‘They’ve discovered us?’ Li Rou’s expression changed drastically. She did not expect to be discovered by the members of the Smudge Crow Sect so quickly since she had picked a secluded hiding place and even set up a Formation to conceal their auras.
Meanwhile, the dozens of disciples from the Elegant Sect began to panic. They looked at Li Rou who was their only hope at this moment.
“Ninth Elder, what should we do now that we’ve been discovered?”
“Ninth Elder, I don’t wanna die.”
“Ninth Elder…”
Li Rou inhaled deeply before she smiled and said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, they might not know our exact location. Who knows if they’re just trying to lure us out with their words. We can’t leave the cave now. If they really discover us, they would come to the cave. If we leave recklessly now, we might fall into their trap…”
The disciples calmed down slightly after listening to Li Rou’s words. All of them held their breaths, trying to stay as quiet as possible.
Soon after, the commotion outside of the cave died down.
With this, one of the disciples said with a smile, “It seems like we’re safe now.”
“Thank goodness the Ninth Elder is calm and rational. Otherwise, we would’ve fallen into their trap.”
The disciples were in high spirits now after narrowly escaping discovery by their enemies. In fact, most of them had yet to process the situation they were in. Calamity had descended so suddenly on the Elegant Sect. The members of the sect had fled in different directions during the chaos; each of the high-ranking officials of the sect brought with them as many disciples as they could to escape the disaster.
At this moment, a loud and contemptuous voice rang from outside the cave.
“Elder Li Rou.”
At the same time, a towering figure flew from the east into the cave, causing the expressions of the disciples from the Elegant Sect to change drastically.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Li Rou’s eyes flashed coldly as she attacked without any hesitation. Tens of thousands of sword rays flew toward the intruder. Alas, her attacks barely left a scratch on the intruder.
Celestial Origin Energy surged out and easily nullified Li Rou’s sword rays. It was clear she was no match for her opponent at all.
The intruder, a tall and muscular bearded man, said with flashing eyes, “Elder Li Rou, you’re no match for me. It’s unfortunate that our Sect Leader is fond of you. Otherwise, I would’ve taken you for myself… Nevertheless, your disciples are pretty good as well…”
Following that, a few figures appeared behind the bearded man
At the same time, despair overwhelmed the disciples of the Elegant Sect when they saw the bearded man. Their faces paled as soon as they saw the bearded man.
“It’s the Smudge Crow Sect’s Third Elder, Fang Ji!”
“Fang Ji is an Eight Trigrams Celestial King; Elder Li Rou is no match for him… It’s easy for him to kill all of us!”
“Heavens! Now that Fang Ji is here, we’re doomed!”
Nevertheless, despite the hopelessness of the situation, most of the disciples of the Elegant Sect did not give in to despair. They were determined to fight to the end; they would rather die than yield to the Smudge Crow Sect!
Li Rou felt the same way as well; she was prepared to put her life on the line. She looked at the young girls around her before she said to Fang Ji with unconcealed disgust. “Elder Fang Ji, they’re just children. Why can’t you just leave them alone?”
Fang Ji looked at the young girls in front of him before he said, ‘Elder Li Rou, you must be joking. All of them look so pretty now; there’s no doubt they’ll grow up into great beauties in just a few years. Don’t worry, we’ll raise them well after we bring them back to the sect…”
Li Rou’s eyes flashed coldly when she heard Fang Ji’s words.
At this moment, one of the disciples from the Elegant Sect suddenly said, “Elder Li Rou, senior sisters, junior sisters, I’ll take my leave first!”
Following that, the female disciple decisively struck her own forehead, committing suicide.
With that, the female disciples from the Elegant Sect began to commit suicide one after another to preserve their honor. Their bodies fell to the ground one after another.
Li Rou was trembling with anger. She was frustrated by her lack of power to do anything. She could only watch helplessly as the disciples of the Elegant Sect collapsed to the ground.
Upon seeing this, Fang Li said indifferently, “How courageous of them!” He glanced at the bodies on the ground and said to the people behind him, “Keep their bodies in the Spatial Ring. We can give their corpses to the elders and disciples with perverted habits…”
“Yes, Third Elder.”
At the same time, the faces of the disciples of the Elegant Sect who were about to commit suicide as well paled immediately when they heard Fang Ji’s words. What was the point of committing suicide when the Smudge Crow Sect clearly did not intend to let them go even in death?
Before Fang Ji’s subordinates could make a move, Li Rou made a move first. Tens of thousands of sword rays appeared and swept out toward the corpses of the disciples from the Elegant Sect, destroying them in an instance. She would not allow their corpses to be defiled.
“Elder Li Rou, you can only do so much,” Fang Ji said nonchalantly, “As we speak, there’s a large number of bodies of the Elegant Sect disciples being transported back to our sect. Elder Li Rou, our Sect Leader had said that if you dare to commit suicide, he’ll cut and flay 100 Elegant Sect disciples alive…”
As though he could read Li Rou’s thoughts, Fang Ji continued to say, “Being cut and flayed alive… Can you imagine how excruciatingly painful it would be? Just thinking about it makes me shudder…”
The faces of the remaining disciples of the Elegant Sect turned ashen while Li Rou was forced to dismiss the idea of comitting suicide.
‘Worse comes to worst, I’ll just disfigure my face. I don’t believe the Sect Leader of the Smudge Crow Sect will be interested in someone ugly…’ Li Rou thought to herself. At the same time, she regretted not listening to her master and joined a stronger sect. If she had listened to her master, she would be able to help the Elegant Sect. After all, the Smudge Crow Sect would not dare to mess with the Elegant Sect if they had the backing of a stronger sect.
After all, the Smudge Crow Sect was only a sixth-grade sect with a Celestial Lord. With Li Rou’s innate talent, she could easily join a stronger sect if she was willing. It was not impossible for her to join a first-grade sect since she had become a Celestial King at a relatively young age.
In the end, under Fang Ji’s threats, Li Rou and the remaining disciples from the Elegant Sect were captured by Fang Ji and his men.
During the journey to the Smudge Crow Sect, the image of a tall man appeared in Li Rou’s mind as she thought to herself, ‘Brother Feng, I’m sorry. It seems like we won’t be able to reunite. After disfiguring myself, I plan to kill myself. I’ll never let them take me alive…’
Following that, a handsome young man dressed in purple robes appeared in Li Rou’s mind. ‘Tian’er, mother will continue watching over you in the afterlife. I hope you, Ke’er, Fei’er, Si Ling, and Nian Tian will live a good life…’
At this moment, a teenage girl held onto Li Rou’s arm and said tremblingly, “Junior aunt, I’m really scared…”
Li Rou’s gaze softened as she looked at the teenage girl; she was reminded of her granddaughter, Duan Si Ling. She tried to comfort the teenage girl by saying, “Don’t be afraid, Little Qin. You’re young, and your potential is limitless. You’ll definitely be able to escape when the opportunity arises…”
Although Li Rou knew it was nigh impossible to escape once they entered the Smudge Crow Sect, she wanted to give the teenager a little bit of comfort.
As expected, the teenage girl’s expression eased a lot after listening to Li Rou’s words. However, after a moment, she asked anxiously, “What about you, junior aunt? And my senior sisters, what will happen to them?”
“W-we will find a way…” Li Rou said as she forced a smile on her face. She sighed inwardly. She was not afraid of death, but she regretted not being able to her son before she had to die. Compared to the others, she was separated from her son for an even longer time.
At this time, Li Rou’s eyes suddenly widened. While she was thinking about her son, she unexpectedly received a message.
…
“Tian’er, I received a reply from your mother!” Duan Ru Feng exclaimed excitedly.
Duan Ru Feng had received a reply from Li Rou as soon as all of them arrived in the Purple Revelation Heaven.
Duan Ling Tian, who was visiting the Purple Revelation Heaven for the first time, was briefly stunned. Then, he asked with equal excitement, “Mother’s here? Where is she now?”
“She’s in the Purple Revelation Territory,” Duan Ru Feng replied. Soon after, flames of fury appeared in Duan Ru Feng’s eyes.
Duan Ru Feng’s sudden reaction did not escape Duan Ling Tian’s eyes. Upon sensing his father’s anger, he asked grimly, “Father, did something happen to mother?”
Duan Ru Feng said gravely, “If we arrived a few days later, we might not be able to see your mother again…”
Duan Ling Tian’s expression changed immediately. “What happened?”
“Let’s get moving. I’ll tell you about it during the journey,” Duan Ru Feng said.
Duan Ling Tian nodded. He said anxiously, “Let’s head to the nearest transportation site. Father, ask mother about the nearest Transportation Formation to her… If she’s not sure, ask her about famous landmarks around her…”