Ling Fei's face changed drastically. "Director, how can Xiang Hui be made team leader? He..."
"What? This is an order. I still have to account for things to Mao Shan's side. What do you expect me to do? I'm under enormous pressure too. You need to consider the bigger picture!" Director Zhang interrupted Ling Fei.
Helpless, Ling Fei took out an ID booklet from his person, set it on the desk, and walked out without so much as a greeting.
Director Zhang gave a bitter smile and shook his head. He wanted to say something, but seeing Old Taoist Chen Yi in the room, he ultimately swallowed the words.
Not long after Ling Fei left, Director Zhang asked Old Taoist Chen Yi, "Ling Fei has gone to invite his master, but if it truly is that person from back then, I'm afraid even Daoist Ganji will be in trouble!"
"It's all a muddled account. The demonic path advances with astonishing speed, far surpassing the Daoist Sect. If it truly is that person, even gathering the Four Grandmasters would be futile. The one who tied the bell must be the one to untie it!" Old Taoist Chen Yi seemed to be speaking in riddles, leaving Director Zhang utterly bewildered.
"Ruo Shui! Listen to me!" In front of the office building, Xiang Hui shamelessly trailed after Ling Ruoshui.
"Hmph! You must have pulled some trick. Otherwise, how could my brother have lost the position of team leader while you got it? There are plenty in the group with higher cultivation than yours. Are you still going to say you had nothing to do with it?" Ling Ruoshui spoke without the slightest courtesy.
"How could it have been my doing? Director Zhang made the decision. It has nothing to do with me!" Xiang Hui wore an innocent expression.
"You take me for a fool? Don't think I know nothing. Your Shu Mountain has long found our Kunlun displeasing. You people must have caused this incident." Without even sparing Xiang Hui another glance, Ling Ruoshui turned and left, making his teeth itch with hatred.
"Little bitch, you're damn smart, all right. Sooner or later, I'll get you into my hands. Then I'll make you beg for life but be unable to live, beg for death but be unable to die!" Xiang Hui's face twisted viciously. With a wave of his hand, a figure flashed out—it was Xie Xiaohong.
"Well? Did you find anything? I don't know what immortal from what road helped me so greatly this time, actually killing four Mao Shan disciples. If not for that, driving Ling Fei from his post would have taken quite some effort." Xiang Hui asked Xie Xiaohong smugly.
"Brother Hui!" Xie Xiaohong said with an ugly expression, "This matter is even bigger than we imagined. I found out that besides those four Mao Shan disciples, Old Taoist Chen Kong of Mount Ailao also died. That man was already a Transformation Stage expert thirty years ago. I also heard it looked like the work of a demonic path expert."
"What? Even a Transformation Stage cultivator was killed? And it was the work of a demonic path expert?" Xiang Hui sucked in a cold breath. As an orthodox disciple of Shu Mountain, he naturally knew what a Spirit Transformation expert represented, especially one who had reached that realm thirty years ago. "It seems we'd better not act rashly. Since someone capable of killing a Spirit Transformation expert is involved—and a demonic path cultivator at that—we should avoid provoking them! The demonic path can do anything. If one word goes wrong, killing someone in the street is nothing but a small dish to them. They are utterly lawless."
"Notify our Shu Mountain junior brothers. They must be careful when carrying out missions. Don't clash with strange people. If anything comes up, let disciples from the other sects shoulder it."
"Should we report this to the sect master?" Xie Xiaohong asked.
"No need. Reporting it would only bring trouble. Who knows, they might send Senior Brother out again. It would be bad if he clashed with someone from the demonic path. I'm still counting on Senior Brother to deal with Ling Fei!" Xiang Hui sneered darkly.
A wisp of curling mist rose. With a light wave of Zhou Qing's hand, the mist melted into the air and vanished, only for new mist to emerge at once.
Liao Xiaojin watched Zhou Qing fiddle with eight tiny, exquisite purple-clay tea utensils. No larger than fingernails, they spun endlessly across the table, seeming chaotic yet somehow containing an underlying pattern.
Steam billowed from the tea utensils, and the fragrance of tea filled the room with a fresh, pure scent. One breath of it left the mind relaxed and refreshed, the head clear and the eyes bright.
Zhou Qing held Sima Chengzhen's Zuowang Lun in her left hand and read it carefully, while her right hand secretly formed hand seals, controlling the paths of the tea utensils across the table. Cups brimming with tea moved about without spilling a single drop onto the tabletop. Whenever a tiny teacup stopped giving off steam, a fine spark shot from Zhou Qing's right hand, and vapor once again curled from the tea.
Her leisurely, elegant manner left both Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen feeling incomparably relaxed—free of worry, free of sorrow, free of joy. A realm of empty clarity rippled through their hearts.
"When the heart is about to grow restless, restrain it with
tranquility; when it is about to turn wicked, idle it with uprightness; when it is about to seek, suppress it with letting go; when it is about to grow turbid, clarify it with purity." Zhou Qing slowly read aloud. Bang! A teacup suddenly shattered, followed by the rest exploding one after another, scalding water spraying everywhere.
Zhou Qing waved her hand. Invisible force wrapped around the shattered utensils and splashing tea. With a burn of true fire, the water vaporized, while the purple-clay tea utensils melted down into a smooth purple sphere the size of a fist, faintly glowing with blood-red light. It slowly fell to the ground without making the slightest sound.
"Huh!?" Liao Xiaojin and Zhou Chen were jolted from their realm of empty clarity by the shattering teacups. Looking at Zhou Qing, they voiced their confusion.
With a long sigh, Zhou Qing said, "This Blood-Devouring Divine Saber truly harms others and harms its wielder. The residual demonic nature actually lingered in my body for over a month. Fortunately, I thought of this method, using Daoist nature to restrain demonic nature. Otherwise, who knows how long it would have taken to drive it out."
It turned out that when Zhou Qing had driven the Blood-Devouring Divine Saber with all her strength to kill Old Taoist Chen Kong, Old Taoist Chen Kong had self-destructed at the last moment. Zhou Qing's internal organs had been injured by the shock, and in that moment of distraction, a thread of the saber's violent, bloodthirsty demonic nature had entered her body as well. Though it caused no serious harm, Zhou Qing cultivated Daoist techniques. Leaving that demonic nature within her body was greatly improper. In future cultivation, one careless moment might lead her into cultivation deviation and demonic possession.
Liao Xiaojin knew about this as well. Fortunately, Zhou Qing had devised such a method—it was practically an enjoyment. Thus, every day Zhou Chen would drag Liao Xiaojin over to watch Zhou Qing heal her injuries. Strangely enough, both their cultivation had risen by a large margin for no apparent reason, nearly reaching the middle-to-late phase of Qi Drawing.
Looking at the purple-clay sphere on the ground, where purple light revealed a faint thread of blood-red radiance, Zhou Chen asked curiously, "How did it become like this? It doesn't look as though it was melted from purple clay at all. Could it be because it was tainted with demonic qi?"
"This is only the appearance of demonic qi lingering on the surface. The inside has not changed. At the highest realm of artifact refinement, we Daoists can forcibly reverse an object's properties, turning stone into gold. This is something the demonic path cannot match. The demonic path values rapid achievement, while Daoists value gradual progress. Daoist experts who have cultivated for decades are often no match for demonic path cultivators who have cultivated for only ten-odd years. That is where the demonic path excels." Zhou Qing spoke with great eloquence. Although she did not understand much of it herself, she still had to put on a respectable front before her disciples.
Fortunately, Liao Xiaojin was born of the Vampire Clan and knew absolutely nothing about Daoist or demonic paths, while Zhou Chen was born of the Demon Race and was not particularly knowledgeable either. They simply let Zhou Qing continue showing off.
"By the way, how has Can Can been progressing lately?" Zhou Qing was about to expose herself if she continued, so she changed the subject.
"Not bad. She has already entered the beginner level of the Soaring Sword Qi Art, and she handles her Flying Sword quite decently." Zhou Chen was most concerned about her younger sister.
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