Chen Ping's Sword

Chapter 324: Chapter 166: Shouldering Duty in Crisis, Cyan Wood Dragon Locking

Han Xiaoru wasn’t boasting.

The food at Songtao Residence was indeed excellent, and Aunt Qian’s culinary skills were remarkable.

Especially the bamboo fungus from the mountain, which she had prepared with great flair—refreshingly crisp and tender. Chen Ping ate with delight, devouring two large bowls of rice before reluctantly putting down his chopsticks.

"Delicious, right? After the meal, I’ll take you up the mountain to hunt some wild game and enjoy the scenery. Our ancestors’ ceremony at the Ancestor Master Cave might take quite some time.

Following that, we’ll have the Grandmaster Granny’s ritual, and we won’t have much free time for solo activities."

When mentioning the Grandmaster Granny, Han Xiaoru showed no signs of sorrow.

Since Han Xiaoru could remember, the elder had always resided in the Ancestor Master Cave on Jade Pen Peak, rarely appearing. Ordinary disciples hardly ever saw her, so there wasn’t much emotional attachment.

Moreover, even though this Grandmaster Granny’s life force had run dry, she was already 136 years old.

In the valley below, passing away at such an age is considered a joyous occasion, akin to ascending to immortality. Even one’s biological children wouldn’t feel much grief, let alone a Daoist Sect.

At this moment, it was merely a sigh.

Just a sigh for the Primordial Sect’s misfortunes, having lost one of the last standing Grandmasters.

Going forward, with such a large sect, it’s uncertain whether they can withstand the storms ahead.

Sima Rou remained silent, staring absentmindedly at the few side dishes on the table, not eating, seemingly lost in some memories.

The atmosphere inside the room was steady and harmonious.

Chen Ping thought that, in fact, this was a good thing. Ever since coming to this world, it felt as if someone was relentlessly pursuing him, urging him to cultivate and fight all the time.

Every now and then, finding a moment to steal half a day’s leisure, tossing aside trivial matters and thinking of nothing, makes one feel content.

"Xiaorou, Xiaorou, are you there? Your teacher has come to seek help this time."

Just as the few of them quietly put down their bowls and chopsticks, Aunt Qian came forward to clean up and serve tea when a deeply sorrowful voice came from the courtyard gate.

It was Sun Yun, the current Sect Leader of the Primordial Sect.

Behind him was a black-bearded elder, face pale, missing his right arm; following them were four middle-aged men and women in their thirties and forties, the Ninth Generation Disciples.

Not only Sun Yun, but all of these people showed faces full of grief, sadness interlaced with anger and humiliation as if they had been slapped but could not retaliate.

"Master, what do you mean by this?"

Sima Rou’s face changed in shock.

Having not returned to the mountain for many years, though she had grown somewhat distant from the senior and junior brothers of the Primordial Mountain, she had grown up on the mountain, so no matter how strange, it was still home.

Even if she sometimes felt that her master had a quirky personality.

She couldn’t see herself as a stranger.

When she and Han Wushang left the mountain, their master had instructed them never to return and warned them not to cause trouble under the name of the Primordial Sect...

Yet, regardless of how stubborn or unreasonable the master was, the kindness of imparting skills couldn’t simply be discarded.

This time going up the mountain, Sima Rou hadn’t shared these past events with Chen Ping. She didn’t really want her disciple to harbor any resentment against their sect.

Seeing the sect in crisis, she naturally rolled up her sleeves to help.

But her fellow sect members’ behaviors afterward made her feel slightly cold.

Her master was one thing, always being this kind of person—rigid and stubborn, not adaptable or shrewd.

Perhaps due to being closed off from the world for too long, her fellow senior and junior brothers, as well as the nephews from the sect, had forgotten about respecting the powerful and showing gratitude, which was not good.

Clearly, a top-tier Grandmaster has returned to the sect. Without expecting a grand welcome with a festive atmosphere, they shouldn’t show indifference, right?

No need for flattering gestures, but in a time when the sect is facing challenges, treating such a master capable of slaying the Earth List’s top as an outsider rather than welcoming them as one of their own is excessive.

If not anyone else, at least the Sect Leader is unqualified.

Including her fellow senior and junior brothers, all are unqualified.

They’d lose business, be deceived in the officialdom.

Running a sect...

There’s nothing more to say; the Primordial Sect has reached such a state, it’s visible even if they are inept at running a sect.

Though Sima Rou felt unsatisfied, she had no words to say.

After all, it’s her own sect and her own master.

All she could do was endure it.

At this moment, seeing Sun Yun and Uncle Yuk Zhixian’s pale, haggard faces, and then the senior and junior brothers of the sect avoiding eye contact, and the nieces and nephews in the distance looking bewildered and panicked, her heart quietly sank, sensing a bad omen.

"Where is Third Uncle Elder Cui? What about Senior Brother Yi and Nephew Deng? Did something go wrong with the inheritance?"

"They were all harmed by villains, Grandmaster Granny was also schemed against, her remains nowhere to be found..."

A middle-aged man around thirty-seven or thirty-eight began wailing loudly.

All around, near and far, sobs echoed.

These people were grieving not only for those harmed but also fearing for the future with powerful enemies looming, worried that life would be unbearable.

"What? Who is the enemy?"

Ancestor Master Cave.

That is the Ancestor Master Cave.

To sneak into the Ancestor Master Cave from the blade-like back of Jade Pen Peak and harm the Grandmaster Granny in the Grandmaster Realm, the enemy’s strength must be imaginable.