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150 meters, huh? That's even more than I was expecting, Xuan thought with a hum, and teleported again, then again.
Yet no matter how far he teleported, it seemed like the pressure was only getting closer.
Therefore, with not much of a choice left, Xuan landed on a nearby hill and set Yuelan down.
In an instant, both of them used Qi to help digest the food faster. Within seconds, they were no longer groggy.
That was when a figure donning thick blue robes suddenly appeared in the sky, levitating on his sword.
Slowly, he made his way down, then hopped off the sword and sheathed it.
He pushed his long black hair behind his ear and finally spoke.
"Cultivators like you are a rare commodity in this world," the man said matter-of-factly, then bowed slightly, introducing himself. "My name is Lijun Fen, a Seventh Level Spirit Master. I am also an Elder of the Azure Sky Sect."
He leaned in slightly. "I come from a Tier 3 realm, which is just barely a Medium World. However, that is also where the Azure Sky Sect operates."
"That's nice," Xuan replied dryly. "So what now? Gonna try recruiting us?"
"It doesn't hurt to try, does it?" Lijun Fen chuckled. "You ruined Zheng Shui's dignity by stripping him of his manhood. His father is not very happy, and he should be here any second now. But if you were to join the Azure Sky Sect, then I could protect you."
"His father, huh?" Xuan whistled.
Yuelan giggled.
Xuan immediately shook his head.
So as it stood, they were in a pretty predictable situation. However, while eating, they discussed it, and in the end, they had come up with one simple solution...
"We would be willing to join you if we could state our own terms," Xuan said.
Lijun Fen's eyes widened. "You have the audacity to try to negotiate when you have nothing to offer? Pfft... you low-world cultivators really have some screws loose, don't you?"
"Who said we don't have anything to offer?" Xuan tilted his head. "For starters, just having us around would significantly boost the strength of your sect. And from what I saw... the sect seems dead."
Of course, they weren't blind or stupid.
Just walking through the courtyard made them realize they weren't doing so well.
Yuelan in particular remembered playing a game where there were thousands of disciples running around and training in such a sect.
But not here...
"A dead sect, huh?" Lijun Fen mumbled. "I suppose you're not wrong."
He paused for a few moments, then let out a sigh.
"You see... the Sect Master in the higher realms was a man of honor. We all respected him. We all looked up to him. But one day, that same man we loved and respected decided to go against his own sect."
The air turned cold as the hill beneath their feet began slightly cracking, and yet, Lijun Fen didn't stop speaking.
"He called a meeting one day. He even invited me, but I was cultivating in seclusion, so I couldn't come out for another couple of years."
"And thankfully I didn't go, because the meeting turned out to be a feast, and in that feast, the former Sect Master poisoned every single food... every single drink."
He met Xuan's eyes with a blank gaze. "The poison turned out to be liquefied Demonic Qi pills and Qi blockage pills. Whenever a regular cultivator directly consumed Demonic Qi, they became forever tainted, but there is usually still a chance to resist, though not when your Qi is blocked."
He continued explaining the details in a regretful tone, and the gist of it was pretty sad.
Every single elder of the sect, and even the guests from the other sects, were turned into Demonic cultivators, who then ended up massacring several branches of each sect.
The Azure Sky Sect suffered the most because people thought they had become a sect for Demonic cultivators, so everyone from the Azure Sky Sect was killed on sight, and only after a couple of months did the sect manage to get rid of the demonic influence.
Even so, their reputation was forever tainted. No matter where one went, if they were a part of the Azure Sky Sect, they were seen as untrustworthy individuals, and because of that, disciples stopped joining.
At the same time, the old disciples began leaving and moving to other continents, trying to start again.
But... Xuan sighed. As shitty luck might have it, one of those disciples had turned into a demonic cultivator, so the other sects imposed documentation of whoever joins and leaves the Azure Sky Sect.
So in the end, they were doomed. But they clearly hadn't given up.
After Lijun Fen finished speaking, silence descended, but it didn't last long as two cultivators suddenly appeared out of the sky, crashing straight into the hill and splitting it in half, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere.
One of the cultivators was still young, while the other was clearly in his late 50s.
And coincidentally enough, that old man seemed to be related to Zheng Shui.
"You... You dare!" the old man yelled, approaching Xuan.
He stopped right in front of him, and clearly, he was about to attack at any moment.
"You injured my son beyond repair," the old man muttered, glancing between Xuan and Yuelan. "You took away his manhood, and for that, I shall make you two pay the same price."
"Is that so..." Xuan entered a defensive stance, his voice lowering.
"If it makes you feel any better, your son didn't have much of a manhood to begin with."