Chapter 20 020 The fruits of victory were beyond Shen Zhiwei's original expectations...
Lu Yan did not throw Mu Yun away, nor did he stubbornly express that he had other opinions.
He snapped out of his daze, his face revealing the familiar henpecked expression, and forced a smile: "That's right, that's right—"
Lu Yan quickly withdrew his foot and followed his wife's steps.
The passion for a grand spectacle vanished the moment the old house caught fire.
Choosing a familiar environment, Lu Yan suddenly felt a sense of security.
He couldn't quite describe the feeling; he was somewhat unwilling and melancholy. He had a dream, a dream filled with passionate emotions, and upon waking, he felt a lingering sense of unease.
Lu Yan couldn't help but turn his head to look at his wife.
Mu Yun has a fair and round face. A fortune teller once examined Mu Yun's face and said that this female cultivator has a lucky face, saying that her round and pretty face indicates good fortune.
There are also female cultivators in the lower realm who cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness, but Mu Yun is clearly not one of them.
Despite this, after many years of being a Daoist couple, they finally had a daughter.
While this isn't always the case, in many cases, a cultivator's cultivation seems to stagnate significantly once they have children.
Perhaps it's because the Dao heart is hard to break through, or perhaps it's because the state of mind has changed; in any case, for various reasons, cultivation is difficult to improve.
Therefore, deep down, Lu Yan felt that if he wanted to make any breakthrough, he would have to give up his wife and daughter.
But he and Mu Yun had thought it through carefully before deciding to have a child.
Their relationship has always been good and stable.
It looks like they'll be together forever.
So they look forward to the new experiences their children will bring.
So the two had a daughter, Xiaoying.
Lu Yanping also doted on this daughter.
But just now, Lu Yan was even prepared to give up everything!
Lu Yan woke up with a start, as if he had just had a nightmare.
How could he have such terrible thoughts?
As if possessed, his heart was filled with venomous thoughts burning with malice, wishing he could tear everything to shreds and then fight for it.
Lu Yan felt a sense of dread, but dared not think about it further, and quickly came to his senses.
He thought the fortune teller's words about Mu Yun being quite fortunate seemed to be true. Mu Yun would probably never know the thoughts of her husband, the man beside her.
So Lu Yan moved closer to his wife.
Nan Yulou was dumbfounded!
Only when Lu Yan had clearly sided with Shen Zhiwei did Nan Yulou come to her senses, and her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
Not only was Nan Yulou surprised, but Shen Zhiwei was also somewhat taken aback.
Originally, the Bixia Sect had twenty-five alchemists of purple rank or above. According to Shen Zhiwei's calculations, she could not retain less than eighteen of them. The Bixia Sect required at least twenty purple-rank alchemists to advance in their cultivation level, so retaining eighteen purple-rank alchemists was Shen Zhiwei's bottom line.
As for the two remaining missing individuals, Shen Zhiwei will find another way to win them over, and she already has connections.
Lu Yan was definitely pleasantly surprised.
The eighteen purple-grade alchemists were a number that Shen Zhiwei was confident in after careful calculation. They represented both the bottom line and the foundation upon which Shen Zhiwei had built her confidence.
Lu Yan was clearly not part of Shen Zhiwei's core group.
Because Lu Yan was close to Nan Yulou, Shen Zhiwei felt that Lu Yan was more likely to side with Nan Yulou.
Shen Zhiwei was surprised to receive such an unexpected bonus and gladly accepted it.
Whether Lu Yan was sincere or not is irrelevant; the benefits are real. This is mainly because Lu Yan's support for Shen Zhiwei had a ripple effect, causing the previously hesitant and conflicted centrists to begin gravitating towards Shen Zhiwei.
The scene that Nan Yulou had hoped for—a slap in the face to Shi Miaoxue—did not occur.
Nan Yulou was shocked and angry, Shen Zhiwei was pleasantly surprised, but Shi Miaoxue was not too upset.
She believed that once she sided with Shen Zhiwei, her old acquaintances from the Red Lotus Sect would definitely follow her.
This is only natural, so there's no need to feel any unexpected joy because of it.
Aside from the original disciples of the Bixia Sect, Jindan Sect, and Honglian Sect, the entire Bixia Sect tripled in size within seven years after the merger of the three sects.
The disciples who joined after the merger can be considered neutral centrists.
These new disciples included both men and women, and Nan Yulou had put a lot of thought into the attraction between opposite sexes.
Nan Yulou also put in a lot of effort. Although he was just the son of a concubine, it all depended on how he was portrayed. In the end, he really managed to create the image of a fallen nobleman. In this way, he also satisfied some of the fantasies of the female cultivators at the foot of Mount Sumeru about the immortal families of the upper realm.
Nan Yulou also took this opportunity to recruit some female servants with good qualities, including Tian Xiyu.
There's a bit of jealousy and rivalry in their daily lives, satisfying the desires of some female cultivators who are vying for attention.
However, as the saying goes, every gain is a loss, and Elder Nan's audience is cultivated deeply but limited in scope.
Elder Nan's tone was a disaster for the introverted female cultivator who worked diligently and tirelessly.
Besides their regular work, they also have to spend time engaging in palace intrigue, which obviously comes at a different price.
On the contrary, Shen Zhiwei is a different story.
Nan Yulou would complain that Shen Zhiwei doesn't care much about her reputation and doesn't mind being talked about as a mistress.
However, Shen Zhiwei has basically never had any scandals with her subordinates, keeping a clean record.
The sect leader only had a slight relationship with Yin Wujiu, but Yin Wujiu was originally Shen Zhiwei's senior brother. He had been with the Bixia Sect since it was just a small group of people, so he was considered an elder of the Bixia Sect and had seniority.
Yin Wujiu was also a kind and generous person, and his conduct was upright and respectable.
Working people still hope for a simpler working environment.
As for the rumors about Shen Zhiwei's mistresses, as long as her private life doesn't affect her work, her subordinates don't care much.
After about an hour, the cultivators on site had mostly lined up and been divided into groups.
The on-site team formation was basically complete, and the disciples who were out on business had also cast their votes in the group chat.
After taking a look, Shen Zhiwei found that the fruits of victory were beyond her original expectations!
Our sect has twenty-five purple-grade alchemists. According to Shen Zhiwei's original estimate, there should be at least eighteen, and we should strive for twenty purple-grade alchemists.
In the end, it was found that twenty-two purple-grade alchemists had joined Shen Zhiwei's team, which exceeded the number required for advancement.
The Bixia Sect originally had a thousand disciples, but Shen Zhiwei had a big appetite and originally expected to win over at least 70%.
As a result, Shen Xiaochun was admitted to Tianyuan Academy, and within a few days she had recruited nearly two hundred new disciples.
Today, all the disciples have chosen sides, with a total of one thousand siding with Shen Zhiwei and willing to continue their business with Sect Leader Shen.
Shen Zhiwei had dared to dream, but the result was even better than she had imagined.
Xie Qingyu plans to start retail sales of elixirs in six months, and Shen Zhiwei estimates that the news will leak out a few months in advance. According to Shen Zhiwei's original plan, after severing ties with Nan Yulou, she will complete her advancement in the next month or two.
Given this outcome, there is a possibility of advancement after being assigned to a higher realm.
However, Shen Zhiwei was not complacent or underestimating her opponent. Having achieved great success in the first step, she was already thinking about the next step of the struggle.
While Shen Zhiwei was already considering her next steps, Nan Yulou was still incredulous at the outcome before her.
Before proposing the assignment, Nan Yulou estimated that there would be more people siding with Shen Zhiwei, but she never expected the numbers to be so disparate.
Nan Yulou had expected Shen Zhiwei to win by a narrow margin, but he never expected to be so humiliated. He felt as if he had been set up!
The two Tianchi Sect envoys present were even more astonished!
Nan Yulou predicted that Shen Zhiwei would win by a narrow margin, but Zhe Shuang and Ling Yuyan predicted that the number of disciples remaining in the Bixia Sect would be severely insufficient, to the point that the Bixia Sect would be unable to operate.
With an envoy from the upper realm here, wouldn't all the cultivators from the lower realms flock to him?
Ling Yuyan couldn't help but feel a bit resentful, angry at Nan Yulou for being useless and disgracing her. It seemed that the two of them had overestimated this young master Yulou, thinking that his charming demeanor had truly won over the hearts of the Bixia Sect.
Unexpectedly, a female cultivator from the lower realm won over all hearts.
Ling Yuyan's cheeks flushed with anger, but Zheshuang reached out and tugged at Ling Yuyan's sleeve, signaling her to calm down.
If this Young Master Yulou weren't a good-for-nothing, he wouldn't have been so easily manipulated by a female cultivator from the lower realm. He received resources and subsidies from the Tianchi Sect, yet he ended up being someone's subordinate.
It seems that Shen Zhiwei is quite capable.
They lost the first round, but that was because the two trusted Nan Yulou, that good-for-nothing. However, from now on, the Shen family absolutely cannot afford to gain any advantage.
As their eyes met, Ling Yuyan also read the implication in Zhe Shuang's eyes: Senior Brother Zhe told her not to forget the mission she had come to Bixia Sect this time.
The two of them came this time to erase the Bixia Sect, so that it would cease to exist.
The first round's wins and losses don't matter; the real battle is about to begin.
A note from the author:
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Hey everyone, this is officially going to be a paid chapter tomorrow! Those who like it can follow along. I've prepared a draft of this chapter, and I'll update it daily at 9 AM.
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