A generation’s pride, as a cultivator’s partner, has finally become the livestock under an Immortal’s hips, under the envy and blessings of everyone.
In this matter, Hongze, no matter its power, fell silent and stopped mentioning Xuan Qing’s name.
In such circumstances, the young man finally became angry.
He wanted to ascend to the Heavenly Gate; he wanted to enter the Immortal Register; he wanted his name to live on for eternities in the Celestial Court.
He didn’t want to see his partner beneath others whenever he passed through the Heavenly Gate.
And so, on that night, Xuan Qing planned everything, comforted the weeping Fairy Zi Ling, bade farewell to his master, and decided to give up He Dao Bao Di, taking the Fairy with him to leave Hongze and find another Heaven-Ascending Path.
If the plan had been executed properly, Hongze thought it was offering up a beautifully Purple-Bearded White Dragon, the Seven Sons thought Xuan Qing was retreating in defeat, and nothing would happen except maybe an Immortal finding a Purple-Bearded White Dragon missing while choosing his mount.
"So why did it fail?" Shen Yi stood up.
Sect Master Bao Hua suddenly fell silent, her gaze turning to Xuan Qing whose fingertips trembled slightly, her eyes revealing a trace of distress.
The biggest blow to the young man’s pride
was when that White Dragon suddenly felt that being his partner was actually not as good as ascending to become an Immortal’s mount and, at the last moment, reneged.
It was as if all of Xuan Qing’s efforts were negated in full.
"He said, ’Take a palm strike from me as a minor punishment, and let’s call it even.’ " Xuan Qing finally spoke, mentioning the Immortal who guarded Hongze.
"Before he raised his hand, I had ninety percent certainty."
"But the moment his palm came down, I had none."
"I tried my best to stabilize my mind, just to maintain a calm stance in the face of death, not to die too disgracefully; I’ve never lost in my life, but I’m not a petty person who can’t afford to lose."
Xuan Qing’s voice suddenly grew hoarse.
He swallowed hard, trying to make the strangeness in his expression not too obvious: "The master still came to take the strike for me, so the strike changed, attacked the heart instead, and thus the master went mad and used the Law to sacrifice the cultivation ground."
"Only when I returned to the Nanyang Sect in a daze did I realize I really couldn’t afford to lose... couldn’t afford to lose."
That "minor punishment" tormented him for a hundred thousand years.
Even though he wasn’t intentional and thus left the Sect early and warned the master, he was willing to accept the loss.
But there are always people who cannot bear to see him lose, trying to stabilize his Dao Heart for him.
Only, the two mentor and disciple never thought about the price they would need to pay after their loss, which was not theirs to determine.
They thought it was at most a loss of life.
But the Immortal took away the entire Nanyang Sect, that heart-attacking palm strike made even a mighty figure at the Unity Realm Stage fall into madness.
After contemplating for a long time, Shen Yi finally unraveled his previous doubts.
After all, that amiable old man in the Law Storage Pavilion did not seem like someone who would offer up the lives of cultivation ground beings for his personal desires.
So that was the situation.
"Alright, I understand now."
Shen Yi nodded lightly, then stepped past the two people, walked out of the room, and lazily stretched his arms.
Without any promises, not even a word of comfort to the other party.
Sect Master Bao Hua was stunned; she didn’t quite understand Sect Master Shen’s reaction, whether it was scolding Xuan Qing’s foolishness and naivety for causing such a disaster over a moment of anger, or despising the Purple-Bearded White Dragon’s backpedaling, who clearly came pleading to Xuan Qing and then without hesitation betrayed him.
Or even anger at the Immortal’s despicable tactics.
All were easier to accept than Shen Yi’s current calmness, as if he was really just there to listen to a story, to the point where it was uncertain if he was even paying attention.
Sect Master Bao Hua withdrew her gaze, but suddenly found that Xuan Qing was still standing there in a daze.
She felt somewhat helpless: "Why can’t you move on? Do you need him to scold you a couple of times to feel better?"
Xuan Qing did not respond, just took a deep breath.
If he remembered correctly, he had just heard a similar response not long ago.
The end result was that the Aquatic Race lost hundreds of Great Demons, seven Great Demon Generals of White Jade Capital perished, and even the envoys who came to seek justice went missing.
He knows... So there would be actions.
Xuan Qing felt that what he said earlier was clear enough, a casual palm strike from the Immortal of Hongze to them, the ordinary folk, was an insurmountable firmament.
A young man always matures from his exuberance.
But the Nanyang Sect really couldn’t bear the cost of another young man maturing.
Sect Master Bao Hua slowly reached out, trying to comfort Xuan Qing’s emotions.
But just as she extended her hand halfway, her expression changed, and she looked down at the white flower at her waist, her eyes calming down slowly.
In an instant, the aura of Sect Master Bao Hua completely changed from before, and even though the aura of the Union Dao Realm was deliberately subdued, it still made Shen Yi outside the door look back in slight surprise.
"The Western Palace has entered."
She lifted her gaze again.
That single sentence pulled Xuan Qing back from his thoughts, his face growing much more solemn.
As a major Sect at the border of two Hong regions, the Bao Hua Sect’s senses were exceedingly keen.
To have the message sent here meant that it wasn’t something as simple as a routine patrol; the other party had made a very obvious move.
The Ke Family of the Southern Dragon Palace was still entangled with the Seven Sons.
At a time , the Qi Family from the stronger Western Dragon Palace suddenly made such a gesture.
It was difficult not to speculate some connection between the two.