Chapter 134: Chapter 116: For the Sake of Cultivation, Even the Ancestral Inheritance Can Be Cast Aside

The peak of Observing Sun Peak was perennially shrouded in clouds and mist. After the Sect Leader took up residence, the vapor became a veritable tide, its wisps and strands wrapping around the mountain and shielding it from prying eyes.

Deeper within, there was no sign of any pavilions, halls, or viewing platforms. The mountain’s entire core seemed to have been hollowed out, fed by some unknown Water Vein to form a vast, misty lake.

The lake’s surface surged with jade-green waves, but its color was peculiar. The upper layer was as clear and translucent as glazed glass, while the lower was as thick and heavy as congealed fat. It sometimes steamed like mist, other times swirled like a ribbon, exuding a lively, dynamic vitality.

Countless green lotuses spread across its surface, their vines and massive roots appearing to connect with the very heavens.

A small, black-canopied boat slowly emerged, its wooden oar gently stirring the water, sending ripples spreading outward.

Liu Huan, the Sect Leader whose cultivation had reached the Twelfth Level—powerful enough to move a mountain peak with a single hand—sat upright at the boat’s prow.

Before him was a small ebony table, upon which a small, red-clay stove was boiling. The tea bubbled finely, its fragrant steam wafting out, refreshing the heart and soul.

As the near-endless water vapor dispersed, it finally revealed the Sect Leader’s face: that of a middle-aged man with temples lightly dusted with frost.

He was as gentle as jade, elegant and dashing. He must have been a handsome young man in his youth.

Zhou Fu, who had publicly announced she was in seclusion, stood on the lakeshore as if admiring the scenery.

Seeing the black-canopied boat draw near, she called out respectfully,

“Greetings, Sect Leader.”

Liu Huan, still seated in the boat, made a gesture to help her up.

“No need for formalities. Come aboard. I brewed this pot of Helu Tea just for you.

The other day, the Spiritual Aura changed abruptly, with fire flaring up to forge metal. Those of us Cultivating Kui Water are the most susceptible to it.

Drinking this tea can help calm your Qi Mechanism and lessen the suffering of a scorched body and burning heart.”

Zhou Fu bowed and said in thanks,

“This Disciple thanks the Sect Leader for his gift.”

With that, she stepped onto the boat, straightened her robes, and knelt across from Liu Huan.

While skillfully brewing and pouring the tea with movements as smooth as flowing water, Liu Huan kept his eyes lowered to the stove’s wick and asked in a low voice,

“That wisp of Ren Water Heavy Dull Qi… has it been taken?”

Zhou Fu nodded in response.

“Junior Brother Jiang from the Merit Supervision Institute came to the Supreme Merit Institute a short while ago, requesting an audience.

As per the Sect Leader’s instructions, this Disciple left that wisp of Ren Water Heavy Dull Qi for him to take as he pleased.”

Liu Huan slowly rubbed the rim of his teacup and nodded.

“This Jiang Yi… from the moment he requested to join the Merit Supervision Institute, I knew he was a fine talent with a sharp edge.

As expected, only those who fight their way up from humble beginnings are truly ruthless enough.”

Zhou Fu accepted the teacup with both hands, brought it to her lips for a delicate sip, and said softly,

“Elder Sui wants to refine Yang Xun into a Daoist Can. Junior Brother Jiang is only at the Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer, yet just because he owes Yang Xun a debt of gratitude for his support, he dares to harbor killing intent toward Elder Sui, who is at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer. It shows he is a person who deeply values his bonds.”

Liu Huan asked with a seemingly playful smile,

“My dear disciple, are you feeling a pang of sympathy for one of your own kind?”

Zhou Fu quickly put down her cup, lowered her head, and replied,

“I merely feel it’s a pity for Junior Brother Jiang. Even with a wisp of Ren Water Heavy Dull Qi to counter Elder Sui’s Ding Fire Cultivation, it only increases his chances of success by twenty percent at best.

Going to Observing Fate Peak alone… I’m afraid his chances of survival are one in ten.”

Liu Huan’s tone was as faint as the mist on the lake, betraying no emotion.

“My disciple, only if Jiang Yi dies can you live well.

The price for Sui Liushu’s life, aside from sacrificing the two ’main culprits,’ Yang Xun and Jiang Yi, also requires adding the three peaks of Red Flame, Soul Nurturing, and Gathering Herbs. Only then will the Innate Sect be merciful.”

Zhou Fu fell silent, understanding dawning in her heart.

’The Sect Leader had nurtured her for so many years, never skimping on Spiritual Materials and Resources. He had turned a common girl from a rural clan into the Qianji Sect’s senior-most disciple of the Inner Peak, in charge of the Supreme Merit Institute.

All so that one day, she could help her master eliminate Sui Liushu and retrieve that other half of the Dharma Lineage Decree.

That wisp of Ren Water Heavy Dull Qi was originally the killing blow Liu Huan had saved for himself.’

“Master.”

Zhou Fu abruptly changed her form of address. She looked up at Liu Huan and said in a grave voice,

“If the Qianji Sect loses four of its peaks, the storefronts in the Marketplace below will have to close, and numerous Mortal Servants will have nowhere to go. Even if we manage to complete the Dharma Lineage Decree, I’m afraid it will be for naught…”

Liu Huan suddenly burst into laughter.

“Silly disciple, you still don’t understand? Do you think I want to eliminate Sui Liushu just because he covets the Liu Family’s ancestral property and once harbored thoughts of usurping it?”

Zhou Fu froze, her eyes filled with confusion.

’Wasn’t that the reason?’

Liu Huan picked up his teacup but didn’t drink, merely toying with it gently.

“I only want that half of the Dharma Lineage Decree back.

Before I turned thirty, my life could be summed up in a single phrase: trembling in fear, as if treading on thin ice!

I called that Old Thief Sui ’Godfather.’ Every morning, I would go to Observing Fate Peak to pay my respects, serving him tea and water. I was more filial than his own daughter!”

Liu Huan paused, then set the teacup back down. The porcelain made a soft, muffled thud against the wooden table.

“That old thief loved to play with people’s hearts, putting on that air of alternating kindness and severity. He would use any mistake I made as an excuse to punish me, forcing me to kneel or beating me with a plank.

Just because I killed an Inner Peak Disciple from the Yin Puppet Sect and angered him, he forced me to kneel in public outside the Qi Gong Institute on Guanlan Peak, groveling like a dog wagging its tail, kowtowing and begging ’Godfather’ for forgiveness…”

As he spoke of this, Liu Huan closed his eyes. When he opened them again, only an icy chill remained, as if he were recounting someone else’s past.

“At that time, the fire of hatred burned in my heart. I wanted nothing more than to fight Old Thief Sui to the death! But in the end, I endured. My father instructed me on his deathbed that I had to hold out until the day Old Thief Sui attempted to break through to the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer.”

This wasn’t the first time Zhou Fu had heard Liu Huan speak of this tangled grudge, but it was the first time the Sect Leader had shown his emotions so openly.

“His breakthrough to the Qi Cultivation Tenth Layer failed at the last moment, but I passed through it smoothly and condensed my Innate Qi.”

Liu Huan raised his hand and drained the cold tea in one gulp.

“I thought I could finally settle old scores, but who would have thought that Sui Yuzhu would join the Innate Sect! I had to endure it again, endure letting that old thief live out his days comfortably on Observing Fate Peak.”

Liu Huan let out a long breath. The resentment pent up in his chest for decades actually stirred the calm, waveless surface of Bibo Lake into great swells.

It was as if the tea in the cup was shaking violently. The black-canopied boat was also tossed up and down.

“From that day on, I, your Master, came to understand a principle. Ancestral property? Merely resources for Cultivation. Kinship and blood ties? Merely worldly burdens. The work of generations, the proof of a Dharma Lineage? They are nothing but steps on the ladder to heaven!

If I achieve the Dao, all returns to its true state, and everything can be regained!

If I fail, everything becomes empty, and there is no need to care!”

Zhou Fu’s heart trembled violently, and a look of horror appeared on her cool face.

One reason was the tide of Kui Water True Qi pouring from her master’s body, which was so oppressive she could barely breathe.

The other was the sheer ruthlessness in the Sect Leader’s words—his willingness to abandon his family and inheritance just to seek Foundation Establishment—which sent a chill through her entire body.

“I have reached an agreement with the True Master of the Zhao You Sect. Once the Dharma Lineage Decree is complete, I will sell the Qianji Sect to him and let the Fu Clan establish another branch family.

In exchange, I will receive a Spirit Cave Treasure Land to refine my True Qi, which will increase my chances for Foundation Establishment and Ascension.”

Liu Huan laid everything bare today, holding nothing back.

“Rest assured, for the sake of our master-disciple relationship, I will not treat you unfairly.

I have secured a spot for you as an Inner Sect Disciple of the Zhao You Sect. With your talent, cultivating in a Branch Sect Dharma Lineage, your future achievements will be even greater.”

Zhou Fu was speechless, not knowing how to respond.

She had never imagined the Sect Leader could be so ruthless as to sell off the Liu Family’s ancestral foundation, passed down through generations, and the very roots of the Qianji Sect.

How many rural clans had struggled for generations, blazing a trail through hardships, all just to obtain a Dharma Lineage Decree that would allow them to establish themselves and survive.

“Go. Since you admire Jiang Yi’s character, help him by blocking Xu Yan, to prevent any unexpected complications.”

Liu Huan waved his hand listlessly. After Zhou Fu had left, he gently brushed aside the ebony table and the red-clay stove, then lay down on his back at the prow of the boat, just as he had in his youth when he would hide here and drift on the lake after being wronged.

In the blink of an eye, many years had passed.

The vast water vapor spread like a thick fog, concealing him from view.

Occasionally, a soft voice could be heard, as if settling accounts.

“Xu Yan is worth ten portions of high-grade Spiritual Energy. Han Li is about seven. It’s a pity about Jiang Yi. If he had a few more years of Cultivation, he should have been worth as much as Xu Yan…”

So it turned out that what the Sect Leader was selling was not just the Liu Family’s ancestral property, but also the many disciples of the Inner Peak.

…

…

「Observing Fate Peak, Elder Mansion.」

Sui Liushu stood by the fish pond with his hands behind his back. Exquisite Treasure Fish surfaced, exhaling thin wisps of smoke that swirled and transformed, creating a scene of alternating clarity and murkiness.

He stroked the beard on his chin, his gaze fixed on the wisps of smoke as he sneered,

“Kui Water is rain and dew in the heavens, and clear springs on the earth. Hmph, the Sect Leader’s Qi Mechanism seems quite turbulent.”

He casually tossed a handful of bait, causing the Treasure Fish to scramble for it, splashing water everywhere.

Sui Liushu wiped his hands, slowly raised his head, and gazed toward Observing Sun Peak, a trace of ridicule rising in his eyes.

’So what if his cultivation has reached the Twelfth Level?

He still has to grit his teeth and let me, this old man, live comfortably right under his nose!’

’As long as you fail to reach Foundation Establishment, you’ll always be that obedient little brat who calls me Godfather!’

The corners of Sui Liushu’s mouth twisted into a smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes seeming to radiate smugness.

Just as he was savoring this feeling of triumph, he heard his Steward hurry over, bow, and report,

“Master, Yang Xun has brought that junior of his to pay a visit.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep