Chapter Nineteenth: Fallen Leaf City

  Xiaoyan River Temple, Main Hall of the Sect!

  "Have all ten children from Feilai Mountain been found?"

  A faint voice came from above, carrying boundless majesty.

  In the quiet main hall, an old man in white with a respectful expression, cupped his hands and said: "The Palm Gate, out of ten children, only nine were found, those nine have already gone down to the four factions."

  At this time, if Liu Chen and Lin Yue were here, they would certainly realize that this old man in white was the one who sent them to the immortal gate back then.

  "Oh! Nine!"

  Above, a middle-aged man slightly opened his eyes. This person's face was like jade, with an elegant and refined demeanor. He was the current leader of the Five Sects' Xiaoshanhe Institute, as well as the Governor of Xiaoshanhe Prefecture - Dong Sheng Zhenren.

  "Ten years ago, weren't there ten children who left that place? Why is one missing? Didn't the remaining nine children go to Qingyun Gate?" Dong Sheng Zhenren said calmly.

  "There is a child who has gone missing, Brother Zhi guessed that he should have encountered an accident!" Li Changhe respectfully said: "Qingyunmen also sent a child, but it was not one of the nine children."

  Dong Sheng Zhenren nodded: "What about his qualifications?"

  "It's hopeless, this life has no chance of building a foundation unless it can consume a large amount of elixirs." Li Changhe explained: "Originally didn't want to bring that child into the immortal gate, but among the nine children, one was particularly stubborn and insisted on bringing that child. The disciple didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he agreed."

  Dong Sheng Zhenren closed his eyes, thought for a moment: "As long as the nine children all enter the immortal gate, it's fine, and other small requests are also acceptable. Chang He, you've done well in this matter, not giving one of the nine children to Qing Yun. This Sima Kong has always been at odds with me, if he had given one, I'm afraid there would be trouble afterwards."

  He paused for a moment, then said: "This matter must not be leaked out, those children's birthplaces... have all been destroyed!"

  Upon hearing this, Li Changhe's expression changed: "Master, those children come from nearby towns in the Flying Mountain area. If they were all eliminated, there would be over 500,000 people...". He was shocked in his heart, and even now, he still didn't know what mysterious place those children came from. To eradicate them completely, it seemed that over 500,000 ordinary people had to be killed along with them.

  Is it Mount Huaguo?

  "Mortals are like ants, birth, aging, illness and death are the rules of heaven. Here, life is destroyed, but on the other side, new life is born. You don't need to worry about it." Dong Sheng Zhen Ren's face remained unchanged, as if he was talking about ordinary things.

  As he spoke, he saw Li Changhe's face unbearable, and sighed: "You are too softhearted, you should know that those who achieve great things do not bother with trivial matters. Ordinary people are like this, and we cultivators are also like this. You are so pedantic, what kind of grand dao can you talk about?"

  "Never mind, let the wind do it. Tell outsiders that a plague is spreading in the towns near Fei Lai Mountain, and for the sake of all living beings, they had to be sacrificed." Dong Sheng Zhen Ren waved his hand.

  Upon hearing this, Li Changhe left with a complex mood, respectfully departing.

  For a moment, Dongsheng Zhenren stood up, he looked through the gate and gazed into the distance.

  "What secrets does Feilai Mountain hold? Three hundred children were sacrificed, yet only ten walked out. What mysterious power do these ten possess? Even the Four Holy Temples are paying close attention?" Dongsheng Zhenren muttered to himself.

  "If I could delve into its subtleties, perhaps the void would not be far away..."

  Dong Sheng Zhenren's heart was filled with longing, and for this, he did not hesitate to conceal the truth from the Four Sacred Halls, and instead went to investigate alone.

  The 6th day of cultivation continues as usual.

  Jianyi Zhu's sword technique still can't be remembered, but he has a strange phenomenon, the longer the Jianyi Pearl flows in his mind, the more tired his brain feels.

  And after this fatigue, a kind of terror will grow in one's mind.

  "Xuān Tiān is a genius, the broken pearl sword technique is hard to remember, but it has made my spiritual awareness progress rapidly!" 6 Chén was shocked, he used to be able to control his flying sword within a range of five meters, now it can reach ten meters.

  As for how high his spiritual awareness has reached? He himself is unclear, in short, it's absolutely higher than Fang Yu.

  And as for the Linggen Dan, he didn't slack off either, eating it every day like rice, hoping to accumulate a thick foundation and reach the qualifications of a single Linggen. At the same time, he greatly strengthened his foundational knowledge of cultivating immortality, learning from a book called "Shanhe Zhi" what the five elements' origin was!

  The five elements originated from, metal wood water fire earth, mysterious and profound, the book records that this origin occupies the heaven and earth's advantage to form, none of which are not the purest, most extreme spiritual energy. And Yunmo Snake's black crystal water origin, although it is the lowest level, but it has the effect of corroding artifacts.

  In short, the five elements are the origin of all wonders and monsters, and are also the most coveted things for cultivators. If one can control them, they can transcend ranks and kill enemies with just their origin alone. Unfortunately, the energy of the origin is extremely unstable, making it difficult for cultivators to bring it into their bodies, so it's mostly used in magical tools.

  Another period of time passed, and unknowingly, Liu Chen was already 14 years old, while the punishment imposed by the sect leader had also expired.

  Zhang Dageng and Zhu Gan ran over this day.

  "Junior brother, the small sailboat in the door is going out."

  At 6 o'clock, his eyes lit up and he threw down the wooden sword in his hand. He immediately ran over, and at this moment, although his spiritual consciousness was strong, his cultivation had not made any progress, mainly because he could not use his spiritual energy.

  It looks good but is of no use!

  So Lingfu, this is what he has been looking forward to.

  Three people walked along the small path and when they arrived at the temple gate, they suddenly saw a sailboat with flashing lights parked there.

  There were already disciples waiting on the sailboat. At the bow of the boat stood a middle-aged man with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, his gaze as sharp as electricity. He was none other than one of the Five Swords of Qingyun, He Yunhai!

  The sixth day, hurry up and board the small boat.

  Not long after, under He Yunhai's elder waving hand, the small sailboat steadily rose into the air and headed west.

  This sailboat is based on the Ling Stone, with three array patterns of Wind Control, Spirit Gathering, and Protection engraved inside. Although it's not very fast, it has the advantage of being stable, but the consumption is not small, requiring two low-grade Ling Stones for a round trip.

  Don't look at the Qingyun Gate's grand family and business, in fact, their financial resources are not deep, otherwise, they wouldn't have to sail once a month.

  Li Chen and others sat at the back of the boat. At a glance, most of the disciples on the sailboat were in the realm of practicing Qi. And here, he saw a familiar face, He Wu.

  He Wu also saw the 6th Chen, and various thoughts arose in his heart, but most of all was resentment. The matter from last year was the greatest humiliation of his life. If the opponent won with real skills, he would be most unwilling to accept it. If the opponent had infinite potential, he would also be wary of it.

  But nothing at all!

  If it weren't for these poor disciples gathering together at this time, he would have taken back this trash long ago.

  "Hmph, enemies meet on a narrow road. I see you've entered Luoye City, but will the humble folk help you?" He Wu's eyes turned cold as he exchanged glances with several people beside him, who then sneered in unison.

  "It's He Wu, damn it, I knew I shouldn't have come out!" Zhang Dageng's face changed color, his heart racing with fear, but since there were some junior brothers inside the door, he wasn't too afraid. But what was there to be afraid of in Luoye City anyway?

  Moreover, He Wu was ruthless and cruel, even if he killed himself in Luoye City, probably no one would know.

  His eyebrows slightly furrowed, after a year in Qingyun Gate, he was no longer the naive child of that day, and he had learned a lot about various things. At this moment, he was deep in thought, but facing He Wu, his heart still had no bottom line.

  Last time, I borrowed the prestige of the crowd of brothers, but now there are only Zhang Dageng and Zhu Gan. Zhang Dageng is indeed sturdy, but he's afraid of death like a woman, while Zhu Gan is bold, but his body is in a pitiful state.

  "Luoye City is a place for transactions among the five factions, there have been rules since long ago, no one can take action!"

  At this time, the thin and dry youth Zhu Gan spoke up, his face still hard and unyielding, seemingly fearless.

  The Sixth Brother and Zhang Dageng exchanged a glance, feeling slightly relieved in their hearts.

  "But the place where the sailboat is docked, that's where the five sects' disciples hone their skills, and they can take action." Zhu Gan said without mincing words, "When we got off the boat, there were elders present, so they didn't dare to cause trouble. However, waiting for the boat does pose some danger indeed."

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Dageng's mouth twitched and his face turned slightly serious for 6 seconds, but after a moment's thought, he felt at ease again.

  Before long, the sailboat finally stopped in front of a vast ancient city.

  The ancient city gate is like the mortal world, with strange mounts parked outside, some of which resemble a palace, with a green lion tied to the front, as if used to pull the palace. Others are two-meter-tall cranes, all sorts of strange and wondrous things.

  As for the Qingyunmen sailboat, it's too shabby to be compared, so it's better to keep it in a remote area.

  Elder He Yunhai anchored the sailboat and said to his disciples, "Wait here at dusk. Remember, after entering the city, you must follow the rules. If something happens, Qingyunmen will not take care of you."

  All the disciples responded in unison and then entered the city in an orderly manner under the gaze of the elder.

  Along the way, I couldn't help but feel curious about all sorts of mounts and this ancient city.

  The city was bustling and noisy, with monks in different attire walking back and forth. In front of the green building on the left, a stone tablet shone brightly, with various magical instruments carved on it, including the seven-colored treasure pagoda, jade bell, and five-colored spiritual armor. Each instrument changed in turn, beautiful and magnificent, vivid and lifelike.

  On the right side, monks set up stalls one by one to sell goods, and all kinds of medicinal herbs are piled up.

  Three people walked together, except for Zhu Gan's stiff face, Liu Chen and Zhang Dageng couldn't close their mouths, and they even had trouble walking.

  Behind them, He Wu and several others exchanged cold glances.

  "If his four limbs were broken, would he be punished at the gate?"

  "In short, no killing is allowed, I suppose there won't be any punishment from the sect, besides, the leader has already said that we should settle our differences in the Yingwu Hall, and this isn't a battleground..."

  "Just as I intended, since he's already a waste of space, might as well let him be wasted even more thoroughly!"