97: Chapter 97 Chu Sheng is dead, call me Nie Zhang
The chaos in the Qinglan Sect was even livelier than Chu Sheng had imagined.
He concealed his aura and followed far behind the Second Elder's team, watching like he was viewing a play.
Beneath Danxia Peak, Zhou Wantang was covered in blood, lying in the ruins, weeping bitterly.
"Sect Master! Li Chunfeng... he suddenly went mad! He killed over a dozen disciples and even tried to attack me... I resisted with my life, and only then... only then..."
She clutched her chest and coughed up a mouthful of blood; her acting skills were so superb, she could be called a movie queen.
The surrounding surviving disciples chimed in one after another.
"Yes, yes! The Old Man of the Pavilion Guard suddenly went crazy!"
"I saw with my own eyes that he killed Senior Brother Zhang with a single sword strike!"
"It was too terrifying! Too terrifying!"
Chu Sheng, hiding in the shadows, silently gave a thumbs up.
"It's a pity this woman didn't go into acting."
The Sect Master descended from the sky, his True Transformation Realm aura fully unleashed, his divine sense sweeping across the entire sect.
When he saw that the Scripture Pavilion had become ruins, his face turned as blue as the bottom of a pot.
"Investigate!" he said, enunciating every word. "Investigate this clearly for me!"
The Second Elder took the opportunity to step forward and present a treasure.
"Sect Master, your subordinate found a corpse in the Liuyun Mountain Range that is suspected to be related to Li Chunfeng."
He ordered someone to bring up a mangled corpse. It was exactly the "body double" that Chu Sheng had meticulously arranged.
On the corpse's finger, it was still wearing Chu Sheng's storage ring.
The Sect Master glanced at it, not even knitting his brows.
"Who is this?"
The Second Elder said respectfully, "This person is named Chu Sheng, once registered at the Scripture Pavilion, and was very close to Li Chunfeng. Your subordinate suspects he was an accomplice of Li Chunfeng and has been killed by the white snake."
The Sect Master took another look at the corpse.
"Throw it away."
He turned and left, too lazy to even ask another question.
The Second Elder was stunned for a moment, then waved his hand to have people throw the corpse into the mass grave.
Chu Sheng, hiding in the shadows, watched his "corpse" being thrown away like trash and felt a sense of relief instead.
"The more hasty, the better," he muttered. "The fewer people who investigate, the better."
In the dead of night, Zhou Wantang's message arrived.
"Master, everything is going smoothly. I have temporarily taken over as the Law Enforcement Elder and am ready to await your orders at any time."
Chu Sheng looked at the words, a smile curling the corners of his lips.
This woman is really reliable.
When there's trouble, she really steps up.
He replied, "You've worked hard. Take care of yourself."
Zhou Wantang replied instantly, "I would go through fire and water for you, Master, without hesitation."
Chu Sheng smiled and put away the jade slip.
He stood on the mountain peak, looking in the direction of the Qinglan Sect, and muttered.
"Chu Sheng is dead."
"From now on, I am called..."
He paused, thinking of the novels he had read in his past life.
Nie Feng? Bu Jingyun? No, that's too chuunibyou.
Nie... Zhang?
He vaguely felt this name was fated to be his.
"Yes, let's call it Nie Zhang."
He touched the demon refining pot at his waist.
Inside the pot, the two snakes were entwined, as affectionate as newlyweds. The little white snake cub was curled up in the corner, sleeping soundly.
"Nie Zhang, the 'Zhang' from 'wielding a sword to travel the world'."
He turned and disappeared into the night.
Three days later, deep in the Liuyun Mountain Range.
Chu Sheng found a hidden cave and began his secluded cultivation.
Inside the demon refining pot, the snake couple was returning home together, so affectionate it was hard to watch.
Under the nourishment of the white snake's elemental power, the Remnant Soul of the Red Python had actually solidified a bit.
The two snakes were deeply in love, being sickeningly sweet.
Then, their cultivation began to feed back into him.
Streams of pure demonic beast elemental power poured out from the pot, flowing into Chu Sheng's body through his palms.
Chu Sheng's whole body shook, and he hurriedly sat cross-legged, absorbing it with all his might.
One day, two days, three days...
On the seventh day, he opened his eyes.
Peak of True Gathering Realm!
He was only a layer of window paper away from the True Firmament realm.
"Awesome!"
Two weak hisses came from the pot. The two snakes were exhausted from feeding back their energy to him.
Chu Sheng patted the pot.
"You've worked hard, you've worked hard. I'll give you extra food later."
The two snakes were finally satisfied and quieted down.
Chu Sheng took out a leaf of the soul nurturing grass and tried to nourish the ring.
As soon as the soul nurturing grass got close, the ring began to vibrate violently!
That leaf was instantly sucked into the ring, turning into a stream of pure soul power that merged with the ring.
"Good stuff!" His eyes lit up, and he wished he could feed the entire soul nurturing grass into it.
But he held back.
"Take it slow, slow and steady wins the race."
On the night of the ninth day, while Chu Sheng was meditating, he suddenly felt something licking his face.
He opened his eyes and met a pair of small, mung bean-sized eyes.
The white snake cub had climbed out of the pot at some unknown time and was lying on his shoulder, extending its pink snake tongue to lick his face.
Chu Sheng was stunned.
He looked down at this little thing and suddenly realized there was a trace of a mental connection between him and it.
"You... have you acknowledged me as your master?"
The little snake flicked its tongue, nudged into his arms, and found a comfortable position to continue sleeping.
Chu Sheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Does your mother know?"
A helpless hiss came from the pot. Of course the white snake knew, but there was nothing it could do; the cub had chosen for itself.
Chu Sheng stroked the little snake's head.
"Alright, follow me from now on, and you'll have the best of everything."
The little snake didn't move, sleeping soundly.
On the tenth day, Zhou Wantang's message arrived.
"Master, the Chen family is starting to stir again. Having learned of Chu Sheng's death, they are once again pressuring the Liu family. Liu Qingyan is in a dangerous situation."
A cold light flashed in Chu Sheng's eyes.
He stood up and was about to set off—
An old voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
"Kid, if you go now, you will only expose your identity."
Chu Sheng was stunned.
That voice... came from the ring on his hand!
"Old Grandfather?! You're awake?!" he said excitedly.
The ring was silent for a moment, then the old voice sounded again.
"What do you mean 'Old Grandfather'? Back in my day, I was also a dashing and handsome young man..."
"Alright, alright, Senior, Senior."
Chu Sheng hurriedly interrupted, "You said I can't go now?"
The ring snorted.
"You just escaped, and now you're showing yourself; isn't that just blatantly telling others that you have a problem?"
Chu Sheng calmed down.
Indeed.
"You saw everything?"
"Nonsense, I just couldn't speak."
He took a deep breath and replied to Zhou Wantang.
"You step forward and protect the Liu family."
Zhou Wantang replied instantly, "Understood."
That afternoon, Jin Xiao City was in an uproar.
Zhou Wantang, in her capacity as a Third-Rank Alchemist and at the True Firmament realm, personally descended upon the Liu residence.
She announced in public:
"The Liu family is under the protection of my Qinglan Sect. Whoever touches the Liu family touches me."
Chen Baxian was unconvinced and stood out to question her.
"Elder Zhou, this is a matter of my Jin Xiao City; aren't you overstepping your bounds a bit too much?"
Zhou Wantang glanced at him.
Then she raised her hand and slapped him.
"Slap!"
Chen Baxian flew out, crashed through the gate of the Liu residence, and rolled three times on the street before barely stopping.
Zhou Wantang withdrew her hand and said indifferently.
"Who else is unconvinced?"
The whole place was silent.
Chen Baxian crawled up, his face covered in blood, but he didn't dare to even let out a fart, and ran away with his tail between his legs.
Zhou Wantang snorted coldly and turned to enter the Liu residence.
Chu Sheng saw this scene on the jade slip and laughed out loud.
"This woman is really fierce."
When the news reached the Yan Yue Sect, Fairy Lanyue, Zhou Yuerao, was drinking tea.
After listening to the report, her phoenix eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh? My little sister actually went personally to protect a small family?"
She put down her teacup, lost in thought.