Chapter 144: The Mad Elder

Fang Cun took the Little Fox back to Jade Mirror Peak. He then brought out a scroll of scripture he had prepared earlier. The Little Fox could tell Fang Cun was in a bad mood. Her ears were dropped, and she didn’t dare speak. She just quietly brought over a cup of tea. Fang Cun took the tea and glanced at her. Her tail immediately drooped too. She looked downcast and scurried over to a small desk. She took out a brush and ink and started practicing her writing.

Young Sect Master Xu arrived at Jade Mirror Peak very carefully. Outside the hall, he whispered, “Elder Fang…”

“Heh heh, please come in, Sect Master…” Fang Cun mustered a smile and invited him inside.

He thought to himself that he might have been a bit too harsh. Look how scared he made the Sect Master!

Young Sect Master Xu came in. He perched half off his chair, sitting gingerly. Behind him were Elders Green Pine and Cold Stone. They both looked embarrassed. One held a dusty purple-black case containing the secret books of the Shoushan Sect, the Divine Nether Scriptures. The other had a tattered scroll – the sect’s current Ledger of Merits, full of wormholes.

The three smiled awkwardly at Fang Cun for a while. Young Sect Master Xu finally cleared his throat and cautiously spoke, “Um… Elder Fang. Earlier you mentioned having the disciples attend scripture lectures. That’s certainly the sect’s duty… but… but what should we teach?”

Fang Cun saw how timid he was and frowned. “Can’t you teach the Shoushan Sect’s arts and spells?”

Young Sect Master Xu shifted uncomfortably. “We could… but it’s… useless…”

Fang Cun knew what he meant and could only smile weakly.

Usually, a County Sect taught just two main things.

First: cultivation advancement methods. Instructing and guiding disciples to steadily increase their power, progressing step by step from the Foundation Building Realm, through cultivating techniques, reaching Light Condensation, and preparing to form the Golden Core.

Second: teaching related spells and techniques. These were for self-defense and fighting enemies.

The Shoushan Sect did have spells and techniques.

However, their Divine Nether Treasure Body Scripture had been lost. Without the fundamental Treasure Body Scripture, the countless secret arts and spells derived from it became useless castles in the air. True, a very small portion could still be used, relying on the foundation of the Five Qi Treasure Body Refining. But, firstly, too few could be performed; and secondly, they simply couldn’t unleash their real power.

Therefore, even though the Shoushan Sect had many arts and spells, teaching them was pointless.

All the disciples knew this. If you forced them to learn, they wouldn’t study it.

In this area, Shoushan Sect disciples were not much different from Rogue Cultivators without backing. In fact, one could say Rogue Cultivators could cultivate some dark arts to get stronger, whereas Shoushan Sect disciples didn’t even dare to practice dark arts…

Furthermore, precisely because the Shoushan Sect had nothing valuable to teach their disciples, they grew increasingly poor. The poorer they became, the less they could give as good rewards to motivate disciples to go out and perform Merit tasks. Step by step, year by year, they had finally reached this pitiful state – a sect that hardly resembled a sect, even worse than a gang.

…

During his time reviewing the sect’s dossier and gathering information beforehand, Fang Cun had long understood the crux of the problem. After pondering briefly, he looked at Young Sect Master Xu and asked, “How exactly did the Shoushan Sect lose its body refining method?”

Hearing this, Young Sect Master Xu fell silent for a moment. Elders Green Pine and Cold Stone also looked uncomfortable.

It seemed this involved a secret shame.

Noting their reactions, Fang Cun spoke gently. “Young Sect Master Xu, you should recall what I told you when I purchased your Shoushan Sect…”

Young Sect Master Xu started slightly. He looked up at Fang Cun, saw his serious expression, and finally made a decision. He lowered his voice. “This happened thirty years ago. Back then, the Great Southern Demon Sovereign moved north. Its Demonic Qi stretched for thousands of leagues. All sects under the Turtle God King were dispatched to confront it at the front near the demon mountains. The Shoushan Sect couldn’t lag behind, of course. But we never expected…”

He paused briefly, then continued quietly. “The Demon Lord was full of cunning tricks. Our elders still fell into an ambush. They couldn’t hold out for reinforcements… and all perished in that battle. If that were all, it would have been bad enough… But what we truly never foresaw was… treachery within the sect itself! The traitors set the sect ablaze! The Scripture Hall was burned during that disaster… and the Treasure Body Scripture vanished. It has been lost ever since…”

“Elders perished… a sect rebellion?” Hearing this, Fang Cun couldn’t help but be surprised.

He glanced at Young Sect Master Xu. His expression was heavy. Fang Cun could sense that the Young Sect Master seemed to be hiding something. Perhaps the true events weren’t as simple as he described… but the general outline probably wasn’t too far off.

“So it seems,” Fang Cun said after frowning for a while, “truly no elder who had practiced it survived to pass down the Treasure Body Scripture?”

Young Sect Master Xu remained silent for a long time but eventually shook his head slowly.

It was Elder Green Pine on the side who suddenly spoke. “Well… there was one elder who survived back then…”

Fang Cun paused and looked at him.

Elder Cold Stone and Young Sect Master Xu both looked a bit strange. They mumbled, “Is… is that appropriate?”

Fang Cun smiled. “We’re just discussing possibilities. Why not speak freely?”

Elder Green Pine sighed. He glanced at Young Sect Master Xu before saying, “Actually… during that battle against the Great Southern Demon Sovereign… although nearly all our elders and disciples were annihilated… one elder did return alive. He’s the only elder currently in the Shoushan Sect who once cultivated the Divine Nether Treasure Body Refining art. However… unfortunately… he currently is…”

He hesitated for a long moment before sighing again. “…He’s mad!”

“Mad?” Fang Cun seemed to grasp something. “Is that the one now residing in the Rear Mountain?”

Young Sect Master Xu nodded with a bitter smile. “Elder Shenshan was once the highest cultivation master in our Shoushan Sect. It’s said even my father combined with the other elders were no match for him. He was the only one to escape alive from that battle. But after returning, alas… Elder Shenshan went completely mad. Whoever he saw, he wanted to attack. Forget asking him to pass down the scripture…”

“Consider it lucky if you don’t get beaten to death by him…”

…

“So tragic…” Fang Cun couldn’t help but sigh softly after hearing the Shoushan Sect’s old story.

To resist the Great Demon Sovereign, they lost the elders of an entire generation. Then traitors caused chaos and burned down the Scripture Hall. The one person who might still know the sect’s treasured scripture was a madman. It seemed destined that the Shoushan Sect would fade from the world?

Yet, if he was only mad, maybe he wasn’t entirely beyond communication…

Right now, the most important thing was Elder Shenshan. If his sanity could be restored, he could then pass down the Divine Nether Treasure Body Refining art. The Shoushan Sect’s secret spells and techniques would regain their purpose. This increasingly weak sect might just find new vitality. The reason Young Sect Master Xu and the others hadn’t given up hope was probably because they clung to this idea.

After thinking it over, Fang Cun asked, “How exactly did Elder Shenshan go mad?”

Young Sect Master Xu exchanged a look with the two elders and shook his head gently. “We don’t know…”

After a pause, Young Sect Master Xu continued, “Elder Shenshan suddenly appeared back at the sect a month after the Shoushan disciples were all wiped out. I was young then, but I heard the elders say that when he returned, he looked grievously wounded. Yet in his hand, he held a painting. He was laughing wildly, saying ‘the supreme secrets, the ultimate creation, all in my hands!’…”

“But after his mad laughter, he collapsed unconscious. When he woke up, he was already partly mad. He clutched that painting obsessively. If anyone tried to get close to ask questions, he would accuse them of trying to steal his painting and fight them to the death. Many came then, wanting to question him, but Elder Shenshan’s cultivation was too high and his mind was unstable. They had no choice but to give up!”

“Days passed. The Shoushan Sect members had all been waiting for Elder Shenshan to recover. But instead, his madness grew worse day by day. At first, he just wouldn’t let anyone near, afraid they would take his painting. Later, he became deeply troubled day and night. He even started actively showing the painting to people. But after people looked at it… he would fly into a rage and attack!”

“Painting?” Fang Cun frowned slightly, concentrating. “What painting?”

Young Sect Master Xu’s face twisted into an even more bitter smile. “It’s actually… a blank painting…”

“Blank painting?” Fang Cun was even more surprised.

“Yes!” Young Sect Master Xu said helplessly. “Since Elder Shenshan treasures it like a priceless treasure, no one dares underestimate it. In fact, thirty years ago, rumors even spread that Elder Shenshan had obtained some secret scripture. Not only sect masters, but even aides to the Turtle God King came to see. They were willing to take a beating from Elder Shenshan just for a glimpse! But regardless of how high the visitor’s cultivation was, no matter what methods they used, after looking at the painting, they all reached the same conclusion: It really was, truly… just a blank painting.”

Fang Cun’s brows knitted tight. “He went mad for so many years over a blank painting?”

“Yes, and he’s getting worse…” Elder Green Pine added, nodding with lingering fear. “Remember we advised you not to choose peaks near the Rear Mountain? That’s the reason. Nowadays, Elder Shenshan just wanders the Rear Mountain clutching that painting. When he meets someone, he opens the painting for them to see. Then he asks what’s painted on it. If someone says it’s just a piece of white paper, he gets furious and attacks to kill. If someone claims they see something, he gets nervous asking what they see. If the answer displeases him… he attacks too!”

The more he talked, the more resigned he looked. “Thankfully, he usually just stays quietly in the Rear Mountain and doesn’t come out. If he ever came rampaging into the main sect compound… then our Shoushan Sect might as well shut its doors for good…”

Fang Cun frowned slightly, feeling this matter might not be so simple after all…