Chapter 67: I Believe Her
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Seeing the Spirit Sword Sect’s second Elder passing through the entrance, Daoist Master Zhifeng immediately realized that the verification result was finally out.
After dragging out for so long, the final result should be as what he expected: the Spirit Sword Sect would choose to compromise. Since they didn’t push the Fifth Elder forward to confront him, it meant that they had chosen to avoid trouble, reducing a big problem into a small one… However, looking at how solemn the Second Elder Liu Xian’s face was, his heart still felt somewhat uneasy.
Holding the stack of sincerity paper in hand, Liu Xian slowly walked towards Daoist Master Feng Yin. The final verification material has finally been handed over to be reviewed by the Sect Leader.
However, Feng Yin waved his hand. “No need, let Daoist Master Zhifeng review it himself.”
An imperceptible smile suddenly appeared on the corner of Liu Xian’s mouth, unfortunately, Daoist Master Zhifeng could not see it.
Upon receiving that stack of sincerity paper, Daoist Master Zhifeng was almost certain about the final result. Since the Sect Leader didn’t even see the verification result, then the opposite party obviously had admitted defeat. That being the case...
With a similarly imperceptible smile, Daoist Master Zhifeng shifted his gaze towards that stack of paper. However, with just a glance, his countenance immediately stiffened.
The next moment, Daoist Master Zhifeng’s hands began to involuntarily tremble. His initially pale complexion started to flush with a trace of anger.
What happened in the White Moon Country wasn’t concealed on that verification report. Not only did it document the fact that the local authority of the White Moon country had colluded with the Thousand Spirit Sect, even how the Sect was in cahoots with the Palace eunuchs to control the Royal Family using the Immortal Path method had also been exposed!
This was not a joke. Although Thousand Spirit Sect was just an insignificant sect, however, interfering with the mortal world’s politic was a big taboo for any Immortal Cultivation Sect! Once an investigation was conducted, his position as the puppet master behind the scene would be exposed!
Of course, people might ask, with the establishment of Union of the Ten Thousand Immortal, which mortal world’s politic was free from it? For example, the Shengjing Sect which entrenched itself within the Central Region clearly had some level of control over multiple countries; what kind of taboo was that?
The key answer was: if one have a sect as magnificent as the Shengjing Sect, one could ignore this taboo. In fact, among the top sects in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, besides the always-low-key Spirit Sword Sect, the rest of the sects had some degree of control over the mortal world’s countries in order to provide the necessary resources.
Among which, the Shengjing Sect had the biggest expansion; they even set up Sect Divisions within each largest countries in the Nine Regions, and had ambiguous relations with numerous countries.
But the problem was, the entire connections were in the full grasp of the Shengjing Sect’s main base in the Central Region. The sect never allowed the head of a Division to act without authorization. Of course, based on the distance to the sect’s main base, a Division Head could still do as he pleased, as long as the Sect Headquarters didn’t know about it. However, his deed with the Thousand Spirit Sect had far exceeded what the sect could tolerate. His identity alone was far from sufficient to pressure this matter down. When the time comes, the sect rules would be as heavy as the mountain, and he...
Thinking to this point, Daoist Master Zhifeng trembled as his Yuanying vibrated. Cold sweat poured out of his body like fountains, and the stack of sincerity paper nearly slipped from his hands.
After a moment, Daoist Master Zhifeng restrained his Primordial Spirit and suppressed the vibration of his Yuanying with a supreme willpower. Then, his fear and panic turned into an inexhaustible stream of anger.
Spirit Sword Sect, you forced me to do this!
“You, you guys…”
After squeezing out a few words in between clenched teeth, Daoist Master Zhifeng flew into a rage and loudly roared, “You guys really want to cover this up!”
“What a joke!”
Daoist Master Feng Yin’s smile suddenly turned cold. “Cover up? If there really is a violation of rules, could we really cover it up!? Now that the fact is clear, Junior Sister has a righteous heart in upholding justice. Not only she wasn’t wrong, her deeds were even commendable. May I ask how would we cover such a person like this, Daoist Master Zhifeng!?”
“Based on things written on this paper!? Would this even count!?” Daoist Master Zhifeng didn’t back down and yelled at the Sect Leader instead, “It was your own people who did the verification, these are your own papers, and all of these are just a testimony from a single person!?”
The more he yelled, the angrier Daoist Master Zhifeng became, and the more relaxed Daoist Master Feng Yin became. “Yes, it’s a single person’s testimony. However, Daoist Master Zhifeng, you claimed that Fifth Junior Sister fabricated rumors to slander your reputation; isn’t that also a single person’s opinion? Or, do you have a clear evidence or a witness’s testimony?”
Daoist Master Zhifeng was stunned; he certainly didn’t have any evidence! In handling their affairs, how could Shengjing Sect need to bother with evidence? That’s ridiculous! Their position as the leader of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals was enough as an evidence!
However, at this time, Daoist Master Feng Yin was using the type of “your words against my words” argument like they were friends with the Shengjing Sect, which made Daoist Master Zhifeng suddenly somewhat at a lost on what to do. However, he quickly found an opening to attack. “Just now, you didn’t even glance at the papers, yet you knew what is written on them. Do you dare to say there’s nothing fishy about it!?”
Daoist Master Feng Yin lightly said, “Why do I need to look at the writing? From the beginning, I completely trust my Junior Sister. This stack of paper is written for you to see, not for us. I believe any Elder in the Heavenly Sword Hall would not doubt their Martial Sister.”
“Hahaha.” The nearby hooded Elder could not help but laugh. “I’ve already said it before, Senior Brother would not let us down!”
The youngest female among them repeatedly nodded. “Yes, although Fifth Senior Sister is cold and somewhat lacking in character, but I absolutely trust her!”
Sixth Elder Lu Li also said, “Ah, speaking of that year, she has also helped a lot of my affairs back then. Although she’s somewhat troublesome, but she’s a credible Martial Sister.”
The Fourth Elder Zhou Ming laughed. “I second that.”
Seeing that several of his fellow Martial Brothers and Sister have taken a stance, the Third Elder Fang He became embarrassed, and he hesitated for a long time, unable to come up with words.
Although he had made clear of his position at the Heavenly Policy Hall , but at the time, there were only three of them. However, at this moment, there were quite many onlookers, he...
The nearby Liu Xian found that it was somewhat funny to see Third Elder Fang He in this predicament, so he patted his shoulder and then said, “My relationship with Fifth Junior Sister is already known to be the worst; almost every month, I complain about her two or three times. However, this time, I completely trust Junior Sister.”
Finally, Fang He helplessly said, “I also believe her, okay? As long as she could change her bad characters and abide by the sect rules…” His voice continued to get smaller and smaller, also, nobody cared about what he said.
The stance of the Heavenly Sword Hall Elders had been so obvious that there was no possibility of compromise.
Daoist Master Zhifeng gritted his teeth. “Then… this means you guys want to make an enemy of the Shengjing Sect!? Just because of one Jindan Stage Elder!?”
“Hahaha!” Daoist Master Feng Yin suddenly burst out laughing. “Daoist Master Zhifeng, don’t you think it should be us who should ask this question instead, no!? Your sect is the number one sect in the Immortal Cultivation World, does your sect really has the preparation to make us, Spirit Sword Sect, your enemy!? Just because of you, a mere Fourth Rate Yuanying Stage!?”
When he said the last word “stage”, Daoist Master Feng Yin’s fury burst out. In a split second, the entire Spirit Sword Mountain trembled, and Daoist Master Zhifeng, who always flaunted his sect’s power and prestige, the direct recipient of this pressure, nearly lost his consciousness.
Damn, he bit off more than what he could chew...
After he had got back his composure, Daoist Master Zhifeng’s complexion had turned ghastly; he perfectly knew that his wishful thinking had been completely broken… Sure enough, as one of the top five sects, Spirit Sword Sect could never be compared with those second or third rate sects like the Beast Taming School. Even if most of the people thought that they were unworthy of the title—outwardly strong but inwardly weak… However, one of the top five sects was still one of the top five sects! Behind their huge reputation was an extremely profound Immortal Cultivation heritage!
However, this matter has yet to come to an end. On the contrary, at a time like this, he must stick it to the end. Because this wasn’t just about himself, but rather the name and prestige of the two sects!
Once the White Moon Country scandal was brought to light, he was destined to receive punishment from his sect’s disciplinary division. However, if he were to hand over some of his research results, perhaps it could offset a part of his punishment. The problem was, at the moment, he had already confronted the Spirit Sword Sect while acting as the Shengjing Sect’s representative. Once he backed down, it would degrade his sect’s name and put him in a difficult situation.
On the other hand, if he stuck it to the end, the matter would turn into a struggle between the two sect’s prestige, and perhaps he might even find a way out of an impasse! The Shengjing Sect has long been used to settling things in a high-handed fashion; although they wouldn’t tolerate their own scum, they wouldn’t tolerate the affront from other sects even more! So, there were still some leeways for him to wiggle out of this!
Thus, although Daoist Master Zhifeng revealed a furious look on the surface, his heart had gradually calmed down. “Good… Since you guys are this rude, then our Shengjing Sect…”
Before he finished his words, a woman’s voice suddenly interrupted him.
“Interesting, you’re a big guy, yet at every turn, you would call out the Shengjing Sect’s name. Haven’t you learned to use your own identity to speak?”
Accompanied by a mocking laughter, a white woman on top of a green sword light flew into the Spirit Sword Hall.
“Oh, Martial Brothers and Sister, I accidentally heard… all of your previous statements. Thank you for all of your trust, especially Senior Brother Fang He, I know that speaking out against your conscience is truly hard on you… However, should our Spirit Sword Sect be bothered with a noisy busybody whose position in the Shengjing Sect is like that of a Qi Cultivating Stage disciple in our sect?”
After that, the woman turned around and looked at Daoist Master Zhifeng. “And you, do you want to always hide behind your sect’s name for your entire life? Now that this pile of sh*t appears because of the two of us, why don’t we settle it ourselves, no need to implicate our respective sects.”
Then, the woman raised her emerald green bamboo sword and pointed it straight at Zhifeng.
“You and I, one on one, winners takes all, do you or do you not dare?”
The woman was looking at him with a contemptuous smile as she kept pointing her bamboo sword at him. Daoist Master Zhifeng suppressed the vibration of his Yuanying once again.
At the same time, his reason told him that this was a straightforward solution. He wouldn’t need to use intrigue and manipulation to deal with the Senior Elders from his sect, and he also wouldn’t need to consider how to suppress the counterattack from the Spirit Sword Sect. As long as he won the fight against this woman, all his problems would be solved.
Actually, this “dueling” method was a common method to settle a dispute in the Immortal Cultivation World since the ancient time. The so-called Union of Ten Thousand Immortals was basically just the biggest bully organization in the Nine Regions, and the top five sects among them was often called the five bullies. The “winner takes all” duel challenge by Wang Wu was the product spawned from such an environment. When the parties in dispute were already reluctant to waste energy to wrangle about, they settled it with this winner takes all duel. The winner would decide the truth, no matter how illogical that truth was, and the loser could only swallow their grievances into their belly. Of course, the duel must be agreed by both parties, and both have to take the Great Heart Devil Oath to ensure the basic rule and order would be kept. Otherwise, wouldn’t the dignified Union of Ten Thousand Immortals be no different than those savages?
Moreover, that Fifth Elder was just a peak Jindan Stage; while he wasn’t good at fighting, he was still a Fourth Rate Yuanying Stage! Besides practicing top notch Immortal Cultivation Method, he also has several spiritual treasures—even ten Jindan cultivators could be easily dealt by him! He wasn’t one of those Yuanying Stage cultivators from ordinary sects that could be defeated by a Jindan Stage from the top five sects! Previously at the White Moon Country, they had exchanged a couple of moves before the opposite party quickly slipped away and fled. However, in that two short moves, he had the upper hand, forcing the opposite party in a defensive position.
Therefore, Daoist Zhifeng didn’t understand where did this woman’s arrogance and confidence come from. Did she want to take advantage of the Spirit Sword Sect to secretly tamper the duel? Humph, the duel would be restricted by the Great Heart Devil Oath, so drawing support from external help would only let her die even more miserable! Otherwise, it would be difficult to settle a dispute in the Immortal Cultivation World. Even if he was not proficient in fighting, as a researcher-scholar, he was very good at applying this rule. Based on his Fourth Rate Yuanying Stage cultivation level, even the Deity Stage Daoist Master Feng Yin could not interfere with his and Wang Wu’s duel.
For a time, Daoist Master Zhifeng thought about all kinds of reasons of whether he should accept the duel challenge from Wang Wu or not. However, his four hundred years of long life have taught him to be exceptionally cautious.
No one would be so suicidal, so there must be a trick here. Especially that cunning and crafty Wang Wu, she definitely has a bag full of tricks. Although the odds were extremely in favor of him, it wasn’t necessary for him to take a risk.
Thinking to this, Daoist Master Zhifeng became hesitant. However, Fifth Elder immediately noticed his doubt, so she suddenly mocked him.
“Yo, fellow Zhifeng, don’t tell me you’re afraid? I am just an insignificant Jindan Stage insect, while you’re an eminent Yuanying Stage expert, yet you’re afraid of me?”
Fifth Elder continued with a sigh, “Looks like a Daoist Master of Jindan Stage could not satisfy you. However, considering your cowardly nature, perhaps even Xudan or Foundation Establishment Stage would also scare you. However, this is actually good, our Spirit Sword Sect actually have many newcomers! I won’t choose randomly either, I would just call my disciple to accompany you. Rest assured, he just entered the Qi Cultivating Stage, and has yet to learn how to cast spells. Moreover, he is quite stupid and clumsy… Wang Lu, come in!”
Then, a teenager in a red and white robe walked in. He was Wang Lu who has a tacit understanding with his Master.
Seeing Wang Lu coming in, Fifth Elder patted him on the shoulder and pointed at Daoist Master Zhifeng whose face was exceptionally ugly at this time and said, “See, over there, that old coward. He’s too shock to see Master’s Jindan Stage cultivation, so he doesn’t dare to fight one-on-one with me. Fortunately, your cultivation level is low and slow on the uptake, so you can represent your Master to exchange a couple of moves with him. Remember to be merciful; the other person has lived for more than four hundred years old, so don’t let him lose his face.”
Wang Lu nodded as if he was suddenly enlightened; his expression perfectly complemented that of his Master’s.
Even though Daoist Master Zhifeng still maintained his cautious nature well into his Yuanying Stage level, he couldn’t help but be infuriated by this clumsy and obviously deliberate performance. However, before he could say anything, Wang Lu’s follow up words angered him so much that his eyes turned black.
“Master, although you’re gentle and considerate, and worthy to be an exemplary female model, you still don’t quite understand a coward’s mentality. If you let me fight with him, even if I am still in the Qi Cultivating Stage, it would still scare the sh*t out of him, how could he save his face?”
Of course, Wang Wu didn’t really expect a two years old newcomer like Wang Lu to go and fight a Yuanying Stage cultivator. Thus, upon hearing Wang Lu’s words, she nodded in agreement. “You’re right. You have a good heart, so tell Master, who, in your opinion, should fight with him? If a Qi Cultivating Stage disciple can’t satisfy him, do you think we should look for a mortal world’s martial artist?”
Wang Lu waved his hand to reject her proposal. “A mortal world’s martial artist is not necessarily inferior to Qi Cultivating Stage disciple; they’re also good at fighting. Although this old fellow from Shengjing Sect doesn’t have balls, he still has his brain, so he will definitely disagree.”
Wang Wu pretended to be surprised. “If we can’t even call out a mortal world’s martial artist, who should we call then?”
Wang Lu sneered. “Isn’t this easy? Big Huang, come here!”
“Woof!”
Hearing Wang Lu’s call, a rural dog from the Spirit Creek Town excitedly rushed in and looked for Wang Lu.
Wang Lu pulled out a bone and gave it to it, and then pointed at the Daoist Master Zhifeng. “Go and exchange a few moves with him, but remember to show mercy.”
“Woof!?”
Daoist Master Zhifeng could no longer suppress the anger that has been boiling in his heart. With blood red eyes, he roared.
“You, you bring about your own doom!”