Chapter 77 : Everything Accounted For…
Chapter 77: Everything Accounted For…
Just as Long Tao finished speaking, Shi Manyu, who stood beside the Sect Master, stepped half a pace forward and produced a jade register from somewhere.
This was the first time Long Tao had observed the woman everyone tacitly regarded as the actual Vice Sect Master from such close range.
What stood out most was her neat, short, straight hair—completely different from other female cultivators.
Her attire was also almost entirely unadorned, giving off an efficient, capable air.
Paired with the naturally outstanding looks and bearing of a Golden Core True Person, it created a uniquely distinctive charm in this world.
Long Tao could not help thinking that if she put on a pair of glasses and changed into a secretary’s uniform, she would look exactly like a classic beautiful secretary.
“Sect Master,” Shi Manyu indeed spoke like a secretary delivering a report.
“We have already confirmed that more than half a day before the sect patrol discovered the opening of the Secret Realm entrance, this disciple Long Tao and another disciple named Dong Jiayuan had already been making large-scale purchases in the market of magical artifacts, talismans, and pills specifically meant for the Azurewood Demon Forest.
From this, it can be seen that he did indeed know about the imminent opening of the Secret Realm earlier than anyone else—at a time when the entrance itself had not yet appeared.”
After finishing her report, she stepped back to a position slightly behind the Sect Master.
However, Long Tao noticed that she smiled at him, the meaning unclear.
“Sigh… you brat.” The Sect Master let out a sigh, his tone carrying a bit of helplessness.
“After obtaining news like that from a senior who was likely a great expert, your first reaction was actually to go make a bit of money? Still, I can’t really blame you. Even if you had reported it to the sect at the time, I’m afraid no one would have believed you. But… that itinerant merchant senior—did he truly come specially to protect Nan Yuchen just because he was the so-called ‘Child of Destiny,’ and even leave the Azure Phoenix behind for him?”
“Yes. A figure of that level probably doesn’t lack this sort of spirit beast anyway.”
“Then how did you know that the Secret Realm team would choose the ‘Pitying Star’ and board the vessel in advance to carry out maintenance?”
When Long Tao had been recounting events earlier, his explanation of this part had been rather brief.
Now the Sect Master felt a hint of curiosity—could it be that this brat even knew how to divine and deduce?
“Oh, I looked through the Secret Realm archives a bit and discovered that after the sect suffered losses last time, it developed a type of coating specifically meant to resist Secret Realm spiritual energy. I then made some inquiries and learned that the coating had only been applied to two Cloud Vessels. One of them had already been sold, so I gambled that the team would definitely choose the only remaining one—the ‘Pitying Star.’”
As soon as these words were spoken, all six people present revealed expressions of surprise and amusement.
Only the Sect Master’s expression carried a trace of bitterness.
If Shi Manyu had not reminded him in time, he himself would have nearly forgotten about that coating.
Yet a mere Qi Refining disciple had thought to look up the records.
“Not bad. You’ve got some quick wits.”
After finishing his questions, the Sect Master did not say anything further for the moment.
Instead, he cupped his hands toward True Lord Luohong at the side and said:
“Sorry to trouble you, True Lord.”
Wait—what did that mean?!
Long Tao’s heart tightened.
Could it be that they were really going to have True Lord Luohong personally take action? Don’t tell him this was really going to be a soul search?!
However, True Lord Luohong did not give him any chance to speak.
He merely smiled gently and casually placed his palm on top of Long Tao’s head.
Before Long Tao could even react, the hand had already withdrawn.
The True Lord said calmly:
“Not bad. There is indeed residual Divine Soul fluctuation within this child’s body that surpasses the Nascent Soul level—at the very least, it exceeds my own. This must be the handiwork of some great expert at or above the Deification Stage. Furthermore… it appears he was forcibly pushed to the Qi-Refining Sixth Layer using the ‘Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method.’ After having his Divine Soul strengthened through the severing of the Sea Eye in his dantian, it is instead more stable than that of ordinary disciples.”
Long Tao was inwardly shocked.
As expected of True Lord Luohong—just with that brief touch, everything that should and should not have been examined had been completely laid bare.
A Nascent Soul great expert actually even knew obscure Qi Refining–stage methods like the Blood-Refining Sea-Casting Method inside and out.
“Severing the Divine Soul?! But this child’s Divine Soul seems to have no damage at all. On the contrary, it’s even stronger than that of most Foundation Establishment disciples?”
A cultivator’s Divine Soul strength varied from person to person.
Though innately powerful Divine Souls were rare, they were not unheard of, so no one had paid too much attention to Long Tao’s Divine Soul condition before.
But with True Lord Luohong’s words, everyone finally sensed something amiss.
“Oh, that was what the itinerant merchant senior said. He said that if I didn’t break through to the sixth layer, I wouldn’t be able to withstand his divine sense, so he used that… what was it called… the severing-the-Divine-Soul method to help me break through. As compensation, before leaving, he also reinforced my Divine Soul for me.”
This explanation was still a mix of truth and falsehood, pushing everything related to the System onto that fabricated “itinerant merchant.”
The group exchanged glances, seemingly communicating through sound transmission for a moment.
Then they instructed Long Tao to rest properly and departed one after another.
……
“So? What do you all think?”
“This child mostly told the truth, but when mentioning that itinerant merchant, he seemed to be holding something back… or rather, not telling the whole story.”
At this moment, True Lord Luohong spoke up:
“That’s not strange. Interacting with such a great expert is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for ordinary disciples. Having some reservations is perfectly normal. Among us cultivators, who doesn’t have a few fortuitous encounters and secrets? If everything had to be fully reported to the sect… heh, including myself, how many people here could have reached their current realm?”
As the True Lord spoke, he glanced back toward Long Tao’s room and continued:
“The fact that he could speak of most of the truth is already commendable. There’s no need to dig deeper. Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect has never reached its current standing by squeezing the opportunities of its disciples. Of course… since this involves a Deification-level senior who appeared out of nowhere, we can’t completely ignore it either. Just keep a bit of attention on the matter in the future.”
With True Lord Luohong having spoken, the other five no longer said anything more and saluted together:
“We will follow the True Lord’s arrangements.”
“Mm. Jingde, although this time we gained a huge advantage, we still lost three disciples and were even bullied all the way to our doorstep by the Wuyi Sect. This absolutely cannot be left at that. Otherwise, the sect won’t be able to account for it internally, and surrounding forces and small sects may also look down on us. But remember—keep the scale in check. There’s no need to make it too big. I’ll leave this degree of measure to you.”
“Please rest assured, True Lord. Jingde understands.”
True Lord Luohong smiled faintly upon hearing this, and his figure then dissipated within the corridor, as though the sect war soon to come had nothing to do with him at all.
……
After everyone left, Long Tao lay back down on the bed.
Yet he still felt that something was not quite right, as if he had forgotten to say something important.
But he had clearly explained everything he needed to, hadn’t he? The great expert, the Child of Destiny, the Azure Phoenix…
Wait! The Azure Phoenix!
He suddenly remembered: the reason the Azure Phoenix egg had never hatched was because of the influence of that tributary of the Nether River! But just now, he had not mentioned the Nether River at all? How strange—how could such important information, and something that had little to do with him personally, be forgotten so completely?
He shook his head, thinking that since everyone had already left, he would mention it next time there was a chance.
……
Elsewhere, since True Person Mingzhu and True Person Zhiying had both participated in the preliminary engagement, the Sect Master did not have them attend the subsequent meetings either.
He only instructed them to return and rest well.
“Martial Aunt Mingzhu, why are you walking so fast?” Just after exiting the main hall, Zhiying quickened her steps, circled around to stand in front of Mingzhu, and walked backward with a grin.
“It’s rare for us to fight side by side. Don’t you have anything you want to say to me?”
“What’s there to say?”
“Oh come on, Martial Aunt, you act so cold with your words, but during the fight you protected me several times. You didn’t let that Withered-Hand Elder get anywhere near me at all.”
“Zhiying, you’re already a Golden Core True Person. Stop acting like a child all the time.”
“I’ll always be a child in front of Martial Aunt. Besides, isn’t Senior Sister Su also a Golden Core? She still stays with you on Moon-Washing Peak every day.
Oh right—how about I go bathe at your place tonight? You don’t mind, right?”
“I mind.”
The two bickered back and forth, yet continued walking slowly without taking flight.
As they were speaking, an Inner Sect Disciple hurried over from the direction of the plaza.
After respectfully saluting the two, she anxiously said to Zhiying:
“True Person! You’re finally back! That’s great!”
“Oh my, Yaxiao, what could possibly happen to me? Look how worried you are.”
The female disciple named Yaxiao was an Inner Sect Elite from Zhiying Peak.
Though not a personally transmitted disciple, she was quite favored by Zhiying and was currently responsible for guiding Xiao Ying’s entry into Qi Refining.
“I’m not worried about your opponent—I’m worried about you. It’s… it’s Junior Sister Xiao Ying, she…”
“Xiao Ying? What happened to her?”
The moment she heard that something might have happened to her newly accepted personally transmitted disciple, Zhiying immediately dropped her playful demeanor.
Even True Person Mingzhu stopped walking and listened attentively.
“Junior Sister… she has already broken through to the Qi-Refining Second Layer…”
Yaxiao’s tone was filled with disbelief.