Paying Respects

Three days later, Liu Xiao sent word that the sect had been deeply shaken by the enforcement squad's annihilation. Li Hai, hall master of the Law Enforcement Hall, would personally lead a team to investigate.

Shen Ge sighed softly and murmured, "With Martial Uncle Li Hai leading the team, whether it was people or Demon Beasts, they won't be able to stir up any trouble. Their departed souls can finally rest in peace."

Just as Shen Ge was about to resume practicing Gale Escape, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Shen Ge stopped what he was doing and opened the door to find Mu Wan standing there.

Before Shen Ge could speak, Mu Wan said, "You got Senior Brother Liu Xiao's message, right?"

Shen Ge nodded.

"Good. Come on, we're going to Changliu."

"Wait, just the two of us?" Shen Ge asked. "Shouldn't we get a few more people to come along?"

"Changliu isn't very far from the sect, but it's still some distance away. And this is a large market gathering, so there'll be plenty of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators. There might even be Golden Core cultivators. What if we run into someone with a grudge against our Spirit Moon Sect?"

"Who said it was just the two of us?" Mu Wan rolled her eyes at him. "Quite a few people from the sect are going, including some martial uncles. I don't plan to travel with them, but we can still contact them if we run into danger."

"Come on, stop dawdling."

She pulled Shen Ge aboard the flying boat, and with a whoosh, they left the sect grounds behind. Watching the mountains and rivers rush past below, he shook his head and said no more.

After all, he had only said they might encounter danger. Whether they actually would was hard to say, and the two of them had ways to protect themselves. Ordinary dangers hardly counted as dangers to them.

About half a day later, the flying boat reached the skies above the Verdant Sea. Shen Ge looked down at the sea of bamboo rippling like ocean waves, feeling a little melancholy.

"Let's stop for a moment."

Mu Wan stopped the flying boat and looked at Shen Ge in confusion. "Why stop? The bamboo sea is spectacular, but this was the battlefield where we fought the Devil Creek Sect. There might still be dangers lurking inside."

Shen Ge paused for a moment, then came up with an excuse. "Who knows how many of our fellow disciples died here in that battle? Since we're passing by, we ought to pay our respects."

Mu Wan raised her eyebrows slightly and thought for a moment before saying, "True. Although most of our fellow disciples' bodies were taken back to the sect, some who left no bodies behind were still buried here. As those who came later and benefited from them, we ought to pay our respects."

With that, she brought the flying boat down above the bamboo sea. Shen Ge swept the area with his spiritual sense, and after confirming that the target he had in mind was nowhere within a li, he summoned his flying sword and flew off.

"Wait for me. I'll take a look around nearby."

Watching Shen Ge depart, Mu Wan frowned, her thoughts unknown. She didn't follow him, however. Instead, she took out a bundle of sandalwood incense, lit it, and placed the sticks in various spots. Before long, wisps of smoke curled through the area.

Soon, Shen Ge came to a large pit overgrown with weeds. He stared at it in a daze, then, after a long silence, bent down and bowed.

Although Ghost Demoness was a Devil Cultivator, cruel, murderous, and guilty of countless evil deeds, Shen Ge had benefited from her and gained a new body. Whatever else might be said, she deserved this bow.

But this was as far as Shen Ge could go. As for avenging her, sorry, he had no such intention.

The moment he bent down, Shen Ge suddenly sensed something unusual in the soil. He didn't act immediately, instead retreating a good distance with great caution.

This was, after all, where Ghost Demoness had fallen. Although she had dissipated before Shen Ge's eyes, who knew whether she had left some trick behind?

It was hard to believe that a ghost cultivator capable of reversing life and death had never had any fortuitous encounters.

Only after retreating to a safe enough distance did Shen Ge use Spiritual Qi to affect the spot. He didn't use his spiritual sense because he was afraid the thing might latch onto it and invade him along it.

The soil was pushed aside, and a faint white light the size of a sesame seed slowly floated up.

The light was soft and carried a sense of tranquility.

"What is that?"

Shen Ge frowned. He didn't know what it was, but he had no desire to touch it. Even if it was a treasure, he didn't want it.

"Forget it. I'll make you a grave and bury you. Don't call me ungrateful, either. You really did commit all kinds of evil when you were alive."

He casually summoned an illusory flying sword, dug a small hole the size of an arm, and placed the speck of light inside. After covering it with soil, Shen Ge turned and left.

Back at the flying boat, Mu Wan glanced at Shen Ge. "Where did you go? You said you were paying your respects, but I didn't see any smoke!"

"I went to the battlefield at the very front, where the Golden Core cultivators fought," Shen Ge explained casually. He said nothing about why there had been no smoke.

"Being all mysterious. If you don't want to say, forget it." Mu Wan raised her eyebrows in displeasure. "Let's go," she said, her voice slightly cold.

The flying boat turned into a streak of light and headed toward Changliu once more. It was so fast that it soon left the Verdant Sea behind.

In the hole Shen Ge had just filled, the white speck of light flickered. Before long, it had swollen to the size of a fist. An image flashed rapidly across it, and anyone able to catch it would have seen that it looked exactly like Shen Ge.

The pure white light should have looked immaculate, but another person's image had flashed across it. No matter how one looked at it, it felt a little eerie.

If Shen Ge had seen this, his hair would have stood on end. Without a second thought, he would have hurled fireballs and flying swords at it until it was utterly annihilated.

At the Evergreen Sect, fifty thousand li east of the Spirit Moon Sect, a thinly dressed youth at only the Qi Refinement Eighth Layer climbed the stairs leading up into the clouds.

Fierce winds howled, followed by torrential rain, while bolts of lightning struck indiscriminately.

But none of it stopped the youth. Step by step, his face full of determination, he climbed higher.

Above the clouds, several figures watched the youth climbing toward them, their expressions calm.

"He can draw down lightning. His aptitude is very... passable."

Judging by the change in the speaker's mouth, the word he had swallowed had likely been "good."

"Let's wait. Perhaps this youth will give us a pleasant surprise," a gray-haired elder said. "If he can climb to the top, I'll take him as my personal disciple and teach him everything I've learned in my life."

"Sect Master, this... this..."

"I don't want a word of what happened today to get out, so you should understand what I mean!" The white-haired elder glanced sideways at the people beside him. Though he spoke slowly, his words carried an authority that brooked no refusal.

"We will obey your instructions, Sect Master."