by Tony Tran
“Enough! Let Grand Elder Yin Ying finish his report!” An intimidating figure sitting on one of the seats that lined the center of the hall said.
“As Grand Elder Du Zhao said, allow me to finish my report before any of you elder or any of the other grand elders speak.” Elder Yin Ying who was standing beside Sect Master Wang Dao said.
“The last report we received had requested information regarding Master Dan Jin, asking if he had any disciples. From the information that we managed to gather, they must have run into problems with someone who claimed to be Master Dan Jin’s disciple and got in over their heads.” Elder Yin Ying said, concluding his report.
“Seeing as the disappearance of those elders and disciples could mean a delay in the creation of the pill of rebirth, I suggest that we mobilize a unit comprising solely of elders and grand elders to see to it that whatever situation that had befallen our people is taken care of.” Elder Hong Xue said, voicing her opinion.
“Mobilizing a force that includes grand elders? Do you know the possible consequences that may befall the sect if even one of our saint level grand elders is lost? What do you think the Sun Hall Sect or the other sects of the city will do if We lost any of our grand elders?” The man with lightning bolt shaped earring said.
“Although I understand where you are coming from, do you really think that we grand elders could be so, easily done in? Since this matter pertains to the harvesting of ingredients to create the pill of rebirth for our sect master I, Du Zhao, volunteer to lead.” Grand Elder Du Zhao said.
It was not until quite a bit more bicker took place did the master of the Lunar Sect speak once more and task Grand Elder Du Zhao, a total of two other grand elders and a hundred elders who will be leading a total of two thousand inner sect disciples who were all level seven or eight to collect the ingredients to concoct the pill of rebirth and investigate the disappearance of the sect’s disciples. Of course, they would have to move out during the dead of night as to not alert the other sects that were in the city.
This is simply because the three largest sects in the city which included the Lunar Sect did not get along with each other. Each of them had been trying to outdo the other for years, trying to gain complete control of the city over the other sects.
Although the three sects were currently in a deadlock amongst themselves, with every passing century the master of the Lunar Sect gains a bit more strength over the other sect masters in the city. This is because every hundred years, he sends out his disciples to collect a rare herb that can be used to concoct a pill that allows his body’s aging process to regress.
Meaning every hundred years as the other sect masters grow older and weaker, Sect Master Wang Dao would grow younger and more youthful.
One may wonder why don't the other sects also concoct pills of rebirth, but the answer is simple, it is because none of them know the recipe needed to concoct one.
So perhaps if the ingredients needed to make the pill of rebirth weren't so, rare then all of the grand elders of the Lunar Sect would be given some also, further quickening the increase in strength between the Lunar Sect and the other two sects.
Little did Zhang or the people of the Lunar Sect knew, Zhang and the beauties had actually gotten their hands on what the Lunar Sect was seeking on their trip to the forest. Within Zhang’s interspatial ring were quite a few Dragon Blood Lilies that were the base material needed to make pills of rebirth.
Considering only the Lunar Sect possessed the recipe for this pill, not even Lingqi knew of this miraculous pill that let alone many men but countless women would kill for.
A pill that could reverse the flow of time on a person’s body. Although saints are considered immortals who can live on endlessly by constantly absorbing essence from the great flow, their bodies still aged at a rate that wouldn't be very noticeable to regular people.
There was also the fact that many Saint level experts had only managed to break through and attain ascension after hundreds of years, so, they would look very old. So, female saints, in particular, had always sought after things that could help them reclaim their lost beauty. For some power and prestige meant everything but for others, beauty was not something they were willing to give up either.
Chapter 84: What Remains
After the grand elders, elders and disciples of the Lunar Sect secretly departed from Lunar City, in the dead of night they took to the skies atop flying swords, and war chariots with flaming spiked wheels pulled by black winged horses who gave off deathly air as their wings fluttered under the night sky.
“Everyone we will arrive at our destination within ten days, so, for now save your strength and rest because there is a possibility that we have to enter into combat the moment we arrive.” Grand Elder Du Zhao said as he stood within a beautiful looking flying chariot that looked a dozen times grander than the other chariots.
As the forces of the Lunar Sect continued on their journey past the Lunar Mountains and as they days passed, the crater that was being dug for Zhang had not only doubled in size but also was no longer the only crater that could be seen in the forest.
Once a considerable amount of earth was moved, Zhang commanded his volunteers from the Lunar Sect to begin digging elsewhere. Since no one dared to question him, Zhang didn't even need to come up with an excuse as to why he had them start digging somewhere else.
Once everyone had been sent off and there were no longer any outsiders present, hundreds of abyssal beasts of various shapes appeared as thousands of Zhang’s soldiers put down their swords and spears for shovels and picks.
For the most part since most, if not all of Zhang’s soldiers could be classed as warrior type cultivators, they were considerably fit and in shape compared to the people of the Lunar Sect who were comprised mostly of mages. So, in terms of digging and manual labor, Zhang’s soldiers were a tiny bit faster than the volunteers from the Lunar Sect.
Roughly three days later, as a few of Zhang’s soldiers were busily digging away at the earth underneath them, the ground began to give away and spew a torrent of green smoke into the air.
As the ground open up into a fairly large pit it caused a few unsuspecting soldiers to fall into it while being enveloped by sickly looking green clouds.
Luckily for them, before they came crashing down into a wall of solid stone, thanks to a river of water quickly fleeing into the pit and catching them mid-fall. However, these men were not out of the woods yet because once the water embracing them lifted them out of the cavemen it was evident through the sickly green colored skin on their faces that they were poisoned.
“Move aside! Let me have a look at them.” Lingqi’s voice could be heard as she forced her way through a wall of men that was slowing forming around the group of men who were pulled out of the pit.
“Green colored skin, slight fever, excessive sweating, red colored blisters… Hell’s Horn poison…” Lingqi said as she withdrew a pair of transparent gloves from her interspatial ring.
Once the gloves slipped onto her hands and touched the skin of the ill soldiers, green colored liquid began to flow out from their pores and gathered to form a small blob of water that floated wherever the gloves moved.
Before long Lingqi had withdrawn a substantial amount of poison out of the bodies of the soldiers and placed them under the care of their comrades as she deposited the poison into various bottles.
“To my knowledge, all of the people who had discovered this cave had died at the hands of their comrades, so, where did this poison come from?” Zhang muttered as he looked into the dark abyss that had opened up in the ground.
“They must have released the poison as they were dying to prevent anyone else from entering the cave. Considering this poison is still lingering after hundreds of thousands of years, I could only imagine how much more deadly it was when it was first released. Luckily with the passage of time, the poison shouldn't be too effective against those at the eighth level of cultivation of high.” Lingqi said as she sw
irled the contents of the bottle of poison she had collected.
“All members of the elite guard are to accompany me while all other forces are to return to the forest and all students are to be accounted for.” Zhang commanded since he wanted to collect the riches within the pit and leave as soon as possible before anything could go wrong.
“Yes, my lord.” All of the soldiers present said in unison as they ceased all activities and began to pack up everything.
“Then let's go, riches await is.” Zhang said with a laugh as he leaped into the pit with an adventurous look on his face. Aside from the riches and magical treasures within the cave that were calling him, Zhang was also after the things that his master and the other dead saints had left behind after dying.
Although pills and other organic things would have become useless by now, various high level talismans and magical items would have definitely withstood the test of time.
Like a speeding arrow, Zhang shot downward into the dark pit but moments before crashing into the ground his body began to levitate and gently landed.
“This is the best part of being a saint.” He chuckled. As one of the fundamental differences between saints, the ability to naturally fly by oneself, was a thing Zhang loved best about becoming a saint.
A moment after Zhang landed the beauties joined him by riding Ai’s fluffy cloud, then came the elite guard who descended one by one using ropes.
Soon enough countless torches were lit and illuminated Zhang’s surroundings, revealing a large cavern and the mouth of a single tunnel.
Although faint clouds of green poison gas could be seen floating around, the group paid no it no mind and headed into the dark tunnel.
As a grim reminder of what had occurred here before many thousands of years ago, only after a few steps, Zhang spotted a pair of skeletons lying on the ground. One of them with a sword still lodged into its rib cage while the other heads dagger stuck into its eye socket.
The most noticeable feature on these skeletons were, however, the jade-like luster that the bones possessed. Like the whitest and clearest jade, the bones of the two saints sparkled under the light emitted from the torches held by Zhang’s soldiers.
“I'll be taking these.” Yuying said as she began taking apart the skeleton of the saints and depositing them away u to her interspatial ring.
Once Yuying was done, Zhang waved his hand and deposited a series of random things left behind on the ground which included a sword with a metallic blue colored blade, a dagger with flames etched into its blade, two oddly new looking robes and two interspatial rings that were to be inspected later.
After storing away their finds, the group continued deeper into the tunnel where they found, even more, trances of the battle that had occurred here countless years ago.
Deep cuts could be seen etched into the walls of the tunnel while scorch marks and dozens of other indications of magic attacks stuck out like a sore thumb.
“To think after so, long, signs of their fight still remain.” Ling said with a hint of awe in her voice as her hand traced some of the sword marks that were left on the tunnel wall.
Besides lots of traces of an intense battle, even more, human remains began to show up in the form of jade-like skeletons that appeared one after the other, not too far from each other.
Although Zhang and the beauties were quick to collect the bones and treasures that laid about on the ground, they kept an eye out for the remains of a certain person in particular. Since his master’s remains were mixed in with the remains of the other saints, and since Zhang did not want to be disrespectful to the man who practically gave him a new lease on life, he was going to give Xin Tao’s remains a grand burial unlike the remains of the other saints.
With the elite guard following closely behind them, Zhang and the beauties made their way to the end of the tunnel and into a room brightly lit by hundreds of luminous crystals that embedded the walls and ceiling. The light from these crystals were further amplified by rivers of liquid silver and gold that flowed through mountains of treasure.
Marvelous looking items such as hairpins and bangles the likes of which the beauties did not own, beautifully decorated armor that looked like they were made simply for display and were too delicate to be worn but gave off mystical auras littered the floor. Simply said the treasure trove within Xin Tao’s memories that he shared with Zhang could not even be considered a fraction of what was here.
“I want this and that. That one too!” Ai said in an excited voice as she spotted a unique looking battle dress that had a pair of dragons etched on to it. The dragon's looked lifelike as their eyes made of sapphires seemed to draw in the very soul of all who stare at them.
“Some of you stay back and guard the entrance if anyone comes in then kill them if necessary. Also, use the interspatial rings laying around to gather up the treasure.” Zhang said as he commanded a few hundred of his elite guard to watch over the tunnel as he and the rest of the group moved forward.
While making sure to not fall into the rivers and pools of gold and silver, Zhang, the beauties and their guards made their way to the treasure chamber. They soon came upon an area where dozens of pools filled a metallic blackish green liquid.
“Liquid mithril.” Zhang said with a grin on his face because order his soldiers to collect the liquid mithril into caskets. Since liquids weren't especially easy to store away into an interspatial ring, all of the liquid mithril had to be put away into casks and barrels before being stored away.
There was so, much treasure that even with a few hundred people hard at work it would probably take a few hours before everything was safely stored away into interspatial rings.
So, while his soldiers were doing the hard work, Zhang, and the beauties continued deeper into the chamber in search of the Falling Moon Sword. To which they caught sight of after walking for roughly twenty minutes and after stumbling upon a dozen or so, more skeletons belonging to dead saints.
Atop an alter the sword with a crystal-like blade could be seen while the remains of a dozen or so, saints littered the floor. Of these dozen or so, skeletons, there was one that seemed to call to Zhang, drawing his attention away from the others.
As his alerted were focused on this skeleton, spotted a small jade medallion on that ground that had the word Xin carved into it. Once he saw this medallion, Zhang was fairly sure that this skeleton belonged to his master. A flood of memories sprang into his mind as Zhang recalled the time he spent with Xin Tao, the things he learned and the knowledge he obtained.
With a wave of his hand and while using the powers of the Underworld Heart, Zhang’s essence enveloped the massive treasure chamber as he manipulated a river of gold and a river of silver to rise into the air and flow toward him. In an awe-inspiring flash, the gold and silver melded together in the air and spiraled about as crystals made of essence were slowly being condensed.
Before anyone could say anything, an extravagant coffin made of gold, silver and crystal formed and the remains of Zhang’s master, Xin Tao, was deposited into it. Befitting of an emperor to be’s master, Xin Toa’s remains were now encased in a coffin that was fit for a king. Zhang had lined the side of the coffin with images of the memories that he had shared with his master and decorated the coffin magnificently and beautifully.
After three kowtows, Zhang stored the coffin away into his interspatial ring and refocused his vision onto the mythical sword that he had come to claim.
Soon enough he began to ascend the steps of the altar and as he neared one of the most sought after swords in existence Zhang felt as if he had walked into an entirely different world. His entire suit of armor down to his strands of hair seemed to have become a dozen times lighter, causing Zhang to feel as if he had become weightless. A few moments later Zhang’s feet began to levitate off the ground as he body began to raise into the air.
“Brother! Now’s not the time to be showing off your flying powers.” Ai said with puffed cheeks as she mistook the situation
as one of the few instances where Zhang was showing off his ability to fly.
“It’s not me.” Zhang said as he did not know whether to laugh or cry as he felt as if he was swimming through the air.
To make things even weirder the Underworld Heart that’s lodged inside of Zhang’s chest began to send out a pulse of its purplish essence which emanated throughout the cave’s chambers. Once the pulse of essence from the Underworld Heart reached the Rising Moon Sword, it too began to emanate pulses of essence.
But unlike the pulse of essence released from the Underworld Heart, the pulse sent out from the Rising Moon Sword seemed to eat away at the weight of everything it touched as everything and everyone in the chamber began to levitate into the air. Gold coins floated through the air as globs of liquid gold, silver and mithril bounced about while Zhang’s soldiers all rose off of the ground.
Much to everyone’s confusion, a large grin could be seen on Ai’s face as she began to swim through the air toward where Zhang was.