Chapter 263: Ranked 267th on the Golden Core Ranking

Niu Youdao remained silent. Only after his qi had completed a full circuit did he slowly open his eyes. "No need to make a fuss. It's only a minor injury. Being able to come back alive is already good enough."

Thinking back to the tall, thin man relentlessly hunting him down, and to the scene where that man had killed and wounded more than ten Golden Core Realm cultivators with a single move, he still felt a lingering chill.

He had expected whoever stood behind this to want him dead. He simply had not expected them to dispatch an expert of that caliber to deal with him.

"What exactly happened?" Black Peony asked.

Niu Youdao did not explain for the moment. He had her bring water so he could rinse the taste of blood from his mouth, then untied the cloak around himself and handed it over to her. Leaving the smaller room, he removed the sword at his waist and placed it on the sword rack. Then he asked, "Has Linghu Qiu returned?"

Black Peony hung the cloak back on the wall and came over. "He came back not long after you left. He came looking for you, and his expression seemed a little off. He said that when you returned, you should go see him. He has something to discuss with you."

Niu Youdao walked to the window and stood there in silence for a while before slowly saying, "It's still the same conclusion. By rights, Linghu Qiu shouldn't be enough to deter that mysterious force. Yet before they moved against me this time, they deliberately lured him away... Looks like there really was something wrong with him going to Qingshan Commandery to find me and then sticking close to me all this way. Even if Linghu Qiu has nothing to do with that mysterious force, nine chances out of ten he knows something."

Black Peony caught his wrist, checked his pulse, and used spiritual power to examine his injuries. Only after confirming that there truly was nothing serious did she relax. Then she asked, "If that's really the case, Linghu Qiu must want something from you. But what could he possibly want?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "Exactly. That's what I can't figure out either. What can he gain from me? What do I even have that's worth plotting for?"

Black Peony said, "Don't think about that for now. You're covered in dirt. I'll prepare hot water for you. Soak for a while and get some proper rest. Everything else can wait until your injuries recover."

Niu Youdao looked back at her. "Didn't you say your skills were good and that you were going to sleep with me tonight?"

Black Peony rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you couldn't tell whether I meant it. You're injured and still can't behave yourself... I'm not going to throw myself into your arms and let people look down on me."

Niu Youdao gave an exaggerated little sound. "You've got backbone!"

Black Peony snorted. "You men aren't hard to understand. I spend every day swaying around in front of you. Sooner or later there'll be a time when your hot blood gets the better of you and you can't hold back. I'll wait for you to make the first move!"

Niu Youdao chuckled and changed the subject. "Forget the bath for now. Didn't Linghu Qiu say he wanted to see me? I'd like to see what game he's trying to play. Go to Gongsun Bu first and bring me that head."

"The head?" Black Peony looked puzzled, but still obeyed.

After retrieving it, the two went to Linghu Qiu's room and knocked.

Hongxiu opened the door. Seeing Niu Youdao, she looked somewhat surprised, then quickly opened it all the way and invited him inside. At the same time, she called back, "Sir, Master Dao is here."

Linghu Qiu strode out from the inner room and looked Niu Youdao up and down.

"Elder Brother, I heard you wanted to see me?" Niu Youdao smiled and cupped his hands.

Linghu Qiu patted him on the shoulder and led him inside. Once they were seated, he said with apparent reproach, "Don't you know how many enemies you have? Running outside alone is dangerous, do you understand? And what's with all this dust and dirt on you?"

"I made Elder Brother worry. That was my fault." Niu Youdao first apologized, then shook his head with a sigh. "But Elder Brother really did call it. Something happened."

Linghu Qiu's expression turned solemn. "What happened?"

Niu Youdao said, "Someone impersonated the shopkeeper of Liuxian Sect's local business. His disguise was good enough to pass false for true. He fooled me completely, lured me out of Boundless Pavilion, and then tried to kill me. The fact that I managed to come back alive and see Elder Brother again was pure luck!"

Linghu Qiu inwardly cursed that damned woman, but outwardly kept a straight face and knowingly asked, "Do you know who did it?"

Niu Youdao said, "That's what's strange. I didn't recognize a single one of the killers. I'm wondering who could have done it. That's exactly why I've come to ask Elder Brother."

Linghu Qiu asked, "What do you mean?"

Niu Youdao glanced back and beckoned. "Show Elder Brother."

Black Peony stepped forward carrying a cloth bundle. She placed it on the table and unwrapped it, revealing a severed head. She looked at it twice herself without recognizing the face, then turned the head so it faced Linghu Qiu. Niu Youdao watched Linghu Qiu's reaction closely.

The moment they saw the face, Hongxiu and Hongfu exchanged a glance, surprise flashing through their eyes. Linghu Qiu stared at the head, his lips slowly tightening.

Observing all of this, Niu Youdao asked, "This man was extremely formidable. Before this, the strongest person I'd ever seen act was Bai Yao of Tianyu Sect, but compared with this man, Bai Yao was probably considerably inferior. Since entering the cultivation world, this is the first time I've encountered an expert this terrifying. A man like this shouldn't be nameless. Does Elder Brother recognize him?"

Linghu Qiu fell briefly silent, then slowly nodded. "I do. I crossed paths with him once before."

Niu Youdao gave a soft sound of acknowledgment and immediately asked, "What sect or school did this expert come from?"

Linghu Qiu shook his head. "His name was Zhuo Chao. He belonged to no sect or school. Like us, he was an independent cultivator, but by no means an ordinary one. Eight Hundred Golden Cores, famed beneath Heaven. Anyone capable of entering the top three hundred of the Golden Core Ranking can practically be counted among the first-rate experts beneath Heaven. Zhuo Chao was ranked 267th. You can imagine how strong he was."

Zhuo Chao? Two hundred and sixty-seventh?

Niu Youdao silently committed the name and ranking to memory, then nodded outwardly. "No wonder."

At the side, Black Peony felt her heart pounding. An expert ranked within the top three hundred of the Golden Core Ranking?

Plenty of experts might never appear on the ranking, but anyone who did make the Golden Core Ranking had unquestionably been tested and proven.

She could imagine how terrifying it would be to face someone like that. Only now did she more fully understand why Niu Youdao had said that simply returning alive was good enough.

Linghu Qiu asked curiously, "Did Little Brother have some grudge with him? A man at Zhuo Chao's level wouldn't take action over a little money. Why would he move against you?"

"How would I know?" Niu Youdao replied. "I didn't even know him. This is the first time I've heard his name. How could there be any grudge between us?"

"That doesn't add up!" Linghu Qiu shook his head and pointed at the severed head. "With Zhuo Chao's strength, if he personally moved against you, escaping disaster should have been extremely difficult. Yet you're sitting here perfectly well while his head is on the table. I'm not belittling you, Little Brother, but even if you gathered a whole pile of yourself together, I doubt you'd be his match."

Niu Youdao smiled. "Just as Elder Brother said, I have plenty of enemies. Since I dared come out and travel, how could I not make some preparations? Zhuo Chao wasn't the only person who attacked me. There were four other Golden Core Realm cultivators. Not one escaped. Every one of them was killed!"

He did not mention that they had also captured two prisoners alive. The room went quiet. Everyone looked at him.

Linghu Qiu tentatively asked, "Little Brother has other people with you?"

Niu Youdao said, "People from the three sects have been secretly following and protecting me throughout the journey."

Linghu Qiu shook his head. "Forgive me for speaking plainly, but for sects like Liuxian Sect, even if all three sects turned out in full force, they wouldn't necessarily be able to keep Zhuo Chao from escaping, much less take his head. Among Tianyu Sect's strongest experts, there might be a few with the ability to kill him..."

"But by rights, an expert at that level is a sect's ultimate deterrent. Cultivating even one requires enormous resources. Such people are pillars supporting the entire weight of a sect and are one of the main reasons other sects don't dare act recklessly. Unless a truly critical moment arrives, they aren't mobilized lightly. Would Tianyu Sect really send someone like that to protect Little Brother in secret?"

"Besides, some matters can't be solved through fighting and killing. The State of Qi isn't a place where Tianyu Sect can do whatever it pleases. Sending one or two experts like that may not accomplish anything. Whatever sort of people you deploy will ultimately draw out opponents of the same caliber. Would Tianyu Sect really risk manpower like that? Losing one or two experts of that level would badly damage Tianyu Sect's foundation!"

Niu Youdao neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply smiled, gave a few vague explanations, and brushed the matter aside. After he and Black Peony took their leave, Linghu Qiu paced inside the room for a long time.

"Looks like we may have worried too much. This fellow may genuinely have first-rate experts protecting him from behind the scenes. I was wondering why he'd dare wander outside with only a few people!" Linghu Qiu finally stopped before the lamplight and muttered.

Hongfu said coldly, "Was that Zhuo Chao one of Xiaoyue Pavilion's people too?"

Hongxiu said, "If he came out to do something like this, most likely. They even mobilized Zhuo Chao. They were absolutely determined to take Niu Youdao's life. Now that they've failed, let's see how she answers for it!"

Linghu Qiu sighed softly. "An ordinary person couldn't possibly mobilize someone like Zhuo Chao. This Su Zhao probably has no small amount of background and influence inside the organization. Look at it the other way around: she must also have enough backing to withstand internal accountability. Otherwise, how would she dare do something like this? All we can do is report the situation upward..."

The next day, accompanied by the guards from the three sects, Niu Youdao once again went to Liuxian Sect's shop. Shopkeeper Pan and the others came out to greet him when they heard he had arrived.

Once both sides reached the rear hall, Niu Youdao asked, "Has he talked?"

Shopkeeper Pan shook his head. "His mouth is hard. He says he'll die even if he talks, so no matter what we do, he refuses to say anything."

"Come. Let's take a look." Niu Youdao waved for them to lead the way.

The group entered the interrogation room.

The false "Shopkeeper Pan" was bound to a pillar in iron shackles. He had been tortured into a miserable state, blood covering his entire body. He had already been badly wounded before this, and now looked extremely weak.

Seeing everyone enter, the false "Shopkeeper Pan" gave a hoarse chuckle.

"Don't kill him. Take your time interrogating him. Sooner or later you'll find a way to make him talk." Niu Youdao merely looked him over to confirm his condition with his own eyes, left those words behind, then went back out.

After the group returned to the rear hall, Niu Youdao asked again, "What about the one being held at Fuyun Sect's shop? Has he talked?"

The Fuyun Sect cultivator accompanying him said, "Probably not. If there were news, they would've informed us immediately."

Niu Youdao frowned. He had paid such a large price for this. What was the point of taking prisoners alive if they couldn't make them speak?

Leaving aside the deaths and injuries among the others, he personally had consumed three Transmission Protective Talismans because of this affair.

His voice darkened as he rebuked them. "You can't even handle something this simple? Do the three sects have no capable people?"

The words amounted to humiliating all three sects. The disciples present naturally did not look pleased.

Shopkeeper Pan objected, "Master Dao, that's not fair. We've used every method we have. If the other side would rather die than talk, what are we supposed to do? On top of that, he's already so badly injured that we could kill him by accident at any time. All we can do is interrogate him slowly and keep looking for a point of weakness. Didn't Master Dao yourself just say to take it slowly?"

Niu Youdao shot back, "So what you're saying is that we should stay here and wait while you slowly figure out who the enemy is before we continue on to the State of Qi?"

[End of Chapter 263]