Chapter 648: The Startling Appearance of Elder Lu

Outside Yunzhu Ravine lies a vast sea of bamboo.

A woman clad in a green rain cape and a blue bamboo hat moves with agile grace, stepping lightly.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

In mid-air, countless bamboo spikes rain down, dense as a storm.

The woman in the rain cape strolls leisurely, darting and weaving through the bamboo storm with effortless elegance.

"Ugh!" The bamboo spirit, furious, shrieked.

Even with its low intelligence, it realized it was being toyed with by this human woman.

They had been fighting for a while; the woman could easily close the distance but never attacked it.

She let the bamboo spirit hurl flying sticks, fling bamboo-leaf daggers, thrust bamboo spikes from the ground, and rain down bamboo wood from the sky.

The woman tasted every Xie Fa of the bamboo spirit clan one by one.

"Hehe~" Zhong Ling (Ying San) flashed a mischievous smile in her large eyes, suddenly stepping forward to press close to the bamboo spirit's body.

The bamboo spirit faced a dire enemy!

Zhong Ling instead extended a Bai Xi small hand and slapped the bamboo spirit's face.

"Smack~"

This slap sounded remarkably crisp.

The bamboo spirit's head tilted sideways:???

After a brief daze, the bamboo spirit grew even angrier, chattering "Ugh, ugh" incessantly.

In an instant, it unleashed all sorts of Xie Fa, frantically attacking Zhong Ling.

Satisfied in her heart, Zhong Ling continued training her movement technique amidst the heavy bamboo rain.

Sniff~

Moments later, just as Zhong Ling lunged forward, she suddenly twitched her nose.

Amidst the endless fragrance of bamboo, she actually smelled a wisp of floral scent?

"Ugh!" Seeing the enemy distracted, the bamboo spirit's eyes flashed with malice, and it brought its bamboo stick down with a fierce chop.

"Smack!"

Zhong Ling casually grasped the bamboo stick, twitched her nose again, and turned her head back with a suspicious expression.

"Ugh! Ugh!!" The bamboo spirit, frantic with rage, yanked hard on the bamboo stick.

Yet it could not retrieve it at all.

Both the human and the demon were at the Jiang Jing realm, but the demonic creature, made entirely of bamboo and wood, possessed far too low physical strength.

How weak was this clan's power?

With a casual pull, Zhong Ling sent the bamboo spirit stumbling and tumbling into her embrace.

Without even turning her head, Zhong Ling loosely clenched one hand and thrust it toward the bamboo spirit's face.

"Whoosh!"

The divine weapon—a black obsidian dagger—clinging to her thigh shot out rapidly, seized by its master at the last moment, and shattered the bamboo spirit's face.

"Crack!"

The bamboo tore apart, emitting a crisp sound.

Zhong Ling turned around and gazed at a cluster of bamboo and wood: "May I ask, is the visitor Elder Lu Yuan?"

"Oh?" A surprised voice came from behind the bamboo cluster.

Zhong Ling's heart leaped with joy, and she hurriedly said, "I am Ying San, a colleague of Qin Lady Yanzhi."

From behind the cluster of bamboo and wood emerged an old man in a gray robe.

He was of medium build, around 1.7 meters tall; though his hair was white and gray, his spirit was vigorous.

Zhong Ling widened her apricot eyes and said excitedly, "It really is you, sir!"

The initial joy of the first meeting was immediately replaced by fear.

The old man radiated awe-inspiring authority without anger; waves of pressure swept down from the heavens, crushing a mere Jiang Jing cultivator until she could barely breathe.

It felt as if even her soul was trembling!

"Elder Lu, Elder Lu, greetings," Zhong Ling stepped back and said in a trembling voice.

The old man in the gray robe narrowed his eyes: "Where is Qin Lady Yanzhi?"

"He... he is looking for you. For two months, he has been searching for you everywhere in the Holy Spirit Mountain."

"Why?"

"Our Sect Master can return to the mortal world without punishment from the gods and can assist Elder Lu in some matters to fulfill his wishes." As Zhong Ling spoke, she frantically called out to Lu Ran in her mind.

"Hehe." The old man in the gray robe laughed.

Sect Master?

Truly unaware of the height of the sky and the depth of the earth.

To return to the mortal world, such lies could even be spoken.

My foolish disciple is truly confused, deceived by such inferior lies.

Sigh...

The old man in the gray robe sighed softly in his heart.

Presumably, it was because of my own obsession that my disciple also developed an obsession, wanting to fulfill a filial duty, and thus fell victim to a thief's deception.

"Huff!!"

Instantly, a phantom field of red spider lilies bloomed beneath Zhong Ling's feet.

Unlike the black spider lilies used for teleportation, this sea of spider lilies was a vivid red.

Enchanting and gorgeous.

A faint mist permeated the sea of flowers, accompanying the subtle floral scent to jointly bewitch the human heart.

Dust Shadow Divine Art · Dust Shadow Samsara!

This is an illusion technique; anyone submerged by the crimson sea of Spider Lily flowers will fall into the years of the past.

"Whoosh~"

The gray-robed elder cast his spell with extreme speed, completely without warning.

Zhong Ling similarly reacted with extraordinary swiftness, flashing away in an instant.

"Oh?" The gray-robed elder was quite surprised, watching the straw-cloaked woman vanish within the sea of flowers.

Instantaneous movement?

Where did she go?

No matter!

In front of a Dust Shadow disciple, teleportation is useless.

As early as the moment both parties exchanged words, the mark from the Dust Shadow faction had already been silently carved onto Zhong Ling's body.

"Hoo~"

The gray-robed elder flipped his palm, and a illusory black Spider Lily flower bloomed rapidly.

Seven hundred meters away, within the bamboo forest.

A straw-cloaked woman stood dazed in place with a confused expression, when suddenly a topographic map appeared above her head.

Layer upon layer of mountain peaks, rivers rushing forth.

In merely an instant, the gray-robed elder appeared beside Zhong Ling.

And at this moment, Zhong Ling—

"Uh?"

Zhong Ling's head throbbed with pain, and she covered it with one hand.

She lay sprawled across her desk, her cheek pillowed on her arm, opening her eyes in confusion to be greeted by an open window and curtains dancing in the wind.

A piece of chalk that had fallen with a 'pat' was still rolling across the desk.

"Zhong! Ling!" From the podium came the teacher's stern voice.

"Hehe!"

"Haha..." Bursts of laughter within the classroom completely awakened Zhong Ling.

Propping her elbow on the desk, she foolishly looked up.

Before she could even see the teacher, she saw her eldest sister Zhong Ya, sitting in the first row wearing a school uniform, turning around to look at her with a face full of playful reproach.

As if by muscle memory, Zhong Ling playfully stuck out her tongue and cautiously looked toward the podium.

It was just that the female teacher's face suddenly began to shift and change repeatedly.

It transformed into an old face piled with wrinkles.

It transformed into a gray-robed elder!

The environment within the classroom changed along with it; the schadenfreude-filled classmates turned into stalks of emerald green bamboo.

"Heh—" Zhong Ling gasped sharply, suddenly waking up completely.

She knew that at the very moment the gray-robed elder activated his divine art, she had already flashed away.

Yet the Heaven-grade · Dust Shadow Samsara, having merely grazed her slightly, caused her weak self to fall for it.

"S-Senior..."

Zhong Ling spoke with a trembling voice, completely unable to move.

At this moment, she had been completely enveloped by a gray illusory image of a Spider Lily flower.

Dust Shadow Divine Art · Flower Shadow Bind!

Additionally, streams of energy were injected into her body, wreaking havoc extensively, rendering her unable to cast spells.

Dust Shadow Divine Art · Flower Shadow Chaos.

As a Evil Hound disciple capable of instantaneous movement, Zhong Ling was captured just like that.

Completely helpless!

"Speak," the gray-robed elder stood before Zhong Ling, "where is Qin Lady Yanzhi?"

"He... he really is looking for you everywhere, Senior Lu! Mr. Qin has joined the Ran Sect; nowadays he is my Ran Sect's Divine General—"

The gray-robed elder remained unmoved, his slightly cloudy eyes narrowing slightly, carrying endless oppressive force as he ground down the trembling living being: "How did you capture him?"

Zhong Ling's heart convulsed violently, her face deathly pale.

"Q-Qin Lady Yanzhi has a girlfriend! The Sect Master received, received that person's request, to come to the Mountain Realm to find Qin, to take care of Qin—"

"Senior Lu." Suddenly, a young man's voice came from behind and above.

The gray-robed elder slowly turned his head and looked up, unable to help but narrow his eyes again.

Little child, truly possessing magnificent bearing!

There stood a young man hovering in mid-air, his posture heroic and tall; a set of loose black-and-gold imperial robes further accentuated his dignified and imposing manner.

At such a young age, yet possessing an aura of ruling over all under heaven.

Remarkable...

However, the young man's clothes were slightly disheveled, and his body was stained with specks of yellow sand, as if he had just left a battlefield?

Lu Ran noticed the elder's gaze, smiled apologetically, and brushed the sand and dust off his body:

"Senior, you laugh at me; this junior was just over at Ten Thousand Blades Mountain killing dogs."

"Oh?" The gray-robed elder immediately became interested.

Ten Thousand Blades Mountain is in Daxibei!

The clan of vicious dogs does indeed roam that area.

Yet the young man spoke with shameless arrogance, claiming he had just been killing dogs?

"This junior has already notified Qin Lady Yanzhi; he will be here im—" Before Lu Ran could finish, a teleportation array opened above his head, prompting him to immediately change tack and smile, "He has arrived."

The gray-robed old man couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

On one hand, he realized the straw-raincoat-clad girl likely hadn't lied to him.

On the other, he was quite astonished; this heroic and extraordinary young man before him possessed remarkable audacity, able to converse casually with a Heaven Realm expert without so much as changing expression.

As for the young man standing in midair, looking down from such a height, the gray-robed old man didn't mind.

Because there was a reason for it!

Because the Dust Shadow Yi Pai Shen Fa mostly manifests in the form of blooming flowers, which usually unfold upon the ground.

"Whoosh!!"

Energy churned as a black shadow plummeted down.

"Master!" Qin Lady Yanzhi's face first lit up with joy, followed immediately by a flurry of panicked scrambling.

How could he have known that Lu Ran was standing so high up!

Lu Yuan: "."

Lu Ran: "."

Such a vast ocean, yet what a disgraceful display!

A mere twenty or thirty meters, at most the height of a ten-story building—could that possibly cause injury?

"Master Lu!" Holding the Zhan Ye Dao, Qin Lady Yanzhi landed steadily.

The Zhan Ye Dao then slipped from his grasp and flew off to find its master.

Lu Yuan nodded gently, and the massive gray spider lily behind him vanished without a trace.

"Thump!"

Zhong Ling crashed heavily to a kneeling sit, her body trembling violently, cold sweat streaming down her forehead.

"Master Lu!" Qin Lady Yanzhi rushed forward, gripping the old man's arms with both hands, and exclaimed excitedly, "You've finally returned!"

Seeing his disciple safe and sound, a smile finally appeared on Lu Yuan's face, his words carrying a teasing tone: "It's been a few months; I heard you joined an organization?"

"Master Lu, let me introduce you: this is Lu Ran, the Lu Lu Zongzhu of Ran Sect!"

Lu Yuan lifted his gaze once more.

Lu Ran plummeted rapidly to the ground, bowing respectfully from afar: "Junior Lu Ran pays his respects to Senior Lu."

Lu Yuan nodded slightly: "You do possess somewhat of a sect master's demeanor."

"Senior overpraises me," Lu Ran replied with a smile.

Some people wear smiles on their faces while actually being terrified out of their minds!

Ever since laying eyes on Lu Yuan, Lu Ran had nearly transformed into Little Li Hua.

Even his fur was standing on end.

(End of Chapter)