007CCG Chapter 111 - 27: Return to the Sect
A few martial arts veterans of seemingly high status stepped forward, expressing their welcome to Dong Hongtian’s arrival.
Su Jie sized up the tent campsite, which wasn’t very large and didn’t have a proper blockade line. If one wanted to enter or exit the Green Valley Plain, they could simply take a slight detour and pass without anyone knowing, let alone talk about blocking Ghost Ridge Palace.
However, once Su Jie saw the cultivation level of these martial artists in the campsite, he understood the reason.
There were roughly a few hundred people from the Jianghu, with varying strengths, most of them at about the First Level of Yunling Realm—perfect cannon fodder.
Someone with Dong Hongtian’s cultivation, placed among them, would stand out as top-notch.
It was those few martial arts veterans, one or two of them, who gave Su Jie the impression of having the cultivation of the Fifth Level of Yunling Realm.
With such power, how could they possibly be opponents of the Ghost Ridge Palace disciples?
The so-called blockade was more form than substance.
Probably these people from the martial arts community came here just to ride on the coattails of the Golden Sand River battle’s hype, to announce their presence and advertise their renown; to truly fight against the demon cultivator disciples of the Ghost Ridge Palace was merely delivering themselves as easy targets.
If he had known it would be like this, Su Jie would have just taken Chen Yun back with him in the first place.
Dong Hongtian, Gan Huren, and Cui Bingyuan were all familiar with this kind of situation, chatting in twos and threes, boasting about various deeds of eradicating evil, robbing the rich to aid the poor, and they quickly became acquainted, also introducing Su Jie and Chen Yun quite a bit.
As for Su Jie and Chen Yun, even though they hadn’t made a name for themselves in the Jianghu yet, these people of the martial arts world treated them as just greenhorns who had recently started wandering through the Jianghu—it was normal not to have any reputation.
Possibly out of gratitude for saving his life, Dong Hongtian kept introducing Su Jie to highly respected and powerful martial arts veterans.
Su Jie just smiled on the surface, until a middle-aged man carrying two long swords on his back with a majestic aura appeared, which finally sparked some interest in Su Jie.
“This is Jinghong Sword God, Yuan Ying, Senior Yuan. On his way to the Green Valley Plain, Senior Yuan killed the inner disciple Xu Yihu of Ghost Ridge Palace with his sword, which truly gratified all of us. Brother Xu, look over there, that’s Xu Yihu’s head; even an inner disciple has been slain, which is enough to prove the success of our action.”
Su Jie followed Dong Hongtian’s pointing finger and saw Xu Yihu’s head stuck on a bamboo pole.
The head’s face was swollen from being in the water, and eaten away by fish and shrimp, leaving it riddled with holes, but one could still make out that it was Xu Yihu’s face.@@novelbin@@
“It’s nothing to boast of. Killing that fiend was a matter of luck; he had been injured by various disciples of the righteous sects, otherwise I would have stood no chance. Fortunately, we removed this blight, venting the anger for the many taken captives, without tarnishing our reputation in the martial arts community.”
Yuan Ying stood with his hands behind his back, appearing modest as he spoke.
After speaking, with an appreciative expression towards the younger generation, Yuan Ying patted Su Jie’s shoulder, “I heard that you once saved Brother Dong’s life. We need young heroes like you to join us; as long as we work together, those remnants of Ghost Ridge Palace will surely flee at the sight of us.”
Chen Yun, who was next to Su Jie, bowed her head, shoulders shaking constantly, barely able to stop herself from slapping this guy to death.
What ‘sword-slaying Xu Yihu’? If she hadn’t seen with her own eyes the Thousand-Handed Centipede biting Xu Yihu to death, she really might have been fooled by him.
This man must have fished Xu Yihu’s body from somewhere and presented it as a trophy of his own, truly the epitome of shamelessness.
“Senior Yuan’s bravery is remarkable. We martial artists can also slay demon cultivators with our swords, even inner disciples. I wonder when I will be able to reach the profound and unfathomable realm that you have attained, Senior.”
Su Jie clasped his hands together, his smile somewhat playful.
“As long as you diligently practice and do not forget your initial resolve, you will eventually reach my level.”
Yuan Ying spoke gracefully, advising the junior in front of him as if truly facing another one looking up to him.
Afterward, Yuan Ying chatted with Dong Hongtian for a few more words before leaving with an easy-going manner.
“How about it? Senior Yuan is great, isn’t he? Knowing him, when you travel the Qingzhou Martial World in the future, his reputation can solve many problems,” Dong Hongtian said with admiration, genuinely respecting him from the bottom of his heart.
Su Jie just smiled without saying a word, instead he pressed down on Chen Yun’s arm to keep her from really causing trouble; it wasn’t worth killing anyone over such a trivial matter.
……..
Night.
Around the Green Valley Plain, people from the martial arts community gathered together, lit fires, and drank freely from jars.
Su Jie left behind a letter and, accompanied by Chen Yun, quietly left the camp blending into the night.
Hurrying along the way, this time there were no further troubles encountered on their return to Ghost Ridge Palace, as the Green Valley Plain was void of dangers.
Thanks to the swift flying speed of the Thousand-Handed Centipede, Su Jie and Chen Yun arrived within the borders of Ghost Ridge Palace’s territory by late night.
From a distance, they could see three tower buildings with members of the Law Enforcement Team patrolling back and forth; this was the junction separating Ghost Ridge Palace from the outside world.
“Disciple Su Jie, returning from a mission, here is the token of proof,”
As a member of the Law Enforcement Team just stopped them, Su Jie promptly presented his token to affirm his identity.
“Kid, ran back from Golden Sand River? Lucky you.”
The Law Enforcement Team member checked the token and commented.
“I wonder how much we lost this time at Golden Sand River, and how many ships made it back.”
Curious to learn more, Su Jie handed over two Blood Marrow Crystals as he inquired for news.
Taking the Blood Marrow Crystals, the Law Enforcement Team member sighed and said, “Following the battle at Golden Sand River, eight out of every ten disciples who went out haven’t returned, and almost all the human slaves have been wiped out. I heard the Elders are particularly furious.”
“Thank you for the information.”
Su Jie nodded; this was consistent with his own assessment.
Having obtained the desired answers and without further delay, he continued up the mountain path with Chen Yun.
After several days of traveling through mountains and ridges without even encountering an Alien Ghost, they successfully returned to Ghost Ridge Palace Sect.
“Finally back, I’m going to head home and clean up first.”
Gazing at the familiar Mountain Gate, Chen Yun felt deeply moved, as the journey had been rather frightful and harrowing.
“I’ll go to the Command Hall to submit the mission.”
Su Jie parted ways with Chen Yun and headed towards the Command Hall.
Although the slave trading trip from Liuyun Manor ultimately failed, it was still necessary to submit the task to at least let the Sect know he was still alive.
Inside the Command Hall, Su Jie entered and noticed it was much emptier than usual.
Due to the battle at Golden Sand River and the loss of a large group of disciples, those who had gone out on missions, even the Outer Disciples, were mostly third level or above in the Yunling Realm; they were the backbone of the Command Hall for accepting tasks.
Now with fewer disciples, it was natural for the Command Hall to be quieter.
“Su… Brother Su, is it really you? I thought you must have…”
Upon seeing Su Jie’s return, Wu Bin’s face was filled with surprise, likely thinking that Su Jie had perished at Golden Sand River.
“Brother Wu, long time no see, you probably thought I died out there, didn’t you?”
Su Jie stepped forward, handing over the token.
“Hey, hey, I didn’t mean…”
“You don’t need to explain, Brother Wu. After all, too many disciples died this time, it’s not strange for you to think so,”
Su Jie shrugged his shoulders, and as he handed over the token again, he asked, “Brother Wu, if I remember correctly, your Command Hall is also responsible for the promotion exams for inner disciples, right?”
“Correct, why do you ask? Could it be…”
Wu Bin seemed to realize something, shuddering all over, his mouth agape and his eyes wide in astonishment as he looked at Su Jie.
“I’ve come for the promotion to inner disciple.”
Su Jie’s voice was calm, and as his words fell, the Managers in the Command Hall turned their heads in shock, their expressions spelling disbelief.