492 - A Sect Leader’s Ascension

Chapter 492: Absolute Truth Gu Tan slowly awoke to find himself lying on the soft bedding of his home in the Hai Men Island cave dwelling. The faint and soothing scent of sandalwood wafted to his nose, notifying him that Mingzhen was taking care of him. As he attempted to struggle to his feet, a piercing pain erupted from every part of his body. "What is this?" Channeling his spiritual energy to inspect himself, he discovered his body was covered in sword wounds, resembling a sieve full of holes. "Who would strike so viciously?" He desperately tried to remember but couldn't recall anything. "It was my master who saved you." Sensing his return to consciousness, Mingzhen gracefully appeared beside his bed, handing him a few healing pills. "But given the number of stabs she gave you, she might have had some personal vengeance mixed in," she said with a chuckle. "Your master? Qi Zhuang? She should be considered our peer now; just call her senior sister." Gu Tan replied truthfully at first, then sighed with a look of gratitude, "Next time I get the chance, I must thank her in person." "You sound just like what she said." Watching Gu Tan's complexion improve after taking the pills, Mingzhen felt relieved. "But she holds grudges. The incident from back then..." Mingzhen referred to the events on Beiding Mountain. At that time, Gu Tan had incited Jiang Mingrong to hide deep in the mountain path to avoid battle, which led to Qin Weiyu and Kan Que dying at the hands of ghost cultivators. Since then, Qi Zhuang had held a strong dislike for the pair of them. "It's been nearly a century..." Gu Tan frowned, feeling helpless. "Self-preservation is human nature. Back then, I was just a loose cultivator with no obligation to fight to the death for anyone." He recalled how, later, he was taken in and trusted by Qi Xiu when he had nowhere to go. "I have nothing to be ashamed of regarding that incident on Beiding Mountain, only the gratitude for our sect leader’s kindness, which I can only repay with my life." "Oh?" Mingzhen laughed, asking, "Was that the truth or a lie?" "Guess." Gu Tan blinked. "Did you know? The sect rules require that the elder position in Chu Qin Sect must be held by a core disciple who has achieved the Golden Core stage. Currently, there are you, Senior Sister Qi Zhuang, Gu Tiesheng, and Qin Changfeng. According to the rules, the elders can convene to appoint or dismiss the sect leader. As long as three out of you four agree, you could remove him with a vote of three to two, even counting his own vote." "What are you planning?" Mingzhen exclaimed in shock. "I wasn't born into the inner sect; what could I possibly plan?" Gu Tan met her gaze. "I don't worry about Senior Sister Qi Zhuang. I just wanted to remind you not to be used by others to commit rebellious acts." Hearing the caution in his words, Mingzhen couldn't help but giggle, "Do you think I'm that kind of person who would do such things?" "You and I are different." Gu Tan was earnest and straightforward. "Your pursuit of goodness in human nature is higher than mine or even Senior Sister Qi Zhuang's. Perhaps in the future, you may disagree with us and wish to change something..." “Aren’t our goals aligned? I heard we've already invited a monk from the Order of Justice to serve as inspector, recruited several former Qi Yun disciples for instruction and law enforcement, and even changed the children's education to righteous methods. Everything is turning in a good direction,” Mingzhen expressed some confusion. "That's pragmatic." Gu Tan understood Qi Xiu's intentions well and wanted to give them a touch of cold reality beforehand. “We’re aligning with righteousness because it’s beneficial, nothing more. It’s not because our consciences awoke or because we were inspired by some great virtue. You’ve seen what happened with the Long family — when the time comes to do something unsavory, I wouldn't have any psychological barriers, nor would the sect leader." “So...” Taking advantage of the moment Mingzhen paused to think, Gu Tan grasped her hand. “About this, you absolutely need to be honest with me. We must have an understanding first if we’re going to go through life together.” “Go live your own nonsense!” Caught off-guard by his directness, Mingzhen shook off his dirty hand, blushing and fleeing in disarray. "You should focus on stabilizing your cultivation—stop spouting so much truth!" she tossed over her shoulder as she left. “Don’t rush off!” Gu Tan called out from his bed. “I’ve been living on Hai Men Island for decades and am quite sick of it. I was thinking of heading back to Siguo Mountain to take a look!” ... Meanwhile, on the other side, Nangong Yanran was in the sect leader’s secret chamber, complaining incessantly. “That Gu Tan has been idling in the fourth-tier cave dwelling on Hai Men Island for decades, always taking a large sum of spirit stones from the sect every year. Master, you should do something about it.” In the aftermath of the battle with the Long family, the Chu Qin Sect had gained far less than expected. Qi Xiu believed the main reason was the Long family’s unity — as long as a sect was willing to give their lives without leaving a single thing to their enemies, others would think twice before attacking. This wasn't a matter of battlefield errors, so Qi Xiu spoke in defense of Gu Tan and tossed a storage bag he had retrieved from the ambushed scholar over to Nangong Yanran. “I took the Wujin Treasure Inkstone for my personal use from the fourth-tier items inside, but there’s also the Third-Tier Juijing Scripture, a Confucian method that can be cultivated to the initial Nascent Soul stage. It should be added to our sect’s secret library as a legacy. Clear out the other items; they should offset some of the losses from this operation.” Nangong Yanran's attention was indeed diverted. After opening the storage bag and carefully evaluating the items for a while, she muttered to herself, “Roughly worth about seventy to eighty thousand third-tier items. With the inkstone and scripture, it’s worth it.” Her expression shifted from cloudy to clear, satisfied as she took her leave, leaving to organize the inventory. “We lost a Gong family member who was acting as our inside man. Go convey my apologies to Chu Zhuangmian and prepare a substantial compensation gift!” Having issued his instructions, Qi Xiu sighed softly, setting everything aside to immerse himself in his cultivation endeavors. ... Elsewhere, deep within the Awakening Lion Valley, Huo Guan was on the brink of death. “I beg you, give me some soul power replenishment. I still have much to say; I’ll tell you everything!” His soul was now reduced to a faint mist, seemingly ready to be blown away by the breeze, making communication with the lion increasingly difficult. Or perhaps, the old lion had given up on him, for it had fallen silent — the first pause in its relentless questioning that had continued for decades. “Please, ask me, whatever you want; I'll tell you the whole truth, I beg you…” Subjected to decades of slow and unending depletion, his soul power drained away like an extraction, reducing him from a dignified Nascent Soul demonic beast cultivator to a pitiful wretch desperately begging for life. “I taught you so much false knowledge; I’ll tell you everything.” He pleaded with every remaining ounce of his soul’s strength. “Heh, no rush. You can endure a few more years.” Suddenly, a new voice, young and cold, resonated in his ears. “The old lion?” Huo Guan jolted, “Who are you?” he sent out a mental probe. “I am still me.” In the purely mental realm, where decades of monotony had reigned, the light and shadows fluctuated as a humanoid figure slowly materialized. Silver hair, reminiscent of a grass nest, adorned its round, middle-aged human face. Its stout figure wore a long, furry, earth-colored robe. Three whisker-like long hairs curled up on each side of its cheeks, mirrored by a lengthy tail that flicked behind it. “You’ve mastered the art of transformation!?” Seeing the figure's appearance, Huo Guan realized it was the old lion in disguise, leaving him utterly stunned. “Yes, the art of transformation.” The humanoid phantom spun with delight. “Sadly, as an ancient beast, I cannot take a human form.” “How do you know!?” Huo Guan’s soul body roared. He had never imparted any shape-changing knowledge, and what he feared finally came. If one day, this immensely intelligent ancient beast blended into the human world... “Thanks to you, I learned how to learn,” Old Lion said, extending his large hand as storage bags dropped to the ground. “Why didn’t you tell me humans could record knowledge in inanimate objects? This makes learning much faster.” Scrolls and jade slips floated from the storage bags, revolving around the old lion’s phantom and turning page by page leisurely. The old lion watched them with leisure, occasionally making gestures as if imitating them. “From the adventurers, I presume?” Recognizing unfamiliar texts among the covers, ones presumably salvaged from fallen demon cultivators in the Lion’s Valley, Huo Guan grew desperate. “Some of these must not be learned! If you want to learn, I shall teach you the Ho family’s inherited, fundamental Beast Control Sect scripture — these are forbidden to you!” “Liar.” The old lion flicked a mental blow towards Huo Guan, making him writhe in pain. “You’ve already admitted your words are filled with lies, so why should I trust you!” “I speak the truth, I absolutely speak the truth!” Huo Guan continued to cry and howl in agony. “Please, don’t learn from these...” (To be continued)