Chapter 46: The Copper Bell Rings Nine Times

  Just as Wang Ke left the sect, a sword light flashed down from the top of Xuanwu Peak, and on the sword light stood a middle-aged cultivator wearing a blue long gown.

  A middle-aged man with white temples and long hair tied back, exuding a strong aura, yet with a calm smile on his face, landed on the platform outside another courtyard. The middle-aged man's eyes slightly scanned him.

  "Hehe, it's been a long time since I came here, and there doesn't seem to be much change. It looks like that old guy Xuanwu is still desperately cultivating." The middle-aged man shifted his gaze towards another courtyard, looking at the spiritual energy vortex in the air above, and said with a slight smile as he stepped inside.

  Just then, Lingmu hurried out from inside and walked towards the middle-aged cultivator, bowing his head respectfully and saying: "Greetings to Master Xun".

  "No need to be polite, you go ahead and attend to your business. I have something to discuss with Peak Master. By the way, has that disciple named Wang Ke returned?" The middle-aged man surnamed Xun glanced at Ling Mu indifferently.

  "Is Wang Ke around? He just came back not long ago, but left again." Ling Mu was slightly stunned, still honestly replied, while thinking in his heart: "Why did Master Xun ask about Wang Ke, could he have done something wrong? Humph, it must be that way."

  "Alright, you go ahead and busy yourself." The middle-aged cultivator ignored the Lingmu standing beside him and strode inside, seemingly very familiar with this other courtyard. Before long, he arrived at the outer gate of the courtyard where Xuanwu Peak's main cultivation took place.

  "Heh heh, what wind blew you to my Xu Wu Peak today?" A bright and gentle voice came from inside the courtyard as soon as the middle-aged cultivator arrived at the entrance. The tightly closed gate slowly opened, and the master of Xu Wu Peak had already walked out, with a smile on his usually cold face, his eyes falling on the middle-aged cultivator.

  "It's been a long time, old friend, can't even come over to see you?" said the middle-aged monk with a hint of a smile.

  "Let's go in and talk," said the master of Xuanwu Peak with a wave of his hand. "I've recently obtained some spiritual tea, Brother Xun, you might as well try a sip." The master of Xuanwu Peak made a welcoming gesture at the door.

  "Oh, then I won't be polite!" The middle-aged cultivator's expression changed, and he walked in. The two of them came to the high platform in the courtyard, where they saw the master of Xuanwu Peak wave his right hand. Two green mats instantly appeared and floated down to the ground. Then, with a flash of light in the center, an ancient small square table also appeared before their eyes. On the small square table was already placed a delicate purple sand teapot, next to which were two sets of tea utensils.

  Two people sat cross-legged, the master of Xuanwu Peak picked up a purple sand teapot and poured a cup for both Xun Jian and himself. The tea cups were filled with swirling green smoke, and a strong tea fragrance wafted out.

  "Haha, you actually got the Tianxia Yunwu tea. It seems I came at the right time." Xun Jian smiled slightly and picked up his teacup, taking a light sip, looking like he was savoring it. The master of Xuanyu Peak also took a sip, then looked at Xun Jian with a serious expression and asked...

  "Go on, what's the point of coming here today?"

  "Heh heh, I heard that you have a disciple named Wang Ke under your wing. I'd like to take him in as my own." Xun Jian said calmly.

  Xuanwu Peak's master was taken aback, looking at Xun Jian with some surprise and asked: "You didn't like taking disciples before, why do you suddenly want to pass on the mantle now? This disciple named Wang Ke doesn't seem special, he just won the tenth place in the monthly comparison today."

  "Haha, it seems you don't know much about this kid named Wang Ke. He can control ten sword lights in the mid-stage of Nascent Soul, and he won consecutively against late-stage Nascent Soul disciples in the monthly competition. Although the late-stage Nascent Soul disciples who participated in the monthly competition aren't very strong, he even defeated Han Feng. I originally wanted to take Han Feng as my disciple, but now I've changed my mind."

  "Han Feng is that young man you mentioned to me last time, how can Wang Ke possibly defeat him?" The master of Xuanwu Peak's expression changed slightly, and he asked with some surprise. He had long known that Xun Jian had taken notice of the young man named Han Feng, whose natural talent was extremely high. Although he was only an inner disciple, his strength was already extraordinary.

  "You mean Wang Ke's qualifications are even higher than Han Feng's?" asked the master of Xuanwu Peak with a puzzled tone.

  "Haha, no, I've taken a liking to his innate talent for miscellaneous spirit roots. You also know how rare it is for a miscellaneous spirit root disciple to have such strength," Xun Jian said again.

  At this time, the master of Xuanwu Peak fell into silence. He was not particularly paying attention to Wang Ke at first, but now that Xun Jian had mentioned it, his heart suddenly cleared up. Upon recalling, his face sank and his eyes changed continuously.

  "What's wrong, have you thought of something?" Xun Jian asked, guessing from the expression of the master of Xuanyu Peak.

  "Hmm, it's really strange to say this, but a year ago, Kuroki brought him from outside and handed him over to me. At that time, he was just a young man who had just entered the Nascent Soul stage. I saw that he was a miscellaneous spirit root, so I arranged for him to guard the forbidden land. I didn't expect that in just one year's time, he would progress to the mid-Nascent Soul stage. It seems like this kid has some secrets." The master of Xuanwu Peak said simply.

  "Zuo Linggen, has only used one year's time to raise his strength to the middle stage of Nascent Soul, and still in a place outside the forbidden land. And I think his strength is not just at the mid-Nascent Soul level, it's better to call him over and ask him to understand." Xun Jian's face also became strange.

  "Alas, you're too late. That little scoundrel has just taken my token and left the sect." The master of Xuanwu Peak's face flickered several times.

  "I really didn't think you'd be fooled by this young whippersnapper, but it's not right that you arranged for him to guard the forbidden land," Xun Jian said with a smile.

  "What's the use of talking about these things now, it doesn't matter, what's important is to cultivate oneself. With the deadline approaching, if we don't seize the time to cultivate, I'm afraid we'll be in a precarious situation." said the master of Xuanwu Peak with a shake of his head.

  "Dong, dong, dong..." Just then, a clear bell tolling sound suddenly came from afar. The bell tolled nine times in succession. Upon hearing the sound, Xuán Wǔ Fēng's master and Xún Jiàn turned their gaze towards the direction of the bell tolling.

  "The bronze bell rang nine times, it seems something big has happened, let's go." Xun Jian stood up, the master of Xuanwu Peak nodded and followed him to stand up. With a wave of his left hand, the table and cushion in front of him disappeared in a flash. Then the two men rose into the air, riding on sword light towards Qingmu Peak, and vanished in an instant.

  The bell just now can be heard throughout the Qingmu Sect, this is a signal to urge all high-ranking officials of the Qingmu Sect. The bronze bell rings nine times, representing that something big has happened. As long as it is in the high-level door of the Qingmu Sect, unless it is closed, no one is allowed to be absent.

  Aokigahara's mountain waist location, at this time, figures appeared in the air, some stepped on flying swords, some drove flying spirit devices, and others trod on white clouds, all flew towards the mountain waist's conference hall.

  On the mountain waist there is a huge building, at this time these shadows all fall down and rush inside, in twos and threes, some of them land after each other and talk to each other, most of them are puzzled.

  Xuanwu Peak Master and Xun Jian fell in front of the building, just as a green light flashed beside them, Qinglong Peak Master descended, Xun Jian looked over and asked: "Qinglong, what's going on today that the bronze bell rang nine times?"

  "I don't know, I just heard the bell ringing and came" Qinglong Peak Master shook his head, also unclear about what had happened.

  "Let's go, take a look inside first," said the master of Xuanwu Peak lightly, and then the three of them walked in directly. Inside the building, there was a spacious large hall, where dozens of powerful cultivators had already gathered at this time. These cultivators were all high-ranking Golden Dan experts.

  At this time, the monks gathered together in twos and threes, whispering to each other. Xun Jian and the master of Xu Wu Peak walked aside and stood quietly for a while. Suddenly, Hei Mu entered from the side entrance. At this moment, no one else came into the main hall from outside.

  "Alright, everyone listen to me. I just received news that the outer branch of our Qingmu Sect was attacked by the demonic forces, and many of our disciples were killed." said Hei Mu with a gloomy expression.

  "How dare they, attacking our branch so brazenly!" an elderly, yet robust Golden Core stage expert said with a raised eyebrow, exuding a powerful aura.

  Fortunately, the strong men standing around were not affected by his powerful aura. Hei Mu continued, "Not only our Qingmu Sect, but also Tianyun Sect and Wansi Men were attacked."

  "Hmph, the Demon Gate has always been reckless and unscrupulous. The Xianjin Continent has been quiet for so long, it seems they are getting restless." A middle-aged cultivator said with a flash of cold light in his eyes.

  "Since they dare to provoke us, we can't just sit and wait for death, it's time to counterattack." A white-haired old man said in a low voice, with a flash of cold light in his eyes.

  "Hmm, how about this: Elder Tu and Elder Gao, you two lead a team to go scout ahead, the rest of the matters will be decided by the Sect Master when he returns." suggested Hei Mu.

  "Alright, let's do it then." The elder had a tall and sturdy build, with white hair and a black face. He wore a long black robe, and his entire body emitted an astonishing aura of evil.

  And another tall elder was not tall, with a thin and small stature, bony and gaunt, with black pupils shining in his eyes, wearing a string of animal bones around his neck, giving off an eerie and terrifying feeling, somewhat like a demonic cultivator.

  "The rest of you should be prepared and respond to any actions from the Demon Gate at any time. Also, remind the disciples under your care to be more careful when they are out training." Kuroki continued to say.

  Half an hour later, the masters all left the hall one after another. Meanwhile, Elder Tu and Elder Gao led a group of cultivators to appear at the mountain gate quickly and hurriedly leave.

  Kuroki Makoto returned to the forbidden area, in his own training underground secret room, only to see him stretch out a palm-sized Bagua mirror and place it on the table in front of him. Then he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a jade slip, which he tossed forward with a flick of his wrist. Next, he pinched his fingers together in a seal, muttering incantations under his breath. In an instant, spiritual energy shot out from his hands, enveloping the jade slip inside. The jade slip spun around rapidly within the spiritual energy before transforming into a beam of white light that shot into the Bagua mirror on the table and vanished without a trace.

  With a wave of his right hand, the Bagua mirror on the table had vanished, and all that could be heard was Kuroki Shinichi's sinister muttering to himself: "You two old geezers, who told you to oppose me?"

  After leaving the sect, Wang Ke unfolded his body method and quickly distanced himself from the sect by dozens of miles. Feeling that he would no longer attract attention, he pinched the sword manual with both hands, and a cyan flying sword burst out of his body. Then, Wang Ke jumped up and stepped on the flying sword with both feet, transforming into a cyan light that shot towards the distance.

  The fierce gale was completely blocked by the spiritual light shield outside, and looking at the mountains and rivers below rapidly retreating, Wang Ke had an inexplicable feeling in his heart.