Chapter 152: The Great Senior Disciple of Shoushan Sect

Regardless of what everyone had in mind, the atmosphere within Shoushan Sect had suddenly undergone a massive transformation.

The disciples ranked high on the Ledger of Merits had already been summoned to the Transmission Hall on the Shoushan Sect’s Main Peak. Not only were they passed the techniques of the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art, but they also received abundant rewards in Spirit Pills and rare elixirs. Especially the top three disciples on the merit list, they were each granted a Dragon Stone to help them swiftly break through their bottlenecks and cultivate the Divine Nether Treasure Body!

The disciples ranked in the middle, spurred by the allure of the Treasure Body techniques, rushed down the mountain en masse within a day. They were now either urgently sending letters home, instructing their families to find ways – open their granaries to feed the poor, aid the destitute, or if all else failed, buy out all the courtesans in the brothels of the city to marry them off to honest men, forcibly rescuing them from the mundane world…

Others were also wide-eyed, feverishly scanning for any trace of demons or evil beings, treating it like searching for treasure.

‘Shiver in fear, demons and courtesans. The disciples of Shoushan Sect are coming…’

As for the lower-ranked disciples, the amount of merit they needed to accumulate was larger and couldn’t be achieved overnight. But seeing the other disciples all bustling about in a frenzy, they couldn’t hold back either. Some finally gritted their teeth and headed down the mountain. Though the required merit was substantial, if they truly exerted themselves to the fullest and with their family’s support, it wasn’t actually impossible.

After all, those who could enter Shoushan Sect naturally came from families with some background.

They were absolutely determined to learn the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art. If they didn’t act quickly now, what if the sect suddenly changed the rules later, re-evaluating each person’s accumulated merit, and they still fell short? Wouldn’t they be in deep trouble?

Harboring this thought, more and more Shoushan Sect disciples descended the mountain to seek merit, stirring waves of activity in the surrounding cities. Originally, as sect disciples, they were required to descend periodically – partly for training and partly to earn reputation for themselves and the sect. The other Five Great Sects of Qingjiang Prefecture all practiced this; only this ‘Sixth Sect’, Shoushan, was unique…

It was truly because Shoushan Sect disciples lacked the motivation for such trivial duties!

But now, driven by a zeal that bordered on frenzied, their eyes red with the urge to seize any opportunity for merit, the reputation of the Shoushan Sect surged dramatically in a short time. Looking out, they realized the courtesans in the surrounding cities were practically bought out already…

But was this mad dash for merit, so steeped in desperate ambition, truly virtuous merit?

Second Young Master Fang couldn’t care less. The recent harvest was simply excellent…

……

“Hypocritical! Shameless! That… that is utterly despicable!”

While this whirlwind was sweeping through Shoushan Sect, a cloud of gloom hung over another place – the mountain peak housing the male disciples’ quarters. Among the buildings, Zhou Huai, the former great senior disciple, still resided on the mountain. He even occupied his old, exclusive cave dwelling, with several loyal junior brothers taking turns to attend to him.

Treated by the Elders with pills and medicines, his external injuries had mostly healed. However, his Internal Breath remained completely void. He was practically immobile, often confined to his bed, and his temper was worse than ever before.

When the loyal junior brothers around him recounted that the sect had recovered the Divine Nether Body Tempering Art, and that disciples were rushing down the mountain to earn merit for the chance to learn it, fury erupted within him. Consumed by hatred, he shrieked: “The Fang Family! The Fang Family has no good people! All are hypocrites!”

“What body tempering art? I don’t believe it! It’s all lies…”

“His talk of ‘establishing merit’? Bah! It’s nothing but a ploy to make people win fame for his Fang Family!”

“If… if he truly cared about us, his Shoushan Sect disciples, why not transmit the Treasure Body Scripture first, then let us go earn merit? Wouldn’t that give us more capability? Wouldn’t that allow us to achieve greater merit? Besides… besides… Establishing merit and virtue, how can it be something forced? He… his Fang family, ruthless in their actions, now wants to disguise themselves as benevolent? Despicable!”

“So long as I draw breath, I will never be fooled by such a villain! I disdain mingling with the likes of him!”

“……”

The few comrades around him fell into silence.

They had heard similar rants countless times. Ever since Zhou Huai was brought back, he had cursed ceaselessly. He was an injured man now, virtually a cripple. Bound by camaraderie, they felt obliged to humor him, unable to even bring themselves to advise him otherwise.

“Don’t take offense… He… he’s clearly just deliberately targeting us!”

Zhou Huai’s glare pierced the junior brothers around him, his teeth clenched in hatred: “He says everyone can receive the Treasure Body techniques, but by his reckoning, when it reaches your turn, how much merit must you accumulate?”

“One hundred thousand? Two hundred thousand?!”

“Who knows how long that will take? Perhaps it’s utterly impossible?!”

“Don’t fear him! Help me up! Others tremble before him, not I! I will confront him head-on! To his face!”

“Since we are all Shoushan Sect disciples, paid admittance included, what right does he have to withhold the Treasure Body Scripture from us? What bloody right?”

He struggled to rise, but seeing no one moved to support him, he glared fiercely: “Are you cowards? How can you fear such a person?!”

“Senior Brother Zhou, you should calm down…”

Suddenly, a fellow junior brother who had stood silently by the bedside spoke up coldly.

Zhou Huai flew into a rage, his eyes burning as he fixed on him: “Junior Brother Cheng! What do you mean?!”

That junior brother surnamed Cheng met the gazes of Zhou Huai and his comrades. His expression flickered with hesitation, but it was quickly overwhelmed by anger. He turned directly to Zhou Huai and declared: “Even now, Senior Brother Zhou, haven’t you grasped it? You don’t need to tell us. We are aware you feel wronged. That hatred consumes you. But let’s speak honestly: back then, when you led us to cause trouble at Jade Mirror Peak, singing those insulting songs about Immortal Master Fang Chi… Wasn’t that act truly excessive?”

“Never mind whether Immortal Master Fang Chi accomplished any significant, benevolent deeds or accumulated great merit for the world. Are we simply ungrateful? The sheer fact that we stood before Elder Fang and insulted his deceased brother was severely improper, no?”

Swoosh!

The cave dwelling dropped into absolute silence. Countless eyes stared at Disciple Cheng’s face.

Some looked astonished, others angry. A few seemed about to speak but ultimately closed their mouths, deep in thought.

“You… Cheng, what arrogance is this!?”

Boundless rage choked Zhou Huai. He nearly leaped from the bed but almost collapsed instead.

“Careful, Senior Brother Zhou! Don’t injure yourself further!”

Disciple Cheng gradually adopted an icy expression, his tone low and devoid of any offer of support. He continued: “Unless my memory fails me, not long after you, Zhou Huai, joined the sect, a fellow disciple jokingly mentioned your deceased mother. You flew into a violent rage, refusing to see it as a jest. You beat him until he vomited copious amounts of blood. From that moment, we have all… feared you.”

“But… but if your own mother is sacred, untouchable, why did you freely insult another’s brother?”

His words plunged everyone in the cave into even deeper silence.

“Cheng! You dare mention my mother?! You… You think I’m immobile? Are you rebelling?! I must be blind to have ever considered trash like you a brother-in-arms!”

“…”

“If you choose to speak this way, so be it!”

Disciple Cheng remained silent a long while before finally speaking slowly: “You led us that day. Your actions landed us all in seclusion together. After your injury, restraining ourselves not just to care for you physically, but to spare your feelings… Is that not why none of us went down the mountain? Why none has lifted a finger to earn a sliver of merit? And now we face this consequence. Have you paused even once, Senior Brother, to consider us? Instead, you ceaselessly spur us on to accompany you in stirring up trouble again? To provoke Elder Fang?”

“You have…”

Disciple Cheng paused slightly, then stated: “…already become a cripple. Causing more trouble can’t worsen your state any further. But us? If we follow you again in your folly… do you truly not foresee, Great Senior Brother Zhou, what ultimate fate awaits us?”

Hearing the word “cripple,” Zhou Huai froze entirely. His face burned with fury, then paled drastically.

The other juniors in the cave also flinched involuntarily, shocked that Disciple Cheng would utter those words before Zhou Huai.

A few, however, upon hearing his words, suddenly seemed to grasp the peril and felt a wave of post-fear remorse.

“Brothers,” Disciple Cheng sighed profoundly, his gaze sweeping over everyone, including Zhou Huai who regarded him as a mortal enemy. He spoke softly: “I am leaving now. Going down the mountain to seek opportunities to earn merit. No matter how distant the goal seems now, as long as action is taken, completion remains possible. Hiding within this cave dwelling day after day, cursing together… it resolves nothing.”

With those words, he walked to the entrance of the cave dwelling. Yet, he abruptly turned back, fixing his eyes on the prone Zhou Huai upon the couch: “Senior Brother Zhou, I know after my departure you will curse me as spineless, lacking guts. Correct. Currently, I indeed lack the courage to follow you into conflict. Why? Because I find myself questioning the righteousness of our cause. Doubt extinguishes conviction. Now I must ask you something. Back then, when you heard so many rumors from the County Mansion, you adamantly declared Immortal Master Fang Chi a fame-seeking hypocrite, claiming all his deeds were solely for reputation…”

“Then allow me this question: Were your ears solely tuned to rumors deemed true?”

“And even if Immortal Master Fang Chi performed all those benevolent acts only for fame… does that render any good he accomplished, any relief he provided, any harm he averted… meaningless?”

“……”

After speaking, Disciple Cheng bowed deeply as a farewell gesture, then resolutely turned and descended the mountain.

Left behind was a cavern steeped in heavy silence, his comrades’ expressions shifting, faces clouded by deepening doubt.

……

Meanwhile, reclining comfortably while eating grapes, legs massaged, reading scrolls in the pleasant breeze… Fang Cun contentedly watched one entry of Merit after another roll into his account. His mood soared to its zenith. Enjoying a percentage of this merit felt ten times more rewarding than any dealings with mere Jianghu vagabonds!

However, at that very moment, the Celestial Merit Record automatically manifested before his eyes. A row of characters appeared:

Rekindle the lost, redeemed beyond gems’ worth.| Guide Zhou Huai to reform: +10,000 Merit!

It was Guiding Reform!

There wasn’t any ‘Discipline’ option!

Fang Cun paused briefly. He tossed the grape he held into his mouth.

He smiled.

It was a cold smile.