The Taiyuan Sect Head Disciple Position Is Settled

For a full day, Fang Wang stayed in his guest room cultivating, while Zhou Xingshi also remained in his own guest room. Neither disturbed the other, but both harbored their own thoughts.

Fang Wang was curious about what Zhou Xue was doing and why she was digging out the eyes of disciples from Green Cicada Valley. Zhou Xingshi, meanwhile, was engaged in an internal struggle. If both Fang Wang and Zhou Xue were Demonic Cultivators, then Taiyuan Sect nurturing Fang Wang would be akin to digging its own grave. Yet, Fang Wang had treated him very well, even teaching him Body Protection Divine Gang and Great Heaven Lightning Summoning Technique, which caused him great anguish.

In the days that followed, the atmosphere in the town of Fang Zhen grew increasingly strange. Fights at night became more frequent, and the number of corpses appearing during the day also increased.

Fang Wang overheard cultivators passing by on the street below discussing that the deceased had almost all had their eyes gouged out.

Could it all be Zhou Xue's doing?

Why would she do such a thing? Wasn't she afraid of attracting the great cultivators of Green Cicada Valley?

Fang Wang believed Zhou Xue wouldn't betray him, so he could only suppress his confusion and continue cultivating.

Five days passed quickly.

On this day, before dawn, Zhou Xue came to find them, asking Fang Wang and Zhou Xingshi to follow her.

The three of them quickly left the town and entered the mountain forest.

Fang Wang couldn't help but ask, "Were the corpses with their eyes gouged out all your doing?"

He always felt that she wasn't just eliminating demons; she must have been plotting something. However, he worried that Zhou Xingshi would tell Guang Qiuxian about Zhou Xue's methods. If Guang Qiuxian determined Zhou Xue to be a Demonic Cultivator, it would be troublesome.

"Yes, isn't it what we Righteous Path cultivators should do, to annihilate the Demonic Path?"

Zhou Xue walked ahead, suddenly turning her head to smile at Fang Wang. Her smile sent chills down Zhou Xingshi's spine.

"Then I'll tell you. Green Cicada Valley is cultivating a secret technique called Heart Severing Evil Eyes, which requires the eyes of living people to refine the evil eyes. I'm doing this only to mislead Green Cicada Valley, making them think it was one of their own, thereby causing internal suspicion. And I can also collect spirit stones, pills, and magic artifacts while killing Demonic Cultivators."

Zhou Xue turned her head back, looking straight ahead, and said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xingshi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This explanation was plausible. Although he hadn't heard of Heart Severing Evil Eyes, at least he had a story to report.

The three walked through the mountain forest, not too fast. Along the way, Zhou Xue occasionally sprinkled powder onto the roadside flowers and grasses.

Although Fang Wang and Zhou Xingshi were puzzled, they didn't ask further questions.

This continued until nightfall.

The three rested in the woods. Zhou Xue called Fang Wang away, leaving Zhou Xingshi by the campfire. He merely glanced at the two of them.

Fang Wang followed Zhou Xue to a river several miles away. They stood facing each other. Zhou Xue frowned and asked, "That guy has the Myriad Poisons Spring Autumn Worm inside him. What exactly is going on? How can he be so obedient to you?"

Fang Wang thought for a moment and then recounted what had happened that day, though he didn't reveal the exact grade of his precious spirit.

"I see. It seems these two still have some conscience. However, the Myriad Poisons Spring Autumn Worm isn't just controlled by incantations," Zhou Xue said sarcastically.

Fang Wang asked, "Can you remove it?"

Zhou Xue smiled, "The Myriad Poisons Spring Autumn Worm is a type of Gu worm from Green Cicada Valley. I cultivated there for fifty years, so naturally, I can remove it. However, I can't do it now, lest I alert the enemy. Before you reach the Mysterious Heart Realm, you must leave Taiyuan Sect, or at least not break through within Taiyuan Sect. I will personally watch over you then."

Hearing this, Fang Wang felt much more at ease.

"Aren't you an Immortal Venerable? Why are you targeting the inheritance of Jihao Sect?" Fang Wang changed the subject, a question that had been bothering him for a long time.

Zhou Xue couldn't possibly be here for Fang Hanyu, could she? Fang Hanyu had only sent a message to Taiyuan Sect. Zhou Xue was outside and shouldn't know he was in trouble.

Zhou Xue gave Fang Wang a look and said, "Although I was an Immortal Venerable before, I hadn't reached the level of mastering all the ultimate skills in the world before ascending. Do you really think an Immortal Venerable can observe and understand everything in the mortal world? You are greatly mistaken. The gap between immortals and mortals is hard to bridge. Beings in the lower realm cannot go to the upper realm, and great beings in the upper realm cannot descend to the human world. They are completely different worlds, though the upper realm is stronger."

"Moreover, I'm not here for ultimate skills, but for the special magic artifacts, rare heavenly materials, and earthly treasures, as well as top-grade spirit stones left by Jihao Sect. Even though I've reincarnated as an Immortal Venerable, I still have to cultivate step by step. Collecting cultivation resources from the mortal world is what I need to do, and ascending is not that simple."

When the topic of ascension came up, a look Fang Wang couldn't decipher appeared on Zhou Xue's face.

It seemed ascension was extremely difficult. Even Zhou Xue, who had already ascended, didn't have absolute certainty if she were to do it again.

Fang Wang wasn't intimidated; with the Celestial Palace, everything was possible.

"The cultivator who attacked Fang Manor before was named Luoshang. Who do you guess his sect is from?" Zhou Xue suddenly stared at Fang Wang and asked, her eyes cold.

Fang Wang frowned and asked, "Green Cicada Valley?"

He thought of Zhou Xue's revenge on Green Cicada Valley in the past few days, which led him to this guess.

"No, Taiyuan Sect!"

"What?"

Fang Wang's face turned pale with shock, and his hands in his sleeves clenched instantly.

Zhou Xue sighed, "In my past life, I escaped and wandered for many years. By the time I embarked on the path of cultivation, I could no longer find any clues about the destruction of Fang Manor. Before I reincarnated, I didn't even know his name. However, besides Fang Manor, other Dukedom Manors and cities in Great Qi were massacred by mysterious Qi Nurturing Realm cultivators. In my past life, I only knew it was a collusion between the current Prime Minister and a cultivation sect. By the time I had the ability to investigate, that Prime Minister was already dead, and his family met a bad end, so the matter was dropped."

"Three months ago, I waited around a Dukedom Manor that was supposed to be destroyed and captured another cultivator. He revealed the truth: he and Luoshang were both Outer Disciples of the first lineage of Taiyuan Sect, acting for Lu Yuanjun. The two disguised themselves as Demonic Cultivators, as the Soul Burning Banner is a common ghost artifact in the immortal cultivation world, making it easy to conceal their identities."

Lu Yuanjun!

Taiyuan Sect's number one genius, Mid-grade Earth Origin Treasure Spirit!

Fang Wang's brows furrowed tightly. The revenge for Fang Manor could not be ignored. So many people had died; how could he let it go?

Zhou Xue continued, "Taiyuan Sect is probably unaware of this matter. It might even involve the Emperor of Great Qi. In my past life, Lu Yuanjun had an excellent relationship with the Emperor of Great Qi. Great Qi was able to transform into a cultivation dynasty thanks to Lu Yuanjun's support. I'm telling you this only to make you wary of Lu Yuanjun. This person is kind and approachable, always attracting those around him to serve him."

Fang Wang's eyes flickered, and he asked, "Are you sure it was him?"

"Yes, I forced that Outer Disciple to confess, and he revealed that Lu Yuanjun indeed instructed them to help collect souls. Lu Yuanjun is likely cultivating a powerful ghost artifact," Zhou Xue nodded, her eyes also filled with killing intent.

Lu Yuanjun!

For Fang Wang and the other person, this was a mountain they couldn't overcome. They couldn't accuse Lu Yuanjun; the entire Taiyuan Sect was hyping him up.

Fang Wang took a deep breath and said, "If that's the case, then I'm determined to compete for the position of Taiyuan Sect's Head Disciple!"

Zhou Xue smiled and replied, "That's right. If you have such aspirations, then I haven't misjudged you. Until you become the Head Disciple, let's pretend this never happened. Taiyuan Sect belongs to the Righteous Path, but not everyone in it is a good person. Zhou Xingshi's fate is the best proof of that."

Just now, Fang Wang had even considered going to Guang Qiuxian and using his Heaven Origin Treasure Spirit's rank to pressure Lu Yuanjun, but he quickly dismissed the idea as too risky.

Lu Yuanjun nowadays was different from him; he was already Taiyuan Sect's golden boy. Could Guang Qiuxian directly suppress Lu Yuanjun?

Even if he could, it would probably just be a minor punishment. They couldn't kill Lu Yuanjun for the sake of a few mortals, could they?

"Tell me, what do you want to learn? I'll teach you. Remember, you can only ask for one thing," Zhou Xue asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at Fang Wang.

Upon hearing this, Fang Wang immediately said, "Heavenly Dipper Sacred Body True Scripture!"

Zhou Xue couldn't help but glare at him and said irritably, "Do you really think I know everything? In my past life, I didn't obtain this scripture. Before my ascension, I wasn't invincible in the world. There were more than five people who could rival me. Ascension also depends on opportunity."

Fang Wang chuckled. He was just testing the waters. Since Zhou Xue didn't know it, he would learn a method to conceal his aura instead.

Upon hearing his request, Zhou Xue readily agreed.

This technique was called the Breathless Natural Skill, an auxiliary internal cultivation method primarily for concealing emotions.

Within the Celestial Palace, Fang Wang only took ten years to reach Grand Perfection. From Zhou Xue's perspective, Fang Wang's aura vanished instantly after she finished speaking. If she closed her eyes, she wouldn't even be able to sense his presence without using her Spiritual Sense.

"With this kid's comprehension, he'll eventually be able to overthrow Lu Yuanjun."

Zhou Xue smiled with satisfaction. She had long been convinced of Fang Wang's talent.

Fang Wang was responsible for competing for the Head Disciple position within Taiyuan Sect to benefit the Fang Family. As for her, she would nurture the Fang Family. Taiyuan Sect was merely a stepping stone in her plan.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled spots on the grass.

A man in a green daoist robe slammed into the trunk of a massive tree, causing the thousand-year-old tree to tremble violently. He fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Not far away, Fang Wang retracted his leg. Zhou Xue and Zhou Xingshi, standing behind him, had different expressions. Zhou Xue wore a smile of satisfied admiration, while Zhou Xingshi was terrified.

Ever since that night three days ago when Fang Wang spoke with Zhou Xue, Zhou Xingshi felt an intense killing intent emanating from Fang Wang, making him seem like a completely different person compared to before.

For example, now, a cultivator at the ninth level of the Qi Nurturing Realm couldn't withstand a single kick from him!

Zhou Xue walked forward and crouched before the severely injured Green Cicada Valley disciple, beginning to interrogate him.

In recent days, they had interrogated seven Green Cicada Valley disciples and learned that this group was searching for a Taiyuan Sect disciple. Based on their descriptions, it was likely Fang Hanyu.

After a while, Zhou Xue snapped the Green Cicada Valley disciple's neck, took his Storage Bag, and then beckoned to Fang Wang and the other person.

As Fang Wang passed by the corpse, he noticed that the man's eyes had also been gouged out.

He suddenly wondered if Zhou Xue also intended to cultivate the Heart Severing Evil Eyes.

Fang Wang wasn't too resistant to this. The Green Cicada Valley disciples were infamous. Not only did they use poison, but their methods were also vicious. They frequently massacred mortals in wild villages. According to Zhou Xingshi, the most cruel among the Demonic Path sects were the Green Cicada Valley cultivators; even other Demonic Path sects detested them.

Zhou Xue walked ahead, wiping her hands as she said, "Fang Hanyu is probably hiding in the Demon Forest Mountain Range ahead. The demonic energy here is very strong, and there might be powerful demonic creatures. You two be careful."