Jingyun Sect Had a Hidden Patriarch in Residence

"Faster, faster!"

Meng Tangtang barreled through everything in her path, making straight for the Library Pavilion, frantic with worry.

Something terrible had happened!

The sect's spiritual vein core had been stolen!

Spiritual veins were the foundation of a sect. If one suffered any damage, the sect itself could cease to exist.

Never mind anything else. They wouldn't pass the Ten Thousand Alliance Assessment two and a half years from now.

"Even the Grand Elder is injured. The only hope is for Master to step in. Otherwise, Jingyun Sect is finished!"

As the Young Sect Master, she couldn't stand by and watch the sect march toward ruin. She had to do something.

Meng Tangtang saw the Library Pavilion gradually come into view, and her eyes lit up.

"Mas—" Before she could finish saying "Master," Meng Tangtang froze.

"Th-this is..."

In the open space before the Library Pavilion lay two men in black, motionless and silent.

The lingering fluctuations of inner force coming from their corpses testified to their extraordinary identities.

"Are these the two thieves who sneaked into the sect and injured the Grand Elder? They're dead?" Meng Tangtang's mind went blank. She could barely wrap her head around it.

Two Ninth Grade powerhouses.

They could fight an Innate Realm expert together, yet they'd died without a sound, unable to put up even the slightest resistance. Not a single commotion.

Meng Tangtang was utterly stunned.

Then she realized what must have happened, and her delicate frame trembled.

"It must have been Master who stepped in!"

"To keep two Ninth Grade experts from even putting up a fight..."

"Just how powerful is Master? He must be stronger than the Grand Elder!"

After the shock came a rush of excitement and delight!

As Meng Tangtang stood there beaming, a wisp of aura drifted out from the Library Pavilion, followed by a familiar, elderly voice.

"These two were elders of the Blood-Oath Sect. They committed countless evils, and in the end, their own wickedness brought about their doom. I killed them. The item you're looking for is on one of them. Take it, along with their corpses, and report back. I still need to rest, so keep the noise down."

"I shall obey, Master!"

Beaming with delight, Meng Tangtang went forward, hoisted the two burly men's corpses onto her shoulders, and skipped away.

From the Library Pavilion, Lin Cheng watched from afar, the corner of his mouth twitching...

"What? The culprit's been caught?"

"The Young Sect Master caught them? They've already been killed?"

When Elder Hao first received the report from below, he found it unbelievable. Then he felt as if he were dreaming.

A single thought kept echoing in his mind.

The culprits were caught by that girl Meng Tangtang?

Setting aside the vast difference in strength between them, Elder Hao simply couldn't imagine what it would look like for someone as petite and adorable as Meng Tangtang to do such a thing.

The thought was too awful to picture.

"Quick! Let's go see!"

When he saw Meng Tangtang in person, a pair of corpses of burly, hairy men balanced on her slender shoulders as she stood there looking around, Elder Hao's eyelid twitched.

Everyone else's lips quivered, too.

It was hard to put the feeling into words.

But no matter what, at least they'd caught the culprits.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

They'd come through the ordeal without disaster.

"Have the culprits' identities been confirmed? Who are these people, to act so brazenly?" demanded a thin-haired old man, his face stern.

Everyone exchanged glances, then finally turned their attention to Meng Tangtang.

"Young Sect Master, this is Elder Sun of the Law Enforcement Hall, one of the sect's few Ninth Grade Realm powerhouses," someone prompted her.

Meng Tangtang knew this fellow. He'd been among the elders who had brought her a heap of treasures and fawned over her back then. She nodded gratefully to him, and he smiled back.

After gathering her thoughts, she spoke.

"Reporting to Elder Sun, I confirmed that the two men were 'Earth' and 'Extinction,' two of the Blood-Oath Sect's eight guardian elders. Earlier, they were able to display power comparable to the Innate Realm and escape from the Grand Elder only because they had a powerful spiritual artifact."

As she spoke, she took out a small furnace. An otherworldly flame flickered within, truly a wondrous sight.

"An Innate spiritual artifact!"

Someone cried out, and everyone turned to look.

Beyond the four grades of spiritual artifacts—low, middle, high, and supreme—there was an even higher grade: Innate spiritual artifacts.

As the name implied, they were spiritual artifacts used by Innate Realm experts.

Every one of them was a treasure that could guard one of the Ten Great Sects.

Jingyun Sect had a similar treasure, but it was in the current Sect Master's hands. He'd taken it to the front lines to fight the foreign races.

An Innate spiritual artifact might be precious to others, but Lin Cheng couldn't even be bothered to take a second look. He'd have considered it too much trouble to lift a hand and reclaim it, so he'd simply left it for Jingyun Sect.

"No wonder. It was an Innate spiritual artifact."

Elder Sun's usually stern face showed a hint of emotion, but he still said, "The Blood-Oath Sect has suffered a double loss this time. They tried to steal a chicken and ended up losing their rice—serves them right! We must avenge this grudge! Also, the Young Sect Master deserves the greatest credit here. We should inform the whole sect and give her a hearty commendation."

At that, the others joined in with praise.

They looked at Meng Tangtang with pride and approval.

"Jingyun Sect has a bright future ahead."

"She'll reach the Innate Realm before long. Foundation Establishment is within her grasp."

Their praise made Meng Tangtang a little embarrassed. She scratched her head, wanting to say that this had nothing to do with her, that it was all her Master's doing.

But then she remembered Master's usual instructions: she must never reveal his existence without permission.

So she could only take the credit herself.

Still, the others weren't fools. They had a good sense of things, and they guessed there might be an expert behind Meng Tangtang.

Most likely, this was an existence even more powerful than the Grand Elder.

The expert must have acted in secret this time.

Since this expert liked to play hide-and-seek, they wouldn't call him out.

After all, he bore no ill will toward Jingyun Sect. On the contrary, he'd helped them at every turn: first by raising such an outstanding talent as Meng Tangtang, and now by helping to save Jingyun Sect from destruction.

Everyone would remember this kindness.

They all understood the unspoken details. It was enough to keep the kindness in their hearts; there was no need to bring it up aloud.

Besides, Jingyun Sect was in a difficult position. Knowing that such a powerful expert was secretly supporting them gave everyone more confidence.

Everyone benefited.

Why wouldn't they welcome it?

As for how a mere Seventh Grade expert like Meng Tangtang could defeat two Ninth Grade powerhouses wielding an Innate spiritual artifact...

Their Young Sect Master had an Innate constitution, peerless talent, and astonishing combat strength.

How did that sound?

Whether it made sense or not, all they had to do was play dumb!

If anyone asked, the Young Sect Master was invincible.

"Elders, this is the stolen spiritual vein core, but..." Meng Tangtang took out a delicate jade box. Inside lay a substance that looked like jade marrow.

"Hm? This spiritual vein core..."

Elder Sun suddenly strode forward. He gently lifted the jade box with his withered hands and examined it with great care.

"Elder Sun, is something wrong with the spiritual vein core?" Seeing this, someone couldn't help asking anxiously.

"No! No, no, no!"

Under the crowd's anxious stares, Elder Sun grew more and more excited. By the end, his old face had flushed red, and even his voice trembled as he stammered, "Th-this isn't our Jingyun Sect's original spiritual vein core!"

At that, everyone was left utterly baffled.

They were relieved, yet couldn't help wondering what he meant.

At first, they'd thought something had happened to the spiritual vein core and had been deeply worried. After all, it was the lifeblood of the sect!

If anything happened to it, the consequences would be disastrous!

But now, looking at Elder Sun's uncharacteristically excited expression, it didn't seem like bad news at all.

Everyone was even more curious.

Just spit it out already. What happened?

Why keep us in suspense, you wily old man?

Elder Sun didn't answer right away. Instead, he stared at Meng Tangtang in excitement. Meeting her tense gaze, he asked urgently, "That person... No, when you found this spiritual vein core, did anything unusual happen?"

He'd wanted to ask Meng Tangtang whether the expert behind her had done something.

But on second thought, asking so directly wouldn't be appropriate.

It might offend him.

So he took a roundabout approach. Besides, what Meng Tangtang said essentially represented the intentions of the expert behind her.

"Uh..."

Meng Tangtang had no idea what was going through Elder Sun's mind. Hearing his question, she answered honestly. "At the time, the two men from the Blood-Oath Sect had another spiritual vein core with them. Then, somehow, the two merged together and became what you see now."

Just as he'd thought!

Elder Sun trembled with excitement!

That expert was definitely in the Innate Realm!

And he was undoubtedly an exceptionally powerful Innate expert. There was even a good chance he was at the pinnacle of the Innate Realm!

Elder Sun knew that merging spiritual vein cores was impossible without Innate Realm strength. Merging a middle-grade spiritual vein core was even harder; it was beyond the ability of any ordinary expert.

The slightest mistake could cause an explosion.

Whoever merged them had to possess extremely formidable strength.

Elder Sun had figured it out. Quite a few of the other elders had the same gleam in their eyes. They exchanged glances and nodded slightly.

They'd reached the same conclusion.

So it was just as they'd suspected.

Thinking back to how Meng Tangtang often visited the Library Pavilion, as well as the rumors about the "Treasure Pavilion" some time ago, they understood.

It seemed they'd uncovered a remarkable secret!

A hidden patriarch was in residence at the Library Pavilion!

His strength surpassed even the Grand Elder's!

Putting that aside...

The most important thing was that the sect's spiritual vein had advanced to the middle grade. Didn't that mean everyone had a better chance of breaking through to the Innate Realm?

At the thought, Elder Sun and several others who had been stuck in the Ninth Grade Realm for countless years exchanged glances, their hearts swelling with joy.