Watching the Mountain

The Sect had abruptly replaced its Sect Leader and Chief Disciple, its two most important figures. Naturally, a new air settled over the Sect.

Yue Qingyu didn’t make any major changes to the Sect’s overall direction. She only made a few adjustments based on the current talent gap within its ranks.

Since they couldn’t forge elite talents, she would focus on raising the overall standard of all disciples, especially in teamwork. The "plague" had sown a deep lack of trust throughout the Cultivation Realm. This adjustment would be a good way to guide the Sect’s culture, fostering greater unity and cohesion.

Since the Sect Leader wanted to foster a more united and harmonious atmosphere, Li Daoyi, the newly appointed Chief Disciple, had to take action to show his support.

When Yue Qingyu had been Chief Disciple, she had handled her duties diligently, but she usually spent her days in secluded cultivation within her Cave Mansion, rarely appearing before the other disciples.

Li Daoyi was the complete opposite after taking the position. He appeared all over the Sect almost daily, always humble and courteous. He quietly put his principles into practice, shouldering the responsibilities and burdens of the Chief Disciple.

He often demonstrated Swordsmanship and Daoist Techniques for the disciples. If anyone encountered a problem in their cultivation and sought his guidance, he turned no one away, patiently providing them with answers.

This approachable Eldest Senior Brother quickly earned immense prestige throughout the Sect.

And with their Eldest Senior Brother taking the lead, the atmosphere within the Sect grew much more congenial than before.

While it still couldn’t compare to the days before the "plague," at least the disciples no longer treated each other like cold, wary strangers.

Seeing Li Daoyi work so hard, Xu Ran felt a sense of relief. His opinion of his martial nephew improved by leaps and bounds, and he even started looking at him with much more warmth.

Previously, Xu Ran had never taken a side in sect affairs. He only wanted to cultivate peacefully and leisurely, hidden away within the Sect. He couldn’t be bothered with anything else.

But things were different now. His stance was now incredibly firm.

Senior Sister Yue had always been the one to protect him in this world. Now that she was the Sect Leader, he naturally wanted the Sect to prosper. If the Sect were to fall, his peaceful life would be over.

Improving the Sect’s atmosphere was something Senior Sister Yue had always wanted. Since Li Daoyi was able to help her with this, Xu Ran praised him generously.

Not only that, but he had also been wondering lately, with the Sect in such a precarious state, ’Is there anything I can do to help?’

So far, however, he hadn’t come up with any ideas.

The Sect now had seven main peaks. As the Chief Disciple, Li Daoyi had to give equal attention to the disciples of each peak, so he often traveled between them.

His previous Swordsmanship demonstrations on the other peaks had all gone smoothly, without any incident.

On this day, however, when he arrived at Qing Xuan Peak, an unpleasant scene suddenly unfolded. And the person who caused it was an acquaintance of Xu Ran’s.

It was none other than Wang Xiaohu—the very same disciple whose Blood Ginseng had been stolen and who had repeatedly begged Xu Ran to find Teacher Qing Xuan for him.

At that moment, Li Daoyi had just finished demonstrating a Sword Technique and Daoist Technique for the disciples of Qing Xuan Peak. He was encouraging everyone to cultivate diligently, saying that the Sect couldn’t do without a single one of them.

The moment he finished, a discordant voice called out from a distance:

"You really have a way with words, Chief Li. You’re the Sect’s newest prodigy. The Sect places high hopes on you and showers you with attention. Anything you want, the Sect will provide."

"With your talent, Chief Li, it’s possible you’ll reach the Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realms, or even higher. You could be in this Sect for thousands of years, maybe even longer. Of course you want to see the Sect get bigger and stronger—that way, it can serve you better in the future."

"But for ordinary folks like us, Foundation Establishment is our limit. For many here, even reaching Foundation Establishment is a distant dream, to say nothing of the Purple Mansion or Golden Core Realms beyond it."

"With our paltry lifespans of a few hundred years, we’re just fleeting visitors to the Sect. So how can you have the nerve to ask us to sacrifice for the Sect, just like you?"

As soon as he spoke, a hush fell over the crowd. The disciples all turned to look, only to see an old, white-haired man standing not far away, staring disdainfully at Li Daoyi in the center of the group.

Many of the disciples present didn’t recognize Wang Xiaohu, but Xu Ran did. Even though the man’s appearance had changed drastically from his youth, Xu Ran recognized him in a single glance.

This made him even more shocked than the other disciples. ’I never would have thought Wang Xiaohu would say something like that.’

When his Blood Ginseng had been stolen, he had come looking for Teacher Qing Xuan to get justice, and it was Xu Ran who had handled the matter. Later, he had sought out Teacher Qing Xuan again over the Sect’s failure to pay out compensation funds, also hoping the teacher would intervene on his behalf.

Because of these incidents, Teacher Qing Xuan had even considered taking Wang Xiaohu on as his disciple. He only gave up on the idea because some of Wang Xiaohu’s actions didn’t meet his standards.

But even though the Wang Xiaohu of that time had changed somewhat, when Xu Ran interacted with him, he could still sense the fundamental goodness in his heart.

Xu Ran didn’t know what Wang Xiaohu had been through since then, but he was someone who had truly experienced the Sect’s goodwill. Yet, from the way he was acting now, it seemed he had completely forgotten all of it.