Tianshen arrived back at the hall where Panhu was, only to find that there was no hall left at all. Then Tianshen noticed a big furry ball laying in one of the corners of the now non-existent hall.

‘’This little shit ate so much in such a short amount of time, can’t imagine how much this glutton will eat when he gets bigger’’ Tianshen thought to himself while facepalming.

He approached the big fur ball and noticed that it was snoring, so Tianshen kicked at what seemed like an oversized butt.

‘’AHHHH!! What the hell human? Don’t you even have the decency to let this sir sleep in peace after such a glorious feast?’’ shouted the fur ball while jumping up.

‘’Get yourself together, you’re coming with me to the sect’’ said Tianshen while staring at the puppy with a stern look.

‘’OK OK, you don’t have to be so mean you know! So did you meet the geezer?’’

‘’As a matter of fact I did, he told me to be very strict with you and beat you 3 times a day’’

‘’Bullshit, if you dare mistreat this sir I’ll bite you to death’’ said the puppy after which it suddenly shrunk and returned to its normal size.

‘’Come, let’s not waste any more time. Until now I was trying to keep a relatively low profile whenever I could but after I finished talking with the Azure Dragon and was walking back I suddenly got an idea and I feel like trying it to see what happens’’ said Tianshen as he was starting to walk towards the exit of the tomb.

‘’Do you always want to try ideas that just pop into your head out of nowhere?’’ asked Panhu in a sarcastic tone while walking besides him.

Tianshen thought about it for a moment then simply replied ‘’Yes…you got a problem?’’ while turning to look at the puppy.

‘’Actually no, I like that a lot’’ said Panhu with an evil grin.

‘’Okay then, hop on my shoulder, we have to hurry back as soon as possible so we can start making the preparations’’ said Tianshen as the two were approaching the exit of the tomb.

The little puppy hopped on Tianshen’s shoulder and the two disappeared into the distance.

After some time, Tianshen arrived back at the familiar Dragon Tower inside the Azure Dragon sect, when the guards outside saw him coming the cupped their fists in show of respect and opened the doors for him.

Inside the Tower in one of the halls, Cao Chen was sitting with his daughter Cao Bai and chatting. When Cao Chen saw Tianshen approaching he immediately stood up and almost ran towards him.

‘’So? How did it go?’’ he asked with the curious face of a child.

‘’I’d say it went pretty good’’ replied Tianshen with a smile.

‘’Good, good…that’s very good’’ said Cao Chen who by this point could explode from the excitement.

‘’Father, what are you two talking about? What went well?’’ asked Cao Bai who was now approaching the two from behind Cao Chen.

‘’Hhahaha, my sweet daughter, our sect will finally live to see a bright day and it is all thanks to Tianshen. He went to the ancestor’s tomb and managed to enter and gain the inheritance’’ said Cao Chen with a smile that at this point had reached his ears.

Cao Bai looked at Tianshen with a perplexed look ‘’Just how many secrets does this kid have on him?’’ she thought to herself. Things that she considered impossible were happening all the time around this youth standing in front of her, by this point she was almost used to it and didn’t even think about doubting what her father said.

Tianshen took out his spatial ring, giving it to Cao Chen and said ‘’Well you are half right, technically I didn’t ‘gain’ the inheritance, it was given to me willingly. In this spatial ring you will find enough riches, inheritance techniques and weapons to propel the sect straight into the top 10 of the Azure Province in the shortest amount of time possible. But I was thinking that I’m not satisfied with that, we will do much more than enter the top 10 today, you just have to forget about what I told you before and follow new instructions’’

Cao Chen took the ring and sensed what was inside, after which he almost cried tears of joy, everything that Tianshen said was 100% true.

As Cao Chen was still checking the contents of the spatial ring, Cao Bai noticed a little fur ball behind Tianshen’s shoulder peeking at her. Before she realized what was happening, the little fur ball jumped like a flash of light into her arms and snuck his head into her chest.

‘’Little sister, you are a fairy blessed by the heavens, this sir has never seen such beauty in his entire life’’ said the little puppy while rubbing his head on Cao Bai’s bosom.

Just when Tianshen thought that this dumb puppy was about to die a painful death, he saw a scene that almost made him couch blood.

‘’Kyaaa, such a cutie!! And such a gentleman, you can come play with this sister anytime you want’’ shouted Cao Bai in a very unusual girly voice while hugging the puppy and pushing it further into her chest.

‘’So the tomboy ice-princess has this side to her too huh?’’ asked Tianshen in a sarcastic way.

‘’Sh-shut up you idiot’’ said Cao Bai after which she just turned around and left with Panhu.

‘’You shouldn’t tease her like that Tianshen, she’s still a little girl’’ said Cao Chen with a smile, he was in very high spirits right now.

He then continued ‘’let’s sit down, you need to tell me everything that happened’’

After they both sat down and got served some tea, Tianshen told Cao Chen everything that happened in the forest and then the tomb. Throughout the conversation Cao Chen would many times open his mouth, then as if realizing it he would immediately close it, which Tianshen found quite funny.

‘’I see, I was aware about the connection of our sect with the Ice God sect and the White Tiger sect, but I never knew that such a thing as a remnant soul could exist, not to mention such a thing as an Empire that rules our whole continent, I really am a frog at the bottom of a well’’ sighed Cao Chen after an hour-long conversation with Tianshen.

‘’It makes sense for you not to know about remnant souls since cultivators become aware of it when they reach the Martial King realm, that is when you begin to strengthen your soul exponentially and the possibilities for the discovery of new ways to use your soul power in combination with the Qi to your advantage increase too.’’ said Tianshen with a smile.

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Then Tianshen continued ‘’As for my new plan, I decided that I don’t want to stay idle anymore, we can wait for our enemies to strike and meet them head-on and bear the casualties… Or we can strike first and bear zero casualties’’.

‘’What do you mean by that?’’ ask Cao Chen with a puzzled and a little bit worried expression.

‘’Before I tell you anymore I need to be sure of something, I want you to hold an urgent meeting with all the sect elders and as many disciples and outer sect elders as possible, this meeting has to be public. Then leave the rest to me’’ said Tianshen with a confident expression.

‘’But that means we will have to postpone the tournament’’ said Cao Chen.

‘’Indeed, but the future of your sect is much more important than a little tournament’’ replied Tianshen.

‘’Alright, then so be it, I leave everything in your hands Tianshen’’ said Cao Chen with a smile. It seemed like at this point he had full trust in Tianshen, even if it meant that he wasn’t making every decision himself from now on, he was content at long as the Azure Dragon sect prospered.

After about 30 minutes everyone in the sect received word to urgently gather back at the stadium where the tournament was previously held. Disciples and lower elders were flocking from all corners of the sect, it was announces that everyone has to be present for an urgent message from the sect chief.

After some time the stands around the stadium and the areas around it were all packed with thousands of people, the elders were all sitting in their respective seat. Most of them had a puzzled look on their face, since when was the chief was making public announcements in the open like this? Wasn’t this a bit too much?

There were also some faces that were visibly tense and uncomfortable, especially those of Kong Zhi and his sons. The Tang Clan was supposed to arrive with their army in some hours, could Cao Chen have possibly intercepted some information about the attack and their betrayal?

Tianshen took a seat next to Cao Chen, his face had a rare expression of excitement, by looking at him one would think that he looked like a kid waiting to witness a good show. Little did most know, that Tianshen was going to be the star of the show.

‘’Everyone settle down and be quiet, I have gathered you all today because the Legacy disciple Tianshen has a few words to say to all of you. Tianshen?’’ Cao Chen gestured for Tianshen to take the stage.

Tianshen stood up and in the next moment he was in the center of the stage. He had his arms crossed behind his back and was looking at the crowd around him who were all curiously looking at him and wondering what he was about to say.

‘’Everyone, I would like to thank you all for gathering on such a short notice, it shows me that even though this sect has went through a thousand years of decline, we are still taking things seriously, our vigilance, our spirit and our thirst to reach the top of the cultivation world never dwindled. And for that you all have my respect.’’

The people around felt a sense of pride when they heard Tianshen’s words, it was indeed the truth. Although the sect was at its weakest ever, the elders and disciples still took their cultivation and jobs seriously, and were carrying the name of the Azure Dragon with pride, no matter when and where.

‘’But alas…’’ Tianshen continued: ‘’…not everyone here has the sect’s best interests at heart, I have recently received information that some wolves in sheep clothing are hiding in our sect, and therefore I gathered all of you here to witness this with your own eyes, so there is no doubt in your mind that whoever is a traitor, will die a traitor’s death’’.

Suddenly whispers broke out in the crowd, speculations were already going through everyone’s mind as to who Tianshen was referring to when he mentioned traitors and wolves in sheep clothing.

Kong Zhi’s expression became ugly and he suddenly had a bad premonition, but he was not yet sure if Tianshen was referring to him so he kept his calm and signaled his two sons to do the same.

Tianshen then took out a small cup from inside his spatial ring, it was the Truth pill solution he took from the Azure Dragon tomb ‘’Elder Jin Hai, you are the sect’s pill master and have years of experience so I ask you if you could join me down here and identify what pill solution is in this cup’’.

Elder Jin Hai looked at Cao Chen who nodded at him in approval, after which he joined Tianshen on the stage and took the cup from him. After about 5 minutes of smelling and observing the liquid he announced ‘’This is a truth pill solution, whoever drinks this will be forced to answer every question truthfully until it’s effects diminish, the side effects range from mild to severe brain damage’’.

Tianshen smiled and asked ‘’So it would be fair to say that this pill solution is illegal to use on disciples and if used, the punishment would be severe?’’

‘’Indeed’’ replied Jin Hai. He could already see where this was going, Tianshen was going to use the truth pill solution on who he thinks to be the traitor, but if it turned out that he was wrong, he would face the consequences, so it was a gamble.

‘’So it would be also fair to say that if I were to use this solution on someone that turns out to be a traitor, it would be considered perfectly legal and according to the rules?’’ asked Tianshen.

‘’That is indeed true’’ nodded Jin Hai.

‘’Good, then I would like for a certain individual to come drink this potion for me now, Jin Ju why don’t you strut over here for me?’’ said Tianshen while staring down Jin Ju with a piercing gaze.

At this moment everyone’s eyes fell on Jin Ju, not to mention the disciples, even some of the elders were surprised. Jin Ju? He was an extraordinary talent only inferior to Kong Feng and Cao Bai, plus he was much younger than them so he would surpass them both at some point, he was a model disciple, everyone looked up to him and respected him.

Jin Ju’s face became ugly, he didn’t know what to do. Drinking that truth pill solution was equal to committing suicide, but at the same time, refusing to drink it would mean that he’s admitting to being a traitor. On Kong Zhi’s side, everyone calmed down, at least they didn’t figure out that much. They didn’t care that much if Jin Ju died here and was labeled as a traitor, that only meant that the Tang Clan’s vengeance would be that much worse, so Kong Zhi benefitted anyway.