Apprentices and Vassals?

Inside the cave, firelight flickered.

You Su and He Kongyue were stunned, while Huo Yuandi's roar echoed continuously inside the cave.

A sudden loud bang drew the attention of the three people.

It turned out that the bonfire that You Su had built had collapsed, with sparks crackling into the air before being extinguished in an instant.

He Kongyue's expression immediately turned stern. He kicked Huo Yuandi in the shoulder, sending him tumbling to the side twice.

Explain yourself clearly!

Huo Yuandi curled up in pain, whimpering to relieve the pain. He looked up and glared at the young master of the He family, his eyes filled with resentment.

Can't you hear him?

You Su also questioned him fiercely, extinguishing any remaining spirit that Huo Yuandi had managed to muster.

"Yes, yes, yes..."

Huo Yuandi quickly agreed, and after this commotion, he calmed down.

He wasn't stupid. The man who saved him was just as handsome as the young master of the He family. Although he was a stranger, he could guess that this man was the fierce and burly man who had defeated him.

"That day, my benefactor cornered me at the edge of a cliff. With nowhere else to go, I jumped off. I had only a little strength left, and I used my Qi Manipulation to cushion the fall so I wouldn't die. But I accidentally stumbled upon a cave. In that cave, I saw the immortal Immortal Sword I had always dreamed of, and only then did I realize that I had inadvertently entered Cheng Ying Venerable's cave abode ahead of schedule."

Huo Yuandi had only recovered some of his strength, but in order to prove his worth to You Su, he still forced himself to say as much as he could.

"Continue," You Su commanded coldly.

"I tried with all my might to touch that immortal Immortal Sword, and just when I thought I was about to make a comeback... a skeleton stepped on my foot."

"Is that Cheng Ying Venerable?" He Kongyue asked.

"That's right. There wasn't a trace of flesh on her body, just a skeleton covered in black patterns. I was terrified, but she told me that if I wanted to live, I should become her disciple. She would let her best disciple inherit the Cheng Ying Sword."

Huo Yuandi feigned a helpless expression, "I had no choice but to agree. But after I performed the apprenticeship ceremony, Cheng Ying Venerable suddenly changed her mind, saying I wasn't worthy of being her disciple at all. Not only that, I felt all the power in my body being stripped away. Then I watched helplessly as flesh and blood grew from that skeleton! It was like..."

"What does it seem like?" He Kongyue asked, frowning.

"It's as if a piece of my flesh has grown onto her body..."

Huo Yuandi's voice trembled slightly; even now, he was still shaken.

"Just as I was about to die, the tomb's protective barrier began to collapse. She had no time to care about me, saying, 'The revival of the sect begins today,' and then snatched my sword and flew away. How could I dare to stay there any longer... I desperately crawled out, fainting several times along the way, until I finally saw my benefactor!"

The fierce-looking swordsman now wished he could burst into tears to express his gratitude to You Su.

"You mean... this leads to the tomb of Cheng Ying Venerable?"

You Su did not forget his mission to investigate the mystery of Cheng Ying Venerable's drastic change in temperament.

Huo Yuandi tremblingly stretched out his finger and pointed behind him.

"It should be this way... I crawled here in the dark the whole way, I don't know if I went the wrong way."

You Su ignored him and fell into deep thought. After a moment, she asked:

"She took your sword and left, so what happened to the Cheng Ying Immortal Sword?"

"Nature is still in the cave."

Huo Yuandi knew You Su would ask this, so he quickly volunteered, "I can take my benefactor there! My benefactor is handsome and dashing, with extraordinary swordsmanship. This immortal Immortal Sword is practically tailor-made for you! As long as my benefactor takes me away, he will be my second parent from now on! If you tell me to go east, I would never dare to go west!"

You Su simply looked at him indifferently, her eyes showing neither sorrow nor joy.

"You want You Su to retrieve the sword, so You Su can die at the hands of Cheng Ying Venerable just like you, right?" He Kongyue sneered.

"No, no! I wouldn't dare! That Cheng Ying Venerable has gone hysterical and is obsessed with taking on disciples. She must have gone down the mountain to find one! We can take advantage of this situation, snatch the Immortal Sword, and run away. Wouldn't that be wonderful?!"

Huo Yuandi crawled a few times on the ground with difficulty, hoping to get closer to You Su's feet.

You Su, however, had already taken a step and walked around him to stand behind Huo Yuandi.

"Brother He, let's go."

As You Su spoke, he took out the Wind Weasel Formation Plate. As long as this path was open, with this treasure, he wouldn't need Huo Yuandi's help at all.

He Kongyue glanced at the shocked Huo Yuandi and followed You Su's footsteps.

"My benefactor! My benefactor! I am willing to atone for my sins! I have done wrong, but I know I was wrong! Take me with you, my benefactor!"

Huo Yuandi only had one hand left, and even if he regained some strength, how could he possibly keep up with the two people's walking speed?

He could only plead desperately, hoping the boy would change his mind. His hoarse voice echoed throughout the cave, extremely mournful.

"Brother You, this man is quite talented. If he were to become your subordinate, he could be a great asset. Are you really just going to... leave him to his own devices?"

He Kongyue held up the Luminous Pearl and asked You Su softly.

You Su shook his head:

"Such a person deserves to die, and is even less worthy of being used by me. He knew that the skeleton was tainted with evil, and that his so-called apprenticeship was utter nonsense, yet he still sacrificed himself to survive. He deserved to be reduced to this state."

He Kongyue nodded in agreement, a look of approval flashing in her eyes.

His words were merely a test for You Su. Huo Yuandi had committed numerous evils, and as long as You Su worked hard, he would not lack such a henchman at the lower level of the Transformation Realm. Why tarnish his reputation for a little petty gain?

As You Su finished speaking, Huo Yuandi, whose figure was no longer visible, suddenly felt his neck being tightly strangled, preventing him from uttering a single word. He could only whimper and struggle.

Despair gripped his entire being. Why did fate have to play such cruel tricks on him? Why did it repeatedly shatter his hopes just when he thought he could be brought back to life, plunging him into an even deeper abyss?

In his final moments before his death, he stared wide-eyed in disbelief, one of his eyeballs already falling out.

Even on his deathbed, he couldn't understand why someone was gripping his throat and refusing to let go...

Could it be his own right hand?

At this moment, You Su had a thought, and in the picture formed by the Golden Hydriform, Huo Yuandi's portrait under the "family" column gradually disappeared, and returned to the state where Ji Xueruo and Ji Lingruo, two equally outstanding faces, echoed each other.

Looking at them, You Su finally found them somewhat more pleasing to the eye...

Who would have thought that a blind person would one day judge others by their appearance...?

Huo Yuandi did not lie, or rather, after becoming You Su's relative, he could no longer lie to You Su.

After walking for a long time, the two actually found the tomb that Huo Yuandi had mentioned.

"It seems he really wants to live..."

He Kongyue sighed softly, recalling the distance the two had covered, unable to imagine what kind of will Huo Yuandi had used to drag that body so far.

"Those weak cultivators who died at his hands thought the same thing," You Su said calmly.

He Kongyue was just saying it casually; such people's deaths weren't worth their pity. He quickly focused his attention on observing the tomb before him.

"It's hard to imagine that this is a tomb."

With the illumination of the Luminous Pearl, the surrounding environment was clearly visible.

The surrounding stone walls are all carved with exquisite edges and corners. If you look closely, you can even see that they are connected to each other, forming a room-like pattern.

Because he was blind, You Su had been using his Divine Sense to trace the space he had traversed. The shape of the Venerable's Tomb was beginning to take shape in his mind, vast and highly three-dimensional.

"It's more like a palace than a tomb."

He Kongyue gave an even more astonishing evaluation:

"No, it's more like a sect built inside the mountain. From the waterfall we first came across, everything is man-made. The journey has actually been a slow ascent, and Huo Yuandi only had the strength to climb so far because he was going downhill."

As he spoke, he ran his hand along the texture of the stone wall:

"We didn't examine many places closely. If we had, we would have found that they have the same wooden brick-like carvings as here. They are like other rooms in the sect, and this is the sect leader's hall."

These words made You Su gasp in shock:

"A sect? You mean Cheng Ying Venerable Chengying carved out a sect out of a mountain?"

You Su looked around, but his eyes, which could see evil spirits, could see nothing. Did this mean that the only way to find out anything was to start with Cheng Ying Venerable himself?

"'The revival of the sect begins today. Cheng Ying Venerable is so eager to take on disciples. His dying wish was probably to restore the glory of the Cheng Ying Sect." He Kongyue sighed softly.

"Restore the glory of the Cheng Ying Sect? Is Cheng Ying Sect gone?!"

You Su then remembered a crucial issue: as a member of the Cheng Ying Sect, even if Cheng Ying Venerable was dead, the fortuitous opportunity in this tomb should rightfully belong to the Cheng Ying Sect. It was impossible for them to allow cultivators from all over the world to come here to search for treasures.

"No one told Brother You about this?" He Kongyue also somewhat surprised.

You Su shook his head. "The person who mentioned this to me didn't say anything about the Cheng Ying Sect."

"No wonder, how could the people of the Xuanxiao Sect talk about such things so carelessly?"

He Kongyue showed a look of sudden realization, and then said:

"Back then, Cheng Ying Venerable single-handedly brought Cheng Ying Sect from a second-rate sect to the Divine Mountain. However, because she spent her years slaying evil spirits on the border, she had no time to govern the sect. And a sect doesn't become full of geniuses just because it has one genius. So even after the Cheng Ying Sect went up to the Divine Mountain, it didn't improve much. On the contrary, it became more and more difficult to get by because of the many rules of the Divine Mountain."

However, the Cheng Ying Sect members, unwilling to disgrace the name of Cheng Ying Venerable, persevered. Later, Cheng Ying Venerable Cheng Ying Sect finally succumbed to external pressure, and another sect won the position of the sacred mountain. They returned to the old site of the Cheng Ying Sect, but this also attracted the covetous eyes of Cheng Ying Venerable's enemies. By the time Cheng Ying Venerable returned from overseas, the Cheng Ying Sect had already been destroyed, and the enemies had been defeated by the combined forces of the various sects of the sacred mountain.

After hearing this, You Su finally understood why the First Elder hadn't told him about it.

Cheng Ying Venerable was out there eliminating evil for the people, yet he couldn't even protect his own home. The strict rules of the Divine Mountain were truly disheartening. Even if the status of the Cheng Ying Sect was to be demoted, it should at least have been done after Cheng Ying Venerable returned. However, none of the sects on the Divine Mountain at that time tried to retain the Cheng Ying Sect.

How much responsibility does Shenshan Cheng Ying Sect? And how much of the revenge taken against the Cheng Ying Sect was motivated by guilt?

Following the rules is certainly correct, but it lacks a human touch.

"Anyone who encountered something like this would go crazy, if not crazy."

You Su sighed. If he were Cheng Ying Venerable, how desperate he would be to return only to find his home gone, and even his enemies vanished. Would he vent his hatred and sorrow on the sacred mountain?

No wonder she died without a trace...

"Let's go in and take a look."

With that, He Kongyue took the lead and entered the cave abode.

The first thing that catches the eye is a sword stuck in a jade tablet.

The jade emitted a dim, emerald-green light, and the sword, with its simple yet elegant design, had been embedded in the jade for countless years, yet it remained as smooth and new as ever, exuding a sharpness as if it could cut through jade and shatter gold.

"This is the Cheng Ying Sword that Huo Yuandi mentioned..."

He Kongyue stared blankly at the immortal Immortal Sword with a thousand-year history. Even though he did not cultivate the Way of the Sword, he could feel the extraordinary nature of this sword.

These celestial soldiers are called "celestial" because, whether they are innate or acquired, they possess the earth-shattering power to change the landscape.

You Su was a lover of swords and a master of them.

A good Sword Cultivator and a good sword will naturally appreciate each other and be able to sense each other's 'emotions'.

The Ink Pine Sword is not quite at the level of Immortal Sword, but it is spiritual enough. You Su gets excited, it trembles in response to his fighting spirit.

The same is true of the Ink Pine Sword, and even more so of the Cheng Ying Sword. It was merely stuck there, without any need for contact, yet You Su could still feel the eagerness emanating from it.

It was as if an old maid who had been asleep for a thousand years had finally seen a handsome young man who was exactly what she wanted...

Although the metaphor was rather crude, You Su had to admit that this was exactly the kind of thirst for power that emanated from the sword...

You Su suddenly felt a tremor at his side; it was the Ink Pine Sword shaking violently. But this mortal weapon wasn't afraid of the immortal Immortal Sword; rather, it was... provoking him?

You Su pressed down on the sword hilt, trying to calm Ink Pine Sword.

"Cheng Ying Venerable is not here, why don't you try to retrieve this sword, Brother You?"

You Su, however, was not in a hurry. "No, no one knows what will happen if we Cheng Ying Venerable back, we will be doomed too."

He Kongyue naturally understood this principle: Cheng Ying Venerable was no longer human, but an evil spirit capable of creating followers!

"According to the Wind Weasel Formation Plate, the only exit of this tomb is to the north. Brother He, this matter has already exceeded our control; no one could have imagined that Cheng Ying Venerable was still alive. If we want to survive, we must contact the outside world and ask for reinforcements!"

He Kongyue's expression was also solemn. "I have already tried, but all means of communication are unable to reach the outside world. I'm afraid Cheng Ying Venerable has placed another forbidden spell here."

"Even the Xuanji Token won't work?"

Upon hearing this, He Kongyue was first taken aback, a look of nervousness flashing across her face, before she shook her head and said:

"This forbidden spell was probably set up just now. We were still able to contact the outside world when we were at the waterfall. Lord Ash will definitely notice something is wrong when he can't contact us, and will send reinforcements."

"This is the tomb of Cheng Ying Venerable. Cultivators from the outside world should have discovered it long ago, but not a single person has come in to seek fortuitous opportunity... Could it be that they have all been stopped outside by Cheng Ying Venerable?"

You Su was somewhat nervous; the severity of the situation far exceeded his expectations.

He suddenly remembered that the evil woman Cai Ling had stolen his Jade Bead...

Crushing the jade Jade Bead will summon the First Elder. The First Elder possesses extraordinary abilities, and the Law Treasure he provides should be able to ignore the forbidden spell cast by Cheng Ying Venerable.

Did that wicked woman foresee that he would find himself in this desperate situation when she stole the Jade Bead?

But what exactly was her purpose? If she truly wanted him dead, how many opportunities did she have to do so? Why did she insist on forcing him into a desperate situation?

He Kongyue's words interrupted You Su's thoughts:

"It's quite possible. Judging from Cheng Ying Venerable's attitude towards Huo Yuandi, she probably wanted others to become her disciples in order to revive the Cheng Ying Sect, but in reality, she was making others her followers."

Going back upstream is obviously impossible; the mountain crevices over there have probably been filled in long ago.

"There's no other way; we have to get out of here first." He Kongyue took a deep breath. "Even if Cheng Ying Venerable is waiting outside the cave, we must send this only hope out!"

Seemingly worried that making the situation seem too pessimistic might frighten You Su, He Kongyue comforted her again:

"Among those who have come to the Lingxu Mountain Range seeking fortuitous opportunity, there are many of them of extraordinary status and position. Perhaps they have already made contact with support. Going out to take a look can also help us confirm the situation."

You Su paused, then said, "Brother He, haven't you considered turning back the way we came? Perhaps if we hide by the waterfall, we can escape this calamity..."

Upon hearing this, He Kongyue looked at You Su with surprise, then said solemnly:

"It is my heart's desire to eliminate evil and save the world. Although this Cheng Ying Venerable is a Void Realm cultivator, he is still evil, so I will not stand idly by. If Brother You has any concerns, I can escort you back first."

Having said all that, how could You Su back down? He was also moved by He Kongyue's enthusiasm and admired his friend even more.

He Kongyue, an ordinary cultivator, possesses such awareness, how could he, not only the True God but also the divine son of the Evil Warding Department, possibly choose to protect himself?

You Su didn't speak, but gave his answer through his actions.

He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and stepped into the dark passageway.

He Kongyue smiled slightly and quickly followed.

But before they could take more than a few steps, they suddenly felt an immense pressure descend upon them, making it difficult for them to move.

A pair of icy hands suddenly landed on their shoulders:

"I didn't expect to find two promising talents here... You two are also here to participate in my Cheng Ying Sect's Ascension Ceremony, right?"