Chapter 78: Old Grudges

Several days passed in a flash.

Both Kao Mountain Town and the Floating Cloud Sect’s village settlement were unusually quiet, without any major incidents occurring.

It seemed as if ever since Li Si’s Statue Avatar had been snatched away by that Blood Coffin, the Evil God had believed it had destroyed Li Si.

Though this sounded absurd, Li Si didn’t truly believe it was the case.

But, after all, this was the work of the Fate Forge. What if, just in case, it really was true?

So, his original plan to head downstream to Blackstone Town to farm some Divine Idols and replenish his resources was put on hold for now. After all, everyone needed time to develop.

Of course, necessary vigilance could not be relaxed.

Also, during these past few days, he hadn’t rushed to practice the Divine Heaven Thunder Control Technique. Instead, he seriously cultivated day and night, working on the third level of the Heaven-Turning Scripture. His progress had already reached 27%, and his Magic Power upper limit had increased by 27,000 points, bringing the total upper limit to 38,100 points. (Note: 1,000 points came from the Flawless Dao Body bonus.)

This was a good start. An even better piece of news was that, as expected, Xu Shen successfully broke through to the Golden Core three days ago, becoming a genuine Golden Core Realm Cultivator.

The changes this brought were immense. Because Xu Shen, now in the Golden Core Realm, could handle many more tasks. In fact, these past few days, Xu Shen had been heavily focused on construction, even utilizing the Armory A and Armory B.

He deployed four grand Formation Arrays for the Floating Cloud Sect all at once, and these were revolutionary arrays.

The first was the Heaven’s First Water Grand Array.

This array could cover an area of ten li radius. Within this area, it could automatically draw moisture, generate clouds, and cause rainfall, with the added effect of purifying the rain. One could say that with this array, water source problems would no longer be a concern in the future. The Floating Cloud Sect could even start some agriculture.

The second was the Earth’s Sixth Abundance Grand Array, also covering a ten li radius. It could nourish the land and foster vitality. Combined with the Heaven’s First Water Grand Array, it had the miraculous effect of revitalizing the local environment.

The third was the Six Dominions Divine Thunder Array, an advanced version of the Five Tribulations Thunderlight Array. It also covered a ten li radius, possessed tremendous power, but its consumption was also astonishingly high.

The fourth was the Four Directions Demon Sealing Grand Array, an advancement of the Three Talents Demon-Purging Array and the Demon Sealing Array. Similarly covering ten li, it could block the invasion of most Evil Entities and Evil Spirits, and was more effective at suppressing the Dark Mist. Basically, once this grand array was established, the Old Madam’s Seven Emotions Tribulation and Six Desires Tribulation could pretty much be considered resolved.

Well, this was what the Old Madam personally told Li Si, and she also ordered him not to farm the Little Mushrooms anymore.

So Li Si felt gloomy, but he didn’t take it too seriously. Wasn’t there a saying about generals in the field not accepting orders from afar?

But regardless, the Floating Cloud Sect had indeed restored the grandeur it had fifty years ago.

Yes, fifty years ago, the Floating Cloud Sect still had its last Golden Core Cultivator, Qin Ke, Jiang Ying’s husband. Back then, the Floating Cloud Sect had deployed the above four grand arrays here. The village had properly built houses, and large areas of farmland were cultivated outside the village. Everything was thriving.

Until one day, Jiang Ying, who was six months pregnant, had a miscarriage. A powerful and mysterious Evil Spirit had ambushed her. It was very cunning, having secretly observed for a long time, striking decisively and lethally when it finally moved.

This incident enraged Qin Ke immensely. He swore revenge. Although later, persuaded by everyone, he chose to endure, ultimately, this matter became his Inner Demon. During an outing for battle, it triggered his Seven Emotions Tribulation, and he died.

With no Golden Core Cultivator to maintain these four grand arrays, and the Old Madam unable to intervene due to her role in suppressing the Fate, the hope for the Floating Cloud Sect’s resurgence was snuffed out.

In the end, it was the Old Madam who acted decisively. She directly abandoned all peripheral areas, closed off the Pure Land, and had everyone go into hiding. That was how they managed to survive all these years.

“What happened after that?”

Li Si rarely learned about the Floating Cloud Sect’s past. Now, with these four grand arrays in place, Ji Chang would occasionally slack off a bit. He sat at the village entrance in the afternoon and explained this past event to Li Si.

“After that? After that, things just remained like this. Until you, kid, helped Xu Shen overcome his Inner Demon, allowing him to attain the Crystal Clear Dao Heart. Then, with the Divine Grace Baptism from that Ancestor Kaoshan, he finally succeeded. And so, here we are.”

“However, past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future. We must learn from the lessons of that year. I’ve talked with Xu Shen and Jiang Ying, including our Old Madam. We all agree that after Xu Shen becomes a Golden Core Cultivator, he shouldn’t go out easily anymore. With these four grand arrays, as long as we have enough Spirit Gathering Talismans, he alone can match the strength of two Nascent Soul Realm cultivators.”

“But, our Floating Cloud Sect is currently in a state where everything needs rebuilding. We can’t just shut our doors and live isolated. Plus, we just established good relations with Kao Mountain Town to the north; we can’t let that go to waste. So, from now on, all external affairs will be handled by you and me.”

When Ji Chang reached this point, he became very serious. This was his real purpose for seeking out Li Si. The Floating Cloud Sect still needed a large amount of resources, including people. Going out was unavoidable.

Li Si also nodded in agreement, but he was thinking about something else. Because Kao Mountain Town wasn’t really a big deal. If truly necessary, with one order from him, everyone there would move over.

The real problem currently was—

“Senior Brother Ji, was that Evil Spirit that ambushed my Senior Sister and caused her miscarriage later killed?”

Li Si asked seemingly casually.

Ji Chang shook his head. “No. This matter is very strange. That Evil Spirit only struck that one time, and then there was no further movement. The Old Madam— even personally attempted divinations several times for this, but still found nothing. Later, Qin Ke intentionally set a trap for it, but the Evil Spirit didn’t take the bait. Anyway, in these fifty-plus years, that Evil Spirit has never appeared again.”

“That’s really strange. What was that Evil Spirit’s goal?” Li Si frowned. “If it was sent by the Evil God, it wouldn’t have only acted once. Especially after Senior Brother Qin Ke died, that was the best opportunity to strike, even to heavily damage the Floating Cloud Sect in one move. Why didn’t it act? Or, was it someone else who caused my Senior Sister’s miscarriage back then?”

Li Si couldn’t help but suspect this, because the logic didn’t add up.

Ji Chang glanced at him and continued shaking his head. “I can guarantee on this point, it wasn’t one of our own who acted. Because you don’t understand the situation our Floating Cloud Sect was in back then. There was no time more united than that. Especially Senior Brother Qin Ke and Jiang Ying, they were childhood sweethearts, their relationship was excellent. Me, Xu Shen, your grandfather Li Taimao, Yue Shan’s grandfather Yue Donggua— we all grew up together since childhood. Anyone who harbored ill intent would be obvious at a glance. Absolutely not!”

“Additionally, Jiang Ying’s miscarriage clearly bore the marks of an Evil Spirit’s attack. The Old Madam personally investigated and performed divinations for this. If it was one of our own, do you think they could have hidden it?”

“As for whether that Evil Spirit was sent by the Evil God, it’s hard to say. You have to know, the Evil God’s true form still cannot reach this world to this day; only its power can seep through. And over the past thousand years, countless pieces of evidence have proven that the things invading our world aren’t limited to just the Evil God.”

“Even many Evil Spirits that mutated due to the Evil God’s power permeation wouldn’t recognize the Evil God as their master. They would only engage in endless slaughter or dominate an area. Many of the great cities and metropolises from a thousand years ago are now mostly occupied by these powerful Evil Spirits. They wouldn’t necessarily be enemies with the Evil God, but if the Evil God Cult dared to enter their territory, they would kill them just the same.”

“So my opinion is, back then, our Floating Cloud Sect’s development in this area probably got in the way of that particular Evil Spirit. The other party didn’t want us to grow stronger, hence this move. But it also feared the Old Madam, so it didn’t dare continue. This is the view held by most people.”

After listening to Ji Chang’s analysis, Li Si nodded. Suddenly, he asked, “Since my grandfather grew up with you, why did we all have to worship the same Master?”

Ji Chang was stunned, then he spat in Li Si’s direction. “Can’t you kid think of something serious? It’s simply because our Floating Cloud Sect has always had few members, and people died too quickly, generation after generation. It’s impossible to keep proper track. Besides, do you think, if you were to become my disciple, or Xu Shen’s disciple, would you be willing? And are we even qualified? When facing life and death, still fussing over this? Your brain must be broken.”

Li Si gave a wry smile. This wasn’t him picking a fight; it was preempting anyone else picking a fight.

“Actually, the Old Madam has had it hard. A thousand years ago, she had already achieved Ascension and was qualified to go to the Land of Infinite Vastness. But she chose to stay voluntarily. Back then in the Floating Cloud Sect, even the Supreme Elders were her grand-disciples. But, as generation after generation fell in battle, the great sect that once had over a hundred thousand Cultivators fell to its current state. Think of all the bloody battles and sorrow in between.”

“When I was born, spiritual energy still existed between heaven and earth. Our Floating Cloud Sect still had several thousand people, occupying a spiritual mountain and a city, with over a hundred thousand mortals following. But in just a few hundred years… my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law, my son, my daughter-in-law, and my little grandson… he was so small, he loved hugging my leg, calling out in that tiny voice ‘Grandpa, grandpa’… it sounded so lovely… I feel that living until now, I only have this one breath left. I think I can’t die. I have to watch for them. Even if this world is destroyed, I have to watch for them…”

Ji Chang talked on, and for a moment couldn’t hold back. Covering his face, tears streamed down his aged cheeks. He sat on the ground, without the strength to stand up.

Li Si watched silently. He didn’t release a Mind-cleansing Aura for him. Instead, he quietly threw out the Wish-Fulfilling Pearl to illuminate the Illusory Void.

Boss, send over a few pretty, gentle, and pleasing ‘Sorrow Little Mushrooms’ to sing with my Old Ji and give him a great relaxation session.

Then, he silently left. This was Ji Chang’s opportunity. People must face their own hearts directly, take out the things they’ve been hiding inside, air them out. Maybe they could welcome a new life.