Adversity of the Sect

"Master." Yi Qing glanced at the person beside him and hesitated for a moment before blurting out, "Did you and the Supremacy have something to discuss? Did I interrupt your conversation?" Could Lonemoon still be insistent in wanting to become my master's disciple?

"It was nothing." A certain someone replied while busily shoving pastries into her mouth. After swallowing the cake in her mouth, she continued, "We were talking about the past back in our village."

"I see." Yi Qing looked over at Lonemoon. "Master and Supremacy are from the same hometown, but were the both of you previously acquainted?"

"Nope." Shen Ying shook her head. She looked towards Lonemoon and asked conveniently, "Oh right, what did you do in the past?"

"I was involved with web stuff," Lonemoon answered. He felt like he was imagining things—why did it feel like the future Sword Immortal was hostile towards him? "I previously owned a company and was supporting a bunch of people. It was pretty tiring. Oh right, I wasn't called Lonemoon previously. I have this name because they said I needed a nickname after I started immortal cultivation."

"Oh, then what's your name?"

"My surname is Niu. I'm called Niu Huayun!"

Pu!

Just as he finished his sentence, half a piece of chrysanthemum cake was spat over. He wasn't alert for a moment and was hit by it right in his face.

"Aren't you disgusting?" Lonemoon glared at her and immediately cast a dirt removal spell.

"You are YY corporation's CEO…" Shen Ying widened her eyes. Such a big shot! Nation Z's richest man. "Father Niu?"

"Get lost! I don't have a daughter who is such a cheat." Lonemoon mouth's twitched as he involuntarily rolled his eyes. His name, Niu Huayun1, was the only thing that had managed to surprise her so far.

Shen Ying was truly shocked. She scanned him from head to toe several times. He's a real CEO, alive and talking! She suddenly felt like borrowing money from him.

"What are you doing?" Lonemoon shuddered at her actions as he stepped back. Why did he feel like he was going to be robbed?

"What's Wai Wai? See Yee Oh?" Yi Qing looked blank. "Master, have you heard of him in the past?"

"Sort of." Shen Ying continued what she was doing before, picking up her pastry and sitting back down. "He was our… village's richest man. The really super affluent kind." He was someone who everyone wanted to have as their daddy.

"I see." Yi Qing nodded. "So Supremacy had such a past before immortal cultivation. Then what about Master?"

"Uh…" Shen Ying's face froze. Her face twitched as she paused for a while before continuing, "That… I'm a person who values family. I feel that money is of little importance. It was of utmost importance to be filial to my parents at home. As the saying goes, when your parents are around, you shouldn't be too far away. That's why I wholeheartedly stayed home and took care of both my elderly parents!"

"Hey!" Lonemoon mouth's twitched. "You were just leeching off your parents, can you not make it sound so righteous?" Have some respect!

"I see!" Yi Qing's eyes shone and his face was filled with excitement as he said, "Master is indeed a person who treasures kinship and loyalty!"

"Hey, can you wake up? She was obviously bluffing you?"

"It is too bad that I was an orphan, otherwise I would have definitely wanted to be just like Master, never forgetting gratitude for my parents raising me up even after starting immortal cultivation."

"What's there to learn about leeching off your parents? Is your brain damaged?"

"Good student!"

"Thank you for Master's teachings!"

Lonemoon: "…" That's it, this one is a brain-damaged fan!

"I am almost done with eating." Shen Ying touched her belly and said with a straight face, "How about… we go back and prepare for a meal?"

Lonemoon: Still want to eat, are you a pig?

"Yes, Master!" Yi Qing immediately turned around and began to sword-ride. As he flew along, he did not forget to ask:

"Master, what would you like to eat?"

"Meat. Lots of meat."

"Yes Master, no problem Master!"

Lonemoon: "…"

Holy shit! I don't want to play with this pair of dumb wits!

————————

Yi Qing was indeed professional. Within 20 minutes, even including the time he took to fetch the ingredients, he had whipped up a sumptuous meal with a whole table full of different types of dishes. Every dish smelled and tasted as great as it looked, and Lonemoon suddenly understood why Shen Ying said that his food was pig's feed. As a Sword Cultivator, where did he even learn how to cook?

Lonemoon originally wanted to be thick-skinned and get a free meal to try out the dishes. However, he still did not manage to try; Xi Qiu had suddenly rushed over. At first he thought that he was representing the sect to congratulate Yi Qing's successful Nascent Soul Formation, but Xi Qiu bowed towards him with a solemn face as he said, "Uncle-Master, something bad has happened!"

"What's the matter, what's the hurry?" Xi Qiu had been the sect master for 200 years. This was Lonemoon's first time seeing him wearing such a grave expression as well as the first time he had even come in person to invite him over.

"I can't explain it clearly. Let me bring Uncle-Master to Elixir Peak and you will understand!" His expression was grave as he turned around to look at Yi Qing and cupped his fists before continuing, "Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Yi Qing for successfully completing your Nascent Soul Formation. Since this matter is pretty serious, Perfected Yi, you come along as well! With so much happening recently, Perfected Yi's Nascent Soul Formation ceremony will have to be pushed back."

Yi Qing nodded. He was also considered to be under the Blackheaven Sect so when something happened, he certainly should go and take a look. Hence, after bidding goodbye to Shen Ying, he followed Xi Qiu and flew towards the floating peak filled with the scents of elixirs towards the right.

The three of them flew directly towards the back of the house at the top of the peak. Yi Qing could sense that there was something strange with air in the hall even before landing; he paused as his brows furrowed. "There is Yin Qi here that belongs to a Fiendish Cultivator!"

"Perfected Yi is indeed sharp!" Xi Qiu pushed open the door in front with great force. "A Fiendish Cultivator did indeed come by."

Yi Qing and Lonemoon looked inside, and their eyes widened. There was an isolated array formation inside the house, but the house interiors were splattered with blood. The glaringly red liquid was smeared across the entire room; it was on the tables, floor and walls. And there was also some unknown bloody paste-like substance stuck on them. A naked person laid right in the middle of the room who was already devoid of any signs of life. That person's expression was extremely eerie, his eyes wide open as if he had experienced something utterly terrifying before he died. His mouth had long been turned into a bloody gash and there was no sign of his tongue. One of his hands was still stuck in a tile on the ground while the other was stiffened probably because he used all his might to struggle before his death. His lower torso had completely disappeared, leaving only half of a corpse.

"This is…" Yi Qing's brows furrowed deeper. Such a cruel deed could only have been committed by a Fiendish Cultivator. The soul within the corpse was also absent; either the primordial spirit had escaped or the soul was already completely destroyed.

"He is the hall master of Elixir Peak, Perfected Yu Ding." A voice echoed from within the house; it was one of the hall masters who had arrived earlier on. All ten of the Blackheaven Sect's hall masters had arrived and were checking on the situation inside the house. "I don't know which Fiendish Cultivator actually resorted to such cruel means."

"Someone who dares to break into Blackheaven Sect and even silently kill a Nascent Soul Perfected One cannot be someone to be ignored, and must have at least reached the Nascent Soul stage." Xi Qiu added.

"Not only that, this person might actually be very familiar with the happenings within our sect." Xi Chen fiercely said, "As a hall master of Blackheaven Sect, my life is intertwined with the sect. If i were to be harmed in the sect, it would immediately trigger the protective mountain array and trap the culprit within it. This person must have carefully selected this timing when Perfected Yi was going through his Nascent Soul Formation. The protective mountain array was resisting the aftermath of the lightning tribulation and opened up automatically. So without anyone realizing, the culprit went ahead and murdered Yu Ding."

"Correct." The hall master of Zhu Qi Peak nodded in agreement. "Half a month's time is required to set up the protective mountain array a second time. It was intentional."

"Sect Master, apart from the protective mountain array, are there any other ways to seal up the entire Blackheaven Sect?" Yi Qing suddenly asked.

"Yes there is," Xi Qiu answered, suddenly understanding what he meant. Shocked, he looked over to him. "Perfected Yi, could you mean that…"

Yi Qing nodded. "The Yin Qi has not dissipated completely. The Fiendish Cultivator must not have left here for more than half an incense stick's time, which also means…"

"The Fiendish Cultivator is still in Blackheaven Sect!" Lonemoon finished his sentence.

"Yes!"

Everyone's faces changed immediately. Xi Qiu turned around and straightaway shouted to a disciple, "Quick, sound the main peak's Che Ming Bell. Seal all of Blackheaven Sect's exits and capture the Fiendish Cultivator!"

The disciple took off immediately after receiving his orders and within a moment, the Che Ming Bell rang throughout the entire Blackheaven Sect, shutting down all the transportation array formations.

"Perfected Yi. We heard that you have spent a great amount of time slaying fiends and defending the Dao, hence you are the most familiar with the Yin Qi of Fiendish Cultivators. Can we get you to investigate the entire sect to find that Fiendish Cultivator?" Xi Qiu pleaded in a lowered voice.

Yi Qing did not reject. He nodded and said, "It's my responsibility!"

He released his Divine Perception and began to search for the Fiendish Cultivator's presence.

——————

At the same time, on Yingyuan Peak.

A certain someone was focused on eating her rice when a sudden banging sound was heard. A heap of blood from an unknown source fell from above and then a figure smashed right onto her dining table, landing with an arm in her soup.

"…" Are things always introduced by dropping from the sky in this world? Thank goodness… I finished eating the dishes.

Shen Ying glanced at the bloody person on the dining table and then looking at the half-empty bowl of rice in her hand, she subconsciously proffered the bowl and asked, "Do you want some?"

The bloody person: "…"