247 Conclusion 2 (1/2)

Lu Sheng stared silently at the gaping pit on the ground from a distance. It was because it was simply gargantuan.

Its diameter was more than twenty meters, and the walls of the pit were as smooth as a mirror. Stone and dirt had condensed into a bizarre blackish yellow crystal under high heat.

Wisps of black smoke wafted up from within the pit.

The eyewitnesses from the Hundred Temperings Sect were talking to the investigation team formed by the upper three grades beside the pit, as if debating something.

Many people had gathered around the pit, inspecting it. Lu Sheng's gaze swept over the scene and discovered a familiar face.

It was Yan Kai, whom he had first met in the Nine Links City. This guy was pulling along a sweet-looking young lady helplessly, saying something. But the young lady's head bobbed up and down excitedly as she kept trying to dig into the crowd, completely ignoring his feelings.

As if he had detected Lu Sheng's gaze, Yan Kai glanced left and right uneasily. Then, somehow, his eyes met Lu Sheng's gaze.

Time seemed to stand still for two seconds.

A chilly shudder crept down Yan Kai's spine. Immediately, he spun round and dashed off, pulling the young lady away with him. In a few breaths, he disappeared among the throng.

”...”

Lu Sheng's smile froze awkwardly on his face. He had been about to wave at Yan Kai in greeting, but now it seemed…

Perplexed, he touched his own face. Was he that scary? He had even helped Yan Kai and his apprentice brother. But now, in the blink of an eye, he looked at him like he was looking at a ghost and even fled without a word. What was that supposed to mean?

Ignoring Yan Kai, Lu Sheng glanced at the spot where Teacher Liu Shanzi and company stood. They seemed to be discussing and explaining something about the pit to each other.

Seeing that none of them paid any attention to him, Lu Sheng drew near the pit, squatted down and pressed his hand lightly against its rim.

Hard, boiling hot, and incredibly smooth. Three sensations immediately entered his brain through his fingertips.

Lu Sheng pulled back his fingers and looked at his index finger. A faint grayish white was on it as if it had dabbed into some white ash.

The bizarre thing was that the white ash was continually being absorbed by his skin. After absorbing the white ash, his skin quickly wrinkled and lost its luster, becoming like the finger of an old man in his seventies or eighties.

”This is the power of the Time-Freezing Axe?” Lu Sheng frowned. He wished to know the extent of a Holy Weapon's power and how much difference existed between it and his own strength.

Judging based on strength alone, he was certainly no match for it. One look at the twenty-meter-wide pit in the ground was sufficient to tell that it had been caused in one strike, not multiple ones.

And even till now, there were remnants of that white powder-like trace in the pit. This trace…

'Like the shards back in the Holy Weapon pool… my physical body has no ability to resist it in the slightest.' Lu Sheng extended his fourth finger again. He channeled both Devil Qi and inner Qi to the finger simultaneously, then manipulated his finger—just the finger—into the Integrated Yin Yang mode.

His originally slender human finger turned into a frightening razor-sharp claw, covered in black armor.

While no one took notice, Lu Sheng swiftly made contact with the wall of the pit.

The amount of the white ash he touched this time was about the same as before.

He wished to see what would happen when his presently most powerful form came into contact with the remnant traces of a Holy Weapon's power.

But the result disappointed him again.

His Yin Yang Integrated finger, with both Devil Qi and inner Qi channeled into it at the same time, held on only slightly longer than before.

Previously, after touching the white dust, his finger had aged in merely five breaths. But now, it took six.

Rapidly pouring a sea of Aquarius Qi into his fingers, he healed the aged index finger and fourth finger. Because they were not merely wounded but completely aged, the process was akin to growing new limbs again; it took massive volumes of Aquarius Qi.

Lu Sheng expended a whole ten percent of his inner force to heal the fingers.

'Only a single breath's difference.' The result made his face turn ugly. 'This means that even with all my power today, I'm not much better than the average Nobleman when faced against a Holy Weapon.

Or to put it simply, before a Holy Weapon, I'm no different from any other Noblemen—we're all trash.'

This disappointed him.

He had originally been in high spirits because he was near mastering the Devil Heart Dao and the Prime Devil Secret Art. But now, he felt a heavy pressure weighing on his heart again.

'If the intruding enemies that night are able to wield Holy Weapons at will, then great trouble awaits. I've got to get ready as soon as possible.' Threatened, Lu Sheng stood up and glanced at the three first seats from the upper three grades in discussion nearby. All three of them were locked in deep frowns. Clearly, they were having a headache over the same issue.

As the leaders of this company, they would surely have guessed that Hundred Temperings Sect must have hidden many secrets from them for it to have necessitated the enemy to use a Holy Weapon.

But how would they treat the Hundred Temperings Sect and get the intelligence they wanted… that was the question.

This sect, which suffered no great losses even under a strike with a Holy Weapon, seemed to be shrouded in mysteries and enigmas.

Lu Sheng approached his teacher and the others, catching word of them discussing the Hundred Temperings Sect.

”…that second horse carriage has also always been tightly wrapped and covered. Nobody has ever come out of it. Had it not been for an ambush with a Holy Weapon this time, that pale-faced young man in the carriage might never show himself,” He Xiangzi reported seriously.

”Power sufficient to resist a Holy Weapon must at least be from another Holy Weapon as well. These two tightly shut horse carriages among the Hundred Temperings Sect's company must be hiding some huge secret. Earlier, the investigation team wanted to inspect them, but now they've changed their minds and decided not to do so. And then things have dragged on till now without a conclusion,” Zhan Kongning added on. ”After displaying such strength, I think the upper three grades sects dare not offend Hundred Temperings Sect.”

”I heard that the Hundred Temperings Sect visited the Northern Lands once a while ago. I wonder if they met some opportunity in the Northern Lands?” The Clan Master of Jade Sound Clan had arrived as well—a svelte lady in red robes, with a scarlet fan in her hand. A green leaf was embroidered on the fan, which she would use to cover her coughs every now and then. She did not seem to be in the pink of health.

”You haven't fully recovered, have you, Qing Ye? There's no need for you to come along. The radiation here is very high, it's not good for your recovery,” Liu Shanzi expressed his concern.

”It's alright.” Jade Sound Clan's Clan Master Qing Ye smiled. Behind her, Yue Shengya, Li Xiuying and other ladies followed.