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Chapter 197: Uninvited Guest at Night

Translator: Minotauruz

It was a cold and dark night, and the moon hung high in the sky as it cast an eerie glow over the lands. At the foot of the Heavenly Crane Mountain, the hustle and bustle of the evening had already dispersed, and the crowds had all returned to their abodes to retire for the night. All that remained were faint glows of candlelight that sporadically illuminated a few rooms – their owners were unable to sleep.

In the Eternal Summit Sect’s lodging area, Dai Yanfeng was among one of the few who had been unable to retire for the night. Under the dim candlelight, his grip stiffened around a piece of paper that was filled with words, and a complicated gaze filled his eyes.

This piece of paper reported the current standings of each sect in the Secondary Inter-Sect Competition. It was detailed with the results of each and every competition, the number of points allocated to each sect per battle, and the current position of each sect in the rankings.

The Eternal Summit Sect had presently taken first place, but it was only a few points ahead of the Dawn Sect. As long as the Dawn Sect defeated the Eternal Summit Sect again, then they would without a doubt steal the first position away from the Eternal Summit Sect.

Thus, even though they were presently placed first, Dai Yanfeng knew that this was nothing to celebrate about. At the very least, it was still far too early to celebrate.

However, this was not the main reason that had kept Dai Yanfeng up at night. What he was most concerned about was that among all of the points accumulated by the Dawn Sect, forty percent of them were attributable to the Heavenly Peak disciples under Jun Linxuan.

Furthermore, Dai Yanfeng had heard something else on the grapevine – as a result of the Dawn Sect’s internal strife, the Heavenly Peak had only sent out a total of eight disciples, comprising five participants in the Lower Category and three in the Middle Category.

Yet in the end, the Heavenly Peak disciples had taken first place in both the Lower Category and the Middle Category, while the other disciples that had participated also achieved fairly decent results.

It was precisely also because of this that the Dawn Sect had managed to maintain their place among the top three in the competition despite their tragic losses during their previous travels.

This was tantamount to giving a tight slap to the faces of the Dawn Sect’s Sect Elders. These results also incensed Dai Yanfeng.

As the Eternal Summit Sect’s Grand Elder, he did not possess any form of special enmity against Jun Linxuan to begin with. Any enmity back then was nothing more than a mere extension of the intense and fierce rivalry between their sects.

However, Jun Linxuan’s dear daughter Jun Xiaomo had just viciously injured his own precious daughter Dai Yue!

During the second round of the Lower Category battles, Jun Xiaomo had not only torn apart Dai Yue’s appearances and trampled on her pride and reputation in front of all to see, she had even beaten up Dai Yue into a bloody mess.

What incensed Dai Yanfeng the most was that when he brought Dai Yue back to their lodging to heal her wounds and injuries, he discovered that Dai Yue’s meridians had all been severed by Jun Xiaomo!

Severed meridians could still be repaired, but one would need to source the necessary few rare, priceless spiritual herbs before one would be able to refine the peculiar, high-quality Meridian Adhering Pill.

And what was most tragic was the fact that Dai Yanfeng’s Interspatial Ring lacked every single one of these constituent spiritual herbs right now, and he did not possess a Meridian Adhering Pill with him either. Therefore, he could only do his utmost to locate each of these herbs within the shortest possible time.

Unfortunately, while her meridians remain severed, Dai Yue’s cultivation would come to a complete halt, and she would even experience the excruciating pain and dull discomfort accompanying her severed meridians.

Jun Linxuan! You and your damned daughter! I was still wondering why Jun Xiaomo had let off Dai Yue so easily and allowed her to admit defeat. She actually has a hidden trump card like this!

Yet Dai Yanfeng had selectively obviated from his considerations the fact that it was Dai Yue who had time and again sought to take Jun Xiaomo’s life on the arena to begin with.

Did he think that Jun Xiaomo had no feelings either?

As Dai Yanfeng’s hatred for Jun Xiaomo festered and burgeoned, the ambit of his hatred began to grow and encompass every member of the Heavenly Peak as well. Dai Yanfeng thought that given how Jun Xiaomo’s viciousness was the product of Jun Linxuan’s teachings, the other Heavenly Peak disciples would hardly be any better either.

Thus, when he first learnt that a rift had emerged within the Dawn Sect, and the Sect Leader and several Sect Elders had joined hands to deal with the Heavenly Peak, joy filled his heart, and he eagerly anticipated the fruits of their schemes and ploys.

Yet to his dismay, even after the list of Heavenly Peak participants had shrunk to such a dismal state, each and every remaining participant still managed to achieve stellar results during their competitions.

What would happen if all of these disciples had not had their rights to participate stripped away? Would the Eternal Summit Sect still be able to maintain their current position at the top spot? Furthermore, the Greater Sects have all noticed the stellar showing from the Heavenly Peak disciples during this competition. When they choose their own disciples from the Secondary Sects in future, would they be partial towards the Heavenly Peak?

The bulging veins on Dai Yanfeng’s head throbbed uncontrollably, and a roaring inferno burgeoned in the depths of his eyes.

How he wished that he could just bury Jun Linxuan and his entire following of people into the ground!

Just as he delved deeply into his own thoughts and emotions, the candlelight in his room flickered furiously. A cold wind swept across the room, and another person suddenly appeared in his room.

“Who are you?!” Dai Yanfeng barked in shock and rage.

The uninvited guest possessed a pair of eagle eyes with such an incisive gaze that seemed to bore through and peek into every corner of Dai Yanfeng’s mind. At the same time, this man possessed an exquisite and dignified aura. If one were to ignore that pair of incisive eyes of his, this man could be described as a scholar and the hallmark of refinement.

He’s not a simple person! A tense analysis of this man flashed across Dai Yanfeng’s heart.

As though the man were confirming his thoughts, he tapped gently in the air, and a trace of congealed spiritual energy emerged from his body. The spiritual energy twisted and turned in mid-air, before it began to form a single word – Du.

Du? Could this be...

Dai Yanfeng looked at the man in bewilderment, hesitant to clarify his suspicions with the man.

Yet the man was hardly bothered by Dai Yanfeng’s astonishment. He calmly picked up a clean teacup, poured himself a cup of tea and slowly took a sip from it.

“What’s the matter, Grand Elder of the Eternal Summit Sect? Haven’t you realized who I am yet?” The guest glanced at Dai Yanfeng and remarked impolitely.

Even then, Dai Yanfeng hardly dared to pick a fight with this man because he knew that the ability to release and congeal spiritual energy in mid-air was testament to how frightening this man’s cultivation level was.

At the very least, Dai Yanfeng knew that he was no match for this man if they ended up fighting. He would at best be able to last no more than ten moves from that man.

“You must be...from the Du Clan? One of the clans among the eight great sects, the Du Clan?” Dai Yanfeng clarified cautiously.

“Ah, at least you’re not too daft. Otherwise, I might very well have to reassess the current transaction I’m about to propose.”

“Transaction?” Dai Yanfeng latched onto the most important word.

“That’s right. Transaction.” The man confirmed.

This man was none other than the Du Clan Head. Right now, the Lower Category and Middle Category battles were over, and the Open Category battles were at its tail end and would conclude very shortly.

Thus, it was about time for the Du Clan Head to apprise the Eternal Summit Sect’s Grand Elder of his plans as well.

That’s right. In the mind of the Du Clan Head, the reason he had snuck into Dai Yanfeng’s room at night was simply to “apprise” Dai Yanfeng of his plans – he hardly considered this a transaction at all.

In the eyes of the Du Clan Head, Dai Yanfeng was bound to agree to his plans. Even if Dai Yanfeng disagreed from the onset, the Du Clan Head had various ways and means of making sure that he would comply.

“I wonder what kind of transaction this senior from Du Clan is proposing?” Dai Yanfeng anxiously yet politely queried.

“You can call me the Du Clan Head.” Du Ruiguang casually remarked. Yet the revelation of his identity rang out like the crash of a loud gong in Dai Yanfeng’s heart.

It’s the Du Clan Head?! Dai Yanfeng’s emotions could no longer simply be described as “astonishment” – it might be more accurate to describe it as “terrified” right now.

Just the stature of the Du Clan Head alone was sufficient to place Dai Yanfeng on the backfoot, despite the fact that he was a Grand Elder of a Secondary Sect. And this did not even take into consideration the fact that the Du Clan Head possessed an incredible and formidable cultivation level – one that was more than sufficient to easily squash Dai Yanfeng as though he were no more than an ant.

Dai Yanfeng’s tone of voice grew even more cautious.

“When the esteemed Du Clan Head mentioned a transaction earlier, you meant...”

“The group battles are going to commence once the Open Category battles conclude, am I right? I’m thinking of exchanging your Eternal Summit Sect disciples for the Du Clan disciples.”

“Haa--?!” Dai Yanfeng was completely taken aback, and he suspected that he might even have misheard the Du Clan Head.

“What’s the matter? You don’t agree with my suggestion?” Du Ruiguang squinted his eyes as he stared coldly at Dai Yanfeng.

“No...it’s not that. It’s just that...why...” Under Du Ruiguang’s intense and incisive gaze, Dai Yanfeng’s voice grew smaller and tinier by the moment.

As a Grand Elder, Dai Yanfeng had always spoken with authority and gravitas within the Eternal Summit Sect. There was not a single moment when he would be reduced to such a timid state. Yet faced with Du Ruiguang’s overbearing aura and immense pressure, he found himself unable to maintain that authority with which he usually spoke with, for fear that he would offend Du Ruiguang.

“Let’s put it this way – we’ve got a common enemy right now. Therefore, I hope to borrow the identity of your Eternal Summit Sect disciples to deal a heavy blow to this common enemy of ours. How about it? This transaction isn’t too bad for you, is it?” Du Ruiguang changed his tact and adopted a softer approach as he calmly broke down the situation for Dai Yanfeng.

“Common enemy?” Dai Yanfeng’s eyes glistened, “Could it be the Dawn Sect?”

“Ah, that’s not it. The Dawn Sect’s Sect Leader is our ally as well.” Du Ruiguang chuckled sardonically as he mocked the term “ally” in his heart.

Truth be told, whether it be Dai Yanfeng or He Zhang, none of the two were considered more than mere pawns to Du Ruiguang. Therefore, even though he proposed “transactions” with the two of them, it might be far more accurate to say that these two were no more than tools that were used to carry out and execute his own plans.

In his eyes, Dai Yanfeng and He Zhang were not qualified to be discussing any terms of transactions with him.

Dai Yanfeng knitted his brows. After deliberating for a moment, he finally understood who the Du Clan Head was referring to –

“Could the ‘common enemy’ you’re referring to be...the Heavenly Peak?”

“Not bad. You’ve managed to guess it.” Du Ruiguang glanced down at the cup of tea in his hand and discovered that he had almost finished it all. Thus, Du Ruiguang mocked in his heart – These Secondary Sect people are all idiots. I’ve dropped them so many hints and they still take such a long time to find the right answer.

That said, he did not reveal any of this on his face. Du Ruiguang simply continued with a plain expression on his face, “So, how about it? This transaction isn’t too bad for you, is it? The Du Clan’s average strength is undeniably several levels stronger than the disciples in your sect. It’s not going to be too difficult for them to kill off the Heavenly Peak disciples during the competition.”

Dai Yanfeng’s heart skipped a beat –

What do you mean ‘not bad’?! This is practically a dream come true!

“But why don’t you just...act directly against them?” Dai Yanfeng carefully selected his words before querying cautiously.

“Grand Elder Dai, are you using your brain to think or your foot to think right now? If a hidden clan intends to act directly against you Secondary Sect ants, you would have perished a long time ago.” The Du Clan Head mocked contemptuously.

Even though Dai Yanfeng was displeased with the term of reference “ants”, he dared not display his emotions on his face at all. Dai Yanfeng simply nodded his head obsequiously, “Du Clan Head is right.”

That said, Du Ruiguang was completely uninterested in Dai Yanfeng’s bootlicking. He took another sip of his tea as he added, “It appears that Grand Elder Dai agrees to this transaction, then?”

“This...” Dai Yanfeng was a shrewd person. He could tell that Du Ruiguang wanted to secure this transaction at all costs.

Since that was the case, why not attempt to gain some benefits out of this win-win situation? For example, requiring Du Ruiguang to cure his daughter’s injuries...

Thus, Dai Yanfeng put on a hesitant look on his face. On the other hand, Du Ruiguang slowly finished off his cup of tea, before slamming the teacup back down onto the table.

The teacup was shattered into fine powder by Du Ruiguang’s momentary release of his oppressive aura. Not only that, the chair which Dai Yanfeng was seated on cracked in several places as well, and he fell back down onto the floor in a sorry state.

“Grand Elder Dai, I think you need to realize something. I’m not really ‘discussing’ things with you right now; I’m just ‘informing’ you of this matter...In other words, this matter has already been set in stone, regardless of whether you agree with my plans or not. There’s no room for any changes. Furthermore, this plan hardly places the Eternal Summit Sect at a disadvantage at all, does it? You’d best keep your avarice in check. Otherwise, don’t blame me for my impoliteness!”

Dai Yanfeng hurriedly knelt onto the floor and kowtowed to Du Ruiguang as he anxiously responded, “Du Clan Head is right. I agree, I agree...”

This was the first time he had been reduced to such a tragic and humiliated state.

Du Ruiguang nodded his head in satisfaction. Then, with a wave of his arm, several pieces of herbs and medicines found their way to Dai Yanfeng’s palms.

“This is...” Dai Yanfeng’s hands trembled slightly as he sought to clarify.

“Haven’t your daughter’s meridians been damaged by Jun Xiaomo? These are a few constituent medicines required for the refinement of a Meridian Adhering Pill, and it might be of use to you. Take them. Consider them a token of my appreciation for your assistance.”

At this moment, Dai Yanfeng’s earlier frustrations vanished completely into the air, and he erupted with great joy, “Thank you, Du Clan Head, thank you...”

With these few pieces of herbs in hand, it might only require a few months’ worth of time before he would be able to locate the rest of the constituent medicines and herbs for the refinement of the Meridian Adhering Pill.

The Du Clan Head looked down at Dai Yanfeng. It was discreet and barely noticeable, but a contemptuous smile crept up the corner of Du Ruiguang’s lips as though he were looking at a dog or a simple house pet – Hmph, these people from Secondary Sects are so easily pleased...

These medicines and herbs were dime a dozen in the Du Clan. Even normal disciples would carry several pieces of these precious medicines within their Interspatial Rings.

Tsk. I guess by extension, the Heavenly Peak won’t amount to much either. There’s no need to treat them as opponents to be considered seriously at all.

It’s going to be too easy to kill off those Heavenly Peak vermin. I’m going to use this as an opportunity for my disciples to hone their skills and let Xu-er have the chance to take revenge for the Basilisk Fruit incident as well.

The Du Clan Head thought coldly to himself.

“Oh yes, Du Clan Head, I wonder how you intend to exchange the Eternal Summit Sect disciples for your Du Clan disciples? It must be said that there the competition organizers strictly prohibit fraudulent behaviour. If we’re caught...”

“Alright. Do you think this is the first time someone engages in fraudulent practices?” Du Ruiguang mocked contemptuously, “Or are you suggesting that the Du Clan is weak and won’t be able to achieve something so simple?”

“Junior doesn’t dare, junior doesn’t dare. It’s just that what is simple to the Du Clan is simply unfathomable to those from Secondary Sects like me.” Dai Yanfeng hurriedly corrected the misunderstanding.

“Hmph.” Du Ruiguang snorted, “You’ll just have to wait and see. All you’ll have to do is to submit your name list as per usual, and I have countless ways and means to achieve the end I desire.”

As Du Ruiguang finished speaking, the frigid smile on his face darkened and turned sinister.