Chapter 320: Pursuit

After confirming the six True Monarchs, Li Qingqiu threw himself back into cultivation; the closer he got to the Heaven-Reaching Sunlight Realm, the more he looked forward to it.

While Li Qingqiu was immersed in cultivation, the sect began preparing for the Dharma Battle Assembly.

Due to the existence of the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Luo Formation, it was no longer as easy for outsiders to enter the Qingxiao Sect, which added a lot of pressure on the sect’s order management.

This matter was handled by the Guangyuan Hall and the Law Enforcement Hall. The Guangyuan Hall was originally intended for diplomacy and organizing sect activities, and its head, Yang Jueding, never tired of organizing the Dharma Battle Assembly.

Zhang Yuchun’s Spirit Control Hall discussed the construction of cities with the Tiangong Hall; the Qingxiao Sect planned to build four more cities this year.

The immortal cities of the Qingxiao Sect were not mundane mortal cities and weren’t very large; they were mainly for Disciples to stay in and guard.

The Tiangong Hall was also preparing to trial Teleportation Formations, which were equally crucial for the Qingxiao Sect. Without Teleportation Formations, the Qingxiao Sect could not expand or explore externally.

Li Qingqiu rarely began a secluded meditation.

He would often only emerge from his Immortal Cave once every ten days or half a month.

Half a year passed quickly, and he successfully broke through to the Ninth Layer of the Spiritual Consciousness Realm.

After reaching the Ninth Layer of the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, the Taiqing Hunyuan Scripture transmitted to him the method for breaking through to the Heaven-Reaching Sunlight Realm, while also providing him with some information about it.

Dharma Idol!

It felt like a Divine Ability, yet it was different from one.

Li Qingqiu felt he could consult Wei Tianxiong about it later.

He opened his eyes and began to absorb the nearby sword soul.

After a while, he finally stood up, stretched his limbs, and prepared to head out for a walk to let the sect Disciples know that their Sect Leader was still alive.

Lin Chuan flew over and said excitedly, “Senior Brother, I have Spiritual Sense now too.”

He was no longer an ordinary ghost; after occupying the ghost infant’s body, both his strength and Aptitude had improved.

Worth mentioning was that he actually hadn’t undergone tribulation?

Could it be because he had already acknowledged Li Qingqiu as his Master?

Li Qingqiu looked at Lin Chuan, thinking with confusion in his heart, while a smile appeared on his Face as he praised, “Not bad, you didn’t disappoint me.”

Nangong E looked at Lin Chuan with envy from not far away; she was currently only at the Ninth Layer of the Nourishing Origin Realm.

Regarding his Ghost Slaves, Li Qingqiu naturally hoped they would become stronger so they could help share more of the burden in battle.

He touched the black pattern on the back of his right hand and smiled, “You too, don’t just sleep all the time, you need to Cultivate on your own.”

The Ghost Flood Dragon was already in the Spiritual Consciousness Realm; since submitting to Li Qingqiu, it had been sleeping inside him, being extremely lazy.

“Okay, Master.”

The Ghost Flood Dragon’s voice rang out, sounding weary.

Li Qingqiu shook his head with a chuckle and then got up to leave.

After leaving the Immortal Cave, Li Qingqiu passed through the Lingxiao Courtyard and walked down the mountain.

As he walked, he brought up the dao lineage panel to check the new Disciples from this period.

This time he had been in seclusion for half a month, and while he checked the number of Disciples daily to avoid any significant decreases, he didn’t look closely at the specific details of the new Disciples.

In just half a month, the Qingxiao Sect had added over six hundred Registered Disciples.

The threshold for the entry examination was rising, yet there were still so many Disciples, which was enough to show the prestige of the Qingxiao Sect in the Nine Provinces Land.

Since Wei Tianxiong joined, the entry examination had added an illusion segment, mainly testing the new Disciples’ physique, Heart-Nature, and decision-making. As for Spiritual Root Aptitude, Li Qingqiu actually didn’t value it much because he could see it directly without needing a test.

He cared more about the Disciples’ conduct and Heart-Nature.

Along the way, Li Qingqiu was able to multitask, nodding and speaking to the Disciples he passed from time to time.

This Sect Leader was as approachable as ever. Although he hadn’t changed, it was completely different for the Disciples; his prestige was growing higher and higher, yet he still treated people this way, making the Disciples very excited and more respectful toward him.

It wasn’t until evening that Li Qingqiu finally returned to the Lingxiao Courtyard.

Zhang Yuchun, Li Dongyue, and Li Sijin were arguing in the courtyard. Facing the combined fire of his two Junior Sisters, Zhang Yuchun was clearly struggling to hold his ground, his Face flushed red.

The Lingxiao Courtyard had a special Restriction. Unless Li Qingqiu intentionally eavesdropped, he couldn’t hear the voices inside from outside the courtyard, so he was curious about what had caused the three of them to argue like this.

Seeing Li Qingqiu enter the courtyard, Li Sijin hurriedly waved and said, “Senior Brother, come quickly! Come and be the judge!”

Zhang Yuchun looked back at Li Qingqiu, his eyes filled with a sense of grievance.

Li Qingqiu sat down in his exclusive chair and asked with a smile, “What’s going on? Why are you arguing like this?”

“”

Honestly, he quite missed this scene; it was as if they had returned to their childhood, and Zhang Yuchun had once again become the punching bag.

The current Zhang Yuchun was the second-in-command of the Qingxiao Sect. Although he was the head of the Spirit Control Hall, he was effectively the Vice Sect Master. No one dared not to give him Face, and he hadn’t been this pathetic in many years.

Li Sijin immediately said, “Ning Shu, a Disciple of the Experience Hall, injured Ye Nan, a Disciple of the Spiritual Wealth Hall. Yang Xuan acted out of justice and severely wounded Ning Shu. The Ning Clan is unhappy and went to my Senior Sister, demanding she uphold justice. The matter has blown up.”

Li Qingqiu had no impression of Ning Shu, but he did remember Ye Nan.

Ye Nan, who possessed 【Natural Great Hero】 and 【Epiphany】, had some potential, and his cultivation Aptitude was also quite good, though he wasn’t particularly outstanding among the True Disciples at the moment.

Of course, the reason Li Qingqiu remembered Ye Nan was mainly because of Ye Nan’s Master. His Master had come up the mountain to snatch the Prison Qilin and ultimately died there. Li Qingqiu had someone bring Ye Nan over to explain the matter clearly and resolve the grudge.

Judging by Ye Nan’s loyalty, he indeed held no grudge against Li Qingqiu or the Qingxiao Sect.

After hearing this, Li Qingqiu asked in surprise, “What does this have to do with Yu Chun? Where is Xue Jin?”

Xue Jin was the head of the trial hall; why was he nowhere to be seen in this matter?

Li Sijin replied, “Xue Jin didn’t want to stand up for Ning Shu and even had an unpleasant falling out with the Ning Clan. So, the Ning Clan went to Second Senior Brother. Second Senior Brother decided to compensate the Ning Clan by sending Ning Shu to work in an immortal city. But this isn’t right; Ning Shu is the one who did wrong, so why does he get compensated? What about Ye Nan’s injuries?”

Li Qingqiu understood now; ultimately, it was because the Ning Clan was powerful.

He hadn’t paid attention to the Ning Clan before because the sect had too many aristocratic families, and the Ning Clan didn’t even rank in the top ten.

Li Qingqiu looked at Zhang Yuchun and asked, “Why make such an arrangement?”

Zhang Yuchun said helplessly, “Ning Shu is indeed somewhat arrogant and conceited, but his contributions to the Experience Hall are not small. Moreover, his parents and elder brother died in that disaster in Zhongtian Immortal City. Additionally, I’ve learned that the conflict between Ning Shu and Ye Nan has lasted for many years; the two often fight, sometimes with Ye Nan injuring him and sometimes him injuring Ye Nan. It’s just that this time they ran into Yang Xuan, and Yang Xuan teaching Ning Shu a lesson changed the nature of the matter.”

The disaster of Zhongtian Immortal City—

At the mention of this, the smile on Li Qingqiu’s Face vanished. That disaster was the most devastating loss the Qingxiao Sect had ever suffered. All the Disciples who sacrificed themselves had their names engraved on monuments by the sect for future generations to remember.

Li Dongyue frowned and said, “Second Senior Brother, what you’re saying is wrong. Was Yang Xuan wrong to help his Junior Brother?”

Li Sijin followed up, “Is it because that Disciple of yours is surnamed Ning?”

As the sect grew larger, they all took on Disciples, and in quite large numbers, especially Zhang Yuchun; too many aristocratic families wanted to tie themselves to him.

Zhang Yuchun wanted to defend himself, but seeing Li Qingqiu staring at him, he could only choose to remain silent.

He knew in his heart that he had indeed stepped forward because a Disciple had pleaded for mercy.

In his view, this matter wasn’t serious; Ning Shu’s injuries were even heavier than Ye Nan’s, and it shouldn’t have reached such an awkward point. He didn’t want to oppress Ye Nan on behalf of the Ning Clan, nor did he want Ning Shu to be severely punished.

After listening, Li Qingqiu wasn’t angry; in his view, such things were far too common.

People have emotions, and moreover, there were too many aristocratic families and factions within the sect; many people would use grievances to seek their own interests.

If he had to manage every such matter, wouldn’t he be worked to death?

“Alright, once Ning Shu’s injuries are healed, have him go apologize to Ye Nan, and then go to work in the immortal city. If anyone has an objection, tell them I said so,” Li Qingqiu spoke, his words settling the matter.

Zhang Yuchun broke into a smile and nodded in agreement.

Although Li Sijin was still dissatisfied, Li Dongyue gave her a tug, so she could only let it go.

Li Qingqiu looked at them and said, “If there are any difficult matters in the future, come directly to me. I’ll bear the burden for you.”

In the past, he would have hoped for his Junior Brothers and Sisters to grow, but now he was willing to take on more for them. After all, without their hard work, he wouldn’t be able to focus on his secluded cultivation with peace of mind.

He was willing to take the resentment upon himself; if anyone was dissatisfied, they could come find trouble with him.

Li Sijin followed up, “Senior Brother, then shouldn’t Ye Nan and Yang Xuan also be promoted?”

Li Qingqiu shot her a look and said, “Isn’t whether they can be promoted up to your Fourth Martial Sister? What, do you want to plant them under me?”

Upon hearing this, Li Sijin immediately beamed and said, “Senior Brother is still the most reasonable.”

With these words from Li Qingqiu, Li Dongyue could ignore the pressure from the Ning Clan and promote Ye Nan and Yang Xuan.

Li Qingqiu changed the subject and said, “Since we’re free, let’s talk about your Disciples. Each of you tell me about their situations.”

In the past, he didn’t care about his Junior Brothers and Sisters’ situations regarding taking Disciples, but thinking about it now, he really should ask to prevent them from being exploited.

Zhang Yuchun was the first to start introducing his Disciples. While he was speaking, Li Qingqiu brought up the dao lineage panel to look for Ning Shu and also for Zhang Yuchun’s avatar.

When he found Ning Shu, he discovered that this playboy from the Ning Clan had a loyalty level that exceeded his expectations.

Ning Shu’s loyalty to Li Qingqiu was 98, and his loyalty to the sect was 97.

Why is it so high?

Li Qingqiu didn’t even remember if he had ever spoken with Ning Shu.

Zhang Yuchun’s Disciples’ loyalty levels were all between eighty and ninety-one; not bad, there shouldn’t be any spies.

After Zhang Yuchun finished introducing the fifteen Disciples he had taken over the years, Li Sijin also began introducing her Disciples.

【Since your dao lineage has a Disciple being pursued by another cultivation dao lineage for the first time, you have obtained a fortune opportunity.】

A prompt suddenly popped up before Li Qingqiu’s eyes, startling him.

Being pursued by a Cultivation School?

Anything that could be defined as a dao lineage was certainly not a small School within the Nine Provinces Land.

Was it Shen Yue who went west, or Qin Ye who went south?

Intuition told Li Qingqiu that it should be Shen Yue. Only Shen Yue was capable of being pursued; if it were Qin Ye, he would likely be dead upon encountering another Cultivation School.