A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 139 - 116: Exchanging Intelligence (2)

Now that she lived with Wu Yan day and night, she had grown very fond of this intelligent, sensible, diligent, and virtuous girl, and she couldn’t count how many times she sighed in private about matters concerning the two of them.

They hadn’t seen each other for several days and were very affectionate. Lin Le recounted his experiences on this trip, speaking of all the new and interesting things at Shazhou Square, which made the woman and Wu Yan exclaim repeatedly with gleaming eyes.

After chatting for a while, Lin Le wanted to take a bath and change his clothes. Wu Yan busied herself with preparing hot water, tidying clothes, and setting out bath items. If Lin Le hadn’t firmly refused, the girl might have attended to him the entire time he bathed.

Once he had finished bathing and changing, Mrs. Lin found an excuse, leaving the time and space for the two of them.

Looking into Wu Yan’s eyes, Lin Le felt very flustered. He had grown up with Wu Yan as childhood friends, and as they matured, he naturally became aware of his feelings for her. In his heart, there also blossomed a tender and youthful affection. However, now everything was different.

He had already joined the Immortal Sect; as long as his Qi Cultivation showed some results, his lifespan would greatly increase. If he could advance to the Late-Stage Qi Cultivation, he would have a life expectancy of two hundred years. Moreover, he could maintain a youthful appearance for a long time before his lifespan ended. In this way, if he were to marry a mortal woman, they might have several decades of joy, but the latter half of his life would be spent witnessing his partner age, with her body withering away and dying slowly, which would be an immense pain.

If it were such a painful experience, it would be better to cut off the feelings now.

However, whenever the cruel words were about to come out, seeing Wu Yan’s pure eyes like those of a small deer, and her pitiful expression, he couldn’t say anything.

Lin Le could only avoid it.

"Sister Yan, have you learned those words I taught you last time?" Lin Le anxiously shifted the topic.

Wu Yan happily nodded, "I’ve learned them all, plus, when you weren’t around, I also studied and read quite a few books on my own."

The two went to the study room, which was filled with various books and booklets, where Lin Le usually handled the sect’s affairs and pondered over cultivation technique secret manuals. Previously, to find something for Wu Yan to do, he suggested teaching her to read and write, and to his surprise, she learned quickly and had already mastered all the common words.

They stayed in the study room for over an hour; Lin Le taught Wu Yan some rare words, but after the long journey, feeling a bit tired, he went to rest first, leaving only Wu Yan to practice alone in the room.

After practicing for a while, Wu Yan also put down her pen. Looking at the books piled on the table and crammed into the bookshelves in disarray, she started organizing them right away. She had helped organize Lin Le’s study several times before, so she efficiently classified the various books and booklets.

At that moment, she suddenly noticed a few silk scrolls among the booklets that she hadn’t seen before.

Picking one up, Wu Yan sounded out the words on the cover: "Kun... Yuan... Chang... Chun... Gong. Kunyuan Evergreen Skill?"

With confusion and curiosity, the girl opened the silk scroll.

In the Sect Leader’s Courtyard, Lu Qian had already written two letters, intending to send them separately to the Spirit Talisman Sect and the Shahe Gang. In the letters, Lu Qian, in the capacity of the Shuangye Alliance Leader from the southern Chongming County, invited Spirit Talisman Sect Leader Yinn Hongbo and Shahe Gang Leader Han Wen for a discussion at the Xuanguang Sect’s Baojing Square.

Currently, an alliance among the five southern families had formed, leaving the Yunshan Sect without worries behind them. While the northeast two sects and northwest two sects were at daggers drawn, it was up to the Shuangye Alliance whether to befriend the neighboring northeast two sects or to contact the northwest two sects.

It all depended on how this interaction played out.

If it weren’t for the need to complete registration and cataloging within a month, Lu Qian would have preferred to stay silent and wait longer. Perhaps waiting for the Shahe Gang to make a move and for the two sides to engage in conflict before contacting them would have been more effective.

But after consulting Zhou Chao, it was clear that the Xuanguang Sect was very harsh; the Golden Core Master’s moods were unpredictable. Although he didn’t care about the life-and-death struggles of the sects in the county, if anyone violated the rules he set, the consequences were bound to be dire.

There were just over ten days left now, and the matter needed to be advanced quickly.

If the Zhou Family hadn’t declined significantly, and if the Yunshan Sect’s economic condition could reach the level of the Chaosheng Sect, the Shuangye Alliance could collectively fund and invite another Foundation Establishment Honored Guest, strengthening their position. Unfortunately, even the combined income of the five sects couldn’t cover the annual salary of a Foundation Establishment Honored Guest, so they had to abandon the idea.

Lu Qian handed the letters to the attendant disciples, instructing them to dispatch two inner sect disciples to deliver the letters and return immediately without lingering to avoid any incidents.

Meanwhile, inside the Spirit Talisman Sect’s main hall, Sect Leader Yinn Hongbo, Grand Elder Zhuang Qing, and a group of elders were listening to the disciples’ reports on the situation at the Yunshan Sect.

The journey dispatched to the Yunshan Sect’s territory had gone surprisingly smoothly, yet was unexpectedly unproductive.

The disciples encountered no obstacles along the way; not a single Yunshan Disciple was present in any of the mortal county towns. The scouts made their way to the proximity of Bichao Mountain, observing from a distance.

However, the problem was that there wasn’t a single cultivator around, leaving them with no one to gather information from. They were only able to confirm that Bichao Mountain was indeed occupied by the Yunshan Sect and that the Chaosheng Sect’s territory had been completely taken over. One disciple had a bolt of inspiration and tried to see if they could steal spirit seeds, but upon capturing several mortals, they found out the Yunshan Sect had just conducted a screening.

Having lain low near Bichao Mountain for several days and finding the entire mountain eerily quiet, save for disciples maintaining lookout vigilance from high altitudes and the operating Mountain Protection Grand Array, the scouts were left with no choice but to return empty-handed, much to Yinn Hongbo’s frustration.

He discussed with Zhuang Qing, speculating that the Yunshan Sect had just conquered the Chaosheng Sect, and with many affairs to manage, hadn’t yet stationed disciples in all directions.

Fortunately, scouts dispatched to the Zhou Family had returned successfully with plenty of intelligence.

"Sect Leader, we gathered information in the nearby marketplace and even captured two isolated cultivators who were disciples of a former vassal sect of the Zhou Family. Through some measures, we managed to pry quite a bit of useful information from them. The disciples handled the aftermath thoroughly, leaving no traces."

The scholarly looking sect leader stroked his long beard with satisfaction, "Very well, speak quickly."

As the disciple recounted their findings, piece by piece, Yinn Hongbo’s expression grew increasingly grave.

The Yunshan Sect had suddenly emerged in Chongming County as a sect. Initially, they were an ally of the Zhou Family and used certain strategies not only to lead three sects to severely damage the two vassal sects of the Chaosheng Sect but also to help the Zhou Family repel the Chaosheng Sect’s attack, thereafter residing on Lotus Peak.

Later, when the Chaosheng Sect attacked the Zhou Family once more, the Zhou Family was on the brink of destruction. The Yunshan Sect then descended like a divine weapon, rallied the remnant forces, and marched straight to Bichao Mountain, lured the Chaosheng Sect’s Foundation Establishments into a defensive retreat, and ambushed them along the way, directly killing Chang Zhang Shouchang and others.

Subsequently, the Yunshan Sect led the Zhou Family and three sects to breach Bichao Mountain, exterminating the Chaosheng Sect’s cultivators and completely destroying the Chaosheng Sect, now occupying Bichao Mountain.

And just a few days ago, the Yunshan Sect, Zhou Family, and the three sects had formed an alliance, advancing and retreating together, aiding each other, and proclaiming themselves the Shuangye Alliance.

Now the entire southern part of Chongming County had become a unified whole.

However, what astonished and angered Yinn Hongbo more was not merely this but—

"Ridiculous! How could the Yunshan Sect achieve such feats with only one Foundation Establishment? Were you deceived, or are you concocting stories to deceive me?"

The disciple was frightened, fell to his knees, and shouted, "Injustice, Sect Leader! Under harsh interrogation, we broke more than twenty of their bones; the information must be true!"

Even Zhuang Qing furrowed his brows, "It’s quite illogical for the Shuangye Alliance to currently only have one Foundation Establishment."

The disciple kept insisting that this was the information he had obtained, causing Yinn Hongbo to impatiently wave him away to leave. Behind closed doors, he proceeded to ask the elders for their opinions.

The elders had various suggestions, and finally, Zhuang Qing summarized, "After all, they only captured two ordinary disciples who might not understand the truth of the situation. Many things might have been distorted. In my view, the most likely scenario is that the Yunshan Sect is showcasing only one Foundation Establishment while actually hiding other Foundation Establishment battle forces. We must not be complacent and fall into their trap."