318 Smooth Sailing 1

When Lu Sheng returned to the Spring Sun Sect, the news had only been spread around in the upper managements of the sect. No one seemed to know that he went alone to town to murder the Lin Family.

In the robes of an inner sect disciple, he followed Feikong Zi to the Elder Palace. 

The Spring Sun Sect seemed to be holding some kind of special ceremony. Many of the pretty female disciples had been selected. They all wore intricate green dresses, and had swords on their waists. Occasionally, Lu Sheng would see some of them practicing on the field beside the roads.

Lu Sheng spared them a few more looks and realized that, compared to sects in the Great Song, the laws here were more stringent.

In other words, the disciples here were disciplined tighter. Their expressions were clearly more restrained.

'Maybe it's because the sects are in control of the technique for absorbing Essence Qi as well the land?' he guessed.

As he followed Feikong Zi to the front of the Elder Palace, he realized that although there were many people going about their business, not many were disciples like him. Most of the instructors coming and going gave him a glance.

***

Secret chamber, inside the Elder Palace.

Four of the five elders of the Spring Sun Sect were present.

Great Elder Yun Hanzhu, whose courtesy name was Kongzhu, was sitting quietly in his green robe decorated with a bamboo leaf pattern.

The other elders all wore black masks that concealed their faces. There were a few of them who couldn't hide their bent backs.

Looking at his old friends, Yu Hanzhu coughed. "The situation with the Lin Family of Sleeping Moon County can be marked as solved now. I was planning on sending someone to gauge their reaction too. I didn't expect a new disciple to solve this problem for us. This disciple named Lu Sheng... has anyone found out who he is and where he came from yet?"

The other elders were silent.

Yun Hanzhu frowned. "Shuise, you first."

An elder sitting on the right blinked for a second before nodding. "It's quite simple. Lu Sheng was an orphan that grew up deep on the Sleeping Moon Mountain. When he first left, he didn't even know the human language. According to the rumors, he learned how to speak by following a hunter. He lacks even the most basic common sense."

"That means nothing. What can we even do with this little bit of intel? Those disguised devils have the same kind of background," another elder countered with a humph.

"Me and Yantu confirmed it as well. The first time he appeared was near the woods of Sleeping Moon Mountain. A lumberjack saw him. There's also the hunter who taught him the slang of this area," Elder Shuise said flatly.

"That doesn't mean anything. Devil scouts can also easily acquire such information." That elder seemed to dislike Shuise, and continued the argument. "I checked it out myself, as well. Though this Lu Sheng's background is mysterious, I sensed something special within his bloodline."

"Oh? Which family does it belong to?"

"It felt like fire, of the Yang type. Not sure which family exactly, but it's not the Yin type of the Devil World. "

"It's fine as long as he's not a devil spy. Since he meets the bloodline requirement, this matter is decided. We haven't found capable disciples in five years. No matter what, the strong will prevail. This time, I'll take him and my grandson to try at the Node," the Great Elder concluded.

"What about the other six direct disciples?" Shuise questioned. 

"There are only a few talented disciples within that group. Make the weakest two give up their spots; the resources must go toward the disciples with the most potential," the great elder said flatly.

"That is true."

"That's how it should be."

All the elders nodded.

"Then, what about the new disciple, Wang Yunlong?" Shuise suddenly asked awkwardly.

"Connected veins body…" Great Elder frowned. "Tell one more direct disciple to give up their spot. They can go anytime they want. It shouldn't matter if they give up a little time during the special training session."

"Hm, you are right."

***

Lu Sheng waited outside the Elder Palace as the meeting went on, but soon, Feikong Zi came out and congratulated Lu Sheng happily.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother, you got a spot for the Node!"

"A spot for the Node? What is that?" Lu Sheng didn't understand.

"Come, we can discuss this over dinner." Feikong Zi's attitude clearly got warmer.

The two soon reached a restaurant outside the Spring Sun Sect. After a couple cups of wine, Feikong Zi finally explained what the Node was.

"Junior Brother, you might not know, but the Node is a place where all the Spirit Qi in the air gathers. It is the part with the densest concentration of Spirit Qi within the Spring Sun Sect. Disciples who cultivate there will have vastly improved efficiency."

"I… thought everyone cultivated there?" Lu Sheng asked in confusion.

Feikong Zi shook his head. "They weren't cultivating, just exercising. Actual cultivation is most efficient when it's a single person. If everyone had to fight for the Spirit Qi, how would anyone other than the strongest cultivate?"

Lu Sheng nodded. He had suspected that those group trainings were actually just exercises. 

"Then what is a Node?"

"A Node is a formation. Think of it as a gathering place for Spirit Qi with limits. The concentration is much greater than the outside." Feikong Zi explained. "Just know that if you are assigned a Node, then you were extremely lucky!"

"Those who are assigned a node are… sigh… different from the rest." He shook his head and shut his mouth. "You will find out eventually."

Lu Sheng had a feeling that he was about to come in contact with an integral part of the Great Yin's setup.

***

In a courtyard inside Autumn Moon County, thousands of Li away from Sleeping Moon County.

In a space underground.

Several members of the Turquoise Conch Agency of the Great Yin were inspecting an oval-shaped object about as tall as a man and two meters wide, trying to find any indicators on how to approach it.

Occasionally, a silver dot of light would flash randomly on the black oval.

A middle-aged woman wearing a black veil and close-fitting cloth as well as a white rectangular-shaped token, and who had two golden knives as thin as wires on her thigh, was kneeling to touch the silver dot of light on the oval.

"That reaction which we suspected to be Devil Qi, has it disappeared yet?" she asked in a low voice. Her voice had a strict and restrained quality to it, making everyone who heard it automatically nervous.

"It has. That Devil Qi was very weird. It wasn't like the Devil Qi of the Devil Army—it wasn't released. In fact, it was extremely restrained and didn't contaminate anything, which was why we didn't discover it in time. Even the Evolving Earth Ovoid didn't pick up on it," a man in a similar black veil answered respectably.

"Then we don't have to worry about it. Maybe someone powerful enough passed by and took care of it," the woman said casually. "Has the case of the Chen Family been taken care of?"

"The Yin Yang Agency has dispatched people to take care of it. No status report yet."

"The case in Wu Family Town?"

"Taken care of already."

"Yin Yang Agency… they are quite capable, aren't they?" The woman stood up and smiled. "Who knows? Maybe next year, there wouldn't be anything for our Autumn Moon County to do. That way, at least we can have a break."

"Who knows." The people that stood behind her let out a laugh as well.

They were part of the Turquoise Conch Agency, the force living in the shadows. They were in charge of taking care of anything that couldn't be taken care of using ordinary means.

The Great Yin was separated into two parts: military and Agency of Paranormals.

The Agency of Paranormals consisted mainly of the Yin Yang Agency and the Turquoise Conch Agency.

Both Agencies covered every single inch of Great Yin Soil. Normal demons, ghosts, devils, and anomalies were all taken care of Yin Yang Agency.

Only when they couldn't handle a case as it was so difficult and horrifying would the Turquoise Conch Agency be contacted.

For the people working for the Turquoise Conch Agency, not having any cases to work on was the greatest of blessings.

"Alright, alright, everyone can leave now. Go back to your families and rest." The woman with a veiled face smiled and clapped her hands.

The members all smiled and started to leave through many different exits.

Soon, the only ones left in the cave were the woman and a girl.

"Elder Sister…" the girl whispered to the woman after checking that no one was around. "There's been some progress for the Fei Family case."

The veiled woman stopped and was suddenly quiet.

The girl continued, "This time, the person who disappeared was the third son, Fei Mingyu. I have made sure that there wouldn't be any rumors. What are your orders?"

Silence fell in the cave.

The veiled woman didn't speak, and only clenched her fist.

The Fei Family case was a case that was resolved some time back. About ten people had disappeared mysteriously, with no Devil Qi, no Yin Qi, and no clues left behind. No one knew how or why it happened, but then it stopped just as mysteriously as it had started.

Her superior assumed that it was because of her work and resolved the case. She didn't correct them, either, and reaped a substantial reward.

In truth, she didn't do anything at the time, yet got the biggest reward. She even faked a perfect report because of her greed.

The incident started to occur again. If her superior found anything wrong and discovered her lies...

Her body shivered at the prospect.

"That's hard to deal with in the city. Make sure the news doesn't spread, evacuate the crowd, and make the Fei Family move out. We will take care of this quietly with our own people.

The girl understood what her sister wanted and nodded.

***

The Spring Sun Sect.

Lu Sheng packed his belongings and followed the disciple leading the way. As he was about to leave their house, he ran into Zhong Yuan and her companion coming back from the cafeteria.

The courtyard was piled with small and big bags that Lu Sheng had packed. All of them were full of herbs, clothings, weapons, and other stuff that Lu Sheng had collected.

Zhong Yuan blanked out as she saw Lu Sheng.

"Brother Lu, are you about to leave?"

"Yes." Lu Sheng nodded. "You guys just came back from eating?"

"Yes…" Zhong Yuan stared at Lu Sheng's bags with a complex expression, speechless.

Zhang Kairong seemed to have something in mind; his eyes turned dull for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

"Brother Lu is powerful now. Don't forget that the days we spent in the same yard!" he joked.

"You can come to me if you are in trouble. I will help if I can," Lu Sheng said flatly.

"Brother Lu is the best, unlike that Wang Yulong who broods all day as if someone had offended him," Zhang Kairong complained.

Lu Sheng chatted with the two for a bit longer, then left the courtyard.

As he returned to the Elder Palace, someone immediately greeted him and gave Lu sheng a list with his new living quarter and monthly supply of resources.

Lu Sheng successfully settled down in his new home.