When Elder Yao heard Shu Xin say that, he first froze. Then he realized that this might be a major secret.
Since when had Xu Guan gotten himself involved in a romantic entanglement?
After all, this young cultivator who had risen to fame at such a young age was someone both the Daoist sects and the demonic sects had tried to recruit.
That Qin fellow had already set a fine example for everyone else. As long as one used an excuse such as “marrying into the other family,” one could automatically change sects. Xu Guan, however, was different from that Qin fellow. He had genuinely relied on his own efforts to become a cultivator of the Wugou Realm. As for how his fellow disciple had reached the Wugou Realm, everyone knew perfectly well.
Thus, whether it was the Daoist sects or the demonic sects, they had spared no effort to recruit Xu Guan over the years.
But whether they offered handsome men and beautiful women or power and status, Xu Guan never took the bait. If they pressed him too hard, he would simply send the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book over to their side for a few laps. In the end, everyone could only seethe in silence and let him remain in the Asking Gods Sect.
Now that Shu Xin had said Xu Guan had gone to find his “master’s wife,” how could Elder Yao not be curious?
“I—I didn’t say anything just now. Elder Yao, you must have misheard me.” Shu Xin immediately denied what he had said. “Elder Yao, my master really isn’t available right now. Please come back another day.”
With that, Shu Xin turned and began to leave.
“Wait.” Elder Yao called out to him. “Fellow Daoist Shu, I understand that as a disciple, you can’t easily speak about matters concerning your master. But the situation is special now. You know about what happened to the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect. You must also have heard what that Mahayana cultivator said before he died. It turns out that everything he said was true. Therefore, the whereabouts of every cultivator in the Wugou Realm are now matters of concern to countless Daoist and demonic sects. If your master’s whereabouts cannot be explained, people may assume that he has gone into seclusion to attempt the Mahayana stage. If that happens, your master may come under attack from demonic cultivators. With them plotting in secret while he remains unaware, the consequences could be…”
When Shu Xin heard this, his face filled with disbelief. “My master is only a little over three hundred years old. He’s been in the Wugou Realm for barely a hundred years at most. How could an attempt at the Mahayana stage possibly have anything to do with him?”
“Heh heh. That may be true, but there are always exceptions. Many prodigies have never followed common sense.” Elder Yao smiled. “So I hope Fellow Daoist Shu will tell me where your master has gone.”
“I… I can’t explain it too clearly either.” Shu Xin frowned. “In any case, my master went to find my master’s wife. They’ve known each other for a long time. After what happened to the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect, my master came to understand that life is unpredictable and one should enjoy it while one can. That’s why he went to find her.”
“That’s strange.” Elder Yao stroked his beard, but his eyes began to shine with the light of gossip.
At his age, with little of his lifespan remaining, and constantly being ordered to run all over the world, listening to other people’s gossip was one of the few forms of entertainment left to him.
“If I remember correctly, the Daoist and demonic sects sent quite a number of people to get close to your master back then. Not to mention the most famous woman from the Hehuan Demon Sect, Luo Zhiran, known as the Demon Sects’ Number One Beauty and the Luoshen of the Mortal Realm. I saw her once when I was younger. She truly possessed beauty that no woman in the mortal world ought to have. She was the dream lover of countless cultivators. Every time she went out, she became the inner demon of who knew how many men. She met your master once back then, yet your master didn’t so much as stir.”
That Luoshen of the Mortal Realm had extraordinarily high standards. She would accept only the primal yang of a top-tier genius. If a genius from one of the Daoist or demonic sects had never caught her eye, he could hardly call himself a genius.
No one had expected that this beauty, who had finally come out of seclusion for once, had done so for Xu Guan.
Yet from beginning to end, Xu Guan had remained unmoved, treating the Luoshen of the Mortal Realm like an ordinary person. He merely raised a cup to her and said nothing more.
Even the Luoshen of the Mortal Realm had failed. All the men and women who had intended to seduce Xu Guan had completely given up.
Xu Guan really was impervious to every temptation.
Shu Xin had naturally heard of that female cultivator from the demonic sect. He had never imagined that she and Xu Guan had shared such a history.
What a pity. Xu Guan had already rejected her; otherwise, Shu Xin could have embellished the story a little.
The thought even made Shu Xin feel somewhat regretful.
“I never knew my master had such a past.” Shu Xin smiled. “But she isn’t the one my master found as my master’s wife.”
“Could it be someone else’s dao companion?” Elder Yao stroked his beard and continued guessing. “If so, that would make sense. A gentleman does not take what another loves. If the woman your master loved had once been someone else’s dao companion, then out of consideration for status and reputation, he may have been afraid to express his feelings.”
Differences in family background had already ceased to matter to Xu Guan. That left only a disparity in status.
As a cultivator of the Wugou Realm, there were very few female cultivators whose status could surpass Xu Guan’s.
But if she was someone else’s dao companion, then everything could be explained.
Of course, if one were willing to be a little more ruthless, even a dao companion could be taken away. As long as the price was high enough, anything was possible.
There were quite a few cultivators in the cultivation world with a penchant for married women.
“No.” Shu Xin continued shaking his head.
[Why aren’t you saying anything? You’re just letting this old man keep guessing?] The Sword Spirit was completely bewildered. [You’re so good at making things up!]
“You don’t understand.” Shu Xin began explaining. “A lie requires many more lies to support it. If even one detail doesn’t line up, it can easily be exposed. But if the lie is something that millions of people come up with on their own, with countless people filling in the details and using all sorts of methods to prove it, then it will become real. The less I say, the more they’ll imagine for themselves. In the end, more and more people will believe it.”
Shu Xin had seen this sort of tactic countless times in modern information society.
If you described something too vividly, people would only try to disprove it.
But if you were vague and ambiguous, using unclear implications, countless spectators would exhaust every means to verify it. The more they dug, the more they would uncover.
“Could it be that the person your master likes isn’t a woman?” Elder Yao frowned. “That may be uncommon, but it’s understandable. We cultivators aren’t limited to the opposite sex when seeking dao companions.”
Elder Yao was surprisingly modern-minded.
Seeing that he was still guessing, Shu Xin merely added slowly, “Does my master’s wife necessarily have to be human?”
With that, Shu Xin firmly shut his mouth. No matter how others questioned him, he refused to say another word.
Elder Yao’s eyes began to shine.
Not human?
Ah, so that was why even the Luoshen of the Mortal Realm had failed. It turned out that Xu Guan’s tastes weren’t normal at all!
The demon race?
A spirit artifact?
Or perhaps one of those sea monsters?
Ah, there were simply too many possibilities.
Now that spiritual energy was so scarce, aside from those with ancient bloodlines, there were very few members of the demon race who could assume human form. Most demonic cultivators could not completely shed the traits of their nonhuman races, and therefore rarely traveled through the cultivation world. As a result, romances between humans and nonhuman cultivators had become increasingly rare. It was possible to go several hundred years without hearing of even one.
Elder Yao wanted to ask more, but Shu Xin wore the expression of someone who had caused trouble. His whole demeanor looked somewhat downcast.
“Ahem, Fellow Daoist Shu, don’t worry about it. Since your master isn’t here, I won’t impose any longer.” Elder Yao’s appetite for gossip had been satisfied, and he had no desire to linger. He still had to hurry to the Longevity Dao Sect, where he could conveniently seek out three or five old friends and have a proper gossip session.
“Goodbye, Elder Yao.” Shu Xin thought for a moment, then hurried after him. “Elder Yao, I didn’t say anything just now, and I won’t admit to anything either. I only hope you won’t misunderstand my master.”
“All right, all right. To have a disciple like you, Fellow Daoist Xu is truly blessed.” Elder Yao smiled broadly.
With that, Elder Yao dispelled the spell and looked toward the Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivators waiting nearby. Without saying much, he took them along and flew toward the Longevity Dao Sect.
【If you put it that way, Xu Guan will be angry when he comes out of seclusion.】The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book floated up a line of text.
“As long as you don’t tell him, and I don’t tell him, Master won’t know that I was the one who said it.” Shu Xin smiled at the Book Spirit, still gripping his sword. “Besides, once Master reaches the Mahayana Realm, this baseless rumor will soon fade away. Surely reputation can’t be more important than one’s life?”
But if this sort of reputation got out, he would soon be too embarrassed to show his face.
【Just keep your mouth shut. Didn’t my Swordmaster say so?】The Sword Spirit was extremely overbearing in front of this junior. 【Keep yapping and see if I don’t cut you down.】
The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book was furious, but it didn’t dare say a word.
It simply couldn’t understand.
How had the legendary Immortal-Slaying Sword, an existence so lofty that countless Earthly Immortals trembled at its name, turned out like this?
Meanwhile, Elder Yao was flying toward the Longevity Dao Sect with his disciple, brimming with excitement and unwilling to delay even for a moment.
The Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivators chasing desperately behind them were nearly in tears. They truly couldn’t keep up.
“Hahaha, old friend, let me tell you something. It turns out Xu Guan doesn’t like the human race at all!” Elder Yao pushed open the door to the home of a friend who was cultivating in the Longevity Dao Sect and opened with a statement explosive enough to rock the heavens.
Inside, his friend was discussing some matters with several other cultivators.
The moment they heard those words, they all set aside what they were doing.
“What makes you say that?”
“We were planning to visit the Inquiry God Sect and ask about it ourselves.”
Seeing so many people gathered, Elder Yao not only felt no offense but, for some reason, grew even more excited.
“Come, come, everyone. Let’s analyze this properly.”
…
“Ah, it all makes sense now. Everything fits!”
“I knew there had to be something strange about Xu Guan. He’s so young, yet he doesn’t care about fame, isn’t lustful, and is content to stay in that Inquiry God Sect of his. There must be something going on.” Several Unblemished Realm cultivators whose lifespans were nearing their ends began gossiping about these young Unblemished Realm cultivators with unmatched enthusiasm.
Whenever they had nothing better to do, they liked to smear the younger generation. Now, they were having even more fun.
At present, all the major Daoist sects and demonic sects were searching for cultivators attempting to break through to the Mahayana Realm.
Naturally, this gave plenty of people an opportunity to exploit.
Who knew how many cultivators were trying to use this chance to eliminate their rivals and suppress their peers?
Those whose lifespans were nearly exhausted and who had little hope of advancing were especially eager to do things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.
Xu Guan, as the youngest Unblemished Realm cultivator, had the misfortune of having no particularly bad reputation. That had long since made many people dissatisfied.
Even if Elder Yao hadn’t gone to the Inquiry God Sect, countless cultivators who had suffered at Xu Guan’s hands in the past would have come knocking sooner or later.
In particular, Xu Guan’s former senior brother from the Longevity Dao Sect, Qin Ruoshan, had already decided to frame him as someone attempting to break through to the Mahayana Realm.
“Perhaps what Xu Guan likes is the spirit of the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book from the Inquiry God Sect.” A refined-looking cultivator suddenly offered a new theory. “Think about it carefully. Xu Guan spends every day in the Inquiry God Sect. How many members of the demon race could he possibly have met? But a Book Spirit is different. It is said that spirits are born from the workings of Heaven and Earth, and every spirit’s human form is extraordinary, unlike that of an ordinary person. Surely it must look like a celestial being. Xu Guan grew up in the Inquiry God Sect, and he and that spirit have been together day and night. If the spirit of the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book discovered his feelings, it definitely wouldn’t be able to accept them.”
“What? That theory of yours… I’d say it might actually be true.”
“Exactly, exactly. Most demon cultivators are crude, and some can’t even conceal their own demonic features. No matter how unusual Xu Guan’s tastes are, he shouldn’t like them.”
“Hahaha, so that’s how it is! It all makes sense now!”
“There’s no such thing as a perfect cultivator in this world. Even Xu Guan can’t be an exception, can he?”
…
After gossiping to their heart’s content, these cultivators were satisfied, and wished only that they could immediately seek out more friends and gossip with them.
The cultivators who were acquainted with Qin Ruoshan in particular were eager to question him in detail about the relationship between Xu Guan and the spirit of the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book back when they had both been in the Inquiry God Sect.
At that moment, Qin Ruoshan had already made every possible preparation.
He had realized that this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Xu Guan.
In the past, whenever he wanted to make a move against Xu Guan, the Longevity Dao Sect had always been unable to make up its mind. At first, he hadn’t understood why. Only after making inquiries from various sources did he learn that the Longevity Dao Sect still possessed the legendary Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book.
Thinking of this, Qin Ruoshan felt even more certain that leaving the sect had been the right decision.
Back then, his long-dead master hadn’t revealed even half a word to him about the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book.
That proved that the Inquiry God Sect had treated him unfairly from the beginning!
Now, all he had to do was find a way to convince the Longevity Dao Sect that Xu Guan was attempting to break through to the Mahayana Realm. Then the Longevity Dao Sect and the cultivators of the other sects would naturally attack Xu Guan.
When that happened, he could seize the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book as well.
After that, he would have nothing left to worry about.
Over the years, Qin Ruoshan had struggled desperately just to maintain his Unblemished Realm cultivation.
If not for the countless heavenly treasures supplied by the family he had married into, he would have already fallen back to the Grotto-Heaven Realm.
Qin Ruoshan knew very well that Xu Guan was his inner demon.
As long as Xu Guan remained alive, he would never be able to truly stabilize his Unblemished Realm cultivation.
This was not merely a personal grudge between the two of them. It also concerned his future progress in cultivation.
However, when Qin Ruoshan reported to the sect that Xu Guan was attempting to break through to the Mahayana Realm, not only was his report rejected, but he was also surrounded by a group of cultivators asking him, “How was Xu Guan’s relationship with the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book?”
Qin Ruoshan was utterly baffled.
“Their relationship should have been good, I suppose. When I was in the Inquiry God Sect, I had never even heard of the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book.”
“Ah, there it is!”
“It all makes sense now. Everything fits!”
What was supposed to make sense?
Qin Ruoshan was completely confused. He also felt that the emotions of the Unblemished Realm cultivators surrounding him were rather strange.
“You didn’t lose unfairly.”
“Tsk, tsk. Those of you from the Inquiry God Sect really are something else.”
…
In the cultivation world, the vast majority of cultivators had always heard only the names of those lofty Unblemished Realm cultivators, never actually seeing them in person.
Let alone Unblemished Realm cultivators—even Grotto-Heaven Realm cultivators were rarely seen.
For an ordinary cultivator, merely meeting a Dao Infant Realm cultivator was enough to give them something to boast about for more than half a year.
However, as all kinds of wars, both large and small, gradually began to erupt throughout the cultivation world, and the various sects started crushing one another, cultivators finally discovered that so many accomplished experts had been hiding in the shadows all along.
Every day, new aristocratic clans joined the alliance, while quite a few sects fell.
Some fled into exile, while others seized the opportunity to rise.
Some remained true to their principles, while others betrayed their oaths.
The complexity of human nature only needed a small war to be revealed in all its ugliness.
Amid this tense situation, a rumor concerning the youngest cultivator in the Immaculate Realm was quietly spreading.
“What? Xu Guan is having an affair with some senior from his own sect?”
“What? That senior from the Inquire-the-Dao Sect isn’t even human?”
“Huh? Do cultivators in the Immaculate Realm get this wild?”
“Wait, Xu Guan and Qin Ruoshan fell out because of unrequited love? They both fell for the same inhuman entity?”
“Good heavens… This is simply horrifying!”
…
The rumors grew more and more outrageous, with all kinds of versions emerging one after another.
Everyone was concerned only with whom Xu Guan was in love with. Almost no one cared where he had actually gone.
Of course, some perceptive people could tell that this was merely a smokescreen. Xu Guan was probably concealing something. But then again, there were plenty of ways to hide his whereabouts. There was no need to use such a self-destructive method that would kill a thousand enemies at the cost of losing ten thousand of his own. Thus, even they found the matter difficult to believe.
The Hehuan Demon Sect.
“Xu Guan is in love with the artifact spirit of his own sect? No wonder you came back empty-handed back then, Xiao Ran.”
“This Xu Guan… Is it really true? Even if he’s trying to break into the Mahayana stage, there’s no need to go this far.”
The Hehuan Demon Sect already had an ancestor at the Earthly Immortal realm presiding over it, so whether or not they had a Mahayana cultivator was of little importance.
The Hehuan Sect’s cultivation method had always been a typical example of rapid progress in the early stages and slow advancement in the later ones.
That was because, the further Hehuan Sect cultivators progressed, the more powerful a person they had to drain in order to improve their cultivation. The problem was that those with profound cultivation were usually extremely self-disciplined and steadfast in their Dao hearts. They rarely ventured out into the world, so who would willingly let themselves be drained?
As a result, Hehuan Sect cultivators generally reached the Immaculate Realm at most.
Most of them remained in the Dao Nascent Soul or Grotto-Heaven realms.
A Grotto-Heaven cultivator like Fairy Mochou was already one of the most outstanding disciples the Hehuan Demon Sect had produced in the past thousand years.
As for Luo Zhiran, even after taking the Hehuan Ancestor as her master, her cultivation had remained stuck at the peak of the Grotto-Heaven realm, unable to advance any further.
Back then, she had attempted to drain Xu Guan and use him to reach the Immaculate Realm, only to return in defeat. Even after draining other young cultivators, she had still been unable to cross that final threshold. To this day, she had yet to achieve the Immaculate Realm.
“Xu Guan once said that he would only take a fancy to a cultivator who had spent three hundred years in the Immaculate Realm.” Luo Zhiran’s voice was as clear as an oriole’s and as gentle as a spring breeze. Her voice, appearance, and temperament were all exactly what male cultivators dreamed of. “This is most likely false information that someone deliberately released. That also means he is probably truly attempting to break into the Mahayana stage.”
“Surely the other sects can see through it?”
“It’s not that they can’t see through it. They’re waiting for someone else to make the first move.” Luo Zhiran replied calmly. “No matter what, the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book is an artifact spirit comparable to an Earthly Immortal. If they act too early, they’ll only end up trying to steal the chicken and losing the rice. There can only be two Immaculate Realm cultivators who successfully break into the Mahayana stage. One of them—the foremost of the Nine Sons of Longevity—already possesses the potential to become a Mahayana cultivator. He has merely been stuck at his current realm because there is no available position for him to advance into. Everyone knows this perfectly well. Of the two newly ascended Mahayana cultivators, one of them is certain to be him.
“Xu Guan is still young, and the Inquire-the-Dao Sect lacks resources. The odds of his successfully breaking into the Mahayana stage are already vanishingly small. If no one acts, the best outcome is for him to fail on his own. If, by some stroke of luck, Xu Guan really does cross that boundary between life and death and break into the Mahayana stage, it won’t be too late to attack him when the heavenly tribulation descends.”
Thus, when it came to rumors about Xu Guan, those sects not only refrained from stopping them, but actively fanned the flames.
Once Xu Guan’s Mahayana heavenly tribulation descended, they could conveniently pin a crime on him and strike directly, cutting off every last chance of survival he had. Wouldn’t that be even better?
So what if they gave him a little time in the early stages?
Rather than keeping their eyes fixed on Xu Guan, it was more worthwhile to watch the other cultivators in the Immaculate Realm.
The clever ones all understood this perfectly. Only fools who couldn’t see through the situation would truly believe that everyone had been misled by the rumors.
The release of such news was nothing more than an attempt to buy time.
“You really do see through everything.” A Hehuan Sect cultivator sighed. “Xiao Ran, when will you finally reach the Immaculate Realm? The cultivation world is about to descend into chaos. Although our Hehuan Sect has the Ancestor presiding over it, we have far too few cultivators in the Immaculate Realm. The other Immaculate Realm elders don’t have much of their lifespans left.”
If Luo Zhiran failed to break through soon, the Hehuan Sect would have no successors in the Immaculate Realm.
“Soon.” Luo Zhiran replied indifferently. “Once Xu Guan is attacked while attempting to break into the Mahayana stage, the resources of his Inquire-the-Dao Sect won’t be enough to withstand a joint assault from the orthodox sects and the demon sects. At that point, the attention of all the other orthodox and demon sects will be focused on the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book. We have no need for such a thing. You only need to help me seize Xu Guan’s body. Whether his primordial spirit still exists or not is irrelevant. I only need to absorb his entire cultivation, and I will certainly be able to reach the Immaculate Realm.”
The Hehuan Sect cultivator nodded. That was indeed the case.
They were only after Xu Guan’s body. It shouldn’t be much of a problem.
At that moment, Xu Guan, who was in secluded cultivation, had no idea what the outside world had become.
His cultivation had long since stabilized. For so many years, he had traveled throughout the world, earning spirit stones to support his disciples. There was practically nothing wrong with either his state of mind or his cultivation. On the rare occasions when problems did arise, the Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book’s urging quickly helped him correct them.
Now, all he needed to do was survive the tribulation of the Three Winds and Four Fires and successfully endure the Mahayana heavenly tribulation. Once he did, he would naturally enter the Mahayana stage.
The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book’s true body was naturally there beside him to protect him as well.
However, before long, impenetrably dense clouds appeared across the heavens and earth outside. The territory of the Longevity Dao Sect in particular was shrouded in clouds so dark that it seemed as though night had fallen.
The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book stirred slightly and looked toward the sky.
At that moment, Shu Xin was also lying down with his sword in his arms, gazing at the heavens.
[Someone has already survived the Three Winds and Four Fires and triggered the Mahayana heavenly tribulation.] The Sword Spirit couldn’t help sighing. [Judging from the direction, it should be the Longevity Dao Sect. The foremost of the Nine Sons of Longevity really is impressive. He has broken through and triggered the Mahayana heavenly tribulation so quickly.]
“The Longevity Dao Sect is already at the height of its power. The other orthodox sects and demon sects won’t let them gain another Mahayana cultivator so easily.” Shu Xin saw through the situation clearly. “Jingzhi has been waiting for this opportunity for so many years. It’s finally here.”
The aura of the heavenly tribulation grew increasingly oppressive.
Situ Jian slowly raised his head to look at the sky. For once, a trace of a smile appeared at the corners of his lips.
The time had come!
