CHAPTER 878: CHAPTER 874: THE WHEREABOUTS OF LI ZHAOJUN

Ye Fan heard Wu Yingzi refer to his master as "Little Zhuo" and also called Qing Lian "little girl," and couldn’t help but ask, "May I ask how old is the elder now, and what is the relationship with my master and Master Qinglian?"

Shen Biancheng hurriedly said, "Little junior brother, don’t be rude."

But Wu Yingzi just laughed heartily, though this laughter led to a cough, and it took him a long time to calm down.

"The first time I saw that little girl Qing Lian, she was only six or seven years old, following her master, too shy to meet people, hiding behind her. Is there anything wrong with me calling her little girl?"

Shen Biancheng explained, "The elder has profound skills, and our master instructed us to be highly respectful."

Wu Yingzi waved it off, "It’s okay, this kid reminds me of when your master was young, but your master later settled his mind, while he is still spirited. However, I think anyone appreciated by Little Zhuo will have an unlimited future."

Despite the praise, Ye Fan didn’t feel particularly honored, as he was more concerned about the whereabouts of Zhuo Junwu and the Qinglian master-disciple pair.

Shen Biancheng bowed and said, "I kindly ask the elder to inform us of the whereabouts of Master Qinglian."

"Cough cough." Wu Yingzi coughed twice more and said, "Two years ago, Xuanyue Palace was set on heavenly fire, its mountain gate destroyed. That little girl Qinglian came back afterwards asking about the perpetrator... Even if I knew, I couldn’t tell her. She probably figured something out herself and left with her disciple. I think she might have headed to the Jia Luo Region by now."

"The Jia Luo Region?" Shen Biancheng hesitated slightly, "That’s the territory of the Imperial Supreme Sect."

"Yes. The Imperial Supreme Sect has developed rapidly over the last one or two hundred years, vaguely replacing the Tianxuan Sect to become the second of the seven major sects. Why do you think she went there?"

Ye Fan looked at Shen Biancheng and asked, "Did she go seeking help?"

Wu Yingzi shook his head but smiled, "Young man, some things cannot be explained because, in this world, besides heavenly principles and earthly justice, there is something called the fist. Whoever has the harder fist has justice."

Shen Biancheng respectfully said, "Thank you for your guidance, elder. We will leave now and not disturb your rest any further."

Wu Yingzi nodded but didn’t even have the interest to see them off, watching the three leave his hut, the door shut by itself, no need for hands.

Once they rode on their magic swords and left, Ye Fan asked, "Why didn’t we ask him more questions?"

"Little junior brother, didn’t you notice that Elder Wu Yingzi actually already hinted to us?" Shen Biancheng said, "Since Master Qinglian and her disciple went to the Imperial Supreme Sect, they must be seeking the power of the Imperial Supreme Sect to counter some forces. In this Pan Gu secret realm, what force is a common enemy of both the Imperial Supreme Sect and Xuanyue Palace?"

Ye Fan thought for a moment and said, "What Qing Lian wants to deal with is the enemy who destroyed their mountain gate, while the Imperial Supreme Sect wants to replace the Diyuan Sect as the leader of the seven major sects in the Pan Gu secret realm."

Shen Biancheng nodded and said, "Right, if my guessing is correct, even our Lihuo Sect being attacked is related to the Diyuan Sect. Just not sure why they are targeting us lesser sects."

Ye Fan was silent. If it really was as they guessed, then the enemy behind this was indeed overwhelmingly powerful.

After several generations of cultivators’ efforts, the Diyuan Sect became the leader of the seven major sects and always held a dominant position, making the sects below them just look up and sigh in dismay. Zhuo Junwu also said that the most difficult to provoke in the Pan Gu secret realm is Diyuan Sect because of its domineering and unreasonable nature.

Ye Fan said, "Even if I have to avenge my sect, I still want to find Zhaojun first, take her back to Earth, and then return to face the enemy head-on."

Shen Biancheng said nothing; he was naturally unrestrained, without as many ties as Ye Fan had. The affairs of the sect were his utmost concerns, but everything had to wait until they found Zhuo Junwu before deciding.

As dawn was about to break, the three stopped to rest. There were farmlands around, indicating they were in an area with a farmstead.

Shen Biancheng said, "I’ve never been to the Imperial Supreme Sect; the road ahead is difficult to travel, so let’s leave this little girl here."

Ye Fan had just nodded when Bai He suddenly knelt down, grabbing Ye Fan’s trouser leg and saying, "Master, I am your servant; please don’t drive me away. I will obey your orders and even carry out lowly tasks for you."

Ye Fan said nothing, and Shen Biancheng laughed, "We are fellow cultivators, hardly like ordinary mortals unable to fend for ourselves. Little girl, don’t try to stay under the guise of returning your Guardian Banner, alright?"

Bai He hurriedly said, "No, absolutely not. Even if I return the Guardian Banner, having lost my Foundation Establishment, I have no further cultivation opportunity. I’m only afraid of enemies..."

Ye Fan said, "Now that you are in the Jia Luo Region, even if your enemies hated you, they couldn’t pursue you here. With your remaining cultivation, sustaining yourself isn’t difficult, so stay."

Bai He suddenly placed her hand on her heart artery, saying, "If the master drives me away, I will die right in front of you!"

Bai He spoke with such determination, leaving no doubt about her sincerity.

Ye Fan thought to himself, can such a cunning girl truly be willing to die? But then he realized that his presence led Bai He, who originally might have broken through the Golden Core Stage to become accomplished, to turn into a "worthless person" who couldn’t continue cultivation. How was this different from killing her?

"Alright, you can stay for now. When the opportunity arises, I’ll send you somewhere farther and return the Guardian Banner to you!"

Ye Fan wanted first to cut off her ideas of robbing by making her behave honestly. As long as she did well, she could reclaim her original belongings, making it unnecessary to take risky actions.

Sure enough, Bai He looked grateful after hearing this and agreed with a nod.

"Let’s set off." Shen Biancheng glanced at the sky, "Something seems off today, the sun hasn’t risen even at this late hour, and the sky is red. Legendary tales say this only occurs when the Pan Gu secret realm is invaded. But for millions of years, such an event never occurred here. Does this mean the Pan Gu secret realm is on the brink of falling?"

Ye Fan looked towards where the sun rises in the east, and it indeed appeared blood-red. However, blood-red suns can appear on Earth too, so it may not be as severe as Shen Biancheng suspects.

Yet, recalling yesterday’s heavenly thunder, there might be issues.

For cultivators, the lightning tribulation during ascension is milder than heavenly thunder. Even a tribulation-experienced expert might lose their soul in one heavenly thunder, let alone yesterday’s twelve continuous hours of thousands of heavenly thunders?

If there’s indeed such an intruder, their power would be terrifyingly high.

No matter what occurs in the Pan Gu secret realm, Ye Fan didn’t want to concern himself too much; he was more focused on whether the Qinglian master-disciple pair was in the Imperial Supreme Sect.

"After enduring these hardships, we should be together. If I can’t find you this time, must I truly return, living out my days with longing until I die?"

Thinking about the bits and pieces with Li Zhaojun, Ye Fan felt that losing Li Zhaojun meant losing the meaning of life.

If he cannot win Li Zhaojun’s heart back, he won’t leave the Pan Gu secret realm either.