Chapter 22: The Outwardly Strong, Inwardly Weak Dao Yi Sect

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: The Outwardly Strong, Inwardly Weak Dao Yi Sect

"Have you all come to sweep my master’s tomb?"

Song Yu was quite surprised and suspicious.

"Please, have a seat."

He looked over the Extraordinary Nine Monsters, gestured for them to sit, and then tactfully declined:

"It’s just that my honored master’s funeral has long since passed, and besides..."

He trailed off.

The unspoken meaning was very clear.

’My Dao Yi Mountain and your Extraordinary Nine Monsters have no connection and have never had any dealings. Why would you come up the mountain to pay your respects for no reason?’

’Furthermore, the nine of you have a mixed reputation in the Jianghu, both righteous and sinister. How could I rashly agree to this?’

But one doesn’t slap a smiling face.

Besides, they had come to visit with all due courtesy and even offered to sweep the tomb. Song Yu couldn’t bring himself to be too direct.

He had thought that these people would understand the tactful refusal in his words.

But no.

The child-like Child Emperor chuckled and said:

"Hero Song, there’s something you may not know. A few years ago, the nine of us received a great kindness from the number one under heaven, Elder Chen, the Sect Leader. We’ve never dared to forget it. We should have come to pay our respects during his funeral, but we were occupied with urgent matters outside the Central Plains at the time. By the time we were free, all this time had passed. That is why we have arrived so late."

"My master showed kindness to you nine, Mr. Child?"

Song Yu first glanced at the Child Emperor and his group, then immediately exchanged looks with his own Elders and martial brothers, communicating with their eyes:

"This matter..."

"We’ve never heard our master mention it."

"HAHAHA!"

A man in the group with a large face, wide mouth, and short hair stood up, licked his lips, and said:

"Elder Chen, the Sect Leader, was revered as number one under heaven. Throughout his life, he performed countless deeds, from aiding fellow practitioners in the Martial Arts world to subjugating demons. The number of people who benefited from his kindness is immeasurable, far beyond just us. He wouldn’t necessarily have mentioned each one to you."

’That’s true...’

Song Yu exchanged looks with the Elders, a silent understanding passing between them.

He raised his head slightly, looked at the burly man with the large face and mouth, and said:

"And you are... which expert from the Extraordinary Nine Monsters...?"

"I am Iron Beak Immortal."

The burly man called "Iron Beak" licked his crimson lips, looking somewhat sinister.

Seeing this, the Child Emperor said:

"My apologies, Hero Song. I have yet to have the others introduce themselves."

With that, he first pointed to the woman among the nine:

"Mei Xiangu."

He pointed to a fat, greasy-faced man who carried a pig-butchering knife:

"Pig Craftsman."

He pointed to a performer wearing a mask:

"Puppeteer."

He pointed to a monk:

"Fake Monk."

He pointed to a Daoist:

"Wild Daoist."

He pointed to a man with bare arms:

"Copper Hand."

He pointed to an old man with a goatee:

"Half-Baked Doctor."

Adding himself, the Child Emperor, and Iron Beak Immortal who had previously announced his own name.

A total of nine people—men and women, old and young, a monk, a Daoist, a doctor, a performer, and a pig butcher. These were the infamous Extraordinary Nine Monsters.

Song Yu, Yuu Miaolian, Zhang Liting, and the Elders of Dao Yi Mountain scrutinized each person one by one as the Child Emperor made the introductions.

With each person they examined closely, they were secretly alarmed.

Among the nine, only Mei Xiangu and the Half-Baked Doctor were perhaps at the level of First-class Experts; their True Qi fluctuations could be sensed.

As for the remaining seven, they sat there, their True Qi as placid as a deep, calm lake, without the slightest ripple.

There was only one possibility: these seven were most likely experts of the Grandmaster Level, or perhaps even above.

"Since you have all come from afar and wish to pay respects at my honored master’s tomb."

Song Yu said after a moment of thought:

"I must report this to the Sect Leader before a decision can be made."

"But of course."

The Child Emperor’s eyes narrowed into a smile.

Seeing this, Song Yu said:

"Please, wait here for a moment."

After giving a meaningful glance, he left a few Elders in the main hall while Yuu Miaolian and Zhang Liting followed him out.

Song Yu said immediately:

"There are nine of them, at least seven are Grandmasters. Their intentions are unknown. This is a serious matter. You two, one of you go find our Sect Leader, and the other go to the back mountain to find our Little Martial Uncle."

He certainly didn’t believe the Extraordinary Nine Monsters were here simply to pay respects at his master’s tomb.

These people were notorious monsters, acting on whims both righteous and sinister. They belonged to neither the evil factions nor the Righteous Path, and now they had joined some mysterious First-Grade Hall.

Coming up the mountain and acting so solicitous for no reason... they must be up to no good.

Only by asking their sect’s guardian, Little Martial Uncle, to come and preside over the situation would he feel any sense of security.

After all, Little Martial Uncle was in the First-Grade Great Innate Realm. With him on the mountain, they wouldn’t have to fear whatever tricks the visitors might have up their sleeves.

And since Chen Sha was the Sect Leader, it was all the more reason he should be informed.

Zhang Liting said, "Alright, I’ll go find Little Martial Uncle and ask him to come over from the back mountain."

Yuu Miaolian said, "I’ll go get the Sect Leader."

Currently, the only Grandmaster Level figures on the mountain were the Sect Leader and a few Elders.

Of Dao Yi’s Six Disciples, only two had entered the Grandmaster Realm.

The other four were only at the First-class level.

Not to mention, there were only five of Dao Yi’s Six Disciples left. The other True Disciple of Grandmaster Level had crippled his own Martial Arts and severed all ties with Dao Yi Mountain.

Now, nine monsters had come to the mountain, seven of whom were Grandmasters...

Song Yu couldn’t help but feel tense.

He was finally feeling the full weight of the pressure on his sect since his master’s death.

In the past, when his master was alive, let alone nine Grandmasters coming to their door, even if nine Great Grandmasters or a First-Grade Great Innate came up the mountain, they wouldn’t have worried in the slightest.

That was because his master, Chen Canxuan, was the pillar that held up the sky.

Before the number one person under heaven.

Any danger or provocation was nothing more than dust motes dancing in the air, not worth a second thought.

But now, his master was gone.

And their generation of disciples all seemed so mediocre...

Things they had never cared about before now made them anxious and worried.

It was strange, really. In the generation before his master’s, even without an invincible figure like him, Dao Yi Mountain still had ten Great Grandmaster Level figures presiding over it.

Yet in the last generation, although it produced an invincible figure like his Sect Leader Master and a genius martial fanatic like Little Martial Uncle, none of the sect’s Elders managed to cultivate to the Great Grandmaster Level.

It wasn’t that there was a problem with the Dao Yi Sect’s Cultivation Techniques; it was just that geniuses were hard to come by.

In the practice of Martial Arts, it is the person who is formidable, not the technique.

Song Yu had often lamented with self-derision that although he was the senior martial brother, his aptitude was merely above average. Becoming a Grandmaster might be the limit of his achievements in this lifetime.

This was precisely why, deep down, he felt that his junior brother Chen Sha must marry into the Queen Mother Sect.

Without their master, the current Dao Yi Sect was truly a paper tiger.

If it weren’t for Little Martial Uncle holding down the fort... Dao Yi Mountain would already be a Major Sect in name only, on the verge of losing its status in the Martial Arts world.

...

When Zhang Liting arrived at the courtyard of the thatched hut on the back mountain.

She explained the whole situation.

But she was met with Zhou Santong’s scolding:

"What were you thinking? A bunch of petty thieves with unknown motives show up on the mountain, and your first thought is to drag me out? Did it not occur to you that they might be after the old thing I’m suppressing down this well?"

He shouted:

"You need me to accompany you just to sweep my senior brother’s tomb? What about this place? If someone takes advantage of my absence to come here and release the Ancient Transformation Dragon, that would be a true catastrophe for the mountain!"

That old thing, the Ancient Transformation Dragon, is bound by sixteen Profound Gold Iron Chains and trapped by the True Qi Cage my senior brother left behind. Even so, I can barely fight him to a standstill, and I’m usually the one who gets the worst of it.

If that cruel Great Demon of the Martial Arts world were truly released and completely unbound, Zhou Santong had no confidence he could defeat the old monster.

It was a rude awakening for Zhang Liting.

"I... I completely forgot about that."

Only the True Disciples and a handful of Elders on the mountain knew what kind of figure was locked in this dry well.

Zhou Santong continued, "Besides, Little Chen Sha is the Sect Leader now. It’s time for him to shoulder his responsibilities."

"With him here, there’s no need to worry."

After the incident with Li Jianzhou, Zhou Santong had, for some reason, begun to have extraordinary faith in Chen Sha’s abilities.

He had a feeling that his senior brother’s son would one day become invincible, just like his father.

’What’s the big deal about seven or eight Grandmasters coming to the mountain?’

’It’s not like it’s seven or eight First-Grade Great Innates.’

...

Meanwhile, Yuu Miaolian had also arrived outside the room where Chen Sha was in seclusion.

Unexpectedly, a Little Daoist from the foot of the mountain was already waiting there. After a few questions, she learned that the Little Daoist had come to fetch Chen Sha some time ago.

"The Sect Leader isn’t in his room. I don’t know where on the mountain he’s gone into seclusion."

"Not in his room..."

Yuu Miaolian then recalled how Chen Sha had been randomly finding a spot on the mountain to sit and enter a state of meditation these past few days. She said urgently:

"Then don’t just stand here! Quick, have everyone go look for him."

Whether it was because of the looming danger on the mountain, or because today was the hundred-day memorial for the old Sect Leader, his presence as the current Sect Leader was required.