Master Qingweiâs face was filled with shock and rage as he repeatedly bellowed, his presence extremely intimidating.
Simply because of this aura, Zhou Chun felt his legs trembling within the great hall, almost ready to kneel.
Zhou Mingde, although somewhat better off, was also slightly bent over, trembling.
Luckily, Master Qingwei regained his composure after a moment and quickly retracted his imposing aura.
He then looked at Zhou Chun with deep eyes and said, "Little Friend Zhou, the news you brought is indeed very important. This seat will take the conditions proposed by the Protector of Dragon Transformation Sect seriously, and once a decision is made, I will immediately summon you to discuss this."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chun quickly said, "Then, about the matter of the Secret of Dragon Transformation on my body..."
He had suffered enough from this Secret of Dragon Transformation and certainly did not want to keep this time bomb on him!
"Cleansing the traces of the Secret of Dragon Transformation from your body will cause no small harm to you personally. Given your current condition, it is probably not appropriate to undergo such a procedure. Letâs wait until your body has fully recovered before we discuss this further."
Master Qingwei waved her hand, delivering a response that left Zhou Chun rather uneasy.
Nobody had mentioned to him before that cleansing the practice traces of the Secret of Dragon Transformation would cause bodily harm.
Originally, Taoist Mingxia only said that Green Lotus Temple had a way to solve his problem, without discussing how it would be done.
But at this point, he didnât feel it was appropriate to say anything more, so he responded respectfully, "I understand. In that case, this junior will take his leave first."
He then left Green Lotus Temple with Zhou Mingde and headed straight back to the Zhou Family.
The journey was uneventful.
Upon seeing Zhou Chun return safely with Zhou Mingde, the Zhou Family members at the mountain gate who had been worried about him all day, including Zhou Daoyi, let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness, thank goodness!"
In the Central Peace Hall, Zhou Daoyi looked at the safely returned Zhou Chun and couldnât help nodding in approval repeatedly.
Experience tales at empire
Honestly, Zhou Chunâs appearance when the toxin struck his heart had truly frightened him.
It was undoubtedly the most nerve-wracking moment for him since the Zhou Family had settled in Jiufeng Ridge.
If Zhou Chun had truly died, perhaps the most heartbroken would not be his parents but Zhou Daoyi, the Clan Leader.
After all, he had invested so much hope and effort in Zhou Chun.
Meanwhile, seeing that Zhou Chun was unharmed, the Fourth Elder Zhou Jiarui looked at him with a curious face and asked, "What exactly happened to you that you were so severely injured? Where is the Third Elder? Wasnât he with you?"
As for Zhou Chunâs undercover operation in the Dragon Transformation Sect, most of these Elders were kept in the dark, truly believing that Zhou Chun had gone on a distant journey with Third Elder Zhou Daoquan.
So at this moment, upon hearing Zhou Jiaruiâs question, Zhou Chun was somewhat at a loss for words.
Fortunately, Zhou Mingde saw the risk of the ruse being exposed and quickly intervened to save the situation, "Daoquan is fine. Zhengchun encountered a powerful enemy while returning separately from Daoquan and unwittingly fell into the enemyâs trap."
After speaking, he waved his hand and said, "Enough, if you have any questions, wait until Zhengchun has recovered before asking him. For now, let him go back and rest."
Seeing him say this, although others still had many doubts, they couldnât press further and had to leave Pagoda Peak.
Zhou Chun was indeed exhausted and returned to his residence to rest.
...
On the other hand, after the Third Protector of Golden Dragon Hall returned to the Golden Dragon Branch Altar, he hurriedly reported his surveillance findings to Hall Master Li Tianxing.
"Indeed, that youngster is undoubtedly an undercover agent sent by Jingguo Country!"
After listening to the Third Protectorâs report, Li Tianxingâs expression darkened, and he became certain about Zhou Chunâs true identity.
He then looked coldly at the Third Protector and asked, "Are you sure that youngster didnât die at that time?"
Facing his gaze, the Third Protectorâs body jolted in fright as he hurriedly replied, "Hall Master, your insight is clear. When I was using the technique at that time, I could indeed still sense that youngster!"
"Good, then I will have Guan Cheng make another trip," Li Tianxing said, with a cold snort. "Hmmph, to dare to be an undercover agent in my Golden Dragon Hall, he has quite the nerve!"
After saying that, he ordered the Great Protector Guan Cheng to take people and rush to the vicinity of the Black Spear Tribe immediately.
However, when Guan Cheng and his men arrived near the area mentioned by the Third Protector and used their techniques to sense for any presence, they could no longer detect anything.
This is also a "flaw" of the Secret of Dragon Transformation that isnât exactly a flaw.
When the distance between two of the same dragon bloodline is too great, the sensory connection between them also becomes less effective.
Thatâs why the Dragon Transformation Sect usually strictly restricts the time its envoys can go out alone after they pledge allegiance, to prevent them from running out of range.
By the time Guan Cheng cast the spell, Zhou Chun was nearly in Lanzhou; naturally, he couldnât sense Zhou Chunâs presence.
Upon realizing this, Guan Chengâs gaze tightened slightly.
He couldnât help murmuring to himself, "He was injured at the time, and in the span of two days, he definitely couldnât have gone far. Given that, it seems he truly died in the wilderness, falling prey to a Demon Beast!"
Although he thought as much, he still visited a few more places and cast the spell a few more times to sense Zhou Chunâs presence.
After many attempts without result, he confirmed his speculation and went back to report to Li Tianxing, the Golden Dragon Hall Master.
"Since the person cannot be sensed anymore, letâs leave this matter be. Next, weâll hand over the issue with the Scale Frog Alien Clan to the White Dragon Branch Altar for handling; letâs focus on strengthening ourselves."
When Li Tianxing said this, his voice paused slightly before he added, "However, you must still notify the Red Dragon Hall and Black Dragon Hall, send them the information about that boy, and have their people watch out to see which power he really comes from!"
"Yes, I will take care of it," Guan Cheng replied and took his leave.
...
Atop Pagoda Peak, Zhou Chun slept for nearly twenty hours before waking up naturally.
Upon waking, he felt much better.
After meditating and cultivating for about an hour, he left the bedroom and went out into the courtyard.
In the courtyard, the Silver Lightning Python Baibai and the Winged Tiger were still deep in slumber, as if they had not fully recovered.
As Zhou Chun came out, only the Golden Armor Rock Turtle, which had been in the courtyard all along, noticed in time and greeted him excitedly with a high-pitched cry.
The cries quickly woke up the sleepings Silver Lightning Python Baibai and the Winged Tiger.
Hiss~
RoarâŠWoof!
Both Spirit Pets rushed over to their owner with hissing and growling sounds.
"Alright, alright, Iâm okay now. You both did a good job saving your master; I will definitely reward you well!" Zhou Chun said, petting Baibaiâs raised snake head with one hand and the Golden Winged Tigerâs head with the other, smiling jovially to soothe both Spirit Pets.
He then went over to the Golden Armor Rock Turtle, patted its nose, and said, "Stone, it was tough for you to guard the place on your own. From now on, your master wonât leave you behind alone."
As he spoke, Zhou Chun fed Baibai and Stone a Demon Spirit Pill each and gave the Golden Winged Tiger two Beast Spirit Pills. He left them in the yard to slowly assimilate the medicinal effects while he went to Zhou Mingdeâs dwelling at the peak of the mountain.
Now that his injuries were stable, it was time for him to discuss many matters with Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi.
When he entered Zhou Mingdeâs dwelling and met with the two, he didnât hesitate to ask directly, "Supreme Elder, Clan Leader, did you retrieve the Storage Pouch I left at the contact point? Did you manage what I mentioned in my letter?"
Hearing his words, Zhou Mingde and the other exchanged a look before Zhou Mingde nodded and said, "The task was accomplished; Lin Hongyu was very efficient and managed to obtain three Purple Pattern Golden Peaches!"
After finishing, his expression darkened and he said with a serious tone, "But that woman has too great an appetite, she actually wants our Zhou Family to purchase a Red Sun Flowing Bead Pill in exchange. We havenât agreed to this yet!"
"What is a Red Sun Flowing Bead Pill? Is it very valuable?" The look of curiosity flashed across Zhou Chunâs face as he voiced his confusion.
Itâs not just valuable!" Zhou Mingde gave a sigh and explained immediately, "The Red Sun Flowing Bead Pill is an elixir used by Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators who practice Fire Element Techniques to break through bottlenecks. One pill is worth tens of thousands of Spirit Coins and is also hard to come by."
"Although Lin Hongyu herself is willing to pay for this part with Spirit Coins, how can we find such a Spirit Pill for her in a short time?"
Hearing this, Zhou Chun was somewhat speechless.
In the end, he could only sigh lightly, "It seems that the Red Dragon Protector has encountered trouble and is anxious to break through her bottleneck."