Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen: Xu Jufang Demands a Person

In the Ye Clan of Cloudwater City, in a simple, spotless room at the Rain Pavilion Courtyard, Lu Suxue’s hand lightly brushed across a dustless wooden table.

This had once been Ye Yun’s room. Every time she came here, the moment she closed her eyes, memories of the two of them together would rise unbidden in her mind.

Though that time had been brief, it was unforgettable.

“Time flies. In the blink of an eye, so much has passed. Do you still remember that in this Cloudwater City, there is a woman like me waiting for your return?”

Lu Suxue murmured softly. A trace of sorrow lingered on her lovely face, while her autumn-clear eyes shimmered with a glistening light.

“My cultivation has now reached the great circle of Foundation Establishment. Before long, I should be able to attempt Core Formation. By then, I’ll go out and find you…”

Still speaking to herself, a glimmer of resolve entered Lu Suxue’s eyes.

...

At that very moment, in the Eternal Spring Palace, Ye Yun seemed to have been touched by some unseen force as well. His gaze unconsciously turned toward the northwest, where his homeland lay. He had walked out from Cloudwater City from there, in pursuit of his own path of cultivation.

He had thought his own pace of progress already swift, yet he had never imagined that Lu Suxue’s cultivation would be even faster, already at the great circle of Foundation Establishment and on the verge of breaking through to Core Formation.

Since defeating Liu Heng in the martial arena, more and more people within the Eternal Spring Palace had begun to pay attention to this core disciple who had only recently arrived.

Among the inner disciples, Liu Heng’s strength was merely decent and could not yet be called top-tier. Although Ye Yun had defeated him, his cultivation was still only in the late Foundation Establishment stage, so many people remained eager to test him.

Likewise, within the ranks of the core disciples, quite a few were rolling up their sleeves, seemingly ready to exchange pointers with Ye Yun.

That day, many disciples had gathered before the mountain gate of the Eternal Spring Palace, their figures dense across the grounds.

A middle-aged man in purple robes, with a stern and imposing expression, slowly descended from the sky, powerful aura surging around him.

“A Core Formation expert!”

The pupils of many Eternal Spring Palace disciples contracted sharply. Only a Core Formation expert could fly through the air.

“Friend Xu, you have come from afar and honored our Eternal Spring Palace with your presence. It is truly our good fortune,” said an elder of the sect as he stepped forward with a smile.

“Heh, Friend Yun Chen, you are too kind. The reason for my visit is to ask your noble sect for one person,” the middle-aged man in purple replied with a faint smile.

His surname was Xu; he was none other than Xu Jufang, Xu Shaodong’s father.

With the intelligence network held by the Xu family, it was naturally easy to discover that Ye Yun had now become a disciple of the Eternal Spring Palace.

Across the vast lands ruled by the Holy Dragon Dynasty, the Xu family was a first-rate great clan whose influence even surpassed that of a sect like the Eternal Spring Palace.

That was why, with Xu Jufang personally arriving at the Eternal Spring Palace, a sect elder had come out to welcome him in person.

“I wonder which of our disciples Friend Xu has traveled so far to see?” Elder Yun Chen asked slowly.

He did not agree immediately. Though the Xu family was formidable, it was not so overwhelmingly stronger than the Eternal Spring Palace that he could simply yield without concern for the sect’s dignity.

Yet Xu Jufang was no ordinary figure either. He was the son of the Xu family patriarch and held a position of considerable power. Nor did Yun Chen flatly refuse him; instead, he intended to probe further and see what the man truly meant.

“I heard that a young man named Ye Yun recently became a disciple of your sect. I would very much like to meet him,” Xu Jufang said with a smile.

Even when speaking of Ye Yun, the man who had killed his son, his tone remained calm and indifferent, revealing not the slightest trace of killing intent. His depth of mind was frightening.

“Ye Yun?” As an elder of the sect, Yun Chen naturally knew of the newly joined core disciple, and he also knew that Ye Yun had been personally taken in as a core disciple by the sect master, Master Evergreen.

He did not know why Xu Jufang wished to see Ye Yun, but since the other man was a Core Formation expert and had personally come to request an audience with a core disciple, if the palace were to refuse or evade him, it would only make the Eternal Spring Palace seem discourteous.

With that thought, Elder Yun Chen nodded and said, “I’ll have someone summon Ye Yun at once. Friend Xu, please come inside and take a seat.”

As he spoke, Yun Chen instructed someone beside him, then led Xu Jufang into the sect, where he was received in the grand hall for guests.

A faint smile remained on Xu Jufang’s lips, but within his heart, a cold and murderous intent was already surging.

As for Ye Yun, he still did not know that Xu Shaodong’s father had already come knocking.

After his cultivation broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage, he had never neglected his own progress. The Crimson Flame true qi within him continued to condense and grow stronger, while at the same time he kept comprehending the Heaven-Scorching Seal and the Nine Totem Battle Arts, steadily increasing his strength.

On the road of seeking the Dao through cultivation, strength was the eternal truth, the very foundation of all things.

“Ye Yun!”

At that moment, a voice suddenly came from outside, waking Ye Yun from his cultivation.

“Elder Yun Chen asked me to inform you to come to the guest hall. There is an important guest who wishes to see you,” the newcomer called again.

“I’m coming.”

Ye Yun stepped out of his room and saw a middle-aged man standing outside in a black long robe. From his attire, he appeared to be a guardian of the sect.

Ye Yun did not know who wished to see him. When he arrived at the guest hall, he saw several important figures from the Eternal Spring Palace seated there, chatting amiably with a middle-aged man in purple robes.

“Ye Yun pays his respects to all the seniors.”

Entering the hall, Ye Yun clasped his hands and bowed, not neglecting the proper courtesies.

At the same time, the important figures in the hall also saw him. Elder Yun Chen smiled and nodded. “Friend Xu, this is Ye Yun.”

“Friend Xu?” Ye Yun’s pupils narrowed slightly. His gaze fell upon the middle-aged man in purple, and after a careful look, he was struck at once.

Xu Shaodong’s features bore a faint resemblance to this man. Could there be some hidden connection between them?

“Ye Yun?” Xu Jufang smiled as he looked over at Ye Yun. Stroking his beard, he nodded slightly and said, “Not bad. A promising young talent!”

The elders of the Eternal Spring Palace who were accompanying him all beamed when they heard Xu Jufang praise Ye Yun.

But at that very moment, Xu Jufang’s expression suddenly turned icy. A fierce, overwhelming killing intent erupted from his body, and the true qi of a Core Formation expert condensed into a great hand, like an eagle’s claw, reaching out across the air to seize Ye Yun in one grasp!

This sudden change left even Elder Yun Chen and the others, though all Core Formation experts themselves, with no time to react. Who could have imagined that Xu Jufang had been smiling moments ago, only to turn on a dime and strike without warning?

“As expected!”

Ye Yun’s heart pounded wildly. The instant he saw the other man attack, he had already pieced together the general outline of the matter.

However, though Xu Jufang was a Core Formation expert and a single grasp of that true qi hand was enough to instantly kill any great-circle Foundation Establishment cultivator, leaving no burial place behind, he had failed to take one thing into account: Ye Yun was no ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator.

“The Mystic Art turns once—Crimson Flame Demon Body!”

Ye Yun gave a sharp cry. Two secret arts were activated at the same time, crimson flames surging across his body as his aura exploded upward in an instant.

At the same time, his hands blurred into afterimages, forming one profound and intricate seal after another. With both palms thrusting forward, a vast and raging inferno roared into being, colliding from afar with the true qi hand that had seized down from the sky!

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