Blending in among the eight “outsiders,” Lian Yunzhi had never felt so acutely that he was just a country bumpkin who had rarely left Xiaoze State and had never truly seen the world.
To his left, a cultivator dressed in a golden robe was showing off the formations embedded in his clothes to the Cyan-Clothed Person. “This is the Body Protection Array, this is the Invisibility Array, this is the Seventy-Two Absolute Killing Array—these are all the proud creations of our Panzhen Sect… Since you could bring us the Soul Scattering Needles, you can surely take my clothes out too. That way, I’ll have some help when I assassinate Mu Cheng.”
To his right, a cultivator in a gray-black robe flipped his hand, and countless chains materialized in his grasp. “These are the Desperate Magic Tools of our Feitian Sect—they allow me to soar through the skies and escape into the earth. I want to take them out too.”
Lian Yunzhi listened in a fog of confusion.
Weren’t they all from the Lin Xian Sect? What were Panzhen Sect and Feitian Sect? And why were their magic artifacts and clothes so advanced?
But even if he kept his composure, he couldn’t fend off someone leaning in eagerly to ask, “Senior? Where are you from? How did you enter here? Your clothes look so strange…”
Lian Yunzhi gave him a faint glance. “And you?”
Feng Yuan immediately spilled his story like pouring beans. “I’m from the Yujian Sect in Da Ping Zhou. I heard there was an Immortal Treasure manifesting in Xiaoze State, so I dragged my senior brother here. We didn’t find the treasure, but we got trapped and can’t get out…”
“Where are you from, Senior?” Feng Yuan persisted relentlessly.
Lian Yunzhi paused briefly, then said calmly without changing expression, “No fixed abode—a loose cultivator.”
Feng Yuan’s eyes widened. “Senior, you’re amazing! A loose cultivator reaching Golden Core… Once we get out, you should consider joining our Yujian Sect. Our Yujian Sect…”
“We’ll talk after we get out,” Lian Yunzhi interrupted him.
Feng Yuan suddenly fell silent, then gave a desolate, soulless bitter laugh. “…Yeah, if we can get out.”
Lian Yunzhi suddenly asked, “How did you enter the Lin Xian Sect?”
These people were from Panzhen Sect, Feitian Sect, Yujian Sect—how had they all so easily entered the number one sect in the cultivation world, the Lin Xian Sect?
But Feng Yuan gave Lian Yunzhi a strange look. “Of course, we just entered somehow, just like how you somehow became a Lian Family member, Senior.”
Lian Yunzhi’s heart surged like a storm, but his face showed nothing. He merely nodded in understanding.
Feng Yuan sighed. “I didn’t expect your identity here to be so close to Mu Cheng. If only you’d awakened sooner, recovered your memories earlier… Then you could have killed him with the Soul Scattering Needles when he was little, or before he grew powerful. What a pity… Actually, if I’d awakened sooner, I could have killed Mu Cheng in the Lin Xian Sect too. He got injured a lot when he first joined the sect…”
Lian Yunzhi had many questions he wanted to ask. What did “awakening” mean? What did “recovering memories” mean? Why kill Mu Cheng when he was little, before he was powerful, before he harmed them… Why must they kill Mu Cheng?!
But he asked nothing.
He knew he shouldn’t ask anything.
.
“You don’t really think you can kill Mu Cheng with your clothes and magic artifacts, do you?!” A chilling voice suddenly pierced the air. “If Mu Cheng were that easy to kill, those four from yesterday wouldn’t have sacrificed themselves in vain!”
“That person’s name is Feng Yan—at least, that’s his name in the Lin Xian Sect. I don’t know his real name outside. He had it rough; he only just recovered his memories and reunited with his younger brother yesterday, but then his brother was found with the wooden box by Mu Cheng and got so scared he self-detonated on the spot.” Feng Yuan quietly explained to Lian Yunzhi.
Mentioning those four dead companions made the air instantly silent. Many lowered their heads, their expressions despondent.
Clap, clap.
The Cyan-Clothed Man suddenly clapped lightly, drawing everyone’s attention. Under their gazes, he smiled faintly.
“Everyone, don’t lose heart or get discouraged. In fact, I urgently summoned you all today because I’ve found a foolproof way to kill Mu Cheng.”
Lian Yunzhi immediately looked up.
But the Cyan-Clothed Man stopped there and turned to gaze at Lian Yunzhi, giving him a slight smile.
An ominous premonition suddenly stirred in Lian Yunzhi’s heart.
Sure enough, the next moment, he heard the Cyan-Clothed Man say, “Lian Yunzhi, I’m sorry, but you can’t hear what comes next.”
Lian Yunzhi clenched his fists. “Why?!”
The Cyan-Clothed Man sighed. “I can’t trust you. I just discovered that you’ve formed a Dao Companion Contract with Mu Cheng.”
Everyone turned to stare at Lian Yunzhi in shock.
Lian Yunzhi himself was stunned.
But he quickly recovered and explained firmly, “That’s not a Dao Companion Contract. It was a special contract Mu Cheng and I signed before—it just mutated, so it looks a bit like one, but it’s not…”
“No, that is a Dao Companion Contract. I won’t be mistaken.” The Cyan-Clothed Man cut him off. “Sorry, I have to send you out.”
The Red Mist veiled his eyes again, and the world blurred.
Vaguely, Lian Yunzhi seemed to hear someone angrily say, “Then why not kill him? Forcing a Dao Companion Contract to break or one side dying will drastically reduce the other’s strength. Then we can kill Mu Cheng!”
The Cyan-Clothed Person seemed to explain something to the angry voice, but Lian Yunzhi didn’t catch it.
