Devil Cultivators! Unexpected News!

"Junior Brother Li, did you find time to come by for another stroll today?"

Seeing Li Ye at the Internal Affairs Hall again, the old steward took the initiative to tease him.

"But if you ask me, you might as well stop wandering over here every now and then..."

Li Ye had barely set foot in the Internal Affairs Hall before someone tried to send him away.

Li Ye, who had been looking around, wasn't annoyed. Instead, he asked with a smile,

"Oh? What advice do you have for me, Senior Brother Luo?"

As Li Ye's mastery of Spirit Plant techniques improved, he gained increasingly precise control over the state of his spirit fields.

It became easier and easier for him as well.

No matter how much care and effort he put in, the time he needed to spend on them each day grew shorter.

That left him with much more free time all of a sudden.

Besides spending the extra time cultivating harder in hopes of recovering his cultivation sooner,

Li Ye also tried to broaden his social circle.

He wanted to see if he could find some suitable ways to earn money and some sources of information.

Wandering around the Internal Affairs Hall was one way to do that.

People came and went here, discussing things, and there were all sorts of tasks on offer.

Even if he couldn't look into every one of them in detail, simply putting together the information on the surface gave Li Ye a rough idea of how the situation within the Purple Profound Sect's territory was changing.

If turmoil really did break out in the sect, that understanding could help Li Ye make the right decisions in time.

It was as effective as a tavern in the mortal jianghu!

Although the talk about Li Ye hadn't died down,

he remained active as ever, seemingly unaffected. After a while, he really did become acquainted with quite a few people!

The old steward, with whom he'd barely exchanged a word in the past, was one of them.

In truth, Li Ye knew very well.

The rumors about him had suddenly spread not only because the fat and thin pair had deliberately discussed him in public, piquing everyone's interest.

The old fellow surnamed Luo had also played a considerable part, bringing it up often as a topic of conversation over drinks.

Yet Li Ye had always acted as though he knew nothing, and his attitude toward the old steward had never changed in the slightest.

After all, wagging tongues only affected his reputation.

As time passed and new topics came up, it would be forgotten sooner or later.

Compared to his own interests, it amounted to nothing at all.

As long as the old man could help him even a little, it was no great matter...

But if all this man could do was indulge his tongue, Li Ye would naturally teach him a lesson someday!

Hearing Li Ye's question, the old man chuckled.

"Look at you! You won't go out and risk yourself on sect tasks or seek fortuitous opportunities, and aside from being fairly skilled at Spirit Plant techniques, you haven't mastered any of the other hundred arts of cultivation..."

"So what use is it for you to come to the Internal Affairs Hall?"

"You'd be better off tending your spirit fields and getting a few more points on your task assessment. Maybe you could even..."

It was rare for Li Ye to have changed his ways. The old steward spoke with a hint of admonishment, warming to his lecture.

He wanted to give the lad a few pointers.

It would make up a little for the consequences his loose tongue had caused lately, and he also hoped to have his junior brother beg him a few times so he could enjoy showing off.

"...Have you heard?!"

The discussion among the crowd in the hall suddenly grew louder. Shouts and cries of surprise rang out one after another, cutting short the old fellow's enthusiasm.

The old steward looked disappointed and was about to scold them for making noise in the Internal Affairs Hall, but as words from the crowd reached his ears, his expression changed abruptly.

It was full of disbelief!

Meanwhile, Li Ye, who had been chatting casually with him, had already slipped into the crowd. He listened to everyone talking at once, a strange, thoughtful look on his face.

At last, it turned grim.

Cai Shiwei's party had gone to explore a mysterious place and had nearly been wiped out!

In the end, Cai Shiwei had suddenly awakened a Spirit Body in that desperate situation, greatly increasing his cultivation and combat strength. He had barely managed to fight his way out of the enemy's encirclement and escape with Tang Xiaohan, both of them severely injured!

The latter was still unconscious even now!

"Devil Cultivators!"

"Devil Cultivators actually attacked and killed sect disciples within the Purple Profound Sect's territory!"

Li Ye murmured to himself, instinctively recalling his encounter with the Bandit Cultivators.

He wondered whether the two incidents were connected.

And then there was Cai Shiwei...

From Li Ye's own participation and some of the news he'd learned afterward,

both expeditions had been organized and led by Cai Shiwei.

Yet on both occasions, he had not only suffered the fewest losses but had even come away with benefits!

The last time, their task had failed after they were attacked, but while fleeing, he had accidentally stumbled into a predecessor's cave abode and obtained a high-grade Law Artifact.

The cave abode he had subsequently invited everyone to visit was that very same one...

They had been attacked again and nearly wiped out, yet he had awakened a Spirit Body and greatly advanced his cultivation instead.

"This man..."

Li Ye's gaze flickered, but then he felt something wasn't right.

"But if he really was involved, why would he spare Tang Xiaohan alone?"

Wouldn't killing her to silence her and eliminate any future trouble have been the safest course?

Unless that woman had been in league with him all along, or he already had some means of controlling her!

Of course, it was also possible that the fellow really had been born under the lone star of calamity, with the fate of a protagonist, bringing doom to his teammates and benefits to himself.

Tang Xiaohan had merely managed to cling to half a life because she was a woman close to him!

There wasn't enough information for Li Ye to make many guesses, and he instinctively racked his brains.

But as he pondered, Li Ye suddenly shook his head and smiled.

Why was he thinking so much about it?

Whether the man was clean or not, Li Ye had long since drawn a clear line between himself and that group.

As long as he kept his head down in the sect, honestly tended his fields, and stayed away from the man surnamed Cai,

whether the fellow really was plotting something or was a lone star of calamity, could trouble really come looking for a little monkey like him at the bottom of the cultivation world?

Who did he think he was?

The discussion in the Internal Affairs Hall grew increasingly noisy, and hardly anyone still had the mind to pay attention to the many tasks.

Li Ye, however, had already slipped away. He had no intention of lingering in the chaos and giving people something to talk about.

Only one person noticed him leave.

The old steward stared in the direction where Li Ye's back had disappeared, his expression complicated as he fell into a daze.

"In recent years, Bandit Cultivators have grown increasingly bold, and disciples have frequently been attacked. The sect has sent people to sweep them out, but with little success. Those Bandit Cultivators seem to have other support, and they've known about the sect's operations in advance..."

"And now Devil Cultivators have appeared right within the sect's sphere of influence, audacious enough to attack and kill nearly ten of our sect's disciples!"

"This... this is simply..."

As these thoughts passed through his mind, he considered some possibilities, and a chill crept into his heart.

Then he thought of how Li Ye had abandoned his old, adventurous ways after being injured and chosen to hole up all day.

The old steward couldn't help sighing with feeling.

"And to think I treated his behavior as a joke, teasing him with others! Looking at it now, this junior brother was the one who truly had foresight!"

"When the old man on the frontier lost his horse, who knew it wasn't a blessing in disguise..."

After turning the thought over in his head a few times, the old man made up his mind. For the time being, if he could avoid going out, he would not take a single step beyond the sect gates!

As for Junior Brother Li... it would be worth getting on good terms with him!