Chapter 95: Cultivators of the Central Province, You Are Too Bullying!

While waiting for the Demon Lord to finish devouring, the sulking Xianzi also returned, her expression having already returned to normal.

Ruan Xing eased the atmosphere and asked casually, "By the way, I still don't know the names of you two seniors?"

"I am Xie Feng, and she is Lingyun Xianzi," the Demon Lord said, raising an eyebrow.

The Xianzi nodded, "Shen Lingyun, of the Mysterious Grade Sect in Dongzhou."

Huh? The surname Xie? No way.

Ruan Xing was stunned for a moment, "Demon Lord, may I ask if you have any offspring?"

Xie Feng said with great interest, "Why, have you met other Demon Cultivators with the surname Xie? It's a pity, I have no offspring, and I took my master's surname. As for Demon Cultivators, the concept of passing on a lineage through children is not within our philosophy."

Ruan Xing suppressed the doubts in her heart, echoed a few words, and then let the two big shots enter her Storage Bag. "Demon Lord, Xianzi, after we leave the Secret Realm, there are elders from my Sect outside. I must trouble you two to suffer for a while in my Storage Bag. Once I find an opportunity to leave the Sect, I will let you two seniors out."

Although somewhat reluctant and dissatisfied, the two big shots knew what it meant to prioritize the situation. Although their Puppet Bodies could be controlled to not leak a single shred of yin energy, it was difficult to perfectly conceal them from the Divine Sense of Golden Core or Nascent Soul Cultivators without being detected as abnormal; it was more convenient to enter the Storage Bag.

Ruan Xing had an intuition that Xie Feng and Xie Huai might have some connection. If what Xie Huai's master said was mostly true, calculating by age, Xie Huai was very likely a descendant of Xie Feng's fellow apprentice, only Xie Huai himself knew nothing of it. He had already left and could never be seen again, so there was no way to verify it.

After putting away the Storage Bag, Ruan Xing hid it inside her dress, then found a random place to lie down and sleep.

After all... everyone's Storage Bags had been robbed, and it would seem a bit unreasonable for her to be the only one left with one. It was best to hide it; even if someone wanted to use Divine Sense to search her, they wouldn't intentionally look inside her dress.

Although she had become a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Ruan Xing had always kept the habit of sleeping. She hadn't slept since entering the Secret Realm these past few days, and she was truly mentally exhausted, so she quickly fell into a deep sleep after lying down.

I don't know how much time passed, but Ruan Xing was shaken awake, and she entered her acting state before even opening her eyes.

She alertly sat up and assumed a defensive posture, asking in panic, "Who is it?"

Only then did she discover that basically all the Cultivators in the Cave Abode had woken up. Some were sitting on the ground sighing, while others were agitated and spitting as they spoke. The one who woke her was a female Cultivator from Central Province, who said to her softly, "Don't be afraid, we should be fine now."

After the initial venting upon waking, the dozen or so Cultivators calmed down and gathered together to compare information. Ruan Xing got up and walked over with the female Cultivator.

Everyone was filled with righteous indignation and began to denounce them.

"Everyone must have been captured by that man and woman, right?"

"Yes, they covered their faces with mist to hide their appearances, but their figures always felt somewhat familiar."

"Needless to say, this Secret Realm is a private Sect Secret Realm; everyone who can enter is a fellow disciple, who wouldn't find them familiar?"

"Hmph, it's truly shameful to be in the same Sect as such people. Instead of thinking about collecting resources and finding opportunities after entering the Secret Realm, they set their sights on their own fellow disciples."

"Exactly, my Storage Bag and Dharma Artifacts are all gone, leaving me with only my Sect Jade Token. This trip to the Secret Realm was all for nothing!"

After hearing this, a Cultivator suddenly thought of something. He had checked his belongings as soon as he woke up and had seen the contents of the Jade Token, so he hurriedly reminded them: "Jade Token? Oh right, everyone, hurry and check if you have received a message from Senior Sister Fu on your Jade Tokens!"

Some Cultivators took out their Jade Tokens in confusion to check, "What message? Let me see... there really is one, I received it!"

"I received it too."

The sparse responses proved that this was indeed a mass-sent message.

"This is a message from three days ago. Senior Sister Fu said there was a change in the Secret Realm and told us to return to the Sect as soon as possible."

Cultivator A said strangely, "I didn't feel anything before looking at this message, but ever since I woke up, I've felt that my eyes are strange. The images I see are blurry and unreal. I thought my brain had been damaged from being beaten, but it turns out there's a problem with the Secret Realm."

Cultivator B looked astonished, "Can everyone see it too? I didn't dare to say anything just now."

This was the color imbalance caused by Ruan Xing taking away the Soul Nourishing Wood. Although the principle was unclear, it was the same in several simulations: once the Soul Nourishing Wood left the tree roots, the colors of the Secret Realm would become disordered, and the images seen by everyone would become eerie.

Everyone nodded in unison, and the previously irritable Cultivator took out his Sect Jade Token and said, "Since that's the case, why are we still staying here? Senior Sister Fu and those two who knocked us out have probably already left. Let's go out now and demand justice from the Elders!"

"That's right! A problem occurred in the Secret Realm, and they actually left on their own without waking us up. This is trying to kill us! I originally thought they were just crooked-minded and robbing fellow disciples, but now the problem is serious. They are vicious and ruthless enough to kill fellow disciples; they must have their cultivation crippled and be sent to the Mine!" Cultivator C said through gritted teeth.

Everyone echoed in agreement, and with a unified opinion, they all activated their Jade Tokens to return to the Sect. Ruan Xing silently followed their actions.

Several short flashes of white light appeared in succession, and the Cultivators appeared in a disheveled state at the entrance of the Sect's Secret Realm.

The Cultivator guarding the entrance saw this scene, and his expression gradually turned grave from confusion. He quietly said to the junior apprentice brother beside him, "It seems there's a problem. Go invite Elder Xu."

The junior apprentice brother went off to carry out the order, while he himself greeted them, "Fellow junior brothers and sisters, what happened to you all? It's only the ninth day, why are you coming out together so early?"

"Senior Brother!" A Nanzhou Cultivator suddenly threw himself forward in tears, "Those Central Province Cultivators, they are too bullying!"

A wave of uproar ensued.

The guarding Cultivator frowned and said in a deep voice, "What exactly happened? Tell me in detail."

Including Ruan Xing, a total of seventeen Cultivators came out, only three of whom were from Nanzhou. When they were in the Cave Abode just now, they hadn't dared to speak at all.

Only now, seeing their own Senior Brother, did they tearfully recount what had happened, finally saying, "Those from Central Province all said those two looked familiar, so they must be from Central Province. They robbed fellow disciples and deliberately prevented us from seeing the leader's message, almost letting us all die in the Secret Realm!"

"Stop, wait a moment," the guarding Cultivator said incredulously, "You said you received a message three days ago telling you to leave the Secret Realm as soon as possible?"

"Yes, that's right," the Cultivator who had stopped crying answered blankly.

This was even stranger... the guarding Cultivator said in bewilderment, "But, you are the first batch of Cultivators to leave the Secret Realm. Before you, no Cultivators had come out."

"What!?" "This, how is this possible!?"

The Cultivators who had come out were almost in an uproar.

At this moment, Elder Xu arrived.

He looked at the crowd with great majesty, and the Cultivators fell silent, not daring to act presumptuously in front of a Golden Core Elder.

"Speak."

Thus, the Nanzhou Cultivator and the guarding Cultivator reported to Elder Xu, repeating the statement from just before.

After listening, Elder Xu nodded, "It is indeed strange."

He changed his tone, "However, we cannot listen to only one side of the story. Let's do this: after the forty-five-day period is up and everyone has left the Secret Realm, we will conduct an investigation. If it is true that someone disregarded their fellow disciples and caused trouble, the Sect will certainly punish them severely. As for you, do not walk around during this time; just stay in your rooms and wait quietly."

Elder Xu gave a simple conclusion, and no one dared to object, so they all dispersed.

The Central Province Cultivators returned to their temporary residences at Elder Peak, and the Nanzhou Cultivators returned to their own dwellings.

As soon as Elder Xu returned to the Elder Hall, his face turned livid, "Tell Lu Qisheng to get over here!"

"Yes!" A disciple hurriedly ran off.

Elder Xu had been at the Xuanbing Sect in Nanzhou for forty years and had taken in a total of nine Personal Disciples.

The eldest disciple was his nephew Xu Sixi who came with him; the second disciple had already formed his Golden Core a few years ago and gone to Central Province; the third disciple was this Lu Qisheng, who was now also at Foundation Establishment Perfection and would likely form his Golden Core before long.

The fourth and fifth disciples had long since died young; the sixth disciple was that Sword Cultivator; the seventh disciple was Xiong Dacheng; the eighth and ninth disciples had only just joined the Sect a few years ago and were still at the Foundation Establishment Early-stage.

Among the three Elders, he could be considered relatively conscientious; despite having many selfish motives, he still prioritized the Sect most of the time.

The one who had just run away was the Ninth Disciple. He had run all the way here, forgetting even to fly on his sword, and found the Third Senior Brother while panting, "Third Senior Brother, Master is very angry and is calling for you."

Lu Qisheng sighed and said indifferently, "I understand."

He walked into the Elder Hall with his head lowered, and was immediately struck in the face by a wave of Spiritual Power. The force was so great that he flew directly backward and crashed into the stone pillar in front of the hall.

"You all leave." Elder Xu waved away the Eighth and Ninth Disciples, who were standing to the side, too scared to speak. The two of them hurriedly scurried out of the Elder Hall.

Lu Qisheng wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth and slowly knelt on one knee, "Master, please calm your anger."

"How do you expect me not to be angry?" Elder Xu questioned coldly. "Not only did you not stop Xu Sixi from entering the Secret Realm, but you didn't tell me until the second day after the Secret Realm opened. Now, someone is robbing fellow disciples in the Secret Realm. Even if he isn't the one doing the robbing, once the Secret Realm ends and an investigation is held, he will be exposed for entering the Secret Realm without permission, and my old face will be completely lost! By then, I won't be able to return to the Central Province, nor will I be able to stay in Nanzhou. You tell me, what on earth is he trying to do by entering the Secret Realm!"

As for the matter of robbing fellow disciples, he believed that stinky brat Xu Sixi was capable of such a thing. Furthermore, the Sixth and Seventh Disciples were simple-minded and listened to him absolutely, and he had some sycophants around him who wanted to curry favor and become his direct disciples; it was indeed possible.

Thinking of this gave him a headache. If it weren't for the fact that the next generation of their Xu Family only had Xu Sixi as a descendant with decent Spirit Bone aptitude, he would have long since stopped cleaning up after this nephew. A Cultivator, spending his days obsessed with speculative business deals—he had pretended not to see the Pill selling for thirty years, thinking that once he reached the Golden Core stage, he wouldn't be so immature anymore. He hadn't expected him to cause so much trouble now.

Lu Qisheng kept his head low, his voice calm, "Senior Brother Xu said that an Inner Sect Disciple named Ruan Xing did not give him face and was stealing his Pill business, so he wanted to teach the other party a lesson in the Secret Realm."

"Ruan Xing?" Elder Xu pondered for a moment. The name sounded familiar; it seemed to be a disciple the Sect Master had mentioned once, saying she should be observed carefully.

The Sect Master seemed to have said that this disciple was somewhat unusual and should be observed carefully.

However, several months had passed since that disciple entered the Inner Sect, and the Sect Master still hadn't taken her as a direct disciple. It was likely that he had either forgotten or, after observing her, decided she wasn't worth the investment.

He said impatiently and angrily, "Stealing is stealing. I never supported the business of reselling Pills in the first place; it's embarrassing to talk about. Furthermore, it was his problem to begin with. If he hadn't relied on my name to monopolize the Healing Pills in the Treasure Pavilion, how could the Treasure Pavilion have run out of stock? Taking a step back, even if he wanted to deal with her, there are plenty of opportunities outside the Sect. Why did he have to run into the Secret Realm? It's truly incomprehensible."

Elder Xu paced back and forth in anger.

Lu Qisheng did not respond further.

As an elder, he could not understand Xu Sixi's state of mind. In his youth, the successive blows of being expelled from the Central Province and failing the Dao Discussion had caused Xu Sixi's state of mind to change, affecting his cultivation. But Elder Xu only provided harsh education, and Xu Sixi would never tell him about the bitterness in his heart.

Finally, Elder Xu sighed, "Forget it. I will pretend not to know about this for now. When he comes out, if nothing is found, that is naturally good. If it is discovered, I will go to the Sect Master to plead guilty and suppress the matter."

After speaking, his cold, sharp gaze swept over Lu Qisheng, "I told you to look after Xu Sixi, and this is how you look after him? Do you still want the Breaking Boundary Pill or not? Get out and reflect on yourself! I will punish you after the Secret Realm ends."

Lu Qisheng lowered his head deeply, "Yes."

There were only three Golden Core Elders in the entire Nanzhou Xuanbing Sect, so the Breaking Boundary Pill was naturally exceptionally precious. Among the Sects in Nanzhou, no one could refine a Pill like the Breaking Boundary Pill.

Every time the Golden Terrace Dao Discussion was held, the Cultivators from the Central Province who came to participate in the Secret Realm would escort one Breaking Boundary Pill to be used as the prize for the first place in the Dao Discussion. Other than that, one could only rely on the appreciation of Elders or the Sect Master to apply for one from the Sects in the Central Province on his behalf.

When Elder Xu originally left the Central Province, he had brought two with him. One was given to his Second Disciple to use, and he intended to save the other for Xu Sixi.

If Lu Qisheng wanted to break through to the Golden Core stage, he could only wait for Elder Xu to apply to the Central Province again, but he didn't know if Elder Xu had applied at all...

No one knew the reason why Elder Xu and Xu Sixi were sent to Nanzhou together back then. Had he fallen out with the Central Province? Would the Central Province withhold the Breaking Boundary Pill due to a personal grudge against Elder Xu? Would Elder Xu be unwilling to apply for the Breaking Boundary Pill for him for the sake of his own face? Lu Qisheng did not know.

He had a master, so he could not go to the Sect Master to apply. If he wanted to spend Spirit Stones to buy one, he had no connections to a Grandmaster Alchemist, and could only buy one at auctions held in major towns. He did not have that many Spirit Stones.

But... Elder Xu still had one in his possession.

Xu Sixi had only reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage after forty years, while he had already reached Foundation Establishment Perfection in twenty-seven years. How much longer did Elder Xu want him to wait? Another forty years? He did not want to wait anymore.

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