Chapter 68 Youthful Spring Robes (Fourteen)

The next day.

The Yanghua Sect Grand Competition was held as scheduled at the main peak.

Jiang Gu sat in the elders' seat, with Shen Yuxin sitting beside him, somewhat absent-minded. Jiang Gu followed his gaze and saw Qu Fengyu next to Wu Hezhi.

Qu Fengyu was taking good care of Wu Hezhi. She whispered something to him, and the two of them laughed at the same time. She then took a cloak and draped it over Wu Hezhi, which brought a rare touch of color to his pale face.

Shen Yuxin unconsciously clenched his hands on his knees.

A hint of interest flashed in Jiang Gu's eyes, and he unusually took the initiative to ask, "Elder Shen and Elder Qu know each other?"

Shen Yuxin was stunned for a long time, then smiled somewhat reluctantly, "When I was young, I traveled down the mountain with Miss Qu, so we can be considered... old acquaintances."

"I see," Jiang Gu replied casually.

Shen Yuxin was waiting for him to continue asking questions, but the man suddenly became indifferent again, leaving him alone to immerse himself in the past. His gaze towards Qu Fengyu gradually became tender yet he forced himself to restrain himself. When he saw Wu Hezhi hand her a handkerchief, his expression turned extremely ugly.

“...What kind of behavior is this?” he said in a deep voice, lowering his eyes.

Jiang Gu only picked a topic to discuss, looking at Xie Fuxue who was still talking incessantly on the arena, then his gaze swept over Ruan Keji who was surrounded by many disciples, and finally landed on a red-clothed boy in the corner.

Today's grand competition was bustling with disciples on the main peak, and the stands were already packed. Wei Feng and Xuan Zhiyan arrived late and couldn't get seats, so they stood in a corner protruding from the cliff. As usual, he was dressed in bright and luxurious clothes, and leaned against the rock with his arms crossed. He looked at the arena with a weary expression, and his face was extremely pale.

There were no fewer than seven or eight divine senses watching him intently from his side alone. When the elders learned that Jiang Gu was leaving without Wei Feng, they knew that he had become a discarded pawn, so they did not restrain themselves at all.

It seems he is destined to return to the days when everyone could bully him.

When Jiang Gu's divine sense swept over, those messy divine senses instantly withdrew. Wei Feng seemed to sense something and looked up, meeting his gaze.

With Wei Feng's cultivation level, he shouldn't have been able to see it from such a distance, but the white pupil bloodline seemed to have enhanced his eyesight, and he could even see the tiny blue veins on Jiang Gu's neck.

He stared straight at Jiang Gu, as if sulking or accusing him, trying to find a trace of heartache or guilt on his master's face.

But Jiang Gu remained indifferent, separated by the crowd, as if he were examining a random stone on a cliff.

In the end, Wei Feng was defeated. His eyes reddened uncontrollably, and he lowered his eyes in a panic. He was in complete chaos. For the first time in his seventeen years of life, he experienced the bittersweet taste of love and hate. His heart felt like a rotten pile of bloody mud, making it hard for him to breathe.

“I think I saw your master,” Xuan Zhiyan whispered from the side.

"Hmm." Wei Feng clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. Now that his ghostly white pupils were suppressed, he didn't feel such intense love or hate, but he was still extremely uncomfortable.

His face remained calm, but drops of crimson blood dripped from his fist and landed on the stone.

Jiang Gu caught a glimpse of the bloodstains and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

He hasn't improved at all. If this little beast were to fight to the death to demand an explanation, he would at least have some backbone.

He glanced at it listlessly and then looked away.

Sensing that Jiang Gu's consciousness had left, Wei Feng's tense back suddenly relaxed. "Zhiyan, what round am I in?"

"The twenty-third match," Xuan Zhiyan said. "There are eight arenas in total. It's still early, at least an hour from now. What's wrong, are you nervous?"

"I have to go to the back mountain for something. Keep an eye on things for me. Send me a voice message when it's almost my turn," Wei Feng whispered.

Xuan Zhiyan readily agreed, "But what are you going to do in the back mountain?"

"Let's go find someone." Wei Feng patted his stomach. "Let's go."

Xuan Zhiyan winced in pain, glaring at his departing back with a grimace. "You should reduce your body training, or you'll turn into a stone monster!"

Wei Feng flew on his sword and arrived at the back mountain in the blink of an eye.

He quickly found the barrier where Lu Ziming was by following the scent. Jiang Gu had been in the back mountain all night, so he didn't dare to come here rashly. Yesterday, he could see clearly through the ghost patterns that Lu Ziming and the puppet under Jiang Lin's command were both imprisoned here by his master.

Master wants Lu Zhenyi and Jiang Lin to fight like the snipe and the clam so he can reap the benefits and then leave. If he wants Master to stay, then—

He had just approached the barrier when he was suddenly pulled back by a hand.

He turned around abruptly and was met with Qu Fengyu's smiling face. "Qu Fengyu!?"

"Shh." Qu Fengyu quickly made a soundproof shield. "Call me Auntie."

Wei Feng frowned. "What are you doing here?"

Qu Fengyu smiled but remained silent. Instead, he pointed outside and whispered, "There are no fewer than ten Nascent Soul stage elders in the entire back mountain watching you. They're just waiting for Jiang Gu to leave today before they search your soul and extract your blood pact."

"Stop spreading alarmist rumors," Wei Feng said coldly.

"Scar-mongering?" Qu Fengyu chuckled. "That's not necessarily true. Lu Zhenyi is about to arrive at Yanghua Sect. If you appear here at this time, wouldn't that be putting yourself in a compromising situation?"

"What do you want to do here? Release Lu Ziming?" Qu Fengyu grabbed him and pulled him forward without saying a word. Wei Feng struggled a couple of times but was held in place by her and forced to move forward with her force. "Don't be silly. Jiang Gu has already distanced himself from this matter. Even if you release him, Lu Zhenyi won't come after him."

She investigated in secret for a long time before discovering the place where Lu Ziming was imprisoned. Perhaps it wasn't that she "discovered" it, but rather that Jiang Gu deliberately revealed the location to her. However, the only person who appeared in the cave from beginning to end was "Zhou Huaiming." If Wei Feng hadn't appeared, she wouldn't have suspected Jiang Gu at all.

However, if we assume that Zhou Huaiming is another identity of Jiang Gu, then all of this makes sense—Jiang Gu used Zhou Huaiming's identity to seize the artifact and kidnap Lu Ziming. Now that Jiang Gu is leaving Yanghua Sect, it is time to abandon the identity of Zhou Huaiming, and dying at Lu Zhenyi's hands will cut off the clues.

Wei Feng's face turned extremely ugly. "I—"

Qu Fengyu suddenly turned around and put his arm around his shoulder, saying seriously, "Can't you see things now? You are a pawn in his hands. If you appear here, Lu Zhenyi will find out that there are elders guarding the back mountain as soon as she arrives. Naturally, she will blame Yanghua Sect, and the situation will only become more chaotic."

Wei Feng frowned. "How did you know Lu Ziming was here?"

“I had already discovered it, but this barrier is powerful, and I was afraid of alerting them. It’s better to let Lu Zhenyi handle this tricky matter himself. Today’s sect competition is a good opportunity, so I only informed him yesterday.” Qu Fengyu pondered, “But I overlooked one thing. Jiang Gu actually wanted to use you to drag Yanghua Sect into this as well.”

Wei Feng's mind went completely blank after hearing her words. "You mean my master plotted against me?"

"He didn't just scheme against you; he's schemed against me too. Now, I'm afraid the entire Yanghua Sect is implicated." Qu Fengyu's mind raced. Suddenly, countless kites and streaks of light from flying swords flew across the sky. She asked in confusion, "The Sparrow Kite Sect? Oh no—"

As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of spiritual energy exploding came from the main peak, and the entire mountain range where Yanghua Sect was located began to shake violently.

Qu Fengyu quickly released him from the immobilization, "Stay close to me!"

Wei Feng looked towards the main peak, where thick smoke was already rising. His master and Xuan Zhiyan were there. Without further hesitation, he flew away on his sword, following Qu Fengyu.

Not long after they left, two dark figures appeared on the back mountain.

The ghost cultivator, cloaked in black, complained, "Did we have to come at this time? What if it's a trap set by Jiang Gu?"

"Today is the Yanghua Sect's grand competition, and the Zhou family has also sent people. Jiang Gu will definitely be too busy to attend to this matter. We must seize this opportunity." Jiang Lin's expression was grave.

"It seems you really value this puppet," Zhou Xiuyuan teased.

Jiang Lin scoffed, "It's just another troublesome thing to refine."

——

Main peak.

Looking at the two women in front of him, Wu Hezhi almost lost his smile and forced a dry laugh, "Sect Leader Qu, Holy Maiden Zhou, why have you two come together?"

Standing before him was Qu Qing, who was completely shrouded in black robes. She removed her hood, revealing a face that bore a striking resemblance to Qu Fengyu, but she was extremely serious and unsmiling. "Today is the Yanghua Sect Grand Competition, and I have specially brought my disciples here to observe it."

Another woman was dressed in an elegant long dress, with round and lovely eyes and eyebrows, like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl. But in fact, she was over a hundred years old and was Zhou Ningjiang, the holy maiden of the Zhou family. She was much more arrogant when she was with Wu Hezhi. "Sect Master Wu, the Zhou family sent a letter of invitation a few days ago. I just came out of seclusion today, so I came to have a chat."

Wu Hezhi and she were complete strangers, having only met once from afar. There was really nothing to talk about. It was obvious that the Zhou family had come for the "lost" artifact. However, they hadn't expected that even small fry like their Yanghua Sect would be targeted. They could only force a smile and say, "Please come in, both of you."

He coughed as soon as he turned around, and the disciple next to him rushed to help him, but he stopped him.

He seemed to have thought of something and turned to look in the direction of the elders' seat. However, Jiang Gu's seat was already empty, with only Shen Yuxin still standing next to him. After meeting his gaze, Shen Yuxin coldly lowered his eyes.

Wu Hezhi suddenly clenched the blood-stained handkerchief in his hand.

Outside the gate of Yanghua Sect, Jiang Gu watched Lu Zhenyi fly straight to the back mountain on her sword and then calmly withdrew his gaze.

People from the Linglong Sect, the Zhou family, the Jiang family, and the Queyuan Sect have all gathered, and the show is about to begin.

However, he had no interest in watching the show. As long as Wei Feng's primordial spirit was alive, he could rest easy and seclude himself with the divine artifact for decades. When he broke through and came out of seclusion, it would be a completely different scene.

Although the year was not very smooth, the acquisition of divine artifacts and treasures such as the Divine Kite Shark Scale Fire-Separating Pill made the trip worthwhile.

Jiang Gu summoned his flying sword. Behind him, the main peak of Yanghua Sect was already filled with the sounds of battle, and the direction of the back mountain was even more earth-shattering and mountain-crushing with spiritual energy. He curled the corner of his mouth, already able to foresee the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood behind him, and prepared to make a successful retreat.

However, the moment he stepped onto the flying sword, a thick black mist suddenly exploded behind his ear, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in the center of the main peak arena.

A cold hand gripped his wrist tightly, Wei Feng's voice exploded in his ears, and then the boy's roar, mixed with spiritual energy, instantly resounded throughout the entire Yanghua Sect:

"Stop fighting—the divine weapon is in Jiang Gu's hands!!!"

The fighting crowd suddenly fell silent.

Jiang Gu turned his head expressionlessly and met Wei Feng's bright smile. His bright eyes were full of innocence and obedience, and his voice was cheerful and lively, "Master, let's run for our lives together."