Chapter 682: Chapter 681: Zong Yue
"Since I have to return to the Tian State eventually, why not take the opportunity to investigate the Ghost Lethal Sect?"
If practicing martial arts was Shi Xiaole’s interest, then uncovering the whereabouts of his parents was his obligation.
Shi Xiaole was also curious about the couple spoken of by outsiders and dreamed of meeting them someday.
Originally, according to the agreement, the annual meet-up with the Four Great Demons was approaching, but this year an exception occurred. Rumors were that the Young Dragon and the Snow Mountain Saintess were being pursued and their location was unknown.
Several months ago, the Jade Lion appeared in a dangerous location in Tian State, and had a big fight with some powerful warriors, witnessed by many martial artists.
There were also rumors of some frontier masters claiming to have seen the Heavenly Phoenix in the desert. It appeared to be heading to the Western Region, but what it was up to was unknown.
Peace prevailed for the Mysterious Sparrow as always, but there was an insider from the Gui Family claiming that Mysterious Sparrow had already left.
In general, the Four Great Demons had been restless this year, and the annual meet-up was likely to be canceled.
But Shi Xiaole didn’t know that aside from the Young Dragon acting out of personal reasons, the other three Great Demons were stirred up due to his provocation!
After bidding farewell to the core figures of Wuling Villa, Shi Xiaole rode Qingfeng directly towards Tian State two days later.
...
Tian State, Fengyang Domain.
The Fengyang Domain was just one of many ordinary domains within Tian State, and Mingyuan Town was just a remote town within Fengyang’s Domain, with a population of only hundreds of thousands who lived and worked in peace.
One day, a common-looking man, approximately thirty years old, entered Mingyuan Town.
It was Shi Xiaole in disguise.
To infiltrate the Ghost Lethal Sect would be both easy and difficult.
The easy part was that, unlike the Righteous Path, the Devil Path was not strict about preserving its reputation and didn’t need to scrutinize the background or reputation of every person who wanted to join. As long as you were willing to join, the Devil Path would accept you.
However, if one lacked true abilities, they would always linger in the periphery of the circle, simply serving as cannon fodder.
Shi Xiaole had no intentions to slowly climb the hierarchy and enter the core circle of the Ghost Lethal Sect. He didn’t have that much time or energy. So, he chose the difficult path.
This path relied on relationships.
When it came to the core circle, the vigilance of the Devil Path was even greater than that of the Righteous Path. So if you wanted to join, you had to prove yourself as a hero through years of struggle, or be born into a demon family.
The Five Poison Elder held a high position in the Ghost Lethal Sect, and luckily, he had a friend who was a long-serving outer-elder of the Ghost Lethal Sect, who was currently living in seclusion in Mingyuan Town.
That was the target of Shi Xiaole’s trip.
Shi Xiaole casually passed by a large mansion in the town, taking in all the surrounding environment. He then chose an inn and booked a room with a window view.
The room was several kilometers away from the mansion, kept at such a distance to prevent the people inside from noticing. According to the Five Poison Elder, the elder residing there was a Seventh Layer Master of the Divine Barrier Realm, so it was better to be cautious.
The area around the mansion was full of dense trees, blocking the view inside. Shi Xiaole was not in a hurry and moved his bed to the window. He meditated there and keenly observed the mansion.
After three days of observing the seemingly desolate mansion, Shi Xiaole finally saw someone exit.
It was a tall, hearty young man with long limbs. He greeted everyone enthusiastically and soon entered the town’s only brothel.
Inside the brothel.
The young man seemed nervous, pulling three women into a room as soon as he entered. Then, noises that stirred passion came from the room.
"This Zong is always so impatient! But according to the girls, he’s quite rich and skillful. Once a girl gets involved with him, they don’t want anyone else."
"Damn him! These girls can’t take their eyes off him when he comes."
Surrounded by laughter and teasing, the noises in the room were conveniently drowned in the chaotic surroundings. No one noticed an ordinary man walking in.
Pretending to pass casually, Shi Xiaole induced the Heaven and Earth Changing Spirit Great Method, subtly attempting to invade the mind of the young man inside the room. However, he wasn’t reckless and first sent a strand of spiritual power to probe.
Crack!
The connection to the spiritual power was severed.
Shi Xiaole continued to move, coincidentally embracing a passing girl who broke into a bright smile, seeing the gold ingot he pulled out. Without a second thought, she jumped into his arms and began to flirt.
"That was close!"
Shi Xiaole silently rejoiced.
When his spiritual power entered the young man’s body, he found a circle of defensive spiritual rings, likely planted by someone else.
This was a renowned mental-chain secret technique in the Martial World, generally practiced by those from the Devil Path. As soon as the mental ring of the one being infiltrated is broken, the person who implanted the ring can immediately sense it.
With Shi Xiaole’s current spiritual power, combined with the Heaven and Earth Changing Spirit Great Method, breaking the mental ring would not be difficult. The real challenge was to do so without alerting the the one who implanted it.
While flirting with the girl, Shi Xiaole ever so subtly infiltrated his spiritual power into the young man’s mind. If one couldn’t forcefully remove it, they could unravel it bit by bit, trying to sever the mental connection.
This was easier said than done.
Mental techniques were much more profound than regular martial arts, let alone unfamiliar mental techniques.
But Shi Xiaole was different.
His spiritual power and quality of spirit were among the rarest in the world, not to mention his cultivation of the Heaven and Earth Changing Spirit Great Method. More importantly, he had entered the Yiling Barrier before, causing his understanding and application of spiritual power to far exceed other martial artists.
After the young man remained in the room for two time periods, he left contentedly. By then, Shi Xiaole had already figured out 30% of the structure of the spirit circle.
Three days passed, and the young man visited again.
The deeper into the spiritual circle, the harder it was to figure out. This time, Shi Xiaole’s progress slowed significantly, figuring out only 50% of the structure.
At this rate, it would take more than ten days for Shi Xiaole to crack the spirit circle and carry out his next plan. However, plans always give way to change.
After his two previous visits, the young man did not reappear.
"Has he been suspicious? It shouldn’t be possible."
Shi Xiaole was somewhat concerned, but he remained vigilant towards the movements in the mansion. With a spirit detection range of 2,500 meters, he was confident he could respond in time to any changes.
Ten days passed.
The young man, who was named Zong Yue, finally reappeared.
Shi Xiaole noticed that the young man’s vitality was much stronger than before. Upon entering the brothel, he immediately selected eight girls. Seizing the opportunity, Shi Xiaole exerted his full strength to decode the other’s spirit circle.
One time period.
Two time periods.
This time, Zong Yue was especially excited and did not leave when the time was up.
"Just a little bit more."
By the fifth time period, Shi Xiaole had figured out 95% of the spirit circle’s structure. His focus was so intense that even the stimulation from the mediator of blood and yang had lessened significantly.
Ninety-six percent.
Ninety-seven percent.
...
One hundred percent.
With the decoding complete, Shi Xiaole’s spiritual power transformed into an invisible long knife and easily shattered the spirit circle.
"Who?"
Zong Yue sensed something in the room, but before he could shout, his consciousness was dragged into an endless abyss, experiencing one deeply etched scene after another.
Though Zong Yue’s spiritual power was not weak, how could he resist Shi Xiaole’s Heaven Transforming Earth Striking Spirit Great Method after days of continuous cultivation?
"Zong Yue, 63 years old, Divine Border Realm level one, raised by his grandfather since childhood..."
Entering the room, Shi Xiaole read through Zong Yue’s information and life experiences, missing no detail.
Upon learning that Zong Yue had been killing since he was five and had secretly committed many major crimes as proof of his allegiance to the Devil Path over the years, Shi Xiaole finally made up his mind.
He was about the same size as Zong Yue, just a bit thinner. After using the bone-exchange technique, they looked nearly identical. He closely observed Zong Yue’s face and used the materials he brought from the system space to create a disguise. He put it on immediately.
Afterwards, Shi Xiaole checked multiple times, down to the birthmark on the sole of the foot. When everything was identical, he waved his hand and Zong Yue disappeared into thin air on the bed.
After dressing up, Shi Xiaole left the room and dismissed the illusion. The eight girls on the bed fainted simultaneously. When they woke up, they would only think they had been through a fierce battle and were slightly weak.
...
"Yue’er, your grandfather knows that you are gifted and never need to worry about cultivation, but you should exercise some restraint where women are concerned."
For the first time, Shi Xiaole entered the mansion as Zong Yue and immediately saw the old man sitting in the center of the courtyard.
If his guess was correct, the elderly man, clean-shaven with a pale face, should be Zong Xingnan, the Third Elder of the Ghost Lethal Sect.
"Don’t worry, Grandpa. After this time, I’ll retreat and devote myself to cultivation. I’ll try not to go to such places."
Shi Xiaole agreed readily, showing a standard Zong Yue-like smile.
Shaking his head, Zong Xingnan had heard such words many times before and did not bother to argue. In a solemn tone, he said, "You reached the Divine Border Realm at the age of fifty-seven, which makes you a rare genius in the martial world. But you must never be complacent. Take the next half-month to adjust well. We’re going to the headquarters after that."
"Going to the headquarters? What does Grandpa mean?"
"Our young Lady will soon publicly select ten Ghost Guards! Young people under seventy can participate. I missed the opportunity back then. I hope you can bring honor!"
Due to ideology and interest issues, the Ghost Lethal Sect had already split into the Right Sect and the Left Sect, and Zong Xingnan was an elder of the Left Sect.
From Zong Yue’s memory, Shi Xiaole knew that the selection of the ten Ghost Guards is a tradition of the Left Sect of the Ghost Lethal Sect and a coveted honor for all its young members.
Only the most talented individuals are eligible to become a young master’s Ghost Guard. Once selected, they are treated as pillars of the Ghost Lethal Sect and enjoy unimaginable resources and benefits.
This principle was somewhat similar to when the Saintess of Sky Edge Pavilion selected a golden boy and jade girl, but the standards and importance given were different.
An idea suddenly sparked in Shi Xiaole’s mind.
He needs to investigate Shi Xuanzhong, which means he must penetrate the core circle of the Ghost Lethal Sect. Isn’t this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?
