Chapter 264: A Great Merit for Discovering the Netherworld Spring

After sizing up Qin Haoxuan, Elder Yu asked as a matter of routine, “Where did you go during your leave of absence?”

“I went home once to see my parents,” he answered respectfully.

Elder Yu picked up the teacup on the table, but after hearing his answer, his brow furrowed slightly. He blew on the tea, then put it back down, leaned back, and a hint of disappointment appeared between his brows.

He sighed to himself, Aigh, it seems his Dao Heart is still unstable. He is unable to abandon his mortal family ties. If he cannot sever these worldly bonds, how can he achieve great things? Never mind the Spirit Tree Realm; even reaching the Forty-Ninth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm will not be easy. The Nature Hall has finally recruited a good disciple, and it seemed there was a glimmer of hope. But if he continues like this, I’m afraid it will all come to nothing.

If it had been an ordinary Ninth-Leaf disciple, this elder wouldn’t have even sighed. There were too many of them in the Taichu Sect. But Qin Haoxuan was different. He had cultivated to the Ninth-Leaf in just over a year. Although he was the worst of weak seeds, to be able to reach this step showed that he had potential to be tapped. Moreover, his combat strength was there for all to see, and Elder Yu had some expectations for him. Although it was an iron law that a weak seed was inferior to a colored seed, there had been exceptions throughout the generations. This elder had hoped that Qin Haoxuan would be that exception, but he never expected that not only was his aptitude poor, but he also couldn’t sever his mortal attachments. This display of an unstable Dao Heart made him sigh with regret.

“And where else did you go?” the elder continued to ask, his tone still calm despite his disappointment.

“My first Guiding Senior Brother, Pu Hanzhong, had entrusted me to go and see his descendants, so I also went to his home to fulfill his request.” Qin Haoxuan had a good impression of this Elder Yu. He had also caught the trace of disappointment in his eyes and guessed that he must be lamenting his unstable Dao Heart. However, he did not explain. After all, he was also concerned for him. If it had been someone like Master Chi Lian, he would have surely been met with direct sarcasm. So, he answered with great honesty.

Elder Yu nodded. “To be entrusted with a task by another and to be loyal to it. It is good to go and see.” Although he said this, he sighed again in his heart, thinking to himself, To keep a promise is good, but to delay one’s cultivation for a few mortals is truly unwise, unwise.

“And then, this disciple also killed the local county magistrate,” Qin Haoxuan said, and then told the elder the reason.

Elder Yu looked at him with approval and clapped his hands in praise. “Well killed! A mere mortal official, to dare to despise the dignity of a cultivator! Killing him also serves to teach him the difference between an immortal and a mortal.”

Qin Haoxuan smiled and added, “And then I also killed the local prefect.”

Elder Yu was taken aback, his hand, which had been reaching for his teacup, frozen in mid-air. He asked with surprise, “What was the reason for this? Did that prefect also despise you?”

“No,” Qin Haoxuan said, his smile vanishing. “That prefect was hiding two rogue cultivators, and those two were guarding a large-scale formation. This formation can open a two-way passage to the Netherworld. Then, I killed those two rogue cultivators, as well as the prefect, and hurried back to report.”

The moment he heard this, Elder Yu, who had just picked up his teacup, was so horrified that his hand trembled. The cup of fragrant tea fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, but he did not feel the slightest bit of pain. Instead, he asked in a stern voice, “Is this matter true?”

Faced with his sudden outburst of aura, Qin Haoxuan’s expression was calm as he replied, “Every word this disciple has spoken is the truth.”

“This is a major matter! I must report it to the sect at once!” Elder Yu no longer bothered with the registration office. He hastily tossed him the nine thousand low third-grade spirit stones of his security deposit and said as he was leaving, “You have rendered a great merit. This matter is of great importance; you must not let anyone else know. I will personally go and ask the other elders to come and discuss it.”

In his youth, Elder Yu had also been dispatched by the sect to fight in the Netherworld Demon Abyss. Recalling the scenes of bloody battle from back then, he, who was now a Spirit Tree Realm expert, couldn’t help but tremble.

Of the batch of disciples who had gone to fight that year, only four or five, including himself, had returned. It was truly a case of not one in ten surviving. Even though he had now broken through to the Spirit Tree Realm, if he were to go back and fight there again, he had no confidence that he could come out alive.

Never mind him; even a Dao Fruit Realm expert had no guarantee of survival if they went in. The Netherworld Demon Abyss was too terrifying. One was already enough to keep the cultivation world struggling to maintain it. If a second one were to appear…

With his intelligence, Elder Yu quickly guessed that the rogue cultivators had instigated the king to rebel and had been constantly calling on their friends to fight against the Taichu Sect, not because of any great benefit the king had promised them, but because they wanted to use this war to draw the sect’s attention, so they could leisurely complete their goal of creating a second Netherworld Demon Abyss. Thinking of the possibility of a second one, Elder Yu, who had crawled out of a pile of dead bodies back then, broke out in a cold sweat.

“You must absolutely not leak this news, absolutely not!” he said, once again instructing Qin Haoxuan with a look of horror. He then hurried away.

Qin Haoxuan picked up the teacup he hadn’t had a chance to drink, a wry smile on his face. The tea leaves in the cup had now completely unfurled, showing no sign of having been steeped or cooked, still as crisp and enticing as they had been on the tea plant. The tea was not strong, and it was as clear as spring water. He took a sip. It was slightly astringent on the tip of his tongue, but his mouth was filled with a clear fragrance.

“So comfortable,” he couldn’t help but praise. After tasting the tea, he felt refreshed and his mind was clear. Although this tea didn’t have any miraculous effects like increasing one’s cultivation, it could help a cultivator to calm their mind.

“As expected of an elder. Everything he uses is extraordinary.”

After carefully savoring the cup of tea, he played with and admired the teacup. Even he, who knew nothing of art, could tell there was something special about it. If it were to fall into the mortal world, it would surely be a coveted item among all the major antique dealers.

Just as he was admiring the tent, Elder Yu, who had just left, came rushing back, a gust of wind at his heels. Behind him were several other elders who were stationed here, as well as Deputy Hall Master Ximen Sheng. They looked at Qin Haoxuan, then at the anxious-looking Elder Yu with surprise. One of the more impatient elders said, “Senior Brother Yu, you summoned us in such a hurry. What is the matter?”

Elder Yu carefully placed a low second-grade spirit stone at each of the four corners of the tent. His ten fingers flew, and under the guidance of his vast spiritual energy, the powerful energy contained within the stones gushed out.

The spiritual energy that was so difficult to control in Qin Haoxuan’s eyes was like an obedient little lamb under his control, obediently forming a spiritual energy barrier. The barrier, set up by a Spirit Tree Realm expert, flowed with a brilliant light, its inscriptions clear. Qin Haoxuan looked at it and asked himself, even if his two fierce ghosts were to attack it with all their might, he was afraid they would not be able to shake it in the slightest.

After the barrier was set up, it isolated all the sounds from outside, and the inside of the barrier became strangely quiet. Elder Yu’s caution made the other elders even more surprised. What matter could be so important? Could it be that those rogue cultivators had some conspiracy? But even if they did, there was no need to be so cautious, was there?

Under the doubtful gazes of the several elders, Elder Yu looked at Qin Haoxuan and said, “Tell us this matter again, completely and in full.” His careful actions shocked him. Although he knew this matter was of great importance, he never expected Elder Yu to treat it with such seriousness.

Immediately, Qin Haoxuan recounted the story of the array diagram that could open a two-way passage to the Netherworld again. Hearing this news, the faces of the several elders all turned deathly pale. Their expressions changed from surprise to terror, and finally, a hint of panic appeared on the faces of each of the previously calm elders.

A conspiracy, a terrifying conspiracy!

The elders within the barrier, after learning this shocking news, couldn’t help but look at him. Among them was Elder Chu, who had taught him in the Spirit Field Valley. At this moment, he was looking at Qin Haoxuan with surprise, thinking to himself, Didn’t this fellow either meditate or doze off in class before? At that time, I had only casually mentioned the Netherworld Demon Abyss in class, yet he kept it in mind and even recognized the formation to open a passage to the Netherworld. Truly not simple.

The way the other elders looked at him was also different. Was this really just a weak seed? In less than two years since entering the sect, his cultivation had reached the Ninth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, and his combat strength was comparable to a monster at the Twentieth-Leaf. And he was also very knowledgeable in formations. Even if they, these old bones, had seen that formation with their own eyes, they might not have recognized its purpose. Arrays were a profound and extensive subject among the Six Arts of Cultivation. If one had not studied them in great depth, how could they possibly recognize a large-scale formation that could open a passage to the Netherworld?

Although Elder Yu had heard it once, upon hearing it again, he still couldn’t help but slam his palm on the table, shattering it to pieces, and curse, “Are this bunch of rogue cultivators born from beasts? Are they only satisfied when they’ve destroyed the entire immortal and mortal paths?”

While Qin Haoxuan was recounting the story, Ximen Sheng stood up straight and said to Elder Yu, “This matter cannot be delayed. We must report it to the sect at once and ask the Sect Master to decide. Senior Brother Yu has a flying sword and can take Qin Haoxuan up the mountain with him. Their speed will be much faster than ours. So, the matter of reporting to the sect will have to be left to you.”

The other elders also nodded in agreement, indicating that there could not be a moment’s delay. If this were to develop into another Netherworld Demon Abyss, it would be a catastrophic disaster.

Ordinary disciples did not know the details about Elder Yu. They thought that only the elders of the Elder’s Council and the Sect Master possessed flying swords. In fact, there were a very small number of other elders who also had them. These were all people who had returned alive from the Netherworld Demon Abyss back then, and Elder Yu was one of them. After being tempered in the abyss, his cultivation realm was also among the top of the many elders of the Taichu Sect.

At such a critical moment, there was no polite pushing and shoving. Elder Yu took the responsibility without hesitation. “I will immediately take him back to the sect to have an audience with the Sect Master. We cannot make a decision on such a major matter. But I will have to trouble you all here. If all of us elders leave, it might make those rogue cultivators suspect something. So, not only can this war not stop, but on the contrary, we must fight even more fiercely to numb them and buy more time.”

Deputy Hall Master Ximen Sheng and the other elders nodded in agreement.

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