Youth must be seized while it is young; how can one remain forever in the spring of life? Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Surge of Power

Over the next several days, the disciples of the sect went out to deliver invitations, while Daiba busied himself with gathering supplies and preparing a grand banquet. It was clear they meant to turn the funeral into a jubilant affair, an attempt to offset mourning with celebration.

Li Yuyun had long been renowned, and not only did all thirty sects of the Boundless Alliance send representatives, but many independent cultivators also came of their own accord to pay their respects. Added to that were the various cultivators Li Yuyun had known during his youthful travels. In an instant, all manner of powers converged upon Azure Sun Sect, making the funeral magnificently imposing.

Many cultivators who had admired Li Yuyun since childhood also came to the mourning hall in tears.

After the funeral, the sect held Bai Qingzhou’s inner-sect ceremony as well, but compared with the scale of the funeral, it was almost laughably simple.

After the disciples had eaten a little, Nie Fang directly announced that Bai Qingzhou had become the fifth inner-sect disciple of Azure Sun Sect, and that Xiao Feichen, having successfully established his foundation, would be promoted from inner-sect disciple to sect elder.

After a few words of exhortation about diligence and effort, the promotion ceremony ended just as simply.

Once both events were over, Azure Sun Sect returned to its ordinary days. The disciples each took up their duties and began to mend the wounds left by the recent upheaval, quietly licking their injuries.

Meanwhile, under Nie Fang’s arrangements, Azure Sun Sect began taking over the territories of the Flying Serpent Cult, bringing all three of its former prefectural cities under its control. Its administered population now neared eight hundred thousand, more than doubling the sect’s original domain.

The spiritual land once belonging to the Flying Serpent Cult was handed to Xiao Feichen, who led several disciples there to oversee its governance and handle the affairs of the newly acquired territory; Bai Qingzhou was among them as well.

Several fellow disciples spent more than two months shuttling back and forth across the Flying Serpent Cult’s lands before they fully absorbed the territory into Azure Sun Sect’s grasp. The resistant forces were either persuaded to surrender or utterly crushed, leaving no further cause for concern.

Within Azure Sun Sect, Bai Qingzhou sat in the courtyard, resting quietly in a reclining chair and gazing up at the sky.

In his hand he held a wine gourd, lifting it now and then to take a small sip.

It was not even fine wine, merely a fruit wine with a trace of spiritual energy, something he had bought at random from the market before.

Over these past two months, he seemed to have developed a taste for drinking...

"Brother Bai!" Ruan Xiuqi’s voice suddenly rang out, and then his figure rose from beyond the wall before leaping inside.

Bai Qingzhou looked up and asked softly, "Were you not guarding the mountain gate today? Why have you come here?"

Recently it had been Ruan Xiuqi’s turn to stand watch at the gate, so at this hour he should have been on duty, not here with Bai Qingzhou.

Ruan Xiuqi did not answer. He first picked up some fruit from Bai Qingzhou’s table and ate a few pieces before saying, "Someone’s here looking for you!"

"Oh?" Bai Qingzhou stood and asked, "Who is it?"

"He says his name is Luo Zhi, and he’s waiting at the gate."

A question rose in Bai Qingzhou’s heart. Old Luo?

Since the beast-meat shop had been handed over to Chen Li, Bai Qingzhou had not once gone back to the antique district after returning, and he had no idea what business had brought Old Luo here so suddenly...

"Then I’ll go take a look." Bai Qingzhou immediately activated his magical tool and flew toward the gate.

"Wait for me!" Ruan Xiuqi quickly set down the fruit and hurried after him.

The two soon reached the mountain gate.

Outside the formation stood a thin, flustered man, none other than Old Luo, whom he had not seen for nearly half a year.

"Old Luo." Bai Qingzhou descended from the magical tool and greeted him. "What brings you here?"

Seeing Bai Qingzhou, Old Luo hurriedly clasped his hands and bowed. "Shopkeeper! Manager Chen told me to come back and notify you."

"Did something happen?"

Old Luo glanced at Ruan Xiuqi behind him, then lowered his voice. "It’s that Yu Hou. He’s shown up!"

"Yu Hou!" Bai Qingzhou narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning sharp at once. "Where did he appear?"

"Right in the antique district! I saw him on the street yesterday, and then I told Manager Chen about it. After that, he told me to come back first and explain the situation to you." Old Luo spoke quickly.

Hearing this, Bai Qingzhou fell into thought. Yu Hou actually dared to come back...

That day, Yu Hou had joined forces with two independent cultivators to ambush Bai Qingzhou in the Monster Beast Forest. After Bai Qingzhou escaped with his life, Azure Sun Sect reported the matter to the Boundless Alliance, which then issued a continent-wide warrant for his arrest.

By rights, this man should not have dared show his face in Boundless Alliance territory. Yet unexpectedly, he was openly wandering the streets.

Bai Qingzhou clenched his fist. Because of Yu Hou, he had nearly died in the Monster Beast Forest that day. Now that he had found traces of the man, there was no way he would let this matter rest!

"Brother Bai, we should report this to the sect master first," Ruan Xiuqi reminded him from the side.

Ruan Xiuqi’s voice jolted Bai Qingzhou out of his thoughts. He nodded to him, then looked back at Luo Zhi and said, "Old Luo, you can come inside and rest for a while. I’ll go report this to the sect master now. If possible, I’ll head back to the antique district with you shortly."

"All right, shopkeeper," Luo Zhi replied.

"Xiuqi, open the formation."

At this, Ruan Xiuqi nodded and operated the core to open the mountain-protection formation, allowing Old Luo to enter the sect gate.

After the previous incident, Azure Sun Sect had become even stricter about entry and exit. More often than not, the formation had to be opened only after approval from an inner-sect disciple.

"Xiuqi, take Old Luo to rest for a bit first. I’m going to the Hall of Purity to find the sect master," Bai Qingzhou said.

"Go on, leave it to me!" Ruan Xiuqi thumped his chest.

Bai Qingzhou nodded, activated his magical tool, and flew toward the Hall of Purity.

When he arrived, he first exchanged a few words with the disciple guarding the entrance. After the guard reported his arrival, Bai Qingzhou entered the great hall and met Nie Fang.

He then repeated what Old Luo had just said.

Nie Fang stroked his chin and slowly asked, "How do you think this should be handled?"

Bai Qingzhou bowed slightly. "In my view, there is no need for alternatives. Only his life need be taken."

"Good!" Nie Fang agreed at once. "Still, this matter may be suspicious. Since he dares appear so brazenly in the market district, he may have some hidden card to play. You should investigate this together with Zhiyan."

At the mention of Zhang Zhiyan, Bai Qingzhou’s heart suddenly sank. After a moment, he said slowly, "This disciple understands. I will go find Senior Sister Zhang now."

"Wait." Nie Fang stopped him. "There are two more things I need to tell you."

Bai Qingzhou turned and clasped his hands. "Please instruct me, Sect Master."

"First, the medicinal herbs in the sect are also ripe now. Go to the herb garden and coordinate with Yao Ting, then bring the summer valley grass and cinnabar needle grass along to the Divine Farmer Society while you’re at it."

"Yes!" Bai Qingzhou nodded. He quickly did the math in his head. It was February now, which meant the half-year cycle for herb trading had come around again.

"Second, among our sect’s three shops in the antique district, water camp district, and fire camp district, Chen Li sent word some time ago that he can no longer handle running around between all three alone. Besides, he advanced to the ninth level of Qi Refinement recently and is about to establish his foundation..." Nie Fang paused.

"You mean..."

"My thought is that on this trip, you should directly take over Chen Li’s current responsibilities. From now on, you’ll be in charge of the three shops, and Chen Li can focus on preparing for foundation establishment. How does that sound?"

Bai Qingzhou said briefly, "That works."

"Oh, and one more thing. The herb shops in Water Camp District and Fire Camp District are still doing miserable business. If possible, you can convert those two shops into beast-meat stores." Nie Fang coughed lightly and said slowly.

Bai Qingzhou smiled knowingly. Clearly, he was very pleased with the sect master’s newfound open-mindedness.

"I’ll go to the market district first and look into it. If it’s suitable, I’ll convert them into beast-meat stores."

"Good. If you feel you can’t handle everything, you can also bring along a free disciple to help you," Nie Fang suggested after some thought.

Bai Qingzhou considered it and replied, "Then I’d like to bring Ruan Xiuqi with me."

"Mm, of course there’s no problem with that." Nie Fang nodded slowly. "As for this matter with Yu Hou, the few of you should handle it together. Do not engage him alone, and be sure to pay attention to your safety!"

"Yes!"

After a few more brief exchanges, Bai Qingzhou took his leave.

He activated his magical tool and flew toward Zhang Zhiyan’s small courtyard.