Chapter 313 : Spiritual Sea Genius
Chapter 313: Spiritual Sea Genius
Wei Tianxiong arrived very quickly. After entering the Lingxiao Courtyard to understand the situation, he could not help but complain, “Sect Master, wherever you need someone, you stuff me there, don’t you? I have to study formations, teach disciples, lead teams on expeditions, and now you’re even sending me to some Ghost City.”
Zhang Yuchun and Chu Jing felt somewhat embarrassed and both averted their gazes.
Wei Tianxiong’s words made them feel ashamed. Unlike their administrative authority, Wei Tianxiong truly created tangible benefits for the sect and pushed its development forward. He had only entered the sect for a few years, yet they already admired him from the bottom of their hearts.
Li Qingqiu stared at Wei Tianxiong and said, “This Ghost City may be related to the Ten Thousand Yin Sect. Yuan Li is also in the city.”
“Yuan Li is there too? Then I must go. How could you send him to handle such a trivial matter? He should be in seclusion cultivating properly. Ghost City, is it? Who’s leading the way for me?” Wei Tianxiong widened his eyes and shouted.
Chu Jing immediately said, “Senior, please follow me.”
Wei Tianxiong promptly urged him to leave, muttering Yuan Li’s name all the while.
After the two departed, Zhang Yuchun turned to look at Li Qingqiu and could not help asking, “I’ve long wanted to ask—why does he care so much about Yuan Li? Is it only because of his talent? Why are Yun Cai, Zhao Zhen, and Sword Solitary not in his eyes?”
Aside from Yun Cai, the others’ talent truly could not compare to Yuan Li’s.
Li Qingqiu, who possessed many fate traits, could make an objective judgment on this matter, but he could not state it plainly.
“Because he seeks revenge, and Yuan Li let him see hope,” Li Qingqiu replied.
Zhang Yuchun fell silent. Although Li Qingqiu had never spoken of Wei Tianxiong’s origins, the upper ranks could all guess that they were certainly extraordinary. Bearing a blood-deep vendetta was only natural.
Judging from Wei Tianxiong’s cultivation and strength, his enemy was certainly no simple figure.
“Alright, go attend to your affairs.”
Li Qingqiu rose as he spoke, then walked toward the Rear Mountain Forest.
Zhang Yuchun watched Li Qingqiu’s back. For some reason, a trace of loneliness welled up in his heart.
Though he was still within the Clear Sky Sect, he felt as if the distance between himself and Li Qingqiu was growing ever farther.
Talent was not something only young disciples cared about. Veterans like them also measured themselves by it.
Zhang Yuchun knew that his cultivation aptitude was average. Not to mention comparing himself to Li Qingqiu—he was even inferior to his other junior brothers and sisters.
“Perhaps I will be the first among us to die. That would be fine. At least I would be the happiest.”
Zhang Yuchun thought silently. He stood up and walked toward the arched gate of the Lingxiao Courtyard.
The sunlight was dazzling. Everything on Clear Sky Mountain appeared vibrant with life, and even the people were filled with fighting spirit.
……
Suppressing Evil Tower, lowest underground level.
Within a dim prison cell, Yan Qing lay sprawled on the ground, writhing like a crawling insect. His hair was disheveled and clotted with blood; his robe was filthy and tattered, reeking of foul stench.
“Little cultivator, can’t endure it already?”
A voice full of contempt and mockery came from beside him. The prisoner in the adjacent cell was none other than the Black Fiend Demon Monkey.
Unlike Yan Qing, the Black Fiend Demon Monkey was still suspended in midair, unable to move. Tilting its head, it looked down at Yan Qing in the darkness.
Ever since Yan Qing had arrived, it had felt much better. It did not fear pain—it feared boredom. Watching Yan Qing suffer was like watching a fine show.
“I’m not some little cultivator…”
Yan Qing gritted his teeth, fury burning in his heart.
It was one thing to end up in such a state, but to have a demon monkey beside him mocking him day after day—
In the past, a demon like this would have been something he could slap to death casually. How could he have endured such humiliation?
He, Yan Qing, had once been a renowned genius of the Spiritual Sea. After quarreling with his senior brother, he had left the Spiritual Sea alone and roamed across the ocean in high spirits. Later, he spotted a High-Grade Dharma Ship that caught his fancy and intended to seize it by force. As a result, someone leapt out from the ship and knocked him unconscious with a single punch.
Even now, recalling that punch made his heart tremble.
The tortures he suffered in the Suppressing Evil Tower were far less terrifying than that punch. At the time, he had felt as though his soul had been blasted out of his body.
Because he had been knocked unconscious with one punch, he was now subjected to such contempt. Taking advantage of the situation, he pretended not to be the Spiritual Sea genius he once was, waiting for an opportunity to escape.
Though he endured in silence, listening to the very mountain demon beast he once despised mocking him—
He truly could not bear it.
“You’re not? Then why are you lying there? If I were you, I wouldn’t move at all. That scum called He Jinshu will come to torment us again soon.”
The Black Fiend Demon Monkey snorted coldly. At the mention of He Jinshu, it grew furious.
Its flesh could regenerate, yet He Jinshu tirelessly came to harvest its flesh. Clearly, he harbored ulterior motives. Facing such an unknown conspiracy made even it uneasy.
Yan Qing did not respond. He lowered his head and stopped moving.
He calmed himself and carefully considered a method of escape.
This prison was no simple place. It was filled with all sorts of complex restrictions. The Black Fiend Demon Monkey even claimed the Clear Sky Sect was a small sect—yet such restrictions were the foundation only great sects possessed.
That ignorant mountain monkey added the word “small” to everything it saw!
No matter how he pondered, he could not find a way to escape.
Gradually, regret began to rise in his heart.
If he had not clashed with his senior brother, he would still be the Spiritual Sea’s genius, able to participate in the Genius Tournament and rise to fame in a single battle.
His master had once said he was a once-in-a-century genius of the Spiritual Sea. With cultivation at the Fifth Layer of the Spirit Perception Realm, he could defeat seniors at the Eighth Layer of the Spirit Perception Realm. How dazzling he had been.
Foolish!
Utterly foolish!
Yan Qing shed tears of regret, fortunate that he was hidden in darkness.
“The Grand Dao Tournament is about to begin again. Who do you think will take first place?”
“Definitely Hu Yan. He’s only twenty-four and already at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm. His cultivation speed is terrifying.”
“What if he breaks through to the Spirit Perception Realm ahead of time?”
“That wouldn’t be necessary. He could wait a bit longer. If it were you, wouldn’t you want to participate in a Grand Dao Tournament and show off?”
A burst of discussion drifted in from outside the prison door.
A twenty-four-year-old at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm counted as the number one genius?
He had already undergone tribulation and stepped into the Spirit Perception Realm at twenty-three!
Yan Qing scoffed inwardly. Once he returned to the Spiritual Sea, he would certainly request reinforcements and trample this sect he had never even heard of!
Just then, the prison door before him opened.
He looked up and saw the disciple he feared most had arrived again.
It was He Jinshu.
True to his name, He Jinshu exuded a scholarly air. He appeared refined and gentle, often wearing a smile. Yet in Yan Qing’s eyes, he was a fiend, his methods extremely cruel.
“I’ve discovered that your flesh absorbs spiritual energy more easily than that of ordinary people. Perhaps through you, I can learn why people differ in aptitude—and where exactly that difference lies.”
He Jinshu came before Yan Qing and looked down at him as he spoke.
Those words sent chills through Yan Qing’s heart. He had already begged before. Now he could only endure the torment in silence.
He had to persist—otherwise all the suffering before would have been in vain!
Yan Qing closed his eyes, preparing to let He Jinshu manipulate him at will.
……
There was still a year and a half before the Grand Dao Tournament, but news of it had already spread across the Land of the Nine Provinces and the Northern Border. The Heavenly Son of the Northern Court had also sent word, expressing hope to bring his children to observe the Clear Sky Sect’s Grand Dao Tournament. Li Qingqiu agreed.
The Land of the Nine Provinces and the Northern Border had deep-seated grudges, yet after decades of turmoil, the common people now longed more than ever for peace.
The improving relations between the two lands pleased the populace, though the nobles might not feel the same.
Li Qingqiu often heard that the Xuan Dynasty and the Northern Border secretly assassinated each other’s officials. Grievances that could not be resolved in court were moved into the martial world.
He had no intention of interfering.
He could not satisfy everyone. As long as the two dynasties revered the Clear Sky Sect and obeyed it, competing openly and secretly within the rules set by the sect, he would let them be.
August arrived.
Sun Moxing, who had returned to Ziyang Island to report back, finally came back.
He had been gone for several years. If Li Qingqiu had not seen his loyalty steadily rising instead of falling, he might have suspected betrayal.
More precisely, repeated betrayal.
Returning once more to the Clear Sky Sect, Sun Moxing was deeply moved. That Li Qingqiu personally received him left him flattered beyond measure.
“I reported the mission when I went back. They didn’t investigate carefully and handled it perfunctorily. To Ziyang Island, the Land of Demons and Devils is far away and poses no threat. They merely take precautions and occasionally send disciples north. In the coming decades, they will not send disciples north again.”
Hearing this, Li Qingqiu felt relieved.
Immortal cultivation sects were not necessarily enemies, but he dared not gamble. Until strong enough, he hoped the Clear Sky Sect would remain unnoticed by other immortal cultivation sects.
Recently, however, he felt this was becoming increasingly difficult. As the sect grew stronger, it needed to seek resources farther afield. The Land of the Nine Provinces being labeled barren was not without reason.
After reporting official matters, Sun Moxing hesitated.
“What is it? Speak plainly,” Li Qingqiu asked, fixing his gaze on him.
Sun Moxing took a deep breath and said, “Sect Master, does the Clear Sky Sect need me to recruit people? I can bring a batch of Ziyang Island disciples over to join the Clear Sky Sect!”
Li Qingqiu frowned at once.
Wei Tianxiong’s example had proven the benefits mature cultivators could bring.
But not everyone was as formidable as the Elder of the Divine Origin Sect.
“Why?” Li Qingqiu asked.
Sun Moxing gritted his teeth. “My spiritual root aptitude is average. I have friends whose aptitude is like mine—or worse. On Ziyang Island, they live poorly. They see no hope of attaining immortality and drift through life in a daze. They have little sense of belonging there. I believe they can be turned. Though their spiritual root aptitude is lacking, they’ve spent many years on Ziyang Island. What they’ve learned and gained can benefit the Clear Sky Sect.”
After returning to Ziyang Island, that feeling had grown stronger—that Ziyang Island lacked the people’s hearts.
The divide between immortal and mortal was too stark there. Aptitude and strength determined everything.
But the Clear Sky Sect was different, and all of that stemmed from the Primordial Unity Scripture.
Sun Moxing already revered the Primordial Unity Scripture as a divine art. He knew that if this scripture spread to the Heavenly Nether Sea, it would surely stir up a bloody storm. Thus, he had not revealed it, as Li Qingqiu had warned him.
Once he brought those friends to the Clear Sky Sect, he believed the Primordial Unity Scripture would win their loyalty.
His words caused Li Qingqiu to fall into contemplation.
Whether to accept them or not—both choices had advantages and disadvantages.
Still three chapters today!