The Nine Cauldrons

"Dong, two hours after I leave the Xing Yi Sect, remember to ask all the elite disciples and Innate Experts in the sect to disperse," Teng Qingshan instructed.

"Yes, Teacher," Yang Dong said respectfully.

"Little Jun, ask the Bladelike Chi to come over as well. Ask it to guard and protect the Xing Yi Sect. If you notice the Emptiness Realm Expert attacking the Xing Yi Sect, instruct it to attack." Teng Qingshan said calmly, "Hmph, if I guessed correctly, there’s a 50% chance that the enemy will stealthily attack the Xing Yi Sect when I am gone."

"Stealthily attack?" Yang Dong was very shocked. "Teacher, didn’t you say in the letter that you are going the Tian Lan Mountain in Yanzhou?

Teng Qingshan shook his head and said with a smile, "Dong, if your Junior Martial Sister Linlin really got captured by him, I would rush to the Tianlan Mountain even if I was really unwilling to go. However, I have already asked the Undying Phoenix to help protect Linlin secretly. To prepare for any unexpected accidents, I even had Little Blue take the Grass of Immortality with it! It will be fine."

The Grass of Immortality could bring back someone who has just died. As long as the Spirit has not dissipated, the person who has just died could come back to life after eating a Grass of Immortality.

Teng Qingshan couldn’t bear to lose his daughter. Out of precaution, he asked the Undying Phoenix to take a Grass of Immortality.

"Oh."

Yang Dong heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Since they don’t actually have anything against you, you don’t need to go to the Tianlan Mountain.

"Moreover, Qingshan and I suspect that it is just a trick to lure me away," Li Jun said. "After all, Linlin and Fan Anran had been together for a long time. If Fan Anran’s goal was to kill Linlin, he had many chances to do it. However, he never did so. Instead, he lured Linlin to the outskirts of the city. Now, why did he do that?"

Yang Dong smiled as he replied, "Yes. They want her as a hostage."

"If they have Linlin as a hostage, they could threaten Teacher very easily," Yang Dong added. Yang Dong was an intelligent person, and so he naturally figured it out.

"He was able to disguise himself, join the Gui Yuan Sect for over a dozen years, and even managed to get my daughter’s affection." Teng Qingshan said calmly, "There are two possibilities. Firstly, this is a powerful, hidden force. This sect is just like the Heavenly God Palace when it concealed its existence back then. And now, this hidden force is trying to get the Five Elemental Fist of the Xing Yi Sect and is trying to enhance their power.

"The second possibility is that the force behind all these schemes is the remnants of the Qing Hu Island," Teng Qingshan said.

The Land of the Nine Prefectures was too vast and great. Teng Qingshan couldn’t confidently say that there were no other hidden forces in the Land of the Nine Prefectures.

For example, the Wan Xiang Sect that never contended for hegemony or the God of Wealth Zhu Tong, whose wealth could compete against the wealth of a nation. The God of Wealth Zhu Tong had established businesses throughout the land, and his social network expanded across the world. Some of the subordinates that managed his restaurants and clothing stores might be very powerful experts. After all, the truly powerful forces do not necessarily have to be concealed sects.

"If it’s the first possibility, they have nothing to hold against me. Naturally, their threat would be useless against me.

"If it’s the second option, then I will eliminate all the remaining elites of Qing Hu Island." Teng Qingshan smiled and said, "I will leave the Xing Yi Sect later. After that, I will dig underground and secretly go back to any place underground that is 40 Li below the Great Yan Mountain."

"Teacher, and you are going to do that because..." Yang Dong was astonished.

Leave and come back secretly?

Within an instant, Yang Dong knew Teng Qingshan’s intention and plan.

"Little Jun, please help me ask the Bladelike Chi to notify me with a loud roar if it notices an Emptiness Realm Expert invading the Xing Yi Sect," Teng Qingshan said. "By that time, I will burst out of the earth and fight that Emptiness Realm Expert with the Bladelike Chi. If the enemy is really too powerful, we can ask our old neighbor, the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain, for help."

Since Teng Qingshan had decided to build his foundation and plant his roots in the Great Yan Mountain, he had naturally visited the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain as well as the Golden Dragon Turtle.

Since the Golden Dragon Turtle had met Teng Qingshan before, Teng Qingshan was able to befriend the Golden Dragon Turtle very easily.

Initially, Teng Qingshan thought that it would be very difficult to befriend the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain, but he didn’t expect the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain to respond to him with such a good attitude. Although the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain loved to sleep and would normally sleep for several years, it had met Teng Qingshan three times during the 19 years it was awake.

However, the third time, Teng Qingshan and the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain had a very good conversation. Of course, this was all thanks to Li Jun, being the mediator and the translator.

If he really did encounter danger, he could ask the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain for help. Therefore, Teng Qingshan believed that there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

However—

Unless it was necessary, Teng Qingshan had no intention to disturb the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain. He was well aware that the Demonic Dragon Violet Rain loathed it the most when people woke him up from his sleep.

Li Jun nodded and said, "Hm. Okay, I will tell the Bladelike Chi now."

...

Around two hours later, the sun had risen high up in the air.

"Little Jun, I will put you in charge of the affairs in the Xing Yi Sect," Teng Qingshan instructed. And with that, he departed, transforming into a wave of light heading southwest. At this moment, Li Jun’s eyes followed Teng Qingshan until he was out of sight. Teng Qingshan only flew for over a thousand Li before he dashed and dove into the earth, proceeding deep down under the ground.

When he had dug deep enough into the earth that no one else on the ground would notice his presence, he turned back towards the Great Yan Mountain.

Traveling underground was much slower than flying.

The roundabout trip took almost one hour. At this moment, Teng Qingshan had already returned to the Great Yan Mountain. He was just 40 Li underground.

"This place is really hot." Teng Qingshan sat cross-legged in the stratum rock layers. He had used the Power of the Heavens and Earth to push the rocks around him away. And now, the layer of earth above Teng Qingshan contained the burning hot magma.

"I am truly curious as to whether it is the remnants of Qing Hu Island or another hidden force that is trying to take the Five Elemental Fist Art from the Xing Yi Sect," Teng Qingshan said inwardly. He then sat cross-legged and closed his eyes as he waited quietly.

In a mysterious villa built amidst the forest located in the region of Yanzhou:

As time passed, Honglin, who was in the cage, could sense that some of her physical strength had recovered. It was impossible for the Bone Softening Powder to make someone lose his or her strength forever; there was a time limit

"Now, I have recovered at least 20% of my strength. I will recover even faster as time goes on. I might be able to regain my full strength at night time."

Honglin sat quietly in the cage. Her lips were very dry and her entire body felt helpless and weak.

"Damn it. The handcuffs are made of Darksteel," Honglin thought to herself. Her hands were tied behind her. Because they were tied by the special Darksteel handcuffs, she wouldn’t be able to display a great enough strength. "Even if my cultivation state was at its peak, I wouldn’t be able to break the Darksteel handcuffs. Unless my cultivation technique Half-a-Step Burst Fist reaches culmination and I reach the Grandmaster Realm, I will never be able to make it."

Honglin was very anxious.

Suddenly—

"Lord."

"Lord."

The guards, as well as the leader, who had protuberant ears, bowed and greeted the black-cloaked person who was approaching from afar. Even Fan Anran and his adoptive father, Fan Wutong, bowed and greeted that man.

"Who is that person? He seems to be highly ranked?" Honglin lifted her head and glanced over.

The man wore a black cloak. His face looked yellow and his eyes seemed like the eyes of a dead fish. He emanated a gloomy and cold aura.

"Lady Honglin." The black-cloaked man emitted a cold voice.

"Hmph," Teng Honglin responded and glared at him.

The black-cloaked man sneered and said, "Tsk, tsk. Are you seriously still acting like the young lady of a big family? Lady Honglin, this is not your Xing Yi Sect."

Teng Honglin turned. She didn’t bother looking or even responding.

"Someone!"

The black-cloaked man pointed at the cage and ordered, "Open the cage."

"Eh?" Honglin was very shocked.

"Yes, Lord." The leader with the protuberant ears ran over himself and unlocked the cage with the key. With a clang, the cage was opened.

Honglin stared at the black-cloaked man and said, "What are you going to do?"

The black-cloaked man looked up and said, "It is about two hours away from the mid-afternoon... Eh, it is almost time for us to make our move. Fan Anran, come over."

"Lord." Fan Anran’s attitude toward the black-cloaked man was very respectful.

"You are going to use this knife." The black-cloaked man took out a short knife and pointed it towards Honglin before he said fiercely, "You will be the one to cut her face. You must cut a total of 19 times. No more, no less."

Fan Anran was very shocked.

Disfigure her?

"You... you..." Honglin watched the black-cloaked man in great shock. To a young girl, her appearance was extremely important. Although Honglin wasn’t beautiful, she was Teng Qingshan and Li Jun’s child. Therefore, her appearance was considered top-notch. Moreover, because of the cultivation of the Internal Martial Arts, her skin was extremely tender and lovely.

Indeed, she was at the age when a girl would desire to be beautiful.

"Eh?" The Black-cloaked man’s face darkened.

"Yes, Lord." Fan Anran took a deep breath. He accepted the short knife and stared at Honglin, who was in the cage.

"Anran, are you really going to..." When Honglin thought about the scenario of her previous lover cutting her face, she felt like she was going crazy.

"Don’t blame me. Just blame your father," Fan Anran said in a deep tone. He then took the short knife and stepped into the cage. A cold and fierce glint could be seen in his eyes.

Honglin tried to break away from the handcuffs, but because she had only recovered 20% of her strength, she couldn’t do anything.

"Fan Anran..." Honglin gnashed her teeth.

"Hmph." Fan Anran headed directly towards Honglin. Several people, including the black-cloaked man, stood in the surroundings, watching with ruthless smiles on their faces.

However, suddenly—

Whew!

A beam of white light instantly pierced through Fan Anran’s heart. Fan Anran widened his eyes. Immediately, he lowered his head and stared at his chest. A bloody hole had appeared on his chest!

"This...this..." Blood flowed out of Fan Anran’s mouth. He then collapsed in the cage and died!

Honglin watched this scene in astonishment.

"Ah!""Ah!""Ah!"...

A series of screams sounded. In the front courtyard, everyone, including Fan Wutong, was shot by beams of white light. Every one of them collapsed on the ground. None of them could defend against the beams of white light.

Clang! The black-cloaked man struck the white beam of light back. At the same time, he looked astonished and angry.

A white light hovered in mid-air. It was the white little bird that has always been with Honglin. At this moment, the white bird was glaring at the black-cloaked man fiercely.

"Demonic Beast? An Innate Demonic Beast?" The black-cloaked man could not believe it. The ordinary little bird that looked just like a sparrow was actually a powerful, flying demonic beast! Even he himself, who was a True Dan Innate Expert, could not injure the demonic beast with that one strike.

"Little White..."

Honglin froze. She suddenly had a flashback of a scene during her childhood—

"Linlin, Hongwu, these two birds are very pitiful. Your father and mother found them in the mountain areas and took them back. You guys have to take good care of them."

Since young, Honglin and Hongwu both took care of their birds. Because they have been together for a very long time, they built a very close relationship with the tiny birds. However, they didn’t know that the tiny birds that looked just like the birds raised by the sons of the wealthy families was actually an unrecorded species of innate flying demonic beasts!

"You little sh*t, I will kill you." The cold glint flashed in the black-cloaked man’s eyes.

Suddenly—

Boom~

Suddenly, a hot aura emanated the front courtyard.

He looked up and saw that a huge, godly bird, whose entire body was enveloped in flames, hovered above.

"Undying Phoenix!" The black-cloaked man’s face instantly paled. He felt his heart sink.