Five days later.
The ten sect masters arrived at the imperial palace with gifts.
Soon, Liang Feifan, accompanied by Liang Dekui, entered the great hall.
"Congratulations on your successful cultivation, Senior Liang!" everyone bowed in unison.
"You are too kind, fellow Daoists." Liang Feifan gestured and sat on the dragon throne. "The stability of the Great Liang Kingdom is thanks to all of you. I am deeply grateful."
"Senior Liang is too polite; this is our duty," the ten sect masters quickly replied.
They exchanged pleasantries, spewing meaningless drivel.
Seeing Liang Feifan's ruddy complexion and robust energy, the ten sect masters secretly despaired.
Just as they were about to move against the Ziyun Sect, this old man emerges from seclusion.
What terrible luck...
At the same time, they cursed someone in their hearts.
A thousand years ago, Liang Feifan had fought with an outsider cultivator.
The outsider cultivator died, and Liang Feifan was severely injured.
The dying cultivator had predicted that Liang Feifan's body and cultivation would fail within five hundred years.
At that time, the ten sect masters were ecstatic, thinking their opportunity had finally arrived.
But what was the outcome?
A thousand years had passed, and Liang Feifan was still as lively as ever!
What a useless piece of trash!
All talk and no action!
"By the way, I heard that some rogue cultivators from outside have been frequently harassing the disciples in the Monster Beast Forest recently."
After the formalities were concluded, Liang Feifan spoke:
"I'll trouble all of you to pay close attention to this matter."
"Senior Liang, we are already handling it," the ten sect masters replied quickly. "It will be resolved within three days at most!"
They knew this was Liang Feifan's warning.
The Blazing Flame Mountain Range could no longer be attacked.
They never expected that the Ziyun Sect and the royal family would have such a secret alliance!
After all their efforts, they gained nothing and lost so many elders...
Despite their extreme reluctance, they had no choice but to endure...
Liang Feifan suddenly felt a surge of true qi in his body and quickly suppressed it, startled.
Liang Feifan sighed inwardly.
His injuries were more severe than he had imagined...
The sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect, who had been observing him, narrowed his eyes.
After the formalities, it was time for eating, drinking, and watching young ladies dance.
As it was nearing noon, Liang Feifan decided to find an excuse to leave.
Because noon was when his injuries would erupt most violently, staying any longer would surely expose him!
"Please enjoy yourselves, everyone." Liang Feifan stood up. "I have some matters to attend to and must take my leave."
"Senior Liang." The sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect stepped forward. "I have some cultivation doubts and would like to take this opportunity to ask for your guidance."
Liang Feifan remained silent, looking at him as if he were an idiot.
The other nine sect masters also looked bewildered.
Liang Feifan knew very well that their ten sects always wanted to kill him.
We are enemies, and you want to ask him about cultivation?
Are you out of your mind?
"Is Senior Liang disdaining to guide this junior?"
The sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect stared intently at Liang Feifan.
"Or is Senior Liang in such a hurry to leave because he's afraid we'll discover something?"
The music and dance abruptly stopped.
The hall fell silent!
Liang Feifan's heart sank!
He had suppressed his injuries immediately, yet he was still discovered...
"Are you provoking me, old man?" Liang Feifan reprimanded with a calm expression. "Do you believe I can destroy you right now?!"
"Yes, I believe it," the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect pointed at the other sect masters. "Even if all of us joined forces, you could easily destroy us."
"However..." at this point, the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect's eyes changed. "If you were to make a move, wouldn't you also perish?!"
Liang Feifan's hand in his sleeve clenched into a tight fist!
It had finally been exposed...
"It seems Senior has already given me the answer." The sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect cupped his fists in a salute and turned to leave.
The nine sect masters followed suit with a bow and quickly followed him.
"Brother You, do you mean that old fellow is nearing his end?" someone asked curiously on the way back.
After all, the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect was the most powerful among them, only a minor realm below Liang Feifan.
"Not only that," the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect shook his head and explained the reason.
It turned out he had once encountered the descendants of the cultivator who had injured Liang Feifan back then and learned some of the characteristics of that cultivation technique from them.
The characteristics displayed by Liang Feifan's true qi fluctuation just now were exactly the same as those of a late-stage injury!
Liang Feifan had suppressed his injuries for a thousand years, and the effect of its eruption would definitely be more potent!
In short, Liang Feifan was doomed!
"What should we do next?" the sect master of the Falling Feather Sect inquired.
"One word: wait," the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect stroked his beard. "Liang Feifan doesn't have much time left. We'll wait until he dies."
"However, during this waiting period..." at this point, the sect master of the Wandering Dragon Sect glanced in the direction of the Blazing Flame Mountain Range. "We can continue with our original plan!"
The imperial palace.
"Old Ancestor, what the Wandering Dragon Sect said... is it true?" Liang Dekui asked nervously.
"Yes... I didn't expect him to discover it," Liang Feifan sighed. "If I had made a move just now, I could have destroyed them, but I would have died on the spot."
"However, you don't need to worry too much. They wouldn't dare to attack me proactively." Saying this, Liang Feifan patted Liang Dekui's shoulder. "During this time, you should focus on developing that ancient ruin. It might be our Liang family's last hope."
"As for the Blazing Sun Mountain Range, I am powerless..." With these words, Liang Feifan turned and left.
Meanwhile.
The ten sect masters flew towards the Blazing Sun Mountain Range.
"Beep beep beep beep beep beep...!"
Their communication jade tokens rang simultaneously.
The messages all conveyed the same information.
The royal family had discovered a large tomb in an ancient ruin and was secretly developing it!
The ten sect masters immediately turned back.
Although the Blazing Sun Mountain Range was good, it was still inferior to an ancient ruin.
Upon returning to their respective sects, they began preparing for the development of the ancient ruin.
The Blazing Sun Mountain Range was simple; a few elders at the second or third level of the Void Refining realm would suffice.
Not long after, dozens of elders in the Void Refining realm arrived at the gates of the Ziyun Sect.
Although the elders who had been killed previously at the first level of the Void Refining realm were trash compared to them, they did not dare to be careless.
Without further ado, they unleashed their ultimate moves!
Fierce true qi fluctuations erupted, and the Ziyun Sect was thrown into chaos.
Sect Master Ziyun was also terrified and hurriedly gathered the disciples of the sect.
Judging by the escaping true qi, he was definitely no match.
Fighting was out of the question; they could only run!
It turned out that when the sect's base was being built, Sect Master Ziyun had already dug an escape secret tunnel...
After the disciples gathered at the secret tunnel, Sect Master Ziyun flew towards Jingming Lake.
If anyone could save Sect Master Ziyun now, it would only be his beloved disciple!