“How are you feeling now, Ling Tian?” asked the senior elder with concern.
Ye Ling Tian, the sect leader of Feiyu Sect, coughed once and replied with regret, “Thank goodness for your intervention. The poison inside me has been suppressed, but I won’t be able to use my inner energy for a while.”
“That wicked fellow!”
The senior elder clenched his fists in anger. “He actually dared to strike you so severely!”
“Sigh, I don’t really care about myself, but the real problem is that disciple of mine. Now, more than seventy to eighty percent of the elders and disciples from both inner and outer sects have died. The Feiyu Sect is now like a candle flickering in the wind. If this news spreads, even the last spark might be extinguished.”
“Damn it, if only we could capture that villain.”
“But even if we captured him, what could we do? Besides, he should have already reached the northern desert by now. There’s no way he can be brought back.”
Li Tan’s expression immediately turned grave, and a cold murderous intent flickered in his eyes.
The death of seventy to eighty percent of the elders and disciples was no longer just a severe blow—it meant the sect was on the brink of annihilation.
Moreover, the “wicked disciple” Ye Ling Tian mentioned was Li Tan’s senior apprentice brother. Both were Ye Ling Tian’s apprentices.
But there was something strange. In Li Tan’s memory, his eldest senior brother, although not particularly virtuous, had always been an upright gentleman. Why would he commit such an act as killing seventy to eighty percent of the inner and outer sect elders and disciples?
How could he, with only the cultivation level of early Heaven’s Ascension stage, accomplish such a feat?
After much thought, Li Tan saw three words emerge from the darkness: Black Robed Men.
Most likely, all of this was connected to those Black Robed Men again.
The general situation was now understood. Li Tan indeed wanted to help Ye Ling Tian, but he found himself powerless to act. He had too little information to work with and no starting point to investigate, so he could only quietly leave the Feiyu Sect.
Walking along a moonlit path, Li Tan looked back at the familiar yet unfamiliar Feiyu Sect and tightly clenched his fists.
When he had eliminated the Jiangnan Black Robed Men organization, he thought he had broken free from the chains of fate. However, this incident at Feiyu Sect cruelly revealed a fact—he had never truly escaped fate’s grasp! Before his rebirth, his Jiangnan family had been destroyed. After his rebirth, he managed to save his family, but now the Feiyu Sect had suffered an unexpected catastrophe and was reduced to this state.
After loosening his tightly clenched hand, Li Tan looked toward the northern desert, his clear eyes revealing a chilling murderous intent.
“Yong Liu, what exactly are you plotting?”
Liu Yong was his senior apprentice brother—the one who had brought such devastation upon the Feiyu Sect.
After suppressing his murderous intent, Li Tan murmured thoughtfully, “The northern desert, huh?
If I’m not mistaken, in a short while, a powerful cultivator’s tomb will be discovered there. I had originally planned to go there anyway. I might as well head there earlier. As long as he’s still there, he will eventually show himself. Then I can settle the score and perhaps follow the trail to uncover what those Black Robed Men are scheming again.”
With these words, Li Tan’s figure quickly vanished into the night.
The next morning, Li Tan woke Li Jiaying early and gathered with Li Hantian and others.
“What do we do now? Return to Jiangnan?” Li Hantian asked.
Li Tan shook his head. “What’s the point of going back? There’s more than just the Feiyu Sect in the Nine Provinces. We can participate in the recruitment trials of other sects.”
Li Hantian frowned. “That’s easy to say. But apart from Feiyu Sect, the nearest sects are several days away. Whether we can reach them in time is uncertain, and even if we do, what do we have to compete with their people for the recruitment spots?”
There was an unspoken rule in most regions: sects prioritized their affiliated families’ disciples when selecting new recruits.
In other words, even if Li Hantian and the others managed to run there and pass the trials, they still risked being excluded due to such hidden rules.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Li Tan said, pulling out a book from the first floor of the Desolate Pagoda and casually tossing it to Li Hantian. “Once you arrive there, go directly to the elder overseeing the recruitment trials and hand this to him.”
“The Collection of Winds and Clouds? This isn’t a cultivation technique or martial skill. Why would others value such a useless book?”
Li Hantian flipped through the ancient book in his hands, showing a look of disdain.
“You don’t need to care whether it’s useful or not. Just do as I said,” Li Tan replied indifferently. He let go of Li Jiaying’s hand, walked to the front of the group, scanned everyone’s faces, and solemnly announced, “From now on, you all head east to participate in the recruitment trials of the Heaven Sword Sect. How many of you can successfully enter will depend entirely on your abilities.”
Li Hantian asked doubtfully, “So you’re saying you won’t be going with us?”
Li Tan nodded. “I have some matters to handle in the northern desert. You all return to our family first and inform my father about what’s happened here. He will arrange everything accordingly.”
Li Hantian carefully examined the ancient book in his hand, obviously suspicious of its usefulness.
Unfortunately, with his limited insight, he couldn’t recognize the book’s true value.
The Collection of Winds and Clouds was a work personally written over two thousand years ago by a mighty cultivator. Its content was extensive, involving the conflicts between the human and demon races.
Although it was neither a cultivation technique nor a martial skill, it was said that if one could fully comprehend the entire book, they might have the chance to grasp a trace of the Dao’s resonance left behind by that ancient cultivator! Just a trace of Dao resonance—this alone was enough to make all other shortcomings insignificant.
Li Tan had flipped through this book out of boredom before, but after reading it once, he gained nothing.
So this time, he decided to give the mysterious book away.
“Jiaying, I’m leaving now. Remember to cultivate diligently and don’t be lazy.”
“I understand, Brother!”
Under everyone’s gaze, Li Tan walked toward the northern desert.
The northern desert lay north of Suchui City, bordering directly with the demon race’s territory. Thus, it was a strategic stronghold. However, in recent years, the overall relations between humans and demons had somewhat improved, and the conflicts there gradually diminished. Due to the merchants’ exchanges between the two races, the economy of this stronghold gradually developed and now appeared quite prosperous.
After four days of travel and having exhausted two horses, Li Tan finally arrived at this border stronghold, Chize.
Unlike the green mountains and clear waters of Suchui, Chize was an expanse of yellow sand as far as the eye could see, with very little greenery.
Li Tan stopped at the southern gate of Chize, exhaled deeply, and strode into the city.
There was still some time before the powerful cultivator’s tomb would be discovered, and there was no immediate urgency regarding Liu Yong. Therefore, Li Tan planned to learn a few martial skills in the meantime.
Well, “learning” might not be the most accurate term, since he already knew the techniques by heart. But knowing them and being able to execute them with his current body were two different things. Thus, for the time being, Li Tan had no intention of advancing his cultivation level further. Instead, he wanted to focus on strengthening his physical body.
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