Sect Leader Is Under Great Pressure CH 033 A Grand Event, Dragon Phoenix Selection
Feng Qingxiu, who had left in an angry huff, came back to his senses and found that he was still too easily affected.
The things that had happened recently were a bit too much as well, which had shaken his state of mind very seriously.
Returning to his simple and crude wooden house, he chanted the Thought Calming Sutra a few times before he began to meditate and practice cultivation.
Cultivation was like sailing a boat against the current. If you did not advance, you would be forced to retreat. The true essence of the cultivator was originally a concentration of the essence of the world. Usually, when practicing, sitting, or sleeping, true essence would be consumed. So if you did not practice for a long time, it was easy to regress.
Four hours later, he opened his eyes.
He began to think about today's gains and losses.
After some self-examination, he found that his weaknesses were still too obvious.
It was not his own fault to have a low cultivation base, but he was too careless to think that there would be no danger and disharmony within the sect.
If it hadn't been for the Sect Leader's protection, he would have died twice over today.
His vision, cultivation base, and temperament were not enough to support his current position as the head disciple and apprentice of the Sect Leader.
Feng Qingxiu pondered quietly.
Nowadays, everyone in the sect had doubts about him, and it was not reliable to ask anyone for help.
Not until he consolidated his Golden Core Formation base should he step out from here.
Moreover, he had to collect all the information of the entire sect and be aware of the subtle workings within it in order to be able to deal with various incidents in the future.
So, he still needed to go see his master...
As an apprentice, he should have a proper mindset.
That was his master, the person who would guide him on the path of cultivation and immortality in the future.
They were master and apprentice, which was a closer relationship than that between father and son.
Unlike before, when he only regarded the other as a godly being. There was no need to doubt, no need to worry, that he chose him to be his apprentice was right.
…Well, now that he has figured it out, he should go to his master and make his first request.
To remove the time limit for the Net Charm.
***
One month later, Feng Qingxiu had already mastered the map of the entire sect, as well as become knowledgeable of Kun-Lai’s various intertwined forces. His Golden Core Formation cultivation base was basically consolidated, and he felt that he had some of the basic qualities of the high-level cultivators of the sect, so he brought to his master his desire to go out.
"Are you going to oversee the Dragon-Phoenix Selection too?" Ji Yunlai raised his head from the Net Charm, and asked his apprentice with confusion.
"Yes, it's useless to just practice cultivation by myself in my room. If I don't train my heart and will, it's not as if I can take pills instead?" Feng Qingxiu smiled confidently. Although he was the head disciple and apprentice of the Sect Leader, these things had all been experienced by previous cultivation elders.
Feng Qingxiu entered the sect through the Dragon-Phoenix Selection. After his year passed through the Mountain Ascension Ceremony, the outer sect was now emptied. The sect needed to carry out another Dragon-Phoenix Selection to supply newcomers for the sect. The Western Continent was vast and the sect must send out a large number of manpower everytime the Selection was held, and most Golden Core Formation and Nascent Soul disciples were already tasked with important positions and duties, so the Foundation Establishment disciples would be sent to preside over the Selection in various countries instead.
For hundreds of years, these countries had long become familiar with this practice, and the Foundation Establishment disciples just went to keep watch and prevent any fraudulent behavior—which was something that no matter how strict punishments were dealt, it could still not be completely restrained.
And according to the usual practice, the main supervisor of the Selection was always the head student of the last outer sect year—they who had just formally entered the inner sect had the deepest knowledge of various inside workings of the Selection, and thus were the most averse to such fraudulent practices.
Often various disciples would cause some trouble in various countries, but that was fine. With Kun-Lai backing them, it was not even a problem for them to pierce a hole in the sky. The various difficulties they encountered were good opportunities to build confidence and refine their heart and will. Basically, they would all have new insights to Dao cultivation when they come back, and quite a few would even make rapid progress in their cultivation.
And this time, according to practice, it was Feng Qingxiu who was the head student of the outer sect this year—the only problem was that he was already the Sect Leader's apprentice, and whether he went or stayed it was all up to him, and those high-level cultivators managing the sect's general matters could not ignore his opinions.
"It seems that the countries of the Western Continent are going to be facing some liveliness again." Ji Yunlai smiled and said, "Xiao Qing can naturally go, of course."
If his apprentice wanted to grow up, he would naturally not stunt it.
"Then I will report to Elder Yan, and I will go visit the countries with the rest tomorrow." Feng Qingxiu nodded vigorously. When he attended the Dragon-Phoenix Selection back then, he was almost replaced by a prince. If it wasn't for a previous senior who had sharp-eyes and presided over justice, there would be no him today. That senior patted his head and said that when he had the opportunity to oversee the Selection in the future, he could also preside over justice for the children of common people.
Now it was finally time for him to keep his promise.
"Have you decided on the route?" Ji Yunlai asked casually.
"The Western Continent has three sovereign states and seventy-four subject states. It is customary to go to a major sovereign state and its affiliated vassal states first, and then to the other two sovereign states." Feng Qingxiu explained earnestly, "After all, the Western Continent is too vast. We don't have enough manpower."
His apprentice would be able to go out and play across the various countries, while he had to stay and watch the house at home.
This was a major event in all the countries. He heard that this time was the best and most prosperous time.
After having transmigrated over here for so long, he hadn't even had the chance to go out to play...
Ji Yunlai was a little unhappy, and after a brief silence he asked, "Xiao Qing, do you mind if I go with you?"
He was such a loving and caring master, he was even touched by his own consideration.
Feng Qingxiu, however, could not bear this kind of love, and his expression became dumbfounded, "Are you serious?"
Ji Yunlai did not answer, but his indifferent expression answered everything.
"If you go too, maybe, the Selection this time would not even be carried out properly..." Feng Qingxiu wiped at his sweat. It was hard to imagine the consequences of going with his master this time. He could guarantee that all the countries would explode, and Kun-Lai would explode as well.
There would definitely be various gossip articles on the Net Charm saying that he seduced the Sect Leader to become an incapable ruler.
Then his reputation… Master’s reputation…
He instantly became firm in his resolve, his expression turned super fierce, and he enunciated each word: "You are not allowed to go!"
His apprentice was so mean to him...
Ji Yunlai was a little sad.
He sighed and put aside the idea of hiding his identity and going out with his apprentice. Instead he drew a formless sword from the void and coiled it around his fingertips: "Then Master will not go, this sword will be gifted to you for self-defense."
Feng Qingxiu couldn't see the sword, so he looked at his master in puzzlement.
"Those who look with eyes can see only inaccuracies; those who look with wisdom can see precision. Xiao Qing, don't see with your eyes." He reached out and grabbed his apprentice's fingers and the sword meandered over, entangling with his fingertips.
"The sword is a bit sharp, use it with care." Ji Yunlai smiled.
With this sword, Xiao Qing would basically not be in too much danger.
"If you meet something you can't deal with, you can call Master for help, you know?"
"There likely wouldn't be a chance for me to call Master for help." Feng Qingxiu nodded to express that he knew.
***
The black snake trembled when he was released from the Qingnu White Pagoda.
The gray-clothed boy holding him stroked his snake head comfortingly, but it only made him more frightened.
"I don't kill." When releasing the black snake, Qingnu said calmly. Since her uncle had made a decisive choice, she would not continue to quibble with the snake. She had taken advantage of the snake's strong vitality to sew him back to health, moreover she would not break her own rules at the operating table, "I have fixed his soul injury, but it takes time to recover."
"We have proved to you that we really don't know the Three Lives Three Worlds Divine Codex. The Divine Codex was tampered with back then, and we are no longer humans. After a thousand years of imprisonment, our brains might not be as nimble as before, but it will be difficult for us to reincarnate again." The gray-clothed boy said helplessly, "We were tired of being pursued, so we came here."
It was fine when the Three Lives Three Worlds Divine Codex was complete. Without the first volume, just being able to reincarnate was useless. Because the world was too big and there were too many lifeforms, so it was easy to reincarnate into other races. After he and his brother died, he first became mosquito larva and then was eaten by a tadpole. Then he became a tadpole only to be eaten by a waterbird. When he became a nightingale he finally managed to survive. His brother who reincarnated into a snake was also not much better off than him, but no one believed them.
So Nightingale took the initiative to hand over the Reincarnation Sutra this time, and even sold many copies.
In this way, Black Snake held onto his life.
Qingnu nodded, turned and left.
"You actually came for me now, are you my brother or not?" Black Snake was extremely sorrowful. His body, his tail, and his soul were all severely wounded by that woman!
"Ai." Nightingale just sighed, "Let's go and rest."
He was also very sad.
He saw a beautiful yellow bird that time, and he went to chase after the bird when he saw his brother chatting happily with a girl in green robes.
After discovering his feelings to be real, he was about to begin courtship, when he found that he could no longer feel his brother's presence.
Fortunately, the yellow bird girl was a native of Kun-Lai, and she checked it for him, telling him that his brother had been tricked into the Qingnu White Pagoda by Qingnu, and expressed her condolences.
He wanted to break in, but the yellow bird girl persuaded him not to be impulsive, and then gave him an idea—which was to hand over the Reincarnation Sutra.
Only then did he manage to save Black Snake.
Then the girl learned that he was over a thousand years old, so she now ignored him...
"Tch, I thought he was a beautiful young boy, but he turned out to be an old cucumber painted with a fresh coat of paint..." He heard the girl in yellow complain to Qingnu.
Sob, I can reincarnate again… so long as you are willing to accept me…
"Where are we going?" Black Snake asked weakly.
"I recently found a job under Zhaoyue Peak in the east to deworm the pine forest. It covers food and housing. Five spiritual stones a month." Nightingale comforted him. When those other spirit demons searching for work knew that he was a Nascent Soul spirit demon, they were all very angry—but the mountain guardian positions were already all filled by other spirit demons, wasn't he also unable to do anything about it?
"Have we fallen to such a state?" Black Snake was heartbroken.
"Great Xuan was destroyed a long time ago, so don't keep holding onto past glories, at least we won't be chased down and killed here." Nightingale also showed him a white jade tablet, "Look, this is the residential token Miss Huang gave me. With this, I can find a job, otherwise we won’t be able to stay at all."
"Then what about me?" Black Snake was dumbstruck, flicking his forked tongue out angrily, "Brother, after lifetimes of being brothers, you don't want me anymore?"
They were targeted by the High Priest before, and they ran a long way before they realized that Kun-Lai was a place that the High Priest dared not come.
"No, Miss Qingnu letting you go means that no one will drive you away. Kun-Lai worships a warrior who can escape under Qingnu's clutches—they say that anyone who volunteers to be Qingnu's patient will have a bright future."
"Who volunteered!"
So one snake and one bird temporarily settled under the pine trees.
Then they discovered that this place was actually pretty good, with high mountains and dense forests, plenty of spiritual energy, and they could also eat spiritual rice every day—it was just that the spiritual meat was too expensive.
They had been trapped in the mausoleum for more than a thousand years, and they had become accustomed to being holed up at home. For a while, they felt that this was quite good, and were quite happy with their living conditions.
Black Snake also tried to apply for an ancient culture teacher position to do artifact identification.
And was successfully hired.
Their shared revenue now increased a bit more.
They began to mingle with all kinds of spirit demons in Kun-Lai, and found that the spirit demon clans had some power in Kun-Lai.
They also met a young man surnamed Qiu. They heard that he was a neighbor on the mountain over. He was very nice. He gifted them a bag of cloud melon seeds and a bag of dried Kun-Lai specialty rat the first time he visited.
It was super delicious, and both bird and snake nearly swallowed their tongues at how delicious it was, and quickly became good friends with the other.
Then he asked them for a favor, to keep an eye out on what time the person who came down from Zhaoyue Peak left at.
One bird and one snake readily promised.