He Yuan stood frozen in shock for a few more minutes before a mild panic set in. He began processing the entire events of the storyline once more to make sure he didn't miss an important event.
After going through the events once more and cross examining the time period, He Yuan let out a breath of relief. The remaining two events he'd noted down would take place two to four years from now, at age twenty two and twenty five.
Although He Yuan still had some misgivings about the time periods. He had no idea if the butterfly effect had caused some events to happen earlier. If he were to find out that Mo Jiu had somehow dual cultivated with the female demonic cultivator, his guts would twist in regret.
He Yuan slowly finished up his meal and prepared himself to head over to the Cloud peak. He needed to appear before the sect master and elders himself. Just so they could actually verify what elder Mo had told them.
Once He Yuan arrived at the Cloud peak, he was taken aback for a moment. About twenty Duoluo sect inner disciples were gathered in front of the great hall, the personal disciples included. The sect master, two peak masters and an elder were also present.
All eyes turned to He Yuan the moment he walked into the clearing. Mo Jiu was surrounded by followers, admirers and lovers. There were also a bunch of new faces mixed in the group. As soon as he set eyes on He Yuan, his brows raised.
His master had informed him that Mo Sheng had gone on an impromptu close door cultivation due to an impending breakthrough.
From what he was seeing, there was no success. Mo Sheng was still as talentless as ever with no cultivation level. Mo Jiu scoffed in boredom. Mo Sheng could be so carefree about his cultivation because he had the protection of their master. He had no real responsibilities. Him, Mo Jiu, disliked these times the most. They were able to be relaxed without putting in effort due to some sort of privilege.
Such a person could not be found by his side.
He Yuan calmly walked forward as he took in the varying expressions of every one in the group. He cupped a fist towards Ru Liangfeng. "Pardon my interruption, Sect master." Then he looked to the others. "Elder, peak masters."
The peak masters barely acknowledged He Yuan whilst the sect master and elder did double takes. Ru Lianfeng waved and went back to his speech. "This disturbance was noticed at the border town between the Jiang prefecture and the Flourishing rock mountain...." He went on to explain various details.
Apparently, a group of evil cultivators had been wrecking havoc in a place so close to the Duoluo sect. That, in itself, was an insult and a slap to their faces. The elders, sect master and peak masters decided that it would be best to send in the disciples to take care of the problem and gain experience.
He Yuan listened casually. The villagers at the border town had been trapped in a large scale formation to be refined in order to improve the cultivation of a bunch of fairly powerful evil cultivators. The large amount of evil miasma had alerted a passing rogue cultivator to the problem.
Luckily, the rogue cultivator had reported to the Bureau. Since Duoluo sect was the closest sect to the border town, the sect master had been questioned. He had lost a lot of face since it was implied that Duoluo sect was lax in their management and not capable enough.
He Yuan wasn't too bothered. This problem was actually solved in the storyline without much hassle so he didn't want to bother himself to even join. Mo Jiu, as expected, stole the show and eradicated evil.
"...Put in your best, be alert and do not lose face for this sect!" Ru Lianfeng completed sternly and the disciples present cupped their fists in obedience. He waved to dismiss everyone and hooked a finger at He Yuan before turning and entering the great hall with the elder by his side.
Mo Jiu narrowed his eyes as He Yuan entered the great hall, lost in thought. "Jiu-gege?" He snapped out of it and looked by his side to see one of his live-in harem members. She had large eyes and a full luscious figure, giving her a really soft look as the sun shone down on her. He smiled softly and answered, "Hm?"
"You looked lost in thought. The selected disciples have to leave for the border town later today. Do you need help in preparing your stuff?"
"No." Mo Jiu answered curtly and then he smirked. "But I need help with something else." Next he took the female cultivator with him and rode away.
Gu Long stared after them and looked away. Lately, he'd been questioning himself more and more on why he allowed himself to put up with this.
"Your master had informed us of the fact that you are a demon hybrid." Ru Lianfeng said as soon as he took his seat on the platform with the elder seated beside him.
He Yuan nodded with a cupped fist.
Ru Lianfeng nodded. "Maybe now, you would be able to produce good results. There are records of hybrids activating the demon bloodline. Although rare, it is not impossible. You just have to work hard enough."
He Yuan let out a breath of relief inwardly. He was glad that elder Mo jad kept his activated bloodline a secret. "Yes, sect master."
"Good. The disciples going on the mission later today, join them. Since you can now cultivate, it wouldn't do to keep to yourself all the time. You need to foster good relations with your mates.
-Talk to that shidi of yours too. Who knows, he might lecture you and give you insight. With his talent, it shouldn't be so difficult for you to at least become slightly above average." Ru Lianfeng finished.
He Yuan rolled his eyes inwardly. Mo Jiu had never successfully lectured anyone on cultivation before. The ones he took in, always end up under him in bed and then they become his harem members and then there is no need for them to learn anymore because he is capable of 'protecting' them.
"Noted, sect master." He Yuan cupped his fists one more time before leaving. He never planned on joining the expedition but now that he'd been drafted with the rest, he would have to take it seriously. Who knows, this might also be a good chance for him to properly test his skills.
Later that day, He Yuan met up with the other disciples at the foot of the Duoluo sect mountain. A bunch of eyes widened in surprise when they saw He Yuan and a bunch of them directly burst out laughing. What was this? Did Mo Sheng think this mission was a joke?
Gu Long frowned and walked up to He Yuan. "Why are you here?" He said sternly.
He Yuan only shrugged. If one wasn't careful, it was so easy to mistake Gu Long's tone as condescending. "Apparently, I have to foster a good relationship with my fellow disciples."
Gu Long's frown deepened. "Did you offend the sect master?"
He Yuan shrugged again. He could understand why Gu Long was asking. With Mo Sheng's original state, sending him on such a mission was basically sending him off to die.
Mei Hua was the first one to spot Gu Long conversing with He Yuan. She frowned. "Gu Long! Why are you wasting your time on that trash? Clearly, he'd lost too much face for the sect and the sect master had no choice but to send him off this way." The laughter increased.
Gu Long ignored Mei Hua and stared up at He Yuan in contemplation. Why would the sect master make Mo Sheng join them? "Don't go?"
He Yuan laughed. "Is that an option?"
Gu Long took out a pill bottle. "Here." He really wasn't good at speaking and he had no idea how to convince Mo Sheng to hide in an inn in town and not go. The man was always jumping into such situations just so he wouldn't feel inadequate.
He Yuan stared down at Gu Long and the pill bottle in his hand. This wasn't the first time this happened.
"Gu Long!" Mo Jiu finally called out. Gu Long was his second in command. His. What was he doing conversing so freely with another man? And even offering him a bottle of his personally refined pills. What was that about? Come here."
Gu Long stiffened. He looked up at He Yuan one last time and shoved the pill in his hand. "Make sure to stay close by alright?" And then he slowly walked away.
Mo Jiu eyed Gu Long dangerously and lowered his lips to the shorter man's ear. "Later." Gu Long gulped and lowered his shaky eyes.
Everyone hoped on their swords and began the ride to the border town, making sure to give He Yuan a wide berth. He Yuan wasn't bothered by this and just calmly followed.
An hour later, they all arrived at the border town. It was a small town surrounded by mountains on all corners. From afar, everything looked normal but as soon as one got close enough, they could see clouds of dark energy forming over the top of the town.
Mo Jiu stepped forward and no one argued. On missions like these, he was always the naturally appointed leader. He Yuan had no problem with this. He just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.
The disciples were quickly organized and soon enough, the barrier was broken. Hordes of evil cultivators with black clouds of aura hanging around their entire beings rushed out to attack the cultivators that had disrupted their formation.
He Yuan couldn't fight hands on since he had to keep his cultivation level a secret so he helped out by sending occasional sneak attacks to the evil cultivators. It wasn't much but it helped hone his focus and precision.
The cultivators soon began to unleash their spirit beasts and when Mo Jiu's phoenix was let out, the fight was won. The gigantic spirit beast flew over the heads of the evil cultivators, spewing fire.
"AAHH!"
"YOU BASTARDS!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Countless unnecessary scream were heard as the evil cultivators burnt to crisps. A short while later, the evil cultivators were wiped out and the cleaning up was left to the special team that had been sent by the Bureau.
He Yuan pat his hands and took out the lotus artifact. This was the reason he hadn't bothered to try too much. Mo Jiu was overpowered after all so tasks involving him always turned out to be easier than was originally claimed.
The Duoluo sect disciples began their journey back to their peak with He Yuan looking the most energized of them all -besides Mo Jiu of course. He Yuan was a little dumbfounded here. What did they do for them to look so drained?
"Shameless! Did nothing but leech off of the hard work of the rest of us," A disciple whispered and a lot of others eyed He Yuan in dissatisfaction.
He Yuan shrugged as he relaxed comfortably on his lotus artifact. "I didn't choose to come so don't blame me." They kept acting like they didn't all just relax and watch as the phoenix singlehandedly took out the evil cultivators.
Mei Hua clenched her fists in anger and Ba Duo humphed the two were just about to kick He Yuan from his high horse when,
"AAAHHHHH!"
An anguished scream was heard from below the forest that their group was flying over.