novelraw Chapter 153 : I, the Heavenly Thunder Summoner!
Chapter 153 : I, the Heavenly Thunder Summoner!
Chu Sang felt like slapping herself. How could she have missed such an important detail??!
"Little Junior Sister, Little Junior Sister?" Tantai Ming saw her flickering expression and couldn't help but fearfully tug at her sleeve. Could Little Junior Sister have gone mad from too much pressure recently? Wuwu.
"What's going on?"
Tang Yanling asked with concern.
"Our plan wasn't wrong. The Myriad Stars Sect Leader did indeed gather all the suspicious disciples, and we did inspect everyone present one by one. But besides us, there were two people who weren't inspected."
"You mean, the Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader."
Si Kou Qiu, quick-witted, stood up abruptly and completed the sentence.
With these words, everyone present fell silent.
Indeed, they had only inspected the disciples present, but hadn't checked the two most respected figures.
The problem lay in their habitual thinking. Those two were the Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader, how could they possibly be connected to the mysterious person? They, as newly admitted little disciples, didn't have the guts to suspect them.
But often, the truth is the most unlikely possibility.
"Before taking action, I had covered that area with my divine sense and clearly saw it was a man's silhouette. So it couldn't be the Sect Leader, especially since she's currently pregnant... That person is very likely to be the Vice Sect Leader!" Chu Sang hit her left palm with her right fist. Call her Conan in the flesh.
Even though they didn't have complete evidence yet, it was almost certain. Although they didn't know why the Vice Sect Leader was doing this, they absolutely couldn't stand by and do nothing.
They immediately wanted to inform the Sect Leader of this matter, but unexpectedly received news that she had gone into seclusion.
"Can we see the Sect Leader? This matter is really urgent!"
The disciple said with difficulty, "You all know the Sect Leader's current situation. She's been pregnant for many days, her realm is unstable, and the ancestral worship ceremony is in half a month. Nothing can go wrong... So the Sect Leader has been in seclusion since last night. Even if you want to see her, I have no way to take you there."
"I don't know what urgent matter you have, but why not tell me first? As the Vice Sect Leader of the sect, I naturally have the authority to handle most miscellaneous matters."
A steady, deep male voice came from afar. It was none other than the Vice Sect Leader.
The moment they heard this ghostly voice, everyone's hearts sank.
Previously, when they saw the Vice Sect Leader, they didn't feel anything, and even thought he was extremely kind and generous, worthy of being the Sect Leader's right-hand man. But since guessing the Vice Sect Leader's true identity, they felt as if they had seen a ghost.
Tantai Ming was the one who could least hide his thoughts. Chu Sang inconspicuously shielded him, smiling as she said, "It's nothing, not a big deal. We've just entered the sect and are unfamiliar with some things. No need to trouble the Vice Sect Leader."
The Vice Sect Leader nodded, still with that generous and gentle demeanor. "If you encounter anything unclear in the sect, you can ask your senior brothers and sisters. If that doesn't work, you can also find me and the elders."
After saying this, he left, no different from usual.
Tantai Ming let out a heavy breath. Fortunately, Little Junior Sister had stopped him in time, otherwise he really feared that the vicious Vice Sect Leader would have seen through them.
They absolutely couldn't let the Vice Sect Leader discover their abnormality, otherwise he would definitely eliminate them first, let alone pass the trial.
"Why don't we die once more, return to the starting point and enter the sect again? Then we can tell the Sect Leader about this immediately, avoiding her seclusion time," he suggested after thinking.
Tang Yanling coughed lightly, seeming somewhat troubled. "Since this rebirth, I've found that the spiritual energy in my body has started to dissipate..."
Second Senior Sister was originally fair-skinned as snow, but now at a glance, her face was excessively pale, even her lips faintly showing a paper-like color, obviously weaker than when they first arrived.
Su Chen'an and Mu Chihuai originally didn't want to say, but now had to speak up. "I don't know if you've noticed, but each rebirth comes at a cost. With each rebirth, the dissipation of spiritual energy in the body becomes faster. If we are reborn once more, it's uncertain whether it will damage our foundations..."
Chu Sang and the other two robust sword cultivators might be less sensitive to this aspect, but the others were more sensitive to it. Especially Mu Chihuai, with his more delicate body, felt it most strongly. After this revival, it was as if half the spiritual energy in his body had been drained. He had to take several bottles of spirit-replenishing pills to barely maintain normalcy.
Not only did rebirth deplete spiritual energy, but this illusion itself also seemed to silently devour their spiritual energy and memories.
Tantai Ming's mind wasn't very sharp to begin with, and lately he had been constantly forgetting things. Although they were all trivial matters, who could guarantee that if they stayed in the secret realm for a long time and experienced several more rebirths, they wouldn't forget all their memories and remain in the illusion forever, becoming nourishment for the illusion... These were all unknown dangers.
Even if they risked another rebirth and immediately told the Sect Leader that "the Vice Sect Leader is a traitor," would the Sect Leader believe them, a group of newly admitted disciples with unclear backgrounds, over the Vice Sect Leader who had been by her side for many years?
The result was predictable.
"We'll go to the ancestral worship ceremony," Chu Sang decided definitively.
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Half a month later.
Qiu Ping kept his promise and came to find them early, bringing an unexpected piece of news.
The Sect Leader seemed to have encountered some accidents during her seclusion, so she couldn't personally attend the ancestral worship ceremony, leaving everything to the Vice Sect Leader to plan. When they heard this news, everyone was stunned. They really wanted to rush over and tell the Sect Leader not to easily trust the treacherous man by her side!!!
"Is there really no way to see the Sect Leader now?"
There was still over an hour before the competition ended.
The Vice Sect Leader's strength far surpassed theirs. Currently, apart from the Sect Leader, no one could stop him.
"Why do you want to see the Sect Leader?" Qiu Ping didn't understand why these inner disciples dared to actively seek an audience with the Sect Leader at such a crucial moment. Meeting their gazes, he felt an inexplicable sinking feeling in his heart.
His mouth moved faster than his brain, "The Sect Leader's seclusion cave is on the Western Peak, that small pavilion is quite conspicuous. But there are layers of formations set up outside the cave. Only the Sect Leader can unlock these formations, we can't get in."
"Big Senior Sister, you go with him to the ancestral worship ceremony to stop the Vice Sect Leader," Chu Sang stuck a speed talisman on herself. "I'll go find the Sect Leader."
Before Qiu Ping could react to what this meant, stop the Vice Sect Leader from doing what? Tantai Ming impetuously picked him up, "Let's go, go, go to the ancestral worship ceremony!"
This scene didn't look like they were invited, but rather like they were taking a hostage to disrupt the event, causing Qiu Ping to curse all the way, you bunch of lunatics!
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Ancestral Worship Ceremony.
Most of the elders and personal disciples had arrived, on high alert.
No one even noticed Tantai Ming and the others arriving late.
On the circular altar, complex totem patterns were engraved. If Chu Sang were here now, she would definitely recognize that these patterns were very similar to the ones she had seen on the stone tablet in the cave when she fell down the deep cliff.
The Vice Sect Leader swept his gaze over the crowd, nodding with satisfaction. He said with a smile,
"Everyone, let's begin!"
He took the lead, sending out a stream of spiritual energy that converged on a huge stone above the altar. The other elders and personal disciples also released their spiritual energy.
Dozens of streams of spiritual energy poured into the stone. The originally dark sealing stone gradually began to shimmer, revealing a hint of blue. It slowly rotated, emitting a soft blue light that covered the entire ancestral worship ceremony area.
The patterns on the stone platform were also gradually filled with this blue power, indicating that the seal was being deepened step by step.
It was about to succeed. The elders and disciples were doing their utmost to deepen the final seal, naturally not noticing that the Vice Sect Leader's eyes suddenly darkened. He abruptly withdrew the spiritual energy in his hand, and in his other hand behind his back, black ghost energy appeared, rushing towards the sealing stone with lightning speed.
"Boom!"
A flying sword came, its sword spirit materializing.
One sword strike severed the black energy.
The Vice Sect Leader's expression suddenly changed. He had waited so many years, he absolutely couldn't fail at this moment. No longer hiding his power, several streams of dense black energy burst forth, knocking back all the other elders and disciples. The ceremony was forcibly interrupted, causing them to backlash and greatly reduce their strength.
An elder with white hair angrily shouted, "Vice Sect Leader, what are you doing!?"
The Vice Sect Leader couldn't be bothered to answer these people who were about to become nourishment. His gaze turned sinister as he looked at Tantai Ming, who had just thwarted his plans. Ghost energy gathered in his palm.
He had planned for so long, and that one move would have accomplished everything! He never expected his plan to be ruined by this brat, filling him with rage!
Tantai Ming keenly sensed the fatal danger a moment before the Vice Sect Leader's enraged attack. He dodged the attack, his long sword returning to his palm, sword intent erupting.
After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, his strength had increased greatly compared to before. The sealed power of the Weeping Blood Sword would increase with his strength.
It was no exaggeration to say that he was now a minor powerhouse. Even against late Nascent Soul or half-step Divine Transformation cultivators, he had the power to fight.
Big Senior Sister clasped her hands together, and dozens of flying swords rushed forth.
Although the power of the flying swords couldn't compare to fierce swords like the Weeping Blood Sword, they had the advantage of being numerous and fast, unpredictable. The dozens of flying swords formed a new sword formation with each change in position, mainly aiming to catch the opponent off guard.
Behind them, Mu Chihuai and the others provided support. Si Kou Qiu busily threw various colored petals at them, especially ones for increasing speed and defense. Even if they were accidentally hit by an attack, they wouldn't be instantly killed.
"You few... who sent you?" The Vice Sect Leader's face darkened to the extreme.
He had thought they were just ordinary Foundation Establishment disciples and hadn't taken them seriously. He never expected that they had hidden their cultivation, and even had two quite troublesome Nascent Soul cultivators. If he had known this, he should have dealt with these troublemakers that night!!!
Although Tantai Ming and the others were doing well, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great.
After dozens of exchanges, the Vice Sect Leader completely lost patience. He tore off his disguise, and that nearly terrifying pressure directly crushed down—Unity stage?!
He had been hiding his strength all along, not late Divine Transformation stage, but Unity stage like the Sect Leader!
At Divine Transformation stage, they might have been able to struggle and survive long enough for Little Junior Sister to return, but this was Unity stage! It directly crossed two major realms, equivalent to them fighting any Sect Leader from the Eight Great Sects. This vast gap couldn't be bridged by any spirit tools or divine swords.
"Obediently accept your death!"
The Vice Sect Leader sneered, a terrifying ghost energy attack rushing forth. He thought these people would surely die, but another stream of spiritual energy collided with the ghost energy in mid-air, completely neutralizing it.
"Zong Xun, I trusted you so much, yet you betrayed the sect!"
The newcomer was none other than the Sect Leader. She was furious to the extreme, glaring at him with eyes full of hatred as if looking at a mortal enemy.
The Vice Sect Leader's face changed drastically, unable to believe it. "You... how could you possibly get in?"
He clearly...
A figure in red clothes emerged from behind the Sect Leader. It was Chu Sang, who hadn't been seen for a long time. She grinned, "You mean those trash formations you secretly set up? What a coincidence, they were broken by me, a mere Golden Core stage disciple."
This old dog was truly insidious. He had secretly tampered with the formations while the Sect Leader was in seclusion. The Sect Leader had almost gone into qi deviation because of this. Fortunately, Chu Sang arrived in time, broke the formations set by this old dog, and informed the Sect Leader of this matter.
Although the Sect Leader was single-minded in her cultivation and had an overly pure heart, she wasn't a fool. She immediately became furious and brought Chu Sang to the ancestral worship ceremony to stop the Vice Sect Leader.
"Heh, so what if you came out?"
The Vice Sect Leader sneered. He had been pretending for so many years, and today he was finally done with the act. He tore off his true face, the hideous sneer on his face making one's hair stand on end. "It's too late, you're too late!"
The Sect Leader was at the late Unity stage, more than enough to defeat him at the early Unity stage. However, as the two fought, the Sect Leader's face gradually turned pale. A trace of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, and she painfully clutched her abdomen. How could this be...
"This past year, I've been feeding you quite a few good things. I've been waiting just for today."
With all her spiritual energy dissipated, the Sect Leader was knocked to the ground by his palm.
He slowly descended to the ground, standing with his hands behind his back. His right hand transformed into a ghost claw, reaching for her abdomen. "The Ancient Spirit Clan has a special physique. If the flesh and blood of a powerful cultivator is used as a catalyst, it can nurture a spirit infant rarely seen in thousands of years."
"To obtain the child in your womb, I've gone to such lengths, even lurking in the Myriad Stars Sect for decades. But I've finally seen hope..."
"This infant will have the honor of becoming the new body for my lord's descent into the world!"
He raised his ghost hand, intending to cut open the Sect Leader's abdomen to take the infant!
At this moment, the Vice Sect Leader no longer had his usual generous appearance. Those fierce hawk-like eyes also lacked the deep affection of usual days.
So, he had been deceiving her all along... even from the beginning, his approach to her was a deliberate plan...
She had trusted him so much, even handing over all sect matters to him!
It was her own fault, bringing disaster to the sect.
The Sect Leader's heart filled with desolation, tears sliding down her cheeks. Hatred and regret stabbed into her flesh like knives. No! She absolutely wouldn't allow Zong Xun to get the child in her womb, much less let him resurrect that thing to wreak havoc! She was the Sect Leader of the Myriad Stars Sect. Even if she died, she would drag this scourge down with her!
Just as she was about to self-destruct her primordial spirit—
The clear voice of a young girl inappropriately interjected,
"Doing such an unethical thing in front of me, have you asked for my opinion?"
The Vice Sect Leader actually looked at her again, sneering, "What are you?"
"I am, without a doubt, the Heavenly Thunder Summoner." Chu Sang now held a Nascent Soul Pill in her hand, smiling provocatively. "I wonder if the Vice Sect Leader would like to try it?"