Chapter 263 The Lost Token



"This token!!! How are you in possession of this!!!?" the First Grand Elder asked in shock and reverence.

Sect Master Yun sneered in response.

"Does it matter? You know what this represents. You claim to be someone who has a deep attachment to this sect. What are you going to do now? Are you going to follow the sect precepts or are you going to oppose me?"

The First Grand Elder remained silent for a long time without replying to anything. He was obviously conflicted in his heart. He knew what the right thing to do here was. But, the sect precepts were clear. Anyone who had that token must be obeyed unconditionally.

That token represented the authority of the founder of the Heavenly Demon Sect. That token has been lost for centuries even before he became an elder. It was rumored that this token was lost after the founder of the Heavenly Demon Sect ascended to a higher realm. It has never resurfaced after that.

Now, this particular token was in the hands of the Sect Master. The First Grand Elder didn't know how to react to this situation. He didn't know how the Sect Master got hold of this token. But, this changed things drastically.

While the primary function of that token was to denote the authority of the holder, it also had an auxiliary function. With that token, anyone could activate a forbidden hidden formation in the sect grounds. That formation was rumored to have the power to kill Earth Immortals in minutes. It was with this formation as a base that the founder established the prestige of the Heavenly Demon Sect in his early days.

Stories from sect annals have narrated that the founder killed several Dao Transformation realm cultivators and Earth Immortals who came to pick trouble after the sect was founded initially. The bloodbath that was created using this formation was the base on which the hegemony of the Heavenly Demon Sect was built on.

After the token was lost, this matter was never publicized. Most Sect Masters tended to ignore the issue entirely and act as if the token hadn't been present in the first place. The only other alternative way to activate the hidden formation was for the three Grand Elders, the Vice-Sect Master, and the Sect Master to use all their identity tokens together.

As much as the First Grand Elder wanted to oppose the Sect Master's plans, he didn't have the courage to go against the holder of this token. This was a sure way to court death within the grounds of the sect.

Moreover, with this token in hand, the Sect Master's prowess would be multiplied as well. Going against such a formidable opponent who has such a trump card was foolish in the First Grand Elder's opinion.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to say what needed to be said.

Seeing the First Grand Elder in such a serious dilemma, Sect Master Yun's anger faded a bit. The irritation in his heart was replaced with respect for the old man. Without sects, cultivators wouldn't get the peaceful environment required for them to advance. Likewise, without cultivators, a sect wouldn't prosper as well.

They existed interdependent in the cultivation world. Excluding the loose cultivators, a sect or an organization's prosperity is tied to having loyal members in it. Seeing the old man's loyalty to the sect even after the situation had become this clear, Sect Master Yun birthed some respect for him in his heart.

Unlike other demonic clans, the Yun clan was a clan that focused heavily on understanding the essence of a person or a thing. They were the strategists of the demonic cultivation group in the upper world. Every member of the Yun needed to understand the dynamics between people and the other entities that populated the cultivation world. Even their cultivation technique was biased towards such a path of enlightenment.

So, Sect Master Yun knew how valuable such a loyal person could be.

There have been countless sects that were annihilated in the course of the times. Sects rise and fall periodically in the cultivation world. No single sect has held dominion since ancient times. It was like a cycle in the cultivation world.

However, there were only a rare few who remained loyal to their sects when times turned tough. Especially, among the demonic cultivators, such a behavior was pretty rare. Neither Liang Tianye nor the other people he had suborned so far were this loyal to the Heavenly Demon Sect.

It was only natural that he respected such loyalty.

Aliong with it, the desire to acquire such a loyal person and make them loyal to himself was also birthed in the Sect Master's heart. Sect Master Yun sensed an opportunity in the air. If he played this right, the First Grand Elder and him need not become enemies. He could even possibly get the loyalty of the First Grand Elder down the line.

"Grand Elder," Sect Master Yun spoke in a calm manner, "maybe if I narrate the history and the details that were known only to a select few in this world, you will be able to make a decision clearly. I implore you to listen to me first. Then, you can take your time to decide."

The First Grand Elder looked at Sect Master Yun with a complicated look. He let out a deep sigh and motioned for Sect Master Yun to continue. The Sect Master nodded back graciously and started speaking.

"Let me start with some ancient history so that you can understand what is happening clearly. To start off, first, you need to know what kind of world this is. This world is called as the Heavenly Prison World among the three thousand worlds in the universe..."

*****

Duncan felt an increasing sense of danger engulf his heart as he moved through the wilderness.

He didn't know why, but his heart was beginning to become heavy as time passed. Logically, he should be well and clear of any pursuers that were chasing after him. But, he had been feeling uneasy for some time now. And that feeling was only increasing as time passed.

Duncan didn't think that the two cultivators who had approached his battle site would be able to track him through this wilderness easily. He had learned about moving through the wilderness from Leia when he was just a mortal.

Even without cultivation, he knew how to cover his tracks. Now that he had cultivation, that only became much easier. With increased cultivation, one of the side effects is that it has become much easier to control one's body.

With increased body control, one can easily not leave behind any tracks as they moved through any terrain. That is why tracking down and hunting a cultivator needed some special tracking techniques. Gu bugs and scent powders were employed for this reason.

Duncan hadn't found any evidence of such things being employed to track him down. Furthermore, he was even more clear that he didn't give his opposition any opportunity to employ them on him. The only ways someone could track him down was by his qi signature, smell, and visual tracking.

With no one following him behind, the problem of visual tracking was easily evaded. As for tracking through scent, Duncan didn't think that the arriving cultivators had any beasts with them. So, that possibility was also minimal.

That left only one option for anyone to track him down – via qi signature.

When a cultivator employed qi to aid their movements, the residual qi from them will linger in the atmosphere for a bit before dispersing itself naturally. If a cultivator could grasp the qi signature of another cultivator, they could track him by that qi signature.

However, the demands for it are very stringent.

First, a cultivator must know a technique that could identify any qi signature. Then, that qi signature must be matched with that particular cultivator. Following that, the one who tracks must be fast enough so that the remaining qi doesn't dissipate naturally into the atmosphere hiding the tracks.

Only when all these things can be accomplished can one track another cultivator.

Considering the fact that his speed had more than tripled since he broke through, Duncan didn't think Violet Palace realm cultivators could track him down with his qi signature easily.

That meant it could only mean one thing. The one who was tracking him wasn't a Violet Palace realm cultivator.

Duncan wasn't aware of the different changes a cultivator would undergo when he entered the transformational stages of cultivation. His master didn't tell him anything regarding it. As he didn't need the cultivation technique provided by the sect, Duncan hadn't bothered to talk to his master about these kinds of things.

Furthermore, the ones who attacked him earlier were Violet Palace realm cultivators. Duncan was confident of giving them the slip using the wilderness in the area near the slaughter field he created. He had picked this exact spot for a reason after all.

However, since the uneasy feeling is still present, Duncan knew for sure that the person who was coming after him was definitely not a Violet Palace realm. That meant the hunt had picked up steam early itself.

At the minimum, a Golden Hall cultivator was on his tail.

Realizing this, Duncan didn't panic at all. He had expected such a thing to happen sooner or later. However, this was far sooner than he expected. He didn't think that Golden Hall experts would be able to catch up to him this fast.

That meant that either of the sects had reacted far faster than he had anticipated. Envoy Ming's presence can be an indicator of that. Or it could also mean that the situation had changed and someone else had stepped in as well to hunt him down. Duncan didn't need to be a genius to figure out who that third party could be.

He had already seen those two cultivators who saved Envoy Ming. They were definitely not from any sect. They belonged to the group that hunted him in the Grotto Heaven. Duncan frowned slightly as he realized that new players were also entering the arena.

Still, it didn't faze Duncan. Rather, it only made him behave more cautiously.

With a thought, Duncan began to mask his presence as much as possible and began to employ everything he had learned from Leia about moving in the wilderness. He minimized the trail he left behind and hoped that it would be enough to buy him enough time to vanish into the wilderness completely.

"Whoever you are, I won't make it easy for you to come after me," Duncan murmured under his breath and increased his speed.

*****

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