Watching this from two scenes of light away, Yan Zhaoge and Xu Fei found the image to be rather surreal.
“Senior apprentice-brother Xu?” Yan Zhaoge swivelled his head to look at Xu Fei, who nodded, “It is Jun’er.”
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 526: Searching
HSSB526: Searching
Continuing to watch the images of light, Yan Zhaoge saw an Elder of Changli Mountain say in a heavy tone, “It only showed the two of them leaving together, rather than the causes and consequences of the matter. What can it prove?”
A Blood Dragon Sect Elder raged, “Our Chief’s daughter was kidnapped by someone of your Changli Mountain, her current status unknown, and you still dare to stand here saying things like this?”
Another Changli Mountain Elder who looked middle-aged snorted impatiently, “Having jumped into the oceanic whirlpool, they have indeed gone missing. Still, who knows what happened before and after the incident? Perhaps he has already fallen into your hands, with you instead coming to our Changli Mountain to stir things up, looking for trouble for no good reason!”
“Instead, I would ask this of you-where are they now?”
The Blood Dragon Sect Elder was furious, “Good, and now you want to malign us instead? Having performed such a major travesty, where could that little beast surnamed Shi have run to other than returning to seek your protection?”
That Changli Mountain Elder said coldly, “The reasons behind this are still yet unknown. For now, assuming that those words of yours are true, with Shi Jun and Chief Shen’s daughter both not here, how can your one-sided words be believed?”
A middle-aged woman of the Blood Dragon Sect raised her hand to stop the Elder who was exploding in rage before saying, “What you say makes sense. Since that is so, you should hand over Shi Jun and Ying’er to let them be questioned simultaneously.”
The Changli Mountain Elder snorted, “I’ve said long ago that Shi Jun has yet to return.”
He stared at the Blood Dragon Sect people opposite him, “We would very much like to know where they currently are as well.”
A Blood Dragon Sect Elder raged, “We are of no mind to go around in circles with you here like this. Every second that drags on is every additional second that Ying’er is in danger.”
“It is indeed true that there have been many conflicts between our sects in the past. Our disciples having been defeated by that Shi Jun, it can easily be attributed to their lack of proficiency, fine. However, two of our disciples have died to Shi Jun’s sword, with Ying’er having been kidnapped as well. With things as they are, you have to give us a satisfactory resolution of things!”
That Blood Dragon Sect female Elder’s gaze swept past the people of Changli Mountain before her before she slowly said, “You say that Shi Jun is not with you. What about his Master then? You won’t say that he too is not present, right?”
The images of light from the jade talisman that Bai Jingkang had brought along ended here.
He sighed, looking at Xu Fei, “Our Chief would like to invite you, Senior Brother Xu, to make a trip to the great hall. I hope that you can understand our reasons for this.”
Xu Fei said, “You are too polite, Elder Bai. Whether the words of the Blood Dragon Sect are true or not, it is still only right that I appear there personally.”
Bai Jingkang looked at Yan Zhaoge before saying, “Young Master Yan, I feel that it would be better for you not to make an appearance right now. Instead, you could try looking for Nephew Shi Jun in private.”
“If we find Nephew Shi Jun before the people of the Blood Dragon Sect do, the situation will definitely be much more beneficial to us. If you act independently, news of this will be unlikely to spread.”
Yan Zhaoge glanced at Bai Jingkang, understanding the hidden meaning in his words.
While Shi Jun was a rather trustworthy person, this current matter was an extremely awkward one.
If the real slightest of possibilities had truly come to pass and Shi Jun had really abducted Shen Ying, they would then likely no longer be able to voice reason to things.
Changli Mountain would definitely not act weak before the Blood Dragon Sect; whether or not reason stood on their side, they would still retain a tough stance.
However, if the fault truly lay with Shi Jun, if Changli Mountain was not on the side of reason, it would not be proper for Water Crystal Palace and the Spirit Returning Sect to interfere in the matter then.
Due to the threat of the Six Evil Sects, while there were many tensions amongst the Seven Pillars of Good as well, they still generally managed to get along okay.
When Hai Zhengjie and the others had been pursuing Bai Jingkang and his wife that year, it was only having no bystanders around to witness the deed that they had tried to kill the two of them in the foreign Floating Life World.
After Hai Zhengjie and the other Blood Dragon Sect disciples had been slain by Yan Zhaoge, they had been eventually just classified as missing over in the Vast Ocean World. Bai Jingkang and his wife had not leaked the news, only having reported it to the upper echelons of their Changli Mountain.
With this being killing again as well as a kidnapping, with many eyewitnesses additionally having been present, the matter seemed like it would only blow up more and more over time.
Also, the one who had been abducted being a young, beautiful female disciple, this would be even worse as the listener would be more inclined to thinking in that certain way.
It was due to embarrassment from this that the Blood Dragon Sect had been so enraged.
Especially when the one who had been abducted was the daughter of their Chief, which was like a real slap to the entire Blood Dragon Sect’s face.
Yan Zhaoge said noncommittally, “Senior apprentice-brother Xu, you go take a look first.”
As Xu Fei and Bai Jingkang left together, Yan Zhaoge closed his eyes and thought silently for a while, murmuring to himself, “Looking so anxious and enraged over this, it doesn’t seem like the Blood Dragon Sect is pretending….”
In Changli Mountain’s administrative great hall, Xu Fei cupped his hands together, greeting all those present.
The people of the Blood Dragon Sect stared at him like they wanted to gobble him up.
Xu Fei’s expression did not change as he said calmly, “While my disciple is stubborn and also a little rash, he is definitely not an immoral person, much less one who would commit crimes like those you speak of.”
That Blood Dragon Sect female Elder said slowly, “What you mean is that we are maligning you?”
Xu Fei was neither subservient nor overbearing, “This Xu evaluates his disciple as righteous and upright, yet you cannot believe it. When you say that my disciple kidnapped someone, it is similarly just a one-sided thing. How can you convince everyone of this?”
“To learn the truth of the matter, we can only first find the people in question themselves.”
“My disciple is currently indeed not in Changli Mountain, not on Directionless Island, not even on the Directionless Sea where we have heard no news of him at all.”
Xu Fei said in a heavy tone, “You are concerned about the safety of your disciple, and I am similarly worried about that of mine. After this, I will be attempting to search for him. If you want to, you can dispatch people to come along as well.”
A Blood Dragon Sect Elder snorted clearly, “You indeed clarify things quickly. He is not just charged of abduction. Two of my sect’s disciples died by his hands as well.”
Xu Fei frowned, “While this would offend your sect, if someone of your sect came to kill this Xu, this Xu would first fend them of before thinking of what to do next, rather than just standing foolishly there taking a beating and not retaliating at all.”
That Blood Dragon Sect Elder stared, “You…”
The middle-aged woman beside him waved her hand before looking straight at Xu Fei, “Fine. Whatever the case, we should first locate them. Do you have any clues regarding this?”
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br /> Xu Fei said in a neutral tone, “If your sect’s words are true and that oceanic vortex is indeed where the two of them were last seen before they vanished, we might then be able to find them there.”
That Blood Dragon Sect female Elder immediately stood up, “When do we leave?”
Xu Fei turned to look at those of Changli Mountain, their Chief Gao Tianzhong saying, “Our sect will not ignore this matter. We will dispatch people in travelling together with you and those of the Blood Dragon Sect.”
“That being so, thank you, Chief Gao,” Xu Fei nodded, inhaling deeply, “I have a bit of preparations to take care of, and will be ready to leave in an hour.”
Xu Fei returned to the Ocean Scorching Spring where Yan Zhaoge was and quickly surmised what had happened, the latter replying, “Whatever the case, let us first find Jun’er.”
“Right. Still, there is something that you must know, Zhaoge. While the Vast Ocean World is suited for qi cultivators as well, its spiritual qi flow, at the end of the day, is still different somewhat. Some occult arts that we use over at the Eight Extremities World will not be able to take effect here.”
Xu Fei quietly warned via sound transmission, “For example, the Blood Soul Recollection Ceremony cannot be used here. Therefore, even after having found Little Jun’er and the daughter of the Chief of the Blood Dragon Sect, things would still not have been resolved then. There would still be much arguing over this matter.”
Yan Zhaoge chortled, “It will be fine as long as Jun’er is okay. As for the rest, I mind not whether it is arguing or battling.”
“Senior apprentice-brother Xu, do you have any method of locating Jun’er?”
“I’m not too confident of this, but it’s still worth a try,” Having said thus, Xu Fei handed Yan Zhaoge a jade sword.
History's Strongest Senior Brother Chapter 527: Bright starlight
HSSB527: Bright starlight
Yan Zhaoge kept the sword, properly settling Ying Yuzhen within the Ocean Scorching Spring along with Xu Fei before they left together.
Xu Fei met up with the people of Changli Mountain and the Blood Dragon Sect while Yan Zhaoge found Bai Jingkang and told him, “My senior apprentice-aunt Fu is currently recuperating from her injuries in secluded cultivation. Do not interrupt her; just invite her to go to the Ocean Scorching Spring after she has left seclusion.”
Bai Jingkang nodded in agreement, Yan Zhaoge continuing, “Can you tell me more about the Star Shifting Sea?”
“I’ll find someone for you,” Bia Jingkang said before going off and finding a Changli Mountain martial practitioner who was comparatively more knowledgeable about the Star Shifting Sea.
Yan Zhaoge earnestly listened to his introduction of the place before thanking him and leaving.
The Star Shifting Sea was located in the eastern part of the Vast Ocean World, being densely filled with starlight springs which numbered greatly into the thousands.
Starlight springs were a unique kind of scenery. The source of each spring was located underwater, a large amount of light that resembled starlight intermittently gathering there and spurting outwards like geysers.
When large in scale, they directly penetrated through the surface of the sea, illuminating the sky.
However, this starlight was not beneficial to martial practitioners. Due to there being too many springs in the Star Shifting Sea that erupted intermittently, the entire area was enveloped by starlight all year round.
It was very hard for martial practitioners to cultivate in the Star Shifting Sea. Therefore, most martial practitioners would not come here.
Still, there were also many precious treasures to be found in the Star Shifting Sea which many people would temporarily venture within to try to acquire.
Having left Changli Mountain earlier, Shi Jun had come here to temper himself whilst also attempting to find a method with which to treat his mother Ying Yuzhen.
Having entered the Star Shifting Sea, the area enveloped by the starlight would greatly affect a martial practitioner’s sensory abilities as well as greatly hinder communication.
According to the people of the Blood Dragon Sect, Shen Ying, the daughter of their Chief, Shen Shicheng, had entered the Star Shifting Sea to temper herself as well, this incident having inexplicably happened in the meantime.
Shi Jun and Shen Ying having leapt into the oceanic whirlpool together, the Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners having gone down to search for them, they had instead discovered that that oceanic whirlpool just happened to lead to the vein of a Starlight Spring. Not knowing which spring source the two had left from, they had lost their trail and become unable to track them.
“If it really led to a Starlight Spring, it is indeed possible that they could have avoided the pursuers from the Blood Dragon Sect.”
Having arrived at the Star Shifting Sea, Yan Zhaoge examined the special characteristics of a Starlight Spring for a while before pondering, “But where could they have gone afterwards?”
If Shi Jun had really not fallen into the hands of the people of the Blood Dragon Sect, instead having escaped intact, the judgement of the Blood Dragon Sect would indeed make sense. Whether or not reason lay with Shi Jun, he would definitely try to return to Changli Mountain on the Directionless Sea first, trying to think of a plan together with his master Xu Fei as well as Changli Mountain.
At the very least, he would have made contact with Xu Fei and told him about the situation first.
Now that no news had come from Shi Jun at all, something had probably come up which prevented him from doing so.
Pondering about this, Yan Zhaoge gazed at the great sea that seemed to be enveloped by a dense layer of mist before striding within.
Travelling within, starlight would light up below the nearby sea surface every once in a while.
It was as if the bottom of the sea was like the space within the universe, a shooting star flashing by from time to time before the starlight broke through the water surface, shooting straight into the sky as it brought with it a great amount of light as well as huge waves that surged to the heavens.
The entire Star Shifting Sea always had such an environment regardless of whether it was day or night.
Travelling within the Star Shifting Sea, Yan Zhaoge made sure to conceal his tracks as he also unceasingly observed his surroundings in the meantime.
Within the Star Shifting Sea, other martial practitioners were also visible for time to time. Other than the solitary practitioners who had come in to try their luck and obtain good fortune, there were disciples of the Good and Evil sects as well.
Conflicts often occurred over some treasures, especially between martial practitioners of Good and Evil. Such a chaotic area was a primary location for the clash between the two sides.
What Yan Zhaoge took notice of was the fact that there were clearly more Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners present as compared to those of the other sects.
From the looks of it, divided into many groups and diffused throughout the area, they seemed to be in the midst of conducting a search.
Seeing this, Yan Zhaoge nodded inwardly, “It looks like they indeed haven’t captured Shi Jun.”
With this, Yan Zhaoge’s originally tensed heart instantly relaxed greatly.
As long as Shi Jun had not fallen into their hands, he would not have to be fearful of things as he would be able to openly do most of what he wanted to do.
Yan Zhaoge fingered the jade sword that Xu Fei had handed him, “Where can Jun’er be then? Not having been communicating with us, could he currently be trapped somewhere?”
From what Xu Fei said, Shi Jun similarly had one of these swords as well.
When the two swords were within a certain distance, they would begin to resonate with this getting more and more intense the closer the two were.
Holding the jade sword, Yan Zhaoge entered the depths of the Star Shifting Sea, following the coordinates provided by the people of the Blood Dragon Sect as he headed to
the place where Shi Jun had last been seen.
It was a small island. After nearing this island, Yan Zhaoge clearly sensed that there were many more Blood Dragon Sect martial practitioners in the vicinity.
There were longtime experts of the sect whilst also relatively weaker younger disciples present as well. They were unceasingly expanding the region of their search with this island as a reference point, looking for clues regarding Shi Jun’s and Shen Ying’s disappearance.
After observing for a moment, Yan Zhaoge did not discover anything.
The size of the island was not great. Shi Jun and the Blood Dragon Sect disciples had once rested here, the two sides even having met in the process.
Due to the disharmonious relationship between Changli Mountain and the Blood Dragon Sect, the two sides had quarrelled and nearly come to blows. In the end, it had been Shen Ying who had calmed the other Blood Dragon Sect disciples.
Martial practitioners of other sects had witnessed this incident as well, all being full of praise towards the gracious and gentle Shen Ying.
Who knew that an incident would have occurred that very night, Shi Jun abducting Shen Ying and killing two and injuring one of the Blood Dragon Sect’s disciples. Being chased down by so many other Blood Dragon Sect disciples, Shi Jun had taken Shen Ying and leapt into the oceanic whirlpool to escape.
This incident having spread, many on the side of Good were rather dissatisfied with Shi Jun.
Even if the two sides were not on good terms, it was fine just settling it on the martial arena. Abducting a girl left a bad taste in many of their mouths.
Instead, it was the people on the side of Evil who felt very happy about this, even adding oil to the fire as they dubbed Shi Jun as one of their own, endlessly praising him.
Not being able to find any clues on that small island, Yan Zhaoge just directly entered that oceanic vortex, allowing its hidden currents to sweep him along freely as he made no resistance at all.
Finally, all was bright before his eyes. Yan Zhaoge halted within the water, knowing that this was the vein of the Starlight Spring.
History's Strongest Senior Brother c1-1474 Page 295
