Chapter 346 – Martial God Mountain, Substituting Plum for Peach

Game World, Central Province, Martial God Mountain.

“Junior Brother Xing, where are you planning to go?”

Xing Li looked expressionlessly at the True Disciple of Martial God Mountain blocking his path and said, “Senior Brother Chen, I’ve been having some confusion about my cultivation recently, so I thought of going down the mountain to gain some experience and see if I can achieve a breakthrough.”

Upon hearing Xing Li’s explanation, a strange glint flashed in Senior Brother Chen’s eyes.

He then smiled and said, “So that’s how it is. But before going down the mountain, Junior Brother Xing, you’d better go see the Elders first. After all, it’s quite chaotic down the mountain recently, and you’re our Martial God Mountain’s next Celestial Being candidate – we can’t afford any mishaps.”

“Look at Ao Lie from the East Sea Gate – not long ago, he inexplicably died at the hands of the Demonic Path.”

“Because of this, Peak Lord Sikong from the Azure Cloud Sect contacted our mountain and requested one of our Elders to join him in investigating the East Sea Gate incident.”

“For your safety, Junior Brother, perhaps you should stay on the mountain and focus on cultivation recently, rather than moving around.”

As he spoke, Senior Brother Chen strangely took a step forward.

This movement precisely blocked Xing Li’s path.

Facing Senior Brother Chen’s possibly intentional or unintentional action,

Xing Li showed no reaction on his face, as if he hadn’t noticed anything.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat strange.

After a moment, Xing Li appeared to genuinely heed Senior Brother Chen’s words, nodding and saying, “Senior Brother is right. With the current state of affairs, it’s indeed not a good time to go down the mountain. I should cultivate on the mountain for a few more days.”

After speaking, Xing Li turned and walked toward his Cave Residence.

Watching Xing Li’s retreating figure, Senior Brother Chen’s eyes grew greedy.

His expression made it seem as if the Xing Li in his eyes wasn’t a fellow disciple at all, but rather delicious food.

After returning to his Cave Residence, Xing Li’s expression turned extremely serious.

“So, are they still not allowing you to go down the mountain?”

Xing Li looked up to see a tall, rough-looking man sitting imposingly in his Cave Residence, eating roasted meat from a plate before him.

This person was none other than Wu Xiao, who had previously accompanied him to the True Immortal Trial.

Xing Li approached Wu Xiao and shook his head, “No.”

“Is that so…”

Wu Xiao put down the meat in his hand, seemingly not surprised by this outcome.

Because ever since returning from the True Immortal Trial, he had sensed something strange about the atmosphere within their School.

Or rather, even before they went to the True Immortal Trial, Martial God Mountain seemed to have undergone some changes.

The root of all these changes began when the Eastern Divine Continent’s School, Giant Spirit Gate, presented “Reverse Life Nine Transformations” to Martial God Mountain.

Although “Reverse Life Nine Transformations” was just a secret technique, it provided tremendous enhancement for Martial God Mountain.

It could multiply the Qi and blood power of their Body Cultivators.

The only side effect was that their Qi and blood would be contaminated by Yao Beast Bloodline.

But when combined with the Blood Cleansing Pills offered by Giant Spirit Gate,

This side effect could almost be ignored.

After all, the function of Blood Cleansing Pills was to purify the Yao Beast blood within Cultivators’ bodies,

Thereby ensuring the Cultivators themselves wouldn’t be significantly affected.

It could be said that the emergence of “Reverse Life Nine Transformations” directly elevated Martial God Mountain’s overall strength by one or two levels.This was undoubtedly a terrifying matter.

Yet both Wu Xiao and Xing Li inexplicably felt some resistance towards the “Reverse Life Nine Transformations.”

Although they practiced it, they only dabbled superficially without delving too deeply.

This was because one possessed Double Pupils, inherently capable of observing details ordinary people couldn’t detect.

The other had lived since childhood with the Yao Beast Cloud Feather Owl, and this unique environment cultivated in Wu Xiao an intuition far surpassing that of ordinary individuals.

They both believed the side effects of the “Reverse Life Nine Transformations” were definitely not as simple as the Giant Spirit Gate claimed.

There must be some side effects they hadn’t yet discovered.

And if even they could notice this, naturally some among the Golden Core Stage and Nascent Soul Stage Elders of Martial God Mountain had also noticed.

But strangely, to this day, aside from a few Elders expressing concerns about the “Reverse Life Nine Transformations,”

no one else discussed the matter.

After all, the “Reverse Life Nine Transformations” was personally promoted by the Sect Leader of Martial God Mountain, who was also Xing Li’s Master.

In the entire Martial God Mountain, how many dared to oppose the Sect Leader’s decision?

Moreover, those Martial God Mountain Elders who had previously voiced opposition began, one by one, to strangely change their stance.

Though these changes were subtle, Xing Li, naturally sensitive and constantly masking his true self, noticed them immediately.

What truly made Xing Li suspect something was amiss in Martial God Mountain was an incident he accidentally witnessed some time ago.

“You’re saying you really saw the Sect Leader take several Elders to the back mountain a few days ago, and after returning, those Elders underwent drastic personality changes?”

Facing Wu Xiao’s inquiry, Xing Li sat down before him and nodded, “Yes, I saw it with my own eyes.”

After a moment of thought, Wu Xiao asked, “Is it possible it was just your imagination?”

Recalling his subsequent covert encounters with several Martial God Mountain Elders, Xing Li firmly replied, “It wasn’t imagination…”

As he spoke, Xing Li retrieved some strands of hair from his Storage Bag.

Judging by their appearance, these hairs were clearly collected by Xing Li in secret.

Then, under Wu Xiao’s puzzled gaze, Xing Li directly placed the hairs over a candle flame.

Quickly, the hairs ignited instantly, soon transforming into a wisp of black smoke that dissipated within the Cave Residence.

Witnessing this, Wu Xiao’s pupils contracted sharply.

He then looked at Xing Li seriously and asked, “Are you certain these were taken from the Sect Leader?”

Xing Li nodded, “Absolutely certain. To avoid mistakes, I specifically collected them from his bed and meditation mat after he left, just to prevent any mishaps.”

Hearing this, Wu Xiao’s expression grew increasingly grave.

Gazing at the ashes remaining on the candle, he murmured, “The Sect Leader reached the Peak of the Mystic Body Realm a century ago as a Body Cultivator, comparable to a Peak Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.”

“At that level, even mere hairs should be impervious to water and fire.”

“If these hairs truly came from the Sect Leader, it means either his Realm has drastically declined due to some special reason,”

“or…”

Before Wu Xiao could finish, Xing Li interjected, “Or… he isn’t my Master.”

With these words, the entire Cave Residence fell into profound silence.Because Martial God Mountain is no ordinary school.

It ranks among the top ten Sects in Central Province, and its position is not low.

If even the Sect Leader of such a Sect could be replaced by an imposter,

this was undoubtedly a terrifying matter.

If even Martial God Mountain was in such a state, other schools were even more vulnerable.

Perhaps in places unknown to them, many schools had already experienced similar situations.

Thinking of this, Wu Xiao felt as though an invisible net was shrouding the entire Central Province.

What was most shocking was that all this had been happening covertly without causing major disturbances.

After all, if Xing Li hadn’t told him, although he had noticed the recent strange atmosphere within the Sect,

he would never have imagined it could be this bizarre.

The Sect Leader of Martial God Mountain being replaced…

Such a thought would never have occurred to Wu Xiao.

In his view, whether it was Martial God Mountain or the other top ten Sects,

they were all behemoths beyond challenge.

At this point, Wu Xiao spoke: “Are you certain there are no flaws in this information?”

Xing Li shook his head, indicating his thorough verification.

Many things might seem insignificant until you become aware of them,

but once realized, numerous previous peculiarities begin surfacing one after another.

For instance… there were actually quite a few people in the Sect who had undergone sudden personality changes.

It was just that Wu Xiao had been relatively reclusive before and wasn’t very familiar with others,

making it difficult for him to judge arbitrarily.

After all, his background and temperament destined him to be looked down upon by orthodox Disciples of Martial God Mountain,

despite his considerable cultivation talent.

What puzzled Wu Xiao was that

since his return from the True Immortal Trial,

many people in the Sect had completely reversed their attitudes toward him.

If he had gained great rewards from the True Immortal Trial,

this could be explained.

But Wu Xiao knew clearly that he hadn’t obtained any particularly significant Opportunities during this True Immortal Trial.

Thus, the reason for his Senior Brothers’ changed attitudes became highly questionable.

As the saying goes: Unusual courtesy suggests deception or ulterior motives.

What if these people had other designs on him?

Wu Xiao might have a wild nature, but that didn’t make him a fool.

Or rather, having survived in the cruel wilderness,

he naturally had his own methods.

While his emotional intelligence might need refinement,

his sensitivity to detecting friend or foe was exceptionally sharp.

He had long felt that

the way many people in the Sect looked at him was identical to how wild beasts had regarded him in the wilderness.

These people just hid it well.

Coupled with Wu Xiao’s previous experience of being widely disliked in the Sect,

he hadn’t fully realized it until now.

But with Xing Li’s reminder,

many puzzles… were suddenly solved.

“You mean there’s currently some person or organization secretly replacing our Sect’s Elders and Disciples?”

“Mm.”

“Do you have any clues?”

After thinking briefly, Xing Li said: “The back mountain.”

Wu Xiao pondered this – not only was the back mountain of Martial God Mountain a restricted area of the Sect, but it also housed many of their great cultivators.

Ordinary people indeed found it difficult to access this place.

But similarly, if anything happened inside, those outside would struggle to know about it.At this thought, Wu Xiao spoke up: “So what do you plan to do?”

Xing Li looked at Wu Xiao and said without hesitation: “Find an opportunity to leave the mountain as soon as possible.”

After just a brief moment of thought, Wu Xiao understood why Xing Li had made this decision.

After all, even the Sect Leader of Martial God Mountain was suspected to have been replaced.

Not to mention they were merely Disciples of Martial God Mountain.

Even the Elders of Martial God Mountain might not be able to do anything about it.

Thus, leaving the mountain was undoubtedly a good choice.

Moreover, they had already considered where to go after descending.

In the vast Central Province, there was only one place capable of suppressing Martial God Mountain – the Azure Cloud Sect.

In other words, only by finding a way to report the situation here to the Azure Cloud Sect.

Could they possibly resolve the current situation occurring at Martial God Mountain.

This was also what Xing Li had just attempted to do.

It was unclear whether those people had discovered Xing Li’s intentions.

Or whether they had other purposes themselves.

But the result was that Xing Li’s recent attempts to leave the mountain had been very unsuccessful.

He was always rejected for various reasons.

And if he tried to force his way down the mountain.

That would undoubtedly alert the enemy, making things even more troublesome.

“Tell me, how do you want me to help you.”

Wu Xiao understood clearly that Xing Li’s willingness to share these matters with him.

Was certainly not just to satisfy his curiosity.

He must have some request.

And Xing Li had been waiting for these very words.

Soon after, Xing Li fully revealed his plan to Wu Xiao…

Meanwhile, at the Main Peak of Martial God Mountain.

“Sect Leader…”

“Come in.”

Disciple Chen entered the Sect Leader’s Cave Residence, quickly spotting the Sect Leader of Martial God Mountain meditating not far away.

Disciple Chen looked at him respectfully and said: “Reporting to Sect Leader, Junior Brother Xing attempted to leave the mountain again just now.”

“Oh?”

Upon hearing this, the Martial God Mountain Sect Leader immediately opened his eyes, revealing an amused expression.

“Has he discovered our plan?”

Disciple Chen raised his head, his previously normal expression now completely distorted, his eyes filled with madness.

“No, because if he truly knew about our opportunity, he would certainly kill me and immediately descend the mountain, rather than turning back.”

The Martial God Mountain Sect Leader tapped his fingers on the nearby table, a slight smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

“Hard to say, what if he wants to do something?”

“Do something?”

Disciple Chen seemed to have heard something amusing, then said in a mocking tone: “Even if he wants to do something, given his strength and our current situation, he can’t accomplish anything.”

“Better to stay put and wait to become the vessel for the Master’s descent when the time is ripe.”

“After all, such excellent vessels aren’t easy to find.”

The Martial God Mountain Sect Leader seemed to agree with Disciple Chen’s reasoning and didn’t refute it.

After a moment, the Martial God Mountain Sect Leader spoke: “I’m aware of the situation. Continue monitoring him.”

“As long as he doesn’t leave the mountain, no matter what he does, pay no attention.”

“After all, at this stage, we have almost fully investigated Martial God Mountain and the other Sealed Lands.”

“When we dig out those so-called Devil Heads, the entire Central Province will inevitably fall into chaos.”

“By that time, unless the Azure Cloud Sect possesses heaven-defying capabilities, given our current strength, we will be fully capable of extending our influence into their territory.””And as long as we can find a way to eliminate the Azure Cloud Sect, this vast Central Province will soon become our territory.”

Hearing this, the expression of Disciple Chen, who sat opposite the Martial God Mountain Sect Leader, grew even more excited.

As if he had already envisioned that very scene…

(End of Chapter)