Chapter 1205: Fellow Daoist, Lets Talk This Over! (II)

Chapter 1205: Fellow Daoist, Let's Talk This Over! (II)

Rumor had it that Luo Chen was a peerless prodigy who had taken what was once little more than a ragtag group of Qi Refinement cultivators and, through his own efforts, led them step by step into becoming a major sect.

As the realization spread through the stands, someone suddenly shouted, "Dan Chenzi!"

It was an old Dao title, one Luo Chen himself had almost forgotten.

Gu Caiyi could barely get the words out. "You... how did you..."

Luo Chen patted her and gently pushed her away. "Let's talk later. We're not done here yet."

Gu Caiyi quickly wiped away her tears and sensibly stepped aside. Even then, the tenderness in her eyes never left him.

Luo Chen turned and walked off the platform toward Divine Fire and Old Ghost Skyscraper. "Now you know who I am. So tell me, do I have the right to interfere when this concerns my own sect?"

Divine Fire drew a deep breath and lowered his head slightly. "If this is a matter to be discussed within your own sect, then fine. I have nothing to say about that. But you killed one of my sect's disciples. You still owe us an explanation!"

Luo Chen's expression hardened as he raised a hand. "An explanation? What about the explanation YOU OWE ME?!"

Before either Divine Fire or Skyscraper could react, a massive palm projection formed from mana and came crashing toward them.

"You dare?! Fighting is forbidden in Skypiercing Pass!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Though they immediately started protesting, both men had witnessed Luo Chen's terrifying feats earlier, and both had developed a measure of fear toward him. Now, faced with such a brazen attack, neither dared meet it head-on, and they instinctively dodged to either side.

As they moved away, a man who had hidden himself behind them was exposed. The mana palm projection bore straight down on him, which sent his hair whipping, and his face was drained of color.

Luo Chen's eyes turned cold. "COME HERE!"

At his command, the descending palm projection abruptly curled into an enormous claw that snatched the man up before he could escape and dragged him back toward Luo Chen.

Min Longyu still remembered Luo Chen's way of doing things, so he knew exactly what to do. Without needing to be told, he stepped forward and placed a restriction on the captive before finally letting out a long sigh. "Wenjie, did you ever imagine things would come to this?"

Sima Wenjie clenched his teeth. He did not dare look at Luo Chen, yet neither was he willing to show weakness. In the end, he simply closed his eyes and refused to say a word.

"Alas..."

Min Longyu could only sigh again, but his expression changed almost immediately as Luo Chen's voice transmission reached every member of the Luo Tian Sect. They exchanged brief glances, then, without hesitation, began pushing through the crowd and making their way out of the area.

They had withdrawn like this countless times over the past several decades, but never with this sense of relief. For years, every retreat had been shadowed by the same gnawing anxiety. They never knew when the next crisis might fall upon them or whether the sect would survive it. This time, that suffocating fear was gone. For the first time in a century, they felt truly safe.

As Gu Caiyi followed the others away, she could not resist looking back. Tears still streaked her cheeks, but now a smile shone through them.

Luo Chen met her gaze with a smile of his own and raised a hand in farewell. "Go on, head back. I'm back... for good."

***

Luo Chen had rushed straight for Skypiercing Pass after leaving the White Crane Domain, ascending into Azure Darkness and crossing the distance as quickly as he could. At the limit of his speed, he had reached the front lines within a single day. Had he not needed to obtain an entry token from the White Crane Sect before entering Skypiercing Pass, he would have arrived even sooner and dealt with the chaos before it had escalated this far.

That was also why he had little interest in lingering after the confrontation ended. He saw nothing glorious about what had happened. As far as he was concerned, the Luo Tian Sect had merely exposed its internal troubles before the entire city.

Still, the decisiveness with which he had broken into the arena, killed Yin Sixiang, exposed Skyscraper, and brought the Luo Tian Sect under control had thoroughly shaken the city. Even the Sages now gathered at the city master's residence could not ignore the warning that his actions clearly stated.

Some time later, within a secluded courtyard, Luo Chen and Wang Yuan stood facing one another for a long moment before finally sharing a smile.

Luo Chen was the first to speak. "How long has it been?"

Wang Yuan let out a long sigh. "Exactly 110 years. Ever since you left, things haven't been easy for any of us."

Luo Chen fell silent. There was so much he wanted to say, but in the end, only a few words came out. "I'm sorry. It must've been truly hard on you."

And Wang Yuan truly had. Most of what Luo Chen knew about the past century came from Zhao Wu, Idle Crane's chief disciple, and even that amounted to little more than fragments. Those fragments, however, were enough to show just how much Wang Yuan had sacrificed to keep the Luo Tian Sect standing.

After Luo Chen disappeared, the sect lost the pillar it had relied upon. Its leadership was shaken, its future uncertain, and even their former ally Diwu Qi tried to take advantage of the situation by bringing the Luo Tian Sect under his control. Wang Yuan had been the one who fought the man and drove him out of the former Luo Tian Alliance and secured the sect's independence.

Not only that, but when Diwu Qi later began plotting against them from the shadows, Wang Yuan did not wait for the danger to grow. Instead, he charged into their territory alone and killed the man himself to end the matter once and for all. By striking decisively, Wang Yuan warned off anyone else who might have designs on the Luo Tian Sect while giving those within it something to steady themselves against.

Had anyone else done such things, Luo Chen might have wondered whether ambition had played some part in it. Perhaps that person wanted authority, prestige, or control over the sect. But this was Wang Yuan. It had been he who told Luo Chen not to be blinded by power and prestige or allow worldly affairs to become shackles on his cultivation. He had never cared much for authority, much less for the power that came with running a sect. For someone like him to shoulder so much responsibility over the past century, there could only be one reason: loyalty.

He had done all of these for the years when he and Luo Chen had braved life and death together and shared both glory and disgrace. Luo Chen had shown his own loyalty by charging alone into the Thundernet Nine Mountains all those years ago, willing to fight an Adept just to save him. So when Luo Chen was gone and the Luo Tian Sect needed someone to stand in his place, Wang Yuan had answered that statement of loyalty in the only way he knew.

Some things between men simply did not need to be said aloud. It was enough that both of them remembered. For that reason, Luo Chen did not fuss over the details or press Wang Yuan for explanations. Instead, his concern turned to something else. "Why did you change your cultivation path?"

He remembered clearly how firmly Wang Yuan had once insisted on following the orthodox path of Physique Refinement. In particular, he had always looked down on physique refinement arts derived from demonic beasts. Back when the Sky Roc Transformation had been placed before them, Wang Yuan had dismissed it outright.

Over the century Luo Chen himself had spent cultivating in the Northern Sea, he had gradually come to understand Wang Yuan's old misgivings. Such transformations truly were not well suited to the human body. That was why, through repeated cultivation and refinement, he had slowly altered the Sky Roc True Form into the Giant Spirit form that was more compatible with his own physique.

Yet in the arena earlier, Wang Yuan had very nearly transformed into some kind of demonic beast.

Faced with the question, Wang Yuan waved it off. "I didn't really have a choice. Things just turned out that way."

That answer was enough. Probably at some point during the century he had spent protecting the sect, he had encountered a crisis bad enough to force him down a path he had once rejected in exchange for greater strength.

Luo Chen fell quiet, but after a moment, he settled on the only words that truly mattered. "You won't have to carry everything alone anymore. I'm back."

That finally brought a genuine smile to Wang Yuan's face. "Go on. They've probably been waiting long enough."

"Mm."

The two left the secluded courtyard together and headed for the city master's residence.

By now, word of what had happened in the arena had spread throughout Skypiercing Pass. Wherever Luo Chen went, conversations died away, and cultivators stepped aside to make room for him and bowed respectfully as he passed. Everyone had heard how he destroyed Old Ghost Skyscraper's life-bound treasure, dealt with the traitor within his own sect, and openly stood behind the Luo Tian Sect before the entire city.

In particular, his blatant protection of his own people, and the fact that he'd killed a junior without caring in the slightest about the dignity expected of a Sage, inspired deep awe and fear among low-tier cultivators. After witnessing such a display, who would dare slight him over something as small as manners?

Just before reaching the residence, however, Luo Chen slowed. An old acquaintance was waiting outside, watching him approach with a complicated expression.

It was Fairy Moonbreeze. They had crossed paths several times in the past, but Luo Chen did not stop to reminisce. He simply gave her a slight nod, then pushed open the doors of the main hall. The doors swung inward with a deep rumble, drawing every gaze in the hall toward the figure standing outside.

At that moment, the midday sun blazed behind Luo Chen, outlining his white robes in brilliant light. He stood tall and straight as a sword while beams of sunlight streamed past him into the hall, catching the dust drifting through the air.

Under the watchful eyes of the many Sages gathered within, Luo Chen smiled brightly. "Everyone, I'm back!"

His voice was not particularly loud, yet it seemed to carry the weight of mountains and the momentum of surging rivers and seas. For some reason, it felt as though those words were not meant for just the people gathered before him, but were announcing his return to the entire Eastern Wilderness!