Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 160

Chapter 160: Wenxin Xia

The Sect Master’s voice floated over from afar:

“Elder Bai, we understand what you mean. We are all old colleagues here; we won’t hold this against you too much.”

The Sect Master suddenly changed the topic. “However, Lu Yingqi’s matter must still be dealt with! Whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, using a furnace for cultivation violates the Sect’s rules, and he must be punished accordingly.”

Elder Bai’s eyes went wide. His mouth moved a few times, but no sound came out.

“Shang Qian, tell us. What kind of punishment should be given to those who illicitly use furnaces for cultivation?” The Sect Master looked toward the newly appointed adjudicator, his tone noticeably milder.

Rong Xie’s heart sank. He had still overestimated the vision of the Xuantian Zong Sect Master. To the Sect Master, the fact that Xuantian Zong produced an adjudicator was of such monumental importance that even a veteran like Elder Bai and an outstanding talent like Lu Yingqi were thrown under the bus.

Shang Qian bowed to the Sect Master, his voice laced with smugness. “To answer the Sect Master: Any disciple of the Wuqing Dao Gong who illicitly uses a furnace for cultivation should have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the Sect!”

The air instantly stagnated. Only Shang Qian’s arrogant voice echoed above Wenxin Xia.

“You cannot!”

Amidst the silence, a voice suddenly drifted up from the bottom of the gorge, piercing clearly into everyone’s ears.

Rong Xie’s spirits lifted. He hadn’t expected someone to openly oppose the Sect Master of Xuantian Zong under such circumstances.

But why did that voice sound somewhat familiar?

Rong Xie was about a zhang away from the edge of the gorge, so he couldn’t see what was below the steel-blue cliffs. The voice had come from down there, which meant the person speaking up for justice was at the bottom of the gorge.

Considering that the Sect Master and the Elders were all up on the cliffs, looking down from a commanding height, it was easy to guess who was at the bottom.

Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi.

The person who had shouted out just now was Xiao Zhi.

Rong Xie had never heard Xiao Zhi speak loudly before, which was why he hadn’t recognized it immediately. But thinking back on it now, it really was Xiao Zhi’s voice.

Only now did Rong Xie realize that Xiao Zhi also had Foundation Establishment cultivation. It was entirely possible for him to project his voice up from the depths of Wenxin Xia.

“You audacious furnace! When is it your turn to speak!” yelled a lackey cultivator standing beside Shang Qian.

Shang Qian let out a cold laugh. “This is the result of not following the rules. Any random person dares to interrupt in front of seniors like the Sect Master and the Elders. In this disciple’s view, if we want to rectify the Sect’s rules and restore discipline, we must strictly judge these two!”

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“The adjudicator is right. If rules aren’t followed, what kind of rules are they?”

“We should handle this according to the rules!”

The crowd chimed in with agreement.

Rong Xie’s heart sank. Seeing that Elder Bai, the only one who could speak up for Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi, had been silenced, and knowing that he himself, as an outsider, had no place to interject, the current situation left Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi completely at the mercy of others.

He glanced at Elder Bai, but Elder Bai’s face lacked the earlier indignation; instead, it was coldly solemn, as if he had accepted his fate.

Then, Elder Bai shot a meaningful look at the guide, and the guide nodded.

The Sect Master sighed. “Since everyone agrees, then we shall handle this according to the rules.”

He then looked down at Lu Yingqi at the bottom of Wenxin Xia, adopting an air of reasonable understanding. “Lu Yingqi, we watched you grow step by step. It’s thanks to the Sect’s cultivation that you’ve reached where you are today. We do not wish to see your cultivation crippled either.”

Rong Xie’s eyelids twitched. He had no idea why the Sect Master would listen to Shang Qian, only to then spout such hypocritical words to Lu Yingqi. Was he trying to pacify Elder Bai’s faction?

“But you must understand, we are doing this for your own good… Your dual cultivation with a furnace is a shortcut. You have already broken the rules of the Wuqing Dao. If you continue down this path, you will only go further astray. Rather than waiting until your soul is completely destroyed as a consequence, it is better to correct your mistakes now. Mending the pen after the sheep is lost is never too late. Having your cultivation crippled doesn’t mean you can never cultivate again. You are still young; if you choose a new cultivation path and start over from scratch, you might still carve out a place for yourself.”

The Sect Master’s pretty words covered all the bases, making it sound as if he truly had Lu Yingqi’s best interests at heart. He even cited historical precedents of similar situations, almost swaying Rong Xie.

However, thinking it over carefully, those precedents were one-in-a-million cases. If Lu Yingqi had his cultivation crippled at his current age, it was highly likely he would suffer a fatal backlash and die directly, with zero chance of getting back up. Furthermore, a person’s talent is limited. Lu Yingqi was gifted in the Wuqing Dao and hadn’t been negatively affected by Xiao Zhi thus far, but that didn’t mean he had talent for other paths. If forced to switch paths, would he ever reach his current heights again?

Rong Xie’s heart plummeted.

These were not just possibilities for Lu Yingqi; they were very much possibilities for Shen Bingsi as well…

“That is all there is to say. Lu Yingqi, from now on, you and Xuantian Zong will walk separate paths. Take care of yourself.” The Sect Master raised his hand and tossed out a Sect Master’s Token, which plummeted down into Wenxin Xia.

The Token erupted into a thousand streaks of cyan light, mobilizing the massive black spikes at the bottom of Wenxin Xia to close in on Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi in the center.

“Wait!” Seeing this, Rong Xie couldn’t hold back any longer and cried out.

Several hostile glares zeroed in on Rong Xie. It was as if the Sect Master and the Elders had just now noticed his presence. The cultivators began to whisper among themselves, while Shang Qian narrowed his eyes.

“Who is standing by the cliff?” the Sect Master asked in displeasure.

“This disciple… is Rong Xie.” Rong Xie thought for a moment and decided not to mention Lingjing Zong’s name. After all, he wasn’t technically a Lingjing Zong disciple anymore, and at a time like this, it was best not to drag Lingjing Zong into trouble.

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“Exactly!” Elder Bai sneered. “I have this much confidence in the disciple I taught! Lu Yingqi is about to break through to the Soul Split stage. To achieve this much in merely ten years… if he truly harbored romantic feelings for Xiao Zhi, how would he face his inner demons? He is always the first to pass every illusion test, completely unaffected… When it comes to the Wuqing Dao Heart, even you, Sect Master and Elders, might not be as resolute as he is.”

“Do you think we haven’t considered that? But the sect’s rules don’t care about the ‘why’. We judge actions, not intent. If he did it, he did it!” shouted the Elder in charge of Discipline.

The Sect Master also frowned, looking disapprovingly at Elder Bai.

“I know that even if I tell you, you won’t believe me. So, I have a method that can prove through facts that Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi have absolutely no romantic relationship, and that his Dao Heart is incredibly resolute,” Elder Bai said solemnly, his gaze burning intensely toward the opposite cliff. “How about it? Do you dare to make this bet with me? If I can prove it, you will never interfere in the affairs of the Wuqing Dao Gong again. The Dao Gong’s affairs will be solely decided by me! If I cannot prove it, I will voluntarily resign from my position as Elder of the Dao Gong, go into closed-door cultivation, and never involve myself in Sect affairs again!”

Hearing Elder Bai lay down such a heavy wager, the Sect Master and all the Elders were taken aback.

While they were hesitating, Shang Qian chuckled. “Since Elder Bai has such confidence, why not tell us how you plan to prove it? Let everyone see if this method is convincing enough, or if it’s just Elder Bai who thinks it’ll work—”

The Sect Master and Elders nodded as they listened, finding his words very reasonable.

All eyes focused on Elder Bai once more.

Rong Xie had already anticipated what Elder Bai was going to say. As things were pushed to the absolute extreme, his heart began to pound violently.

“Heh, what other method could there be?” Elder Bai scoffed coldly. “Killing one’s wife to prove the Dao!”

For a moment, everyone’s expressions shifted.

The Sect Master and the Elders were all veterans; they naturally knew of this method. They just never expected Elder Bai to have such absolute confidence.

Shang Qian’s smile deepened. Looking like someone eager to watch the world burn, he crossed his arms and gazed down at the two people in the abyss.

Rong Xie’s heart trembled. Standing where he was, he couldn’t see Lu Yingqi and Xiao Zhi’s expressions. He only saw two small figures go from standing shoulder-to-shoulder to separating slightly, leaving an empty patch of white space between them.

Translator’s Note: Sha Qi Zheng Dao (殺妻證道) – “Killing one’s wife to prove the Dao.” This is a notorious trope in Xianxia novels where a cultivator practicing a ruthless or emotionless path kills the person they love the most to sever their worldly attachments and attain a breakthrough in cultivation.