124 Upright and Frank (1/2)

Just now, the two Elders Liu Xian and Fang He spoke for half a day.

Although Liu Xian had finally withdrawn the Sword of Truth, not letting him desperately fight for his life for nothing, but Wang Lu had overloaded his Non-Phase Heart Sutra and overworked his Primordial Spirit, which left him with some small injuries.

The two Elders naturally would not sit idly by; they quickly healed Wang Lu’s injuries, however, his overwork Primordial Spirit would take some time to recuperate. Half a day later, although still physically weak, Wang Lu regained his consciousness. Seeing Liu Xian and Fang He, he faintly smiled.

“Uncle, disciple has a clear conscience.”

Liu Xian wryly said, “I know your conscience is clear; just consider you’ve passed this test.”

In fact, strictly speaking, Wang Lu didn’t successfully pass the Sword of Truth’s interrogation since he didn’t actually pass the last test. Instead, it was Liu Xian’s initiative to withdraw the last and the most severe one, and thus he didn’t let him have the chance to fail… However, on the other hand, since it was Liu Xian himself who withdrew the test, they couldn’t say that Wang Lu has lost either. Therefore, the two Elders simply counted him passing the test.

“Thank you, Uncle.” Wang Lu nodded to express his gratitude; he then asked, “May disciple know whether disciple’s cultivation is worthy of Uncle’s painstaking effort in arranging this experiential learning?”

Hearing this aggressive inquiry, Liu Xian wasn’t annoyed, instead, indifferently replied, “Compared to the disciples that entered the sect the same time as you, whether it’s the progression speed, or existing strength, you’ve already won by miles away.”

Upon hearing this remark, Wang Lu immediately caught the gist of it: the disciples that entered the sect the same time as him.

As one of the Spirit Sword Sect’s very few Successor Disciples, his goal was always not to compete with Zhu Qin, Wen Bao or the other Inner Court disciples, even though he was held back by his pain in the ass Void Spirit Root which essentially made his cultivation two years late.

His real match was the other Successor Disciples. This time’s experiential learning, there were three Successor Disciples; Wang Lu’s actual competition was with the other two Successor Disciples, however, they were both entered the Sect earlier than him, and thus, not in the same batch as Wang Lu.

Therefore, the implication of the remark from Liu Xian was clear: compared to the other two Successor Disciples, he has no advantage at all.

This made him truly surprised. Indeed, during these eight months, because of managing the sect, he wasn’t able to put all his time and energy on cultivation. However, his experience as the leader allowed him to learn from experience a rare frame of mind that couldn’t possibly be achieve by other disciples, which enormously benefited his Primordial Spirit. During these eight months, his cultivation only advanced by a level, which was not remarkable at all, however, his biggest gain was the condensation of his Primordial Spirit! In addition, in the process of expansion, the Wisdom Sect had many battles, which caused Wang Lu’s combat capability to advance by leaps and bounds. Even if his Non-Phase method wasn’t good in attacking, he could draw full support from the arrays to add his strength; compared to when he descended the mountain, it was several times more powerful!

Yet, couldn’t such progress surpass the other two Successor Disciples?

It turned out the competition was fiercer… luckily, his sect still had over a million of followers. Combined with this, he estimated that no other disciple could hold a candle in front of him.

“Wang Lu, don’t be happy too soon.” Liu Xian sighed. “Although you’ve passed my test, this is not the main point.”

Wang Lu, of course, knew that, in the end, it was Elder Fang He who would decide his fate.

Therefore, Wang Lu earnestly looked at Fang He, waiting for him to say his piece.

This upright and outspoken Elder looked at the still pale Wang Lu and could not help but shake his head with a sigh. “I know what you want to say. Regarding your Wisdom Sect, Zhu Qin had written it in his report, Wen Bao had confessed it, and moreover, Liu Xian and I have witnessed it ourselves! Your sect indeed has some merits, and calling it a cult is indeed a bit biased.”

Wang Lu slightly arched up the corner of his mouth.

“However, it can’t be said that it’s above board and upright. In the strict sense, your Wisdom Sect is still in the category of a cult.”

Wang Lu immediately argued, “But we’ve got the official recognition from the Great Ming Country.”

Fang He peevishly glared at him. “Previously, the Thousand Spirit Sect is the official sect of the White Moon Country, yet, was it not a cult? Mortal realm’s recognition… you have the nerve to take it seriously!”

“Our Wisdom Sect comes from the grassroots and serves the grassroots; therefore, the voice of the grassroots is the most important to us, as the saying goes, whether it is the golden cup or silver cup, it doesn’t equal to public reputation.”

“You’re so muddled! The quicker you develop in the mortal world, the more you can’t cleanly wash yourself away from it! Because of the means of the cultivators, it would be too easy for them to play with the mortals. Let alone you, with your over a million followers, when the Devil Sect went rampant in the past, a single order from the Devil Sect’s leader can command hundreds of millions of common people to willingly risk their lives! Don’t tell me that’s not a cult but an upright sect!? Your Wisdom Sect’s scale is simply not worth mentioning at all if compared to the Devil Sect! Therefore, the saying of Immortal Path is different to that of a mortal means that a cultivator has to draw a line to separate them from the mortals! Immortal Cultivation Sects shouldn’t be too much involved in the mortal world, especially they must not take ordinary people to be their followers; you’re over a million of followers is actually your Achilles’ heel!”

Elder Fang He changed into his former upright and selfless malignant star appearance, and then earnestly advised, “I know that you have a whole bunch of reasons and excuses that you can pull off, however, whether it’s the Heaven Burning Blood Technique, or your over a million followers, you can never circle around those issues, they belong to the unwashed stain! Indeed, our Spirit Sword Sect doesn’t prohibit the disciples from setting up sects under the mountain—despite your qualifications and interpretation about this issue, there was a suspicion that the rules regarding the establishment of a sect have already been violated. In any case, however, it is a matter of course that a sect that does not conform to the rules is banned on the grounds that that sect is a cult.”

Wang Lu smiled and asked, “Doesn’t conform to the rules of which?”

“The Spirit Sword Sect’s rules, and also the rules of the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals.”

Wang Lu thought for a moment and then said, “If Uncle is willing to cover up for me, I think the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals shouldn’t know about it, right? Moreover, Blue River Region is our Spirit Sword Sect’s territory, even if a violation of rules takes place here, it’s easy to get it over with. In the strictest sense of it, in the Shengjing Sect’s territory, there’s also many violations, yet no one seems to pursue it.”

Fang He raised his eyebrows. “What nonsense is that! I just told you the reason, don’t you get it!?”

Wang Lu asked again, “Is there really no room for a leeway? Uncle, you’ve also seen it, no matter from which point of view, the development of Wisdom Sect brings more good than harm, so why let the rigid rules prohibit it?”