Chapter 182: Chapter 178: Human Dao Sword, Sit and Watch the Show
Du Youqian watched the Red Lotus Sect and the Destruction Sect arguing heatedly, even their Foundation Establishment Cultivators had started hurling accusations at each other. He suddenly felt the urge to grab a snack, pull up a chair, and just enjoy the show.
The disciples from the Red Lotus Sect and the Destruction Sect were both quite sharp-tongued. Listening to them sling insults back and forth was thoroughly entertaining.
Not like the disciples from his own Holy Blood Sect, who just repeated things like, "I’ll flay you alive," or "Watch me break every bone in your body." Their threats were too simple and crude.
Unable to settle the argument, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from both sects came to Du Youqian together, hoping he would dispense justice.
Du Youqian smiled amicably. "You really want me to dispense justice? You’d better think this through."
Seeing the icy look in Du Youqian’s eyes, which completely contradicted his smile, the two leaders shuddered in unison. "No, we wouldn’t dare trouble you, Lord Guardian Envoy. It’s just a small matter. We’ll handle it ourselves."
’That’s more like it.’
’If they bothered me with such a trivial matter, my mood would turn quite sour.’
’And if my mood turned sour, I might just seal the Magical Power of all the Qi Cultivation Cultivators from both sects and toss them into the Relics to fend for themselves.’
’And if the Foundation Establishment Leaders dared to stop me?’
’I’d cut them down, one by one.’
’I’m an eccentric old monster from the Demon Sect. You’ll all just have to put up with me.’
The Demon Sect had rules, of course.
The Holy Blood Sect had an especially large number of them.
But most of them were for internal affairs.
As for external affairs, the rules were complex, but they could be summarized as... well, killing is definitely wrong. You can’t just go around killing people, whether they’re allies or from the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp.
If you killed someone of a higher status, you’d have to pay with your life.
Even if your status was higher than your victim’s, killing them still meant paying a fine and being sentenced to hard labor.
Fortunately, Du Youqian was wealthy and could afford the fines. Plus, he had a Core Formation Master for a master, so any hard labor would be a mere formality.
At that moment, the leader from the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion was speaking with the person beside him.
"That Fellow Daoist Yu from the Demon Blood Sect is truly a fascinating character. The perfection of his Sword Intent is already on par with the prodigies of my Sect. I secretly clashed with him using our Sword Intent, but I didn’t expect him to have cultivated the Heart Lake Sword Technique. I ended up suffering a small loss."
The person next to him had a round, baby face and appeared to be in his early twenties, with the aura of the Qi Cultivation Realm. His eyes, however, held an ancient air. "I heard he’s another monster who comprehended Sword Intent while still in the Qi Cultivation Realm. For someone with such talent in the Sword Dao not to join our Sect is a true pity."
The leader gave a stiff smile. "Master Yang, are you perhaps thinking of using your sword to persuade him to return to the mountain with you?"
The baby-faced man’s eyes held a world-weary look. "That won’t be necessary. This person has an extremely dense Human Dao Fortune about him. If he chooses to walk the path of the Human Dao Sword, he will sooner or later come to our Sect’s gates, seeking the ’Sword Collection Annotation of Zong Wu True Monarch.’ If he doesn’t walk the path of the Human Dao Sword, then our Sect’s other paths of the Sword Dao all have successors. We are not lacking for one more."
The leader nodded. "What Master Yang says is true."
The baby-faced man closed his eyes. "I’ll say no more. I need to conserve my Spirit. If something happens, wake me..."
"Wait," the leader interrupted. "Master, what exactly happened with the disappearance of those two Red Lotus Sect Qi Cultivation Disciples? It happened without my notice."
The baby-faced man rolled his eyes. "I don’t know. But these are the Relics of the Cyan Yang Sect; it’s normal to encounter some strange things during exploration. When you read through the archives, didn’t you see the anecdotes about the Cyan Yang Sect? If we hadn’t anticipated that strange things might happen, why would this old bag of bones have bothered to come and protect you all? Just be careful yourselves."
The leader was aghast. "Even you didn’t notice, Master? Doesn’t that mean it’s extremely dangerous?"
"What’s so strange about it? I’m not using my own body, so I can’t even use a tenth of my full power," the baby-faced man said. "There will be some danger, but not too much. This is what the Upper Sect Masters repeatedly divined. No need to panic. Besides, the things inside the Relics are worth us taking a little risk."
After speaking, his expression changed, his eyes turning ignorant and helpless as he furtively sized up his surroundings.
The leader was speechless.
’You old fossils, you knew strange things would happen, and you still let Qi Cultivation Disciples come explore?’
’The lives of Qi Cultivation Realm Disciples are still lives!’
~~~~~~~~~~
The conflict between the Red Lotus Sect and the Destruction Sect gradually escalated from a war of words to a bombardment of Magical Artifacts.
The members of the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp could no longer stay in formation. If you’re going to watch a show, you need to be up close, or you can’t even hear the lines.
Over a hundred young disciples from the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp came over in twos and threes, soon forming a tight, impenetrable crowd.
And these disciples from the Profound Sects Orthodox Sect also began to take sides.
For instance, the cultivators from the Ten Thousand Laws Sect spontaneously started helping the "sisters" from the Red Lotus Sect.
It couldn’t be helped. You could tell just from their names: Ten Thousand Laws Sect, Destruction Sect.
Natural-born enemies.
The Ten Thousand Laws Sect never considered who was right or wrong when taking a side.
They only looked at which side the Destruction Sect was on and chose the opposite.
Meanwhile, the True Preservation Sect naturally started jeering at the Red Lotus Sect; the enmity between these two sects wasn’t a recent development.
The Chongzhen Sect was also interesting. They started making sarcastic, backhanded remarks at the True Preservation Sect.
It was said that both of their Sect’s Foundation Techniques originated from the same source, but they had parted ways due to differing interpretations.
Heretics are more despised than heathens. It was a classic case of that.
What began as internal strife within the Demon Sect Camp nearly caused the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp to break out into a fight as well.
The Guardian Envoy from the Taihe Sect, exasperated, communicated with Du Youqian via Divine Sense: "Fellow Daoist Yu, what do you make of this?"
Du Youqian thought for a moment. His sword, Jinhuan, flew out and, with a few SWISHES, carved a large rock into the shape of a stool.
He made a grasping motion with his hand, and with a tug, the stone stool flew to his back.
Du Youqian sat down leisurely. "I’ll watch from my seat."
The Taihe Sect’s Guardian Envoy resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Fellow Daoist Yu, aren’t you afraid the conflict will escalate and lead to bloodshed?"
Du Youqian said sincerely, "I’m really not afraid. We of the Holy Sect believe in survival of the fittest. In my opinion, thirty Qi Cultivation Disciples from each sect is too many; the quality is uneven. If something unexpected happens in the Relics, I won’t be able to look after them all. It’s better to let them fight amongst themselves and kill off half their number. Then the total will be just right."
The Taihe Sect’s Guardian Envoy quickly took a few deep breaths, warning himself: ’Steady your Dao Heart, steady your Dao Heart.’
After composing himself for a moment, he said, "These Relics not only forbid entry to anyone above the Foundation Establishment Realm, but they are also only open for a limited time. Why don’t we each cast a spell and send them into the Relics separately so everyone can start exploring? If they run into each other inside and come to blows, we can deal with it then. What do you think, Fellow Daoist Yu?"
This was a blatant scheme.
Once all the disciples were sent into the Relics separately, the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp would naturally begin exploring.
However, the Red Lotus Sect, whose members had gone missing, wouldn’t let the Destruction Sect off the hook. They would undoubtedly continue their fight inside the Relics.
By then, most of the benefits within the Relics would be snatched up by the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp.
But even though Du Youqian saw this, he didn’t care.
’If, just because I slacked off a bit, the Demon Sect Camp loses its advantage and gets suppressed by the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp...’
’...then that would only mean the Core Formation Masters of the Demon Sect are all useless. What does that have to do with me?’
"Excellent."
Du Youqian agreed. With a flick of his sleeve, he swept up all the Qi Cultivation Disciples from the Red Lotus Sect and sent them into the Relics.
Only the people from the Destruction Sect remained, looking around blankly, their opponents gone.
The Taihe Sect’s Guardian Envoy breathed a sigh of relief and began sending the disciples of the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp into the Relics.
Du Youqian wasn’t idle either, successively sending in the disciples from the Holy Blood, Sea of Emotions and Hatred, and Destruction sects.
Soon, only the Foundation Establishment Leaders from each sect were left outside.
Lin Sha exuded a cold aura that warned others to keep their distance, and she didn’t speak to anyone.
The others, even those not skilled in socializing, would still come over to exchange a few words with the Guardian Envoys from the Taihe and Holy Blood sects.
When Songyangzi of the Chongzhen Sect came before Du Youqian to pay his respects, Du Youqian concealed the malice in his eyes and, with an attitude that made one feel as pleasant as a spring breeze, reminisced with him: "I’m afraid I was a bother at your esteemed sect that day. How have you been these past few years, Fellow Daoist? You must be preparing for Core Formation by now, I imagine?"
Songyangzi gave a bitter smile. "This humble Daoist attempted Core Formation once, but unfortunately, I failed. Alas."
Du Youqian, of course, knew he had failed Core Formation. He had intentionally brought it up to rub salt in the wound.
He immediately feigned sympathy. "Fellow Daoist, you are still young. You’ll have another chance to attempt Core Formation. There’s no need to be too disheartened, lest it affect your state of mind. That would be a shame."
Songyangzi shook his head. "This humble Daoist’s will is as firm as a rock, so that won’t be a problem. However, the resources required for Core Formation are simply too expensive..."
After a few more pleasantries, Songyangzi left and returned to the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp to chat with others.
In the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert, the righteous and demonic factions hadn’t reached the point where they couldn’t coexist.
However, the Demon Sect and the Righteous Dao camps still looked down on each other’s ways, so very few people made friends across the divide. Most stuck to playing with their buddies in the same camp.
Someone like Du Youqian—clearly a Guardian Envoy of the Demon Sect, yet who went and lived in the territory of the Profound Sects Orthodox Sect for several years—was truly a rare oddity, one of a kind in several thousand years.
On the Demon Sect’s side, the leaders of the Red Lotus Sect and the Destruction Sect were rapidly conversing via Divine Sense, likely still discussing the disappearance of the two Red Lotus Sect disciples.
Although the matter was certainly strange, Du Youqian didn’t let it bother him.
Whatever was causing trouble, it only dared to snatch two Qi Cultivation Disciples, which meant its strength was lacking. It merely had some bizarre ability.
Only if a Foundation Establishment Cultivator were to disappear without a trace would Du Youqian feel even a hint of a threat.
Besides, explorations had confirmed that no living being above the Foundation Establishment Realm could enter the Relics. So presumably, there shouldn’t be any monsters above the Foundation Establishment Realm inside... right?
’Uh, are we sure there won’t be any?’
’Whatever, I won’t think about it for now.’
In any case, the Sect hadn’t given him any special instructions. He just had to clock in and clock out on time.
Du Youqian’s gaze landed on Songyangzi, a chill in his eyes.
He didn’t have any deep-seated hatred for Songyangzi.
But Elder Tao had spent half his life away from the Sect, wandering adrift, and had died full of melancholy. Someone had to pay the price for that.
Master Yuyang was already dead, so Songyangzi would just have to take the punishment in his master’s stead.
It wasn’t that Du Youqian absolutely had to kill Songyangzi.
He figured that while Elder Tao had hated his senior brother, Master Yuyang, it probably wasn’t a hatred that went to the bone, the kind that made you wish the other person dead.
So for now, Du Youqian wasn’t considering a fatal blow, but he would definitely have to punish Songyangzi severely.
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