Chapter 274: Disciple of the Divine Soul Sect

Just like that, Gu Fan sat inside the private room, ordered a few dishes and wine, then pretended to sip a few cups.

At the same time, his divine sense constantly swept across the surroundings, observing the situation.

As time slowly passed, Gu Fan gradually grew more anxious.

According to the Grand Elder’s explanation, the disciple from the Divine Soul Sect should be arriving around the second half of the zi hour, which was just before dawn.

Then he would stay until daybreak before leaving the Cauldron Pavilion—this had been an unchanging routine for the past few days.

But now…

Gu Fan calculated the time—there wasn’t much left before the end of the zi hour. Could it be that he wasn’t coming tonight?

If that were the case, it would be troublesome. This kind of method to strike up a conversation could only be used once.

If used again, unless the other party was an idiot, they would realize Gu Fan had come specifically for him.

Thinking of this, Gu Fan felt a little uncomfortable. Could it be that after all this effort, he wouldn’t even get to see the person?

At this moment, the two guards in the main hall also glanced at the time and heaved a sigh of relief.

Running a business was always risky when it came to offending important figures. Although the Divine Soul Sect was not as powerful as the Six Sects in overall strength, it was notoriously difficult to deal with because of its unique combat methods, and was especially known for making people suffer.

Most people preferred not to provoke this sect.

Moreover, the Divine Soul Sect was extremely protective of its own. If you struck one of their disciples, they wouldn’t care about seniority or appropriateness—they would send a horde of elders after you.

It often turned into a situation where hitting a junior would bring down a whole nest of seniors—utterly troublesome.

There had been too many onlookers during today’s incident, and the Pavilion had indeed handled it poorly, which was why they had no choice but to give the Number Three Earth Room to other guests.

The two guards had already prepared themselves to face the disciple’s questioning later, but unexpectedly, he hadn’t come tonight.

Strangely enough, they felt relieved.

Just as the two were starting to relax, the steward greeting guests outside suddenly smiled and said:

“Honored guest, is this your first time here?”

As he spoke, a figure draped in a black cloak and wearing a fanged mask on his face stepped inside.

“The usual place, Number Three Earth Room.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the two Celestial Heart Realm guards changed.

The masked figure immediately noticed their reactions, paused, then chuckled and said:

“What’s wrong?”

The two exchanged a glance, then gave a helpless bitter smile and said:

“Would you consider changing to another room tonight?”

One of them gritted his teeth and added:

“How about I move you to a Heaven Room instead?”

Silence fell for a moment before a soft laugh came from behind the mask.

“Tell me—what happened?”

Surprised by how calm this person was, the two then explained the general situation.

After listening, the masked figure waved his hand and said:

“Carry on—I’ll go have a look. Don’t worry, I won’t cause any trouble!”

With that, he strode up to the second floor in large steps.

Seeing this, the two Cauldron Pavilion guards said no more. As long as there was no major incident, they were naturally happy to stay out of it.

Meanwhile, inside the private room, Xu Zhou raised his brows.

Finally here?

The door to Room Number Three was pushed open, and a figure walked in right after.

Gu Fan didn’t react, his gaze unmoving.

He slowly placed the wine cup in his hand down.

The masked disciple of the Divine Soul Sect didn’t bother with pleasantries, directly walking over to sit opposite Gu Fan.

After sitting cross-legged, he reached out and poured himself a cup of wine.

“Speak—what do you want from me?”

Gu Fan’s expression stiffened slightly, the hand holding his cup froze in mid-air.

The disciple of the Divine Soul Sect tossed a few spirit fruits into his mouth, then asked in confusion:

“What? Not talking? If you won’t talk, I’ll go find that little fairy sister to have some fun—I don’t have time to waste with you here.”

Gu Fan now realized that his intentions had already been seen through. Although it felt a bit awkward and strange, since the other party had already sat down and initiated the conversation, the plan couldn’t be considered a failure.

So he immediately said:

“I want to ask you to save someone.”

“Save who?”

“A friend of mine.”

Upon hearing this, the disciple of the Divine Soul Sect clicked his tongue a few times.

“Fellow Daoist, this may be your first time dealing with a disciple of the Divine Soul Sect. Telling lies in front of us is not such an easy task.”

“A regular friend probably wouldn’t have been worth the effort for such planning. I can tell what kind of person you are—cold and indifferent—it’s unlikely this is just an ordinary friend.”

Gu Fan’s expression turned slightly odd as he said:

“Is that important?”

“Not important. But you know, we who have long studied the divine soul and the human psyche always maintain a strong curiosity and thirst for knowledge. The more interesting something is, the more it attracts us.”

“So do you know why I knew you were deliberately waiting for me, yet still chose to come over and give you this opportunity? It’s because you’re shrouded in thick mist. I can feel it—whatever you’re hiding must be very intriguing, and I’m curious!”

Gu Fan slowly withdrew his divine soul. He recalled the Grand Elder’s warning: when dealing with people from the Divine Soul Sect, one must remain vigilant. They were cultivators most capable of perceiving the hearts of others.

Because of this, the people of the Divine Soul Sect seldom had any friends outside their sect. Their isolated lives often led to extremely eccentric personalities.

Some were extremely bloodthirsty, some enjoyed manipulating others’ hearts for fun, and some liked to pry into others’ secrets.

It was said that this behavior, besides being the result of long-term isolation and mental distortion, was actually closely tied to their unique cultivation techniques.

Their constant research into the path of the soul came with the greatest danger—losing oneself.

This method seemed to be the leverage they set for themselves—as long as they kept strengthening that leverage, the risk of being lost would be reduced.

However, Gu Fan knew that he had far too many secrets.

So many that even leaking one at random could bring about endless danger to his life.

Therefore, when facing this person, he had to be extremely cautious—otherwise, he might get seen through.

Gu Fan looked at the mask with the green face and fanged teeth, and said calmly with a smile:

“I don’t care about any of that. I only want to know if you people can heal my friend, and what the cost would be.”

“That’s all!”

The disciple of the Divine Soul Sect sensed Gu Fan’s guarded attitude and gradually lost interest.

“You’re really on guard. Well, I don’t like forcing people. Since you’re unwilling to say, I won’t ask. Then let’s talk about this friend of yours. What kind of injury needs us to save them?”

Gu Fan let out a sigh of relief, then slowly began:

“My friend was injured in the divine soul by a possession-type secret technique. The attacker was someone who possessed others’ bodies and, in order to restore his strength, needed to absorb the energy of multiple Pure Yin Virgins.”

“At the same time, this cultivation technique also tore apart my friend’s divine soul. Although I managed to rescue them, there’s a flaw in their divine soul. No matter how I nurture it, the energy keeps leaking out, rendering it useless!”

After Gu Fan finished speaking, the figure across from him immediately chuckled:

“I see. So you need to repair a flaw in the divine soul. Our Divine Soul Sect’s Soul Pool Construction can solve this problem. It’s not too difficult.”

Then he added with a smile:

“Of course, that’s only in terms of difficulty for us. If it were anyone else, even a Unity Realm expert might not be able to treat it.”

Gu Fan’s eyes lit up. That meant there was finally hope for treating Ruo Xi!

“But don’t get excited too soon. We haven’t discussed the price yet!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep