Chapter 215: First Entry into the Purple Sun Sect

Chapter 215: First Entry into the Purple Sun Sect

Duan Song could hardly believe his ears as he looked at Wei Ziyi in front of him, confirming repeatedly.

"For me?"

"Yes."

Wei Ziyi nodded. "Master personally said to deliver it to the Purple Sun Sect and hand it to Senior Duan. The envelope is marked 'For Senior Duan's eyes only.'"

"Hmm..."

Duan Song nodded steadily, unfazed by anything, even in the face of disaster.

He reached out to take the letter.

But just as he was about to touch it, he pulled his hand back, rubbed it on his clothes a couple of times, and then finally took it.

Holding the letter in his hand, he inspected it closely. Seeing his own name on it, he instinctively reached to rip it open.

However, after a brief pause, he looked back at Wei Ziyi.

"Did your master have any other instructions?"

"No," Wei Ziyi shook her head firmly.

"Thank you."

Duan Song nodded, finally taking the letter out of the envelope.

He spread it open and began to read it carefully.

His actions were almost secretive, as if he was afraid someone else might peek.

Su Mo, seeing this, couldn't help but sneer. "What a composed reaction!"

Though in front of others, he still had to maintain the composure of a senior cultivator. Otherwise, who knows how he'd really act.

The letter wasn't long, but Duan Song took a long time to read it.

At first, his expression shifted, revealing a mix of emotions.

He glanced nervously at Su Mo and Wei Ziyi.

But seeing that the two were chatting and not paying attention to him, he quickly averted his gaze and continued reading.

After finishing the entire letter, Duan Song finally let out a breath, his face remaining calm.

"Everyone..."

He began to speak.

All eyes turned to him.

Including the middle-aged man nearby and the little girl, as well as the remaining four burly men.

Duan Song was startled, then shook his head. "Never mind."

"..."

Su Mo gave a slight smirk and ignored him.

Duan Song looked like he was getting antsy inside.

Wei Ziyi thought for a moment and said, "My master asked me to deliver two letters. One is for Senior Duan, and the other is for the Second Palace Master. I originally thought I'd need to make a trip to the Purple Sun Sect to meet Senior Duan.

"I didn’t expect to run into him halfway."

"Since that's the case, there's no need for me to go to the Purple Sun Sect. After the rain stops, I'll head to Tianqu City."

Su Mo nodded and was about to speak when he heard Duan Song urgently exclaim:

"No!!"

"..."

Su Mo and Wei Ziyi both turned to look at Duan Song.

Duan Song smiled and said, "After coming all this way, how can I let you leave without stepping inside the Purple Sun Sect? It's only half a day's journey from here. You should go and rest at the sect for a while. The trip to Tianqu City is long, and it wouldn't be safe for a young woman to travel alone. Let Xiao Mo escort you there. He can also check out the Tianqu Sword Contest while he's at it."

Su Mo glanced at Duan Song and said softly, "I might not be able to leave anytime soon. This trip back to the Purple Sun Sect is actually to handle an important matter."

"What important matter could you have?"

Duan Song's eyes bore into Su Mo, his voice grave, "It's nothing more than meeting the sect leader, staying at the Purple Sun Sect for a couple of days, and then heading directly to Tianqu City..."

"This..."

Su Mo shook his head, "To be honest, I previously met someone who practices a martial art related to a legendary evil skill. A master told me that the Purple Sun Sect might have records on this. The person I met is innocent and naive, and they practice this martial art without fully understanding its dangers.

"The situation is pretty serious right now, so I plan to find records of this skill in the Purple Sun Sect to see if there's a way to alleviate it."

"Oh?"

Duan Song was taken aback, "What martial art?"

"...It might be the Whale Devouring Skill."

Su Mo didn't hide it and directly stated it.

"Whale Devouring Skill!"

Duan Song's expression changed slightly.

Su Mo was surprised, "Senior Duan knows about it?"

"It seems I've heard of it... but maybe I haven't."

Duan Song frowned deeply and eventually shook his head, "Probably not."

If you don't know anything about it, why the sudden change in expression?

Su Mo was left speechless for a moment, and then he heard a cough from the side.

He turned to look and saw Fu Hanyuan winking at him.

"What's wrong?"

Su Mo blinked in surprise. "Just say it."

"That person... is about to die from pain, isn't he?"

Fu Hanyuan pointed at the old man who had lost both arms and was writhing in pain on the ground.

Everyone then remembered that after Su Mo had tapped the old man's Yutang acupoint, he had started chatting with others and hadn't paid attention since.

More than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense had passed, and the old man was still in agony...

The others didn't have much of a concept of this, but Fu Hanyuan knew just how terrifying this inner hell was. He couldn't help but remind Su Mo.

Su Mo, however, just smiled.

"It's fine, it's fine. This move is called 'Three Days of Agony.' In other words, if I don't release him, he'll be in pain for a full three days.

"A few of my senior brothers have already stopped his bleeding, so he won't die anytime soon.

"And this pain won't damage his body in the slightest...

"So even if he really is in pain for three full days, he definitely won't kick the bucket. Don't worry.

"Given that he's a seasoned practitioner of the demonic arts, he's likely to be quite resilient. A few more days of suffering will teach him a valuable lesson. Next time we question him, he won't dare to withhold any information."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but admire Su Mo's skill. They were also amazed at how formidable the Painful Mantra was.

Fu Hanyuan twitched his mouth, glanced at the old man on the ground, and shook his head lightly. "You reap what you sow, huh?"

He then ignored the old man.

He had reminded Su Mo because he had endured such pain himself and was worried that if the old man died from the pain, it would ruin Su Mo's plans.

Since there was no impact now, let him suffer.

The only one who was screaming silently in his heart was the old man.

He wanted to tell Su Mo so badly that he wasn't a tough bone, not at all!!!

But the pain was too intense for him to speak; all he could do was stare at Su Mo.

Su Mo glanced at him and then sighed. "Look, his eyes are so fierce. It's clear he hasn't been subdued by the Painful Mantra yet."

Everyone immediately nodded in agreement.

After this interruption, Wei Ziyi didn't bring up the matter of going to Tianqu City first anymore.

However, she already had a good idea of what her master had written about in the letter.

She glanced at Su Mo and guessed that he probably knew what was in the letter too.

But if the two of them brought it up, it would only make things more awkward.

So they both wisely kept their mouths shut.

As they chatted idly, the conversation drifted to other topics.

They talked about stories from the martial world, the Tianqu Sword Contest, and debated the strengths of different sword techniques. In the end, they couldn't help but admire the Feixing Swordplay that Wei Ziyi had just demonstrated.

Wei Ziyi hurriedly expressed her modesty, and the conversation soon turned to Liu Suifeng's trial of swords with the seven major sects.

It was only then that the burly men realized Su Mo and his companions were from the southwestern region.

Recalling their earlier remarks about the southwestern region being nothing more than a small territory, they now felt somewhat embarrassed.

Fortunately, Su Mo did not hold it against them.

To make a long story short, the heavy rain came quickly and left not too slowly.

In the blink of an eye, it had subsided.

The torrential downpour had turned into a gentle, cool drizzle, and the light spring mist seemed to awaken all living things.

Having taken shelter from the rain here, Su Mo and his companions were now ready to continue their journey without further delay, and they immediately prepared to leave.

The middle-aged man, along with his daughter, thanked Su Mo and his group profusely.

But Su Mo waved his hand, indicating that it was not worth mentioning.

It was merely a chance encounter in an old temple; the old man had not come for them or anyone else... he had simply wanted to find someone to eat during the heavy rain, but he had run into a hard wall, his luck not being on his side.

Therefore, there was no question of anyone saving anyone.

The middle-aged man nodded, half understanding, and led his daughter down the mountain first.

Reflecting on today's encounter, he realized that while the world of martial arts was indeed filled with those who would kill and harm others, it also had its gentle side.

Both Su Mo and Wei Ziyi are the kind of people who, upon first meeting, immediately command respect from others, making them feel very comfortable in their presence.

Especially Su Mo, who, despite possessing astonishing skills, is exceptionally polite and humble in his interactions with others, far from the kind of arrogant braggarts who start showing off as soon as they get a little power. This naturally earns him much favor in people's hearts.

As the father and daughter walked down the mountain, the father couldn't help but ask:

"Earlier, what did that lady take you inside the main hall for?"

At this, the little girl's eyes lit up immediately:

"Wei Ziyi took me inside to teach me martial arts."

"What?"

The father was stunned. "She actually taught you martial arts? You... you learned it?"

"Yes, I did," the little girl nodded. "She told me to work hard, and if I make progress, I should try to go to Cold Moon Palace to become a disciple. Just mention her name, and I’ll definitely be accepted as a disciple."

The father sucked in a breath. "Is that really true?"

"Really!"

The little girl nodded seriously, then looked at her father and said, "Dad, I don’t want to get married, I want to be a female warrior."

The father was taken aback but sighed. "Alright, alright. Since you were young, you’ve always admired the martial world, but unfortunately, we’ve never had the chance. Now that there’s an opportunity, you should give it a try. We’ll worry about marriage later..."

"But if you can't learn, then you should give up on this idea as soon as possible.

"You should just find a good husband now, so you don’t have trouble getting married when you’re older."

"I’m not scared."

The little girl said, "That older sister told me she’s still unmarried at her age."

"……”

The man was speechless, rubbing his daughter’s head before sighing heavily.

He felt like today had really opened his eyes, so he quickly led his daughter home.

After this trip, he had even lost the heart to go up the mountain for herb gathering...

……

……

After seeing the father and daughter off, the several burly men also bid farewell to Su Mo and the others.

"It is truly an honor to meet all of you today.

"However, we still have mundane matters to attend to and dare not linger any longer. We will take our leave now."

They indeed had things to do, and their companion had been bitten on the neck by the old man and died on the spot. They needed to clean up and take the body away for proper arrangements.

Since they didn’t have anything on them, they needed to find another way.

Thus, they hurriedly left to handle the matter.

Su Mo glanced at the body, thought for a moment, and then pulled out Wei Ziyi’s personal long sword.

Her sword had pierced through the old man, and the blade carried corpse poison.

However, the toxin that hadn’t entered the body was easy to deal with and was now harmless.

Su Mo casually held the sword and wrote three words next to the body: Do not touch!

Then he slid the sword back into Wei Ziyi's sheath.

Wei Ziyi pouted at this:

"There is a certain kind of person in the jianghu (world of martial arts) who, the more you tell them not to do something, the more they will do it."

Su Mo nodded, "These kinds of people are real troublemakers... You can’t reason with someone who’s hell-bent on self-destruction. Even if I hadn’t left a note, would they really have resisted touching it?"

"That’s true."

Wei Ziyi nodded, "If someone’s actually careful, they’ll see the warning and follow it."

"It’s exactly this principle."

Duan Song glanced at Su Mo, shook his head, and said, "You really are just like your father..."

"..."

Xiao Mo soon realized that Duan Song's perception of Su Tianyang was entirely different from how others viewed him.

But this was understandable.

After all, people were multifaceted.

Duan Song had grown up with Su Tianyang, so naturally, he could see a different side of him.

Whereas Su Tianyang, in the eyes of others, might truly be a heroic and righteous warrior, when facing Duan Song, he might very well be the mischievous senior brother who loved to play tricks on his junior.

Shaking his head with a smile, Xiao Mo didn’t want to dwell on this further.

The old man was led by two disciples of the Purple Sun Sect, and they all headed towards the sect.

With Duan Song as their guide, they naturally avoided unnecessary detours.

In less than half a day, they had already arrived at the Purple Sun Sect.

Unfortunately, they arrived after dark, so they missed the scenic views of Shouyang Mountain.

Climbing the mountain in the dark wasn’t ideal, but with Duan Song as their guide, it didn’t matter.

They walked straight up to the Pure Yang Hall.

Duan Song instructed Xiao Mo and the others to sit down while he had the disciples prepare some tea. He also sent someone to arrange accommodations for them.

After making the arrangements, Duan Song told Xiao Mo,

"Since we're here in the evening, we won't disturb your great master for now. Tomorrow morning, I'll take you to pay your respects to him."

"That makes sense."

Xiao Mo nodded, though he actually felt that it would have been more appropriate to visit tomorrow morning directly.

But Duan Song said that since it was just a homecoming, there was no need for so many formalities, and they could be more casual. So, he was practically dragged up the mountain.

Glancing around the Pure Yang Hall, Xiao Mo noticed that the altar held not a statue of a Taoist deity, but a golden figure.

Looking up, Xiao Mo saw that although the golden figure was withered, with its robes seemingly floating lightly, he could somehow sense a pure yang energy from it.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence.

Seeing this, Duan Song smiled and said, "This is the pure yang remains of our founding master."

"Ah?"

Xiao Mo was quite surprised.

Wei Ziyi, however, rolled her eyes and said, "And you still call yourself a disciple of the Purple Sun Sect, without knowing who is enshrined here in the Pure Yang Hall. This is your sect's founder... Ziyang Zhenren."

"Indeed."

Duan Song nodded. "...Xiao Mo, since you are Su Tianyang's son, you should be aware of the origins of our Purple Sun Sect.

"Our sect’s founding dates back to the time of the Great Xuan Dynasty."

"The Purple Sun Ancestor, with his Nine Purple Sun Blaze Heaven Technique, conjured a spectacle of nine purple suns in the sky, as if he were a god descended from the heavens.

"Because of this, he established our sect on this mountain, leading to hundreds of years of prosperity for the Purple Sun Sect.

"Since its creation, only the Purple Sun Ancestor has ever reached the Nine Purples Lifting the Sky realm with the Nine Purple Sun Blaze Heaven Technique.

"After that, this realm became a legend, never to appear before people again.

"The descendants, lacking in ability... with meager talents, have struggled to continue the lost teachings of the past sages, but we have been unable to recreate the former glory, which is a great shame..."

As he said these words, the pretense of being a high-ranking figure disappeared completely.

The words came from his mouth, but they originated from his heart.

Su Mo nodded slightly, reminded of the legends of the Heavenly Blade Sect.

It was said that the ancestor of the Heavenly Blade Sect, with his unique skills, once sliced through a thousand miles of cloud sea with a single slash, an awe-inspiring feat.

Now, the Purple Sun Sect had its own legend of the Nine Purple Suns in the sky, which was probably no less impressive.

Of course... Su Mo always felt that it was the boasting that was on par, not necessarily the actual achievement of such a level.

Duan Song continued, "Later, as the ancestor felt the time was approaching, he called the predecessors before him and instructed, 'After my death, my body will not decay. Place me in the Purple Sun Hall for future generations to study the secrets of my divine skills.'

"However, the descendants thought that merely placing him there for study would not be enough to honor the ancestor.

"Thus, they offered incense and worshiped regularly.

"To this day, it has been hundreds of years."

Hearing this, Su Mo felt a deep admiration.

In this era, people valued the peace of burial.

The Purple Sun Ancestor, having achieved greatness and understood the secrets of life and death, knew his time was near and was willing to let future generations observe his remains to comprehend the wonders of the Purple Sun Sect's techniques.

That kind of openness was truly remarkable.

After a moment of consideration, he asked Duan Song, "Uncle Duan, should I pay my respects to the ancestor as well?"

"Haha," Duan Song laughed heartily, "You should ask your great master about that tomorrow."

At that moment, a disciple came with a message that the courtyard was ready.

Duan Song nodded and led Su Mo and the others away from the Purple Sun Hall, heading towards the rear mountain.

As he walked, he said, "Tonight, you will rest in the courtyard where your father once stayed.

"The members of your Purple Sun Security Agency will also rest near your residence.

"In fact, the cleaning was specifically done for your arrival; otherwise, your courtyard has been cleaned every day for over a decade.

"He paused slightly and glanced at Su Mo, "Since the day your father left the Purple Sun Sect, the sect leader had someone clean it every day.

"When your father was still here, they waited for him to return.

"After he left, they waited for you.

"He always insisted on keeping it tidy, otherwise, if that child returned, there would be no place for him to stay."