The elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect wielded his palm forward with a loud shout, and a black-headed skeleton shot out from his palm, heading toward the small green bronze bell.
Boom!!!
The violent air waves spread out in all directions like ocean waves.
The black fog in the valley was blown away instantly by the air waves, and the sunlight shone on the ground again.
The black-headed skeleton had been broken into countless pieces, falling like raindrops and wilting as the pieces touched the green grass.
The small green bronze bell flew back to the front of that disciple of the North-Brook Sect.
"Luo Huainan!" the elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect shrieked in surprise.
Who would have thought that Luo Huainan, the principal disciple of the Center Sect, hid himself in the group, disguised as a regular disciple of the North-Brook Sect?!
This was a trap!
His head skeleton of personal source had been destroyed, the elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect didn't dare stay around any longer, and he shook both of his sleeves and turned into a band of black fog, heading toward the outside of the valley.
The elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect thought that Luo Huainan's Cultivation state was similar to his and Luo Huainan wouldn't take the risk to chase after him in Luo's current condition, even though Luo Huainan had a special talent in Cultivation. The elder also believed that Luo Huainan had been wounded just as badly as he had.
Unexpectedly, the small green bronze bell turned into a shooting light, heading toward the black fog.
This meant that Luo Huainan would try his hardest to catch the elder while ignoring his own wound.
The booming sounds could be heard outside the valley, and innumerable cliff walls had been knocked down by the air waves, sandy dust rising everywhere.
Suddenly, a gruesome scream bellowed out, as the black fog had been burned out by the sunlight.
The shooting light changed back to the small green bronze bell hovering in the mid-air; the bell shuddered slightly, letting out buzzing sound, the edges of which showed visible rusts created by the eroding dark energy.
Luo Huainan landed on the ground, his face extremely pale, blood covering body; it was apparent that he had been wounded severely.
Seeing the scene, the disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect were greatly frightened; they didn't dare stay a second longer and ran away as fast as possible.
Luo Huainan didn't let the disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect check his wound, demanding in a solemn voice, "We must finish off the evildoers!"
The disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect obeyed, pursuing their foes by using their magic treasures.
One hour later, all of them came back to the valley.
In this battle, all seven disciples of the Mysterious Dark Sect had been killed, including that elder. This was a major victory for the orthodox Cultivation circle.
Looking at Luo Huainan's figure, the disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect couldn't help but feel tremendous respect for him, and his image became so tall and noble in their eyes.
Gazing at the plain land outside the valley, Luo Huainan said, "It's a pity that Su Ziye didn't show up himself. The intelligence wasn't quite accurate."
Upon hearing this, the disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect felt even more surprised, realizing that Luo Huainan's target was the young master of the Mysterious Dark Sect and not that elder!
The name of the young master of the Mysterious Dark Sect was Su Ziye, a very famous person in the Cultivation world, his talent in Cultivation was extremely high; it was said that his talent was even superior to Luo Huainan's.
The disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect thought that the rumor seemed to be true.
It was rumored that Luo Huainan had had some peculiar encounters during the Cultivation tournament in the snowland three years ago.
Otherwise, how could he feel so calm and confident when he mentioned the name of Su Ziye?
Seeing Luo Huainan's countenance, Senior Master Liu remembered another rumor, as saying anxiously, "Big Brother Luo, it's quite far to go back to the Cloud Dream Mountain from here, but Guiyun City is nearby. Would you like to rest there for a night? There will be an auction at the Precious-Ware House tonight, and many orthodox Cultivation sects will be present at the auction. Even though you don't want to meet them, but…"
Before he could finish the sentence, Luo Huainan had already understood his intention, saying, "It's a good idea, but I really don't want to see people from other sects."
The disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect were relieved after having heard this, thinking that this was the best arrangement, since they couldn't possibly deal with further incidents.
There was a small courtyard in Guiyun City.
The courtyard door was tightly shut.
The disciples of the North-Brook Sect scattered in all corners of the small courtyard, keeping a cautious eye on all possible movement under the twilight, whispering in discussion in the meantime.
"I heard that the Old Ones wanted Luo Huainan's head with the award of a heavenly treasure. I'm not sure if the rumor is true or not."
"It looks like the rumor is probably true. If not, Luo Huainan wouldn't have agreed to Senior Master Liu's request to recuperate here, given his temperament."
"Senior Master Luo is regarded by the evil men of the deviant sects as their major rival, and they are determined to have him killed; but he shows no fear at all, and slays those demons and devils everywhere regardless. He is really great."
It was fairly quiet in the small courtyard.
The breeze blew through the trees with blossoming flowers, the falling petals among looking marvelous among the trees.
A well was located under the courtyard wall, and the sound of water could be heard vaguely.
Luo Huainan finished recuperating, and opened his eyes slowly.
He still looked pale. The dark flag used by the elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect was indeed powerful, so his wound wouldn't be able to heal in short order.
Since the elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect wasn't Su Ziye, there wasn't much meaning in killing him, and Luo Huainan didn't have to take the risk to pursue him. However, he had done it nonetheless and suffered severe injury. As he said to the disciples and the master of the North-Brook Sect, the evildoers must be eliminated completely. One had to forget about one's own well-being if they wanted to carry out their duties as an immortal master.
Luo Huainan stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the well, his face illuminated by the sunset.
Compared to it three years ago, his countenance had added more experienced expressions, and his eyes showed more tiredness.
After leaving the snowland by the Ten-Thousand Mile Seal and returning to the Cloud Dream Mountain, he had been cultivating very diligently and traveling constantly since; so he was really exhausted.
So exhausted. Physically and spiritually.
The purpose of keeping himself so busy in Cultivation was to prevent him from recalling those terrible things.
The benefit of being swallowed by the snow worm into its stomach and saved was that he could combine the energy he gained from the snow worm with the Cultivation methods he was working on; as a result, his Cultivation state had improved tremendously.
Currently, Luo Huainan had enough confidence to defeat the young master of the Mysterious Dark Sect, though his scheme wasn't intended to target him, to say nothing of the elder of the Mysterious Dark Sect.
The sun set lower and lower on the horizon, and the sunlight was eventually blocked by the courtyard wall, turning the flower trees into an ink painting, and the water in the well also stopped making any sound.
Luo Huainan walked away from the window and came to the front of the table.
There was a bronze mirror on the table.
He looked at his reflected face in the bronze mirror in silence.
That face looked pale and somewhat unfamiliar.
A hint of pain and regret appeared in his eyes.
If he knew his young sister had brought both Ten-Thousand Mile Seals with her, he wouldn't have had to do what he did.
It turned out that his master feared that the master mistress might not agree to the idea, so his master gave his Ten-Thousand Mile Seal to young sister in private and asked her to give it to Luo Huainan at the critical moment.
His young sister received his help signal and came to his rescue after immense hardship in the midst of that terrifying cold fog.
This was, without a doubt, "a favor as heavy as a mountain".
On the other hand, what did he do?
Why had he become such a shameless and meek person?
If he had known all this beforehand…but there was no turning back in this world.
Pondering these matters, self-blame and painful regret assaulted him one after the other, his face turning even paler.
He could hear the sound of wind outside the window, and the conversation carried by the wind.
Luo Huainan came back to his senses, and feeling slightly moved, smiled lightly when he realized that the disciples of the North-Brook Sect were talking about him.
Of course, he knew the rumor.
The Old Ones wanted to have him killed.
This was true.
And also false.
If the Old Ones really wanted him dead, they would have sent some outstanding swordsmen; as such, these disciples of the North-Brook Sect would have no chance against them.
The saying fit here as well: "There is no turning back".
It wasn't a coincidence that he had appeared here; it was planned this way.
He needed to leave the Cloud Dream Mountain first, not for an unexpected event, and then he needed a scheme. The North-Brook Sect provided him with a perfect opportunity for setting up a scheme.
Only under such circumstance, the Old Ones would be able to find the chance to kill him.
The room door was pushed open soundlessly. A man in black clothing stood in front of him, wet throughout, looking like a watery ghost climbing out from the well.