Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

Chapter 218: 218 Hypocritical Senior Brother Xue Gong

”Brother Chang Qing?”

Seeing this senior brother whom he had just met staring blankly at him without speaking, Yun Xiao could only speak up again to remind him, finally bringing Chang Qing back to his senses.

”Hehe, I apologize, I was thinking about something and got lost in thought!”

Chang Qing showed a warm smile on his face, first explaining, and then his gaze swept over the fiery red mouse on Yun Xiao’s right shoulder and said, ”Brother Yun Xiao, Brother Ling Wan, come with me!”

Yun Xiao felt a bit strange in his heart, but didn’t ask further. Regarding these geniuses from the Medical Pulse, he subconsciously held some goodwill, at least his first impression of Chang Qing was not bad.

Immediately, the three followed Chang Qing and went straight towards the depths of the Jade Pot Sect. Although the Inner and Outer Sects of the Jade Pot Sect were both located within the Yulin Mountain Range, they were quite far apart.

Yun Xiao had been to the Inner Sect of the Jade Pot Sect before, but at that time, he was held hostage by a Talisman Poison Master and his disciples, so the path he took was definitely not the one they were walking now. Therefore, he was quite unfamiliar with the current route.

Passing through lush mountains and forests, finally, a majestic array of buildings appeared before their eyes. Yet looking at it, they all had some strange speculations.

At this moment, they were undoubtedly still some distance from the Inner Sect of the Jade Pot Sect, but in the eyes of Yun Xiao and the others, the distant Inner Sect of the Jade Pot Sect seemed like it was split in half by a giant knife.

To the left of the Inner Sect were buildings lush with greenery, hidden shades of jade and dark green intermittently visible. Yun Xiao knew without looking that it was the Poison Vein he had visited before.

On the right side, a large area was entirely pitch-black, which, upon first glance, seemed much monotonous compared to the various shades of green on the left, but it somehow exuded an even more majestic aura.

”Is that place the Sect Leader’s palace?”

Yun Xiao glanced left and right and then cast his gaze towards a large hall even farther in the middle, murmuring as if asking Chang Qing.

That hall, located right between the Medical Pulse and Poison Vein and deep in the center, was entirely ice blue in color, and from a distance, it seemed to emit a faint, almost imperceptible aura.

”That’s right, that is the Sect Leader’s residence. Even the two Great Elders cannot easily enter it!”

Chang Qing’s face held a trace of emotion. After speaking, he turned to look at Yun Xiao again, showing a somewhat envious expression. He knew that the Sect Master Hall, which even his master and the two Great Elders couldn’t easily enter, was open to this young man before him, a great honor indeed.

Yun Xiao, however, did not have as many thoughts. With his considerable Soul Power, he always felt that there was something unusual about this hall. Perhaps it hid many secrets about the Jade Pot Sect.

After about half a day’s walk, under the guidance of Chang Qing, the three of them truly entered the Inner Sect of the Jade Pot Sect. It is worth mentioning that along the way, they surprisingly did not see Xuan Zhi, Zhao Ningshu, and Cao Luo.

Thinking it over, Yun Xiao understood; it seemed that the rivalry between the two factions among the Inner Sect Disciples was not harmonious at all. Chang Qing probably intentionally avoided the guide from the Poison Vein, so the two sides did not meet.

The entrance of the Jade Pot Sect’s Inner Sect was a large square, which was oddly half black and half green. However, Yun Xiao and the others were already accustomed to such anomalies; probably both factions deliberately made it so, neither wanting to be at a disadvantage.

At this moment, however, Yun Xiao’s gaze was not on this half-black, half-green square, because on the black side of the square, a young man dressed in black was already standing.

Yun Xiao had some recollection of this black-clad young man because during the Outer Sect’s grand competition, this guy had stood beside Mo Qing.

For some reason, from the first glance at this young man, Yun Xiao felt that this person harbored some hostility towards him. This feeling was baseless, but he was always confident in his intuition; he believed he was not sensing wrong.

”Brother Chang Qing, you finally brought them here. You made this brother wait so long!”

The first to speak was that black-clad young man. Although he showed a slight smile and spoke as if joking, it might be because he had waited too long and was somewhat impatient.

”I’m sorry, Brother Xue Gong. I haven’t been to the Outer Sect for a long time and am not very familiar with the way, so I was delayed!”

Regarding this black-clad young man, Chang Qing was naturally not unfamiliar, and he also knew that this person was once the Great Elder’s proudest Disciple, squeezed out only after Mo Qing rose to power.

The question and answer between these two gave Yun Xiao two different perceptions on the side: Xue Gong was clearly very impatient inside, yet pretended to be nonchalant, revealing his true feelings through his words, which was somewhat hypocritical.

And Chang Qing’s words, on the other hand, were covering up the reason for the delay on behalf of Yun Xiao. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Tan Yun’s team’s reluctance to part and Ling Wan’s many words, they might not have been delayed for so long.

Adding to Yun Xiao’s already odd feelings towards Xue Gong, his impression of the man worsened a bit, thankful that he was not a disciple of the Great Elder and thus would not need to interact much with this hypocritical person in the future.

However, Ling Wan and Song Tian were about to become disciples of the Great Elder, and having to stay with Xue Gong for a long period, they would inevitably suffer some hidden losses. Yun Xiao thought it best to find an opportunity to remind the two.

”Junior brothers, let me introduce you to Brother Xue Gong. He is much more formidable than me!”

Chang Qing looked like he was used to dealing with people, and might not have missed Xue Gong’s dissatisfaction in his tone just now, but pretended as if nothing happened and introduced him with a smile.

”Nice to meet you, Brother Xue Gong!”

Ling Wan and Song Tian dared not neglect, and hurriedly clasped their fists in salute, making Yun Xiao’s action, standing beside them, appear somewhat stiff. This scene, caught in Xue Gong’s eyes, sparked a strange light.

”Junior brother Chang Qing, you are too polite, but... among all present, perhaps the most prestigious is Junior Brother Yun Xiao. He is the Sect Leader’s direct disciple!”

Xue Gong turned and first downplayed himself, then suddenly shifted the topic to Yun Xiao, the words he uttered carrying a deeper provocation.

It seemed that in Xue Gong’s mind, the fact that Yun Xiao could be taken in as a direct disciple by the Sect Leader still grated on him, thinking why such an ”outstanding talent” like himself failed to catch the Sect Leader’s eye. What merits did Yun Xiao have?

Perhaps Xue Gong originally had no ill feelings towards Yun Xiao, but since the person he admired, Mo Qing, kept her gaze intentionally or unintentionally on this Outer Sect youth, it made him harbor an unintentional dislike for Yun Xiao.

Adding to that, during the recent Outer Sect competition, Yun Xiao’s prominence was too pronounced, drawing not only the envy of geniuses from the Poison Vein, but even this prominent figure from the Medical Pulse felt discontent.

How could Yun Xiao, with his clever mind, not hear the hidden intentions in Xue Gong’s words? This man clearly wanted to stir up jealousy in Chang Qing towards him; such intentions were indeed malicious.

However, Yun Xiao naturally was not someone to be trifled with. As soon as Xue Gong finished speaking, he interjected, ”Senior brothers, as someone new here, I still have much to learn from you, and I ask for your generous guidance!”

These words, neither servile nor overbearing, seemed to be a straightforward response to what Xue Gong had just said, but in truth, they contained great depth, especially the final request for ”generous guidance”.

”This youngster, really unwilling to suffer any loss!”

Originally, Chang Qing had no ill feelings towards Yun Xiao, but upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but commend inwardly, remarking that it was not just for Yun Xiao’s talent in Meridian Qi and Meridian Refining Technique that the Sect Leader took him in as a disciple.

”Brother Xue Gong, it’s getting late. I will take Junior Brother Yun Xiao to see the Sect Leader first, and leave these two junior brothers in your care!”

It wasn’t until Chang Qing spoke these words that Yun Xiao and the others learned why Xue Gong had appeared in the plaza, apparently to hand over responsibilities to Chang Qing.

That made sense, as Ling Wan and Song Tian’s master was the Great Elder, Lu Zhan, while Yun Xiao’s master was the Sect Leader himself, clearly on different paths, and it would be a waste of time to have the same person introduce them.

”Ling Wan, if there’s anything, remember to send me a message!”

Yun Xiao patted Ling Wan’s shoulder, and after speaking, his eyes glanced meaningfully at Xue Gong.

”Hehe, don’t worry, Junior Brother Yun Xiao, with me looking after these two junior brothers, what could possibly go wrong?”

Xue Gong returned Yun Xiao’s gaze, but although he was talking about taking care, in Yun Xiao’s ears, it had another meaning. At this moment, he somewhat regretted what he had previously said.

At this point, Yun Xiao’s perception of Xue Gong was increasingly negative, their conversation akin to clashing blades, all indicating Xue Gong’s displeasure towards him.

The reason Yun Xiao regretted it was because he realized had he not spoken those words earlier, perhaps Xue Gong would not hold a grudge against the two young boys who had just entered the Inner Sect. But because of that sentence, maybe this man would indeed cause trouble in the future.

However, things having reached this point, Yun Xiao wouldn’t openly confront him until Xue Gong revealed his true intentions, and he could only watch as the others slowly moved away, disappearing into the edge of the plaza.

”Do you know Brother Xue Gong, Junior Brother Yun Xiao?”

Just as Yun Xiao was lost in thought, a questioning voice suddenly pulled him back to reality; he shook his head immediately, as he and Xue Gong indeed did not really know each other.

Seeing Yun Xiao shake his head, Chang Qing felt even more puzzled. The conversation between the two just now was clearly amiss, although not very obvious, but he often dealt with people and was good at reading subtle expressions.

However, since Yun Xiao didn’t elaborate, Chang Qing did not pry further, and with a gesture from his right hand, he led them to the front of the plaza. In that faraway direction, a pale blue grand hall still emitted a faint strange aura. It was the Sect Master Hall!