Xu Jin's gaze swept lightly across the surrounding hillside blanketed with endless flowers, finally locking onto the only cluster of buildings amid the slopes.
From a mortal's perspective, the building complex could be called grand.
From his own perspective, speaking purely in terms of sects, it was so small it barely registered.
A single peak of the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect would probably be larger than this place.
But being impressive or not really had nothing to do with size.
Ever since Chu Xingchen left the Western Ox Continent matter, Xu Jin's solo investigation had taken on a rather dead-end quality.
He had no idea how Chu Xingchen had determined that [Demon] had transformed into a mortal—at least he truly couldn't figure it out.
Many investigations eventually led to dead ends with nowhere left to probe.
Moreover, the commotion from before had been considerable. He had heard that the Evil Spirit Sect in Central Province had been beaten into a scattering rout by the Buddhist Sect.
At first, when facing the Buddhist Sect's relentless suppression, the Evil Spirit Sect assumed the Buddhists were just here to farm some reputation and merit.
Their plan was to take a few punches, let the Buddhists have their fun, and call it a day.
But instead, the Buddhist Sect only grew more brutal in their killing, adopting an attitude of "see the Buddha before you see the King of Hell," and began crazily "liberating" the Evil Spirit Sect.
The scope was incredibly wide. The Buddhist Sect's operational doctrine this time was even proclaimed as—the big ones must be eradicated, the small ones must be annihilated.
Pouring boiling water into an ant hole was now considered merciful—they had started pouring molten iron.
After taking several combo punches, the Evil Spirit Sect realized the Buddhist Sect was playing for real this time, and they too caught fire. Now they seemed to be grabbing monks and killing them too.
Their attitude was basically: my whole sect might meet our grandmothers in the afterlife, but your grandmother needs to come over and take two punches from me first.
However, the Evil Spirit Sect's resistance was ultimately too weak and isolated.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, the Buddhist Sect was now a publicly acknowledged orthodox sect, while the Evil Spirit Sect's reputation was on par with rats in a stinking gutter.
When the Buddhist Sect raised its arm and called out, naturally other sects joined in the massive crusade against the Evil Spirit Sect.
This was never Tyson beating up an eighty-year-old man—it was Tyson leading a gang of young men to gang up on an eighty-year-old man.
The Evil Spirit Sect had now completely fragmented into smaller units and was evacuating toward other continents.
Compared to Central Province and the Western Ox Continent, other regions had some Buddhist presence, but those Buddhist forces had to keep their heads down and behave there.
After all, the other Eighteen Celestial Sects were not to be trifled with.
Still, this blow from the Buddhist Sect had nearly shattered the entire Evil Spirit Sect.
And there was more bad news. The Buddhist Sect, having gone mad for who knows what reason, had even started sending missives to other celestial sects, willing to pay a price to continue hunting down the fleeing Evil Spirit Sect members.
There were even rumors that perhaps the Evil Spirit Sect's leader had done something to a big shot in the Buddhist Sect.
If things were this way in other continents, imagine the Buddhist Sect's home turf of the Western Ox Continent—it was truly a scene of Buddhist light shining everywhere while demons ran amok.
For Xu Jin to investigate sensitive information without exposing his identity had naturally become much more difficult.
Still... one might consider whether this counted as Chu Xingchen's outstanding contribution to the eradication of the evil sect.
Sometimes, illusion arts really could move a thousand catties with a mere four ounces.
But the Buddhist Sect's "better to kill the innocent than let one go" attitude also made something extremely obvious.
At the very least, what Chu Xingchen had said had genuinely struck a nerve in the Buddhist Sect's unmentionable places.
Strictly speaking, Xu Jin couldn't be said to have completely given up the investigation. It was just that investigating the now-on-edge Buddhist Sect wasn't the best timing.
No matter how weak the Buddhist Sect might be, it was still one of the Eighteen Celestial Sects.
What's more... the fact that the Buddhist Sect had existed for so long meant it couldn't possibly be weak.
Setting that aside for now, Xu Jin had come to handle another matter—finding Chu Xingchen.
The news that Chu Xingchen had settled in Central Province was no secret among the Eighteen Celestial Sects.
Furthermore, the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect had signed the Luo Yue Treaty with the Heavenly Derivation Sect, so they knew some of the inside story as well.
Xu Jin naturally knew how to find Chu Xingchen, and he also knew about the Ten Thousand Flower Ridge.
The sect might be small, but its design was genuinely interesting and tasteful—at least it had the taste of a major sect.
It seemed somewhat derived from the Heavenly Derivation Sect, yet had forged its own style.
Xu Jin stepped forward, and in the next instant, he was before the sect's gate marked by an ornamental archway.
He called out in a clear voice: "Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect's Xu Jin, here to visit Fellow Daoist Chu."
Shortly after his voice fell, Xu Jin saw a young woman with horns atop her head striding toward him, looking rather displeased.
Qing He didn't immediately open the mountain-protection array, her gaze sweeping over Xu Jin before her.
Xu Jin also observed Qing He's expression—one that looked like he owed her money.
He naturally had discerning eyes and wouldn't mistake the horns on Qing He's head for deer antlers. This was unquestionably a flood dragon.
While flood dragons weren't rare for the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect, having one raised from youth was still quite good.
Qing He's gaze appraised him up and down. As the lazy flood dragon of the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Qing He naturally couldn't be bothered to memorize what core disciples of the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect looked like—or rather, she couldn't even be bothered to remember names.
With Bai Xuan Ling as her backer, so what if someone was a core disciple? Walking the world nowadays was all about connections!
Seeing Qing He's scrutinizing look, Xu Jin, adhering to the principle that courtesy wins friends, clasped his hands slightly and said:
"I am Xu Jin..."
"Heard you." Qing He raised a hand slightly, opening a gap in the mountain-protection array.
"Follow me, I'll take you to see the black-hearted brat."
Xu Jin looked at Qing He's expression. Though somewhat puzzled, he still followed her pace.
Every sect probably had its own internal stories... different forms of address were probably normal.
Qing He led Xu Jin toward the main hall, asking casually along the way:
"I haven't heard that the black-hearted brat has any connection with the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect. Can I ask what you're doing here?"
Xu Jin glanced at Qing He. A gatekeeping flood dragon asking this kind of thing?
But anyone who dared call Chu Xingchen a "black-hearted brat" was probably no mere gatekeeper—she must have some other status.
Xu Jin thought about it and answered frankly: "I worked with Fellow Daoist Chu before. This time, I've come to invite him to visit the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect."
Qing He's wary gaze shot over: "Don't you know the black-hearted brat's relationship with the Heavenly Derivation Sect?"
"I do... but what of it?"
Qing He's tone carried a hint of confusion: "And you still dare to poach him right in front of me?"
Xu Jin sensed something was off, his gaze turning to Qing He as he asked: "May I ask who you are?"
Qing He raised her eyebrows and announced loudly: "Heavenly Derivation Sect's Zhu Ji Peak—Lord Qing He!"
Xu Jin's face instantly showed understanding—so it was Bai Xuan Ling's flood dragon. He had thought it was one raised by Chu Xingchen's sect.
Qing He watched Xu Jin's expression.
But after a brief moment of realization, Xu Jin's face returned to calm. At Qing He's self-introduction, he merely gave a polite nod.
Facing Xu Jin's perfunctory demeanor, Qing He demanded: "You brat, do you even know what Zhu Ji Peak is?"
"I do. Senior Bai Xuan Ling's peak." Xu Jin nodded lightly, figuring Qing He wanted to throw Bai Xuan Ling's weight around, so he decided to avoid unnecessary conversation along the way.
Xu Jin looked at Qing He and introduced himself:
"I am Xu Jin, disciple of the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect's Sect Master, current core disciple."
Qing He froze at these words, her gaze sweeping over Xu Jin once more...
This person... was the next Sect Master of the Xuan Qing Heavenly Sect?!
His backing was even harder than hers?!
How did the black-hearted brat know someone at this level?
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