novelraw Chapter 171 : Background
Chapter 171 : Background
"This lightning tribulation is...... Second Senior Sister!"
After less than three months in seclusion, Second Senior Sister finally welcomed her grand Divine Transformation lightning tribulation.
Upon hearing this good news, Wei Hanmo came to the Lingqing Sect from afar, bringing large and small boxes with great haste. During the days after the lightning tribulation ended, he almost kept vigil day and night on the small hilltop closest to the tribulation site, eager to rush into the lightning tribulation to congratulate Tang Yanling at the first opportunity.
"Your information is quite prompt," Chu Sang teased.
Wei Hanmo modestly said, "Don't you know who I am? Where don't I have informants? Naturally, I know immediately about anything this Young Master wants to know!"
Chu Sang was surprised for a moment. Could it be? Had their Lingqing Sect's internal affairs been infiltrated by Wan Qiu Lou??!
Damn it, who's the spy?!!
Tantai Ming tried to sneak away stealthily, but was quickly caught by Chu Sang and pressed to the ground. He immediately begged for mercy with both hands, "Alright, alright, I admit it was me. I told him about Second Senior Sister's lightning tribulation. I really only told him this one thing!!!"
When they left Wan Qiu Lou last time, Wei Hanmo, relying on his sense for wealth, saw at a glance that Tantai Ming was the poorest among them. So he unhesitatingly used dirty spirit stones to tempt this slum boy, corrupting his pure heart.
Chu Sang was actually a bit guarded against this Wei Hanmo at first. After all, Second Senior Sister's special nature as a water-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root was evident. Since childhood, countless male cultivators had wanted to win her heart, but most were ill-intentioned schemers. That's why Second Senior Sister was so wary of male cultivators.
However now, Chu Sang felt that Wei Hanmo had some genuine feelings. It's easy to pretend for a while, but not easy to pretend for several years.
"Do you really like my Senior Sister that much?"
Regardless of whether the two would end up together, Chu Sang still decided to vet him on behalf of her Second Senior Sister.
"Back then, I encountered danger in the beast monster forest and almost lost my life. It was the immortal maiden who descended from the sky to save me. Jade face holding a zither, white robes whiter than snow, I will never forget that scene in my life...... From that moment, I decided that my future dao companion would only be her!" Wei Hanmo seemed to recall the scene of their reunion back then, the corners of his lips involuntarily lifting.
Everyone: "Eww~"
Wei Hanmo was speechless, "What's with those expressions?"
Tantai Ming didn't understand these matters of love and bluntly said, "You're so mushy!"
Wen Renyue: "A hero saving a beauty, even storybooks don't write like this anymore. It's so cliché."
"You......"
Wei Hanmo was furious. If it weren't for the sake of his beloved, he would have blacklisted these tactless people long ago.
After about ten days of lightning strikes, Tang Yanling's tribulation finally came to an end, and she successfully broke through to Divine Transformation. She flew down to the hilltop, cast a cleaning spell on herself, and restored her usual snow-white appearance. Seen from afar, the beauty descending from the sky truly looked like an immortal maiden coming down to the mortal world.
Chu Sang: Questioning Wei Hanmo, understanding Wei Hanmo, becoming Wei Hanmo.
Looking at Wei Hanmo beside her, he had already disappeared without a trace.
"......"
Less than half a month after Second Senior Sister's lightning tribulation, another tribulation descended. However, this time it wasn't for their Lingqing Sect, but—
"Judging by the direction, it seems to be the Eight Trigrams Sect," Chu Sang stretched her neck to look.
Mu Chihuai speculated, "It should be their sect's chief disciple, Cui Xiu, right? He's one of the most talented talisman cultivators of this generation. The last time we saw him, he was already at the peak of late Nascent Soul. He should be about ready for Divine Transformation."
He had guessed correctly.
Cui Xiu already had extremely high talent in talisman crafting. Later, after encountering the abnormal Chu Sang, he was stimulated to work even harder and more diligently. Since the end of the last sect competition, he had returned to his sect and gone into seclusion until now. He had now officially broken through the bottleneck and welcomed his Divine Transformation lightning tribulation.
Chu Sang thought the successive lightning tribulations in just a few short months were outrageous enough, but unexpectedly, after just a few days, another grand lightning tribulation descended upon the cultivation world.
It was the strongest in pressure and the longest in duration among the recent tribulations.
It even slightly surpassed Big Senior Brother's Divine Transformation tribulation last time.
Chu Sang couldn't help but sigh, it seemed that not only their Lingqing Sect, but the entire cultivation world was about to be struck full of holes by lightning tribulations these few months.
This Divine Transformation lightning tribulation lasted a full month before ending.
Judging by the direction, it was the Tianyan Sect. The one who could attract such a powerful tribulation was most likely the male protagonist, Mo Qingchen.
Divine Transformation lightning tribulation at twenty-one, the youngest Divine Transformation stage cultivator in the history of the cultivation world. Even counting the cultivation world from ten thousand years ago, this was absolutely unprecedented and unparalleled.
The recent spectacle had already attracted the attention and observation of various major sects and family forces.
The scene of various geniuses breaking through one after another hadn't appeared in the cultivation world for how many years?
It made the various Sect Leaders and Elders suddenly recall the legendary cultivation world from ten thousand years ago, that glorious period when geniuses emerged in great numbers. It was truly moving and inspiring.
In past years, it was already quite remarkable to have a disciple break through to Divine Transformation before fifty. This generation had so many. Could it be! Was the Spirit Abyss Continent about to return to its glory before the divine punishment?!
The knowledgeable elders of various sects also felt emotional and expectant.
"Let's go to the Tianyan Sect," Chu Sang said with bright eyes.
"Why go to that place?"
Ever since learning that Little Junior Sister had suffered greatly at the Tianyan Sect before, and with that strange female cultivator Qin Xixue, Tantai Ming now had a very bad impression of the Tianyan Sect and didn't want to go there at all.
"Mo Qingchen has broken through to Divine Transformation. It's quite impressive to break through at twenty-one. After all, we're all disciples of Immortal Sects. Let's go congratulate him."
Tantai Ming pouted, his mouth moving faster than his brain, "So what? Maybe I'll break through to Divine Transformation even earlier than him!"
"Alright, Seventh Senior Brother, I've noted it down. One million spirit stones. I believe you can do it!" Chu Sang grabbed one of his hands and gave him a one-sided high five.
Tantai Ming realized what stupid thing he had just said and wanted to slap himself, "I, I was just talking nonsense, wuwuwu!"
Chu Sang ignored Seventh Senior Brother, who was regretting the premature loss of one million spirit stones. She went to find Fourth Senior Brother. She had promised earlier to help Mo Baizhou search for the mystery of his mother's background, and it was time to fulfill that promise.
When they arrived at the Tianyan Sect, Mo Qingchen had just finished his lightning tribulation and should still be recovering. Chu Sang didn't immediately go to find him. On the way, she randomly grabbed a sect disciple and asked,
"Where is your sect's personal disciple Little Junior Sister?"
"You mean Little Junior Sister Qin Xixue?"
During the few years Chu Sang was at the Tianyan Sect, her personality was quite solitary, and she was always in seclusion cultivating. Moreover, Chang Yu had treated her as a medicine catalyst from the beginning, so naturally he didn't want too many people to know her, to avoid causing trouble for himself in the future. Therefore, almost no one in the Tianyan Sect or outside knew the Chu Sang from back then. Additionally, after several years, the young woman's appearance and temperament had changed greatly. The Tianyan Sect disciple before her just thought she was a cultivator from another Immortal Sect.
Facing a Nascent Soul cultivator, this Golden Core disciple said very respectfully, "Little Junior Sister Qin returned not long ago, but for some reason, she was confined by the Sect Leader and Elders."
"Confined again? It couldn't be another half-year confinement?"
The disciple looked surprised, "How do you know?"
Chu Sang was utterly speechless. This was truly something that dog Chang Yu would do. "Privately communicating with the demon race behind the Immortal Sects' backs, and only confined for half a year?"
"Ah? Little Junior Sister Qin privately communicated with the demon race?" The disciple was full of shock.
It seemed this matter had been suppressed by Chang Yu again.
A clear female voice came from behind. It was Lou Qing, "She went to the demon realm some time ago. The Sect Leader and Elders seem to have received some news in advance. After she returned, they confined her. However, they announced externally that she had gone to the demon realm on Elder Chang Yu's orders to collect demon flowers and herbs."
But if it was really to collect demon flowers and herbs, why confine her for half a year?
This attempt to cover up was only to prevent the true news from spreading and damaging the Tianyan Sect's reputation.
Tianyan Sect disciples naturally maintained the sect's reputation externally, but internally, they had of course already discussed this matter.
Lou Qing had long known Qin Xixue's nature. When she heard the news, she had guessed seven or eight tenths of it. That girl had probably sneaked off to the demon realm to find someone again.
"By the way, what are you doing at the Tianyan Sect?" Lou Qing walked over and looked at the two of them.
Chu Sang: "Looking for Mo Qingchen. Didn't he just go through his Divine Transformation lightning tribulation? I brought some supplements to congratulate him."
Lou Qing's mouth twitched. Big Senior Brother had just finished his lightning tribulation, not returned from confinement after childbirth. How could cultivators be so delicate as to need supplements?
She raised her eyelids and said bluntly, "You have something to ask of him, right? Want to find Big Senior Brother?"
Chu Sang liked talking to straightforward people.
"Big Senior Brother just returned to his courtyard. I'll take you to find him."
After arriving at the personal disciples' courtyard, before Lou Qing could stop Chu Sang, she went forward and knocked on the door.
At this hour, Mo Qingchen thought it was the two male cultivators from the nearby courtyard coming over for something. Without thinking much, he opened the door. He was stunned for a moment when he saw it was Chu Sang. He was about to rest and was still wearing white undergarments.
Before Chu Sang could greet him, the door in front of her "bang!" closed again. After a few breaths, there came the rustling sound of clothes rubbing against each other. The door opened again, and Mo Qingchen had changed into a black Daoist robe.
He frowned slightly, his expression hesitant, "Why have you come?"
"Of course, I came to find you for something, and to congratulate you on breaking through to Divine Transformation." Chu Sang always had plenty of sincerity when asking people for favors.
She smiled and stuffed a bottle of pills into his palm.
This was an earth-grade healing pill refined by Sixth Senior Brother, priceless in the outside world. The kind that she would hesitate to eat even one of normally. She directly gave Mo Qingchen a small bottle.
Mo Qingchen thought for a moment and accepted the pills. The corners of his lips raised slightly before being subtly pressed down. He looked at Chu Sang, and at Mo Baizhou behind her, "What's the matter?"
"Can you take us to look at the Mo family ancestral hall?"
A trace of surprise appeared on Mo Qingchen's face. He looked at the two of them again and pressed his lips together in silence.
The extermination of the Mo family had always been a great pain in Mo Qingchen's heart. Directly saying she wanted to go look at his Mo family ancestral hall probably touched on the male protagonist's pain point...... Chu Sang thought about whether she should take out another bottle of healing pills to bribe him. It would be fine if they couldn't go. Then she heard Mo Qingchen say, "Alright."
Uninhabited for over ten years and having gone through the massacre back then, coming to the now dilapidated Mo family mansion again, weeds grew among the originally neat stone paths. One could no longer see that this was once a great sword cultivator family that was powerful in the cultivation world.
Even though Mo Qingchen would come to clean up when he had time, the traces of weeds and dust still couldn't be covered up.
There was a rare, undisguisable sorrow on the young man's face.
On the night the Mo family was massacred years ago, Chu Sang happened to have snuck out to play and escaped that calamity.
When she returned late at night, the Mo family had already been slaughtered. Perhaps it was because Mo Qingchen carried the male protagonist's halo, but only he survived out of the entire family. Back then, little Chu Sang had dug through the pile of corpses for a long time before finally digging him out.
Mo Qingchen led the two to the ancestral hall.
Still dilapidated.
As soon as they entered, there was a full smell of dust.
Chu Sang cast a cleaning spell, and the three entered.
"What exactly do you two want to do?" Mo Qingchen still couldn't see through the intentions of the two coming to the Mo family ancestral hall.
Chu Sang looked at Fourth Senior Brother, who seemed lost in thought. Without disturbing him, she pulled Mo Qingchen to a corner and said mysteriously, "It's a long story, but to make it short, to be honest, I have something to tell you, something very important."
"......What is it?"
Chu Sang glanced outside, "My Fourth Senior Brother is...... a human-demon hybrid."
"Demon race?!"
Mo Qingchen's face changed drastically. He immediately drew his sword, wanting to kill Mo Baizhou.
Chu Sang's mouth twitched. Brother, did you not hear the "human" part at all?
"He's a human-demon hybrid, not a demon."
Chu Sang quickly held back Mo Qingchen, who was about to act rashly out of righteousness. Her voice lowered slightly, "Don't you want to know why the Mo family suffered retaliation from the demon race back then, resulting in the family's massacre?"
Mo Qingchen's body suddenly stiffened for a moment. His gaze fell on her face for a long time before he put away his sword. "Could it be, you know?"
"May I see the Mo family genealogy?"
Genealogies are generally not shared outside the family, but now...... it didn't mean much anymore. Mo Qingchen hesitated for a moment before taking out the genealogy from his qiankun bag. One could see that he had preserved it very well.
Chu Sang flipped through a few pages of the genealogy, turned to one page, and then handed it to Mo Baizhou. "Fourth Senior Brother, do you want to take a look too?"
Mo Baizhou took the genealogy with some confusion. Then, his gaze fell directly on three characters
—Mo Yunsu.
In his impression, he only knew that his mother's name had a "Su" character.
Mo Qingchen saw him constantly looking at that name and couldn't help saying, "This was my father's only sister, also my aunt. But I heard from my father that she passed away very young......"
"There aren't many with the surname Mo in the cultivation world," Chu Sang said.
At this point, the two basically understood something.
Mo Baizhou's face showed some surprise, his fingertips gripping slightly tighter. He had always thought that due to his human-demon hybrid nature, the "Mo" in his name was just a homophone for "demon". He had never considered this possibility.
At this point, it could basically be determined—The destruction of the Mo family and the disappearance of the Mo family head's sister were inextricably linked.
The original story naturally wouldn't write about these things.
No one knew exactly what happened back then.
However, Chu Sang, who had read no less than a hundred trashy romance novels, boldly made a guess!