Chapter 101: Demonic Sect Resurfaces
“Junior Brother Song.” Lin Qing’s eyes were sunken, and at some point a golden vertical mark had appeared on his forehead.
Perhaps he had been cultivating some technique…
Song Yan asked with concern: “Senior Brother Lin, you…”
“It’s nothing.”
Lin Qing waved his hand: “Some time ago, in my haste to break through, I pushed too hard…”
“There was a minor deviation in my cultivation. It’s fine now.”
“Oh, that’s good then.”
Song Yan nodded.
“Since I advanced to inner disciple, this is your first time visiting, isn’t it?”
Lin Qing led Song Yan into the courtyard of his cave dwelling.
He glanced with interest at the sword case on Song Yan’s back but said nothing about it.
“Come in, sit down and rest.”
Song Yan felt a bit embarrassed: “Senior Brother Lin, please don’t blame me. Some time ago, I was sent by the sect to the North Watch Mountain Flower Festival.”
“I only returned to the sect a few days ago.”
Lin Qing realized: “Oh…”
Then his expression turned to regret: “What a pity. During those very days, I had the cultivation deviation, and later Senior Brother Lu Ziye went in my place.”
“Otherwise, I would have liked to see the world.”
It was just as well that Lin Qing hadn’t mentioned it.
The moment he brought up Lu Ziye, Song Yan remembered how Senior Brother Lu had once exposed Lin Qing’s secret in front of them.
Thinking of this refined and gentle Senior Brother Lin harboring feelings for Senior Sister Qin, Song Yan found it slightly amusing.
Perhaps noticing Song Yan’s odd expression, Lin Qing asked: “Junior Brother Song, you… what’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing.”
“Here, have some tea.”
Lin Qing had set out a simple tea set on the table in his cave dwelling and poured a pot of spirit tea.
“Tell me, what brings you to visit me today? You’re not just here for idle chat, are you?”
“…”
Song Yan then stated his purpose: “Senior Brother Lin, to be honest, I came today to ask you something.”
“Do you have any news about the Breakthrough Pill…”
“The Breakthrough Pill?”
Lin Qing laughed and scolded: “You brat, I haven’t even broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining yet. If there were news, why would I tell you!?”
“Heh heh…”
Song Yan laughed dryly: “Just trying my luck.”
“However…”
Lin Qing suddenly fell into thought. After pondering for a moment, he spoke slowly.
“I do know some information, and I can share it with you.”
“Because this isn’t really a secret, and this news will soon spread throughout the sect.”
“So there’s no harm in letting you know in advance.”
Song Yan was a bit confused but listened quietly.
“I have some reliable sources, so I learned about it a bit earlier. Besides, I wasn’t planning to go anyway.”
“Some time ago, at the border between our Chu Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom, traces of large numbers of demonic cultivators appeared.”
“Large numbers of demonic cultivators?”
Song Yan was startled.
He had encountered his fair share of demonic cultivators, but they were always just a scattered few, nothing of consequence.
They were likely formed by chance encounters with fragmented inheritances.
But when demonic cultivators appeared in groups, it was something the cultivation world of every kingdom had to take seriously.
His understanding of demonic cultivators was actually quite limited, mostly gathered from Senior Brother Lu Ziye’s casual chatter.
The rest came from Senior Yuzhen’s conversation with him after slaying the yellow-robed Daoist boy.
“That yellow-robed Daoist seemed to originate from a demonic faction called the ‘Underworld Springs Path’…”
It seemed demonic cultivators were divided into many branches.
For instance, the three early-stage Qi Refining demonic cultivators outside Stone Beam Town were nothing like this yellow-robed Daoist. However, they bore some resemblance to Perfected Jiang Hui of Peach Blossom Wharf.
Elsewhere, the situation was unclear, but in Chu Kingdom, demonic cultivators had not appeared in large numbers for many years.
Occasionally a few troublemakers surfaced, but they were quickly eliminated.
“The Qi Kingdom has already dispatched cultivators to guard the border, but since the main threat is on our Chu Kingdom’s side, all six major sects must send personnel.”
“The border between Chu Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom…”
Song Yan thought for a moment: “Changping?”
“Yes, Changping.”
Lin Qing let out a soft breath: “On the surface, it’s just a rotational garrison duty at Changping in shifts. In reality, it’s hard to say whether conflicts with the demonic path will arise.”
“This mission takes a long time and carries significant potential risk. Furthermore, the spiritual energy at Changping is quite scarce…”
By this point, Song Yan understood perfectly well.
“If the mission rewards were ordinary, very few disciples would be willing to go.”
“Therefore, this time, the six major sects have jointly established special spiritual resource rewards specifically for this mission, among which is the Breakthrough Pill.”
“The mission cycle is two years, divided into four rotations. Participating in two rotations earns enough contribution points to exchange for one Breakthrough Pill.”
“Of course, if you discover any demonic cultivator activity or slay demonic cultivators, you earn additional contribution points and can obtain the pill ahead of schedule.”
“…”
“I see…”
Song Yan nodded: “However, Senior Brother Lin, if inner disciples participate in this mission, won’t they be unable to take part in the sect’s grand competition?”
He vaguely remembered the inner sect grand competition was approaching.
He himself was still an outer disciple and couldn’t participate anyway, but he was curious.
Lin Qing shook his head: “Not exactly.”
“This year’s inner sect grand competition has undergone major changes. On one hand, the inner sect competition has actually been canceled…”
His startling words made Song Yan’s eyes widen.
“What was originally limited to inner disciples has now been opened to the entire sect.”
“The inner disciples’ original matches remain unchanged. Outer disciples will also hold open competitions following the inner disciples’ format, and in the end have the chance to obtain Breakthrough Pills, break through to the late stage of Qi Refining, and be accepted as inner disciples.”
Upon hearing this, Song Yan first felt a twinge of sympathy for the senior brothers and sisters who had traveled great distances to return to the sect for the competition.
Then, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.
This way, even without participating in the Changping mission, he still had a chance to obtain the pill.
Just as he was calculating in his mind, he heard Lin Qing pour cold water on her plans.
“On the other hand… this sect-wide competition has been postponed due to the appearance of the demonic cultivators.”
“Postponed? Until when?”
“Postponed until after that mission ends.” Lin Qing smiled bitterly: “In other words, two years from now.”
“…”
Song Yan sighed softly, thinking to himself that these demonic cultivators really were nothing but trouble.
“Alright then… Senior Brother Lin, do you know when the border mission will begin?”
“It’s still early. All the mechanisms and arrangements are still being planned. By the time the mission actually starts, it will probably be a few more months.”
“Understood.”
There was nothing to be done about it.
He took a sip of the spirit tea in his cup. The clean, slightly bitter fragrance drove away some of the gloom in his heart.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, he rose to take his leave.
“Thank you for telling me, Senior Brother Lin.”
“No need. It was going to be made public anyway. Might as well tell you early and earn some goodwill.”
“In the future, when Junior Brother Song’s path to immortality prospers, don’t forget this senior brother’s small favors.”
“Ha ha ha ha…”
Senior Brother Lin was still as fond of jokes as ever.