Vol 1 Chapter 20 (1/2)
Volume 1, Chapter 20 – Chongxuan Guided a Demon Serpent to the Cave Mansion (First)
As Chen Lan hastily ran to Lin Yuan’s residence, he happily reported, “Senior Brother Lin, I heard Grandmaster s.h.i.+ Shoujing had sent that ‘Impurity Purification Cauldron’ to Zhang Yan.”
“Oh, seriously?” Lin Yuan suddenly stood with a doubtful expression. After he saw the seriousness on Chen Lan’s complexion he looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, “Our worry was only for nothing!”
Sending the ‘Impurity Purification Cauldron’ to Zhang Yan was pretty much obvious. This was a hidden message to Zhang Yan, forcing him to accept the decree to become the sect’s warrior. Zhang Yan would not receive concocted pills and manuals. As the matter stands, the resource distribution for the outer disciples would not change and they would still receive their current income.
However, a slight regret was drawn on Chen Lan’s complexion as he said, “It’s a pity that he got the cauldron. I had heard that Grandmaster s.h.i.+ Shoujing is also an Alchemist. Many years ago he used the cauldron to concoct pills and refine ingredients for alchemy. Its effect is also on par with other tools. To think that such a rare tool was given to Zhang Yan, it’s like throwing a pearl to a swine.”
“It’s alright. The others and I are not interested in alchemy and pill concocting. We will not become the sect’s goons after all. Besides, even if he has the cauldron, it’s no use. Could he even use that to concoct pills?”
Lin Yuan was in a great mood. He naturally didn’t care about this trifling matter. He was quite disagreeable with Chen Lan’s view. What worth did that big Daoist tool have? Had he opened his meridians and entered the Upper Court, would he be lacking Radiant Cloud Sh.e.l.lfish liquid, concocted pills, and enchanted weapons to use?
He sat down again, picked up the teacup and leisurely sipped the tea. He looked at Chen Lan and let out a loud laughter, “Junior Brother Chen, have you heard that Senior Brother Zheng recently returned to the Zheng Family two days ago?”
Chen Lan was startled as he hesitatingly replied, “Senior Brother Zheng… Is he preparing to open his meridians?”
“He is.”
“Why would he choose this time?” Chen Lan felt somewhat puzzled.
Aside from Zhang Yan, the Lower Courts had 28 outer disciples. All of them were at the Primordial Qi Establishment. However, only five of them had truly reached the True Primordial Qi Establishment, being only a step away from opening their meridians.
These disciples were respectively—Zheng Xun, Lin Yuan, Chen Lan, Zhen Lun, and Hu Shengyu.
Should the ancient families’ juniors want to open their meridians, not only did they get support and protection from their elders, but they also must take a ma.s.sive amount of concocted pills and cleanse their meridians with Radiant Cloud Sh.e.l.lfish liquid.
However, those ancient families’ juniors from the beginning started to cultivate in the sect until they were ready to open their meridians and would need approximately sixteen years in average to hone their mental state and consolidate their foundation.
Chen Lan knew that Zheng Xun had been only in the sect for ten years, why would he be able to open his meridians now? This… there was something strange on this matter!
Li Yuan proudly smiled, “Of course there is a reason for this.”
“Oh, Has Senior Brother Lin heard something?” Chen Lan’s complexion changed. He knew that Lin Yuan has a senior who became an elder in the Blue Ocean Sect. He always heard some secret and unknown information.
Lin Yuan leaned forward and whispered his story, “I heard that the Upper Court had won a small victory over the Three Lake’s demons. They finally seized the Radiant Cloud Sh.e.l.lfish Field there, but they also suffered heavy casualties. Six true disciples seniors at the Radiant Qi Stage from the Upper Court were even killed when they encountered a Striped Demon Serpent.”
“True disciples died?” Chen Lan was speechless, “Was it really that bad?”
Many Upper Court’s disciples originated from ancient families, and since they entered the sect to cultivate, they could be regarded as the sect’s backbone.
Should they be able to open their meridians, they can directly become a true disciple. The sect would grant them manuals, concocted pills, Divine Sands, Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish and other resources. It was not like the constant and fierce compet.i.tion amongst disciples with lower status who had to strive hard in the outside world to do some service for the sect. Those true disciples didn’t need to struggle hard in the frontlines like before. They just needed to sit idly and enjoy the cake being baked by others for free due to their achievements.
Such powerful disciples were killed? Chen Lan was dumbfounded when he heard the news. The Three Lake’s demons had killed the Blue Ocean Sect’s disciples?
Lin Yuan let out a cold and disdaining smile, “It’s their own fault for courting their own death. Do you know what those true disciples seniors did? They heard that the old Demon Serpent Luo Mengze had a daughter known as Luo Zhenzhen. Her appearance is otherworldly stunning, she could even captivate every living being with her beauty. Those stupid disciples wanted to look at her real face, which turned out to be that Striped Demon Serpent. In the end, it cost them their lives.”
When Chen Lan heard this, a contempt-filled expression was drawn on his face, “Every cultivator painstakingly seeks the path to immortality, but they actually became so corrupted with their l.u.s.t over a mere demoness beauty? Moreover, they also died because of that demoness. They really died a worthless death, but… what does this have to do with Senior Brother Zheng?”
“One of those dead true disciples was originally a junior from the Zhang Family, Zheng Xunchuan. This is precisely why Senior Brother Zheng is being called back to inherit and take over Zheng Xunchuan’s wealth and position.” Lin Yuan’s voice carried along a trace of envy while he continued speaking.
Chen Lan let out a “hum” voice twice, “That’s true, for Senior Brother Zheng Xun, his family member had died a well-deserved death, hadn’t he?”
He knew that Lin Yuan had two older brothers in the Upper Court. As he looked at Lin Yuan’s expression now, he couldn’t help but secretly make some conjectures. After thinking about it for a moment, he immediately stood and bowed to Lin Yuan respectfully, “Since Senior Brother Zheng Xun has left, then Senior Brother Lin should become the outer disciples’ head in the Lower Court. This Junior Brother has to rely on Senior Brother’s kindness in the upcoming future.”
Lin Yuan loudly laughed with a happy expression. He helped Chen Lan up with his hand, “Junior Brother, you don’t have to be like this. You and I have a good relations.h.i.+p compared to others.”
The two people exchanged several flatterings and courtesies before sitting down again. Chen Lan then casually asked, “About this Serpent Demoness that killed our sect’s disciples, what happened to her?”
“I heard that the sect had sent Ning Chongxuan to track down and kill that Demon Serpent. However, I haven’t heard any other news about it anymore.”
“Ning Chongxuan?” Chen Lan thought for a moment to recall his memory about this person, “Rumors said that this person is outstandingly talented. He reached the Profound Light Stage at the age of 40, and only missed a step to get to the Dan Transformation Realm. Are these rumors reliable?”
Lin Yuan snorted, reb.u.t.ting, “This person, although he is powerful, he has no influential background. The sect’s core positions only belong to me and other ancient families’ disciples!”
At this time, near the Cangwu Mountain, two shadows flashed like lightning, as one shadow was chasing the other.