ILDV Chapter 62

Li Capital Imperial Palace.

“The Feng Clan is simply taking a mile when given an inch!”

The whip cracked through the air with a ‘snap,’ splitting open a fissure in the smooth floor. Li Shuihe, momentum fierce, even slammed the whip handle onto the Li Emperor’s desk. The palace maids and guards serving in the hall all lowered their heads.

The young man seated behind the desk rubbed his temples and waved his hand to dismiss everyone. “Elder Sister, what use is it yelling at me? If I had a way to deal with the Feng Clan, I wouldn’t have let them cause trouble around you.”

“Outrageous… truly outrageous!”

That attendant had been with her ever since she joined the Jietian Dao Sect, as close as the head palace maid from her childhood. Just thinking that such a person was actually a spy planted by the Feng Clan at her side made her fear surge uncontrollably!

Li Shuiqing listened to Li Shuihe’s roar, half-sprawled over the desk, sighing weakly. This kind of thing… no matter how angry she got, she could only vent in private.

The relationship between the imperial family and the great clans was rather complex to explain in detail. In summary, the Feng Clan initially was just an ordinary clan under Li Dynasty rule, but ever since Feng Jiangcheng emerged out of nowhere several thousand years ago, the Feng Clan gradually broke away from Li Dynasty control and rose to become the first-rank cultivation clan it was today.

Until the struggle between Feng Jiangcheng and Li Baisu reached a conclusion, this kind of thing wouldn’t end for a single day.

Li Shuiqing worked hard to divert his imperial sister’s attention. “I heard it was Tianji Daojun of Taihua Immortal Sect who took action to detain the person?”

“Ah… speaking of that, I did remember something.” Reminded, Li Shuihe raised her hand to scratch her chin and roughly recounted what happened after she met Xu Rong. “I felt something was off about his state.”

Li Shuiqing said, “The night Prince Xu’s manor was massacred, Young Prince Xu had gone outside the city with friends for an outing. He didn’t return the following day. I traced him heading toward Taihua Immortal Sect and sent a message requesting Ancestor Baisu accept him as a disciple, but unexpectedly he entered under Tianji Daojun instead.”

Li Shuihe showed no awareness. “Ah, I know that. But Tianji Daojun doesn’t serve the Sword-Wielding lineage, so what does it matter? Speaking of which, it’s absurd—that Feng Clan spy actually pinned the blame on Ancestor Baisu. Ridiculous. Prince Xu wasn’t from some thousand-year heritage clan—what treasure could he have that would be worth Ancestor Baisu lowering herself to act personally?”

“……”

Li Shuiqing’s smile cracked.

Forget it, he shouldn’t have expected his imperial sister to have any mind for schemes and plots.

After dumping everything on her imperial brother, Li Shuihe left in high spirits, leaving the poor emperor alone to face an increasingly imminent baldness crisis.

Li Shuiqing gripped his brush and reviewed memorials for a while. A guard in light armor hurried forward, and without lifting his head, he asked, “Has she left?”

“Reporting to Your Majesty, the detection spirit tool stopped making sounds a tea period ago.”

“Then she should have left.” Li Shuiqing put down his brush and raised his hand to rub his temples. “Sigh, being emperor is truly troublesome. I hope that Daojun can comprehend my meaning.”

The certain Daojun whom the emperor placed such hope in had just carried his disciple over the palace wall, avoiding the guards.

“Shizun…” Xu Rong, who had shown no reaction while being carried by his collar this whole time, suddenly called out to him, his eyes vacant. “With the Li siblings’ cultivation levels, they couldn’t have discovered you, correct?”

“Generally speaking.” Yin Lang said lightly.

“Generally speaking.” Xu Rong repeated the phrase, the corners of his mouth twisting. “Which means there’s a possibility they were acting. They take me for a fool? I personally heard Li Baisu say I…”

Xu Rong suddenly stopped, lowering his head slightly, saying softly, “I got too agitated. Shizun, please forgive me.”

Personally heard Li Baisu say what about him?

Yin Lang slightly raised his eyes, his lazy, perfunctory expression somewhat restrained. “This matter is of great importance. Without clear and definite evidence, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. This trip at least yielded some clues—it wasn’t a wasted journey. The sect martial tournament will begin soon. We don’t have more time to investigate thoroughly.”

Qin Xun had just come from Lu Changfeng’s place when he ran into his master returning while carrying his junior martial brother.

“Oh, what a coincidence. Perfect, saves me another trip to Huayuan Hall to find you.” Shen Muxuan casually tossed the person to Qin Xun, not caring at all what mood his two disciples would be in after hearing this. “This master is going into seclusion. Keep an eye on your junior martial brother during the sect martial tournament. Unless it’s urgent, don’t bother me.”

Qin Xun’s expression shifted slightly. “You have signs of a breakthrough? Will you seclude yourself within the sect or as usual?”

“Same as before.” Shen Muxuan had already turned to leave, his voice neither high nor low, yet each word reached their ears clearly from afar. “Some things have emerged, and even the air at Tianji Peak won’t be fresh anymore. This master needs to temporarily avoid them at your Martial Uncle Xie’s place. I’ll return before the Immortal Sect Grand Assembly to back you up.”

Not far from the mountain base, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, tightly grasping his snow-white sleeve. “Muxuan, are you so unwilling to see me?”

Xu Rong, who was trying to make his senior martial brother put him down, and Qin Xun, who was firmly gripping his junior martial brother’s collar refusing to let him go disturb their master, both stopped simultaneously. They turned their heads in unison, their gazes burning as they stared at that offending hand, almost boring holes through the pale green sleeve.

Shen Muxuan lowered his eyes to sweep over the green arrow sleeve embroidered with an exquisite clan crest. He extended his left hand and firmly, bit by bit, pried away the cloying touch on his arm. Lifting his head, he enunciated each word clearly, “Since you have such self-awareness, why must you still run before me to be an eyesore? Looking for a scolding?”

Feng Jiangcheng’s expression gradually darkened. “Shen Muxuan, I am your master. Is this the attitude with which you speak to your master!”

“Ha. You really have the nerve to mention ‘master.’ Feng Jiangcheng, feel your own conscience… oh, forget it. You never had a conscience to begin with. Why should I waste words with a beast worse than livestock?” Shen Muxuan laughed mockingly, waving his sleeve to knock away Feng Jiangcheng’s reaching hand and striding away.

Feng Jiangcheng’s chest heaved violently. His five fingers curved into claws, spiritual power surging in his palm as he raised his hand to grab Shen Muxuan’s left shoulder. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Shen Muxuan’s shoulder dipped down, his hand reaching out to grasp at empty air. With the sound of a sword’s cry, Tianji Sword was in his grip. Without looking back, he struck out in a reverse thrust.

Feng Jiangcheng never expected him to draw his sword at the slightest disagreement. Caught off guard, a long wound was carved from his right shoulder to his wrist, blood gushing out and instantly staining half his green robe red.

Shen Muxuan sheathed his sword, saying coldly, “Don’t touch me with your filthy hands. If there’s a next time, I’ll hack off your entire arm!”

Having been discussing matters when his master suddenly disappeared, Gu Fuxuan rushed over urgently to see this scene. His heart stopped for a moment. He quickly stepped forward as if inadvertently blocking Feng Jiangcheng’s view of Shen Muxuan, taking out a Nine-Revolution Healing Spirit Pill and presenting it while saying in a low voice, “Junior Martial Brother suffered an ambush on this trip and is in poor spirits. Please don’t hold it against him.”

Feng Jiangcheng’s expression was cold and hard. After several quick breaths, he barely regained his composure and said calmly, “Muxuan, the Feng Clan head came to visit me some days ago.”

Shen Muxuan, who had walked two steps, stopped again and casually said, “Oh,” then added, “I know.”

He completely ignored Gu Fuxuan’s anxious signals and slowly turned around. His handsome face bore no trace of a smile as he looked directly at Feng Jiangcheng. “I killed a disrespectful Golden Core youngster from their family. What, does Ancestor Feng want to stand up for his juniors?”

After he caused such a scene in Yueqing City without any attempt to conceal his identity, the news reached Gu Fuxuan’s ears before he even arrived at Li Capital. After barely a few years of peace, his master emerged from seclusion and these two started butting heads again. Experiencing once more the taste of being caught in the middle with nowhere to turn, Gu Fuxuan this time keenly detected something different from the past.

In the past, when junior martial brother made trouble, had it ever escalated to the point of drawing blood, even drawing his sword to wound his master?

He had the feeling that since junior martial brother returned from Beiyu City, something had already changed imperceptibly.

Feng Jiangcheng said hoarsely, “I told them they need not come to me anymore. Several thousand years of protection have long since repaid the kindness of a hundred years of care.”

Disregarding his still-bleeding right arm, he stared intently at the calm, unruffled black eyes of Shen Muxuan, taking a deep breath. “Between the Feng Clan and you, when have I ever made you suffer even a little? Muxuan, can you truly not see my feelings for you?”

Shen Muxuan sighed. The hearts of everyone present rose and fell uncertainly with his expression and movements. “Having known you for several hundred years, only today do I realize for the first time that Ancestor Feng is not as domineering and unreasonable as the rumors say, but is actually a person who knows how to assess situations and is quite clever.”

“…What do you mean?” Feng Jiangcheng’s expression, which had just softened, instantly froze.

“Must I spell it out? Feng Jiangcheng, before I advanced to the Tribulation stage, you never treated me with this kind of face. What, now that you’ve discovered your prey has grown nearly beyond your control, Ancestor Feng is finally panicking?”

Feng Jiangcheng’s complexion gradually turned iron-blue. Gu Fuxuan, having been his head disciple for so many years, understood his master better than anyone. His heart sank immediately.

“Shizun!”

He rudely cut off what was clearly escalating into another confrontation, gritting his teeth to remind him, “The sect martial tournament is of great importance. The sect leader specifically asked you to recheck whether the sect protection grand array’s foundation is stable.”

As he spoke, he half-turned to frantically signal to Shen Muxuan, telling him to stop provoking people. The Sword-Wielding Elder Feng Jiangcheng’s combat power far exceeded ordinary late-stage Tribulation cultivators. If they truly angered him, even joining forces, they might not safely escape!

Shen Muxuan lowered his eyes, unclear whether he had taken it in, but in any case, he didn’t continue speaking.

“Boring.” He muttered lowly, flicking his sleeve and leaving. Before disappearing, he didn’t forget to call out from afar, “Then I’ll trouble senior martial brother to watch over my two disciples for now. I hope when I return they haven’t been vented upon by certain disrespectful old scoundrels to the point of broken arms and legs—those would be quite troublesome to heal.”

Crack——

Feng Jiangcheng pressed one hand against a tree trunk. Starting from where his five fingers gripped, the trunk split open. The towering tree slowly toppled, its heavy, lush branches crashing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust and startling birds and beasts.

His gaze, capable of freezing people solid, swept inch by inch across Qin Xun and Xu Rong, like a combination of a cold venomous snake and an enraged lion, as if he might pounce at any moment to bite through their throats. Feng Jiangcheng’s gaze lingered especially long on Qin Xun. “Feng Lan.”

Qin Xun bowed his head with seeming respect. “Ancestor.”

“Come here.”

Qin Xun complied. Feng Jiangcheng’s slightly cool hand slowly moved down from the crown of his head, the stimulation making his skin shiver. “I remember, you’re from the Qinghe branch?”

“Yes. My ancestor Feng Qinghe was the one hundred thirty-second generation direct-line descendant of the Feng Clan.”

“A good seedling. No wonder Muxuan could overlook your surname and take you as a disciple.” His voice changed back to the gentle and warm tone from Li Capital, but the leisurely cadence made one’s heart turn cold. The cool hand repeatedly caressed the back of his neck. Qin Xun’s sense of danger skyrocketed, not doubting for a moment that Feng Jiangcheng could snap his neck at any time.

“Shizun!” Gu Fuxuan, suppressing his anger, called out again, his hand already gripping a sword seal.

“This master hears you. Why so anxious? Check the sect protection grand array? Let’s go now.” Feng Jiangcheng smiled slightly, the gloom and depression between his brows vanishing instantly without a trace. He gently brushed away nonexistent dust from Qin Xun’s shoulder. “You must also remember to cultivate diligently and not disappoint Muxuan’s expectations of you.”

He bit down especially slowly and heavily on the word “expectations.” Qin Xun slightly lifted his lips, docilely bowing his head in acknowledgment. “This junior understands. I will certainly not fail master’s regard and will go all out to fulfill master’s wishes.”

After Feng Jiangcheng and Gu Fuxuan left, only the Qin-Xu martial brothers remained at the mountain base.

“Senior Martial Brother, our lineage’s relationship with our grand-ancestor seems rather poor?” This open confrontation hadn’t avoided anyone. Xu Rong took the opportunity to ask, his phrasing already quite euphemistic.

Qin Xun rubbed his neck heavily with his right hand, unable to dispel the cold, cloying sensation. He said coldly, “Life and death enemies. You tell me if that’s good or bad.”

Xu Rong’s gaze lingered on Qin Xun’s right hand for a moment, thoughtful. It seemed not only did master have a conflict with Feng Jiangcheng, but this convenient senior martial brother from a Feng Clan branch also had no respect for his blood elder. No wonder the two became master and disciple.

It was just that master’s hatred was justified, but why Feng Lan? Rumor had it that Feng Lan could become the only disciple under Tianji Daojun largely because of Feng Jiangcheng’s tacit approval. But from today’s observation, that wasn’t the case at all.

“This isn’t something you should concern yourself with. If you have time to think about this and that, you’d be better off spending more time cultivating.” Qin Xun looked at him indifferently. “Foundational Establishment stage—going up on the martial stage would be embarrassing for whom?”

Xu Rong suddenly stiffened.

In his previous life, disciples from the three great immortal sects entering the Tianxuan Secret Treasury were all at least Nascent Soul stage. Foundation Establishment stage couldn’t even pass the internal sect selection. Since his rebirth, Xu Rong had wracked his brain over his cultivation level. However, with the Tianxuan Secret Treasury opening several years earlier, the various opportunities he knew of were either temporarily inaccessible or destroyed by various accidents. Where could he find a chance for rapid advancement!

“Why is Senior Martial Brother Feng still here? Senior Martial Brother Lu is looking everywhere for you.”

Ji Chang’an appeared from who knows where, her arms full of oddly-shaped items piled into a small mountain. Her forehead showed slight sweat as she struggled to lean her head to the side to speak with Qin Xun.

Qin Xun clicked his tongue. “What are you doing? What are all these things?”

“All materials for repairing the sect protection grand array. They can’t fit in my Xumi ring, so I have to carry them.” She looked quite exhausted, stumbling every few steps along this short stretch. “Senior Martial Brother, I see you have nothing to do. Perfect—help me share some of the load. Grand Martial Uncle and Shizun are checking starting from the Tianquan Array Eye. Elder Xu and Peak Master Zhu are starting from the Kaiyang Array Eye. I’m heading to Kaiyang Array Eye, so please accompany me, Senior Martial Brother!”

Without a word, Qin Xun took half the load and followed Ji Chang’an as she walked away.

After walking two li, Ji Chang’an stopped sweating and stumbling. She half-crouched. “Put them back. A sword cultivator like me can still carry this much.”

“We’ve come this far already. What’s a little more?” Qin Xun shook his head in refusal, asking with interest, “Aren’t you ‘not being a fish, how can you know the fish’s joy’?”

Ji Chang’an said quietly, “But this fish personally witnessed him tearing at the flesh of his own kind.”

Qin Xun was curious. “Oh?”

After Master Xie’s comprehensive indiscriminate attack training, Ji Chang’an could now very calmly treat the master-disciple pair, who didn’t show their ‘villain’ side, as normal fellow disciples. She quite casually mocked her own foolish behavior from her naive youth when Xu Rong used her and she unconsciously spoke well of him.

Qin Xun commented, “That is quite foolish.”

“Hey hey, that’s too much!” Ji Chang’an indignantly defended herself. “Everyone has moments of youthful naivety when they do foolish things. I don’t believe you’ve never done anything stupid that required Martial Uncle Shen to string you up and beat you.”

“Actually, I haven’t.”

Qin Xun smiled calmly. Even with Ji Chang’an looking at him with eyes that said ‘you’re lying to me,’ he had no intention of sharing the difficult days of struggling through the Northern Demon Territory. Children born in the Northern Demon Territory, even if they were disciples of a Demon Venerable, were no different from ordinary demon spirit root children—they all had to fight and kill their way up from the very bottom. And his relationship with his master hadn’t been as close as father and son from the start either.

Ji Chang’an made an ‘ah’ sound, recalling the original story and realizing her gaffe. Though the original story followed the protagonist’s perspective and didn’t detail Yin Lang and Qin Xun, this villain master-disciple pair, when the protagonist infiltrated the Northern Demon Territory in the plot, he had recruited a city lord-level demonic cultivator subordinate. Perhaps to showcase the Northern Demon Territory’s landscape, when the protagonist asked, the author had detailed several key stages in a demonic cultivator’s growth. The brutal competition and slaughter within the Northern Demon Territory was evident.

If reaching city lord level was so difficult, let alone maintaining a position among the Ten Demon Venerables. Thinking about it even slightly, one knew how hard their childhood days had been—probably truly as written in novels, where any error was impermissible and could cost them their lives.

Qin Xun: ???

Sensing the subtle sympathy and pity directed at him, Qin Xun suspected Junior Martial Sister Ji’s brain hadn’t fully healed before she was released.

“By the way, Senior Martial Brother, I just remembered—Master Xie had some matters for me to relay to Martial Uncle, but I was so busy I forgot.” Ji Chang’an wracked her brain recalling the Ten Demon Venerables side story the original author had supplemented much later, painstakingly searching for plot clues they could use now, believing herself to be discreetly revealing information.

Qin Xun’s attitude started somewhat casual, but his expression grew increasingly grave as he listened.

…Fine, no problem. Today I’m a pitiful child in need of care and concern.

The two delivered the items together to the Kaiyang Array Eye. Zhu Heze was an extremely easygoing, cheerful, plump middle-aged man who greeted them with a smile before turning back to continue checking and stabilizing the Kaiyang Array foundation with Elder Xu.

Ji Chang’an headed back to move the next batch, not expecting Qin Xun to follow along.

“Senior Martial Brother?”

Qin Xun replied quite naturally, “I’m idle anyway.”

Going back and forth like this several times, Ji Chang’an spoke even more freely. “Sigh, speaking of which, the Corpse Puppet Sect was rather wronged—an unremarkable mid-tier sect that just happened to have their young sect leader inadvertently pick up a civilian man who was forcibly taken by the younger sister of the Jiuyou Court Master. They were destroyed in retaliation, the young sect leader dying with his unborn child—one corpse, two lives. Eh, Senior Martial Brother Feng, why did you stop? Can’t carry it anymore?”

She looked back in surprise. After a moment, the ‘small mountain’ moved again. Qin Xun said leisurely, “A bit tired, but I can still carry it.”

He quickened his pace to catch up, and the two walked side by side. Qin Xun commented on her narration as calmly as before. “In the Northern Demon Territory, the law of the jungle is the norm. There’s no question of being wronged or not. Moreover, regardless of intent, the Corpse Puppet Sect’s young sect leader did steal the man the Jiuyou Court’s little princess had her eye on. Being exterminated wasn’t really unjust.”

“Eh?” Ji Chang’an couldn’t agree. “But what guilt did the child bear?”

“Who told him to have a father who disregarded his wife and child’s lives?”

Ji Chang’an seemed to hear Qin Xun laugh coldly. Looking at his calm face again, it seemed like her imagination. Qin Xun walked past her, saying flatly, “There’s no such thing as innocent. Being born into this world is his original sin.”

After finishing moving items, Qin Xun was seized by Lu Changfeng to be a laborer.

Such a major event as the sect martial tournament required arranging many aspects in an orderly manner—a massive workload. Lu Changfeng had only taken on a portion of Tu Feng’s tasks and was already so busy his feet didn’t touch the ground. He needed to drag Qin Xun along to avoid dropping dead on the spot.

Lu Changfeng sighed, “I don’t know what happened to Martial Brother Xie. Since returning from the Heavenly Sword Sect, he’s been constantly troubled and mentally distracted. I want to ask him for help but feel too embarrassed to ask.”

Qin Xun’s hands flew through jade slips as he replied casually, “Perhaps he’s worried about the sect martial tournament. After all, both Martial Uncle Gu and Master Xie have always been strict, and his cultivation is stuck at the Out-of-Body stage—neither up nor down. The pressure must be considerable.”

“Among our generation of personal disciples, perhaps only you martial brothers are the most carefree. Martial Uncle Shen has never cared about these empty titles.” Lu Changfeng’s eyes were full of envy. As the sect leader’s only personal disciple, his pressure was no less than Xie Lan’s.

Qin Xun just smiled without speaking.

Hm?

Touching a jade slip with an obviously abnormal texture, he glimpsed the familiar dark pattern on it and, with a sweep left and right, discreetly pressed the jade slip to his forehead.

Strange, why would master suddenly use a Northern Demon Territory jade slip to send a message? The information he’d extracted from Junior Martial Sister Ji couldn’t have reached him this quickly, could it?

[To My Beloved Disciple:

When I departed the other day, my heart was filled with anger and I nearly delayed various important matters. Alas, upon reflection I was already at the Sword Sect and had no choice but to send you this temporary message to remedy the oversight.

First, Venerable Yan Yan has already sent demon banquet invitations to all demon territories under the name of First Venerable. The Seventh Venerable must attend. Handle all sect martial tournament affairs yourself. Above all, prioritize your own safety. Do not act rashly or lightly. Preserve your useful life—only then can you have the opportunity for revenge.

Second, closely monitor all movements at the Heavenly Punishment Ravine’s Confinement Prison. If there’s even the slightest abnormality, report to me immediately.

Third, regarding this person Xu Rong…]

Qin Xun skimmed through at a glance, then suddenly crushed the transmission jade slip to powder with one hand, his aloof exterior gradually collapsing into ferocity.

He erupted, slamming his palm to shatter the desk. Under Lu Changfeng’s bewildered gaze, he kicked open the hall door and shot out like a firecracker. “Laozi is definitely going to slaughter this master-betraying, ancestor-disgracing bastard today! No one stop me!”

“…………”

Three question marks slowly appeared above Lu Changfeng’s head.

No way, even Senior Martial Brother Feng has been driven to mental problems by the pressure of the sect martial tournament…