Chapter 268: Even a Weak Seed Can Attract a Crowd’s Gaze

Such a formation was quite rare; even he himself had never seen one. If one had not seen it with their own eyes, and had some attainment in the art of arrays among the Six Arts of Cultivation, it would not be easy to even describe it in appropriate language, let alone as vividly as Qin Haoxuan had.

If what Qin Haoxuan described was true, then this little fellow had indeed rendered a great merit. If a new Netherworld Demon Abyss were to form, and it appeared directly within the Soaring Dragon Nation, the Taichu Sect would be the first to bear the brunt of the disaster.

Sect Master Huanglong gently rotated the ring on his right thumb with his left hand, his gaze falling faintly on the respectfully standing Qin Haoxuan below. Although Qin Haoxuan had rendered a great merit, Huanglong was still somewhat displeased with him.

Before this batch of new disciples had “Entered the Mortal World,” Huanglong had specially sought out Xu Yu to discuss whether she could share some of the Qi-Circulating Pills she refined with Zhang Kuang.

As a result, because of the discord between Qin Haoxuan and Zhang Kuang, and Xu Yu’s relationship with Qin Haoxuan, she had decisively refused his request. ‘If not for Qin Haoxuan, under my persuasion, Xu Yu would have been able to share some pills with Zhang Kuang. That strongest disciple would surely have grown even faster, and the future prospects of the Taichu Sect would have been even brighter.’

Although there was bound to be competition among the three Unsurpassed Purple Seed disciples, this competition had to be benign and not appear as disunity, as it did now. The Sect Master believed that the person who had caused this disunity was the very Qin Haoxuan standing before him.

As the Sect Master of the Taichu Sect, who was wholeheartedly working to glorify the sect, how could he not feel annoyed with him?

However, even if Huanglong was an expert at the Dao Fruit Realm, he never would have dreamed that the Qi-Circulating Pills he was trying so hard to obtain for Zhang Kuang were actually refined by the very person he disliked.

The questioning was over. Now, all that was left was to wait for the masters of the five great halls and the representatives from the Elder’s Council to arrive and jointly discuss a countermeasure. Before they arrived, the entire Taichu Grand Hall fell into a deep silence.

Huanglong was deeply shaken by Qin Haoxuan’s description. For now, he temporarily set aside his prejudice against him. After all, he was merely a source of displeasure, while the possible appearance of another Netherworld Demon Abyss threatened the thousand-year foundation of the entire Taichu Sect.

Since the Sect Master did not speak, Elder Yu and Qin Haoxuan naturally could not either.

Qin Haoxuan took this opportunity to quietly look around the interior of the Taichu Grand Hall. The hall was seven zhang high, and the surrounding walls and giant pillars were carved with various murals of ancient exotic beasts and celestial deities, so lifelike that one did not dare to look at them directly.

In front of the Sect Master’s throne was a half-man-high incense burner. The smoke from the burner curled upwards, emitting a heart-refreshing, subtle fragrance.

The moment the scent entered his nose, no matter how restless he was, he could quickly calm his mind and spirit.

The spiritual energy in his body produced an indescribable peace, and it even had the effect of strengthening his meridians and flesh. Even a weak patient who had never cultivated, if they were to smell it for a year, would not only be cured of all illnesses but would also become vigorous and strong.

Looking at the other decorations in the hall, even with his limited knowledge, he couldn’t help but suck in a breath. There wasn’t a single cheap item here.

Just the two Mandara plants beside the throne, their seven bright red flowers were just about to bloom. In at most another ten years, they would bear Mandara fruits.

This fruit was a specialty from the other side of the Star Sea and was very difficult to grow here. Its growth environment was very harsh; not only did it need to be irrigated with spiritual spring water every day, but it also had to be planted in a place with extremely dense spiritual energy.

A Mandara fruit tree would flower for ten years and bear fruit for ten years, with at most seven fruits at a time. The greatest use of the Mandara fruit was to balance the medicinal power of pills.

It could be said that a single Mandara fruit could be equivalent to a furnace full of good pills. Its value naturally soared, and it was a priceless commodity with no market. And to think that the two plants here were purely for decoration.

As for the other items, although he couldn’t name them, if Lan Yan were to see them, she would surely bite her tongue in shock. ‘In such a poor and remote country, there is actually such a lavish place. It’s truly incredible.’

Before long, the several Hall Masters who had been urgently summoned all arrived. Xia Yunzi was currently leading Murong Chao and the other new disciples to the Gufeng Sect, so another elder of high prestige from the Summer Cloud Hall came to attend the meeting in his place.

When these people walked into the main hall and saw that besides the Sect Master and Elder Yu, Qin Haoxuan was also standing there, Su Baihua and Guyun, who both knew him, looked at him with surprise, then at the Sect Master.

Especially when they saw the Sect Master’s serious expression, everyone wisely chose to remain silent, only secretly guessing in their hearts, ‘What’s going on? Did this Qin Haoxuan cause some trouble?’

He had a small reputation in the sect. Although he was just a weak seed, his cultivation speed was not slow, and he had a series of victories against other disciples above his level.

But these were still not enough to attract the attention of the high and mighty Hall Masters. What made them pay attention was his extremely good relationship with Xu Yu.

There was a rumor that the Sect Master had personally stepped in to buy Qi-Circulating Pills for Zhang Kuang but had been refused by Xu Yu on the grounds of protecting Qin Haoxuan.

Sect Master Huanglong, in his many years, had established an unshakable authority in the Taichu Sect. If the rumor was true, then he was finished.

At the time, the master of the Hundred Flowers Hall, Su Baihua, had secretly shaken her head. The Nature Hall hadn’t recruited a decent disciple in so many years. Now that they finally had one with a bit of potential, he had offended the Sect Master. His future was worrisome.

But even if he had truly offended the Sect Master, there was no need to specifically drag him to the Taichu Grand Hall and invite the five Hall Masters and the elders of the Elder’s Council, was there?

If Huanglong wanted to remove him from the sect, he only needed to give an order. Why would he need to make such a big fuss and invite the five Hall Masters?

But if it wasn’t to deal with him, then the Hall Masters really couldn’t think of any reason why he would be standing here.

Even the three Unsurpassed Purple Seed disciples, whose cultivation was still shallow, were not yet qualified to come to the Taichu Grand Hall. A mere weak seed disciple, who was destined to have no development potential, on what basis could he come here?

The four Hall Masters looked at the Sect Master sitting on his throne, especially seeing his grave and frosty expression, and all sorts of guesses flashed through their minds.

Normally, when the sect had some major business and the Sect Master invited them to discuss it, he would first greet them one by one with a smile.

But today, not only did he not have a smile, but his face was as cold as frost, and his eyes held a hidden anger. As the four Hall Masters arrived one by one, he acted as if he hadn’t even seen them.

The masters of the four great halls were all old and cunning foxes; how could they not see that the atmosphere today was clearly different?

And what was a mere weak seed new disciple doing standing here? And Elder Yu, who was responsible for supervising the battle against the rogue cultivators, shouldn’t he be at the front line?

‘Could it be that Qin Haoxuan ate the Corrosion Pills, became too formidable, and attracted the Sect Master’s attention, who then found out and is now investigating the source?’ Guyun speculated uneasily.

The moment he thought of this, a tempestuous wave surged in his heart. ‘If I am implicated because of him, then I am finished. Never mind being the Hall Master of the Ancient Cloud Hall; I might even face severe punishment from the sect…’

The guilty Guyun forced himself to remain calm, his gaze sweeping over Qin Haoxuan and the Sect Master as if by chance.

After a long look, he found that Qin Haoxuan’s body was as usual, without any abnormalities. If the effects of the Corrosion Pills had begun to appear, his body should have become completely stiff, his whole being exuding a sinister deathly qi.

But he was clearly very normal. Even if the Sect Master were an immortal, he might not be able to see that he had taken the pills, let alone root out the person behind it. And the Sect Master’s gaze wasn’t even looking in his direction, just occasionally glancing at Qin Haoxuan.

‘That’s not right either. This kid has the Qi-Circulating Pills from Xu Yu. Even if the Sect Master is suspicious, he wouldn’t suspect the Corrosion Pills.’ After guessing that it probably had little to do with him, Guyun finally let out a breath of relief. But another question arose. ‘Why would he appear here? And the Sect Master’s gaze on him is very ambiguous. What’s going on?’

‘Could it be that because Xu Yu snubbed the Sect Master for him, the Sect Master wants to deal with him?’ The moment this thought rose in Guyun’s mind, it was immediately dispelled.

‘What a joke. The dignified Sect Master of the Taichu Sect, the undisputed leader of the entire sect, to deal with a mere weak seed disciple, would he need to bring him to the Taichu Grand Hall and invite the five Hall Masters to watch? It’s definitely not like that.’

Guyun was once again lost in bitter thought, and at the same time, his gaze fell on Su Baihua. Because of Xu Yu, the relationship between Qin Haoxuan and her was quite profound.

Su Baihua, who was considered by Guyun to have a profound relationship with him, was also full of doubts at this moment.

Because of Xu Yu, she had dealt with him once before, and even now she still held a grudge about Xu Yu’s attachment to him.

In her eyes, he was just a weak seed with no future, yet he was stubbornly entangled with the Unsurpassed Purple Seed, Xu Yu, who was destined for greatness.

As her pre-determined master, she could not forcibly stop Xu Yu from associating with him. For him, Xu Yu had even dared to snub the Sect Master. If she were to forcibly stop them, it might affect Xu Yu’s Dao Heart.

The Hundred Flowers Hall had finally gotten an Unsurpassed Purple Seed disciple; they could not afford any mistakes.

Besides her cultivation, she was also constantly annoyed by the relationship between Xu Yu and Qin Haoxuan, especially when she heard that while “Entering the Mortal World,” Xu Yu still remembered to worry about whether he had any Qi-Circulating Pills, even counting the days on her fingers to calculate when she should send him the next batch. Every time she received such a report from Luo Jinhua, the highly cultivated Su Baihua couldn’t help but want to curse.

Su Baihua looked at the grim-faced Sect Master, then at the erectly standing Elder Yu, and at the looking-around Qin Haoxuan.

A strange thought suddenly rose in her heart. ‘Isn’t Elder Yu supervising the war against the rogue cultivators? And Qin Haoxuan’s team of “Entering the Mortal World” disciples happened to join that war.

Could it be that this Qin Haoxuan has betrayed the sect and colluded with the enemy, and was thus captured by Elder Yu and brought to see the Sect Master?’

She thought it over and over, and this was the only reason that seemed somewhat plausible. But upon careful consideration, it was full of holes.

With Elder Yu’s status as a battle supervisor, he still can’t handle a weak seed disciple who has colluded with the enemy and betrayed the sect? Even if he had to report to the Sect Master, there was no need to summon the five Hall Masters, was there?

Even if Qin Haoxuan was truly the proud disciple of Xuanji of the Nature Hall, the Nature Hall was not strong enough to make the Sect Master wary.

To deal with a disciple from the Nature Hall, he had to summon the five great halls? Various guesses floated in her mind, but she could not solve the puzzle.

As for Bizhu of the Jade Bamboo Hall and the elder representing the Summer Cloud Hall, they did not know him.

They were just surprised that a weak seed disciple, and a new one at that who had been in the sect for less than two years, was qualified to come to the Taichu Grand Hall and participate in this obviously rather serious meeting.

No matter how hard they wracked their brains, they could not guess the entanglement.

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