Chapter 397: Messenger of the Spirit Realm
Inside a secret chamber beneath the main hall of the Taiyi Sect, there stood a more than thirty-foot-tall statue of a coiled dragon made of jade. The dragon’s head hung downward, lifelike and exuding an aura of formidable power.
“Thirty thousand years ago, the sect’s founder discovered, through a stroke of luck, the cultivation cave of an ancient powerful cultivator. He obtained three treasures: a mid-tier Dao artifact, the Taiyi Dragon Sword; a low-tier Dao artifact, the Dragon Blood Battle Flag; and this Jade Coiled Dragon Pillar.”
Tai Xu briefly explained, “This Jade Coiled Dragon Pillar is an ancient relic that allows long-distance communication across realms. The jade pendant in my hand is actually one of the dragon’s eyes. When the founder ascended to the Spirit Realm, he took one of these eyes with him. Thus, through these two dragon eyes, he could maintain regular contact with his sect in the cultivation world even while in the Spirit Realm.”
“I understand,” Su Che nodded and stepped into a dark corner of the chamber.
Tai Xu held the emerald-green jade pendant and activated it with his spiritual energy. Immediately, a green light shot into the left eye of the dragon’s head. A few moments later, another green light emerged from the right eye.
The light beam landed in the center of the chamber, about twenty feet in front of Tai Xu.
Soon, the light twisted, forming a misty illusionary image, and a figure appeared. The person looked quite young, in his twenties, an extremely handsome and dashing man with an air of extraordinary pride.
However, this was just an illusion, like a painting, and could not represent his true form. No one could determine his actual cultivation level.
“Tai Xu, I’ve been summoning you for over two periods already. Why have you only arrived now?”
As expected, according to Tai Xu and the others, the messenger of the Spirit Realm had a cold and arrogant demeanor, clearly looking down on all others.
“Respected Messenger, I was inside our sect’s treasure vault handling some matters. Your summons were blocked by the defensive barrier, so I was completely unaware,” Tai Xu pretended to be terrified and hurriedly explained. “Only after leaving the vault did I notice your summons. I rushed here immediately, but I’m truly sorry for making you wait. Please forgive me, respected messenger.”
The messenger of the Spirit Realm snorted coldly. Seeing Tai Xu’s sincere apology, he decided not to further reproach him.
“Have you found out anything about Tian Yu from the Tianxuan Sect?” the messenger asked, getting to the point.
“Reporting to the envoy, this person keeps a low profile, making it difficult to trace his exact whereabouts,” Tai Xu replied. “However, a few days ago, an insider from the Illusion Demon Sect reported that Tian Yu left his sect two months ago and has not returned yet. It is said he may not return to the Tianxuan Sect for another three or four months.”
This explanation had been pre-arranged by Su Che and Tai Xu to buy time and allow them to prepare more thoroughly. After all, if they could not determine Su Che’s exact location or even find him at all, it would be pointless for the envoy from the Spirit Realm to descend to the mortal world too early.
Staying in this realm, where spiritual energy is scarce and resources are limited, would also be a torment for that envoy; moreover, suppressing one’s cultivation level for such a long time would bring many disadvantages and risks.
“It’s taken so long yet you still can’t figure out someone’s whereabouts. Your efficiency is truly poor,” the envoy from the Spirit Realm said, frowning in displeasure.
“You are right, it is indeed our failure. Please forgive us,” Tai Xu bowed and said. “But Tian Yu is young yet extremely cunning. He also knows that the seven major sects already harbor murderous intent toward him, so he is extremely cautious in every aspect. Even within his own sect, he uses disguise techniques to hide his identity. Our insiders from the seven sects simply cannot see him at all…”
Tai Xu’s elaborate explanation did not earn the envoy’s sympathy. The proud envoy said coldly, “You have half a month to find out his whereabouts. If you fail, your rewards will be reduced. You can forget about those top-tier cultivation tools you desire so much.”
“Ah?”
Tai Xu immediately looked worried and pleaded carefully, “Lord Envoy, it’s really impossible to do it in half a month. Please grant us more time.”
“No!”
The envoy from the Spirit Realm replied firmly, “If we don’t put pressure on you, you’ll always be hesitant and inefficient. If you do a good job, the rewards will surely surprise you greatly. But if you continue to be this incompetent, your rewards will definitely be cut.”
“Very well. I will immediately inform the leaders of the other six sects. We will go all out and use every means possible to find Tian Yu’s whereabouts within half a month,” Tai Xu replied helplessly.
“Hmm.”
The Messenger of the Spirit Realm relaxed slightly and said, “Tian Yu is merely a Yuan Ying cultivator; in my eyes, he’s no different from an ant. Killing him was just incidental—our main goal was to urge you to complete the task as quickly as possible. The original plan was to open a passage to the lower world within fifty years, but after the warning of the celestial tremors, another even more important event is about to occur, forcing us to speed things up and aim to start the passage within twenty years. Therefore, all seven major sects must take more aggressive actions and not be too cautious. Even if there are losses, the Spirit Realm will compensate tenfold or a hundredfold. As long as you do your job, there will be various rewards that will astonish you greatly…”
As he spoke at length, Tai Xu nodded repeatedly, agreeing and expressing his gratitude nonstop.
Su Che hid in a corner, observing coldly. He felt that this Messenger of the Spirit Realm was extremely arrogant yet still talked so much nonstop, which showed that he was under considerable pressure—there must be some high-ranking figure in the Spirit Realm pressing him as well…
After finishing his speech, the Messenger of the Spirit Realm said, “The issue with Tian Yu must be resolved within three months. If you can’t determine his whereabouts, there’s only one solution.”
“What solution? Please clarify, Lord Messenger,” Tai Xu asked humbly.
“Half a month from now, whether you can find him or not, I will descend to the lower world,” the Messenger of the Spirit Realm said gravely. “If all else fails, I’ll take matters into my own hands, capture all his close associates, and force him to appear!”
“Your wisdom is unmatched; this method will surely work,” Tai Xu said, flattering him despite his true thoughts.
Su Che, meanwhile, was filled with hatred: “A being from the Spirit Realm, at least at the Lian Xu stage, would resort to such despicable methods.”
In the Immortal Prison, Old Demon Bai waved his feather fan and said, “Master, this isn’t strange. To achieve one’s goals, whether through despicable or vile methods—as long as they work, they can be considered strategies.”
“That’s troublesome now,” Old Black muttered. “I had planned to figure out when this worthless messenger would descend, so the master could hide on Witch Yellow Star. Now, it’s like the monk can run, but the temple remains—could we possibly pack the entire Tian Xuan Sect into the Immortal Prison and take it with us? If so, it would mean Tian Xuan Sect is temporarily removed from the cultivation world of Qi Yuan Star.”
Lao He had a clear idea in mind. Given his master’s personality, he surely wouldn’t abandon Tianxuan Sect and flee. To protect the sect’s reputation, he would likely engage in a serious confrontation with this Spirit Realm envoy… After that, the Spirit Realm envoy gave a few more instructions before ending the call. It was already very clear that this person would descend to the mortal world in half a month to award rewards to the seven major sects of the Chaos Faction, with another goal being to eliminate the biggest threat and obstacle: Tianxuan Sect’s Tianyu.