Chapter 814 - 31: He, Kindness

Chapter 814: Chapter 31: He, Kindness

"Why are you here so late?" Fang Qingning’s voice rang out.

Li Xin turned around and smiled, "Greetings, Sect Master. I’m cleaning up so that everyone can use it first thing in the morning and start a day full of Primordial Qi in a fresh environment."

This was Lin Fei’s habit. No matter how broken or worn-out the house was, she would keep it very clean. The sense of ritual wasn’t for its own sake, but for her own mental state.

Fang Qingning looked at Li Xin, nodded, and didn’t ask further. The matters of the Martial Heart Sect back then had passed with time. The State Lord did not pursue them further. If it were brought up now, it would have no significance for the current Martial Heart Sect and might even cause trouble.

"After three months, if you wish to stay in the Martial Heart Sect, you can participate in the Inner Sect selection," Fang Qingning said.

"Thank you, Sect Master."

Watching Fang Qingning’s departing figure, Li Xin shook his head, looked up at the red moon in the sky, smiled, and picked up the broom to continue cleaning.

The Three Pristine Dao of Vermilion Bird City, on Shangqing Mountain, is home to the Profound-level Sect, the Three Pristine Sect, an old top sect of Vermilion Bird City.

"Hahaha, hahaha, have you heard? Our junior brother Zhengyang sneaked out to bully low-level fighters for inspiration, but ended up being knocked out by a loose cultivator, hahaha."

"When he came back, he couldn’t even tell north from south. If Master finds out, he might be expelled from the sect."

"Could it be our little junior brother is kind-hearted?"

"Haha, kind-hearted, giving others blessings? Senior sister, you’re too bad. Him, kind-hearted."

Going by the alias Duan Chaoyang, Duan Zhengyang had already taken off his mask, his face flushed red, biting his teeth tightly, enduring the ridicule from his senior brothers and sisters. As one of the five direct disciples of the Sect Leader of the Three Pristine Sect, it’s an utter humiliation to be knocked out during a preliminary match in Cyan Dragon City!

"Senior sister, it was a mistake; I was careless. I didn’t use a weapon. I didn’t expect that guy to be so insidious. A practitioner of body cultivation with such strength pretending to be a novice must have also worn a mask!" Duan Zhengyang said indignantly.

In the Martial Arts Arena, Jiuxiao Building stands out with no competitors. Disciples from Vermilion Bird City and White Tiger City also often participate. In terms of impact, only Jiuxiao Building’s red rank has enough competitiveness.

Quite a few top disciples go to Cyan Dragon City to participate in the Martial Arts Arena. Some love to reveal their identities directly to bask in that glory, while others prefer to stay low-key, usually wearing a mask. But the ultimate goal for everyone is to make an impressive appearance and get into the top ten of the year-end red rank, which allows direct qualification to be a backup for the Celestial Destiny Sect, which is what top experts care about the most.

But Duan Zhengyang was the first to get knocked out during the preliminaries.

Earth-level and Profound-level sects have inherently superior cultivation conditions. The bigger the sect, the more competitive it is. Compared to the internal quotas, Jiuxiao Building’s red rank is relatively easier.

"Senior sister, could it be the Jiuxiao Sect up to something?" Chu Zhan said. He’s a good brother of Duan Zhengyang, laughing aside, he wouldn’t believe Duan Zhengyang got knocked out during Jiuxiao Building’s preliminaries without some trickery involved.

Unlike others who are just laughing it off, Jiang Jinyue’s expression remained serious, "Have you laughed enough yet? The master is in closed-door training, you all have become too slack recently, go practice harder for me. This year is the year of the Golden Dragon’s Dance, there’s not only the Celestial Destiny Sect’s selection but also the Sect’s elimination match. Duan Zhengyang, did your opponent poison you?"

"No," Duan Zhengyang said in a low voice.

"Then what are you complaining about? You want to say you didn’t use a sword? Who stopped you from using it? You got careless, why wasn’t the opponent careless? Practice more and then make up for it. Otherwise, you won’t be going to this year’s Celestial Destiny Sect selection." Jiang Jinyue said coldly.

Seeing the senior sister truly angry, everyone became silent like cicadas in winter and went for more practice sullenly. The others left, leaving Chu Zhan behind.

"Go to Cyan Dragon City to investigate," Jiang Jinyue said.

"Senior sister, do you also feel something’s amiss?" Chu Zhan asked.

"We’ll only know if there’s an issue once we check. This year is very delicate. The Jiuxiao Sect isn’t something good, and we can’t afford any mistakes." Jiang Jinyue said. In the history of the Divine Land, there’s no precedent of a sect that fell due to negligence yet managed to rise again.

Sects, just like people, once they lose their spirit, they quickly fall apart under intense competition. Even former Earth-level sects aren’t immune. To not mention the distant past, the Martial Heart Sect’s precedent is right in front of us. Now they’re struggling to even retain Yellow-level sect status.

This year not only has the Celestial Destiny Sect’s selection, but also sects will fall and rise. The Three Pristine Sect faces equally powerful challenges, making the core disciples’ condition very important. Be careful of the Taiyin School’s sect playing dirty, they have a precedent for that.

Duan Zhengyang was in closed-door practice fiercely. The senior sister’s wrath was no joke; if he couldn’t join the Celestial Destiny Sect selection, it wasn’t a laughing matter. He had to make a comeback. If he meets that guy again, he must beat him into the dirt.

Duan Zhengyang angrily wielded his large needle, seemingly pouring all of his unspent energy, needing to exhaust every bit of Spiritual Ability to vent his frustration.

In the distant Li Long United Kingdom, Dragon City.

In the Council, it was still noisy. The position of Grand Governor transitioned from Ye Shidao to Chen Rutang, which essentially didn’t change much for the Potter Family. Although they failed to get Nalan Jingguo into power, the Rot people, led by Potter and Marking, still firmly controlled the kingdom’s wealth.

One doesn’t understand the cost of living until they are in charge. After Chen Rutang was elected as the Grand Governor, he had to confront the Li Long United Kingdom’s situation directly. There was a shortage of money nationwide. He constantly wanted to abolish the Underground City, relocating the population outside. Underground Cities all over were practically Li Long’s humiliation, but once in this position, calculating the costs showed that resettling this population needs astronomical funds. Once they’re brought out of the cities, it also means losing a large amount of cheap labor. A series of chain reactions are beyond what Li Long’s finances can support.

Outside, after resolving the gladiator rebellion domestically, the Black Meteor Empire began scheming with Moncalleta. The Dao Yuan Eastern Continent mainly relies on the balance between Moncalleta, Li Long Kingdom, and the Tan Empire to prevent the Black Meteor’s cavalry from sweeping across the Eastern Continent. But if Moncalleta shifts its stand, it poses a significant threat to the current situation. Though Moncalleta’s King isn’t likely to be that foolish, as the Grand Governor, Chen Rutang cannot afford to ignore this consideration. Maintaining military preparedness is another huge expense, squeezing resources both human and fiscal along with Wu Sitian.

Insufficient tax revenue, with families led by Potter holding large wealth, extracting it is nigh impossible. The Rot people are particularly adept at donations, engaging in charity, opening soup kitchens, and so on, earning public goodwill. It’s too difficult to make a move against them.

"Teacher, none of the solutions are real solutions. No matter what new initiatives we propose, even if the Potter family doesn’t oppose them, they end up taking the majority of the benefits. They control advantageous resources and channels, have their members in various regions, and many key departments consist of their people. The network is extensive, addressing the symptoms but not the root cause." Lu Shuai said.