Chu Fan nodded and said, “This Patriarch was devoted to cultivation, and in the blink of an eye, over a thousand years have passed. Normal, normal!”
Ye Yanji and the others were speechless. Who goes into seclusion for over a thousand years? Over a thousand years… is that just a blink of an eye?
“Patriarch, what is your name?”
Ye Yanji asked tentatively. Since the other party claimed to be the Patriarch of their sect, and the sect was currently weak, if this Patriarch was willing to help, perhaps the Joyous Sect would have a chance to rise.
She had been at her wit’s end and decided to give it a try.
“Chu Fan!”
Chu Fan said seriously, “You don’t know me, but do you know my two disciples? They are both very famous. One is Ye Fan, and the other is Liu Shishi.”
“Ye Fan? Liu Shishi?”
Ye Yanji frowned and quickly thought of something. “Liu Shishi… why does that sound familiar? As if I’ve heard it somewhere before?”
After thinking for a moment, Ye Yanji’s eyes lit up, and she said to Chu Fan, “Patriarch, please come with us to the main hall. There is a secret room behind it that records the names and deeds of every Sect Master of our Joyous Sect.”
Chu Fan’s eyes lit up. He didn’t know where to go now anyway. The Sect Master and female disciples of the Joyous Sect were all very beautiful, and the System had given him the ultimate goal of building the strongest Joyous Sect.
So, Chu Fan had to stay.
He nodded, then looked at Bu Yaolian. “This person earlier used his Master’s authority to threaten and coerce this disciple, Liu Qingyue, into doing something improper with him. How can such a thing happen in our sect?”
“Understood!”
The Grand Elder waved her hand, and a stream of spiritual energy flew out. Before Bu Yaolian could react, it blasted him to pieces.
“Who is his Master?” Chu Fan asked again.
“His Master is a steward of our sect, responsible for registering the names of female disciples sent to the Blazing Flame Sect. Bu Yaolian took this opportunity to frequently use this matter to threaten some female disciples, saying that if they obeyed, he could give them an extra month…”
Liu Qingyue said from the side.
“Grand Elder, this steward…” Chu Fan sneered. “Go and kill him too. Such a scourge cannot be left alive.”
“As you command!”
The other person bowed and flew away.
“Sect Master, does this cave still need to be guarded?”
Liu Qingyue stood there, looking at Bu Yaolian’s corpse, feeling fortunate that the Patriarch had emerged from seclusion; otherwise, her chastity might have been lost today.
Ye Yanji looked at Chu Fan, seeking his opinion.
Chu Fan smiled slightly. “All these years, having disciples guard it was to protect me during my retreat. Now that this Patriarch has emerged from seclusion, there is no need to guard it. Inside, there is nothing but an ice bed.”
Ye Yanji then said to Liu Qingyue, “No need to guard it. You may go.”
After Liu Qingyue performed a salute, she flew away.
“Patriarch, this is the clothing we had you find. Would you like to change first?”
Ye Yanji looked at the disheveled old man, turned her palm, and produced a set of men’s clothes. “I’m not sure if the size is right.”
“Cough, then please wait a moment!”
Chu Fan took the clothes and went inside.
After changing, Chu Fan came out, looking much more spirited than before.
“Patriarch, we will lead the way!”
Ye Yanji, the Second Elder, and the Third Elder directly flew up into the air.
Chu Fan was speechless. With his First-rank Qi Practitioner cultivation, he could not fly.
The reason he hadn’t killed Bu Yaolian earlier was not that he disdained to do so, but that he simply couldn’t.
He was also afraid that the other party would see through him and later join forces with his Master to attack him. Keeping him alive would be a hidden danger, which was why he had the Grand Elder kill the master and disciple pair.
“Ah, the Flight Talisman!”
Soon, Chu Fan remembered the Flight Talisman given by the System. With a thought, he put his hand into his sleeve, and a Flight Talisman appeared in his palm. He crushed it directly.
Instantly, a golden light drilled into Chu Fan’s body. With a thought, he flew up.
This Flight Talisman could only fly for an hour, but that was enough.
By now, Ye Yanji and the others had flown a bit further. When they noticed Chu Fan hadn’t caught up, they frowned and stopped to wait for him.
Seeing Chu Fan fly up, Ye Yanji said to the two Elders, “The Patriarch is indeed the Patriarch. I can’t detect any spiritual energy fluctuations, and yet he just flew up like that. Truly a remarkable technique.”
The Second Elder was also shocked and said excitedly, “Sect Master, it seems our sect is saved. The Patriarch must have already reached the point of transcendence and attaining sagehood, which is why we can’t see through his cultivation.”
The Third Elder also sighed with emotion. “The Patriarch has been in seclusion for several thousand years. He must have been cultivating some powerful technique. Such a state of mind is beyond ordinary people.”
Ye Yanji thought for a moment and then said, “Remember, whether he is our sect’s Patriarch or not, since he says he is, then from now on, he is. We must be respectful to him, understand?”
Having said that, Ye Yanji paused before continuing, “He has lived for several thousand years, which means his lifespan must be tens of thousands of years. I dare not even imagine his cultivation.”
When they saw Chu Fan fly over, the three immediately shut up and led the way.
“Patriarch, your speed seems a bit slow?”
After flying for a while, the Third Elder noticed that Chu Fan’s speed was very slow and said with an awkward smile.
Chu Fan sighed. “We are not in a hurry. It’s fine to fly slowly.”
After saying that, Chu Fan deliberately looked around. “I’ve been in seclusion for too long. Several thousand years have passed, and things have changed, but there are still some familiar sights. I want to take a good look and recall.”
Chu Fan was also a bit speechless. The speed of this Flight Talisman seemed to be only comparable to the cultivation speed of a Third-rank Spirit Sect cultivator, and every one used was one less.
For Ye Yanji and the others, it was a distance that only took two minutes to fly, but Chu Fan took six or seven minutes before he reached the palace.
When they arrived at the palace entrance, the Grand Elder was already waiting there.
The Grand Elder, Shi Henshuang, smiled slightly and stepped forward. “Patriarch, Bu Yaolian’s Master, Ye Qiu, has been executed.”
“That man was indeed no good. From his Storage Ring, we found many female disciples’ intimate garments. Truly despicable, and they even had names marked on them.”
Chu Fan was appalled. Even he, a pervert, thought this was a bit perverted. This Ye Qiu was really quite perverted.
“Hmm! Grand Elder, what is your name? Thank you for your help earlier.”
Chu Fan just nodded, his thoughts unreadable.
The Grand Elder smiled and said, “My name is Shi Henshuang! It is my great honor to serve the Patriarch.”
“Henshuang?”
Chu Fan’s expression was slightly odd. This name was quite easy to remember.
Shi Henshuang suddenly felt a bit shy. She didn’t expect the Patriarch to address her so intimately. This old man seemed to be a bit lecherous too!
Soon, Ye Yanji and the others led Chu Fan into a secret room.
On the stone wall were portraits of various women, with words written beside them.
“Patriarch, normally only the current Sect Master can enter here after finding the next heir, to leave her name and introduction. That is to say, I should not be here, but today is a special occasion…”
As Ye Yanji spoke, she pointed to a portrait. “This is my master, Ling Xue. She was the seventeenth Sect Master! However, she died in battle.”
Chu Fan nodded and walked forward step by step. The portraits were all of women, drawn on the stone wall with sword qi. They bore the names of the sixteenth Sect Master, the fifteenth Sect Master…
He walked all the way to the innermost spot. Looking at the familiar figure, Chu Fan was overcome with tears. “The first Sect Master of the Joyous Sect was actually my disciple, Liu Shishi!”
Chu Fan clenched his fists and sighed. “Shishi, what exactly happened? Where has my dignified Nine Sun Divine Sect, the number one sect under heaven, gone? Why did you establish the Joyous Sect?”
“I remember now. My master once told me that our founding patriarch was named Liu Shishi. No wonder I felt it was familiar when you mentioned it earlier. My master only mentioned it once, so I didn’t recall it at the time.”
After saying this, Ye Yanji knelt down. “Patriarch, you are the master of our sect’s first founding patriarch, which makes you our founding patriarch as well. Please save our Joyous Sect!”
“Please, Patriarch, save the Joyous Sect!”
The other three Elders also knelt down straight away.