<h4>Chapter 709: Chapter 714: Valley</h4>


    "I’m not going in." Yang Tao spoke up: "I’m here to let you know, Master asked me to find you and told you toe over, he has something to say to you."


    "Elder Du?" Ling Chen quickly nodded: "Okay, I’lle with you right now." As he finished speaking, Ling Chen turned back to give Porridge Girl a gesture and then followed Yang Tao to Yangxin Pavilion.


    Arriving at Yangxin Pavilion, Ling Chen walked into the thatched hut and saw Du Kang leaning against the wall, holding a liquor gourd, drinking mouthfuls of alcohol. When Du Kang saw Ling Chene in, he wiped the liquor from the corner of his mouth and said, "Kid, you finally arrived. Didn’t I tell you toe over in a couple of days? What took you so long?"


    With a smile, Ling Chen replied, "Elder Du, isn’t it just morning? I haven’t even had the chance to eat breakfast."


    "Enough! Don’t bother eating now, let’s go, we’re short on time."


    Hearing this, Ling Chen curiously asked, "Elder Du, where are we going?"


    "You’ll know when we get there." With that, Du Kang said no more and headed straight out of the hut.


    Following Du Kang’s lead, Ling Chen and Yang Tao kept pace behind him, walking deeper into Yangxin Pavilion. This was Ling Chen’s first timeing to this ce, and to his surprise, he discovered that the depths of Yangxin Pavilion were actually a valley.


    Furthermore, the valley was very deep, extending hundreds of meters inward. As Ling Chen walked, he observed the environment on both sides of the valley—there were many houses built on the surrounding hill slopes. Some houses were spaced tens of meters apart, while others were constructed on the peaks or precarious edges.


    However, those houses were quite old, weathered by years of wind and rain, now dpidated and in disarray.


    Noticing Ling Chen sizing up the houses, Du Kang began to exin, "These houses were once inhabited by the forebears of Yangxin Pavilion, all with histories of several hundreds of years. Only this ce where we are now can be truly called Yangxin Pavilion. Later, because the pavilion was filled with the elderly, the Pavilion Master decided to expand Yangxin Pavilion, epassing the outside area into the territory of Yangxin Pavilion."


    "Afterward, this area became a ce tomemorate the predecessors of Yangxin Pavilion, and since then, no one has lived here anymore."


    After listening to Du Kang’s exnation, Ling Chen asked, "Elder Du, then why have wee here?"


    "Of course, there’s something to be done."


    As they spoke, Ling Chen suddenly heard a cacophony of noisesing from deep within the valley.


    Not far ahead, Ling Chen looked and saw that not too far away, arge group of people had gathered—Song Yi, Liang Zheng, and also Tong Nan, all of them were there, including the elders of Yangxin Pavilion and the experts of the Earthly List like Huang Zheng and Liang Tian.


    Roughly counting, there were at least thirty or forty people, more than half were elderly, while the other half consisted of young people and little children.


    Seeing this, Ling Chen’s interest grew even more. It was not his first time at Yangxin Pavilion, but this was the first time he had seen so many people gathered.


    No wonder Su He had told him that whenever this grand event was held, the wandering elders of Yangxin Pavilion would return.


    "Come this way."


    Ling Chen was eager to move forward, to join the crowd and soak up the excitement, but suddenly Du Kang spoke up, leading Ling Chen and Yang Tao up a different path onto the hillside. At the top of the hillside there was a dpidated pavilion; although the structure was old, the spot offered a great view, allowing one to see everything below clearly.


    Du Kang settled himself in the pavilion, opened the liquor gourd, and started drinking on his own. Yang Tao, as usual, stayed put respectfully behind Du Kang.


    Ling Chen, however, was restless, all the more so now that everything around him piqued his interest.


    Standing on the hillside, Ling Chen watched the crowd below. He saw them gathering in groups, talking animatedly, but it was unclear what they were discussing. At the same time, even more people were arriving from outside the valley. In less than half an hour, the number of people in the valley had grown to fifty or sixty. Still, the young people and children made up the majority, with only a dozen or so older people present.


    However, even having just over a dozen was already quite remarkable.


    After all, apart from Yangxin Pavilion, there is nowhere else that can support so many high-level experts.


    It seems that everyone has almost arrived, as the crowd suddenly became quiet and all turned to look in one direction of the valley.


    Ling Chen noticed that there was a wooden hut in that direction, with its door tightly closed, and it was unknown whether there was anyone living inside.


    Just as he was thinking about it, the door of the wooden hut was abruptly pushed open. And then, a young man walked out from inside. As the young man drew closer, Ling Chen finally saw the other party’s face clearly, and his heart couldn’t help but be surprised.


    It’s him!


    During hisst visit to the Yangxin Pavilion, Huang Zheng and Liang Tian had a big fight overpeting to take him as their apprentice. It was this young man who suddenly appeared, stopped their conflict, and even scolded them.


    Ling Chen remembered clearly, facing the young man’s rebuke, Huang Zheng and Liang Tian didn’t dare to utter any superfluous word, as if they were extremely fearful of the young man.


    Therefore, Ling Chen was very curious about the identity of this young man. What kind of person could make Huang Zheng and Liang Tian feel so wary?


    While he was contemting, the young man had already reached the crowd.


    As Ling Chen was observing the young man, he saw a surprising scene. Huang Zheng and the others bowed their bodies, actually paying respects to the young man. And it seemed as if the young man took such gestures asmonce.


    After everyone had finished paying their respects, the young man walked through the crowd to a stone tform not far away, then took out a wooden box from his person and ced it on top of the tform.


    A wooden box?


    Ling Chen looked at the exquisite wooden box, and couldn’t help but wonder what was inside.


    "Elder Du." Ling Chen turned his head to look at Du Kang in the pavilion and asked, "What is in that wooden box?"


    "Inside there is the Nine Elements Pill."


    Nine Elements Pill!


    Ling Chen’s eyes lit up and refocused his attention on the wooden box. At this moment, not just him, everyone in the valley had their eager gazes locked on the wooden box.


    The Nine Elements Pill is inside there...


    Ling Chen thought to himself, really wanting to rush over immediately and snatch the wooden box into his hands.


    After cing the wooden box down, the young man didn’t say a word, and directly returned to the hut. After watching the young man depart, the other people in the valley gathered around the stone tform, examining the wooden box and chattering amongst themselves. Yet, from beginning to end, no one dared to touch the wooden box.


    Before long, everyone departed one after another, and the valley was instantly devoid of people.


    They left?


    Ling Chen watched the wooden box with a look of confusion on his face.


    Since the wooden box contained the Nine Elements Pill, why did everyone act so strangely?


    "Alright, stop looking, let’s go."


    Hearing Du Kang’s wordsing from behind, Ling Chen turned his head to ask, "Elder Du, are we leaving just like this?"