Chapter 9: Appreciation

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Within the east region…

The sky was clear.

There were countless sects within the east region. The grade-9 sects were the weakest, while the grade-1 sects were the strongest.

Above the graded sects was the one and only Holy Land in the east region!

It was a power that stood above all the sects and factions of the east region, and it was not graded.

The name of the Holy Land was… Qian Emperor Dao Sect!

At present, several dozen Elders were gathered in the Qian Emperor Dao Sect’s main hall, and their expressions were extremely ugly.

“The unparalleled legacy of my sect has been severed. Several important cultivation techniques have been stolen. Even though some disciples have recorded down a few cultivation techniques they are familiar with and handed them over, some of the more important cultivation techniques have been lost…”

“Since ancient times, how many Holy Lands have been destroyed because of the severance of their legacies? My Qian Emperor Dao Sect definitely can’t follow such footsteps.”

“The Sect Leader is in seclusion. What should we do?”

“There’s no rush. Let’s just wait for the Grand Elder to return. The Grand Elder has already gone to capture that madman, Zhang San.”

“…”

At that moment, a figure flew into the hall. It was the black-robed old man, the Qian Emperor Dao Sect’s Grand Elder!

All the Elders stood up and bowed.

“Grand Elder!”

The black-robed old man waved his hand, indicating for everyone to stand down.

Upon seeing that the Elders were about to ask, he spoke first.

“Those cultivation techniques have yet to be recovered. However, I have already captured Zhang San, and he is currently locked in a cage. I have already asked the Sect Leader about this matter. The Sect Leader will personally deal with it later!

“As for what happened… Forget it. I’ll tell all of you personally.”

The Grand Elder then reiterated Zhang San’s explanation and the entire matter in detail.

All the Elders were furious after listening to the entire story.

“Does this crazy fellow really think he’s a bigshot?”

“How dare he toy with the Grand Elder! He deserves to die 10,000 times!”

“He even dared to fool the Grand Elder. He deserves to be rewarded— Ahem, he deserves to be beaten…”

The focus of this group of people was that he had been fooled.

The Grand Elder was rendered speechless.

This is a very serious matter, but why is everyone’s focus on me being fooled?

Their faces were clearly black just a moment ago, but now they all look calm…

And why the hell is that person trying to hold in his laughter until his face has turned red?

Is having our cultivation manuals and secret techniques stolen not a serious matter?

Why is he still in the mood to laugh?

No…

These people seem to have something against me!

The Grand Elder widened his eyes and was about to question them when a voice suddenly echoed.

“This Zhang San is not lying.”

All the Elders looked up.

A square-faced, expressionless middle-aged man full of dignity strode in. This person was the current Sect Leader of the Qian Emperor Dao Sect, Qian Yuan.

Everyone, including the Grand Elder, restrained the strange atmosphere and bowed toward the Sect Leader.

“Greetings, Sect Leader!”

Sect Leader Qian Yuan waved his hand casually and sat on the main seat. Then, he said expressionlessly, “No need for formalities. I’ve already used our sect’s secret technique on Zhang San and confirmed that he wasn’t lying. All the secret manuals and techniques of the various sects, including some secret manuals of our sect, were sold to a sect called Daoless Sect by Zhang San for eight taels of silver.”

Whoosh!

The Elders were shocked.

Someone had actually bought all the secret manuals of the sects, including important cultivation techniques of their Holy Land, for merely eight taels of silver!?

What a joke!

No one would believe such a thing.

The Elders had yet to recover from their shock.

However, the Grand Elder reacted quickly. He asked, “Sect Leader! Since Zhang San didn’t lie, then where is this Daoless Sect? Could it be that this Daoless Sect that Zhang San mentioned is real? But I’ve already been to Sky Mist Mountain that Zhang San mentioned. That place is basically empty.”

Sect Leader Qian Yuan shook his head and said, “According to Zhang San, the Sect Leader of the Daoless Sect is an extremely powerful being in the Tribulation stage. Moreover, the Daoless Sect is very likely to be a hidden sect. It’s too easy for them to hide from your detection.”

Tribulation stage!

Hidden sect!

The moment these two phrases were said, the Elders who had not recovered from their shock nearly knelt down.

A Tribulation expert!

In this world, Tribulation cultivators were already considered the strongest existence!

In the entire east region, other than the Qian Emperor Dao Sect, which had one or two Supreme Elders at the Tribulation stage, no other sects had a Tribulation existence.

It was obvious how rare Tribulation experts were.

But if it was a hidden sect, then it would be normal…

According to ancient records, a portion of the sects had chosen to live and cultivate in seclusion because of an unforeseen event or a disaster that occurred then, separating from the outside world. They did not care about the affairs of the world, and after a long time, they gradually became unknown to others. That was also the reason why they were called hidden sects.

But without a doubt…

Every hidden sect had experienced the test of time. They were powerful and mysterious. It was very normal for a hidden sect to have a Tribulation existence!

“Sect Leader, now that a hidden sect has appeared in the east region, will it pose a threat to the Holy Land’s rule?”

“That’s not the main point. The main point is, what kind of attitude does this hidden sect have toward us?”

“If possible, we can handle it amicably…”

Most of the Elders chose to try their best to be on good terms with the hidden sect known as Daoless Sect.

No one knew how deep the foundation of a hidden sect was. It would not be beneficial for them to become enemies with them. It was much better to befriend them instead.

Sect Leader Qian Yuan shook his head again. He said slowly, “At present, we don’t even know where they are. So how can we befriend them? What I’m trying to say is that we should first send people to try contacting the Daoless Sect and then decide what to do next.”

“Nice, this method is feasible.”

“But who should we send to contact the hidden sect?”

The Elders started discussing among themselves who they should choose to contact the hidden sect.

Upon seeing this, the Grand Elder stepped forward and said, “Sect Leader, let me be the one!”

The Sect Leader pondered for a while and nodded.

However, an Elder muttered, “Sect Leader, it’s not appropriate to let the Great Elder go. The Grand Elder was even toyed with by a lawless maniac. If we let the Grand Elder go, wouldn’t it be a disgrace to our Holy Land—”

The Grand Elder immediately blew his beard and glared at that Elder as if he wanted to hit him.

Was it because he had not fought for too long?

Someone actually dared to openly call him stupid?

He was going to drag this person to the back of the mountain and bury him! He had to get back his dignity!

Sect Leader Qian Yuan looked at this scene and frowned. “Stop fooling around. Grand Elder, prepare yourself to visit the hidden sect.”

When the Grand Elder heard this, he let out a long sigh and turned around to leave.

Sigh… This Sect Leader was still biased toward the Grand Elder.

In the end, it was a mistake…