"Junior and the others are also willing to enter True Person's sect!" Li Xiang's disciples spoke as they knelt beside the twenty-odd Golden Core disciples.
Seeing the lively scene within the cave abode, Xiao Hua smiled faintly, rose to his feet, and said, "Fellow Daoist Li, rise quickly. What act are you putting on now?"
"Alas, True Person Xiao..." Li Xiang did not rise. Instead, he lowered his head and sighed. "Come to think of it, like Xiong Yi and this fellow Daoist, I too have received True Person's immense kindness. They may each have been saved themselves, but True Person rescued not only me, but all the disciples under my charge from death row. Moreover, I have spent the longest time with True Person Xiao. By all rights, I should have spoken of taking you as my master long ago. Yet True Person must already know that my relationship with Qin Haoyue, Jiang Kingdom's previous National Teacher, was far from pleasant. I have lingering fears over it. In particular, when True Person was going to Yaotai Mountain back then, I did everything I could to stop you. In truth, I had selfish motives as well. I knew that once True Person went, whether you perished or returned, neither outcome would be one I wished to see. If True Person obtained the National Teacher's token, you would surely be drawn into the mortal world, and your thoughts would inevitably be influenced. I... did not wish to repeat the same mistakes! Thus, after Xiong Yi returned, although Fellow Daoist Xiong said nothing, I already understood that True Person Xiao had likely obtained the National Teacher's token. Events had already moved in a direction I did not wish to see! So I simply stopped concerning myself with Black Wind Ridge's affairs and