The after-effect of the poison finally vanished completely, resulting in Xiao Zi and YuLan regaining their flawless non-lumpy appearance. Only then, were they finally allowed by CaoLu to walk around and be seen by other people.
Previously, the ever strict DaShijie forbade them to walk around when Xiao Zi's neck and YuLan's thigh was still bloated due to the after-effect of the poison.
"To be seen looking like that," CaoLu had frowned heavily when she saw the bloated lumps on her shimeis, "does not reflect our prestigious Ping sect well."
Then she grumbled and cursed Long TianShan because of his cruel act to womenkind.
Only then YuLan realized that this seemingly almighty and strict DaShijie of hers actually cared very much about outer appearance.
Both she and Xiao Zi did not have any objection though. YuLan was perfectly content waiting inside her appointed room, especially with Zuo ZhouLei visiting her everyday. Whereas, Xiao Zi agreed with CaoLu's sentiment; she certainly did not want to be seen with her neck bloated like a puffed-up frog.
However, physical appearance aside, although the lumps were now gone, they faced more serious matter.
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They were at Autumn Hill, having been summoned by the Hui Lin sect's Sages and Emperor Zuo JinLong as soon as YuLan had recovered.
CaoLu, Xiao Zi, Zhen Zhu, and Lu Bing were there as well. CaoLu was there as she was the most senior disciple of Ping sect to be present; Xiao Zi and the rest were there because they were also involved in the incident with Long TianShan.
"Long TianShan has been safely delivered back to his sect," Ao Xiang bowed towards his elders, "However, his parents are not fully convinced of the fact that their son had turned into a Daemon. But seeing how he has become, we could not derive any more information out of him."
"It is truly the best we could do, despite what he has done." Sage Guang Qu sighed, "The young man is the only son of that sect. Now that he lost his cultivation, it is only a matter of time before the sect disappears. Unless they can find a suitable successor from outside the sect soon. The strange thing is, he does not remember of the time he was being possessed."
Ao Xiang nodded in agreement, "Yes. At times, his state of mind seems to regress to that of a toddler."
"But Long TianShan is still alive," Sage Guang Wu added, "Even though he has been dispelled of the malice, he merely lost his cultivation... . And perhaps, he will regain his sanity at some point in the future. To live is to still have chances, after all."
"For a cultivator, losing one's cultivation base is akin to losing one's life," Another Sage quipped in, a man not looking any older than Sage Guang Qu and Guang Wu. However being one of the elders, no one would be able to accurately guess his age.
"Tan-shiong is right" Sage Guang Qu intercepted as he noticed his brother – Guang Wu's – complexion turn a shade darker with displeasure, "However Wu-shidi was just lamenting the fact that his previous succeeding disciple had perished in the Land of Yanshi. Liu Yan was almost akin to his own son. How could a father's heart not be aggrieved? For a father, a son is a son, with or without cultivation. Sane or not."
Sage Zhong Tan pursed his lips and said nothing more as he also felt that he had said an unnecessary matter.
Emperor Zuo JinLong swept his gaze across the Hui Lin elders with an indifferent expression before looking at the slightly bowing Ping sect's pure yin maiden,
"I am asking you, not as an Emperor, but as on older generation of Daoist to a younger one," His voice was strong and calm, carrying the might and authority of a monarch, "You seem to be the only one capable to see this malice. I implore you to visit the capital and use your gift to help the citizens."
"Enlightened Zuo," CaoLu stepped forward, still clasping her fists in a respectful gesture towards the Emperor. However, her cold voice was anything but, especially with her addressing her own father as such, "My shimei is truly incapable of making this big decision. In fact, not even I can make the decision on her behalf without consulting with our elders. Her Shifu, Sage Zhu Hong, would be displeased if we did anything out of turn of the sect's rules."
The Hui Lin's Sages also exchanged looks towards each other. Although Sage Zhu Hong was more than a few decades younger than them, the woman was a peerless genius of her generation. With YuLan as her succeeding disciple, her innate talent and also her ability to sense malice, they could not afford to be in the female Sage's bad books.
However, malice had clearly started to affect the cultivation world, and they could not just sit and wait for another Long TianShan to appear. The ex-cultivator was only at Martial-Artist level. What happened if a higher ranked cultivator turned into a Daemon? Fire Phoenixes could purify malice, but to locate one was a different matter.
In the capital city, it was pretty easy to observe animals and plants that had been possessed by malice, as it had altered the creatures' physical appearances. However, in humans, it was clearly a different case. At least outwardly, Long TianShan looked very much normal.
Another issue was, Chun Ping Gu Sect was always detached to the rest of the world. They merely did their part by accepting females of Imperial Lineage to be their disciples every appointed number of years, but the sect hardly participated in the happenings of the world. The sect's female cultivators were highly self-sufficient and also had never sought to socialize with other sects.
"Time is of essence," Zuo JinLong frostily stated, "The esteemed Sages of Hui Lin sect have consented to send their senior disciples as well as their most talented beastmaster," He paused to glance at Ao Xiang, who was still standing in a respectful stance behind Sage Guang Wu,
"My own sons are under tutelage of both Hui Lin sect and Wu Shan sect and they would not idly stand by while our city is being ravaged by this menace. Needless to say, I also hailed from Wu Shan sect, and the esteemed Sages would not object to lending a hand."
Not far from Ao Xiang, Zuo BingTan bowed slightly as his sign of acquiescence. The Hui Lin sect's Sages stayed silent, which was as good as their support towards the Emperor.
Zuo JinHai and Zuo ZhouLei stood in silence as well, especially when Shen Wei had not said anything to rebuke the Emperor. In absence of their elders, Shen Wei held the highest authority to make decisions.
Zuo JinLong paused and fixated his gaze towards the still unyielding Cao Lu. If anyone were nearby the young woman, they would be able to feel the rigidly cold temperature that seemed to emanate pure pressure. This powerful aura did not come from Cao Lu. Instead it was aimed towards her, by the Emperor himself - her Imperial Father,
"So don't tell Zhen that as an Imperial Princess and a representative of the powerful Chun Ping Gu sect, you would just watch from a safe distance?"
Cao Lu was not a frail female. She was an Enlightened and took pride as the senior disciple of her sect. But at the moment, under the heavily probing gaze of Emperor Zuo JinLong, who was an Enlightened bordering his break-through to Sageism, she felt like an ant about to be trampled on by a giant. Her neck began to emit cold sweat. The pressure of the man's qi bore heavily on her dantians.
She hated Zuo JinLong for what she believed to be the driving reason behind her mother's death. She even hated her mother to some extent, for being helplessly in love with such a man, and finally left the living world like that. But most of all, and this moment in particular, she hated herself for the same reason: she was helpless.
Still, she did not want to give in, and that made her feel powerless and aggrieved. She bit her lower lips until it bled. If she were to just nod her head, agreed to her Imperial Father's request, or even feign compliance for now, Zuo JinLong would release his pressure.
If time passed like this, she would not gain any injury, but she would no doubt lose consciousness. If that were to happen, she would embarrass herself in front of her peers and the elders.
The Sages could only sigh inwardly. They already knew how domineering Zuo JinLong could be, but Cao Lu was the Emperor's daughter after all, and she was not a Hui Lin sect's disciple. As long as her life was not in danger, they would not interfere in another family's dispute.
When Cao Lu felt that her muscles became taut and black spots started to appear in her vision, she felt a slight touch on her clenching fists. She barely registered the cooling energy transferred to her bloodstream, before realizing another person's presence. She looked up to see YuLan, who gave her a slight smile. The cooling yin energy was from her shimei, transferred to her through the latter's grip on her wrist, directly into her veins.
A pure yin maiden would no doubt possess the purest of yin energy. The energy repelled Zuo JinLong's pressure, which was of a yang countenance. Cao Lu felt the pressure of a mountain disappearing off her back, and she let out a low sigh of relief, glancing over at YuLan in gratitude.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn," YuLan turned to fix her gaze towards the Monarch, "Regardless how perilous the situation is at the capital city, as DaShijie has said before, I have to seek permission from my shifu first."
YuLan supported Cao Lu's sentiment on the whole issue. Having lived two lifetimes before, there was little she would wreck her mind and heart for. But if Zuo ZhouLei was to be involved in this whole predicament, she would want to be with him, in the eye of the storm.
However, she knew very well that, years ago, without Zhu Hong, she would have already lost her life as soon as she gained consciousness in this world.
If anything else, Zhu Hong - and to that extension, Chun Ping Gu sect - was an existence she would not shy away her respect and responsibility from.
Zuo JinLong frowned, obviously not used to being defied. However as soon as he parted his lips to say anything further, Zuo ZhouLei stepped to stand a few steps in front of him, impeding his line of sight of the pure yin maiden,
"Enlightened Zuo," he bowed slightly towards the Emperor, but his gaze was steadfast and unwavering,
"The world of Dao-cultivators has always been detached. As a Dao-practitioner that used to live in seclusion, no doubt you would know this. Chun Ping Gu sect, Cao Lu-jie, YuLan, have absolute discretion to act for the best interest of their sect."
Zuo ZhouLei added slowly but clearly, "Or for that matter, to not act, for the best interest of their sect. Each sect's decision is entirely independent to the monarchy of non-cultivators."
At a short distance, Shen Wei let out a long silent helpless sigh, as if he almost had expected for Zuo ZhouLei to stick his nose into the matter.
Zuo ZhouLei did not address the Emperor as his Imperial Father. And although the words were said in a roundabout manner, how could Zuo JinLong not understand that this son of his was actually poking his authority as the Monarch as well as remind him that he was also a cultivator that should understand the way of the sects.
Long ago, before he decided to battle his way to the throne, Zuo JinLong used to also act on the best interest of Wu Shan sect, regardless what happened in the Imperial City and its occupants. All that used to matter was the path of the Dao. The constant strife for cultivation, breaking-through, solving the mystery to the existence of cultivation, Dao, and the universe.
The strive for immortality.
Zuo Jinlong closed his eyes and gritted his molars until he could taste blood on his tongue.
Ever since Shuan Bing and Yun Ying passed away, he had been more tyrannizing than ever. Although he was still a good Monarch to his citizens, he did not trust his retinues nor his immediate family members. He felt the slightest tie to Zuo BingTan, Zuo JinHai, and Zuo ChenLu as they were children of Yun Ying - his late Empress. The same could be said towards Zuo ZhouLei as he was the son of Shuan Bing - his DaShijie when he was still in Wu Shan Sect.
Nevertheless, the blatant disrespect shown by Zuo Chen Lu - Cao Lu - towards him earlier, and now Zuo ZhouLei - irked him quickly and reminded him of Yun Ying's and Shuan Bing's deaths. He was reminded, that even as an Emperor, he was not omnipotent to people's betrayal, people's disrespect.
However, he did not have the time to be angrier as Ao Xiang, Shen Wei, and the Sages quickly sensed another disturbance. The barrier of Autumn Hill was getting weaker, and Shen Wei could feel that some of the seals he had set up, with his own infusion of qi as strengthening, were gone. They threw a quick glance at each other, before Ao Xiang and Shen Wei immediately left the courtyard to check the disturbance.
Only for them to quickly return, bringing along a number of practitioners of various ages. The group of four middle-aged looking male cultivators and two younger female cultivators were disciples and some seniors from other lesser sects that had participated in the meet.
However, their current expressions were anxious, if not projecting anger. Before Sage Guang Qu stood to greet the oldest of the group - a Sage level practitioner of a smaller sect that he had made acquaintance with - bowed his head briefly and said in cold voice,
"Although I wanted to apologize for disturbing esteemed elders of Hui Lin sect, my peers and I have to seek justice. We are but lesser sects compared to Hui Lin sect, but all of us are cultivators in pursue of the Dao. How can we stand idle while we are being attacked while being hosted in the supposedly safe domain of Hui Lin sect?"
"Brother Duan," Sage Guang Qu was astonished at the hostile words of the other person, "If we have offended you and your sect, surely it must have been an understanding? Hui Lin sect only has cultivators and disciples who abide by the Dao's practitioners code of justice and chivalry. We can talk slowly to know what has offended you and these fellow elders."
"What more do you want to say?" The younger female cultivator stepped forward. She was a higher ranked Enlightened. In fact, none of the new cultivators possessed cultivation no lesser than a middle-ranked Enlightened, which explained the destruction of the barrier seals earlier. However, the words that came out of her mouth sent everyone mind reeling in astonishment and discomfort,
"Some of our disciples have been missing since two days ago and thus missed their fights. If we were afraid to offend Hui Lin sect and did not check the forbidden bamboo forest, their corpses would be feeding this blasted place for months to come!"
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