59 - A Sect Leader’s Ascension

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another year had passed, bringing with it the height of summer. It was now the third year since they arrived at Heihe. The "Heihe Market" no longer opened periodically but was transformed into the daily bustling "Heihe Square," significantly boosting their income. Even before the pig-fish harvest, the Zhao family had long repaid their debts and had scattered seeds of the "Black-Hearted Lotus" throughout Heihe several times. Nowadays, each member of the Chu Qin Sect had their own area of expertise, and even the mortal servants gradually adapted to their new environment. They managed daily affairs with increasing skill, allowing everyone in the sect to live more leisurely and freely. Qi Xiu spent most of his time behind closed doors, cultivating. Occasionally, he would draw some "Life-Concealing Talismans" to lighten his mood. He only ventured out during the festive seasons to deliver gifts to the surrounding factions. The affairs of "Heihe Square" were handed over to Zhan Yuan, while Yu Denuo and Zhang Shishi took on teaching and enforcement. Except for the busy day of pig-fish sowing once a year, he was essentially a hands-off manager, living quite contentedly. "The flowers on the mountain are blooming more beautifully than ever. They used to grow somewhat haphazardly, but this year you can see some order to it. You have skilled people here," Kan Lin finished his teachings and chatted warmly with Qi Xiu. Nowadays, besides He Yu, Yu Denuo, and Zhang Shishi, Qi Xiu and Gu Ji would also attend his lectures whenever he visited. They found his teachings immensely beneficial. Qi Xiu's demeanor gradually underwent a subtle transformation, becoming more and more like the true leader of a Taoist sect. With this peace of mind, the few strands of gray in his hair returned to a glossy black, and he appeared healthier. He Yu chimed in, "Recently, we've had an experienced gardener from the Qin family managing the gardens. He was quite famous back in Qi Yun City. Shall I have him spruce up your abode as well?" At seventeen, He Yu had grown taller, becoming more handsome and confident—a promising young cultivator, revered as the pride of the Chu Qin Sect, standing on the verge of breaking through the second barrier of Qi Refinement. "Hahaha," Kan Lin, who placed high hopes on He Yu, felt gratified at his words, waved his hand with a smile, and said, "My place is just a humble abode compared to your grand Black River Peak. Let's leave it be." Even though Kan Lin's abode was a humble affair, everyone knew he was jesting, and they all laughed. As they gathered around Kan Lin in friendly conversation, a sudden rush of wind was heard outside, growing louder and making the temperature inside the hall seemingly rise. Kan Lin expressed mild surprise, "It seems to be coming from the west. Let's go see..." Before he could finish, a howling gust roared in, smashing the stone roof of the Chu Qin Temple with a deafening crash. A blistering hot wind surged in, enveloping everyone as if they were trapped in a river of molten lava, their skin sizzling painfully. Caught unawares by this sudden catastrophe, Qi Xiu was still trying to grasp the situation when a sharp snort echoed from the center of the hall, as if a thunderbolt crashed upon their spirits, leaving their souls and minds trembling. He went limp, straining to look toward the source of the sound, only to see a woman in a red palace gown had somehow appeared in the hall. When he tried to speak, he found himself mute. "Sen...ior..." Kan Lin, equally overwhelmed, barely managed to utter two words toward the woman before his face turned red, unable to say more. Though the woman stood nearby, her facial features remained indistinct, instilling an eerily terrifying sensation, her power even more fearsome. Just gazing at her felt as if one's soul was being roasted over flames, inflicting an indescribable agony that made one wish for death. Her every movement seemed to shed sparks, and the hot waves emanating from her presence threatened to incinerate everything, even the stones of the Chu Qin Temple seemed ready to melt. Qi Xiu couldn't fathom how he had offended such a grim reaper, his mind echoing with only two words, "It's over." He looked up at the exposed and empty roof of Chu Qin Temple, where the sky appeared ablaze in blood-red flames. "It’s over. My hard-earned foundation destroyed in an instant." The woman's gaze swept over the people inside Chu Qin Temple without any visible action, tossing a blue-covered book towards Kan Lin, the highest among them in cultivation. He was thrown backward, rolling several times before hitting the stone wall and falling unconscious, his life or death uncertain. "Speak! Where did this book come from?" The woman's voice, filled with rage, seemed to thunder down from the heavens, hurting the ears of those present. Witnessing Kan Lin's plight, He Yu, who was treated as a son by him, was filled with grief and anxiety, crawling desperately to get closer to his side, making anguished noises. "Feigning death!?" Seeing Kan Lin pass out, the woman's gaze turned to others in the hall, selecting Qi Xiu with a swift grab. Qi Xiu felt an overpowering force lift him, drawing him towards the woman. As he landed beside her, a delicate hand touched his crown, an immense suction pulling at his soul. "Is this... soul-searching!?" Reminded of the soul-searching technique from Daoist texts, Qi Xiu was struck with the terror and despair of impending doom. Yet, his body remained beyond control, helpless under her power. "Hm?" Although his soul shuddered under the pull, it somehow resisted being extracted. The woman, mildly surprised, followed with a burst of spiritual energy aimed into Qi Xiu's sea of consciousness. "The Red-Tailed Horse Monkey? Such a natal soul?" she murmured, seemingly to herself in disbelief. She then slammed Qi Xiu to the floor, releasing the restriction on him, demanding coldly, "Given your peculiar natal soul's resistance to soul-searching, you must bear some fortune. I won’t make it hard for you today. Speak! Who in Heihe created this book?" The blue-covered book that had struck Kan Lin suddenly appeared before Qi Xiu. "It’s, it’s." Feeling a lightness return to his limbs and his voice free once more, Qi Xiu, not pausing to wonder why he withstood the soul-searching, hastily picked up the book for inspection. "The 'Northern Gazetteer of Things' by Bai Xiaosheng?" The unfamiliar title left Qi Xiu perplexed; he had never seen it before. Upon opening it, he found it an ordinary gazetteer, documenting various geographic and local items of Qi Yun, Nan Chu, and the Beast-Taming Sects. The content was unremarkable, lacking detail and containing several inaccuracies. Finally, he reached a section titled 'The Legend of Chu Hongshang,' an account of the Nan Chu Sect's ancestor. It described her romantic entanglements with a handsome youth in Qi Yun Sect during her time as a Golden Core cultivator and her subsequent rebellion following familial opposition. The narrative of their intimate relationship was shockingly explicit, as if witnessed firsthand. The book's final page contained a note, added by an unknown hand, reading 'Purchased at Heihe on X date.' Having read all this, Qi Xiu inwardly cursed the author and the note writer's ancestors, words that endangered both themselves and others. His Chu Qin Sect suffered unjustly, implicated in this baseless calamity—truly an undeserved grievance! With this, the identity of the red-gowned woman in the hall became apparent. Scrambling forward in a crawl, Qi Xiu cried, "Ancestor, I beg your wisdom! This book has no connection to Chu Qin Sect!" The woman retorted angrily, "I don't care about ties! Who wrote this?" Qi Xiu thought frantically, "How would I know such a thing?" He dared not voice such defiance, so he conjectured, "Given the book's northern theme, it’s likely penned by a White Mountain cultivator from the south. I’m unfamiliar with White Mountain figures but know of a White Mountain-origin cultivator in our sect. I beg the ancestor to lift his restrictions so he might respond." He then pointed to Yu Denuo, prone on the floor. Unimpressed, the woman released her hold with a wave. Yu Denuo, fully conscious yet silenced and immobilized, hastened to kneel before the woman upon feeling the freedom, having taken the book from Qi Xiu's hands for a quick review. He reported, "To inform the ancestor, this book was penned by Bai Xiaosheng, a rogue cultivator of White Mountain, although I do not know his real name." "Oh? Do you have proof?" "Ancestor, though White Mountain has many sects with diverse territories and taboos, the geography books are well-liked yet risky to publish due to offending others—anonymity is often chosen. Back then, a cultivator known as ‘The Omniscient Elder’ wrote the most respected geography books. In recent years, Bai Xiaosheng’s works have become popular, famed less for thorough research but for storytelling ability, becoming best sellers. Such books, common in White Mountain, are everywhere sold; someone might have bought it at Heihe Square, hence the note." "I see, then I have wrongly accused you," the woman’s tone softened briefly before turning grim. "Hmph! That Bai Xiaosheng—I will dig the ground to find you!" With that, in a gust, she vanished like a whirlwind toward the southern White Mountain, leaving a sky ablaze with red clouds that raced away.