"Why are you looking for Gu Ling Mountain?"
"To take a master!"
The villager blinked in surprise, then pointed with his hand. "Go line up there first."
Nie Rong followed the direction of his finger. A lush green mountain peak rose proudly into the sky. His heart stirred with reverence. So this was truly an extraordinary master, one so revered that disciples had to queue just for the chance to be accepted.
"Thank you for the guidance, I understand now!" Nie Rong swept his robe aside and, looking elegant and graceful, soared away on his sword.
"Another immortal... but flying is forbidden here!" the villager shouted after him.
"Tell me, where is the Biluo Sect?" A violent hand suddenly seized the villager by the collar. He found himself staring into a pair of eyes filled with ruthless malice.
"O-over there..." the villager pointed with trembling hand.
Kuang Lei tossed him aside, slamming him to the ground.
"Zhou Shengqian, did you think hiding in this tiny village would stop me from finding you? Because of you, several disciples of my Mingxia Sect entered the secret realm late. We lost countless spirit herbs and rare treasures. Today, I'll take your entire sect as compensation. Hahahaha!"
His robe billowed as Kuang Lei flashed away in a streak of light.
Not long after—
Jiang Shengxiang received word from the villagers and rushed over with Xiao Rong at his side.
"Who dares to injure people in our Longyin Village?!"
…
At the Biluo Sect.
The unfinished grand hall had once again been smashed apart. Two massive holes marred its walls. Inside one of them lay Zhou Shengqian, coughing blood, his body weak and battered amidst the ruins.
"Don't kill my father!" Zhou Lili burst out from nowhere, throwing herself in front of Zhou Shengqian without hesitation.
"Li Li... you foolish child..." Zhou Shengqian's voice was equal parts helpless and touched.
Kuang Lei sneered. "Good, the daughter comes to me herself. Tell your father to hand over the Biluo Sect's treasury, and I'll spare his life!"
Zhou Lili bit her lip, refusing to speak.
Kuang Lei's gaze turned sharp. A surge of powerful qi struck out, sending Zhou Lili flying three zhang away like a punctured balloon.
Zhou Shengqian's eyes burned red. "You cannot kill us. The Biluo Sect has already pledged allegiance to a Nascent Soul cultivator. If we die, that mighty one will never forgive your Mingxia Sect!"
Kuang Lei's thick brows shot up, then he threw back his head and laughed. "And which blind Nascent Soul cultivator would waste their time on you? Zhou Shengqian, your lies are ridiculous. Don't tell me you moved your whole sect to this barren, thin-spiritual-energy wasteland just to serve this mysterious cultivator?"
"That's right. We relocated our entire sect to follow this Nascent Soul expert. She lives just above us. We have someone above us! Elder Kuang, peace brings prosperity. For the sake of both our sects, I advise you to withdraw here and now." Zhou Shengqian's voice was frail, but his tone remained firm.
Kuang Lei let out a bark of laughter, as though hearing the funniest joke of his life. "A nameless little sect like yours dares to talk about the future with my Mingxia Sect? Zhou Shengqian, your brain is addled."
"My father's mind is perfectly clear. Elder Kuang, if you don't believe us, then kill us right now. When that Nascent Soul expert comes to cut off your head in vengeance, the Biluo Sect will lose nothing!" Zhou Lili crawled back to Zhou Shengqian's side, speaking with steady resolve.
"Li Li..." Zhou Shengqian's hands trembled uncontrollably.
Her words were far too sharp. If this elder sensed even the smallest flaw, their lives would end here.
Kuang Lei, however, looked at Zhou Lili's fearless stance and suspicion began to stir in his heart.
"Could there really be a hidden Yuányīng Zhēnjūn living here?"
He lifted his head, releasing his divine sense across the surrounding mountains. Near a black-clouded peak, he spotted a handsome young man walking, his depth of cultivation impossible to fathom.
"So that's what you mean by 'above'? Over there?" Kuang Lei's face darkened, and he pointed toward the nameless mountain opposite Gu Ling Mountain.
The Zhou father and daughter froze for a moment. Zhou Lili quickly added, "That place houses only her disciple. Across from it, on the black mountain, that's where the Nascent Soul cultivator truly resides."
Kuang Lei narrowed his eyes, voice cold. "Then I'll meet this mighty one myself. Afterward, I'll come back for your worthless lives!"
A flash of crimson light streaked toward Gu Ling Mountain.
Zhou Lili collapsed in weakness, her gaze vacant. "Father... can Fairy Ranran defeat him?"
Zhou Shengqian sighed in despair. "Don't think about it. Whether Fairy Ranran even acknowledges us is another matter entirely..."
Zhou Lili fell silent.
…
Nie Rong stood atop the nameless peak, his gaze settling on the small wooden hut not far away. Curious, he walked closer.
"So this is where disciples line up to become apprentices?"
The hut's door stood wide open. He stepped inside naturally. There was no one, but signs of habitation lingered within.
Kuang Lei, flying at extreme speed, arrived at the peak in but a breath.
He had intended to go straight to Gu Ling Mountain, but the black clouds swirling there were strange, preventing him from entering directly. That only made him more curious about whoever lived inside.
"There's actually a wild peach sapling here. If I dig it up and plant it at my home's gate, in a few years I'll have peaches to eat." Lu Ziqian ran forward excitedly toward the small tree.
A violent gust suddenly swept him off his feet, flinging him right beside Kuang Lei.
"Are you the disciple of the one who lives on the black mountain?" Kuang Lei frowned. The youth looked utterly like a mortal.
Lu Ziqian blinked in confusion, then shook his head. "Not yet..."
"Then get lost!" Kuang Lei cast him aside and extended his divine sense again. On the mountaintop hut, he sensed another presence and immediately rushed over.
Lu Ziqian sat stunned on the ground, utterly bewildered.
Kuang Lei stopped before the hut. Inside, Nie Rong had already sensed him.
Nie Rong stepped out. "You're here to take a master too?"
Kuang Lei narrowed his eyes. "So, you are the disciple of the one on the black mountain?"
Nie Rong nodded. "That's right. She is the master I seek."
Kuang Lei asked cautiously, "And your cultivation?"
To his shock, he couldn't see through Nie Rong's realm. What was more, behind the youth's form he glimpsed a faint second shadow.
Nie Rong answered thoughtfully. "I once believed I had formed a Nascent Soul. But after meeting my master, I realized it was not so. Perhaps... my true realm should only be late Golden Core."
Late Golden Core.
Nascent Soul?
Kuang Lei's pupils contracted violently. This was merely the disciple of that mysterious master, yet he already possessed such terrifying cultivation. If he truly killed the Zhou father and daughter, that hidden expert would never let him live.
The Eastern Wilderness were chaotic enough. No one in their right mind would risk provoking a Yuányīng Zhēnjūn. So be it. The plan to swallow the Biluo Sect must be abandoned. Kuang Lei was fiery by nature, but he was no fool.
"I understand. From now on, I will no longer trouble the Zhou father and daughter. This is compensation for damaging the Biluo Sect's hall. Please deliver it to that senior on my behalf. Farewell."
He tossed over a storage pouch, then vanished in a flash, as swiftly as he had come.
Nie Rong stood holding the pouch, dazed.
Judging by his escape technique, that man was a demon cultivator. Yet since when did demon cultivators act so reasonable? And one at the Golden Core stage, no less.
A mighty one?
The Zhou family?
Biluo Sect's grand hall?
What in the world was all this?
Nie Rong gazed toward the Daoist temple atop Gu Ling Mountain. Could it be that this Fairy's abilities were far beyond his imagination?