Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 538 People’s hearts are floating
"What did you say? Song Xian has broken through to the third level of the Golden Core realm?" Upon hearing this news in the brightly lit hall, Xu Zhuoxuan's eye muscles twitched, and his face instantly darkened, as if covered with a layer of frost.

"According to intelligence from Bianxi City, Song Xian's cultivation level has skyrocketed after his seclusion, leaping two realms to break through to the third level of the Golden Core stage. This information has been verified and is undoubtedly accurate." Ding Mingde, the second elder of the Mingyue Sect, lowered his head, trying his best not to look at Xu Zhuoxuan's face, and answered in a low voice.

Since the Fang family incident in Tianshui City, the relationship between the Mingyue Sect and the Hunyuan Sect has plummeted to a freezing point, and they almost broke out into a major war. Only because the Beast Taming Sect mediated did the war not break out.

However, the two sides were now practically at odds, and all contact had been severed.

For the Bright Moon Sect, the most direct threat comes from the Hunyuan Sect, especially after Song Xian broke through to the Golden Core Realm, the threat became even greater.

Song Xian's strength was well-known throughout Xijiang County. Even before he formed his core, he could hold his own against Golden Core cultivators. His battle at the Murong family's mountain gate further cemented his reputation, earning him the title of the number one person below the Golden Core level.

Now that the Golden Core stage has been achieved, my strength will undoubtedly be significantly improved compared to the Foundation Establishment stage.

This means that the Mingyue Sect's greatest advantage over the Hunyuan Sect has vanished.

Most importantly, after breaking through to the Golden Core stage, one must have a corresponding spiritual vein and cultivation room to further improve one's cultivation level.

Within the territory of Xijiang County, all third-order spiritual veins are controlled by the Beast Taming Sect. Only the third-order low-grade spiritual vein they occupy and the third-order mid-grade spiritual vein occupied by the Yunxing Merchant Guild are not under the control of the Beast Taming Sect.

If Song Xian wants to obtain a third-tier spiritual vein for cultivation, he can only try to get it from these two companies. The Yunxing Chamber of Commerce is powerful, with four Golden Core cultivators, which is something the Hunyuan Sect can't afford to offend.

Their only target is the Bright Moon Sect.

Therefore, his rapid advancement in cultivation was by no means a good thing for the Bright Moon Sect.

Although they have the Beast Taming Sect above them, which will never allow the two sides to fight each other, the current situation is uncertain. Most of the troops from Nanhan County have already occupied Ningye County, and who knows what will happen in the future.

The room fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of the wind lashing against the windowpane, which sounded unusually jarring at that moment.

Xu Zhuoxuan's face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water. He had put in so much effort to obtain this spiritual vein beneath his feet, to have a third-grade low-level cultivation room, and to be able to cultivate.

This not only resulted in the loss of hundreds of disciples from the sect, but also offended a large number of people from the Beast Taming Sect. After more than ten years of planning and going through countless hardships, he finally managed to occupy this spiritual vein, and after more than ten years of cultivation, he barely managed to break through to the second level of the Golden Core realm.

Song Xian broke through to the third level of the Golden Core realm with almost no effort, which made him feel jealous, envious and resentful.

"Didn't you say before that he went into seclusion because he was injured in a battle with that cannibalistic Golden Core demonic cultivator?" After a long silence, Xu Zhuoxuan finally spoke slowly, his voice so deep it seemed to come from his abdomen.

Ding Mingde kept his head down: "That's what the Hunyuan Sect says to the outside world. Our sect's disciples in charge of intelligence have indeed received the news that a year ago, a battle between Golden Core level cultivators took place in the vicinity of Jinfeng Mountain in Far East Town. There were several eyewitnesses at the time."

"Combined with the fact that the cannibalistic evil cultivator who had previously committed massacres in the Tianshan area, killing several disciples of the Hunyuan Sect, and the information we received from our informant within the Hunyuan Sect, it is clear that Song Xian did indeed go out during that period."

"That cannibalistic golden pill evil cultivator is someone even the elders of the Longquan Sect couldn't deal with. You can imagine how strong he is. It's understandable that Song Xian suffered some losses and was injured when he encountered him."

Xu Zhuoxuan snorted coldly: "Don't you guys know how to use your brains? Song Xian is such a cunning and cautious person. Doesn't he know that the man-eating Golden Core evil cultivator is difficult to deal with? If he wasn't confident, would he have gone to find that Golden Core evil cultivator alone?"

Ding Mingde remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he felt a mix of emotions. Ever since Xu Zhuoxuan broke through to the Golden Core Realm, he had become increasingly rude to them, something that would never have happened before.

But he also knew that she was extremely angry at this moment, so he could only continue to explain.

“I don’t think Song Xian’s breakthrough to the third level of the Golden Core realm is directly related to this matter. If that cannibalistic Golden Core evil cultivator had pills to enhance his cultivation, why didn’t he use them himself? According to our previous information, Song Xian went out a year ago and was away from the sect for more than a month. I think it should be related to that trip.”

Xu Zhuoxuan looked at him coldly: "If he had no ulterior motives, given Song Xian's personality, would he go looking for a powerful enemy that even a sixth-level Golden Core cultivator couldn't handle for the sake of a few Qi Refining disciples?"

"This……"

Ding Mingde was speechless for a moment. As the sect's external affairs elder, he was responsible for all external affairs of the sect and was familiar with the main figures of the major sects in Xijiang County.

As the leader of the Hunyuan Sect and the biggest potential threat to the Mingyue Sect, Song Xian had long been thoroughly familiar with its past practices.

Therefore, knowing Song Xian's ability to endure hardship, and how he willingly married Su Zhirou, a descendant of Wen Yiren, the wife of the Luo Yun Sect's leader, to become someone else's concubine in order to establish a connection with the Luo Yun Sect, it was clear how deep his scheming was. How could such a person possibly risk such a great danger and fight to the death with a powerful enemy for a few insignificant Qi Refining disciples?

Xu Zhuoxuan, however, seemed to have seen through everything. Seeing that he stopped speaking, he continued, "Let me guess, did this Golden Core heretical cultivator appear after Song Xian returned from his travels?"

“That’s right, yes.” Ding Mingde seemed to have seen the light after a long period of confusion, and his face lit up with realization: “According to the intelligence we have, about one or two months after Song Xian returned from his trip, that Golden Core evil cultivator appeared in the East China Sea region, and then went to the Tianshan Mountains.”

Xu Zhuoxuan looked confident: "That's right, that Golden Core evil cultivator must have come to find Song Xian."

"If I'm not mistaken, Song Xian must have encountered this person during his absence. The two must have gotten into a feud, and most likely they both obtained the main ingredient of the Spirit Ascension Pill, so neither of them could complete the refining process alone."

"So that evil cultivator who cultivated the Golden Core technique came knocking on our door. Both of them wanted to seize the main medicine from the other, which is why Song Xian took such a big risk to fight this person."

"In the end, Song Xian naturally won. He pretended to spread rumors that he was injured and needed to go into seclusion, but in reality, he secretly refined the Spirit Ascension Pill and took it."

Ding Mingde nodded in admiration: "The sect leader is so insightful and perceptive, it must be so."

Xu Zhuoxuan narrowed his eyes slightly: "Knowing the details is useless. What's done is done. Now that Song Xian has broken through to the third level of the Golden Core stage, he will definitely try every means to seize our spiritual vein. From now on, we must be extra careful. Any news about Song Xian's movements must be reported to me."

.........

On a dark and windy night, at the gate of the Beast Taming Sect in Xijiang County.

In the same spacious and bright hall, the high-ranking members of the Beast Taming Sect gathered together.

"According to the latest news from Anfeng County, the Xuanyuan Sect has already taken action. The Fengyu Sect has been completely eradicated, and its sect leader and three elders were all killed on the spot. Their heads were displayed in the market of Anfeng County." Wang Xuan sat on the lower left, his brows slightly furrowed.

Fengyu Sect was a major power in Anfeng County, second only to Xuyuan Sect, the leading sect in Anfeng County. However, it was suddenly revealed that it was colluding with the rebels in Nanhan County and was swiftly and decisively killed by Xuanyuan Sect.

The news of the thousand-year-old sect being wiped out in a single day sent chills down the spines of the Beast Taming Sect members when it reached Xijiang County.

Having received absolutely no prior warning, the Xuan Yuan Sect's operation this time was extremely swift and secretive. Today it's the Feng Yu Sect, will it be their turn tomorrow?

The key point is that the Xuan Yuan Sect did not disclose any evidence, yet it still destroyed a large sect with tens of thousands of cultivators.

This made the group feel a sense of shared sorrow, like the rabbit mourning the fox's death.

After a brief silence, Xu Xiansheng said in a deep voice, "The battle at the Ningye County front is going badly. Xuanyuan Sect is doing this to make an example of them."

“Anfeng County and Ningye County are adjacent. It is reasonable for Fengyu Sect to want to follow the example of Yuntian Chamber of Commerce in Ningye County and become the leading sect in Anfeng County by joining forces with the rebels in Nanhan County. I don’t think Xuanyuan Sect would uproot Fengyu Sect at this time for any other shady reasons.”

Hong Haoran remained calm: "I don't doubt that the Xuan Yuan Sect would fabricate facts, but the current situation is really not optimistic. Even a major sect like the Feng Yu Sect is thinking of joining the rebels in Nan Han County. Who can say for sure how many forces in Xi Shu County are secretly colluding with Nan Han County?"

"Could it be that some forces in our Xijiang County have already made contact with Nanhan County in private? Although we are adjacent to Ningye County, we still need to be fully prepared."

Xu Xiansheng continued, "Yun Xuanzong and the Murong family have both been eliminated. Only the Yunxing Merchant Guild poses a slight threat to us. We just need to keep a close eye on them. The Yunxing Merchant Guild has always been cautious. Given the example of the Murong family, I doubt they would dare to have any wicked intentions. Moreover, I have been keeping an eye on them all along. If they dare to collude with the rebels in Nanhan County, it might not be a bad thing. I can take this opportunity to eliminate them."

“I recently received news that Song Xian of the Hunyuan Sect has broken through from the first level of the Golden Core Realm to the third level in one fell swoop. This young man should not be underestimated, and our sect will increase our vigilance against him.” Song Zhongping, the Grand Elder of the Beast Taming Sect, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

Xu Xiansheng glanced at him: "The Hunyuan Sect is weak and poses no threat to our sect. Besides, it was promoted by our sect and has performed reliably over the years. What do you mean by 'raising vigilance', Senior Brother Song?"

Song Zhongping remained calm, his voice as still as a deep well: "What relationship in this world is absolutely reliable? Besides, just because someone isn't a threat now doesn't mean they won't be in the future. Song Xian is quite capable and shrewd. After breaking through to the Golden Core realm, he advanced to the third level of the Golden Core so quickly. Is it possible to say that such a person has no ambition?"

"The highest spiritual veins that the Hunyuan Sect currently possesses are only of the second-grade upper level. Anyone would want to obtain a third-grade spiritual vein if given the opportunity, in order to satisfy their cultivation needs."

"I'm not saying that Hunyuanzong has secretly contacted the rebels in Nanhan County, but we don't have enough information about them right now."

(End of this chapter)