Chapter 318: The Outer Sect's Forgotten Lackey

Heng Xian couldn't help rubbing his brow; Donglan Small City really is a backwater—his own family hadn't even heard of him.

The Fourteen Sects had put a bounty on him everywhere, yet they hadn't touched his family—that's commendable.

However, over the past few years, several nearby cities had heard rumors about him, and due to some business rivalry with his father, they teamed up to suppress Donglan Small City.

Looks like the Heng family is still as useless as ever!

What surprised Heng Xian even more was that the Sun family—the sole survivors of the War of Exterminating Heng, Sun Bufan's clan—would actually side with outsiders??

He thought he should find time to go back and look, but lately he couldn't—cultivation comes first!

In this world, without cultivation, nothing gets done!

After reading the last character, he put away the letter, looked up, and realized he'd taken a wrong turn, ending up in a slum-like area.

Two rows of blue-clad outer sect disciples, seeing his true transmission disciple uniform, stood respectfully to the sides, some even humbly, waiting for him to pass first.

Even the usually arrogant blue-clad stewards immediately switched to fawning, respectful smiles, bending their waists and standing to the side.

Full of market-town vibe!

Actually, speaking seriously, the outer sect isn't just market-town; it's also martial-world, completely lacking the grandeur outsiders imagine for immortal mountain sect disciples.

Put bluntly, these people are just doing odd jobs for the sect!

Heng Xian nodded, about to leave, when suddenly he heard a miserable cry from a nearby low room; he instinctively looked over and asked casually, "What's going on?"

A blue-clad steward with a bitter face replied, "Um, this… senior brother, there are tens of thousands of outer sect disciples, all backed by true transmission and inner sect disciples; we don't dare meddle, so we don't know!"

Heng Xian simply ignored them, swept the area with his spiritual sense, and upon seeing, his expression slightly changed.

In the dark, damp room, a spirit fire lamp burned; under its light, a man and a woman were bound to the pillars, their bodies covered in bloody whip wounds that were shocking to see.

The ones whipping them were four gloomy-faced male and female outer sect disciples; the square-faced leader lashed them again, coldly saying, "You really have no idea of life or death!"

The man bound to the pillar lifted his head, his face swollen, teeth missing, miserable yet still gave a hollow laugh: "After all, I'm an outer sect steward—you wouldn't dare kill me!"

"Not daring?" The square-faced man stepped forward two steps, grabbed his hair, "Xing Guang, you offended Senior Brother Liu Qing, you've been stripped of your steward status, and the outer sect elders tacitly accept this."

"You're just criminal outer sect disciples now—light punishment means expulsion from the sect, heavy means death. You know, in the outer sect, ten or eight die each day, and no one cares."

"Heh…" Xing Guang spat out a mouthful of blood, calmly saying, "Would you dare let me down so I can make a trip to Bitter Willow Peak?"

The female disciple beside him also laughed, "You don't dare, do you? You're scared! We haven't followed the wrong person—Senior Brother Heng Xian has returned and seized first place on the Earth Ranking in one go; even those big figures and noble true transmission disciples on the Earth Ranking fear him threefold. What are you? Your master Liu Qing isn't even able to break into the top seventy of the Earth Ranking!"

"Bold!"

"Besides, Heng Xian has been challenged by many senior brothers and doesn't dare accept; his status as Earth Ranking first is still doubtful—what's there to show off?"

"Really asking for death!"

The four square-faced men flew into a rage, swinging their whips to strike again,

Just then, a gust of clear wind blew past, snapping the four whips at their bases and cutting a lock of hair from each person.

Immediately, that "clear wind" explosively pierced the opposite thick brick‑stone wall, leaving a conspicuous scar.

It was, shockingly, an extremely terrifying sword qi!

"Uh…"

The four square‑faced men stared blankly at their broken whips, cold sweat dripping down, slowly lifting their heads—only to see a person suddenly appear on the chair in the corner of the room.

He was very young, and his true transmission disciple uniform was dazzling!

The four hurriedly bowed and saluted, "Greetings, true transmission senior brother!"

Heng Xian coldly said, "You don't need to salute me—I'm just a doubted Earth Ranking first, unworthy of such rites!"

"Earth Ranking… first…"

The four square‑faced men's faces changed dramatically; they thumped to their knees, "Senior Brother Heng Xian, please forgive our petty offenses—we'll never dare again!"

Even if his Earth Ranking first status is doubtful, he's still a major figure on the Ranking—how much doubt can there really be?

Xing Guang and the female disciple also turned their heads, eyes instantly welling with hot tears: "Senior Brother Heng!"

Heng Xian looked at Xing Guang and suddenly recalled what he'd said a few years ago when he'd gathered a bunch of people to invite him for a meal, wanting to follow him: "We all believe you'll have limitless future; following you, we hope to gain a thread of opportunity!"

"Opportunity?"

With a casual wave, sword qi howled, circled a few times, cut the ropes binding the two, then he asked, "What's going on?"

Xing Guang, his teeth missing, stammered, "Senior Brother Heng, back when we were in the sect, the eight of us were doing fine; later you were mistakenly labeled a demonic traitor, and that Senior Brother Liu Qing has been targeting us ever since—over these years, six of the eight have been killed, leaving just the two of us!"

"Not long ago we heard you'd returned and tried to find you, but these people caught us, beating us daily; if we hadn't deceived them by saying you were looking for us, we'd probably be dead by now!"

After speaking, the two staggered to their knees and burst into tears.

Heng Xian rubbed his brow, looking at the four trembling square‑faced men—none were beyond the third or fourth layer of Qi Condensation, their aura a chaotic mess; such people weren't worth his anger, so he coldly said, "Have Liu Qing come see me!"

That was an order, not a request.

The square‑faced man shuddered, said "Yes," and hurriedly got up and left.

Xing Guang and the female disciple still lay on the ground, fearful and anxious, blood from their whip wounds dripping steadily.

Heng Xian produced two bottles of pills and tossed them over: "One bottle of topical medicine for bruises and injuries, one bottle of internal pills!"

Their faces lit up; they took the bottles and thanked him repeatedly.

Heng Xian said nothing more, closed his eyes to rest his spirit.

Not long after, a tearing sound came from outside, followed by footsteps; two people entered—none other than Liu Qing, dressed like a square‑faced man and a young master.

Seeing Heng Xian seated in the corner, Liu Qing's expression grew somewhat tense; he forced composure, hurried forward, and bowed deeply: "Liu Qing greets Junior Brother Heng!"

No sooner had his words fallen than he felt his body sink, a heavy pressure weighing on his shoulders, and he involuntarily thumped to his knees.

The pressure of the Primordial Dan Realm!

Like a great mountain!

"Creak…"

Liu Qing's bones creaked throughout his body; he struggled to lift his head, eyes blood‑red, face pallid, whispering, "Heng… Heng Junior Brother… spare me… once!"

Not far behind, the four square‑faced men and Xing Guang had their pupils constrict, faces full of shock, their emotions growing more complex to the extreme.

Formerly lofty and imposing, with deep background, even an Outer Sect Elder had to give him some face—the fearsome Senior Brother Liu… this… he actually knelt in humility?

Heh…

Liu Qing lay flat on the ground, voice pained: "Heng… junior brother…"

Heng Xian asked indifferently: "Do you know why I'm looking for you?"

Liu Qing struggled to answer: "I… shouldn't… have gone after… your subordinates!"

Heng Xian said solemnly: "Whether they're your subordinates or not is irrelevant; I have no interest in your petty bullshit, but they posed no threat to you at all, yet you framed and killed them because of me! Do you want to kill me, is that it?"

As he uttered his last words, Heng Xian's voice was like a sharp sword, stabbing straight into Liu Qing's heart!

(End of chapter)