Vast disagreement rose when Xu Qingxuan heard the second sectmasterâs words. Although she revered her master, she wasnât blindly loyal. Otherwise, she wouldnât have brought her mother to meet with her father and brother behind her masterâs back. Despite all of the brainwashing sheâd endured over the years, it still hadnât been successful. Sheâd retained her own mind.
Her masterâs words struck her as biting the hand thatâd fed them. Xu Qingxuan was quite dismissive of this. Her brother had saved the sectâs Precious Tree!
The holy maiden liked to think in the long term as well. Ever since her parents had found each other, sheâd begun considering the possibility of the family reuniting. If that were to happen, sheâd have to spend some effort here to make the Moon God Sect accept Veluriyam Capital and young lord Zhen. Only when that happened could the dream of a family reunion become possibility.
Otherwise, that road ahead was fraught with difficulties in the current situation. Itâd be better if it was up to the senior sectmaster. She at least was a bit more reasonable. Qingxuan knew her master quite well. That was a heavily prejudiced woman. In the second sectmasterâs eyes, Xu Meng was a traitor and the shame of the faction. She hadnât killed Xu Meng only because sheâd been worried about the effect on Xu Qingxuan. It was also the only reason why Xu Meng had been allowed to remain within the sect.
However, her master was her master. Although Xu Qingxuan was deeply disapproving of these actions, she would never openly rebuke her master.
âAnd what of you, number three?â The senior sectmaster turned to the third leader with a smile.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
The third sectmaster smiled faintly in return. âSacred Peafowl Mountain is indeed a bit far from us, but if itâs proven that young lord Zhen is indeed the Sir Shao Yuan who cured our Precious Tree, I think we still need to keep this favor in mind. Perhaps we donât need to offer tangible help, but weâre ethically obliged to support him. So perhaps we should offer a pronouncement that we support young lord Zhen taking control of Veluriyam Capital?â
The third sectmaster was a mild soul with clear separation of right and wrong. She wouldnât take a favor for granted.
âSupport young lord Zhen? How can we do that?â The second sectmaster couldnât help but break in.
âAnd whyever not?â The senior sectmaster looked back, amused. âWhat are your thoughts?â
âSimply that we canât be certain that young lord Zhen is Sir Shao Yuan. Since we canât prove it, then we can just play dumb. Iâm not being miserly, but we really canât release that kind of announcement. Pillfire City and Veluriyam Capital are bitter rivals, and young lord Zhen even more so. If we support him, that means weâre offending the enormous entity by our side.â
The second sectmaster was a pragmatist. She always approached issues from the perspective of the sectâs profits.
Pillfire City was on the western edge of the Tilted Moon Region. A few steps northwest would bring them into Moon God Sect territory. They were neighbors in the truest sense. The sect was very wary of and sometimes even found Pillfireâs domineering to be unbearable. But no matter what they thought about the pressure, this enormous faction would always be by their side. That fact would never change.
Since they couldnât change that fact, then they could only get used to having such a tyrannical neighbor. They had to endure things even if that meant coming off worse for the wear sometimes. Compared to Pillfire City, the first rank sectâs foundations and strength was still on a different level. Such a great entity was absolutely someone they couldnât afford to offend.
Holy Maiden Xiyuan expressed her thoughts at this time. âHonored master, this disciple thinks that the second sectmaster makes a great deal of sense. As wonderful as Veluriyam Capital may be and as great a genius young lord Zhen is, theyâre still too far away. Theyâre so far away that they have absolutely no effect on us. Anything that happens there feels like the stuff of story tales, with absolutely no impact on our lives. But Pillfire City is right next to us. Even a casual stomp is enough to send us reeling.â
Her meaning couldnât be clearer. They couldnât support young lord Zhen no matter what, even if he had done the sect a great deed.
Holy Maiden Xiyuan seemed impartial and objective, but personal motive was the real driving force. She felt irritated at the mere thought of young lord Zhen. If it wasnât for that jerk sticking his nose where it didnât belong, how would Xu Shan have climbed to her current height and be a threat to her position?
Just cure the Precious Tree, what did you go dig up some Reverse Yin Yang Bloodline for?? Donât you know how unfair this is to other people?
These were the holy maidenâs deepest thoughts. She was completely unable to accept the situation, so she hated that busybody young lord Zhen as well. Now that he was in trouble, she wished fiercely for the matter to become even more serious. Itâd be best if there was civil war and a ton of people died!
Have her support young lord Zhen? Dream on!
Dejection flashed through Xu Shanâs eyes when she heard her peerâs words. But when she swept a look across Xu Qingxuanâs face, she was startled to see that the latter was looking at her encouragingly. This bolstered the self-conscious holy maiden a little.
âI wouldnât dare agree with senior sister Xiyuanâs words. Clearly knowing whatâs right and wrong is a basic requirement for cultivators. This is to be applied for everything from our own nature to the reputation of the sect. We might appear to be sly and clever if we play dumb, but weâll definitely become the laughingstock of the entire world. Whenever others talk of the Moon God Sect, theyâll add on the description of heartless ingrates.â
Even Xu Shan herself was surprised at how smoothly she delivered these thoughts. The senior sectmaster had always wanted to increase Xu Shanâs confidence, but she knew that this wouldnât be accomplished overnight. So when she heard how her disciple had spoken up and was disagreeing with Holy Maiden Xiyuan, not only was she not unhappy, but rather pleased.
Xu Shanâs martial dao potential had been verified, and her bloodline was indeed unparalleled. But if her confidence levels couldnât be enhanced, then even the greatest potential would be wasted on her.
So now four had expressed their opinions. Two were in support and two against. The senior sectmaster smiled and looked towards Holy Maiden Qingxuan. âQingxuan, werenât you quite lively earlier? Letâs here from you.â
âSenior sectmaster, Iâm not falling for that!â Xu Qingxuan giggled. âIf I say what I think, I know my master will be unhappy again.â
âYou brat, say what you want to say, donât blame everything on me.â The second sectmaster had a dark expression on her face.
âThen Iâll say what I think?â
âSay whatever stupid nonsense youâve got!â The second sectmaster had a fiery temper.
âHehe! This disciple also thinks that we should support young lord Zhen. Thereâs another reason apart from the help heâs given us.â
âWhat is it?â This drew general curiosity, but the senior sectmaster threw her a glare. She was irked by her disciple not backing her up, but was also used to her disciple being a headache.
âYou darned girl, what do you know? What other reasons are there? Iâm going to punish you severely if you canât think of a serious reason why!â
âHehe, my reason is very important! But before I tell everyone, Iâd like to ask, is Pillfire City and Veluriyam Capital the two strongest factions in pill dao in the world?â
âHow can Veluriyam compare to Pillfire? Itâs at most one third of Pillfireâs foundations, or even less!â Xiyuan instantly fired off.
âThen letâs put it this way, if one thinks of Pillfire, they also need to consider Veluriyam. We can all agree on this, right?â
âWhat do you want to say?â Xiyuan smiled coldly.
âSimply that while it may currently look like Pillfire is ahead of Veluriyam by a lot, itâs a different story when it comes to their heirs. Weâve all witnessed Pill King Ji Langâs empty showmanship and flashy theatrics. Weâve also seen young lord Zhenâs mature generosity. I think itâs quite obvious whose fortunes are greater. I donât think that Pillfire has anyone who can compete with young lord Zhen in pill dao in the future. The young lord is definitely a monster genius who appears once in ten thousand years.
âIsnât there talk of a Pinecrane Pill? The pill who can extend lives of emperor realm cultivators by a thousand years? Can Pillfire refine such a pill? Or setting that aside, can they even manage a Longevity Pill?
âWhatâs most frightening about young lord Zhen isnât that he understands pills that no one knows of, but that his knowledge stores are much too vast. We all saw how he cured the Precious Tree, right?â
Her long speech won the senior sectmasterâs approval.
âQuite right. Qingxuan, your comprehension abilities are indeed uncommon. You also analyze problems from a very deep angle. In my eyes, Pill King Ji Langâs fortunes are one fifth, or even one tenth of Sir Shao Yuanâs. If the gentleman is indeed young lord Zhen, then I look very favorably upon Veluriyam and his pill dao academy!â
The senior sectmasterâs personal proclamation surprised the second sectmaster.
âSenior sectmaster, do you mean that weâre going to openly support the young lord? Even if he can defy the heavens in the future, we still have no need to offend Pillfire right at this very moment!â
âIt has nothing to do with offending or not offending Pillfire. We just need to express our stance. Young lord Zhen rendered us a great service and out of this gratitude, we support his authority over Veluriyam. This is a very right and proper thing to do. Even if Pillfire is unhappy, they canât use this as an excuse to oppress our sect. Since when did a vaunted first rank sect have to consider the feelings of others when conducting our business? Pillfire is our neighbor, not our ruling nation!â
This was a clear announcement of the sectâs attitude.