Chapter 146 Asking about Immortal Mountain:

The main peak of the Lingjing Sect, the Worship Platform.

Upon emerging from seclusion, Sect Master Xue urgently convened a meeting of elders to discuss important matters concerning the cultivation realm.

The biggest event in the cultivation world right now is a shocking case that has drawn the attention of the three adjudicators from the Mirror Palace—the former leader of the Joyful Union Sect, using his identity as a cultivator, colluded with local government officials to illegally abduct innocent infants and used them as furnaces for his own disciples to cultivate. His crimes are heinous, greatly damaging the reputation of the cultivation world, disrupting the balance of peaceful coexistence between the cultivation world and the human world, and bringing shame upon the entire cultivation world.

If it were only related to the Hehuan Sect, that would be fine. After all, the Hehuan Sect is not a reputable sect and has a bad reputation in the cultivation world. Its former leader committed a crime, so of course he cannot represent the cultivation world.

However, this also involves the Xuantian Sect, one of the three major sects!

Not long ago, a rising star emerged from the Ruthless Dao Palace of the Xuantian Sect, namely Lu Yingqi, the Sword of Xuantian. His cultivation level is close to the Nascent Soul stage, surpassing even Shen Bingsi. Among the younger generation of cultivators, he is the most promising candidate for ascension.

Who would have thought that the shocking case happened in Lu Yingqi's hometown, the Lu family of Qinghe, a remote and unknown clan.

The fact that a prominent family could not cultivate such a prodigy, yet a remote clan could, has now become evidence of heresy and evil. This has put Lu Yingqi in an awkward position, with many people suspecting that his cultivation method is improper, that he uses a furnace for dual cultivation, and that he violates the rules of the Xuan Tian Sect's Ruthless Dao Palace, and should be expelled from the sect.

Currently, the Xuantian Sect is intensely discussing this matter, and the sect leader of the Xuantian Sect has specially written a letter requesting the Lingjing Sect to also offer some advice.

"What advice can we offer?" an elder frowned. "The Xuantian Sect has committed such a disgraceful act, and instead of trying to resolve it themselves, they're asking outsiders to judge. They're just trying to shirk responsibility."

“I think so too. Let’s be frank. If someone violates the rules, then they should be expelled from the sect. There’s no room for negotiation. Didn’t the Ruthless Dao Palace have a similar scandal back then? And what happened? Even a high-ranking and powerful figure like Elder Hong was expelled from the sect.”

"That's not quite right. Elder Red and Elder White committed the crime together. Only Elder Red left. What does that mean? It means that this was just a means of eliminating dissidents."

"Then what do you say?"

“I think the Ruthless Dao Palace is reluctant to clean house. Look at what they wrote in their letter. That ‘Mysterious Heaven Sword’ Lu Yingqi is Elder Bai’s beloved disciple. He joined Elder Bai’s sect a long time ago and knew nothing about the Lu family’s affairs. It was only by taking the initiative to inquire that such a big case was uncovered. This shows his determination to uphold the righteous path and put righteousness before family. Both morally and logically, he should not be implicated.”

"Well... that's not necessarily true. If they really wanted to keep it a secret, why would they expose it so that the whole world knows? The Mirror Palace always conducts trials in secrecy, but this time rumors have spread, and everyone knows every detail..."

Seeing the elders arguing amongst themselves, Sect Master Xue, who had been listening intently, finally spoke.

"Elders, in my opinion, we should reserve our opinions on this matter and respect the internal judgment of the Xuantian Sect."

Sect Master Xue has never been one to shy away from trouble. His compromise in handling the situation must have been based on his own considerations. However, some elders were still not entirely convinced.

Sect Master Xue surveyed the crowd: "I know that from the perspective of sect interests, this is a good opportunity to weaken the Ruthless Dao Palace and balance the three sects, but... do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Our Spirit Mirror Sect also has areas where we do not want others to interfere. It is best for the three sects to respect each other and keep to themselves."

The elders all thought of the recent events and sighed in silence.

"Since everyone agrees, Elder Wenshu, you shall draft the reply."

Sect Leader Xue adjourned the meeting, and the elders returned to their respective peaks.

"Yunfeng," Sect Master Xue called out to one of them, "Don't leave yet, I have something to ask you."

Elder Yunfeng stopped in his tracks.

"What's the deal with that steward at Shen Bingsi's manor?" Sect Leader Xue asked, frowning.

Elder Yunfeng sighed: "Sect Master, are you asking about Rong Xie?"

"Probably. I can't remember the name of one of the stewards," said Sect Leader Xue. "The one who was particularly close to Shen Bingsi. Why did he decide to get involved in Lu Yingqi's family affairs?"

“Rong Xie was once an inner disciple, but he couldn’t stay because of his mediocre talent. Over the years, he has cultivated diligently and has also reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Back then, when rumors were circulating about Shen Bing Si, it was he who gave Shen Bing Si the idea to come to you, the sect leader, and that’s how the matter was resolved.” Elder Yunfeng suddenly rattled off a long introduction.

"...Oh? So it was him." Sect Master Xue remembered. He had once lamented that Rong Xie's aptitude was lacking. In the cultivation world, aptitude is a prerequisite for making a name for oneself.

"Yes, he left the sect half a year ago to wander outside, and that's how he learned about the Lu family's affairs. Putting aside the Xuan Tian Sect and Lu Yingqi, any cultivator with a conscience would not stand idly by when they saw what happened to the Lu family, right?" At this point, Elder Yunfeng became indignant, and his voice grew louder. "Rong Xie may have a thousand faults, but he did nothing wrong in exposing the Lu family's affairs! Our Lingjing Sect has cultivated such a disciple; he is the pride of our Lingjing Sect!"

Sect Master Xue looked at Elder Yunfeng in surprise, and after a long while, he laughed: "Yunfeng, why do you still get excited like you did when you were young?"

Elder Yunfeng rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "It's all because of you, speaking of Rong Xie with such an accusatory attitude. So I have to say a few words for Rong Xie."

“I’m not pursuing Rong Xie’s faults, it’s just… the letter from Xuan Tian Sect clearly mentioned him, and I want to know what role he played in this matter, and what kind of person he is. I suppose you, Yun Feng, have a close personal relationship with Shen Bing Si, so you should know something about him as well…”

"The Xuantian Sect even mentioned Rong Xie?" Elder Yunfeng was surprised and became somewhat wary.

"Yes, Shen Bingsi reported this case to the Mirror Palace, but they mentioned Rong Xie. It's hard to say whether they're keeping a backup plan, which is why I came to ask you." Sect Master Xue's gaze was profound.

Elder Yunfeng seemed to understand something. Sect Master Xue was not here to interrogate him, but rather to guard against the Xuantian Sect having a backup plan, which was why he came to ask him about Rong Xie.

Just then, Elder Yunfeng also wanted to talk to Sect Master Xue about Rong Xie, who is indeed a big problem!

"...What? Rong Xie went to the Supreme Immortal Mountain to find the Grand Elder?" Xue Baoshan's expression changed upon hearing this. "You didn't stop him?"

“How can we stop him! He’s determined to go, thinking that if he finds the Grand Elder, Shen Bingsi’s problem will be solved. The oath of secrecy is here, and I can’t explain it to him!” Elder Yunfeng said with a headache.

"How many days has he been gone?" Sect Master Xue's expression hardened.

"It's been about three days... no, four days!" Elder Yunfeng calculated the days.

"Nonsense!" Sect Master Xue flicked his sleeve. "Even if he has reached the Foundation Establishment stage, a place like the Supreme Immortal Mountain is not a place he can come and go as he pleases—are you sure he's still on the mountain? It's been four days, and it's this season. I wonder how heavy the wind and snow are on the mountain. I think he probably won't make it."

"He's stubborn; I don't think he'll come down until he finds someone," Elder Yunfeng said worriedly. "I'll go find him!"

Sect Leader Xue waved his hand: "Go ahead, I'll send some more people up the mountain from other directions to search together."

“However…” Elder Yunfeng did not leave immediately, but looked at Sect Master Xue, “What if we find him? If we don’t tell him about the Grand Elder’s matter, he will probably still go. There are no guards on the Supreme Immortal Mountain. We can stop him once, but we can’t stop him a second time.”

"..." Sect Master Xue fell silent.

“Rong Xie’s character is beyond reproach; I can vouch for it,” Elder Yunfeng quickly replied.

Sect Leader Xue glanced at him, then lowered his gaze: "As long as you don't violate the oath of secrecy, I won't care how far you go."

"Alright! Understood!" Elder Yunfeng rushed out.

With the wind howling, Rong Xie had to use his "Thousand-Pound Drop" technique to barely keep his feet on the ground.

He had been walking on the snow mountain for several days and nights. For the first two nights, he could find large rocks to hide under. But last night, the wind blew from all directions, and even under the rocks, he could not escape the cold. The heat-preserving talisman that Rong Xie had stuck to his body was blown off in no time. He had to use his spiritual power to resist the low temperature and strong wind. He barely made it to dawn. When the sun rose, he thought he was hallucinating.

Daytime is a little better than nighttime, but there are still problems with daytime. As the altitude increases, more and more snow covers the ground. As you get closer to the sky, the reflection becomes stronger and stronger. The dazzling light is very glaring. Even though Rong Xie has the cultivation level of Foundation Establishment, his vision will still become blurry after a while.

This ambiguity has now evolved into a semi-blind state. Rong Xie sees the snow and sky as one, making it difficult to distinguish between them. This also means that when he takes a step, he doesn't know whether he is stepping on snow or in the air. He has to take out a dark blue gauze ribbon, cover his eyes, and barely make out the path ahead through the semi-transparent dark gauze.

Fortunately, the snowfield in his field of vision was decreasing while the sky was becoming more and more visible. Rong Xie had a premonition that he was about to reach the summit.

"This is……"

The closer they got to the mountaintop, the stronger the gale became. Rong Xie took out almost every protective talisman he could find, some of which were written by Shen Bingsi to help him conserve his spiritual energy.

Layers of protective shields adorned with golden runes slowly rotated around Rong Xie, the sound of runes shattering echoing incessantly. Rong Xie took a deep breath and rushed towards the small house built of snow mountain stones not far away at top speed.

"Bang!"

An invisible wall of energy suddenly appeared, blocking Rong Xie's path.

Rong Xie's spiritual power was almost exhausted. He was caught off guard by the obstacles in the last few steps. He stumbled and fell backward onto the snow, rolling several feet away.

Fortunately, there was a large protruding rock on the road that stopped him from falling.

Rong Xie huddled by the rock for a while, then got up and continued towards the stone house on the mountaintop.

He was panting heavily, and as soon as he exhaled the white smoke, it was blown away by the gale. The golden protective shield receded layer by layer, and his face was directly exposed to the cold wind. Soon, a layer of white frost formed on his skin, and his cyan gauze ribbon was also covered with specks of ice.

"thump!"

Rong Xie knelt in front of the stone house, kowtowed three times, and explained his purpose to the Grand Elder.

"Elder, your disciple Rong Xie is a good friend of Shen Bingsi..." Rong Xie paused. He didn't know how Shen Bingsi and the Elder had communicated, or whether Shen Bingsi had asked the Elder for help. After thinking for a moment, he decided to speak frankly, "Shen Bingsi is currently facing obstacles in his cultivation. I hope the Elder can lend a helping hand to help him stabilize his Dao heart... It is not his fault that his Dao heart is wavering, but rather because I, I, first had improper thoughts. If the Elder wishes to punish someone, please punish only me."

Rong Xie kowtowed three more times in the snow.

However, there was no response from inside the stone house; only the howling wind blew through the amulet, quickly stealing the warmth from Rong Xie's body.

Rong Xie gritted his teeth and repeated his plea. His clothes gradually became cold and stiff, while his body felt slightly warm.

The Grand Elder still did not respond.

Rong Xie knew that if he continued in this stalemate, he probably wouldn't even have the strength to go down the mountain. In fact, he really had no way back. He had already come this far, and he had to see the Grand Elder.

"Elder, please see me! Bing Si is missing, and I can't find him. I'm worried..."

Rong Xie's voice was slightly choked, but it was quickly drowned out by the sound of the wind. He stubbornly knelt in the snow, his hands digging fiercely into the snow.

As a master, to ignore one's disciple and not utter a word now that the disciple's whereabouts and fate are unknown, isn't that too heartless?

While harboring resentment, he also clearly realized that the Grand Elder cultivated the Path of Ruthlessness and would not care about the life or death of his disciples. This seemed to be the reason why the lineage of the Path of Ruthlessness had declined.

"Thank you!"

Suddenly, a shout came from the wind.

Rong Xie suddenly woke up and tried to stand up, but his body was unable to move. He realized that he had almost frozen to death, and that slight feeling of warmth was just an illusion caused by hypothermia.

"Ugh," Rong Xie struggled to muster his spiritual power, "I'm here!"

A figure with white hair and beard appeared in front of Rong Xie, and an old but strong hand firmly helped him up.

Rong Xie breathed a slight sigh of relief and looked at Elder Yunfeng gratefully: "Elder, why... have you come?"

"Don't waste your energy talking," Elder Yunfeng said solemnly. "Hold onto your core and guard your inner self. I'll take you down."

“But…” Rong Xie struggled slightly, then turned to look at the stone hut in the wind and snow.

"The Grand Elder is not there," Elder Yunfeng sighed. "The Blade of Heaven's Destruction has serious flaws, and the Grand Elder... has traveled far and wide to find a solution."

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It's late, but red envelopes are dropping in this chapter too!