Chapter 291: Yunlan Sect and the Jia Ma Blacksmiths' Guild!
"If it can be decided by you, then that would naturally be best. If not, then I will have to consult the former Sect Master." Inside the Yunlan main hall, Jiang Lin revealed a helpless smile. He hadn't expected Yun Yun not to know about something like the Divine Soul Gold. But thinking about it, she hadn't been the Sect Master for very long, so it was still understandable.
Although Jiang Lin was only a Three-Star Da Dou Shi now, he was the disciple of Huo Lei, the president of the Blacksmiths' Guild. Whenever he traveled, he represented Huo Lei's reputation. As long as he didn't deliberately offend anyone, he wasn't too worried about meeting the Yunlan Sect's former Sect Master, who was rumored to be in seclusion—Yun Shan, a Nine-Star Dou Huang at the peak.
Of course, whether he could actually meet him was another matter. But Jiang Lin needed to show enough sincerity to prove that he truly valued the Divine Soul Gold.
"...Although I don't know why a Da Dou Shi like you would need a seventh-rank Soul Gold, if you want to meet my teacher, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. My teacher has been in secluded cultivation within a secret realm for many years, cut off from worldly matters. Unless something arises that could destroy the entire sect, he cannot be contacted." Yun Yun's face showed a trace of hesitation, but she still said to Jiang Lin: "Wait until I ask the other elders first. If there's a chance, and if it's within my authority, then it's not impossible for me to give it to you."
Yun Yun wasn't saying this to curry favor with Jiang Lin. Rather, she remembered hearing from her teacher Yun Shan that the former Guild President had given them a batch of high-level resources before stepping down. Most of it was materials—some to sustain Yunlan Sect's inner secret realm, the Life-and-Death Gate, and others as reserve stock. Both Yunlan Sect and the Blacksmiths' Guild kept records of this.
The Yunlan Sect's ties with the Blacksmiths' Guild ran deep, and they had benefited greatly from them. Since Jiang Lin could represent the Guild to some degree, if he truly needed those reserve materials, the Yunlan Sect wouldn't strongly oppose giving them. Especially now, as Jiang Lin only needed one particular item, if the sect had it, Yun Yun could decide on her own to present it to the Guild.
Yes—she could give it to the Guild, but not directly to Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin would then have to go through the Guild to obtain it. Still, with his current reputation within the Guild, even in Huo Lei's absence, not even Vice President Han Yu could outrank him in priority for such materials.
"Elders outside the hall, does anyone recall the matter of the materials given to the sect by the Guild more than twenty years ago?" Yun Yun's gaze swept past Jiang Lin and landed on the two rows of elders standing outside. When they heard her inquiry, their faces showed surprise, and they looked at one another with complex expressions.
"If Sect Master is asking about that batch of formation materials, I may know something." After some quiet discussion, an elderly man who looked seventy or eighty entered, bowing slightly to Yun Yun, and nodding respectfully toward Jiang Lin.
The old man's name was Yun Miao, a true senior of Yunlan Sect and one of its main pillars. He belonged to the sect's "main bloodline."
In sects as powerful as Yunlan, there were always those who bore the surname "Yun," either by giving up everything else or because they had nothing else. In the future, if Nalan Yanran inherited the sect, she would most likely also change her surname to Yun. But her chances of becoming Sect Master were slim, since the age gap between her and Yun Yun wasn't large, and Dou Huang experts lived long lives. Thus, the likeliest scenario was that if Yun Yun failed to break through her bottleneck, she would only start training the next leader once her own lifespan neared its end.
"Elder Yun Miao, do you know of something called the Divine Soul Gold?" After Yun Miao approached, Yun Yun asked him softly.
A trace of recollection flashed in his eyes, and then a look of understanding appeared in his cloudy gaze. "If it's Soul Gold you're asking about, I have some impression. Back then, all those materials were stored at the Life-and-Death Gate as reserve formation materials. I can't say for sure if there was Soul Gold among them, but everything was kept there, as it was the most secure place and convenient for repairs when needed."
The Yunlan Sect's current formations were all connected to Yun Shan's old friend, the former Guild President. When he designed them, he considered the risk of damage and therefore sent Yun Shan a batch of formation materials in advance, to prevent Yunlan Sect from falling into an awkward situation with the Guild after Yun Shan's eventual passing.
"So, in the end, it all comes back to the Life-and-Death Gate…" Yun Yun murmured, her eyes flashing with a strange light. Meanwhile, Jiang Lin, who had been quietly observing, suddenly developed a strong curiosity about this Life-and-Death Gate.
For it was rare—very rare—that so little information about it existed within the Guild's archives. Most of what circulated came from rumors spread by Yunlan disciples who had entered it before, vague and incomplete. That in itself was unusual. For instance, details about how the snake-people of the Tagor Desert had entered the Jia Ma Empire, how their bloodline evolved, and even the possibility of Heavenly Flames within the desert—all of that could be found in the Guild's records.
The Alchemy King Gu He had been so certain of the existence of a Heavenly Flame in the desert because the source of that information had, in fact, come from the Guild. Jiang Lin had once wondered how Gu He had learned of it, and even thought of tracking him to deduce the flame's location. But in the end, Yuan Bao had directly told him, "The Guild has this recorded." And so Jiang Lin developed a fondness for searching the Guild's library. And indeed, he had found quite a few treasures that way.
Had he not gone digging through the library, how would he have known that Yunlan Sect still possessed treasures left behind by the former Guild President?
"Yes, Sect Master. This matter indeed leads back to the Life-and-Death Gate. And as for Master Youlin, being the personal disciple of the current Guild President and a respected figure, it is permissible to reveal to him a little about the Life-and-Death Gate." Yun Miao naturally had been there before. Though he hadn't seen its creation, he understood that its establishment was inseparable from the Blacksmiths' Guild.
(END CHAPTER)
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