The Huzhao Sect

Several pots of verdant jade bamboo stood amid scattered exotic flowers, all clearly tended with care. Seated in the place of honor, Chen Heng held a cup of clear tea and looked around.

The three-story building had been cleaned until not a speck of dust remained.

Though there were no gold or jade ornaments inside, a few ink paintings of green bamboo lent the rooms an elegant, engaging charm.

The white foxes no longer dared to yip at random. They huddled outside the main building, showing only their eyes as they peered at Chen Heng. Whenever his gaze swept their way, they scrambled off on all fours, terrified that a moment's delay would see them killed and turned into fur wraps.

"Your kin are quite lively."

Chen Heng looked at Tu Shan Ge seated below him. The yellow-robed youth lay slumped in a large ebony chair, looking as though half his life had been drained away.

"Are they? I was just as lively before I met you..."

Tu Shan Ge wore a mournful expression.

"Master, you're too ruthless! That magical contract we just signed was practically an irrevocable contract selling myself into bondage. No, it was worse! I'm tied fast to your ship now."

"Fortune and calamity are hard to foresee. Who's to say that when I attain the Dao, you won't rise to heaven along with my chickens and dogs?"

Chen Heng offered a casual word of consolation.

"True!"

Tu Shan Ge perked up at that, suddenly finding his spirits again.

"I forgot to ask, Master-which sect are you a disciple of? The Eight Great Mystic Sects are too far above us to hope for, and so are the Six Demon Sects. We can leave those aside..."

"Seeing how decisive you are when it comes to killing, and since you're from the Southern Territory of Eastern Maitreya Province, could you belong to Evil Eater Mountain, Flower God Manor, or Human Form Temple of the demonic path? Those are all great sects, second only to the eight sects and six demon sects-immensely powerful second-tier sects! They have True Lords who attained Primordial Spirit Return to Void living among them, whose might can overawe a hundred thousand li of mountains and rivers!"

"I am a cultivator of the righteous path," Chen Heng said, shaking his head.

"...Right! Right! How could I forget that the righteous path has countless born killers too, each with a Dao Heart as cold and hard as iron? Especially those sword cultivators. Not a human among them, as if they've all gone mad!"

Still nursing hope, Tu Shan Ge asked again:

"Then are you from the Luofu Sect, Divine Fire Cliff, Pure Yang Sword Sect, or Five Radiances Sect, Master?"

Without realizing it,

Tu Shan Ge had quietly lowered his expectations another notch.

"You dared to kill someone at Qi Refining while only at Embryonic Breathing, Master. Surely your background must be extraordinary?"

"I am currently studying the Dao at the Mysterious Truth Sect on Little Sweet Mountain," Chen Heng said evenly.

"What?"

"Little Sweet Mountain, not far from Lanliang City. That is where the Mysterious Truth Sect's headquarters are. You ought to know it."

"Yes, yes... I know it. The sect whose leader is only at Cavern Mystery, right...?"

Tu Shan Ge's vision went dark, and he nearly collapsed, but he forced himself to ask one last question.

"Never mind the sect, then. What about your family background... Surely, surely you're from an immortal Aristocratic Clan?"

Below the Eight Orthodox Sects and Six Demon Sects of Xudu Heaven,

there were also twelve mystic Aristocratic Clans. With deeply rooted foundations and vast divine abilities, they were true aristocrats of the immortal path, both wealthy and exalted.

But anyone born into those twelve clans, even the least favored concubine's son, would never fall so low as to study the Dao in a dilapidated establishment like the Mysterious Truth Sect, which had only a Cavern Mystery Refiner.

Tu Shan Ge lowered his hopes to an ordinary immortal lineage, but even then his heart beat like a drum.

"My lineage is the Chen Clan of the Rong Kingdom," Chen Heng said with a smile.

Disaster!

Tu Shan Ge shouted inwardly, slapped his hand down, and toppled backward.

Cultivation required four things: methods, companions, land, and wealth.

This man apparently had none of them!

With neither family background nor a good sect behind him, how could he cultivate? By staking his life on it!

No resources, no superior scriptures, no teachers, relatives, or friends to support and protect him, and no blessed land or grotto-heaven.

Among the countless rogue cultivators of the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, only one True Person Yan Xi had ever emerged. And what of the Rogue Persons of his era?

They had either died along the way or long since passed away in meditation, becoming dry bones in their graves!

Then he remembered that some elderly members of the Rong Kingdom's Chen Clan might even have offered him incense...

At that thought, Tu Shan Ge felt all the more keenly how cold the world was, and life lost all its flavor.

"All right."

Chen Heng seemed unconcerned. "You have been a mountain god and local deity for some time. Might I take a look at the treasures you've collected?"

"You're far too polite, Master. In my current circumstances, isn't everything of mine already yours?"

Tu Shan Ge's throat tightened.

This man could simply rob me, yet he still bothers to ask 'might I.' Truly, far too polite...

At Tu Shan Ge's command, the white foxes outside the main building sprang into action, carrying in pile after pile of belongings until they soon filled the reception room.

Bound by the magical contract, Tu Shan Ge had nowhere to hide his thoughts, so Chen Heng had no fear of him concealing anything.

Before long, as he inspected the collection and listened to Tu Shan Ge's explanations, Chen Heng found what he needed.

"Dao arts! To think these would be here. Heaven has truly favored me."

Holding three books in his hands, Chen Heng could not help showing his delight.

The mundane gold, silver, and scholars' ink paintings were not worth mentioning.

But besides a small quantity of talisman money, he had actually found three Dao arts among these belongings. That was truly cause for joy.

Dao arts were not taught for free in the Mysterious Truth Sect.

One either relied on instruction from a teacher...

Or rendered great service to the sect, which the Merit Office recorded and converted into merit points, then went to the Elder Office to exchange those points.

Three Dao arts: the Qi Armor Technique, the Blood Armor Technique, and Aurora Great Escape.

The Qi Armor Technique and Blood Armor Technique are both lower vehicle Dao arts, and both defensive. Their effects overlap, so mastering one would suffice. But with the One True Dharma Realm in hand, I have ample time and can cultivate both. As for Aurora Great Escape...

Chen Heng thought to himself:

Aurora Great Escape is an escape art, and its grade is superior to the other two. Though I haven't acquired any offensive methods, this is still quite good.

"Master, these three Dao arts were all left by our former mistress. After she died in a magical battle, we spirit pets lost our backing and were driven out of the Vermilion Luminescence Sect... I was fairly lucky. I reached Blazing Mountain safely and have survived until now, but the other spirit pets suffered terribly. I heard quite a few were intercepted and killed along the way by our former mistress's enemies, who even took their souls to light heavenly lanterns. Truly pitiful."

Seeing the Dao arts in Chen Heng's hands, Tu Shan Ge paused, then sighed. "When our former mistress was alive, she always wanted to enter the Nine Sovereigns Everbright Golden Palace Grotto-Heaven to cultivate. Sadly, even when she died, her wish remained unfulfilled. Ah..."

"So that is why you have always called this place the Nine Sovereigns Everbright Golden Palace Grotto-Heaven?"

"You must find it laughable, but it really was only after our former mistress died that I realized how good life in the Vermilion Luminescence Sect had been, and how hard it was to make a living. Supporting this whole clan, old and young alike, has been terribly difficult."

Tu Shan Ge sighed and said:

"Here, I nearly died at the hands of Mount Yang Daoist. But when we lived under our former mistress's protection, even the servants who brought our clan food and water had higher cultivation than him. This world..."

At that point, Tu Shan Ge seemed to remember something and abruptly snapped to attention.

"Master! I nearly forgot something. The other two Dao arts are nothing special, but there is a hidden complication with Aurora Great Escape!"

"What complication?" Chen Heng asked with a frown.

"Our former mistress obtained Aurora Great Escape by killing a disciple of the Huzhao Sect. Not only is it difficult to cultivate, but you must not lightly display it before others!"

"You're worried that if the Huzhao Sect learns of it, trouble will follow?" Chen Heng asked.

"Exactly, exactly! The Huzhao Sect is one of the Six Demon Sects. The way they do things..."

At that point, Tu Shan Ge suddenly shuddered, as though recalling something utterly horrifying, and his body went rigid.

"In short, Master, you must exercise the utmost caution!"

Only after a long while did he speak again with a bitter smile, repeating:

"The utmost caution!"

At that same moment,

in a small village outside Lanliang City, Xiao Yu walked out of a thatched cottage with a bloodied pair of scissors in hand, her face expressionless.

A thick stench of blood drifted from the cottage behind her. A short, stout farmer lay on the bed, his eyes bulging like those of a dead fish. His belly had been slit open, exposing dark red organs. He was clearly no longer alive.

"You were a good man. You gave me food."

Xiao Yu looked back regretfully.

"But why did you sneak a look at my calves? You're just like that old swine and cur from Blazing Mountain. So close-really, so very close. I almost didn't have to kill you..."

Yesterday, while wandering aimlessly, she had encountered a farmer.

The widowed middle-aged man had taken pity on her and given her a bowl of cooked wheat, then brought her home to rest in a side room. But one careless glance had incurred Xiao Yu's wrath.

And so the farmer had died.

While he slept soundly, Xiao Yu had suddenly cut his belly open with scissors, and he had died in agonizing pain.

"I was a lotus maiden fair, my heart untold, my tears like rain..."

Humming an off-key song, Xiao Yu turned and walked onward. She swayed with every step, as though drunk.

Today seemed a little different.

All the doors around her were shut, and not a soul came to watch her performance. At some point, thick white mist had risen all around, dense as rice slurry.

It was so quiet.

As though she were the only person left between heaven and earth...

"Utterly dreadful. Like a dog barking."

Suddenly, someone sneered.

Xiao Yu glared fiercely toward the well at the village entrance. An aged man stood there, his long eyebrows drooping to his cheeks. With his arms folded, he looked her up and down as though examining a dead fish.

"Who are you, old bastard?"

Xiao Yu spat. "I'll scrape your flesh off slice by slice and fry it in oil!"

"I am Yin Gonghao, currently an elder of the Huzhao Sect."

The old man shouted coldly:

"You vile beast! Your heart is vicious, and you have not a shred of humanity. Today, I have come expressly to slay monsters, eradicate demons, and uphold the orthodox path!"