Chapter 45: The Acting Abbot of the Temple of White Bones

Chapter 45: The Acting Master of the White Bone Temple

Near Qiyun Mountain.

With a flash of his figure, Chen Pingan materialized. He slowly opened his palm, his profound gaze fixing upon a grey-black speck of dust.

The moment the Seven-Star Formation failed and the Ruins Secret Realm collapsed, he had snatched this speck of dust into his grasp.

It had been nearly ten double-hours since his journey from the Yunmeng Marsh all the way to Qiyun Mountain, yet this speck of dust remained completely unchanged.

"Could it be that the black cat is really dead?"

Chen Pingan speculated.

He remembered the black cat crying out tearfully, "Where are you? Are you dead? Sob! I'm going to die too!"

Those words had left him inexplicably shaken at the time, his very soul trembling as if in dread.

The black cat was searching for someone, and that person was likely already dead, causing the cat itself to perish and turn into dust.

After a moment.

"Little cat, can you hear me speaking?"

Chen Pingan probed tentatively.

The speck of dust remained silently motionless, devoid of any aura.

Using his divine sense to examine it once more, Chen Pingan still gained nothing. In the end, he retrieved a jade box, placed the speck of dust inside, and then turned and flew toward Qiyun City.

That mysteriously-derived black cat was indeed dead.

Even such a powerful physical body had been destroyed by the Seven-Star Formation, which showed that the legacy of this Seven-Star Tomb was truly terrifying.

As for Fu Hongying—

He had no desire to see her for the time being.

He had lived out a second life for the sake of cultivation, to attain immortality and become an ancestor, not to fall in love.

Outside Qiyun City.

A mighty divine sense of the Transcendent Realm swept across the entire city, and Chen Pingan instantly located Xia Xiaoliang in an inn.

The little lass was currently cultivating.

"Remarkable indeed, to actually not be eating steamed buns..." Chen Pingan laughed heartily, his body vanishing into the void. The next instant, he appeared inside the room without Xia Xiaoliang being aware of it in the least.

He did not disturb Xia Xiaoliang either, but instead sat by the table and waited.

After a while.

The Transcendent Realm trial card expired, and he reverted to the Golden Body Realm.

Chen Pingan produced a few top-tier Qi and Blood Pills, swallowed them, and quietly began to cultivate as well.

A day later.

Xia Xiaoliang's stomach let out a series of rumbling sounds.

"Ah, I'm so hungry. Why hasn't the Patriarch returned yet?"

Murmuring to herself, she opened her eyes. With a flick of her hand, a fragrant steamed bun appeared. Just as she brought it to her lips, her vision suddenly froze, and her entire body went rigid.

Three zhang away, directly across from her, a peerlessly handsome man sat quietly by the table, his hands resting on his knees, his eyes slightly closed, radiating a captivating charm.

If this wasn't the Patriarch, who else could it be?

"Ha! Patriarch, you're back? How did you find me?"

Xia Xiaoliang hopped down from the bed in excitement, bounding over like a little bird.

"I followed my nose."

Chen Pingan smiled.

"Patriarch, have a steamed bun."

Xia Xiaoliang smiled sweetly as well, casually offering a steamed bun.

The elder and the youth proceeded to eat steamed buns right there in the room. Once finished, the two left the inn and embarked on their return journey to the Azure Cloud Sect.

...

Outside the Azure Cloud Sect.

A ghastly pale ghostly Qi billowed, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, sealing off the entire Azure Cloud Sect tightly.

Inside the Sect Master's grand hall, numerous high-ranking figures of the Azure Cloud Sect were all present.

The Profound Patriarch was among them as well.

Du Julong said with a worried expression, "Profound Patriarch, the White Bone Temple has besieged our Azure Cloud Sect for days now."

"This operation by the White Bone Temple was meticulously planned. They quietly surrounded our Azure Cloud Sect, resulting in many disciples being captured. They are using this to coerce us into giving the White Bone Old Demon an explanation..."

"An explanation?"

The Profound Patriarch smiled faintly, letting out a cold snort. "What explanation? Could it be that we are expected to offer up our Patriarch on a platter?"

Qin Jian raged, "Profound Patriarch, the White Bone Temple is the number one demonic sect in the Northern Province, always unscrupulous in their methods. Threatening the lives of our Azure Cloud Sect disciples like this is simply abominable!"

"Abominable indeed."

The Profound Patriarch sighed.

He was currently restrained by the situation.

Although he possessed the God-Slaying Stone, which allowed him to covertly eliminate one or two experts of the White Bone Temple, even so, the overall strength of the White Bone Temple remained formidable. Once a counter-slaughter was triggered, he would inevitably perish as well.

He could only wield this God-Slaying Stone once.

If he used it twice, his spiritual energy would be completely drained, rendering him no better than scrap.

The price he would pay was one aspect.

Furthermore, with the two major forces currently at war, once the God-Slaying Stone was exposed, it would likely provoke earth-shattering turmoil across the entire wilderness.

And with the Patriarch away in Youzhou, no one was holding down the fort at the Azure Cloud Sect.

He could not afford to risk using the God-Slaying Stone.

Unless the White Bone Temple and the Azure Cloud Sect fought to the bitter end—only when driven to a desperate struggle would he employ all his trump cards.

High above the Azure Cloud Sect, ghostly Qi surged and shadowy figures loomed. The phantom of a woman sat high upon a dragon throne; she was slender yet voluptuously proportioned, propping her sharp chin with her hand as she gazed into the distance below.

"Fellow daoists of the Azure Cloud Sect, do you still intend to offer stubborn resistance? Speak—how exactly did my White Bone Temple's White Bone Old Demon die, and who was pulling the strings behind the scenes? Reveal this person, or hand them over, and my White Bone Temple will never indiscriminately slaughter the innocent."

A languid voice drifted down from the highest heavens.

The expressions of the Azure Cloud Sect's higher-ups shifted slightly.

"This person is even more formidable than the White Bone Old Demon..."

The Profound Patriarch's expression turned grave.

Du Julong lowered his voice to explain, "Profound Patriarch, it is said that the Master of the White Bone Temple took in quite a few disciples throughout his life, among whom two were the most outstanding, showing signs of surpassing their master. These two were a man and a woman; the man was the White Bone Old Demon, while this woman is known as Madam White Bone, currently the acting master of the White Bone Temple."

"Hmm."

The Profound Patriarch nodded solemnly.

Although he had long remained aloof from worldly affairs, he had still caught wind of Madam White Bone.

Within the ghostly Qi.

Madam White Bone waited silently for a moment, and finding that the Azure Cloud Sect still made not a peep, hiding like turtles with their heads tucked in, she felt a sense of helplessness in her heart.

Although her White Bone Temple army was pressing hard upon them, if they were to truly engage in a bloody battle with the Azure Cloud Sect, the losses would be far too great.

The Azure Cloud Sect was one of the eight orthodox sects, and its strength was not to be underestimated.

Yet her junior brother, the White Bone Old Demon, was a peak tenth-layer Divine Void Realm cultivator—on par with her own cultivation level—yet he had met a tragic death within the Azure Cloud Sect.

Even though her strength was greater, she did not dare to easily court danger.

After all, though she had captured a few Azure Cloud Sect disciples over the past few days, she hadn't managed to get a clear explanation out of them; most of them claimed that it was the Azure Cloud Sect's formation that had attacked the White Bone Old Demon.

A white-robed elder chuckled grimly, "Madam, these people of the Azure Cloud Sect are obstinate and foolish; I reckon they won't scatter the hawk until they see the rabbit. Why not slaughter a few Azure Cloud Sect disciples?"

"No need for haste. They have few trump cards left, but we have plenty. The longer we wait, the more returning Azure Cloud Sect disciples there will be. By then, let us see if those old fogies of the Azure Cloud Sect start sweating..."

Madam White Bone smiled languidly, leaning sideways against the dragon throne as she prepared to take a light nap.

Surrounding the dragon throne were numerous Divine Void Realm powerhouses of the White Bone Temple, yet not a single one uttered a complaint as Madam White Bone dozed.

This demonstrated that—

Madam White Bone, this acting master, commanded exceptionally high prestige throughout the entire White Bone Temple.

In a certain spot within the ghostly Qi.

Inside a massive cage, quite a few Azure Cloud Sect disciples were locked away. Some, desperate to escape, continuously bombarded the cage, producing wave upon wave of booming crashes.

Thwack!

A bone whip came whistling down, lashing several people until they tumbled about, letting out wails of agony.

"Behave yourselves, or I'll kill you first!"

A Divine Concealment Realm black-robed elder brandishing a bone whip cursed with a sinister expression.

The Azure Cloud Sect disciples fell silent out of fear, trembling.

Among the crowd was Ning Yao. Her complexion at this moment was exceptionally pale, her mood plummeted to the absolute abyss.

She had only just broken through to the Divine Concealment Realm and was preparing to go out for experiential training, never expecting to be captured by the experts of the White Bone Temple who had arrived stealthily.