Gateway of Immortality-Chapter 894: Stirring Trouble

After the others entered the stone hall, the incarnation descended to the foot of the mountain and waited. After a while, two figures flew in from afar. They were Fang Ting and Zhao Songqiao.

"Junior Brother Zhang, sorry to have kept you waiting." Zhao Songqiao cupped his hands, looking a little nervous.

The incarnation led the two inward. They had only reached mid-slope when a streak of azure light flashed down in front of them, revealing a slightly short, stout man.

"Ah! Disciple pays respects to Senior Uncle." The incarnation pretended to be startled and bowed in haste.

The stout man was a Landou Sect cultivator who had come with them. His cultivation was a bit higher than the Daoist boy's. The incarnation only knew he belonged to the Five-Elemental Branch as a true disciple; he did not know the man’s name.

"You are the disciple Senior Uncle Huayang brought into the sect, are you not? Who are these people, and why are you leading them inside?" The stout man tipped his chin and frowned.

He apparently recognized the incarnation. Fang Ting and Zhao Songqiao stood there, stiff and reserved.

The incarnation’s mind turned, and he answered, "Reporting to Senior Uncle, they are disciples of Senior Chen from Yanmiao Pavilion. Her name is Fang Ting, Senior Chen’s true disciple, and she is a friend of mine. She came to see me."

"Fang Ting?" The stout cultivator seemed to recall something. He looked Fang Ting up and down, his eyes rolled, and a teasing smile suddenly appeared on his face. "I heard long ago that the unfulfilled wish of Senior Uncle Huayang might be accomplished by a junior still at the Qi Refining Realm. Haha..."

"Good luck!" He patted the incarnation on the shoulder with a suggestive grin, then flashed away in evasion light.

The incarnation paused and understood the hidden meaning in the man’s words. He looked instinctively at Fang Ting. Her head had nearly sunk to her chest, and her ears were as red as rubies.

"Ahem..." Zhao Songqiao cleared his throat. "Junior Brother, Junior Sister, should we get moving?"

***

Outside Dongming Island, a stretch of sea lay under shadow.

Several Daoist silhouettes sat cross-legged within it. One of them was the very same Fang-surnamed youth who had set Qin Sang up earlier.

A black-robed man opened his eyes and spoke in a low voice, "Eldest Senior Brother, the time is about right. With Dongming Island revealed, the grand array’s power has greatly weakened. It is time to act. If we wait any longer, more and more of those decrepit Core Formation elders from every sect will arrive, and matters will become troublesome."

A middle-aged cultivator with a gloomy face asked, "Second Senior Brother, how is the spy you placed inside? If we have to use him, there must be no mistakes."

"Do not worry. He will be prepared before us."

Confidence colored the black-robed man’s tone.

"Good. That thing is indeed on Dongming Island. If I had known, we would not have bothered with those discarded disciples of Douniu Peak. That damned human not only killed Fourth Senior Brother, he also spread rumors all over Tianxing Island, ruining Fourth Senior Brother’s plans there. The human experts we had been recruiting became wary, and we had to abandon the effort. If we had just brought them to attack Dongming Island directly, with our strength we would have had a good chance even by forcing our way in, " the middle-aged cultivator spoke in anger.

"Are you saying I was wrong?" Daoist Fang suddenly opened his eyes, killing intent flashing within, and stared coldly at the middle-aged cultivator.

"I would not dare. I spoke rashly only because I hate the murderer who slew Fourth Senior Brother and Little Junior Brother..."

A shiver ran through the middle-aged cultivator. In panic he dropped to his knees and hurriedly explained.

"Ninth Junior Brother meant nothing by it. He has always been brainless. Eldest Senior Brother need not mind him. That human cultivator is merely a middle-stage Core Formation ant who repeatedly offended our Black Snake Mountain. Sooner or later we will rip out his soul, burn it day and night with yin fire, and settle every last debt."

The black-robed man smoothed things over, then turned to scold the middle-aged cultivator. "What do you know? Without seizing the survivors of Douniu Peak, how could we have confirmed that the item is kept on Dongming Island? Moreover, Eldest Senior Brother has always been wary of Landou Sect’s other Spiritual Infant grandmaster, so we dared not act rashly. We learned from those survivors that the man in question was actually a grandmaster of Douniu Peak, and that the turmoil back then started because of him. It led to internal strife in Landou Sect, gravely wounding their vitality. Not only was Douniu Peak expelled, but that Spiritual Infant grandmaster was severely injured and fell. Landou Sect detested this matter and has long claimed he was merely in seclusion."

A dwarf, no taller than half a grown man, let out a strange laugh. "No wonder Landou Sect kept it sealed. Leaving aside the fall of a Spiritual Infant grandmaster, Douniu Peak’s cultivation art was ordinary enough, but the Lightning Control Technique that complemented it was truly exquisite and far from simple. If Landou Sect had secretly raised a group of cultivators proficient in that Dao Technique, it would have been a terrifying weapon."

"No Dao Technique, no matter how exquisite, is worth anything if it cannot be cultivated. Landou Sect’s current plight stems from this very matter, does it not?" The black-robed man sniffed and frowned. "Tenth Junior Brother, I remember you kept a copy of the Lightning Control Technique. Do you intend to cultivate it as well? Be careful you do not go mad."

The dwarf gave a dry chuckle. "I have no wish to end up like them, living in constant fear and hiding in coffin-like caves under the sea of mystic ice. I kept that technique to study it and see what could be borrowed."

The black-robed man’s expression eased. "When the time comes, Eldest Senior Brother and I will present the technique to Master. With Master’s insight, he should be able to comprehend a few useful points for us. Then we can ask for guidance. Do not attempt it on your own and risk an accident."

"Thank you for the warning, Second Senior Brother. I understand." The dwarf cupped his hands.

The black-robed man turned to Daoist Fang. "Eldest Senior Brother, you will be taking corpse puppets deep into the tiger’s den. You must be cautious. The island is filled with Core Formation cultivators from various sects. If you cannot trick them into handing over the item, then have the corpse puppet self-detonate without hesitation and retreat as circumstances allow. Those outside Landou Sect will assume it is Landou Sect’s internal affair. In their confusion they will not react quickly. That will be our chance."

At these words, everyone’s gaze fell on the two people standing behind Daoist Fang.

The pair had their eyes shut and remained silent, like lifeless things. Strangely, their auras were no different from ordinary people.

What shocked the group even more was their identity. They were the abandoned disciples of Douniu Peak who had been captured earlier. Yet now they obeyed their enemies as if they were two bodyguards.

"A pity that Master granted only two Blood Corpse Insects. With a few more, we could control several Core Formation corpse puppets, make them self-detonate, and trap and kill every cultivator on the island without all this trouble," someone muttered under his breath.

The black-robed man shot him a fierce glare. "Do you think raising Blood Corpse Insects is so easy? Master cultivated them for who knows how long, and only with the aid of insect-taming secret technique did he barely push them to the third metamorphosis. Corpse puppets risk exposure after interacting with others for a short time. If we had more, our Black Snake Mountain would have to sell everything we own."

"Enough nonsense. I will move now. We must obtain that item. Anyone who dares slack off and causes a mistake will have his skin flayed by me." With a cold snort, Daoist Fang took to the air with the corpse puppets and flew out of the shadows.