Chapter 43: Chief Disciple Assembly

Along the way, Zhang Nuo remained preoccupied with the murderous intent Wu Min had shown him, and he kept pestering Gao Dakuan for information about her. Finally, he managed to figure out her background.

Gao Dakuan found it strange that Zhang Nuo was asking these questions, but every time he inquired, Zhang Nuo would brush him off with various vague excuses. Just as they reached the entrance of the Cave Abode, Zhang Nuo said he had other matters to attend to and did not go straight back in.

Piloting his Flying Sword, Zhang Nuo flew at a low altitude deep within the Divine Sword Mountain Range, while his consciousness searched everywhere for the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect.

After searching for an hour, the Linger Insect gave no response, and Zhang Nuo grew somewhat anxious. At his current flight speed, an hour was enough to fly over the entire Divine Sword Mountain Range, yet this circuit had yielded no information about the insect.

With his feet on the Flying Sword, Zhang Nuo's mind raced: where could this Linger Insect have gone?

"It couldn't have broken into the sect's armory again, could it!"

As soon as this thought emerged, sweat immediately broke out on Zhang Nuo's forehead. Last time, the insect had eaten many Magic Treasures in the armory, and Sect Master Sun Yiyang had searched for years without finding the culprit. Now that the matter had finally blown over, he hoped it wouldn't go and cause trouble again.

Zhang Nuo shook his head incessantly, when suddenly, a ripple of mental connection arrived!

"Hm?"

This mental ripple was very familiar; it was clearly from the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect, but why hadn't it appeared when he searched for it just moments ago?

With a shift of his Divine Sense, Zhang Nuo flew toward the direction of the Linger Insect. Before long, in the depths of the dense forest, a golden light slowly rose from a spot on the ground. That familiar radiance was indeed the Linger Insect's.

The Linger Insect flew unsteadily, like a drunken person. Zhang Nuo steered his Flying Sword close to it, then opened his palm to let it land on his hand.

The moment it landed, Zhang Nuo felt an extremely heavy force pressing down on his palm, and he was slightly alarmed. No matter how much the Linger Insect had eaten before, it had never increased the weight of its own body, so why was it like this now?

A thread of mental connection was slowly transmitted to the Linger Insect.

"What is wrong with you? Why has your body become so heavy!"

The Linger Insect lazily turned its head in Zhang Nuo's palm and let out a bewildered "squeak" twice with its insect eyes.

"What!"

Zhang Nuo was stunned. The mental connection transmitted by the Linger Insect said that it had eaten a mineral vein beneath the Divine Sword Mountain Range. Because it had eaten too much this time, its body could not bear the weight, which was why its mass had increased.

A mineral vein—what kind of concept was that! Had this guy gone mad with hunger? Zhang Nuo originally wanted to ask a few more questions, but the Linger Insect had already fallen asleep in his palm. Helpless, Zhang Nuo had to place it inside his robes and fly toward his Cave Abode.

…………………………

Time is like sand in one's palm; the more you want it to pass slowly, the faster it slips away. In the blink of an eye, the date of the Chief Disciple Assembly had arrived. That morning, Lin Fan and his four disciples all rose quite early. After packing their necessary items, the five of them stood in the main hall.

Seeing each of his disciples looking spirited, Lin Fan nodded with satisfaction.

"For this Chief Disciple Assembly, I do not expect you to take a high ranking, but there is one thing you must all remember: protect yourselves well and do not allow yourselves to suffer serious injuries. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Master!"

Gao Dakuan gave an honest smile and was the first to speak.

"Don't worry, Master, we will be fine!"

Qu Yuan echoed the sentiment. Ye Linger gave a charming smile, and that was that. Only Zhang Nuo had no expression on his face, though his gaze was resolute as he looked at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan seemed not to notice this little disciple's demeanor and walked out of the Cave Abode first, with the other four following behind him.

As soon as they exited the Cave Abode, Lin Fan suddenly flicked his sleeves, and two clouds of azure mist immediately rolled out, enveloping the four disciples beside him and transforming into an azure rainbow that flew toward the Divine Sword Sect.

The flight speed of a Golden Core Cultivator's escape light was far faster than flying by piloting a Magic Treasure. In just a moment, the five of them landed on the plaza in front of the Divine Sword Sect's grand hall.

The escape light faded, revealing the four figures. Gao Dakuan and Qu Yuan were not using their master's escape light for the first time, so they were not very surprised, but Ye Linger and Zhang Nuo were different; they had not yet recovered from the speed they had just experienced.

Lin Fan looked out and saw that directly below the grand hall, the disciples of Sect Master Sun Yiyang had already arrived. Sun Yiyang stood in front of the many disciples, his white robes giving him the air of a transcendent being.

Opposite Lin Fan were the disciples brought by the Second Elder, Xiao Jingxuan. Her lineage had far fewer disciples than Sect Master Sun Yiyang's side, but their cultivation levels were not weak.

Looking to the other side, the disciples of the First Elder, Shi Liang, had yet to appear. Lin Fan calculated the time in his heart; there was still some time before the Chief Disciple Assembly began.

At this moment, Sun Yiyang and Xiao Jingxuan both looked toward Lin Fan's side, and the three of them nodded to each other in greeting, though Lin Fan's side seemed somewhat desolate due to having so few disciples.

At this time, Gao Dakuan whispered to Zhang Nuo beside him:

"Do you see that young man standing next to the Sect Master?"

Zhang Nuo followed his senior brother's direction and looked toward Sun Yiyang's side. Indeed, there was a youth in his twenties standing quietly beside Sun Yiyang. The youth was also dressed in white robes, with two Storage Bags hanging from his waist, possessing a certain air of authority.

"He is the focal point of this Chief Disciple Assembly, Wu Hao! His cultivation has already reached the Foundation Establishment Late Stage! Don't let his youth fool you; he is actually over a hundred years old!"

Gao Dakuan explained in a low voice to Zhang Nuo. If a person's cultivation speed is fast enough, their appearance will not be proportional to their age. Of course, the Cultivation World also has many spiritual pills and medicines for preserving one's youth, which can keep one's appearance forever young after consumption.

"Foundation Establishment Late Stage!"

Zhang Nuo felt a slight chill in his heart. No wonder his senior brother said he was the focus of this event; it seemed he truly possessed astonishing strength. Perhaps because he had been staring at Wu Hao for too long, Wu Hao now cast his gaze toward Zhang Nuo.

The moment he saw Zhang Nuo, Wu Hao was taken aback. He saw that Zhang Nuo was not very old, dressed in a pale blue robe, and looked quite refined. What Wu Hao found most strange was that Zhang Nuo had a Magic Treasure strapped to his back.

"Why does this person not put his Magic Treasure into a Storage Bag?"

Thinking this to himself, a strand of Divine Sense spread toward Zhang Nuo, but what surprised Wu Hao even more was that he was unable to see through Zhang Nuo's true cultivation level.

"Heh heh! Interesting!"

Withdrawing his Divine Sense, Wu Hao did not take the matter to heart and merely muttered a single sentence under his breath.