Chapter 549: The Situation Worsens

　　Translator: Iamgt Editor: Lucas

　　Creak! The doors of the study room opened.

　　A gust of wind blew past and a huge godly bird enveloped by flames appeared before the study room. It was Little Blue.

　　“Yu~~” Teng Qingshan emitted a chirp. It did require talent to learn the Language of Beasts. However, Emptiness Realm Experts had extremely good control of their voices. Although Teng Qingshan’s mind was completely on the cultivation of spear arts and the understanding of Dao, he had learned some simple terms from Li Jun. Although he still couldn’t converse with demonic beasts, he could at least greet and say some simple words such as “kill” or “go.”

　　Little Blue’s eyes were full of happiness as it chirped cheerfully.

　　Teng Qingshan and Li Jun, as well as Little Blue, stayed in the courtyard.

　　“Little Jun, can you ask Little Blue if she has found Linlin’s location?” asked Teng Qingshan.

　　“Okay.” Li Jun emitted several chirps and cries toward Little Blue, and Little Blue quickly responded.

　　“Qingshan.” A smile appeared on Li Jun’s face. She turned and look at Teng Qingshan as she explained, “Little Blue has already asked her subordinates, and they found Linlin. Linlin is with Xiao Xiao right now. They are spending the night in Lianan City in Yuzhou.”

　　“She went to Yuzhou? Such bravery.” Teng Qingshan really didn’t know if he should cry or laugh about this.

　　For most of the past 16 years, Little Blue lived in the Desolate Land. Occasionally, she would come to the Great Yan Mountain. After all, the Great Yan Mountain was too small for an Emptiness Realm Demonic Beast that loved flying. As the noble Undying Phoenix, Little Blue had recruited many birds as its subordinates.

　　In fact, there were quite a few groups of flying demonic beasts working for Little Blue.

　　“Linlin is obedient when you are present. However, you know she has always been very brave.” Li Jun cast an annoyed glance at Teng Qingshan and scolded, “It’s all because you pampered her too much when she was young.”

　　Teng Qingshan could only respond with a helpless smile.

　　He then looked out and called, “Someone!”

　　Immediately, a maid rushed over. She secretly glanced at Teng Qingshan before she hastily bowed and greeted, “Sovereign.”

　　“Ask Elder Zhong Lu to come here,” Teng Qingshan ordered.

　　“Yes.” The maid backed away respectfully and quickly went to pass on the message.

　　Li Jun frowned and said, “Why are you asking Elder Zong Lu to come here this late at night? Can’t you wait until tomorrow?” Teng Qingshan smiled and shook his head as he said, “Elder Zong is used to staying up late. He can’t possibly be asleep at this time. Otherwise, I would have never let him be in charge of gathering information.”

　　Zong Lu, a member of Teng Jia Village.

　　Back then, in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, many people died and many families were ruined. Zong Lu was a young fugitive taken in by Teng Jia Village. Actually, there were many cases like this. For example, Teng Qingshan’s mother, Yuan Lan, was adopted by Old Chief Teng Yunlong.

　　Zong Lu was now over 50 years old. He had also watched Teng Qingshan grow up. Indeed, Teng Qingshan really trusted Zong Lu.

　　Although he had the surname “Zong,” there was not much difference between him and the other members of Teng Jia Village.

　　Thud! Thud! Thud!

　　Soft-sounding footsteps sounded outside. Soon, a figure dressed in green appeared at the courtyard door. It was Zong Lu. Although Zong Lu was over 50, he didn’t have a single white hair. Moreover, he had also consumed some Scarlet Fruit Wine, which made him extremely healthy.

　　“Uncle Zong, come in,” Teng Qingshan called out with a grin.

　　“Sovereign.” Zong Lu carried a thick stack of papers and walked in with a smile. “I heard Sovereign’s laughter this afternoon. Sovereign, you must have gained greatly from this closed-door cultivation. I, your subordinate, express my congratulations.”

　　Teng Qingshan could only smile helplessly.

　　Back then, Teng Qingshan had always address Zong Lu as uncle even when he was in Teng Jia Village. However, Zong Lu stubbornly insisted that the rules be followed, and so, he always refer to himself as the subordinate.

　　“Sovereign, this all the information we received during these past several days. These few are very important.” Zong Lu handed the papers over.

　　“Oh.” Teng Qingshan took the papers.

　　Qingshan Enterprise had stores everywhere in the Land of the Nine Prefectures. Moreover, there were cultivators of Internal Martial Arts everywhere as well. The Xing Yi Sect no longer used the intelligence agency managed by the Gui Yuan Sect. They now had their own intelligence agency, which has been gathering information very efficiently. Moreover, the forces in the Land of the Nine Prefectures were surging secretly and taking action stealthily. With this in mind, Teng Qingshan read through the information by himself.

　　“By the way, Uncle Zong.” Teng Qingshan took the papers written with the gathered information and said, “Linlin snuck out again.”

　　“Yes. However, she is very good at disguising herself.” Zong Lu shook his head and said, “I can’t find her.”

　　Teng Qingshan smiled and said, “I already know her location. She is now staying the night in Lianan City in Yuzhou, and Xiao Xiao is with her… Uncle Zong, now that you know her location, you should be able to find her, right?”

　　“Haha! It will be easy.” Zong Lu laughed and said, “Lianan City is just a small city. There aren’t many travelers in that city. It’s not hard locating two ladies.” The intelligence agency had information of some unusual characteristics of the two ladies.

　　For example…

　　Teng Honglin always had this white little bird by her side. If the white little bird was spotted, then Teng Honglin would definitely be within a distance of several Zhang. This was the most obvious characteristic. However, the bird was very small and extremely hard to find.

　　However, there was also another way. Teng Honglin’s maid, Xiao Xiao, always wore a very ordinary ring. Of course, the ring just looked ordinary. Still, this was another way to find Teng Honglin.

　　“Hm, tell me when you find her,” Teng Qingshan instructed. “Uncle Zong, please go rest.”

　　“I, your subordinate, will leave now.”

　　Zong Lu left with a smile on his face.

　　Teng Qingshan held the thick stack of papers and walked to the study room, while Li Jun and Little Blue remained in the courtyard chatting. For some time, the cries and chirps of birds sounded incessantly. It was sweet-sounding.

　　In the study room:

　　Teng Qingshan sat down and read the information. He read each piece of information seriously and especially spent timing pondering about the movements of the other huge sects. The intelligence officers had specially attached their own analyses to each piece of information.

　　“Eh?” Teng Qingshan suddenly looked very happy.

　　“Qingshan, what did you see that made you look this happy?” Li Jun smiled as she walked over.

　　“Haha, the Xing Yi Sect now has one more Innate Expert. How can I not be happy?” Teng Qingshan took a piece of information as he explained. He was so happy that he burst out into laughter. The cultivation of Internal Martial Arts was different from that of the Daoist Sects and the Buddhist Sects. In order to reach the Grandmaster Realm, one did not have very strong ‘Spirit!’ Instead, one had to have an extremely high understanding of the fist art!

　　In Teng Qingshan’s previous life, he had reached the Grandmaster Realm of Xing Yi Martial Art during the moment between life and death. In his previous life, there were quite a few Grandmasters of Internal Martial Art.

　　Actually, age and physical strength really influenced one’s cultivation of the fist art. Most experts became Grandmasters at a very young age. After the age of 50, the possibility of attaining the Grandmaster Realm would be extremely low!

　　After the age of 50, the bones, internal organs, and other parts of the body would deteriorate. The aging of the body would really affect the cultivation of Internal Martial Art. On the contrary, the cultivators of the Daoist Sects and the Buddhist Sect focused on one’s ‘Spirit.’ As the rise of one’s age corresponded with the growth of one’s ‘Spirit,’ it would be easier for an older person to reach the Innate Realm. Of course, if one was too old, the Spirit would gradually begin to deteriorate. By that time, one wouldn’t be able to attain the Innate Realm.

　　During the past 16 years…

　　Teng Qingshan’s third disciple, Xue Xin, was extremely gifted and was taught by Teng Qingshan himself. And so, in the ninth year of the Xing Yi Sect’s establishment, Xue Xin reached the Grandmaster Realm.

　　As for his second disciple, Yang Dong, he was not compatible with the cultivation of Internal Martial Arts. And so, he practiced the cultivation arts of the Daoist Sects. Although he held an extremely high position in the Xing Yi Sect, he was only able to reach the Innate Realm in the fifteenth year of the Xing Yi Sect’s establishment. At this time, two of the third generation disciples had become Grandmasters. In terms of cultivation, Yang Dong was indeed slightly embarrassing.

　　“Who is it?” Li Jun cast a glance and said in surprise, “Meng Lutong? The first boy that joined the Xing Yi Sect since the official establishment?”

　　“Yes, he’s the one. Initially, I thought that he wouldn’t be able to achieve much. After all, he was born into a rich family and had never suffered hardship. I did not expect him to be the third one among the third generation disciples to attain the Innate Realm,” Teng Qingshan commented. Currently, the Xing Yi Sect has several hundred thousand disciples. If all the Internal Martial Arts cultivators, including the ones recruited by the other sects, were counted, then there should be over one million people cultivating Internal Martial Art!

　　For the past sixteen years, most of these cultivators achieved a breakthrough and accomplished great things around the ages of 20-30.

　　“Meng Lutong is determined.” Li Jun nodded and said with a smile, “He was able to succeed because of his determination.”

　　“Eh. And now, in the Xing Yi Sect, four of the second generation disciples, three of the third generation disciples, and two of the fourth generation disciples have attained the Innate Realm. None of our fifth generation disciples have attained the Innate Realm.” Teng Qingshan nodded to himself as he said, “There are a total of nine Innate Experts. Of the nine, two practice the cultivation arts of the Daoist Sects. The other seven cultivated Internal Martial Art.”

　　Teng Qingshan couldn’t help but feel very joyous. “I must meet Meng Lutong soon. I want to know which type of fist art is most suitable for him.”

　　All the Internal Martial Arts cultivators who had reached the Grandmaster Realm had the right to be taught personally by Teng Qingshan.

　　Teng Qingshan picked up another piece of information. As he read the information, he frowned and his face darkened.

　　“This…” Li Jun read the information as well and her facial expression changed. “Emperor Yu’s Hall is so shameless.”

　　“Hmph, of the seven Supreme Sects, Emperor Yu’s Hall is the most shameless.” Teng Qingshan perused the information. According to the information, Emperor Yu’s Hall had been recruiting the Internal Martial Arts cultivators that had been practicing the Tiger Form Fist Art by offering many benefits. They had even stopped some famous and talented Internal Martial Art cultivators from heading to the Great Yan Mountain.

　　“He’s trying to take in all the Internal Martial Art cultivators in Yuzhou.” Teng Qingshan hmphed coldly.

　　“Ever since all those sects realized how powerful Internal Martial Arts was, they have been trying to recruit the Internal Martial Art cultivators with different types of benefits,” Li Jun said with a frown. “In order to stay in their hometowns and help their hometowns, many of the young boys joined those other sects and became part of those sects.”

　　Emperor Yu’s Hall, God of Heaven Palace, Snow Hawk Hall, and the Ying Family were all recruiting cultivators of Internal Martial Art.

　　Regarding this, Teng Qingshan couldn’t do anything.

　　However, the Internal Martial Art cultivators that had joined Emperor Yu’s Hall, God of Heaven Palace, and Snow Hawk Hall could only practice the cultivation arts of the Daoist Sects. Therefore, they wouldn’t accomplish much.

　　“I wouldn’t care about those cultivators who willingly joined the other sects. But I can’t believe Emperor Yu’s Hall forcefully stopped the boys who wished to learn even more profound cultivation techniques of Internal Martial Art from coming to Great Yan Mountain,” Teng Qingshan said while gnashing his teeth. “Hmph!”

　　Back then, when Little Blue killed Yu Tonghai, the relationship between Emperor Yu’s Hall and the Xing Yi Sect was aggravated.

　　“Qingshan, look…” Li Jun flipped open another piece of information and hastily said in shock, “This isn’t good!”