The Supreme God of Martial Arts
Chapter 142 First Hearing Of The Ghost Sect (Part One)

Murray also did share the feeling of surprise to see Austin.

"Austin, you've also come to the area surrounding Grand DesolationMountain to practice.”

"Yes, Steward Zhu. I know I'm too weak. Hence, I've been racing againstthe clock to practice, never daring to slack off."

Murray gave a satisfied nod, gratified that Austin had become the go-getter he once was. He had known for several years that Austin hadonly one thing in his mind—absolute determination to becomestronger. That was the main reason why Austin became the numberone among the outer disciples three years ago, and the primary reasondue to which Murray appreciated him profusely.

"Is this young man a disciple of our Sun Sect?" asked a sonorous,strong voice.

The speaker was a lean, short old man with unusually sharp eyes. Hewas Richard Cao, an Elder of the Sun Sect who commanded greatrespect amongst his peers.

Austin hurried to them, made a humble bow and said in a respectfultone, "Elder Cao, Elder Li, I'm Austin Lin, an outer disciple of Sun Sect.And this is my friend I met in the area around the Grand DesolationMountain."

Austin pointed to Fanny and introduced her.

Richard Cao was mildly pleased with Austin’s polite and deferentialmanner. He gave Austin a slight nod in response.

Ordinarily, it was a great honor for the Sun Sect's outer disciples to seehim.

As for Elder Li, who dressed up as a Taoist nun, looked as cold as thefrost in late autumn, coming across as distant and unapproachable.She ignored Austin's salute. Apparently, she had no interest in evenlooking at an outer disciple.

There was also a white-bearded old man in a purple robe, and amiddle-aged man with a reddish complexion. They stood beside theother three and chose to remain silent.

Nobody enquired about Fanny. Austin, now 16 or 17 years old, was inhis late teens and it was not unusual for him to have a relationship witha girl. After all, adolescent boys and girls always yearned for love.Murray shot a few quick glances at Fanny without attracting muchattention.

Fanny seemed to know that the five people in front of them were notordinary people. Hence, she behaved appropriately. Murray discreetlynodded appreciatively, honestly believing that she was well-behavedand pretty. He assumed that Austin indeed had a good eye.

"Austin, this is steward Xiao from the Flaming Sun Valley," Murraystated, pointing to the middle-aged man with a red face.

Then he pointed to the white-bearded old man in purple and added,"And this is Elder Tan from the Joy Gang," Austin realized how low hisposition was, so he immediately put on a surprised look. He took a steptoward the two men, bowed as low as he could and said in a verydeferential voice, "It's an honor to meet you, Elder Tan, steward Xiao."Out of politeness, steward Xiao and Elder Tan both gave him a nod inacknowledgment.

"Austin, why were you in such a hurry just now?" Murray askedcuriously. "We followed you to figure out what was the matter when wesaw you looking flustered.”

"It's... because...

Austin hesitated.

He wondered why Murray asked such a question. Elders and stewardswere not supposed to come to the area surrounding the GrandDesolation Mountain when they were occupied with the business of thesect. However, now these Elders and stewards of the three big sects hadall appeared simultaneously.

Besides, they came after him to see what the matter was which he hadbeen hurrying along

These superior Elders and stewards would not, in general, have been sobored and unoccupied as to chase after and question a cultivator justbecause he seemed a little anxious.

“Something important must have happened.

Austin's mind raced to think for an apparently legitimate answer."Humph, how dare you hesitate to answer an elder's question? Youactually have no regard for superiors! You are such a disgrace to ourSun Sect!"

Hearing Austin stutter rather than readily answer Murray's question,Elder Li of the Sun Sect immediately expressed her disapproval toAustin soundly.

Murray, worried that her words would embarrass Austin, rushed tomediate.

"Don't be angry, Elder Li. He may have acted differently because he is inawe of you two Elders and may have suffered a sudden lack ofconfidence. I'm sure he meant no disrespect.”

Elder Li turned away with a snort.

"Don't panic, Austin. Just say it. We come to the surrounding area of theGrand Desolation Mountain mainly to track down a special group ofpeople.

In the past two or three years, many disciples of the five major sects inour Violet Orchid Empire were attacked and mysteriously disappeared.Our Sun Sect alone has lost more than a thousand disciples in the pasttwo years, and amongst them were many of our elite disciples who arefar better than the inner disciples. The other four sects are facing asimilar situation. Therefore, the five major sects in our Violet OrchidEmpire are now working together to investigate this matter.” Murraykindly briefed Austin on why they were there.

"Each sect has lost more than a thousand disciples?!" Austin cried outof disappointment.

He was deeply shocked by what he had just heard.

For the past three years he had been out of his mind because of severebrain damage which he had recovered just recently fromUnfortunately, such a tragic set of events happened in the past fewyears, resulting in the Sun Sect losing over a thousand loyal disciples.Amazed, Austin thought of those mysterious men in black, who set theSoul Collection Array in the valley where the celestial energy ginsengwas.

Their purpose was to hunt down all the cultivators in that valley andcollect their souls ruthlessly.

Coincidentally, most of those cultivators in the valley were disciples ofthe five major sects in the Violet Orchid Empire.

"Recently, we've found that those who often attack the disciples of ourfive major sects may have sneaked into the surrounding area of theGrand Desolation Mountain and tried to attack the disciples practicinghere,” Murray stated with a dignified look. "That's why we came here."Austin then realized that these Elders and stewards had appearedtogether in order to investigate this matter.

He was fifty percent sure that the mysterious black-clad men in thatvalley were the ones who hurt the disciples of the five major sects. Thatthought was making him increasingly uneasy.

"Steward Zhu, many unfortunate things have indeed happened in thesurrounding area of the Grand Desolation Mountain recently.”

Hearing his words, Murray and the other four suddenly rendered theirundivided attention to the speaker.

"What do you know, Austin? Tell us honestly," Murray said.

"And take your time."

After a while, Austin revealed the five people about what had happenedover the past two days.