Chapter 400: Come And Have a Seat At My Place
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
It was just a simple fight to the death between Dao Zhiqiang and the cultivator of the Aurous Core stage. From their speech, one could tell that it was a simple robbery after murder.
However, the hidden presence of the two cultivators from the Heaven Lake Sect spiced things up.
What made Lin Feng even more intrigued was that these two cultivators who were from the Heaven Lake Sect were there for different reasons; the weaker cultivator was completely engrossed in the fight, was completely unaware of the presence the other cultivator.
The stronger cultivator, however, was fully aware of his surroundings and the presence of another cultivator. It was obvious he was there to clean up as he behaved like an eagle waiting for the right moment to swoop.
"This mana feels familiar." Lin Feng turned around and thought to himself as if he recognized the strong cultivator of the Aurous Core stage.
After careful examination and identification, Lin Feng smirked, "Interesting."
The stronger cultivator of the Nascent Soul was indeed Song Qingyuan, who attended the previous Spiritual Conference of Huanghai.
Being at the peak of the Aurous Core stage and fully mastered the Dual Sword Auras of Ice Fire, Song Qingyuan was indisputably considered as one of the more gifted ones in the younger generation of the Heaven Lake Sect. He was so strong that he could put up a fight against an elder cultivator of the Nascent Soul stage.
At his level, he could have attempted the Thunder Tribulations a long time ago to ascend to the nascent soul stage.
However, Song Qingyuan was born with a surplus of Yin energy in him. It was precisely because of this that he was able to master the Heaven Lake Sect's mantra at an extraordinary pace. Ironically, it was also because of the possibility of disharmony between Yin and Yang that that hindered him from experiencing the Thunder Tribulations.
Therefore, Song Qingyuan did not dare to try the Thunder Tribulations. Thus, he was stranded in the Advanced Aurous Core stage.
The most appropriate solution to his problem was to pair up with Dao Yuting as a ‘cultivator couple’.
Dao Yuting was born with a surplus of Yang energy in her body, the complete opposite of Song Qingyuan. She was also unable to achieve a perfect balance between Yin and Yang in her body.
They were considered to be the perfect pair. Dao Yuting and Song Qingyuan complemented each other more perfectly than typical ‘cultivator couples’ did.
From his past behaviour, Lin Feng was confident that this person was not here to help out his father-in-law.
This meant that the real reason why he was here made things all the more interesting.
Not before long, Song Qingyuan started to act. He crept behind his sect's cultivator who was at the beginner Aurous Core stage. It was only when Song Qingyuan appeared next to him did he notice the former’s presence.
The middle-aged cultivator was astonished. He voice-projected a message to Song Qingyuan, "Qingyuan, why are you here?"
Song Qingyuan smiled subtly and replied, "Senior Elder Zhang, this Dao Zhiqiang cannot die yet."
Senior Elder Zhang was even more shocked. "Why is that?" As he was afraid of experiencing the Tribulations of Yin Fire, he was weaker in capacity and masteries although he was one generation older than Song Qingyuan. He had been at the Aurous Core stage for a few hundred years but was stuck in the beginner Aurous Core stage.
This was the reason why he did not dare to wave his seniority around Song Qingyuan, even though he had his own suspicions and doubts.
The instructions of the mission passed down by the sect to cultivator Zhang stated that he had to kill Dao Zhiqiang, but the details were confusing.
He was provided with Dao Zhiqiang’s whereabouts, but cultivator Zhang could not assassinate Dao Zhiqiang personally as he could not expose the fact that he was from the Heaven Lake Sect.
After much investigation, the middle-aged cultivator realized that Dao Zhiqiang was working under the Great Qin's minister, Wu Qingrou. So, he concluded that the Heaven Lake Sect did not want to provoke the Great Qin Empire. Therefore, he paid an independent cultivator to kill Dao Zhiqiang to create the whole drama.
However, Song Qingyuan's appearance made things awkward for him. "I am sure these are the instructions for the mission passed down by the sect. It can’t be wrong."
"No doubt. That is why I rushed here," Song Qingyuan smiled and said, "Senior Elder Zhang, you have found the right person. This foundation establishment cultivator is Dao Zhiqiang."
"But like I said, it is not Dao Zhiqiang’s time to die."
After hearing his words, cultivator Zhang’s expression changed. "Qingyuan, you..."
"Going against the rule? I am fully aware." Song Qingyuan nodded while laughing, "That is why I am requesting you to be slightly flexible, Senior Elder Zhang. No worries, I will take full responsibilities of my actions when we are back."
Cultivator Zhang hesitated for a moment and thought, "He is the immediate disciple of the sect. There is no point arguing with him since the leader of the sect would definitely side and protect him. Just let him do as he wishes."
He nodded his head and agreed, "Qingyuan, I will leave this to you then. Do what you want."
Just as cultivator Zhang turned around and was about to leave, he felt a force approaching him from behind - he turned around haze of terror and immediately saw a maelstrom of ice and fire surging towards him.
"Song Qingyuan, you…" Before he could finish his sentence, that stream of ice and fire took his life.
This was the same spell that heavily injured Du Kun of the Royal House of the Northern Tribes, who was also at the peak of the Aurous Core stage. There was nothing else to be said about it being used against a Beginner Aurous Core stage cultivator.
Song Qingyuan cold-heartedly killed his senior elder and said while laughing, "Senior Elder Zhang , after much consideration, I have decided that it would be better if you were to be responsible. However, you no longer have to be worried of getting punished as you will not be returning to the sect."
While unleashing his attack, Song Qingyuan made no effort in covering up his aura.
Naturally, the two of them who were fighting felt the aura and stopped to watch Song Qingyuan who was started strolling towards them.
Song Qingyuan very quickly ended the life of the independent cultivator in the same manner with the same grin on his face - and only he and Dao Zhiqiang were left.
Dao Zhiqiang looked at Song Qingyuan and said respectfully, "Thank you for your aid, Priest Song."
In the Grand Celestial World, those who were cultivators of the Nascent Soul can be addressed as a priest as a form of respect.
"You know me?" Song Qingyuan smiled.
"I have witnessed your elegance and glory at the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai," Dao Zhiqiang said as he nodded.
"The glory of getting defeated by me who was only ten years old back then?" Song Qingyuan asked faintly. Dao Zhiqiang tensed up and replied, "You are indeed very humorous. We have also witnessed how you were defeated by Du Kun of the Royal House of the Northern Tribes and Gu Lei of the Purple Clouds Sect."
Song Qingyuan chuckled and gazed at Zhi Daoqiang, "Everyone has also seen the elegance of your daughter."
Dao Zhiqiang's heart skipped a beat as he realized that his identity had been exposed. He controlled his emotions and confusingly asked, "My daughter? I do not even have a wife, how can I have a daughter?"
Song Qingyuan smiled, "Do you not remember Yuting? I am sure she remembers you."
For those who wanted to enter the Heaven Lake Sect, it was a tradition and rule that they must cut off their ties with their family and kill them. For those who were still young, the sect would secretly do it for them. However, those who ultimately progressed to the chain of command inevitably came to know the truth and would have probably suffered the same fate. Therefore, the sect came up with a lot of different measures which complemented this tradition.
Those who had their ties cut off had to accept a special form of psychological assistance. This form of psychological assistance would ultimately guide them in the "right" way of practice.
After all these assistance and guidance, most of them knew what happened to their parents and chose to ignore it.
That was also one of the reasons why most of the immediate disciples of Heaven Lake Sect were so heartless and cruel.
Eventually, that became something common and natural in the sect that nobody would question about.
Although the sect had received many negative comments on their way of doing things, they chose to ignore them.
However, there were still people who were stubborn and refused to accept the truth that their family had been killed. If that was the case, the sect would use hypnosis to alter their consciousness and soul in order to remove part of their memory.
Song Qingyuan laughed and said, "Yuting still misses you but she does not know that you are still alive."
"What deep affection!"
Song Qingyuan sighed and said, "She still remembers you after her first hypnosis. Can you imagine how sad was it for her to pretend that she does not? This was all just so that she could prevent herself from getting hypnotized again and retain that vivid memory of you."
Fuming with anger, Dao Zhiqiang clenched both of his fists and remained silent.
Looking at Dao Zhiqiang, Song Qingyuan laughed again and said, "Imagine how happy she would be if I were to bring you to her?"
"Would you be as happy if I were to bring you to Cao Wei?"
A voice suddenly came out of nowhere as the sky started to fill with purple clouds.
Song Qingyuan's facial expression suddenly changed as he saw Lin Feng walking out of the void.
After the battle at Mount Kunlun, it was no longer a secret that Lin Feng possessed an avatar of the Saros Steel Tree. Although it was his first time seeing Lin Feng, Song Qingyuan immediately felt his heart sink after hearing him speak and seeing how the sky was filled with purple clouds.
He gathered his attention, smiled and said, "Are you the leader of the Celestial Wonder Sect? Greetings, revered elder Lin Feng."
Song Qingyuan would have definitely put up a fight it was some average person in the Nascent Soul Stage. However, even though it was just one of Lin Feng’s avatars, he already dispelled all notions of resistance.
Lin Feng said, "What a coincidence. Allow me to invite you to have a seat at my place."