20: Hong Liang enters Qingxuan, the Hong family will!

“Bang!”

Lu Hao withdrew his pressure, and Hong Liang immediately fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

“Cough, cough, cough. Senior, Senior, this junior knows his mistake. This junior was possessed by a ghost, and deserves to die ten thousand times over. Please, Senior, have mercy and spare this junior!”

“I shouldn't have coveted these pills. I'll return them to you, all six of them. Senior, please be merciful!”

With that, Hong Liang immediately used both hands, slapping himself with his left hand and then his right.

The sound of slaps continuously echoed, and his face was now swollen like a pig's head.

Lu Hao was also surprised; this person had a strong will to survive.

Before he came, he observed the surroundings. Although Hong Liang had seized the pills, he hadn't harmed anyone.

“Alright, stop.”

Lu Hao said indifferently.

Hong Liang tremblingly stopped, then knelt directly at Lu Hao's feet and presented the pills in his hands.

Lu Hao glanced indifferently at the person kneeling on the ground, then shifted his gaze to his master, who was clearly also greatly shocked, and cupped his hands, saying:

“Master, long time no see.”

Ling Tian was currently in extreme shock. Although he had long known that his Disciple was extraordinary,

even if he were beaten to death, he would never have imagined that his Disciple was a Soul Transformation Expert! One must know that currently, there was no news of a Soul Transformation Expert in the entire Nansu City!

According to rumors, the last time a Soul Transformation Expert appeared in Nansu City was five hundred years ago.

“Disciple, you've hidden yourself quite well. A Soul Transformation cultivation, it truly shocks this master.”

“Haha, Master, please forgive me. This Disciple usually prefers quiet and low-key living, not wishing to be too ostentatious.”

“Good, good, good. The best thing this master has ever done in his life is to take you as a Disciple. In the future, Disciple, you must not despise this master for my shallow cultivation. You must let this master bask in your glory!”

Hearing this, Lu Hao's expression froze, and he slowly said:

“Master, once a teacher, always a father. The most fortunate thing in my life, Lu Hao, is to have you as my master.”

“Back then, when I couldn't cultivate and was wandering in the wilderness, it was you who took me in as a Disciple and brought me back to Qingxuan Sect.”

“When I couldn't cultivate, it was you who traveled for five years to find spiritual herbs for me.”

“To help me vent my anger, you didn't hesitate to suffer severe injuries just to storm Jin Guang Prefecture. Master, your kindness to me is too great!”

“This Disciple will never forget this kindness for a thousand generations! It will remain unchanged for ten thousand generations!”

Ling Tian also burst out laughing, his Nascent Soul Stage Aura fully unleashed, shaking the surrounding world. He was expressing the surging emotions in his heart!

Lu Hao then looked at Hong Liang and said:

“Master, this Disciple believes that this Hong Family member cannot be allowed to return. If he is allowed to return, he will definitely complain to the Hong Family Leader, causing trouble. It's better to just kill him.”

How could Ling Tian disagree? He hadn't killed him earlier only because he feared offending the Hong Family and bringing disaster to Qingxuan Sect.

But now that he knew his Disciple was a Soul Transformation Expert, he no longer cared about a mere Hong Family.

The Elder Hong, who was kneeling motionless on the ground, heard the young man's words, and a sense of life-and-death crisis surged into his heart. He quickly shouted:

“Senior, Senior, I truly know my mistake! Please spare my life! I am willing to join Qingxuan Sect and work like an ox or a horse within Qingxuan Sect. Senior, I swear, I will be loyal to Qingxuan Sect for the rest of my life! Please give me a chance to turn over a new leaf.”

Hong Liang prostrated himself on the ground, continuously begging for mercy.

Lu Hao looked at Hong Liang, then thought for a moment. The Sect was expanding recently, and many dangerous areas were inconvenient for low-cultivation Disciples to handle, posing significant safety hazards.

This Hong Liang's Jie Dan Stage perfect cultivation could be put to use. If he could behave himself, given how proactive he was, he might consider letting him live!

“Good, you said it. If there's any violation, you know the consequences.”

With that, he casually pointed, leaving a mother-child imprint on Hong Liang.

“This is the Mother-Child Imprint. From now on, your life and death are at my whim. I hope you conduct yourself well.”

“Thank you, Senior, for sparing my life! Thank you, Senior, for sparing my life!!” Hong Liang continuously kowtowed in thanks.

“Master, you can arrange the rest. I'm not good at handling these matters. I still have some vegetables in my courtyard that need watering. After this Disciple is done, I'll come and have a few drinks with you. This Disciple will take his leave first.”

“Alright, this master will arrange this person. You go ahead.”

After Lu Hao finished speaking, he instantly teleported back to his courtyard.

If anyone had seen Lu Hao instantly teleport such a long distance, they would have been even more surprised.

This was definitely not a distance that a Soul Transformation cultivation could instantly teleport!

Generally, a Soul Transformation Expert at Great Perfection's teleportation limit was only about a hundred li. Any further, even a Soul Transformation body would not be able to withstand the pressure of space.

And the distance between the Hall of Points and Lu Hao's courtyard was a full three hundred li!

After Lu Hao left, only Hong Liang, kneeling on the ground, and Ling Tian, filled with emotion, remained.

In a blink of an eye, a month passed.

During this month, Hong Liang's performance could not merely be described as active; it was extremely active!

His Jie Dan Stage perfect cultivation allowed him to work almost non-stop.

According to him, he was like a brick, to be moved wherever needed. He even shocked the already competitive Qingxuan Sect Disciples around him!

“Who is this new person? I've never seen him before. He's working too hard!”

“Damn it! I thought I was working hard enough, but I didn't expect there to be such an expert!!! No, I must learn from him. If a newcomer works this hard, I, as a Senior Disciple, cannot be left behind!”

Since Hong Liang joined Qingxuan Sect, Ling Tian had arranged for him to have the identity of a Foundation Establishment Stage outer Disciple.

He also forbade him from revealing his Jie Dan Stage perfect cultivation in front of other Disciples and assigned him to the most arduous and difficult work areas.

However, since Hong Liang joined Qingxuan Sect, he was indeed shocked. According to his talent, reaching Jie Dan Stage perfect was basically his limit, and the chance of breaking through to Nascent Soul Stage was very slim!

But he saw hope in Qingxuan Sect! The free exchange of Foundation Establishment Breakthrough Pills offered daily here practically made him drool.

After all, he had previously felt that ten of these pills could help him break through to the Jie Dan Stage!

So he worked desperately, tirelessly, just to let that Soul Transformation Senior see that he had now become honest, hoping that he could be given a chance to exchange for pills!

It must be said that Lu Hao did occasionally pay attention to this Elder Hong, after all, his cultivation was not low, and he was afraid he might do something.

However, he found that he was working very hard all day. He felt that this person's performance after joining the Sect was indeed good, so one day he sent a voice transmission to Hong Liang, saying:

“Your recent performance has been good. Keep up the hard work. As long as your heart is with Qingxuan Sect, the Sect will not treat you unfairly!”

Regardless of anything else, he decided to make a promise first.

So Hong Liang worked even harder, hoping to one day break through to the Nascent Soul Stage and live for a thousand years!

Hong Liang worked diligently in Qingxuan Sect. Faced with the temptation of Breakthrough, his patience improved significantly.

But someone else couldn't sit still.

Hong Family Main Hall.

Another Family meeting. This meeting clearly had one less seat, which was the Eighth Elder's seat.

“Family Leader, the Eighth Elder went to Qingxuan Sect to investigate the matter of the pills a month ago, and there has been no news since. There's no reply to any voice transmissions. Nothing has happened, has it?”

“Third Elder worries too much. The Eighth Elder has a magical artifact bestowed by the Family Leader, and his own cultivation is at Jie Dan Stage perfect. Even if the Qingxuan Sect Sect Master makes a move, he can still escape. Furthermore, he is a member of our Hong Family; Qingxuan Sect wouldn't dare touch him!” the Seventh Elder said from the side.

“That's true, but a whole month without news is indeed a bit strange. In my opinion, it would be better to send another Elder to see what happened.”

“The Third Elder is right. Waiting indefinitely isn't a solution. It's better to send someone to investigate.”

After listening, the Family Leader waved his hand and slowly said:

“This is a minor matter. Since that's the case, Seventh Elder, your cultivation is at the Nascent Soul Stage, so you shall go and investigate the Eighth Elder's whereabouts and the situation at Qingxuan Sect.”

“Yes, Family Leader!”

“Good, let's put this matter aside for now. Today's Family meeting is to discuss a more important matter with everyone.”

The Family Leader took a deep breath and said with a solemn expression:

“In another year, it will be time to pay tribute to Heaven Sword Sect again. How much tribute do you all think is appropriate to pay this time?”

After the Family Leader finished speaking, he looked around and found that the atmosphere among those present was somewhat heavy.

When Heaven Sword Sect was mentioned, all the Elders present turned gloomy.

Heaven Sword Sect was one of the Three Great Sects of Northern Barren State, forming a three-way standoff with Chenyin Pavilion and Fengluo Valley, dominating Northern Barren State.

Under Heaven Sword Sect's territory, it governed five major cities: East, South, West, North, and Central, with Nansu City being one of them.

Its strength was incredibly powerful! So powerful that the Hong Family had no idea of Heaven Sword Sect's specific strength, but from some unofficial news, it could be inferred that there were Cultivators of the Void Refinement Stage within Heaven Sword Sect!

A mere Hong Family was just a slightly larger Family in its eyes.

Therefore, the Hong Family had no capital to contend with Heaven Sword Sect!