Chapter 18: Congratulations on the Sect Leader’s Return to His Rightful Place

Da-shixiong had gone too far.

At this moment, every cultivator thought this.

Except Wen Tingshu himself.

In the scene Meng Baixu had rehearsed many times in his mind, this was the moment when he should take the chance to smear Wen Tingshu’s name, shake the image of the Sect Master in the cultivators’ hearts, and recruit talented people for the Fuguang Sect.

In any case, when Situ Nanchun went back to report this matter, he would not be stupid enough to repeat word for word anything that damaged the Immortal Venerable’s dignity. Shizun would not hear the bad things Meng Baixu said about him.

But after Meng Baixu finished saying that he was severing their master-disciple relationship, he did not speak again.

Liu Xishi timely continued, “Situ Nanchun, immediately have your people withdraw from Xitai Village. Otherwise, I’ll kill Xie Jing.”

Xie Jing finally reacted. His eyes were filled with disbelief as he twisted his head with all his strength to stare at Meng Baixu’s face.

“You’re the Fuguang Sect leader?”

Xie Jing still remembered when he was four years old. His clan uncles searched Xiling Mountain for his eldest uncle’s traces for three whole months. In the end, they only found his eldest uncle’s bonded sword and announced that the family head had died. The entire Xie family had been filled with grief.

In Xie Jing’s heart, Xie Tongchen was equal to his father. He was the eldest uncle Xie Jing loved and respected the most—clear as the wind and bright as the moon, righteous enough to pierce the clouds—yet he had died at Meng Fuguang’s hands, without even a corpse left behind.

There was not a single person in the Xie family who did not want to avenge Xie Tongchen.

So this was why Eldest Aunt had told him to test Meng Baixu. Whenever he mentioned Xie Tongchen, Meng Baixu not only felt no guilt, he even kept belittling him more and more!

His eldest uncle’s bonded sword was in his hand. Was Xie Jing supposed to just watch helplessly as the son of his enemy stood before him?

Xie Jing’s eyes turned red. He silently recited the formula to activate Qingshuang Sword and struggled with all his strength—

But he did not move at all.

What was going on? How was Meng Baixu this strong?

Since this involved Meng Baixu and Xie Jing, Situ Nanchun did not dare guarantee he could snatch Xie Jing back completely unharmed. He was also wary of Meng Baixu’s true strength. From Xie Jing’s struggle just now, he could tell that Meng Baixu had been suppressing his power all along.

This troublesome matter should be left for the Sect Master to decide.

Situ Nanchun ordered everyone to retreat. “Da-shixiong, release Xie Jing first.”

As soon as Meng Baixu loosened his grip, Xie Jing rushed forward.

Xie Jing hurriedly used his sword as support, steadied himself, then turned around and looked at Meng Baixu with heavy anger.

“You’re Meng Fuguang’s son?!”

Meng Baixu said, “So what if I am?”

Xie Jing said word by word, “Meng Fuguang killed my eldest uncle?”

Meng Baixu said contemptuously, “Xie Tongchen deserved death. What, do you want to avenge him? Come on.”

“I’ll kill you!”

Provoked like this, Xie Jing’s head heated. Ignoring the gap in their strength, he raised Qingshuang and stabbed straight toward Meng Baixu’s chest.

“Sect Leader, be careful!”

Liu Xishi’s expression changed. But he saw that the sect leader neither dodged nor avoided it. He was actually planning to take this sword head-on!

Could it be that the sect leader truly wanted to repay Xie Tongchen’s life on Meng Fuguang’s behalf?

In the flash between lightning and fire, Liu Xishi suddenly understood something.

The sect leader had always wanted to drive a wedge between the Hengxue Sect and the Xie family. If he could kill Xie Jing while bearing the identity of Wen Tingshu’s disciple, that would be best.

But the sect leader was softhearted after all. He would only do the opposite and let Xie Jing heavily injure him.

Meng Baixu was gambling on Wen Tingshu’s master-disciple affection. If Xie Jing heavily injured Wen Tingshu’s beloved disciple, would Wen Tingshu become estranged from the Xie family from then on?

In the Fuguang Sect’s plan, infiltrating the Hengxue Sect was only the first step. After driving a wedge between the righteous sects, the next step was to seek revenge on the Xie family.

Even if the sword coming at him was Qingshuang Sword, Meng Baixu had a way to only suffer a superficial injury while pretending to be heavily wounded.

Shizun, will you avenge me or not?

Wen Tingshu, your disciple has been injured. Will you still remember your brotherly bond with Xie Tongchen?

The sword edge came closer and closer, condensing into a point of light in Meng Baixu’s eyes.

Xie Jing’s hand began to tremble slightly. He had not expected Meng Baixu not to dodge. Meng Baixu could clearly dodge it however he liked!

His sword edge began to shift, but the Xie family’s face and Xie Tongchen’s death did not allow him to withdraw his sword at this moment.

Meng Baixu raised a brow. “Is your hand shaking?”

At this moment, Xie Jing suddenly understood what it meant to be trapped between advance and retreat, unable to get off a tiger once mounted.

“Sect Leader, your belly—”

Liu Xishi believed the sect leader would be fine, but he suddenly remembered that the sect leader might already be pregnant.

Pfft—

The sound of a sharp blade entering flesh.

Meng Baixu stared blankly at the person who had rushed out from who knew where, standing in front of him as if facing death without regret, taking Xie Jing’s sword with his own body.

Blood sprayed out. Xie Jing’s face was covered in blood. In a panic, he pulled out the sword, and that person slowly collapsed.

Meng Baixu subconsciously stepped forward and caught the falling person. For some reason, his heart pounded like a drum. The two of them fell to the ground together.

Who was this?

He had never seen him before. Why had this person saved him?

If Qingshuang Sword pierced a cultivator’s body, there was still a chance to live. But for a mortal body, death was certain.

“Who are you…”

Meng Baixu stared at this face that was so ordinary it had no distinguishing features. Spiritual power condensed in his palm and poured into the hole in the man’s chest, but it was useless.

He was not a cultivator. There was no saving him.

“Lanshe…”

Only by being close could he hear that low call.

Meng Baixu’s face suddenly turned completely pale.

He knew who it was.

In this world, there was only one person who would call him that.

He had thought he would never hear this loving and helpless “Lanshe” again. He had no pure, noble fragrance of orchids. When they met again, Wen Tingshu should have regarded him as a demon.

“Shizun.”

Meng Baixu murmured, then even more frantically poured spiritual power into his chest.

Wen Tingshu coughed, and a large patch of blood poured out from his chest.

A strike from Qingshuang Sword carried the force of thunder.

He had seen Qingshuang Sword’s might in Xie Tongchen’s hands. Even though he saw through Meng Baixu’s scheme, even though he knew Qingshuang Sword in Xie Jing’s hands could not display one ten-thousandth of its true power, he still blocked it.

Lanshe had once asked him whether he could go with him.

He had said he could not.

Lanshe had asked whether the secret realms could simply not be cleared.

Wen Tingshu had said they could not.

Wen Tingshu’s body and mind were both in pain. He did not know what kind of feelings Lanshe had carried when he pleaded with him then.

He only knew that Lanshe had once also asked him—

“If I encounter danger, will Shizun come down the mountain to save me?”

At the time, he had not given a clear answer.

He would.

He definitely would.

Wen Tingshu held Meng Baixu’s hand, stopping him from wasting spiritual power to no effect. With difficulty, he said, “Lanshe, go…”

Go.

Before his words fell, the fragile puppet lost all breath, dissolved into nothingness, and vanished from thin air, leaving Meng Baixu’s arms empty.

At the same moment, on Hengxue Mountain.

Wen Tingshu covered his chest, where there seemed to still be lingering pain.

Amid his black hair at the temples, a strand of white appeared.

***

Meng Baixu watched helplessly as Wen Tingshu scattered like smoke and clouds in mere moments. He held empty air. There was nothing.

Where was Shizun?

Where was my Shizun!

Meng Baixu’s hands were empty as he looked toward Liu Xishi, who was closest to him. His eyes were panicked, and huge teardrops hung at the corners of his eyes.

Liu Xishi had always been criticized as a vice sect leader who idled around doing nothing. Fortunately, because he idled around doing nothing, he had read many miscellaneous books. He immediately reacted.

This was probably Wen Tingshu’s puppet.

The art of puppetry was extremely yin. It could easily devour the heart and erode the soul.

He had not expected Wen Tingshu to use it. But perhaps only Wen Tingshu could use it. It was a legendary secret art that many people had never even heard of.

Liu Xishi lowered his voice. “Sect Leader, this was probably Sect Master Wen’s puppet. Puppets can be replicated. The puppet’s death does not harm the main body. The Sect Master himself should still be on Hengxue Mountain.”

In an instant, something flashed through Meng Baixu’s mind.

He had no time to catch it. There was only one realization:

The words he said about betraying the sect, the words he said insulting Xie Tongchen—all of them had been heard by Wen Tingshu himself.

What had Wen Tingshu wanted to say to him?

Lanshe, you have strayed onto the wrong path?

Lanshe, don’t mingle with the demonic sect?

How could that be possible? Once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back. He was the sect leader of the Fuguang Sect, inheriting his father’s bloodline and cultivation, born to be enemies with the righteous path. He had been raised by the sect members. For him, the Great Elder had allowed his appearance to age. For him, the vice sect leader had gone undercover in the righteous path for twenty years. Secret realms were the source of food and clothing for the sect members. Everyone hoped he would lead the Fuguang Sect to restore its glory.

Righteous and evil could not coexist.

No matter how good Shizun was, he was still the leader of the righteous path.

“I killed someone?”

On the other side, Xie Jing was still immersed in the terror of having accidentally injured someone. And the person he had killed—why was there not even a corpse?

Situ Nanchun supported the panicked Xie Jing. “Calm down.”

Xie Jing said, “I killed someone, I…”

After Meng Baixu calmed down, he stood up.

He could not let others know that the bright and upright Wen Tingshu actually used the art of puppetry. He could not let others know that this person was Wen Tingshu.

Wen Tingshu had more than one puppet. Meng Baixu did not know what hobby Wen Tingshu had, but in any case, once it was leaked, there was a possibility that enemies would torture and kill his puppets.

He glanced at Xie Jing and said to Liu Xishi, “This subordinate rendered meritorious service by protecting me. I will send him back to Guiye City to recover. Remember to reward him according to his merit.”

“This subordinate obeys.”

Liu Xishi raised his eyes and looked at Xie Jing’s expression, which instantly eased. Killing a mortal by mistake and severely injuring an evildoer held very different meanings to the righteous path.

The sect leader was still softhearted. He was clearly even younger than Xie Jing, yet he still had to take care of the mood of Xie Jing, who had killed someone for the first time, indirectly telling him that the person had not died.

Forget it. The grudges belonged to the previous generation.

The confrontation between righteous and evil thus ended hastily. Both sides were in complicated moods as they withdrew.

Situ Nanchun urgently sent a message to the Sect Master. Xie Jing seemed to be sleepwalking the whole time.

The remaining cultivators whispered among themselves.

“Da-shixiong, he…”

“You’re still calling him Da-shixiong? He’s the demonic sect leader.”

“But Da-shixiong doesn’t look like a demonic sect leader at all. Just now, when his subordinate was injured, he seemed to cry.”

“Da… Sect Leader is also a person of deep feeling, I guess.”

“Da-shixiong just had no choice about being born in the demonic sect. At his core, he’s a good person.”

“Would a good person betray the Sect Master? I think the Sect Master is a little pitiful. He lived cold and alone for five hundred years before finally accepting one disciple, and that disciple turned out to be an undercover agent…”

“Will the Sect Master leave the mountain because of Da-shixiong and personally teach his disciple a lesson?”

“He will, right? If you get scummed by your disciple, are you supposed to swallow your anger? Even if your man scummed you, you’d still know to seek justice.”

“…”

After the Hengxue Sect’s people had all left, Meng Baixu led Liu Xishi back. He cut open his palm, used blood to form an array, and set up a forbidden array in Xitai Village. Any cultivator who forcefully stepped in would be strangled and killed.

“Sect Leader, let’s go back first. We can open the cultivation corridor next time.”

Seeing that Meng Baixu’s complexion was somewhat poor, Liu Xishi advised him with distress.

The forbidden array consumed spiritual power, and opening the cultivation corridor would require even more. Meng Baixu’s face had turned pale.

Meng Baixu said, “You know my physical condition. There’s no need to rest. We do it in one push.”

He could not estimate how much spiritual power the twins would absorb from him. There was no experience he could rely on. He had to connect the cultivation corridor in one go while he still had confidence.

The Hengxue Sect and the Fuguang Sect stood separately in the east and west of the continent. Without this corridor, the road for his children to return to the Hengxue Sect would be very, very long.

How could he be at ease?

He would never let his children cross the long Yongzhou City.

On that road, when he went, he lost his first friend. When he returned, he lost his only Shizun.

For this reason alone, he absolutely could not hand over the secret realms and let the righteous path clear them.

Meng Baixu closed his eyes and adjusted himself slightly. He split the spiritual power inside his body into two. Half was used to protect the three yuan cores—one big and two small. The other half gathered on Fengxing Sword. Then he leaped into the secret realm.

Liu Xishi flew in after him, acting as his protector.

One shichen later, Liu Xishi carried the exhausted sect leader out of the secret realm on his back and met up with the other sect members.

“Return to Guiye City.”

Guiye City was the demonic sect’s old nest. It was rooted in a secret realm, neither real nor illusory. As long as they wished to hide, even if one dug three chi into the cultivation continent, they would not find Guiye City.

When they had quietly raised Meng Baixu, this was how they had lived peacefully under the eyes and ears of the righteous path.

“Liu-daren.”

A sect member followed closely beside him and reported in a low voice, “Just now, after the forbidden array was set up in Xitai Village and you and the sect leader entered the secret realm, another cultivator came. He forced his way into the forbidden array, ignored the array’s warnings, and then… he disappeared.”

Liu Xishi froze. His first reaction was that it was another puppet incarnation of Wen Tingshu. But how could a puppet have spiritual power?

“Did you see clearly? Was it a cultivator or a mortal?”

The subordinate said, “Confirmed to be a cultivator.”

Liu Xishi asked, “Is the corpse there?”

The subordinate said, “It disappeared.”

Only a puppet would vanish upon death.

Liu Xishi was puzzled. Could Wen Tingshu have used some method to let a puppet possess spiritual power too, trying to catch up with the sect leader?

An act against heaven.

No matter how heaven-defying it was, it should be impossible to transfer his entire cultivation to a puppet. A puppet without enough spiritual power, encountering a forbidden array personally set by the sect leader, could only turn into gray smoke.

He turned to look at the sleeping Meng Baixu and ordered, “Do not tell the sect leader about this.”

One of Wen Tingshu’s puppets had been stabbed by Xie Jing, and the sect leader had already been so sad he nearly shattered.

One death was death. Two deaths were also death. Wen Tingshu could transform thousands upon thousands of puppets. It was enough for the sect leader to be sad once.

…

“Welcome back, Sect Leader!”

“Congratulations on the Sect Leader’s return to his rightful place!”

In Guiye City, the uncles, aunties, and elders who had watched Meng Baixu grow up were all especially happy.

The sect leader had gone to the righteous path for three months. They had nearly worried themselves to death, afraid the sect leader would speak arrogantly and get beaten, afraid the sect leader would disrespect his elders and get beaten… In short, even in their dreams, the sect leader was being bullied by the righteous path.

Their poor little sect leader had suppressed his cultivation. Would he not only be left for the righteous path to knead and flatten as they liked?

Although Vice Sect Leader Liu had been undercover at the Hengxue Sect with him, it was said Liu Xishi had been watched very tightly and could not help with anything. The sect leader had not even managed to eat one bite of his tofu pudding. If they had known earlier, they would have sent the Left Protector.

Meeting everyone’s concerned gazes, Liu Xishi smiled and said, “The sect leader consumed too much spiritual power opening the secret realms and needs rest. Everyone can come again tomorrow or the day after.”

The sect members were reluctant to leave, saying they would come again tomorrow.

Only one middle-aged woman stood unmoving, still looking worriedly at the sleeping sect leader on the bed.

Liu Xishi stepped forward and said, “Miss Mingyue, the sect leader is not seriously hurt. You should also go rest. Once he wakes, he will definitely make a fuss about wanting to drink the milk tea you make.”

Wang Mingyue was only an ordinary person. She had no spiritual veins and could not cultivate. Twenty years ago, her village had been brutally looted by bandits. Her husband and child died tragically. The Left Protector, who had gone out looking for a wet nurse, happened to pass by and saved her. From then on, she settled in the Fuguang Sect.

Twenty years passed. Wang Mingyue, who had once been as beautiful as a flower, gradually aged. But everyone in the Fuguang Sect still called her Miss Mingyue.

After all, in terms of age, everyone was older than Miss Mingyue.

Wang Mingyue wiped the corner of her eyes and said, “All right. Once the sect leader wakes, you must tell me.”

Liu Xishi was most afraid of women’s tears. “Definitely, definitely.”

After everyone had left, the Left Protector, who had checked Meng Baixu’s pulse, instantly darkened.

“Liu Xishi!”

Liu Xishi rubbed his ears. “Yu Qingfeng, why are you shouting so loudly?”

The Left Protector said, “I’m the one who should be asking what you’re doing. If I didn’t check wrong, the sect leader is pregnant. Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

Liu Xishi said, “That means the sect leader got what he wished for.”

The Left Protector said, “Don’t smile so cheekily.”

“Don’t be anxious. This is only one part of the sect leader’s plan.”

Liu Xishi laid out Meng Baixu’s prodigal-child plan in full.

The Left Protector asked, “You said the child belongs to whom?”

Liu Xishi said, “Wen Tingshu.”

The Left Protector was immediately speechless.

If the child belonged to Wen Tingshu, then under the principle of cultivation inheritance, the cultivation of the saintly babies was unimaginable.

For the sect leader to get pregnant with Wen Tingshu’s children, it must have been very difficult. They should not dampen his joy.

“No, wait. For such a huge matter, you two handled it without saying a word?”

Liu Xishi curved his lips. “I am the vice sect leader. He is the sect leader. What major matter could the two of us not decide?”

The Left Protector said, “…Wait until the Great Elder comes back to deal with you!”

Liu Xishi scoffed. “The Great Elder? For the sake of relying on age to act senior, he deliberately allowed himself to age. What opinion could he have? Now that there are children to call him Grandpa, he’ll be happy before anything else.”

The Great Elder, He Shangxian, was a person who had become obsessed with raising children and lost his fighting spirit.

The Left Protector was silent for a moment, then said, “This prodigal-child plan of yours—I keep feeling the motive is a little hard to understand.”

Liu Xishi smiled, somewhat charmingly. “Actually, it’s very easy to understand. The sect leader went undercover in order to destroy the Hengxue Sect.”

“But Wen Tingshu treated him too well, so he could not bring himself to act. He could only hand the burden to the next generation.”

In the future, if the little demon could ruin the Hengxue Sect, it would prove the sect leader wise. If they could not, it would prove the sect leader had already tried his hardest.

If the little demon chose to reconcile with the righteous path, then that would have nothing to do with the sect leader either.

In life, one only sought to have a clear conscience.

Liu Xishi placed a hand on the Left Protector’s shoulder. “Brother, you have never gone undercover in the Hengxue Sect. You don’t know. You don’t understand what kind of immortal life the sect leader lived on Hengxue Mountain.”

The Left Protector said, “Oh? Are you saying the sect leader’s life in our sect was not good?”

Liu Xishi said, “I did not mean that.”

The Left Protector laughed softly. “Vice Sect Leader, have you also been converted by the righteous path?”

Liu Xishi said, “No, no. I swear to defend the Fuguang Sect to the death.”

The Left Protector looked Liu Xishi up and down. “You look a little like a righteous sect person to me. Why don’t you copy the sect rules a hundred times to settle your mind?”

Liu Xishi said, “How dare you! A subordinate rebelling against a superior!”

Meng Baixu was awakened by the two of them arguing. He slowly sat up.

“Left Protector, after the spiritual qi of the cultivation corridor is connected, it will still need several months to fully merge. From now on, the Fuguang Sect’s main task is to guard the two ends of the corridor. All other secret realm auctions are temporarily suspended.”

The Left Protector completely understood. Because of the sect leader’s physique, they now had to be careful and avoid causing trouble that would require the sect leader to step forward and use spiritual power to handle.

Liu Xishi lowered his voice to the Left Protector. “The sect leader is somewhat unhappy. Coax him.”

He did not know how to coax children, so he left first.

The Left Protector: “…”

How was he supposed to coax him?

Meng Baixu opened his qiankun pouch and took out many magic tools. They were all things Wen Tingshu had stuffed into his pouch before he left from the bottom of the cold pond.

“Take these things and distribute them to comfort the sect members.”

They had finally kept a low profile for twenty years and could now reemerge, but now everyone had to continue acting carefully. It was only right to comfort them appropriately.

The Left Protector looked at the things the sect leader took out one by one from his qiankun pouch.

Had the sect leader gone to the Hengxue Sect to raid them?

Why did Wen Tingshu give the sect leader everything? Was he trying to steal their sect leader as his heir?

Looking at the dazzling array of magic tools and the sect leader’s little expression of not recognizing their value, the Left Protector raised a brow.

He had found a way to coax him.

Clang.

A spirit-devouring insect sealed in ice fell from the qiankun pouch. The Left Protector bent down and picked it up.

“This is… this is the spirit-devouring insect your father lost when he fought Wen Tingshu back then!”

Spirit-devouring insects could attach to a cultivator’s back without pain or itch and suck away their spiritual power.

Back then, Meng Fuguang had used this underhanded move and still failed to beat Wen Tingshu. Instead, the spirit-devouring insect was confiscated, causing him to brood over it for many years.

Meng Baixu took the ice-sealed spirit-devouring insect, thinking somewhat strangely that this was something his father had lost to Wen Tingshu, and Wen Tingshu had given it to him.

The Left Protector said, “Didn’t Wen Tingshu say back then that spirit-devouring insects were filthy and unbearable? Why would he give such an evil thing to his disciple for self-defense?”

Meng Baixu immediately stuffed the spirit-devouring insect back into his qiankun pouch. “Mm. It’s my father’s thing, so I won’t give it to you. Divide the rest among yourselves.”

Sharp-eyed, the Left Protector picked up another Heavenly Thunder Pearl and weighed it in his hand.

“This thing isn’t rare by itself. It can only summon heavenly lightning to split mountains, and it can only be used on stormy days.”

Meng Baixu did not recognize these things at all. Only after hearing the Left Protector explain did he understand. He was only twenty, so it was normal not to understand. But Wen Tingshu had given him things without explaining them.

“If it isn’t rare, then take it and use it as a reward.”

“Search again. There should be nine in total.”

The Left Protector suddenly changed direction. “Combined, they are powerful. They can be used to make a Nine-Star Altar and draw the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into one place, but cultivator flesh and blood must be used as offerings. Four hundred and twenty years ago, Wen Tingshu challenged nine evil cultivators with one sword, rescued more than a hundred cultivators, and became famous in one battle!”

Meng Baixu rummaged through the qiankun pouch again and indeed found the remaining three.

This thing was actually the trophy from the battle that made Wen Tingshu famous!

Damn it. Wen Tingshu had not told him either.

Was Wen Tingshu not worried that after these things landed in his hands, the Nine-Star Altar would reappear in the world?

Had Wen Tingshu not doubted his character at all?

That old thing must have been struck hard now. These magic treasures had fallen into the demonic sect, so he probably could not even sleep at night, right?

He snatched the Heavenly Thunder Pearl back from the Left Protector’s hand. “I’ll keep this. You people wouldn’t do this great bad deed properly.”

The Left Protector smiled. With a hook of his foot, his left hand caught a golden ring.

“This… seems to be the Heaven-and-Earth Longevity Ring that various sects worked together to forge for Wen Tingshu when he was two hundred years old?”

Meng Baixu listened with fascination.

Wen Tingshu’s two-hundredth birthday gift?

Meng Baixu held it and looked it over. This would be perfect as a collar for the blue ox he had given Wen Tingshu.

“This doesn’t look very useful, so I won’t distribute it.”

The Left Protector said, “How could it be useless? Oh, and this jade cauldron…”

After spiritual qi revived, the entire history of cultivation was Wen Tingshu’s battle history.

Only, who knew how this man who used war to stop war would treat the matter of his disciple betraying the sect?

The Left Protector felt somewhat gleeful, but also somewhat worried for the sect leader. It seemed they really had to keep a lower profile.

“Sect Leader, these magic tools are your private belongings. If you want to comfort the sect members, we naturally have reserves in the divine treasury. There is no need to use your qiankun pouch,” the Left Protector said seriously.

The sect leader was still too young and did not understand many internal matters of the sect. Damn Liu Xishi. He had not taught him anything.

Meng Baixu was given a way out and immediately took back all the things Wen Tingshu had given him.

The Hengxue Sect also studied cultivation history, but none of it involved Wen Tingshu. This sect leader had studied fake history!

Was Wen Tingshu deliberately acting mysterious and refusing to let people teach it?

Meng Baixu said, “The Left Protector should be the one teaching cultivation history at the Hengxue Sect.”

As expected, one’s enemy understood one best.

The Left Protector could not help laughing. “Then our Fuguang Sect would have too many high-ranking people employed at the Hengxue Sect.”

Meng Baixu said, “My Shizun—that old thing Wen Tingshu—was so good at fighting before. Why doesn’t he ever step outside now?”

The Left Protector frowned. Wen Tingshu suddenly changing to cultivating his character and nourishing his nature on Hengxue Mountain had to have a special reason.

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s no longer capable.”

“He is capable.”

Meng Baixu pursed his lips. Shizun was not no longer capable. He was still frighteningly strong.

Meng Baixu secretly regretted that he had not been born five hundred years earlier, so he could have fought Wen Tingshu like his father.

After the Left Protector told him a long stretch of history, he suddenly realized that the age gap between the sect leader and Wen Tingshu was truly large. Who knew what Meng Fuguang would think in the afterlife?

In the past, Meng Baixu had been somewhat closer to the Great Elder. After returning this time, he discovered that the Left Protector was also a trusted aide.

Listening to the Left Protector’s unhurried words, the distance between Wen Tingshu and him seemed to become less far.

Unable to hold back, he showed off to the Left Protector.

“I’m pregnant.”

The Left Protector lifted his teacup, concealing his complicated feelings. “This subordinate knows.”

Meng Baixu said smugly, “Two, you know!”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

The Left Protector nearly choked. He patted his chest. “Two?!”

Meng Baixu said, “When the time comes, we’ll send the prodigal one to the Hengxue Sect. We’ll keep the capable one ourselves.”

The Left Protector: “…”

Naive.

“This sect leader will personally teach them!”

Meng Baixu stood and looked at the Left Protector solemnly. “Success depends on secrecy. We must act low-key and avoid the children being snatched away by Wen Tingshu. They would definitely be taught into little saintly fathers.”

The Left Protector said, “That’s true.”

Liu Xishi went out for a round and came back, only to discover that the Left Protector had coaxed the sect leader.

Just as he said, when the Left Protector coaxed the sect leader, he succeeded every time.

On Hengxue Mountain.

After Zhongli Yun received the news from Situ Nanchun, he did not dare delay and immediately went to see the Sect Master.

Wen Tingshu sat beneath the viburnum tree, his entire body carrying a cold and lonely air.

Zhongli Yun suddenly felt that Hengxue Mountain had become empty and desolate. He looked around and realized that Wen Tingshu had once used spiritual power to make Hengxue Mountain, which was frozen year-round, bloom like spring through all seasons. Today, it had returned to its original state.

An immortal was still an immortal.

The viburnum flowers had frozen into a tree of white. Only the two blue oxen and a patch of grass remained.

He had a feeling that Wen Tingshu already knew.

“Please make a judgment, Sect Master.”

Meng Baixu had infiltrated the Hengxue Sect and even arrogantly held Xie Jing hostage to sow discord. If they did not handle this, where would the Hengxue Sect’s authority as the number one cultivation academy under heaven remain?

What Zhongli Yun waited for was only Wen Tingshu’s silence.

Silence meant indulgence.

The Hengxue Sect had already issued a warrant for Liu Xishi. At the very least, the Sect Master should treat Meng Baixu equally, right?

Zhongli Yun probed, “Meng Baixu infiltrated our Hengxue Sect for three months—”

Wen Tingshu said, “There is no discrimination in teaching.”

Zhongli Yun: “…”

What a fine “no discrimination in teaching.” As long as one came to the Hengxue Sect to study, it did not matter who they were, right?

Zhongli Yun said, “Then Meng Baixu holding Xie Jing hostage—”

Wen Tingshu said, “A feud from the fathers’ generation. Each side has its own position.”

Zhongli Yun said, “Then he said he severed the master-disciple relationship with you and had never regarded you as Shizun—”

Wen Tingshu: “…”

For the first time, Zhongli Yun discovered that their Sect Master really did have the temperament of a bodhisattva.

After being betrayed, he said nothing and chose forgiveness.

No, not exactly a bodhisattva. A few strands of his hair had already gone white.

Wen Tingshu lifted his eyes and said to Zhongli Yun, “Next, I will enter seclusion for three years. All matters of the Hengxue Sect will be decided by you. No one may go up Hengxue Mountain without my order.”

Zhongli Yun said, “Yes.”

It seemed he had not been lightly hurt. He had seen through the mortal world and was going into seclusion to seal his heart.