Chapter 210: Qingxiao Sect Disciples All Over the World

Zhao Zhen felt the Aura of the Elder of Sword Cultivation. He slowly turned around and looked at his mother’s second brother.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation looked at Zhao Zhen and couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed; it was as if he were seeing Zhao Lan—a version of Zhao Lan who was not tormented by illness.

Back then, when he betrothed his younger sister to Crown Prince Zhao Lan, he felt it was the most brilliant thing he had ever done in his life. Unfortunately, the good times didn’t last; before Zhao Lan could ascend the throne, he was executed by Zhao Zhi.

“I didn’t expect you to have grown so big already,” the Elder of Sword Cultivation lamented.

When Zhao Zhen was born, he had traveled all the way to Zhongtian Province to visit Zhao Zhen and his mother. The prosperity and bustle of that day had made him believe their Family was about to flourish and soar.

Since Zhao Lan’s death, he had brought his sister back to Tianxuan Mountain. As for Zhao Zhen, who remained at the Qingxiao Sect, he never dared to send anyone to fetch him. For this, his sister always blamed him.

Zhao Zhen looked at him and asked, “My mother was doing fine staying at Tianxuan Mountain. How did she get captured by the Xuanji Sect?”

The Elder of Sword Cultivation’s face instantly turned ugly. Gritting his teeth, he said, “The Xuanji Sect sent people to Tianxuan Mountain to steal our ultimate techniques, and they ended up kidnapping your mother. Without the Sect Master, we at Tianxuan Mountain couldn’t stop the Xuanji Sect’s experts from leaving.”

At this point, his tone carried a hint of resentment, as if he were blaming the Qingxiao Sect for taking away the Yandao Sect.

Zhao Zhen continued to ask, “Then how can you be sure whether my mother is dead or alive?”

“I can’t be sure, but the other party left word saying I should go to Cangzhou to ransom her. I’ve already brought the ultimate techniques of Tianxuan Mountain,” the Elder of Sword Cultivation replied. As he spoke, he took out several Secret Manuals from his robes.

Zhao Zhen gave him a deep look and said, “In that case, lead the way.”

The Elder of Sword Cultivation nodded and turned to walk toward the woods.

Bitter One and Bitter Two followed, positioning themselves between Zhao Zhen and the Elder of Sword Cultivation.

On the other side.

A spell-casting Disciple in the woods of the neighboring mountain opened his eyes and said, “Senior Brother Zhao Zhen’s mother was captured by people from the Xuanji Sect. They are preparing to head to Cangzhou.”

“The Elder of Sword Cultivation is lying. No Xuanji Sect experts ever infiltrated Tianxuan Mountain. He is plotting against Senior Brother Zhao Zhen!”

Upon hearing this, the other two Disciples frowned. Although they hadn’t interacted with Zhao Zhen personally, they had seen him. Who didn’t know that Zhao Zhen was the Sect Leader’s precious Disciple and the School’s number one Genius?

One of the female Disciples asked in a low voice, “Should we warn Senior Brother Zhao Zhen?”

The spell-casting Disciple thought for a moment and said, “Third Junior Brother, you go back to the Qingxiao Sect and tell the Sect Leader about this. Second Junior Sister, you go and approach Senior Brother Zhao Zhen. Use a voice transmission to tell him the truth; you mustn’t let the Elder of Sword Cultivation hear. In case Senior Brother Zhao Zhen is playing along with the scheme, we can’t ruin his plan. I will remain in the shadows and follow them. If Senior Brother Zhao Zhen asks you to leave, you don’t need to look for me; go to Black Wind Town and wait for me, and also wait for Third Junior Brother to bring reinforcements.”

Hearing this, the two Disciples had no complaints. They immediately set off, acting without the slightest hesitation.

After the two left, the spell-casting Disciple pulled out three paper figures from his robes and muttered, “If I had known, I should have bought more Eavesdropping Talismans.”

His name was Qiao Dingbei, a Disciple of the Spirit Control Hall with a cultivation at the Nourishing Origin Realm, Third Layer.

The three fellow Disciples were scouts trained by Zhang Yuchun. Ordinarily, their presence in the Spirit Control Hall was not very high. In the current Qingxiao Sect, the Nourishing Origin Realm, Third Layer was no longer considered a particularly high level of cultivation.

Qiao Dingbei took a deep breath. His intuition told him he had encountered something big.

The reason he stayed in the shadows was that he predicted Zhao Zhen would drive Second Junior Sister away. When that time came, he would have to follow them alone.

Zhao Zhen was one of the top ten disciples; his troubles were definitely not something the three of them could get involved in.

However, since they had stumbled upon it, Qiao Dingbei couldn’t back down. That would fail the School’s cultivation of them.

After Second Junior Sister had been gone for a while, Qiao Dingbei finally crept forward… Night fell.

A campfire was lit in the woods. The Elder of Sword Cultivation sat in meditation under a tree, watching from a distance as Zhao Zhen sat with the female Qingxiao Sect Disciple. His brow furrowed slightly, a faint unease in his heart.

Damn that Qingxiao Sect. How could their Disciples be encountered everywhere?

Even he had to admit that the Qingxiao Sect’s development was too exaggerated. How long had it been since Li Qingqiu took over as Sect Leader?

It was completely from scratch, and it had only been fifteen years… The Elder of Sword Cultivation had never met Li Qingqiu. In his imagination, Li Qingqiu was the image of a cruel and overbearing hegemon. He certainly didn’t want to run into Li Qingqiu.

He could only pray that this female Qingxiao Sect Disciple was just passing through.

Zhao Zhen was chatting with the female Disciple, but in reality, they were communicating via voice transmission.

Knowing that the Elder of Sword Cultivation was deceiving him, Zhao Zhen was not surprised.

“Then did you see a woman going down the mountain?”

“There was indeed one, but she was being escorted north by Tianxuan Mountain Disciples.”

“I see. Thank you for the warning. I will repay you when I return to the School. Go back after dawn; I will continue north with him.”

“Senior Brother Zhao Zhen, aren’t you afraid he’s leading you into a trap?”

“Hmph, what is there to fear? I am at the Nourishing Origin Realm Seventh Layer.”

Nourishing Origin Realm Seventh Layer!

Hearing this, the female Disciple almost jumped up. She looked at Zhao Zhen with eyes full of admiration. Fortunately, the night was dark, and the Elder of Sword Cultivation didn’t see clearly.

The two talked for a while, then each sat in meditation to begin absorbing Qi. Bitter One and Bitter Two took turns standing guard.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation was very curious about the Qingxiao Sect’s cultivation methods, but he didn’t dare to approach rashly.

Just as dawn broke the next day, the female Disciple took her leave of Zhao Zhen.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After last night’s observation, he knew the female Disciple was just passing through, and Zhao Zhen hadn’t revealed the purpose of his journey.

This matter could be considered to have passed without further incident.

The four of them continued on their way.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation began to play tricks, choosing increasingly rugged paths for fear of running into more Qingxiao Sect Disciples.

From Zhongtian Province to Cangzhou, they traveled day and night, yet it still took twelve days to reach their destination.

Zhao Zhen looked at the rolling mountain plains ahead. Dark clouds billowed in the sky, the trees on the slopes were withered, and crows were gathered.

“Elder Hua, why would the Xuanji Sect hide here?” Bitter One asked with a frown.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation feigned confusion and said, “I’m not sure either. Everyone, be careful; I fear there may be a trap.”

Zhao Zhen glanced at him and lamented in his heart. No wonder Master always said that the human heart is unpredictable.

If not for that female Disciple, he really would have thought the Elder of Sword Cultivation cared about his mother.

The four continued forward. The mountain terrain was desolate, even the flowers and grass were withered, with no green in sight. Along the way, they could even see the remains of wild beasts.

They continued forward for about five miles until they stopped to look. They saw an open space between the mountains where many tents had been set up, like a camp, with many people moving about inside.

Some were sparring, some were slaughtering goats, and some could even be seen forging weapons.

A look of suspicion flashed in Zhao Zhen’s eyes. The clothing of these people was clearly that of Northern Barbarians. Could it be that this matter really involved the Xuanji Sect?

The Elder of Sword Cultivation spoke, “You wait here. I’ll go down and take a look first.”

With that, he stepped forward and walked down the mountain.

Bitter One and Bitter Two came to Zhao Zhen’s side, watching the Elder of Sword Cultivation descend.

“There are no ambushes nearby,” Bitter One said in a low voice.

Zhao Zhen nodded. He was full of curiosity about what would happen next, wondering exactly what kind of tricks the Elder of Sword Cultivation was playing.

They watched as the Elder of Sword Cultivation interacted with the Northern Barbarian Martial Artists before being led into a tent.

Not long after, the Elder of Sword Cultivation came out, looking as if he had been pushed. Immediately following him, they saw several Northern Barbarian Martial Artists with extraordinary Auras emerge from the tent.

The leader was tall and built like a bear, his armor embedded with hooks and spikes, making him look even more formidable.

This person was named Tuo Zhenye, a Personal Disciple of the Xuanji Sect and the Master of this camp.

He gave Zhao Zhen a distant look and then waved his hand. Immediately, two Northern Barbarian Martial Artists entered another tent and pushed out a woman whose arms were tied and whose mouth was gagged.

Zhao Zhen frowned when he saw the woman.

He no longer remembered what his mother looked like, but seeing her disheveled hair and messy clothes, killing intent rose in his heart.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation also frowned, his hands clenched into fists inside his sleeves.

Tuo Zhenye noticed his expression and snorted, “Don’t worry, our Xuanji Sect isn’t that lowly. It’s just that this woman wouldn’t stay still, so we had to give her a bit of a lesson.”

The Elder of Sword Cultivation took a deep breath, walked to the woman’s side, and removed the dirty cloth from her face.

“Is that Zhener? How could you really call him here? Elder of Sword Cultivation, what exactly do you want to do?” the woman shouted angrily.

She was indeed Zhao Zhen’s biological mother, Yu Mi.

The Elder of Sword Cultivation gritted his teeth and said, “I couldn’t just leave you!”

Yu Mi cursed loudly, “Do you really think I’m so stupid that I’m beyond help? At this point, would I ever believe you again? Saying that the Zhao Clan left money in Cangzhou that could help Zhener start an uprising… if that were true, why would Northern Barbarians be here?”

“Your goal has always been Zhener. No wonder you repeatedly made me write letters. Elder of Sword Cultivation, you are utterly heartless, plotting even against your own nephew. You aren’t human!”

Although Zhao Zhen was far from them, he could hear Yu Mi’s words. He wasn’t angry; instead, he felt a sense of relief.

His mother did indeed care about him, so his coming here wasn’t in vain.

He had feared that he would come only to find that his mother didn’t care about him at all, or even that she was working with the Elder of Sword Cultivation to plot against him.

Bitter One and Bitter Two were furious. The reason they had helped the Elder of Sword Cultivation persuade Zhao Zhen was because he had promised that Tianxuan Mountain would help Zhao Zhen reclaim his empire. If the Elder of Sword Cultivation would even deceive Yu Mi, how could his words ever be trusted again?

Zhao Zhen immediately began walking down toward the camp.

Rumble—

The dark clouds in the sky let out a dull thunderous roar, as if a torrential downpour were about to strike.

Seeing Zhao Zhen walking down, the Northern Barbarian Martial Artists in the camp gathered around. Tuo Zhenye sized up Zhao Zhen with interest.

Yu Mi looked at Zhao Zhen, no longer shouting. She seemed dazed, as if she were seeing the young Zhao Lan.

When she and Zhao Lan first met, Zhao Lan was only about as old as Zhao Zhen was now.

At that time, she was the Genius girl of Tianxuan Mountain, having achieved Minor Achievement in her martial arts, while Zhao Lan was the Crown Prince. He had come to Tianxuan Mountain to visit the previous Sect Master. When they first met, she didn’t know Zhao Lan’s identity; she had even bullied the sickly Zhao Lan.

“Since you’re after me, you can release my mother. I’ll talk to you.”

Zhao Zhen walked into the camp and spoke while looking at Tuo Zhenye.

Tuo Zhenye raised his hand, signaling his subordinates to surround Zhao Zhen, and then said, “Release her. Let her go.”

The two Northern Barbarian Martial Artists standing behind Yu Mi immediately untied her. Yu Mi looked at Zhao Zhen and was about to speak when she was pulled away by the Elder of Sword Cultivation.

“Let’s leave first. Staying here will only drag him down!” the Elder of Sword Cultivation said in a heavy voice.

Yu Mi gave him a hateful look, but her reason told her he was right. she could only let the Elder of Sword Cultivation pull her away.

She looked at the surrounded Zhao Zhen, her face filled with worry.

Zhao Zhen glanced at her, and for some reason, a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

“If Master were here, he certainly wouldn’t let me fall into such a situation…”