The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

Master Qingwei opened the earthenware jar, inside were smooth, round chess pieces; the black pieces were like ink jade, and the white pieces were like mutton fat. He pushed the jar of black pieces in front of himself and the jar of white pieces to Zuo Qingqiu.

"It's been a long time since we played chess together." Master Qingwei picked up a black chess piece and rubbed it between his fingertips. "I remember when you first started learning chess, it was Junior Brother Yuan Lei who forced you to learn. He said that those who cultivate thunder magic need to have the decisiveness of thunder, as well as the strategy of a chess player. You were young then and couldn't sit still. You always wanted to run off to study thunder magic."

Zuo Qingqiu also picked up a white chess piece, its surface cool to the touch. Upon hearing this, a faint trace of reminiscence flashed in her eyes, and she nodded slightly: "Master did indeed say that. However, in the way of chess, my talent is ultimately mediocre."

"It's alright. Let's play a game in our spare time, not to win, but just to calm our minds." Master Qingwei smiled and placed a black piece in the upper right corner of the chessboard.

Zuo Qingqiu, playing white, then made her move.

The two then began to play chess in the ancient pavilion atop the sea of ​​clouds.

The chess pieces landed on the stone chessboard with a crisp "clatter," which, together with the tinkling of copper bells in the mountain breeze and the silent roar of the surging sea of ​​clouds in the distance, created a strange and ethereal scene.

An elderly man with a venerable air and youthful face, and a fairy who is aloof and detached from worldly affairs, sit facing each other above the sea of ​​clouds, playing chess.

The sunlight gilded them, and clouds drifted around them, as if the legendary immortals were engaged in a game concerning the mysteries of heaven and earth.

The crisp sound of the piece being placed broke the silence atop the sea of ​​clouds.

"You went to the Zuo family to settle your worldly affairs, which took six days." Master Qingwei placed a chess piece down, his tone casual, as if in conversation. "Counting the days, there are still more than forty days until the Supreme Elder's enthronement ceremony. Do you have any thoughts on the ceremony?"

Zuo Qingqiu stared at the chessboard for a moment, then picked up a white piece with her slender fingers, gently placed it down, and shook her head: "I've never been very familiar with etiquette and rituals, nor do I have any particular thoughts on them. Just follow the sect's ancient rules, and I will cooperate."

Her voice was clear and calm, like a mountain spring.

Master Qingwei was not surprised by this.

He knows his child's personality better than anyone.

He was devoted to the great path, disliked worldly affairs, and had no patience for those cumbersome formalities.

The fact that they agreed to attend the ceremony already shows that they were considering the bigger picture.

He nodded and placed another piece: "According to the sect's tradition, after the Supreme Elder ascends to the throne, a jade statue must be made and enshrined in the Ancestral Hall, alongside the patriarchs of all generations, to be worshipped by the disciples of later generations, in order to recognize his merits and safeguard the sect's fortune."

He paused, then looked up at Zuo Qingqiu: "Our Taihua Sect has existed for tens of thousands of years, and only two people have been granted the honor of receiving incense offerings from the Ancestral Hall. One is our founding ancestor, True Lord Taiyuan. The other is True Lord Jiuhua, who passed away ten thousand years ago and revitalized the sect. You will be the third. You will also be the first female ancestor in the history of our sect."

The Ancestral Hall is the most sacred and solemn place in Taihua Sect. Only Golden Elixir True Lords are qualified to have their statues enshrined and enjoy the incense offerings for generations.

This is a supreme honor, but also a heavy responsibility.

Zuo Qingqiu paused slightly in the hand holding the child.

The statues and incense offerings reminded her subconsciously of the densely packed, cold memorial tablets and the swirling smoke during the Zuo family's ancestral worship ceremonies.

To be honest, she didn't like this kind of "deification" or "idolization" of herself, and always found it very strange.

However, she also understood that this move played an irreplaceable role in stabilizing the morale of the sect, strengthening the cohesion of the disciples, and demonstrating the strength of the sect.

The jade statue was not for her to worship, but for countless disciples of the Taihua Sect in this world and future generations to have a spiritual anchor and a benchmark to look up to.

After a few breaths of silence, she finally placed the white piece down, her voice still calm: "It's entirely up to the sect to decide; I have no objections."

Master Qingwei glanced at her, a knowing glint in his eyes. He said nothing more and continued to place his pieces, but the topic subtly shifted: "According to custom, the newly appointed Supreme Elder must perform a 'establishing authority' ceremony to stabilize the people's hearts and deter external enemies. Righteous sects should not resort to violence without a legitimate reason. However, demonic and evil spirits are something everyone has the right to kill, so they can be used to test the waters."

His tone turned cold: "Hundreds of years ago, the Diluo Sect launched a massive invasion of my Taihua Sect's territory, slaughtering mortals and cities, plundering resources and mines. My sect's disciples were killed and wounded in droves, and our strength was severely damaged. This blood debt has not been atoned for to this day."

Zuo Qingqiu's fingers, which were holding the chess piece, tightened slightly.

The Diluo Sect, one of the giants of the demonic path, is entrenched in the Yanfu Mountains in the southwest of the Central Land. They are notorious for their perverse and ruthless behavior, and for cultivating evil arts using their souls, blood, and essence.

Although she did not personally experience that great battle, she had heard about its ferocity from the sect's records and her teachers.

More than ten elders of the Taihua Sect at the Purple Mansion Realm perished, and countless Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining disciples were killed or injured.

Almost all the young Purple Mansion cultivators from affiliated immortal cultivation families perished in battle, leaving only a few elderly Purple Mansion cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans to survive.

The mortal population was even more devastated, with nine out of ten houses empty and corpses strewn across the fields.

It took the sect hundreds of years to barely recover its strength.

"And your master," Qingwei Zhenren's voice lowered, tinged with regret, "In the great battle back then, he took the lead and killed three Purple Mansion Demon Lords of the Diluo Sect, but he himself was also injured in the Dao Foundation."

"For more than a hundred years after the war, he cultivated diligently without ceasing, but due to the injury to his Dao Foundation, he was never able to enter the Great Perfection of the Purple Mansion Realm."

"Otherwise, given his character, why would he risk everything to venture into such a perilous place as the Ancient Battlefield of Gods and Demons, seeking that elusive glimmer of hope?"

Zuo Qingqiu remained silent, a flicker of purple lightning flashing in his eyes.

The death of her master, Master Yuan Lei, has always been a wound in her heart that is difficult to heal.

Now I know that the damage to my master's foundation back then was also related to the Diluo Sect!

New and old grudges surged into my heart.

She never had much affection for the demonic path.

In her view, the so-called demonic path is no longer a simple struggle over orthodoxy, but a complete betrayal of the bottom line of being a "human being".

Not all righteous sects are perfect and righteous; they also have a dark side.

For example, mortals are kept in one place and made to produce cultivation resources like cattle and horses, thus supplying the vast cultivation system.

However, no matter how badly mortals live in the territories ruled by righteous sects, at least they are still alive.

In the territory of the demonic sects, it was truly cannibalism in a physical sense.

The mortals there do not need to produce resources for cultivating immortality, because they themselves are the resources for cultivating immortality.

The blood, soul, bones, and even the seven emotions and six desires of mortals can all become cultivation resources for demonic cultivators.

Demonic cultivators also refer to these humanoid cultivation resources as "human materials" or "human vegetables".

It's one thing for demonic cultivators to eat people, but they even have the audacity to say things like, "You righteous cultivators eat spirit rice and spirit beast meat to cultivate, while we eat people to cultivate. What's the difference? Aren't we both essentially plundering the world? What right do you have to criticize us?"

These evil scoundrels use the suffering and lives of their own kind as resources for cultivation; how are their actions any different from those of beasts?

No, they're not even as good as animals.

She felt no qualms about using these beasts in human skin to establish her authority.

"Alright." She placed a piece on the board, her voice clear and cold, yet resolute. "After the enthronement ceremony, I will personally go to Mount Yanfu. I will settle both the old and new scores."

Upon hearing this, Master Qingwei's eyes flashed slightly, but he did not immediately approve. Instead, he pondered and said, "It is good that you have this intention."

"but……"

Master Qingwei changed the subject.