Lu Yaoyao and Du Qianshan remained vigilant until the next morning. Thankfully, the night passed without incident, and the devil that attacked them did not appear again. After a night’s rest, about sixty percent of Wen Zixing and Chao Muxue’s injuries had healed, but they still needed time to fully recover.
Not wanting to delay any further, the group quickly descended the mountain. They summoned the deer carriage they had rented and headed straight back to the sect. They traveled nearly non-stop, taking only half the time to return as they had taken to come. Seeing the familiar sights of the sect, Lu Yaoyao finally felt a sense of relief—they were home at last.
As soon as they entered the mountain gate, a few disciples noticed them. “Greetings, Martial Aunt Lu, Martial Aunt Chao…” Six patrolling disciples greeted them one by one. Lu Yaoyao’s group was the most eye-catching among their generation, so these junior disciples knew that these martial aunts and uncles had gone on a mission and were surprised to see them return so soon.
Chao Muxue smiled and returned their greetings, “Thank you for your hard work on patrol.”
“It’s our duty, Martial Aunt,” they replied.
After a few polite exchanges, the six disciples left.
Lu Yaoyao said, “I’ll go submit our mission report first, then we can meet the Sect Leader in half an hour.” Since she had all the requested items and was the team leader, she could handle the completion procedure alone.
“Alright,” Chao Muxue nodded. “I’ll go report to my master.”
Wen Zixing scratched his head, “I’ll check in with my master and then join you.” He wanted to make a quick trip to West Seventh Peak.
Lu Yaoyao thought for a moment and said, “Let’s have our masters meet us at the main peak.”
“Okay.”
The four of them split up and moved separately. Lu Yaoyao headed straight to the mission hall to submit their tasks, stopping briefly to ask a junior disciple to inform her master on South Fifth Peak to meet her at the main peak.
When she arrived at the mission hall, it wasn’t very crowded. With the sect’s inner tournament approaching, disciples were focusing on preparation rather than taking on missions, so it was a slow time for the mission hall. Lu Yaoyao approached the submission desk, “Excuse me, Senior Brother, I’m here to submit our mission.”
“Junior Sister Yaoyao, you’ve completed them so quickly?” The disciple manning the desk was astonished. Though the three missions Lu Yaoyao and her friends took on weren’t dangerous, they were time-consuming, and yet these newbies had finished in less than half a month.
“Yes,” Lu Yaoyao replied, handing over the requested items and then waiting while the senior brother inspected them. She watched the senior brother putting the spiritual mink into a small cage. Seeing the mink whimper pitifully at her, she couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother, is the requester planning to keep the spiritual mink as a pet?”
“Yes, Junior Sister. Don’t worry; the mink will be well cared for here in the sect.”
Lu Yaoyao nodded. She had visited the sect’s spiritual beast garden, a whole mountain dedicated to the free-range care of spiritual beasts. It would indeed live better there than in the Cold Mountain Forest.
“The requested items are all in order,” the senior brother said after completing the inspection, then handed Lu Yaoyao the reward.
Lu Yaoyao carefully stored the reward in her small pouch. It wasn’t much, but it was the first reward they earned from completing missions. “Thank you, Senior Brother and Sister. I’ll take my leave now.” She finally smiled for the first time since Wen Zixing and Chao Muxue were injured.
“Take care, Junior Sister.”
Lu Yaoyao turned and left the mission hall, heading straight to the main peak. As expected, the news of their group returning early with injuries had caused quite a stir among the upper echelons. Upon arriving at the main peak, she was immediately escorted to the main hall, where a large crowd had gathered.
Almost all peak masters and elders of the twelve peaks were present, along with some of their personal disciples. Lu Yaoyao saw her second senior brother standing beside their master. Sect Leader Lu Chongyun and his chief disciple Lu Junyang were also there.
After greeting the elders, Lu Yaoyao joined Wen Zixing and the others.
Lu Junyang and Mo Ziwen looked Lu Yaoyao over with concern, finally relieved after confirming she wasn’t injured. They had been extremely worried upon hearing that their junior brothers and sisters had encountered a devil during a mission.
Lu Chongyun sat at the head seat, with the peak masters and elders from various peaks seated on either side, all wearing solemn expressions as they looked at the young disciples.
Lu Chongyun spoke sternly, “Muxue, recount the events in detail.”
“Yes.” Chao Muxue proceeded to describe how they encountered the devil in Cold Mountain Forest, with Lu Yaoyao and Wen Zixing adding details here and there.
Chao Muxue concluded, “…Fortunately, Yaoyao arrived just in time. The devil seemed to fear Yaoyao and fled hastily. He didn’t reappear afterward, allowing us to return safely.” She breathed a sigh of relief. Without Yaoyao, they wouldn’t have stood a chance. A group of Qi Condensation disciples was no match for a single Devil Core devil.
No one in the Three Realms was not aware of the Dao Venerable Hengwu’s daughter, a prodigy who had reached Foundation Establishment at four and the Golden Core stage at seventeen. The devil must have recognized Lu Yaoyao and feared His Venerable behind her, explaining his sudden retreat.
After listening, Lu Chongyun and other elders understood. These young disciples, still in the Qi Condensation stage, would not stand a chance against a Devil Core devil. It was all thanks to Lu Yaoyao that they made it back alive.
“Has the Cultivation Realm become a sieve now? Why are devils causing trouble everywhere?” Peak Master Lin frowned.
The Master of the Twelfth Peak said: “Do they have some new method to hide their presence? How could they cause trouble right on our doorstep without anyone knowing?”
The First Elder snorted coldly, “You know what the devils are like, they have no sense of honor whatsoever. The Cultivation Realm’s reputation is being trampled. Are we supposed to watch in silence?”
Peak Master Miao added, “The devils have indeed been too brazen lately.”
The peak masters and elders spoke one after another. Listening to the discussion, Lu Yaoyao realized that their encounter wasn’t the only reason for this gathering. While they were away, a small sect had been massacred by devils, and it was already too late by the time Guiyuan found out. This sect was somewhat related to a disciple under the First Elder. A surviving disciple from this small sect sought help from this disciple, who then reported to his master, and only then did the elders realize that the devils were committing such cruel acts within human territory.
Even though it was just a small sect of twenty or thirty people, it was still a sect. No matter what, the Cultivation Realm must hold the devils accountable. Guiyuan had already intervened in this matter, and everyone was now voicing their opinions.
The peak master of East Third Peak spoke gruffly, “If the devils have no sense of honor, we shouldn’t bother with that peace treaty. Let’s go to war.” With His Venerable on their side, they had nothing to fear.
Lu Chongyun said, “Senior Brother is currently in a critical phase of seclusion and cannot be contacted. We need to plan this carefully. However, the sect will certainly pursue this matter to the end.”
Lu Yaoyao felt a heavy burden. She had sent Yaqing to patrol everywhere, but the Cultivation Realm was vast, and often they only found out about incidents after they happened.
What should she do?
At the same time, Wen Zixing was also growing anxious as he watched the leaders unhesitatingly blaming the devils. The enmities between the two races were too deep-rooted. If the devils kept causing trouble in the Cultivation Realm, it would only deepen the misunderstandings and tensions, leading to more conflicts until they eventually reach the point of no return, ultimately leading to the tragic showdown between the Dao Venerable and the Devil Venerable.
But the real culprits were the demons, not the devils.
Finally, Wen Zixing couldn’t help but speak up, “Please excuse me for speaking out of turn, Sect Leader, but this disciple believes these incidents are actually caused by the demon race’s manipulation.”
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next>
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.
I really hope that the Guiyuan Sect leaders listen to Wen Zixing’s reasons because it’s pretty plausible that if the Devil and Cultivation Realms go to war and suffer massive losses on both sides, no matter who wins between them, the Demon Realm will just take advantage of their weakened states to conquer both realms.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀