The head master has a new female apprentice

Chapter 305 A Game of Wits Among a Group of Old Foxes (6k)

"boom!"

The powerful explosion tore through the dense forest barrier within a radius of a hundred feet, completely exposing the hiding place of the Golden Thunder Sect members to the sight of the Liu family's experts.

"Not good!" Lei Lie and the others' pupils shrank suddenly, and lightning burst from their bodies.

But it was too late.

Liu Xuanfeng and the others, who were originally bombarding the mountain gate with ripples, immediately locked their sharp gazes on the group.

With a swift movement of their feet, they instantly surrounded them.

"Golden Thunder Sect! It really is you!" Liu Xuanfeng's spiritual power surged, and his voice was as cold as the deepest hell.

call out!
Fourth Elder Liu Hansong approached with a pale face, his eyes flashing with resentment.

He said in a hoarse voice, "See? I told you they were the ones who did it, but you didn't believe me."

Upon hearing this, the murderous aura of the Liu family members surged dramatically.

"Hand over the antidote!" Liu Xuanfeng's words were uttered as if squeezed out from between his teeth, carrying a chilling killing intent.

Lei Lie and the others were taken aback by the sudden question and instinctively replied, "What antidote? Gentlemen, I really don't know what you're talking about!"

"If you won't listen to reason, you'll have to suffer the consequences. We'll just have to search your soul!"

Liu Xuanfeng was furious, his eyes flashing with cold light. He suddenly raised his right hand, and a blue ball of light appeared and expanded instantly.

The violent fluctuations of spiritual energy caused the surrounding air to distort.

The ball of light shot out and blasted straight at Jin Leizong and the others.

"presumptuous!"

The Grand Elder of the Golden Thunder Sect roared and flung out twelve golden talismans from his sleeve, which formed a lightning barrier in the air.

The two forces collided, and the resulting spiritual pressure snapped all the trees within a hundred feet in half!
Using the explosion as cover, Lei Lie and the others retreated rapidly, their bodies crackling with lightning, instantly creating a distance of dozens of feet.

"Liu Xuanfeng!" Thunderous light flashed in the eyes of Lei Tiangang, the Grand Elder of the Golden Thunder Sect, his voice filled with suppressed anger, "What do you mean by this?"

Liu Xuanfeng sneered repeatedly, pressing forward step by step: "What do I mean? I'd like to ask the Golden Thunder Sect what they mean!"

Lightning flashed in Lei Tiangang's sleeves as he laughed angrily, "What do you mean by 'we'? You attacked me without warning, just because my Golden Thunder Sect didn't receive you for the second time? Are all the Liu families in the capital this petty?"

Upon hearing this, several elders of the Liu family suddenly burst into laughter.

Are you pretending to be crazy or stupid with us?

"Petty? You all know who's petty. If that's the case, then explain why you're here."

Liu Xuanfeng took a step forward and pressed him for an answer.

Lei Lie's eyes darted around, and he stepped forward to bow respectfully: "Esteemed Senior Liu, please allow me to report. In the past two years, the Eastern Region has frequently been plagued by horrific massacres. As one of the four major sects, our Golden Thunder Sect naturally has the responsibility to protect the Eastern Region."

He said sincerely, "Especially when other sects ask for help, our sect has an unshirkable duty to help."

"For the past two years, we have been investigating relevant clues. The reason we were unable to receive you last time was because we were too busy with this matter."

“And this time,” Lei Lie pointed to the gate of the Weeping Spirit Sect, “after much planning, we finally located the culprit hiding here…”

"Bullshit!" Fourth Elder Liu Hansong interrupted sharply, tearing open his right sleeve to reveal a black, festering wound. "You dare say this wasn't done by your Golden Thunder Sect?"

Lei Lie and the others looked closely and their pupils immediately contracted.

The peculiar stench emanating from the wound was the stench of corpse poison from being bitten by a mummified corpse!
They were all too familiar with this smell; it was the unique scent left behind by anyone bitten by the sect leader or any of the mummified corpses he controlled.

etc--

The next moment, Lei Tiangang seemed to realize something.

"Taiqing Sect, it's Taiqing Sect—"

When Taiqing Sect destroyed Tianji Sect, the official reason given was that Tianji Sect manipulated the mummified corpses, causing heavy losses to Taiqing Sect's mine personnel.

At the time, many people thought this excuse was far-fetched and was just a pretext for the Taiqing Sect to dominate the Eastern Region.

But only the Golden Thunder Sect knew that an ancient mummified corpse had indeed escaped from the Corpse Yin Sect's corpse-raising grounds, and that it had been there even longer than when they discovered the Gobi Cave.

Over the years, they have actually been searching in secret.

They didn't even move out of that cave, hoping that one day the other person would come back.

If it weren't for a young man accidentally wandering in that night, they might still be stuck in that Gobi Desert.

Since the destruction of the Tianji Sect, the mummified corpse has disappeared without a trace. It was either killed by the Taiqing Sect or secretly imprisoned by them.

Then, considering that they had been hiding well, yet their whereabouts were deliberately exposed, coupled with the strange injuries on Liu Hansong's body, they realized that...

It's obvious that this was all a carefully orchestrated scheme!

"It wasn't us who did it, the Taiqing Sect also did it..." As soon as he said this, Lei Tiangang realized he had misspoke and quickly stopped.

The Liu family members were all very perceptive and had already noticed something amiss from their previous reactions.

What does "also exist" mean?

So, does your Golden Thunder Sect really have such mummified corpses?

Hehe, I always thought it was the forces behind the Seventh Prince and others who were up to something.

I never expected that I would underestimate you country bumpkins!
"I don't care about the Taiqing Sect or you, hand over the antidote now, immediately!"

A cold glint flashed in Liu Xuanfeng's eyes, and his spiritual energy surged. "Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"

The members of the Golden Thunder Sect turned ashen-faced; they had ultimately underestimated the Taiqing Sect.

They originally thought the other party knew nothing about the Corpse Yin Sect, but they never expected that they had already secretly made arrangements.

Good, very good!
In that case, the plan targeting them can begin ahead of schedule.

If you are unjust, don't blame us for being unjust too!

but--

Seeing the murderous glint in the eyes of the Liu family and others, Lei Tiangang felt a chill run down his spine.

In the past two years, they have conducted countless experiments. Anyone bitten by a mummified corpse will almost always turn into a zombie in a very short time.

To date, no antidote has been developed; the only solution is... complete extermination!

Therefore, before the sect leader broke through to the Spirit Severing Realm and found a way to control the corpse transformation, all the small sect disciples who were bitten were disemboweled without exception.

I never expected that Liu Hansong could hold on for so long.

If we confess now that there is no cure, we will surely be killed by the Liu family. At that time, under the soul search, our years of planning will be in vain!
"The antidote is here!" After a brief moment of thought, Lei Tiangang shouted in a deep voice.

Lei Lie and the others were taken aback upon hearing this, but seeing the elder's fingers twitch slightly in his sleeve, they immediately understood and straightened their backs, adopting an air of confidence.

"Give it to me now!" Liu Hansong said hastily, his eyes gleaming with a morbid longing.

Lei Tiangang stood with his hands behind his back and said calmly, "The antidote is in the hands of my sect leader."

"Alright, let's go to the Golden Thunder Sect now," Liu Xuanfeng said sternly.

“No need to travel far,” Lei Tiangang said, pointing towards the direction of the Weeping Spirit Sect. “The sect leader is currently there.”

"Ha!" Liu Xuanfeng laughed in anger, his spiritual power surging around him.

"Just a moment ago we were investigating the true culprit behind the massacre of our entire clan, and now the sect leader is inside? Is there a single word of truth in any of your mouths?"

Lei Tiangang remained unfazed: "If you hadn't pressed me so hard, I wouldn't have revealed the truth. This medicine was difficult to refine, and there's only one left."

"One is enough!" Liu Hansong shouted impatiently, his eyes bloodshot.

Lei Tiangang then turned around and exchanged a meaningful glance with the others.

Everyone immediately understood what the Grand Elder was going to do.

Right now, they either have to be killed and have their souls searched, or they have to cooperate with the sect leader to have a chance of survival.

More importantly, they didn't need to kill these people directly; they only needed to create an opportunity for the sect leader or the mummified corpse to take a bite...

After that, everything is simple!

"Please follow me, everyone!" Lei Tiangang stepped forward first, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes when no one was watching.

Although Liu Xuanfeng followed closely behind, he secretly signaled the Fifth Elder, Liu Qingyang, to stay behind.

The usually cautious elder immediately understood and stepped back to Consort Ying's side.

On the one hand, it can protect her; on the other hand, the Golden Thunder Sect had previously mentioned the Taiqing Sect, so we need to pay more attention to them.

After all, you can't put all your eggs in one basket.

Consort Ying followed the Fifth Elder back to the deck of the flying boat, looking down with worry.

When everyone arrived in front of the two-colored array, Lei Tiangang carefully took out an ancient token.

This formation was actually left behind by the previous sect leader and has never been shown to anyone for many years, all in order to catch everyone off guard.

They never expected that the Taiqing Sect would produce a formation master like Zhou Qing. They now truly regret it; they should have nipped him in the bud earlier.

At this moment, as Lei Tiangang's spiritual power was injected, the lightning patterns on the token suddenly lit up, and the formation in front of him immediately rippled.

"puff--"

As soon as the formation was activated, a strong stench of blood mixed with the putrid smell hit us.

The Liu family members turned pale; the smell was exactly the same as the corpse poison emanating from Liu Hansong's wounds!
However, the indescribable stench was amplified a million times.

"It's inside! I can feel it!" Liu Hansong suddenly arched his back in pain, black blood seeping from his arm.

After giving the others a meaningful look, Liu Xuanfeng followed them inside.

Soon after entering the Weeping Spirit Sect, the scene before them was terrifying.

The ground was littered with mangled corpses, some disemboweled, others unrecognizable.

From deeper within, screams echoed one after another, mixed with teeth-grinding tearing sounds.

Liu Xuanfeng frowned: "The numerous massacres of families in the Eastern Region that you just mentioned, were all your doing?"

Lei Tiangang sneered, "Since we've already laid it all out, let's not pretend anymore. That's right, it's precisely to purify the corpse poison."

As he spoke, he stopped and looked at Liu Xuanfeng meaningfully: "If you don't mind, I'll invite the sect leader over right now?"

Although Liu Xuanfeng was shocked by the ruthlessness of the Golden Thunder Sect, he still nodded calmly.

The closer you get inside, the more nauseating the smell becomes.

Lei Tiangang then turned to Lei Lie, a deep meaning flashing in his eyes: "Go and invite the sect leader over, and tell him... there is a distinguished guest waiting here."

Lei Lie nodded in understanding, and his figure transformed into a bolt of lightning and quickly disappeared from sight.

Liu Xuanfeng and the others stopped and waited, covering their noses.

……

Meanwhile, the Fifth Elder, Liu Qingyang, who remained outside, had a glint in his eye.

Suddenly turning to the Shadow Guard commander, she said in a deep voice, "I suspect there are still villains threatening Your Highness's safety in the vicinity. I request your assistance in investigating." Consort Ying understood and immediately raised her hand, "Go and investigate immediately!"

The Shadow Guard commander had no choice but to clasp his hands in obeisance and lead dozens of elite guards to disperse immediately.

"Fifth Uncle, have you discovered something?" Consort Ying asked in a low voice.

Liu Qingyang narrowed his eyes and said in a cold voice, "Just now, the people from the Golden Thunder Sect were clearly drawn out by some kind of spiritual energy explosion."

"Do they really think the Liu family of the capital is a fool, trying to lure the snake out of its hole with such a clumsy plan?"

Upon hearing this, a hint of coldness flashed in Consort Ying's beautiful eyes.

Back in the capital, they were always the ones strategizing and planning; they had never been so easily fooled before.

These country bumpkins, who have never seen much of the world, are even more cunning than them!

Upon seeing this, Cao Zhengyang and the others immediately held their breath and retreated from the dense forest in the distance.

"These members of the Liu family are truly courting death!" Cao Zhengyang said in a low voice. "Even with Liu Hansong looking like that ghost, they still dare to barge in!"

Gao Xuan sneered, "The Golden Thunder Sect is taking a desperate gamble, trying to wipe out the entire Liu family in one fell swoop."

“They have no choice,” Mo Xingjian said in a deep voice. “In this situation, it’s either you die or I die.”

Cao Zhengyang said with a solemn expression, "If they are really bitten by Lei Wuji, with the cultivation level of these people from the Liu family, they can only last for five hours at most."

"Five hours from now, there will be five terrifying desiccated corpses of Nascent Soul cultivators at the Great Perfection stage. At that time, if Lei Wuji decides to attack my Taiqing Sect..."

"Senior brother, so what do you mean—" Mo Xingjian's eyes sharpened.

A resolute glint flashed in Cao Zhengyang's eyes: "Let's go all the way! You should return to the sect immediately and invite all of our senior uncles to come here."

Upon hearing this, Mo Xingjian's expression turned serious, and he immediately understood what needed to be done.

The Weeping Spirit Sect is a remote and sparsely populated place, and it is also concealed by a two-colored magic array, making it a truly nice place.

I just never expected this day to come so soon!
Mo Xingjian understood and vanished from the spot in a flash.

After Mo Xingjian left, Gao Xuan said worriedly, "If the Liu family members really turn into zombies, given Lei Wuji's current state, I'm afraid he won't be able to completely control them, and he might even suffer a backlash..."

"So this is our only chance!" Cao Zhengyang said decisively. "Once Lei Wuji masters his technique, the entire Eastern Region will be reduced to mountains of corpses and seas of blood!"

Upon hearing this, Gao Xuan nodded solemnly.

Just as the two were about to continue their observation, a teasing voice suddenly came from behind: "Hey, do you need any help?"

The two men's expressions changed drastically, and they turned around abruptly, only to see thirteen red-robed figures, including Sikong Yan, who had appeared silently at some point.

Cao Zhengyang and Gao Xuan instantly activated their spiritual energy, and their bodies radiated protective spiritual light.

Gao Xuan, in particular, stared intently at Sikong Yan, his mind racing with alarm bells.

Even after all these years, he still doesn't really understand this guy.

I always felt that this person was shrouded in an unfathomable mist, making him impossible to understand.

"Don't be nervous," Sikong Yan said with a smile, taking a step forward, his red robe fluttering even without wind.

"I truly meant no harm this time. By the way, I informed your clan on the way here that you had encountered danger, and they should arrive ahead of time."

Cao Zhengyang frowned, his gaze sharp as lightning: "What exactly do you want?"

"It's nothing," Sikong Yan said with a smile, "We just got a little out of control during the game and came to clean up the mess. What, are you guys doing the same?"

When the topic of games came up, Cao Zhengyang recalled the incident where the other party used the image stone to take a picture of Nannan, which Gao Xuan was still unaware of.

“I never play such pointless tricks!” Cao Zhengyang said sternly.

Sikong Yan suddenly burst into laughter: "Don't know how to play? Sect Leader Cao is too modest!"

He pointed to the Weeping Spirit Sect in the distance, "Isn't this tactic of using one enemy to devour another and then reaping the benefits quite skillfully?"

Cao Zhengyang's pupils shrank sharply: "You've been following me?"

Sikong Yan nodded and readily admitted, "Yes!"

Cao Zhengyang was shocked to hear this, because none of the three of them had noticed anything from beginning to end.

At this moment, Sikong Yan glanced at Gao Xuan with a slightly meaningful look, but didn't say anything, as if the two weren't very familiar with each other.

Then he continued, "To be honest, even if all the Nascent Soul Grand Perfection cultivators of your Taiqing Sect came out in full force, they might not be able to defeat them."

“If even one of you escapes, your Taiqing Sect is finished, so…”

Sikong Yan smiled and unfurled her red robe, "I'm here to help you share the risks."

Cao Zhengyang suddenly realized: "So you actually knew about Lei Wuji all along?"

“I not only know,” Sikong Yan said, looking quite pleased. “This was all orchestrated by me. To be precise, I was the one who guided the Tianji Sect to set a trap for Lei Wuji.”

These words plunged Cao Zhengyang into an icy abyss.

He had searched the primordial spirits of Ling Xuzi and Tian Shuzi and knew that during the Five Sects War, they were the ones who lured Lei Wuji to attack the Gobi mines, thus discovering the Corpse Yin Sect's corpse-raising grounds.

Little did they expect that the Azure Flame Dao Palace was behind all of this!

Just how many more hidden schemes has this guy set up?

At this moment, Gao Xuan, who had been silent all along, frowned and suddenly spoke up: "Is it because of that heart's blood?"

Sikong Yan's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he looked at Gao Xuan with a hint of appreciation, as if he had found a kindred spirit.

"Impressive! You noticed that. Just like Liu Hansong, who was poisoned by corpses, was able to sense the location of this landmine Wuji."

"It's a pity that those fools from Tianji Sect," Sikong Yan sneered, "thinking they can use my blood to secretly manipulate the situation, but little do they know that I can also influence them with it."

"Moreover, they are too weak. If it weren't for my suppression, they would have already suffered a backlash because of it."

At this point, Sikong Yan looked at Cao Zhengyang with great interest.

"It's strange, I thought that after you destroyed the Tianji Sect, you would continue to use that heart's blood to influence me. Why didn't you use it? Instead, you sent someone to inform me of the deaths of Ling Xuzi and the others?"

Cao Zhengyang snorted coldly: "Our Taiqing Sect acts with integrity and disdains such despicable means!"

Sikong Yan was taken aback at first, then burst into laughter, before quickly covering his mouth, afraid of alerting the Shadow Guards in the distance.

"What a prestigious and upright sect!" He gave a thumbs up, but his eyes were full of sarcasm.

Cao Zhengyang felt that he was being mocked.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit stiff, Sikong Yan changed the subject: "Actually, if our two families cooperate, we can definitely pull off something big."

"What do you mean?" Cao Zhengyang asked warily.

Sikong Yan pointed to the flying boat in the distance: "The five members of the Liu family, Consort Ying, and more than sixty Nascent Soul Realm guards... can stay here forever."

Cao Zhengyang's expression changed drastically.

"Don't look at me like that," Sikong Yan sneered. "Do you think you wouldn't make a move if my Cangyan Dao Palace didn't come?"

He narrowed his eyes. "With just those twenty or so people from your Taiqing Sect, you think you can devour everyone after they turn into zombies?"

Seeing Cao Zhengyang remain silent, Sikong Yan continued to incite him: "Don't worry, only the dead can keep secrets. You be the fishermen, and we'll be the birds, each getting what we want."

"What exactly do you want to do?" Cao Zhengyang asked after a brief pause.

Seeing that Cao Zhengyang had agreed, Sikong Yan was overjoyed and said, "I've already made preparations. Someone will take a picture of it with the image stone. It was the Golden Thunder Sect and others who made the move."

"Even if someone from the capital comes again in the future, they won't be able to trace it back to our two families."

Cao Zhengyang suddenly realized something and looked into the distance in shock: "Among the Supreme Elders of the Golden Thunder Sect... are there any of your people?"

Sikong Yan simply smiled meaningfully.

But soon, he sighed softly, revealing a look of frustration: "We really messed up. I really don't know what those old guys from the Tianji Sect added to the Corpse Scripture."

He glanced at the Weeping Spirit Sect in the distance, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.

"What's even stranger is that Lei Wuji has actually made some progress in his cultivation. However, this 'progress' is so terrifying that even I am afraid of getting burned."

Cao Zhengyang remained silent, but his heart was in turmoil.

He suddenly realized that he seemed to have never truly seen through the guy in front of him.

“Since we’re just idling around anyway,” Sikong Yan suddenly changed the subject, taking out several shimmering array flags from his storage bag. “How about you help me set up an array?”

When Cao Zhengyang saw the four-colored light flowing on the flag, his pupils suddenly contracted.

This made him think back to the Canglan Mountain of the past.

It was clearly a flawed five-colored magic array designed only to target a million demonic beasts, yet he had inlaid a four-colored killing array within it.

However, this rare formation was ultimately detonated by him without any mercy.

I wonder where this guy got so many advanced magic arrays?

Could it be that he has discovered an ancient ruin that he is exploring alone?

Seemingly sensing Cao Zhengyang's thoughts, Sikong Yan chuckled and said, "This time it's only targeting them, it has nothing to do with you. I can swear an oath to Heaven."

Cao Zhengyang waved his hand and said, "No need, just tell me the method!"

If these guys really had other ideas, they could have waited until they and their opponents were both severely injured before appearing as the orioles to stalk the worm and clean up the mess.

Why go to such great lengths?

"Excellent!" Sikong Yan laughed loudly upon seeing this. "I like sensible people like you!"

……

Taiqing Gate, Xiaoling Peak!
The ancient tree remains, its branches and leaves swaying gently.

Lu Yaoyao sat quietly under the tree, surrounded by an increasingly solidified artistic conception.

Her eyes were gently closed, and tiny ice crystals clung to her long eyelashes, making her seem to blend into the world around her.

I remember when I first met Third Mother, she was standing on this tree canopy, and in an instant, she turned the entire ancient tree into an ice sculpture.

Now, she, who also practices the "Ice Purification Technique," can do it with ease.

For some reason, there's always a faint, lingering smell of urine in this place.

"Shh-"

Soon after, a sword light pierced through the air, and Shi Zhen gracefully landed, carrying a food box.

Over the past two years, she has lost count of how many times she has delivered snacks to Lu Yaoyao.

According to Junior Sister Lu, these pastries hold her most cherished memories and can help her understand the artistic conception.

But because she had taken on a mission and needed to keep an eye on Zhou Qing, she couldn't leave, so she had no choice but to ask her for help.

Looking at the figure cultivating under the tree, a hint of envy flashed in Shi Zhen's eyes.

Who would have thought that the youngest junior sister back then would now have the cultivation level of the late Nascent Soul stage?

(End of this chapter)