Martial Cultivator

"What exactly were the contents of those two final letters?"

Although Chen Chao had already begun telling this story, Yu Xiyi still felt some confusion.

Chen Chao said, "In Chen Shi's final letter, he documented what Daoist Master Ironcloud did during those years, but he didn't clarify how he died."

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao seemed to be recalling the contents of that final letter. He then slowly continued, "In the end, he said, 'This is a place that should be destroyed...'"

Listening to these words, Yu Xiyi fell into silence as well. As the disciple of a sect, it was unlikely that no matter how hopeless he felt about his sect, he would not say something like that.

"There may still be more darkness here that I don't know about."

Yu Xiyi's expression was somewhat complicated.

Chen Chao said, "Of course, you wouldn't know."

Yu Xiyi replied, "You didn't tell me, so naturally, I wouldn't know."

Chen Chao said, "Back then, Daoist Master Green Bamboo unintentionally found a place on the Sublime Bright Mountain. That place might have been the remains of an ancient sect, but it was filled with white mist everywhere. Any cultivator who entered would lose their cultivation and become no different from an ordinary person. Moreover, the white mist would continuously invade the cultivator's body. After a certain period of time inside, they would have no choice but to leave. Otherwise, even cultivators wouldn't be able to endure it."

Yu Xiyi once again recalled the words of that boy and fell rather silent.

"But within that ancient ruins were treasures, perhaps things that didn't belong to this era."

Yu Xiyi pondered and said softly, "So, did the cultivators of the Sublime Bright Sect choose to send some youngsters who had never practiced cultivation into it for exploration?"

Chen Chao said, "You're half correct. The reason they chose those who had never practiced cultivation is because, after years of research, they concluded that youths who had never cultivated before could stay inside longer than cultivators. However, they are ordinary youths after all, they ultimately couldn't endure repeated entries into the mist. So, every once in a while, some of them would die."

Chen Chao pointed to a distant peak that obstructed their view and said, "Those who died would be buried in that place, in a large pit where countless people were buried together. Their blood and flesh mixed, their white bones intertwined, and no one can distinguish who was who."

Yu Xiyi said, "If what you say is true, then this place is truly evil and a place that should be destroyed."

Suddenly, Chen Chao spoke, "Therefore, I can answer your question now."

Yu Xiyi looked at him, silent.

"I've heard the story of that young man, but not in the final letters."

Chen Chao looked at Yu Xiyi and said with a slight smile. "That story happened to me."

Yu Xiyi came to a sudden realization, "Both of those final letters were found in that ancient ruin by you?"

Chen Chao nodded. Initially, when Daoist Master Green Bamboo was critically wounded by Sect Master Ironcloud in a sneak attack and could not escape, he had no choice but to enter that ancient ruin. Inside, he wrote down all of Daoist Master Ironcloud crimes. Of course, it was not for the sake of revenge, but in hopes that someday someone would kill Daoist Master Ironcloud and avenge him.

Therefore, he not only left that final letter but also left behind the extra key.

Daoist Master Green Bamboo was determined for revenge.

As for Chen Shi, he entered the ruins at that time merely to buy himself some time to write his final letter.

Later, when their longevity lamps went out, Daoist Master Ironcloud finally felt at ease.

Yu Xiyi said, "I heard you served as the warden in the Wei Prefecture's Tianqing County for several years."

Chen Chao replied, "It was a little over two years."

He knew what Yu Xiyi was about to say. In the eleventh year of Tianjian, Wei Prefecture experienced a great flood. He happened to be living by the Wei River, and his home was submerged, making it uninhabitable. Thus, he had to leave Wei Prefecture and come to Cang Prefecture.

It was a difficult journey as he finally ended up here.

It was not his first time coming to Rainwater Commandery, he had seen the posted notices even earlier than that boy. His journey had been more arduous, so at that time, he had no hesitation and entered the Sublime Bright Sect.

Then, he went through the same experiences as that boy.

Chen Chao continued, "Later, I left this place. Now, I'm back again."

Yu Xiyi said, "That's obviously not good for the Sublime Bright Sect."

Since he had been harmed by this sect before, what did he come back for?

Yu Xiyi understood many things now.

Chen Chao did not speak.

……

……

The news of the young daoist's death at the hands of Rainwater Commandery's warden still spread. On the mountain, all the cultivators were in an uproar. Putting aside that the Sublime Bright Sect was one of the few prominent sects of the Longevity Dao, even if it was an ordinary cultivation sect, logically speaking, it should not be something an ordinary military official of the Great Liang Dynasty would dare provoke. Moreover, if the Great Liang Dynasty truly had such backbone, why had they not appointed a new warden in after the previous Rainwater Commandery warden died in office?

As for how the previous warden of Rainwater Commandery had died, outsiders did not know. It could be summarized as simply dying while in office. But for the people of the Sublime Bright Mountain, they understood very well why that warden had died.

They had long considered Rainwater Commandery to be their Sublime Bright Mountain's private property.

But how could they have expected that the disciple most beloved by the Sect Master had met his end at the hands of the Rainwater Commandery's warden?

Nevertheless, they soon thought that once this matter blew up, that Sect Master who usually remained in seclusion all year round, would inevitably ask questions. With such a powerful cultivator in the Nepenthe Realm, everything would naturally be resolved.

"That person dares to harm our sect's disciples, he must be tortured to death. Anyway, there's that large pit at the back of the mountains, we can throw him in there when the time comes."

On the mountain, a Sublime Bright Sect disciple could not help but speak out, his voice filled with coldness, and others echoed in agreement.

"As it should be. But now that the Great Liang Dynasty has won both the literary and martial examinations at the Myriad Willow Convention, could it be that they've really harbored some idea that shouldn't have been born?"

A daoist mocked, "It's just luck. How could they dare to have any ideas? They're just a bunch of uncouth martial artists who are looked down upon by all the cultivators on the mountains. What storm could they possibly stir?"

Hearing these words, laughter immediately erupted on the mountain, echoing loudly.

A young daoist walked past this area. Hearing these voices, he frowned almost imperceptibly, then sighed sadly and said, "Junior Brother Lin was such an outstanding talent. To think he died at the hands of a barbaric martial artist, it's truly heartbreaking."

Hearing the voice, everyone turned to look and quickly paid their respects, saying, "Martial Uncle Sheng."

The young daoist in front of them was named Sheng Yingfeng, also a disciple of Daoist Master Ironcloud. Previously, that young daoist had been in the limelight, and everyone had thought he would become the next sect master of the Sublime Bright Sect. However, who could have foreseen such a day? Now that young daoist had passed away, Sheng Yingfeng had become the most likely candidate to be the next sect master.

Now that he appeared here, no one dared to be disrespectful to him.

Sheng Yingfeng said sorrowfully, "When Master exits seclusion, I will definitely seek permission and personally avenge Junior Brother Lin."

Seeing Martial Uncle Sheng so saddened in front of them, it was unclear what those daoists were thinking. But for some time, there was silence in the mountains.

This silence did not last long because soon a voice came from the mountains.

"The Sect Master has exited seclusion!"

The voice sounded somewhat excited, but more of it was still fear. The Sect Master's emergence from seclusion this time was a foregone conclusion. However, it did not necessarily mean that many daoists were looking forward to it. After all, he had a notoriously bad temper. One could even say he was cruel and ruthless. The disciples on the mountain had little admiration for him; instead, it was mostly fear. In the past, when Daoist Master Ironcloud went into seclusion, he simply stayed out of sight. They did not have to watch that sect master cultivate. It was naturally considered a relief for them. But now that Daoist Master Ironcloud was coming out of seclusion, it would be an additional dark cloud above their heads.

However, this was already the case. The daoists all bowed respectfully, lowering their heads to show their reverence for the Sect Master.

A figure slowly materialized in the distance, and Daoist Master Ironcloud appeared here.

"We pay our respects to the Sect Master!".

The daoists spoke simultaneously.

The young daoist was murdered and Huang Ye escaped, it was clear that the Sect Master had to personally resolve the matter. Regarding him being in closed-seclusion, actually, just by finding a remote location to hide away, it could also be called closed-seclusion. How could that be difficult?

It was merely his choice not to appear. If he wished to reveal himself to everyone, it was not a difficult task.

Turning his gaze towards the approaching group of yellow-purple robed daoists, Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice grew cold as he said, "Given the gravity of the situation, why did you not immediately consider killing that murderous martial artist? Is Huang Ye's whereabouts really so important?"

Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice was very cold, resembling the coldest winds on the mountains.

One of the yellow-purple robed daoists bit the bullet said, "We have already been to Rainwater Commandery, but that warden has disappeared. He seems to be heading towards our mountain."

"There's also a sword cultivator around him, his cultivation realm isn't low. I examined the dead bodies, most of our disciples were killed by an incredibly sharp flying sword piercing through their bodies. We have yet to identify which sect this sword cultivator comes from and we are still investigating."

They were cautious not because they feared that warden. Actually, that sword cultivator around Chen Chao was the existence that they were mindful of..

Everyone was aware of the incredible killing power that sword cultivators possessed. An unidentified sword cultivator was not a good thing to them.

Daoist Master Ironcloud sneered and said, "No need to search any longer, those two individuals have already arrived. They made no attempt to conceal their presence and they casually dumped the disciples guarding the mountain pass onto the side of the mountain path. What are they still afraid of? Since even they are not scared, why haven't you found and killed them yet? What are you thinking?"

"But the mountain pass protective formation was not activated. How are we supposed to find those two on the mountain?"

A yellow-purple robed daoist summoned the courage to ask, lacking in confidence.

Daoist Master Ironcloud remained silent. He just stared at that yellow-purple robed daoist and was silent for a long time.

The yellow-purpled robed daoist began to sweat profusely under the Sect Master's intense gaze.

"You good-for-nothings, someone has provoked us and come up this mountain, but none of you know where they are?"

"Could it be that two Nepenthe cultivators have come up the mountain?!"

Daoist Master Ironcloud's voice was slightly cold, making people shudder.

The yellow-purple robed daoist did not know what to say. It was just that cold sweat kept flowing down.

It was unknown how long had passed.

Suddenly, a voice sounded out from the mountain path, "Reporting to Sect Master, there's a guest coming up the mountain!"

Daoist Master Ironcloud turned to look at that daoist who came here.

If that daoist did not give him a logical answer, then he might die at the next moment. Even if he did not die, he would pay a terrible price too.

That daoist bit the bullet and said softly, "It's a guest from the Infatuation Daoist Temple."