Douniu Peak!
Qin Sang's heart tightened at the words, and his eyes fixed on the three newcomers.
He had never expected that coming to Dongming Island for the ceremony would lead him straight to the very people he sought!
From the sound of it, there was bad blood between the Douniu Peak branch and the Landou Sect, so much so that they could not even set foot on Landou Island. The sect had kept everything about Douniu Peak shrouded in secrecy, which explained why his incarnation had turned up nothing no matter how hard it searched.
Thoughts raced through Qin Sang's mind, yet his expression remained completely placid.
Beside the burly cultivator stood a lean man of comparable cultivation.
The young man stood behind them, his head slightly lowered, keeping an exceptionally low profile.
Qin Sang swept his gaze across the three Douniu Peak cultivators, a flicker of suspicion rising in the depths of his eyes. For some reason, the young man gave him a faint sense of familiarity, even though they had clearly never met before.
Naturally, Qin Sang did not stare. He suspected it might merely be an illusion.
The spiritual senses of Core Formation cultivators were exceedingly sharp.
Standing in an inconspicuous spot behind the crowd, Qin Sang was determined to find an opportunity to make contact with these three later, so he took care not to do anything that might arouse their wariness.
First Seat Lu said coldly, "An item? What item? The Landou Sect has never owed your Douniu Peak anything!"
The burly cultivator's gaze darkened. "Junior Brother Lu, do not play dumb with me. Our ancestral master was the one who discovered that item in the first place—since when did it become yours? Or would you prefer that I lay bare all of your sect's dirty laundry right in front of everyone?"
"You..."
First Seat Lu's expression changed.
The cultivators from the other sects grew uneasy, casting suspicious glances between them.
What item was this man talking about? Could it involve some unspeakable secret?
The burly cultivator paid no heed to Lu's fury. Glancing around, his tone shifted, and he said with utter composure, "Junior Brother Lu, we are fellow disciples reunited after all this time. Surely you don't mean to keep us out here in the wilderness without even offering a cup of wine inside?"
First Seat Lu's face clouded with conflicting emotions. In the end, he let out a cold snort, turned, and flew toward the bamboo pavilion.
The burly cultivator chuckled, parted the crowd, and sauntered in after him.
Old Daoist Huayang and the other Landou Sect cultivators wore exceptionally solemn, conflicted expressions. The others wore varied looks, seized by intense curiosity about today's events.
The crowd hurriedly set off in pursuit, and Qin Sang was not about to be left behind.
Unexpectedly, after entering Dongming Island, First Seat Lu paused before the bamboo pavilion. Turning back, he cupped his hands and said, "Today's matter is internal sect business for our Landou Sect. It is inconvenient to invite you inside. I ask for your understanding, fellow Daoists."
With that, First Seat Lu activated the pavilion's ward. His figure flickered as he stepped within, with Old Daoist Huayang and the others following closely behind.
The Landou Sect had five Core Formation cultivators present on this occasion, though three of them were somewhat weaker than Old Daoist Huayang.
Together, they could easily overwhelm the three intruders.
Yet the burly cultivator merely snorted coldly and strode into the bamboo pavilion without the slightest hesitation.
A flash of azure light followed as the ward completely enveloped the pavilion, cutting off every shred of sound.
Shut outside and unable to uncover the Landou Sect's secrets, the onlookers were deeply disappointed.
Qin Sang felt the same. He weighed his options in his mind: now that it was confirmed Douniu Peak had severed ties with the Landou Sect and was no longer on Landou Island, perhaps he should recall his incarnation.
Remaining in the Landou Sect would likely yield very little anyway, and might even invite danger.
Approaching the Douniu Peak cultivators directly seemed far safer.
Even so, the demeanor of these three suggested they would not be easy to befriend.
"What kind of place is Douniu Peak? How is it that I have never heard of the Landou Sect having such a lineage—and one at such daggers drawn with First Seat Lu? Fellow Daoist Hu, I noticed you seemed to know something just now. Could you enlighten me?"
Unable to enter the bamboo pavilion yet unwilling to leave empty-handed, the crowd relocated to a nearby bamboo platform to await the outcome.
Unable to contain his curiosity, a cultivator surnamed Qi asked the man beside him.
The cultivator surnamed Hu shook his head gently. "I only know a little. I once heard my master mention that beyond the Five Elements branch and the Yin-Yang branch, the Landou Sect harbored another branch that was shrouded in mystery. But as for Douniu Peak's origins and what secret heritage they cultivated, even my master was unclear. Do any other Daoists happen to know?"
Hu looked around.
Some shook their heads.
Another piped up in agreement, "I know very little as well. The Landou Sect never publicly acknowledged a Douniu Peak branch. Fellow Daoist Qi, you don't spend much time on the island, so it is only natural that you wouldn't know..."
Murmurs rippled through the gathering as scattered rumors began piecing themselves together.
Even sects closely tied to the Landou Sect, such as Yanmiao Pavilion, had limited knowledge of Douniu Peak. They had assumed the lineage had simply withered away without successors and vanished in silence.
Only now did they realize that Douniu Peak still had living heirs, and that they had fallen out with the Landou Sect and been driven from Landou Island.
"Does anyone remember that time when the Landou Sect sealed off their mountain without warning and activated their mountain-protecting grand array for several months? I had just reached Foundation Establishment back then, and the impression was deep. The cultivators on the island thought a formidable enemy had invaded—panic ran rampant!"
A cultivator let out a soft exclamation, following the thread of memory even further as shock deepened across his face. "Not long after that incident, the other Nascent Soul Patriarch entered secluded cultivation and has never shown his face since. Could it be...?"
"That was over a hundred years ago, wasn't it? It truly was peculiar..."
As more people recalled the past, they found the matter increasingly suspicious.
Qin Sang listened to their chatter, his eyes flickering with thought.
Inside the bamboo pavilion.
Fellow sect brothers confronted one another in complete silence, the atmosphere heavy and suffocating.
First Seat Lu's expression had already returned to calm, devoid of any visible fury. After a long pause, he broke the dead silence. "Senior Brother Gao, why have only the three of you come? Where is Senior Brother Qiyunzi, and where are the other senior brothers?"
"So you haven't forgotten Senior Brother Qiyunzi? It seems his high regard for you since childhood was not misplaced after all."
The burly cultivator's aggression subsided somewhat, his expression softening. "Surely you know that Senior Brother Qiyunzi's lifespan was already near its end. On top of that, he suffered grievous injuries back then and passed away shortly after leaving Landou Island. As for our other senior brothers, none are in good shape. Some have already departed this world, while others are forced to stay in their cave dwellings to suppress the astral fiends, unable to leave for long. The Douniu Peak lineage has been left for me to carry alone."
"Of course I remember. Senior Brother Gao, Senior Brother Hong—you both gave me guidance in the past... And this is?"
First Seat Lu turned his gaze toward the youth at the rear.
"This is Junior Brother Fang. He is exceptionally talented, having achieved Core Formation at a young age," Gao introduced him.
"Greetings, Senior Brother Lu." The youth surnamed Fang bowed respectfully and obediently.
"Has he cultivated that *Yuanchen Register* as well?" First Seat Lu asked with a frown, glancing at the young man.
"No," Gao replied with a bitter smile, shaking his head. "How could we allow our juniors to repeat the same disastrous path?"
First Seat Lu let out a soft sigh and asked, "Since Martial Uncle Wu allowed you to leave the Landou Sect in the end and freed you from having to practice the *Lightning Command Technique*, why did you continue with that art instead of switching to another?"
"Do you think the *Lightning Command Technique* is something you can just stop whenever you want? When the Landou Sect supported our cultivation of the *Lightning Command Technique* back then, they had already prepared to discard us. Surely you knew that all along?"
The burly cultivator sneered.
Chapter 898