Chief Instructor Peng kept on pleading with Chief Elder Baishen while Cao Yun left. As he went down the stairs, he saw Miss Chen again. Instantly, she bowed down, keeping her eyes to the ground and her hands cupped.

"This humble one thanks Young Sect Master's generosity once again. Not a word will leave my lips about your presence. I will cherish your kindness and your pill will be put to good use. I won't squander the great opportunity you gifted to me, venerable Young Sect Master."

Honestly, Cao Yun wasn't too fond of all that ceremony. This was the main reason why he didn't want his return to be known too soon. Soon, Sect Leader Xuan would be forced to announce him officially of course. After all, no matter what he did, Cao Yun couldn't stop all the rumors. However, it would make Cao Yun's life in the Wubei Sect a bit more difficult. Thankfully, he still had his brother Ren Chao. Ren Chao wouldn't treat Cao Yun any differently than before. Already, Cao Yun wanted to get to his friend, but first he really had to meet with Sect Leader Xuan.

With that in mind, Cao Yun left the martial arts pavilion and walked toward the Meridian Gate and the Sect Palace at the top of the Heidai Peak. He quickly reached the Cinnabar Gate reserved to inner disciples. Although he could have used his stealth to get in without being noticed, Cao Yun didn't want to go to the Sect Palace like a thief. After all, it technically was his. As the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect, he was the successor of Sect Leader Xuan. Getting into his future palace like a thief wouldn't be a good thing. In a way, it would be humiliating.

Cao Yun presented himself at the Cinnabar Gate. There, two elders were waiting for him. Once again, he recognized them easily. They were Elder Tang and Elder Lin, two elders who had managed his entrance examination. Both of them had broken through to the Spirit Warrior realm since then, and were 2nd-grade Spirit Warriors. Seeing Cao Yun, they bowed slightly. A few disciples in the distance saw it and began to wonder what was going on. But not one of them was courageous enough to stare at those two elders. That being said, gossip spread quickly among the inner disciples. Moreover, inner disciples knew more than outer disciples, so some almost got things right. Unfortunately, no one had actually recognized Cao Yun's face.

"Young Sect Master Chen, Sect Leader Xuan sent us to accompany you."

Cao Yun cupped his fists in respect.

"Thank you, esteemed Elders. It is good to finally be home in my Wubei Sect. I'll have to trouble you."

Then, the three of them walked forward. They crossed the entire inner yard. Once again, many disciples looked at the three of them but they didn't dare to be too insistent. Obviously, Cao Yun knew that rumors would spread. It was faster than he had hoped. That being said, Sect Leader Xuan would announce his official return very soon anyway. Honestly, Cao Yun had just tried to delay the inevitable. In a few days, Sect Leader Xuan would probably hold a large ceremony for his return. Until then, he could deal with random rumors. Hopefully, it wouldn't stop Cao Yun from enjoying the peace and quiet he could finally get.

Since the three of them were walking peacefully, it took them almost an entire double hour to finally reach the Meridian Gate. Obviously, they were not tired at all even though they had spoken a lot on the way there. Indeed, Cao Yun had asked many things about the current Wubei Sect and the situation of the Hongchen Kingdom. In particular, he had inquired about the fate of all the disciples he knew as well as the current disciples.

Unfortunately, many of the disciples he had known had been sent to the battlefield and almost a third had died there. The Hongchen Kingdom had also pressured the Wubei Sect into accepting more disciples. Sect Leader Xuan had stood his ground, knowing the Hongchen Kingdom simply wanted them to create more cannon fodder. That being said, they had to accept a few more disciples so they had been forced to change the third-year program a little. Besides, the Ancient Ruins couldn't accept as many disciples as before since the spirit had been replaced by Chief Elder Suxian's soul. On that matter, the two elders knew close to nothing.

Talking about this subject, Cao Yun learned that the one who had mostly improved the array formations was Chief Elder Suxian's disciple and successor, Sun Liao. Sun Liao, who had planned to go back to his family, had changed. Now, he was an inner disciple of the Wubei Sect. For five years, he had spent all of his time cultivating, studying, and working on array formations. Even now, he was called all over the Hongchen Kingdom to set up more array formations. He had even repaired array formations in the Imperial City.

Immediately, Cao Yun's interest was piqued. If Sun Liao had worked on the array formations all over the kingdom, especially in the Imperial City, he could be a huge help to Cao Yun. The very moment this thought emerged in Cao Yun's mind, he admonished himself. Could he really use his friend to reach his goals? If he asked Sun Liao to help him by divulging secrets about those defenses, it was akin to asking him to betray the Hongchen Kingdom itself. That was a tremendous risk not only for Sun Liao, but for his entire family, and the Wubei Sect as well.

Thinking about that, Cao Yun's vendetta against Emperor Weide was also putting the Wubei Sect at risk. Thus, the young man began to think about quitting. Maybe if he distanced himself from the Wubei Sect, he could protect them. After all, even if he succeeded, Cao Yun might still be branded a traitor nonetheless. He could save his sister and be hated by all, including his own sister in fact. Many thoughts were darkening Cao Yun's mood but he didn't let it be visible. Instead, he kept on talking about various topics with the two elders who were quite happy to have a nice relationship with the Young Sect Master.

-

At last, they arrived at the Sect Palace. The palace was absolutely magnificent. Since it was on the highest peak of the Nine Peaks, the palace itself was surrounded by clouds, giving the impression that it was floating above the mortal world. In front of the stairs, the two elders stopped and bid Cao Yun farewell.

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"Young Sect Master, Sect Leader Xuan is waiting for you."

"Thank you, esteemed Elders. You've been very helpful. Take this small token of appreciation."

Cao Yun took two pills from his spatial ring and sent them to the two elders. Immediately, they declined politely.

"Young Sect Master, such a gift is unwarranted, we only did our duty."

"Two Elders, don't stand on ceremony. This is nothing."

Hearing Cao Yun say that caused the two elders some pain, but they didn't show it. Indeed, the two pills were 4-star Heaven Celestial Autumn Leaf pills. Those weren't pills just anyone could buy, even if they had the incredible amount of money required. For them, this was something they would need to spend a decade or more to have any hope of getting one. Besides, Cao Yun's pills were of Pure quality. Such a gift was absolutely monstrous to them, but seen as nothing in Cao Yun's eyes. Of course, Cao Yun was exaggerating out of politeness. But it was true that those two pills weren't much for him now. With his current alchemy, he could easily refine them as long as he had the ingredients. And he was rich enough to be able to get any ingredient he wanted, and even, powerful enough to hunt them himself if need be.

"Young Sect Master, we really can't accept such generosity."

"I do insist. Finally coming home should be celebrated. Don't spoil the fun by being too strict."

"Young Sect Master, we're really not worthy of such a gift..."

"Then, Elders, use it to prove how worthy you are. Besides, your strength is important to the Wubei Sect. This gift isn't just for you, it's for the Wubei Sect."

"If Young Sect Master insists, we can't refuse him."

Elder Tang and Elder Lin took the two pills with shaking hands. They were afraid of damaging them in any way. Such pills could help soothe the mind and would replenish both Qi and blood. In other words, it could help them cultivate their souls longer while keeping a fresh mind. Since they were currently working on their Upper Dantian, it was perfect for them. Although they couldn't tell how much time it would spare them, they could imagine a breakthrough in less than a decade with their talent that wasn't too great. Unfortunately, all cultivators suffered from the Forsaken Dao Era and cultivation became harder and harder. Besides, cultivators often accumulated small injuries or unstable cultivation. So the higher stages of cultivation became harder than they should have been. This was why a stable cultivation attained with as few pills as possible was preferable. That being said, Cao Yun's pills barely had any toxins in them so it wasn't too much of a problem to use them.

The two elders kept bowing slightly as Cao Yun was walking up the stairs toward the Sect Palace. Alone on a huge staircase surrounded by large statues of turtles, snakes and immortals, Cao Yun almost felt like he was in another realm. He wasn't on the Piaolu planet anymore. Even without flying, he felt as though he was, as if the entire palace itself was flying in fact. Besides, he could feel a powerful and pure Qi all around him. Moreover, the air was also very thin. Most mortals would have had trouble breathing. For a Spirit Warrior, this was nothing. But strangely, it brought a kind of clarity of mind.

When he was at the top of the stairs, Cao Yun kowtowed.

"This unfilial disciple salutes his master, Sect Leader Xuan. This unfilial disciple has been away too long while his Wubei Sect was suffering."

Cao Yun had felt Sect Leader Xuan's faint spiritual senses all this time, but a sudden wave washed over him. Then, he heard his quiet voice in his mind.

"Good, good. You exceeded all of my hopes for you, young disciple. It was I who failed you. Despite my boasts about my understanding a bit of the Dao of Space, I couldn't do anything when you got taken by this spatial storm. In order to progress so fast, I imagine that you endured a lot of hardships. Let us talk about your adventures. Please, come in."

The young disciple stood up and walked into the Sect Palace. Once inside, the doors closed behind him. With his knowledge of array formations, Cao Yun could tell that a 5-star Heaven array formation had been set up throughout the Sect Palace. It was a Universe Engulfing Sparrow that had reached the Seamless quality. Besides, there was a lot of Void Nurtured Platinum all over the Sect Palace. In other words, it was impossible for anyone above the Sage realm to send any form of spiritual senses in or out of the Sect Palace at the moment. Even Cao Yun would fail to do so. Most likely, Sun Liao had set up this array formation as well as it appeared to be relatively recent.

In fact, thinking about it, Cao Yun realized that even he couldn't sneak into the innermost parts of the Wubei Sect with his 'Ashen Feather Seal'. Sun Liao's array formations were simply too good. He would need months just to discover them all and probably years to find the right way to go through them without activating them. Besides, he would always be afraid of triggering an array formation he had missed. His brother truly was talented, which made Dian Mo absolutely furious.

Honestly, Dian Mo didn't care about new array formations, he could accept that people were even better than he was. What truly infuriated him was the fact that Sun Liao, a young brat who was not even a hundred years old, not even half that, could improve the array formations Dian Mo had studied for centuries, if not millennia, for some of them. He couldn't accept that at all...

Now that he was inside the Sect Palace, Cao Yun kowtowed once more. In front of him, on the other side of the large room, there was a curtain hiding the figure of Sect Leader Xuan. The old man could not be directly seen but he was sitting cross-legged and appeared quite peaceful. Everything in this Sect Palace seemed serene. However, Cao Yun knew that this appearance also hid a tremendous strength. Sect Leader Xuan was the strongest martial artist in the entire Hongchen Kingdom. Despite his calm demeanor, Cao Yun knew what he could do. If he fought Emperor Weide, Sect Leader Xuan might win. In fact, the only reason he might not win was his age. Emperor Weide was around 1,500 years old while Sect Leader Xuan was reaching the end of his natural life. However, if Sect Leader Xuan was younger, no one could measure up to him, apart from Da Mo, maybe.

"Stand up, stand up. Come closer, let's talk together."

Cao Yun didn't stand on ceremony and did get closer to Sect Leader Xuan. He sat on a chair to the right of the Sect Leader reserved to Chief Elders.

"Cao Yun, I hoped that you had survived. But your current return exceeded all of my expectations. Please, tell me what happened to you."

Being called by his real name surprised Cao Yun a little. Sect Leader Xuan was among those who knew about his actual past. Thus, the young man hesitated whether he could tell the whole truth to his master. But then, he admonished himself. He had accepted to be Sect Leader Xuan's direct disciple, he had to trust him. After all, he would trust him with his very life. So Cao Yun told him absolutely everything, apart from one point. Even now, he couldn't speak about Dian Mo since he had made a pact with the spirit.

For several hours, Sect Leader Xuan listened attentively to his direct disciple.

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