Fear

"What's going on!?" Hou Feng, bewildered, quickly produced a jade talisman. Sensing its contents, his expression instantly darkened. "Yaoguang has already returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect." "My clan members have also sent word informing me of this. What's more, they say Yaoguang is making a bid for true disciple." Tongming set down his jade talisman as well. "Returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect!? How is that possible!?" A trace of disbelief showed in Xi Liu's eyes. "Our Xi clan has already infiltrated the Biyou Immortal Market and set up lookouts at every key location, and so many of us Void Piercing experts were watching the perimeter. Under those circumstances, how could he possibly have left the Biyou Immortal Market and returned to the Heavenly Dao Sect?" "That Yaoguang received a considerable inheritance; it wouldn't be difficult for him to have an undisclosed means to return to the Heavenly Dao Sect. It's no wonder the people of the Cangwu lineage claimed he wasn't at the Biyou Immortal Market." As Jiang Tianzun spoke, his expression turned rather grim. However, he quickly collected himself and turned toward Hou Feng. "The Heavenly Dao Sect is your home ground. Dealing with an inner disciple should be well within your grasp, right?" Hou Feng nodded and was about to speak, but at that moment, Tongming said in a heavy voice, "I'm afraid there's trouble. As I mentioned just now, Yaoguang is making a bid for true disciple. But by my reckoning, there should still be several months before the number one inner disciple is decided to challenge the true disciples. Yet Yaoguang... has initiated the true disciple challenge match ahead of time..." "Making a bid for true disciple before the allotted time for challenges!?" Standing to the side, Hou Feng frowned in confusion. "It's the Golden Book of the Great Dao! Under the witness of the Golden Book of the Great Dao, he intends to advance to true disciple by sweeping all eighty-eight peaks of true disciples!" Tongming took a deep breath as he spoke. "Although I don't know how he summoned the Golden Book of the Great Dao to bear witness, according to the messages received... his ascension process to true disciple has already begun." "Sweeping all eighty-eight peaks to become a true disciple!?" Hou Feng's face changed instantly. He clearly recalled this rule inscribed in the Golden Book of the Great Dao. "Impossible! He couldn't possibly pull that off! That's stepping over every single true disciple to climb to the top! Liang Lin won't stand for it, Lingxi won't stand for it, and Yan Huang—ranked sixth on the Void Piercing Candidate List—will never agree to it under any circumstances!" The Void Piercing elder declared without hesitation. Yet Jiang Tianzun asked, "What if he succeeds?" "This is one of the foundational rules of the Golden Book of the Great Dao. Once he sweeps all eighty-eight peaks of the Heavenly Dao Sect's true disciples, he will become the undisputed foremost true disciple of the sect—a status not even Sect Master Wenxian can alter." The one speaking was Mo Shan. As a Void Piercing expert—even if only one from the Taiyi Immortal Sect—he knew the rules inscribed in the Heavenly Dao Sect's Golden Book of the Great Dao like the back of his hand. "Foremost true disciple!" A terrible premonition instantly gripped Jiang Tianzun's heart. "Don't worry, he can't succeed!" Hou Feng immediately said, "Even if you don't trust the others, don't you trust Yan Huang? I remember you sparred with Yan Huang once. Though it was only an exchange, you know full well how powerful he is. Even you were half a step behind him, weren't you? No matter how extraordinary that Yaoguang is, it's impossible for him to grow to such a level in so short a time." These words seemed meant for Jiang Tianzun, but sounded just as much like an attempt to convince himself. Jiang Tianzun was about to reply when the communication jade talisman on Hou Feng's person vibrated once more. Gripping the talisman, Hou Feng forced a smile. "This must be the good news from my clan that Yaoguang was defeated, or perhaps slain on the spot by Yan Huang..." Even as he spoke, his divine sense penetrated the jade talisman. Yet in less than a single breath, the strained smile on his face froze, turning pitch-black. This shift instantly caused Jiang Tianzun's heart to sink to rock bottom. "Did he become a true disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect? Or the foremost true disciple?" Standing nearby, Mo Shan could not help asking. If this news was true... Facing the foremost true disciple of the Heavenly Dao Sect, even though the Jiang Tianzun he represented was a personal disciple of Supreme Elder Yuhuang, he would have to think long and hard about whether to let Jiang Tianzun continue targeting Yaoguang. Otherwise, a single misstep... would likely provoke the Heavenly Dao Sect's displeasure. That was a responsibility a mere true disciple like Jiang Tianzun could never bear. Even as the personal disciple of a Supreme Elder, he was no exception. "Yes, he... truly defeated the true disciples, including Yan Huang, and became the foremost true disciple." Hou Feng responded, his voice laden with bitterness. He glanced at Jiang Tianzun... For the first time, a trace of regret stirred in his heart over getting entangled in this vortex. The foremost true disciple! That title carried vastly more weight than an ordinary true disciple. If things went a certain way... the Sect Master might take him directly as a disciple. At the very least, a Supreme Elder would step forward to accept him as an apprentice. If so, Yaoguang's standing would be no lower than Jiang Tianzun's. The crucial point was that Hou Feng was a Void Piercing elder of the Heavenly Dao Sect. A distant sovereign was less to be feared than immediate authority. Offending his own sect's Supreme Elder disciple on account of a Taiyi Immortal Sect Supreme Elder's disciple... What a cursed mess. This Yaoguang... How had he suddenly become the Heavenly Dao Sect's foremost true disciple? "The Heavenly Dao Sect's foremost true disciple!" Hearing Hou Feng's affirmative answer, Mo Shan could not help drawing a deep breath. With a stern expression, he turned toward Jiang Tianzun. "I'm afraid this matter must be reconsidered carefully." Right at that moment, Tongming's communication jade talisman vibrated as well. He immediately brought it out to check. Only... With a single glance, this Void Piercing expert lost his composure, crying out, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Crack! Agitated beyond control, he crushed the communication jade talisman right in his grip. His violent reaction, however, brought Hou Feng back to his senses. While inwardly thinking Tongming was making a fuss over nothing, Hou Feng said coldly, "So what if he's the foremost true disciple! I don't believe there are no other ways... Don't forget, he's undeniably the murderer of True Disciple Xuan Shuang... Relying solely on his status as a true disciple, he might not be able to suppress the crime of murdering a fellow true disciple..." "He's not the foremost true disciple!" The expressions on Tongming's face fluctuated wildly. Shock, terror, disbelief, sheer bewilderment. Every kind of emotion flitted across his face in turn. Only after a good while did he speak with an expression that seemed caught between crying and a bitter grimace. "He's not the foremost true disciple... He's not..." The Heaven Lineage elder looked toward Hou Feng. "He's the junior sect master! He broke through to Void Piercing and became our Heavenly Dao Sect's junior sect master!" The moment these words fell, Hou Feng, Jiang Tianzun, Mo Shan, and Xi Liu were all struck dumb on the spot. "Junior sect master!?" "Void Piercing!?" "Are you kidding!?" After a long silence, these Void Piercing experts—including Jiang Tianzun, the personal disciple of a Shattered Void master—all shouted out at once. Jiang Tianzun and Xi Liu in particular had voices that actually carried a tremor. "How is that possible!? How could Yaoguang break through to Void Piercing and become the Heavenly Dao Sect's junior sect master!?" "This isn't real. This can't possibly be real! Is the Void Piercing realm something so easily broken through!? How could Yaoguang break through to the Void Piercing realm so quickly!?" Jiang Tianzun glared fiercely at Elder Tongming. "You're joking, right!? You're lying to me, aren't you!?" Looking at this Taiyi Immortal Sect disciple's demeanor, Tongming was initially taken aback, but then realized something. Had this Taiyi Immortal Sect true disciple... already anticipated it? His expression wasn't born of disbelief, but rather of belief—paralyzing fear had set in, causing him to lose control of his emotions and utter panicked words. Yet when one thought carefully about it, according to the clues Jiang Tianzun provided, Yaoguang had taken only fourteen years to go from a Heavenly Fire realm cultivator to an Incandescent White Golden Core—and an Incandescent White Golden Core with combat prowess rivaling a Deep Blue Golden Core at that! Later, he spent four or five years settling his foundation in the Sea of Chaos and the Biyou Immortal Market... Advancing to the Deep Blue Golden Core was a natural course of events. And with his foundation, forcibly pushing from the Deep Blue Golden Core to Void Piercing to break through the predicament after becoming a true disciple seemed to make complete sense... Like hell it did! "Void Piercing! How could he truly be Void Piercing! How is this possible!" Tongming immediately moved to check his communication talisman again. Only to find that he had already crushed it to pieces. Fortunately, Hou Feng received a message right after. He quickly took out the gently vibrating talisman. His right hand trembling slightly, he activated his divine sense to inspect the information within. And under Jiang Tianzun's expectant, desperate, even pleading gaze... This Heavenly Dao Sect elder shuddered violently. He could not even hold onto the talisman, letting it slip and fall toward the ground. Mo Shan, the Void Piercing expert of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, disregarded all propriety and waved his hand, catching the falling talisman in midair. His divine sense swept over it. Inside was indeed a message sent from the Hou family: "Yaoguang swept the eighty-eight peaks of true disciples and achieved Void Piercing on the spot at the Heavenly Dao Sword Platform. Inscribed into the Golden Book, he has officially become the Heavenly Dao Sect's junior sect master as recorded by Venerable Golden Book." Seeing this message, even Mo Shan could not help cursing under his breath: "Fuck!" Jiang Tianzun took the talisman immediately afterward and probed it with his divine sense. When the words inside registered clearly in his mind, he felt as if struck by lightning. He staggered back three paces, barely able to keep his footing. "Void Piercing... Void Piercing... Void Piercing!" He repeated the words over and over, his entire person consumed by disbelief. Even... utter despair. Xi Liu... saw the message as well. Compared to the other elders, an uncontrollable terror surged in his eyes. Although the Great Shang was also one of the four great immortal dynasties, his standing as a second-rank high official of the Great Shang Celestial Dynasty and a Void Piercing cultivator was far from rivaling a junior sect master of the Heavenly Dao Sect. "How could this happen..." he muttered under his breath. Just over a bounty worth 460,000 Pure Yang Great Pills, not only had the Xi clan's branch in the Haizhou provincial capital been annihilated, but now they had offended a Void Piercing expert!? A Void Piercing cultivator who was the junior sect master of a top-tier great sect like the Heavenly Dao Sect!? At this moment, alongside the terror in his heart, an uncontrollable fury and murderous intent toward Xi Hai erupted within him. "To make our Xi family an enemy of such a monster—Xi Hai, you deserve death ten thousand times over!" All of them were plunged into the massive shock brought by this news. After a long time... Mo Shan broke the silence. He let out a long breath and said, "There's no point anymore." The Taiyi Immortal Sect Void Piercing expert fixed his gaze on Jiang Tianzun. "Let's go. Return to the Taiyi Immortal Sect and enter closed-door cultivation immediately. Do not come out until you reach Void Piercing! Attaining Void Piercing at the fastest speed is your only remaining hope to compete with him." Without waiting for Jiang Tianzun's agreement, Mo Shan caught him up and soared into the sky, vanishing from the view of the other Void Piercing experts.