Chapter 159: Zhenyuan Sect (Seeking Subscriptions)

When Yang Ze and Yu Haibiao were fighting, it never crossed his mind that this malevolent demonic technique would be connected to the God-Extinguishing Cult. He had assumed Yu Haibiao had stumbled upon it purely by chance somewhere.

However, upon reflection, in the entire Nine Provinces, such a terrifying demonic technique was most likely in the possession of none other than the God-Extinguishing Cult. This enemy of all factions across the Nine Provinces lurked in the shadows, committing countless unspeakable evils.

The mere thought of this elusive and sinister cult led Yang Ze to suspect that the tragic fate befalling Yu Haibiao might very well have been orchestrated by them.

Based on the information he possessed, Yu Haibiao was born one hundred and twenty years ago and joined the Zhenyuan Sect one hundred and ten years ago. Over the span of forty years, he had cultivated himself to the late stage of the Second-Grade Blood Condensation Realm.

Seventy years ago, he must have been backstabbed by someone within the Zhenyuan Sect, barely escaping with heavy injuries. At death's door, he had miraculously obtained this incomplete demonic technique, cultivating it to extend his life and lingering on until the present day.

Naturally, the specific behind-the-scenes details escaped Yang Ze, but he was confident that the broad strokes of the matter were largely as he surmised. Yet, he still could not fathom why the God-Extinguishing Cult would target an ordinary Second-Grade martial artist like Yu Haibiao.

While he was deep in thought, Pan Fang helped him to his feet, and Instructor Li handed Yang Ze a medicinal pill, signaling him to swallow it.

In full view of everyone, Yang Ze naturally had no way to use the Black Stone to refine the pill and extract its purest medicinal efficacy, leaving him with no choice but to swallow and digest it on the spot.

As the crowd looked at Yang Ze, their gazes were filled with astonishment. When they had rushed to Eagle Beak Ravine earlier, they had arrived right in the thick of the intense battle between Yang Ze and Yu Haibiao. They had originally intended to charge in and assist Yang Ze, but Li He had stopped them. It was not until Yang Ze was on the verge of exhaustion that Li He finally led them inside.

Although they had not witnessed the exact battle, standing outside Eagle Beak Ravine, they could clearly sense the turbulent ripples of combat emanating from within. It was hard to believe that a martial artist in the early stage of the Bone-Tempering Realm possessed such formidable combat prowess.

Because of this, the eight outer sect disciples all harbored a sense of awe toward the disciples of the War Hall; the War Hall disciples truly lived up to their reputation, possessing battle strength far surpassing those of the same realm.

What they did not know, however, was that Pan Fang, a fellow War Hall disciple, was now looking at Yang Ze with a heart full of shock.

Yang Ze’s strength had simply exceeded all his expectations. His combat power at the early stage of the Bone-Tempering Realm was completely on par with his own at the late stage of the Bone-Tempering Realm.

He had witnessed Yu Haibiao's ferocious display just moments ago; had he been in Yang Ze's shoes, he likely wouldn't have been able to hold out against Yu Haibiao for nearly as long.

No longer daring to harbor any contempt for Yang Ze, Pan Fang obediently stood guard beside him, maintaining a secure perimeter while Yang Ze recovered.

While Yang Ze was recovering, Li He led the remaining eight outer sect disciples to thoroughly search Eagle Beak Ravine. Since this matter now involved the God-Extinguishing Cult, it could no longer be treated as a trivial affair.

As an instructor of the Misty Martial Academy, Li He was all too aware of the terrifying nature of the God-Extinguishing Cult, and he immediately began transmitting messages back to the academy.

An hour later, Yang Ze had digested a small portion of the pill's potency, easing the injuries on his body. He stood up from the ground and instantly caught sight of Pan Fang standing guard over him.

"Thank you for guarding me, Senior Brother Pan!" Yang Ze cupped his fists and said, genuinely surprised that Pan Fang had taken on the duty of protecting him.

After Pan Fang exchanged a few polite pleasantries, Li He and the others returned, holding a storage bag in hand, clearly having made some discoveries.

Seeing this, Yang Ze stepped forward, retrieved the items obtained from the basement—all of which had been refined by Yu Haibiao—and handed them to Li He, recounting everything he had learned.

He did this because keeping these items served no purpose for him, and given his current strength, getting entangled with the God-Extinguishing Cult offered no benefits whatsoever. It was far wiser to hand them over to Li He, which might just allow Li He to uncover some crucial clues.

True to expectation, upon examining the items Yang Ze presented, Li He immediately broke into a smile, patted Yang Ze heavily on the shoulder, and promised to log a formal merit for him upon their return.

Yang Ze offered a few modest remarks before accepting the outcome. Since there was a merit to be had, he naturally wanted to see what kind of benefits he could reap from it.

After carefully storing the items, Li He found a secluded spot and re-established contact with the martial academy. Logically speaking, this matter should have concluded here—the cause of death for the three registered disciples had been investigated, the enemy had been eliminated, and the mission was a complete success, allowing them to return and report.

However, with the involvement of the God-Extinguishing Cult, the situation could not be dismissed so easily. If he failed to report this to the academy and a blunder occurred later, he would not be able to bear the responsibility.

The communication lasted a full half-hour, ultimately requiring two Fifth-Grade Sea of Qi realm experts to step in and finalize the subsequent course of action.

Putting away the sound-transmission bead, Li He walked back and addressed the ten disciples before him: "Yang Ze, Pan Fang, the two of you will accompany me on a trip to the Zhenyuan Sect. The remaining eight of you may return to the martial academy to report. Once you arrive, someone will take charge of your debriefing."

The latter half of Li He's sentence was directed at the outer sect disciples. Higher-ups had issued instructions for him to make a trip to the Zhenyuan Sect to investigate the matter further, but the number of personnel dispatched could not be overly large, requiring only two War Hall disciples to tag along.

The other eight outer sect disciples had no objections. They immediately accepted their orders, mounted their swift horses, and departed from Eagle Beak Ravine. Yang Ze and Pan Fang remained behind, and after Li He gave a few final instructions, the trio galloped away in the opposite direction of the ravine.

Along the way, Li He briefed Yang Ze and Pan Fang about the Zhenyuan Sect, leading them to realize that this sect was far from simple.

The Zhonglu Prefecture harbored numerous Jianghu factions, among which the Zhenyuan Sect stood out as the most powerful sect in the prefecture, backed by a Fifth-Grade Sea of Qi realm martial artist who commanded awe across the entire region.

The status of the Zhenyuan Sect in Zhonglu Prefecture was comparable to that of the Wuyang Martial Academy and the Thundering Sword Sect in Quanyang Prefecture back in the day, or perhaps even slightly higher.

Simultaneously, the Zhenyuan Sect was located in Qingzhou, and since the Misty Martial Academy was the supreme ruling power of Qingzhou, the Zhenyuan Sect nominally fell under the jurisdiction of the Misty Martial Academy.

Ordinarily, while Jianghu disputes frequently broke out within Zhonglu Prefecture under the governance of the Zhenyuan Sect, no major catastrophes had ever occurred. However, recent rumors suggested that the Patriarch of the Zhenyuan Sect, a peak Fifth-Grade Sea of Qi realm expert, was nearing the end of his lifespan, gradually plunging Zhonglu Prefecture into chaos and leaving even the Zhenyuan Sect seemingly unstable.

The Misty Martial Academy had chosen to turn a blind eye to all of this. After all, the Misty Martial Academy was a titan of the Jianghu, not an imperial court capable of directly ruling subordinate territories; unless the Zhenyuan Sect formally requested intervention, they could not lightly interfere in the internal affairs of other sects.

They had originally intended to maintain a similarly indifferent stance toward the rising chaos in Zhonglu Prefecture, seeing as no catastrophic turmoil had erupted yet. But this time, the Zhenyuan Sect had become entangled with the God-Extinguishing Cult, meaning the matter could no longer be brushed aside so lightly.

Under the arrangements of the two elders, Li He first led Yang Ze and Pan Fang toward the Zhenyuan Sect, after which another instructor from the academy would descend the mountain to join forces with them.

Without a moment of rest, they whipped their horses and galloped out of Xiyuan City.

A day and night later, the three swift horses crossed into the boundaries of Queling City in Zhonglu Prefecture. This was the prefecture capital of Zhonglu Prefecture, as well as its largest city, and the Zhenyuan Sect, reigning as the premier sect of the prefecture, was nestled in this very location.

Riding in the center, Li He held a map of Queling City in one hand and a sound-transmission bead in the other, the bumpy ride of his galloping horse having zero impact on him.

Li He's gaze scanned the map, focusing primarily on a location in the upper-right corner—the exact whereabouts of the Zhenyuan Sect.

At that moment, the sound-transmission bead in Li He's hand suddenly vibrated. With a raised eyebrow, Li He activated the bead, and a voice echoed from within.

A look of joy crossed Li He's face. He signaled Yang Ze and the others to change direction, rode for another thirty miles, and came to a halt beside the main post road. Barely a quarter of an hour later, another swift horse galloped over from the end of the road.

As the horse came to a stop before them, Instructor Zhong dismounted. Seeing who had arrived, Yang Ze and Pan Fang immediately cupped their fists in greeting.

"Greetings, Instructor Zhong." Never in their wildest dreams had they expected Instructor Zhong himself to be the one dispatched.

Yet, it made sense; their destination was the Zhenyuan Sect, a regional titan that could not be taken lightly. Dispatching a War Hall instructor was already the baseline requirement.

After Instructor Zhong and Li He exchanged pleasantries and discussed the situation, they swiftly finalized an action plan and galloped toward the northeast, heading straight for the mountain gates of the Zhenyuan Sect.

By nightfall, after swapping their weary mounts for fresh ones at a roadside post station, they finally arrived at the foot of the Zhenyuan Sect's mountain gates.

However, no sooner had they crossed the boundary of the Zhenyuan Sect's domain than they were abruptly surrounded by a troop of guards.

The encirclement consisted of twenty individuals, led by a FourthGrade Returning Origin realm martial artist, accompanied by three ThirdGrade Meridian Opening realm martial artists, while the rest were all FirstGrade Bone-Tempering realm martial artists. Such a lineup was by no means weak, though to the four of them, it fell far short of being a threat.

"Halt! Who goes there? Trespassing upon the mountain gates of my Zhenyuan Sect is a capital offense! Withdraw now, and I shall let bygones be-!"

The speaker was the FourthGrade martial artist, his expression severe as he firmly locked his aura onto the four intruders.

Had it been any other time, anyone daring to barge into the Zhenyuan Sect's gates would have been summarily executed on the spot. However, the four individuals who arrived tonight gave him an unfathomable feeling, deterring him from acting rashly. Coupled with the fact that quite a few suspicious figures had been prowling around the periphery of the Zhenyuan Sect recently, he was all the more reluctant to invite unnecessary trouble.

Instructor Zhong stepped forward at that moment, casting a cold glance across the group, and declared with unyielding arrogance: "I am Instructor Zhong Yang of the Misty Martial Academy, and this is Instructor Li He. These two are War Hall disciples of my academy. We are here on official business; announce our arrival and summon the Sect Master of the Zhenyuan Sect to see us at once!"

As Zhong Yang spoke, he flashed an identity token in the palm of his hand, causing the expressions of the Zhenyuan Sect guards to change drastically.