Chatting at the Village Entrance

Hearing the village chief mention the past, Liu Yunan couldn't help but recall his own time, and his eyes involuntarily reddened.

"Back then, when I was starving, Brother Xiao would risk getting beaten by Uncle Lin to bring me dry rations."

Seeing his emotional state, Clan Leader Hu patted him on the shoulder and smiled kindly:

"You are all kind and sentimental young people. Our village will depend on you young people in the future. With good kids like you, we old folks can rest easy."

Village Chief Du nodded in agreement:

"Yes, our Xiushui Village has been poor for generations. It is only through everyone's strength and hard work that we have survived to this day. We have been bent over all our lives, but now, thanks to the sect you have created, we are finally starting to straighten up. We are truly overjoyed."

Listening to the two elderly people, each speaking in turn, Liu Yunan suddenly felt a surge of pride and immediately patted his chest, saying:

"Village Chief, Clan Leader Hu, rest assured, Brother Xiao told us long ago that our Lingxian Sect will definitely work hard to lead everyone towards a better life!"

Upon hearing this, the two old men smiled and said:

"We're happy that you have this intention. Everything in excess is bad. The villagers are already doing very well, so let things take their natural course. There's no need to overfeed them; they don't have the capacity to handle it."

We can understand your difficulties to some extent.

If you need our cooperation in any way, just come down the mountain and tell us, and we will try our best to get everyone to cooperate.

Don't try to figure everything out on your own up in the mountains. Most of the people in the village are relatives, uncles, aunts, and other family members who watched you grow up. Many of them, like you, hope that our village will prosper and that all of us can live a good life together.

Hearing their words, Liu Yunan recalled how, after his father passed away, his family was struggling, and his mother had to work hard all by herself. It was only thanks to the help of neighbors and villagers that his mother didn't collapse from exhaustion.

When their uncle caused trouble at their house, it was only after some villagers tipped off the village chief that the village chief and the clan elders came with people to uphold justice for their family.

Not just his family.

This is true for every household in Xiushui Village.

Whenever someone in a family has a major event, the villagers will usually do their best to help.

Although there may be occasional minor frictions between individual families, and some people may gossip.

However, when it comes to important matters, everyone remains very united and helps each other.

So Liu Yunan nodded emphatically and said:

"Village chief, Clan Leader Hu, I understand."

He didn't say what he knew.

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Du and Clan Leader Hu didn't ask him what he knew; they simply smiled kindly at him and said:

"Okay, good boy, go and do your work."

Then Liu Yunan bid farewell to the two old men and returned to the mountain.

When they returned to the mountain, everyone from the Lingxian Sect had just entered the cultivation room and had not yet begun their cultivation.

After greeting everyone, Liu Yunan said to them:

"From now on, we won't have to hide from the villagers anymore."

Hearing this, everyone was somewhat surprised:

"But if we don't hide, the villagers will start asking about our sect."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yunan replied:

"It's alright, let them ask. Apart from some important matters, there's nothing we can't tell people about our sect's basic situation. Besides, they're all from our village. If they ask again, just tell them the same story we told them before."

Hearing the young people chatting so animatedly, Old Master Lin nodded in full agreement.

"Yes, Lad Nan is right. We can't keep hiding from the villagers like this. If we keep doing that, it will discourage them."

Jiang Youfu nodded and said:

"Yes, Brother Xiao foresaw that our sect would be exposed. Now that we've gained some fame, we're still hiding from the villagers. If Brother Xiao knew, he certainly wouldn't approve."

Thus, the members of the Lingxian Sect decided that they would no longer hide from the villagers. When they asked about the sect, they would only tell a little bit about what they could, satisfying the villagers' curiosity without revealing the sect's strength.

--

Twenty days later, in the capital of the Pusi Kingdom.

In the Imperial Study within the Forbidden City.

There were only three people here at that moment.

A man dressed in a black dragon robe sat at the head of the table, while a eunuch stood beside him a meter away on the lower step. Another man, dressed in a tight-fitting outfit, stood with his head bowed in the hall beneath the desk.

Looking at the envelope that Wei San had brought back, Emperor Li Zhouxuan did not open it immediately.

Instead, he asked Wei San, who was standing below with his head bowed, awaiting orders:

"You only saw a young boy?"

Wei San immediately clasped his hands in a respectful gesture and replied:

"Yes."

Li Zhouxuan, who had just turned thirty, had a calm expression, revealing no emotion. He kept examining the envelope in his hand, and after a moment asked:

"Did anything else happen?"

Wei San then recounted everything he had seen and heard since he first entered Xiushui Village, including his journey along the Heart-Questioning Road.

However, he did not answer truthfully about his dream during the Heart-Questioning Road self-reflection. He only slightly modified a few words and then glossed over it.

Li Zhouxuan didn't know much about the Heart-Questioning Road and didn't ask any further questions.

He sat at the head of the table, lost in thought.

It seems that this newly emerged immortal sect is most likely genuine.

I just don't know how this new sect compares in strength to the Shangyang Sect...

The thought of the Shangyang Sect gave Li Zhouxuan a headache.

Such Dayi sect was actually broken into by an outsider cultivator who casually stormed the mountain gate, killed the sect leader, and usurped the position to become the new sect leader.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad.

However, within the Shangyang Sect, a group of elders were unwilling to be subordinate to the outsider cultivator. So, they outwardly complied with the outsider cultivator but inwardly defied him, secretly leading a group of people to slip away using a secret technique left behind by their Shangyang Sect ancestor.

The leading elder sent a letter to the imperial court a few days ago, clearly stating that they were to rebuild Shangyang Sect, and they are currently on their way to the capital.

It was at this moment that Li Zhouxuan learned that the Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Shangyang Sect, who had gone into seclusion many years ago, had long since passed away.

Their Shangyang Sect is now entirely composed of cultivators at or below the Golden Core Golden Core stage.

No wonder a Nascent Soul Cultivator from outside the sect easily seized control of the sect and its leader.

However, none of these things were important to Li Zhouxuan.

The most distressing thing is that the Shangyang Sect, one of the three major sects, has now become like this, which means it is no longer a match for the other two sects.