"It is good that you are back, the sect master has ordered me to bring you back. What is the status of the Seven Colored Soul Lotus?"
"Liu Kong took it. The three elders from the Seven Clouds Sect interfered at the last moment. One of the held off the Star Empire, while the rest took care of the Grade 7 Beast. It allowed Liu Kong to escape with it," Hui Wanren said gritting his teeth.
"As expected," Liang Tianye nodded without much expression. "What is the status of the Grade 7 Beast?"
"The beast escaped back into the Grasslands. The two elders were unable to do anything to it," Hui Wanren said dejectedly.
"Hmmm more like unwilling to do anything to it," Liang Tianye snorted.
"Vice Sect-Master, you mean,"
"Yes, they willingly let the beast back into the Grasslands. They wanted it to act as our counterweight and keep us on our toes," Liang Tianye spat to the side.
"It doesn't matter, we can take care of it later. Now, we need to return to the sect. And we aren't unlucky either. Something more precious than the Seven Colored Soul Lotus has appeared," Liang Tianye said gesturing towards the mortal to the side who was looking at them with a confused expression on his face.
"Is that… killing intent? But… how? He had no cultivation… Unless, unless…" Hui Wanren said in shock and turned to look at Liang Tianye.
Liang Tianye merely nodded to indicate that his guess was probably right.
He could see the greed and desire shine through Hui Wanren's at his confirmation. He knew that every Demonic Dao practitioner yearned for such a thing to happen to them. It would be of immense help to their cultivation.
Unfortunately, by the time they learned about these things, they would already have started practicing cultivation. Thus making it impossible for them to attain such a gift. Even with high-level techniques, no one has been able to reproduce an artificial way to obtain such gifts.
The knock-offs created from observing these were indeed powerful to an extent. But, they never gave the full benefit of the gift that was formed naturally. This made such things very coveted in their circle.
He could understand Hui Wanren's emotions currently. To others, he may be a genius in the Demonic Dao. But, only very few know about the trials he went through to reach that state. And seeing something impossible for him to achieve to be present in a mere mortal would naturally induce greed and anger.
Unlike the Righteous Dao, the Demonic Dao didn't believe in repressing one's emotions and being in control of themselves. Demonic Dao, in essence, was about being unrestrained. And that applied to the desires and matters of the heart as well.
"Do not dwell much on it. It is no use trying to lust after it. It cannot be attained in an artificial manner. So, don't do something stupid," Liang Tianye warned sternly causing Hui Wanren to frown and nod a little dejectedly.
"Who are you guys?" the mortal who had been silent till now spoke up causing Liang Tianye and Hui Wanren to look over.
Seeing him readying for a fight, they both snorted in unison.
"Knock him out and bring him with you. We need to leave this place. If those old coots from the Seven Clouds Sect learned about him, they would surely come trying to sabotage this good fortune," Liang Tianye ordered nonchalantly and turned away from the mortal.
"Hey, what do you…"
That was how far the mortal got before Hui Wanren knocked him out with a chop to the back of his head. As the mortal fainted, Hui Wanren looked at his hand that was bleeding.
"You knew about the legends and yet you didn't protect your hand with qi," Liang Tianye said disappointedly. "Looks like you have become complacent of late. No wonder Liu Kong was able to get the upper hand and leave with the treasure."
Hui Wanren scratched his head sheepishly.
"Just bring him over," Liang Tianye said shaking his head in disappointment.
"Our sect suffered a loss this time, Vice-Sect Master. Are we going to do something about it?" Hui Wanren asked as he fell in line with Liang Tianye carrying the mortal.
"If it was before running into this mortal, I would have advocated for it as well. However, we need to groom this mortal until he could defend himself. So, we need to lay low for a while."
Liang Tianye said thinking a bit.
"Moreover, the Sect Master is close to breaking through the Soul Severance stage. We need to wait for it before we can make any moves."
"What about you Vice-Sect Master? Can you reach the next level soon?"
"Who told you that I haven't already reached it?" Liang Tianye asked causing Hui Wanren to miss a step. "Do not be fooled by what we show outside. Our sect is stronger than you think. You might not even make it to the top ten of our strongest fighters as you are now."
"How come? I am close to stepping half a foot in the Nascent Soul Realm," Hui Wanren said shocked.
"Indeed, but you aren't at the level of the elders yet. We are preserving our strength waiting for a chance. If the righteous sects knew our true strength they would band together to bring us back under their control. Especially, that sect. We know that the three old coots from the Seven Clouds Sect came over just to probe our strength in reality," Liang Tianye said looking into the distance.
"We decided to sacrifice the Seven Colored Soul Lotus so that we can hide a bit longer. One more Nascent Soul cultivator isn't going to make much of a difference at this level. So, we decided to bide our time."
"Don't be fooled by the old monsters in the sect. Even someone who is only half a foot in the Nascent Soul realm can kill real Nascent Soul cultivators. So, concentrate on improving your strength," Liang Tianye said looking at Hui Wanren.
"Moreover, you will be getting some competition soon," Liang Tianye said looking at the passed-out mortal.
"I will, Vice-Sect Master," Hui Wanren nodded stiffly.
"Don't worry, it will take some time for him to grow up. If you don't slack of in the meantime, you will be able to still dominate him. It is all up to you," Liang Tianye said consolingly. "However, I have to warn you to keep the matter regarding his potential hidden. We don't want enemies to take out our trump cards before the war actually begins, do we?"
"Don't worry, Vice-Sect Master. I know how to keep a secret," Hui Wanren promised earnestly as he was able to hear the hidden threat in that statement.
"Good," Liang Tianye smiled and they both vanished from the spot.
*****
"Report," Xing Wukong said in an exhausted tone.
His face looked tired and he was truly feeling the same as well. His plan to capture Liu Kong hadn't fared well. While they were able to encircle him, they never expected one of the Nascent Soul elders of the Seven Clouds Sect to show up and help him escape.
Just thinking about it made Xing Wukong's blood boil. Not to mention that mishap, but there was also the fiasco with the bordering towns near the Grasslands being subject to a beast tide with little to no warning.
It was truly chaos raging all around.
And the reason for that was a fucking Seven-Colored Soul Lotus.
If he had known that such a treasure was present, he would have not minded offending the Heavenly Demon Sect as well. A Seven-Colored Soul Lotus meant one extra Nascent Soul cultivator in their ranks.
It could have increased his cultivation to be on par with his second brother. Then he needn't have to worry about displeasing him. Now, with things entirely fumbled, he was receiving report after report about the rising death toll and the constant fighting to repel the beast tide.
The beast tide would have reached the cities, if not for the Level 7 Beast turning tail and running away from the two elders of the Seven Clouds Sect. Now he had to send his gratitude to those swines for that as well.
Just thinking about it made Xing Wukong's blood boil in anger.
"The beast tide has been brought under control, your highness. We have also received that the turmoil in the Grasslands has also come to an end. It is estimated that things would turn back to normal within the next few days and the merchants will be able to travel from the next week," the servant reported.
"Good, any news about the damaged towns?"
"We have lost a lot of bordering towns near the Grasslands. The Starmist City was the only city to be hit by the beast tide. But, with the help of the cultivation clans and officials posted there, we were able to bring it under control easily," the servant replied.
"Still, this much amount of damage to our kingdom is unforgivable. I will not let Liu Kong off easily," Xing Wukong gritted his teeth angrily.
*****
End of Volume 1
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
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