CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: DESCENDING THE MOUNTAIN_1

"The Sword Hidden Villa once joined forces with our Shen Family to fight the Blood Robe Sect. Three months ago, it was discovered that the entire villa had been exterminated, with corpses strewn everywhere. Only its young Villa Master, Liu Jing, narrowly escaped because he was away visiting a friend."

"The Green Mountain School, also a major force against the Blood Robe Sect in the past, lost its School Leader to a sudden, violent illness two months ago."

"On that very day, remnants of the Blood Robe Sect were seen invading the Green Mountain School... Afterward, none of its one hundred and two members survived."

These sudden calamities threw all of Tianyou City into a panic.

These remnants of the Demonic Cult, far from fleeing like curs, were boldly regrouping.

Furthermore, they even dared to wantonly slaughter renowned sects of the righteous path.

When Shen Zhou, acclaimed by all as the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch, learned of this, he naturally couldn’t stand idly by!

He took in the young Villa Master Liu Jing and other survivors from the decimated Sword Hidden Villa.

He then issued a kill order, once again rallying heroes to crusade against the Demonic Cult.

He vowed to completely eradicate the Blood Robe Sect and restore order to Tianyou City’s martial world.

Thanks to Shen Zhou’s prestige, the call was met with an overwhelming response.

Soon, a multitude of martial heroes gathered to join him.

"’After extensive searching, our Shen Family finally located the Blood Robe Sect’s new lair,’ Shen Zhiyun said, his tone somewhat grave. ’However, in just a few short months, the Blood Robe Sect, which we believed crushed, has once again gathered thousands of followers. Their strength is comparable to their peak.’"

"’And the one leading this resurgence of the Blood Robe Sect is an ordinary disciple named Gu Ming, who luckily escaped during the purge years ago.’"

Even as Shen Zhiyun recounted this, he still found it somewhat inconceivable.

An ordinary disciple of the Blood Robe Sect? And in just five years, he amassed enough power to revive an annihilated sect?

Shen Mo looked perplexed.

This sounds exactly like the plot for a web novel protagonist.

"’Indeed. That Gu Ming was once just an inconspicuous, ordinary disciple of the Blood Robe Sect. Back then, our Shen Family only executed the leaders and didn’t even bother with someone like him.’"

Shen Zhiyun gave a bitter smile. "’Who would have thought we were planting the seeds of future disaster!’"

"’After this Gu Ming made his comeback, he proclaimed himself the Bright King. He somehow gathered a group of experts, each with peak cultivation.’"

"’Our Shen Family gathered many martial path experts from Tianyou City. We initially thought we could easily eradicate the resurgent Blood Robe Demonic Cult.’"

"’Alas, we suffered a crushing defeat...’"

"’A crushing defeat?’ Shen Mo frowned slightly.

"’Yes, a crushing defeat.’ Shen Zhiyun gave another bitter smile. ’We didn’t even see the Bright King’s face before being forced to retreat by the Blood Robe Sect’s Four Great Hall Masters and their followers.’"

"’According to my father, each of the Bright King’s Four Great Hall Masters is a peerless expert. If even the Hall Masters are so formidable, then the Bright King himself... has most likely entered the Nature Master Realm.’"

Nature Master?

Shen Mo wasn’t familiar with the martial artist Realms Shen Zhiyun mentioned, but he didn’t interrupt, allowing him to continue.

"’After forcing us back, the Blood Robe Sect’s leader announced that in fifteen days, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he would lead his forces to annihilate our entire Shen Family to avenge their past defeat!’"

After that probing battle, the people of Tianyou City were horrified to discover that the Blood Robe Sect’s power and influence were now far greater than even at its former peak.

This revelation not only shocked them but also instilled a sense of dread in everyone within Tianyou City’s martial world.

The Shen Family, naturally, was thrown into chaos.

"’Since you’re no match for them, why didn’t you just run?’ Shen Mo asked curiously.

They had been given fifteen days; that was more than enough time to flee.

"’Run?’ Shen Zhiyun hadn’t expected such a question from Shen Mo. He was momentarily speechless, then said, ’Our Shen Family has toiled in Tianyou City for over a hundred years to build the foundation and reputation we have today. How could we abandon it all?’"

"’Besides, Father is the Martial Arts Alliance Hierarch of Tianyou City. If he were to flee out of fear for his life, he would become a laughingstock.’"

"’That Bright King of the Blood Robe Sect is clearly goading us, hoping to see our Shen Family scatter and flee. If we actually ran, we’d be falling right into his trap.’"

For someone like Shen Zhou, a hero who prided himself on upholding the righteous path, fleeing for his life and abandoning his honor would be a fate worse than death.

Such pointless pride.

Shen Mo always found it difficult to understand those who valued face over their lives. In his view, life was paramount. Only by staying alive was there a chance to fight back, a chance to turn things around.

"’Although Father is resolute in not fleeing, he knows that with the Demonic Cult’s overwhelming power, our Shen Family is unlikely to survive this calamity.’"

"’So, he gathered us of the younger generation and ordered us to leave the family, to each find our own path. Should the Shen Family truly be annihilated...’"

"’...at least our bloodline wouldn’t be completely extinguished. Some descendants would still remain in this world.’"

As he spoke, Shen Zhiyun’s eyes reddened slightly. He murmured, "’I initially wanted to stay, I didn’t want to leave, but Father was unyielding...’"

"’So, on your journey away from the family, you thought of my father, Shen Yuanchang—your cousin to whom you once sent letters—the one you heard was cultivating in an immortal sect?’"

After listening to his narrative, Shen Mo had a general understanding of the sequence of events.

"’That’s right...’ Shen Zhiyun nodded. ’I thought that if Cousin Yuanchang had truly achieved something in his cultivation at the immortal sect and was willing to return to the family, perhaps he could save the Shen Family from this deadly calamity.’"

However, he didn’t know that Shen Yuanchang had been dead for many years.

The only person he could seek help from now was this Immortal Master nephew.

"’I implore you, Immortal Master, to help the Shen Family, considering our shared bloodline!’"

Shen Zhiyun clenched his teeth, ready to kneel, but was stopped by Shen Mo.

He looked at Shen Zhiyun and said calmly, "’Since I still have karmic ties with the Shen Family, lending a hand is no issue.’"

Clearly, the body’s original owner wished to help. If I were to stand by and do nothing, it would go against my true intentions and might adversely affect my Path Heart and future cultivation. However, there’s one more question I need to ask clearly.

"’How powerful is the Nature Master you are talking about?’"

Although Shen Mo knew that in this cultivation world, mortal martial artists were like ants before cultivators—utterly weak and insignificant—he himself was still lingering at the bottom rungs of the cultivation world. Thus, out of caution, he still inquired in detail about the strength of these mortal martial artists.

Better safe than sorry.

"’The Nature Master is the pinnacle Realm in martial arts. It’s said that martial artists at this Realm possess strength equivalent to two thousand catties. Their internal energy is vast; they can injure people merely by plucking a leaf or scattering flowers.’"

Two thousand catties of strength? That’s equivalent to the strength of an ordinary cultivator at the Perfection Stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

After hearing this, Shen Mo had no more worries.

His current strength far exceeded this level.

Coupled with his various magical trump cards, killing a so-called Nature Master, an expert in the eyes of mortals, would be as easy as taking something out of his own pocket. I can easily capture or kill someone of that strength. However... for this Gu Ming to rise so rapidly in just five years, there must be something unusual. Either he had some great Adventure, or he has an expert guiding him from behind the scenes. I still need to be cautious.

After a moment of reflection, Shen Mo decided, "Let’s go take a look first!"