Chapter 2659 — The Past That Once Was

"What? He's not in the dorm, and his car's gone too? He's not answering his phone either? Is this guy playing games with us?" one of the classmates grumbled the moment he heard the news.

"Exactly—he declares war and then just vanishes. Isn't that messing with people? Could this guy be a son of a bitch or what?" Another classmate cursed furiously as well.

Wei Zhao and the others waited a while longer, until past two in the afternoon, and still Zhong Yongliang did not appear. With no other choice, Wei Zhao could only withdraw first, and the other classmates dispersed as well. Yet Zhong Yongliang had thoroughly confirmed the words he spoke when he rose that morning to issue his challenge: he was a coward, a son of a bitch...

But in that moment Zhong Yongliang no longer cared about any of that. He only wanted to get back to the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect as quickly as possible and ask Venerable Chunyang just what on earth had happened to his Hundred-Drunken Centipede...

That very night, Zhong Yongliang finally made it back to the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect. Though Zhang Naipao was utterly warm in welcoming Zhong Yongliang's return, Venerable Chunyang's expression turned far less pleasant when he saw the Hundred-Drunken Centipede, dried into a husk.

Though this spirit beast was to the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect something barely better than a chicken rib, it was at the very least a treasure; sold to one of those hidden clans or small sects, it could fetch a price of several hundred million at minimum. And now Zhong Yongliang had gone and scrapped it.

Of course, if it were only the Hundred-Drunken Centipede, Venerable Chunyang would not have been this angry. The crux was that the mid-grade Golden Cicada Undergarment and the Dark Iron Fine Steel Staff had likewise been lost by Zhong Yongliang. Faced with such reckless squandering, how could Venerable Chunyang possibly show him a kind face?

"You're saying that after this Hundred-Drunken Centipede bit that little wench called Shen Yushu, it started smoking and caught fire, and turned into a dried centipede?" Venerable Chunyang stared incredulously at the dried husk in his hand, his face dark as he questioned him.

"Yes... it seems that after that the Hundred-Drunken Centipede didn't come into contact with anything—it just ended up like this..." Zhong Yongliang thought it over and nodded.

"Nonsense! That Hundred-Drunken Centipede has bitten people more times than once or twice—at worst it had no effect. I've never heard of a centipede smoking!" Venerable Chunyang was enraged; he felt Zhong Yongliang was lying through his teeth.

"Master... I... I really am not making this up. It really happened like that..." Zhong Yongliang's face was bitter as he offered a careful, placating smile.

"I say you're lying through your teeth!" Venerable Chunyang slammed the table. "Was this Wei Zhao's doing?"

"Master, please calm your anger. I don't think Brother Liang is lying. That little wench called Shen Yushu is a bit strange and uncanny—maybe she smeared some kind of poison on herself..." Zhang Naipao, seeing his master fly into a rage, hurried to speak up in support.

"Oh? Is that so?" Venerable Chunyang frowned. But Zhang Naipao was his beloved disciple, so his words did calm him a little. He picked up the Hundred-Drunken Centipede again and examined it closely. After a long while he could not help but let out a startled "Huh!" and gave a start. "This centipede seems to have been struck by fire-poison! This wasn't poison at all!"

"Not poison?" Zhang Naipao was stunned as well. "Then..."

"Zhong Yongliang, tell me the truth. How exactly did this Hundred-Drunken Centipede die? This was definitely not caused by poison—it must have been the fire-poison of a fire-attribute cultivator, and only one who had cultivated to the utmost extreme could have managed it..." Venerable Chunyang's expression turned stern as he questioned him.

"Master, I truly have not deceived you. This centipede bit Shen Yushu only once—absolutely only once. At the time, besides me, only Gao Xiaofu was present. There was no one else..." Zhong Yongliang said with certainty.

"So then, that Shen Yushu is a fire-attribute cultivator?" Venerable Chunyang asked.

"No—she's definitely not a cultivator. Though I haven't formally crossed the threshold of a cultivator yet, if someone were a cultivator, I would certainly be able to tell." Zhong Yongliang said, "Besides, Naipao can vouch for it too—Shen Yushu is not a cultivator. We've been at school together for three years; I know exactly what she is."

"Not a cultivator?" Venerable Chunyang seemed not to believe Zhong Yongliang's words. Yet then something seemed to occur to him, and his expression shifted slightly. "Wait here a moment. There's something I need to confirm."

"Yes, Master." Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu did not dare say more and hurriedly nodded in assent.

Venerable Chunyang, meanwhile, quickly returned to his quarters and placed a phone call.

Soon the voice of Ancestor Xuanchen came through from the other end: "Venerable Chunyang?"

"Ancestor Xuanchen, it's me!" Venerable Chunyang wasted no words and spoke urgently. "There's something I need you to confirm. In Donghai City, there's a person named Shen Yushu—do you know of her?"

"What, you want to move against her?" Ancestor Xuanchen's tone shifted at once. "You cannot touch this person. She is a piece on my board. Whatever grudge you bear her, you will set it aside for me first. Did you hear me?"

"Ancestor Xuanchen, I bear her no grudge... rest assured..." Hearing Ancestor Xuanchen's tone, Venerable Chunyang felt boundless frustration in his heart, yet he had no choice but to treat him with the utmost deference.

The Five Luminaries Sect and the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect had both been sects of the Primeval tier a thousand years ago. But both had declined and been struck from the ranks of the Primeval sects; when the other Primeval sects migrated to Cloud-Step Island, these two were excluded...

Over the past thousand years, both the Five Luminaries Sect and the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect had schemed to return to Cloud-Step Island, to reclaim their place among the Primeval sects. But the Five Luminaries Sect grew ever stronger, while the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect grew ever more decayed!

So much so that the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect, once an equal of the Five Luminaries Sect, had sunk to something akin to the ancient sects—from a partnership with the Five Luminaries Sect to what was now little more than a subordinate relationship.

Yet Venerable Chunyang could do nothing about it. After all, Ancestor Xuanchen was a generation above him in seniority, and the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect truly had few formidable figures left. Apart from Ancestor Mad Bull, who remained in long seclusion, the strongest was none other than Venerable Chunyang himself—and none of them were a match for Ancestor Xuanchen.

This too was because more than a decade ago a calamity had struck: two consummate external-school masters had forcibly carried off Ancestor Mad Dragon, the senior elder brother of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect's Ancestor Mad Bull, and slain the second elder brother, Ancestor Mad Leopard, gravely crippling the sect's strength.

The Five Luminaries Sect, by contrast, had always kept a low profile—especially during the tenure of Ancestor Xuantian, whose discretion was terrifying to behold. Outsiders even believed that Ancestor Xuantian, an alchemist, was but a lone, unaffiliated cultivator!

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