The time the secret realm was set to be open for was for four months in total. It would take half a month for them to travel from Zhao Tian sect to the Fantasy Sea so it would be a month for a return trip. If Chi Zhao really didn't go, he wouldn't be able to see Lin Changfeng for about half a year. He most certainly wouldn't be able to last that long.
Lin Changfeng knew this, so he got him a spot as an elder in advance. In fact, Chi Zhao could participate as a disciple, but Lin Changfeng had some other thoughts as well, so he decided on this on his own initiative.
Before long, it was the day of departure. Chi Zhao calmly packed his bags in the room. He was like a little wife, packing things in different categories and storing it in the storage ring. Lin Changfeng on the other hand had already stepped out to meet Jiye Zhenren.
For this master who he had only met once since he became his disciple, Chi Zhao almost had no impression of him. When he was done putting away everything he needed, he thought for a moment and then stood up to leave.
Xu Zhiqing would also be going to the secret realm. They were both disciples from the same sect and under the same master, so Chi Zhao wanted to ask her if she needed any help.
When Chi Zhao slowly wandered out, Lin Changfeng had already arrived at Jiye Zhenren's place of residence. Unlike how Chi Zhao had imagined the interaction between the two to be, Lin Changfeng's current expression was very serious.
Please read this from kk translates
"...One year ago, Master Huang of Taiqing Lake's disciple, Yu Mochen, suddenly disappeared after going down the mountain to train. At about the same time, several disciples from the Liyang Palace, Ning Xin sect and He Huan sect also went missing. The difference between them and junior brother Yu was that before the disciples of He Huan sect and Ning Xin sect disappeared, they either had a fierce quarrel with the colleagues or they left a letter saying that the wanted to leave the sect and travel for a while to break through their bottleneck period. If it weren't for it happening so close to junior brother Yu's disappearance, we probably wouldn't have linked their disappearances together."
Jiye Zhenren listened quietly and didn't speak.
Lin Changfeng lowered his eyes and continued.
"As of now, there are five disciples who have been reported missing. Of these five, they are all of different ages, different genders and different sects but the only thing they had in common was that they were pure Yin in nature."
Those who are pure Yin are born with heavy Yin energy and more likely to go down the evil path.
Everyone cultivated differently. Some followed the righteous path while others follow the evil path and those who followed the evil path are always inseparable from selfish and bloody carnal desires.
The people went missing, but they were unscathed. It meant the people who had taken them didn't want their life or perhaps, they didn't want their lives yet.
Although there are people from other sects among the missing, Zhao Tian sect didn't disclose the news when they first found out because they didn't know who their friend or foe was.
Huang Lin'er was one of the top cultivators in the cultivation realm. She had searched for an entire year but was unable to find her disciple. It could be seen that the person who had taken him was definitely not any random cultivator and their strength also wasn't any less than Huang Ling'er's. Furthermore, the person responsible also knew who Yu Mochen was and still dared to take him away so it meant that they didn't have Huang Ling'er in their eyes at all.
After Huang Ling'er realised this, her lungs were about to burst with anger. She had lived for thousands of years and this was her first time encountering something as infuriating as this.
Moreover, Yu Mochen and the remaining kidnapped disciples were still in the hands of that person. They didn't know when that person would do something to them so they must rescue the disciples as soon as possible.
On the surface, five people were taken but that was only what they knew, and it was very likely that there were more that they weren't aware of. It wasn't uncommon for a person to be pure Yin. Basically, one in every thousand would be pure Yin. Before one is done with their bad deed, they naturally wouldn't want to be caught so soon. If Lin Changfeng was that person, he would start with targeting the not so conspicuous cultivators first and then take the risk and move onto the cultivators with some background.
Based on this analysis, it was unknown how many people may have already been kidnapped. The last person who had disappeared was a disciple of the He Huan sect and that was seven months ago. It has now been seven months, and no one has disappeared yet. It was unknown if the person behind this nad caught news of it or if they have already captured enough people.
As early as half a year ago, several elders of the Zhao Tian sect had been investigating this incident and figuring out why they needed to capture so many people with pure Yins. There were quite a few results but there was only one that fit with the current situation.
Transfer flowers onto trees, complete change in face and identity, to take over the body of a living person.
....
When a person dies, there are many variables. Not everyone can successfully take over a body. Even if the soul wasn't scattered and could continue to survive in this world without much trouble, taking over a body wasn't so simple. To do that, one would need to pay attention to timing and fate. Without a suitable physical body, even a true immortal wouldn't not be able to occupy another person's body so easily.
In other words, to take over a body, it relied on luck. If you are lucky, you will succeed but if you are not lucky, you would either end up as a lonely, stray ghost or watch your soul slowly scatter.
That person probably discovered that they were about to die and didn't want to die so they thought of such a sinister way to continue their life.
The most frightening thing was that this method wasn't the same as taking over a body after death. Once a formation is formed and the soul exchange is done, even if you checked their spiritual platform, one wouldn't detect any trace of soul change. It was extremely seamless.
If that person really succeeded, no one would know whose body they had taken over. If the body that was chosen belonged to someone from the six major sects, they could very easily bring trouble to the cultivation realm. How good of a person could a cultivator on the evil path who is willing to trample on the lives of many innocent just to prolong their life be? The peace the sects have struggled to maintain the past 600 years may all be in vain as a result.
Fortunately, there was still time to stop it. Although they didn't know who was behind it, they were now aware of the soul exchange formation.
To activate such a formation, one would require eighty-one cultivators who are above the core formation stage and are pure Yin in nature to be sacrificed and five cultivators who are above the spirit severing stage to protect the formation. In addition to that, a body that is compatible with the formation user would be required and it would become their new body once it is successful.
In addition to these, in the eye of the formation, it was also necessary to use items carrying strong Yin and evil energy to sustain the formation.
This insidious formation was wiped out thousands of years ago by well-known sects and there are now very few records of it left. The items with strong Yin and evil energy have also been sealed in the centre of the secret realm of the Fantasy Sea.
This was the reason why Lin Changfeng had to go in person. If they weren't wrong, that person would definitely use this opportunity to steal the Three Fantasy Sea Flower that was sealed in centre of the secret realm.
Please read this from kk translates
After confirming the next step in their plan, which was a month ago, Lu Yuezhi was ordered by Lin Changfeng to secretly inform to trusted sect leaders, that is, the abbot of the Linshan School and the sect leader of the Di Chuan sect.
Hearing that someone wanted to steal the Three Fantasy Sea Flower and use it to activate a soul-exchange formation, the two of them also began to pay great attention to this matter. They soon sent their trusted disciples over to Zhao Tian sect to discuss the details and ther result of the discission was for each sect to split up. One group would disguise themselves as ordinary disciples and elders to enter the secret realm while the other group would wait for an opportunity afterwards and join them inside later.
The sects may seem united but there was in fact still some estrangement between them. If not for having insufficient manpower or the fear of something happening, Zhao Tian sect wouldn't have involved the other two sects. They however had no other option. The other party had their hands on eighty-one cultivators so they should be more cautious.
That person could be anywhere, even Zhao Tian sect wasn't safe. Lin Changfeng originally thought about leaving Chi Zhao in the sect but if Lin Changfeng, Huang Ling'er and Lu Yuezhi all left, leaving only a few elders and disciples or unknown origins behind, it was probably better to take him along. At least like this, he could watch over him all the time.
After finishing his report, Lin Changfeng paused, "Master."
Jiye Zhenren raised his eyes.
"When will master be leaving seclusion?"
Jiye Zhenren looked at him in silence. He then lowered his eyes, "This master has said that I won't leave anymore."
The cultivation realm was declining. This was something that they couldn't avoid. It was because the spiritual energy was becoming weaker and scarcer that the people of the cultivation realm finally banded together over the past six hundred years. They weren't in a position to be tossed around again and they wouldn't be able to resist another bloodbath. When it was peaceful, Lin Changfeng didn't find the workload too difficult but now he was a little overwhelmed. In the end, he was only a six-hundred-year-old cultivator in the nascent soul stage. Even at his age, he was already very powerful, but he couldn't protect the sect with just his own strength.
What's more, he now had other responsibilities. He wanted to protect his Dao companion and no longer had enough time to manage the sect side of things.
He had managed Zhao Tian sect for six hundred years on behalf of Jiye Zhenren. It was time for him to return that responsibility back.
Jiye Zhenren had said six hundred years ago that he wouldn't leave seclusion again, but Lin Changfeng had thought that after six hundred years, perhaps Jiye Zhenren's thoughts may have changed a little. Didn't he care about the sect and the cultivation realm a lot? Now that the cultivation realm needed him, why was he still reluctant to come out?
Faced with Lin Changfeng's slightly puzzled gaze, Jiye Zhenren faintly raised the corners of his lips, "Changfeng, you can already do your own thing. Perhaps you may not be strong enough now, but in the days to come you will become stronger and stronger. I have never been suitable for being a sect leader, that position should be yours."
Lin Changfeng was shocked, "Master——–"
He had just hoped that Jiye Zhenren would leave seclusion but Jiye Zhenren had actually given him the sect leader position. He even directly handed over the Chaoyun Order which symbolised the sect leader's power. Looking at the Chao Yun Order in Lin Changfeng's hand, Jiye Zhenren revealed another faint smile.
Lin Changfeng furrowed his brows slightly. Jiye Zhenren didn't use to smile much but in the past few years, ever since Chi Zhao appeared, Jiye Zhenren had started smiling more and even started to speak more. Lin Changfeng's heart sank. He suddenly raised his head and closely scrutinised Jiye Zhenren's appearance.
It was no different from six hundred years ago, he was still the same.
But why did he feel that Jiye Zhenren was preparing himself for death?
This strange feeling made him uneasy. He couldn't ask because Jiye Zhenren had already waved his hand to let him leave.
Before leaving, Lin Changfeng glanced back. Jiye Zhenren still looked cold and distant. He tilted his head slightly and looked out a wooden window not far from him. That window faced the cliff and it also faced the forbidden area at the base of the cliff.
Lin Changfeng pursed his lips. He tightened his grasp around the Chao Yun Order and turned to leave.
Although the Chao Yun Order was already in his hands, Lin Changfeng didn't tell anyone about it. The words Jiye Zhenren said that day had made him uneasy. He didn't want to succeed the position of the sect leader in a situation like that. He planned to wait until the secret realm matter is settled and then talk to Jiye Zhenren again.
Compared to Lin Changfeng whose mind was filled with thoughts, Chi Zhao lived without a worry. The secret realm was on an island far, far away and in order to get there, they would need to take a fairy boat. Along the way, they had encountered all kinds of bad weather that made it difficult for them to travel through so, for an entire half month, everyone stayed on the boat without going out. There were a total of twenty eight people on the boat and only twelve were unaware the events that would happen next, including Chi Zhao.
When the weather was good, Chi Zhao would go out and look out at the sea of clouds. Among his companions, there was a young girl who would always stand on the deck with a dark expression, looking in the distance. She seemed to be very angry. He didn't know what was wrong.
Chi Zhao was not very familiar with most of the people in the sect and this was a face he hadn't seen before. He just glanced at her casually when the girl suddenly looked over and stared at him with an unkind expression.
Chi Zhao was taken aback for a moment, He looked back to make sure he was the one she was looking at and then silently took out a bag of candied spirit fruits from his storage ring.
"Want some?"
Huang Ling'er who was disguised as an ordinary disciple: "...…"
Ignorant child! How dare you ask this kind of question to this great Taiqing master?!
"Yes."