"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Liu, and it"s nothing but a venerable elder died of acute disease." Xiao Yuebai replied with a wry smile.
It was definitely an excuse!
The old man who lost life on the altar pa.s.sed through Liu Ming"s mind subconsciously. Liu thrilled but asked no more, then officially parted with the hefty fellow after a small talk.
Xiao Yuebai and Han Li personally escorted Liu Ming out of the gate of the Yuan Mo Sect to the edge of the enormous stone forest and returned.
"Senior disciple Xiao, brother Liu has gone. Can you tell me nowwho pa.s.sed away?" Han Li loosed his tongue on their way back.
"It"s my master." Xiao Yuebai was silent for a moment before told him.
"Your master? What ... you mean Uncle Xin, are you sure?" Han Li was confused at first, but soon he sobbed out as he realized something.
"It"s only known to the top as we"re investigating the cause of his death. After all, although he suffered from the demon power in his early years and had to be trapped in forbidden area, his sudden death is quite suspicious and outrageous. You shall try your best to keep it under raps for now." Xiao Yuebai sullenly replied.
Han Li nodded repeatedly in shock.
…
Liu Ming released a swift boat after his departure from Yuan Mo Sect, went straight to the Country of Da Xuan.
He finally got back to the Barbarian Ghost Sect more than two month later.
His long-term absence did not come into notice to many of the Barbarian Ghost Sect.
Liu Ming returned to his abode to have a three-day good rest, and started learning-by-doing the blood tiger"s head according to the method described in the ancient book of the Dragon and Tiger h.e.l.l Tricks.
He came out invigorated a dozen days later with a bottle of carefully mixed purple spirit liquid, heading to the Yin-attribute Cave where he had practiced.
Time had pa.s.sed hours by hours, while Liu Ming had stayed there for more than a month.
This day, some disciples pa.s.sed by the hill the Cave located, where suddenly came a loud bang inside, followed by a rushing black air column, which turned into a black giant dragon and a tiger after splitting into two parts.
The two greeted each other playfully the moment they appeared in the air. One raised its head to cry, while the other lowered its head to roar, as if living creatures.
This was a really spectacle for the dumbfounded disciples.
A figure moved over an adjacent hill, which turned out to be the master of Barbarian Ghost Sect who stared at the extraordinary scene nearby astonishingly.
"How amazing. It must be one of the younger disciples who gets to the Liquid Advanced Stage and reached the peak of perfection in cave directly." An old man emerged beside the master, who gave a surprised and bewildered estimation after examining the scene in the sky.
This old man was senior disciple Huang who had refined Heavy Water Drops for Liu Ming.
Meanwhile, there was a breaking sound afar, coming along with some other alchemists.
"A formidable breath as it is, it"s not yet a sign of breakthrough of the Liquid Advanced Stage but an indication of some kind of power beyond free control. However, such a phenomena of meeting of dragon and tiger is rare indeed. I forget at the moment what kind of cultivated skills of our Sect will be so. Junior disciple Huang, do you know anything about this?" The master shook his head and inquired thoughtfully.
"What you have observed must be right. But I have no idea of what sort of skill it is either." Huang blinked and shook his head.
There came two "whoosh" sounds with two people touched down at this time.
It was a fair young woman, Lin Caiyu, one disciple of the Ghost Dancer and a tall man named Lei of the Secret Hill respectively.
After greeting the master of the Barbarian Ghost Sect and senior disciple Huang, they looked at the peculiar phenomena above the nearby hill in surprise.
The dragon and tiger only played with each other for a while, then blew out with a loud noise and turned into a ball of black gas as before. After only a few flashes, they disappeared into the hills below.
"It seems that this younger disciple has ceased his power and must now consolidate his accomplishments in the cave. I"m afraid he won"t come out and meet us now." The master said regretfully.
"It"s easy to get who"s in the cave as long as we call in the disciple guarding here." Lin Caiyu smiled softly as she suggested that.
"Well, Sister Lin makes a good point." The master was rather embarra.s.sed and formed a sign with one hand quietly to summon all his disciples.
A figure in the opposite peak flashed after a while, and there emerged a green-robed disciplein his thirties, full of panic.
"Respectfulmaster and Uncles!"As soon as the disciple saw them, he rushed forward to greet them with full respect.
"Well, tell me, who has been in the cave these days?" The masterput his hand and calmly asked.
"My master, there"s only Uncle Liu Ming now." The disciple bentdown and answered.
"Who?You say younger disciple Liu Ming! When did he get in?" The master made a detailed inquiry as he was stunned.
So did the other three.
"My master, it was a month ago!" The disciple honestly repliedafter one second thought.
"Well, I get it, you can leave." The master ordered after suppressing his amazement.
Then the green-robed disciple withdrew with courtesy.
"Younger disciple Lei, what do you think of this?" The master turned his head and asked Leiand others after the green-robed disciple vanished in a serious tone.
"Liu"s achievement should be a hot wire for our Secteither way."Lei answered as his eyes flickered.
"Ho ho, younger disciple Lei, there"s no need to fool me like this? You know I don"t mean it." The master chuckled.
"You"re worrying about how Liu"s practice is advancing by leaps and bounds. After all, he has just been a primary stage alchemist for a short period of time. I"m afraid it won"t take him much time to break through Liquid Middle Stage at this pace. Are you anxious about he may take some pills to stimulate his potential or employ some secret techniques with similar effects and go astray in his practice." Lin Caiyu explained beside.
"You"re right! After all, he should never make such progress by traditional methods of cultivating, by the way, such a strong breath I"ve seen may be equal to the Liquid Advanced Stage. It worries me that he"s too eager to succeed." The master concerned.
"It"s really his talent so long as younger disciple Liu has never adopted some evil means. After all, we have only a few Liquid Middle Stage Alchemists in the whole Sect. As for practicing other secret techniques or taking pills, it"s his choice and we cannot interfere." The big fellow surnamed Lei answered after contemplating for a moment.
"Exactly! Although I"m startled that he may be in a rush for quick results, it merely demonstrates that hegets a lucky chance. If master is in suspense, we can only call his attention. As for whether he has adopted method of inspiring potentials, it"s not what we should worry about. Ha, ha, at least I would never give up if I could advance with seven-league strides when I was young." Huang yawned and said firmly.
"Well, that makes sense. Liu should only make a minor achievement in his practice and there"s still a long way from the Liquid Middle Stage, I"ll give him some advice when I"m free. However, Uncle Yan attaches great importance to him, thus I hope that he will choose a right track." The master finally nodded and said after being both dismal and joyful.
The others then had no dissent.
"Well, my master. Have you got some message from Uncle Yan about the result of the compet.i.tion of the Three True and Six Disciples. Is there any hope that the nephew disciple Gao will be among the Six?" Lei brought up a new topic suddenly.
"I just received the tidings from Yan that the outcome of Three True, yet Leng Yue failed to make it. The Three True are Tian Sha of Yuan Mo Sect, Bai Wenzhou of Uniform Sect and Han Chunqiu of Sun Valley respectively. As for the Six Disciples, owing to the large amount of partic.i.p.ants and the strict selection, there"s no result yet. However, Gao Chong has only got a slim chance whereas Zhang Xiuniang of Moon Sect is very promising according to Yan. After all, her spiritual sword is so rebellious that it will never dwarf itself even compared to the Heaven Spirit of Yuan Mo Sect." After hearing that, the master raised his eyebrows and replied with a sigh.
"It"s really a pity. If the selection of the Six is based on their own strength but not qualifications, perhaps younger disciple Liu will have a good chance of being ranked among them." The big fellow Lei regretted.
"If there"s no strict qualifications, I"ll nominate younger disciple Liu above anyone. After all, Gao Chong is far not a patch on him." said the master of the Barbarian Ghost Sect, full of regret.