CH 092 Right/Wrong & Cause/Effect, Will Eventually Meet

Xiao Qing looked so embarrassed when he left that Ji Yunlai couldn't help but laugh for a long time. Then, recalling the little clothes his apprentice made for the his figurines, he suddenly felt a bit melancholic. It was clearly an ordinary room, yet it felt as though he had spent a long time guarding an empty house. 

He suddenly felt a chill of discomfort. I'm supposed to be a CEO, a winner in life—how could I feel like this? Forget it, forget it!

He leaned by the window, straining to hear how Xiao Qing was persuading Yan Zhao and Bai Shuixian. Over there, they were at an impasse. Although Xiao Qing's status was special, he was still too young. While Yan Zhao and Bai Shuixian valued his opinion, it wasn't to the point where they would obey him unquestioningly.

Yan Zhao said, "I understand your point, but leaving like this would make it seem as if our Kun-Lai sect fears the Ziyun Dao sect."

"Indeed," Bai Shuixian added, "The Taiqing Sect and Tiandao Sect are both hostile towards Kun-Lai now. If we retreat too easily, it will damage Kun-Lai's prestige. The three major sects are about to become four, and they won't miss any opportunity to suppress us."

Feng Qingxiu nodded but asked, "Kun-Lai's strength is already equal to the major sects, so why won't they acknowledge it?"

"It's all about fortune and the human heart," Yan Zhao replied coldly. "The three major sects have divided the world for a long time, recruiting the best talents from the four continents. If not for our Sect Leader starting from scratch in the Central Continent back then, they could easily have poached our talents during their selection rounds and condescendingly compensate us with some pills and spiritual items. They have this routine down to a fine art across the other four continents."

"Back when Kun-Lai was still a small sect in the Central Continent, the Taiqing Sect came to select disciples and took many promising ones with excellent spiritual roots," Bai Shuixian added, suddenly pausing before snorting coldly, "Many of the disciples that my senior brother had found with great spiritual potential were taken by them, and we had no choice but to comply. That place was practically the Taiqing Sect's single domain."

Feng Qingxiu mused, "So if Kun-Lai becomes one of the major sects, those with extraordinary talents who don't want to join the other three sects will have another option, and other small sects that don't want to submit might choose to align with Kun-Lai."

"Exactly. The other three sects may seem agreeable during trade negotiations with us, but in their own territories, they refuse to let anyone mention Kun-Lai. So while Kun-Lai dominates the Western Continent, it has no reputation elsewhere," Bai Shuixian explained in detail. "When the flying peak was first created, we planned to trade with the other four lands of the human race, but the Sect Leader instructed us to change our route, implying that going there would be like throwing dumplings to a dog—no chance of getting anything back."

Feng Qingxiu nodded to show he understood but still opposed staying any longer. "This place belongs to the Ziyun Dao sect, and there's already a track record of ambush. If we let them act freely, it would be too passive and wouldn't show Kun-Lai's true power."

"You do have a point," Bai Shuixian said, seeing his firm resolve. She exchanged a glance with Yan Zhao, and both understood each other's thoughts. "Since you insist, we'll follow your lead. After all, you are the future master of Kun-Lai."

That title was too lofty, and Feng Qingxiu was momentarily taken aback. Shaking his head, he said, "Senior Aunt, you're joking. My master is eternal; I'm far from being his equal."

"Enough, your master has been wanting to hand over the reins for a long time," Bai Shuixian sighed, shaking her head. "Although we wanted to teach the Ziyun Dao sect a good lesson this time, you are right as well. This is foreign territory; we should be cautious. Tomorrow, we'll send the word and leave the day after."

The flying peaks had disciples who had entered Ziyun City, so they needed to give them time to return. Being left behind in foreign territory was no laughing matter—not to mention the countless fierce beasts along the way, just the tens of thousands of miles would take them a year of constant flying to cover.

Feng Qingxiu nodded and took his leave.

Ji Yunlai thought to himself that his apprentice's influence wasn't strong enough yet, so he'd have to step in as support. Xiao Qing, don't be so unhappy. I'm more than happy to let you lean on me.

On the other side, Feng Qingxiu returned to his own Zhuiyun Peak. Thinking back on the events earlier, he couldn't help but cover his face in embarrassment.

He didn’t return to his room but turned toward a corner instead, standing coldly in the backlight, staring at his shadow.

The shadow, as if it were a real person, responded to him with cold indifference.

Feng Qingxiu was filled with anger but had no way to vent it.

It was too humiliating to punch the ground or the walls outside, so he couldn't bring himself to do it—especially since his master was probably silently watching him from the room.

"Let's make a deal. You can move however you want normally, but not when Master is around," he bargained with his shadow. "That clothing—I need to find an opportunity to give it to Master. You can’t deliver it for me, understand?"

The shadow remained indifferent.

Feng Qingxiu almost wanted to hit it again, but with his master not far away, he maintained his composure. So instead, he unleashed a burst of sword energy from his fingertips, stabbing the shadow a few times.

But as the sword energy entered the shadow, a feeling of deep connection surged in his heart. He realized almost instantly that, if he wished, he could easily split his shadow into countless demonic shadows, capable of devouring souls and growing stronger.

Something seemed to be watching him coldly from the surrounding void, observing his every move with disdain and hostility, as if rejecting an anomaly in the group.

He suddenly loosened his grip, retracting his sword energy, only to find his palm already drenched in cold sweat.

Just now, the feeling of being able to control everything seemed like an illusion.

A gentle hand rested on his shoulder, the familiar sensation seemed to have a familiar power, gradually calming his heart.

The vast and terrifying intent in the void gradually receded.

Feng Qingxiu fell directly into Ji Yunlai's arms.

Ji Yunlai embraced his apprentice, coldly staring into the void. He certainly felt the strange aura in the void and understood what had just happened.

When the sword energy of Xiao Qing’s celestial demon form entered the shadow of the demon, it connected with the celestial demon domain in the void. A new Great Demon King emerged in the void again. Although Xiao Qing’s cultivation was still shallow and the opponent’s intent could not hurt him, his body was inevitably impacted.

He'll be fine after resting.

Ji Yunlai suddenly froze, puzzled for a moment.

...Why did I say “again”?

Carrying his apprentice back to the room, Ji Yunlai drew out the spiritual energy from the flying peak. After conversion, his somewhat ethereal body became solid again.

The new flying peaks, each of them could become his incarnation. With his divine consciousness, he could easily exert seventy percent of his full power... It just consumed some spiritual stones. Next time, he should remind Xiao Qing to be more careful; his shadow seems quite strange.

He looked at his apprentice on the bed, the moonlight spilling on the young face that had already matured.

His apprentice seemed to be growing more and more attractive.

As he was observing his apprentice to pass the time, the Sect Leader suddenly felt something with his spiritual sense and turned to look out the window at the mountain below.

***

An Xian did not kill Yan Ling, only severely injuring him. Bai Yue, in her haste, did not notice this.

Yang Fuyin noticed this and shook his head: "If you don’t save your senior brother now, he will really die."

Bai Yue hurriedly looked down, pressed her senior brother’s pulse, and immediately tears fell like rain. She frantically recalled what her father had taught her years ago, feeling extremely flustered. But suddenly remembering something, she took out a pill and fed it to her senior brother.

Only then did Yan Ling start to breathe.

Bai Yue hurriedly took her senior brother away.

An Xian coldly said, "Why remind her?"

"You didn’t kill him because you want to keep him around to deal with later," Yang Fuyin comforted, "Otherwise, if one sword strike did not even hit the mark, wouldn’t it be a waste of your years of cultivation?"

"I don’t need such rubbish to test my sword," thinking of her daughter, Peak Master An almost clenched her fist, "She actually used a pill! Doesn’t she know she is from the Medicine Peak, following Bai Liu for a hundred years? What has she learned?"

"She really has no aptitude for learning. Her mind is hard to focus. It’s useless to be angry," Yang Fuyin shook his head. "When you had her practice the sword back then, you were too strict. She developed a resistance to learning and cultivation."

"People from the Sword Peak, practicing thirty thousand sword strikes a day is a low standard. At that time, I only required her to practice a thousand sword strikes a day, and she couldn’t handle it. Qingnu, who is ten years younger than her, practices three thousand sword strikes easily," An Xian was almost enraged, "It’s all because of Yimeng Ruge’s excessive pampering. Every time I wanted to hit her, they stopped me."

"Don’t mention Qingnu in front of her," Yang Fuyin also shook his head. With Yimeng Qingnu around, Bai Yue could never win, leading to a natural resistance over time. As a fellow peak master’s daughter, Bai Yue ended up only being able to compare parents, making her more dependent on others later on.

"I know what you want to say. I’m fine. I’ll use Yan Ling to teach my daughter what’s right and wrong. Besides, I just had a practice fight with Ba Zhua and feel much better," Peak Master An said mildly.

Yang Fuyin turned his head and indeed saw a nearly dying white squid in the corner, almost turned into a piece of dried squid skin, and was speechless.

After a long while, he said, "Do you also want to fight with Peak Master Shui?"

Making trouble for someone else’s husband, this was tantamount to slapping Peak Master Shui’s face.

"I’m not afraid of her," Peak Master An said nonchalantly, "What she did to undermine my Sword Peak is exactly what I need to settle with her."

Yang Fuyin was speechless, and he could only exchange a few more pleasantries before taking his leave.

Turning the street corner, he looked again at the elegant cultivator he had met before, who wanted to see the most outstanding talent from Kun-Lai.

A sudden alertness arose in his heart.

The surrounding wards began to glow.

The other party only smiled gently, but in that instant, the surrounding world seemed to become illusory and unsupported. Although his wards were ever-changing, the opponent used a cultivation level far beyond his to turn the surrounding world into a huge cage.

"If you don’t release me and clear the ward, without the cooperation of your two eyes in the Void Reversal Ward, you’ll be caught by him," Qiu Yuansheng said coolly in his prison.

The High Priest really came. To make Senior Brother Yang release him, he even acted personally.

Qiu Yuansheng felt ashamed.

"So, this is your backing?" Yang Fuyin asked coldly.

"Don’t slander me. I’ve never had any backing," Qiu Yuansheng said, feeling wronged.

The person across from him only walked over slowly.

His expression was calm and gentle, but the aura of the world converging completely suppressed him.

"No need to be nervous," he said gently, "I just want to chat with you for a while."

Yang Fuyin was about to say there was nothing to talk about when he heard a calm voice from nearby, a familiar voice that almost made him leap with joy.

"What’s the fun in bullying juniors," Ji Yunlai’s voice drifted from the void, "I’ll keep you company."