Demon Sword Sect's Undercover

The Qingtang River Water Demon, covering its face, retreated!

Humans might not necessarily have the resolve to make such a decision, but they really dare not confirm it.

Both sides jockeyed for position, seeing who was more willing to go all in, and in the end, the Daoists won.

The gathering of the Demon Clan at Liupan City ended in futility, but that did not mean mankind could actually go through with building the levee.

If power was truly to be exerted, it would be the moment of truth, unless one side completely fell, and clearly, now was not the time to show one's hand; hence, Daoist Chong Ling no longer forced Liupan City to construct the levee.

It was as if both parties took a step back, the Daoist Sect saved face by killing an inconsequential shrimp general; the Water Clan gained an advantage by forcing humans to dare not build the levee. As for the shrimp general, there were countless in the Qingtang River, who would miss one less?

Who had gained or lost, no one would explicitly say, but everyone knew in their hearts.

They could not be said to be utterly disheveled, but they were indeed disheartened. Daoist Chong Ling and his party hurried on without any further point in staying. In fact, the failure at Liupan signified the failure to build levees along the Qingtang River—having missed one place, it was pointless to erect defenses elsewhere.

The four of them no longer continued to the next city but returned directly to Divine City. The many hardships they endured on the way were not for cultivators of their level to deal with; they needed someone of Great Cultivation to make decisions.

The return journey was somewhat awkward because even that bit of face for the Daoist Sect was reclaimed with the help of a sinner, which made Chong Ling and the other two feel uncomfortable. Even though they were several realms higher when it truly came to a crisis, they were outperformed by someone who could not even be called a cultivator—an entry-level practitioner. It was somewhat damaging to their pride.

The result of the awkwardness was silence; the Daoists did not know what to say, and they could not just let him go privately; Hou Niao was also silent. He was not a person who would take advantage of favors owed, and he did not feel he had helped the Daoists. He had helped the tens of thousands of civilians of Liupan City.

They traveled rapidly, riding by day and resting by night. Even though the Daoists took great care of him, Hou Niao still felt it was a bit too much to bear; the Daoists had cultivation techniques that allowed them to recover while on the move, but he could only rely on his physical resilience. Even as robust as he was, after more than ten days, he had clearly lost weight and his spirits were low.

He did not complain because he knew the Daoists could actually travel without resting at night; they were already taking good care of him.

From beginning to end, he never wore any prisoner's garb nor shackles; the Daoists treated him with enough respect. It was a respect on a spiritual level; he could not ask for too much.

...Divine City, located in the Dynasty of Anhe Country and also the heart of Anhe Dao Mansion; in Anhe, the ties between the Daoist Sect and imperial authority were relatively close. This was the norm in this world; it was difficult for cultivators to completely sever ties with the mundane world. There weren't many famous mountains or great rivers for cultivators to retreat to for seclusion in this world, as the living conditions were not that great, with too many threats to mankind.

Cultivators could not distance themselves from mortals because they had to protect them, unless the day came when those threats no longer existed.

Divine City was a formidable fortress, unlike the low-lying Liupan City. Here the walls rose over thirty feet high, capable of defending against the armies of other nations as well as most non-flying demon beasts. It was the last bastion of Anhe's royal city.

Xiaosong and Jiyue walked in front, while Chong Ling and Hou Niao lagged behind. Realizing that the Daoist had something to say, Hou Niao intentionally slowed his pace.

Chong Ling gazed at the majestic walls, a rare occurrence after more than ten days, and spoke, "Have you been here before?"

Hou Niao shook his head, "Not yet, too busy with various matters, no leisure."

Chong Ling nodded, pointing with his whip, "Take a good look then, it might be your last; Do you harbor resentment in your heart? You haven't done anything wrong in terms of the law, just acted impulsively, yet you've ended up in this situation. Do you feel aggrieved?"

Hou Niao remained silent, and Chong Ling Daoist said indifferently, "This is because you don't understand the Daoist Sect. For us, the first principle of our actions is to protect mortals. This is the core ironclad rule and is beyond doubt.

That's why there are mortal government trials and judgments. We only provide the reasons but do not take action ourselves. It is to avoid falling into a situation where killing follows one's heart."

Knowing that this Criminal Investigator was somewhat unconvinced, he explained, "I know that not every Daoist can abide by such constraints. Beyond our sight, Daoists who commit crimes are everywhere, but within the sight of the Daoist Sect, trampling on principles is absolutely forbidden!

You killed a man in the hall, and what concerns me is not whether the person you killed was important or deserved to die but your dangerous tendency of thought. If no one stops it, who knows how many more will be ruined by your hands if this continues!

There are many things in the realm of punishment that do not have an absolute good or bad, right or wrong. Once you develop the habit of killing at will, the ultimate outcome is falling into demonhood!

This is why you must pay the price."

Thinking of something, he sighed, "In Liupan City, when you rashly killed the shrimp generals, did you ever think that they might not retreat but instead become stimulated to ferocity and ruthlessly slaughter the city?"

Hou Niao spoke truthfully, "If they were gathering above the water, then they wished to intimidate; if they truly wanted to kill, they would have charged straight in, so why would they give humans the time to prepare? There is no perfect solution in this world, and one must always take some risks…"

Chong Ling disagreed, "So that's why you killed Wang Family's son? You took a risk, but what was the result? Too reckless. Someone like you is simply not suited for cultivation! Too willing to gamble, often putting yourself in mortal danger, and where will you find so many chances to be spared afterward?"

He pointed ahead, "In Liupan City, you helped us with our troubles. I am not someone without gratitude, nor do I turn a blind eye; I gave you many chances along the way. Changing horses with the two Daoists earlier, arranging them to share a room with you for supervision at night. After more than ten days, have you not built any rapport with them?

Who do you think you are? Your so-called pride means nothing in the face of strength. So, it's not the rules of the Daoist Sect that have harmed you, but rather your own stern character. Do you still believe that if you're true to yourself, others should naturally lower themselves and reach out to you?

You know very well that we are not master and disciple. What one person can do, three cannot!"

This is the Daoist's way of conducting affairs. If he were on patrol alone, considering his contribution to solving the trouble in Liupan City, he might have found an excuse to let him escape midway. But now that it was three people traveling together, they would need the silent consent of everyone, otherwise, it would lead to endless troubles.

He was now facing the last barrier to breaking through the Tongxuan realm. He was heavily dependent on the Daoist Sect for various resources and could not afford any slip that would cause him to lose favor within the Sect. So he deliberately gave this fellow a chance to ingratiate himself separately with the two junior brothers, yet who knew this man was as dull as a block of wood, unable to tell if he was truly foolish or feigning stupidity?

Hou Niao shook his head lightly, "I will not run! Because the moment I run, twenty years of perseverance becomes a joke, and I would no longer be myself."

How could he not understand what Chong Ling Daoist meant? But if he ran like that, he would just have to wander as a fugitive, leading a desperate life, hiding here and there every day. What kind of life would that be?

His experiences made it clear that his biggest problem was one of capability! It was not a matter of whether what he did was right or wrong, but that what he did exceeded his abilities. It was as simple as that!

He had never longed for strength as he did now. To gain strength, he could only rely on the Daoist Sect. Where else could someone from a remote small city find the connections to board this great ship?

If he couldn't live seeking, then he would seek in death!

As one grows older in the profession of cultivation, the prospects become increasingly uncertain. He was out of time, and if he fell into the life of a fugitive, hope would be even further out of reach!

Feet on floating clouds and body grown old, seeking the path of cultivation and regretting starting too late.