Entering the Gate of Life and Death

"I overstepped!"

Pinned by Xiao Xuan's gaze, Yun Shan immediately wilted, inwardly cursing himself for running his mouth.

"Do whatever needs to be done. When the time comes, I'll have a Dou Zun follow him."

Yao Chen wasn't of much use in the clan anyway, so it would be better to have the old fellow focus on training Xiao Yan.

One Dou Zun would be enough, more or less.

"Yes!"

Utterly horrified, Yun Shan wanted to slap the bastards in the sect to death on the spot.

Those blind fools had managed to offend a young master who had a Dou Zun following him. Even Yun Shan had to admire them.

If not for them, Yun Shan's horizons would still have been limited to the Dou Zong level!

"Senior, do you have any other instructions?"

His back slightly hunched, Yun Shan's thoughts raced as he desperately sought a way to latch onto a powerful backer.

After all, if a Dou Zun really did arrive, he might carelessly get himself slapped to death or some such.

And from the look of things, that was quite possible.

"Senior... may I know how the young master came to bear a grudge against my Misty Cloud Sect?"

Yun Shan hesitated for a moment. In the end, he wanted to know why he was dying; even if it angered the senior, it would only mean this calamity was his fate.

"A disciple of your Misty Cloud Sect's current sect master was originally betrothed to a youngster from my clan, but the girl wasn't willing and went to break off the engagement. I thought it would give the youngster some motivation to cultivate, so I let it be."

"It's only natural for young people to have ideas of their own!"

Xiao Xuan spoke as calmly as a passing breeze, but Yun Shan was cursing up a storm in his heart.

He had entrusted the entire vast sect to the disciple he held in the highest regard, yet he had never imagined she would be the one to bring such a disaster upon it.

She couldn't even teach her own disciple properly.

How utterly... ah!

Fury raged in Yun Shan's heart. He had assumed it was some other decrepit elder in the sect, so old their mind had grown muddled. Who would have thought they were the most dependable ones after all?

"I know I was wrong, Senior. I will certainly clean house in the sect afterward!"

He had no choice. Even though he knew not even a ghost would believe him, he at least had to show the right attitude!

Besides, after causing such a disaster, his disciple could no longer remain sect master.

He was afraid! Yun Shan feared that he and even the Misty Cloud Sect would be implicated, so he would strip her of her position as sect master for the time being!

"A minor matter. Do as you please! Set your mind at ease; I don't eat people."

"There should be something extraordinary about your Misty Cloud Sect. I'd like to take a look at your sect's forbidden ground. That should be fine, shouldn't it?"

Having seen most of what there was to see, Xiao Xuan sensed that the presence drawing him was probably in the Misty Cloud Sect's forbidden ground, the Gate of Life and Death!

Was there actually a small world hidden inside?

How curious!

Only upon reaching the Dou Sheng level could one's mastery of space barely suffice to carve out a small world.

And since this small world had survived to this day, the master who had carved it out must have been extraordinary, with a cultivation that wasn't too low.

At least a high-level Dou Sheng, surely!

He could go take a look.

"It is our blessing that Senior has taken an interest in our sect's forbidden ground!"

Yun Shan bowed respectfully, feeling slightly relieved.

It was good that he wanted something!

Otherwise, if nothing caught his eye, the Misty Cloud Sect might be slapped out of existence once it had no value left.

Still, Yun Shan felt pangs of heartache over the treasures and inheritance left behind by the founding ancestor.

Being unable to obtain them was one thing, but having someone pack them all up and take them away was another.

Better to lose wealth than suffer disaster!

Compared with the sect's survival, nothing else mattered.

Yun Shan understood that clearly as he watched Xiao Xuan enter the Gate of Life and Death.

He was undoubtedly a powerhouse above the Dou Zun level. After all, how could an ordinary Dou Zun handle the power of space so effortlessly?

Even the founding ancestor probably hadn't sealed off the Gate of Life and Death so easily back then!

This senior had likely progressed a great distance within the Dou Zun realm.

No wonder he could command other Dou Zun so easily. He was probably from one of the continent's top factions.

The thought made Yun Shan's liver ache even more. He had no time to continue checking on his own safety, even though the measures planted by that bastard from the Hall of Souls earlier were gone.

Who could say what this senior might secretly be plotting?

Even if his fate was merely to be slapped to death, he was still rather afraid of dying.

"Yun Yun, get your ass over here!"

Yun Shan sent his voice to Yun Yun, who was in seclusion in the sect, his words laced with Dou Qi and suppressed fury.

What a fine disciple she had taken in!

Yun Yun, who had been scolding Nalan Yanran in the sect's main hall, was startled to receive her master's voice transmission, but she prepared to hurry over at once.

He had gone into seclusion to break through to Dou Zong. Did this mean he had succeeded? Or had he failed?

"Wait here. Master is summoning me. I'll deal with you when I get back!"

Yun Yun had intended to give that instruction and leave, but before she could, Yun Shan sensed the young girl in front of her and came over himself.

"This is your disciple?"

Yun Shan stood high in the sect's main hall with his back to them, every inch the exalted expert.

In truth, he was indeed the strongest person in the Misty Cloud Sect. He only bowed and scraped before Xiao Xuan and others stronger than himself; ordinarily, he carried himself with considerable dignity.

"Master, this is Nalan Yanran, the disciple I took in a few years ago. She's quite talented. Although her temperament isn't the best, given time, she'll surely be able to shoulder the great responsibilities of our Misty Cloud Sect."

Even though Yun Yun herself had just been scolding Nalan Yanran, she still had high hopes for her disciple. Given the chance, she naturally put in a good word for her.

Then it seemed he had the right person.

"Her temperament isn't good?"

"You knew her temperament wasn't good, so why did you take her as your disciple?"

Yun Shan's anger was already plain to hear in this rebuke.

"Master, where... where is this coming from?"

Yun Yun was somewhat bewildered, unsure what her master meant.

"Yanran... Yanran isn't that bad, is she?"

Still stubbornly holding on, Yun Yun tried to salvage the situation. Otherwise, Nalan Yanran really would have nowhere to show her face in the Misty Cloud Sect from then on.

As the honored sect master, Yun Yun commanded considerable support, but she still couldn't compare with the old sect master! In particular, the current elders of the sect had largely risen to prominence in Yun Shan's day, so they naturally felt closer to him from the outset.

Yun Yun disliked vying for power and profit, but that didn't mean she failed to understand these things.

"Must you wait until our Misty Cloud Sect is wiped out because of Nalan Yanran before you think she's no good?"

Furious that iron would not become steel, Yun Shan was grieved to the core. If he couldn't see that his disciple was still a virgin, he would have thought Nalan Yanran was Yun Yun's illegitimate daughter.

"Wiped out?"

Yun Yun immediately fell to her knees. Though she still knew nothing, it was clear her master was not speaking without cause.

"Please instruct me, Master!"

At this critical moment, they still needed Yun Shan to turn the tide.

"It's already settled. We can only see whether we can salvage a little and preserve the foundations of our Misty Cloud Sect. A young master of such lofty standing presumably won't be too petty."

Yun Shan had also considered approaching him early to show goodwill, but then he thought of the old monster in his sect.

He might issue the order, only for a slap to come flying his way immediately.

Those who acted on their own initiative had no right to survive.

For now, whoever had tied the bell would have to untie it.

"Nalan Yanran, was it?"

Yun Shan looked to the side at the young girl, who was already half stunned with fright.