Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1161: Chapter 1157: Sowing Discord

They did not doubt Zhu Lingyun’s keen senses; since he felt something amiss, despite seeing nothing, they remained extremely alert.

They stirred their Gang Qi, forming a thin layer, as their palms gradually enlarged by a circle.

These hands were exceptionally conspicuous, as if the person had shrunk by a circle.

One glance would reveal the practice of strange palm techniques.

They slowed their pace, moving increasingly slower, walking side by side, ready to strike at any moment.

Slowly advancing forward, they finally reached the forest, the place Zhu Lingyun had indicated.

It was indeed an empty expanse; they floated down onto the clearing.

Just as they were to look around vigilantly, their expressions suddenly changed slightly as their gaze froze.

The Spirit Venerable Statue was standing right in front of them.

It was indeed their Giant Spirit Sect’s Spirit Venerable Statue.

The two instinctively bowed in respect, a habit formed over many years.

In the next moment, their brow suddenly hurt.

”Stop!” Zhu Lingyun’s voice suddenly rang out.

Immediately, their vision went black in waves, hastily looking up.

Zhu Lingyun was fighting fiercely with a middle-aged man in a blue robe.

The sword light of the blue-robed man was like lightning, swift as a thunderbolt, alarming.

Covering their brows, they found blood gushing continuously, unable to stop.

The vision turned black repeatedly.

It was as if all spiritual power was flowing out with the blood, becoming increasingly weak.

They turned to look at the statue.

But it was merely an ordinary stone statue, not the Spirit Venerable Statue.

They had been deceived!

Perhaps in the nervousness, upon suddenly seeing the statue, they instantly assumed it was the Divine Statue.

In their anger, they exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, nodded, and turned to flee.

Being in the Eighth Transition Venerable Realm, expert in tracing and Qinggong, their speed was incredibly fast; in a blink, they had escaped the forest.

Escaping to a high mountain, while their feet didn’t stop, they twisted their bodies to look back.

They saw Zhu Lingyun beginning to flee the forest, rushing in their direction.

They breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Lingyun’s Qinggong was also excellent, and he had Secret Technique to escape.

As long as not killed immediately, his life was not in danger.

They were racing furiously, occasionally turning back to look, finally dashing out a hundred miles non-stop, then finally stopped.

At this point, the three had already gathered together.

”Xiaozhu, if it weren’t for you this time, we would have lost our lives!”

”Master Sun, I just had a sudden impulse, felt like I should go over and take a look, happening to see him attacking stealthily.”

Another burly middle-aged man said, ”Did you see what the guy looked like clearly?”

”I couldn’t see clearly; although I saw his face, I just couldn’t see it clearly...”

”It should be some kind of Miracle Technique.” Sun Haoyang, whose skin was naturally dark, now even darker, said through gritted teeth, ”What kind of expert is this, exactly?”

”This guy is extremely bizarre.”

Hu Chengxiang rubbed his own brow, feeling lingering fear.

The bleeding finally stopped, but the residual damage was still there, his spirit perpetually weak and languid; he said deeply, ”This guy came silently, moving at such speed, and had this ability to hide his appearance... why would he hide his appearance?”

Sun Haoyang said, ”Doesn’t want to expose his identity... is he afraid of our revenge?”

Hu Chengxiang clapped his hands, ”If he’s from the Four Great Sects or an expert from the Court, there’s no need for such concealment!”

”...To deal with him, we’ll need more experts to come, divided into explicit and implicit groups.”

”Let’s head back first and see if there is a way to trace that guy through our injuries!”

”Yes, yes!”

”Xiaozhu, what do you think?”

”Yes.”

Zhu Lingyun nodded solemnly.

...

After resting for a while, they raced back to the Giant Spirit Sect’s Main Altar in one go.

In the valley, within the hall of Lake Heart Island, a group of Elders gathered around Hu and Sun, probing their brow one by one.

The small puncture at the brow was still there, the blood already brown, at first glance it seemed like an extra eye.

The Elders present felt chills in their hearts.

A sword had pierced here, almost a fatal blow, hanging by a thread, almost crossing the line of life and death.

”Junior Brother Sun, Junior Brother Hu, you have returned from the dead!”

”Isn’t that the truth, thanks to Xiaozhu’s cleverness!”

”Xiaozhu has quite the courage too.”

They shook their heads incessantly.

In self-examination, if it was them, seeing such a situation, they probably wouldn’t have charged forward.

Two Elders were overwhelmed; how could Zhu Lingyun, who was only in the Third Transition cultivation, possibly defeat the foe?

Even then, he still charged ahead without hesitation, to save their lives, a pure-hearted character, indeed.

Such character, could it become the Avatar of the Divine Venerable?

They vaguely sensed something inappropriate.

Sun Haoyang, his dark face stern, said, ”Sect Master, without Xiaozhu this time, we would never see our Senior Brothers again!”

Standing with his hands behind him, Zhao Ruilin looked at him coldly, ”Rash!”

Sun Haoyang, feeling indignant, said, ”We felt something wasn’t right, but without taking a closer look we fled back, really unsatisfied, changing any Senior Brother, would do the same!”

His gaze swept towards the other Elders.

An Elder said, ”Actually, there’s no need to go forward; we can watch from afar, and it requires a bit of patience.”

”Indeed, testing our patience is also good.”

”Heh, you only suggest this because you know that fellow is cunning. If you didn’t know, would you still have made the same choice as us?”

”....”

They remained silent, shaking their heads in resignation.

This was the pride of being an Elder. As the top experts, how could they flee without a fight, losing their courage at the sound of the wind?

So just as Sun Haoyang said, they would have gone forward to investigate and then fallen into the trap.

A middle-aged man asked, ”Senior Brother Hu, is this fellow’s movement technique and swordsmanship truly that astonishing?”

Hu Chengxiang’s expression was grim as he slowly said, ”I was careless, or perhaps Junior Brother Sun was careless; both are possible, yet neither of us noticed him, and by the time we realized something was wrong, we were already struck.”

A middle-aged man slowly said, ”Such a person can’t possibly be unknown, right?”

”He’s only relying on the illusion array’s power. Without the illusion array, he might not be so strong,” an Elder said with dissatisfaction.

”Can you sense his aura?” Sect Master Zhao Ruilin asked in a deep voice, ”It’s better to find out his background first. Without knowing who he is, how do we take revenge?”

Everyone shook their heads in helplessness.

”This person’s swordsmanship and aura are strange and have completely left no trace.”

They couldn’t sense any residual aura from the sword—just emptiness.

”Lingyun, what about you?” Zhao Ruilin looked at him.

”Master...” Zhu Lingyun frowned and pondered, ”That stone statue is very peculiar.”

”What’s peculiar about it?”

”A moment ago, it clearly wasn’t there,” Zhu Lingyun frowned, ”Then it suddenly appeared, as if it had always been there, and we just didn’t notice it... This isn’t an ordinary illusion array, is it?”

”Did it suddenly appear?” Zhao Ruilin asked.

”Earlier it was not there,” Zhu Lingyun said, ”If it were an ordinary illusion array, it couldn’t have fooled me. Can such an array be set up by one person?”

Hu Chengxiang coldly replied, ”There aren’t many this formidable illusion arrays in the world!”

A middle-aged man stroked his beard and pondered, ”Besides the Court, it’s probably the Wanxiang Sect... But would it be a master from the Court? Masters from the Court usually wouldn’t hide their faces... Moreover, how could the Court know about our Sect’s actions?”

Sun Haoyang said, ”Is it only the Court and Wanxiang Sect? What about the Four Great Sects? Surely other sects have illusion arrays?”

The middle-aged man shook his head, ”The Four Great Sects have sword arrays, and they should also have illusion arrays, but none can achieve this level. Only the Court and Wanxiang Sect have such powerful illusion arrays.”

Sun Haoyang asked, ”Does Wanxiang Sect have such a formidable swordsman?”

”... Hard to say.” The middle-aged man sighed, stroking his beard, ”If it truly were a master from the Court, they wouldn’t act alone; they usually attack in swarms.”

Logically speaking, it’s unlikely to be the Wanxiang Sect. After all, they are also an Evil Sect and have no conflict of interest; this time, they are rather collaborating.

But reality keeps contradicting this judgment.

”It’s probably not a master from the Court,” Sun Haoyang snorted, ”If it truly were a Court master, why would they hide their face? Afraid of being seen by us?!”

”As for the Wanxiang Sect...” Another middle-aged man hesitated: ”There are three skilled swordsmen, the most formidable being Lu Qiyuan, who fortuitously obtained a highly formidable Swordsmanship. Could it be him?”

”Then it’s him!” Sun Haoyang snorted, ”Brother Wan, have you seen him?”

”No, I’ve not seen him... This guy is a martial fanatic, practicing cultivation day and night, using murder to improve his sword skills.”

”Murder to practice sword skills... No wonder this Swordsmanship is so strange. The moment the sword emerges, I feel paralyzed, unable to move or resist, my mind completely blank.”

Hu Chengxiang slowly said, ”Were you intimidated by his murderous aura?”

”Very likely.”

”Wanxiang Sect!”

”Why not directly ask Wanxiang Sect? What if we’re mistaken?”

”Ask? They would never admit it, just as we wouldn’t if it were us.”

”What should we do then?”

Hu Chengxiang coldly said, ”Wanxiang Sect will also take action this time. While they are weak, finish them off... Once Wanxiang Sect is dealt with, we’re not afraid of him coming to us, and then we eliminate him.”

”Master Hu,” Zhu Lingyun said softly, ”What if we’re wrong? What if we’re mistaken?”

Hu Chengxiang snorted, ”If we’re wrong, then we’re wrong. We’ll let the mistake stand!”

A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

This time he narrowly escaped death, rage boiling in his chest.

This kind of rage needs bloodshed to be quenched.

Since he can’t find the person he needs to avenge, he’ll target Wanxiang Sect.

Regardless of whether Wanxiang Sect is innocent, kill first and talk later!

Zhu Lingyun hesitated and wavered.

Hu Chengxiang sighed, ”Xiaozhu, this is how the world works. Preemptive action is the best strategy. If you lose the initiative, there may be no second chance... We are not the Court, and even they won’t be as thorough as they claim, making sure to clarify everything first.”

”...Yes.” Zhu Lingyun nodded reluctantly.

Hu Chengxiang glanced at Zhao Ruilin.

Zhao Ruilin said, ”First, make sure this isn’t the Court’s scheme, right?”

Hu Chengxiang said, ”Sect Master, if it were the Court, they would simply kill us and then frame Wanxiang Sect. That’s even simpler.”

Zhao Ruilin slowly said, ”Enough, let us deal with Wanxiang Sect first then!”

He shared the same view as Hu Chengxiang: if they’re wrong, so be it. Once Wanxiang Sect is dealt with, it’s dealt with, and there’s no need for too much consideration.

As for the potential strength of Wanxiang Sect and whether engaging them would result in drastic losses, they were not worried.

They have Zhu Lingyun as their trump card, assured to annihilate Wanxiang Sect entirely.

This time, Zhu Lingyun didn’t storm into the city; hence, they’ll deal with Wanxiang Sect!

At this time, Chu Zhiyuan had already returned to the Heavenly Sword Branch, sitting on his bed.

He was quite satisfied with the performance of his clone, Zhu Lingyun.

These Elders’ discussions inadvertently revealed some important information.

They indeed have a plan and someone is organizing the ambush.

It’s true they want to enter the Imperial City.

Whether entering the city is for killing or to destroy the Court’s prestige, they didn’t elaborate much.

He speculated there might be other purposes, but there was too little information to judge.