Chapter 420 - Scapegoat
It was close to the mountain where Lian Yang was located. As expected, this place was surrounded by a spell formation. Outsiders could not enter or leave,
Chen Chen thought for a moment and began to question the system. Soon, he obtained the answer that there were two living people inside the spell formation.
Since there were two living people, it meant that Lian Yang was not dead. Thinking of this, he relaxed slightly.
After thinking for a moment, the law of wood imprint on Chen Chen"s hand lit up. Outside the small courtyard on the mountain peak below, a stalk of gra.s.s grew silently. Not long after, it grew to the height of half a person, he probed into the backyard where Lian Yang usually refined artifacts.
A green light flashed in Chen Chen"s eyes. The scene in the backyard was completely displayed in his sea of consciousness.
The forging furnace was burning with raging flames. Lian Yang sat in front of the forging furnace with a pained expression on his face. His eyes were closed, and wisps of black gas were constantly circulating around his body.
On the other side of the forging furnace, a young cultivator dressed in black was looking at this scene indifferently. There was no expression on his face, and on his chest, there was an impressively embroidered mark of the Evil Fiend Hall.
This mark was completely different from the mark of the evil dragon sect cultivator from that day. The Mark of the evil dragon sect cultivator was just an ordinary embroidered mark.
However, the mark on this person"s chest was more like a spell formation. From time to time, it would light up with a dim light.
"Who is spying here?!"
As if he had sensed something, the young man in black"s expression suddenly turned cold as he looked behind him.
At that moment, the mountain"s array formation slowly dissipated, and a bald man with a simple and honest face appeared in front of the black-robed young man.
"It"s me, Fellow Daoist. Will this Junior Brother of mine be alright?"
"So it"s Sect Master Jin. That"s right. You"re the only person in the Golden Saint sect who can open the array formation on the mountain at will. As for this Master Lian..."
At this point, the black-robed young man looked at Lian Yang, and a hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes.
"It should be fine, right?"
Hearing the word "should", the bald man"s face suddenly changed, he said with a bitter smile, "My Junior Brother is obsessed with refining artifacts and doesn"t know the severity of the matter. How about I reject this business for him? As for the reward given by Fellow Daoist, the Golden Saint Sect will compensate you double."
The black-clothed young man laughed with a disdainful expression. "Sect Master, you must be joking. My dharma treasure is at the critical moment of refining. If it is damaged because of the interruption, what is a mere double compensation going to do?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the long sword on the forging furnace suddenly let out a sharp whistle. Immediately after, thousands of black fog rushed out from within and pounced fiercely towards Lian Yang.
Seeing this scene, the black-clothed young man revealed a look of lingering fear as he muttered, "As expected, there will be a backlash. Fortunately, I did not refine this dharma treasure myself..."
His words were not very loud, but the ears and eyes of cultivators were extremely sharp. When the bald man heard it, his face turned green with anger.
It seemed that this disciple of the Evil Fiend Hall had used his Junior Brother as a scapegoat. He had long heard that the people of the Evil Fiend Hall were arrogant and overbearing. Now that he saw it, it was true.
Lian Yang let out a m.u.f.fled groan, and the pain on his face became more and more obvious. Other than that, his black hair was turning white at a speed visible to the naked eye. Then, lines of wrinkles began to appear on his face.
"This..."
The bald man"s expression changed, and he did not care anymore. He went forward and wanted to take out the black longsword from the furnace, but the black-robed young man was faster than him. He took a step forward and blocked in front of him.
"Sect Master Jin, don"t make a mistake! Do you really think that the Evil Fiend Hall"s business is something that we can accept and give up just because we want to?"
The bald man glanced at the black-clothed youth in front of him.
This guy was only at the late stage of the Spirit Severing stage. If he really wanted to take that black longsword, this guy definitely wouldn"t be able to stop him.
However, the other party was, after all, a disciple of the Evil Fiend Hall... The Evil Fiend Hall was the overlord of the southern region, a terrifying existence that controlled over a thousand cities. With the Evil Fiend Hall backing him, even if the other party was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he wouldn"t dare to offend them.
However, if he really didn"t care, his Junior Brother"s situation was already getting more and more dangerous. Even if he really survived this calamity, he would probably be crippled.
Just as he was having a battle in his heart, a black light suddenly flashed in the black-clothed young man"s eyes. He said softly, "Sect Master Jin, Your Junior Brother is a genius in artifact refining. Although his artifact-refining skills aren"t comparable to yours now, what about the future?
"If one day, his artifact-refining skills surpa.s.s yours, how would you, the sect master, feel? So, looking at it from another angle, I"m helping you now, don"t you think so?"
A hint of confusion flashed in the eyes of the bald man, and his expression began to change.
...
Chen Chen, who was outside the mountain peak, could not help but be a little surprised when he saw this scene. He did not expect that the Evil Fiend Hall disciple, who was at the later stage of the Spirit Severing stage, could actually rely on a little illusion to influence the judgment of a Unification stage expert.
No, that was not right. This did not seem to be a pure illusion, but more like a kind of guidance.
Chen Chen vaguely understood something.
It must be known that the vast majority of people in this world had some bad thoughts in their hearts, and this black-clothed young man"s spell was to stir up these evil thoughts in people"s hearts, making it impossible for people to make a correct judgment for a moment.
Only such a concealed spell could fool a Unification stage cultivator.
Seeing the bald man seemed to be becoming more and more compromising, the nomological imprint on Chen Chen"s palm lit up again.
At the same time, a sharp blade of gra.s.s suddenly grew out from under the bald man"s feet and stabbed into the soles of his feet like a sharp sword.
On the other side, a vine patted Lian Yang"s back without leaving a trace.
The bald man instantly woke up, and a trace of fear flashed through his eyes. The aura of the form synthesis realm on his body shot out as if it was a conditioned reflex.
Boom!
A m.u.f.fled sound!
The black-clothed young man did not resist at all. He was sent flying by the powerful aura and fiercely crashed into the formation.
The bald man did not care much and directly took out the black longsword from the furnace. The thousands of black fog outside the longsword immediately let out a mournful roar as if it had lost its foundation, and eventually disappeared into nothingness.
"You... destroyed the foundation of my dharma treasure!"
Not far away, the black-clothed young man saw this scene and shouted angrily. His could not help but raise his hand, but he quickly put it down again.
"I"m sorry, this matter concerns my Junior Brother"s life. I had no choice."
The bald man threw down these words and directly walked towards Lian Yang, immediately feeding him a pill.
In the blink of an eye, Lian Yang slowly opened his eyes and looked at the bald man in front of him. His eyes were filled with guilt.
"Senior Brother, I"ve put you in a difficult position."
"It"s good that you know how to put me in a difficult position. Let"s see if you dare to accept such a dangerous task next time!"
The bald man cursed in a low voice. He had a feeling that he had failed to live up to expectations.
At this moment, the black-clothed young man had already picked up the long sword. After inspecting it, the pained expression on his face was obvious.
"Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more! Sect Master Jin, you destroyed my treasure. I will remember this matter. I will definitely seek an explanation in the future!"
The bald man"s face was expressionless as he said faintly, "The Golden Saint Sect will do our best to compensate you for your loss, Fellow Daoist."
"Compensate for my loss? Good, very good! Farewell!"
After saying those words, the black-clothed young man picked up the long sword, and turned to leave. It didn"t take long before he left the Golden Saint Sect.
Looking at the departing figure and the pair of Senior and Junior Brothers in the backyard, Chen Chen sighed and prepared to leave quietly.
However, before he could turn around, the bald man"s voice came from the backyard below.
"Fellow Daoist, since you"re here, why don"t you show yourself?"