Pingling Yao and Jin Qingqiu remained silent after hearing Yuan Wo’s words. Although they had not participated in the matter, their ancestors had.
The sect masters walking in front didn’t turn around, perhaps because they didn’t hear, or perhaps because they heard but didn’t know how to answer.
Luo Kui and Zhu Yan were both visiting Fuguang Mountain for the first time. They looked at the thick snow beneath their feet and the snowflakes that landed on their palms and were melting very slowly. They felt the cold seep into their hearts from the soles of their feet. Under the gaze of those lifeless puppets, they felt an unspeakable sense of loneliness and fear.
Hearing Yuan Wo’s voice, they couldn’t help but slow down and walk with Jiu Hui and the others.
“This…” Luo Kui had just opened her mouth when a cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed in, choking her and making her cough repeatedly.
As head disciples, they were talented and cultivated, and they had companions, yet they still felt the loneliness and coldness of this place. So, how did Immortal Lord Fuguang, who had grown up here since childhood, feel?
This was not an immortal palace at all, but a prison made of ice and snow.
The closer they got to the palace, the more puppets approached them. Yuan Wo got goosebumps all over his body as those dim, lifeless eyes stared at them.
The puppets clearly had no life, but their eyes made people extremely uncomfortable.
Luo Kui’s heart ached as she witnessed these scenes. Changshou Palace practiced medicine and saved lives, and its members were compassionate. She could not fathom how her grandmaster had agreed to abandon the newborn Immortal Lord Fuguang in such a place.
Nothing grew in the soil, and no trees could survive. All that could be seen were wind and snow.
The sect masters stopped in front of the gate of Fuguang Palace, requesting to meet the Immortal Lord.
The cold wind howled, and the palace gate remained closed. Only a red lantern hanging in front of the palace gate swayed with the wind.
That was Fuguang Mountain, the only bright splash of red.
“Since you’re here to apologize, you should have the proper attitude.” Pingling Yao said, “Forgive this junior but I ask that Immortal Venerable Bu kneel and apologize.”
The Fourth Elder was unwilling. “Why must the Qinglan School be so aggressive?”
“As the head disciple of the Qinglan School, I must speak for the greater good,” Pingling Yao remained unmoved. “Immortal Venerable Bu killed the young City Lord of Manxiang City and should be punished. We can’t make an exception for him just because he’s the former head of the Jiutian Sect.”
“Or perhaps, does the Fourth Elder believe that the Jiutian Sect is different from everyone else, and can rise above all the other cultivators in the cultivation world?” Pingling Yao’s words were sharp. “As long as you admit this in front of everyone, this junior will definitely not say another word.”
The Fourth Elder certainly did not dare to admit to this statement.
The Second Elder and Third Elder, who were also accompanying them, looked at Bu Ting without saying a word.
“Oops, it was this junior’s fault.” Jiu Hui, who had been silent the whole way, suddenly spoke up. “This junior forgot to release the immobilization talismans on Immortal Venerable Bu.”
Jiu Hui pushed through the crowd and walked up to Bu Ting. Instead of immediately removing the talismans from him, she explained to everyone, “After the incident in Manxiang City was exposed, Immortal Venerable Bu said that he didn’t want to die at the hands of ordinary people, so he planned to self-destruct his spiritual platform and die. This junior thought that no matter what mistakes Immortal Venerable Bu had made, how could we let an Immortal Venerable seek death before the matter had been fully investigated?”
“If someone who doesn’t know the truth hears that the Immortal Venerable self-destructed and thinks that we forced him to his death, wouldn’t that just cause us more trouble?” Jiu Hui’s gaze swept over everyone, finally landing on the Fourth Elder. “Elder, you must understand what I mean, right?”
The Fourth Elder snorted coldly and said nothing.
Jiu Hui pinched a hand sign, took away the talismans attached to Bu Ting’s body, reached out to “support” Bu Ting’s arm, and made him kneel down.
“Immortal Venerable.” Jiu Hui squatted down, her eyes level with Bu Ting’s. “I hope Immortal Venerable can truly repent and make up for the mistakes you have made.”
Bu Ting looked at the face that was so close to his, and found that it was extremely unfamiliar. She and Mu Qi didn’t have much resemblance.
“What do you want me to do?” Bu Ting asked.carpreads.pages.dev
Jiu Hui shook her head. “I won’t force the Immortal Venerable to do something against his will, because the path is his own, and whether the end of the road is flowers or a cliff is also his own.”
At that moment, the palace doors slowly opened. The crowd saw Fuguang standing in front of the palace doors, wearing a silver mask. Only then did they suddenly remember that they had not worn masks when they came this time.
Fuguang glanced at the people who were hurriedly putting on masks and said calmly, “I already know what you look like. Wouldn’t it be self-deception to put on masks again?”
The sect masters of the ten major sects held masks in their hands, their expressions somewhat awkward. For a moment, they neither put them on nor took them off.
“Junior Pingling Yao of the Qinglan School pays her respects to the Immortal Lord.” Pingling Yao knelt on one knee and performed a grand bow.
The juniors followed suit and quickly knelt down to pay their respects.
“No need to be so polite.” Fuguang raised his finger slightly, and the juniors found that they could not kneel down. They were shocked. The Immortal Lord had only moved his finger, and they were unable to move. How profound was the Immortal Lord’s cultivation?
Jiu Hui straightened her knees and rubbed against her master’s back standing behind her.
“I have already learned the course of events.”
Despite the mask, no one could see Fuguang’s expression. They only felt as if they had been seen through by the Immortal Lord.
“I have lived here since birth, asking nothing of the world, and knowing nothing of the world. I have never participated in your sect’s affairs.” Fuguang walked out of the palace gate. The puppets that had been motionless until now seemed to have been awakened at this moment. Like wriggling worms, they swarmed over densely.
The juniors turned pale by this scene. Were these puppets used to protect the Immortal Lord or to monitor him?
“Immortal Lord, you cannot leave the Divine Palace without permission.”
“Immortal Lord, you cannot leave the Divine Palace without permission.”
Amidst the lifeless, monotonous voices, Fuguang ignored the puppets surrounding him and walked straight to the people of the Jiutian Sect.
He was dressed in a white immortal robe, and as he walked, he seemed to blend in with the wind and snow.
Bu Ting raised his head and looked into the eyes under Fuguang’s mask, then his gaze moved down to Fuguang’s wrist.
The wide sleeves concealed Fuguang’s hands, so he couldn’t see clearly whether there was still a bracelet on the other person’s wrist.
“I originally thought that after the Sect Master had been taught a lesson, you would know what respect is. I never thought that you, who are in charge of the entire sect, still wouldn’t understand.” Fuguang stretched out his right hand, revealing a fair wrist. There was an additional Soul-Swallowing Stone in his palm.
“I wonder if Sect Master Bu is familiar with this Soul-Swallowing Stone?” Fuguang handed the stone to Bu Ting.
Jiu Hui’s eyes flashed with a hint of worry, but she relaxed when she saw that Fuguang was unaffected by the Soul-Swallowing Stone.
Upon seeing the Soul-Swallowing Stone, Bu Ting’s expression changed slightly.
The others also noticed something wrong with Bu Ting. They looked at the stone in the Immortal Lord’s palm, wondering how such an evil thing could exist on Fuguang Mountain.
“This stone was brought to Fuguang Mountain by a cultivator who also told me that Sect Master Bu used this stone to activate a forbidden technique more than a decade ago.” Fuguang placed the stone in front of Bu Ting. Even when mentioning such a shocking event, his emotions remained eerily calm. “Does Sect Master Bu have any explanations?”
“Immortal Lord, how could Bu Ting have such an evil thing…”
“I did indeed use the Soul-Swallowing Stone to activate a forbidden technique nineteen years ago.” Bu Ting’s words caused the Fourth Elder, who was helping him argue his case, to widen his eyes in disbelief.
From childhood, Bu Ting had been kind and upright, willing to fall and break his head to save just a crane. How could he have done such a thing?
Bu Ting ignored the Fourth Elder’s thoughts as he stood up from the ground. “Because the Ten Great Cauldrons won’t last another five hundred years.”
The others present frowned. What did Immortal Venerable Bu mean by that?
“We need to find a new generation of the Immortal Tree.”
“Hiss.” Yuan Wo gasped and muttered in a low voice, “The Immortal Tree isn’t garlic chives. You can’t just cut it once and expect it to grow back.”
Jiu Hui turned her head and glanced at him twice. Why did he mention garlic chives for no reason? He was so ignorant. Only garlic chives that couldn’t cultivate would be harvested by others. Garlic chives that had cultivated would only harvest others.
“Of course the Immortal Tree isn’t garlic chives.” Bu Ting heard Yuan Wo’s words and continued his train of thought. “When old wood dies, new wood grows. However, neither the Zhenxing Tower nor the Wenxing School can calculate the location of the new generation of Immortal Tree, so I can only use this method.”
“So, have you found it?” The Sect Master of Wenxing School asked. His tone was not very good, as if he did not quite believe Bu Ting’s words.
“No,” Bu Ting looked up at the sky and said, “There is a secret covering it. The Soul-Swallowing Formation cannot summon the soul of the new generation of the Immortal Tree, nor can it sense its trace.”
“But the storybooks outside all say that the Immortal Venerable was very regretful and sad after Mu Qi died. You set up this Soul-Swallowing Formation, maybe not to find a new generation of Immortal Tree, but to summon the soul of the previous generation of Immortal Tree.”
Everyone silently looked at Jiu Hui, who had spoken.
The younger generation was still bold and open-minded, asking all the questions they had in their hearts.
As their elders, even if they had doubts, it was not appropriate to ask about the contents of the storybook, as it would make them seem less serious.
“Mu Qi is dead, so how could the Soul-Swallowing Stones summon her soul?” Bu Ting said expressionlessly. “Miss Jiu Hui, please don’t take such words seriously.”
“Oh, so even an Immortal Venerable reads storybooks.” Jiu Hui said sarcastically. “I thought an Immortal Venerable like you would be above such things.”
Everyone: “…”
With Immortal Lord Fuguang present, even if Bu Ting was furious, he wouldn’t be taking action against a junior, right?
“You did such matter, Immortal Venerable Bu. Anyway, no one knows the real reason you used forbidden techniques except yourself.” Jiu Hui muttered softly, “You said it was to find a new Immortal Tree, but you don’t have any clue where it is. Then if someone becomes sworn brothers with the yaos, and eats and drinks with the Demon King, can they also say that they are trying to make friends with the three clans for the cultivation world?”
Yuan Wo looked at Jiu Hui with admiration, “Big Sister, you really know how to be sarcastic.”
“Even though, Immortal Venerable, you forced your old friend to her death, schemed against cultivators, used the common people as bait, and secretly used forbidden techniques, as long as you don’t admit to your mistakes, then you’re not wrong.” Jiu Hui nodded. “Junior has been taught.”
“This junior has also been taught.” Pingling Yao nodded in agreement.
“In that case, this junior has also benefited greatly.” Jin Qingqiu stood up.
Yuan Wo dared not speak, but he silently took a small step towards Jiu Hui to show his support for her.
The people of the Jiutian Sect looked extremely embarrassed. After the Fourth Elder learned that Bu Ting had used a forbidden technique, he stopped talking. The Second Elder and Third Elder hung their heads in shame and could not bring themselves to speak.
“Bu-mou never thought that everything I did was right, but I believe that these things were worth doing, and I never regretted them.” Bu Ting looked at Fuguang. “Immortal Lord acts fairly, impartially, and without personal feelings, but there is one thing that I don’t understand. I would like to ask Immortal Lord to enlighten me.”
Fuguang turned his face to Bu Ting.
Bu Ting didn’t shy away. “In order to remind the Immortal Lord not to indulge in personal feelings, my master once refined a string of beads for the Immortal Lord. If the Immortal Lord were to be moved by feelings, the beads would change color. I wonder where those beads are now?”
“A string of beads?” Fuguang raised his left wrist, lifted his sleeve, and revealed the lustrous string of beads on his wrist. “Are you referring to this?”
The string of beads on his wrist emitted a soft white light, but there was no other noticeable change.
Author’s Note
Zhi Youyou: Heehee…
Little Garlic Chive: Hehe…