Chapter 303: Di Nufeng and the Others

"All of Mount Shu owes you a debt of gratitude this time."

That was the first thing the sect leader of the Mount Shu Sect said to Chu Liang when he arrived at the Boundless Palace on Heaven-Reaching Peak, and it left Chu Liang feeling deeply honored.

"This disciple dares not accept such gratitude!" Chu Liang immediately replied. "Our sect was in a critical crisis. It's a given that everyone should give their all. As a disciple of the Mount Shu Sect, it was my duty to do whatever I could."

The corners of Venerable Wen Yuan's lips lifted into a slight smile.

Venerable Wen Yuan looked at Chu Liang with a satisfied gaze and said, "Baize is in hibernation to break through to the ninth realm. This is of paramount importance to our sect. We could even say that your slaying of Taowu has saved Mount Shu's great hope for the future. And you were also the first to report the Dark King Sect's attack, right? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say you contributed immensely to our victory."

"I was able to slay Taowu thanks to the Violet and Azure Twin Swords and the Longevity of Heaven and Earth. I dare not claim the credit for it alone," Chu Liang replied.

Hearing that, Venerable Wen Yuan looked even more satisfied with Chu Liang.

As the sect leader of the Mount Shu Sect, Venerable Wen Yuan had the highest ranking status in the sect, so he was usually unaware of the matters regarding young disciples.

Venerable Wen Yuan's impression of Chu Liang hadn't been particularly strong previously. He had known that Chu Liang was an outstanding young disciple, and he had been amazed when he found out Chu Liang was from Silver Sword Peak. Venerable Wen Yuan had found it unbelievable that Di Nufeng had been able to produce such an excellent disciple, but that was about it.

Nevertheless, after the battle with Taowu, Venerable Wen Yuan committed Chu Liang's name to memory.

"You need not be so modest. Our sect's victory over the invaders was certainly a collective effort, but you definitely had a huge part in it," Venerable Wen Yuan said, praising Chu Liang without holding back at all. "From now on, the sect will focus on your development, and you will receive the same treatment as the head disciple."

The Mount Shu Sect's head disciple enjoyed special privileges, such as unlimited access to the Hall of Conservation, a monthly stipend of five thousand sword coins, priority access to important resources, the right to represent Mount Shu at major gatherings of the immortal sects, and so on.

These privileges were initially only available to the head disciple Jiang Yuebai. Now that Chu Liang would be given these benefits too, it meant he would be treated the same as the head disciple, with the only exception being that he wouldn't have the Human Authority Token.

In other words, it was equivalent to sharing the same position as Jiang Yuebai.

"Additionally..." Venerable Wen Yuan turned his hand over and took a golden jade talisman out from his storage tool. "I stored the immortal art Shattering the Void in here. If you encounter any danger in the future, just crush the jade talisman, and you'll instantly be moved a thousand li away. This immortal art cannot be stopped by ordinary means, so it can serve as a life-saving talisman."

Chu Liang raised his eyebrows in surprise.

This was a genuine life-saving talisman!

Chu Liang had become really famous, so going outside the sect now would certainly be different from before. He would likely draw a lot of attention, both good and bad. On Mount Shu, he had the protection of the Violet and Azure Twin Swords, so he wasn't afraid anything would happen. However, he couldn't take the twin sword with him whenever he went down the mountain. If he were to lose them, Mount Shu would see him as a criminal.

Consequently, Chu Liang really needed some life-saving treasures.

People usually had methods to counter ordinary art-storing jade talismans or tracking jade talismans. For example, the shamanic technique Forbidden Ground could prevent these talismans from being used.

Nevertheless, an immortal art that was stored by a powerful eighth-realm cultivator was different. Unless a cultivator of the same level were to intervene, it was very difficult to prevent the immortal art from being used or interfere with it! That meant Chu Liang would be able to instantly escape to a location a thousand li away no matter when or where he was.

This was an extremely precious treasure. It was unlikely that the head disciples of the other sects in the Divine Nine would have a treasure like this.

The reason wasn't that eighth-realm cultivators thought it was beneath them or that they didn't have time to store an immortal art for the head disciples of their sects. Rather, the capacity of a jade talisman was limited by the materials that had been used to make it. Consequently, jade talismans that had the capacity to store eighth-realm immortal arts were extremely rare.

"Thank you, Sect Leader!" Chu Liang exclaimed, hurriedly accepting the jade talisman.

Venerable Wen Yuan said leisurely, "Now that Baize's location has been exposed, Mount Shu will inevitably become a target. The days ahead will not be easy. As disciples of our sect, you and your peers may be targeted and attacked when you're traveling out there. I hope you're prepared."

He was quite worried for the young disciples of his sect.

Venerable Wen Yuan was certain there was a mastermind behind the recent battle at Mount Shu. It couldn't have been Lu Chengchou. He was merely a pawn; he didn't have the power or influence to have been able to orchestrate such a grand scheme.

The mastermind was very likely a cultivator at the same level as Baize.

The enemy is unknown, but we are exposed. We must stay vigilant.

"Yes!" Chu Liang replied, sounding even chirpier after he received the jade talisman.

The concerns that the higher-ups of his sect had weren't for Chu Liang to worry about.

He'd already been rewarded once today by the White Pagoda, and now he'd gotten another reward from Venerable Wen Yuan. Just these were enough to make him happy.

...

Di Nufeng was probably the happiest person on Mount Shu at present.

It had been three days since the great battle, and the sect had mostly recovered from the damages. Mount Shu's peaks had already been restored to their original state.

However, the aftermath of the battle had only just begun. News of the battle gradually reached all four seas across the nine provinces, shocking everyone in the world of immortality cultivators.

The Dark King Sect had actually infiltrated during the Mount Shu Summit and brazenly launched a raid! They killed people, set fires, destroyed buildings, attacked spirit beasts, ambushed prodigies, and plundered from a fruit garden...

The Dark King Sect had committed every evil act conceivable!

There were battles between the righteous and the diabolical sects every year, but it was rare for there to be a battle on such a grand scale! In comparison, the battle that had occurred earlier in the year, during which Immortal Jiuyi had killed the White Silver King, seemed significantly less impressive.

The day before was the day of the month when Celestial Pivot Pavilion would have usually released the monthly issue of

The Seven Stars Gazette

. The release had been delayed by a day, so the issue was only distributed today.

This had happened before. It had usually been because some major event had occurred, so they had to change the headliner. As for what major event had disrupted the Celestial Pivot Pavilion's plans this time—well, that was obvious.

The first page of the "Chronicles of the Nine Provinces" only had these two words printed on it:

Mount Shu!

This time, Elder Huang had written the entire article about Mount Shu himself.

Elder Huang had previously promised Di Nufeng that he would write an article full of praise for her to help improve her reputation, so Di Nufeng had been eagerly awaiting this day.

When the white crane delivered her copy of

The Seven Stars Gazette

, Di Nufeng flipped it open with anticipation.

Compared to the writing style of the Wind-Catching Hall disciples who had written the previous articles, Elder Huang's writing style was more casual yet vivid, making the readers feel as if they were on the scene.

The article was divided into three sections. In the first section, Elder Huang gave a brief account of the events he'd watched at the Mount Shu Summit a few days ago. He talked about how the Mount Shu Sect had quite a few outstanding disciples in the current generation and that they would certainly uphold the Mount Shu Sect's great reputation in the future.

Elder Huang used nearly eight hundred words to describe the Mount Shu Sect's new head disciple, Jiang Yuebai. He praised her without holding back in the slightest, making it obvious he was a fan of hers.

The next section featured the highlight of the article, the Dark King Sect's raid on Mount Shu!

Before writing the article, Elder Huang had probably communicated with Mount Shu's higher-ups, as he did not mention the conversation between Lu Chengchou and Venerable Wen Yuan before the battle broke out.

Aside from that, Elder Huang gave a meticulous account of everything that had happened in the battle. It was hard for the readers not to wonder if this old man had done nothing during the battle; they suspected that perhaps he'd simply been standing on the sidelines observing it the whole time.

There had been many twists and turns during the battle. However, the climax had obviously been when Chu Liang used the Violet and Azure Twin Swords and unleashed the devastating blow that slayed Taowu. This tale of a young disciple slaying an ancient vicious beast with legendary artifacts was thrilling no matter how it was told.

Elder Huang then used another five hundred words to praise Chu Liang. He brought this rising star of the Mount Shu Sect, who was relatively unknown to the public, into the spotlight.

At the end of the article, there was a change in Elder Huang's tone.

Speaking of Chu Liang, one cannot help but think of his teacher.

Di Nufeng's eyes lit up as she held the gazette, eagerly turning to the next page.

In this battle, the Mount Shu Sect's Discipline Master, Weapons Master, Alchemy Master, Conservation Master, and the sect's peak masters—Azure Falling Peak's peak master Daoist Yan, Silver Sword's peak master Di Nufeng, and the others—all made significant contributions to the Mount Shu Sect's victory.

The article ended there.

As promised, Elder Huang praised Di Nufeng—well, sort of.

Di Nufeng stared at the words "Di Nufeng, and the others" for a while.

Then she gritted her teeth and spat out three words.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"You old scoundrel!!!"