Chapter 264: Disaster Brewing….
Bai Xiaochun’s eyes widened as he stepped forward and grabbed the golden leaf. Other than its unusual color, there didn’t seem to be anything special about it.
As for the turtle shell, it was deathly still, and radiated an air of complete and utter ancientness. However, it didn’t seem at all like the eternal and indestructible relic that Bai Xiaochun had been expecting.
“Where’s the relic of eternal indestructibility?” he exclaimed. Then he began to search around madly for anything else in the area. However, other than the turtle shell and the golden leaf, there was nothing present.
At one point, he bit down on the golden leaf, but it was so hard his teeth almost broke. Obviously, it wasn’t intended to be eaten. Bai Xiaochun was starting to go crazy. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was starting to wonder if he had been played. He quickly produced the soul of imposter Nightcrypt.
“Dammit, tell me the secret of eternal indestructibility!!” Bai Xiaochun raged. “The only things here are this leaf and this turtle shell. They’re completely useless!!”
Imposter Nightcrypt’s soul stared around blankly, clearly flummoxed. “This is impossible! The mysterious sect definitely said it was here….”
Bai Xiaochun was feeling more and more like he had been played. When he thought about all the toil and suffering he had put into this mission, even risking his own life, only to come here and find nothing, he felt more wronged than he ever had in his entire life.
He searched around a bit more, but to his increasing despair, found nothing. In the end, he stared down at the turtle shell. Of course, he loved turtles, but this turtle shell was tiny, much tinier than even his turtle-wok.
“Don’t tell me the relic of eternal indestructibility is this turtle shell? But what is it supposed to do…?” Bai Xiaochun was about ready to cry. Sighing and scowling, he finally put the turtle shell and the golden leaf into his bag of holding, and then walked out through the glowing door. Looking down at the hole he had excavated in the floor of the immortal’s cave, he scowled, and then began to fill it in. Some time later, after making sure everything looked exactly as it had before he arrived, he trudged away.
Outside the immortal’s cave, he sighed, then looked up into the sky. To him, it felt as if the world had just played a huge trick on him.
“All of my toil and suffering….
“Things got so dangerous I almost died….
“I… I…” Feeling incensed, he returned to Blood Master Temple, then pulled out the golden leaf and the turtle shell and studied them a bit. Eventually, he realized that the golden leaf was extremely durable, and apparently, impossible to tear apart.
However, other than that, it didn’t seem special. He suspected that the leaf must contain some technique hidden inside of it, but even after opening his Heavenspan Dharma Eye, he couldn’t see anything.
As for the turtle shell, it seemed dead, completely dried out, albeit relatively sturdy. Once upon a time, a living turtle had existed inside the shell, but now, that turtle was nothing more than a corpse.
Bai Xiaochun didn’t rest that night. By the next morning, his eyes were bloodshot, and he finally decided to give up on his research. He let out a sigh filled with grief and discontentment.
Imposter Nightcrypt’s soul was so scared that he didn’t dare to utter a peep, fearful that Bai Xiaochun might flip out and kill him. However, he couldn’t help but feel wronged in the whole matter; he hadn’t been telling lies!
As he sank into despair, Bai Xiaochun realized that he had no desire to remain in the Blood Stream Sect any longer. Sighing continuously, he began to think of a reason to leave. However, even as he did, a beam of light shot up from each of the other three mountain peaks.
Within those three beams of light were the three other blood masters. When they arrived on Middle Peak, their expressions were casual and relaxed, and apparently they had come simply to chat. Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but wonder what their real purpose was, but he humored them. For a bit of time, they simply talked about random things.
Finally, the blood master from Lesser Marsh Peak couldn’t restrain himself from getting to the point.
“Nightcrypt,” he said. “The three of us have been given some top-secret information. Bai Xiaochun, the Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment expert from the Spirit Stream Sect, has not been in secluded meditation for the past few years. He actually left the sect some years ago to gain experience. Some people even suspect that he entered Blood Stream Sect territory! Whether or not that information is correct, we can’t be completely sure. However, even the chance that it might be true means that we could have an opportunity to kill Bai Xiaochun!”
Bai Xiaochun’s heart was already pounding, but he didn’t let any of that emotion show on his face.
Tone solemn, the blood master continued, “All of us blood masters swore an oath to the patriarchs that we would hunt down and kill Bai Xiaochun. We would exterminate the young successor of the Spirit Stream Sect, their Heaven-Dao Foundation Establishment expert!
“In our cultivation, we have to cut down Chosen like that. Kill them, steal their good fortune, and use that to realize our own Dao!
“We swore a formal oath as blood masters, and since you’re a blood master now too, we all need to stand as one! Since the oath has our names on it, then naturally, it should have yours as well!”
The blood masters from Corpse Peak and Nameless Peak nodded solemnly. From the way they were looking at him, it seemed they wouldn’t leave until he agreed.
Bai Xiaochun was already trembling in fear because of what he’d heard. Obviously, these people had sworn an oath, and yet failed to live up to it, and now they were trying to drag him into their little cabal….
He thought about refusing, but could tell that they wouldn’t let him off the hook easily. Even as he hesitated, the Corpse Peak blood master produced a jade slip from his bag of holding.
“This is the oath we swore to the patriarchs. We had to make a special request to bring it here today. All you have to do is place your mark upon it, that’s all.” With that, he handed the jade slip over to Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun eyes widened when he realized how well-prepared the group was. Inwardly, he cursed about how outrageous these blood masters were, forcing him to swear an oath to kill himself….
The more he thought about it, the worse it sounded. That was especially true when he examined the jade slip and saw that, in addition to the substantial reward that was being offered upon Bai Xiaochun’s death, there was also a punishment for failure. That punishment involved being confined to the sect’s Abysmal Defile.
Bai Xiaochun had heard of the Abysmal Defile before. It was a deep ravine filled with wind and fire, a place where cultivation felt like pure torture. Ordinary people couldn’t even survive the place.
When he saw that, he felt more nervous than ever. As Bai Xiaochun, he hadn’t done anything to these three blood masters. What right did they have to make things so hard for him, to risk such incredible punishment in their attempt to kill him?