A World Worth Protecting

Mie Liezi narrowed his eyes when he heard Feng Qiuran’s words, and he cast a cold glance at her. Back then, Feng Qiuran was at the peak of the early-stage Soul Conduit realm, pressuring the then Mie Liezi who had just entered early-stage Soul Conduit realm, which left him without a choice but to work with the Federation.

However, he had gradually advanced in his cultivation, and the difference between him and Feng Qiuran wasn’t large. Despite that, unless he had no choice, he didn’t want to go against Feng Qiuran. After all, there was still You Ran as one of the Elders of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace.

Even though You Ran always seemed nonchalant about matters, Mie Liezi was still vigilant towards him. Mie Liezi was about to speak when You Ran, who was beside him, sighed.

“Mie Liezi, Feng Qiuran, stop arguing, the both of you. This happens every time… However, Elder Feng, Elder Mie Liezi was right about something. What’s most important is the incident involving the Hyacinthus Tree! I also think that we should first reach a conclusion regarding the Hyacinthus Tree before discussing other matters. What do you think?”

With Daoist You Ran acting as the peacemaker like always, Feng Qiuran silently nodded her head as an indication of her agreement to discuss the Hyacinthus Tree issue first.

“Thirty-seven years ago, seven leaves fell off the Hyacinthus Tree, and now, there’s only three. The number of falling leaves are decreasing, and it is likely that only one will fall the next time.” Daoist You Ran sighed softly, and a look of anxiousness and concern could be seen in his eyes.

“That means that we only have three tokens this time around. If everything goes smoothly, three disciples could enter the Worship Palace Pavilion of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace and carve their names down on the Dao Plate based on the opportunities that they have obtained. That will allow them to be bestowed with an identity as a true Dao Palace disciple. Do both of you have any suggestions on how to choose the three disciples?” As Daoist You Ran spoke, he looked towards Mie Liezi and Feng Qiuran.

Without waiting for Feng Qiuran, Mie Liezi began speaking with a cold tone.

“Back then, there were seven leaves, and we sent seven people, but four of them didn’t survive. Only Chi Lin and three others successfully became the outer sect disciples of the Dao Palace. There were simply too many losses. Furthermore, since we only have three leaves now, I don’t think there is any meaning to sending anyone there!”

Hearing those words, Feng Qiuran was immediately displeased and began speaking.

“The leaf of the Hyacinthus Tree is the token needed for one to officially be part of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. This is a tradition that has been passed down since the Dao Palace was established. Wasn’t that the case for us too? Even though there is some danger in entering the Worship Palace Pavilion now, the fact that the Hyacinthus Tree still sheds its leaves means that there is a significance behind it!”

“Perhaps there could really be someone whose opportunity is so valuable that he is able to become an inner sect disciple. That would mean a lot to us. Of course, if Elder Mie Liezi doesn’t agree, you can give up on the eligibility to receive the Hyacinthus Tree leaf for the disciples under your wing.” As Feng Qiuran spoke, Mie Liezi laughed suddenly.

“What Elder Feng said makes sense. I have not been considerate. Since this is the case, it’s easy to distribute the three leaves. We shall receive one leaf each, and let our respective disciples undergo a trial. The winner of the trial will receive the Hyacinthus Tree leaf!”

“Right now, the disciples are too complacent. We must let them know how brutal cultivation can be, that it is a fight between people and the heavens. After all, back in the day, the three of us also overcome all sorts of trials to achieve what we have today.” With that, Mie Liezi narrowed his eyes and looked towards Feng Qiuran. However, he was laughing evilly in his heart. On the surface, whatever he said about distributing the three leaves amongst the three of them sounded fair, but in reality, there was an evil intent behind it!

For Daoist Mie Liezi and You Ran, they could appear to let their disciples battle it out to receive the Hyacinthus Tree leaf on the surface but actually make the decision through a simple command.

However, it was a different case for Feng Qiuran. That was because things were made more complicated with the involvement of the Federation under her lead. Even though she had tried to prevent it, two different factions were forming. One continued to support Feng Qiuran, while the other was beginning to show signs of revolt amidst their silence.

Building on the formation of the two factions, that was the case for the disciples as well. The Federation Seedlings were weak and could only stick with each other. While the other disciples of the faction working under Feng Qiuran supported them, they were unable to see the Federation Seedlings as their own in a short period of time.

Therefore, the problem now lay in who to give the leaf to. If it had to be obtained through battling like Mie Liezi suggested, there would be an issue of whether the Federation Seedlings should participate…

If they participated, then the Federation Seedlings would definitely have to fight with each other for the Hyacinthus Tree leaf, and it would be inevitable that deaths and injuries would result. After all, not many would give up on this valuable opportunity. Therefore, once the real battle began, the distance between the Federation and the complex web of factions under Feng Qiuran would grow continuously, despite it being a fair and reasonable battle.

However, if the Federation Seedlings weren’t allowed to participate, this differential treatment would still widen the gap between them. At the same time, even if Feng Qiuran didn’t choose to let the disciples battle it out, she would still be faced with a similar dilemma. Giving the leaf to anyone amongst the Federation Seedlings would cause unhappiness amongst the cultivators under her lead and vice versa.

According to Mie Liezi’s plan, regardless of how this issue was handled, conflict would arise between Feng Qiuran and the Federation. Then, if a further push were given, it would definitely result in the switching of alliances amongst the currently unhappy cultivators under Feng Qiuran’s lead right now!

That was a sinister plot!

From the beginning, his disagreement towards welcoming the second batch of Federation Seedlings, and his opinion that the Hyacinthus Tree leaf was meaningless, were all to set the stage so that he could make the proposal for the battle!

After all, if Feng Qiuran was so adamant at preserving the tradition, she couldn’t object to the suggested method of distributing the leaf. Through this, it also gave Daoist You Ran the autonomy of choice. Mie Liezi believed that even if Feng Qiuran were to see the problem in his proposal, it would be difficult for her to go against it.

At the same time, he had made preparations for what to come.

In reality, even though Feng Qiuran appeared indecisive and slightly weak, she wasn’t stupid. After she thought about it, she retracted her gaze, apparently realizing the traps in Mie Liezi’s proposal. She was about to speak when Daoist You Ran laughed and began speaking while nodding his head.

“This is indeed a good suggestion. I agree!”

Feng Qiuran fell silent, an awful expression on her face upon hearing Daoist You Ran’s words. She had been too laid back in terms of how she handled the matter today. In addition, it was possible that Mie Liezi and Daoist You Ran had secretly collaborated with each other to make her helpless.

At the same time, the more one thought about this matter, the more frightening it seemed. The significance of everything deepened once it became confirmed that the two of them had reached a consensus regarding the matter and that it wasn’t a spontaneous decision made by Daoist You Ran himself.

All these thoughts were darting about Feng Qiuran’s mind. She knew that she needed to find a way out of this situation as soon as possible. If not, once everything went according to Mie Liezi’s proposal, she would completely lose all say.

Furthermore, she still didn’t believe that Daoist You Ran would suddenly choose a side after being a neutral party all these years!

With that thought, a chilly look flashed across Feng Qiuran’s eyes. She raised her right hand and hit the handle of the seat beside her. As a loud sound was produced as the chair broke apart. She stood up, with anger and pain in her eyes.

“Mie Liezi, You Ran, the main Dao Palace has been sealed now, leaving the Patriarchs either in hibernation or missing. The three of us have the huge responsibility to rebuild the inner sect disciples of the Dao Palace, and this is not the time to go our separate ways!

“Mie Liezi, what intentions do you have by mentioning the three lineages all the time?”

“There is only one lineage, instead of three, in the Vast Expanse Dao Palace. There is also only one Vast Expanse Dao Palace! Mie Liezi, are you trying to establish a lineage by yourself?” Feng Qiuran let out a cold tone and a desire to kill in her eyes that was rarely seen. That was especially so due to the agitated and angry look in her eyes, which made her killing intent carry a meaning of anger and pain!

You Ran was shocked as he looked at Feng Qiuran without saying anything. Mie Liezi also didn’t seem to have expected Feng Qiuran to pick on his mention of the three lineages and was now thrown into a bad light. With an awful expression on his face, he was about to speak, but Feng Qiuran didn’t give him the chance to, as her agitated voice was heard once again.

“There is no need to distribute the Hyacinthus Tree leaves equally amongst the so-called three lineages. We are all members of the Vast Expanse Dao Palace, and we will each assign two hundred Core Formation realm disciples, totaling six hundred of them, and let them go through a trial to obtain the three leaves. In addition, no deaths are allowed in the Dao Palace. Therefore, the trial must take place in the Endless Possibilities Array Formation!”

“Daoist You Ran, what do you think of that?” As Feng Qiuran spoke, she turned towards Daoist You Ran.

“This… I agree. Ah, both your proposals are feasible, and I am agreeable with either of them.” With a bitter laugh, Daoist You Ran nodded and agreed. At the same time, he even tried to calm things down between Feng Qiuran and Mie Liezi.

Mie Liezi, on the other hand, looked deeply into Feng Qiuran’s eyes. He realized that he had made a mistake this time, especially as he needed to avoid being seen as divisive and wanting to strike out on his own. After a moment of silence, Mie Liezi snorted and didn’t speak, silently agreeing to Feng Qiuran’s proposal!