“What? There's news of the Qingshan Sect?”
Hearing the guard captain's report, Ye Fan couldn't help but exclaim.
“Yes, Nine Thousand Years.”
“Is the news reliable?” Ye Fan inquired.
After all, they, along with the three major sects of the Eastern Province, had been searching for so long without any news. For it to suddenly appear like this was hard to believe.
The guard captain cupped his hands in a bow. “While searching for the Qingshan Sect, our men ran into a bandit cultivator from the Black Bear Gang. He claimed their boss led a group of underlings to wipe out the Qingshan Sect!”
“What? Wipe out the Qingshan Sect? What's the situation there now?” Hearing this, Ye Fan looked up and asked.
Surely the Qingshan Sect hadn't already been destroyed by the Black Bear Gang? What about Lu Ming?
The guard captain quickly replied, “Because that guy overslept at the Chunxiang Pavilion, he missed the departure time and didn't go.”
Ye Fan nodded, gesturing for him to continue.
“The guy said that since that day, he lost contact with the Black Bear Gang. Their boss and all his brothers have completely vanished...”
Hearing this, Ye Fan nodded. The Qingshan Sect was indeed extraordinary.
Needless to say, the Black Bear Gang members were definitely all dead.
“Does he know where the Qingshan Sect is?”
“He doesn't know the exact location, but he has a rough idea...”
“Search. We must find the Qingshan Sect...”
“Yes!”
The guard complied. Just as he was about to withdraw, a sound transmission talisman flared to life in front of him.
“Captain, we've only found one sect within a ten-thousand-mile radius, but we don't know if it's the Qingshan Sect.”
The guard captain's face instantly flushed with embarrassment. Was his subordinate an idiot?
He couldn't even find out the name of the sect?
Couldn't he just look at the sect's sign?
To make him lose face like this in front of Nine Thousand Years... If the Overseer got angry, he might slap him to death!
Ye Fan was indeed a bit annoyed. He hadn't paid much attention to these people before, but he hadn't expected his predecessor's subordinates to be so foolish.
“Have them pretend to pass by and look at the sect's sign. Don't startle them...”
Ye Fan couldn't help but worry. If these people were this stupid, they might scare them away.
The guard captain awkwardly sent a message back through the sound transmission talisman: “Can't you idiots just look at the sect's sign?”
A moment later, a voice came back: “Boss, we've already pretended to pass by many times. This sect doesn't have a sign...”
Hearing this, both Ye Fan and the guard captain were stunned. No sign? How could a sect not have a sign?
Ye Fan frowned. He recalled that when he was at the Haoran Sect, he had sent a Golden Core cultivator to deliver a message to the Qingshan Sect.
He remembered the messenger saying that the Qingshan Sect was dirt poor, with only a large blue stone at the mountain gate and not even a proper entrance.
Ye Fan now suspected that the Qingshan Sect was keeping a low profile on purpose.
With this in mind, Ye Fan directly transmitted a message to the subordinate: “Is this sect extremely poor? Is there a large blue stone at the mountain gate? That is their sign...”
Upon receiving the command, Li Busan and Li Busi were utterly speechless.
Did the boss think they were blind or stupid?
How could they search for a sect's name without looking at the entrance?
But they had no choice. Who made the other party Nine Thousand Years?
Li Busan helplessly sent a transmission back: “To report to Nine Thousand Years, this sect doesn't seem too poor. Their mountain gate is planted with all kinds of spiritual flowers and exotic herbs... Also, there is no large blue stone at their gate. We are absolutely sure of that...”
Receiving this, Ye Fan's brow furrowed.
Was this really not the Qingshan Sect?
After all, neither of those two points matched.
Or had they caught wind of something and disguised themselves?
Ye Fan pondered for a moment before transmitting again: “Continue to observe them in secret. If you see a big yellow dog, report to me immediately.”
Then, he prepared to lead some men to check it out personally.
...
Meanwhile, at the Qingshan Sect.
For the past few days, Lu Ming and the others had been very busy. Since they couldn't find the large blue stone, they decided to make a new sect sign.
Thus, everyone began searching for stones similar to the large blue stone.
“No, this one doesn't look like it...”
“This one won't do either, it's not blue enough.”
“No, this one isn't big enough...”
“This one isn't small enough...”
“This one isn't smooth enough...”
Acting as the judges, Lu Ming, Big Yellow, and Huang Tianbao—two people and one dog—rejected stone after stone.
They couldn't find a single satisfactory one.
Niu Lansan sighed helplessly. “Three Sect Masters, there really are no more. All the stones within a ten-thousand-mile radius that look like the large blue stone have been brought here...”
Diao San and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.
Only Wang Defa's mouth twitched as he watched this farce.
Many times, he was tempted to betray the Grand Elder, but on second thought, he decided against it.
He was terrified of the big shot punishing him.
Lu Ming was also helpless upon hearing Niu Lansan's words.
He hadn't expected that even though the large blue stone looked completely ordinary, trying to find another one just like it would prove impossible.
It was truly frustrating...
Left with no choice, Lu Ming had to pick the closest match from the rejected stones.
“Alright... this one will do. Wang Defa, get to work and carve the name.” Lu Ming said, pointing at the newly selected stone.
Wang Defa didn't dare delay and quickly spoke up: “Coming, coming... Old Man Wang is on it.”
He hurriedly pulled out a carving knife and approached the stone.
“Wang Defa, you must carve it with the Qingshan Sect's unique aura... Just copy the style on my identity token...” As he spoke, Lu Ming showed Wang Defa his identity token.
“Don't worry, don't worry... I've done this kind of work before.”
Wang Defa's gaze fell upon the token at Lu Ming's waist. His pupils shrank slightly, and his brow suddenly furrowed.
On that seemingly ordinary identity token, the three characters for “Qingshan Sect” were carved with vigorous strokes, faintly revealing a profound mystery that he couldn't quite grasp.
As expected of the big shot's handiwork—ordinary on the surface, yet filled with profound mystery.
Seeing Wang Defa's expression, Lu Ming couldn't help but ask, “What, you don't recognize the characters?”
Wang Defa was speechless. “I recognize them. I just feel that the calligraphy is incredibly well-written...”
“Of course. It was written by our Qingshan Sect's Grand Elder...” Lu Ming boasted proudly. “You better carve it well. We don't want the Grand Elder to be displeased when he returns...”
“Yes, yes...”
Wang Defa nodded repeatedly and began carving characters onto the stone.
Boom!
The carving had been going smoothly, but on the very last stroke, the entire stone suddenly exploded.
“Holy crap... Who picked this stone? It's way too flimsy!” Lu Ming raised his protective shield and couldn't help but yell.
Rate on N.U.
