"Shengxuan Sect?" Du Youqian was no stranger to the name. "The Sect backing the Wu Kingdom?"
"Correct!" Elder Tao stroked his beard and smiled. "You could call them a vassal Sect of our Chongzhen Sect. Although no formal pact has been signed, they pay tribute to the Chongzhen Sect every year and send their most promising new talents to us for advanced training. When they encounter matters they can't handle or enemies they can't resist, they also ask our Chongzhen Sect for protection. The person you met was probably a renegade disciple of the Shengxuan Sect. After all, the Shengxuan Sect's conduct is decent enough that they shouldn't be producing Tribulation Cultivators."
"Why doesn't the Chongzhen Sect manage the Wu Kingdom directly, instead of going through the Shengxuan Sect?"
Elder Tao chuckled. "What's the benefit of managing the Wu Kingdom directly? For Renowned Major Sects like us, getting entangled with a kingdom's fortune is by no means a good thing. On the contrary, it's the Minor Sects like the Shengxuan Sect that need a kingdom's fortune to sustain their own Sect's luck."
Du Youqian nodded thoughtfully, looking as if he had come to a realization.
As for the half Jade Scroll, Elder Tao examined it with his Divine Sense—which was far more powerful than Du Youqian's—and an expression of shock appeared on his face. "A Golden Core Cave Mansion?" he blurted out.
He fell into deep thought for a long while, seemingly extracting more information. After a moment, he handed the Jade Scroll back to Du Youqian and shook his head. "This half of the Jade Scroll was left behind by a Great Cultivator, but unfortunately, the information is incomplete, so we don't know his name. He must have been in the Golden Core Realm, or at least the Fake Pill Realm. Over thousands of years, the Wu Kingdom hasn't produced many Great Cultivators like that. The Jade Scroll originally contained information about his legacy cave mansion, but alas, it's too damaged. You must find the other half to piece the information together and find clues to the cave mansion's location. What a pity."
He shook his head again and again as he spoke.
Du Youqian quickly said, "Master, this Jade Scroll is a gift from your disciple to show my respect."
Elder Tao chuckled. "I am already a pile of bones in a tomb; what would I do with this thing? Even if there is an opportunity within, it is no longer my opportunity to seize. Go on, get back to your studies. As for this Golden Core legacy, if you are fated for it, you will find the other half of the Jade Scroll sooner or later. If not, don't trouble yourself over it."
"I understand, Master."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although Du Youqian's Cultivation progressed slowly, he practiced diligently without stopping, his heart set firmly and unswervingly on the Dao.
Thus, Elder Tao had no cause for dissatisfaction.
Moreover, his progress in the two Immortal Cultivation Techniques of Alchemy and Arrays was quite good.
His aptitude couldn't be called top-tier, but it wasn't bad either—at least, it was much better than his aptitude for Cultivation.
After just a few short years, he had already broken through to Tier One Middle Grade.
It was hoped that he could reach the limit of Tier One within twenty years.
As for the Inheritance for Tier Two Immortal Cultivation Techniques, even within the Chongzhen Sect, they could not be redeemed for free. It required a large amount of Contribution Points.
Du Youqian was too embarrassed to live off his elder, asking Elder Tao to risk life and limb for the Sect to earn Contribution Points and redeem an Inheritance for him.
He could only think of another way later.
A year later, a vast army of over a thousand armored soldiers marched into Soul-shaking Mountain.
Judging by the banners, the one leading the troops was the new Fortress Lord of Cyan Bamboo Castle.
From his appearance, he looked a bit like the one Du Youqian had beheaded; he was likely the previous Fortress Lord's son.
The Array Elder Tao had set up was a Tier Two Lower Grade small-scale array, the "Small Five Elements Inversion Confusion Array."
As the name suggested, the main function of this Array was to confuse and trap people.
It was not skilled at killing.
Of course, with Du Youqian's attainments in Arrays, if he were to control the Array, it would be more than easy for him to use the Illusion Array to trap and kill all one thousand-plus elite soldiers.
But Elder Tao merely remained silent. He didn't give the Array Plate to Du Youqian, nor did he act himself.
So the soldiers set up camp on Soul-shaking Mountain and searched the mountain all day.
They moved out in a great, dark mass, stirring up such a disturbance on Soul-shaking Mountain that not even the chickens and dogs were left in peace, and the wild beasts fled before them.
The provisions for over a thousand men and their horses were no small matter.
Before long, the soldiers began to resupply locally, plundering the surrounding area.
The fugitives, hunters, and Medicine Gatherers hiding in the mountains also suffered a great disaster.
Du Youqian went to ask Elder Tao for instructions: "Master, this can't go on. The karma from these dead commoners will fall upon us. You have to think of something!"
Elder Tao smiled faintly. "Then if we kill or drive away these soldiers, will the karma not fall upon us?"
Du Youqian said, "Weapons are instruments of misfortune, to be used by a Saint only when there is no other choice."
Elder Tao nodded slowly. "Sometimes, a casual sentence from you contains a profound truth that is truly thought-provoking."
Du Youqian bowed again. "Master, let's set aside profound truths for a moment. They're making a scene right on our doorstep. You can't just ignore it, can you?"
Elder Tao waved him away. "Just you watch."
The days passed, one by one.
A cold frost quietly crept onto the blades of grass.
The soldiers were short on rations and were still wearing their thin summer clothes. Every one of them was miserable.
One night, the beast hordes in Soul-shaking Mountain suddenly went on a rampage, charging the encampment of the Cyan Bamboo Castle soldiers.
At the head of the horde was a tiger far larger than normal. On its back sat a smug-looking monkey, screeching and baring its teeth.
The soldiers had long since lost the will to fight. When faced with the beast tide, their first thought wasn't to fight back, but to wail and howl as they began to flee.
In reality, the beasts didn't bite many people to death.
Instead, it was the soldiers trampling each other and falling to their deaths or being injured on the rugged mountain paths that led to heavy casualties.
By dawn, more than three hundred soldiers' corpses were left on Soul-shaking Mountain.
The number of injured was countless.
Cyan Bamboo Castle had no choice but to retreat in defeat.
The new Fortress Lord also disappeared that night.
The Officers had to organize the main force's retreat while leaving behind an elite detachment to search everywhere for him.
After searching for three days and three nights, they finally found the Fortress Lord's body, dangling and swaying in the wind from a tree.
A piece of bark was hanging from the corpse's neck.
The Officers discussed for a long time and came to a conclusion: the Fortress Lord had committed suicide out of shame for his defeat.
As for the piece of bark hanging on the Fortress Lord, which read, "Anyone who dares to wage war again shall end up like this man"...
What bark? Where did any bark come from? There was no bark at all, don't spread baseless rumors.
And so, a storm passed.
Afterward, Du Youqian asked Elder Tao, "What was the mystery behind all this?"
Elder Tao stroked his beard and smiled. "There was no great mystery to it. It's just that these wild beasts were hunted and driven from their homes by those soldiers. Between them, karma had already been established. Now, for them to charge the encampment and cause heavy casualties among the soldiers, that is merely the cycle of the Celestial Dao. An eye for an eye."
"So... this has nothing to do with us?"
"Of course not. We cultivate our Dao. Some people showed up outside our grounds and had a fight with a pack of wild beasts. What does that have to do with us? It's not as if we orchestrated their fight. It is the Celestial Dao for soldiers to hunt beasts for food, and it is also the Celestial Dao for beasts to take revenge on soldiers. Understand?"
Du Youqian was filled with prostrate admiration for his master.
'He truly is an old fox... oh, wait, wrong phrase. He's old yet vigorous, growing stronger with age, and profoundly shrewd.'
'In my past life, I was the most powerful minister in the Wu Kingdom, but thinking about it now, while my methods weren't exactly crude, they were sometimes a little too direct. My handling of certain matters wasn't flexible enough. I offended too many people and left behind a lot of future trouble. In that regard, I really have to learn more from this old Daoist.'