Chapter One Hundred and Five: The Changchun Sect

A streak of scarlet sword-light, a full yard in length, shot from Ye Yun’s fingertips and shattered the crackling lightning arrow in midair.

“Late Foundation Establishment? Nothing special...” Ye Yun’s face remained expressionless. His body flickered, swift as lightning, and in the next instant he was already before the young man in blue. A ferocious, domineering force burst forth from his palm and fingers.

As a martial cultivator at the late Foundation Establishment stage, the young man in blue suddenly felt as though he had been cast into a storm-tossed sea. Ye Yun’s power was like towering waves, fierce beyond measure, not only dissolving his own force into nothingness, but also making him feel utterly incapable of resistance.

“How is this possible?” A great upheaval surged in the young man’s heart. Feeling an incomparable pressure bearing down upon him, he retreated at speed, yet that vast force clung to him like a shadow.

“If you wish to kill, then you must be prepared to be killed.” A cold edge sharpened on Fang Tuo’s face, and the sound of bones breaking echoed through the forested hills.

Ye Yun’s palm struck the young man in blue squarely in the chest, shattering his internal organs and sending blood spurting from his mouth.

Looking at the young man collapsed on the ground, Ye Yun showed not the slightest change of expression. Toward one who had sought his life, how could he possibly harbor the least mercy?

“I am a disciple of the Thundercloud Sect. You cannot kill me!” the young man in blue cried out in panic.

“Trash.” A trace of contempt curved Ye Yun’s lips. The man’s utter lack of spine made him scornful.

The young man’s face flushed crimson, yet he did not dare retort. After all, his life and death now lay in Ye Yun’s single thought.

He had believed that with his late Foundation Establishment cultivation, and with the speed and force of his lightning arrows, ambushing a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator would be child’s play.

Yet the world is ever unpredictable, and he had never imagined such a turn of events. Regret filled his heart.

The world of cultivation was brutally cruel; one wrong decision could alter an entire life.

From beginning to end, the young man in blue did not know Ye Yun’s origins, and Ye Yun did not know his name. Only in the face of death did he reveal that he was a disciple of the Thundercloud Sect.

According to the cheap master Long Spring Daoist had mentioned, nearly all sect strongholds within the Saint Dragon Dynasty were located near the Wildlands.

The Wildlands were an unimaginably ancient primeval forest, containing countless demon beasts, spirit stone veins, heavenly treasures, and all manner of wondrous natural rarities.

Among the many sects near the Wildlands, nine were the strongest, and the Long Spring Palace and the Thundercloud Sect were among them.

Ye Yun did not kill the young man in blue, but he did cripple his cultivation. In such a perilous forest, to be without cultivation was no different from a dead end.

Since he was already here, perhaps he should first go and take a look at the Long Spring Palace.

“You’re not really planning to become some disciple of the Long Spring Palace, are you? You are the ninth-generation heir of the Grand Void Demon Palace of the Great Thousand World!” the Supreme Demon Lord suddenly roared.

“I’m only a little mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator right now. I need some kind of transition, don’t I?” Ye Yun snapped back irritably.

He did not feel there was anything wrong with the ninth-generation heir of the Grand Void Demon Palace serving as a disciple in a minor sect. In the cruel, real world of cultivation, so long as one could survive and gain greater strength, any method was the right one.

According to the marks on the map in the jade slip, three days later Ye Yun arrived in the region where the Long Spring Palace was situated.

This was a range of rolling green mountains, and the Long Spring Palace stood upon the tallest peak in that chain.

“Who goes there?” At the foot of the mountain, two disciples assigned to guard the sect gate barred Ye Yun’s way.

With a flick of his hand, Ye Yun produced a token. When the two mountain guards saw it, their expressions immediately became respectful.

“So it is a core disciple. Senior brother looks very unfamiliar to us—may I ask your name?” one of them said with a smile.

Like the Ye Clan, the disciples of the Long Spring Palace were also divided into ranks: outer disciples, inner disciples, core disciples, then protectors, elders, and the sect master.

Long Spring Daoist was the sect’s head, and the token he had given Ye Yun naturally marked him as a core disciple, the most honored status among the younger generation.

“I am Ye Yun,” he said with a gentle smile.

“So you are Senior Brother Ye!” The two mountain guards both clasped their hands, thus making a familiar acquaintance.

Just as Ye Yun stepped into the Long Spring Palace’s mountain gate, Long Spring Daoist’s figure came striding over. Since departing from the territory of the Guo Clan, he had been secretly protecting Ye Yun’s safety along the way.

Gone was his former shabby appearance. He now wore a green Taoist robe, with white hair and a youthful face, bearing the air of an immortal sage and a peerless expert.

“Greetings, Master!” The two mountain guards immediately bowed to the ground in respectful prostration.

Within the Long Spring Palace, Ye Yun knew no one. Among the many cultivators coming and going, all wore standard uniforms: outer disciples in gray, inner disciples in white, core disciples in purple, protectors in black, elders in red, and it was said that only the sect master and head disciple were permitted to wear green.

Long Spring meant the essence of wood, and green represented wood; in the Long Spring Palace, it was the color of supremacy.

“A newly arrived disciple reporting in?”

A black-robed patrolling protector noticed Ye Yun looking around.

“Yes,” Ye Yun replied with a nod.

“Who is your master?” the black-robed protector asked.

“Long Spring, the sect master.”

“Oh? So you are a disciple accepted by the Master during his travels outside. Since you have only just arrived, you likely know little of the matters within our Long Spring Palace. Come with me.”

This black-robed protector was very warm and helpful.

A protector held a lofty status within the sect, second only to the elders and the sect master. The purpose of a protector was to guard the Dao and transmit the teachings.

They sheltered the young disciples of the sect in their cultivation, and when the younger disciples encountered doubts in their practice, they instructed them and passed on the teachings.

Thus, seeing that Ye Yun was new here, the black-robed protector led him on a tour of the Long Spring Palace’s mountain gate, explaining much of the palace’s history, its various rules, and more.

“This is the Hall of Scriptures. You may go inside to choose methods of cultivation, martial techniques, spell arts, and the like.”

Before an antiquated three-story pavilion, the black-robed protector explained to Ye Yun.

“Since you are a core disciple personally taken in by the Master, you should have already been taught the Long Spring Scripture, yes?” the black-robed protector asked suddenly.

“Yes,” Ye Yun said with a nod.

“For cultivators, methods of cultivation are the foundation. The Long Spring Scripture can be cultivated only by core disciples, and it is already the finest method our Long Spring Palace possesses. If needed, you may choose some martial techniques or spell arts from the Hall of Scriptures to cultivate.”

Ye Yun could tell that this patrolling protector of the Long Spring Palace was very patient and kind, with none of the lofty, superior air one might expect from a sect guardian.

Moreover, the atmosphere throughout the Long Spring Palace’s mountain gate was harmonious, with little of the scheming, infighting, or struggle for power one might expect.

“Little Ye, you mustn’t judge things by appearances alone. This lord simply does not believe there is any true pure land in this world where no one competes or plots. You’d best stay on guard, and don’t forget the lesson you learned back in the Corpse Demon Mountain!”

The Supreme Demon Lord suddenly reminded him within his mind.