Loss of Virtue

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

She sensed Lin Chan's safe return, and a delicate frown creased her stunning face.

"That useless tiger—how could it even endure this!"

True Person Xuan Ji thought with considerable disgust.

She had long since planted many covert measures on the Si Mu Tiger Demon, measures that should have been abandoned after this scheme's failure.

But she couldn't accept it, especially after investigating Lin Chan alongside her senior brother.

She had originally wanted to punish Lin Chan severely, branding him as a demon race lackey who aided evil and abetted wrongdoing, then have a few True Persons from Yuheng Peak skilled in Soul Search seize him for soul refinement to probe his true origins.

What True Person Xuan Ji never expected, however, was that True Person Xuan Chen would instead protect Lin Chan and take him as a disciple.

He even told her to let the matter go, saying he would compensate her slowly in the future.

As if it weren't his own plan that had failed, so he could forgive so lightly.

She could have obtained a Sixth-Rank Great Merit, used it to advance to Golden Core Perfection, become the foremost on Tianquan Peak, begin plotting Nascent Soul Formation, and also get a tiger hide for refining a magic tool and tiger gall for alchemy.

Now, all of it—gone.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment, the greater the hatred.

Every time she thought of such a luck-struck, talentless, and virtue-less fellow entering Shu Mountain and becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, True Person Xuan Ji found her thoughts blocked.

She even began to suspect that this man was deliberately arranged by True Person Xuan Chen to ruin her good fortune.

And the more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

Otherwise, why grant an Inner Sect Disciple status to someone like Lin Chan, who had no connection to them?

Was it really just to avoid wasting that bit of merit?

So True Person Xuan Ji directly detonated every measure she had left on the Si Mu Tiger Demon.

The cultivation method she specialized in was tied to the Seven Emotions.

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

Among them, hate was her forte, followed by desire.

She stirred the Si Mu Tiger Demon's malice, ignited its craving for human flesh, making its whole body feel as if ten thousand ants were gnawing—unable to quell the malice without committing violence, unable to extinguish the desire without devouring humans.

Unable to live, unable to die.

What followed was that she alone couldn't handle the Si Mu Tiger Demon; instead, it discovered her, fled early, and caused a chaotic mess, leaving a situation with no clear resolution.

She couldn't very well say she had acted on her own and ruined things, so she played dumb, pretending to know nothing.

The several True Persons could only discuss it again and concluded that sending Lin Chan to mediate was the best solution.

Using just a junior to eliminate the hidden threat—nothing could be better.

They had already debated for a long time over whether to accept the Si Mu Tiger Demon.

After all, it was a tiger demon with Five Hundred Years of Dao, equivalent to late-stage Golden Core or even Perfection cultivation.

Moreover, the tiger demon's bloodline ranked very high among the Demon Race, far surpassing other demon types, so its strength was not to be underestimated.

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

As for requesting a Nascent Soul Ancestor to step in, that was even more impossible.

Disturbing a Nascent Soul Ancestor over such a trivial matter was an extreme misuse of resources.

Especially since the vicious tiger had turned to good, and the merit that most attracted the Shu Mountain True Persons was gone—no benefit, no righteous cause. Subduing the tiger demon became a thankless chore no one wanted, so it was endlessly delayed.

Only Kaiyang Peak, with its Monster Locking Pagoda—a spiritual treasure needing demonic beasts—was willing to attempt the capture.

But even they argued endlessly over how to do it.

Originally, they planned to wait until several True Persons from Kaiyang Peak were assembled before acting.

Then the Si Mu Tiger Demon escaped, and the problem was solved.

Little gain from doing it, easier by not doing it.

Kaiyang Peak simply stopped caring, only having True Person Xuan Ku from the peak write a letter to reassure the tiger demon.

If you find this book enjoyable, to avoid losing it next time, please remember to add it to your bookshelf.

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

She knew to avoid suspicion—if she wrote it herself, True Person Xuan Chen, Lin Chan's master, would grow suspicious—so she didn't openly take on the task of writing the letter but privately approached Xuan Ku.

The letter contained no hidden tricks or rhetorical traps, only the most flattering words.

But the flaw lay in the fact that the letter was written using True Person Xuan Ji's own thought-consciousness.

So-called thought-consciousness is one's own thoughts.

For a True Person to write a letter, a single thought suffices.

She had just clashed with the Si Mu Tiger Demon in the realm of thought-consciousness not long ago, so the tiger demon naturally recognized whose thought-consciousness this was.

This was nothing short of provocation.

On the surface, the letter said, "You're impressive, I respect you, let's coexist peacefully."

In context, the real meaning was, "I provoke you, so just take it!"

"You deserve it!"

Who wouldn't be furious reading that?

If so, the messenger was bound to suffer.

Throughout history, countless 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 it had truly killed two minor disciples, it had plenty of chances to escape.

But True Person Xuan Ji hadn't expected the Si Mu Tiger Demon to be so patient, almost carrying the essence of true Buddhist teachings—completely different from the Si Mu Tiger Demon she knew before.

"No, maybe the merit played a role."

True Person Xuan Ji suddenly remembered that Lin Chan still had a share of merit protecting him.

Although merit could backfire and dissipate.

For instance, if a tiger devoured a person, the merit from civilizing would vanish.

But after being recorded in the Lesser Merit Record, the dissipation lagged, so Lin Chan had barely escaped disaster.

"Since the merit's gone, True Person Xuan Chen should expel you from the sect by now!"

True Person Xuan Ji thought of this again.

But soon, she dismissed the notion.

True Person Xuan Chen had outwardly cited the merit as the reason, but in truth, it was probably because Lin Chan had ruined her plans that he got the inner disciple status—the gain or loss of merit didn't matter much.

Moreover, True Person Xuan Ji couldn't afford to meddle further; otherwise, the risk of exposure was high.

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

True Person Xuan Ji gritted her teeth.

For now, Lin Chan was still on Shu Mountain, under countless watchful eyes. It wasn't easy to act; she had to wait for the right moment.

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

Having been away for days, Lin Chan dusted off the room a bit.

Then, he took out the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant.

Just as he was about to use it for cultivation, he remembered that Xu Chang had previously expressed interest in studying the Flowing Cloud Pill Pendant.

So, Lin Chan pulled out his Shu Mountain Identity Jade Pendant, messaged Xu Chang asking if he was still at his Cave Dwelling, and said he'd bring the pendant over.

After cultivating for a while, he checked the jade pendant again. Xu Chang had replied.

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

Xu Chang knew the material was unobtainable, so he lost interest in studying it and told Lin Chan to keep it for his own cultivation.

Hearing that, Lin Chan didn't pry further. He found a red string, hung the pendant around his neck, and kept it close as he began to cultivate.

With the pendant in hand, Lin Chan's cultivation speed indeed picked up noticeably.

Over a dozen days later, the medicinal power from the pills Dugu Ye had previously invested in was exhausted.

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