“Everyone, what has my friend done that you feel the need to make things so difficult for him?”
Situ Jian stepped forward and positioned himself in front of the young man.
“He came into our establishment, ate without paying, and even injured someone. Don’t you think we have every right to demand an explanation?” The cultivator in the lead noticed that Situ Jian had appeared out of nowhere. His aura suggested that he was not someone to provoke, but the man did not back down.
Situ Jian merely cupped his hands with a smile. “You say he ate without paying? How many spirit stones does he owe? I’ll pay for him.”
“It’s not much. Three thousand spirit stones.” The leader named an outrageous price without so much as blinking.
“I asked about the price beforehand. It was three hundred. But after I finished eating, they said it was three thousand. When I refused to pay, they deliberately crashed into me and claimed that I had damaged their magical artifact.” The young man seemed to recognize Situ Jian as well. In a sullen voice from behind him, he continued, “I hadn’t even made a move, yet they accused me of bullying the weak with my strength!”
Poor Xie Xianzhi had been pampered at the Nine Heavens Dao Sect ever since he was a child. It was hard enough for him to leave on his own and carry out a mission, only to run into a bunch of thugs and swindlers.
He had concealed his cultivation and was wearing only the jade token of an ordinary Nine Heavens Dao Sect disciple, so these people had assumed he would be easy to bully.
Xie Xianzhi could neither fight nor simply let the matter go.
Somehow, he also felt that he absolutely could not reveal his identity at a time like this. That was why he had allowed himself to be cornered.
“Fellow cultivator, three thousand spirit stones is indeed excessive.” After hearing Xie Xianzhi’s account, Situ Jian found the situation somewhat amusing, but he could not laugh aloud. For now, he could only focus on resolving the problem before them.
“Enough with the excuses. You’re just like him—you don’t want to pay either, do you?” Hearing Situ Jian’s response, the cultivators decided that another easy target had walked right into their hands. They immediately grew bolder. “This is the territory of Busi Manor. Our manor lord is about to become a core disciple of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect. Are you really willing to offend the Profound Spirit Dao Sect rather than pay three thousand spirit stones?”
Situ Jian said nothing. He merely released the aura of a Dao Infant cultivator.
The cultivators surrounding them went deathly pale and involuntarily took several steps back.
They were only at the Core Formation stage. They had assumed that their target was also at the Core Formation stage, so how had he suddenly turned out to be a Dao Infant cultivator?
“Even... even if your cultivation is higher, you can’t bully people with impunity. Five hundred spirit stones. Not a single one less.” The leader’s expression became even more unpleasant, but he still gritted his teeth and held firm. “He ordered quite a few expensive dishes. Five hundred is already our cost price.”
If he had not seen that the boy’s cultivation was low and that he was spending so freely—and if that had not matched the information he had bought—he would never have acted so decisively.
Rumors really could not be trusted!
They had claimed that many outer disciples of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect would soon be arriving near the manor in pursuit of their sect’s number-one genius, Xie Xianzhi. Supposedly, every one of those outer disciples was loaded with money, and since they would never dare to make a scene for the sake of their sect’s reputation, robbing one would be worth as much as robbing a hundred ordinary targets.
It had all been a lie!
“Fine.” Situ Jian took out five hundred spirit stones and handed them over. Only then did he successfully leave with Xie Xianzhi.
“Thank you, Fellow Cultivator Situ.” It was only after they had left that Xie Xianzhi cupped his hands toward Situ Jian. “If you hadn’t appeared, I’m afraid I really would have brought shame upon my sect.”
The two of them had only met once by chance at the Everlife Dao Sect. At that time, Xie Xianzhi had already been at the Grotto-Heaven realm, while Situ Jian had been only at the Dao Infant stage. Now that their cultivation levels were equal, they could naturally address each other as fellow cultivators.
“Why did you come out alone, Fellow Cultivator Xie?” Situ Jian asked curiously.
Shu Xin had not appeared in person, yet he had been able to track Xie Xianzhi’s movements with pinpoint accuracy. There had to be more to it than that.
The thugs were easy enough to explain. All Shu Xin had to do was spread a few rumors, and they would take the bait on their own. They would have no idea that they had been used, instead believing that their own greed had led them to provoke someone they should not have.
But what about Xie Xianzhi?
As the first genius among the Nine Sects and Ten Schools to break through to the Grotto-Heaven realm, many things about Xie Xianzhi were common knowledge throughout the cultivation world.
For example, when the Nine Heavens Dao Sect had tested the aptitude of its disciples, they had discovered that Xie Xianzhi possessed top-grade spiritual roots and an extraordinary constitution. He also had an innate Dao physique, allowing him to accomplish in a single day what would take other people two days of cultivation. He was, quite simply, a peerless prodigy.
Thus, before Xie Xianzhi had even learned to walk, he had already begun learning how to cultivate the Dao.
To ensure that Xie Xianzhi would not accumulate karma and could pass through the Three Winds and Four Fires as quickly as possible, the sect had practically confined him to the mountain. They had even specially created a “paradise beyond the mortal world” for him there, allowing him to believe that it was the whole of existence. In this way, he had successfully passed through the Three Winds and Four Fires and reached the Grotto-Heaven realm.
Only after he had gained sufficient cultivation and strength had they finally allowed him to descend the mountain and experience the outside world.
This method of cultivation, which Shu Xin called the “cultivation-version Truman Show,” had a unique name in the cultivation world: cultivation in the palm.
It meant that every aspect of a cultivator’s growth was held in the palm of another person’s hand.
In the past, many sects had used this method to help their disciples avoid the Three Winds and Four Fires. They would deliberately raise pure and untainted disciples. As long as those disciples possessed excellent constitutions and grew up within such an “artificial world,” they would naturally remain uncontaminated by worldly fame and fortune, avoid forming karma, and advance rapidly in cultivation.
But no one could remain on a mountain forever, nor could anyone live in such a world for their entire life. A cultivator’s spiritual sense expanded along with their cultivation, which meant that the boundaries of the “artificial world” had to expand as well.
That consumed a tremendous amount of resources and made it increasingly easy for the disciple to discover the deception.
After several incidents in which cultivators who had been painstakingly raised this way discovered that they had been deceived and suffered the collapse of their Dao hearts, this method of cultivation was gradually abandoned.
The Nine Heavens Dao Sect had revived this ancient method for Xie Xianzhi. It was truly an extravagant undertaking.
However, they also knew that this arrangement could not continue forever. Thus, once Xie Xianzhi reached the Grotto-Heaven realm, they began gradually exposing him to the outside world.
As long as the process was gradual, Xie Xianzhi would have already formed his own personality and worldview, making it difficult for the outside world to change him.
For safety’s sake, however, they could not possibly allow Xie Xianzhi to travel alone. They had assigned him a senior brother and a senior sister, who had descended the mountain with him as his protectors.
Yet now, only Xie Xianzhi was present. His two protectors were nowhere to be seen.
“My senior brother and senior sister recently obtained a magical artifact and are studying it,” Xie Xianzhi replied candidly. “I didn’t want to disturb them, so I came out first. I thought I was only going out to eat. Surely nothing could go wrong.”
Situ Jian immediately understood.
It seemed that Xie Xianzhi’s senior brother and senior sister were not exactly willing to serve as his protectors.
What kind of magical artifact required two people to study it together day and night, to the point that they could not even look after Xie Xianzhi?
They were simply unwilling.
The old men of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect were quite something. They took it for granted that every disciple would put the sect’s future first, so they devoted themselves to nurturing Xie Xianzhi and treated the other disciples as expendable materials that could be manipulated at will. They had never once thought to ask those disciples what they wanted.
Showing such blatant favoritism was bound to leave others feeling resentful.
With only a little provocation, even if they could not take Xie Xianzhi’s life, damaging his Dao heart would be no difficult task.
And Shu Xin would not even need to show himself. A few subtle hints would be enough to lead someone else into carrying it out.
It was simply too easy.
“I see,” Situ Jian said with a smile. “In that case, Fellow Daoist Xie, why don’t you write them a letter and send it over? We can travel together to Busi Manor first.”
Xie Xianzhi’s eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Of course.” Situ Jian answered politely. “But can you make that decision yourself, Fellow Daoist Xie?”
“Of course I can. My senior brothers and sisters treat me best. They’ll agree to anything I say.” Xie Xianzhi immediately took out a communication jade slip and, without the slightest hesitation, believed Situ Jian’s words. “I’ll tell them right away. When I was up on the mountain, my master also said that you had exceptional aptitude and that I should get to know you better, Fellow Daoist Situ.”
Xie Xianzhi sent out the message at once, then turned back and looked at Situ Jian curiously. “Fellow Daoist Situ, I can sense that the aura of your cultivation is extremely dense. It feels as though you’ve been in the high-tier Grotto Heaven Realm for a long time. Didn’t you just break through?”
“My cultivation method is somewhat special,” Situ Jian replied with impeccable courtesy.
Xie Xianzhi’s “artificially created” innocence was so pure that, while it made Situ Jian want to laugh, it also filled him with pity.
These Daoist sects truly had their own ways of doing things.
Since they were going to act together, Situ Jian and Xie Xianzhi quickened their pace. They also stopped suppressing their cultivation levels and hurried toward the territory of Busi Manor.
Yet the closer they got to Busi Manor, the more chaotic the surrounding aura became.
The lands occupied by mortals and cultivators were clearly divided, as though separated by an invisible boundary.
Looking down from above, Situ Jian seemed almost able to smell the unease permeating the air.
What had been buried beneath these mountains?
“There’s something wrong.” Xie Xianzhi suddenly stopped, curiosity appearing on his face. “Fellow Daoist Situ, the spiritual energy here is somewhat strange. And the way these mortal villages beneath the mountains are distributed seems to follow some peculiar rhythm. Could this be a unique method of cultivation?”
Situ Jian was not surprised that Xie Xianzhi had noticed something amiss so quickly. If he did not even possess this level of ability, then all the manpower and resources the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect had spent creating him would have been nothing more than a joke.
“It should be an array formation.” Situ Jian knew exactly what kind of place Busi Manor was, but he could not say so directly to Xie Xianzhi. “If you treat these mortal villages as points and the terrain where they are located as runes, it becomes easier to understand.”
“Wow! Are cultivators using these mortals to set up a huge formation?” Xie Xianzhi blinked. “That’s quite a grand undertaking. No wonder my master told me to be careful before I came down the mountain. The Profound Spirit Daoist Sect hasn’t been very particular about its methods these past few years. The formation they set up is really crude—it was discovered at a glance.”
Situ Jian said nothing. He merely released his divine sense and observed the mortals working in the fields.
Judging by their age, they were so young that they would not even qualify to be his grandchildren.
And yet, they looked unbelievably old.
In fact, among these villages, there were almost no elderly people at all—only young adults and children.
But none of them felt that anything was wrong. They took it for granted that a person’s natural lifespan was only forty years.
Forty years of age was not even enough for a cultivator to become proficient at the Qi Condensation stage.
No mortal had the leisure to wonder why they could live for only so long. Merely staying alive was already difficult enough.
There were plenty of people who did not even make it to forty.
“Fellow Daoist Situ, what are you looking at?” Xie Xianzhi followed Situ Jian’s gaze, but all he could see were ordinary mortals.
What was there to look at?
“Nothing.” Situ Jian quietly withdrew his gaze. “Let’s go to Busi Manor and see what’s happening first. It’s common to arrange mortal villages according to the pattern of an array formation. The important thing is to determine what this formation is meant to do.”
“That makes sense.” Xie Xianzhi nodded, agreeing with Situ Jian.
Busi Manor.
Xie Xianzhi’s senior brother and sister had already arrived ahead of them.
“Xianzhi still hasn’t arrived.” Senior Brother Zhuang Heze looked toward his junior sister. “It seems that he has gotten along quite well with that Situ Jian. They’re probably taking their time.”
“Senior Brother, what if that Situ Jian discovers what we’ve done?” Junior Sister Li Pianran sounded somewhat uneasy.
“Even if he discovers it, he won’t have any evidence. The two of us merely happened to discover and investigate a magical treasure. We also warned Xianzhi not to act recklessly. If he insisted on leaving, how could that be our fault?” Zhuang Heze countered. “Could it be that Junior Sister truly intends to abandon your own cultivation and spend the rest of your life acting as his Dao Protector? Oh, no—we can’t be his Dao Protectors forever. His cultivation will surpass ours soon enough.”
They had painstakingly cultivated for hundreds of years, finally reaching the Grotto Heaven Realm, only to be sent to look after a child like this and devote their entire lives to him. Who could endure such a thing?
Throughout the entire sect, only Xie Xianzhi believed that everyone liked him and treated him well.
In reality, every single one of them wished he would die on a mission somewhere outside, so that they could see what the sect elders would do once they learned the news!
“I’m just worried that he’ll find out.” Li Pianran sighed. “When all is said and done, he’s pitiful too. He’s spent his entire life living within the lies woven by the sect.”
Xie Xianzhi’s parents were fake. His neighbors were fake. Even the classmates who had supposedly attended school with him as a child were fake.
Now that he had come down the mountain alone, the two of them were also responsible for escorting him.
He was like a flawless piece of jade that had been painstakingly carved. No matter how beautiful he appeared, he had lost the natural translucence of an uncut gem.
“He’s pitiful? Then who’s going to pity us?” Zhuang Heze said in a low, angry voice. “Have you forgotten what the elders told us before we left the mountain? If we discover that Busi Manor is harboring evil intentions, we are to play the villains and eliminate the demons for Xianzhi, no matter the cost. If Xianzhi dies, the two of us will die as well!”
The only thing they could do was offer a small act of resistance—let Xie Xianzhi’s Dao heart gradually suffer damage and make him begin to doubt the sect. Only then could the sect elders truly suffer the consequences of their own actions.
If Xie Xianzhi learned the truth one day and turned against the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect, or even suffered a collapse of his Dao heart and fell into the demonic path, then that would be truly interesting.
Li Pianran recalled her master’s warnings before she left the mountain, then thought of all the effort she had put into her cultivation over the years. In the end, she agreed with Zhuang Heze.
Who would want to make a wedding dress for Xie Xianzhi for nothing?
They were merely resisting as any normal person would.
“Two honored guests, our young mistress invites you in.”
As the two were speaking, the voice of a servant from Busi Manor came from outside the door.
“Young mistress?” Li Pianran froze for a moment before realizing who he meant. “Could it be that adopted daughter Xi Fu recently took in? What does she want with us?”
“Junior Sister, the two of us are also direct disciples of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect. Isn’t it perfectly normal for cultivators from a small sect like this to want to get acquainted with us?” Zhuang Heze looked at her with amusement. “Relax. This isn’t our sect; it’s the Unsought Mountain Manor.”
“Right, right.” Li Pianran laughed along. “Then, Senior Brother, do you think we should attend the invitation?”
“Of course we should.” Zhuang Heze smiled. “We’re in their territory, and the host has invited us. If we don’t go, what would that make us?”
They had proper business to attend to, so it was only natural that they couldn’t always take Xie Xianzhi’s circumstances into consideration.
This was not the first time Shu Xin had held a banquet and invited disciples from the so-called orthodox sects.
After all, she was spending the Unsought Mountain Manor’s money, and Shu Xin didn’t feel the slightest bit of heartache.
In fact, the people of the Unsought Mountain Manor thought she was doing a fine job. At first, they had worried that this adopted daughter might bring trouble to the manor, but after several banquets, quite a few cultivators had praised Shu Xin to the skies. Even the elders of the manor had begun looking at her with much gentler expressions.
The manor lord’s adopted daughter was skilled at socializing and could help the manor win people over. In that case, there was no harm in giving her the title of eldest daughter.
Little did they know that Shu Xin was merely trying to figure out what these cultivators were really made of, then randomly picking one to swindle.
As for the Profound Spirit Dao Sect, it had already sent a large group of people over to gradually take charge of the dual-cultivation ceremony. They treated this unidentified eldest daughter with contempt, as though she offended their eyes and noses merely by existing. Shu Xin couldn’t be bothered to show her face before these arrogant people. She simply focused on hosting her own banquets, collecting gifts, and lining her own pockets. In a short time, she had made a considerable fortune in spirit stones.
【That brat Situ Jian is about to arrive, and Qu Yougu and the others will be here soon too,】 the Sword Spirit said with a tsk. 【The Blood Demon Sect’s cultivators are gradually getting involved as well. There are several of them among your guests.】
The more clever and capable demonic cultivators were, the more flawlessly they mastered concealment techniques.
Who would go out with the words “I’m a demon cultivator” written all over their face? That was a low-class tactic. Only mediocre demon cultivators would do such a thing.
Truly formidable demon cultivators often looked even more like immortals than orthodox sect cultivators. Every gesture they made seemed to suit your heart, and they appeared to be nothing short of your wise mentor and trusted friend.
The higher a demon cultivator’s cultivation, the more virtuous they tended to look.
Take the Blood Demon Ancestor, for example. It was said that he looked like an elegant scholar and teacher—refined and mild-mannered, speaking in a soft voice and appearing like an honest man who could easily be bullied.
Or take the master of the Hehuan Sect. She was not some seductive enchantress who brought ruin to men, as the legends claimed. On the contrary, she was pure and gentle, with a warm, graceful manner of speaking. Everyone who had met her believed that the world had simply misunderstood the Hehuan Sect and wrongly classified it as a demonic sect.
They were all demonic titans who excelled at beguiling the hearts of others.
“Cui Yuhua of the Blood Demon Sect has made such a huge commotion and attracted so many prodigies from the orthodox sects. How could he not send word to his sect?” Shu Xin said. “He’s an old fox, not some hotheaded fool who charges ahead without thinking.”
Would Cui Yuhua really try to swallow such enormous credit all by himself?
Of course he would report it to his sect—especially to the Blood Demon Ancestor—so that the ancestor could see his efforts and lend him a hand.
As long as the Blood Demon Ancestor intervened, it wouldn’t matter whether they were prodigies of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect or the Everlasting Dao Sect. All of them would obediently become nourishment for the Blood Spirit Pearl.
If he tried to endure everything alone, then even if he died, the sect would curse him for being an idiot.
【And then you’ll seal me away again,】 the Sword Spirit complained.
“Of course.” Shu Xin answered as though it were self-evident. “When the time comes, we’ll secretly kill a few demon cultivators and let you wash your blade. If we’re lucky and Cui Yuhua gets defeated, we’ll follow along and quietly deliver the finishing blow. We’ll develop in secret without alerting anyone.”
She had no intention of fighting the Blood Demon Ancestor.
He was an existence who could enter the Mahayana stage at any moment—far stronger than Ning Weixuan. If she fought him, wouldn’t that be no different from delivering herself straight into the tiger’s jaws?
【Sigh. I knew it,】 the Sword Spirit said. It had already been prepared for this, so after receiving confirmation from Shu Xin, it did not panic.
“Still, you can’t slack off completely,” Shu Xin reminded it. “Quietly mark down which guests are demon cultivators for me. That way, I can stir up a little trouble too.”
The Sword Spirit was as good as a radar when it came to identifying demon cultivators. After all, it was obsessively devoted to cleansing its blade.
【You only ever know how to order me around,】 the Sword Spirit grumbled, though its actions were entirely honest.
At some point, a beautiful woman in red had appeared not far from the banquet. Wisps of immortal aura coiled around her as she quietly watched Shu Xin for a long while.
“Does my niece feel upset? She’s only an adopted daughter. Even if she were his biological daughter, it would be no trouble for Xi Fu to drive her away,” an elder of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect offered when he saw Pei Qiyun staring at Shu Xin for so long. He had mistakenly assumed that she was displeased and took the initiative to speak. “I doubt Xi Fu would dare say much.”
The Unsought Mountain Manor was originally an affiliate of the Profound Spirit Dao Sect. If not for the fact that it was helping Pei Qiyun break through into the Grotto-Heaven realm, how could such a good opportunity have fallen to Xi Fu?
“A dual-cultivation partner is meant to help one improve their cultivation. He and I are strangers to begin with, so why should I be jealous?” Pei Qiyun watched the Xi Shuangshuang who was laughing and chatting with people at the banquet. Then she frowned again, feeling that the woman looked somewhat like someone she knew.
Moreover, the person she remembered had been capable of killing a Nascent Soul-stage demon cultivator a hundred years ago. Her two flying swords had possessed an unstoppable momentum of their own, slaughtering the demon cultivators until not a single one remained in the blink of an eye.
At that time, Pei Qiyun had merely been a female cultivator who had been abducted by demon cultivators on her first trip down the mountain. The techniques she had cultivated within the sect had been utterly useless in a real battle. All she could do was watch helplessly as the demon cultivators ran rampant before her, discussing how they would drain her primordial yin and take her vital blood.
Until the other female cultivator who had been captured alongside her suddenly erupted into action.
“I’d originally planned to endure it a little longer, but can’t you see that you’ve frightened all these pretty girls to tears?” the female cultivator said lazily as she stood up. “I’m not good at comforting people, especially beautiful women. If you all obediently surrender, I can at least let you die quickly and painlessly.”
Pei Qiyun no longer remembered exactly what that female cultivator had looked like. Perhaps all she remembered was the woman’s face smeared with blood and her eyes shining with a frightening intensity. She had stood atop the bones of hundreds and thousands of demon cultivators, exuding such effortless confidence and freedom that Pei Qiyun would never forget it for the rest of her life.
Afterward, she had worked hard at cultivation and searched everywhere for news of that female cultivator. Yet she discovered that the unknown woman had long since been placed under bounty by countless demon cultivators. No one knew where she was, and even her appearance was false. It was possible that even her gender was fake.
So how could she possibly appear here?
