They soon returned to the sect. The two martial brothers went straight into the Wuling Mountain Domain and visited Domain Lord Hang on the main peak.
They had returned early, and there had been no contests during their absence. Thus, their senior martial brothers and Honored Master Xing were all cultivating diligently in their own cave residences and had not left the mountains.
Xu Ziqing bowed to Domain Lord Hang and smiled. “Domain Lord, Senior Brother and I encountered some fortunate opportunities on this trip. Unfortunately, neither of us can make use of one of them, so we hoped to invite our senior martial brothers to take a look. Would you summon them here?”
Domain Lord Hang’s expression was benevolent. “In that case, we shall do as you suggest.”
The Wuling Mountain Domain might be weak, but its disciples were on excellent terms. Although Domain Lord Hang did not yet know what opportunity Xu Ziqing meant, he knew that neither of these disciples made extravagant claims. Naturally, he agreed.
Before long, all the senior martial brothers answered the summons. They were delighted to see the two younger brothers home safely.
Once everyone had arrived, they sat cross-legged and listened to the pair’s account.
Xu Ziqing began by telling them how the people of the Fire Origin Mountain Domain had schemed against them.
His senior brothers were all angered by what they heard.
Gongye Feibai was ordinarily quite mild-mannered, but this time he was the first to flare up. “How utterly shameless and despicable!”
Ke Hong, whose temperament was fiery to begin with, was furious. “What a pack of petty villains! When we were weak, they bullied us. When we started winning, they hid. They cannot accept defeat, and even when they win, they take advantage of us at our weakest. Then they go so far as to lay a trap for us! Have they no shame at all?”
The other senior brothers spoke up in turn.
“Even if they stop provoking us, we cannot simply swallow this insult.”
“Why not challenge them ourselves and remind them once more how formidable we can be?”
“Exactly! That is what I was thinking too!”
For a moment, everyone was quite agitated.
Warmth spread through Xu Ziqing’s heart, but he shook his head. “In any case, they gained nothing from it. Senior Brother Yun and I took their lives instead. There is no need for you to dirty your hands over such people.” He brought out several storage bracelets, placed them before him, and continued, “Please look, Senior Brothers. There are still plenty of valuable things inside these bracelets, but neither Senior Brother nor I can use them all. Why not pick out whatever you need? We might as well profit at the Fire Origin Mountain Domain’s expense.”
This time, the Fire Origin Mountain Domain had tried to steal a chicken only to lose its rice. There was little point in pursuing the matter further.
However objectionable those people were, should they really fight them to the death? Wuling’s foundations were still unsteady. Accumulating strength was the priority.
Once everyone advanced further in cultivation and became strong in their own right, what would there be to fear from the Fire Origin Mountain Domain?
Besides, the wrongdoing was still entirely on the other side. They probably would not press the matter again soon. As for the future… their grievances had long since become irreconcilable, so worrying further would accomplish nothing.
His senior brothers naturally understood these principles just as well as Xu Ziqing did.
Their earlier agitation had arisen partly from a desire to defend their two younger brothers and partly from the resentment of being suppressed for so many years.
Having heard him out, they restrained their anger.
Mi Xing smiled. “Junior Brother is right. Whatever underhanded schemes those people employ, all they have accomplished is delivering resources to our doorstep. We might as well bask in the good fortune of our two junior brothers and divide up these treasures.”
The other senior brothers burst into delighted laughter and applauded.
Domain Lord Hang and Honored Master Xing watched from the side, nodding with smiles.
The senior brothers then sent their spiritual senses into the storage bracelets and began selecting items. The bracelets belonging to the Nascent Soul cultivators contained a few good treasures, though not many that were truly useful to them. By contrast, the Soul Transformation cultivator’s bracelet contained a good number of resources several of the brothers needed, things they had been about to exchange for or seek out themselves. They accepted these without ceremony, saving themselves considerable trouble.
After the selection, Xu Ziqing entrusted everything remaining to Domain Lord Hang for the domain’s stores, where it could be kept for later generations or exchanged for other resources. At least it would not benefit outsiders.
Domain Lord Hang accepted the bracelets with a smile. Everyone else was pleased as well.
The longer they associated with these two younger brothers, the more evident their excellent character became. How could their seniors not value them all the more?
After the laughter subsided, Xu Ziqing moved to the real reason for their gathering. “There is actually another important matter for which I asked the Domain Lord to summon you.”
Senior Brother Guan Hengping asked, “What matter would that be?”
Everyone was curious.
Xu Ziqing smiled, raised one hand, and several human figures appeared before the gathering.
Senior Brother Hu Zhang gave a surprised sound. “Are these… puppets?”
Xu Ziqing was somewhat astonished. Few could identify them correctly at first glance. He praised him, “Senior Brother Hu has a keen eye! They are indeed puppets.”
His senior brothers marveled at them. Some even rose and gathered around to examine the puppets.
Once they had a closer look, they were captivated by their exquisite craftsmanship and full of praise.
Xu Ziqing waited until they had finished examining them. Then he recounted the ruins he and Yun Lie had found on their journey to search for the Myriad-Star Divine Water, explaining all the details of their experience.
Everyone from Wuling listened with undisguised envy.
To obtain the core inheritance and treasures of a powerful sect from another great world was an exceedingly rare opportunity. Only someone blessed with immense fortune could encounter such a thing.
After Xu Ziqing finished recounting the tale, he changed the subject. “Senior Brother and I have already settled the paths we cultivate. Merely digesting what we have learned will take tremendous effort, so neither of us can accept this additional inheritance. That is why we wish to give it to someone from our Wuling lineage. Senior Brothers, would any of you be interested in this path?”
There were countless paths in immortal cultivation, and each offered opportunities for attaining immortality. Yet some Great Daos could illuminate one another through comparison with subsidiary paths, whereas others could not.
The arts practiced by Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie both belonged to the latter category.
At those words, everyone was stunned.
Even Domain Lord Hang could not help looking moved.
Earlier, he had heard Xu Ziqing mention giving away some fortunate opportunity, but he had never imagined it would be the core inheritance of an entire sect. To surrender such a temptation without so much as blinking! These two possessed truly generous hearts and open minds.
He asked himself whether, at their age, he would have possessed such breadth of spirit. Probably not. Even his conviction in his own Dao might have wavered.
The senior brothers were immediately excited, yet after that first surge of emotion, they all calmed down.
Lü Wenge said, “Such an opportunity, even if it is of no use to you two, can be kept for your juniors and descendants. You need not concern yourselves with us.”
Xie Feng added, “We appreciate your thoughtfulness, Junior Brother.”
The others nodded as well.
But Xu Ziqing smiled. “Our juniors and descendants have their own fortunes. If they happened to be here, they could certainly try. But quite apart from whether this path would suit them, they are not here, which suggests this fortune was not meant for them. Meanwhile, you senior brothers have profound cultivation. If any of you can comprehend the inheritance’s central mysteries, perhaps you could advance even further. Would that not be better? We all belong to the Wuling lineage, so it makes no difference whether the inheritance is used by you or anyone else among us.”
By speaking so frankly, he dispelled their reservations.
The path of cultivation was fraught with danger, and learning never ended. Any additional knowledge or insight could benefit one’s own cultivation.
People able to devote themselves entirely to the sword Dao as early as Yun Lie had, or possessing an extraordinarily profound method like a legendary cultivation art, were vanishingly rare. For these senior brothers, the inheritance of the Thousand Puppets and Myriad Marionettes Sect offered a perfectly viable path to study.
There was one difficulty, however. There were seven senior brothers but only one inheritance.
Xu Ziqing considered the problem briefly and took out the two silver jade slips.
Indeed, it was precisely because the Thousand Puppets and Myriad Marionettes Sect’s inheritance differed from others that he dared to make this offer. If it could be transmitted to only a single person, he would have needed to think much more carefully. Otherwise, an offer intended to help his seniors advance might instead breed discord among them, which would be disastrous.
Xu Ziqing explained, “The sect’s core inheritance is contained within these two jade slips. You can each contemplate them separately, compare your understandings, and discuss them together. I will also give each of you some of the puppets we acquired, so that you can study them more conveniently.”
The senior brothers gazed at the jade slips with fervent eyes. Naturally, no one objected.
Xu Ziqing smiled and turned to look at his own senior brother.
Yun Lie nodded slightly and swept his sleeve. On the broad stretch of open ground beside them, seven densely packed groups of puppets instantly appeared.
Each group contained one Soul Transformation puppet, ten Nascent Soul puppets, and one hundred Golden Core puppets.
Xu Ziqing smiled. “One group for each of you, Senior Brothers.”
Ke Hong and the others exchanged glances. They had known the two younger brothers had acquired many puppets, but never expected them to be this generous, giving away so many.
Any profound Dao was vast in scope, especially a subsidiary art like puppet refinement. Without enough actual puppets to examine, progress would be difficult even with the core cultivation method in hand. But with so many puppets of their own, their research would become much easier.
For a moment, all were profoundly grateful.
Gongye Feibai said solemnly, “Junior Brothers, we will not offer endless words of thanks for your generosity.”
Such a debt of kindness need not constantly be spoken of. It was enough to remember it.
Xu Ziqing smiled as well. “That is as it should be. We belong to the same sect. There is no need to stand on ceremony.”
With that, everyone was delighted.
The brothers kept the remaining several thousand Golden Core puppets, hundreds of Nascent Soul puppets, more than ten Soul Transformation puppets, and the giant puppet.
The Soul Transformation puppets and the giant puppet were naturally reserved for the pair’s own protection. As for the lower-ranked puppets, Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie planned to leave some with the Wuling Immortal Sect and give others to the disciples of Little Bamboo Peak and Little Slaughter Peak. Of course, their master could not be forgotten.
Only if everyone they cherished remained safe could they cultivate and temper themselves with peace of mind.
And only when their sect grew strong would it be able to protect its disciples, spare them the suffering of being bullied, and withstand pressure from the outside world.
Once this business was done, the members of the Wuling lineage did not remain together for long. They dispersed once more to cultivate diligently.
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie returned to their cave residence as well.
On this journey, not only had Yun Lie achieved the first refinement of his sword soul, but Xu Ziqing had finally gathered the divine waters of all five elements. It was time to nourish the Sumeru Mustard Seed and restore its vitality.
Once the seed’s life force recovered, he would merge it into his dantian and make it his own through The Great Art of Myriad Woods Heart-Planting. He could then open a Purple Palace Minor Cosmos and begin evolving a world.
After evolving that world, he would still need to spend a great deal of time accumulating true essence before breaking his Golden Core and forming a Nascent Soul.
Adding everything together, who knew how many years he would need to spend in seclusion?
Xu Ziqing lifted his eyes and met Yun Lie’s gaze.
Yun Lie reached out, drew him close, and gathered him into his arms.
Xu Ziqing sighed softly, tilted his head up, and pressed his lips to his senior brother’s.
Their lips and teeth met, their breaths mingled, and a deep, lingering tenderness arose between them.
That night, their souls belonged together, and they slept with their necks entwined.
The following day, Xu Ziqing bade Yun Lie farewell and entered secluded cultivation, shutting himself away completely.
Until he broke through, he would not emerge.