Chapter 597 - 255: Source

Chapter 597: Chapter 255: Source

But as a Martial Artist... who wouldn’t want to advance further?

Advancing further didn’t just represent greater strength; it also meant a longer lifespan!

...Who didn’t yearn for a long and everlasting life?

The more powerful one was, the harder it was to resist the temptation of a long life...

Master Fan’s words made Qin Fang’s eyes light up, and he nodded.

’Master Fan wants to see the Grotto Heaven, and I’m no different...’

’I have a ’Void Realm’ in my body. I’m very curious—what exactly is the difference between a Void Realm and a Grotto Heaven?’

And so, Qin Fang boarded a massive Cloud Boat with Fan Zhengchu, heading for the Red Cloud Mountain Range, the epicenter of the current demon calamity.

Half a day passed in a flash.

The Cloud Boat’s flying speed was quite fast. Although it couldn’t compare to Qin Fang’s current full-speed flying, it was still very swift.

Just as night was about to fall, the Cloud Boat arrived at a vast mountain range.

From a great distance, Qin Fang and the other disciples saw several massive Cloud Boats moored high in the sky.

The decks of the Cloud Boats were teeming with figures, a clear sign that there were many people.

The Cloud Boats were all different colors, indicating they were from different Sects.

Qin Fang watched with curiosity... From his chat with Elder Cui Daoheng of the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect that day, he knew that a total of eight Sects had come to Jinlan Prefecture this time.

Including the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect itself, that made for Nine Sects in total.

Seven years ago, Qin Fang had known of six of them, but he had never seen the other two.

As he was looking on curiously, several streaks of light suddenly flew over from the distance, landing on the Cloud Boat in the blink of an eye.

Qin Fang looked over instinctively, his eyes lighting up. He quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Master."

One of the streaks of light was none other than his master, Yue Guiyuan, whom he hadn’t seen in over a year!

Seeing his disciple, a warm and pleased smile appeared on Yue Guiyuan’s lean, sharp face. He looked Qin Fang up and down and said with a gentle smile, "Not bad. Your True Gang is much denser... It seems you haven’t been slacking."

Qin Fang gave a sheepish grin and quickly bowed to the person next to him. "Greetings, Master Xuan Qiong."

The person next to Yue Guiyuan was, of course, Sect Master Xuan Qiong.

A gentle smile also appeared on Xuan Qiong’s handsome face as he gave a slight nod.

Master Fan obviously hadn’t expected his own Hall Master and the Sect Leader to be here. After paying his respects, he asked in surprise, "Senior Brothers, what brings you here?"

"We spent over half a year searching in Yanfang Prefecture and only managed to kill a few rats from the Three Religions... They’ve pulled their heads back into their shells again."

Yue Guiyuan shook his head. "We were originally planning to return to the Sect, but then we heard about what was happening here in Jinlan Prefecture and decided to stop by to take a look."

Master Xuan Qiong nodded slightly. "The appearance of this Grotto Heaven is strange. Although we haven’t found any trace of the Three Religions so far, we can’t rule out the possibility that they have a hand in this... Or that they might use this as an opportunity to cause trouble... So we decided to come and see for ourselves."

He paused, then sneered, "But it’s a good thing we came... Otherwise, I’m afraid our Sect would have been relegated to a supporting role this time."

Hearing this, Fan Zhengchu was taken aback, and Qin Fang was also confused.

Then they heard his master, Yue Guiyuan, say calmly, "After all, this concerns a Grotto Heaven, and one filled with so many Exotic Species... It’s only normal for these people to have their own little schemes."

"Senior Brother, what... what happened?"

Fan Zhengchu asked with a frown.

"What else could it be? It’s all because of this Grotto Heaven."

Xuan Qiong sneered. "It is the World of a Seventh Realm Powerhouse, after all. From the looks of it, that Seventh Realm Powerhouse is likely dead, and the Grotto Heaven they left behind might contain the lifetime accumulations of this ’World’ Domain expert. It’s hard to even imagine what might be inside."

"Right now, all the various sects and factions have their eyes on this Grotto Heaven. They’ve been arguing for days about how to divide it up."

Fan Zhengchu said, stunned, "This... It’s in the Jinlan Realm, and the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect was the first to discover it. Its ownership... is that even up for discussion?"

"Ah, Zhengchu, you’re kind-hearted and steady, not one for conflict... It’s normal for you to think that way. But... not everyone is like you, willing to stand aside and not fight for it."

Xuan Qiong shook his head gently. "On the surface, none of the Nine Sects that came this time have a Seventh Realm expert. However, many of them have cultivators who have reached the very peak of the Sixth Realm... Everyone knows this final step is the most crucial, and also the most difficult. Without a great opportunity, it’s nearly impossible to cross. Now... a ’great opportunity’ has appeared... How could they possibly let it go?"

Fan Zhengchu was stunned for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "No, Senior Brother, what I mean is... since the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect sent people to the other Sects for help, they must have considered this. Otherwise, if they found a Grotto Heaven opportunity like this, they would have kept it a secret. Why would they actively ask for help? Wouldn’t they be too busy trying to hide it? Since they actively sought aid, doesn’t that mean they’ve already secured the opportunity within the Grotto Heaven for themselves?"

At this, his master suddenly snorted with laughter. "In that case, all we can say is... it’s the will of heaven."

As Fan Zhengchu looked on in confusion, his master smiled with a hint of schadenfreude. "If it were just a simple Grotto Heaven opportunity, they would have certainly kept it a secret. They asked for help this time for two main reasons."

"First, too many Exotic Species charged out. The Golden Rainbow Sword Sect, on its own, truly couldn’t handle them. Even if they kept quiet, it wouldn’t be long before those Exotic Species rushed into other prefectures and alerted the other Sects. At that point, they’d have no leg to stand on. If the Exotic Species caused massive slaughter in other territories, would the other Sects just let it slide? If an investigation were launched, the secret of the Grotto Heaven would be impossible to keep. It would actually give everyone else an excuse to attack them: ’Your Golden Rainbow Sword Sect, for the sake of hiding a Grotto Heaven, stood by and watched a demon calamity spread, leading to widespread death and destruction. What were your true intentions?’... If things really escalated, it wouldn’t be impossible for the other Sects to join forces and wipe out the Golden Rainbow Sword Sect’s entire lineage."

"Because of this, they had no choice but to come clean."

"As for the second reason..."

His master sneered. "They rather overestimated their own strength. They thought they could seize the greatest benefits before the other Sects arrived, but... they miscalculated."