Top-tier Unruly Master-Chapter 1731 - 1768: The Troop

As the Lake Master of the Thirty-six Caves, Long Ren felt inevitable sorrow over the death of one of his most outstanding disciples, especially one who had returned alive from the Xuantian Secret Realm. However, regret was just regret.

Long Ren clearly understood that even if his elder brother Ding Fan spared the other’s life, he himself would certainly kill without hesitation. Therefore, as he looked at Leng Jian’s corpse, he felt a sense of relief. If he had to do it himself, he would have been very conflicted. Now, with his elder brother Ding Fan taking on the task, it saved him from a troublesome matter.

Suddenly, Long Ren remembered something and looked at Ding Fan with concern:

"Elder brother, did the Poison King’s arrow harm you?"

Long Ren’s only worry about Ding Fan was that Poison King’s arrow. He knew that the Great Elder would not be mistaken, and that arrow was undoubtedly the handiwork of the Poison King. Even Long Ren was very apprehensive about the Poison King’s poison methods. Although Ding Fan had cut the arrow with a sword so that it lodged into a tree, if Ding Fan had been scratched, it would have been fatal.

"No, don’t worry."

Ding Fan said calmly. He knew Long Ren feared that the Poison King’s arrow might have touched him, but he successfully dodged it before. However, recalling that thrilling moment, he was still terrified. Had it not been for his powerful Divine Sense detecting the incoming arrow in time, he might have been hit, and whether he would be alive now would be uncertain...

Ding Fan knew that Long Ren was not worried about his fight with Leng Jian but about that poisoned arrow. Still, Ding Fan was aware that dealing with Leng Jian was not easy, and he barely managed to kill him. Although Leng Jian was a disciple of the Thirty-six Caves,

he was also a genuine cultivator in the Dividing Spirit Stage. The martial arts he gained from the Xuantian Secret Realm made Ding Fan find it particularly challenging, but since Long Ren did not ask, Ding Fan said nothing. He knew that no matter what, Leng Jian was a disciple of the Thirty-six Caves, Long Ren’s disciple, and no one would be happy about his death.

If he spoke of things that could be said or not, it would only deepen everyone’s sadness and regret, but what was done was done, and saying it or not would not change anything...

For everyone involved, the assassination attempt, especially the Poison King’s concealed arrow, left a lingering fear. At the same time, it was fortunate that the assailant was not the Poison King himself but a disciple of the Thirty-six Caves, the very one who returned alive from the Xuantian Secret Realm, causing a slight sense of regret among them.

However, no one blamed Ding Fan for killing a sect disciple, understanding that a disciple from the Thirty-six Caves attacking someone, regardless of if it was Ding Fan, in the presence of so many elders and even the Lake Master, had committed a capital offense, and would be surely put to death!

After all, the elders were well aware that the attack was aimed at the Lake Master Ding Fan. Ding Fan could dodge it, but that didn’t mean they could easily avoid that poisoned arrow. They deeply understood that if the disciple had targeted any of them instead of Ding Fan, they probably would have already perished under that arrow.

After this incident, Ding Fan and the others became significantly more vigilant along the way. Obviously, they were smart enough not to repeat the same mistake. Thus, during the next part of the journey, no more assassination attempts occurred, and during nightly rests, elders took turns standing guard.

After several days of travel, they were finally nearing the Heavenly Pool Mountain Range where the Great Ocean Sect was located. At this point, the group could already see the peak of the highest mountain in the range.

"We’re almost there! Elder brother, the location your Great Ocean Sect chose is excellent. The Spiritual Energy here is much denser than elsewhere. Once at the Great Ocean Sect, the Spiritual Energy should be even more abundant!"

At this moment, Long Ren gazed into the distance, breathing in the Spiritual Energy here, his body slightly relaxed, feeling delighted and said.

"Indeed! The Spiritual Energy here is truly excellent..."

"What a great place..."

"Cultivating in such a place, the results are doubled..."

...

For a moment, everyone heard Long Ren’s words to Ding Fan and couldn’t help agreeing unanimously. Evidently, they found this place very satisfactory and admired Ding Fan’s choice. Though the journey, while smooth, was also rugged. Finding such a place wasn’t easy.

"Indeed, it’s a good place. If everyone doesn’t mind, once we reach the Great Ocean Sect, you can all stay a few more days, cultivate properly before leaving. If there’s anyone who doesn’t want to leave, my Great Ocean Sect would gladly welcome you!"

Ding Fan said with a somewhat jesting smile to Long Ren and the others.

The group laughed heartily at Ding Fan’s words, knowing well that no matter how good the Great Ocean Sect was, it wasn’t the Thirty-six Caves. They were all elders and officials from various departments of the Thirty-six Caves and had significant status in the Great Ocean Sect.

Moreover, the cultivation resources they received in the Thirty-six Caves were beyond what ordinary sects could afford, even though the Great Ocean Sect had Ding Fan, who could access Supreme Quality Medicine Pills. However, in terms of total resources, the Great Ocean Sect could not match the wealth of the Thirty-six Caves. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

After all, the Great Ocean Sect was a newly established sect, despite having an old name. Its provision for elders couldn’t compare with the Thirty-six Caves. But due to Ding Fan, the sect master, although the overall resources were less than the Thirty-six Caves, the supply of Supreme Quality Medicine Pills was almost comparable.

Upon hearing this, Long Ren also responded with a light smile:

"Anyway, I’m definitely going to stay here for a while longer, hehe."

Ding Fan smiled warmly.

"Lake Master, Mr. Ding, there are some people ahead of us, and quite a number of them." At this moment, as Ding Fan and Long Ren were joking around, Elder Wang suddenly noticed a group of people less than a kilometer ahead of them. These people were fully armed, and Elder Wang had a bad feeling as he spoke to Long Ren and Ding Fan.

The group heard the Great Elder’s words and couldn’t help but release their Divine Sense. They did indeed find the people Elder Wang mentioned, prompting them to restrain their joking mood, though their expressions remained somewhat indifferent. This was because, although they saw a lot of fully armed cultivators ahead, the highest cultivation among them was only Nascent Soul Mid Stage.

Such cultivation was truly nothing to worry about for Ding Fan and his group.

Nevertheless, having experienced Leng Jian’s sneak attack, they dared not be too careless and remained slightly vigilant.

"Everyone, be careful. Although they have more numbers, their average strength is weak. We don’t need to worry, but let’s be cautious and keep our cultivation hidden for now, and avoid revealing our cultivation level."

At this time, Ding Fan instructed the group.

Ding Fan listened to Long Ren’s words and nodded. He observed their opponents with his Divine Sense for some time, pondering something, then followed up on Long Ren’s words:

"Let’s not reveal our cultivation for now. The opponents are fully armed and dressed uniformly, resembling a well-trained military unit. In this deep forest, except for the Great Ocean Sect, there are no other sects, and these people are likely up to no good. Let’s first gather some information."

The group nodded at Ding Fan and Long Ren’s words, agreeing with Ding Fan’s reasoning. The mountain paths here were perilous and treacherous, and even local mountain folk wouldn’t necessarily find this place easily. Clearly, the appearance of these people was suspicious.

Soon, after Ding Fan and his group walked forward for a while, neatly lined tents appeared before them. Ding Fan quickly counted and found over ten tents and conservatively estimated at least two hundred people, which clearly wasn’t a small number.

Moreover, the opponents had a complete setup with campsites, sentries, patrolling soldiers, and guards at the gates. It was undeniable that this was a well-trained military unit.

This piqued Ding Fan’s curiosity even more. He couldn’t understand why this unit wasn’t expanding their country’s territory or defending their homeland, but instead came to this deep forest. If it was elsewhere, Ding Fan might not care, but this was already at the foot of the Great Ocean Sect’s mountain.

Clearly, Ding Fan couldn’t help but worry about such a unit appearing at the foot of his sect’s mountain.

"What are you doing here? Don’t you know the mountain is sealed off? How did you get here?"

As Ding Fan and his group slowly approached the camp entrance, a soldier at the camp gate sternly questioned them.

Ding Fan and Long Ren, walking in front, were taken aback by the soldier’s words, especially Ding Fan. He never expected someone to seal off the mountain at the foot of his Sect. He found it quite laughable, but carefully recalled nothing related to a mountain sealing had occurred along the way.

However, Ding Fan quickly understood they hadn’t taken the regular route but had traversed some rare mountain trails, which might explain not encountering those mountain-sealing soldiers.

At this moment, Ding Fan became even more curious. What was this military unit up to, daring to seal the mountain at his Sect’s foot? Ding Fan knew the Great Ocean Sect had been developing under the principle of not revealing themselves, hence they’d never extensively set up sentries at the mountain foot.

But Ding Fan knew the Great Ocean Sect was certainly aware of this unit’s presence, as they’d already reached their doorstep.

Nonetheless, Ding Fan was not overly anxious; he wanted to figure out what was going on here. Meanwhile, Long Ren, seeing Ding Fan remain silent, naturally wouldn’t say much either. Although Ding Fan was his elder brother, this was, after all, Ding Fan’s territory, so it was only natural to respect the host’s arrangement.

"Capture them all!"

At this moment, the soldier who questioned them, seeing Ding Fan and his group remain still, ordered the patrolling soldiers inside the camp.

Soon, two teams of patrolling soldiers surrounded Ding Fan and his group, totaling over twenty soldiers, all with Mid Late Nascent Soul Stage cultivation. Clearly, such a soldier composition was quite decent in the Cultivation World.

When Long Ren and the others saw this, they were uncertain about what to do. Clearly, for Long Ren and his group, not only could they easily handle these soldiers surrounding them, but they could also deal with all soldiers in the camp. But Long Ren knew, since this was in his elder brother’s territory, they naturally had to follow his lead and shouldn’t overstep.

"We are merchants, searching for Fire Spirit Grass on the mountain. We mean no harm."

After some thought, Ding Fan finally spoke up.