257: Chapter 250 The Demonic Sect, Foreshadowing

Misty Valley, hundreds of miles away.

In a range of treacherous, rolling mountains.

The sun never shines here year-round; it is overcast and filled with faint black miasma.

The mountain Peaks are steep like swords, craggy with strange rocks, looking like sharp blades piercing the firmament.

Deep in the mountains, a massive black palace is built against the mountain. From afar, it looks like an ancient Vicious Beast lurking in the darkness, exuding a heart-palpitating sense of oppression.

The night is deep, the cold moon lightless.

In front of the Demon Sound Sect gate, two giant ghost statues stand on either side, ferocious in appearance, as if ready to devour anyone at any moment.

Below the gate, two Demon Sound Sect Disciples in black robes are bored, guarding the stone steps.

The mountain wind howls, passing through the valley, making a wailing sound like ghosts crying, carrying a bone-chilling cold.

"This ghost weather is wickedly cold."

A tall, thin Disciple shriveled his neck, tightened his black robe, and cursed in a low voice.

"Enough, stop complaining."

Another round-faced Disciple yawned, his expression full of exhaustion and impatience.

"The Sect hasn't been peaceful lately, the Elders are all in seclusion, and us Disciples are just stuck out here drinking the northwest wind."

The tall, thin Disciple heard this, looked left and right, and lowered his voice.

"Hey, have you heard? A few days ago, the Blood Fiend Sect..."

He spoke halfway, then lowered his voice a bit more, as if afraid of being heard by something unclean.

"Blood Fiend Sect?" The round-faced Disciple frowned. "That Blood Fiend Sect that is just as famous as our Demon Sound Sect? What happened?"

The tall, thin Disciple swallowed, a flash of fear in his eyes.

"I heard from a Senior Brother in the Inner Sect that the Blood Fiend Sect was wiped out."

"Wiped out?"

The round-faced Disciple was stunned, then scoffed.

"Are you kidding? The Blood Fiend Sect is one of the top Sects, their Sect Head is a bona fide Return to Truth Realm expert, with thousands of Disciples. Who has the ability to wipe them out?"

"It's true!"

The tall, thin Disciple was anxious, his voice becoming a bit shrill.

"My Senior Brother saw it with his own eyes. Half the Blood Fiend Sect's mountain gate was blasted away, the ground was covered in corpses, a river of blood!"

"The scariest part is that those corpses... they were all shriveled up, as if their essence and blood had been sucked dry by something."

The smile on the round-faced Disciple's face gradually stiffened.

"You... you aren't lying to me?"

"Why would I lie to you!" The tall, thin Disciple's face turned pale.

"And the weirdest thing is, no one knows who did it even now. It's said it happened at night, not a single living soul was left, and they're still investigating."

"Such methods..."

The round-faced Disciple gasped, feeling a chill run down his back.

"Could it be some old monster has emerged?"

"Who knows."

The tall, thin Disciple shriveled his neck, his voice filled with lingering fear.

"Anyway, security is tight in the Sect lately, the Sect Head personally ordered all Outer Sect Disciples to double their shifts, just in case..."

He hadn't finished his sentence when he suddenly stopped.

The round-faced Disciple was also stunned and looked in the direction of his gaze.

At the end of the distant mountain path, a black shadow had appeared at some unknown time.

The black shadow was not moving fast, step by step, yet his footsteps made not even the slightest sound upon the ground.

The moonlight was completely blocked by dark clouds, so one could only barely make out the outline of a person.

He was wearing a black robe, his figure tall and straight, walking toward the gate in this unhurried manner.

"Who is there?"

The tall, thin Disciple reacted first, grabbing the hilt of his blade and shouting sharply.

In this desolate mountain, in the middle of the night, who would be wandering in front of the Demon Sound Sect gate for no reason?

The round-faced Disciple also tightened his expression, his palm quietly pressing onto his blade handle, his gaze fixed on the figure getting closer and closer.

The black shadow seemed to hear the shout and paused slightly.

Immediately, a faint voice came from the darkness.

"Not bad, you still know how to interrogate, more rules than last time."

The voice was not loud, yet it entered their ears clearly.

The tone was flat, with no joy or anger detectable.

The tall, thin Disciple and the round-faced Disciple looked at each other, seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Who is this person?

He spoke as if he had been here before.

"Stop!"

Seeing that the person was still walking forward, the tall, thin Disciple steeled his heart, drew his long blade, and shouted sharply.

"This is the Forbidden Ground of the Demon Sound Sect, trespassers die! If you don't stop, don't blame us for being impolite!"

The round-faced Disciple also drew his blade, the edge gleaming coldly under the cold moon.

"Speak! Who exactly are you?"

Although the two were tough with their words, their palms were already sweating.

This person was too strange.

Clearly there was only one person, clearly he was not walking fast, but that invisible sense of oppression made their heartbeats faster and faster, and their breathing somewhat difficult.

It was as if something extremely terrifying was approaching step by step.

The black shadow finally stopped ten steps away from the gate.

The moonlight happened to leak through a crack in the clouds at this moment, shining on his face.

It was an extremely young face, looking no more than twenty, with handsome features, yet revealing a cold and stern air.

His eyes were as deep as an abyss, looking at the two in front of him calmly.

Then, he spoke.

"Demon Sound Sect, it doesn't look any different from when I came last time."

The tall, thin Disciple was stunned.

The round-faced Disciple was also stunned.

What... what was this person saying?

What did he mean by "doesn't look any different from when I came last time"?

Could he really have been here before?

But they had been guarding the gate for so long and had never seen this face!

Just when the two were confused and didn't know what to say.

Suddenly.

A sharp sound of breaking air came from inside the gate.

Following that, a black stream of light shot into the sky from deep within the Demon Sound Sect, drew an arc in the air, and landed with a boom in front of the gate.

It was an old man in a dark red robe, with white hair and beard, a withered face, and deep-set eye sockets.

After the tall, thin Disciple and the round-faced Disciple saw who it was, their pupils shrank sharply.

"Inner... Inner Sect Elder?!"

The two of them felt their knees go weak at the same time, almost kneeling down.

An Inner Sect Elder!

This was a true big shot of the Demon Sound Sect, someone even they, as Outer Sect Disciples, rarely saw, so why would he suddenly appear at the gate?

What shocked them even more was.

This Inner Sect Elder, who was usually high and mighty and wouldn't even look at Outer Sect Disciples, was currently bowing slightly, his expression respectful to the extreme, bowing to the young man in the black robe.

"My Lord."

The Elder's voice carried a hint of cautious respect, and even a trace of... fear?

"You have arrived, this old one failed to welcome you, please forgive me, my Lord."

The two looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise.

My Lord?

The Inner Sect Elder called this young man My Lord?

And he was acting like he had done something wrong and was afraid of being blamed?

What... what was this person's identity?

Chen Ran didn't even look at the two Disciples, just turned his head slightly and swept a glance at the Elder.

"Hmm."

Just that one "Hmm" was understated.

The Inner Sect Elder, however, seemed to have received a great favor, secretly exhaled, and hurriedly stepped aside, reaching out to guide him.

"My Lord, please."

Chen Ran stepped forward and walked onto the stone steps.

The Elder followed closely behind, his waist always bent, not daring to straighten up.

Not until the two figures disappeared into the deep corridor did the two Disciples at the gate feel as if their strength had been drained, their legs going weak as they collapsed to the ground.

"Who... who exactly is he?"

The tall, thin Disciple's lips were trembling, and his voice was shaking.

"The Inner Sect Elder came out to welcome him personally, and even called him My Lord..."

The round-faced Disciple wiped the cold sweat the size of beans from his forehead and swallowed.

"I did hear rumors before that behind our Demon Sound Sect, there was still... a true behind-the-scenes Sect Master."

The two looked at each other, seeing the same meaning in each other's eyes.

No way...

That legendary figure, was it actually real?

And, was he this young?

...

Inside the Demon Sound Sect.

Chen Ran walked in the long, secluded stone corridor. The stone walls on both sides were embedded with eerie green fluorescent stones, casting the entire corridor in a ghostly atmosphere.

His footsteps were unhurried, with every step he took.

The Inner Sect Elder followed behind, always maintaining a distance of three steps, not daring to get too close, nor daring to stay too far away.

"My Lord, after you sent the message last time, the Sect Head immediately gave the order."

The Elder spoke cautiously as he walked, his voice carrying a hint of ingratiation.

"The Medicinal Pill you wanted are all prepared, one hundred ningyuan pill, one hundred pulse-continuing pills..."

He paused here, his tone carrying a bit of heartache.

"The remaining Great Recovery Pills were barely enough to make twenty. The main ingredients for this Medicinal Pill are too rare, the Sect's stock has been completely used up."

Chen Ran did not look back, just nodded faintly.

Seeing that he had no reaction, the Elder felt even less confident.

The calmer this Lord was, the more unfathomable his thoughts were.

He had not forgotten the tragic situation last time.

Eight Elders in the Sect were killed or injured in one encounter, and the Grand Elder who led them had his head crushed by the other party.

This person was not a kind-hearted master, but a bona fide Devil Head.

He swallowed and continued.

"In addition, the Sect Head has opened a new area in the back mountain as you ordered..."

"And, the Sect has recruited a hundred new Disciples in the last few months, all good seedlings with good bones, they have already been arranged to start to Cultivate in various halls..."

"The intelligence network has also followed your wishes, setting up twenty more strongholds inside and outside the capital, and intelligence from each line is summarized every day..."

He said a long string, his mouth dry.

But Chen Ran remained the same.

He did not stop his pace, nor did he look back.

The Elder felt less and less confident.

Was this Lord satisfied?

He had been talking for a long time, and the other party didn't even respond; this was more uncomfortable than being scolded.

The Elder didn't dare to ask again, so he could only continue to follow behind, not daring to take a full breath.

The atmosphere in the scene became increasingly oppressive. Even though the other party did nothing and was just walking normally.

A layer of fine cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

That sense of oppression did not come from True Qi, nor did it come from Aura.

It was just a kind of... unfathomable feeling.

It was like standing on the edge of a bottomless abyss; one look down would make your legs weak.

He had lived to this age and had seen many experts, but never had anyone given him this kind of feeling.

Soon, the two passed through several corridors and arrived in front of a spacious hall.

The hall was pitch black, the gate was three zhang high, and the words "Demon Sound Hall" were carved on the lintel in ancient, simple characters.

The hall doors were tightly closed, and it was quiet inside, with not a trace of light showing through.

The Inner Sect Elder stopped, took a deep breath, and bowed respectfully to the hall doors.

"Sect Leader, that Lord... has arrived."

As soon as the words fell.

The hall doors slowly opened.

A cold Aura surged out from the hall, mixed with a hint of faint sandalwood.

...

Inside the Demon Sound Hall, eerie light flickered.

The heavy hall doors had completely closed, completely isolating the wind from the outside.

In the center of the hall, Chen Ran stood with his hands behind his back, looking calmly at the silver-haired old man in front of him.

This current Sect Leader of the Demon Sound Sect was a high and mighty, decisive Demonic Path giant in the eyes of outsiders, but in front of Chen Ran, he restrained all his sharpness.

"Where are the things I asked you to prepare?"

Chen Ran did not waste words, going straight to the point.

His arrival at the Demon Sound Sect this time was for those Medicinal Pill that could assist in a Breakthrough to the Innate Realm.

Sect Leader Fang Tianxing bowed slightly, his attitude respectful.

"Replying to my Lord, everything is prepared."

He raised one hand, True Qi surged, and a box about two meters high in the distance was sucked over. The box door opened automatically, revealing the exquisite jade bottles neatly arranged inside.

Chen Ran scanned with his Divine Thought and nodded faintly.

"Well done."

Hearing this praise, Sect Leader Fang Tianxing bent his waist even lower.

"It is the honor of the Demon Sound Sect to serve you, my Lord."

Although Sect Leader Fang Tianxing was calm on the surface, a monstrous storm was already raging in his heart.

If the previous Chen Ran was powerful and created this whole situation by taking advantage of his serious injury to launch a sneak attack.

Now, in his perception, the Aura of the person in front of him was even more mysterious and unfathomable than before.

Just the Aura faintly revealed from his body made him, a Return to Truth Realm Martial Artist, feel a chill down his spine.

Sect Leader Fang Tianxing frowned and pondered. He had never had this feeling when communicating with some Peak Return to Truth Realm experts before.

What level had he actually Cultivated to... could it be that he had already reached the Innate?

"How are the other preparations?"

The young man's faint voice came from a distance. Sect Leader Fang Tianxing hurriedly restrained his expression and continued to speak:

"My Lord, the secret room in the back mountain that you requested in your last letter has been prepared for you."

Chen Ran nodded slightly.

"Lead the way."

"Yes."

Sect Leader Fang Tianxing did not dare to be slow, hurriedly leading the way in front.

The two passed through a secret passage behind the hall, all the way down, arriving at the hinterland of the Demon Sound Sect's back mountain.

This was a natural underground karst cave that had been transformed into a huge secret room.

Several fluorescent stones were embedded in the surrounding stone walls, emitting a faint glow, enveloping the entire karst cave.

In the center of the cave, an ice bed was placed, with strands of cold air rising from it.

"My Lord, this is it."