The Beginning of Chaos

"Huff.... breathe.... huff..... breathe....."

The long, powerful breaths came out of the tent seams, while Duke crept into the tent of the Qingxuan Sect Master along the edge of the tent curtain.

Inside the tent, an oil lamp was placed on a low table, and the bean-sized flames leapt from time to time, making a slight sizzling sound.

The Qingxuan Sect Master sat cross-legged on a cushion, holding a sword in his hands, with his eyes closed, his mind sunk into the breaths, and each breath even had the sound of wind disturbance.

"This old guy's achievement is not low!"

Feeling the breathing rhythm and breathing intensity of the Qingxuan Sect Master, Duke secretly clicked his tongue. Although it had not yet reached the point where the quiet room gave birth to the wind, there was a faint sound of wind leaping in the breaths, which also meant that the other party's internal organs were powerful and his energy was naturally extraordinary.

The visceral realm aims to strengthen the internal organs, focusing on the five viscera of heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. There are theories about the cultivation of each viscus.

For example, the lungs are quiet rooms giving birth to the wind, the heart is beating like a drum, and the rest of the spleen, lungs and kidneys also correspond to a kind of small accomplishment respectively.

When all five small accomplishments are practiced, it also means that the visceral realm is perfect and flawless, approaching the limit.

At this time, internal force can be transformed into true qi to move the heavens and earth, and start the practice of true qi.

And after the true qi realm is fully realized, if there is no wisdom and aptitude to comprehend the divine meaning, and there is no help from the innate pill to break through the innate, most true qi realm masters will choose to use true qi to temper their internal organs again.

Tempering the internal organs even more powerfully, in order to enhance and stabilize the body's functions, and even prolong life.

After all, breakthrough is hopeless, so go back and practice again, try to find a way to live longer.

"I wonder what wonders this sword has."

Duke circled around the Qingxuan Sect Master, while looking at the sheathed long sword in his hand. The cat with flowing light in his eyes raised his paw curiously and touched the sheath of the long sword.

Just as Duke's paw had just touched the sheath, the Qingxuan Sect Master suddenly opened his eyes, his eyes flashed like electricity, sweeping the tent inside and outside.

Duke's movements stiffened under the domineering gaze, his paws hung in mid-air, not daring to continue falling.

"This guy should not be able to see me, so why?"

Duke was puzzled in his heart, but did not dare to move randomly, just maintaining his original posture and watching the Qingxuan Sect Master.

The Qingxuan Sect Master swept around the tent, found nothing unusual, and could not help but mutter to himself: "Strange, I always feel that something is wrong."

As he spoke, the Qingxuan Sect Master raised his hand and pressed his forehead. The hot-headed Qingxuan Sect Master also twitched his eyelids violently, as if the facial nerves were disordered.

With his eyelids twitching violently that he couldn't even hold down, the uneasiness in the Qingxuan Sect Master's heart became more and more intense, like the calm before the storm.

"Ziyin!"

The Qingxuan Sect Master suddenly called out the name of his senior disciple, but there was no response from the camp after he called out, so he had to call out two more times.

When the fourth call fell, the disheveled young man Ziyin rushed into the tent in a messy dress.

After entering the tent, the young man Ziyin tidied his clothes while saying, "Master, do you have any instructions?"

Seeing Ziyin in this way, the Qingxuan Sect Master couldn't help frowning. "Didn't I say to sleep fully clothed these two days? Why do you look like this?"

"My clothes got wet from the fog, so I used my inner strength to dry them."

Ziyin's face flushed slightly as he explained, but his eyes were a little evasive. Usually, the Qingxuan Sect Master would definitely see that his expression was different and ask further questions.

But now, the Qingxuan Sect Master didn't have this idea, he just pressed his forehead and said, "I'm quite uneasy, go call some disciples to patrol around."

"Also, strengthen the guard around the camp, light more bonfires, have more frequent rotations, and supervise it yourself!"

Hearing his master's words, Ziyin let out a sigh of relief in his heart, while also respectfully obeying orders.

"I understand, Master. I'll go do it now."

"Go quickly!"

As Ziyin turned around and left the tent, he quickly tidied up his clothes. The Qingxuan Sect Master didn't care, but the cat's eyes were strange.

He had vaguely seen a woman running to this senior disciple Ziyin's tent on his way here earlier.

The excuse that the clothes got wet from the cold was too far-fetched!

Bah, disgusting man and woman!

Secretly disdaining this Ziyin in his heart, Duke also retracted his paw, abandoning the idea of stealing the sword for alchemy.

He had done more than enough tonight, he shouldn't be greedy anymore.

And he shouldn't become complacent relying on his invisibility ability. What that guy surnamed Wang did to harm his companions was still vivid in his mind. How could he become complacent because of temporary success or failure?

Duke warned himself in his heart again, then silently retreated, intending to leave the tent to check on Shisan.

That dog probably hadn't eaten yet. Back at the Su residence, there were people specially preparing food for him. After coming out with Duke, he had also been eating Blood Food Pills condensed from the essence of blood and flesh.

And he was also given monthly Huayu Pills for teething.

Although that dog looked silly, he was quite picky.

Duke also didn’t know if the dog was hungry or not, as earlier he had been busy plotting against these people and hadn’t gone to check on the dog yet.

"Go feed the dog first, then make plans!"

With this thought, the cat was about to leave the tent when the tent curtain was lifted by Ziyin, whose face was slightly pale. He entered the tent and said anxiously, "Master, this is bad!"

"The patrolling disciples are missing!"

"Missing?"

Hearing what his disciple said, the Qingxuan Sect Master's heart skipped a beat. He quickly got up and walked out of the tent, saying in a low voice, "Tell me what happened, and don't panic."

"Also, hurry up and call the disciples!"

"Yes, Master!"

Ziyin followed behind the Qingxuan Sect Master. As the two walked out of the tent one after the other, the cat also yawned.

It seemed that his arrangements had been discovered by them. In that case, he should probably...

No, that’s not right!

The cat blinked. He had only knocked out those few Qingxuan Sect disciples and stripped them naked before throwing them by the bonfire, with the first two thrown behind a tree downwind.

So how could Ziyin say they were all missing?

Had they woken up and left by themselves?

Or....

The cat's eyes narrowed as he turned around and walked to the tent entrance.

After taking a few steps, Duke paused and looked at the items in the Qingxuan Sect Master's tent with narrowed eyes.

Although he couldn't take the sword, it didn't mean he couldn't take anything else!

As soon as the thought popped up in his mind, the cat slapped himself in the face. He had just warned himself, how could he forget again after just a moment?

He had done more than enough tonight, he must not be greedy anymore.

But why was he always thinking of taking things? He even felt at a loss without taking anything?!

It was so strange!

While sighing, the cat slipped out of the tent....

.....

On the edge of the camp, in front of the bonfire.

With no one adding firewood, the flames of the bonfire had become weak under the increasing pressure of the thick fog. The embers flickered as the Qingxuan Sect Master appeared in front of the fire.

Staring at the bonfire in front of him, the Qingxuan Sect Master held his long sword in his left hand, quickly searched the surroundings, and from time to time squatted down to check the traces on the ground mud.

Their boots were specially made and would leave special traces when walking on the ground. These traces might not matter to others, but they had another meaning to the Qingxuan Sect Master.

Soon, Ziyin hurriedly led several disciples to the bonfire with an anxious look on his face.

As soon as they arrived on the scene, they saw the Qingxuan Sect Master standing in front of the bonfire with a difficult expression on his face.

"Who were the night guards tonight?"

The Qingxuan Sect Master looked at the barely burning bonfire in front of him and asked aloud. Ziyin gritted his teeth and said, "They were Zhu Qing, Zhu Yu, Zhu Mo, Zhu Hu, Zhu Li and Zhu Meng of the Bamboo generation disciples."

"Did you tell them to always partner up no matter what when you asked them to keep watch at night?"

The Qingxuan Sect Master asked again, and Ziyin quickly said, "I specifically urged them when I asked them to stand guard."

"Hmm, you didn't lie about this. I looked at the mud traces on the ground earlier, and there were indeed two disciples' shoe prints that left the bonfire."

Upon hearing what his master said, Ziyin felt a wave of bitterness in his heart. Fortunately he had done as his master instructed, otherwise... he would have suffered miserably!

"When did they start standing guard?"

"They stand guard during the hour of Hai, until the hour of Chou when they are relieved."

"What hour is it now?"

"It's already the hour of Zi."

Hearing his disciple's answers, the Qingxuan Sect Master asked again: "Just now you looked abnormal. Has something happened?"

"Master, at least twelve disciples in the camp have been knocked unconscious. All their clothes and belongings were ransacked and they remain unconscious even after attempting to rouse them with awakening incense."

"Knocked unconscious?"

The Qingxuan Sect Master's eyes flashed with anger. His aura erupted violently, and his robes seemed to conceal a fan, suddenly billowing, while the campfire also swayed erratically in a gust of wind.

In the flickering firelight, the iron-faced Qingxuan Sect Master commanded: "Gather everyone, whether awake or unconscious, in the center of the camp."

"Yes, Master!"

Ziyin took a deep breath and left to carry out the orders, leaving only the Qingxuan Sect Master standing alone before the campfire, his expression uncertain.

To encounter such an incident on the very first night after arriving at Steaming Cloud Mountain, it must be someone deliberately targeting them, or perhaps they had stumbled into something unpleasant!

Although Steaming Cloud Mountain was renowned as one of the Eight Scenes of Yunzhou, who knew what might be lurking within the endless fog!

In the misty vastness, a pair of blood-red eyes stared fixedly at the Qingxuan Sect Master before the campfire, filled with ravenous hunger and thirst.