Hong Ze went about his days as usual, practicing calligraphy and painting at home. Otherwise, he tended his own vegetable garden or fed the carp in the pond.
In short, Hong Ze had never taken the matter of temporarily managing the Jie Sect to heart. After all, the Jie Sect was no corporate group; there were no major decisions that needed making.
So-called temporary management of the Jie Sect merely meant standing up for Jie Sect disciples when they were bullied and urging them to cultivate diligently.
The Jie Sect was a Sage's sect. Who would dare overestimate themselves and bully its disciples?
As for guiding Jie Sect disciples in cultivation, even if Hong Ze had the inclination, they might not have needed him.
Of course, that was merely the view of Hong Ze and some of the Jie Sect disciples. It did not include Golden Spirit Mother and the others.
By now, they had become frequent visitors to Hong Ze's place, dropping by every few days to freeload food and drinks.
This also made Hong Ze's little courtyard livelier, no longer as desolate as before.
That day, Hong Ze was tending his vegetable garden as usual.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him and assumed that Golden Spirit Mother or one of the others had come again.
Without even turning around, he said, "Your nose is long enough. How did you know the corn ripened today?"
As he spoke, Hong Ze slowly rose to his feet.
When he turned around, he saw that the people before him were not Golden Spirit Mother and the others.
Instead, it was Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian, which left Hong Ze rather puzzled.
Why had these two come to my place? Did they get muddleheaded from sleeping in the middle of the night?
Even as Hong Ze was thoroughly confused, Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian had already begun saluting him.
The two of them directly knelt before Hong Ze, their faces full of remorse.
"Eldest Senior Brother, we offended you that day. Please do not hold it against us."
At this point, Hong Ze was completely baffled by these two idiots and had no idea what they were plotting.
Pi Lu Xian spoke up as well. "Eldest Senior Brother, this junior brother acted rashly that day and offended you.
"Now that I have paid the price, I ask Eldest Senior Brother to forgive my rashness that day."
Seeing the devout expressions on Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian's faces, Hong Ze sneered inwardly.
Had it been anyone else, they might truly have been fooled by Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian and believed that they had realized their mistakes.
But Hong Ze was different. He was a transmigrator with memories of the later generations and knew these two scoundrels' futures inside and out.
One would betray the Jie Sect at its most critical moment, present the Six Souls Banner to Yuanshi Tianzun, and ultimately become Dingguang Joyful Buddha of Western Buddhism.
The other might not openly betray the Jie Sect, but when Western Buddhism was established, he would become Vairocana Buddha, one of Buddhism's Seven Buddhas of the Past.
Thus, these two were traitors through and through. How could Hong Ze possibly believe their nonsense?
Still, the act had to go on, so Hong Ze had no intention of exposing them.
He hurriedly reached out to help them up and said,
"We are fellow disciples. How could there be any grudge left overnight?
"Besides, there was no personal enmity between us. Everything was done for the Jie Sect's future.
"So there is no need for you two junior brothers to act like this. Let us treat the earlier matter as though it never happened.
"Still, why have you two junior brothers come today? Surely you did not come merely to apologize to me?"
Hearing that Hong Ze had forgiven them, Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian could not help but rejoice inwardly.
Pi Lu Xian immediately said to Hong Ze, "Eldest Senior Brother, ever since I offended you and had my cultivation crippled down to the Heavenly Immortal realm, I have been unable to advance any further no matter how I cultivate.
"I came to see Eldest Senior Brother today for two reasons. First, I hope to receive your forgiveness. Second, I hope that Eldest Senior Brother can put aside past grievances and help me restore my cultivation."
Hong Ze shook his head helplessly after hearing this. "I am afraid I cannot satisfy you.
"As you can see, my cultivation is merely at the Heavenly Immortal realm. I am only on par with you now.
"If I had some method to rapidly raise cultivation, why would I not raise my own cultivation first?
"If I had possessed profound cultivation, would that misunderstanding have happened that day?"
Seeing Hong Ze refuse outright, Chang Er Ding Guang Xian hurriedly said,
"Eldest Senior Brother, do not be modest. That day, with a mere wave of your hand, you crippled Senior Brother Pi Lu Xian's cultivation down to the Heavenly Immortal realm.
"This junior brother has never heard of any Heavenly Immortal capable of crippling a Taiyi Golden Immortal's cultivation.
"And it is not just me. I fear no one in the Primordial World has ever heard of such a thing."
Hong Ze had long anticipated that Chang Er Ding Guang Xian would say this, so he had already prepared an explanation.
Of course, to Hong Ze, this was not an excuse or an evasion. He merely needed to give them a reasonable explanation.
He pointed at the Water Fire Daoist Robe he wore and said to Chang Er Ding Guang Xian,
"You should recognize the Daoist robe I am wearing, correct?"
Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian nodded at the same time. They had always suspected that this Water Fire Daoist Robe possessed some special ability.
Now that Hong Ze had brought it up, they naturally wanted to learn what was extraordinary about the Water Fire Daoist Robe.
Chang Er Ding Guang Xian immediately asked, "The Daoist robe on Eldest Senior Brother is the Water Fire Daoist Robe bestowed upon you by Master. Could it be that this Water Fire Daoist Robe has some extraordinary property?"
Hong Ze nodded mysteriously. "My cultivation is lacking, and my aptitude is limited. After cultivating for tens of thousands of years, I am still only at the Heavenly Immortal realm.
"Master worried that I would be bullied, so he gave me this defensive Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Water Fire Daoist Robe.
"Even so, Master was still concerned for my safety and left a trace of his Dao essence within the Water Fire Daoist Robe.
"Whenever someone attempts to harm me, the Dao essence Master left behind suppresses that person's cultivation beneath my own.
"At that point, I can kill them with ease. Even grinding their bones to dust and annihilating their soul would be no difficult matter."
Hong Ze's explanation was utterly flawless, leaving Chang Er Ding Guang Xian and Pi Lu Xian unable to find the slightest flaw.
More importantly, they were inclined to believe that this was the answer.
At the same time, they could not help but envy Hong Ze for receiving such protection from Master.
Meanwhile, Master Tongtian, who was drinking tea in Biyou Palace, suddenly sneezed several times in succession.
Master Tongtian could not help frowning and immediately began deducing the heavenly secrets.
A Sage would always be a Sage. Even if someone merely mentioned his name, he would sense it.
But the moment Master Tongtian began his deduction, his expression changed drastically, for all he sensed was a vast expanse of whiteness.
"How is this possible? A Sage has actually acted to conceal the heavenly secrets. Could it be those two fellows from the West are plotting mischief behind the scenes again?"
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