Volume 1, Chapter 104 – Heading Up the Mountain

This Zhang Pingsheng was, at best, around the sixth stage of the Innate Realm. In front of Shi Lan, he did not even have the right to run.

With Shi Lan deliberately holding back, after three exchanges Wu Lingkong drove her spear forward and burst Zhang Pingsheng’s skull.

The Demon-Suppressing Army behind them flooded into the main hall, and several others headed toward the rear courtyard.

Quite a few martial artists tried to intervene along the way, including two Innate Realm martial artists. The moment those two appeared, Shi Lan cut them down with a single round of her halberd.

The Body Tempering Realm martial artists who made a move were crippled one after another by Wang Ning and the others. As for a few who struck especially viciously, they were cut down on the spot.

After searching the entire City Lord’s residence, they only managed to recover a little over seven thousand five hundred spirit crystals and four flood-dragon horses.

Shi Lan’s share was not among these spirit crystals.

Shi Lan’s spirit crystals were different from Wang Ning and the others’. Hers were the portion wrapped around the spirit marrow in her chest, already mid-grade spirit crystals, worth a hundred times more than low-grade ones.

Though there were only a few hundred pieces in total, their value far exceeded the combined worth of all the spirit crystals belonging to Wang Ning and the rest.

Not finding her own share did not bother Shi Lan. She led everyone out of Yanshan City and pushed on without pause toward the next target.

In two days, the hooves of the Demon-Suppressing Army had pounded across nearly a thousand li of land, stamping out most of the forces that had taken part in the ambush. Only Daoist Sanling Yang Kun remained uncaught, and Thousand Clouds Sect, which had Earth Fiend Realm martial artists holding the fort.

From the mouths of those captured earlier, Shi Lan also learned of You Hong’s identity.

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They had recovered more than thirty thousand spirit crystals, and every flood-dragon horse had been found, but less than half of Shi Lan’s spirit crystals were retrieved, and the Divine Cloud Bow was still nowhere to be found.

“Yang Kun’s residence is already deserted. He is all alone, with only a few sword attendants and no fixed trail. Finding him is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Better that we head to Thousand Clouds Sect first.”

After spending another half a day looking for Yang Kun, Shi Lan gave up on this time-wasting effort and said this to Wu Lingkong.

Wu Lingkong nodded in agreement, and the group turned their direction, riding straight toward Thousand Clouds Sect’s seat.

As a sect that had been passed down for more than three hundred years, Thousand Clouds Sect naturally had its own foundation. Even the Earth Fiend Realm martial artists mentioned briefly in the records numbered no fewer than three, and there were dozens of Innate Realm martial artists. Their strength was nothing to scoff at.

To go to the gates of a force like that and demand they hand someone over, not to mention Wu Lingkong, even Shi Lan herself would never act rashly without a few trump cards in hand.

“We are just going straight up like this?” Looking at the mountain before them that rose close to a thousand zhang high, Shi Lan frowned slightly. Her battle armor had been shattered almost completely in the previous fight, so only the White Crane Skirt remained to cover her.

Wu Lingkong seemed a little nervous. She tightened her grip on the reins in her hand and said hesitantly, “Maybe we should forget it?”

At the start, Wu Lingkong had been full of confidence, but as they traveled, thinking things over again and again, and recalling the reaction of that gang of robbers when they heard the name Demon-Suppressing Army, her confidence had eroded.

If everyone in Thousand Clouds Sect turned out to be a bunch of bumpkins who had never seen the world, would they not be walking to their deaths by going up like this?

“We are already here. How can we just leave it at that? Come on.” Shi Lan shook her head and urged her horse up the mountain path.

They had not gone far along the path when several Thousand Clouds Sect disciples in green robes stepped out and blocked their way.

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“Where have you all come from, and what business brings you to our Thousand Clouds Sect?” one disciple asked with a cupped-fist salute.

“We have come to find someone and to take back some things.”

“May I ask who you are looking for?”

“An elder of your sect, Sikong Qian.” Shi Lan’s tone was quite polite. After all, the one who had taken part in the ambush was only Sikong Qian, and had little to do with the rest of Thousand Clouds Sect.

Sikong Qian was Sikong Qian, and Thousand Clouds Sect was Thousand Clouds Sect. If they could avoid a direct clash, so much the better.

“Elder Sikong… in that case, please follow me up the mountain first.” The disciple nodded and turned to lead the way.

Following him, Shi Lan and the others arrived at a small house near the front mountain. There was a row of stables outside.

They dismounted and entered. From the furnishings inside, this place was clearly meant to receive visiting guests.

“How should I address you?”

“You only need to tell Sikong Qian,”

that we are all friends of You Hong, chief escort of the Firecloud Escort Agency,” Shi Lan replied. “Please wait here. I will go report to Elder Sikong.” The disciple nodded.

“Please also inform your Sect Master while you are at it, and tell him we have some matters that will need his approval.” Shi Lan called out to the disciple just as he was about to leave, adding a line.

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The disciple hesitated for a moment, then said, “I can only report it on your behalf. As for whether the Sect Master has time to see you, that I cannot say.”

“Much appreciated.”

…

After the disciple had been gone for less than half a quarter of an hour, a man of about forty walked into the room. When he saw who was inside, his face changed dramatically. He turned, summoned his artifact, and tried to flee.

Shi Lan moved after him yet arrived first, blocking his way.

“You have some nerve to come and act wild in my Thousand Clouds Sect!” Sikong Qian forced harshness into his voice, though his bluff was thin and he lacked confidence.

Sikong Qian had thought it would be You Hong or the others, coming because of a dispute over the division of the spirit crystals. He had never imagined the ones he would see would be Shi Lan and her group.

Shi Lan had no interest in wasting words with Sikong Qian. She raised her hand and sent out a blast of fist qi. She had not come here to bicker with him.

With Shi Lan’s current cultivation, the Vajra Divine Fist carried even greater power. Within the pale golden fist qi, one could faintly hear waves of Buddhist chanting, its momentum vast and imposing.

“To raise your hand against an elder of my sect here within Thousand Clouds Sect is going a bit too far, is it not?”

A deep voice sounded, calm and mild.

Sikong Qian, who had been thrown into a panic by Shi Lan’s fist qi, heard this voice and his expression shifted from fear to joy. “Sect Master, save me!”

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A figure appeared in front of Sikong Qian. The fist qi Shi Lan had sent out dissolved rapidly and vanished in the blink of an eye.

It was a middle-aged man in a white robe who looked barely past forty. His temples were lightly touched with white, and his aura was like an unfathomable abyss.

This feeling was one Shi Lan had only ever sensed from her own father, Shi Tianlu.

From how Sikong Qian addressed him, this had to be Thousand Clouds Sect’s Sect Master, Qiu Hongxin.

Qiu Hongxin gave the young woman in the white skirt before him a measuring look, and caution flashed in his eyes. For someone of her age to have such cultivation was truly rare. The power behind her could not be simple, and moreover…

She clearly had no shallow connection to Chan Buddhism. At the sight of the prayer beads on Shi Lan’s wrist, the caution in Qiu Hongxin’s eyes deepened. To rashly offend someone with such a complicated background would be highly unwise.

“Who exactly might you be, and for what purpose have you come to my gates today? You raise your hand against my elder the moment you arrive and even specially asked me to watch?” Qiu Hongxin asked slowly.

“Centurion under the Demon-Suppressing Army, Shi Lan. I am here specifically to reclaim the military provisions that were robbed from our Demon-Suppressing Army.” Shi Lan enunciated each word.

Wu Lingkong and the others in the room slowly stepped out.

Hearing Shi Lan’s words and then seeing the armor on Wu Lingkong and the others, Qiu Hongxin’s face changed dramatically.