Tianshen and Cao Chen were both sitting opposite each other while enjoying the food and drinks brought by the servants. Food was not a priority for cultivators since they were beings that transcended the average mortal. Some could go months and even years without eating or sleeping, and some others still liked to enjoy the taste of food and the occasional sleep.

Cao Chen had mostly calmed down from the shock he received earlier and was feeling happy. One of the reasons was that now he understood that Tianshen’s words about turning the Azure Dragon sect into the top sect in the Blue Cloud country was not a mere boast, another reason was that he knew that his daughter would now surely have a limitless future if she stuck with Tianshen and it would not take her too long to surpass her own father in terms of cultivation.

‘’Chief Cao Chen…’’ said Tianshen suddenly which woke up Cao Chen from his happy thoughts.

‘’Ah, hehehe. Tianshen, no need for the honorifics, you can just call me by my name’’ said Cao Chen with a wide smile. His intentions were clear, now that he had a very vague idea of what kind of being Tianshen was, he did not dare to be even the least bit disrespectful to him and did not want to be called ‘chief’ by him.

‘’I know what you are thinking. It does not matter what I used to be, what matters is what I am now, you are the ‘Chief’ of the sect and I am a disciple, thus I shall be addressing you as ‘Chief’. But all that aside, I have a question. I assume you have an ancestor in your sect, tell me about him’’

Cao Chen was surprised that Tianshen still wanted to call him ‘Chief’, but once he heard that Tianshen was also interested in the sect ancestor, he got really excited. With a wide smile that looked like that of a kid he started to narrate proudly.

‘’our ancestor was known as the Azure Dragon, he was a cultivator that originated from this province, but he did not stop here. Since his childhood he had an extraordinary talent, at some point this province could no longer hold him so he travelled across the Blue Cloud country and shocked everyone with his talent for cultivation and his battle prowess. He almost reached the peak of the Blue Cloud country in terms of cultivation, and the people that could rival him could be counted on one hand. When he was about 200 years old, he established the Azure Dragon sect and this province was renamed from ‘Tang province’ to ‘Azure province’ in his honor. The Tang clan that ruled the province for a very long time was not happy at all about this, so by the use of despicable means and with external help from the Royal Tang Clan that rules the Blue Cloud country, they managed to poison him with a deadly poison that not even with his Martial King realm cultivation could be dispelled. That was a 1000 years ago, and ever since then, our sect has been on the decline and the Tang Clan of the Azure province only keeps getting stronger’’.

At this point Cao Chen’s expression became gloomy. Tianshen could see on his expression that there was a deep thirst for revenge hidden deep inside.

‘’So the Tang clan of the Azure province is not the only Tang clan?’’ asked Tianshen.

‘’No, they are only a branch family of the Royal Tang clan that rules the Blue cloud country, that is one of the reasons that nobody dares to offend them or go against them. Since our ancestor died, the people that can oppose the Royal Tang clan are non-existent since most of them have either died of old age or have been secretly disposed of by the Royal Tang clan themselves’’ said Cao Chen with a hopeless expression.

‘’So the ancestor’s cultivation was at the level of Martial King realm? What stage exactly?’’ asked Tianshen calmly.

‘’As far as my late master told me before he passed on the sect to me, our ancestor has a cultivation of the 2nd Martial King realm before he died from the poison. That is around the peak of cultivation anyone can reach in the Blue Cloud country. The King of the Royal Tang clan was rumored to be at the 3rd Martial King realm back then’’ said Cao Chen.

‘’Did he leave anything behind that could help you protect the sect in case of an emergency?’’ asked Tianshen seriously this time.

Cao Chen was startled for a moment and then replied with an embarrassed look on his face ‘’Yes he did, there is a tomb here in the restricted area of the sect where he is buried. The problem is that none of the sect chiefs that rules the sect since his death have been able to enter that tomb. We have a treasure that can temporarily hold off a strong attack in case of emergency but I don’t think it is enough. Whatever is inside that tomb, can definitely change the fate of our sect’’

Cao Chen then asked curiously ‘’But why are you asking all of this? Could it be that you know something I don’t?’’

‘’Tell me something, what is the elemental attribute of the technique that the Tang clan cultivates?’’ asked Tianshen.

Cao Chen looked surprised at the question and wondered what did it have to do with anything, but he still replied ‘’they cultivate the ‘Profound Wind Sword’ technique, all of their elders and juniors are proficient users of the wind sword and develop sword force at a really young age’’

Tianshen suddenly clicked and understood everything, he smiled lightly and said ‘’hmph, as I thought. Do you remember when that Jin Ju instilled his soul power into the crystal? For a split moment I felt a wisp of sword force’’

Cao Chen’s expression became serious, after thinking for a moment he asked ‘’so you’re suspecting him of being a spy from the Tang clan? But we can’t make that assumption just because he has sword force right?’’

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‘’Of course not. First of all, the sword force he unintentionally released was wind sword force, which is awfully similar to the Tang clan’s that you described. And second, now we know that not only did he try to hide his real potential during that talent test, he also hid his sword force and never used it in any of the battles’’

Cao Chen suddenly understood, he indeed thought that it was very suspicious and it was impossible for so many coincidences to happen at the same time. But if Jin Ju was indeed a spy from the Tang clan, Cao Chen did not know what the best way to proceed was. He did not know the position that this Jin Ju held in the Tang clan and his importance to the clan, so if he harmed him in any way it would be equal to incurring the wrath of the Tang clan, which was equal to digging your own grave in the Azure province.

Tianshen noticed Cao Chen’s troubled look and said ‘’I need you to take me to the ancestor’s tomb as soon as possible, preferably before the tournament starts, in a few hours when the tournament resumes I want you to do something…’’

Meanwhile on a distant mountain which was covered by snow, in the Ice God sect.

Five women were sitting on a round table made of ice, the temperature in the room was ice cold. Any other cultivator of the Azure province would feel cold in this room but the 5 women seemed very comfortable and did not mind the cold at all. That was because they all cultivated the Ice technique of the Ice God sect.

The main seat was occupied by the chief Xia Qing, she had an icy solemn look on her face, and she gave people the impression that she was an icy goddess that was completely detached from worldly affairs. The other four women around her were all middle aged but were also beauties, they also had almost equally icy looks on their faces, the only difference is that when they were looking at Xia Qing, they had expressions of reverence and respect on their faces.

These were the famous ‘Ice fairies’ of the Azure cloud province, which is the name everyone knew them by.

‘’Report’’ said Xia Qing with a serious look.

‘’Chief Qing, we have reports from our spies that the Tang clan has mobilized all of its forces and are now moving towards what looks like the direction of the Azure Dragon sect’’ said one of the icy fairies.

Xia Qing frowned and had a worried look on her face. She then said ‘’everyone, thank you for your hard work, leave me and Zhou Ru alone for some time and await further orders’’

Three women but one stood up and bowed to Xia Qing before leaving them alone. The woman that stayed behind with Xia Qing turned to her and said ‘’ Xia Qing, you’re not really thinking of helping that Cao Chen are you? It doesn’t matter what relationship you had with him when you were young, you are now the Chief of the Ice God sect and our late master would not be happy if she knew that you broke your promise to her’’

‘’Zhou Ru, you would be right if there weren’t certain circumstances that basically force us to help them. There are some things that our master told to only me and not you because I was the one that succeeded the sect’’ said Xia Qing.

‘’What things?’’ asked Zhou Ru surprised, she never knew that her and Xia Qing’s master hid some things from her. They were both disciples of the previous Chief of the Ice God sect.

‘’I assume you know of the great ancestor of the Azure Dragon sect?’’

‘’Of course who doesn’t, Azure Dragon is the greatest cultivator to ever exist in our province’’ said Zhou Ru.

‘’You are right, but what people do not know is that our ancestor of the Ice God sect and the ancestor of the White Tiger sect were greatly indebted to senior Azure Dragon. You think it is a coincidence that the Azure Dragon sect, the White Tiger sect and our Ice God sect were all created in the span of a year?’’ asked Xia Qing with a smile.

Zhou Ru had a surprised expression on her face, this was information that she heard for the first time in her life.

‘’Our ancestor and the White Tiger ancestor were indebted to the Azure Dragon? How?’’ she asked.

‘’Senior Azure Dragon saved our ancestor and the White Tiger ancestor from certain death when they were young, after that they became friends and travelled a bit together. They swore to him that when they created their own sect, that they would always protect the Azure Dragon sect against it’s enemies, and senior Azure Dragon told them that his sect will do the same. And so this knowledge was passed down from sect chief to sect chief. It is not surprising that you don’t know since this is supposed to be a secret oath that only the three ancestors knew of’’

Zhou Ru was astonished at this point, she would have never guessed that there was such a secret relationship between the three sects. Since on the surface, the Azure Dragon sect, the Ice God sect and the White Tiger sect barely had any dealing with each other. But now she understood that that was the whole point of the relationship being secret.

‘’So now you understand that, I am not only going to help Cao Chen because of our past relationship, it is also because we have the sacred duty to do so. Give the order to the elders to stay in the sect and to double the guard and our defenses. Call the other Ice Fairies, we are going to the Azure Dragon sect immediately’’ said Xia Qing with a serious tone.

Zhou Ru nodded before disappearing into thin air.