A Dog Borrowing Its Master's Might, a Heart Full of Schemes

Gu Xiaoyun did not care whether Zhang Kuang's reaction was genuine or not. Even if it was fake... once this matter spread, Zhang Kuang would be too concerned with his reputation to deny this sworn brother from another surname in the future. Gu Xiaoyun would be able to live quite comfortably in Taichu Sect.

"Brother Gu knows Zhang Yang, right? He was originally my cousin. From childhood to adulthood, he obeyed my every word, but ever since he completed Rooting, he turned against me. Now he has set up his own camp and is opposing me..."

Before Zhang Kuang could finish speaking, Gu Xiaoyun cut him off. "Junior Brother, rest assured. Fickle little men like that are also what I hate most. Later, I'll help you beg my uncle to take you into his fold. With your violet seed aptitude, my uncle will definitely favor you more. Then, we brothers can find a way to drive a wedge between him and Zhang Yang and leave him to fend for himself!"

Zhang Kuang put on an expression of wild delight. His goal achieved, he could not be bothered to continue playing along with the arrogant Gu Xiaoyun. After respectfully bidding him farewell, he strode away.

Feeling that he had forged ties with a violet seed like Zhang Kuang, Gu Xiaoyun's confidence immediately swelled. He found several lackeys and said, "Tonight, we'll go pull up every last crop in Qin Haoxuan's fields!"

After thinking for a moment, Gu Xiaoyun muttered to himself, "That brat Qin only just completed Rooting these past few days. As a weak seed, his Rooting will surely draw much attention from the sect higher-ups. At this cusp of the storm, we should wait a little longer. Once people stop paying such close attention to him in a few days, we'll go pull up his crops!"

"Brother Gu is wise and brilliant! We must show that brat what we're made of!"

"Exactly! Our Brother Gu has just forged ties with Zhang Kuang, a violet seed. From now on, Taichu Sect will be ruled by Brother Gu!"

"Yes, yes! Brother Gu has thought of everything. Wise and mighty, long live Brother Gu..."

Aside from Li Jing, Zhang Kuang, and Zhang Yang, who each harbored their own little schemes over how to deal with Qin Haoxuan, the Undying Witch Demon was also constantly calculating in Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley. A sharp glint occasionally flashed through his clouded eyes. He had never been this excited in thousands of years!

When Qin Haoxuan began Rooting, the Undying Witch Demon had already sensed it. He had silently prayed that Qin Haoxuan would grow several more immortal roots that matched perfectly. Yet when he discovered Qin Haoxuan's bizarre order of root emergence and saw one hundred immortal roots appear at once, the Undying Witch Demon wilted completely, inwardly lamenting that the Immortal-Demon Seed he had painstakingly cultivated might be ruined during Rooting.

But when Qin Haoxuan used his divine sense to sort out the places of best compatibility for each immortal root and perfectly rooted all one hundred lateral roots, the Undying Witch Demon was stunned. Then, as the following five hundred lateral roots were also perfectly implanted into Qin Haoxuan's dantian under his guidance, all six hundred lateral roots achieved complete compatibility. The Undying Witch Demon finally could not hold back. Having not laughed in thousands of years, his bleak and shrill "jie jie" cackles echoed ceaselessly through Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley until he no longer had the strength to laugh.

Whether cultivating immortality or cultivating demons, no one had ever heard of a single person capable of perfectly matching every lateral root to the dantian. Qin Haoxuan had not only done it, but had matched six hundred lateral roots to his dantian: one hundred lateral roots from the immortal seed and five hundred from the demon seed, one immortal root main root, and a demon seed main root that had yet to emerge. Yin and yang, such a perfect combination and such a number of compatible roots far beyond ordinary people—after Body Seizure, he was destined to shine brilliantly and might even ascend and attain the Dao through this!

All that remained was for him to sprout!

Exhausted from laughing, the Undying Witch Demon slowly closed his eyes. The excitement deep within him refused to settle for a long time.

Qin Haoxuan, whose twenty-day Rooting had made him famous in one stroke, did not know that the Undying Witch Demon was plotting against him with sinister intentions. Tormented every day by the medicinal power of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus, he suddenly had a wild idea: he wanted to spend a few more days confined on Solitary Confinement Mountain.

First, he had been at the center of everyone's talk these past days, especially after Rooting, and that was very harmful to his state of mind and cultivation progress. It had surely also earned him much envy and hatred. Second, it would allow him to digest more of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus's remaining medicinal power. As time passed day by day, the medicinal power within him was slowly dissipating. For a spiritual medicine that even sect ancestors could only encounter by sheer luck, it was best to waste as little as possible.

Once he decided, he acted. But for the sake of the corn harvest in his fields, Qin Haoxuan decided to fill several huge vats of water over the next few days.

Each mu of land was equipped with three large iron vats, each capable of storing two hundred loads of water. These iron vats existed because the Spirit Spring had a month-long dry season every year. To ensure crops could grow normally during that dry season, the sect had specially provided every plot of land with three such huge water vats.

Over the next few days, everyone else carried only the water they needed that day to irrigate their fields. But besides watering his fields, Qin Haoxuan carried an extra hundred-plus loads every day and stored them in the three large iron vats shared by the three of them. No one could understand his actions. Some even mocked him behind his back, wondering whether Rooting had made him stupid. This was not the dry season, so why store Spirit Spring water? Did he not know that large iron vats could not retain spiritual energy, and that stored Spirit Spring water would lose its spiritual energy, making it less effective than freshly carried and immediately poured water?

"Look at that fool. Rooting must have made him stupid. Doesn't he know water stored in those iron vats can't retain spiritual energy?"

"That's not right. I've never seen senior brothers who joined years ago carry water to store it. Why is he storing water for no reason? It isn't the dry season."

"Maybe he's practicing his strength because he has nothing better to do? Isn't he stupid? He should have gotten several jade vats first. I heard jade vats can lock in the spiritual energy of Spirit Spring water so it won't dissipate."

"I think you're the stupid one. Can ordinary people afford jade vats? I did the math. Even if we work ourselves to the bone growing crops, with favorable weather all year, the sect contribution points we save in a year would at most buy one jade vat. He's been here less than a month and hasn't even earned any sect contribution points yet. What would he use to buy jade vats?"

Though those mocking remarks behind his back were spoken quietly, Qin Haoxuan's ears were extremely sharp as a Witch Cultivator. He heard much of the gossip clearly, but merely smiled and let it pass.

It was not only others who could not understand what Qin Haoxuan was thinking. Even Xu Yu and Murong Chao were full of confusion. After hearing the rumors, Xu Yu even worried that Qin Haoxuan truly had suffered some problem during Rooting and become twitchy and strange, just as people claimed.

"Brother Haoxuan, why are you carrying and storing so much Spirit Spring water?" One evening, as the sun sank beyond the western hills, Xu Yu watched Qin Haoxuan silently carry water for the three of them. Deeply moved, she finally could not hold back. Together with Murong Chao, she brought the exhausted Qin Haoxuan into her room and began asking him, "You haven't suffered some kind of shock, have you? It's perfectly normal for Rooting not to be perfect. You completed Rooting in twenty days—that already exceeded everyone's expectations!"

"That's right, Senior Brother Qin. The road of immortal cultivation is long. Although imperfect Rooting will affect the future and is difficult to correct, that does not mean it can never be corrected later."

Facing Xu Yu and Murong Chao's kind inquiries and consolation, Qin Haoxuan gave a bitter smile. So the two of them, like everyone else, thought he had failed to Root properly and become a lunatic instead! Qin Haoxuan could not be bothered to explain himself to others, but that did not mean he was unwilling to tell them why. He drew a deep breath and organized his words, lest his reason frighten them.

"During this period, especially after Rooting, I've been at the center of everyone's talk. That's very bad for cultivating one's temperament. So after I fill our water storage vats, I want to entrust my fields to you two for a while. Later, I plan to deliberately cause trouble and go to Solitary Confinement Mountain to seek some peace and quiet. I can sort out my cultivation thoughts properly and resolve some of the problems I've encountered."

Though Qin Haoxuan spoke with utmost sincerity, Xu Yu and Murong Chao were still frightened. In all of Taichu Sect, who did not turn pale at the mention of confinement? Yet Qin Haoxuan actually wanted to cause trouble on purpose and go to Solitary Confinement Mountain to seek suffering in exchange for peace. Xu Yu and Murong Chao, who had no idea how the remaining medicinal power of the One-Leaf Golden Lotus tormented him every day, could never understand what Qin Haoxuan was thinking.

Xu Yu looked at Qin Haoxuan's earnest expression. She wanted to speak but stopped herself, then finally sighed softly. "Murong and I will take good care of your cornfield. Don't worry."

Murong Chao had expected Xu Yu to try persuading Qin Haoxuan, but now that even Xu Yu did not, he said nothing further. After their interactions these past days, he knew Qin Haoxuan was not a rash person. There had to be a reason behind this decision. Perhaps compared to the Spirit Field Valley, where people schemed against one another and deceived each other at every turn, the harsh environment of Solitary Confinement Mountain was freer.

Xu Yu and Murong Chao looked at Qin Haoxuan's resolute face, and an indescribable warmth filled their hearts.

To avoid burdening Xu Yu and Murong Chao with watering his fields after he was confined, Qin Haoxuan had filled his own water vats in advance. Worried that the two of them might not carry enough water and delay the growth of the crops, he had even been carrying water for them.

After carrying water at such high intensity for several days, exhausted Qin Haoxuan fell asleep leaning against Xu Yu's bed. He did not wake until Li Jing knocked on Xu Yu's door.

At the sight of Li Jing, Murong Chao's expression tightened. He casually made an excuse and returned to his own room. Xu Yu looked at Li Jing, then at Qin Haoxuan sleeping on the bed, and said, "Senior Brother Li, you came to see Brother Haoxuan, didn't you?"

"Yes!" Li Jing wore a broad smile. When Murong Chao rose to leave, he even nodded to him in greeting, looking thoroughly well-mannered, as if he not only did not care about Murong Chao switching sides but was actually pleased by it. He said to Xu Yu, "It's nothing important. I simply haven't chatted with Junior Brother Qin in a long time, so I came specially today to speak with him."

"Brother Haoxuan is too tired and has fallen asleep." Xu Yu did not particularly dislike Li Jing these days, and he had even helped both her and Qin Haoxuan. Still, she did not wish to exchange meaningless pleasantries with him, so she said politely, "If Senior Brother Li has no other business, please return for now. Once Brother Haoxuan wakes, we'll come pay you a visit."

Having just entered and already been shown the door by the host, Li Jing did not get angry. Instead, his smile became even more brilliant. He nodded slightly and bowed. "Thank you for keeping it in mind, Junior Sister. Once Junior Brother Qin wakes, I'll trouble Junior Sister to have someone notify me. Thank you. I'll take my leave first."

The confident smile on Li Jing's face perfectly concealed the pride between his brows and eyes. He was utterly unlike the arrogance he had displayed upon first entering the sect. Though Xu Yu had shown him the door, he still took his leave respectfully, his words and etiquette flawless in every regard. Just as he turned to depart, Qin Haoxuan, who had been softly snoring moments before, woke up and called out to him. "Senior Brother Li, you were looking for me? What is it?"

"My apologies for disturbing Junior Brother Qin's pleasant dream." Li Jing cupped his hands, his face full of a genial smile. "It's nothing else. A few days ago, Junior Brother successfully completed Rooting. At the time, I was at a crucial point in my cultivation, so I only hurriedly offered congratulations before leaving. Today, I came especially to apologize to you. Please accept this small gift, Junior Brother."

Qin Haoxuan sprang from the bed with a carp's leap. As the saying went, one did not visit the temple of the Three Treasures without a reason. Seeing Li Jing speak in such a roundabout way, smile so humbly, and even bring him a gift, Qin Haoxuan knew there could be nothing good behind it.