Chapter 54:

Hearing Luo Ke’s agreement to accept his “good will”, Huang Xue’s smile brightened as he reached out and lightly patted Luo Ke’s shoulder.

“Good! That’s how it should be. Oh, right, where do you plan to go now? Will you return to the Six Ocean Sect?”

Luo Ke thought for a moment before he replied: “I will continue to stay in the Duoluo Province and train myself. Moreover, I have...and unfinished business here as well.”

Huang Xue understood what Luo Ke’s “unfinished business” meant so he nodded and said: “Alright, that is fine. If nothing, I will be returning to the Six Ocean Sect. When you return, do come by my mountain peak for a visit. It’s located near the entrance of the sect.”

Luo Ke acknowledged and bade Huang Xue farewell as the latter quickly disappeared into the forest.

In the end, Luo Ke’s heart and mind were still quite sturdy. Despite being showered by several priceless items and wealth, he was still able to keep his cool.

But the feelings that Luo Ke felt towards Huang Xue was hard to explain at this moment.

Luo Ke then turned to stare at the direction where the Kui-Hei duo’s group had left. A sharp, ruthless light gleamed within his eyes, creating a contrast to his naive appearance.

With a turn of his body, Luo Ke quickly left the area as well.

***

The entire time, Sung Li had been hidden within the forest trees as he observed the entire process unfold before him.

From the moment he saw Huang Xue appear between the Luo Ke and the Kui-Hei duo, Sung Li understood that that person was absolutely someone of importance to the great senior. He may even be the senior’s disciple!

Given that the youth’s uncommon demeanor and the way the black compass had trembled when the former appeared, it was hard not to consider this prospect.

And when Sung Li noticed that Huang Xue’s eyes had made contact with his own during the time of silence between the two groups, that was when he became absolutely sure of Luo Ke’s importance.

What came next, however, made even Sung Li feel a bit like crying.

In one go, Huang Xue had taken out many top skills, pills, and even a hefty amount of Qi stones. And they were all given to Luo Ke at once, without hesitation. Even for someone of Sung Li’s level, Heaven-grade skills were not easy to come across. As for Qi stones, while he did not desire them profusely, handing out a sum of ten million...is something even he would feel a pinch.

That was practically equivalent to one-seventh of the wealth of his Sung clan back in the days!

But upon thinking about the great senior’s high status, Sung Li came to realize that Huang Xue possessing such wealth and skills were only natural. Sung Li could only lament the fact that he did not have such a generous and powerful master in this lifetime…

Seeing Luo Ke leaving, Sung Li gave a helpless sigh as he continued to hide his aura and followed after the former in the shadows.

***

After taking care of matters concerning Luo Ke, Huang Xue was in a great mood when he returned to the Six Ocean Sect. He had immediately went to his mountain peak and secluded himself to think about plans for the future.

Now that he had found one of his destined person at the Six Ocean Sect, it was worth changing a few aspects of his previous plan. It could even be said that Huang Xue had unexpectedly found his first, true destined person a bit sooner than he had anticipated.

As for affecting fate through his extravagant actions today, Huang Xue was not too worried. Luo Ke’s destiny was great, so the fortune bestowed upon him today would merely speed up the process of his growth. In fact, if anything were to affect fate, it would be his very existence in this world! From the moment he took over the Supreme Ancestor’s body, the world’s fate had changed.

Therefore, what was there a need for his decision to lie low and “follow the course of fate”? Perhaps this sort of mentality was wrong to begin with…

Something is wrong...my thoughts are becoming muddled. Huang Xue thought as he frowned. Somehow, he felt that something was wrong with him. Could it be...the Heart Sealing Hex?

The Heart Sealing Hex corroded one’s soul, so...could that inadvertently affect his mind as well?

Huang Xue sighed. In the end, an ancient poison is still an ancient poison; its effects were myriad and potent!

On the other hand, Huang Xue now knew that there was need to “upgrade” the Star Decree Stone. Although the stone can still be considered complete, in the end...it was not living up to its abilities! He would need to find a time to return to the Supreme Godly Halls to find superior ingredients to remake the stone...

For now, Huang Xue decided to lie low a bit longer until he formalized a new plan. Until Luo Ke returns to the Six Ocean Sect, there was no need for him to make any big moves either.

***

After Huang Xue entered seclusion, the news about the Grand Valley Tomb’s sudden collapse was still making its way to the rest of the Long Dynasty.

However, before the day ended, all the major factions within the Long Dynasty eventually received the intel. Without hesitation, the sect master and headmaster of each top faction left for the Grand Valley Tomb at once.

The collapse of the Grand Valley Tomb gave meaning to two major opportunities:

First, is that the traps and formations within the tomb have been broken. All the treasures are now open and free for anyone’s picking! This was a mass fortune that would benefit any power within the Long Dynasty.

And second...is that the seal on the boulder to the master room, has most likely been open along with the tomb’s destruction!

One can only imagine the wealth that was left behind by such an impressive master of the grand tomb. This was also the main focus of each major faction’s head this time around.

As such, unaware of that the ‘master room’ had long lost its meaning, these powerful beings the same day Huang Xue returned to the Six Ocean Sect.

***

Seven days after the Grand Valley Tomb’s collapse.

In the end, the major factions that arrived at the broken tomb site were unable to find the ‘master room’. Only pieces of the sealed boulder, with its shattered formation symbols still intact, were found. Many thus speculated that either the ‘master room’ may have been a trap, or perhaps it had been buried too deep within the ruins by now.

After all, the collapse of the Grand Valley Tomb had resulted in the creation of a mass ruin. It was so large and in such disarray, that even the masters of those major factions were unable to fully search the entire place.

But that did not mean their trip there was in vain. In fact, with many treasures of the tomb now unguarded, they were all scattered around underneath the ruins itself. And after scouring the place several times over, each of the major faction’s master had reaped in a bountiful wealth. Even the lesser factions were able to obtain a few small benefits from the fallen tomb.

While everyone else was pleased with their harvest, there was one group of people who had a heavy air around them.

They were the Yang clan. In the ruins this time around, the Yang clan master and his group had not only come to reap the free wealth...but had also come to supposedly find their third young master! It was said that the life tablet that has a strand of Yang Chen’s soul in it had shattered, which signified that either Yang Chen’s soul was weakened to the point that he was near death, or....that he had already died!

Armed with a tiny bubble of hope at Yang Chen’s survival, the Yang clan fervently searched the collapsed Tomb...and ended up finding Yang Chen’s mutilated corpse under a large boulder.

The Yang clan master, Yang Fen, instantly became enraged and destroyed a large part of his surroundings. In the next moment, he took his group and Yang Chen’s corpse back to his clan. The Yang people left in with a depressed and murderous air about them.

At once, the Yang Fen ordered a thorough investigation on Yang Chen’s death. After all, from Yang Chen’s corpse, even though it was mutilated, Yang Fen had discovered...a sword wound! The sword had pierced through Yang Chen’s dantian, completely crippling him.

And even if Yang Chen did not die from that, given that the former was so deep within the tomb when the collapse happened...there was no way for a crippled mortal to escape at all!

Someone had purposely struck to kill Yang Chen! This was practically a blatant slap towards the Yang clan, with complete disregard of their status and power!

The Yang clan was now bent on finding the murderer at all cost. Otherwise, it would be hard to swallow down this shame and grief. By now, after Yang Fen’s order, the other major factions had naturally learned of the situation.

Some gloated at the former’s misfortune, other felt sympathy. But none said anything and continued to watch. It was not their business anyway. Yang Chen’s death merely meant one less future competitor for them.

***

Days continued to pass as things began to cool down.

These days, there had been no noise from the Yang clan. It was as if their previous anger had been quenched; no further movements were heard by the other major clans.

However, during that period, a strange rumor began floating around. It was related to Yang Chen’s death.

As the rumor was told, it was said that on the day that the Yang clan’s third young master had died, he had previously entered the cave with the Shen clan’s third young master. After the tomb collapsed, only third young master Shen had escaped unscathed; he was even said to have been assisting others escape the tomb.

However, afterwards, without bothering to meet up with the followers of Yang Chen, the third young master Shen had simply left and returned to the Six Ocean Sect. There, he was reported to have gone into seclusion, declaring that he would not meet anyone during his period of meditation.

To common mortals, these rumors may not mean much, but to major factions like the Yang clan it struck them like a thunderbolt.

It has to be known that while the major clans remain friendly on the surface, there was an invisible tension underneath those facade. There had been many battles fought behind the scene that the public is unaware of. Thus, each major clan could be seen as an enemy; and only rarely that clans like the Yang clan and Yin clan would truly support one another.

And no matter how one looked at this rumor, no, this report, that was backed by several witnesses, it was just too fishy. How come only the third young master Shen came out unscathed during the tomb collapse? Why did he not bring Yang Chen out with him? If he were already saving people when the collapse was happening, why did he not go save Yang Chen as well? Why did he leave immediately? Why did he suddenly intend to go into seclusion of all times?

As such, unanimously, suspicions and vague killing intent from the Yang clan slowly found their way towards Huang Xue...