Chapter 225 Resigning to Take Responsibility:
After the twigs mature, they grow a little bit every day.
The three children paid close attention to this, and the first thing they did every morning was to run to the yard to see how much the little sprout had grown.
No, it's not a bud anymore. Starting from the second day, the bud broke through the soil and sprouted branches, growing taller and taller. In just three days, it had grown as tall as the stone table next to it.
Two days later, during dinner, Shen Bingsi asked Fang Renji to compare his height with Xiaozhi's, and they found that they were about the same height.
Half a month later, the twigs grew as high as the eaves, and when the wind came, they would sway gently, mimicking other plants.
A month later, the twig grew into a small green tree, soaring into the sky and almost reaching the height of the weeping plum tree next to it. Now it no longer needed to sit on the branch of the weeping plum tree to see the scenery outside the villa by its own height.
Fang Renji was watering the twigs in the yard when Shen Bingsi and Rong Xie came out from the middle gate. They saw Fang Renji and couldn't help but laugh.
“Xiao Fang, do you know that Xiao Zhi isn’t actually a tree?” Shen Bingsi said with a smile.
Fang Renji straightened up and looked at Shen Bingsi blankly: "Master of the Manor?"
“The twig is a spirit and doesn’t need watering,” Shen Bingsi said.
“Oh…I know,” Fang Renji said. “This water is talisman water. I read in a book that watering spirits like this will make them grow faster.”
Shen Bingsi raised an eyebrow: "You know quite a lot."
Rong Xie smiled and said, "With Renji taking care of Xiaozhi, we can rest assured."
Fang Renji understood that Rong Xie was praising him, and he scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Where are Shen Yan and Long Shaoye?" Rong Xie asked.
"He went out to practice his skills," Fang Renji replied.
Ever since Shen Bingsi agreed to recommend them to participate in the Lingjing Sect's entrance examination, they have been practicing day and night, going out before dawn and returning only when the moon is high in the sky.
"What about you? You really don't want to take the entrance exam?" Shen Bingsi asked.
Fang Renji shook his head without offering any further explanation. Although he was young and spoke slowly, he was very principled.
"Everyone has their own ambitions," Rong Xie said with a smile.
Fang Renji looked up: "Brother Rong and the head of the manor, are you going out?"
“Yes, we’ll go to the main peak,” Shen Bingsi said.
This morning, Shen Bingsi was pulling Rong Xie to try out a new toy when his Lingjing Sect disciple token suddenly emitted a bright green light. It was Sect Master Xue calling him to the main peak to discuss important matters.
Shen Bingsi tossed his disciple token aside and continued working, but Rong Xie nudged him with his knee, telling him to get up and get ready to leave.
Shen Bingsi protested, but her protest was rejected.
"Sect Leader Xue wouldn't summon you to the main peak for no reason. The two-month period is up, so it's possible that... um... the Mirror Palace's investigation results are out." Rong Xie was unable to speak properly due to Shen Bing Si's interference.
Upon hearing this, Shen Bingsi raised her head and temporarily spared Rong Xie.
In the month since returning from the Hehuan Sect, Shen Bingsi has often dragged Rong Xie into doing this, ostensibly for cultivation, hoping to help Rong Xie reach the Golden Core stage as soon as possible. In reality, however, they often forgot about it while doing it, resulting in them trying different methods eight hundred times, but making no progress in cultivation whatsoever.
At first, Rong Xie was quite excited, after all, he was with the person he liked, and he was definitely happy. But as time went on, he found that Shen Bingsi's interest in this matter was terrifyingly great and endless. Coupled with the amazing willpower that Shen Bingsi had cultivated since childhood, Rong Xie suspected that he might become the first cultivator to die from exhaustion. No, he wasn't the first. Before him, there was at least Shang Gan... He didn't want to die the same way as Shang Gan.
Therefore, Rong Xie would be happy to find something productive for Shen Bingsi to do and distract her.
"You've finally arrived!"
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi arrived at the main peak of the Lingjing Sect. As soon as they landed, they saw Elder Yunfeng pacing in front of the council hall. Upon seeing them, he immediately came forward and led the two into the council hall.
All the elders and peak masters of the Spirit Mirror Sect were gathered in the council hall. When they saw Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi enter, they all stood up and looked at the two of them with serious expressions.
"Why are you so late? Please have a seat." Sect Leader Xue said with a solemn expression.
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi returned the greetings, and everyone took their seats again.
The solemn attitude of everyone made their hearts sink as well. Something big must have happened, otherwise Sect Master Xue and the elders would not have such a dark and oppressive look.
"Everyone knows that Elder Bai has resigned as the head elder of the Ruthless Dao Palace," Sect Master Xue said. "What do you all think?"
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi were both shocked. Elder Bai had actually resigned from his position as the head elder of the Dao Palace? They remembered how much effort he had put in to get this position. How could he just throw it away so easily now?
"This... Elder Bai has been in charge of the Dao Palace for many years and has cultivated the first ruthless Dao cultivator to successfully ascend. After the Mirror Palace's investigation results are released, his reputation will only grow day by day. Given time, he may be able to take over the position of Sect Master of the Xuan Tian Sect. His actions are... truly incomprehensible."
"I don't understand either. However, I heard that Elder Bai was severely injured in the Flower Demon's rampage and is now exhausted. He usually appears sickly. Could it be that the Flower Demon damaged his very essence, leaving him with the will but not the strength?"
"It's also possible that he resigned to take responsibility. After all, the cultivation world has been peaceful for so many years. The Flower Demon Rebellion was the biggest demonic disturbance in the cultivation world since the war between gods and demons. Even if Elder Bai's beloved disciple ascended, it could not offset the heavy damage that his neglect of the Dao Palace brought to the Xuan Tian Sect."
The elders started discussing amongst themselves, and Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi gleaned the gist of their conversation.
"The investigation results from the Mirror Palace are out? The Flower Demon Chaos was ultimately blamed on Elder Bai?" Shen Bingsi asked directly.
Rong Xie also looked at Sect Leader Xue with suspicion. He felt that Elder Bai should not be solely responsible for the Flower Demon's chaos. When the Flower Demon caused trouble, Elder Bai's power had already been undermined, so it shouldn't be attributed to him.
"Indeed, the Mirror Palace's investigation results are in," Sect Master Xue said. "Elder Bai needs to bear a large part of the responsibility, and Sect Master Feng and the Xuan Tian Sect Elders' Council are also implicated."
Sect Leader Xue looked at Elder Wenxiu, who was known for his eloquence, and gestured for him to inform the two of the results from the Mirror Palace.
The flower fairy was created earlier than anyone expected.
Fifty years ago, the Red and White Elders of the Ruthless Dao Palace split into two factions due to differences in their cultivation philosophies. In the end, the faction represented by Elder White gained the upper hand and expelled Elder Red from the Ruthless Dao Palace. Accompanying Elder Red was the Joyful Union Pavilion, which had contributed countless efforts to the Ruthless Dao Palace. The Joyful Union Pavilion was an organization whose main members were furnace cauldrons. The Ruthless Dao Palace used to believe that immortals should enter the mortal world to form relationships and then leave the mortal world to prove their Dao. They had done many things that betrayed the Joyful Union Pavilion. Now, they kicked the Joyful Union Pavilion away, incurring much resentment. However, the furnace cauldrons of the Joyful Union Pavilion had no power to retaliate and could only leave with resentment.
The identity of the flower fairy's former owner is now unknown. All that is known is that it was a mimosa flower used to convey the fleeting affection between the furnace and the ruthless cultivator. After the mimosa tower was removed, it was forgotten in the warehouse and forgotten for fifty years.
The mimosa flower's true form never saw the light of day, withering and dying. The flower spirit, nourished by tears and resentment, detached from its original form and, fueled by intense resentment, remained stagnant, drifting throughout the Ruthless Palace in search of dark energy to absorb.
Initially, the Hehuan Flower Spirit was very weak and went unnoticed by anyone. It drifted around the Ruthless Dao Palace, absorbing the negative emotions such as loneliness, fear, and sadness generated by the Ruthless Dao cultivators during their cultivation. In particular, the Ruthless Dao Palace's proud illusion test and isolated management greatly benefited the Hehuan Flower Spirit.
Both of these measures were the essence of the management methods of the predecessors, which Elder Bai extracted in order to expand the scale of the Ruthless Dao Palace. During his tenure, the Ruthless Dao Palace did expand rapidly, but it also secretly sowed the seeds of trouble.
Worse still, the acacia flower spirit discovered the illusion test while consuming negative emotions. Inspired by this, it realized it could create such illusions and actively stimulate cultivators' negative emotions through them, thus allowing it to consume more delicious dark energy.
"I see..." After hearing Elder Wenxiu's explanation, Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi's previous vague guesses became clear. "The reason why the Hehuan Flower Spirit's Nightmare Technique is so powerful is because it imitates the Illusion Test!"
"Indeed," Sect Master Xue said in a deep voice, "and the Illusion Test is Elder Bai's proud shortcut to cultivation. Although this cultivation method has existed for a long time, he innovated and carried it forward. Therefore, he is to blame for the Flower Demon's chaos."
Rong Xie and Shen Bingsi finally understood why the blame had been placed on Elder Bai, and they also understood why Elder Bai had been so depressed when they saw him in the Mirror Palace last time.
"So, Elder Bai did indeed resign to take responsibility," Rong Xie speculated. "Although he was an elder of the Ruthless Path, he was actually someone who was easily influenced by emotions."
The elders fell into deep thought, and Sect Master Xue nodded: "You are the ones who experienced it firsthand, so you must know the actual situation better than we do."
Then, Sect Master Xue continued, "The matter of Elder Bai has also taught us a lesson. There are indeed many hidden dangers in the cultivation of the Path of Ruthlessness. We also have a similar project to the illusion test that Elder Bai vigorously promoted. When the Grand Elder was alive, he used this to test the disciples."
"We should reduce these kinds of spiritual practices that use illusions to destroy people's minds."
"However, our Ruthless Path is different from the Xuan Tian Sect. We don't recruit disciples on a large scale, nor do we have the problem of accumulating resentment, and now..."
As Sect Master Xue spoke, he fell silent. Everyone understood what he meant: with the Grand Elder gone, it was still a question whether the Ruthless Path of the Spirit Mirror Sect could continue.
"Well, this may not be a bad thing," Sect Master Xue sighed.
"Wait a minute," Shen Bingsi couldn't help but say as she watched Sect Master Xue and the elders reflect on their own actions, "Elder Bai has resigned to take responsibility, but what about the others? Sect Master Feng and those elders who are close to him in the Xuan Tian Sect, are they without problems? The results announced by the Mirror Palace won't just target Elder Bai alone, will they?"
Sect Master Xue frowned: "Shen Bingsi, you can't talk like that outside! Even the Mirror Palace hasn't placed the main responsibility on Sect Master Feng, so where do you get the confidence to question Sect Master Feng and their elders like this?"
"Bing Si." Rong Xie patted Shen Bing Si's arm, signaling him not to rush. He looked at Sect Master Xue and said gently, "Sect Master Xue, rest assured, we won't say this outside. We only speak our true feelings behind closed doors. Just as you said, we were eyewitnesses. During the Flower Demon Chaos, Elder Bai was not in power. He was not directly responsible for this matter. Moreover, in the process of the development and expansion of the Ruthless Dao Palace, part of it was the inheritance of the traditions of the predecessors, and part of it was promoted by Elder Bai. However, if Elder Bai wanted to promote the development of the Dao Palace, he also needed the approval of Sect Master Feng and the Elder Council. As far as we can see, Sect Master Feng and the Elder Council have a lot of power. They can sideline Elder Bai if they want to. Since that's the case, Sect Master Feng and the Elder Council are also to blame for the problems that arose in the development of the Ruthless Dao Palace."
“Yes, that’s exactly what I meant,” Shen Bingsi agreed.
“Of course, we are not holding Sect Master Feng and the Elders of Xuantian Sect accountable, nor do we have the right to do so. However, since the incident at Wuqing Dao Palace has happened once, how can we guarantee that it won’t happen a second time? Have Sect Master Feng and the Elders made any changes or promises regarding this, like what you did today, Sect Master Xue? That’s what we want to know,” Rong Xie said.
Rong Xie's words were polite and measured. After listening to them, Sect Leader Xue's anger subsided, and he fell into deep thought. After a moment, he said, "Actually, this is also what I'm worried about..."
Sect Master Feng promised a series of changes, but he did not propose any changes to the Illusion Test or the scale of the Ruthless Dao Palace. In fact, he even used Lu Yingqi's rapid ascension after cultivating in the Ruthless Dao Palace as an example to recruit a group of "Ascension Academy" disciples who used the same cultivation method as Lu Yingqi to fill the vacant positions in the Dao Palace after the Flower Demon Rebellion.
"..."
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