Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 1228 - 1224: Strange

After retreating three miles to a mountain peak, Chu Zhiyuan breathed a sigh of relief and stopped.

Lu Xiaolu asked softly, "Is that Evil Venerable very powerful?"

Chu Zhiyuan nodded gravely and said, "Much more powerful than imagined, probably the strongest Evil Venerable I’ve ever seen!"

Compared to the three Evil Venerables he had met before, this Evil Venerable was at least twice as strong.

Such a powerful Evil Venerable posed a tremendous threat to him.

If he encountered it alone, his three clones could naturally solve it.

But now, with Lu Xiaolu by his side, he couldn’t let the three clones appear.

"Exactly how powerful is it?" Lu Xiaolu was curious.

Chu Zhiyuan pondered.

Lu Xiaolu stared at him with unblinking bright eyes.

Chu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "Even together, we wouldn’t be a match for him."

"Even your Demon Suppressing Saber won’t work?"

"No, it won’t."

Lu Xiaolu frowned slightly, "So powerful... we can’t face him head-on then?"

Chu Zhiyuan replied, "It’s best to watch from afar and not get too close."

"...Otherwise, should we have Senior Sister bring others over to deal with this Evil Venerable together?"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

"Even if Senior Sister and the others acted together, they couldn’t deal with him?"

"The Evil Venerable’s cultivation technique is different from ours, simply outnumbering doesn’t work." Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

When he acted with his three clones, it was because each had strong cultivation, aided by spiritual treasures and countering secret techniques, not merely adding numbers.

"Even if Senior Sister and others come, it’s useless?"

"Senior Sister Qi’s Bright Moon Divine Sword can pose a threat; Senior Sister Qi herself is enough, ... Senior Sister, go fetch Senior Sister Qi over here; I’ll keep watch."

"Junior Brother, you alone keeping watch..."

"With Senior Sister here, I’d be even less at ease," Chu Zhiyuan said, "I can sense danger early and retreat in time."

"...Alright then." Lu Xiaolu thought for a moment and felt it was reasonable.

Staying here herself was indeed less secure than her junior brother watching.

Thinking of this, she gritted her teeth, "I’m going, be careful."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and waved.

Lu Xiaolu turned into a wisp of light smoke and swiftly moved along the tree tops.

Chu Zhiyuan kept Insight active, keeping an eye on both Lu Xiaolu and the valley.

In the valley, a crystal-clear flying knife was attached to a tree trunk.

The valley, originally shrouded in thick smoke, was now clearly visible.

In the valley, under a statue, three people were already kneeling in front of a young man in a white robe.

"Divine Venerable!" The middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "This grudge must be avenged this time!"

"Divine Venerable!" A young man quickly said, "If this grudge is not avenged, this shame cannot be washed away; our Wanxiang Sect’s reputation will be ruined, and no one will take us seriously anymore!"

Another young man quickly nodded, "Divine Venerable, please avenge this grudge!"

The young man in the white robe coldly glanced at the three, his gaze sharp as lightning.

The three immediately hung their heads, their bodies slightly trembling.

This was a suppression that came instinctively, from the bloodline, as if they were lambs standing before a fierce tiger, involuntarily shivering.

"Hmph!" The young man in the white robe let out a cold laugh, "Utterly ridiculous!"

The three dared not speak further.

The young man in the white robe sneered, "Do you think, by leveraging the full power of the Wanxiang Sect, you can kill many City Guards and break into the Imperial City?"

The three remained silent.

The young man in the white robe snorted, "Duan Zhongqi, speak!"

The middle-aged man, Duan Zhongqi, said, "I’m afraid we can’t kill many City Guards. The current City Guard should have many elites dispatched."

"And you still want revenge?" The young man in the white robe sneered, "Or are you hoping for them all to die?"

"I wouldn’t dare!" Duan Zhongqi hurriedly said.

"Hmph, you dare quite a bit!" The young man in the white robe squinted at him.

Duan Zhongqi hung his head, "I absolutely don’t dare have such thoughts, I truly want revenge."

"Then how to avenge?" The young man in the white robe chuckled, "Do you expect me to take action?"

Duan Zhongqi said, "Divine Venerable is invincible, killing them would be a piece of cake."

"Heh heh..." The young man in the white robe suddenly let out an odd laugh.

Duan Zhongqi’s face changed slightly and he quickly bowed his head.

The other two youths bowed their heads even lower.

One of them suddenly raised his head sharply, cupped his hands, and said, "Divine Venerable, we are currently unable to seek revenge, but if we don’t, our Wanxiang Sect will never lift its head again!"

"So what if you can’t lift your head?" The young man in the white robe snorted.

The youth straightened his body, stubbornly widening his eyes, "Then we will quickly decline. If our reputation isn’t big enough, we won’t be able to attract disciples to join, and we will decline."

"Decline..." The young man in the white robe shook his head, "Your Wanxiang Sect’s foothold in the world doesn’t rely on Martial Arts or cultivation."

The young man said, "But cultivation is the foundation, everything else is just icing on the cake."

"Interesting..." The young man in the white robe smiled, "I’ve descended here and still need to clean up your mess!"

"It’s the incompetence of the disciples," said Duan Zhongqi in a deep voice.

"It may not necessarily be your incompetence." The young man in the white robe shook his head, "The blame lies with my senior brother being reckless."

The three immediately lowered their heads.

The entanglements among the Divine Venerables were not something they could casually listen to, let alone get involved in.

"Oh, my senior brother..." The young man in the white robe lightly sighed, "He was overly ambitious yet incompetent, reckless and hasty, leading to the current situation."

"..." Duan Zhongqi and the three people still kept their heads down, saying nothing, as if they had become deaf and mute.

"Enough, let’s not talk about him," the young man in the white robe said, "Do you have any news from your insiders?"

Duan Zhongqi quickly nodded, "There is news."

"What?"

"The Divine Venerable of Giant Spirit Peak seems to have been found, but no way to extract it, so they returned unsuccessfully and plan to leave this morning."

"Useless!" The young man in the white robe sneered.

"..."

"That useless person should be out by now, right?"

"Yes."

"I will personally go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple," the young man in the white robe said flatly.

Duan Zhongqi said, "Master’s personal involvement, success is guaranteed!"

"I will enter the city today," said the young man in the white robe.

"It’s currently difficult to enter the city gate," Duan Zhongqi quickly said, "Hard to sneak in."

"You all can’t get in," the young man in the white robe snorted.

"But..."

"My junior brother is also useless, didn’t fully descend, only able to exert half of his full power, and yet dares to act recklessly, totally underestimating this world’s heavens and earth!"

"..." Duan Zhongqi remained silent, pretending not to hear anything.

"Arrange for some support; I will head over now; by tomorrow morning, I must appear in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Yes."

Chu Zhiyuan heard this and fell into deep thought.

So it turns out it’s that Zhong Lingyun’s senior brother, truly a formidable person.

Saying Zhong Lingyun didn’t fully descend, according to his tone, he himself fully descended.

Thus, the power can be fully exerted, far surpassing Zhong Lingyun.

What’s curious is, is the Evil Venerable Statue being worshipped not a single Evil Venerable, but a group of Evil Venerables?

Are the Wanxiang Sect’s Evil Venerable Statues all of one person, all the same, or are there different statues?

He closed his eyes, recalling what he saw at Giant Spirit Sect and Myriad Blood Sect earlier.

Recalling the Evil Venerable Statues in their lairs.

Quickly, he could determine that they were indeed the same statue, not different faces.

Then how could two Divine Venerables descend?

What’s the mystery in this?

In the memories of three Evil Venerables, every Evil Sect here belongs to one Evil Venerable, not to all the Evil Venerables of a cliff or peak.

He again used Insight on the Evil Venerable Statue in the valley, observing its face, which was almost identical to that of the young man in the white robe.

This was even more strange.

The Evil Venerable’s descent is spiritual and of the soul, not physical, so how could it look identical to the statue?

Did they use the Wanxiang Sect’s secret technique or masks, or was there some other reason?