Heavenly Harem: Raising My Disciple With Infinite Dual Cultivation

Chapter 144: CH. 144 | Agreement with Zhu Wei

Zhu Wei smiled a little, his eyes fixed on Lin Tian with a hopeful look. But to actually talk through the terms of their deal, the Zhu Auction Pagoda wasn’t the right place for it.

"Come with me, Fellow Daoist."

"Let’s discuss this at the Zhu Clan Mansion," Zhu Wei said, stepping aside and extending his hand to invite Lin Tian along.

Lin Tian and Zhu Wei walked off, leaving the auction pagoda behind, with the two young elders trailing behind them.

Several auction attendants watched them go, still shaken that morning by the arrival of a guest as powerful as Zhu Wei.

"I’m truly impressed you managed to defeat those people from Sect Moiyi. They’re known for being brutal, showing no mercy at all," Zhu Wei said.

"A lot of auction participants backed out of coming just because of Sect Moiyi," Zhu Wei added.

"That’s cost us quite a bit."

The man walking beside Zhu Wei kept listening as he talked. Zhu Wei went on at length about the auction incident from the other day, the massive battle involving a Nascent Soul Master just outside the city.

Zhu Wei mentioned that word of the incident had already spread far and wide. Sect Moiyi’s defeat had knocked down their usual arrogance and standing quite a bit.

A battle that big... of course it was bound to draw everyone’s attention.

Lin Tian arrived at the Zhu Clan’s main mansion, a clean, well organized area built in a classic oriental architectural style.

Zhu Wei pointed ahead, toward the clan’s main building, a three story structure.

The wooden doors opened, revealing a number of elders already waiting inside.

Zhu Wei had apparently been in the middle of discussing something with them, some issue they’d been dealing with.

But news that a Nascent Soul Master had shown up at the Zhu auction pagoda, on a day with no official auction, searching for one specific technique, had caught Zhu Wei’s interest immediately.

In the end, he’d realized the Nascent Soul Master who’d walked into the Zhu Clan’s auction pagoda was none other than the winner of the Severing Azure Flame auction.

"Greetings, Clan Leader Zhu," the elders greeted, young and old alike, though only two among them had reached Early Nascent Soul, the highest cultivation level in the room.

They watched Zhu Wei walk in beside a man whose face none of them recognized. Yet with every step he took, a qi aura beneath his feet radiated power on par with Zhu Wei’s own.

"My apologies, Fellow Daoist. We happen to be in the middle of an important meeting," Zhu Wei said.

"Could you fill me in on what you need from me?" Lin Tian asked.

Zhu Wei paused for a moment, then nodded, his expression flat and unreadable. "Of course. I shouldn’t keep you waiting."

The middle aged man made his way to his throne, sitting upright, his focus locked straight ahead.

The elders lining both sides of the red carpet remained standing, now turning to face forward as well.

"Grand Elder Zhu Nan."

"Yes, Clan Leader Zhu?" a man said, standing and bowing his head.

"Explain our current situation to this fellow daoist."

"Yes, Clan Leader Zhu Wei."

The man, younger looking than Zhu Wei, turned to face Lin Tian directly, his expression serious, nothing about him suggesting he’d waste time on nonsense. Lin Tian’s attention locked onto him.

"This concerns the Young Master and Young Miss of the Zhu Clan, Senior Daoist."

"They are Zhu Zirong and Zhu Xian, both at the Early Nascent Soul stage," the man, Zhu Nan, said.

"A year ago, an ancient stone gate opened, and the Saintess Spring Valley appeared. The Zhu Clan sent a group to explore the valley."

"Young Master Zhu Zirong led the first team, while Young Miss Zhu Xian led the second."

"We expected them to return within three to five months of entering. But it’s been a full year now, and we’ve heard nothing," Zhu Nan said.

Lin Tian went quiet for a moment. Lingxi was still trapped inside that same valley, though he could at least confirm she was still alive, thanks to the sect leader jade token that was still glowing.

But this case was different. Lin Tian had no way of knowing whether these two were still alive or already dead.

"The Saintess Spring Valley is a place meant for gaining heavenly enlightenment, for manifesting one’s dao concept. Given their cultivation base, isn’t sending them there a bit much? Rushed, even?" Lin Tian asked.

"You’re right to say that, Senior. But we sent them because they had their own separate task, one that had nothing to do with the saintess’s soul."

"And what would that be?"

"My apologies. We can’t go into detail about that. It’s a clan secret," Zhu Nan answered.

Lin Tian’s eyes narrowed at the grand elder, sensing there was something big being kept from him.

"I don’t know whether they’re still alive or not. But if they are, they’re probably somewhere close to wherever their mission was actually headed."

"The problem is, since I don’t know what that mission even is, it’s like searching for a single twig in a haystack full of needles," Lin Tian explained.

Zhu Nan fell silent, offering no response, worried that revealing anything without Zhu Wei’s permission would bring punishment down on him. His only option was to wait for Zhu Wei’s approval.

The man let out a breath and rose from his throne. Both hands clasped behind his back, he looked at Lin Tian with dead seriousness.

"Forget it. Since you might be the only one who can save them, we don’t mind telling you about the ruined palace."

"The ancient saintess possessed ancient artifacts, their quality on par with the power of heaven and earth itself. The Yang Sun Ring and the Yin Moon Mirror."

"Because of the obstacles she faced in her dao enlightenment, the Saintess decided to bury those artifacts in two separate palaces, each dominated by opposing Yin Yang conditions."

"Thousands of cultivators have tried to find those two artifacts. Every single one of them has come back empty handed."

"Zhu Zirong was assigned to retrieve the Yang Sun Ring Artifact, while his younger sister, Zhu Xian, was assigned to retrieve the Yin Moon Mirror," Zhu Wei said.

Lin Tian fell quiet. He realized the two artifacts Zhu Wei had just described weren’t ordinary items at all.

He suspected there were other benefits tied to them, ones he didn’t yet know about.

And it wasn’t just the artifacts either. The Saintess Spring Valley itself struck him as deeply mysterious and dangerous.

Still, it was clearly the ideal place to seek heavenly dao enlightenment.

Zhu Wei produced two jade tokens, both pulsing steadily with a faint red glow.

He explained that the tokens were linked to his two children’s souls. As long as they kept pulsing, it meant they were still alive.

"This is a journey that’ll drain a person’s strength and could easily cost a life. This scroll... it’s not worth that kind of risk," Lin Tian said.

"I’m well aware of that," Zhu Wei said. "Go ahead, ask for whatever you need, as long as it’s within what we’re capable of giving, Fellow Daoist."

Lin Tian smiled, stepping forward boldly, locking eyes with Zhu Wei.

"I want five of your Core Formation elders to protect my disciple. I also want your clan to guarantee my sect’s safety while I’m away," Lin Tian said.

"Oh... you’re a Sect Leader? Might we know the name of your sect, Fellow Daoist?" Zhu Wei asked.

The man smiled, raising his hand, qi light gathering at his fingertips. The black robe he wore began to fade, shifting back into its original white and gray.

The Zhu Clan elders watched the transformation unfold, though they still had no idea who this man was, or which sect he belonged to.

"I’m Lin Tian. My sect is Sect Lingxian."