause of all this.
‘A guy whose Spiritual Embryo was damaged, who then became disheartened and had his temperament ruined, does he deserve such a thing?’ Old Niu scoffed inwardly.
Liu Tianfeng smiled wryly at everyone’s words, “This heavenly phenomenon only involved the spiritual swords and nothing else.”
“My son Chengqi isn’t a Sword Cultivator either!”
Mo Qingmei, standing on the other side, immediately asked, “Then, among the three people at the bottom of the cold pond, who is a Sword Cultivator?”
“Junior Sister Mo, you might not know, but only those without Spiritual Power can enter this Secret Realm, so they are all Meridian-Opening Stage disciples. Where would there be any Sword Cultivators?” Niu Yuanshan, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up to explain.
He had been pretending to be dead on the side, but his peripheral vision kept glancing at Mo Qingmei.
Hearing him speak to her, Mo Qingmei replied in a nonchalant tone, “Oh, I see.”
Tang Qiuyue, on the side, gently nudged her with her elbow upon hearing her tone.
‘It’s just that her confession was rejected. So many years have passed, yet she still doesn’t give Senior Brother Niu a good look,’ Tang Qiuyue muttered to herself.
After the deacons discussed for a while longer, Liu Tianfeng, the eldest and most involved in this matter, made the decision:
“This matter needs to be reported to the inner court elders. Such astonishing phenomena are beyond our ability to handle.”
He harbored some worry for his son, thinking that if an elder were there to protect him, nothing would go wrong.
As soon as his voice fell, a young female voice echoed from high above in the heavens.
“No need to report specifically, I’m already here.”
Tenth Elder Chu Yinyin descended from the sky and stood with her hands behind her back, landing on an ancient tree beside the cold pond.
Her physical development was slow, resulting in her not being tall. However, her strength and status surpassed most people, so she disliked looking up at others and often chose to speak from a higher vantage point.
“Tenth Elder!” Everyone gathered there respectfully bowed.
It was widely known that the Tenth Elder held the least power among the inner court elders.
However, she was also the elder with the worst temper.
Although she never admitted it herself, due to the influence of her cultivation technique, her disposition sometimes resembled that of a rebellious teenage girl.
Chu Yinyin was like a cat that could easily get riled up.
“Tell me, who is inside the Secret Realm?” she asked, frowning and staring intently at the cold pond.
“Reporting to the Elder, there are three name-holder disciples still within the Secret Realm: Chu Huaixu, Han Shuangjiang, and my son, Liu Chengqi,” Liu Tianfeng replied immediately.
“Name-holder disciples? Aren’t they all at the Meridian-Opening Stage?” Chu Yinyin was surprised. “Did Shen Man make a mistake?”
Upon hearing her mention the Seventh Elder, everyone exchanged glances.
Hadn’t the Seventh Elder been confined to the Purple Bamboo Forest since inheriting the Dao Ancestor’s legacy? It had been a year.
This heavenly phenomenon had actually alarmed even the Purple Bamboo Forest?
Liu Tianfeng quickly exchanged a look with Niu Yuanshan; both their hearts sank.
How could this Secret Realm cause such a stir?
The Seventh Elder had remained aloof from worldly affairs for a year. Could even she, who was ranked among the Four Divine Swords, care this much?
Most importantly, no one knew what had truly happened inside.
“Did my son Chengqi really get an opportunity? I hope he isn’t in any danger!” Liu Tianfeng felt like he was going mad. This sense of the unknown was unbearable.
Niu Yuanshan was also a bit concerned for Chu Huaixu’s safety.
Finally, Luo Tianfeng, steeling himself, dared to ask, “Tenth Elder, my son Chengqi is still inside. I boldly ask, what exactly was the situation with the previous heavenly phenomenon? Please enlighten us, Elder.”
Actually, if Shen Man hadn’t explained, Chu Yinyin wouldn’t have known that it was caused by Clarity of Sword Heart.
But now, wasn’t this an opportunity to show off?
She stood on the ancient tree, her face a picture of feigned profundity. Her hands remained behind her back, she stood with her hands behind her back, not looking at anyone, her gaze fixed on the cold pond:
“It’s normal for cultivators at your level not to know.”
“That profound ripple just now was…”
Everyone present looked up at Chu Yinyin. They noticed that although her mouth was moving, not a single person could hear the last few words!
Chu Yinyin abruptly looked up, pointing to the heavens, and suddenly yelled, “Xiang Yan, you actually used a sound-blocking magic array on me!”
“If you don’t let me speak, I will speak!”
“This ripple, it was…”
The preceding words were audible, but the last few words were silenced.
“Xiang Yan! You die by my hands!!” Chu Yinyin drew her spiritual sword, Mutual Joy, and charged straight up into the sky.
The outer court disciples were left at the cold pond, their hearts pounding, before erupting into discussion.
“Even the Sect Master has been alarmed?”
“This matter seems to be a secret!”
“What exactly happened? Even the Sect Master personally arrived. Could it be the Dao Ancestor’s inheritance below?”
“Be careful with your words! It could also be the inheritance of some great Sword Cultivator!”
Various chaotic voices arose, and Liu Tianfeng’s expression shifted between pleasure and displeasure.
He suddenly regretted giving the fragments of the Pill King’s Token to Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, up until now, no one knows what it looks like inside. My son still has a chance, still has a chance!” He comforted himself.
As for the others gathered around, most of them had heard of Deacon Liu’s son, Liu Chengqi.
But the names Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang were completely unfamiliar.
Everyone silently remembered these two names.
One couldn’t help but wonder who below the cold pond had the good fortune to trigger such a phenomenon?
High above in the heavens, the Sect Master of the Daoist Sect, Xiang Yan, stood with his hands behind his back, floating amidst the clouds.
Li Chunsong and several other elders stood beside him, keeping a safe distance.
Soon, Chu Yinyin arrived, heading straight for them.
Xiang Yan, standing in the Eighth Realm, remained motionless, his aura flowing around him, allowing Chu Yinyin to wield her sword; her blade couldn’t get within an inch of him.
Everyone knew in their hearts that their Junior Sister’s temper flared quickly and died down just as fast.
After venting her frustration, Chu Yinyin sheathed her sword. Since she couldn’t hit him anyway, she could only let out a cold snort, “Hmph! I can’t be bothered with you!”
Xiang Yan’s bald head looked incredibly ugly, like a very ugly face drawn on a dark, braised egg.
He smiled at Chu Yinyin as if trying to appease her, saying, “Junior Sister, please don’t be angry, don’t be angry.”
“It’s just that this matter is of great importance, please don’t let it spread,” he said.
Lu Pan, the eldest disciple and the Law Enforcement Elder, immediately chimed in, “Junior Sister, don’t break the rules!”
“Got it, got it!” Chu Yinyin waved her hand impatiently.
She secretly pricked up her ears, actually wanting to hear what her senior brothers and sisters were saying.
“Shen Man said it was a phenomenon caused by Clarity of Sword Heart, but there are no Sword Cultivators at the bottom of the cold pond,” she began to express her doubts. “Perhaps she went into seclusion for too long and became silly. Shen Man was always a bit foolish anyway.”
Then, a scene that infuriated her appeared again.
Just like last time in the main hall of Ask Dao Peak, they had set up a magic array again, preventing her from hearing their conversation!
Enraged, she could only watch from the side. The peak cultivator of the Sixth Realm, the Tenth Elder of the Daoist Sect, began to laboriously read lips.
“No? Was this damned bald guy just talking about Clarity of Sword Heart? What were the last two words!”
“Nangong Yue, you wretched woman, what did that gambler say that made you so happy, your chest is trembling from laughing! I’m getting motion sickness!”
“Aaaahhh! Why won’t you let me hear!”
“Are those below the Seventh Realm not considered people?”
“If you keep treating me like this, believe it or not, I’ll break through right now and show you!” She was getting anxious.
Soon, Xiang Yan and the others finished their discussion. He waved his hand, and the array was removed.
“We still need to ask our Seventh Junior Sister about this. Let’s go, we’ll go to the Purple Bamboo Forest together,” said Sect Master Xiang Yan.
“I’m not going. If you want to go, go. You’re not letting me listen anyway!” Chu Yinyin started to throw a tantrum.
Lu Pan, the Law Enforcement Elder, glanced at her and nodded, “It’s okay if you don’t go, but the rules must not be broken.”
With that, he waved his hand and cast another sound-blocking magic array on Chu Yinyin, silencing her to prevent her from flying back and causing trouble, stirring up a storm.
After doing so, they all smiled and flew towards the Purple Bamboo Forest.
Leaving Chu Yinyin alone in the air, going frantic, but unable to transmit her voice: “No! You’re really not taking me?”
“Aaaahhh! Remove the sound-blocking magic array!” She felt like she was truly going mad, looking like a truly agitated cat.
Lu Pan, the Law Enforcement Elder, was most adept in the Way of Arrays, a rare master of arrays in this generation. His arrays were even more potent than Xiang Yan’s.
In the end, Chu Yinyin could only grit her teeth in hatred and chase after them towards the Purple Bamboo Forest.
By the time she landed, everyone else had already arrived and was deep in conversation.
Xiang Yan seemed to have asked something, and everyone looked at Shen Man, awaiting her reply.
The cold and thin Daoist Nun remained seated high on the giant rock, facing the stone wall, confined to her area.
She remained silent for a long time, only a helpless expression appearing on her face, her gaze gentle with a hint of indulgence.
She flicked her finger, and the sound-blocking magic array that Chu Yinyin couldn’t break, shattered as a result.
