Chapter 297

Chapter 297: The Best Moment

Lin Qing Ling stared and asked: “You really are Li?” Li Shuang had no choice but to project the Memory Stone again. Lin Qing Ling watched it carefully more than ten times before releasing Li Shuang’s hand in satisfaction. Whatever she thought of made her grin grow brighter, a quiet chuckle escaping now and then. When she noticed Li Shuang was still there, she coughed lightly and put on a proper face: “Very good. Your harvest in the Golden Soul Altar was great, and you did not shame our Sword Sect.” Li Shuang replied obediently: “Yes.”

Lin Qing Ling cleared her throat: “Tell the Sect Master and a few Supreme Elders that you are Li. No one else needs to know. Yan Fan’s small achievements are nothing and won’t draw much attention. But if news about you spreads, it will likely bring mad attacks from the Demon Clan.”

Speaking of this, she could not help but laugh again: “Little Shuang, you don’t know how arrogant Liao Ying is. She has praised Yan Fan to the skies and keeps saying he will lead the six sects to a new height. Isn’t that ridiculous? He hasn’t even reached the Integration Stage, but Cangyuan dares to call him the future Leader of the Six Sects. If she finds out you are Li, her expression will be priceless! A pity I don’t plan to tell her. When you want to slap a face, the longer the buildup, the sweeter it lands.” Lin Qing Ling laughed so hard she could not stop.

Li Shuang stood to the side, a bit helpless, and did not dare to join in. Her master called Liao Ying her mortal enemy, but in truth Liao Ying trusted her deeply enough to share the inside story of Yan Fan’s lucky break. Maybe it was bragging, but without trust she would not say it. Li Shuang would not meddle in this little game between friends.

After easing her mood, Lin Qing Ling smiled: “Let’s go. The other Disciples who are competing have already gone to the Cangyuan Sect. I stayed behind to wait for you to leave seclusion. Since you’re out, we’ll head to Cangyuan too.” Li Shuang answered respectfully: “Yes.”

At the Central Plaza, the Teleportation Array was already open. Ten sects were taking part in the tournament, and each had handed in a roster. Showing its wealth, the Cangyuan Sect promised to pay all spirit stones needed for teleporting the listed Disciples.

Lin Qing Ling led Li Shuang into the array with a cheerful stride. In the blink of an eye they arrived, and a bustling roar washed over Li Shuang’s ears. Greetings and laughter crossed the square as voices called out: “Daoist Friend Chen, long time no see!”, “Haha, it’s been five years since last time. Come, tonight we won’t leave until we’re drunk.”, “As expected of the first great sect, the Cangyuan Sect flattened several nearby peaks for this tournament and prepared lodgings for each sect. I went to look; the environment is quite nice.”, “It’s rare to gather Disciples of ten sects in one place. A market has sprung up on its own in the valley below. Senior Sister, shall we go take a look?”, “Let’s go together.” Voices poured in from every side, and when Li Shuang raised her eyes, the square was crowded with Disciples from all sects, lively and bright.

Leading the way, Lin Qing Ling said: “Our Sword Sect has been assigned a mountain to live on; your Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters are all there. I’ll take you over first.” Li Shuang agreed and followed. After a short walk, her gaze moved and she asked: “Master, where is the Tyrant Blade Sect’s peak?” At the mention of that sect, dislike flashed through Lin Qing Ling’s eyes. With a straight face she said: “On the mountain next to ours.” [What an unlucky neighbor.]

Li Shuang asked: “Is Ye Zhao Zhao here?” Lin Qing Ling shook her head and said quietly: “The Tyrant Blade Sect has sent many people, but as far as I know, Yan Zhong He and Ye Zhao Zhao haven’t arrived yet. However, Ye Zhao Zhao’s name is on their Disciple list, so she should be coming.” She gave Li Shuang a look and said in a low voice: “It’s been three years since you last met. Ye Zhao Zhao’s realm is now the Divine Transformation Stage.” In three years she had shot up from the Golden Core Stage to the Divine Transformation Stage. Ye Zhao Zhao’s rise was frightening.

“Besides Ye Zhao Zhao,” Lin Qing Ling went on, “Yan Zhong He has taken three more Disciples in these past three years. They weren’t from the Tyrant Blade Sect before. One day he just brought them back and accepted them as disciples. Their progress has been terrifying too. Now those three are also at the Divine Transformation Stage.”

“The Tyrant Blade Sect’s two bottom-of-the-box techniques should be the Heaven Severing Blade and the Heaven Slaying Codex. Strangely, none of Yan Zhong He’s four Disciples, including Ye Zhao Zhao, practice either of those. He seems to have passed on some other Secret Art.”

“For three years the four have kept to themselves. Even people of the Tyrant Blade Sect have rarely seen them. Only a month ago did they show their faces inside the sect, and at that time all four were already at the Divine Transformation Stage.” Lin Qing Ling summarized with a slight frown: “The Tyrant Blade Sect feels off to me, and Yan Zhong He doesn’t look like someone of the Righteous Path at all. But the Disciples of the Tyrant Blade Sect carry no demonic taint, so it’s hard to accuse them rashly.” Li Shuang nodded, calm.

The Devil Path on the Nanlan Continent was not quite the same as in the Central Continent. Because most Devil Path methods passed down in Nanlan were deeply flawed, those who trained them easily lost their minds and fell into madness. So the clash between the Righteous Path and the Devil Path on Nanlan was far worse than in the Central Continent. In the Central Continent, the struggle was mostly for resources. In Nanlan, it was a fight for survival. The Righteous Path hunted the Devil Path, and the Devil Path hunted the Righteous Path; often it was to the death.

People on the Nanlan Continent knew nothing of the Heaven Severing Lands or Devil Seeds. Before, when Ye Zhao Zhao leaked demonic energy, everyone only thought she belonged to the Devil Path and practiced an evil method. They did not know that the aura released when she was first killed was the power of a higher tier True Devil. A High Grade Devil Seed was dangerous even in the Central Continent, and now one had appeared on the Nanlan Continent.

Li Shuang’s gaze hardened; she had to expose Ye Zhao Zhao’s true nature as soon as possible. A Devil Seed like that, if allowed to grow to the level of Mu Xiao in the Central Continent, could topple the entire Nanlan Continent alone. Now all that remained was to wait for Ye Zhao Zhao to arrive at the Cangyuan Sect. With experts from ten sects gathered here, once Ye Zhao Zhao revealed her true body, then with only her Divine Transformation Stage strength, even as a Divine Transformation True Devil, she would be doomed. Here and now was the best moment to completely root out the Devil Seed.