Yin Orb

In Southern Liang, situated among the ringed mountains, Nie Sect was the third in its influence. Let it be the number of disciples, the number of geniuses it produced or the acres of territory under its justification.

The only two Sects that dominated it were Lang Clan and the Huo Clan.

Chen Ping managed to come back, exhausting all of his 'Living Force' and ending up unconscious on his Sect's gate. Waking up, he refused any treatment and insisted on seeing the Sect Leader Nie at once. Getting in, he unceremoniously gave a short greeting and rushed to the topic.

"Sect Leader Nie, an attack had been conducted by Northern Qin."

"You are awake?" Sect Master Nie slowly got up from his seat. "Speak slowly. There is no rush."

Sect Leader Nie himself walked to Chen Ping and grabbed him by his arm. He slowly guided his disciples to a bamboo mat and poured him a cup of herbal tea with medicinal effects.

"Thank you Sect Master" Chen Ping had never forgotten to appreciate his Sect Leader Nie's kindness. 'Our Sect Leader is so better than the other self-important Sect Leader's out there.'

"Sect Master Nie... I fear this is important. None of my companions... survived."

Glancing slightly at Sect Leader Nie's face, Chen Ping didn't observe an extreme reaction. He concluded that Sect Leader must have already known.

"I rushed back here to inform you. I fear the whole Southern Liang can be in imminent danger. Now with Sect Leader Lang in comma, you are the only one we can rely on if a war breaks out again."

"You know that after Sect Leader Lang underwent that assassination attempt and fell into a coma, the whole Southern Liang had been looking up to you and Sect Leader Huo for guidance. With him still in a coma... we are in a delicate position."

Glancing up again. Chen Ping saw a look of worry on his master's face. "Sect Master, my injuries are nothing..."

"Wing'er, quickly bring the acupuncture needles."

"Yes, Elder Brother." Nie Wing had been standing by Nei Guang, Sect Leade Nie, the whole time. After listening to his words, he cupped his hands in respect and quickly departed Sect Leader's chamber.

"Explain slowly what exactly had happened?"

"We had just traveled a few miles into Northern Qin territory when a group of skilled cultivators attacked us out of nowhere. Each of them had expertise in a different element. Not only that, but they had also been using some concealment art. I could not tell their ranks... So we had decided to engage in a fight with them..." Chen Ping fell silent.

He observed his Master's gaze hardening. In an instant, a suffocating aura infiltrated the room.

"Sect Leader Nie..."

Nie Guang heaved a sigh. The intense aura loosened slowly.

"What happened there was not your fault. I had sent you with Lang Wei to defend against the intelligent spiritual Beasts. There shouldn't have been any other danger you could have countered. Chen Ping, you are still young. It hadn't been long since you formed your core. I do not blame you." After a pause, he asked. "So tell me about it... why do you think it was Nothern Qin?"

Hearing his master's words, Chen Ping's quivering heart calmed a bit. He continued with his explanation.

"First of all their summoning spells were strange. Unfamiliar with all the methods taught by Seven Sects in Southern Liang. Second, after fighting them, I can tell that even their weapons and talisman were not from our Southern Liang. That can only mean they belong to Northern Qin."

"Master, It is clear to everyone that Northern Qin is not happy with the ending of the war. It is unsatisfied with the spoils of war. Since Sect Leader Lang declined to hand over that... that treasure, Northern Qin has been looking for excuses to reinitiate the war.

But after the peace treaty, blindly initiating the war again would make them look bad.

Wasn't asking for Sect Leader's sons to be sent to hostages was an attempt to formulate an excuse to restart the war?

However, in Sect Leader Nie's absence, Master and Sect Leader Huo were willing to give the sacrifice and decided for seven sects to send in their sons.

Northern Qin must be very unsatisfied with the situation.

Now the only way to nullify the peace treaty was if the children failed to appear in Northern Qin by the time limit provided by Northern Qin. If the son of the Sect Leader Lang failed to appear, Northern Qin would naturally not tolerate or listen to any excuse. They would immediately restart the war.

If it was true, the war would happen for certain after a short while.

Master, that's why I abandoned the fight and fled to inform you... So that we can be prepared."

"Chen Ping, other than the Seven Great Sects in our Southern Liang there are a plentiful of Sects out there. Those masters could belong to any of their faction. What makes you so certain that it was Northern Qin?"

Chen Ping took a deep breath and whispered. "All of those cultivators were skilled in Poison. Sect Master knows how hard it is to find a poison that would affect cultivators who have formed their core. It can only mean it was... The Poison Master. "

The Poison Master was a former disciple of the most influential sect in Northern Qin. However rumors had it, he had severed connections with his sect and started living in seclusion. Only rarely, he would take in disciples. He would never meddle in the affairs of the outside world.

"Poison Master takes picks up disciples from versatile backgrounds and roots and trains them. Other than that we all know that the Poison Master has strong animosity against Sect Leader Lang. Maybe that animosity tempted him to work with Northern Qin against the Southern Liang."

"Sect Leader Nie." Nie Wei came back with a chest. He put it down and pulled out a set of needles and handed them to Nei Guang.

Nei Guang quickly performed the basic acupuncture procedure on Chen Ping. All the while Chen Ping briefed him about further details of the incident. Later Nie Guang had some younger disciples take Chen Ping back to his chambers to recuperate.

.

.

.

Once he was gone, the soft expressions on Nei Guang's face disappeared. His eyes hardened with sharp killing intent.

It felt so suffocating in the room that if there was someone who hadn't yet formed his core yet standing in there, he would have collapsed by now.

"Elder Brother, should we dispatch another group of disciples to the Evergreen Forests?" Nie Wing had noticed the drastic change. However, he was still many ranks higher so the aura didn't affect him to the extent of harming him.

"It doesn't matter. This incident has nothing to do with Northern Qin." Nie Guang stopped for once.

He folded his hands behind his back and walked to his younger brother.

"Wing'er you are the only one I trust. This time, in the whole Southern Liang, the only person who knows about one of the four pieces of the Yin Orb besides me is you."

Looking at his younger brother's shocked expressions, Nie Guang continued.

"You are correct. The child whose soul I planted the piece into was Lang Wei."

"Elder Brother, why did you choose him? There were a lot of other choices. Our most important objective was to take that piece securely to Northern Qin without anyone getting suspicious of us. It would have been wiser if you had chosen one of the sons of some less influential Sect leader and planted the Orb within him."

"I have been investigating the most suitable candidate for implantation for a long time. That child Lang Wei was the best." Nie Guang said.

"Yin Orb has some certain properties. It can't be implanted on just any soul. If I had forcefully implanted it into another child, its effects would have come out.

Especially those children who had already at a tier first or two of 'Living Force' would naturally oppose its implantation. Forcefully conducting the plantation would result in soul possession by the excessive Yin energy.

On the other hand, Lang Wei had not ever opened his 'Living Force' channels yet.

And more than that Lang Sect natural element is Water. They mostly make sure of 'Positive Qi' Yin Orb concentrates an excess of Negative Qi. They would naturally cancel each other and Yin Orb's presence would be unnoticeable. Lang Wei was the safest option."

"But elder brother, planting that Orb in a soul means that you have destroyed the child's roots. The Orb would either slowly devour him till he dies or if we forcefully extract the orb, he would die too. In any way, he is the child of Sect Leader Lang..."

A look of disgust flashed over Nie Guang's face. "Lang Wei is a bastard. Even if he had died due to the effect of Yin Orb, Sect Master Lang wouldn't have cared. He would not have plunged into a deep investigation for his sake."

Nei Guang had been implanted in Nei Sect by Northern Qin a long time ago. After the war between Northern Qin and Southern Liang, the previous Sect Leader of Nie Sect was assassinated. That was Nei Guang's chance to take the position. In the last six months, he had risen the Nei Sect from the fifth position to the third in ranks.

All the while, his objective was one thing. Take the piece of the Yin Orb from Lang Sect's possession and bring it to the Northern Qin.

"We must find that kid at all costs. Or else... years of our efforts would go to waste." Nei Guang's expressions became solemn at once. "He holds the treasure that will determine who would succeed in the upcoming war."