Both Ling Xiao and Liu Piaopiao walked out of Longevity City without stopping. Very soon, they arrived at the foot of Mount Longevity.

Liu Piaopiao was dumbfounded when she saw the massive characters of Longevity Sect inscribed on the boulder, large and clear.

“You’re a disciple of Longevity Sect?” Liu Piaopiao raised the question in a shaky voice.

“That’s right! Is there a problem?” Ling Xiao looked at the verdant Mount Longevity and felt a wave of emotion washed over him.

“But… But…”

Liu Piaopiao was at a loss for words. Among these three sects that were located within the vicinity of a thousand miles, the performance of Longevity Sect ranked at the bottom, and it was so much worse compared to Indulgence Sect and Heavenly Demons Hall. How could a sect like that produce a devilish disciple like Ling Xiao?

He gave a faint smile because he understood what was playing in Liu Piaopiao’s mind. In spite of that, he showed not the slightest desire to explain and instead, he took massive strides towards Mount Longevity.

“Such a strange man!”

Liu Piaopiao mumbled to herself before she quickly caught up to his pace. She grew more curious about this man she thought was so mysterious and peculiar, it was as if he was covered by a layer of fog.

“I wonder how that little girl Xue Wei has been getting along with her cultivation process during my time away.”

The corners of Ling Xiao’s lips turned upward into a grin. Things remained the same in this life, but the people around him had changed. Yet, this little girl was the only one who could give him a sense of kindness and warmth.

Despite that, Ling Xiao had an instinct that the blood running beneath Xue Wei was rather unusual. It was as if it carried a deep, dark secret.

“What’s the matter?”

Suddenly, the brows on his face knitted together as he had a sort of premonition.

Along his way uphill, a few of the Longevity Sect disciples saw Ling Xiao walking past them. However, they scurried away immediately like startled birds to avoid him.

Just a few days ago when he descended the mountain, numerous disciples had greeted him respectfully and had treated him differently, so this made the drastic change even more inexplicable.

Something must have happened!

An ominous realization flashed across his face when he witnessed the smug and sympathetic expression in those disciples’ eyes.

He could not bother to bring himself down to their level. Hence, he quickened his pace and dashed towards the direction of Jin Se Pavilion.

The second he saw what laid in front of his eyes, the expression on his face turned unusually glum.

The bamboo forest remained and water still flowed through the waterfall as usual, but Jin Se Pavilion had disappeared.

To be more accurate, Jin Se Pavilion was in ruins. Traces of ash and evidence of a horrible fire could still be seen on the ground.

“Xue Wei! Xue Wei, where are you?”

Lin Xiao roared at the top of his lungs; his voice was filled with suppressed rage.

Although he was exasperated that Jin Se Pavilion was burned down to ruins, his utmost concern was Xue Wei’s whereabouts.

Ling Xiao’s voice filled the entire area so much that even the bamboo forest trembled slightly, but the silhouette of that lady in white was still nowhere to be seen.

He clenched his fists tight as a furious murder intent flashed across his eyes.

“Who is it? Who’s got the nerve to destroy Jin Se Pavilion with fire and abduct Xue Wei? Could it be Deng Yalin? But I don’t think he’s got the courage!”

A thousand thoughts flood into Ling Xiao’s mind. His whole body was on the verge of erupting into a violent rage.

Liu Piaopiao, who was standing next to him, was full of shock and questions. She was bewildered at the surge of fierce, evil intention coming from Ling Xiao as if he was possessed by an unrivaled spirit of death. Her face could not help but turn as pale as a sheet because of that.

Besides, she was dying to know the identity of Xue Wei. Who was this girl that had the ability to cause Ling Xiao so much worry and anger?

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

Right at this moment, three silhouettes appeared out of the bamboo forest from afar.

“Saint!”

The three of them bowed to Ling Xiao in humble reverence.

Ling Xiao turned his attention to the source of the voices and he recognized the men right away. It was Liu Chuanxiong, Gu Zhong and Wang Han — the ones he had rescued from the mouth of the Dark Dam Red Snake in Demonic Beast Mountains.

However, both Liu Chuanxiong and Gu Zhong were beaten black and blue in the face, while Wang Han appeared horror-stricken. Judging by their chaotic life forces, he concluded that they had been seriously injured.

“Tell me what happened!” Ling Xiao said expressionlessly.

However, the cold chill emanated from his tone sent shivers down those three listeners’ spines.

“Saint, it’s all because of Lin Haoyu!” Liu Chuanxiong said through gritted teeth while he looked at Ling Xiao’s solemn expression.

“Lin Haoyu?”

Ling Xiao’s brows knitted together at the name unbeknownst to him. Not as he had assumed, it was not Deng Yalin who did all of these. After all, Deng Yalin was the only person in the whole of Longevity Sect who had a grudge against him, albeit he had acknowledged his allegiance to Ling Xiao.

“Lin Haoyu is the grandson of the Grand Supreme Elder. He ranks second among the legacy disciples, immediately after Senior Sister Nangong!”

With the information provided by Liu Chuanxiong, Ling Xiao finally understood the reason behind these incidents.

In the Longevity Sect, apart from Sect Leader Nangong Xuan having attained the Grandmaster Boundary, there was another Grand Supreme Elder named Lin Shan. He was rumored to have acquired a higher cultivation base than the Sect Leader, and he was indeed the strongest person in all of Longevity Sect.

Lin Shan doted on his grandson Lin Haoyu. He was twenty-two years old and had progressed into the cultivation base of eighth tier Spiritualization Boundary. He was ranked second among the legacy disciples, right behind Senior Sister Nangong.

Lin Haoyu was an arrogant and despotic man who loved to ride roughshod over his fellow disciples. However, because he had the backing of his grandfather Lin Shan, even Nangong Xuan had no idea how to deal with him.

Moreover, Lin Haoyu was an extremely proud man. He had always regarded Nangong Qing as his exclusive domain and had attempted to become a Longevity Sect’s Saint, even though Nangong Xuan had always remained intransigent.

When he came out from a long period of isolated cultivation, his cultivation base had progressed into ninth tier Spiritualization Boundary. Besides, he too became more daring because he had succeeded in cultivating Longevity Sect’s inclusive martial arts — Seven Stars to Moon Sword. With this, he had finally caught up with Nangong Qing’s cultivation base.

However, once he was done with his isolated cultivation, he heard that a lowly disciple named Ling Xiao had appeared in Longevity Sect out of nowhere. Not only did this man passed all nine stories of Longevity Tower, he who acquired Pulse Unsealing Boundary had also defeated Deng Yalin of Spiritualization Boundary, as well as received Nangong Xuan’s blessing to become the Longevity Sect’s Saint thanks to his peerless innate talents.

The title of a Saint was comparable to that of Longevity Sect’s Young Sect Leader, or in other words the established future sect leader. Lin Haoyu had long yearned for that position but it was currently bestowed upon a lowly disciple. That meant that he had to bow and pay respect to that lowly disciple whenever they met in the future.

Lin Haoyu could never tolerate that.

His rage soared sky-high and so, without much consideration, he immediately marched to Jin Se Pavilion in mighty contingent to burn down the pavilion and kidnapped Xue Wei.

“Saint, all three of us weren’t able to stop Lin Haoyu with our weak cultivation base. After he injured us, we could only watch helplessly as he took Miss Xue Wei!” Liu Chuanxiong said with teary eyes.

“Where was Nangong Xuan and Nangong Qing? Did they not meddle in this?” Ling Xiao appeared calmer than before, but people who knew him better realized his vexation was already at a boiling point.

“Sect Leader and Senior Sister Nangong are both cultivating in seclusion hence they don’t even know about this! Senior Brother Deng Yalin did challenge Lin Haoyu but he was terribly injured in the end. Eventually, the Great Elder and Law Enforcement Elder went to confer with the man but Grand Supreme Elder Lin Shan has his grandson’s back!”

Liu Chuanxiong and the other two men looked anguished. Grand Supreme Elder Lin Shan made it completely clear in his decision to protect his grandson’s actions, so even if Ling Xiao was exasperated, there was not much that he could do.

Even if Nangong Xuan came out from the closed-door cultivation, he could not possibly fall out with the Grand Supreme Elder Lin Shan because of a mere maidservant.

Suddenly, Liu Chuanxiong and the other two men were washed over by both anger and dejection.