A month later, at Jingyun Sect.
On a mountainside.
"Young Sect Master..."
A green-robed maid looked at the girl before her with concern. Hesitantly, she said, "You've been standing here for nearly three hours."
"Xiao Su, today I watched twelve people leave the sect with my own eyes."
"In just one month, this enormous sect has dwindled to fewer than three hundred people. I don't know what the Sect Master and the others will think when they come back and see this."
Meng Tangtang turned her gaze away and spoke softly.
As time passed, she had gradually grown accustomed to her identity as Young Sect Master.
She was no longer as uneasy as she had been at first, feeling unworthy of the position.
Instead, she had truly begun to shoulder the sect's responsibilities.
Now, she had both the duty and the ability to do so. She was already a powerful late-stage Ninth Grade expert.
There was hardly anyone in all of Jingyun Sect who could match her strength.
"Has Jingyun Sect really reached the end of its days?"
In the month since the Grand Elder's passing, Meng Tangtang had witnessed too much betrayal and too many ugly faces. At first, she had been angry, but the more time went on, the more numb she became.
The once-mighty sect, with over a thousand disciples, had scattered in barely a month.
Now, apart from the Sect Master and a few elders at the front lines,
Jingyun Sect, one of the great Ten Sects, had only two hundred and seventy-eight people on its rolls.
Twenty-three of them were elders or stewards.
Only two hundred and fifty-five disciples remained.
Most of the talented disciples had already left. Some had gone off to seek their own fortunes, while others had been poached by rival sects.
Those who remained were ordinary disciples of mediocre aptitude.
Most were outer-sect laborers.
Even Senior Brother Liu Sheng, once a genius of the inner sect, had left the mountain yesterday.
Most of the elders had also departed. Only a handful remained, including Elder Hao and Elder Zhang Feng, who were still loyal to the sect.
These past few days, Meng Tangtang had been under immense pressure.
She had considered asking her master for help, but in the end, she put the thought aside for now. She didn't want to bother him every time she ran into trouble.
He had already given enough.
"Young Sect Master, the elders are waiting for you in the Council Hall."
Seeing Meng Tangtang's pale face, Meng Xiaosu couldn't help feeling for her. She had watched Meng Tangtang work hard all these days and admired her cousin.
The elders were worried about Meng Tangtang, too. They had specially brought Meng Xiaosu over from the Meng Family to keep her company.
"Alas, let's go."
After watching yet another disciple leave right before her eyes, Meng Tangtang sighed and turned away.
Meng Xiaosu glanced at the disciple heading down the mountain, her brows drawn together in displeasure.
She felt bitter about it.
She felt Jingyun Sect had been treated unfairly.
A pack of ungrateful wretches!
Jingyun Sect had provided them with cultivation resources and taught them to grow strong. But now that the sect was in trouble, every last one of them was thinking only of saving their own skin.
It was truly heartbreaking.
As soon as she entered the Council Hall,
Meng Tangtang sensed something was amiss. She looked around, a trace of confusion on her face.
"Why are there so few people?"
"Weren't there twenty-three elders left?"
Rows of empty chairs filled the hall, giving it an indescribably desolate air.
In that vast space, only a sparse handful of people were seated.
Zhang Feng gave a bitter smile. "Another group left. Just now, Xu Gang and three elders took dozens of disciples and left the sect. There are fewer than two hundred people left in all of Jingyun Sect."
At his words, Meng Tangtang's body trembled.
More had left?
The few elders who remained looked just as grim.
The mighty Jingyun Sect, with over a thousand disciples and elders, had scattered overnight. Fewer than two hundred remained. It was practically a joke.
"Is anyone else leaving?"
Meng Tangtang pressed her lips together. She didn't bother concerning herself with those who had left. Instead, she looked around the hall, and when she saw everyone still seated, she quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
But as she continued to look around,
she suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Senior Sister Wang Xue'er?"
Among the dozen or so elders who remained, she spotted a familiar face: Wang Xue'er, a genius of the inner sect who had once been as renowned as Liu Sheng.
She had already reached the Sixth Grade Realm, and was faintly stronger than Liu Sheng, who had left.
"You didn't leave?"
Meng Tangtang was astonished. She hadn't expected that, with so many talented disciples being poached, this inner-sect genius would still be willing to stay.
"Why would I leave?"
Among the elders, a capable-looking woman smiled gently. Seeing Meng Tangtang's surprised expression, she asked her in return.
"But..."
"Enough, Young Sect Master. No more buts. We're all members of Jingyun Sect. This isn't the time to stand on ceremony."
"Let's discuss what to do next."
"No matter what, our top priority is getting through this crisis."
Wang Xue'er's expression turned serious.
"Exactly!"
At that moment, a familiar, plump figure stood up. It was Elder Hao. He chuckled and said, "Those who left were nothing but fence-sitters. The heart of Jingyun Sect has always been us. Maybe it's for the best that those troublemakers are gone."
"Exactly!"
"Well said!"
"Quite right. Girl, you're the backbone of all of us now. You can't let yourself slack off. You have to pull yourself together."
"Jingyun Sect hasn't fallen yet!"
Elder Mu of the Alchemy Hall and the others also stood up and nodded in agreement.
Seeing so many familiar faces, Meng Tangtang's gloomy mood finally began to lift, and her eyes brightened again.
"Junior Sister Meng, you still have us! We're members of Jingyun Sect now, too!"
Next, Liu Yanran stood up with a smile and looked at Meng Tangtang.
Soon, one figure after another rose to their feet.
Only then
did Meng Tangtang realize that all of the dozen or so disciples left from Beast Taming Mountain had stayed and joined Jingyun Sect.
"Heh, we're short on people now, so I promoted them all to stewards and elders. We can discuss everything together—there's strength in numbers." Elder Hao smiled at the sight.
"That's right!"
Elder Zhang Feng smiled. "Although Jingyun Sect no longer has a Xiantian expert to guard it and is much weaker than the other sects, Young Sect Master, you have a Xiantian constitution and are a late-stage Ninth Grade expert. It probably won't be long before you reach Xiantian. Then Jingyun Sect will once again be a great sect of the Southern Region!"
"I understand!"
"Thank you for your guidance, elders!"
Meng Tangtang took a deep breath and spoke solemnly.
Elder Hao stepped forward with a beaming smile, patted Meng Tangtang's shoulder, and encouraged her. "People's potential is limitless. Without pressure, where would the drive come from? No matter how hard things are now, could they be harder than when Jingyun Sect was first founded? Back then, we truly had nothing at all!"
"Back then, there were only a few dozen people in the entire sect, and the strongest among them was no more than an Eighth Grade Realm patriarch."
"Everything Jingyun Sect has today was won through the hard work of generation after generation of disciples. In the end, we became one of the Ten Sects, renowned throughout the Southern Region."
"Elder, you're right. I won't despair. I'll make sure Jingyun Sect rises again!"
Meng Tangtang nodded firmly.
"Everyone, don't be so grim."
At that moment, Zhang Feng spoke with a smile, his face bright. "Those fools who left will be the ones to regret it. Besides, it's not as if Jingyun Sect has no powerful figure guarding it. Don't forget the person in the Library Pavilion..."
"If anything truly happens, I believe that senior won't stand by and do nothing. Don't you agree, Young Sect Master?"
Zhang Feng spoke cheerfully. Everyone's eyes lit up!
The same scene from that day came to mind for all of them: the figure who had walked through the air toward them. Their spirits soared!
"Master..."
Meng Tangtang's gaze grew distant as the scene in the Mist Forest surfaced in her mind once more.
Her heart, which had been uneasy, suddenly filled with strength. All her anxiety and worry vanished in an instant!
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