It's Enough to Know This Is Fate

Central Continent, Golden Light Gorge.

A waterfall cascaded as if pouring straight from the heavens, the roaring crash of water deafening as it struck the rocks, kicking up a thin mist. A blazing sun hung overhead, casting golden rays like scattered gold dust.

Bai Xuanling stood with hands clasped, gazing up at the waterfall from its edge, his tone teasing:

“Sometimes, things truly are unpredictable. Your eldest disciple really does deliver surprises. Back in the day, Lü Xuan said your eldest disciple was immensely lucky, and I thought Lü Xuan was just shamelessly bragging to save face. Now it seems that brat might have actually grasped a sliver of true Heaven’s Derivation.”

Chu Xingchen, also dressed in a white robe, sat on a flat stone by the shore. Hearing this, he could only force a helpless smile.

Once that deputy had met with Chu Xingchen, there was naturally no way he could leave the Immortal Sect’s line of sight. Though they couldn’t shadow him every hour of the day, they had ample intelligence on where he had gone and whom he had met.

After dealing with the matter of the “loving family reunion,” Li Yingling had resumed handling the vacant affairs alongside Li Xingtian, keeping himself busy.

The matters Chu Xingchen was now handling were top-secret, and the details were no longer shared with Li Yingling. Yet, Li Yingling somehow had managed to track down the deputy that Chu Xingchen had secretly met.

The sheer absurdity of it made Chu Xingchen’s scalp tingle. All his painstaking preparation and patient waiting amounted to less than his eldest disciple’s casual catch.

If he really left everything to Li Yingling, he wondered if the kid could capture the Black Crow Sect Leader without breaking a sweat.

Still, at least they had found their contact through the deputy. According to intelligence reports, the contact was the Valley Master of the Eight Directions Valley. So, the thread wasn’t completely severed—hopefully, the message could still reach the Black Crow Sect Leader.

Chu Xingchen had investigated the Eight Directions Valley’s faction. Its reputation was spotless, and its Valley Master was an avid philanthropist, almost like a living saint.

But to think it would actually turn out to have ties with the Evil Spirit Sect…

He couldn’t help but wonder how many other sects in this world were like the Eight Directions Valley—wearing a mask of righteousness while harboring the evil core of the Evil Spirit Sect.

“My eldest disciple’s luck is beyond question,” Chu Xingchen said lazily. “Why else would he have found me—the world’s unmatched master—for himself?”

Bai Xuanling raised his hand slightly, and a water dragon surged out of the river, shooting straight at Chu Xingchen.

“Your face seems thick and dirty. Let me wash it for you.”

Chu Xingchen pressed his palm downward, and the charging water dragon exploded into a burst of droplets. He chuckled playfully, “My face is so thin that it would bleed at the slightest touch. A water dragon that big? I’ll have to pass.”

Bai Xuanling snorted lightly, then asked, “Now that your eldest disciple has captured the deputy, everyone’s on edge. The Black Crow won’t dare come now. Staying here waiting might just end in disappointment.”

Chu Xingchen shrugged nonchalantly. “It’s only a few more days. Might as well take a break. I haven’t fully recovered from the injury I sustained in that fight with Xu Linglong.”

Bai Xuanling cast a doubtful glance at him.

“You’ve got ample blood energy and stable spiritual power. What injury is still troubling you?”

Before Chu Xingchen could reply, his expression suddenly turned serious. He exchanged a look with Bai Xuanling. The two immediately retrieved magic tool masks from their spatial rings.

In an instant, thin, skin-like soft clay was pressed onto their faces, transforming their features into completely different people without the slightest ripple of spiritual energy fluctuation.

Illusion magic could achieve the same effect, but it carried the risk of being detected.

Once the two mask tools were perfectly adjusted, Chu Xingchen raised his hand, releasing a wisp of blood energy into the air.

It wasn’t long before a figure in a black cloak came flying from the west, landing steadily. He bowed slightly, his wide hood shrouding his face entirely.

Chu Xingchen glanced over, sensing immediately that the black cloak had been enchanted to block divine sense probes. After a brief study, he asked calmly,

“Black Crow Sect Leader?”

“The very same. Might you be the Bloodthirsty True Lord—Senior Xu Si?”

“Oh?” A hint of a smile curled at the corner of Chu Xingchen’s mouth. “So you actually managed to discover my true identity. That must have taken some effort on your part?”

As his words fell, the cloaked figure straightened up, revealing half of his face.

Chu Xingchen looked at that half-face and immediately noticed that he, too, was wearing a magic mask tool. However, the craftsmanship was far inferior to the delicacy and perfection of the top-tier Refining Masters of the Eighteen Immortal Sects. One glance was enough to give it away.

“Not much effort at all,” the cloaked man replied respectfully. “It was simply prudent to make some preparations before meeting a senior like yourself.”

To answer that it took great effort would imply that his faction lacked capability and struggled even with intelligence gathering. To answer that it took no effort would betray a hint of belittling.

Meeting among demon-cultivators naturally required careful choice of words.

After all, one wrong move, and the person across from you might well kill you on the spot.

Chu Xingchen stepped closer, his tone turning cold. “Since you have the wits to prepare, I think they should have told you—I wanted to see you in person. Today, you come with an incarnate puppet, wrapped in a divine-sense-blocking cloak, and think I wouldn’t recognize it?”

“Or… are you underestimating me?”

Zhao Xuan, hearing this, abandoned pretense. He took off the black cloak directly, revealing the face of a young man.

“Naturally not, Senior. Though it is an incarnate puppet, my divine sense is fully present. It makes no difference whether I come in person or in guise. Anything I promise here holds true.”

Chu Xingchen gave a mocking laugh, his gaze turning sharp. “I thought the Black Crow Sect Leader of the Evil Spirit Sect was at least a practitioner of blood qi and possessed some courage. ‘Black Crow the Runner’—I didn’t take that nickname seriously at first. But now I see it’s quite apt.”

“I’m not here for some petty skirmish—something that can be abandoned if it fails.”

“If you’re not ready to stake your life on it, then stop wasting my sight.”

“I’ll spare this incarnate puppet today as a lesson from a senior to a junior. Now get lost!”

Zhao Xuan fell silent for a moment, then spoke softly.

“I have only one question for Senior: How can I trust what you have in hand?”

Chu Xingchen raised his hand and produced a crimson prismatic crystal from his spatial ring. With a slight activation, a wave of pure blood qi emanated—so pure it sent chills down Zhao Xuan’s spine.

Zhao Xuan couldn’t quite describe the sensation—no impurities, no contamination, nothing wrong with it at all.

It was as pristine as spiritual energy itself.

As though it were a natural phenomenon, not something man-made.

Chu Xingchen stowed the crystal away quickly, his tone tinged with pride.

“Now do you understand?”

Zhao Xuan’s puppet nodded.

A blood qi this pure, akin to spiritual energy—this must be the final answer for blood qi cultivators to reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

If the rumored secret technique leaked from the intelligence was the method to produce such blood qi…

Now, seeing this authentic, undeniable proof…

Zhao Xuan no longer hesitated.

“Senior, wait a moment. My true body will arrive shortly.”

Chu Xingchen’s eyes narrowed, his voice dripping with frost.

“What I want to see is the real Black Crow Sect Leader, not some impostor.”

Zhao Xuan stated firmly:

“Such a great opportunity—how could I share it with others?”

Chu Xingchen nodded with satisfaction upon hearing this:

“Good, good, good… It is well that you understand this is a grand opportunity!”