55: Chapter 55 Untitled Brocade Zither, Fleeting Years

At dusk.

Bai Cang walked out of the hall and looked into the distance.

The red clouds filled the sky, setting half the horizon ablaze.

The waterfall on Lingyuan Peak was also dyed gold, suddenly plunging down the cliff, then rapidly losing its color as it landed on a large lake.

"I haven't delivered Yun Qin's cultivation technique yet..."

Bai Cang enjoyed the twilight scenery on the Waterfall Stone for half an hour before setting off.

He arrived at the courtyard where Yun Qin resided.

Before he even got close, the sound of a zither drifted out from the courtyard.

It was like a grievance or a longing, like sobbing or whispering, invading one's yearnings as old memories flooded the heart.

The figure of a heroic young girl in red seemed to stand in the sunset, suddenly looking back and waving at Bai Cang incessantly, her cheerful laughter gradually fading and disappearing.

Bai Cang recited with deep emotion: "The patterned lute has fifty strings for no reason, one string, one fret, reminds me of the youthful years. Zhuangzi's dawn dream was confused by a butterfly; Emperor Wang's spring heart was entrusted to the cuckoo.

In the vast sea, under the bright moon, pearls shed tears; at Lantian, in the warm sun, jade gives off smoke. Can this feeling be waited for to become a memory? It is just that at that time, I was already lost in a daze."

In several decades, did he have no regrets at all?

He was tricked out of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range by Ling Yun.

Actually, what he sought deep down was someone to communicate with, to escape the loneliness of living like a savage during countless dark nights, and to find the feeling of being human again.

But this plunged him into another life full of experiences, which was no less treacherous than his days in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain Range.

That year, with the mental age of a twenty-year-old, he met the young Ling Yun and became acquainted with Ling Yun's sister, Ling Yuxuan.

The three of them were young and ambitious, sharing the same ideals, and swore to turn the Mountain and River Sect into a great sect together...

"Bai Cang, in the future, my brother and I will appoint you as the Sect-Protecting Spirit Beast of the Mountain and River Sect. The three of us will be the bosses together!"

"Bai Cang, I, Ling Yun, have a high-grade water spiritual root, a rare talent in the Mountain and River Sect in a hundred years. I can definitely reach Foundation Establishment in the future! Follow me, and you'll live a life of luxury..."

"Bai Cang, do you like a beautiful tigress, or do you like me, Ling Yuxuan?

Hehe~ I heard that you spirit beasts can take human form, why don't we try being a couple..."

"Bai Cang..."

"Bai Cang..."

"Bai Cang, Yuxuan has been harmed..."

"Bai Cang, I have to go!

I'm leaving the Mountain and River Sect to you. Take good care of it; consider it a request from Yuxuan and me! Shanhe is a good kid..."

The words of the past still echoed in his ears, but the old friends were gone.

"Mountain and River Sect..."

Bai Cang softly whispered those three words, as if reciting his lost youth, "Like you, I am unwilling to accept this!"

He quietly listened to the zither outside the courtyard, not even noticing long after the music had stopped.

When he finally snapped out of his daze, Bai Cang quietly walked into the starry night.

The technique can be delivered tomorrow, but old friends can only be reminisced about today...

Mingxuan Sect.

In the Sect Master's Main Hall, a majestic-looking middle-aged man sat alone on a golden chair, looking down.

"Sect Master, the four sects of Kunyu Sect, Faheng, Juling, and Baishou have sent a joint letter." Below, an old cultivator with a white beard looked toward him.

"What is it?"

Sect Master Qing Kun of the Mingxuan Sect asked calmly.

"The four sects all stated that there is a sect in the eastern border of the Ming Kingdom called the Mountain and River Sect. Within the sect is a cruel demon tiger that enjoys killing for pleasure. Five elders of the Hundred Beasts Sect have died by its hand.

The ten Foundation Establishment cultivators our sect previously lost were all killed by it...

The four sects request that our sect temporarily set aside the conflict with the Luanjian Sect. Let the six sects unite to first slay the evil demons and foreign races to restore order to the Ming Kingdom."

The white-bearded old cultivator below seemed to be speaking of a very mundane matter, reciting slowly.

"Hmph."

Sect Master Qing Kun couldn't help but sneer, saying, "These four sects seem to know exactly how many Foundation Establishment cultivators our sect has lost. Since when did they dare point fingers at my Mingxuan Sect?

Don't you find it strange, Elder Mei?"

The four sects of Kunyu Sect, Faheng, Jushan, and Baishou had been making small moves behind their backs ever since the Mingxuan Sect went to war with the Luanjian Sect.

They resented the Mingxuan Sect's past rule, yet they didn't dare stand with the Luanjian Sect to deal with them.

Sect Master Qing Kun saw through their petty behavior clearly! And now they wanted to unite and have the Mingxuan Sect do the work?

"Sect Master, I suggest we slay this beast to avenge our ten fellow daoists and appease the hearts of everyone in the sect!"

Elder Mei Qiu said solemnly, his tone hiding a murderous intent!

Ever since the ten Foundation Establishment cultivators lost contact, the Mingxuan Sect had immediately sent people to investigate secretly and had already confirmed a fact.

Han Feng and his group were resisting a Demon Ghost tide at the Mountain and River Sect, only to be framed by the Mountain and River Sect Master, Yue Shanhe, who locked them outside the formation, where they were eaten alive by tens of thousands of Demon Ghosts...

Although there was no physical evidence regarding his granddaughter Mei Luohua and Li Hai, who went with her, someone had indeed seen two strange Foundation Establishment cultivators at the Mountain and River Sect!

Elder Mei Qiu still remembered this grudge!!

"No need."

Sect Master Qing Kun waved his sleeve, signaling Elder Mei Qiu to withdraw.

A flash of hesitation crossed Elder Mei Qiu's face as he walked out. Halfway, he suddenly turned back and asked, "May I ask why, Sect Master?"

Sect Master Qing Kun gave Elder Mei Qiu a deep look and then said, "The Luanjian Sect already sees our sect as a mortal enemy. They didn't even send anyone to the Huihai Sect, which was suspected to be a legacy of a Nascent Soul sect.

Do you think they would join forces to deal with a demon tiger that has never provoked them?"

"Absurd and laughable!" Sect Master Qing Kun's voice fell.

Elder Mei Qiu nodded and turned to leave with a sigh, his figure seeming to shrink in an instant.

He knew in his heart that if he missed this opportunity, he might never have the chance to avenge his granddaughter again!

After walking out of the hall, a flash of madness appeared in Elder Mei Qiu's eyes as he murmured, "Rest assured, Luohua, grandpa will make the Mountain and River Sect be buried with you!"

In the Sect Master's Main Hall, Sect Master Qing Kun's expression was cold.

An equally aged cultivator walked out from the side hall and said, "Elder Mei Qiu is unwilling to let it go. Will the Sect Master just let him go like that?"

"Given the overall situation, if he really wants to do something, there is nothing I can do to stop him," Sect Master Qing Kun said.

"Our sect is about to lose another late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!" the old cultivator sighed.

"The Ancestor still has a few years left. Neither the Luanjian Sect nor the Mountain and River Sect will be spared..."

Sect Master Qing Kun looked at the old cultivator, his words filled with murderous intent. He left the Sect Master's golden chair and walked toward the back hall without looking back.

Hearing this, the old cultivator's eyes froze, and he sighed deeply, "Is there only a few years left?" His expression looked both sorrowful and not.

He walked out of the hall toward the infinite blue sky, vast and boundless.

On a majestic mountain range beneath this sky, Bai Cang went to find Yun Qin early in the morning to give her the cultivation technique and reminisce about old times.

He only left satisfied at noon.

After that, five years passed in a flash.

The Mountain and River Sect grew more and more prosperous. The number of disciples in the sect reached three thousand. The Lower Court and the Upper Court were established, divided into Initiate Disciples, Ordinary Disciples, and True Disciples.

Among the True Disciples, the Ten Great Disciples were established, being the ten strongest among them!

The Eldest Disciple was still Fei Youqing. With the support of Yang Stone resources, his realm had reached the seventh level of Qi Refinement!

The second disciple was the Personal Disciple Yue Shanhe took when he descended the mountain years ago, Personal Disciple.

She had a Peak-grade Water Spiritual Root! Though only nineteen, her cultivation had already reached the fifth level of Qi Refinement!!

She had countless admirers in the sect, and some said: "Within ten years, Personal Disciple will be able to surpass Fei Youqing and become the number one disciple of the current generation!"

While the sect was flourishing, Bai Cang had not been idle either...