The cultivation world was now in an age when the righteous grew stronger and the demonic waned.
The five great righteous sects suppressed all the demonic fiends. Though one couldn't say every demonic cultivator in the world had been wiped out, one could at least say they'd mostly been dealt with.
As a result, apart from the Qinghe Sword Sect, people in the other sects were rarely keen on purging evil and upholding the righteous anymore.
After all, cultivation was about seeking longevity. There was no need to put the cart before the horse like the Qinghe Sect Master.
Who would waste their own lifespan just to stubbornly refuse ascension?
Other sects found it hard to understand the Qinghe Sword Sect's rules. As a result, its disciples seemed as cool and aloof as swords to outsiders, and were somewhat difficult to approach.
But after meeting one today, Wei Changsheng felt the rumors were off. The Qinghe Sword Sect disciple was clearly gentle and gracious, not the least bit arrogant or cold—just a little too naive.
Above the great river, Wei Changsheng and Su Chunyi each rode a magical treasure toward Cui County.
Wei Changsheng was a disciple of the Fenxiang Sect, sent by Sect Master Lu Xingzhou to find that Rogue Cultivator and exchange for the secret art.
The trouble was, Wei Changsheng had no idea where Chen Ye was, so he could only ask Su Chunyi to lead the way.
The Fenxiang Sect and the Qinghe Sword Sect had always been on good terms. Su Chunyi was quite courteous to Senior Brother Wei, and her striking appearance had also made him take a liking to her.
Though the two were close in age, their cultivation levels were quite far apart.
Su Chunyi had already reached the Tongxuan Realm, while Wei Changsheng was only at the Gangsha Realm.
Wei Changsheng had once been rather proud of himself. Few cultivators his age could endure the agony of Gangsha body tempering. But then he met Su Chunyi, who was several years younger than him, and couldn't help wondering how she'd endured that pain.
The more he thought about it, the more he admired Su Chunyi, and the more he wanted to chat with her.
Their conversation moved from cultivation to their travels. With a hint of ingratiation, Wei Changsheng asked, "I've heard Qinghe Sword Sect disciples often go out on adventures. Junior Sister must have slain quite a few demonic fiends by now. That's truly admirable."
Su Chunyi replied, "You misunderstand, Senior Brother. This is my first time out on an adventure, too. As for purging evil and upholding the righteous, I... did encounter a demonic fiend, but unfortunately, I didn't finish the job. He still got away, and I nearly got someone else caught up in it."
Su Chunyi remembered killing Monk Ku'e's physical body, only for his soul to escape.
If Chen Ye hadn't been cautious and resourceful, he might have been innocently dragged into danger.
Whenever Su Chunyi thought of it, guilt welled up inside her. She wished she could return to Chen Ye's side at once; this time, she would protect him no matter what.
Wei Changsheng didn't know the details. Putting on the air of an old hand, he said, "Don't blame yourself, Junior Sister. Demonic fiends are cunning. You're inexperienced, so it's only natural to make a mistake. When I went out on an adventure, I encountered a fiend, too. I'd only just—back then, I'd only just entered the Gangsha Realm and condensed one layer of Killing Intent, while my opponent already had nine layers of Gangsha and was just a step away from Tongxuan.
"But I was a disciple of a renowned sect, after all. That fiend only had a battered Ten Thousand Soul Banner, so even though his cultivation was higher than mine, I could hold my own. We fought for half a day, and then the fiend even got reinforcements from one of his disciples. He was just a little Qi Sea Realm fiend, so I smashed him with my Five Immortals Furnace and broke through his protective spell. I was about to kill him when that Old Devil charged at me like he'd lost his mind.
"That gave me a handle on the fiend's weakness. I focused on hurling magical treasures at the little Qi Sea Realm fiend. The Old Devil was so worried about him that he lost his head. At last, I spotted an opening and sent them both into the Five Immortals Furnace, where they were refined to ashes."
Su Chunyi frowned and asked in confusion, "Senior Brother, did you investigate what those two fiends had done to deserve it?"
Wei Changsheng didn't think much of it. "What else would they have done? Probably the usual demonic business—killing people to practice their arts. A fiend carrying a Ten Thousand Soul Banner is bound to be steeped in sin. You can't go wrong killing him on sight. If you're worried about how powerful that banner is, I can teach you a couple of spells to conceal your presence. I'm especially good at those."
Su Chunyi didn't know how to respond.
She felt Wei Changsheng had acted too rashly, but her elders had warned her that the Qinghe Sword Sect's rules weren't universal.
When away from home, she should remember that the sect's rules bound its own disciples. Unless necessary, she shouldn't try to outdo others, especially disciples from other righteous sects, lest she spark a feud among allies and give demonic fiends an opening.
Su Chunyi didn't dare go against that advice. Though she felt Wei Changsheng's behavior was wrong, she kept up a polite smile.
Wei Changsheng took her smile for approval and bragged about his "experience" with even more gusto.
Su Chunyi's face was starting to stiffen. Why did this Senior Brother talk so much? She was nearly out of smiles.
Perhaps she hadn't taken her Gangsha body tempering seriously enough. Otherwise, how could her face stiffen after smiling for a little while?
At last, Wei Changsheng seemed to notice that Su Chunyi's smile was only polite. He finally shifted the conversation from his own exploits slaying demons to Chen Ye.
"Junior Sister Su, I heard that Rogue Cultivator is only at the Qi Sea Realm. How did he get the Heavenly Book Secret Art?"
"He killed a demonic fiend at the Tongxuan Realm."
Wei Changsheng nodded. So it was spoils taken from a demonic fiend. The little Rogue Cultivator was pretty lucky... Wait, something didn't seem right.
Wei Changsheng asked in surprise, "Didn't that Rogue Cultivator just form his Qi Sea? How could he kill a Tongxuan Realm fiend? Even with a magical treasure, it shouldn't be possible."
The gap between realms wasn't so easy to overcome.
Even if those fiends were mostly Rogue Cultivators, with magical treasures and cultivation arts inferior to those of disciples from the great sects, who had ever heard of someone at the Qi Sea Realm killing someone at Tongxuan? It was practically unheard of.
If such a genius truly existed in the world, what would be the point of anyone else cultivating?
Wei Changsheng didn't believe it, and couldn't help asking, "Could you be mistaken, Junior Sister Su? Perhaps the Rogue Cultivator merely came across the Heavenly Book Secret Art by chance. It's unlikely he got it by killing a Tongxuan Realm fiend. This is your first time out on an adventure, so perhaps you don't know what those unorthodox Rogue Cultivators are like. They'll make up any lie to get in good with disciples from renowned sects like us."
Su Chunyi had meant to explain, but seeing Wei Changsheng's air of superiority, she lost the urge.
Their paths differed; there was nothing to discuss.
Even though both were among the five great righteous sects, the Fenxiang Sect's way of doing things was truly quite different from the Qinghe Sword Sect's.
Su Chunyi couldn't help remembering her discussion of the Dao with Chen Ye in the teahouse. Though they'd just met, she'd felt they were of one mind.
As Wei Changsheng kept on reminding her to beware of people's treachery, Su Chunyi said helplessly, "Senior Brother Wei, it's a long way to Cui County. We should pick up the pace."
Wei Changsheng nodded. "You're right, Junior Sister Su."
Su Chunyi gave him a polite smile, then vanished before his eyes.
Wei Changsheng froze for a moment. All that remained in the sky was a white line parting the layers of clouds.
"How can her sword light be so fast?!"
Wei Changsheng hurriedly urged the Five Immortals Furnace beneath him onward, but the alchemical treasure couldn't keep up with that sword light. Before long, he'd lost sight of her completely.
Losing her was embarrassing, but Wei Changsheng realized there was a bigger problem—he didn't know where Cui County was.
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