Playing inventor in a cultivation world

Chapter 118: Captured

Seraph returned to join the three girls down the tunnel. Meanwhile, the Sect Master waited for there to be a reaction from underground. It had been minutes since Elder Han disappeared into that hole, right? Why hadn’t he come out with those bastards yet?

The Inferno Sect Master was growing impatient, and decided to send his spiritual sense down that hole.

Just a few meters after extending his reach to the hole, he found Elder Han’s body laid on the ground—dead.

"What?!"

The man was shocked, and he trembled with rage. "Damned King Stage brat. Daring to kill my Elder? You are courting death!"

Without hesitation, he sent his spiritual sense through the tunnel, trying to find the culprits.

He still couldn’t sense Seraph, Ariana, or Tamar, but he could sense his traitorous disciple.

He instantly shot to their position and crashed through the ground, aiming to crush them.

Having sensed this, Seraph already instructed Tamar to create a new passage for them to escape through.

A few seconds after Tamar sealed the hole like it hadn’t been opened, the Sect Master crashed into the tunnel, his eyes glowing with fury.

"You all..." He gritted his teeth as he realized they had somehow escaped him. "Am I being fooled by a bunch of kids?"

He could easily turn up the heat and torch the whole place, but that would mean destroying his own sect.

That was why he had to be careful with catching those bastards. Also, he remembered ’their’ warning not to let the captives escape.

’Worse comes to worst, I’ll have to kidnap them again.’

Sighing, he regained his composure and began walking through the tunnel.

Tamar continued to pave way for them, not forgetting to cover up their tracks with soil as if nothing ever passed through the area.

Soon, they got back into Ariadne’s tunnel, but Seraph’s expression was dark. He could feel it, his danger senses tingling. Someone was behind them.

"I didn’t expect you kids to deliver yourselves to me." The Sect Master said with a faint smile, looking amused.

Seraph looked back at him, the at the three girls. Opening his lips, he mouthed, "Run."

Seraph immediately dashed back at the man, tackling him as they both tumbled to the ground.

Ariana and Tamar immediately stepped forward, but Seraph threw wind blades that almost touched them.

"Go!"

He shouted in exasperation as the Sect Master slowly rose to his feet, his lips twisted into a sneer.

"Do you want to know how you’ll die?" He said as he faced Seraph. The three girls still hadn’t run, adding to Seraph’s frustration and anger.

"I said... GO!’

Roaring, his voice carried rage as he shouted at them.

The three of them flinched, then turned back and ran with reluctance. Seeing them leave, Seraph sighed in relief. Then, without answering the Sect Master’s question, he spammed him with water blades that looked like a thick wall of water.

The man scoffed in disdain, waving his arm casually. A wave of fire shot out from his palm, consuming the water blades in an instant.

Seraph was already expecting this, but he was still surprised.

’Emperor Stage is this strong?’ He thought to himself as he retreated carefully.

"Child," The Sect Master’s smile disappeared. "You will regret coming into my place today."

Chuckling, Seraph took out his ominous red spear and said, "Perhaps not, old man."

A few seconds later, they both clashed underground, shaking the surface of the sect.

Ariana, Tamar, and Ariadne rushed through the tunnel as fast as they could, occasionally looking back to see if Seraph was behind them.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of him. Ariana’s eyes teared up, but she forced back thenm tears.

’Big Brother will be fine.’

Just then, Ariadne’s calm voice came from the front. "We’re at the exit already. Let’s climb out."

The three girls climbed out of the hole Ariadne had opened above them. When they were finally exposed to fresh air and cook atmosphere, they realized they were out of the sect.

A collective sigh of relief escaped their lips, and they looked back at the hole, expecting Seraph to pop out miraculously.

However, the only thing they got was the tremor shaking the ground. They could tell that it was originating from underground, and their expressions darkened.

"Can... can he really fight him?" Tamar asked in a low voice, her eyes vacant.

"I..." Ariana wanted to reply with her usual confident smile, but failed to. She wanted to rush back in and help him, but remembering the rage in his voice as he shouted at them, her body couldn’t move.

Ariadne was the only one who was relatively calm. She wasn’t that close to Seraph, and although she considered him someone similar to her younger brother, they hadn’t known each other long enough for the bond to deepen.

Seeing the two girls in an indecisive state, the responsibility of making the choice fell on her. Well, the responsibility was always on her anyway.

Holding the teleportation stone in her hand, she remembered what he had told her while they were running down her tunnel.

"If that man catches up to us, I’ll stall him while you take them and escape with this stone. Then, you can have my badge and head to the Soul Cross Sect. Elder Song will welcome you." He said, lowering his voice so only she could hear him.

"Then what about you? Are you going to surrender and die?" She asked, her eyes narrowed.

Seraph chuckled darkly. "Surrender? Die? No, no one can make me do those."

She sighed, then said. "Come back alive."

Now, holding the stone in her hand, she whispered. "Come back alive, little brother."

Wrapping her spiritual energy around the two girls, she crushed the teleportation stone and turned north.

"What are you doing?!" Ariana shouted and stood up to stop her, but it was already too late.

A flash of light enveloped them all, and they disappeared.

Just a few seconds after they were gone, the Sect Master walked out of the tunnel through the hole, dragging a bruised and battered Seraph by his hair.

His right arm was broken, and blood dripped from his forehead. There was a deep gash running across his torso, but it had stopped bleeding.

As for the Sect Master, he only had a few scratches on his clothing. The only major injury was a deep cut under his right eye.

Feeling the eye twitch as he looked around, he wiped the blood dripping from the wound.

’If I hadn’t been extremely careful, I would have lost an eye to this brat. Tsk.’

Realizing that he couldn’t find the girls anywhere, he grabbed Seraph by the throat and lifted him up.

"Where did they go?"

His grip on the boy’s neck was tight, and he expected a response immediately. However, all he got was a broken laugh.

Seraph’s lips twisted into a sneer, and he spat on the man’s face. "You want to know? Maybe you should go to our sect and find out."

Inferno Sect Master’s expression darkened, and his grip on Seraph’s neck tightened.

"Do you think I can’t kill you right now?"

Seraph’s sneer slowly vanished, and he looked at him with a frightening gaze. "Kill me? You’d dare not. I hold information about what those Reapers are looking for after all."

This statement made the man’s eyes narrow in surprise, and he began to walk back to the sect.

"Good, good. I don’t have to stress myself then."

He wiped the saliva from his face, a crooked smile twisting his lips.

"I’m sure if I hand you over to them, I’ll have no issue getting the Verdan Roots."

...............

Elder Mei and Song rushed after the retreating Inferno Sect disciples, but before they could reach them, three figures appeared on the ground, surprising them.

"Wait. Aren’t those...?" Song blinked in surprise, then immediately descended. Elder Mei followed after her, confusion written on her face.

"Ariana? Tamar?"

As soon as she got close, Elder Mei recognized her disciples. However,the last young lady was obviously not from her sect, as she was wearing the Inferno Sect disciple robes.

Song sighed in relief, then looked at Ariana. "Where is Seraph?"

"That..."

The girl choked, then began crying. This immediately brought a bad feeling to Song’s heart.

She turned to the odd lady among the three, her expression cold.

"I won’t ask you what is your business with them, but where is Seraph?"

Ariadne stiffened, being in the presence of two Emperor Stage cultivators.

"I... he stayed behind to stall the Sect Master and allow us to escape."

Hearing this, Song’s heart sank, and she immediately turned around to charge at the Inferno Sect.

Elder Mei stopped her, her expression dark, "We can’t rush it, Song. If you go there now, can you handle both the Inferno Sect Master and their Ancestor Elder?"

Song stiffened, but she still struggled against Elder Mei’s spiritual energy keeping her in place.

"Why are you so desperation, Song? We will save him. Just not now." The white-haired woman said with a frown.

Song’s gaze dropped to the ground, and she could only mutter. "He... saved my life."