Elder Shu sprayed the mouthful of tea he had just sipped, staring at the name that appeared on the jade.
[Name: Pan Lie]
[Affiliation: Corpse Sect]
[Status: Dead]
"I must be seeing things," Elder Shu muttered nervously, his eyes widening and mouth hanging open. He rubbed his eyes and read the name several times, trying to make sure he wasn't misreading the information on the jade.
Gulp.
After confirming that what he saw was indeed correct, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He knew the jade couldn't be wrong—it contained a bit of the soul essence from recorded criminals, acting like a life token that breaks upon death. Since it showed Pan Lie's status as dead, it meant Wang Ming had truly killed him.
His eyes fell on the scroll, which was the report for the mission that the employer had to write. He decided to read the report first before informing the Supreme Elder.
"He-Heavens!" His eyes nearly bulged out when he read the details of what happened in the mission. The shock was the same as when he learned that the Corpse Sect master had died.
"Heavens... His cultivation level must not have been real. I need to inform the Supreme Elder and Sect Master immediately," Elder Shu said nervously, grabbing his communication token with urgency.
Elder Meeting Room
There were three people in the room—two males and one female—talking among themselves while flipping through some papers.
"Hmm, looks like the tournament is not going to be easy," Lei Ping, the Supreme Elder, said in a casual voice as he read through the documents.
"You're going to accept a male disciple!?" Lei Ping asked in disbelief, as everyone knew she was the only Peak Master who exclusively accepted female disciples, all of whom were renowned for their beauty.
"Yes, if he joins my peak, I can convince him to use his highest-quality Yang Qi to boost the cultivation of his Senior Sisters, raising them to the Golden Core Realm. That way, my peak will become the strongest, and disciples from my peak will have the highest number participating in the tournament.
This is also the reason I came here—to cash in that favor so you don't inform the other Peak Masters yet. I know you haven't because if you had, they would all be fighting over disciple Wang Ming," she said with a giggle.
She had observed the cultivation progress of the female disciples who Dual Cultivated with him and was certain Wang Ming had not used his highest quality Yang Qi on all of them due to difference in their Cultivation increase.
'What a cunning woman,' both men thought to themselves.
"Fine, we'll agree to your request, but we still have to reserve some spots for disciples from other peaks," said Jiang Hong.
"It's fine, as my peak has the highest quota," she said nonchalantly.
"I've also sent a few disciples from my peak and told them about disciple Wang Ming. Naturally, they didn't believe me, so I promised them treasures if what I said turned out to be a lie. If their cultivation truly increases, I might also cultivate with him and convince him to join my peak," Zhou Huixin said with a giggle.
She planned to cultivate with Wang Ming herself, confident that doing so would help her break through to the Golden Core Realm, as she had been stuck at the peak of the Core Formation Realm for years.
"Oh, good idea. I'm sure you'll reach the Golden Core Realm if you cultivate with him," said Lei Ping, knowing that most Peak Masters, like Zhou Huixin, were stuck at the peak of the Core Formation Realm.
"I wonder what the faces of the Inner Court disciples will look like when they find out that most of the Outer Court disciples have similar or even stronger cultivation than them," Jiang Hong said in amusement. But then he grimaced, knowing there would be even more complaints from male disciples when the females started cultivating with Wang Ming.
He was certain the sect would witness a few more death matches in the future but won't stop Wang Ming as he was making the sect stronger.
"Hmm." Lei Ping raised an eyebrow as he felt something buzzing from his robes and pulled out his communication token.
'Elder Shu is calling me. Has disciple Wang Ming returned?' Lei Ping thought, raising an eyebrow.