Pei Boyu, Sect Master of the Jinchuan Sect, had walked the path of the Dao for over two hundred years and achieved a fifth-grade core. His face looked to be only in its forties, right in the prime of his strength.
Today, he was entertaining an honored guest in the sect's main hall.
Seated across from him was a Daoist nun with pinned-up hair and a robe of pure azure. Elegant and refined, with vermilion lips and porcelain skin, her complexion resembled that of a maiden of sixteen, yet her mature grace gave her the aura of a woman in her thirties.
This nun was none other than Sun Huanqin, Sect Master of the White Deer Sect and master of the two true transmission disciples, Guan Pingxuan and Yan Cai.
Although the two sect masters sat opposite one another, two female elders of the Jinchuan Sect were also present to keep company, so the atmosphere was not in the least awkward.
The two leaders had met to discuss dispatching their disciples into the Great Marsh during the Dragon Boat Festival to search for spirit medicine and slay serpents, scaly dragons, and venomous pests. The Dragon Boat gathering of the Jiuzhen immortal sects was hosted by the White Deer Sect this year, which required Sect Master Sun Huanqin to pay personal visits to each major sect and coordinate every detail.
Once Sun Huanqin and Pei Boyu had agreed on how their disciples would watch over and support one another in the Great Marsh, as well as how disputes would be resolved, their formal business concluded. The conversation gradually drifted toward the younger generation.
With a faint smile, Sun Huanqin nodded and said, "Sect Master Pei truly has an outstanding junior. The Jinchuan Sect has no lack of successors! Pei Junhu can be called the foremost talent of this generation among the Jiuzhen immortal sects. He must be only a stroke of fortune away from forming his core!"
Pei Boyu broke into hearty laughter. "Junhu earns his own keep. I have never meddled much in his affairs. All his external cultivation resources are things he secured for himself... which has tempered his character well. As long as he buffs away the latent flaws from his early years of training, he should have a bright future forming a middle-grade core."
Sect Master Sun smiled. "Far more than middle-grade. With Pei Junhu's aptitude and temperament, even the upper three grades are within reach."
"Hahaha..." Pei Boyu laughed aloud. He had always regarded this nephew like a son of his own, and hearing such high praise from the master of the White Deer Sect brought immense satisfaction. He chuckled and said, "Sect Master Sun, please do not shower him with too much praise.
"My nephew simply aims high. He often vows that if he cannot achieve an upper-grade core, he will not form a core at all. If he truly manages such a feat, he will surpass us of the older generation. The future of the Jiuzhen immortal sects will ultimately rest on them!
"Speaking of which, I hear that Sect Master Sun has produced another young prodigy under your wing. Building a first-grade Dao foundation at such a tender age makes her future even more boundless than my nephew Junhu's. Back when Junhu built his foundation, he was too rash and lacked sufficient tempering, ending up with only a second-grade Dao foundation. That is why he has lingered so long before the threshold of the upper grades.
"For your disciple to achieve this so young, her future accomplishments will surely be even more extraordinary."
Sect Master Sun nodded slightly. "Cai'er is a sensible girl. She gives me far less cause for worry than her senior sisters."
"My nephew Junhu has a grand future, and your disciple's Dao path is equally promising. They are close in age and would make a well-matched pair. Why not join our two sects in the bond of Daoist companions? In the days ahead, they could support each other and walk an even smoother path. Would that not be wonderful?" Pei Boyu proposed with apparent enthusiasm.
Across the table, Sect Master Sun was already cursing him in her heart.
*If I marry off my most brilliant disciple, won't she become one of your Pei family's people?*
This was the successor she intended to groom as the White Deer Sect's next leader! What sect master would ever marry away their own heir? Granted, Sun Huanqin still meant to test the girl further—though Cai'er had her own mind, her temperament was somewhat meek and might struggle to keep the sect's troublemakers in line. Even so, she was Sun Huanqin's foremost candidate, and there was no way she would lightly promise her away as a Daoist companion.
Least of all to the Pei family's hungry tiger of Jinchuan...
Sect Master Sun feigned ignorance and smiled. "Oh? Does Sect Master Pei mean Pingxuan? She has long been on good terms with your nephew. That match could certainly be arranged."
Pei Boyu hurriedly corrected her. "I meant Yan Cai, of course..."
Sun Huanqin deflected, "She is still young and knows little of the world. Even if a match were to be made, it would have to wait until she achieves success in her Dao cultivation."
Sun Huanqin kept her intention to nurture Yan Cai as the White Deer Sect's future master strictly hidden. Airing such an ambition prematurely would invite endless trouble, so she could only find other pretexts to decline politely.
Just then, a disciple of the Jinchuan Sect barged in without waiting to be announced. Pale with panic, his wits scattered, he blurted out, "Sect Master... disaster! Senior Brother Pei was in a wagered duel outside and... he was killed..."
Pei Boyu governed the sect with strict discipline. Seeing a disciple lose his composure so disgracefully and neglect all propriety, he was about to berate him, but upon hearing those words, he could no longer maintain his dignified bearing. His eyes bulged like a ravenous beast ready to devour a man, and he snarled, "What did you say? Such words are not to be spoken recklessly! Tell me every detail at once. If there is a single false word, go receive three hundred lashes!"
The disciple trembled violently all over, answering in terror, "Just now, someone arrived bearing a White Deer Sect calling card. Because Sect Master Sun is here, disciples went out to inquire about the matter...
"Who could have guessed..." The disciple hung his head low, his voice faltering, terrified to speak further.
Pei Boyu slammed his hand onto the table. "Who could have guessed what?!"
"Who could have guessed that the man would throw Senior Brother Pei's severed head right across! He said Senior Brother Pei wagered his life against him and lost. Now he has come here... to collect his winnings."
Pei Boyu laughed from sheer fury. "Good, good... what an audacious villain! Sect Master Sun, this person came bearing your White Deer Sect's calling card. Do you recognize him?"
Sun Huanqin had meant to listen quietly and find out what had happened, only to find this bizarre affair tangled up with her own sect. She could only offer soothing words. "Nephew Pei was on the verge of forming his core. Ordinary wandering cultivators of the ninth-grade unorthodox paths are hardly his match, and he could even contend against those of the eighth grade. How could he be struck down so easily?
"We must verify the evidence before jumping to conclusions."
Pei Boyu nodded, thinking the same. Leaving Sect Master Sun behind, he hurried out of the main hall. As soon as he reached the threshold, someone approached, holding up Pei Junhu's severed head with trembling hands. Shaking, Pei Boyu reached out in disbelief to touch it. The cold flesh and the familiar aura beneath his fingers proved beyond doubt that this was real.
Pei Boyu's vision turned black. A dignified Golden Core cultivator, he nearly lost his footing.
His lips quivered, and then a towering fury incinerated all his reason. At that moment, a few lines of writing drifted up from Pei Junhu's severed head. The ink was still fresh, and the message read:
*For the attention of Sect Master Pei:*
*Your nephew once said: You possess the Ice Soul Cold Light Gangqi, while I hold the Extreme Yin Sha like an incoming tide. When brought together, the Heavenly Secrets are revealed. Since neither side can compromise, we can only contest it; there is no retreat.*
*A resolute Dao heart hinges on a single thought; though one dies a hundred deaths, there are no regrets.*
*I deeply concurred...*
*Yet human affairs seldom bend to human wishes. In the struggle for the Great Dao, one cannot stay their hand. Under a single sword strike, life and death were proven. I now present your nephew's head to attest to the outcome. I bow once more before you, Sect Master, and ask on Fellow Daoist Pei's behalf—does the pact of life and death still stand?*
*I have come to your gate today to collect the wager. Fellow Daoist Pei's Dao heart was steadfast, his words as weighty as bronze. From a single glimpse, one may infer the whole; I trust Sect Master Pei will not send me away empty-handed.*
*Qian Chen, Wandering Cultivator, bows his head.*
Pei Boyu's hands shook violently as he roared in madness, "I swear I will kill him! I swear I will kill this man! I will grind his bones to dust, scatter his ashes, and refine his soul with venomous fire before my nephew's spirit!"
Even as his rage flared, a thread of shock and suspicion crept through him. What kind of madman was this? Not content with killing his kin, he had the audacity to knock on the front door and demand his prize!
Did this lawless audacity stem from sheer recklessness, or was it the fearless defiance of someone backed by immense power?
"Where are Yu'er and Xing'er?" Pei Boyu turned his fury outward. "Their eldest senior brother has met with disaster, and they remain completely unmoved?!"
***
Holding the Spirit Light Mirror, Qian Chen stepped into the mountain restriction. The mirror's spiritual radiance locked in place, freezing one set of the restriction's shifting variations while dispelling another. Under Qian Chen's deliberate luring, a cultivator robed in white with loose hair draped over his back followed him straight into the formation.
This was Pei Boyu's own son. Though his cultivation was slightly inferior to Pei Junhu's, he was still an outstanding talent of the Jinchuan Sect.
*This man killed my elder brother and has truly gone mad! To dare trap himself in our formation... isn't this a heaven-sent opportunity? When my brother was alive, the seat of sect master would never have fallen to me. But now that he is dead and the culprit has walked into a death trap, if I use the restriction to strike him down, my prestige will soar! Taking over as the future sect master will be effortless!*
Qian Chen ventured deeper into the restriction, unfurling its dense layers with the black-gold sword-light. He displayed only a fraction of his swordsmanship, appearing to struggle as he faced a restriction grounded in the mountain's earth veins.
At that moment, Pei Yuhuan revealed a flying shuttle. Holding the restriction's jade talisman, he activated the formation and hurled the shuttle toward Qian Chen, unleashing the restriction alongside it.
A sky filled with thunder and fire burst forth all at once with overwhelming momentum, boundless flames igniting out of thin air to engulf Qian Chen.
The flying shuttle lurked within the blazing inferno, waiting only for Qian Chen's magical power to falter under the onslaught before darting out to claim his life.
Qian Chen noticed someone entering the restriction. Although the newcomer had hidden his true form behind the formation's might, he had also tied down its most powerful variation. Only then did Qian Chen let a faint smile show. Reaching out with a beckoning hand, he raised the Heavenly Net Umbrella above his head. Clear light cascaded downward, and the cascading flames brushed past his face like a Jiangnan spring rain, unable to cause him the slightest harm.
Parting the thunder and fire, Qian Chen strolled leisurely to the heart of the restriction. Only then did a streak of hooked light suddenly rise, bypassing the layered obstacles of the defensive formation and pointing straight at Pei Yuhuan, who was concealed in its deepest recesses.
Seeing that Qian Chen was not disoriented by the restriction and was homing straight in on him, Pei Yuhuan's face drained of color. He frantically recalled the flying shuttle to protect himself.
Yet the Black Gold Baleful Hook suddenly twisted its sword-light, locking the flying shuttle in place.
A haze of core qi surged around Qian Chen as an emerald hand of the Innate Primordial Qi Great Capture braved the frantic bombardment of the restriction. With a casual downward scoop, he caught Pei Yuhuan firmly in his grasp.
Pei Yuhuan felt his soul scatter in terror. He shrieked hoarsely, "Spare me! My father is the sect master! I am willing to speak on your behalf... this matter can still be turned around!"
Qian Chen said indifferently, "In the struggle for the Great Dao, what turnaround is there to speak of? Right now, it is not a question of whether you will let me off, but whether I will let you off."
With that, he stripped away the restriction's jade talisman, retrieved the flying shuttle with the Dragon Sparrow Ring, and flashed into sword-light to escape the restriction.
Outside the formation, an older-looking youth of the Pei clan was directing the situation. When he saw sword-light burst from the restriction, his expression shifted drastically, and he thought, *Not good...*
A streak of sword-light came straight at him. It flashed across his neck, and without uttering a single sound, his life was extinguished.
Qian Chen had simply broken out of the restriction, spotted a cultivator who bore a resemblance to Pei Junhu, assumed he was of the Pei clan, and ended his life with an offhand sword strike. He did not care in the least who he had killed.
Chapter 72