On the morning of the fourth day since the Azure Dragon Sect was attacked by the Greenwood Sky Snake King, Huang Shi, who had disappeared from the sect for about two months at this point, had finally returned as he caught a glimpse of the sect from a distance.
Shit... I underestimated how deep I went into the Greenwood Forest. Especially since all I've been doing was following Xinyue around, I actually got a bit lost.
Huang Shi kept running in the same direction, finally taking his last step out of the Greenwood Forest. He was now only a few hundred meters away from the first outpost of the Azure Dragon Sect. After taking a few steps beyond the forest, he stopped for a while and looked back. Memories of the last two months he had spent in the forest flashed through his mind as he caught a glimpse of his spatial ring.
Inside of it lay a small log cabin, consisting of only two separate rooms for sleeping, one shared kitchen, and one lounge area which acted as a living room. That's right; one of the main reasons why Huang Shi had been delayed in his return was actually because, halfway through his journey, he suddenly thought of going back to the log cabin where he and Xinyue had stayed to check if it had been destroyed amidst the rampage of the Greenwood Sky Snake King and the rest of the spiritual beasts.
Strangely, it wasn't destroyed. There wasn't even a hint of damage on it; it stood there amidst the broken trees and destroyed shrubbery without a hint of blemish. And so, he took a few steps towards it and suddenly had the idea of placing it inside of his spatial ring.
Aside from that Amber Foundation Pill that I'm about to consume, this log cabin is the only physical reminder I have of the relationship between me and Xinyue... it's a good thing I thought of coming back for it, even if it did cause me to be a bit delayed.
After forcing himself to calm down, he once again ran straight ahead. After around an hour of running, he finally arrived back at the sect, where he was immediately stopped by the guards at the gate.
"Stop! Who are you?! Don't you know this is the territory of the Azure Dragon Sect? State your intentions!"
Huang Shi stopped in front of the massive stone walls that covered the entirety of the territory of the Azure Dragon Sect, looking at one of the two guards who had approached him. Just like the other guard, this one was at the 9th level of the Elementary Profound Realm.
Strange. Just a few months ago I was at that same level of strength. Now... I can't even imagine what it's like being that weak.
After having these extraneous thoughts for a few seconds, he then took something out of his spatial ring and showed it to the guards. It was a blue wooden token which held the insignia of the Azure Dragon Sect: a massive azure lightning dragon flying through the sky.
This immediately caused one of the two guards to tremble. He looked at the wooden token he held in his hands and then looked back up at Huang Shi, opening and closing his mouth for a few seconds before eventually bowing his head in fear.
"I-I greet the Young Master! Welcome back to the sect."
Instantly, the other guard, who had long since realized something was wrong, also trembled in fear as he bowed his head.
"I-I greet the Young Master! Please apologize for our disrespect."
After calmly nodding his head, indicating that it wasn't a problem, he then passed through the gates of the Azure Dragon Sect without much fanfare.
The moment he stepped through the gates, he immediately noticed that something was wrong, and that was because for a few hundred meters around the entrance of the gate, everything had been destroyed.
All of the houses, buildings, training facilities, and businesses associated with the Azure Dragon Sect in this part of their territory had been destroyed; it was like a typhoon had passed through the area, wreaking havoc in the entire place.
This place is a mess… shit… I hope no one got too injured from my stunt.
After thinking for a few seconds, he started walking deeper into the sect and he finally saw something within the rubble: people working round the clock and carrying logs and construction supplies as they worked tirelessly to fix up the buildings that were destroyed.
Some of the disciples looked up and saw who he was, but after a few nods of acknowledgement, they ignored him and quickly returned back to their duties, trying their best to fix the buildings with haste.
I guess that's better for me.
After having these kinds of thoughts, he instantly started to speed up his pace of running, and before long, through his exceptional hearing and his astute observational skills, he had a general understanding of what had transpired in the last few days.
The Azure Dragon Sect's Spirit Profound Ancestor fought with the Greenwood Sky Snake King, with the fight ending with the latter's death… however, the ancestor had to pay a heavy price for his victory; he was injured in the fight and has to go back into closed-door cultivation to cultivate.
But according to the rumors, the massive body of the Greenwood Sky Snake King was full of all sorts of resources that are useful for cultivation, and so they are saying that after the ancestor leaves his closed-door cultivation, he will probably have a breakthrough in his cultivation.
Once he had a grasp of the current situation, his eyes suddenly shone with a powerful light as his brain worked in overdrive.
So I was right... the sect did have a Spirit Profound Realm cultivator. I fucking knew it… a sect like this can't exist in the vicinity of the Greenwood Forest without that kind of power behind its back. If they only had True Profound Realm cultivators holding up the sect, it would have long since collapsed.
This means that the first step of my plan is complete. Right now, the sect is weakened… and most likely, the highest powers of the sect is only of the True Profound Realm.