Chapter 272 - 298: The Secret of the Gui Chen Sect, Should Be Killed!

With that said, Su Bai quietly waited for Chen Tianhua to speak.

"Senior! The Lord of the State is a great figure, powerful and mysterious. How could someone of my lowly status possibly know his specific whereabouts?"

Chen Tianhua clearly hadn’t recovered from Su Bai’s first condition. His expression was grim as he spoke.

He was the master of the Prefecture City’s Gui Dao Mansion and held a Divine Position granted by the Immortal Dynasty, so his status was hardly low.

But compared to a great figure like the Lord of the State, he was as insignificant as an ant.

"As for the first condition..."

Chen Tianhua pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and continued,

"If you can persuade the Gui Chen Sect, Senior, then I will naturally agree to the first condition."

With Su Bai right in front of him, he didn’t dare refuse directly, no matter how reluctant he felt.

In recent years, the Gui Chen Sect had grown powerful and consistently oppressed him, causing deep-seated resentment to build in his heart.

If this senior before him could truly suppress the Gui Chen Sect, then the Incense he had accumulated over so many years... what would it matter if he gave it away?

He didn’t care how Su Bai planned to do the persuading.

"Senior, I will take my leave!"

With that, he rose to depart.

He forced himself not to ask about the Life Extension Secret Technique. For one, he still hadn’t decided whether he should agree to the two conditions.

For another, he was afraid that if he saw a glimmer of real hope, he might be unable to stop himself from doing something irrational.

Su Bai remained seated at the table. He neither stopped Chen Tianhua nor rose to see him out, simply watching him disappear before slowly shaking his head.

’Looks like I’ll have to pay a visit to the Gui Chen Sect after all.’

The Qingming Daoist, Chen Tianhua, was deeply wary of him. The words he had just spoken were only half-truths.

The man had been in the Prefecture City of Desolate Province for ten thousand years and held a Divine Position from the Immortal Dynasty. How could he not know a single thing about the Lord of the State?

Ultimately, Chen Tianhua was simply too afraid of the Lord of the State to leak any secrets. He also had no trust in the stranger, Su Bai, despite his power.

However, if Su Bai could bring the Gui Chen Sect to heel, that would be another matter entirely.

"If that’s the case, then a trip to the Gui Chen Sect it is," Su Bai murmured with a smile, refilling his cup and taking a light sip as he lowered his gaze to the rippling tea.

’I’ve had my eye on that Gui Chen Sect Elder, Chu An, for a while. His Cultivation isn’t low, and he personally has a Seven-Star Sin Value.’

Once he said this, Su Bai looked up in the direction of the Gui Chen Sect, and his figure vanished on the spot.

...

The Gui Chen Sect had branches in almost every city within the Dayu Immortal Dynasty.

And within each Daoist Temple, they almost exclusively worshipped the Leader of Gui Chen Sect alone.

Outside the Prefecture City, a hidden Daoist Temple stood atop Lonely Mountain. Chu An sat in silent meditation, absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism.

A Silver Flying Sword circled around him, letting out an occasional BUZZ. A profound stream of energy flowed back and forth between the Flying Sword and his body.

It was his Lifebound Flying Sword, intrinsically linked to his very life, and also a powerful Sacred Artifact that could be called perfect.

Sword Cultivators were first and foremost known for their sharpness and ruthless Power of Slaughter. Although his Realm was lower than that of Elder Huinian from the Wansheng Institute, his Power of Slaughter was in no way inferior, perhaps even greater.

This was also the reason he was able to take charge of the Gui Chen Sect’s Desolate State Branch.

Of course, more importantly, the Gui Chen Sect was so domineering that even the Gui Dao Mansion and some Officials of the Immortal Dynasty had to treat them with courtesy.

"Huuu..."

After a long time, Chu An slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

The stream of air was like a silver sword piercing through everything in its path, extending for over a hundred feet before gradually dissipating.

As he slowly concluded his practice, two Daoists, one tall and one short, approached and complimented him.

"Elder, your Flying Sword has grown even sharper. The title of number one Sword Cultivator in the Prefecture City can only belong to you."

"Enough with the pleasantries. Did you find anything?"

Chu An raised a hand. The Flying Sword flowed down like a silver waterfall, circling and spinning around his fingertip.

"Did you catch anyone—or any demon—who witnessed the final scene of that night?"

That night, the moment he spied that giant Buddha’s face, he had immediately retracted his Spirit Light Mirror. He had assumed that with the Rebirth Buddha Venerable making a move, the matter would be settled.

But to his surprise, Elder Hui De had vanished without a trace, and no one from the Wansheng Institute had come back to discuss establishing a branch.

How could he not know that something must have gone wrong?

But the Rebirth Buddha Venerable was a Great Power at the Feather Transformation Realm. With him taking action, who would dare to oppose him?

In his estimation, there were only a few experts in the Prefecture City who could contend with that Buddha’s face.

’Was it Kunwu Ancestor from Golden Radiance Mountain, or Taixu True Master who lives in seclusion on Xu Mountain?’

Chu An pondered.

The two Daoists exchanged a look, hemming and hawing, unable to speak.

Chu An’s expression darkened as he toyed with the Flying Sword around his finger. "If I recall correctly, there’s an old fox on Celestial Origin Mountain that offers Spirit Fruits and Spirit Grass to our Gui Chen Sect every year..."

The tall, thin Daoist gritted his teeth and said, "Forgive us, Elder. That old fox fled long ago. It’s vanished. The two of us searched all over Celestial Origin Mountain but found no trace of it..."

He had been a little too late. They had scoured thousands of miles around Celestial Origin Mountain and still hadn’t found the slightest sign of the old fox.

"That old fox!"

Chu An snorted coldly, though he had expected as much. That old fox was known for its cunning; it was no surprise it would choose to flee when things looked bad.

He wasn’t too concerned about it.

Next, he looked at the shorter Daoist and said flatly,

"Wu Ming, I told you to extract the souls of the living creatures on the mountain. Don’t tell me every single one of them is dead?"

The somewhat short and stout Daoist gave a bitter smile.

"Plenty of creatures survived on the mountain. I extracted the souls of three thousand beasts and several hundred Demon Beasts, but they all fled in terror and have very few memories of what happened."

"All they know is that at the end, a beam of sword light shot into the sky..."

These beasts and Demon Beasts already had limited intelligence due to the Prefecture City’s deliberate suppression. After being frightened, they were too busy fleeing for their lives to stop and watch.

"A Sword Cultivator made a move?"

Chu An’s brow furrowed, and the Flying Sword circling his finger paused slightly.

"In the Prefecture City, there are only a few people who could openly contend with that Buddha’s face, and none of them seem to be a Sword Cultivator..."

"There are indeed some Sword Cultivators at the Nine Tribulations Realm and the Void Realm, but their mastery of the Sword Dao is inferior to my own. What right would they have to interfere with the Rebirth Buddha Venerable?"

The world is vast, but powerful experts are rare.

The Dayu Immortal Dynasty’s territory spanned hundreds of millions of miles with a countless population, yet not even one in a hundred was a Martial Arts Practitioner.

Those with profound Cultivation were even rarer, few and far between.

He thought for a moment, and his mind settled on the powerful aura that had suddenly appeared in the Prefecture City that day.

The intensity of that aura seemed to faintly surpass the limits of Returning Void. Moreover, this person seemed to have entered the Dao Realm.

But no matter how much he thought, he couldn’t recall who possessed such a potent aura.

’Could it be... someone from the Outer Realm?’

He wondered.

"Elder, why don’t you ask the Qingming Daoist, Chen Tianhua?"

The tall, thin Daoist was puzzled.

"Wu Qing, you don’t understand. These Daoists with Divine Positions are hard to read. They’re dissatisfied with our Gui Chen Sect and have held grudges for a long time. It’s best to have as little contact with them as possible..."

A sudden coldness appeared on Chu An’s face.

"Besides, if we become too familiar, my sword might hesitate when the time comes to strike..."

More importantly, if Chen Tianhua wanted to talk, he would do so without being asked. If he didn’t want to, there was no point in asking.

"This... Elder, why must we push these Daoists with Divine Positions so hard?"

The two Daoists’ expressions changed slightly.

The Gui Dao Mansion was wary of the Gui Chen Sect, but wasn’t the Gui Chen Sect also wary of the Gui Dao Mansion?

Over the years, countless Daoists had pledged allegiance to the Dayu Immortal Dynasty.

The number of Daoists in all Thirteen Provinces combined was likely greater than the entire congregation of the Gui Chen Sect.

If they were to make a move against these people, setting aside the Dayu Immortal Dynasty and the two Venerables of the Netherworld, just the sheer number of Daoists alone... how many lives would it cost to overwhelm them?

Even with the Gui Chen Sect’s might, there was no denying that the Gui Dao Mansion was also a behemoth.

A collision between two such behemoths, even the slightest aftershock, would be a catastrophe capable of grinding them to dust.

The middle and lower ranks of the Gui Chen Sect did not wish for that day to come.

After all, they now had wealth and status, as well as countless female believers to enjoy. Who would want to be used as cannon fodder by the sect’s upper echelon?

"Is wealth, status, gold, and women all you can see?"

Chu An saw through their thoughts completely and sneered.

"We Martial Cultivators, even after entering the Nine Tribulations, have a lifespan of only six or seven thousand years. Yet a bunch of weaklings can achieve longevity and extend their lives by ten thousand years just by relying on the Power of Incense."

"Don’t you want to become a Mountain God or a Water God, to hold a Divine Position yourselves?"

Since ancient times, all of the Ten Thousand Spirits and all things have had a limit to their lifespan. Whether one is in the Void Realm, the Feather Transformation Realm, or even the Ascension Immortal Realm, no one can live forever.

The only one who is nearly immortal is Emperor Yu.

Besides him, there are the two great Venerables of the Netherworld, the Seven Heroes and Three Li, the Yin Department Ghost Gods, and those who have been granted a Divine Position.

Many years ago, when the Netherworld Venerable Master reigned, countless True Masters and Cultivators across the land would travel to the Netherworld as their lives neared their end to pay homage to him.

They sought a position as one of the ghost gods.

Now that the Netherworld Venerable Master is gone, that path is closed.

Some wish to enter the Netherworld to seek that path again, while others have set their sights on the Daoists across the provinces who hold Divine Positions.

"What? The Sect Leader... has his sights set on them?"

The two Daoists looked at each other, their hearts trembling!

Even they had never heard this news.

After all, the Divine Positions held by these Daoists who had submitted to the Dayu Immortal Dynasty were granted by the dynasty’s high command.

For the Sect Leader to be targeting them now, didn’t that mean...

At that moment, realization dawned on the two of them.

They finally understood why the Gui Chen Sect was so insistent on pressuring these Daoists with Divine Positions—they were after the very foundation of their long lives!

Once they understood, they were overjoyed.

But Chu An’s expression changed drastically!

’How could I have said that out loud?’

He shot to his feet, his eyes scanning in all directions as the silver sword in his hand let out a sharp cry.

"Which rat dares to plot against me!?"

He was furious.

This information was not public within the Gui Chen Sect. Only the leaders of the branches in the major provinces were qualified to know.

And speaking of it was strictly forbidden.

How could he possibly have blurted it out for no reason?

VMMMM!!

He sprang up, and with a wave of his arm, the Flying Sword transformed into a long rainbow, unleashing a thousand-zhang beam of sword light that illuminated the sky.

"You deserve to die! You deserve to die!"

RUMBLE!

The two furious shouts exploded like thunder.

Waves of energy surged across the entire mountain!

Wherever the sword light swept, grass and trees shattered. The falling debris rained down, only to be pulverized into dust by the rampaging sword energy.

The sheer scale of the attack left the two Daoists pale with terror, their bodies trembling.

"What you said makes sense."

"You do, indeed, deserve to die."

Amidst the whistling sword light, a calm voice echoed through the mountain wilderness.

It also rang in the minds of the three men.