The nightmare just now was highly similar to the plot of the original novel. Hao Xin used evil magic to trap Qiongju in Linyuan Palace. Next, he would take away her peak master seal and issue an edict in Qiongju's voice to cancel the next disciple recruitment conference and clear out the inner disciples who had joined the sect in the previous session and were still in the Qi Refining stage.
At that time, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was depleting. The Fangyuan Sect deduced that the root cause was the excessive number of cultivators. The Taichu Sect had also faced a shortage of spiritual energy after years of no successful ascension. Radicals like Hao Xin believed that reducing the number of members was the only way to overcome the crisis. Conservatives, however, believed that the laws governing the operation of heaven and earth were unaffected by human intervention. The Taichu Sect should not arbitrarily change its policies, and dismissing its disciples would also tarnish its reputation as the preeminent sect.
The two factions were deadlocked. Although the radicals were vocal, the conservatives predominated among those in power. The sect leader, having failed to ascend to the immortal realm and severely injured, was in seclusion, leaving the decision-making power to the future sect leader, Qiongju. However, Qiongju never publicly expressed her stance, only stating her preference for no change in government decree when questioned by Hao Xin. When Hao Xin failed to persuade him, he simply imprisoned his master and disguised the decree.
He thought that by eliminating the waste he considered, the Taichu Sect would no longer be short of spiritual energy. However, the announcement of the decree unsettled the Taichu Sect. Not only did the expelled disciples harbor resentment, but the less advanced cultivators who remained within the sect were also in a state of constant fear.
If driving out the Qi Refining Stage doesn't solve the problem, then will the next step be to drive out the Foundation Establishment Stage? Who can guarantee that they will survive to the end?
When the Taichu sect was in turmoil, the Fangyuan sect, holding the banner of punishing the unjust, joined forces with the Wuwang sect to attack. The disciples with low cultivation had no intention of fighting, and the elders with high cultivation did not know what had gone wrong, and their collective spiritual power was restrained. Hao Xin then realized that he had let the wolf into the house, and it was too late to regret. He decided to fight the enemy to the death.
But even though he was gifted, he had only practiced for sixty years and was only at the Golden Core stage. When he fought against a physical cultivator at the Yuanying stage from the Wuwang Sect, he was almost strangled to death by the opponent.
At that moment, Qiong Ju, having broken free from the formation, arrived. With a single thrust of her sword, she pierced the body cultivator's chest, saving her young disciple. She joined the fray and repelled the enemy. However, the Fang Yuan Sect and the Wu Wang Sect had only temporarily retreated, poised to attack again. Only by activating the mountain protection formation could the enemy be stopped. Activating this formation required an extremely abundant supply of spiritual energy, and since the Taichu Sect was depleted of it at the time, the only solution was for a cultivator to sacrifice himself, releasing his spiritual energy into the heavens and earth, thus activating the mountain protection formation.
This sacrifice must be made by a cultivator from the Wuya Sect, as only those with Hunyuan spiritual roots possess all five elements of spiritual energy. This is why, despite their low combat power, the Wuya Sect has produced a number of masters from generation to generation; they bear the fate of being ready to sacrifice for the sect at any time.
The first to sacrifice himself was Qiong Ju's second-in-command, Qi Xiao. However, Qi Xiao's spiritual energy alone could only unlock half of the formation, requiring the sacrifice of another. Shi Mingli, the eldest brother, attempted to plunge into the abyss, but Qiong Ju stopped him at the last moment. She pushed him back to the edge of the cliff, then plummeted herself, her flesh and blood torn apart. The vast spiritual energy released from the sky finally triggered the mountain-protecting formation, saving the sect from crisis.
Shen Qingmang folded her arms, feeling the pain of separation from her own flesh and blood. She had always suppressed Qiongju's tragic ending deep in her heart, unwilling to recall it. Firstly, it was something that could only happen sixty years from now, and secondly, she was afraid of being entangled in sadness and despair, and living in fear every day here.
"I am still a mortal after all." She smiled bitterly. The moonlight outside the window was bright. She stared at it for a moment, put on her coat, took out a pot of wine from the bedroom, went to the yard, and drank by herself.
Running away wouldn't solve anything. Emotions suppressed for too long wouldn't disappear; they would only erupt more violently. She should be thankful it wasn't too late. She couldn't tell if it was her inner demons that had stirred her emotions, or if the elders' doubts from the day before had left her feeling terrified.
After two cups of wine, Shen Qingmang suddenly discovered something suspicious.
She had originally not clearly remembered the dialogue in the book, but the dream was most likely a restoration of the original work. What did Hao Xin mean when he said, "Senior Brother won't care"?
As a supporting actor with no romantic ties to the heroine, Gu Suihan's relatively small role is understandable, but why is he so absent from such a crucial plot? Hao Xin orchestrated the entire incident, while Si Rong was initially kept in the dark. After the enemy attacked, she learned everything, but she didn't know how to handle it and could only cry. Both Hao Xin and Si Rong witnessed Qiongju's sacrifice, but the original novel doesn't describe Gu Suihan's whereabouts.
This eldest disciple... has the author completely forgotten him? Then he's just cannon fodder, right?
Or maybe I have forgotten the content of the original work?
Shen Qingmang thought for a moment, closed his eyes, circulated the spiritual energy in his body, and in an instant he entered the spiritual palace.
"Inner demon, where are you?" she shouted above her head.
After a while, a sleepy voice came: "God bless you for disturbing my sweet dreams, Shen Qingmang. You are a cultivator now and don't need to sleep, but I am just an ordinary person!"
"Ordinary person? Aren't you my inner demon?"
"Yes, so you are useless, and so am I. Now you understand how weak you are, right? You should quickly merge with her body, so that my power will become stronger."
"What are you? Subconscious? Unconscious? Id? Haven't I merged with her yet? I feel like I've become stronger."
Shen Qingmang asked a bunch of questions like a machine gun, and the inner demon's voice was lazy and even a little impatient.
"You can interpret it however you want, but you can't kill me. I could be you. You've gotten stronger, but you're still a weakling. If it weren't for me, I wouldn't bother to teach a fool like you anything. Think about it, what made you stronger last time? Are you still that strong now?"
"I..." Shen Qingmang pondered for a moment and suddenly realized.
The last time she felt that she had changed a lot was because she had developed a heart for Taoism, but now her attitude towards her two disciples was wavering, which clearly showed that her heart for Taoism was unstable.
Cultivating immortality is really troublesome, and you must have a strong will to make progress.
Shen Qingmang took a few deep breaths and said, "I understand. I've been shaken by your words. No, even if you didn't say it, I've already been shaken in my heart. This is my own responsibility. I need to think it through carefully."
"Oh, think about it then. I'll go back to sleep."
"Wait!" Shen Qingmang shouted, "Answer me another question. Was it you who caused the dream I had tonight? Do you know anything else about it? For example, where did Sui Han go?"
"Don't mention him to me!" The inner demon's voice became sharp.
Shen Qingmang frowned. "Why? Are you really a demon? Why do I feel weird..."
"How many questions are there? I don't care. I'm going to sleep." After saying that, the inner demon made an artificial snoring sound.
Shen Qingmang had no choice but to wander around the spiritual palace with a lot of questions in his mind.
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