Rise of Humanity

by <unknown>

  Elder Pu's face was suddenly filled with sadness and sorrow. He thought of the times he spent serving his master, and he lamented, "I've followed the old headmaster for over fifty years, his death is really a heavy blow to me. It aches my heart every time I think of him. More than once have I thought of following him in the afterlife to continue serving him there. But the dead will never come back alive, so the only thing I can do for him is to serve Swords Gate for the rest of my life. This is the best way I can repay him for taking care of me these tens of years. As for your claim that I'm Feng Wuji, you are quite adept at jest. But Feng Wuji is Feng Wuji, and I am me. How can we be the same person?"

  "These few days, I've investigated into Feng Wuji's background; he is a notable figure in Swords Gate. The details about him that were left behind are way more complete than yours. He entered Swords Gate 36 years before you, but what was odd was that the Innate Earth Spirit Body Feng Wuji's cultivation speed was slower than the others, only reaching the Inner Core level after 36 years."

  A weird expression climbed on Zhong Yue's face, and he said, "While in the Inner Core level, he spent even more time than other Innate Spirit Bodies. But that's not hard to see right? After all, he didn't only cultivate for himself; he also had to cultivate for his other two incarnations. His speed of progression would undoubtedly be slowed down by them ... by you."

  Elder Pu locked his brows, "Hall Master Zhong, your words are making no sense, what incarnations? Is there even any cultivation technique that can do such a thing?"

  "How is there no such cultivation technique? Just like you, I know about the【Mystic Cultivation Technique】, because I also cultivate it."

  Zhong Yu said, "I've seen it on Xiao Chushan. The Xiao Mang Celestial Race possesses such a cultivation technique, and clearly, you've also cultivated it. You've created an alter ego in Elder Pu so get close to the headmaster."

  Elder Pu said, "The headmaster pities me, and he has taken me under him. He taught me the ways of cultivation, and I was only able become a Qi Practitioner thanks to him. However, your words are too absurd, and it will cause unnecessary alarm. Hall Master Zhong, you are too tired, its best for you to take some rest and calm your unsettled heart."

  However, Zhong Yue continued saying, "How sad, the old headmaster never knew that such a cultivation technique existed. He never saw your true face and let you standing by his side. You must've had ample chance to listen in on and acquire the most secret of information. In the eyes of the others, you are the only his trusted subordinate. But for the past year, the headmaster had summoned me, Junior Martial Sister Jin'er, Elder Feng Shouzhu, and Elder Shui Zian whenever he needed to say something of importance. But you seem to have been neglected as of late. Clearly, the old headmaster didn't truly trust you from the depths of his heart!"

  Elder Pu locked his brows, and he said, "I'm weak. If Grand Elder Yu had gotten to me, there was a chance that the plans would be leaked. Excluding me must have been a measure to protect myself and the Swords Gate's secrets."

  Zhong Yue smirked coldly, "Then let me ask you, where were you when the headmaster's corpse was returned? As his loyal follower, the closest man by his side, and the only one that is most impervious to suspicion, you would have appeared at your master's funeral. And yet you were nowhere to be found. You disappeared for days, and so I am very curious what treasures you were looking for with the headmaster's jade seal during these few days you were gone."

  Elder Pu furrowed his brows even further, but his mouth remained shut.

  "You've returned to Swords Gate, back to where others can see you. It seems like you must have found what you were looking for. But the headmaster's funeral has finished, and you are just a negligible servant of his. After coming back, you've returned to conducting classes as usual as if nothing happened."

  Zhong Yue sighed, "I can't see any sadness or sorrow in you. The old headmaster is, after all, your grandfather. Do you really feel nothing at all?"

  Elder Pu slowly closed and reopened his eyes before saying, "Hall Master Zhong, these are all just your allegations. You have no evidence at all."

  “Well, won’t the evidence show itself when you open your Yuan Shen secret realm for a check?”

  Zhong Yue’s face became stern, and he said, “If you have nothing in your Yuan Shen secret realm, I will go down on my knees and beg for your forgiveness!”

  "I think this is unnecessary, don't you think so too?" Elder Pu shook his head and declined.

  As soon as Elder Pu rejected his suggestion, disappointment washed over Zhong Yue's heart as if he finally confirmed the suspicions he wanted to deny. He mumbled, "So it's really you…."

  Elder Pu immediately realized what just happened. He promptly shed all pretenses of cordiality and laughed, "Hall Master Zhong, did you just make me fall into this trap of yours? How sly and cunning. If I really opened my Yuan Shen secret realm, wouldn't it mean that my true prowess is not the Rebirth level? What a trap, what a plan … you've tricked me into revealing my true cultivation base with just your tongue. How impressive...."

  The Rebirth Qi Practitioners are unable to open their Yuan Shen secret realms; only by cultivating to the Awakening level would one have the ability to cast their secret realms. And yet, Elder Pu's first reaction was not to say that he didn't have any secret realms, but instead, to mention the unnecessary need to cast the secret realms. This was all the evidence Zhong Yue needed!

  Zhong Yue didn't have any evidence to prove his conjectures, but Elder Pu's response was all that Zhong Yue needed!

  It was true for Elder Pu to state that Zhong Yue was sly and cunning!

  Zhong Yue slowed down his words, and he said placidly, "I'm puzzled, why didn't you expose my identity as Long Yue? Please, may the high priest answer my question and cast off my doubts."

  “In certain terms, I’m considered to be half of your teacher, am I not?”

  Elder Pu suddenly smiled, he said, "You've been in my class before, back then, I was shocked and happy at the same time when you had acquired the quintessence of the【Spring Thunderbolt Sword Skill】after just one session. After that, your achievements have been nothing short of incredible. You've even deceived that lion Shi Buyi like no one else could. It really made me happy for you. I tracked every step and every moment you experienced. Even though I knew very well that you would one day grow strong enough to obstruct me, I couldn't help but feel happy for your achievements. I don't feel like killing you so soon; I want to watch you slowly grow into the man you were destined to become ... one that could shake this world to its foundations. Your achievements are like mine, I guess, this is the best part about being a teacher, the joy of the students' achievements."

  Zhong Yue's expression was blurred and complicated with various emotions, he said bitterly, "And the most important of all, is that I'm still too weak to threaten you, am I right?"

  "You can cause trouble to the celestial messenger of the East Barren. This is something I'm delighted to see."

  Elder Pu said with deep emotions, "But sadly, you've grown strong enough to threaten my place. Back then in the Demon Ruins, do you know why you could survive and even save your friends? Because I appreciated your talent, that's why I let you off. Or otherwise, how do you think you would've survived the demon's riot? But one thing that I never thought of was the fact that the mercy I showed you back then would now come back to bite me. Zhong Shang Clan boy ... you are very good."

  Back in the Demon Ruins, Zhong Yue had led Elder Pu's disciples out from certain death. Even after their escape, the greatly shocked elders had to run some investigations as the Tian Myriad Mother was suspected to be hiding among one of them.

  Thinking back to it, it seemed like it was Elder Pu who deliberately let them survive.

  Zhong Yue sighed, "You are now the high priest of the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, and you have taken a high post within the celestial race. Who would ever know that everything that happened was a result of your machinations and that you were the
one with the last laugh?"

  “You’ve figured it out then.”

  Elder Pu praised, "I initially thought that there would be no one that can see though these events and link them together. I thought that no one would be able to comprehend and understand my masterpiece. But then, here you are, a man of intelligence who can appreciate my brilliance. I'm actually quite satisfied."

  Zhong Yue then asked curiously, "What have you been searching for in the Swords Gate? It must be really important to you, right? Or otherwise, you wouldn't have left behind the headmaster's jade seal to your demonic incarnation and risked its safety."

  Elder Pu said insouciantly, "This is something you wouldn't need to know. Although you are smart, your biggest mistake is to come alone; you have to know, even though this is just an incarnation of my true self, I should not be underestimated. Even the Fang Jiange from before couldn't stop me."

  Zhong Yue nodded, "I've thought of this too, and that's why I didn't come alone. Headmaster once expressed her desire to reclaim the headmaster's jade seal from you herself personally; so, I've invited her over. Headmaster, please!"

  “Headmaster? Jun Sixie?!”

  Elder Pu's face changed drastically, he glanced around, but she was nowhere to be seen.

  Right at this moment, the sounds of a zither played in the sky. It sounded like a lone deer trapped in a deserted island. The sounds came from afar as if it were being played by a goddess in heaven.

  Elder Pu let out a fierce cry, his body suddenly turned into a stream of demonic rays and rocketed high up into the sky; he was indeed strong, even though it was just an incarnation of his true self, he still had nearly forty-some percent of his true prowess!

  After all, Elder Pu's true self was Feng Wuji, forty-some percent of his prowess would still amount to the strength of a peak cultivator in the Heavenly Dharma level!

  Right when he flew up to the sky, Elder Pu kicked his feet on the ground and launched out a demonic skill right at Zhong Yue!

  As a man who had single-handedly orchestrated the death of the two strongest existences in this world, he was incredibly intelligent. Knowing that it was nearly impossible to escape from Jun Sixie's attacks, he decided to take Zhong Yue's safety hostage by launching an attack on him. Like this, Jun Sixie would have no choice but to save him and give him a chance to escape.

  Zhong Yue reached out his hand into his Yuan Shen secret realm and pulled out the Kui Long cowhide. He wrapped himself in it, and a series of blunt voices blasted on him. The demonic skill rammed on the Kui Long cowhide, scratching its surface but Zhong Yue was left unharmed underneath it.

  Just when Elder Pu was airborne, the sounds of the zither turned shrill and rapid; and Elder Pu was sundered into pieces as if countless swords eviscerated his body.

  But the sounds of zither continued, and a blazing fire suddenly flared out in the sky to form a barrage of fiery dragons that soared in the sky to incinerate Elder Pu into ashes.

  Then, the sounds of the zither suddenly softened, and the ashes filled the air and water condensed out of thin air. The Water Sword Qi flushed the perimeters and brought away everything with it.

  Elder Pu's demon cultivation method was bizarre, he could morph his whole body in demonic smokes and even taking down his mortal body couldn't kill him. This was why the sounds of zither first killed his mortal body, then crushed his Yuan Shen with the fire and water, slaying him in both body and mind.

  Zhong Yue sighed in his heart, he watched as Elder Pu's Yuan Shen was crushed away and his Yuan Shen secret realm crumbled, however, at the spot where the secret realms crumbled, two items that seemed impervious to the Zither Sword Qi fell onto the ground.

  One of them was the headmaster's jade seal, and the other one was something that greatly shook Zhong Yue's heart. He couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "What? How can it be?"

  Chapter 321: Unsolved Mysteries |

  Beside the headmaster's jade seal was a little cage that was made with exquisite craftsmanship. The cage was enclosed in nine bars that extended from the top to the bottom in a beautifully angled teardrop arc, and it glimmered with a moonlight sheen. Looking from afar, it was as if it were a shining droplet of water.

  On this water-droplet-like cage was a sealing incantation charm. The charm had the picture of three celestial dogs surrounding a moon – it was utterly marvelous.

  However, this was not what shocked Zhong Yue. What shocked him was the thing that was sealed in this cage — at the center of the cage was a tiny floating altar that seemed like it was a little part chopped down from a big altar.

  In the middle of the altar was a little jade pool that was only the size of a washbasin.

  In the jade pool were various specters hovered around a blooming lotus. The lotus flower petals emitted a marvelous luster, while the phantoms of the stars and planets orbited above the lotus, and the mountains and seas were dancing around it.

  "Saint Spirit…." Zhong Yue's heart palpitated, and his brows undulated as he mumbled.

  Elder Pu brought out a Saint Spirit from Swords Gate!

  The Saint Spirit was a spirit that had transcended from the level of god to saint – it was even stronger than godly spirits. Zhong Yue had the chance to see a Saint Spirit guarded by the Monster God Ming King underneath East Barren's Xian Kong Saint City. That Saint Spirit was also a lotus, and he even stole the jade liquid from the lotus's jade pool to his considerable benefit, while the Saint Spirit gave him a near-death experience.

  However, that Saint Spirit underneath Xian Kong Saint City had yet to ripe, the lotus flower hadn't bloomed, and the one Elder Pu had taken out from Swords Gate was a matured Saint Spirit!

  The Saint Spirit was as strong as the gods before someone refines it. Even if Feng Wuji came here in his true self, he wouldn't be able to take it away, let alone his incarnation Elder Pu. How could he have done it?

  Zhong Yue looked at the cage and the totem patterns on the sealing charm and thought, This water-droplet cage is suffused with a divine aura, and there are the markings of a god. A god also made this sealing incantation charm. Elder Pu must have used these two items to capture the Saint Spirit, sealing it away with part of the altar! It wouldn't be Xiao Chu-Changshan who gave him these. It must be that Xiao Mang Celestial Race's god that resides in the moon!

  Suddenly, a voice traveled from the golden summit down to the sky above Zhong Yue. Jun Sixie said, "Seal Suppression Hall Hall Master, bring the headmaster's jade seal back to me now!"

  She didn't leave the golden summit at all; even killing Elder Pu was done from atop the golden summit while casually playing the zither. After all, Zhong Yue had imparted the【Great Boundless Sword Qi】to her, and her cultivation base and strength had made dramatic leaps from that.

  Zhong Yue picked up the headmaster's jade seal from the ground and kept the water-droplet cage in his Yuan Shen secret realm. He then walked toward the golden summit of Swords Gate.

  “Brat Yue, the Saint Spirit is gone.” Xin Huo suddenly said.

  “Gone?”

  Zhong Yue was puzzled, he said, “The lotus is right here….”

  "The Saint Spirit lives in the lotus, but the lotus is not the Saint Spirit, it is just an embryo that siphons the jade liquids which is made of the other gods' spirits to nourish the Saint Spirit. The moment the lotus blooms is the moment the Saint Spirit matures. The Saint Spirit in this lotus left the lotus when the lotus bloomed; someone has taken it away, leaving behind only the lotus embryo that nurtured the Saint Spirit."

  “Someone took it away?”

  Zhong Yue frowned, he mulled, "Who can sneak into Swords Gate without anyone of us noticing, even finding the Saint Spirit and taking it away…."

  Elder Pu was Feng Wuji's second incarnation, and it seemed like not even Feng Wuji knew what the true Saint Spirit looked like, which was why he only plundered the lotus, while the true Saint Spirit was taken away by someone else.

  "Judging from this lotus, it just bloomed not long ago, 20 days
at most. Which means that the one who has taken away the Saint Spirit must have entered Swords Gate twenty days ago."

  Xin Huo looked carefully, and he said, "Whoever it is, he must have had detailed intelligence about the maturity time of the Saint Spirit. He went into the Swords Gate underground and took away the Saint Spirit before anyone else."

  “Twenty days ago?”

  Zhong Yue's heart skipped a beat, "That is exactly a day before the incident where the traitors showed themselves and Elder Pu disappeared. However, he must have only found the lotus and altar a few days ago, which means that the Saint Spirit was taken away long before his arrival. Just exactly how did this particular person sneak into Swords Gate? There is the Four Ken Beast that overlooks the Great Wilderness; we would surely have been alerted by it if there were any cultivators of note that infiltrated Great Wilderness. Even if this particular man had eluded the Four Ken Beast's detection, how did he make manage to enter the Swords Gate underground?"

  The night before the incident at Swords Gate, it was impossible to infiltrate Swords Gate without being spotted, since during that point in time, the whole of Swords Gate was steeped in tension, and everyone's guards were at their highest!

  Sneaking into Swords Gate would have been utterly impossible, so how did he manage to enter Swords Gate and reach its underground?

  "What if … he entered the Swords Gate underground without going through Swords Gate?"

  Xin Huo contemplated and said, "There is another way to enter from the outside — the Devil Soul Forbidden Land. From the Devil Soul Forbidden Land, he can reach to the giant heart and right above it would be exactly where the altar and Saint Spirit is at. He might have taken this route, and this would explain why he could have avoided intruding into the old headmaster and the other magnates' senses."