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Chapter 117: Chapter 102: Chase to Kill (Please Subscribe)
Li Qian followed for a distance before deciding to return to the Divine Sword Sect.
Now that Luo Wangfu had retreated, the Divine Sword Sect was at peace.
He could continue his quiet training of ringing the bell.
Just after returning to Chen Bell Platform, Liu Ming greeted him eagerly, asking anxiously, "Senior Brother Li, did we win?"
"We won."
Li Qian nodded.
The rebels had retreated; wasn’t that a victory?
"That’s great."
Liu Ming was overjoyed.
Chirp!
A black hawk dived down from the clouds, its cry piercing and shattering like metal.
As it approached low altitude, the shadow abruptly ascended rapidly, sweeping past the side of the bell tower at high speed.
After circling a few times, Xiao Hei finally landed, and Li Qian casually threw a Feeding Pill and climbed up the bell tower, ready to start his bell-ringing training once the hour arrived.
The clear sound of the bell resonated through the sky above Divine Sword Sect.
At this moment, the Divine Sword Sect plunged into enthusiastic cheers.
The rebels had retreated.
The disproportionate battle was finally no longer necessary.
Several Heavenly Persons hadn’t returned and were still following the enemy on their way back, to prevent any surprise counterattacks from the rebels.
By the time they returned to Divine Sword Sect, it was already noon.
The rebels were indeed retreating relentlessly, heading straight for Xuan State without stopping for a moment.
"Something major must have happened at Luo Wangfu’s side."
Ye Tianren made a prediction.
"It must be so. The rebels are clearly heading back to help... If my guess is correct, Great Moon Pass must have been breached by the Baize Army. I reckon it won’t be long before we receive reports, and we need to be ready to deploy troops to Xing State to suppress the Luo Wangfu rebels."
Chai Tianren nodded and said.
So the training of the Martial Arts Army must continue.
....
Chen Bell Platform.
Liu Ming was practicing his boxing.
Li Qian was pondering over an ancient book Elder Gu had given him.
Suddenly, his master, Zhou Buping, walked up from the foot of the mountain.
When he saw Li Qian seated there well, he was stunned as if he’d seen a ghost, "Li Qian, why are you here?"
"Master, if I’m not here, where else would I be?"
Li Qian, seeing his master return, said with a smile.
"Uh..."
Zhou Buping quickly approached and spoke in a lowered voice, "Didn’t you leave?"
Li Qian, being on the list, meant his master knew about the plan for the continuation of the Daoist lineage.
Logically speaking, Li Qian should have entered Kunwu Road by now.
Why was he still at Chen Bell Platform?
Could it be that they forgot to notify Li Qian?
But that can’t be right; he hasn’t seen Li Qian these past two days.
"Master, as a disciple of Divine Sword Sect, how could I abandon it at this time? I vow to live and die with the Divine Sword Sect."
Li Qian immediately declared.
"You are still too young; it’s good to have courage, but you also need to consider the timing. You can’t be so willful in the future."
Zhou Buping said with a stern face.
"Master, please rest assured, wasn’t everything fine this time?"
Li Qian pointed out.
"This time was just luck... Do you think you can always be this lucky? War is no child’s play; you still have a long path ahead, don’t let your emotions dictate your actions, and think carefully about everything you do."
Zhou Buping snorted coldly.
"Master, let’s not talk about this, let’s have Liu Ming cook some dishes later, and we’ll have a few drinks to celebrate."
Li Qian suggested with a smile.
Zhou Buping felt as if his earlier words were completely ignored by his disciple.
Well, he might understand after suffering a big loss in the future.
After drinking and eating their fill, Zhou Buping had to go to the Divine Sword Hall to report that his disciple hadn’t followed the move, to prevent him from being mistaken for deserting.
Li Qian directly took the backpack from the cellar and handed it to his master to pass it to the Sect Leader.
....
Divine Sword Hall.
Sect Leader Feng Shaoyu was extremely busy.
Although the battles were over,
the losses experienced by the Divine Sword Sect were substantial.
The accounting of various battle losses, material damages, and much more... there was a lot requiring his attention as Sect Leader.
"What did you say? Li Qian didn’t leave?"
Sect Leader Feng Shaoyu paused, hearing what Zhou Buping said, and then snorted coldly, "Nonsense, Elder Zhou, you must seriously reprimand him. We’ll let it slide this time, but next time, there will be no forgiveness. The grand plan of Daoist lineage continuation should not be taken as child’s play."
Although Li Qian stayed to share life and death with the Divine Sword Sect, and his intentions were good, if the Divine Sword Sect were really destroyed, it wouldn’t matter much if ordinary disciples died or lived.
However, for someone elite like Li Qian, surviving could mean a world of difference for the reconstruction of the Divine Sword Sect.
"Sect Leader, I scolded him harshly as soon as I saw him; he now recognizes his fault and has vowed never to act rashly again."
Zhou Buping quickly assured.
Feng Shaoyu nodded, then said, "Since he didn’t leave, I have a task here for him to do as a small punishment."
He pulled out a map and handed it to Zhou Buping, "Let him go to this place and call back the Daoist Seeds who left."
Now that the crisis of Divine Sword Sect was resolved, the fleeing Daoist Seeds naturally should return.
Who should be sent to call them?
Li Qian was the most suitable candidate.
.....
Chen Bell Platform.
Li Qian took the small map handed over by Zhou Buping and was speechless.
This was definitely making him take a trip.
Though a round trip might not take many days,
it would delay several days of bell-ringing training.
"Master, I’ll be leaving now."
Li Qian said.
"Go ahead, the sooner you leave, the sooner you’ll return."
Zhou Buping nodded.
After Li Qian descended the mountain, the tense atmosphere he left behind seemed much more relaxed than when he had been at the Divine Sword Sect.
However, the training of the Martial Arts Army continued.
Li Qian mounted a fast horse, left the Divine Sword Sect, and headed straight for Taicang Pass.
To enter Kunwu Road, you must pass through Taicang Pass.
One day later.
He had already entered Chanzhou on Kunwu Road.
The local customs and culture of Kunwu Road were entirely different from those of Taixing Road.
Here, it was a high-altitude snowy plateau entirely covered in snow due to deep winter, with temperatures extremely low, truly a land of ice spanning thousands of miles and drifting snow.
Such weather posed no obstacle for Li Qian.
After all, his cultivation realm had already achieved immunity to the extremes of cold and heat.
He was still clad in a single layer of clothing, and even in the ice and snow, he felt no cold at all.
"I should be close to the hidden location of the Daoist seeds," thought Li Qian to himself.
Only two people knew about this hiding place; one was Sect Leader Feng Shaoyu, and the other was that leading senior True Disciple.
According to the plan to perpetuate the Dao lineage, all Daoist seeds would go into hiding temporarily upon entering Chanzhou on Kunwu Road.
Should the Divine Sword Sect fall, they would receive the news and migrate further north.
If the Divine Sword Sect still stood, the Daoist seeds would wait for the sect’s signal before returning.
...
In a remote village in Chanzhou,
A day ago, uninvited strangers arrived, breaking the peace here.
This village had only one household living here with facilities sufficient to house dozens of families.
Moreover, the empty houses were regularly cleaned and maintained.
Only the senior True Disciple, Senior Brother Zhao, knew that this family were village guards waiting specifically for them.
These village guards were a common family benefiting from the grace of the Divine Sword Sect generation after generation,
With no worries about food and clothing, their duty was to wait for the arrival of certain people.
The village still sank in desolation currently.
Everyone’s spirits were low.
They all felt a heart-wrenching pain whenever they thought of the Divine Sword Sect possibly undergoing a brutal slaughter and how many of their fellow sect members might die.
Yet there was nothing they could do but wait for results before proceeding to the next step.
Suddenly, a disciple on guard outside dashed into the village from outside.
"Senior Brother Zhao, bad news! A large group of people in black appeared outside the village and are heading this way."
"What?"
The leader, Senior True Disciple Zhao suddenly stood up, his face turning grim, "We took a secluded path and didn’t encounter anyone... How could our whereabouts have been exposed?"
This place was very remote, and according to the villagers, it had been decades since anyone had appeared nearby.
Just under a day after their arrival, a large group of people in black appeared; it seemed likely their target was them.
"Senior Brother Zhao, could it be that Li Qian betrayed the Divine Sword Sect and led the enemies here?"
A Core Disciple, Huang Haisheng, voiced.
This individual was born in Xuan Yang Peak and, although not a Divine Sword Matcher, had participated in True Disciple selections and entered the Sword Tomb...thus appearing on the list for the lineage perpetuation.
"Him?"
Senior True Disciple Zhao’s expression turned icy; previously, Li Qian had disappeared from the team at some unknown time and could not be found despite all efforts.
If anyone had leaked the team’s movements, it was most likely Li Qian.
There’s no reason he would have left the team otherwise.
"It must be him... I never thought he was such a person."
"I had already heard that he feared death and never dared undertake even slightly dangerous missions..."
"It’s infuriating, why would he do such a thing?"
...
Everyone else became enraged.
At a time when the survival of the Divine Sword Sect was at stake, to think that someone would betray them and sell out their fellow disciples was utterly despicable and shameful. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
"Alright, whether it was him who leaked our whereabouts or not is another matter, we must break out immediately..."
Senior True Disciple Zhao said grimly.
Anger was futile now; they only had a chance if they broke out immediately.
Since the pursuers dared to come after them, they must be powerful.
Just as everyone shouldered their packs and were ready to move, sounds of breaking the sky came from a distance, followed by several dark figures appearing nearby and closing in to attack the Divine Sword Sect’s Daoist seeds.
"Everyone, stay close to me, let’s break out."
Senior Brother Zhao gave a low shout, drawing his long sword, and an aura emitted by a Great Grandmaster enveloped the area.
As a senior True Disciple, his cultivation strength had reached the mid-True Pill Realm, making him the most powerful amongst those present.
Additionally, two other True Disciples had also reached the Great Grandmaster level.
Out of the other eight True Disciples, except for the two most recent ones selected, including Nangong Bei, all were at the Grandmaster level.
Among the non-True Disciple members, although there were no Great Grandmasters, there were several at the Grandmaster level.
Soon, more than fifty people grouped together, with three Great Grandmasters at the forefront, and eleven Grandmasters protecting the flanks and rear, charging to break out.
Intense fighting broke out.
The attacking people in black were very strong, including many Grandmasters and some Great Grandmasters...clearly, they were specifically here to kill the Divine Sword Sect’s Daoist seeds.
"Are you people from Xuanming Sect?"
Senior Brother Zhao, after clashing with a Grandmaster in black, immediately discerned this from the True Qi and martial skills.
"Hmph, you people from Divine Sword Sect all deserve to die, not just you, but the entirety of your Divine Sword must be buried with our Xuanming Sect’s Heavenly Person..."
The Grandmaster in black sneered, his voice filled with murderous intent.
After the Heavenly Person Chen Ao of Xuanming Sect died under Divine Sword Sect’s Heavenly Person Xiao Wendao, Xuanming Sect’s deep-seated hatred towards Divine Sword Sect was intense.
Upon secretly learning that the Divine Sword Sect’s Daoist seeds had escaped, Xuanming Sect immediately dispatched a strong force to pursue and kill them.
Since the battle at the Divine Sword Sect had not yet occurred when they pursued, they didn’t know about the withdrawal of Luo Wangfu’s rebels.
In their view, the Divine Sword Sect was sure to fall.
Eliminating these Daoist Seeds of Divine Sword Sect would essentially mean the end of the entire sect.
.....
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