After the sermon ended, people in the square gradually left. Zongci also jumped down from the cushion and walked out with the crowd.
He walked neither fast nor slow, his steps leisurely and briskly.
Although he had not slept all night and the content of the sermon was of little use to him, after sitting all night in the fragrance of the Enlightenment Lotus, he felt a long-lost sense of refreshment.
It was almost dawn, and Zong Ci planned to go back to the outer gate first. He didn't want to go back to the top of the main peak for the time being, but with Qingxuzi's attitude now, he had to go back even if he didn't want to. There was no room for negotiation on this matter.
If there was still room for recovery, Zong Ci would have packed up his bags and fled down the mountain. But now that he was being targeted, with the strength of a Tribulation Crossing Stage master, even if he fled to the ends of the earth, he would be caught like a chicken unless he died again.
That's not all. If I get caught, it's like telling Qingxuzi: Hey, I'm Lingyun Sword Master. Yes, I'm your eldest disciple who's still alive! Are you surprised? You never expected that I'd open the coffin and get up!
At a time when Qingxuzi obviously doesn't know his identity, such behavior is tantamount to seeking death.
Zong Ci thought about it for most of the night and decided to wait and see.
The reason why he was fearless was very simple—
Because there is no method in the world of cultivation that can detect the soul.
The soul of a cultivator has always been the most obscure part. Ghost cultivators do have techniques involving the soul, but they are extremely rare and difficult to cultivate. If you are not careful, you will get burned. The benefits are proportional to the risks. Over the years, only a few people have succeeded. Besides, even the techniques of ghost cultivators involving the soul do not have the method to identify the soul of a cultivator.
If you really want to reach the soul level, you have to wait until you become an immortal. For example, after Zong Ci became an immortal in his previous life, he could indeed control his soul. He chose to become a demon to enhance his strength and fight against the outer demons for this reason.
Being possessed by a demon is irreversible. At the moment of being possessed, the demonic thoughts will tamper with the whole body. No matter what the origin is, once possessed, it is possessed. Otherwise, Qingxuzi would not have directly drawn his sword to clear the door, and he did not even expect Zongci to explain. But what no one knows is that after becoming an immortal, Zongci can separate his soul from his body, which means that his body is possessed by the demon, but his soul is not infected by the demonic thoughts, and he has doubled his strength for nothing.
As for why he chose to commit suicide later, it was because he was betrayed, was too emotional, and it was his first time, so the devil's thoughts invaded his soul. If he didn't commit suicide, Lingyun Sword Master would have fallen from the immortal world, killed everyone, and become a real devil.
He worked so hard to save the people, not to destroy them with his own hands. No one would choose to commit suicide unless they were left with no other options, right
Apart from the path of becoming an immortal, even Ling Yun, who was knowledgeable in his previous life, had never heard of any other method that could identify or confirm the soul, so Zong Ci was naturally fearless.
Moreover, his mood and personality have changed greatly, and he is more like an ordinary person.
As long as we are careful, we may be able to delay it for a while. Qingxuzi will not have that much patience.
The only thing that made Zong Ci feel unsure was that the Qingxuzi in this life was quite different from the Qingxuzi in his memory.
The Qingxuzi in Zong Ci's memory was a ruthless Taoist priest who never showed his emotions and always had the same expression.
As for the current Qingxuzi, for some unknown reason he has turned into a child, his emotions are clearly shown on his face, and he acts arbitrarily and perversely.
Qingxuzi practices the ruthless way. The most common symptom of the ruthless way is the serious and cold appearance of Lingyun Sword Master.
When such a problem occurred to Qingxuzi, who had also reached the pinnacle of the way of ruthlessness, Zong Ci keenly felt that something was wrong.
When the leader of Tianji Sect was giving a sermon today, Zong Ci also secretly observed the area around Taiyan Sect's seats, but he couldn't see his junior brother Ling Chou. For a cultivation maniac like Ling Chou, it would be a bit unreasonable not to come to such a grand event.
Zong Ci walked along thinking, but he had no intention of finding out the truth. In short, it had nothing to do with him.
It was at this moment that his peripheral vision suddenly caught a glimpse of the glass lamp in his hand.
... ... Oh no.
Before the sermon, Tianyi said that he would bring the lamp back after the sermon, but Zongci suddenly forgot about it. Now he was almost at the edge of the square and had to go back to return it to Tianyi.
He was about to turn around when he suddenly heard loud conversation behind him.
"Master, you may have misremembered it. I have never worn your amulet before."
It’s not that Zong Ci wanted to pay attention, but the voice was so familiar that he didn’t even want to turn his head.
"... The old bald donkey is just trying to blackmail me."
"What kind of amulet is this? If there is such a good thing, how could His Majesty not know about it?"
"That's right. Besides, His Majesty doesn't need this kind of thing."
... ...
Zong Ci turned around.
He originally thought that he would be sad and angry when hearing this, after all, he had knelt in front of the Buddha Bathing Gate for 49 days before begging for the amulet. Later, he was even more afraid that Rong Lian would not wear it because he disliked him, so he mixed it in with a pile of things and eagerly sent it to someone, mixed it in with a pile of things, and only gave up after confirming with his spiritual sense that Rong Lian had indeed worn it.
But in fact, his heart was calm now. After listening to this speech, he was not even sad, let alone angry. It was like talking to a stranger for the first time, not to a person he had been obsessed with for thousands of years.
I really let it go.
Zong Ci felt vaguely, and thought that there was nothing wrong with this, and could even say that it couldn't be better.
"Excuse me."
He brushed past the man in red without even looking at him, and walked towards the square without looking back.
Tianyi saw him from a distance and walked towards him with a stern face.
"I'm sorry, I almost forgot about borrowing the lamp."
Zong Ci walked over quickly, and even stepped barefoot on the cold spring in the square, making splashes of water when he reached the back.
After all, he was in the wrong in this matter, and afraid that Tian Yi would be angry, Zong Ci secretly raised his eyes to look at him while running.
After all, he had vaguely heard the discussion of those people in the square before the sermon. This glass lamp was not only exquisitely crafted, but also had intricate patterns carved on it that were lifelike. If it were sold directly as a work of art, it might fetch a good price, not to mention that the priceless mermaid cream was burning inside.
Zong Ci also studied spices in his previous life. Although he only likes to use plum blossom scent, he has also heard of the famous mermaid cream.
If Tianyi thought that he was the one who had evil intentions and wanted to secretly take away the glass lamp, then Zong Ci would never be able to clear himself even if he jumped into the Yellow River.
He walked too fast and when he stopped suddenly, Zong Ci couldn't catch his breath. He bent over and started coughing.
After his rebirth, whenever he did strenuous exercise, his body would have a severe rejection reaction.
For example, now.
After just a few steps, the young man in white's face was already red, as if someone had used a paintbrush to paint it with some light crimson color, and his bright eyes were also filled with a light watery look. Tiny and dense beads of sweat oozed out of the tip of his nose and forehead, and he looked like a ripe plum.
Seeing the young man in white coming over, the well-fed Immortal Cranes immediately swarmed over him, flapping their wings and walking over reservedly to comb their feathers, trying to attract attention.
Tianyi saw that he was running out of breath, and after stopping, he coughed heart-wrenchingly on the spot, and he couldn't help but frowned.
Zong Ci was in poor health, which he had known since he went down the mountain with him, but when he saw the results of such actions after just a little exercise, he felt it was real.
The little boy, who was only slightly taller than Zong Ci's waist, hesitated for a moment and said, "It's okay. I'll give you this lamp."
What Zong Ci didn't notice was that near the high platform in the square not far away, the other children had undisguised surprise on their faces, but because the sect leader was still present, they didn't even dare to use their spiritual sense to communicate, and could only exchange glances quietly.
Tianyi is the oldest boy in Tianji Sect. It is said that Tianyi was already in Tianji Sect when the previous sect leader was still alive, so not many people know how long he has lived.
Among the seven boys, Tianyi is the chief steward. He is also very serious and rigid, and the other boys are in awe of him.
The mermaid cream in the glass lamp is not a rare item in Tianji Sect, but Tianyi takes good care of that glass lamp. The style of his glass lamp is slightly different from that of other boys. It is said that it was given by the previous sect master. Occasionally, he can be seen sitting by the Tianchi and cleaning it with snow water. I didn't expect that he would give it to me today.
"Isn't this... too expensive?"
Zong Ci also looked at Tian Yi in surprise, but unfortunately the latter still had a stern look on his face.
"That's not good. Don't you all have one?"
"It's okay, I still have some." Tianyi said simply, "Your health is poor, the mermaid cream inside can last for half a year."
It turns out that the new friend was thinking about his friends for his own good!
Zong Ci was shocked and felt a warm feeling in his heart.
"Thank you." Zong Ci scratched his head embarrassedly, "I'm in poor health. I made you worry."
He looked at Tianyi and nodded awkwardly, then turned around to leave and said quickly, "By the way, I will live in the Tianzi Cave Mansion on the main peak from now on. You can come and visit me anytime."
After saying this, Zong Ci wanted to hit his head again, so in order to avoid being misunderstood, he immediately explained: "We are friends, aren't we?"
Although Tianyi looked like a child, he might be a senior who lived longer than his two lifetimes combined. But he was distracted and kept unconsciously treating the other person as a child.
Embarrassing, really embarrassing. Recalling the silly smile he showed to the Tianji Sect Master before, Zong Ci wanted to go back in time and slap himself in the face. He was so embarrassed that he didn't even dare to look at the platform anymore.
Unexpectedly, Tianyi was not unhappy about this little thing. Instead, he glanced at him and said quickly: "Okay."
Just one short word, but it did not deny Zongci's previous definition of "friend".
Looking from the back, the little boy’s ears were as red as Zong Ci’s face.
Having gotten the answer, Zong Ci did not bother him any more and left with the lantern in his hand, feeling satisfied.
What he didn't know was that the leader of the Tianji Sect, who was sitting on the high platform, had kept his consciousness on him from beginning to end, quietly watching his every move.
It was not until the white piece of clothing disappeared at the edge of the square that Qian Yuexi withdrew his gaze, a trace of deep thought flashing across his brows.
####
However, Zong Ci's good mood did not last long.
He stayed at the foot of the mountain for a day, went to the outer gate, and then went to the affairs hall to complete all the formalities. Only then did he walk towards the top of the mountain reluctantly.
Because of the preaching, many disciples of the Tianji Sect chose to practice in seclusion. The huge sect was deserted and there were very few people going up and down the mountain.
When he reached Lingguang Hall, Zong Ci turned around and was about to change the way up the mountain. Halfway there, he suddenly saw a man standing on the path he had to take.
The man had black hair and white clothes, and there was no other color on his body. His eyebrows were like swords, and his aura was extremely cold and clear.
I felt the temperature drop as I got closer.
Seeing that the person he had been waiting for half an hour finally appeared, Xuan Ji's face relaxed for a moment.
He looked at the young man in white clothes and frowned subconsciously. But when he saw the style clearly, his brows quickly relaxed. He seemed to be in a much better mood than before.
The swordsman went straight to the point and said briefly, "A few days ago I asked you to consider becoming my last disciple. What do you think?"
This time, Xuan Ji was full of confidence.
He took some time out to visit the master of Yaofeng Peak and booked a day for a consultation. He also notified the Logistics Hall to tidy up and clean up the empty cave on the top of Jianfeng Peak that had not been inhabited for a long time. He also asked the people from Zhenfeng to come and set up a few more formations that would strengthen the body and benefit the body. Only then did he come again.
Xuan Ji had never thought of accepting disciples before, so he paid special attention to Zong Ci, his eldest disciple (as he considered himself), and personally experienced the worry of an old father.
So this time he came, he was determined to win.
Zongci: "... "
He hesitated, not knowing how to answer the Sword Immortal's question.
I can't say that I've been targeted by your sect's ancestor, and I can't just agree to it directly.
It is true that by becoming the eldest disciple of Jianfeng, he might be able to temporarily escape Qingxuzi's control, but Zongci's pride does not allow him to bow to others on the path of swordsmanship. This is a matter of principle.
Besides, it's the same old saying. In front of a great master in the Tribulation Crossing Stage, everything is empty. Even if he escapes to the Ghost Realm and becomes the Ghost Realm's chief disciple, it's useless.
Perhaps because the young man in white hadn't spoken for a long time, Xuan Ji's expression, which had just improved, suddenly turned gloomy.
"I sincerely want to take you as my apprentice."
Unfortunately, he is an introverted person, and is more accustomed to doing more and talking less. He is not used to speaking out about what he has done.
However, Zong Ci himself had this kind of personality in his previous life, and he guessed that this sentence might be the greatest sincerity that the white-clothed swordsman in front of him could express.
Therefore, Zong Ci became even more entangled.
We are all sword cultivators, so it would be bad to neglect the respect of our fellow disciples, right
"No... that's not what I meant, it's just—"
He gritted his teeth and decided to tell Qingxuzi everything about his intention to take him in as his disciple.
Anyway, I would rather die than let my friend die.
Unexpectedly, just when Zong Ci was about to open his mouth to explain, suddenly, a sneer with a hint of contempt came from above their heads.
The child in green was sitting steadily on the treetop, his brows filled with arrogance that was inappropriate for his age.
He looked at the swordsman with contempt and said sarcastically, "He is the one I have chosen. What qualifications do you, Xuanji, a young man, have to speak?"