Dark Jade Cave.
Fang Qing watched the message talismans flying wildly outside his cave dwelling, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "Ever since I became a True Disciple, I've rarely seen anything like this. Troubled times indeed."
Ever since news spread that Linghu Jin had failed to break through to Core Formation, undercurrents had begun stirring throughout the Azure Sea Sect.
No one knew how many cultivators were meeting and forging connections in secret.
But Fang Qing needed no divination to know how he should respond.
"Let storms come from all eight directions. I'll stand firm."
"The reason is simple: I want nothing. Without a weak spot, I'm harder to manipulate and less likely to act rashly."
The Sect Leader's faction looked like a dog fallen into the water, but was it really?
Linghu Jin was only rumored to be dying. He was not dead yet.
Besides, Patriarch Ruan's attitude remained ambiguous.
Fang Qing had always been on good terms with cultivators from the Sect Leader's faction. He could not bring himself to throw stones at them while they were down.
So he stayed in his cave dwelling, cultivating and reading alchemy texts as usual.
Now and then, he went out for amusement: listening to songs at pleasure houses, finding someone to play chess with, browsing auctions and markets, or visiting Qin Ruxue on Supreme White Island. Before he knew it, several more years had passed.
For cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm, spending years in a single seclusion could become routine.
Inside the cave dwelling's reception hall.
Qin Ruxue poured Fang Qing tea and smiled. "The turmoil in the sect is finally coming to an end. Over the past few months, Hall Master Cui Zhe has led the Hall of Punishing Evil in arresting quite a few disciples, including