Near High Heaven Pavilion
Black Wind Village Market
Luo Zheng had already reached the area near High Heaven Pavilion.
Black Wind Village was lively, filled with noise, traders shouting, and cultivators coming and going. He entered a small restaurant inside the market and chose a corner table. His eyes quietly observed the surroundings.
Soon, a servant came over and asked politely,
"What would you like to eat, sir?"
Luo Zheng looked at him and said calmly,
"I don't want food. I want information. Tell me—has any secret realm opened nearby?"
The servant froze for a moment, clearly confused.
"A secret realm?" the servant repeated. "I… I haven't heard anything like that."
Seeing the servant's honest expression, Luo Zheng frowned inwardly.
"Strange…" he thought.
"Did the news about the Cave Heaven Inheritance not spread yet? Or is something wrong?"
Without asking further, he stood up, paid nothing, and walked out of the restaurant.
He wandered along the road, his mind full of doubts. Suddenly, his eyes caught a familiar robe.
A High Heaven Pavilion disciple.
Judging from his aura, Luo Zheng immediately knew this man was nothing more than an ordinary outer disciple.
The disciple was walking toward him.
When he came close, Luo Zheng stopped him and said,
"Hey. You are a disciple of High Heaven Pavilion, right?"
The disciple first observed Luo Zheng from head to toe, then replied cautiously,
"Yes, I am. But who are you? Do I know you?"
Luo Zheng smiled faintly.
"I'm just a lone cultivator passing through. I heard a secret realm appeared here, so I came to confirm whether the news is true or false."
The disciple looked confused.
"Huh? Secret realm? Which secret realm?"
"There is nothing like that here. You must have been fooled by someone."
Luo Zheng narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I know it's a secret matter. Of course you won't admit it easily."
"But such news can't be hidden for long. Many people will come soon."
"I know I don't have the qualifications to enter. I just want confirmation."
The disciple's expression hardened.
"First of all, I don't know you."
"Second, I have never heard of any secret realm."
"Are you crazy?"
"Leave me alone. I don't have time for this nonsense."
Luo Zheng's voice became colder.
"Don't hide it."
"This secret realm opened in the Sanguine Society's mining area."
"It was exposed because of High Heaven Pavilion's treasure hall action."
"I even know only disciples above Body Tempering Ninth Stage can enter."
This time, the disciple became angry.
"Are you joking?" he shouted.
"The Sanguine Society is one thousand miles away from here!"
"And they don't even have any mining area!"
He tried to push Luo Zheng away and leave.
But Luo Zheng had already lost patience.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His fist moved like lightning.
The disciple screamed as he was beaten to the ground. Bones cracked again and again. After a few moments, his body was covered in blood, trembling on the ground.
Luo Zheng grabbed his collar and asked coldly,
"Tell me the truth. Is there a secret realm or not?"
With tears and fear, the disciple cried,
"I swear… I really don't know!"
"There is no secret realm here!"
Luo Zheng slowly loosened his grip.
He could tell.
This man was not lying.
His heart sank.
"I already broke so many of his bones," Luo Zheng thought,
"If he still insists on the same answer, then something is terribly wrong."
He stood there in silence, confusion filling his mind.
"Everything is wrong," he muttered inside.
"In Tong Xuan Realm, the Holy Sect Master attacked all sects and even the Demon Land."
"I heard he tried to break through."
"And now… Sanguine Society isn't even here?"
"And worst of all—there is no Cave Heaven Inheritance?"
"What exactly is going on?"
At that moment—
His vision suddenly turned dark.
A cold, mysterious female voice echoed inside his mind.
"You are just a chess piece of—"
The voice cut off before finishing.
Then it continued calmly,
"Soon, you will be eliminated from this world."
"Your mission has already been completed."
Luo Zheng's heart shook violently.
He shouted inside his mind,
"Who are you?!"
No answer came.
Only silence.
His thoughts spun wildly.
"A chess piece…?"
"For what?"
Then suddenly—
A clear image appeared in his mind.
Yang Kai's death.
Luo Zheng's pupils shrank.
"Killing… Yang Kai?"
Back to the Present
Luo Zheng's breathing became heavy as memories surfaced one by one.
"After that," he thought,
"I faced countless life-threatening dangers."
"Again and again, someone tried to kill me."
"And finally… I met Xia Ning Chang."
"She was already trying to take revenge for Yang Kai when I was at Medicine Valley."
His fists clenched unconsciously.
"At that time, she had already reached True Qi Stage."
"If not for that old man suddenly appearing, I would already be dead."
That old man—
The one who now called himself his new master.
During the fight, Xia Ning Chang's cultivation was destroyed by force. But the old man did not kill her.
At a critical moment, she escaped using a blood sacrifice technique.
The most horrifying thing—
"I saw her using demonic techniques," Luo Zheng thought grimly.
His gaze slowly shifted to the old man standing nearby.
The old man looked calm and indifferent.
"You are not allowed to go anywhere," the old man said.
"Until you reach True Qi Stage."
He threw a space pouch toward Luo Zheng.
Luo Zheng checked it—and his heart shook.
"So many cultivation resources?!" he exclaimed inwardly.
But instead of joy, suspicion filled his heart.
The old man continued coldly,
"You have one month."
"If you fail to reach True Qi Stage within one month, I will kill you."
"You don't have the qualifications to be my disciple."
Luo Zheng's uneasiness grew stronger.
And it reached its peak when—
The old man suddenly raised his hand and pressed it against Luo Zheng's head.
A strange seal formed.
At the same time, a cultivation method was forcefully transferred into his mind.
"This technique," the old man said slowly,
"will temper your body to an extreme level."
"But your soul will become extremely weak."
Luo Zheng's heart trembled.
"This technique uses soul energy to refine the body," he realized.
"It strengthens the flesh until it becomes nearly indestructible…"
"But the price—"
His soul.
And Luo Zheng finally understood—
He was not accepted as a disciple.
He was being forged into something else.
To be continued