Chapter 1258: The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall Takes Matters into His Own Hands

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall clenched his fist. “Yingxia, your master will always treat you well. Even if you no longer have the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, I’ll still raise you properly.”

“The bond between master and disciple is real. There’s no denying it.”

Hearing this, Shen Yingxia’s heart began to pound, and her foreboding grew stronger.

Forcing a smile, she said, “Master, what are you talking about? How could I not have the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart? Hahaha...”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall looked at her gravely. “Yingxia, what doesn’t belong to us should be returned to its owner. Listen to me and don’t resist. Let me do it. Don’t make outsiders get involved, and you’ll suffer less.”

That was the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall’s plan.

It was out of the question to save Shen Yingxia by going against his conscience, because that would mean fighting Lu Ding to the death.

He would have no justification in the eyes of outsiders.

Besides, the fallout from fighting Lu Ding might endanger Gouchen Hall. He couldn’t bear that responsibility as its Hall Master.

So,

the best solution was for the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall to remove Shen Yingxia’s heart himself, hand it over to Lu Ding, and offer compensation in exchange for sparing her life.

After all, Shen Yingxia hadn’t taken the heart herself. Her mother had.

Since they were already master and disciple, the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall couldn’t bring himself to send his disciple to her death.

Unable to save both sides, he could only do his best.

Who could understand how difficult it was to be caught in the middle?

Shen Yingxia took a frightened step back, terror filling her eyes. “Master, what are you saying? I... I don’t understand.”

Meeting the fear in Shen Yingxia’s eyes, the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall tried to reassure her. “Don’t be afraid, Yingxia.”

“It won’t hurt too much.”

Shen Yingxia shook her head. “No, Master, I don’t want this. Please don’t do this to me.”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall stepped toward her. “There’s no choice. There’s no way around it anymore, Yingxia. The people outside are already here. If you won’t let me do it, then they will.”

“His methods definitely won’t be gentler than mine. He might even rip your chest open by force and dig out the heart that doesn’t belong to you with his bare hands. He won’t care whether you live or die, let alone whether he damages your foundation.”

“If I do it, I’ll do my best to preserve your cultivation. Don’t be afraid. Even without this heart, you’ll still be my disciple. I have other methods and other treasures that can replace your heart and let you cultivate again.”

“Be good, Yingxia, all right?”

Shen Yingxia cried out, her voice ringing through the room. “I don’t want to!!!”

“Without the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, no matter how hard I cultivate, my talent will never surpass what it is now!!!!”

“Master! Master!!!!”

She cried out in anguish. “You’re the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall! You’re at the Deification Ninth Level! You’re a powerful cultivator!!!!”

“I’m your disciple, your Final Disciple!! Why can’t you protect me!”

“Just because an outsider came to demand it, you have to hand it over!?”

Hearing her words, the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall fell silent. He wanted to answer, but couldn’t bring himself to speak.

There were simply too many reasons he couldn’t protect Shen Yingxia.

But the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall wasn’t the sort of person to let his judgment collapse just because his emotions got in the way.

In a situation like this, a master would normally force the issue, and the disciple would hate him for the rest of her life.

So the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall said, “The person outside came from Lü Mountain. Yingxia, if you don’t want your master to do it, then come outside with me and settle this grudge yourself.”

At the mention of Lü Mountain, Shen Yingxia immediately said, “I won’t go!!!”

If even her master was wary of this person, and he came from Lü Mountain, wouldn’t going out there be tantamount to throwing her life away?

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall offered her a second option. “Then I’ll go out. Since you don’t want me to do it, I’ll call him in.”

Frightened, Shen Yingxia hurried forward and grabbed the hem of the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall’s robe. “Master!”

“Is there really no other way?”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall shook his head.

Shen Yingxia gave a bitter smile, tears clouding her eyes. “Master, I don’t want to die.”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall sighed. How could he truly send Shen Yingxia outside? He’d only said that to make her see the situation clearly, so they could return to his earlier proposal to do it himself.

“Only if I do it myself and take the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart outside afterward can I keep you alive.”

Shen Yingxia lowered her head. “Thank you... Master.”

This time, she’d changed her perspective. Not only did she agree, she even had to say thank you.

A long while later.

Outside Gouchen Hall,

Lu Ding waited patiently. Then he saw the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall approaching from within, holding a jade box.

He came to stand before Lu Ding.

“Young friend, forgive me for taking matters into my own hands and removing Yingxia’s heart. She is, after all, my disciple. Although our relationship began because of the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, we... have truly become master and disciple.”

“I couldn’t bring myself to disregard the bond between master and disciple. So I did it myself, and made sure the process was as painless as possible.”

“This may not be the process or outcome you had in mind.”

“But I can offer reparations and compensation. I hope you’ll spare her life and let her spend the rest of her days in Gouchen Hall. I can promise you that Shen Yingxia will never seek revenge. I’ll keep her by my side.”

Lu Ding had seen absolutely rational, shrewd people push their own sons and disciples out to die without hesitation.

He had also seen enemies fight him to the death for their sons or disciples, only to get themselves killed in the end.

But it was rare to meet someone like the Hall Master of Gouchen Hall, who managed to balance reason with loyalty.

His attitude was decent, too.

So Lu Ding took the jade box, opened it, and looked at the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart inside.

After putting it away, he said, “All right. Tell me what compensation you’re offering, and let me see how much she means to you.”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall wore a kind, composed expression. “As my Final Disciple, Yingxia naturally means a great deal to me. Taking our previous grudge into account as well, I’m willing to offer five Divine Abilities, thirty profound spells, two chests of rare natural treasures, and ten artifacts.”

“Ten bottles of Dragon-Returning Pills. With that, we can settle our grudge.”

“If we meet again someday, we can still exchange pleasantries and greet each other with a nod. If we can’t manage that, then I hope we can at least meet without resentment. We all uphold the righteous path for the sake of all living beings.”

To be fair, that was quite a haul. Lu Ding might not care much for these things, but that didn’t mean they weren’t valuable.

They would be a tremendous boost, especially for Fatty’s family and the Great Han.

The Divine Abilities in particular.

The Great Han lacked Divine Abilities and a deep foundation.

Its middle and lower tiers were actually solid, but it didn’t have enough top-tier Divine Abilities.

These five Divine Abilities could give the Great Han’s strongest fighters a massive boost!

The rare natural treasures from Gouchen Hall were sure to be excellent, and the artifacts were bound to be noteworthy, too.

But what Lu Ding cared about most wasn’t any of that. “What are Dragon-Returning Pills?”

The Hall Master of Gouchen Hall answered, “Taking one can strengthen your foundation and cultivation.”

At those words, Lu Ding’s eyes lit up. Cultivation was like building a tower, stacking one floor on top of another. The stronger your foundation, the higher you could build.

But not everyone was born into a powerful family and given all kinds of rare natural treasures to build an incredibly solid foundation from the start. There were only a few people like Lu Ding, who had risen so far despite coming from humble origins and having a poor foundation.

How many people found it difficult to make further progress as their cultivation advanced, all because their foundation was weak? Yet they had no way to go back and strengthen it, because they had already built the tower.

And now these Dragon-Returning Pills could actually strengthen one’s foundation.

What a pleasant surprise.

Lu Ding made up his mind at once and held out his hand. “Give me one to try first, so I can see what it’s like.”