Chapter 42: Why Are You Wearing Taiyi Sect Garments?

A group of uninvited guests arrived outside the cave.

They were six young men and women, all exuding strong aura, with electric glints in their eyes, clearly among the elite of the Mortal Secret Realm.

They wore identical blue cultivation robes, each embroidered on the chest with a lifelike mysterious turtle.

"Disciple of Wan Gui Immortal Island?"

The celestial crane recognized their origins from the markings on the six, identifying them as belonging to one of the Ten Daoist Gates.

Its eyes rolled, it lifted its head and chest, and shouted, "Hey, my master is a true-transmission disciple of the Taiyi Sect, currently cultivating inside the cave. If you disturb him, beware his wrath—he will slay you and report the crime to your sect!"

"What?"

"A true-transmission disciple of the Taiyi Sect!"

The young men and women paled, exchanged glances, and saw fear reflected in each other's eyes.

They had been searching nearby for traces of Bai Haichan, but sensed a fleeting surge of powerful aura here, assuming a treasure had emerged, and hurried over to investigate.

But now, the celestial crane in front declared there was a Taiyi Sect member inside the cave, instantly giving them a desire to retreat.

Even an outer disciple of the Taiyi Sect was beyond their reach, let alone a true-transmission disciple.

At that moment, they were about to slink away with their tails between their legs, daring not to claim even the finest treasure.

"Hold on!"

At that instant, among the six, a woman with a long, snow‑white neck, like a white swan holding its head high, waved her hand and stopped the other five from leaving.

"Senior Sister Bai, you?"

The five halted their steps, looking at the woman with puzzlement.

"You can see for yourselves."

Senior Sister Bai gave the five a faint smile, turned to the celestial crane, and her complexion turned cold: "Since your master is a true-transmission disciple of the Taiyi Sect, why does he bring you, his mount, along? Can't he fly on his own?"

Indeed.

Hearing this, the five showed signs of doubt.

The celestial crane was taken aback by the question.

It had originally thought that merely invoking the Taiyi Sect name and exaggerating would scare the six into a panicked retreat, never daring to disturb Chen Zheng's cultivation.

It did not expect that among them was a tough nut who could discern the truth and falsehood in its words.

Seeing the celestial crane stumped, Senior Sister Bai lifted her chin, her expression smug, and said, "You are clearly a demonic pet of some mountain Free Cultivator, masquerading under the Taiyi Sect name to deceive us, so that the rogue cultivator can monopolize the cave's treasure."

"It must be so."

"We almost fell for that demonic crane!"

The five were fully enlightened, their faces showing embarrassed anger, and their gazes toward the crane turned hostile.

Had it not been for Senior Sister Bai's wit, they would have been duped by a celestial crane.

This lowly celestial crane dared to deceive a proper disciple of Wan Gui Immortal Island.

It is utterly unreasonable!

"Hmph, you despicable, cowardly creature, kneel and confess, or have your master crawl out and surrender the treasure!"

One of the young men, his face set in fierce resolve, swiftly drew the cultivation sword at his waist and slashed at the crane's legs, intending to sever them, forcing it to kneel.

"You're courting death!"

The celestial crane, enraged, wailed loudly, flapping its wings, and charged toward the cave entrance where Chen Zheng was.

It is only equivalent to a Physical Body Eightfold warrior, nowhere near capable of withstanding the youths' weapon attacks.

It could only hope to find Chen Zheng inside the cave for rescue.

But at that moment, the celestial crane suddenly felt a gust of air surge from behind, brushing past its ear.

Pfft!

A sharp, flesh‑piercing sound rang out. The youth wielding the sword now had a blood‑filled hole in his brow, blood gushing out as he fell straight to the ground, lifeless.

"Run…"

The sudden turn of events left the young men and women stunned, all turning to stare at the cave entrance.

Their expressions then changed dramatically, terrified to the core.

Then, they all turned and fled.

The gust that struck the youth's brow had clearly come from inside the cave.

It seemed to be magical energy?

There truly was a divine cultivator inside!

They had actually offended a cultivator?

"Senior of the Taiyi Sect, I am an inner disciple of Wan Gui Immortal Island; I have dispatched my true-transmission disciple, Senior Brother Haishan, nearby—you cannot kill me…"

Senior Sister Bai reacted the quickest, fleeing faster than the others, while crushing the communication jade talisman in her grasp to send a message to her own senior brother about the Taiyi Sect true-transmission disciple's intent to kill her, all the while screaming for mercy.

Her face no longer bore the earlier haughty air, only endless terror.

This novel, you...

Your heart is filled with utmost regret.

Why did you just try to be clever and expose the celestial crane's lie?

As a result, a Death God was summoned from the cave.

Swish swish swish!

From the cave mouth, streams of air shot out, tearing through the sky, instantly catching up with the fleeing few and piercing the backs of their heads.

Especially Senior Sister Bai, whose long, snow‑white neck was sliced by the gust, sending her head soaring high while her lower body kept running.

"A bunch of paupers, not even possessing a spirit artifact."

In her dying moments, she heard a contemptuous male voice; her floating head barely turned its eyes toward the source, seeing a tall youth clad in a Bagua purple‑gold Dao robe standing at the cave entrance, snapping his fingers—as if the gust that killed her had been caused by his flick.

The young man was naturally Chen Zheng.

"Congratulations, Brother Chen on entering the Shen Tong Mi Jing, becoming a true disciple of our Yuhua Sect. In the future you'll kick the Ten Thousand Nets, punch the Hua Tian Capital, and the headmaster seat belongs to no one but you."

The immortal crane waddled over to Chen Zheng, its eyes full of flattery.

"Just knew you'd be sharp‑tongued."

Chen Zheng shook his head and laughed.

He didn't bother explaining to the immortal crane that he hadn't yet ascended to the Shen Tong Mi Jing; he leapt onto the crane's back and casually ordered, "Go, let's swing by where we killed the Taiyi Sect disciples before, pick up a few spirit tools, then return to the sect."

"As you command, my master."

The immortal crane beat its wings, rose into the air, and flew toward the direction where Chen Zheng had previously slain the horse‑faced man.

Less than a quarter hour after the man and crane departed, a sea‑blue arch of light flickered in from the far distance, cleaving the darkness and landing at the cave entrance.

In the blue glow, the silhouette of a man as slender as a spear, imposing without anger, became visible.

The man, like Senior Sister Bai and the others, wore a blue robe embroidered with a black turtle on the chest, but his cultivation was worlds apart—he was a Shen Tong cultivator.

The man swept his gaze over the six corpses on the ground, gritted his teeth and said, "Taiyi Sect, we are irreconcilable!"

Elsewhere.

Chen Zheng, riding the immortal crane, had already traveled over two hundred li, and was not far from the spot where he previously slaughtered the yaksha army and the horse‑faced man.

Upon arriving, he immediately saw four figures in the distance, all clad in Eight‑Trigrams Purple‑Gold Dao robes, their aura overbearing, clearly Taiyi Sect disciples.

The four stood on flying swords, hovering above the area, their fierce eyes scanning the ground inch by inch as if searching for something.

Chen Zheng's arrival startled them.

"You… who are you? I've never seen you before. Why are you wearing Taiyi Sect's robes?"

One of them looked over, scrutinizing Chen Zheng back and forth, his brows furrowing deeper, yet he could not figure out who the other was.

(End of chapter)