Grandpa, times have changed.

How could a dignified Daoist master forget something like this?!

This Sword Sect Master...

Is this someone deliberately picking a fight?
Although they were aware of this, a surge of anger still welled up in their hearts.

Even Qian Xiang frowned almost imperceptibly, but after seeing the token in Du Ruoheng's hand and having a guess in his mind, he calmed down.

"Then please ask the sect leader to find a viable alternative path."

“Of course.” Du Ruoheng put away the token. “Please follow me again.”

Although the crowd was dissatisfied, since the Prime Minister hadn't said anything, they had no choice but to obediently follow along.

After going around in circles, Du Ruoheng finally led them to a cave dwelling carved into the mountain, which retained its ancient appearance.

There is not a trace of mist here, the spring flows freely, and the auspicious grasses remain evergreen.

A spirit tree grows in the spirit pool formed by the gushing spiritual liquid. Its translucent branches are clear and lustrous, as if carved from jade, with golden threads floating inside.

Amidst the golden leaves, the sacred fruits, shimmering with auspicious light, hang heavily on the branches, swaying and glowing in the gentle breeze.

The Soul-Nourishing Tree.

Although its name sounds unremarkable, it is actually a sacred tree worshipped by the ancient Yidongzhen clan.

Once subordinates of Tai, and one of the major enemy clans of the human race, they were wiped out by Gu back then, and this divine tree fell into Xu Xing's hands.

Over the years, the Sword Sect's Pill Cauldron Pavilion has come to collect samples every few years.

For example, the Soul Nourishing Pills distributed annually by the Sword Sect for children aged seven and under in all its states and on various life-bearing planets in the starry sky contain diluted Soul Nourishing Leaf extract.

Because of the special effects of the Soul-Nourishing Tree.

Xu Xing arranged for Yuan to stay here because he thought the natural spiritual energy emitted by the Soul Nourishing Tree might help him recover from his injuries.

"Senior." Du Ruoheng bowed respectfully.

Yuan was standing under the tree at that moment, and upon hearing this, he turned around and returned the greeting.

"Thank you for your trouble, Sect Master."

"Senior, you're welcome."

As he spoke, Du Ruoheng turned around and gave the group a rather disdainful look.

Without saying anything more, he transformed into specks of spiritual light and vanished, leaving only a sword light carrying the token as he disappeared into the distance.

Everyone: "..."

distance.

Inside the main hall of the sect, which is inaccessible to outsiders.

Standing by the window, Du Ruoheng took a deep breath, raised his hand to grab the sword light that pierced through the air, and took the token from it.

Unfortunately, this 'performance' was still a bit stiff.

Although he is the sect leader of the Sword Sect, he has always been kind to others.

It's naturally more difficult for someone with such upright character to play the role of a petty person who "bullies others by taking advantage of their power."

Du Ruoheng sighed inwardly and looked at the 'Sword Ancestor Token' in his hand again.

But should I say...

This feeling is quite enjoyable.

……

……

Meanwhile, under the Soul-Nourishing Tree.

As Du Ruoheng left, Qian Xiang also walked to Yuan's side.

He first looked up at the Soul-Nourishing Tree, and then finally turned back to look at Yuan.

"Yuan, long time no see."

“With Senior Qian Xiang’s cultivation level, fifty years is but a fleeting moment. How can you say ‘long time no see’?” Yuan said calmly. “Besides, didn’t you just see my split soul left in the Alliance a few years ago?”

"..." Qian Xiang was silent for a while, then suddenly said, "What the Sword Sect Master just did, was it at your behest?"

"Senior is too kind. That is the Sect Master of the Sword Sect." Yuan shook his head slightly.

"If you ask me, senior, you should think about whether you have ever had a conflict with the Sword Sect Master, or whether you have offended the Sword Ancestor in any way."

"I have never met the Sword Sect Master, and as for the Sword Ancestor..." Qian Xiang paused here.

He knew the Sword Ancestor in ancient times, but their relationship was only at the level of 'knowing'.

It's a contradiction...

There were indeed some conflicts because of Hongzun's matter.

But those things are all in the past.

Sword Ancestor has no need, nor is it necessary, for a junior to embarrass him.

Moreover, they came here today for Yuan, and he doesn't believe that today's events have nothing to do with Yuan at all.

"I haven't offended him either."

"Really not?" Yuan suddenly laughed. "Senior, don't you remember the conflict between the Alliance and the Hehuan Sect back then?"

Qian Xiang paused, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

"There was indeed such an accident back then, but what does that have to do with the Sword Ancestor?"

"hehe."

Yuan looked to the side, where the auspicious glow of the spiritual fruit on the Soul Nourishing Tree was reflected in his pupils.

"In the past, I always wanted to escape. Even though I had a general idea of ​​what was going on, I was unwilling to think about it in detail."

The topic shifted rather quickly, and that statement seemed rather inexplicable.

But Qian Xiang only frowned and did not speak.

"But after coming back this time, I realized that some things can't be avoided just because you want to, and that would be too irresponsible."

"Therefore, I feel that I should also take on some responsibilities in the future."

What do you think, senior?

Upon hearing this, Qian Xiang's heart stirred.

Yuan means...

Could it be that he's planning to seize actual control of the league?
“Of course you can,” Qian Xiang said seriously, “but your talent is unparalleled in the world, unprecedented throughout history, so you should still focus more on cultivation.”

These words were spoken from the heart.

Compared to enlightenment, everything else seems meaningless.

"That step is not that simple."

He also asked his fellow villagers about his own spiritual practice.

After all, achieving the Dongzhen realm in less than two thousand years is beyond what can be simply described as 'talent'.

Everything comes at a price.

The path he had to take to reach that point was even more difficult than that of other Dongzhen.

"Let's get down to business." Yuan turned to look at him again. "What kind of people do you think the Tai Xuan True Immortals are?"

Ok? !

Qian Xiang's pupils suddenly contracted.

He never expected that Yuan would be so bold as to ask him such a question.

Even the people standing nearby subtly stepped back upon hearing this, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

"To speak recklessly of true immortals is probably not a good idea..."

“Then let me speak.” Yuan said decisively, not giving Qian Xiang a chance to persuade him again. “In my opinion, the True Immortals of the Tai Xuan Realm are not actually ‘good people’ in the universal sense.”

This was actually something the fellow villager said during a conversation he was having with him.

Can a true immortal who readily slaughters entire clans and stains the land with blood be considered a 'good person'?

At the very least, neither Xu Xing himself nor the other True Immortals would consider themselves 'good people'.

"But it cannot be denied that the vast majority of them are very tolerant, especially human cultivators like you and me who have already attained the Dao."

"Even if we make mistakes, even if everything we do is a test of their tolerance, they will give us a chance to correct them."

"I think so too, right, senior?"

Qian Xiang fell silent and did not answer.

Seeing his reaction, Yuan's smile gradually faded. "But senior, have you forgotten that there is one among the True Immortals who doesn't seem to be so 'tolerant'?"

"When you secretly instigated the conflict between the Righteous Path Alliance and the Joyful Union Sect, and used their lives to test the tolerance of True Immortals, did you ever think about why the 'blood calamity' of that year happened?"

Yes.

The conflict between the Righteous Path Alliance and the Joyful Union Sect back then was actually instigated by Qian Xiang and others in secret.

They dared not speak ill of true immortals, but dared to secretly probe...

The purpose of doing this was simply to see how far the true immortals could tolerate it.

After all, they had already allowed the righteous alliance to be born.

They had originally planned to test all seven major immortal sects, but unexpectedly, the course of events had already spiraled out of their control before they even got started.

The true immortals have descended upon the scene.

To avoid being implicated, they ceased their probing efforts after the Hehuan Sect incident.

"I... didn't know things would develop to that point."

"No!" Yuan stared intently at him. "You know, even after everything was over, you were still glad that you were Dongzhen, and even more glad that the test didn't involve you!"

Looking back now, Qian Xiang and the others' decision back then was incredibly foolish.

After all, they should be well aware of the immense power of true immortals.

But they did it anyway!
"But have you forgotten what caused that 'bloodshed' back then?"

Bloodshed...

Qian Xiang's lips trembled as he suddenly felt a gaze descend upon him, landing flatly on him, causing him to shudder.

In a daze, he seemed to see the figure standing in the bloody light back then.

Then, in a flash, all the strange sensations disappeared, leaving only Yuan watching him from under the Soul-Nourishing Tree.

"..."

There was silence for a long time.

Qian Xiang finally gave a bitter laugh.

"I'll cooperate with whatever you want to do from now on."

By now, he could clearly see that Yuan was threatening him.

Clearly, what Yuan is about to do will greatly change the current righteous alliance, and they themselves may even be one of the 'obstacles'.

"Senior is too kind. As a junior, I still need your help," Yuan said with a smile.

"..." Qian Xiang was speechless, but he still said solemnly, "I was wrong about what happened back then, but I never thought things would develop to that point."

The escalating conflict between the two sides caused the situation to spiral out of his control.

The Righteous Path Alliance is not his sole authority, and with the tacit approval of the Immortal Sect, the alliance itself has gained many radical elements.

Of those who died back then, the vast majority genuinely believed that they could destroy the Hehuan Sect if they were all together.

If they hadn't actually attacked the Hehuan Sect's mountain gate, the True Immortal wouldn't have personally intervened.

By the time he wanted to make amends, it was too late.

“What’s done is done, just be more careful from now on,” Yuan said.

He was aware of some problems within the league back then, but because he was determined to leave, he didn't try to correct them.

From this perspective, he was no better than Qian Xiang.

The atmosphere became very relaxed afterwards.

The reason I'm here today is actually because of that meeting with Chen Shang.

After analyzing the situation within the alliance based on the information he obtained from him, Yuan decided to start by working with Qian Xiang.

Once a breakthrough was found, the rest became simple.

I just didn't expect things to go so smoothly.

"I thought it would take more effort for you to cooperate with me, senior," Yuan said.

It would definitely take him a long time to achieve this on his own.

The title of "fellow villager" is really useful!
I need to use it more often in the future.

As for whether some people will think he lacks backbone...

As the saying goes, those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles.

He used to use his position to intimidate people even when it was fake, but now that it's real, he's stubbornly clinging to his high-mindedness, which makes him look like a complete idiot!

"..."

Qian Xiang didn't speak, but just glanced at the high place.

Those who have not experienced the 'Tai Xuan Blood Calamity' will naturally not realize the cruelty of that blood calamity.

At that time, many people were ignorant and relied on their "friendship" to try to persuade the Sword Ancestor to stop or to save people from his clutches.

As a result, they themselves were beaten to death or maimed.

Whether one is below or above the Dao, there is no difference in front of the Sword Ancestor.

Unfortunately, the bloodshed erupted in the Sword Sect, and the Sword Ancestor himself didn't care what others thought, which was terrifying.

Back then, some people even came to him to plead for leniency...

Fortunately, he thought he had no connection with the Sword Ancestor and refused.

Later, the person who came to plead for him was also killed by the Sword Ancestor with a single sword strike.

🇧🇷
You must know that the Sword Ancestor back then was a peerless villain who dared to risk everything and fight to the death with the Ancestor of the Cang Clan, 'Tai,' right after he became an immortal. He would slaughter the entire clan and exterminate all living beings if he disagreed with someone. His fearsome reputation made all races tremble with fear.

However, after defeating the Cang Clan, he took action less often and liked to give opportunities to others, so his reputation gradually changed.

As a cultivator from the same era as the Sword Ancestor, there were some things he knew all too well.

Looking back now, I realize how incredibly stupid I was to test the waters back then.

Years of peace, coupled with the emergence of the Righteous Alliance...

It did indeed give me some thoughts that I shouldn't have had.

Hey~
……

……

In front of the Sword Ancestor's Hall.

Looking at Yuan, who had achieved his goal, Xu Xing was quite satisfied.

Although this performance wasn't perfect, and could even be described as somewhat awkward, the effect was still quite good.

With Qian Xiang's cooperation, it's only a matter of time before Yuan Li and the Righteous Path Alliance are formed.

"What are you looking at, fellow Daoist?"

A voice sounded in my ear, but I could only smell the faint, sweet fragrance when I got close.

"Hey? Isn't that the guy who tried to steal a Daoist partner from Fellow Daoist Hongzun and ended up getting a sack put in his bag?"

The newcomer was none other than the Demon Ancestor.

Today she changed into a red outfit with many dark patterns, and her long hair was tied into a high ponytail.

She looked dashing and heroic, yet her captivating beauty and charm were undeniable.

"Huh? Where did you hear about this?" Xu Xing asked, somewhat puzzled.

"I got it from the Sword Master," said the Enchantress proudly. "I've gotten quite a bit of information out of her these past few days."

Xu Xing: "..."

No wonder my senior sister has seemed a bit unhappy these days.

“Yuanjun and Lingzu tried to trick me into revealing information, but I saw through their scheme.”

Unfortunately, apart from the Sword Master, she didn't get any useful information out of the other two.

"So who exactly created this group?"

“Of course it’s me…” Meizu replied subconsciously, but quickly realized something was wrong. “Brother, you’re trying to trick me into saying something!”

Then, she pretended to be 'sad'.

"Will my senior sister... join your group?"

"Hmm! You just don't understand."

She used a little trick to successfully add the three of them to the group. (End of Chapter)