CHAPTER 903: CHAPTER 899: MEETING LI ZHAOJUN (PART 2)

Ye Fan will not be traveling with Shen Biancheng and Bai He to Xiayan Sect; the two of them will go with the Tianxuan Sect’s group to the Huangji Sect.

At this time, Shen Biancheng has become a nominal disciple of Elder Wu, while Bai He is temporarily residing at the external branch of Tianxuan Sect as a Guest Elder.

After nearly a month on Shuangfeng Mountain, Ye Fan descends the mountain with many emotions.

In the context of his whole life, these few days aren’t much, but he has gained more than four hundred years of life. This is the difference between before climbing the mountain and after.

"Little Junior Brother, from now on, your appearance won’t age with time, and you can even change your appearance at will. But you look great as you are now, don’t change it. Senior Sister likes your current appearance."

Wu Ding is very interested in Ye Fan, and she often says flirtatious things even in front of Elder Wu.

Elder Wu laughs and says, "Junior Sister hasn’t forgotten Jun Wu?"

"Pah, why remember that heartless one? Our Little Junior Brother is better, right in front of us. Although he may not be very dashing, what’s most important is his steadiness. He gives girls a sense of security. I think his little lover must like him for this trait."

Ye Fan always feels at a loss for words in front of Wu Ding. He wonders to himself what exactly Li Zhaojun likes about him.

Meanwhile, Qing Xu completely does not understand what these three Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters are talking about; it seems very profound to her.

When they reach the base of the mountain, the four of them finally ride their swords to travel. Originally, Elder Wu was to go with Ye Fan, with Wu Ding and Qing Xu accompanying each other. However, Wu Ding insists on riding with Ye Fan, and in the end, he cannot refuse and ends up flying with this vixen-like Senior Sister and the little Junior Sister Qing Xu. While in the air, Wu Ding keeps reminding him to "hold on tight," although Ye Fan, now at the Golden Core Stage, can balance on the sword effortlessly without needing to use his hands or feet.

"Little Junior Brother is still shy. If you really liked Senior Sister, you should have made a move long ago." Wu Ding complains.

Ye Fan thinks to himself that it’s Senior Sister who is bold. From the illusion in the teaching room, one could tell she’s a woman who dares to think and act.

For Qing Xu, it’s her first time experiencing the wonders of sword flight. Holding Ye Fan from behind, she’s excitedly pointing and urging Ye Fan to look.

During the flight, Elder Wu explains, "Although Xiayan Sect isn’t one of the Seven Great Sects, it’s among the rare sect-cultivation sects in the territory of Mingjing. Our Tianxuan Sect will be accompanying Xiayan Sect this time. There are several cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul Stage in Xiayan Sect. Once we enter the mountain gate, we must not offend them."

Wu Ding retorts, "Listening to Senior Brother Qing Wu, he suggests we’re looking for trouble? With your cultivation, it seems you could wipe out Xiayan Sect alone, couldn’t you?"

As an elder of one of the Seven Great Sects, Elder Wu’s Spirit Root and cultivation are outstanding. His cultivation has reached the Body Integration Realm, and defeating several Nascent Soul Stage cultivators is trivial for him. Saying he could single-handedly destroy Xiayan Sect is not an exaggeration.

Yet, as a reputable sect, they must never harm cultivators unless there is a vendetta.

After nearly a day of flying, the group finally arrives at the mountain peak where Xiayan Sect is located. Unlike those sects positioned on mist-enshrouded peaks, Xiayan Sect’s gate is on an island in the middle of a lake.

"The spiritual energy here is abundant. After landing, we will fly close over the water surface to avoid being mistaken for intruders."

As Elder Wu speaks, he lowers the flying swords, both skimming just above the lake surface.

The vast lake resembles an ocean. In the Pan Gu Secret Realm, many such large lakes exist, given the landmass of the Pan Gu Secret Realm is ten thousand times that of Earth.

Qing Xu, looking at the deep and unfathomable blue of the lake, says, "It’s terrifying. Will we fall in?"

Ye Fan laughs, "It’s fine. With Junior Sister’s cultivation, crossing this lake is easy."

"Oh." Qing Xu has no concrete understanding of her cultivation, as she has seldom sparred, and those occasions were all with fellow disciples.

Finally crossing the lake, they reach a small path around two or three li in size, densely wooded, appearing like an earthly paradise that one wouldn’t expect to find in such a large lake without Elder Wu leading the way.

"Things don’t seem right." Wu Ding, just after putting away her flying sword, warily surveys the surroundings.

Even the Golden Core Stage Ye Fan senses something amiss because there’s no flow of spiritual energy on this path, not to mention any signs of cultivators or living beings.

The small island has paths paved with bluestone, leading from the thick forest to the island’s center, where shadows of pavilions and towers can be seen in the distance.

As they proceed, Elder Wu raises his hand to signal a halt. Instead of following the path, they pass through the thicket beside it.

After not walking far, they see a small stone pavilion. Inside are stone tables and benches, looking ancient, but it exudes a somber and deadly aura. Upon a closer look, there are several bodies within. Two male disciples, holding magical swords, lie dead outside the pavilion, while three female disciples are dead inside, on the stone table, their clothes nowhere to be seen, suggesting they may have been violated before dying.

"Ah, how embarrassing." Qing Xu had been hastily supplemented with some knowledge about the differences between men and women by Hui Ning. Seeing this situation, she quickly covers her eyes, though she still peeks through her fingers.

Because the bodies of cultivators have been reformed by spiritual energy, their decomposition is very slow, usually taking hundreds of years to decay completely, so the deceased appear lifelike.

"All at Foundation Establishment Stage. To be so ruthless to disciples at this stage is excessively brutal."

After examining the deceased, Elder Wu finds they all died drained of their internal spiritual energy.

Though Wu Ding also inspects the scene, her experience with worldly matters isn’t as extensive as Elder Wu’s. She can’t help but ask, "Senior Brother, can you tell who did this?"

Elder Wu shakes his head, "It doesn’t seem to be the work of the Deyuan Sect."

If it’s not the Deyuan Sect, it could very well be one of the emerging forces in the Pan Gu Secret Realm over the past hundred years that Wu Ding mentioned before.

Ye Fan looks around but finds no clues.

"Let’s go to the grand hall of Xiayan Sect to see. The mountain gate of Xiayan Sect was protected by the Withered Vine Lock, but it seems the mechanism was not triggered, so it might have been destroyed in a short time." Elder Wu says, leading the three out of the pavilion, back onto the main path towards the island’s center.

Corpses are present all along the way.

These corpses mostly belong to disciples below the Golden Core Stage. The male disciples died peacefully, but the female disciples suffered terribly. All of them were violated, regardless of their cultivation level or appearance.

Finally arriving in front of Xiayan Sect’s grand hall, several bodies hang over the lintel, both male and female, exactly like those before, with the males’ clothes intact and females not clothed at all.

Elder Wu frowns, "All those in Xiayan Sect at or above the Nascent Soul Stage are here, and not one was spared."