Chapter 401: Xiao Ran’s Troubles

"A sword cultivator?" Tushan Shanhe asked darkly. "Was his name Chi Jia?"

"Indeed. Does Senior knows him?" Sect Master Tang Qicen followed up with a question. Chi Jia and Yu Lin had already been missing for more than three years, and they had also caused such enormous trouble. He had to get to the bottom of their affairs. Otherwise, one day, the Heavenly Void Sect might end up suffering the same fate as the Gou family without him, the sect master, even knowing what had happened.

For someone with Xiao Ran’s temperament, Tushan Shanhe’s complete disregard for her was the greatest humiliation of all. After being ignored, her eyes immediately darkened, and her expression became extremely ugly. It was not until she heard the name Chi Jia that her darkened gaze shifted slightly. She thought somewhat dazedly, "It has been so long since I heard that name, or even thought about him."

If he really had become her puppet under Yu Lin’s control and had committed those acts that harmed her, would she be able to forgive him? Chi Jia? Yu Lin, Chi Jia? Yu Lin... She remembered. Before her rebirth, she had been determined to find Yu Lin and take revenge. Yet even now, she had still failed to fulfill that wish. Instead, she had gained someone she hated even more... What a strange fate.

The corner of Tushan Shanhe’s lips curled upward as he said meaningfully, "Of course I know him. He trespassed into our clan’s restricted grounds. One of our younger clan members brought him back as a guest for more than a month. The person in charge of your sect in the Upper Realm only came to retrieve him after preparing a generous gift."

A group of old foxes present immediately understood everything. There were three people from the Heavenly Void Sect who had destroyed the secret realm: Xiao Ran, Yu Lin, and Chi Jia. A junior member of the Tushan Clan had captured Chi Jia and taken him back, while Xiao Ran and Yu Lin had escaped. The Heavenly Void Sect in the Upper Realm had offered a large amount of precious gifts as compensation, and only then had the matter been settled. Now they had descended to the Lower Realm to find the other two culprits.

Xiao Ran had already been found, but she refused to admit her guilt. In the end, she had simply been given a punishment that made her wish she were dead. Then how was the Heavenly Void Sect supposed to explain the matter concerning Yu Lin? Everyone could not help looking toward Tang Qicen. Tang Qicen was practically cursing Venerable Yi Xiao’s mother in his heart. Just look at what kind of disciples you have taken!

Every single one of them is so troublesome. They are all walking disasters. Yet now that something had happened, you were peacefully cultivating in seclusion inside the sect while making your own sect master come out and take the blame. If they really compensated for the loss of an entire secret realm, the Heavenly Void Sect would inevitably suffer tremendous losses and have its foundation badly damaged. Since even the Heavenly Void Sect in the Spirit Realm had been willing to offer such a heavy gift as an apology for Chi Jia, perhaps the status of the Tushan Clan in the Spirit Realm was even greater than they had imagined. Facing people like this...

Tang Qicen continued complaining inwardly while thinking about how he should respond. On the surface, however, he did not dare show the slightest trace of his thoughts. He even had to behave extremely cautiously as he hurriedly said, "Hehe... Chi Jia is fortunate to have been able to cultivate in the sect in the Upper Realm. This junior will immediately issue a wanted order through the Heavenly Void Sect’s Enforcement Hall and have them bring her back, giving Senior a..."

"That won’t be necessary. You should take care of the matter in front of you first!" Tushan Shanhe interrupted Tang Qicen before he could finish speaking. He even patted Tang Qicen on the shoulder with an expression full of sympathy, then swept his gaze over everyone around him with the same expression before teleporting away.

His actions left everyone completely bewildered. Xiao Shou, however, grabbed Fu Young’s sleeve and frowned. "Young’er, I have a bad feeling."

"Master, don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’m here!" Fu Young reached out on his own and tightly held Xiao Shou’s hand. His expression was solemn and serious.

No matter how many thoughts he had before, Xiao Shou had to admit that at this moment, the warmth from Fu Young’s palm calmed his anxious and uneasy heart. Then he thought about it. There was no point in voicing that kind of sixth sense that no one would believe anyway. Besides, he had already experienced the end of the world. No matter how ominous this feeling was, it could not possibly be worse than that, right?

At this moment, he had no idea that he would soon be proven wrong. For now, he simply squeezed Fu Young’s hand in return and said, "Mm! I know."

"Sigh! You’d better take care of yourself!" On the competition stage, Sect Master Tang Qicen frowned at Xiao Ran and said this before turning to leave.

Just then, the newly appointed League Leader of the League of Independent Cultivators suddenly flew over and called out, "Sect Master Tang, please wait."

Seeing this, the crowd that had been preparing to disperse stopped once again. They had no idea what matter the League of Independent Cultivators could possibly have with the Sect Master of the Heavenly Void Sect.

Everyone failed to notice the sudden change in Xiao Ran’s expression. At this moment, her thoughts coincided with Xiao Shou’s. She secretly thought, Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?

"League Leader Li, what is the matter?" Tang Qicen who was still pondering the meaning behind Tushan Shanhe’s actions, slightly furrowed his brows. He had no choice but to act like a grandchild before Tushan Shanhe because of the other’s overwhelming cultivation. But it was different in front of the League of Independent Cultivators. The Nine Great Sects were not merely for show. They were the nine immovable mountains of the Heaven Origin Realm, far beyond what any other force could compare with.