Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

“Go yourself,” Ying Long replied lazily, wagging its tail, and a black hole appeared in the sky.

Qiu Changtian double-checked the strategy and recited his lines,

“I do not wish to return the way I came, can you send me to the twelfth floor?”

“Oh?” Ying Long didn’t even lift its head as it spoke, “Why should I help you?”

“Ying Long, have you ever heard the name ‘Marquis of Mount Tu’?” Qiu Changtian pulled out his trump card.

The indifferent Ying Long, still leisurely wagging its tail, suddenly paused in its movement.

“The Marquis of Mount Tu is not a name, it’s a title,” it finally spoke slowly after a while, “It’s the title of an envoy of the Qingqiu Clan, the exclusive appellation of the Illusionary Moon Celestial Fox.”

“I have an idea why the Marquis of Mount Tu would seek me out,” Ying Long said, as it waved its tail again, opening a second black hole in front of Qiu Changtian, “This is the exit to the twelfth floor’s Jing Gate. Leave through here.”

Qiu Changtian thanked it, then passed through the black hole and disappeared from that realm.

A moment later, the Marquis of Mount Tu, dressed as a Shushan disciple, slowly emerged from the first black hole that Ying Long had opened.

Her gaze fell on Ying Long on Blade Mountain, and after a long silence, she called out:

“Brother-in-law.”

…………

After passing through the black hole, Qiu Changtian arrived in the Jing Gate area of the twelfth floor.

There weren’t many demonic beasts here, but there were quite a few corpses of them, apparently killed by passing Shushan disciples.

Flying forward for a while and passing through a forest, Qiu Changtian saw a Shushan disciple who had been fatally wounded and was dying on the ground, just taking his last breath.

Xu Anze, who had ambushed and attacked the disciple, stood beside him. Startled by the sudden intrusion, he then recognized the “Marquis of Mount Tu” and quickly resumed his smile, saying:

“The lowly one pays his respects to the Marquis of Mount Tu. How goes your important business, True Lord?”

“It’s almost done, just some finishing touches left,” Qiu Changtian nodded.

“If there’s anything you need, just command me…” Xu Anze didn’t finish his sentence when the flash of the Qing Ping Sword suddenly penetrated his chest.

His smile was still plastered on his face, yet his eyes quickly shifted from confusion to fury to fear, and lastly to the despair of death.

Qiu Changtian looked coldly at the two bodies, pondered for a moment, then drew out the Yu Long Sword, turned it into a sword light that wrapped around both bodies, and then flew towards the exit on his flying sword.

In the central hall, the agitated Real Person Jinghua had already issued a search warrant among the Shushan disciples for Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu:

“Everyone leave the tower with me now! If you have any news of Ling Yunpo or An Zhisu, report it immediately!”

His gaze swept over the trembling disciples and he suddenly shouted:

“Has anyone seen Kunlun’s Chief Disciple Qiu Changtian?!”

No sooner had his words fallen than Qiu Changtian calmly appeared from the passage and threw the two bodies onto the ground.

“I happened to encounter this person murdering a fellow disciple in the Trial Secret Realm.”

“Seeing his actions exposed, he turned around and used his Flying Sword to kill me, but ended up being slain by me instead.”

“Here lie the body of the victim and this person’s Flying Sword, Real Person can see for himself!”

As the two bodies tumbled to the ground, the Shushan disciples gasped in unison.

The disciples of Green Bamboo Peak, where the victim was from, were in deep grief, with their senior sister Guan Shanyue’s expression gravely serious; while the disciples of Red Sun Peak, to which the accused murderer Xu Anze belonged, glared at Qiu Changtian in anger.

However, accusing someone of being the murderer is a very serious matter, and it’s not a matter of you saying it is so, or him saying it isn’t.

Therefore, everyone could only turn their eyes to Jinghua, the real person, patiently waiting for him to administer justice.

Jinghua approached the body expressionlessly, first confirming the victim’s wound, including its length, width, depth, and the traces of Sword Qi residue, before picking up Xu Anze’s Flying Sword to examine it.

Suddenly, a look of anger flashed across his face, and he said to the disciples of Red Sun Peak:

“Is this his Flying Sword?”

“Yes, yes…” The disciples of Red Sun Peak hesitated for a moment before their complexions changed collectively.

Xu Anze’s Flying Sword was called “Ice Spring,” a Water System Flying Sword.

All present were skilled swordsmen and immediately realized the critical point:

It must have been that Jinghua had discovered the traces of Sword Qi residue near the wound were left by the Ice Spring Sword!

“That’s excellent,” Lin Duanshan breathed a sigh of relief and said, “This clears An Zhisu and Ling Yunpo of any suspicion.”

“It’s too early to clear Qingluo Peak of suspicion!” Jinghua interrupted him, “How then do you explain Su Jian’s actions?”

“It must have been the work of a Great Demon masquerading as ‘Marquis of Mount Tu,’” Qiu Changtian said calmly, “After he struck, I heard him personally confess that ‘it was a task of the Marquis of Mount Tu.’”

“So he spoke to himself, naming his backer after the crime?” Jinghua couldn’t help but show a peculiar expression and asked with doubt, “Besides this, do you have any other evidence?”

“There is no other evidence,” Qiu Changtian admitted openly, “but we can start with him.”

“If we confirm that there are traces of Demon Art on his body, wouldn’t that prove that his collaborator wasn’t Su Jian but a Great Demon?”

Jinghua had no reply, only nodding grimly.

Regardless of whether Su Jian or a Great Demon was lurking within the tower, the top priority was not to unravel the truth but to swiftly remove these Foundation Establishment disciples from harm’s way, lest they perish here resulting in a disastrous break in the cultivation lineage.

Thus, everyone hurriedly climbed to the top of the Demon Locking Tower and then rapidly left Thunder Grotto Plateau, flying in groups towards the Emei Golden Summit with Sword Control.

While there was still the Blood Pool and Cloud Sea Realm left unvisited, the importance of personal safety and the security of their Sect was evidently the higher priority.

As for those disciples who had not managed to return in time and were still in other secret realms, they had no choice but to neglect them for the time being.

After about a quarter of an hour, the ancestral hall sent back their findings.

The elders, adept in illusion techniques, confirmed that Xu Anze indeed had used Illusion Techniques while alive.

More precisely, it was an Illusion Technique specific to the fox demons of the Qingqiu lineage.

Given that Xu Anze had hardly left Mount Shushan to interact with cultivators from other factions after joining them, the reason he learned the Fox Demon Illusion Technique seemed to only be traced back to his encounter with a Great Demon of Qingqiu in the Demon Locking Tower, the Illusionary Moon Celestial Fox.

That is to say, the “Marquis of Mount Tu” who had disguised himself as a member of the Seven Kills array, mentioned by Qiu Changtian.

Outside, Jinghua, the real person who awaited this outcome, seemed somewhat incredulous. He wished to enter and seek an audience with Jade Capital Sect Leader, his master.

Suddenly, a piercing and mournful Sword Light sound came from the direction of Thunder Grotto Plateau.

Demon had escaped from the Demon Locking Tower!

Jade Capital Sect Leader immediately rushed out from the inner hall and quickly said:

“Summon all Peak Masters, immediately gather at the Emei Golden Summit! Jinghua, send nephew Qiu away from Mount Shushan and have him return to Kunlun Taiqing Sect as soon as possible!”