“As for the rest... we shall leave them aside for now.”
The moment Xu Zhouling finished speaking, Lei Xiao slapped his armrest, his voice booming like muffled thunder. “Senior Brother is right. I think it works!”
Yi Nanping nodded slightly, her red lips parting.
“I agree.”
Wen Qingye uttered only a single word: “Agreed.”
When it was Gongsun Bei's turn, he did not nod immediately. Instead, he slowly stood up, cupped his hands to everyone, and said, “Everyone, I can also agree to this. However, there is one point that must be settled beforehand.”
Wen Qingye's eyes flickered slightly. He exchanged a look with the other three, then raised his hand.
“Please speak freely, Brother Gongsun.”
Without any hesitation, Gongsun Bei said word by word, “If there truly is the 『Renwater Flame Apricot』 inside the Blessed Land... I must obtain at least one.”
He paused, lowering his posture in a rare display of humility, his tone carrying a hint of earnestness. “The Prefectural Governor has been immensely kind to me. I hope you all can grant me this.”
Xu Zhouling exchanged a look with Wen Qingye, then smiled and said, “Brother Gongsun, you are too polite. If our sect's disciples truly obtain that treasure, I will certainly find a way to secure one for you.”
With the discussion reaching this point, everyone's intentions were clear.
Xu Zhouling set down his teacup and patted his knees. “If everyone has no objections, I will trouble Junior Brother Lei to make a trip to notify our fellow cultivators from the other factions.”
Lei Xiao had a wide circle of friends and was well-acquainted with many high-level Gangjin experts among the other three major factions.
Having him handle it was naturally to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
“No problem!”
Lei Xiao grinned, slapping his chest with loud thuds. “It's just a matter of showing my face. Leave it to me!”
“Good.”
Xu Zhouling nodded slightly, his gaze shifting to Yi Nanping. “Junior Sister, I will leave the selection of the disciples entering the Blessed Land to you.”
“My view is that we do not need to be overly cautious or fear casualties. This is a once-in-a-century opportunity. We should select the best of our talented disciples and send them into the Blessed Land.”
Yi Nanping's expression turned solemn as she nodded seriously. “I understand.”
“As for Junior Brother Wen...”
Xu Zhouling shifted his gaze to Wen Qingye, his tone turning slightly more serious. “The struggle for the Blessed Land is no small matter.”
“If my expectations are correct, the factions involved will certainly dispatch the geniuses of their younger generation to enter and seize the treasures.”
“And the person carrying destiny in our sect is too young; his cultivation has not yet stepped into the Huajin Rank.”
“In such a fiercely competitive place, he cannot do without a Dao protector by his side.”
He paused slightly, then continued, “I originally intended to choose Muxian, but his injuries are troublesome, and he probably won't be able to end his secluded cultivation before the end of the year.”
“Among the various chief and deputy chief disciples, only Yi Suxin, Zhang Jiuyang, and Zheng'er have stepped into the mid-stage Huajin Rank.”
“And among these three—I prefer Zheng'er.”
Wen Qingye remained silent for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I will have him rush back to the sect overnight immediately.”
“Excellent!” Xu Zhouling nodded with satisfaction.
With the official business concluded, the heavy stones in everyone's hearts finally settled.
However, though Xu Zhouling had spent half the day talking about the “person carrying destiny,” he had never once explicitly stated that person's identity.
Everyone had been so stirred up by the matter of the Blessed Land that they had temporarily forgotten to ask.
Wen Qingye was the first to realize this. Leaning forward slightly, he asked curiously, “Senior Brother, who exactly is this person carrying destiny you mentioned just now? I wonder whose academy he belongs to?”
Upon hearing this, the corner of Xu Zhouling's mouth curved into a meaningful smile. “This person... What a coincidence, he is actually under your Tingquan Island, Junior Brother.”
“Oh?” Wen Qingye was startled, but then grew overjoyed. He slapped his knee, laughing heartily, “Good boy! What excellent vision! What excellent vision!”
He immediately turned to look at Xu Zhouling, his eyes burning bright. “Carrying destiny, he will surely achieve great things in the future! Senior Brother, what is this kid's name? I will take him as my seventh core disciple right now!”
Seeing his smug and self-satisfied look, Lei Xiao beside him immediately became unhappy.
He curled his lip, grumbling with feigned displeasure, “Senior Brother, don't be too greedy. One moment you've just taken in the Moonlight Sword who grasped sword-glow, and the next you've got a fine seedling carrying destiny.”
“You don't even like dealing with mundane affairs and spend the whole year running around outside. How could you have the time to guide him carefully?”
“If you ask me, it's better to hand this boy over to my Kaiyang Academy. I will devote all my efforts to cultivating him and make sure his talent isn't wasted.”
“Hmph!” Wen Qingye snorted coldly, squinting at him as he squeezed four words out of his teeth: “In your dreams!”
To the side, seeing the two bickering, Yi Nanping couldn't help but raise her sleeve to cover her red lips.
On her usually cold face, her eyes curved into a rare pair of crescent moons.
“Ahem.” Xu Zhouling cleared his throat twice, drawing everyone's attention back to him.
The expression on his face was rather strange, as if he were trying his best to hold something back. He spoke slowly, “Junior Brother, your idea of taking a seventh core disciple... I'm afraid it won't work out.”
“Hmm?” Wen Qingye furrowed his brows, looking completely bewildered. “What do you mean by that? Has this boy already joined another faction?”
“Not exactly.” Xu Zhouling took a deep breath, forcing down the curl of his lips as he said word by word, “Because, your sixth core disciple is your seventh core disciple.”
The moment these words were spoken, the hall fell into a sudden silence.
Wen Qingye blinked, failing to process it for a moment. A brief instant later, his pupils shrank violently, and he blurted out, “What?!”
“Pfft...” Yi Nanping couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, gahaha!” Lei Xiao clutched his stomach and roared with laughter, his voice like a booming brass bell that shook dust off the ceiling beams.
Beside them, Gongsun Bei, who had been quietly watching the show all along, showed a look of realization. With hindsight, he said, “So that means... the Moonlight Sword, Shen Xiuhan, is that person carrying destiny?”
“Exactly.” Xu Zhouling couldn't hold it back anymore either and laughed out loud.
“That brat!” The muscles on Wen Qingye's face twitched. It was hard to tell if his expression was one of joy or anger. “I didn't treat him poorly either! Why didn't he tell me about such a major matter first, but instead ran off to tell Senior Brother Sect Master!”
“Isn't it because the moment you returned, you dove straight into the elixir room for secluded cultivation?”
Lei Xiao was ecstatic, constantly slapping his thigh. “The kid probably couldn't even find you if he wanted to.”
Upon hearing this, Wen Qingye's expression instantly froze!
He suddenly remembered that when he had just ended his secluded cultivation, Zheng Hongxiu had specifically come to find him and mentioned that Shen Xiuhan had come to seek an audience twice.
Yet, at that time, his mind had been entirely filled with breaking through in seclusion and seeking revenge on Nie Chen, the Guardian of the Yinsha Sect, so he hadn't paid any attention to it.
“Hmph. This is my fault; I almost delayed a major matter.” Wen Qingye snorted heavily and leaned back in his chair, unable to save face. “But this is the only time. From now on, if that kid has any major matters, he must definitely come to me first.”
Right at that moment, Gongsun Bei suddenly stood up, cupped his hands to Wen Qingye, and said solemnly, “Academy Head, congratulations.”
“Hmm?” Wen Qingye was taken aback, completely bewildered.
He thought Gongsun Bei was congratulating him on taking in an excellent disciple. Just as he waved his hand, about to offer a few humble words, he heard Gongsun Bei say:
“Your disciple, Shen Xiuhan, made a great contribution a few days ago. He saw through the Nine Anhuai Fiends' plot to assassinate the Prefectural Governor, which allowed us to capture and execute that group of demonic scoundrels in one fell swoop.”
“And on the path of slaying the demons, your disciple, with just himself and a sword, relying on his Anjin cultivation and the sharpness of his sword-qi, crossed realms to slay the fourth fiend of the Nine Anhuai Fiends—the Ghost Sound Fiend of the Huajin Rank!”
Speaking up to this point, Gongsun Bei deliberately paused, pressing down the faint, almost imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth, and slowly concluded:
“The Academy Head has taught a disciple who grasped sword-qi... Therefore, I offer my special congratulations.”
A sharp intake of breath immediately sounded around them.
Yet, Wen Qingye froze right on the spot.
Before the smile on his face could even blossom, it was blasted into nonexistence by these words, leaving his mind completely blank.
His Adam's apple rolled up and down several times before he barely managed to squeeze a single word out of his throat: “Huh?”
The guest hall fell silent for a brief moment.
Immediately after...
“Hahahahaha!” Lei Xiao's wild laughter exploded.
Yi Nanping could no longer care about her poise. She laughed so hard she covered her face with her sleeve, her fragrant shoulders trembling.
Xu Zhouling leaned back in his chair, laughing out loud so much that tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
Wen Qingye's face instantly turned red and white. He sprang up from his chair and roared, “What are you laughing at! What's so funny! That's my disciple! My disciple has grasped sword-qi!”
Instead of stopping, the laughter grew even louder.
The air in the entire guest hall was filled with a joyful atmosphere.
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