Chapter 2: Clues

The old man in black saw the change of expression on their Young Master’s face as Jack introduced himself. From the expression, he understood that Jack truly was not someone they could raise a finger against, however, with the situation being as it currently was, it was not going to end well either way.

The Black and White Elders were not people of the Sheng Clan. They were Outer Elders, people that were not from the Clan but due to their outstanding strength and reputation, they were recruited to the Sheng Clan. However, to join such an influential Clan, they had to give an Oath to the Heavens to never betray the Clan and stand by their side through thick and thin.

This was the down side of joining an influential power. Generally, less powerful Clans and Sect’s didn’t require their Outer Sect people to give an Oath. However, their influence wasn’t the same as the truly ancient and powerful Sect and Clans. The White Elder sent the Young Master a mental message, “What are we going to do?”

Hearing the question, the Young Master’s face fell, he was not stupid either. He knew very well that no matter which choice they chose, it would be bad. Finally, the Young Master grit his teeth and sent a message to the two Elders, “If he goes alone, let him be but if he takes her as well, we can only kill him before he can inform his Sect.”

The Black and White Elders gravely nodded to the orders. Since they were already in such a terrible situation, they would have to make a choice between the two disasters. While they were thinking of what to do, Jack was still talking with the old man in red. Jack asked, “So, tell why should I mix myself in your messes and have it interfere with my mission without getting anything in return?” The old man’s thoughts spun around as he was trying to find the best thing he could offer him.

Have their Clan owe him a favour? That was a joke in comparison to Jacks own background. He then looked thoughtfully at the young lady next to him and grit his teeth as he gambled, “This little lady next to me is the most precious treasure of our Xing Clan. She was born with a rare bodily constitution and is actually decided to become the Ascended Realms Qing Clan’s Young Masters wife in the future.”

Hearing this, the young lady immediately turned to the old man and said, “That was supposed to -” However, before she could finish her sentence, Jack asked, “Young Master of the Qing Clan? You mean Qing Arthur?” The old man’s face flickered as he answered cautiously, “Yes. They were supposed to marry when Helen passed the Empyrean Tribulation before 30.”

Hearing this, Jack looked at the girl called Helen with a pitying gaze as he said, “Honestly saying, it would be better for you to not marry that play boy. In terms of Artefact Forging, he truly is a genius but he has a serious skirt chasing problem.”

Hearing this, the old man and the girl called Helen blanked as she asked, “You know Qing Arthur?” Jack nodded his head and clarified, “Well, in the Ascended Realm, there is no one that doesn’t know him. His talent in Artefact Forging is something that is unheard of. Even the old Ancestor of Artefact Hall was astonished by his talent and took him as a personal disciple, imparting everything he knew to him. However, that old geezer keeps cleaning out my Masters wine storage and complaining about his skirt chasing problems.”

He helplessly shook his head as he explained their relation to them. Jack suddenly closed his eyes as he thought of something. He then said, “Okay, we will make a deal.” Hearing this, everyone’s hearts jumped. The trio from Sheng Clan were actually more and more frightened as they listened to the conversation.

The more Jack explained his backing, the more they believed him. Also, now that they learned that Helen was actually engaged to someone very important from the Ascended Plane, they started feeling immense regret. Helen had shown outstanding talent in terms of cultivation and this was something that made her even more desirable to all the young men. To reach the Empyrean Tribulation before 30 would be no problem to her however, whether she can pass it or not, it is another question.

Now, they were even thinking about retreating back to the Clan and reporting everything back to them. Since they had not done anything yet, they might be able to talk their way out of this somehow. After they reached this conclusion, they started inching backwards slowly. The old man in red asked with a cautious face, “What deal are we talking about?”

Jack flashed a smile as he said, “I will get you two out of this mess, help you eliminate whats-his-faces Clan.” He took a breath his smile turned more sinister, “However, in return, you will have to immediately start working on taming that skirt chaser.” The old man in red blanked but the young lady instinctively covered her intimate parts as she said, “But that….”

Jack shook his head to the lady and said, “I don’t mean that you will have to bed him, what I mean is that you will put a collar on him and have him focus more on Forging and not wreaking havoc.” Helen relaxed and tilted her head, “Wreaking havoc?” Jack sighed as he said, “Our Sect, Dragon Cross, is compromised of 4 Major Halls: 1. Alchemy Hall, Artefact Hall, Merchant Hall and Enforcement Hall.”

He took a breath and then added, “The Merchant Hall is mostly compromised of young women that look like fairies, so he causes quite a lot of trouble there….” As Jack explained, the three from the Sheng Clan saw the opportunity to run. Seeing this, Jack’s eyes narrowed as his hand reached for the mask that was on the side of his head. He then put the mask on and he dashed in pursuit. As he flew through the air, a black scythe with red “veins” appeared in his hands as he barked out, “Rivvi!”

No one present understood the language Jack spoke in but as his order was barked out, two circles with a diameter of 5 meters appeared on the ground. A murderous aura spread out as the ground burst into flames and two Devils with crimson red skin appeared. The Devils stood on two legs and were over 4 meters high when they stood up. Their bulky build was covered by worn out armour. On their heads were two giant horns that curved to the back of their heads from their foreheads. Both of them had a huge staff with a long blade attached to the end. As the two appeared, their roar shook the Heavens and hearing the roars, Jack did not even look towards the two as he barked out, “Püüdke kinni!”

As Jack’s order echoed out, the two Devils burst into flames and disappeared. As they reappeared, they were already behind the Black and White Emperor. They stretched out one of their arms and simultaneously reached for their backs with the intent of catching them. When the two Elders heard the roars and Jacks mysterious command, they glanced backwards. When they did, they saw two towering Devils reaching their hands for them.

The two paled and immediately fished out a black tear and a white tear. In unison they yelled, “Yin-Yang Comet!” As the words echoed out, the old men were covered by a white and a black cocoon respectively. When the Devils hands touched the cocoons, the hands burst into flames. The two Devils jerked backwards and let out furious roars as one of them raised his Naginata up above his head and smashed it towards the white cocoon.

However, before his attack could land, the two cocoon’s merged and sped off into the distance at triple the speed they had before. Seeing this, Jacks eyes flashed behind the mask as he thought to himself, “Hmm, Yin-Yang Comet was one of the things that went missing. It seems that these two old geezers know something about it.” As he remembered his mission, he raised his palm and two blood red symbols appeared on it. “Neetute märk.” As Jack quietly said that, the two red symbols disappeared.

When they reappeared, they were branded on the two old men but since the mark did not hurt in the slightest, they did not feel it at all. They were currently running for their lives because the two Devils made one thing very clear: Jack was someone that they could not offend, no matter what. Also, the two Devils he had summoned were at the peak of Nascent Soul Realm but they were far stronger than the two of them were.

The Black Elder looked at his brother and said grimly, “We need to report this to the Patriarch. It seems like he is connected to that group.” The White Elder grimly nodded his head as they flew through the air towards the horizon. They had forgotten all about the Young Master they were supposed to protect with their lives and frankly, they did not care either. This information was far more important than the son of some Elder from the Clan. If the two of them had not owed a favour to the Elder, they would actually have not been here at all.

After the two disappeared behind the horizon, Jack had already captured the “Young Master”. It wasn’t hard at all, all he had to do was have the two Devils stand in his way while he blocked his retreat. Seeing no way out, he immediately surrendered. All of this took a minute to happen, so by the time that the red robed Elder came back to his senses, he just stared at the situation with a complicated face. Helen however gulped. Jack then confiscated all of the “Young Masters” Artefacts and also put him under a strange suppression spell that did not allow him to utilize his cultivation base.

After making sure that the young man had no way of escaping, he went back towards the two. When he arrived back, he said, “Well, guess I truly do have to thank you.” Hearing this, the old man put on a faint smile as he asked, “Why do you have to thank us?” Jack looked towards the spot that the Black and White Elder disappeared to and said, “Because my reason being here is because of a mission from the Sect and thanks to you two, it seems I can finish it quite quickly.”

Hearing this, the old man in red remembered something as he asked cautiously, “Was something stolen from your Sects people about a year back?” Jack narrowed his eyes as he asked in a cold tone, “You know something about it?” The old man immediately clarified, “It was just that about a year back, the Sheng Clan suddenly obtained miraculous Pills and Artefacts out of nowhere. Thanks to that, they immediately spiked in power and rose to the same level as my Xing Clan in less than half a year.”

Jack then looked thoughtfully and asked, “At what level is their strongest person?” The old man closed his eyes for a moment and said, “Their Old Ancestor is rumoured to have reached the Empyrean King Realm while they have a Dao Reserve of 20-30 Empyrean Immortals.” He then opened his eyes and said seriously, “They all appeared out of nowhere half a year ago. I have no idea what miraculous medicine or scripture they have stolen….”

Hearing this, Jack suddenly started excluding a cold aura as he asked, “Is there something peculiar about them? Like that the Arts they cultivated suddenly changed or their fighting style made an 180 degree turn?”

The old man looked at Jack with an interested gaze as he said, “Yes, the Old Ancestor was someone that cultivated a Wind Element Sword Art but after becoming an Empyrean King, he suddenly started using a Fire Style Spear Art.”

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