Chapter 431 - 236: Borrowing a Blade, Part 2
Chapter 431: Chapter 236: Borrowing a Blade, Part 2
As Elder Huoyun’s personal weapon from his younger days, Red Blood had been reforged after his Weapon Forging Skill reached the Great Success realm. Its power was top-tier among Half-Spirit Weapons—a truly formidable blade.
But his ability to slay the Tuo Dragon wasn’t because of Red Blood.
"My apologies. Red Blood was a gift from Master, and I don’t normally use it. I treat it like a sacred object, not daring to profane it. If Second Senior Brother wishes to borrow it, please forgive me for not having the courage to lend it out. Alternatively, you could ask Master. If Master allows it, I will have no objections," Xu Yang said solemnly.
’Lend him Red Blood?’
’What if Tian Kuan dies in the Yunling Mountain Range? Never mind losing the Half-Spirit Weapon, it would be difficult to explain the situation to Elder Huoyun.’
An ugly expression crossed Tian Kuan’s face. He hadn’t expected Xu Yang to be so unyielding. It was one thing for him to refuse to help, but he wouldn’t even lend him a weapon and had even used Elder Huoyun as a shield.
’If he could speak to Elder Huoyun, he wouldn’t have needed to come begging Xu Yang in the first place.’
"Junior Brother Xu, you... We are fellow sect brothers; we should stick together. It’s just the loan of a blade," Hong Lei said, shaking his head.
Xu Yang couldn’t tell if he was stupid or just naive. He immediately shot back, "Does Senior Brother Hong think I should lend the blade? If an accident occurs, how would I explain it to Master?
This isn’t an ordinary weapon; it was Master’s personal weapon from his youth. How can you treat this so casually? Or are you saying you don’t take Master seriously?"
Faced with such a heavy accusation of disrespecting his master, Hong Lei’s expression changed drastically. He hastily cupped his hands and said, "I wouldn’t dare."
Tian Kuan’s face was livid. "Since it’s inconvenient for Junior Brother Xu to act, we’ll take our leave."
With that, he rose and strode away without waiting for Xu Yang to reply.
’He never expected Xu Yang to be so difficult, giving him no advantage whatsoever. He was as slippery as an old loach.’
’He had assumed that given his status as Second Senior Brother, the younger Xu Yang would be too concerned about face to refuse a request. Who knew Xu Yang wouldn’t give a damn about his title?’
’Trying to take advantage of me?’
Xu Yang got up, closed the courtyard gate, and resumed his cultivation.
The matter with Tian Kuan and Hong Lei was just a minor episode for him; he quickly forgot about it.
The days and nights turned, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Xu Yang’s return to the Purple Sun Sect from Moon Lake. There was still no news from Jiang Fan or Li Chuyang about their breakthroughs to the Great Success Realm of Marrow Cleansing, though rumor had it that Du Chuan had also started his own attempt.
...
The Song Family was in full mourning. Another month had passed, and they had confirmed that Song Wenshan, Song Shizhao, and the others had been killed.
After three months, it was impossible that Song Wenshan and his group were still hunting the Wushan Four Fiends. If they were still alive, they would have certainly sent word back to report their safety.
The experts the Song Family had sent out to search gradually returned. When the last group came back without any news of Song Wenshan’s party, all hope within the Song Family was extinguished, and cries of grief were heard everywhere.
"Wushan Four Fiends, the Song Family and you are now mortal enemies!" Grand Elder Song Shixian roared, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
This time, even though the Song Family had a Celestial Essence Strong Person, they had suffered a crippling blow. Five at Marrow Cleansing Great Success and two at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement were dead, and five Half-Spirit Weapons were lost.
Each of these numbers was like a knife to his heart, twisting his face in agony.
If word of this got out, it would also be a blow to the Song Family’s prestige.
"And then there’s Xu Yang! It’s all because of that little bastard! If he hadn’t stood by and done nothing, none of this would have happened!" Song Shirong’s eyes were red, practically spitting fire.
His favorite third son and his eldest son—the heir apparent—had both died. The killing intent rolling off him was becoming uncontrollable.
He hated the Wushan Four Fiends, but he hated Xu Yang even more.
If Xu Yang hadn’t just stood by and watched, none of this would have happened.
The worst part was that the Wushan Four Fiends were nowhere to be found, so he could only vent his murderous rage on the one person he could find: Xu Yang.
"Yes, and that little bastard! He’s the one who deserves to die most of all!"
Grand Elder Song Shixian gnashed his teeth. Song Shizhao, one of the deceased, was his own younger brother. He said coldly, "Immediately send orders to our clansmen in the Purple Sun Sect. Have them keep an eye on that little bastard Xu Yang. The moment he leaves the Purple Sun Sect, I will personally finish him."
The deaths of Song Wenshan and the others had made him lose some of his reason. He only wanted to kill Xu Yang, completely disregarding his status as one of the Ten Heroes Disciples of the Purple Sun Sect.
The Song Family had quite a few disciples in the Purple Sun Sect. If everyone knew they wanted to kill Xu Yang, it would be impossible to keep the matter a secret. Once something happened to Xu Yang, the Song Family would also be in trouble.
Fortunately, although Patriarch Song Shirong was also furious, he still had his wits about him. "We must be discreet about this. I will personally arrange for people to watch him closely."
Song Shixian’s chest heaved as he suppressed his killing intent. "I must personally kill this fiend."
In fact, he had no choice but to act personally. The younger generation’s Marrow Cleansing Great Success cultivators, like Song Wenshan, were all dead. If an old-timer like him didn’t act, the Song Family had no one else who could kill Xu Yang.
But they waited and waited. After another month, Xu Yang showed no sign of leaving the Purple Sun Sect.
...
Xu Yang was unaware that the Song Family had people watching him. He followed his daily routine of cultivation, occasionally visiting Xu Qing in the Outer Sect. His days were quite comfortable.
One day, just as he stepped into the dining hall, he heard a startling piece of news: the Young Master Marquis, Jiang Fan, had broken through to Marrow Cleansing Great Success.
"The Young Master Marquis is truly worthy of his title. He’s beaten Li Chuyang to the punch once again."
"His talent is terrifying. Truly befitting of the first of the Ten Heroes. He broke through the Marrow Cleansing Great Success bottleneck in just over two months. It took me five years to break through that same bottleneck."
"A person as arrogant as Li Chuyang being outdone by the Young Master Marquis again... I’m afraid he won’t be able to take it."
...
The entire Inner Sect was in an uproar, stunned by the news of Jiang Fan’s breakthrough. Xu Yang saw the ugly expressions on the faces of people like Lu Ren and Xiong Kun. They were a mixture of shock and resentment.
If they also had Jiang Fan’s background and inexhaustible resources, they felt they wouldn’t be much inferior to him.
Another half a month later, news spread that Li Chuyang had also reached Marrow Cleansing Great Success. The Purple Sun Sect was in an uproar once again, and all eyes turned to Xu Yang.
After all, when it came to reaching Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, he hadn’t been far behind them.
’In a little while, I’ll find an opportunity to pretend I’ve reached Marrow Cleansing Great Success.’
Xu Yang planned, intending to reveal a portion of his cultivation at the right moment to prepare for his Secondary Dragon Ascension.
"Junior Brother Xu, grab your weapons and meet at the base of Li Fire Peak within fifteen minutes!"
That day, Gao Lin had suddenly come looking for him, his expression anxious.
Xu Yang’s expression flickered slightly. "Senior Brother Gao, has something happened?"
"Yes. Don’t ask questions. Just grab your weapons and get to the base of Li Fire Peak. I still have to notify others." Gao Lin quickly departed.
Resigned, Xu Yang quickly entered his quiet room, grabbed Red Blood, and took a few Profound Yuan Qi Transformation Pills. He then immediately rushed to the base of Li Fire Peak. Several people were already there, the weakest of whom was at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement.
Xu Yang saw Tian Kuan and Hong Lei, as well as three senior brothers who already had a Great Achievement in Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation.
"Greetings, Senior Brothers. May I ask what has happened?" Xu Yang asked, cupping his hands.
A senior brother named Hu Ze cupped his hands and said grimly, "The disciples escorting minerals from Camel Peak were supposed to return to the Sect yesterday, but they never came back. The Sect sent people to investigate last night, and there has been no news from them either."
’Something bad must have happened,’ Xu Yang realized. ’That’s why they’re gathering us to investigate. With so many at Marrow Cleansing Great Success, this must be serious.’
He knew of Camel Peak. It was rich in various special Forging Materials, and Spirit Iron was often mined there. It was even larger than the Moon Lake Mine and was guarded year-round by three or four cultivators at Marrow Cleansing Great Success.
After waiting a little longer, he saw Gao Lin and Lu Chuping hurrying down from Li Fire Peak.
"We’ll talk on the way!"
Without wasting words, the two of them led the group toward the exit of the Purple Sun Sect. Xu Yang and the others quickly followed, and soon they were outside Purple Sun Sect.
"Senior Brother Gao, tell us the situation so we all know what we’re dealing with," Lu Chuping said.
Gao Lin said, "I only learned of this after receiving a report from the Task Hall. According to them, the leader of the original escort team to Camel Peak was a disciple from Tianquan Peak who had reached Marrow Cleansing Great Success.
After realizing something was wrong, they asked Elder Gong Shu to send two of his disciples, the brothers Zhang Quan and Zhang Heng, to investigate. But those two also never returned."