"Cangsong?"
"Were you really so eager to die?"
True Person Dao Xuan slowly walked in from outside the Ancestor's Hall, expressionless. He looked at Daoist Cangsong kneeling on the ground, still clutching the Blood Banner of Poison...
"Sect Leader Senior Brother, I..."
Daoist Cangsong noticed the Blood Banner of Poison in Dao Xuan's hand.
He silently lowered his head and stopped resisting, but...
Though Daoist Cangsong had resolved himself to die—
His heart instead felt strangely relieved!
Senior Brother Wan was still alive?
Wonderful!
He had not yet truly committed an unforgivable mistake?
Wonderful!
According to his plan—
He would join forces with the Demon Sect and find an opportunity to storm the Qingyun Sect, utterly destroying this so-called foremost sect of the Righteous Path.
Now—
He had not yet truly committed an unforgivable mistake?
Wonderful!
"Ah."
Seeing this scene—
Wan Jianyi let out a soft sigh.
He glanced at True Person Dao Xuan, casually waved a hand, and said, "You're the sect leader. Handle it yourself..."
With that—
He walked off to the side in disinterest.
Then he quietly drank alone. Perhaps he too was somewhat lost now, never having expected things to turn out this way...
Wang Quan Yan stood where he was.
He calmly watched everything before him, feeling that this was actually quite good. Before any truly unforgivable mistake had been made, while there was still time to set everything right...
"Sect Leader Senior Brother."
Daoist Cangsong silently lowered his head as he knelt on the ground.
Hearing this—
True Person Dao Xuan gave a mocking laugh.
He looked at Cangsong with mixed emotions and said self-deprecatingly, "Senior Brother? Forget it. I don't have a junior brother like you..."
Daoist Cangsong trembled slightly.
He silently lowered his head without speaking.
For a time—
The scene fell silent.
"Ah."
After a long while—
True Person Dao Xuan softly sighed.
He looked at Cangsong before him with complicated emotions, his voice cold as he said, "In your eyes, am I truly so unworthy of being the Qingyun Sect's leader?"
Cangsong trembled slightly.
He kept his head lowered and said nothing.
The answer—
Was obvious.
In his heart—
Only Wan Jianyi was worthy of being the Qingyun Sect's leader. How could anyone else compare to the Senior Brother Wan in his heart!?
"Heh—"
True Person Dao Xuan gave a self-mocking laugh without expression.
"In all of your eyes?"
"Am I really that inferior to Wan Jianyi?!"
His voice remained as calm as ever.
Wang Quan Yan guessed that "all of you" referred to the other branch leaders of the Qingyun Sect.
Wan Jianyi took a small sip of wine.
He sat by himself without saying anything.
Just as he had said—
Dao Xuan was the sect leader.
The matters here could simply be left for the sect leader to handle.
Ancestor's Hall.
The atmosphere grew increasingly silent.
True Person Dao Xuan looked coldly at Daoist Cangsong. Rather than letting his emotions sway him, he began interrogating Cangsong...
For instance, when had he joined the Demon Sect?
And where had his Blood Banner of Poison come from? How many ordinary people had he killed?
Hearing this—
Daoist Cangsong answered honestly.
He had killed several hundred, perhaps over a thousand ordinary people to refine the Blood Banner of Poison, but all those he had killed were bandits and desperate criminals.
In other words, scum.
Hearing this—
True Person Dao Xuan's expression improved slightly.
He continued asking what other heinous acts Cangsong had committed.
Cangsong stated that five years ago, he had plotted to murder Holy Monk Puzhi of Tianyin Temple, though he had failed in the end...
Hearing this—
True Person Dao Xuan's expression changed. "Were the more than one hundred households of Caomiao Village also slaughtered by you?"
"No!"
"Absolutely not me!"
Daoist Cangsong hurriedly shook his head.
To be honest—
He did not understand how the people of Caomiao Village had died either.
For some reason, the entire village had simply been wiped out...
True Person Dao Xuan frowned.
Not Cangsong?
Could it have been Puzhi?
At that thought—
Cangsong seemed to remember something.
He hesitated before saying, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, I tried to seize the Blood Devouring Pearl from Puzhi back then, but failed. Before I left, I saw signs that Puzhi was falling into demonic madness..."
"What?!"
True Person Dao Xuan's expression changed.
The Blood Devouring Pearl was the supreme treasure of the Demon Sect's Blood Refining Hall.
If it had eroded Puzhi's mind and caused him to fall into demonic madness...
True Person Dao Xuan's expression flickered uncertainly.
A person who had fallen into demonic madness? Their inner obsessions would be magnified without limit. It was only natural for them to do certain extreme things.
But—
If Puzhi had truly slaughtered Caomiao Village—
Why had he left Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Jingyu alive?
True Person Dao Xuan's eyes flickered slightly.
Suddenly—
He thought of something.
The obsessions of those who had fallen into demonic madness would be endlessly magnified. So what had Puzhi's obsession been?
Several years ago—
Holy Monk Puzhi had visited the Qingyun Sect. He had attempted to exchange cultivation methods with the Qingyun Sect to achieve Buddho-Daoist Dual Cultivation and see whether he could uncover the secret of Immortal Ascension.
True Person Dao Xuan had decisively refused.
After that, Puzhi frequently wrote to True Person Dao Xuan, repeatedly trying to persuade him to set aside sectarian prejudice and jointly discuss the secret of Immortal Ascension...
So—
Puzhi's obsession was Immortal Ascension?!
His obsession was Buddho-Daoist Dual Cultivation!!
Suppose—
He slaughtered Caomiao Village, left behind an orphan, taught them Great Brahma Prajna, and then had them join the Qingyun Sect... Would that not successfully achieve Buddho-Daoist Dual Cultivation?!
The more True Person Dao Xuan thought about it, the more horrified he became.
He felt that he was getting closer and closer to the truth?
At this point—
True Person Dao Xuan hesitated for a moment.
He looked at Cangsong and Wan Jianyi, then explained his speculation.
Hearing this—
Cangsong and Wan Jianyi were both greatly shocked.
Slaughtering an entire village just for an obsession?
This...
This was more Demonic Path than the Demonic Path itself!
"Junior Brother Cangsong, have you noticed anything unusual about Lin Jingyu over these years? Has he secretly cultivated any Buddhist Techniques!?"
True Person Dao Xuan asked.
He instinctively thought of Lin Jingyu.
After all, Lin Jingyu's cultivation aptitude was indeed exceptional.
Whoever considered it—
Would probably think of Lin Jingyu.
Hearing this—
Daoist Cangsong shook his head and said, "Sect Leader Senior Brother, I've kept watch over that child Jingyu all these years. He hasn't secretly cultivated any Buddhist Techniques. But that Zhang Xiaofan..."
Cangsong hesitated for a moment.
He glanced at Wang Quan Yan, then described what he had discovered during the Seven Meridians Martial Arts Tournament.
"The magic treasure in Zhang Xiaofan's hand possesses an extremely powerful Bloodthirsty Ability."
"It appears to be the Blood Devouring Pearl's power."
True Person Dao Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
The Blood Devouring Pearl?
That thing should have been in Puzhi's possession.
Now that it had suddenly appeared in Zhang Xiaofan's hands, the result was naturally self-evident!
Zhang Xiaofan was the candidate Puzhi had chosen for Buddho-Daoist Dual Cultivation!
At that thought—
True Person Dao Xuan turned to look at Wang Quan Yan.
"Xiao Yan, have you noticed anything unusual about Zhang Xiaofan over these years..."
Hearing this—
Wang Quan Yan was somewhat surprised.
He had not expected True Person Dao Xuan to swiftly infer the truth behind Caomiao Village from Daoist Cangsong's words alone...
All he could say was that he truly deserved to be the leader of the Righteous Path.
Before you continue