Chapter 97: Lu Yingqi
Under Shen Bingsi’s persistent harassment, slight noises finally came from the seclusion room.
Shen Bingsi straightened up from the door with a sense of accomplishment. Just then, an aged, angry shout came from outside the room: “Shen Bingsi! You trespassed into the forbidden area; what is your intention?!”
A beam of white light pierced through the entrance and landed on the open ground in the middle of the seclusion area. The ground shook a few times. As the white light dissipated, a tall old man with white hair and beard, draped in white robes, glared at Shen Bingsi furiously.
Seeing this, Shen Bingsi had to step down from Lu Yingqi’s door. However, he was confident. Even if he hadn’t woken Lu Yingqi, Elder Bai’s move definitely had.
Not only Lu Yingqi woke up, but the other Ruthless Path disciples cultivating in seclusion behind the surrounding black doors probably woke up too.
“Ahem, I smelled a rose fragrance just now and thought a flower demon was causing trouble here,” Shen Bingsi said.
Elder Bai’s face sank, staring tightly at Shen Bingsi. “Flower demon?”
“Oh, it turned out to be the scent of fragrant dew on Fellow Daoist Lu Yingqi. Fellow Daoist Lu is a man of refined taste; he doesn’t forget to bring fragrant dew even when going into seclusion.” Seeing Elder Bai about to explode, Shen Bingsi hurriedly pointed to the black door behind him. “If Elder Bai doesn’t believe me, you can smell the door, and you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
“Shen, Bing, Si—” Elder Bai didn’t forgive Shen Bingsi because of this. Instead, he became even more furious. His shriveled figure seemed to expand significantly in an instant.
“Since no demons were found in the Daoist Palace, I consider my mission accomplished. Well then, Elder Bai, see you later!” Shen Bingsi hugged the Shengxie Sword, cupped his hands to Elder Bai, turned into a golden light, shot out of the seclusion area like lightning, passed through the main gate, and flew into the dark night.
After Shen Bingsi left, the seclusion area returned to silence.
Elder Bai stared angrily at the gate where Shen Bingsi had just fled.
Two reception disciples ran panting to the door, holding onto the frame and looking around.
“Stop looking, he’s gone.” Elder Bai’s face darkened.
“Master! We failed to stop him. Please punish us, Master!” The two reception disciples said simultaneously, bowing to Elder Bai.
“Hmph.” Elder Bai flicked his sleeve. “You two useless things thought you could stop him?”
“…” The two lowered their heads further.
Elder Bai looked up at the sky. The anger on his face vanished, replaced by a gloomy expression. “Did he come here really for a Mirror Palace mission? Or did he have another purpose? Could it be that the Great Elder of Lingjing can’t sit still on the Supreme Immortal Mountain and wants to lay a finger on the Central Continent…?”
One reception disciple looked up. “Master, Shen Bingsi asked us just now if Senior Brother Lu Yingqi was here. We suspect he came for Senior Brother Lu.”
“Hmph, he is indeed wary of our Ruthless Path Palace’s strength, and Yingqi is the best among us…”
Elder Bai’s figure flickered. When he reappeared, he was standing in front of Lu Yingqi’s seclusion room.
The barrier on the door wasn’t broken. Although Shen Bingsi was excessive, he knew some taboos shouldn’t be touched.
Elder Bai’s expression softened slightly, but in the next moment, he frowned.
A extremely faint scent of roses drifted in the wind.
Shen Bingsi hadn’t lied; there was indeed a floral scent on this door. But on the peak of a high mountain in the dead of winter, how could there be the scent of roses?
Lu Yingqi didn’t use such things, and other disciples in seclusion wouldn’t bring non-cultivation items inside either. So where did this rose scent come from?
Could it be—there really was a demon in the Daoist Palace?
A low, hoarse voice came from inside the room, sounding like it hadn’t spoken for many years: “Master…?”
Elder Bai froze, the gloom on his face swept away. “Yingqi? Did I wake you? Nothing’s wrong outside; just a mischievous brat from the Lingjing Sect came by.”
“Master need not worry… it is about time for this disciple to come out of seclusion anyway.” The voice spoke haltingly, gradually returning to normal speed. “Was the person just now the Adjudicator from the Mirror Palace? He said… there was some demon?”
“He was talking nonsense. There are no demons at all. I think he just came to throw his weight around. Yingqi, do you really not plan to visit the Mirror Palace? If the Heaven Mirror sees you, would it want any other Adjudicator? You are the divinely chosen Adjudicator!”
A low chuckle came from behind the door. “Master, why fight for such empty titles?”
Elder Bai choked, then sighed. “That is why I say you are the most suitable person to be an Adjudicator. You have no desires for anything, so you would be the most impartial. Unfortunately, it is also because you have no desires that you don’t want to provoke that trouble. Never mind. Just cultivate well and ascend early; that is the right path. Others won’t dare say our Xuantian Sect’s Ruthless Path relies only on numbers anymore.”
“…” Silence reigned inside for a moment before the voice said, “It doesn’t matter what others say.”
“Yes, yes.” To this beloved disciple, Elder Bai naturally agreed with everything. The master and disciple exchanged a few more pleasantries, mainly Elder Bai asking when Lu Yingqi would officially come out and what preparations were needed. Finally, he asked seemingly casually, “Yingqi, did you bring rose fragrant dew with you into seclusion?”
“What?” Lu Yingqi reacted for a moment before answering, “I did not. That should be the incense on Xiao Zhi.”
“Xiao Zhi?” Elder Bai was blank.
“My servant boy,” Lu Yingqi said.
“Oh…” Clearly, Elder Bai still didn’t recall this person. He managed the major affairs of the Xuantian Sect and had no leisure to remember the names of unimportant people. “He likes using rose fragrant dew? He sure knows how to enjoy himself. It almost became leverage for Shen Bingsi—asking how there could be floral scents in the middle of winter, and of delicate roses at that. Why hasn’t your servant boy learned to be desireless like you?”
“He is not a Ruthless Path disciple.” Lu Yingqi didn’t mind. “Life in the Daoist Palace is bitter, and I am in seclusion all year round. It is human nature for him to feel bored. If he didn’t come often to deliver things and tell me about the outside world, perhaps my seclusion wouldn’t have gone so smoothly.”
Elder Bai vaguely remembered now. His beloved disciple seemed to have a small servant boy by his side who came with him from their hometown. Lu Yingqi had no desires for anything, except he granted every request of this little servant boy. “Ah, so it’s him…”
Elder Bai frowned but said nothing more.
Three days later, Lu Yingqi officially came out of seclusion.
According to Lu Yingqi’s request, the Xuantian Sect only held a small-scale welcome banquet to celebrate his cultivation reaching a higher level.
Now, looking at the entire Xuantian Sect, few could match Lu Yingqi’s cultivation realm. Elder Bai smiled broadly. The Xuantian Sect had many factions, each occupying a mountain, but the disciple he brought up was the most formidable among them, giving him great face.
Who could have thought that ten years ago, when Lu Yingqi decisively gave up refining his swordsmanship and turned inward to seek the elevation of his state of mind, he would achieve today’s success?
Back then, most people in the Xuantian Sect couldn’t understand why Lu Yingqi didn’t keep the title of Xuantian’s One Sword, continue honing his sword skills, and become the number one sword cultivator of the three sects or even the cultivation world. Instead, he went into seclusion, wasting his great momentum to elevate some state of mind.
If the state of mind was so easy to elevate, everyone would go into seclusion. But the reality was that the cultivation world hadn’t produced a Distraction Stage powerhouse in a hundred years. In the last century, cultivators broke through to the Nascent Soul stage at most. With everyone at a similar level and no hope of breakthrough in sight, naturally, they wanted to develop something else.
Just like Shen Bingsi—he took advantage of Lu Yingqi’s seclusion to secure the position of Adjudicator early on. His status in the cultivation world rose instantly, and the Lingjing Sect’s Ruthless Path suppressed the Xuantian Sect as a result.
Elder Bai had lamented this many times. However, Lu Yingqi’s will was unchangeable. He insisted on going into seclusion, and Elder Bai could only go along with him.
Who would have thought that going along would produce a powerhouse about to break through to the Distraction Stage? Elder Bai would wake up laughing even from meditation.
At the welcome banquet, Elder Bai basked in the limelight. Elders from various peaks within the Xuantian Sect congratulated him one after another, dragging him to drink a lot of wine.
Therefore, when Lu Yingqi and that Xiao Zhi asked to leave, Elder Bai didn’t force them to stay. With a wave of his hand, he let them come and go freely.
Xiao Zhi took Lu Yingqi back to the Daoist Palace, to the courtyard where Lu Yingqi lived alone. He drew bathwater for Lu Yingqi and took out clean, comfortable casual clothes for him to change into.
Although Lu Yingqi was indifferent to these things, he silently accepted everything Xiao Zhi prepared and followed his arrangements.
Daylight was short in the mountains during winter. Soon, it was sunset, and the sky darkened. Lu Yingqi sat on a soft couch. Xiao Zhi lit all the lamps in the room before sitting beside Lu Yingqi to sew warm, thick socks for him.
Lu Yingqi saw the dark circles under Xiao Zhi’s eyes and knew he hadn’t rested much in the past three days. To tidy up his living quarters and prepare for the welcome banquet, Xiao Zhi must have spent a lot of energy.
Although there was no seat for Xiao Zhi at the welcome banquet, Lu Yingqi could tell which dishes were specially made by Xiao Zhi according to his taste.
However, he had practiced bigust (abstaining from grains) for a long time and had long lost the desire for food. He only ate a couple of bites of those dishes at the start of the banquet, leaving the rest for the elders of other peaks.
Xiao Zhi always did useless things and busied himself with them. Just like now—Lu Yingqi wasn’t afraid of the cold at all; even walking barefoot on the ground didn’t matter. Yet Xiao Zhi insisted on sewing thick socks for him by hand, even though he was low on energy and kept threading the wrong needle.
These thoughts flowed through Lu Yingqi’s mind like water, leaving no trace. Soon, they were covered by new thoughts. He thought, These are all Xiao Zhi’s good intentions. If I forcefully stop him, it will only make him unhappy. Just let it happen naturally and extinguish naturally. I just need to observe.
“Brother Qi, did someone break into the Daoist Palace three days ago?” Xiao Zhi yawned, forcing himself to chat with Lu Yingqi.
“Mhm,” Lu Yingqi replied. “It was the Mirror Palace’s Adjudicator, suspecting there were demons here.”
“…What?” Xiao Zhi looked up, looking at Lu Yingqi nervously.
Domestic shame shouldn’t be made public, especially baseless matters. Apart from the few who saw Shen Bingsi come to Zhilan Ridge that night, everyone else was kept in the dark. Elder Bai forbade anyone from blabbing and leaking this matter. So, Xiao Zhi didn’t know either.
“It couldn’t be that… Adjudicator named Shen, right?” Xiao Zhi asked tremblingly.
“It was him.” Lu Yingqi noticed Xiao Zhi’s nervousness. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh… nothing. It’s just that his friend came to me the day before yesterday, saying he wanted to meet you.” Xiao Zhi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “Because you were still in seclusion, I declined him. I was thinking, did he… use this as an excuse to come because of that matter? How could there be demons in a place like the Daoist Palace…”
“Mhm, no demons.” Lu Yingqi thought for a moment. “Is that friend you mentioned called Rong Xie?”
“Eh, how did Brother Qi know?” Xiao Zhi looked up from the lamp, gazing at Lu Yingqi with bright eyes.
Lu Yingqi read joy in his eyes. Does he like that person named Rong Xie a little?
“Shen Bingsi mentioned him at the door of my seclusion room, telling me to meet him.” Lu Yingqi said gently. “Arrange a meeting whenever it’s convenient.”
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