Xu Guan’s foundation was solid, and he was still young. The greatest regrets of his life were simply that he had yet to kill Qin Rushan and restore the Divine Inquiry Sect.
He had never wronged anyone, nor had anyone ever wronged him.
Even if his life were weighed against that of anyone in the entire cultivation world, he could still claim to have a clear conscience and a smooth path ahead.
The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book had chosen him and regarded him as the future hope of the Divine Inquiry Sect for good reason.
His fortune was extraordinary, and his mind was clear. He was destined to be the one who would restore the sect to its former glory.
Outside the sect, because the Longevity Dao Sect stood out too prominently, the other sects would not move against the Divine Inquiry Sect too aggressively. Instead, they would mainly try to lure them with benefits. Thus, their enemies would not increase and might even gain them allies.
Within the sect, the disciples who lacked the ability to protect themselves had already been sent away. Shu Xin, who remained behind, was both resourceful and capable, buying Xu Guan precious time to retreat and break through.
It could be said that he possessed nearly every advantage: the right time, the right place, and the support of the right people.
If he failed this time, there might not be another opportunity like it for the next thousand years.
The Heavenly Dipper Wind destroyed his body. As the breeze swept past, the flesh on his body was stripped away, leaving him with almost nothing but a skeleton.
Yet cultivators of the Immaculate Realm remained full of vitality even if all that was left of them was a little bone and flesh.
That was the fundamental reason why Immaculate Realm cultivators were considered top-tier combatants in any sect.
Even if a peak Immaculate Realm cultivator fought one who had only just entered the realm, completely killing the latter would be nearly impossible without sufficient preparation.
Only cultivators above the Mahayana Stage could utterly annihilate an Immaculate Realm cultivator.
Otherwise, no one would dare offend one rashly. No one could guarantee that the other party had not left behind some means of survival and would not return one day to seek revenge.
Xu Guan was also an outstanding figure among Immaculate Realm cultivators.
Thus, in the blink of an eye, after the Heavenly Dipper Wind passed, the flesh on Xu Guan’s body began to grow back.
His skin became smooth and lustrous, and his flesh filled out once more. Aside from the surrounding spiritual energy having been completely consumed, there was no other change.
The Earth Fiend Wind, however, was like countless fine blades, drilling bit by bit into his soul.
The Yin-Yang Wind slowly emerged from the depths of his Dao heart.
At the level of an Immaculate Realm cultivator, one’s Dao heart was already nearly flawless. Resonating with the heavens and earth was no longer merely an empty phrase.
Moreover, when breaking through to the Mahayana Stage, there was a certain chance of comprehending the Heavenly Dao, which would provide immense benefits for reaching even higher realms in the future.
Xu Guan sat cross-legged in the posture of Three Flowers Gathering Atop the Crown. With every breath he took, a strange rhythm faintly emerged, as though resonating with the heavens and earth.
But when the Karma Fire and Fame-and-Fortune Fire ignited together, his brows drew tightly together, and his entire body began to tremble slightly.
“Master, that Qin Rushan did it on purpose!”
“He had his disciples disguise themselves as severely wounded cultivators and used them to trick Junior Brother into being seriously injured, leaving him unable to ever enter the Dao Embryo Realm. Why can’t we take action against him for something like that?!” Yi Renjie demanded furiously.
Meng Wenrui lay on the ground, barely clinging to life.
“Master, I... I’m fine.” Meng Wenrui should have been the most talented of Xu Guan’s disciples. He cultivated the same technique as Xu Guan and had therefore advanced extremely quickly.
His only weakness was his simple nature. Xu Guan had always kept him close and forbidden him from casually descending the mountain.
Who could have expected that, merely because Meng Wenrui had gone down the mountain to purchase some pills, Qin Rushan’s people would scheme against him?
“Master, please... please don’t worry. It was my own failure to judge people properly. You can’t be blamed for it.” Meng Wenrui’s face was deathly pale, yet he still did his best to comfort the senior brothers around him.
Xu Guan was somewhat bewildered. He looked at the disciples before him and felt as though one person was missing.
But after looking carefully, he saw that all six of his disciples were there.
It seemed he had forgotten someone, or perhaps something, yet he truly could not remember what it was.
“It was my fault.” Xu Guan gently channeled spiritual power into Meng Wenrui’s body, doing his utmost to preserve his current foundation. But with the Divine Inquiry Sect’s present financial resources, completely repairing a damaged foundation was nothing more than an impossible dream.
“I shouldn’t have taken you all to the Longevity Dao Sect’s banquet. I shouldn’t have let Qin Rushan see you.”
“Master, Qin Rushan is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s been watching us every moment of every day. Do you really think he wouldn’t have attacked us if you hadn’t brought us there?” Cao Ruyi said indignantly. “They were the ones who were despicable enough to set up one trap after another. Junior Brother has hardly experienced the world—how could he possibly have been their match?”
But that was precisely what had happened. Aside from being furious, they had no way to do anything about it.
They even knew that Qin Rushan was behind it, yet they had no evidence.
With that alone, even if they stormed the Longevity Dao Sect, they would be powerless.
“I will definitely save you.” Xu Guan gently patted Meng Wenrui’s head. “I’ll take on a few more missions and find some heavenly treasures for you.”
“No. Resources for Eldest Senior Brother’s breakthrough must come first.” Meng Wenrui shook his head. “Master, I’m already useless. I can’t drag Eldest Senior Brother down as well.”
“Stop saying that.” Yi Renjie interrupted him. “It wouldn’t matter if I waited a few more years to break through to the Dao Embryo Realm. But Junior Brother, if your foundation isn’t repaired in time, you may not even be able to maintain the Core Formation Realm, let alone reach the Dao Embryo Realm.”
And once Meng Wenrui fell below the Core Formation Realm, given his current condition, his lifespan would be greatly shortened.
Were they supposed to watch helplessly as their youngest junior brother died?
“Your Eldest Senior Brother is right,” Xu Guan said firmly. “Just wait for me.”
Xu Guan acted immediately.
He soon finished arranging everything within the sect and went out to accept several missions.
Naturally, he also saw the mission posted by the Hu family. As long as someone escorted a celestial herb to the Myriad Dao Sect, they would receive a large sum of spirit stones.
But Xu Guan felt that something was wrong. The reward was far too generous, and there would likely be many complications along the way.
He performed a divination and discovered that the Hu family’s fortune was extremely strange. It also seemed to be connected to demonic cultivators. He therefore stopped considering the mission and chose another one instead.
By the time Xu Guan returned after completing his mission, he heard that something had gone terribly wrong with the Hu family’s task.
“That Hu family was actually raising a Myriad-Spirit Devouring Ancient Vine. It seems to have been connected to the Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect as well. The Myriad Dao Sect’s Dao Child was severely wounded because of it, and nearly half of the cultivators from the major sects who accompanied him were killed or injured. Not a single one of the other rogue cultivators survived. If an Immaculate Realm cultivator hadn’t intervened at the Dao Child’s side, I’m afraid the Dao Child wouldn’t have made it back either.”
“The Spirit-Parasitic Demon Sect truly is terrifying.”
The Myriad Dao Sect suffered a hidden loss in this incident and subsequently purged the bounty missions issued by these aristocratic families once more, greatly reducing the frequency with which Xu Guan could accept missions.
Fortunately, Xu Guan was, after all, an Immaculate Realm cultivator. In the short term, he could still gather a considerable amount of resources.
The treasures needed to rebuild Meng Wenrui’s foundation simply would never appear on the open market. Even if Xu Guan had spirit stones, he still could not buy them. If he went to some remote corner of the cultivation world to search for them, he would no longer be able to watch over the safety of the sect’s disciples. All he could do was wear himself out, hurrying back and forth between the two places as much as possible.
However, when Xu Guan returned to the sect, he discovered that because of Meng Wenrui, several of the disciples had become suspicious and anxious.
Meng Wenrui’s kindness had brought about consequences of considerable severity. Qin Rushan had also taken advantage of the situation to keep harassing the sect, causing the disciples’ states of mind to waver uncontrollably.
Xu Guan’s heart immediately grew cold.
So that was why Qin Rushan had not killed Meng Wenrui.
A living Meng Wenrui who constantly appeared before them posed a far greater threat to the Seeking Gods Sect than a dead one ever could.
Only by frequently seeing Meng Wenrui’s current miserable state would the disciples continue to doubt themselves, causing their Dao hearts to waver. This would be extremely detrimental to their future.
To kill the body and destroy the heart.
Qin Rushan clearly intended to sever the sect’s very foundations!
Xu Guan took a deep breath and decided to take his disciples away first, allowing them to gain experience outside. He could no longer let them remain in the sect.
Otherwise, the foundation of the Seeking Gods Sect would truly be destroyed here.
After obtaining the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book’s approval, Xu Guan took it with him as well. He sealed off the entire Seeking Gods Sect, then quietly brought his disciples down the mountain to undergo training.
During their travels, the disciples were deceived more than once and witnessed the lives of the low-level cultivators at the bottom of the cultivation world.
They also saw how ordinary mortals struggled to survive in the narrow cracks between the powerful.
They were furious, yet powerless to change anything.
Meanwhile, the cultivation world was being swept by wave after wave of upheaval.
First, the Profound Spirit Dao Sect was invaded by the Blood Demon Sect. Two Great Ascension cultivators fell, and the Blood Demon Sect seized most of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect’s inheritance, becoming the foremost of the demonic sects in a single stroke.
Afterward, Master Yushan and Ning Weixuan of the Longevity Dao Sect successively advanced to the Great Ascension Realm. With the spiritual energy within the Longevity Dao Sect exhausted, it began invading other sects and seizing their spirit veins.
With Great Ascension cultivators falling, Xu Guan had also considered attempting the breakthrough himself. However, he could not find a suitable place to enter seclusion, lacked sufficient spirit stones and resources, and could not bring himself to set aside his concern for his disciples. In the end, he could only abandon the idea.
The Longevity Dao Sect and the Blood Demon Sect stood opposed to each other, representing the Daoist and demonic factions respectively, while internal conflicts continued to rage within both sides.
Countless cultivators fell, while countless others rose to prominence.
As heaven and earth underwent tremendous changes, the cultivation world sank into a sea of flames. Those Great Ascension cultivators and earthly immortals also began stepping into the open.
The deaths of so many cultivators had already given rise to vast amounts of spiritual energy, allowing those who had previously been confined to their sects to begin moving freely through the outside world.
Yet aside from protecting his disciples, Xu Guan could do nothing.
Even among his disciples, only Yi Renjie managed to break through to the Dao Infant Realm. The others, lacking sufficient resources, remained stuck in the Core Formation Realm for a long time.
The chaos in the cultivation world also heavily affected their states of mind.
Xu Guan watched it all, yet was powerless to help.
Only the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book broke its silence when it saw the cultivation world descend into war—a rare occurrence indeed.
【Xu Guan, have you ever heard of the Slaying Immortal Sword?】 the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book asked.
“I have not.” Xu Guan shook his head.
【If it finds a suitable sword master and emerges into the world, none of these earthly immortals would dare step into the open.】 The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book spoke slowly. 【They fear it, and they fear that unknown sword master even more.】
【But if the sword master does not appear, these earthly immortals will no longer have any scruples.】
“Then how am I supposed to find this sword master you speak of?” Xu Guan asked with a frown.
【You cannot find him.】 The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book descended into Xu Guan’s hand. 【But you are the person I chose. Your lifespan is long, and perhaps, after I perish one day, you may have a chance to meet the sword master.】
“Then how much can this sword master you speak of change in this world?” Xu Guan continued. “Can the sword master only intimidate these earthly immortals?”
The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book fell silent.
There had been many sword masters, but not one of them had been able to change the cultivation world.
The only thing they had done was make the earthly immortals afraid to step into the open.
“If that is all, then so be it. If he cannot be found, he cannot be found.” Xu Guan’s voice was calm. “Senior, please help me ascend to the Great Ascension Realm.”
“I cannot pray for some unknown sword master to appear and save this world. But at the very least, I can protect my disciples.”
【Very well.】 The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book agreed.
A hundred years after the conflict between the Daoist sects and demonic factions reached its peak, and several Great Ascension cultivators had fallen, Xu Guan expended his own potential and, with the assistance of the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book, successfully advanced to the Great Ascension Realm.
Countless people knelt before him, begging for his protection and hoping to join the Seeking Gods Sect so they could obtain a safe environment in which to cultivate.
His disciples knelt among them as well.
Their appearances had not changed in the slightest, but the innocence and naivety that had once filled their brows were nowhere to be found.
They no longer called him Master.
Instead, they began addressing him as Ancestor.
In Xu Guan’s ears, it seemed as though he could hear something shattering.
