“There is only one thing you need to keep in mind.”
“The East Sea trial is protected by myself and Perfected Person Shu. Furthermore, the Donglin City branch of the Xiaoyao Chamber of Commerce is overseen by a powerful cultivator from the sect. If any Xiaoyao disciples encounter danger at sea, seniors can come to support them at any time.”
“As for the upcoming Penglai Dao Discussion Meeting, you will be traveling with your fellow disciples and many high-level cultivators from the sect.”
“You don’t need to worry about safety during this period.”
“But after the Penglai Dao Discussion Meeting ends...”
“After all, the spirit energy reserves at the Qi Refining stage are too low, and the sea of consciousness is too fragile. There are many methods that simply cannot be used. The matter regarding that old Daoist hasn't been fully investigated yet. To be safe, I suggest that once the Penglai Dao Discussion Meeting is over, you return directly to the sect, Ningyun.”
“Until you reach Foundation Establishment, try not to leave the sect.”
“Even if you must leave, do not go too far, and especially do not leave Yunzhou.”
Gu Ningyun agreed repeatedly.
She had intended to do the same.
A year of outdoor training, followed by the Penglai Dao Discussion Meeting—for someone at the Qi Refining stage like her, these trials and experiences were more than enough.
For the time that followed, she wanted to stay in the sect.
First, she wanted to focus on meditation to make up for the time lost during her travels and work hard to increase her cultivation.
Second, she wanted to settle her mind and slowly digest everything she had gained during her trials.
Third, she wanted to make good use of the sect's resources to address the shortcomings she had discovered while out in the world.
Seeing that Gu Ningyun understood the gravity of the situation and was willing to listen to advice—unlike most children who were naive and headstrong—Shen Banxi nodded in satisfaction. He rubbed Gu Ningyun’s bald head again. “Good girl.”
Her head had been rubbed by everyone from her guide, Martial Aunt Yang, to Perfected Person Shen.
Gu Ningyun had gone from trying to escape their clutches at the beginning to being quite used to it by now.
Stuck with a bald head for now, she could even find some humor in her misery.
At least with a bald head, she didn't have to worry about ruining her hairstyle like before.
Gu Ningyun waited helplessly for him to finish. “Perfected Person Shen, there is one more thing. Gu Lianxue disgusted me so much that I don’t want to let her off just like that.”
She had a faint feeling that this matter ran too deep. Beneath the surface, there might be many undercurrents that a low-level cultivator like her couldn't know about, and it wouldn't be resolved quickly.
If that old Daoist was truly the person the sect had been searching for for a long time, he was surely elusive and difficult to catch.
Gu Lianxue and the Gu family of Yanlin Town were likely the only clues to finding him.
If they were being used as bait, they probably couldn't be touched in the short term to avoid startling the snake by beating the grass.
In particular, the sect—which the old Daoist was already wary of—couldn't make a move.
Although she knew these people would eventually be crushed by Xiaoyao, Gu Ningyun didn't want them to live too comfortably in the meantime.
Shen Banxi had clearly thought of this as well and merely gave a light smile.
“After the Missing Person Notice, the pretense of civility between you and Gu Lianxue has been completely torn away. The fact that the two of you are enemies is something the entire cultivation world knows. As long as you don’t put yourself in danger, you are naturally free to deal with her as you wish.”
With the matter reported to Punishment Peak settled, Shen Banxi and Shu Ziming disguised themselves as before and left Cabin 16.
As soon as the two Perfected Persons were gone, Wen Xuan winked at Gu Ningyun. “Ningyun, do you have an idea?”
“It’s a secret for now. You’ll find out when the time comes.”
“Acting all mysterious.” Wen Xuan reached out her index finger, about to poke her forehead.
Gu Ningyun laughed and caught her fingertip, leading her to sit in front of Jiang Yao.
“Jiang Yao, I noticed earlier that your emotions were off. You... what happened?”
Jiang Yao was truly stunned.
He hadn't expected Gu Ningyun to notice his emotional distress under those circumstances.
Seeing Mu Chenze tilt his head to look over and Jun Luo move his stool closer, Jiang Yao opened his mouth and shared his experience.
“In that battle, my parents and my Jiang Family Army all died on the battlefield. In the subsequent purge, the old members of the Jiang family and the officials who sided with us did not escape the Emperor’s cruel hand.”
Mu Chenze squeezed Jiang Yao’s shoulder and remained silent for a moment.
“Jiang Yao, once the five of us break through to Foundation Establishment and have the basic strength to travel the cultivation world, let’s go back to the mortal realm together. Back to that battlefield. There is a technique that can find the rest of a skeleton based on a single fragment. We will return there, gather their remains, give them a proper burial, and erect a Hero's Monument.”
Jiang Yao’s eyes grew moist. “But, aren't cultivators forbidden from interfering in the affairs of mortal courts?”
“Cultivators cannot personally kill mortals or participate in court politics. But if one truly wants to deal with them, there are countless indirect methods. Besides, this matter is a mortal tie that is directly related to you. You are simply burying your parents and your kin; why would you be forbidden from interfering? We cultivate the heart; we cultivate to act according to our will and to have a clear conscience. If one is so heartless as to ignore their own parents, how are they any different from a demon? As for the four of us, we are merely helping a friend bury his family.”
Gu Ningyun smiled inwardly; this was essentially exploiting a loophole in the rules.
But it wasn't just about loopholes.
As Mu Chenze said, cultivation was about the heart. Parents love their children, and children are filial to their parents. Jiang Yao wasn't taking up a spear to slaughter mortals; he was simply burying his family. This act was, in a way, an alignment with the Heavenly Dao.
She thought back to the history books she had read in Huaxia. “A faint-hearted Emperor and corrupt officials—such a country won't last long. Seeing the Emperor’s attitude in hunting down the Jiang family’s old guard, I even have reason to suspect there might be more to the deaths of those soldiers. If we engrave a Great Inscription on the battlefield and include the Emperor’s deeds on it for all the border guards to see, those soldiers will surely lose all faith in the court.”
“Under the oppression of a tyrant and corrupt officials, people everywhere will naturally feel the urge to rebel. Since ancient times, every rebellion needs a just cause. Our inscription will provide them with exactly that, allowing them to take the moral high ground and become a righteous army. They won't pass up such a reason—one backed by clear evidence and known to the whole world—unless they are fools. When that time comes, regardless of whether there was a secret behind the deaths of the Jiang family and the soldiers, there will only be one truth—the Emperor was suspicious and narrow-minded, plotting the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jiang family members and border soldiers, and hunting down the orphans of loyal officials.”
“Ningyun’s idea is excellent. With the talent the five of us possess, it shouldn't take more than a few years to progress from Qi Refining level seven to Foundation Establishment. If that Emperor is still alive, we’ll use this method. If the country has already fallen, we’ll still record the inscriptions as planned. At least we can reveal the truth and let the soldiers and your parents rest in peace.”
Jiang Yao’s eyes were red, and tears fell uncontrollably.
The knot that had been pressed into his heart for so long slowly began to unravel. Because of the divide between immortals and mortals, he had never imagined he would have a chance to go back, to collect his parents' remains, to expose the injustice they suffered, and even use this method of killing with a borrowed knife to take revenge.
He choked up, unable to control himself. “Ningyun, Chenze, Wen Xuan, Jun Luo... thank you.”
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