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It was true.

[But the Medicine Sect Master knew none of this. He had always thought his son devoted himself to cultivation. In fact, ten years ago and again three years ago, his son had claimed he was going into seclusion, then gone to seek women in affiliated sects under the Medicine King Sect. He had even abducted women and forced city lords in the Mortal World to gather a harem for him. It was outrageous. Just today, he had imprisoned a young girl in his Cave Abode, waiting to spend his wedding night with her.]

Li Zi could not help turning to look at the Medicine Sect Master.

The Medicine Sect Master truly looked every inch a refined gentleman.

He wore a white robe, with handsome features and graceful bearing. Though he was getting on in years, traces of his youthful looks remained.

[His son is that awful, and he really doesn't know? And what do you mean his son isn't his biological child?]

[The way you tell it, I'm starting to wonder if the Medicine Sect Master is covering for him.]

The Medicine Sect Master stood rooted to the spot, as if turned to stone.

In his memory, his son had always been obedient and sensible, intent on cultivation. Though his progress was poor, he worked hard.

How could this be?

Were they talking about his son?

What utter nonsense!

Covering for him?

He had done nothing of the sort!

He had lived an upright life, never imagining that his wretched son had long since dragged his name through the mud behind his back.

The Medicine Sect Master did not need to turn around to know the sect disciples were stealing glances at him.

The two female disciples looked especially indignant.

Clearly, they had thought this all along.

The Sect Master's son had lorded it over everyone in the sect, making life difficult for its female disciples.

One female disciple had been practicing swordplay in her Cave Abode when the Sect Master's son hid in a tree to watch her, even remarking that her backside was not pert enough.

Furious, she had left the sect and seldom returned.

[The Medicine Sect Master truly doesn't know how awful his son is. He definitely hasn't covered for him. That boy isn't his biological son. If anything, he's the son of his enemy.]

[When the Medicine Sect Master was young, he was in poor health and studied alchemy and pharmacology under an Imperial Preceptor in the Mortal World. He also had a fellow apprentice. Both of them married in their teens while in the Mortal World and had sons. Their wives gave birth on the same day, and that fellow apprentice switched their sons while they were still infants.]

The Medicine Sect Master's expression shifted again and again.

Confusion, nostalgia, shock...

At last, disbelief took hold.

That was all ancient history.

He had indeed studied alchemy and pharmacology under his master, the Imperial Preceptor.

He had married in the Mortal World and had a son.

But after his master and wife died, he had brought his son to the Medicine King Sect to cultivate.

With exceptional talent and tremendous perseverance, he had trained relentlessly. Eventually, he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, became an eighth-grade Alchemist, and secured his position as the Medicine King Sect Master.

He had not spoken of that distant past in many years.

No one in the sect knew about it, either.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined...

His son had been switched?

No wonder he had always felt the boy looked nothing like him and bore some resemblance to his former fellow apprentice. He had thought it was his imagination.

The other powerful figures present were engrossed in the gossip. One look at the Medicine Sect Master's face told them it had to be true.

For a moment, they were stunned.

The Medicine King Sect had always been the stuff of legend.

Nearly ninety percent of the Cultivation World's Alchemists came from the Medicine King Sect. The sect was wealthy, and its cultivation methods differed from theirs: while they focused on Body Tempering, its members primarily cultivated Mental Power.

Methods for cultivating Mental Power were extraordinarily rare, and the practice itself was difficult. That gave the sect a legendary aura throughout the Cultivation World.

Now that they knew the Medicine Sect Master's son had been switched, no one mocked him. Most felt sympathy, and some could even relate.

The system said, [Actually, the Hall of Samsara's Sect Master once raised another man's son too, and his experience was even more miserable. But let me finish telling you about the Medicine Sect Master first.]

Li Zi looked around curiously. [Which one is the Hall of Samsara's Sect Master?]

The powerful figures around her swept their gazes across the crowd, then settled on a group of black-robed Cultivators.

The Hall of Samsara's Cultivators all had rare Spiritual Roots. Their sect stood at the center of the swamp-riddled Black Pool, and few people ever visited it.

The sect's Cultivators kept a low profile. Some had not even shown their faces to this day.

Who would have thought they would get to hear gossip about them this time?

It felt thrilling, like lifting a corner of a mysterious veil.

Hurry up!

Once they finished the gossip about the Medicine King Sect Master, they wanted to hear about the Hall of Samsara's Sect Master!

That sect was too mysterious and hard to approach.

At that moment, even the Medicine King Sect Master cast a rare glance toward the Hall of Samsara.

His gaze met its Sect Master's, and an unexpected kinship passed between them, like heroes recognizing their shared misfortune.

[It's the sect in black robes over there. Everyone in their sect is socially anxious and doesn't like dealing with outsiders. They're pretty interesting. Host, stop getting sidetracked. Listen: the Medicine Sect Master used to be a bright, cheerful young man. Only after his wife and master died did he grow quiet and become the aloof, unapproachable man he is now. And here's the thing—his fellow apprentice killed both of them!]

The more the system spoke, the more excited it became, its electronic voice rising and falling dramatically.

The Medicine Sect Master's eyes flew wide, and his whole body trembled.

He turned, desperate to demand answers from that voice.

But the moment he raised a hand, the Spirit Sword Sect Master held him back.

The Sect Master said quietly, "Let her finish. There may still be a way to set things right."

Li Zi was so absorbed in the gossip that she did not notice the strange atmosphere around her.

[The Medicine Sect Master is too pitiful! His wife and master were murdered, and he's been raising his enemy's son. So where is his biological son? Don't tell me he's dead?]