Su Qing saw the figures of many True Disciples from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.

Even Bai Jiangxue was among them.

There were others, too.

Song Zhining, Chen Jiutian, and Bai Ranmo.

Bai Ranmo had also passed his Thunder Tribulation and forged the Ten Thousand Tribulations Divine Body.

He was now in the Foundation Establishment Realm.

’My senior sister probably can’t beat him.’

’Unless she just whittles him down from a distance, then she might have a chance.’

After making eye contact with them, Su Qing offered a polite, perfunctory smile to each.

He found an empty seat and sat down.

However, it wasn’t long before someone sat down next to him.

"Su Qing." Bai Jiangxue, now at Foundation Establishment Perfection, looked at Su Qing with a puzzled expression, trying to understand his Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment strength.

’Since when could someone advance through the Foundation Establishment Realm so quickly?’

"Oh?" Su Qing said, noticing Bai Jiangxue sitting beside him.

Su Qing smiled. "What brings the White Fairy to see a humble mortal like me?"

Bai Jiangxue was taken aback by Su Qing’s sudden, flippant words.

Then, a smile spread across her face. "Su Qing, you really are something else."

"Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment."

"How is your Cultivation progressing so quickly?"

Su Qing shook his head. "Eat more Spirit Fruits, cultivate more."

"Then you can be just like me."

"Haha, eat more Spirit Fruits, cultivate more," Song Zhining echoed, sitting down beside them.

"How come I don’t have such good luck? I’ve eaten so many Spirit Fruits, but my Cultivation is still so slow."

Su Qing glanced at Song Zhining.

Su Qing said softly, "Perhaps... it’s because I’m just too much of a genius?"

As he spoke, a proud, self-satisfied smile bloomed on his face.

Song Zhining was dumbfounded. He’d never met anyone so shameless.

’He’s actually praising himself.’

Bai Jiangxue stifled a laugh. In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, very few people praised themselves so openly.

And what’s more, there was no way to refute his claim.

Song Zhining suddenly took out a Spirit Fruit.

He offered it to Su Qing.

[River Flow Fruit: A Tier Two Spirit Fruit from the Thousand-Year River Vine. It grows at the confluence of rivers and oceans and ripens once every hundred years. It contains a rich Essence of Water, can improve one’s Immortal Cultivation Talent by ten percent, and helps clear the body’s Hundred Veins.]

"Thanks for saving my life last time."

Su Qing was initially stunned. ’Why is he giving me a Spirit Fruit?’

After his explanation, Su Qing smiled and accepted the Spirit Fruit. "Don’t mention it. It was nothing."

"Still, thank you for your help."

"It was truly dangerous last time." Seeing Su Qing accept the fruit, Song Zhining breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn’t want to remain indebted to Su Qing.

So far, it seemed Song Zhining was the only one who had given Su Qing a gift of thanks.

"Last time?"

"You mean the incident on the Zhengxuan Sect’s island?" Bai Jiangxue asked, puzzled.

She hadn’t gone, but she’d heard rumors that many True Disciples had died on the spot.

"That’s right."

Su Qing said, and Song Zhining nodded in agreement.

"So the rumors were true." Bai Jiangxue nodded, looking at Su Qing with even more curiosity.

Su Qing just smiled faintly.

He shrugged.

There were ten seats at their table.

Soon, a number of disciples from Within the Sect came over and sat down.

All of them were True Disciples.

The table filled up in an instant.

Su Qing wasn’t fond of chatting, so he just sat off to the side.

He munched on the crispy peanuts from the table.

「A short while later.」

The bride and groom appeared.

Under the watchful eyes of all the cultivators present.

Cyan Flame Heaven was beaming, dressed in a red robe embroidered with a Golden Dragon—a rather traditional wedding garment.

Tongxin Li was the same, her face alight with joy, wearing a red phoenix robe.

Ceremonial music accompanied them.

Numerous Spirit Beasts soared through the air.

...

Su Qing spent the entire time keeping an eye on his surroundings, watching for any sign of trouble.

But all was well.

The trouble he had been anticipating never came.

There were no signs of a Demon Beast attack, either.

When the wedding ceremony was more or less over,

Su Qing ate a little something and then said to the people around him, "Everyone, I’ll be taking my leave."

There were many Immortal Cultivators present, and several Elders from the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect had come down to toast the guests on behalf of the newlyweds.

Su Qing made a hasty exit.

’There are too many at the Golden Core Realm in there.’

’At least a hundred of them.’

’Plenty in the Foundation Establishment Realm, too.’

’All here for the wedding.’

Flying was forbidden within Qianjie City today.

Su Qing left Qianjie City and was just about to fly away,

when he spotted a strange mortal sprinkling some red powder on the ground.

With every step, he scattered more of the Bone Powder.

[Bone Powder of the Demon-Connecting Demon: The Bone Powder has a powerful demon-connecting property. If the powder falls on the earth, it will merge into the ley lines of the land after ten hours.]

’A Demon-Connecting Demon?’

Su Qing looked at the mortal in confusion. ’How could he have Bone Powder from the Demon Race?’

Instead of leaving, Su Qing walked up behind him. The man didn’t notice a thing.

"You’d better explain what you’re doing."

Su Qing’s chilling voice came from behind, making the mortal jump in fright and whip his head around.

He grew flustered the moment he saw Su Qing.

"Immortal, I-I wasn’t doing anything."

"Is that so?"

A wisp of flame ignited in Su Qing’s hand. He looked at the mortal with a flat, emotionless gaze.

The man was so scared he pissed himself, and a strange smell emanated from his crotch.

"Another Immortal told me to do it! I was just following orders!" The man dropped to his knees with a THUD and began kowtowing frantically.

"Oh?"

"How did he tell you to sprinkle the powder?" Su Qing didn’t ask who the other Immortal was.

Instead, he focused on the problematic way this guy was scattering the Demon-Connecting Demon’s Bone Powder.

"Immortal, I’ll draw it for you." Desperate to save his own life, the man began tracing a diagram on the ground with his finger.

The diagram was incomplete.

"That Immortal told me to circle the city walls and sprinkle the Bone Powder like this. He said he’d give me five Spirit Stones after I was done."

"..."

"Did that Immortal show his face?" Su Qing asked.

The man shook his head. "No, I couldn’t see his face clearly."

Su Qing was silent for a moment before telling the man, "Get out of here. If I find you scattering this Bone Powder again, I’ll make sure not even your corpse remains intact."

Su Qing turned and left.

’These patterns aren’t complete at all.’

Su Qing walked silently to another location.

’There must be others scattering the Bone Powder elsewhere.’

In the end, Su Qing only found two more culprits.

They had only managed to form a small, mostly incomplete rune.

It was all centered around Qianjie City.

"Fishing in troubled waters, heh. It seems the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect is in for some turmoil."

Su Qing left quietly. ’Now, how do I inform the people Within the Sect?’

He turned back and re-entered Qianjie City.

He found his master.

His master was holding a wine cup and speaking with some Golden Core Masters.

Su Qing pulled her aside.

Ouyang Mingming noticed Su Qing. She gave an apologetic smile to the surrounding Golden Core Masters and said, "My apologies, my disciple needs me for something. Please, enjoy the food and drink."

Ouyang Mingming asked Su Qing, who was beside her, "Disciple, what is it?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Master, I just discovered something strange, and I don’t know how to report it to the Sect Lord."

"So I came to tell you."

A rough outline of Qianjie City appeared in Su Qing’s hand, and he then revealed the rune that the men had been creating with the Bone Powder.

It was a diagram formed entirely from Spiritual Qi.

"Master, I don’t study Artifact Refining or Array Patterns, so I don’t understand these things. You should probably ask the Sect Lord."

"I found this out by questioning some mortals I saw scattering powder outside Qianjie City."

Su Qing said with a grave and earnest expression, "I suspect something is wrong."

’I can’t just come out and say it’s a pattern made of Demon Communication Powder and that I suspect it’s related to the Demon Race.’

Ouyang Mingming’s brow furrowed when she saw the rune.

"Wait here. I’ll send this diagram to the Sect Lord and see what he thinks."

Ouyang Mingming took out a Sound Transmission Talisman and contacted the Sect Lord of the Ten Thousand Tribulations Sect.