Chapter 96 I've figured it out (Second update):
Shen Bingsi disliked Zhilan Ridge, but had to admit that the Ruthless Path of Xuantian Sect was superior to that of Lingjing Sect in terms of both training scale and efficiency.
Therefore, when it comes to the major sects of the Ruthless Path, cultivators first think of the Xuantian Sect, and only then of the Lingjing Sect.
However, in recent years, the situation has changed.
The ruthless path of the Xuantian Sect continued to grow in scale, but no particularly outstanding figures emerged. On the contrary, the Lingjing Sect, which had few disciples, produced Shen Bingsi, a ruthless dao adjudicator.
The Ruthless Path of the Xuantian Sect must be furious. None of the three Adjudicators came from the Xuantian Sect—no matter how amazing their training scale and efficiency are, this indisputable fact cannot be ignored.
Since Shen Bingsi became the adjudicator, Zhilanling has never sent him an invitation again.
The Ruthless Palace on Zhilan Ridge is right in front of us.
Two disciples were already waiting at the door to guide them.
"Sword Saint Shen, your master is waiting for you at the Righteous Heart Hall. Please come with us."
Shen Bingsi followed them into the vast Ruthless Dao Palace, walking forward along those winding and deep narrow paths. The mountain wind of the winter night howled overhead, carrying snowflakes that occasionally blew against her face.
Shen Bingsi narrowed her eyes. Apart from the sound of the wind, it was very quiet here, as if no one was there. However, she could sense from the fluctuations of spiritual energy that many cultivators lived in this palace, and its scale was several times larger than when Shen Bingsi last came.
Finally, we arrived at Zhengxin Hall. A large, pitch-black door stood in front of us, its doors tightly shut.
Two disciples stepped forward to report, and an old voice came from inside the gate.
"Nephew Shen, how is your master?"
"I'm sorry to trouble Elder Bai, but my master is still in seclusion on the Immortal Mountain," Shen Bingsi lied without changing her expression.
"Oh, that's good," Elder Bai asked, "What brings you here?"
"The Mirror Palace mission," Shen Bingsi simply said.
Elder Bai fell silent.
Shen Bingsi felt a chilling sense of oppression emanating from the dark door, as the spiritual consciousness inside scrutinized him.
"Mirror Palace... a mission?" After a moment, Elder Bai asked, his voice heavy with difficulty, "What does this mean?"
This time, Shen Bingsi wasn't lying; the Mirror Palace really did send him a task, the one he hadn't completed before.
This was the real reason he came to Zhilan Ridge, not to persuade Lu Yingqi to change his title.
The three adjudicators each have their own duties, and Shen Bingsi's duty is to slay demons and monsters. The world has been at peace for a long time, and no great demons have appeared for many years. However, a few great demons on the verge of becoming demons have appeared, all of which Shen Bingsi has slain with his sword. Most of the missions assigned to him by the Mirror Palace are related to demons and monsters, and this time, by sheer coincidence, the mission was sent to Zhilan Ridge, right under Elder Bai's nose.
What does this mean? It means that there are demons lurking in the Ruthless Dao Palace, and Elder Bai, who is in charge of the palace, has not noticed them.
This news is simply too unbelievable. The appearance of demons in the core area of Xuantian Sect, the Wuqing Dao Palace in Zhilan Ridge, is tantamount to challenging Elder Bai's authority. Although Elder Bai is not the sect master of Xuantian Sect, he has actually been in power for decades. If he can't even find the demons right under his nose, what authority does he have to gain the trust of others?
If this news gets out, even the Xuantian Sect will be shaken.
No wonder Elder Bai's expression changed so suddenly.
“It means exactly what it says,” Shen Bingsi said calmly. “However, Elder Bai, don’t worry. Zhilan Ridge is just one of the places where that monster appears. The Heavenly Mirror also shows some other places, and I still have to investigate them one by one… That monster is very cunning, moving around like the wind. Perhaps it has already gone somewhere else by now.”
"..." Elder Bai did not relax his attitude because of Shen Bingsi's explanation. Instead, he released more spiritual pressure, pressing heavily on Shen Bingsi. The two disciples next to him were only affected by the impact, but their faces turned pale and their legs trembled imperceptibly.
Shen Bingsi also felt a heaviness on his head, and his breathing became somewhat difficult. However, even though he was being pressed down on one side, he did not show any signs of defeat. He still stiffened his neck and stared at the black door of Zhengxin Hall without changing his expression.
"Sword Saint, you have quite the airs of an official," Elder Bai suddenly sneered. "With just a word from you, you expect Zhilan Ridge to be completely open for your investigation?"
Shen Bingsi's scalp tingled. Elder Bai's sudden change of attitude made things tricky. It's true that being a judge is not an easy job. If the demons were to appear elsewhere, that would be fine, but if they were to appear in the backyards of those powerful and domineering figures in the three major sects, should they be captured or not?
"I'm just following orders." Shen Bingsi picked up the Shengxie Sword and bowed to the Black Gate.
"Hmph, I'm just following orders," Elder Bai said dismissively. "If you're confident that the demon is on our Zhilan Ridge, this old Daoist will have no objections and will open the doors to you. Go and catch the demon yourself. But—"
"You're not confident!" Elder Bai said sternly. "You're not confident, yet you want to search our entire Ruthless Dao Palace? Where does that leave the face of our Ruthless Dao Sect of the Xuantian Sect?! If you find it, fine, but if you don't, won't it become that our Ruthless Dao Palace is harboring demons? Shen Bingsi, is this how you do things?"
"..." Shen Bingsi remained silent, waiting for Elder Bai to finish venting his anger.
"Of course I can let you investigate, but can you guarantee that the demon is currently in our Dao Palace? Have you investigated other places? Why didn't you investigate those places first? If you still can't find it, then you investigate here. Do you think Zhilan Ridge is a place you can come and go as you please?" Elder Bai's angry words, along with the overwhelming spiritual pressure, came down. Before he could do anything to Shen Bing Si, one of the guiding disciples by the door collapsed with a "thud," and the other was pale and looked like he wouldn't be able to hold on for long either.
Shen Bingsi had long known that Elder Bai had a bad temper. After he finished venting, she spoke up, stating her position neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Elder Bai can certainly refuse me entry. I can only report to the Mirror Palace and ask the Heavenly Mirror to make a decision."
Dead silence.
"Fine, fine, fine," the aged voice said with a sarcastic laugh. "Since we've come this far, if I don't let you investigate, it would make me seem like I have ulterior motives."
"I wouldn't dare," Shen Bingsi said, bowing slightly.
“Silent and colorless,” Elder Bai said coldly, “Why don’t you take this Grand Judge from the Mirror Palace around and investigate carefully, so that you don’t miss a single demon in our Dao Palace, or things will get complicated in the future?”
"Yes, Master," the two disciples who were guiding the disciples answered tremblingly, one of them having just gotten up from the ground.
"Adjudicator Shen, you'd better investigate thoroughly. Don't come back to me again later. I won't allow you to treat the Dao Palace like a marketplace," Elder Bai said coldly.
"Thank you, Elder Bai." Shen Bingsi bowed to the black gate again.
The spiritual pressure dissipated, and the surrounding air returned to calm. The guiding disciple got up from the ground and came up to lead the way for Shen Bingsi.
The Heartless Palace on a winter night is certainly not a good place to go shopping.
The mountain wind was blowing in the dead of winter, and there was a three-foot-deep pile of snow in the courtyard. There were also those white walls and dark doors that looked almost identical at first glance. It seemed like there was no end to walking through them.
Occasionally, faint whistling sounds and occasional screams could be heard in the wind, all of which were suppressed by soundproofing devices. Even so, with Shen Bingsi's keen hearing, she could still hear some of them.
Those were the voices of cultivators fighting against illusions and inner demons. Although the cultivation methods of the Ruthless Path of the Xuan Tian Sect and the Ling Jing Sect were not quite the same, the basic steps were similar. For example, the Ruthless Path Trial was a step that both sects had—creating all sorts of illusions to intimidate, entice, and torment cultivators, forcing them to confront the weak side of their own minds, gradually strengthening their defenses until they were unmoved.
Shen Bingsi himself had also experienced the Ruthless Path Trial, and he knew that some noise was inevitable during the process, so he didn't find it strange. However, the Xuantian Sect seemed to regard the Ruthless Path Trial as a primary cultivation method, with many cultivators undergoing the trial, and their training grounds were very densely packed, quite different from the free-range approach of the Lingjing Sect.
Shen Bingsi couldn't help but think, "So this is it? The ruthless cultivation method of Xuantian Sect isn't that great either. It's ridiculous that Yunfeng even sent him here to steal his skills."
As Shen Bingsi strolled around, she also kept an eye out for any strange auras in her surroundings.
After walking around, all that was left was the overwhelming resentment of the ruthless cultivators.
"Is this the end?" Shen Bingsi asked.
The two disciples who were guiding them nodded obsequiously, saying that this was the area of the Ruthless Dao Palace that could be opened to outsiders, and that further inside were the quiet chambers where Elder Bai's direct disciples were in seclusion, and that they should not go in to disturb them.
"Oh..." Shen Bingsi casually asked, "Is Lu Yingqi inside too?"
"Of course Senior Brother Lu is here..." The disciple was halfway through his sentence when another disciple gave him a wink, and he quickly shut his mouth.
Shen Bingsi thought to herself, "So that's it?"
"Remove the barrier on this door. I want to go inside and take a look too." Shen Bingsi kicked the threshold, and an invisible wave spread outwards from where he kicked it—that was the barrier.
"This..." The two disciples exchanged a glance. "I'm afraid..."
"What, is that not allowed?" Shen Bingsi picked up the Shengxie Sword and glanced at the two of them. "Your Elder Bai told me to investigate carefully and not to miss any corner. There's such a large area here, and you won't let me investigate. What if we let a great demon escape and it grows into a world-destroying demon someday?"
The two disciples shuddered; this was far too much of a burden for them to bear.
“We can’t break this barrier either, we have to go and inform our master…” the two disciples said.
"I don't need you, I can open it myself." Shen Bingsi said, taking out a token. The token was plain and unadorned, but it could be used as a mirror. This was the world-famous Mirror Palace Token. No matter what kind of barrier it was, it could be broken with a single stroke of this token.
Seeing that Shen Bingsi had opened the barrier herself, the two guiding disciples hurriedly ran to inform Elder Bai, and Shen Bingsi then walked into the quiet room of the Dao Palace.
Although it's called a quiet room, it's actually a series of small rooms, with white walls and black doors, just like the outside.
Shen Bingsi walked along the central aisle, probing for demonic energy with the Shengxie Sword while observing the quiet rooms, pondering how to find Lu Yingqi—or perhaps, just call him by name?
Suddenly, he noticed that there was a nameplate next to each black door. Some nameplates were empty, while others had a token with a name on it. Upon closer inspection, he realized that they were waist tokens of Xuantian Sect disciples.
So that's how the meditation room works. When someone goes in for seclusion, they hang their name tag on the door. That's quite convenient.
Shen Bingsi searched one by one, and finally found the name "Lu Yingqi" in the second to last room.
He hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.
Both of his disciples had run away, and no one had explained to him how to communicate with someone in seclusion, so he had to resort to the most direct method.
Knock knock knock!
Shen Bingsi knocked on the door a few times.
The surroundings were quiet, with only the sound of the wind, making the knocking all the more distinct.
Then, Shen Bingsi cupped her hand to the door, pressed it against the door, and leaned in to say, "Hey, Lu Yingqi, can you hear me?"
It was quiet inside, with no echo.
However, this did not stop Shen Bingsi from continuing to call out.
"Come out quickly—someone's looking for you! My Rong Xie is looking for you—"
On that moonlit night atop Yunfeng Peak, amidst swirling clouds, Shen Bingsi came to understand two things.
Firstly, the future of the Ruthless Path probably rests on his shoulders.
Secondly, his close friend Rong Xie is more compliant to gentle persuasion than to force. Rather than arguing with him and forcing him back to his side, it's better to go along with his wishes and help him find someone. Knowing that he is useful, Rong Xie naturally can't bring himself to drive him away.
As the saying goes, if the mountain won't come to me, I'll go to the mountain.
Once you figure it out, everything becomes clear. As long as two people are together, does it matter who is next to whom?
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Ahhh, here it comes! Red envelopes are dropping in this chapter!
Congcong went to celebrate Father's Day today (with Cong's dad), I'll try to update tonight!
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