Chapter 16: Ancestor

The green robed elder lowered his head in shame and fear, while the other sect elders felt a creeping dread in their hearts. To think that they were trying to capture a Saint Overlord eccentric with their measly strength...just thinking about that made their face turn pale.

Fortunately, the other party did not seem interested in fighting with them. If that person did...then perhaps all of them would have been visiting the Yellow River by now!

(Author: Yellow River = place where the dead goes, appears as a saying often in Xianhuan, Xianxia, and other Chinese fantasy-genre novels)

Suddenly, three black streaks of light shot down from the sky and landed in front of the Demon Monarch, materializing into three kneeling old men. Each elder had long white hair, looking to be in their sixties and wearing a black attire with a white fan crest on their chest.

“”“We three Great Elders pay our respect to the Sacred Demon Monarch! We have arrived too late and allowed the intruder to escape. Please issue your punishment for us!””” The three Great Elders said in unison with their head deeply lowered.

The Demon Sacred Sect was a very large territory. Traveling from one end to another was not a simple task, even for Empyrean Hun cultivators, due to the many smaller formations one had to get authenticated before crossing. The land was akin to a mid sized country!

“No need. Even if you three had come, nothing would’ve changed.” The Demon Monarch emotionlessly said, waving his sleeve in a subtle gesture at the sky behind them. When the three Great Elders turned and saw the large gap in the sealing formation, their face instantly turned a sheet of white. As Great Elder-level figures, they naturally had better knowledge of the inner dealings of the Sect, such as the level of defensive capability their Sacred Demon Sect’s sealing formation had.

“My god...someone who’s at least in the Saint Overlord realm had actually infiltrated our Sect?!” A great elder with beady eyes exclaimed in shock. “How is this possible...such an exalted being would swoop so low as to secretly enter our sect ground and attack us...inconceivable..”

“Could...it be one of the other two grand sects?” Another great elder, wearing a black dress, asked solemnly. There was a faint hint of dread and weariness in her tone. In this vast land, the only Saint Overlords she knew of were from the Three Absolute Grand Sects. Other regions simply did not possess the power to have such beings, at least not the ones that she knew of.  

A broad shouldered elder, wearing a blue robe, took a step for at this time and respectfully said: “Respected Great Elders, while we are unable to ascertain who the masked one is, the core disciples of Great Elder Fang De told us that they had last seen an elder from the Eternal Sword Spirit Palace enter the great elder’s room.”

“What? Someone from the Eternal Sword Spirit Palace had actually came to our sect without any other the great elders knowing?...Did they say who was it?” The black dressed female elder asked solemnly. To have a person from a foreign sect enter their own school ground, without letting the elders know, was a forbidden practice. That Fang De should have at least notified one of the Great elders, especially if someone from a grand sect had come to pay a visit…

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The blue robed elder replied attentively: “They say the other person was Elder Gan Long. The aura released by the intruder earlier also had traces of Sword intent in it. Moreover, several other nearby elders have also testified feeling Elder Gan Long’s aura preceding the attack and...it seems that this elder had visited our Sect ground several times before this…”

A few eyes twinkled with an intelligent light among the crowds of elders, as some began to curse out loud:

“Gan Long? I heard that name. That person has a lot of nasty rumors surrounding him. Why would the Great Elder Fang De meet with such a person?”

“That damn Eternal Sword Spirit Palace! Even if we’re on a somewhat friendly basis with one another, did they really think they’re our allies?! To dare send people over to spy and even attack our sect like this! We must not let them off!”

“Right! Regardless if it was truly Gan Long or not, it must be linked with the Sword Spirit Palace! We should send some people over to teach a few of them a lesson...they are practically not taking us into account!”

“If Gan Long was here and he had actually brought someone into our sect...that other person...could it be Sword Spirit Palace’s Sect Master?”

“How could that be possible? Someone as powerful as that ancient elder would not do something like this. Moreover, our two sects have been on decent terms to go against that Godly Supreme Hall...I truly do not know why they would want to attack us at this point. Perhaps they are trying to stab us in the back once the Godly Supreme Hall falls?”

The elders began speculating in the air, while the black dressed elder narrowed her eyes as she sank into contemplation. It seems there might be more to this issue than it looked on the surface. To invite over an elder from another sect several times without letting one of them know? That was basically a serious offense to the Sacred Demon Sect! Just what was Fang De doing? Just...what is going on?!

“Wait, where is Great Elder Fang De? I heard he was engaged in battle with the intruder? Could he have...” The last great elder, who had scholar look to him, suddenly said, turning his head and surveying the entire ground with his Divine Sense. But nothing turned up.

“Gan Long does not seem to be here as well...he must have somehow secretly left with the help with of that Saint Overlord..”

The scholarly great elder had a downcast face when he affirmed that Great Elder’s Qi aura could not be detected anymore. There was not even a morsel of residue energy to identify the elder by!

The Demon Monarch, who had remained silent and detached, with none being able to read his mind, finally spoke. The moment his words came out, the world descended into complete silence for him.

“Fang De is dead. During the attack, only he and a few elders had died, while everything else was left intact. And the person does not seem to be from the other grand sects. The aura is too different...too vicious, yet strangely familiar. Everything may simply be that person’s disguise, thus, there is no need to speculate any further.

However, it is true that Gan Long had informally entered our sect several times, and Great Elder Fang De had violated the rules. As it stands, we will still settle this with the Sword Spirit Palace. Now everyone, return and guard your assigned section. Those who were the here earliest and had witnessed the entire event, come with me and give me all the details. No one is to spread this news out, lest you wish for death. I will personally go notify the Ancestor of this matter after this.”

The Ancestor? The three great elders and the normal elders in the background all had a look of surprise on their face. No one had heard from the Sacred Demon Sect’s ancestor for nearly three thousand years since she went into secluded training. Many originally believed that the ancestor had perished in battle somewhere far away or was met with a serious problem in her training, so overtime the elders had slowly put the name of this legendary figure to the back of their mind.

However, the Demon Monarch seemed to know the whereabouts of the Ancestor! This was unexpected, as even the Demon Monarch rarely mentioned her. His cold demeanor and impassive attitude made it very difficult for any of the elders to approach the sect master, much less derive secrets from the latter.

A small spark of excitement and hope began to well up in many of the elders’ heart. If the Ancestor was truly still alive and could return to the Sacred Demon Sect, their full strength would once again return, or even be elevated to a new height!

After all, after three thousands years of absence, the ancestor was sure to have reached a new martial realm...