CHAPTER 214: LIANG XUN

Chapter 214: Liang Xun

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After the strange and unclear incident that struck the Liang family manor just a few days earlier, everyone was frantic, and many were still trying to figure out what had happened.

The incident had struck without warning, and the pressure that followed was too overwhelming for everyone, cultivator and ordinary members alike. Even so, the cause of it all remained unknown, and the only clear consequence seemed to be the disappearance of Liang Yuexin.

They wondered who would have planned such a ruckus to abduct a member of their family.

The idea that someone from the other big families had done it didn’t seem credible, especially because the missing member was someone important but with only very limited influence within the family.

Moreover, she was in a coma, so the possibility that she was abducted to exert pressure on them was never even considered.

That said, the fact remained, a family member had disappeared right under their noses in broad daylight, and all they could do was run around like headless chickens.

It was a harsh blow for them all, not just to their pride, but to their reputation, and they tried desperately to keep the news inside the manor, a task they miserably failed at.

The patriarch, who had been in seclusion, had to come out because of that invisible but terrifying pressure;

Yet when he summoned his eldest son and the other elders to demand an explanation, he ended up in the very same situation as them, with almost nothing to investigate, and not a single clue that could even remotely explain what had happened.

This went on for a full day, and inevitably, several investigation teams were dispatched from the manor to investigate outside, in secret, so as not to stir up unnecessary rumors, which was all they could do.

Liang Yuexin’s brother, who had been nearby when it happened, was the angriest. He was interrogated by the elders, but he knew little and could only report what little he knew.

He was one of the main ones to initiate the search teams, while his father, who once again disappointed him, didn’t seem to do much.His attention didn’t appear to be focused on his daughter’s safety, but rather on containing the evergrowing rumors.

This infuriated Liang Zhan even more, and if it weren’t for the gravity of the situation, he would have confronted him openly without restraint.

Then there was the patriarch of the family.

He, too, was irritated by the whole situation, but unlike the father, he took a greater interest in Liang Yuexin’s condition, especially when word reached him that the incident involved the secret realm and that she had ended up in a coma.

All of this could only give rise to vague theories on how everything might be connected, but with nearly nothing to go on, none of those guesses went anywhere.

So, the investigations began and the frantic manor finally calmed a little, but who would have thought that in less than two days since the incident something else would happen again?

Liang Xun, the Liang family patriarch, having just come out of his closed door cultivation, had decided to wait a few days for the investigation results.

Today, however, he had decided to take a walk around the manor to see how everyone was doing and get a sense of the family’s situation. While doing so, he suddenly felt a fluctuation of energy coming from a certain part of Qiyan City.

The sensation surprised him because that energy fluctuation felt familiar,

and how could it not?

He had encountered that person many times before. He understood immediately who it was, and that realization alarmed him.

’Is he about to breakthrough?’ he thought, startled as the implications sank in.

He was tempted to go see for himself, but not long after, the fluctuation vanished, not faded, but completely gone, as if the person had chosen to vanish into thin air.

That surprised him even more, and given the strangeness of recent times he thought perhaps he should investigate in person.

Just like the Li family patriarch, he was also close to breaking through, but unlike him, he would need maybe some time, perhaps a decade, if everything went well.

From the recent fluctuation, however, he could tell the other party might break through earlier, in a few years or even sooner, which would have upset the balance of power in the provincial capital.

So he wasted no time and flew in that direction to see what was happening personally.

But just then, just as he had taken off and flown a short distance from the manor, he sensed a presence rapidly approaching.

From the trajectory, it was heading straight for the manor, which piqued his curiosity, and his curiosity turned to surprise when he finally saw the figure,

To his amazement, the figure approaching was his granddaughter, Liang Yuexin, the very one who had recently gone missing.

’Well, that’s unexpected,’ he thought as he watched her approach, hovering in the air and deciding to wait for her there.

Though he didn’t show it outwardly, he held his family’s future generations in high regard, especially the most talented ones, and she was in that category.

Despite her slow, stagnant progress in recent years, he had not blamed her or lost interest in her; on the contrary, he had encouraged her to do her best.

He later went into seclusion, and only recently had discovered that the problem had grown so serious that his eldest son had already used her as a bargaining chip for an arranged marriage with a rival familysomething that angered him greatly.

Still, since he had entrusted the family’s leadership to his eldest son, he had no choice but to respect his decisions.

That said, he was surprised that his son had reserved her a spot in the expedition team to the secret realm, given her cultivation problem. And when he asked his son about it, he learned that she had actually defeated all the others who had wanted to take that spot.

That astonished him.

Considering her stagnant cultivation, he was only more curious, so he waited calmly but with some curiosity for her arrival, planning to ask her first about the incident a few days earlier that had involved her directly.

It was clear she had been the target, and considering she’d been in a coma when she disappeared yet now seemed perfectly fine and awake, he couldn’t help but grow even more curious.

But that curiosity soon shifted into a serious, cautious expression as he sensed Liang Yuexin’s presence approaching fast, now almost there.

’Why can’t I perceive her cultivation base?’ he wondered, confused

but more importantly, he felt a strange aura from her, an imposing, indistinct presence that set all his instincts on high alert.

It was a sensation of fear and oppression he had only ever felt from cultivators far stronger than himself, usually from someone at the Spirit Realm, so why was he feeling something similar from her?

***

Meanwhile, inside Ye Ning’s sea of consciousness,

Lin Xian, for the first time since awakening in Ye Ning’s consciousness sea, showed a genuine emotion not hidden behind the calm forged by countless years

And how could she not? After all, what Zhu Rong had brought her was something of value to her.

She took the sphere of light and, noting the filaments that composed it, immediately drew a conclusion,

"So that crazy woman is back too? I’m surprised she didn’t devour it," she said as she plucked at the threads, which started to disappear one by one at high speed until only a simple sphere of light remained.

It was clear she was referring to Yuan Lan.

"At her current level, a fragment that small is of no benefit to her.

Besides, i intended to give it to you, so I didn’t let her eat it," he said.

Yuan Lan’s existence was an unusual one, one that, more than once, had enraged the heavens in the past, to the point that a second calamity descended shortly after the first had ended, this time sent by the heavens themselves.

Just remembering those times gave Zhu Rong chills as he wondered whether he had ever angered the heavens so much on other occasions.

That said, the power of the heavens was limited on this plane of existence, but even the little they could use was enough to wipe out almost everyone.

There were a few exceptions, like him and Yuan Lan, whom they could not touch without exceeding the limits imposed on this plane of existence.

Such a force originated from a higher plane, and for that reason, if they were to exceed the limits imposed here, the resulting pressure could throw this world into chaos and ruin, something no one wanted.

He looked at the young woman before him and said,

"I suppose you’re eager to use it.

I have the necessary materials, so we can proceed whenever you’re ready."