Loss of Virtue

Meanwhile, inside True Person Xuan Ji's main hall.

She sensed Lin Chan's safe return, and her willow-leaf brows furrowed slightly on her exquisite face.

"That useless tiger actually endured even this!"

True Person Xuan Ji thought with considerable disgust.

She had long since secretly planted many measures within the Si Mu Tiger Demon. Those measures should have been discarded after the failure of this scheme.

But she was unwilling to accept it, especially after she and her senior brother had investigated Lin Chan.

She had originally intended to punish Lin Chan severely, directly branding him a Demon Race lackey who had aided a wicked demon and helped a tyrant commit evil. She would have had several True Persons from Yuheng Peak skilled in Soul Search seize him and refine his soul, then investigate his true background.

But what True Person Xuan Ji had never expected was that True Person Xuan Chen would protect Lin Chan instead and take him as his disciple.

He had even told her not to fuss over the matter, saying he would slowly compensate her in the future.

Naturally, it was not his scheme that had fallen through, so he could forgive so easily.

She could originally have obtained a Sixth-Rank Great Merit, used it to advance to Golden Core Perfection, become the foremost person of Tianquan Peak, begin planning for Nascent Soul Formation, and even acquire tiger hide to forge magical artifacts and tiger gall to refine medicine.

Now, everything was gone.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment; the greater the disappointment, the greater the hatred.

Whenever she thought of a fellow who had stepped in dog shit and gotten lucky, one without Merit or ability, being able to enter Shu Mountain and even become an Inner Sect Disciple, True Person Xuan Ji felt her thoughts knot into an impassable tangle.

She even began to suspect that this person had been deliberately arranged by True Person Xuan Chen, solely to ruin her plans.

And the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed to True Person Xuan Ji.

Otherwise, why would he give an Inner Sect identity to someone like Lin Chan, who was neither kin nor acquaintance?

Was it really just to avoid wasting that tiny bit of Merit?

Thus, True Person Xuan Ji directly detonated every measure she had left within the Si Mu Tiger Demon.

The cultivation technique she primarily practiced was related to the Seven Emotions.

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, desire.

Of these, hatred was what she excelled at most, followed by desire.

She stirred the Si Mu Tiger Demon's malicious thoughts and ignited his desire to eat people, making his entire body feel as though ten thousand ants were devouring it. Unless he committed violence, he could not dispel his malicious thoughts; unless he ate people, he could not extinguish the fire of desire.

Unable to live, unable to die.

What followed was that she alone could not handle the Si Mu Tiger Demon. Instead, he discovered her, escaped in advance, and left everything in a complete mess, creating a situation no one knew how to wrap up.

She could not admit that she had acted on her own and ruined the matter, so she played dumb and pretended to know nothing.

The True Persons could only discuss the matter again and conclude that having Lin Chan go mediate would be the best solution.

Using only a junior to erase the hidden danger could not have been better.

They had previously argued for a long time over whether they should accept the Si Mu Tiger Demon.

After all, he was a tiger demon with Five Hundred Years of Dao, equivalent to late Golden Core, perhaps even Golden Core Perfection cultivation.

Moreover, tiger demons ranked high in bloodline among the Demon Race, far surpassing other demons. Their strength could not be underestimated.

Unless a Nascent Soul Ancestor personally acted, no one had absolute confidence.

As for inviting a Nascent Soul Ancestor to leave seclusion, that was even more impossible.

Disturbing a Nascent Soul Ancestor over such a trifling matter was not merely using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Especially since the wicked tiger had already turned toward good, and the Merit that most attracted the True Persons of Shu Mountain was gone. With neither profit nor righteous cause left, subduing the tiger demon became a thankless task no one wanted to take on, so it was delayed again and again.

Only Kaiyang Peak, which possessed a spirit treasure like the Monster Locking Pagoda that required demons, was willing to make an attempt at subduing him.

But they still argued endlessly over how he should be subdued.

Originally, they had intended to wait until several True Persons of Kaiyang Peak had gathered before taking action.

Then the Si Mu Tiger Demon fled, and there was nothing left to worry about.

There was little to gain from doing it, while doing nothing was easier instead.

Kaiyang Peak therefore could not be bothered to intervene. They merely had True Person Xuan Ku of the peak write a letter and send it over, telling the tiger demon to rest at ease.

If you think this book is good, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you do not lose it next time.

This letter was written by True Person Xuan Ji on True Person Xuan Ku's behalf.

She knew to avoid suspicion. If she wrote it herself, True Person Xuan Chen, Lin Chan's master, would become suspicious. So she did not openly take on the task of writing the letter, instead privately approaching Xuan Ku.

There were no deliberate measures hidden in the letter, nor any veiled tricks of wording. It was filled with the most lavish praise.

But the problem was that True Person Xuan Ji had written the letter with her own thought-sense.

So-called thought-sense was one's own thoughts.

For a True Person to write a letter, a single thought was enough.

She had clashed with the Si Mu Tiger Demon in the realm of thought-sense not long ago, so naturally he knew whose thought-sense it came from.

This was no different from a provocation.

On the surface, the letter said: You are impressive, I admire you, let us live in peace.

But in context, its true meaning was: I provoked you, so just endure it!

You deserve it!

Who could read that without becoming furious?

If that was the case, then the person delivering the letter would certainly suffer.

Throughout history, who knew how many envoys had lost their lives because of their lord's absurd provocations?

The Si Mu Tiger Demon had already fled to Wu Country. Even if he truly killed two junior disciples, he would have plenty of chances to escape.

It was simply that True Person Xuan Ji had not expected the Si Mu Tiger Demon to be so patient, carrying quite the aura of true Buddhist teachings, completely unlike the Si Mu Tiger Demon she had understood before.

"No, perhaps that Merit played some role."

True Person Xuan Ji suddenly recalled that Lin Chan still had a portion of Merit protecting him.

Although Merit was prone to backlash and could dissipate.

For instance, if a wicked tiger ate people, the Merit from reforming it would dissipate.

But after it was recorded in the Lesser Merit Record, the dissipation of that Merit would be delayed somewhat. Thus, Lin Chan had narrowly escaped disaster by relying on it.

"Since the Merit is gone, Senior Brother Xuan Chen should cast you out of his sect now, shouldn't he?"

True Person Xuan Ji thought of this as well.

But she quickly drove the thought away.

True Person Xuan Chen claimed it was because of that Merit, but in truth, he might have given Lin Chan an Inner Sect identity precisely because Lin Chan had ruined her plans. The gain or loss of that Merit would not affect anything.

Moreover, it was inconvenient for True Person Xuan Ji to involve herself further in this matter. Otherwise, the risk of exposing herself would be too great.

"There will be plenty of chances to deal with you later!"

True Person Xuan Ji gritted her teeth as she thought.

For now, Lin Chan was still within Shu Mountain, watched by countless eyes. It was not a good time to make a move; she needed to wait for an opportunity.

After leaving True Person Xuan Chen's main hall, Lin Chan first took Little Li to Yaoguang Peak, then immediately returned to his own Cave Dwelling.

Having been away for several days, Lin Chan seemed to have cleaned the dust from the room.

Afterward, he took out the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant.

Just as he was about to use it for cultivation, he suddenly remembered that Xu Chang had previously said he wanted to study the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant.

Lin Chan immediately took out Shu Mountain's Identity Jade Pendant and sent Xu Chang a message, asking whether he was still in his Cave Dwelling. Lin Chan would bring the Pill Pendant over.

After cultivating for a while, he checked the Jade Jue again and found that Xu Chang had already replied.

True Person Xuan Chen had already examined the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant and even given his assessment.

Xu Chang knew the material could not be obtained again, so he lost interest in studying it and told Lin Chan to keep it and cultivate properly.

Seeing this, Lin Chan stopped meddling. He found a red cord, hung the Pill Pendant around his neck, kept it close to his body, and began cultivating.

With the Pill Pendant in hand, Lin Chan's cultivation speed indeed increased considerably.

More than ten days later, the medicinal power of the pills Dugu Ye had previously invested was exhausted.

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