He dared to take on a mission like this because he had something to rely on.
Just then, Yun Shu spotted a letter lying on the table. The ink on it was still fresh.
He opened it and read for a while.
Then he slowly folded it shut.
"So that's how it is." Yun Shu fell silent and tucked the letter away.
It was correspondence between the Old Master and the Golden Cauldron Sect. There was only one letter, but it was still invaluable. It practically proved that the Old Master had the Golden Cauldron Sect backing him.
Even the Old Master's strength had come from a Reverse Life Pill bestowed by the Golden Cauldron Sect.
"I was wondering how he had the nerve to provoke the Dynasty. Turns out someone really is backing him," Yun Shu thought.
Whether to hand the letter over to the sect was another matter.
After a moment's thought, he decided to submit it. What the sect made of it was no concern of his.
The Golden Cauldron Sect and the Myriad Sword Pavilion had been at odds for a long time. There was no way a lowly Inner Sect Disciple like him could stop their struggle.
Still, he felt the matter was getting far too complicated.
It seemed he had been dragged into a contest between two sects.
The Golden Cauldron Sect was no weaker than the Myriad Sword Pavilion. In fact, it was even a little stronger.
The Myriad Sword Pavilion's territory and strength were steadily declining, while the Golden Cauldron Sect's disciples were growing stronger by the day.
As one side waned and the other waxed, the Myriad Sword Pavilion was the one falling behind.
First, he had taken on the Gufeng Dynasty's bandit-suppression mission. Then he had accepted the Dynasty's second mission, and even completed it exceptionally well.
And this Mountain Villa was a pawn of the Golden Cauldron Sect in the Gufeng Dynasty. He had plucked it from the board. The letter said that in a few days, the Golden Cauldron Sect's disciples would secretly infiltrate the Gufeng Dynasty to help the Old Master seize control of it.
By then, the Gufeng Dynasty might be absorbed directly into the Golden Cauldron Sect's sphere of influence.
That also explained why the Old Master had been so eager to gather forces. He had wanted to show the Golden Cauldron Sect what he could do.
Gathering forces and raising Death Warriors had clearly been part of his plan to oppose the Dynasty.
The importance of dynasties to sects went without saying. Their relationship was like that of fish and water.
Yun Shu had only given it a little thought, yet he had already grasped the crux of the matter.
In the contest between these two great powers for territory, Yun Shu had ended up playing a pivotal role.
But he had only been completing his sect's mission. Even without Yun Shu, there would have been a Yu Shu or a Xue Shu to carry it out.
Thinking of this, Yun Shu felt at ease.
He and the Old Master were both just pawns of the two great sects.
His only advantage was that he was the more useful piece—he had taken the other side's pawn off the board.
The other side would surely make another move, though perhaps they wouldn't. That was how the two great immortal sects traded moves and countered each other.
Yun Shu didn't intend to overthink it.
If the Golden Cauldron Sect came after him for revenge, he would deal with it.
Strength was what mattered.
He continued patrolling, but found nothing else, so he went straight outside.
The best things were surely hidden in the deepest parts. He couldn't get to them, and he had no time to search anyway. As for the less impressive things, he wasn't interested, so what he had found was merely ordinary.
The next morning.
The appointed time had not yet arrived.
Lin Yang was already waiting there, just as expected.
"Come on. Let's take the next mission." Yun Shu glanced at the distant blaze, which was still burning. His expression remained calm.
"Sure. Has the matter at the Mountain Villa been taken care of cleanly?" Lin Yang asked.
"It's done," Yun Shu replied.
Then he handed over a spotless white handkerchief stained with blood. He had used it to wipe his Long Sword. "This should be enough to claim the reward. Senior Brother Lin, hold on to it for me."
Lin Yang also looked toward the billowing smoke. Flames soared into the sky, set against the crimson-purple light of dawn. He could even hear cries of alarm.
A mortal-world power had fallen just like that.
Erased from the Mortal World.
The countless mortal lives lost there were beyond counting.
But to an immortal cultivator like Junior Brother Yun, it was merely another task on the path to immortality—insignificant, hardly worth mentioning.
For some reason, Lin Yang felt a pang of desolation.
He said no more. The horses' hooves trampled the green grass as they rode farther and farther away.
Under the cover of night.
Yun Shu lay with a blade of grass between his lips, his head resting on a fluffy fox.
The fox's eyes were bright and lively, pale moonlight seeming to shimmer within them.
This was clearly a demonic fox on the verge of Demonic Transformation!
Its strength was profound. Once it transformed, it would be able to understand human hearts, making it one of the more intelligent Demonic Beast species.
At that moment, the fox's face was swollen, and its whole body trembled. It didn't dare tremble too much, afraid of disturbing the head resting on it.
"Draw the qi and blood into your palm, then push it out from there. Give it a try," Yun Shu said.
Lin Yang nodded slightly, then gathered his qi and blood in his palm. His aura surged like a rainbow, and blood-colored energy seemed to coil around his hand. He struck out with one palm, and the air around them shifted.
Fallen leaves whirled down as if a gust of wind had swept through.
Then Lin Yang slammed his palm against a tree trunk. The old bark crumbled away, leaving behind a pale, jade-like palm print.
"Falling Cloud Palm. The hand should be like a floating cloud—lifting a heavy weight as though it were light. Though all your strength gathers in your hand, it must remain nimble and effortless. You may wield a force of a thousand jun, yet your palm should still move with ease. It's not brute strength that matters. You need the endless flow of clouds, one wave following another. That takes formidable Body Refining Strength," Yun Shu said. "Once you reach Body Refining Peak, you'll understand what I mean."
There was no doubt that Yun Shu was speaking from a vantage point far above the Body Refining Realm.
Lin Yang tried a few more times. Though he still couldn't quite grasp the technique, Yun Shu could see that he had made clear progress.
"Junior Brother Yun, your understanding of Martial Techniques is truly profound," Lin Yang said, deeply impressed.
Yun Shu wasn't just exceptionally perceptive when it came to his own cultivation; he could even explain what he understood. That was something few people could do. It showed just how rare a good teacher was!
With only a few words, Yun Shu had completely renewed Lin Yang's understanding of the Falling Cloud Palm.
It was a simple Martial Technique, with only two or three variations, yet in Yun Shu's explanation, it seemed like something Lin Yang could never master.
"Try performing the Body Refining Technique. Let me take a look," Yun Shu said with a smile.
"All right!" Lin Yang nodded slightly.
Then Lin Yang demonstrated his punches and kicks, performing the Body Refining Technique with a rush of wind around his limbs.
It was still the same Body Refining Technique, yet Yun Shu fell silent for a moment.
Was this really the same Body Refining Technique he had cultivated?
When he practiced it, every movement flowed seamlessly, airtight from start to finish. Yun Shu had even thought the Body Refining Technique was the Martial Path method best suited to refining qi and blood.
Even the Diamond Body he was practicing now fell far short of the Body Refining Technique in certain fundamentals.
So why, in Lin Yang's hands, did the Body Refining Technique look like nothing more than simple punches and kicks?
Yun Shu thought it over for a while and understood the key.
Had Lin Yang not even reached minor mastery in the Body Refining Technique?
Was he just grinding away at it, like Yun Shu had once done?
Yun Shu had already reached the Extreme Realm in his understanding of the Body Refining Technique. Compared to the way Lin Yang performed it, his own version was worlds apart—almost completely transformed.
There were only a few movements.
But each person performed them differently.
"It's a shame the Outer Sect doesn't have a Transmission Elder. Otherwise, the Body Refining Technique wouldn't be so hard to practice."
Yun Shu realized that Menial Disciples truly had it rough. The Outer Sect didn't even have a Transmission Elder, someone capable of answering questions about cultivation.
Menial Disciples were completely abandoned. As for Outer Sect Disciples, they were left to rely entirely on their talent.
Even to read a few miscellaneous books, they had to complete missions and earn Contribution Points. That seemed rather unreasonable. Still, being able to accumulate Contribution Points and ask Outer Sect Elders for guidance was relatively considerate.
Under such conditions, making it out required talent, perseverance, and a measure of insight.
Those who became Inner Sect Disciples were certainly outstanding, even if nothing else could be said of them. At the very least, they were stronger than the vast majority of people.
There was no one to lead Outer Sect and Menial Disciples through the door of cultivation, yet the sect had imposed an extremely strict hierarchy, forcing them to fight for those few positions.
They could occasionally ask their Senior Brothers or some Deacons for advice, but most of them were impatient. So they could only grow ever more deferential and respectful.
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