Demon Immortal

"What happened?" Han Shindong asked anxiously.

"When we came, Envoy Ming was fighting with that cultivator. We saw him almost overwhelming Envoy Ming and attacked from a distance. He saw us and immediately fled," the one who spoke snidely to Envoy Ming spoke without his usual snide remarks.

"We waited here for Young Master's arrival. Even if we had given chase, we don't think any of us would be a match to him individually. We all know how slippery that person can be in the wilderness, Young Master. A few kilometers from here, the wilderness that surrounds the Ancient Battlefield begins. Hunting him down with our strength alone will be suicidal," the other one reported respectfully.

"What!!!?"

Han Shindong couldn't believe what he heard. He never expected the person he had looked down upon a few months ago to progress this much in such a short span of time.

Thinking back on what he knew about Duncan's cultivation experience, Han Shindong became more dignified. His face became serious as he realized that the person he was hunting was now more powerful than either him or his subordinates. The only one who could take on him in his entourage was Elder Long and the other Golden Hall realm cultivator who were sent to guard him by his clan.

"How could this be possible?" Han Shindong asked no one in particular as he digested this new revelation.

"Looks like that person has planned these things all along. He knew his best bet to avoid the heat was to vanish into the wilderness after committing the slaughter. While we don't know why he was delayed, he escaped the moment he saw trouble coming. A smart thing to do," Elder Long spoke suddenly causing Han Shindong to look over.

"What do we do now?" Han Shindong asked anxiously.

While he and Duncan didn't have any enmity, the possibility of Duncan recognizing his subordinates was indeed high. He had once tried to drive Duncan to his death in the Grotto Heaven. Combined with the past animosity, Han Shindong felt that Duncan wouldn't let things rest after he became powerful.

Duncan might not know his identity now. But, it wouldn't remain the same for the future as well. The rate at which Duncan grew truly frightened him. A few months ago, he had almost driven Duncan to death with the help of his subordinates at the Violet Palace realm. But, after a few months, Duncan was already strong enough to injure someone like Envoy Ming.

Han Shindong felt a sense of danger out of nowhere.

"Don't worry, Young Master. I will go ahead myself and try to track him down. You wait here for Elder Wen to join you from the Dark Star City. You can come join me after Envoy Ming recovers and Elder Wen joins you," Elder Long spoke in a solemn voice and gave a grave nod to Han Shindong.

They both knew that Duncan couldn't be left alive. It was fine earlier when their enmity wasn't much. But, now that they had interfered in this situation, Duncan and them couldn't co-exist peacefully after this.

So, the priority now was to make sure that Duncan didn't get a chance to grow in the future. As a retainer for the Han Clan of the Wei Kingdom, Elder Long was well-versed in how such things played out. He had personally ended the lives of several promising juniors to make sure they didn't become a problem in the future.

So, this wasn't new to either him or Young Master Han.

"Do not let him escape. He can't be allowed to grow up. He will be a scourge on this world if he becomes powerful in the future," Envoy Ming spoke suddenly causing Elder Long and Han Shindong to look at him in unison.

Envoy Ming was looking at them both with such seriousness that it made them both feel pressured. They could feel Envoy Ming's deep hatred and fear towards Duncan in his words. They exchanged a glance that spoke volumes and nodded.

"Envoy Ming, you don't need to worry. I will do my best to track him down. Meanwhile, you recuperate under the care of Young Master Han here," Elder Long nodded toward Han Shindong, who smiled at Envoy Ming amicably.

"We just heard the news about his massacre. The sects wouldn't let someone like this walk free. He might be the personal disciple of the Vice-Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect, but what he had done has crossed everyone's bottom line. The sects wouldn't let someone like that live for long."

"You stay here under the care of my Young Master. When the representatives from the sect arrive, it would be good for them to have a familiar face around. We have personally experienced his slipperiness in wilderness regions. We can all coordinate and make sure he doesn't slip through us this time."

Envoy Ming nodded in response to that and closed his eyes. Elder Long looked at Han Shindong and gave a curt nod to him. Following that, he looked at the other retainers with a meaningful look.

With a final nod to Han Shindong, Elder Long departed in the direction Duncan had vanished in. Employing his Golden Hall realm cultivation, he soon vanished into the horizon as well.

Han Shindong watched Elder Long vanish in the distance and became thoughtful inwardly. He couldn't believe even now that Duncan was able to progress at such a fast pace in such a short time. It was unbelievable to him.

Suddenly a thought passed through his head causing his eyes to light up.

Han Shindong felt certain that Duncan must have encountered a rare opportunity in the Grotto Heaven. If not for that, there was no other explanation regarding his furious pace of development.

Thinking back to how Duncan was able to save so many spirit herbs and hide them all over the forest in the Grotto Heaven, Han Shindong felt that his conjecture might be right. It might be an inheritance, a weapon, or some treasure that aided cultivation. Any such thing could have aided Duncan's fast development.

Han Shindong looked at Envoy Ming from the corner of his eyes. After seeing that Envoy Ming was recuperating via meditation, he let out a slight breath and motioned for his retainers to guard the area.

Moving away from the group, he reached a remote location and sent over a voice transmission to Elder Long with his guess. Han Shindong felt certain of his guess. It wasn't just Duncan who had progressed at a faster rate after coming out of the Grotto Heaven.

He too had obtained a legacy in the Grotto Heaven. With its help, his cultivation speed in the past few months had been phenomenal. If he could get his hands on another such legacy or some treasure that aided cultivation, he would be like a tiger with wings.

So, Han Shindong wanted to find Duncan no matter how hard it was. With Elder Long and Elder Wen coming with him, he wasn't afraid of not being Duncan's match currently.

However, he must keep an eye on the representatives from the sect as well. With a thoughtful frown, he started on his way to their temporary camp.

*****

While Duncan was fighting with Envoy Ming, the situation in the Greenwood Forest ushered in a new development.

Huang Muyang, the Spirit Severance cultivator, whom every sect in the region was waiting for, arrived from the Seven Clouds Sect in an ostentatious manner. Huang Muyand arrived in a large boat that was filled with female servants causing everyone to look over at him in jealousy.

He looked down from the boat at the assembled cultivators from all the nearby sects in an imperious manner for a short while before deciding to even step out of the boat and discuss the issue with the assembled Nascent Soul cultivators.

Even though most cultivators in the place were in a hurry to get rid of the array formation, they didn't dare to voice their displeasure towards Huang Muyang's lackluster attitude. Moreover, Huang Muyang was over seven centuries old making him a senior in their eyes.

Both cultivation-wise and age-wise, Huang Muyang dwarfed every one of the cultivators waiting for his arrival. So, the respect he demanded was something very normal in the cultivation world.

It is just that, Huang Muyang's actions were so inconsistent with people's cognition that people always felt weird when discussing things with him. The assembled Nascent Soul Cultivators showed a put-upon expression as they never expected the one dispatched by the sect would be this person.

If they had known earlier, they wouldn't have had their hopes up. Among every Spirit Severance stage cultivator in the three hegemonic sects, the one with the most difficulty in getting along was Huang Muyang. Unless you are a female, Huang Muyang rarely dealt with male cultivators in an enthusiastic manner.

After alighting from the boat, Huang Muyang didn't immediately enquire about the situation or what assistance he needed to provide. He began to talk about random things with the Nascent Soul cultivators who were assembled there. The Nascent Soul experts were forced to listen to his droning for a long time with reluctance in his heart.

In the end, just when everyone's patience ran thin and couldn't take anymore, Huang Muyang finally arrived at the topic. After wasting everyone's time for an hour or so, Huang Muyang finally asked what he should have asked in the first place.

"So, what seems to be the problem here?"