Vice Hall Master Xu glanced at Xu Yang and said, "This old man is called Xu Xianzhong, and I'm the vice hall master of the External Affairs Hall. Just call me Senior; there's no need to be so formal. I happened to be on duty today. Lin Heng just came to report that you discovered a Demon Eye. Is that true?"
"Reporting to Senior Xu, it is true. This junior has already collected the Demon Eye. Please take a look." As he spoke, Xu Yang took out a Qiankun Bag and handed it to Xu Xianzhong.
A sharp glint flashed in Xu Xianzhong's eyes. He raised a hand and drew the Qiankun Bag toward him. His divine sense immediately entered it, and his expression changed. His face lit up with excitement as he looked up at Xu Yang and said, "It really is a Demon Eye. You're incredibly lucky. You found it just after it formed. If a few more days had passed, there would have been no way you could collect it with your cultivation."
Xu Yang replied with lingering fear, "That's right. It was pure luck that I managed to collect the Demon Eye. Even so, I nearly lost my life."
Xu Xianzhong glanced over the Qiankun Bag in his hand, greed flashing in his eyes. Then, wearing a kindly expression, he asked Xu Yang, "May I ask which fellow cultivator in the sect is your master? Perhaps I know him."
Hearing this, Xu Yang said respectfully, "Reporting to Senior, my master is Elder Qing Yuanzi." At Xu Yang's words, Xu Xianzhong trembled, inwardly relieved. Thankfully, he had held back his greed and first asked about Xu Yang's background. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Xu Xianzhong's expression grew even more amiable. Smiling, he asked Xu Yang, "So you're Elder Qing Yuanzi's disciple. How is Elder Qing Yuanzi these days? By the way, why haven't I seen Fellow Daoist Huo Lian around lately?"
"Reporting to Senior, my master and eldest senior brother have both been in seclusion cultivating lately. I haven't seen them for half a year either," Xu Yang replied.
"Oh! So that's how it is! Elder Qing Yuanzi and Fellow Daoist Huo Lian are truly devoted to the Dao. I can't compare to them," Xu Xianzhong said with a shake of his head and a sigh.
Then he looked at Xu Yang, his face turning troubled. Xu Yang understood at once: the tiger skin he had invoked had worked. He immediately spoke up. "Senior, how should we deal with this Demon Eye? It's of no use to this junior. If I keep it with me, it might only bring trouble."
Xu Xianzhong was delighted to hear this. Smiling, he said to Xu Yang, "What a coincidence. I happen to need a Demon Eye to exchange with a fellow cultivator for a cultivation treasure. Since it's of no use to you, why not hand it over to me? Of course, I won't let you come away empty-handed."
Xu Yang immediately looked delighted. "Then thank you, Senior. The Demon Eye is yours now." Hearing Xu Yang say this, Xu Xianzhong also broke into a happy smile.
He casually tucked the Qiankun Bag into his robes, stroked his beard, and lowered his head in thought for a moment before saying to Xu Yang, "This Demon Eye is very useful to me, so I won't shortchange you. I'll give you these things." As he spoke, he swept his sleeve, and a Qiankun Bag flew out, landing before Xu Yang.
Xu Yang reached out and took it, but didn't even look inside. He tucked it into his robes and saluted Xu Xianzhong. He naturally knew what was what: given the powerful backing he had revealed, Xu Xianzhong wouldn't dare cheat him. Who would court death by offending a Golden Core elder of the sect?
In Bailian Pavilion, disciples below the sixth layer of Qi Refining were all outer disciples. Those at the seventh through ninth layers were inner disciples, Foundation Establishment cultivators were elite disciples, and Golden Core cultivators were sect elders. As for Nascent Soul cultivators, they were Supreme Elders. The pavilion's sect master, meanwhile, was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator, serving more as an administrator; the real power lay in the hands of the elders and Supreme Elders.
As a Golden Core elder, Qing Yuanzi's name made for a powerful shield. At the very least, nobody in the sect dared to stroke the tiger's whiskers, and Xu Xianzhong certainly wouldn't dare offend a Golden Core cultivator. Of course, if this had happened somewhere isolated outside the sect, it would have been another matter. Xu Yang might well have been killed and robbed.
Once their deal was done, Xu Yang promptly made an excuse and left Xu Xianzhong's quiet chamber. As he watched Xu Yang walk out, Xu Xianzhong's expression suddenly darkened. He slammed his palm into the floor beside him, leaving a handprint burned into it.
His face twisted with fury. "Damn it. I never thought that brat would be Qing Yuanzi's disciple. He made this old man bleed badly. If we'd been outside the sect, hmph..." At that, Xu Xianzhong let out a cold snort.
Meanwhile, Xu Yang left the quiet chamber and went straight to the front hall. After greeting Lin Heng, he walked out of the External Affairs Hall and headed for the loft where he lived.
Back at the loft, Xu Yang casually activated the Restriction and sat cross-legged inside the Lesser Spirit Gathering Array on the second floor. He took out the Qiankun Bag Xu Xianzhong had given him and sent his divine sense inside.
Inside were two purple round beads, two bottles of pills, and a Flying Knife. Xu Yang took the items out one by one to examine them. The Flying Knife was a high-grade, metal-attribute Dharma Artifact of excellent quality, and it was just what he needed to increase his attack power.
The pills were high-grade Zengyuan Pills, twenty in all. Zengyuan Pills were an advanced version of Peiyuan Pills, the best medicine for Qi Refining cultivators seeking to improve their cultivation. Their effects far surpassed those of Peiyuan Pills. These two bottles of high-grade Zengyuan Pills were extremely valuable—enough to bring Xu Yang to the eighth layer of Qi Refining. Naturally, he was overjoyed.
As for the two purple beads, they were actually Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearls. Xu Yang was stunned when he recognized them. Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearls were made by Foundation Establishment cultivators with Thunder Spirit Roots, using their own True Essence mixed with the power of thunder from heaven and earth.
Once activated, a Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearl filled a five-meter radius with crackling lightning. The force of the raging thunder would tear everything within five meters to shreds. They were so powerful that even Foundation Establishment cultivators had to give them a wide berth, daring not to take the full brunt of their power.
These two Demon-Slaying Thunder Pearls were immensely valuable, comparable to top-grade Dharma Artifacts. They were treasures that could save a life at a critical moment. No wonder Xu Xianzhong, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had been so pained by the trade, saying it had made him bleed badly.
Xu Yang was thrilled. He examined the treasures before him again and again before finally putting them into his own Qiankun Bag. Then he forced down his excitement, sat cross-legged in the Lesser Spirit Gathering Array, and circulated his cultivation art to absorb the spiritual energy within the array.
From that day on, Xu Yang entered seclusion once more. With the potent effects of the high-grade Zengyuan Pills, his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. At the same time, he took out the Millennial Ice Soul Pearl again to temper his body, and his physical cultivation improved rapidly as well.
In addition to cultivating, Xu Yang began learning some basic spells, such as Fire Arrow and Ice Bolt. He studied a variety of low-level spells, but to his dismay, he discovered that the Void Spirit Root was truly too poor. The spells he cast were only about half as powerful as those cast by other cultivators; they were truly embarrassing.
Time slipped by as Xu Yang devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation. In the blink of an eye, a year and a half passed. One day, while Xu Yang was cultivating inside the loft, the Restriction outside was suddenly disturbed. He immediately stopped cultivating, rose, and went to the second-floor window to look outside.
He saw Huo Lian standing in front of the loft with a man who looked to be in his early thirties. He immediately went downstairs and headed out to meet them.
Once outside the loft, Xu Yang hurried over to Huo Lian. Before he could say a word, Huo Lian burst out laughing and said, "Junior Brother Xu, it's been more than two years, and your cultivation has advanced incredibly fast! You've already broken through to the late stage of the seventh layer of Qi Refining."
Hearing Huo Lian's praise, Xu Yang replied modestly, "Not at all. My meager cultivation is hardly worth your notice, Eldest Senior Brother. Please don't flatter me."
Huo Lian smiled. "You're too modest, Junior Brother. With your Void Spirit Root, this speed of cultivation is already very fast. It seems you've been working extremely hard!"
As he spoke, he turned and pointed to the man standing nearby. "Oh, right. Let me introduce you. This is your fifth senior brother, Xu Shaoyang. You two should get to know each other."
Xu Yang immediately addressed the man with a serious expression. "Junior Brother Xu Yang pays his respects to Fifth Senior Brother. I hope you'll look after me from now on." As he spoke, he sized up his fifth senior brother, Xu Shaoyang.
The man looked to be around thirty. He wore a yellow cloth robe and had a broad face with large ears, giving him an honest, simple-minded air. Yet a glint of light occasionally flashed through his eyes. Clearly, this fifth senior brother wasn't as honest and simple as he seemed.
Hearing Xu Yang's words, Xu Shaoyang chuckled. "Your senior brother pays his respects to Junior Brother Xu. You're making too much of it. We can look out for each other from now on." Xu Shaoyang said this because his cultivation was only at the middle stage of the eighth layer of Qi Refining, merely one major realm above Xu Yang.
The two had barely exchanged a few pleasantries when Huo Lian cut them off. "All right, you can talk later. We should hurry and pay our respects to Master. He's waiting for us in his cave abode."
Hearing this, Xu Yang and Xu Shaoyang immediately changed expressions and said no more. They followed Huo Lian toward Qing Yuanzi's cave abode. A short while later, the three left the sect, mounted their flying swords, and headed for the mountains behind the sect under Huo Lian's lead.
As far as Xu Yang knew, all the sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators and above cultivated in seclusion in the rear mountains. The sect had carved out many cultivation cave abodes there, and only Foundation Establishment cultivators were qualified to have one.
Huo Lian was a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator, so he naturally had his own cave abode in the rear mountains. He knew the area like the back of his hand, and under his lead, Xu Yang and Xu Shaoyang soon arrived at Qing Yuanzi's cave abode.
After landing, Xu Yang looked around and saw that they were halfway up a great mountain. Qing Yuanzi's cave abode was set into the sun-facing side of the mountainside.
Just then, two maidservants around seventeen or eighteen came out of the cave abode. One of them said to the three of them, "The True Person has been waiting inside for some time. Please, honored disciples, hurry in and pay your respects to him."
Hearing this, Xu Yang and the other two immediately answered and stepped into the cave abode.
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