Chapter 3024 — Investigating the Sun Family

Of course, Little One still looked quite young; it was only that his actual age was no longer young. Even so, his years were on the younger side among Old Ancestor Xuanchen's many disciples—at the very least, Old Six and Old Seven were his seniors. Naturally, heaven-tier experts of Kang Zhaoming's caliber were the sort of freakish, unrepeatable exceptions.

The heaven-tier experts of the Five Luminaries Sect were the genuine article, every one of them—not a single one had ever taken Qi-Gathering Pills to bolster their strength. After all, these people all harbored hopes of assailing the Heavenly Dao; once one took a Qi-Gathering Pill, one could no longer absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. How, then, could one still assail the Heavenly Dao?

Even if one ate Qi-Gathering Pills until one became a late heaven-tier peak great-perfection expert, one would be forever cut off from the Heavenly Dao. Who would do such a foolish thing?

"Little One, what has happened? Why are you in such a rush?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen frowned. He truly could not imagine what great calamity could befall the Five Luminaries Sect that would make Little One so frantic.

"Master, Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve have, most likely... have already..." At this point, Little One's heart suddenly ached. These were fellow disciples who had been with him for decades, and now they were simply gone. How could he not grieve?

"Already what? What happened to them?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen's heart skipped a beat, and an ill foreboding surged up within him!

"Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve are most likely no longer among the living..." Little One said sorrowfully. "Their soul jade tokens have all shattered!"

"What?!" Old Ancestor Xuanchen sprang to his feet and stared at Little One in disbelief. "What is going on? What exactly is going on! Tell me clearly—weren't Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve cultivating in the sect? How could they fall for no reason at all?"

"Master, this is all Little One's fault. I should never have let them pursue that old madman from the Fire Lion Sect..." Little One fell to his knees, blaming himself.

"The old madman from the Fire Lion Sect? That old madman? Has he come to the Five Luminaries Sect again?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen's brows shot up as he asked.

"Yes, he sneaked into the Five Luminaries Sect and stole the oral formulas for the use of Little Eleven's divine weapon. He has visited our Five Luminaries Sect more than once before, but he always managed to slip away. This time, he happened to run right into Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve on their way to the Scripture Pavilion, and so they began to fight!" Little One said hastily. "The sounds of battle drew me there as well, and the old madman fled. Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve all gave chase. Seeing that Old Six and Old Seven were both late heaven-tier peak experts, and with Old Twelve assisting them, wiping out that old madman should have been more than enough for them, so I did not concern myself with it and let them pursue him... and the result..."

"And the result was that their soul jade tokens all shattered?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen demanded, his breathing somewhat ragged.

"Yes. Today the patrolling disciple reported that the soul jade tokens of Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Twelve had all shattered..." Little One said in anguish.

"This is not your fault. Get up." Old Ancestor Xuanchen waved a hand. "By rights, Little Six and Little Seven were late heaven-tier peak experts, and that old madman was only a late heaven-tier peak expert himself. Two against one, with Little Twelve's support on top of that—there should have been no suspense about wiping him out! Could something have happened along the way? Or has that old madman already broken through to late heaven-tier peak great-perfection?"

"Even at great-perfection, under the encirclement of the three of them, it should have been no more than a draw at best. If the three of them could not win, they could still have withdrawn intact—but to be wiped out entirely is unthinkable!" Little One said.

"That is true. Could some expert have come to his aid? But even if an expert came, it would have to be a late heaven-tier peak great-perfection expert to slaughter them all—and there are only a handful of such experts among cultivators. I know every one of them. Who would come out to help an old madman slaughter my disciples? Anyone who has reached late heaven-tier peak great-perfection surely knows of the Five Luminaries Sect's existence and would certainly recognize Little Six and the others' attire."

"Then it really is strange!" Little One too fell into thought. Earlier he had merely rushed over to report, without considering such deep matters. Now that he thought about it, this affair reeked of the bizarre!

"Master, Senior Brother, do you think it could be Wei Zhao who intervened?" Kang Zhaoming pondered for a moment, then said, "Didn't they say before that Wei Zhao was in league with that old madman in the Ulonghote Mountains?"

"Wei Zhao?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen could not help shaking his head at the name. "Zhaoming, I know you hate Wei Zhao in your heart and want me to strike him down, but am I not just as eager to see Wei Zhao dead? It is only that, constrained by that creature Xuantian—he is training wood-element inheritors for us—I cannot fall out with him! We can only keep the peace for now. To move against Wei Zhao, we must have justification; otherwise we can only strike in secret. And for you to claim that Wei Zhao, a lone cultivator who has only just advanced to heaven tier, could wipe out three experts like Little Six, Little Seven, and Little Twelve—that is utterly unrealistic! Besides, Wei Zhao and that old madman actually have no real connection. The man is a madman—what connection could he possibly have with Wei Zhao?"

"Exactly. Our Five Luminaries Sect's experts are no ordinary experts—they can all fight above their level. Wei Zhao would be doing well just to beat Little Twelve!" Little One said dismissively. "If Wei Zhao had such ability, we might as well kill ourselves! To think that years of cultivation bringing one to late heaven-tier peak great-perfection would be worth less than a lone cultivator who has only just advanced to early heaven tier?"

"Oh..." Kang Zhaoming had only mentioned it in passing, but it had to be said that his loose tongue sometimes stumbled onto the truth by sheer accident—such had been the case back in the Kang family, and such was still the case now in the Xuandan Sect. Yet few were the people who believed him.

"All right, let us not dwell on this. Are there any leads?" Old Ancestor Xuanchen asked.

"None. We have no idea where they chased him to, so there is simply no way to start looking for clues!" Little One shook his head somewhat helplessly.

Old Six and Old Twelve had only begun leaving markers after Old Seven was injured, so that Old Seven could follow them—but those markers were already very far from the Five Luminaries Sect, and so the sect's people had no way of finding the place where they had fallen.

"Then this will be difficult. That old madman's sect has already been destroyed, and he has no fixed abode at all. Unless he comes knocking again, there is simply no finding him!" Old Ancestor Xuanchen was somewhat vexed as well. When they had wiped out the Fire Lion Sect back then, they had let this one man slip through the net—truly, endless trouble in the aftermath. RS

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