The next few days split the city into two. One half of the city housed members of the righteous sect while the other half housed members of the demonic and unorthodox sects. Any time any of these three groups crossed paths, the righteous cultivators did not bother to hide their disdain while the demonic and unorthodox cultivators merely rolled their eyes at whatever challenging words were thrown their way. The honor the city felt in holding this event was tossed to the side. They were much more concerned about whether their city would be torn to shreds the following day because the cultivators decided to fight.
Luckily, no physical fights erupted on the streets. Amidst the tension, when the day for Zhuixing Conference came, the cultivators still obediently traveled to Koi Mountain where the arena had been built.
Zhuixing Conference was a conference that took place once every five years. It was one of the biggest events in the entire cultivation world. It allowed cultivators, no matter their affiliation or lack thereof, to come together and compete on a neutral, friendly ground. Any animosity would be placed to the side and any conflict was forced to be resolved after the conference. The conference was overseen by the Hall of Impartiality and all rules were enforced by Frost Cliff Pavilion. So far, throughout the years, the conference had withstood the pressure of conflicts and turmoil between the cultivators.
The conference took place over a span of three weeks. For the first few days, they would have a discussion over the events of that have taken place in the cultivation world in the past five years, though most of the time it was mainly concentrated in the past year. This was the only time the injustices they suffered could be heard and be solved without losing a few lives, so the cultivators often took advantage of it.
One year, a righteous cultivator had accused a demonic cultivator of stealing his wife. Another year, a demonic cultivator had declared her “surprise” for how inept the righteous cultivators were at taking care of their own territory. As for the unorthodox cultivators? With the righteous cultivators hunting for their enemies among that crowd every so often, they were never short of complaints.
The conference had always been like a pack of stray dogs fighting each other for a bone and picking at each other over the tiniest issue.
This year, however, started off differently.
The cultivators filed into their respective seats as usual. Higher ranking cultivators sat above while the disciples sat below. The banners of each sect that decided to participate fluttered in the summer wind, as if wanting to flaunt their overbearingness and superiority. As usual, the Hall of Impartiality sat at the head and the righteous cultivators sat on the right while the demonic and unorthodox sects sat across from them, to the left. This wasn’t because there was a bias. It was just a simple fact that the participants of the righteous sects far outnumbered the demonic and unorthodox sects.
The key difference this time was an extra person was standing beside Sect Master Zhong. And the dialogue Sect Master Zhong said was not the same as the one he recited years before.
“Welcome to Zhuixing Conference,” Sect Master Zhong started off, as usual. “I hope you have all been well the past five years.”
The crowd reacted with silence, their attention was concentrated on the handsome young man standing beside the older sect leader.
Sect Master Zhong smiled tightly. “I am sure you are all aware of what has happened in Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect a few weeks prior. We shall address that first before we continue on with the conference.
“I understand that there are rumors that have spread quite quickly. I also understand that many of you may not believe what I am about to say next, but I would like it if you could at least respect the outcome and deal with your personal opinions outside of the conference.”
The crowd began to grumble restlessly. The sound was rather one sided however, with most of it coming from the righteous cultivators’ side.
Sect Master Zhong waited for the crowd to calm back down. He pulled out a letter.
The five senses of cultivators were especially sharp. Despite sitting far away, many of them could still make out the name on the envelope as well as the seal, neatly stamped down. With a chilling realization, many of them already knew that it was a letter from the late Sect Leader Rong.
“In the case that anyone may doubt the authenticity of this letter, I will allow Miss Zhou to read it out to us,” Sect Master Zhong stepped to the side and handed it over to Zhou Ying’an.
With each word Zhou Ying’an read out loud, the crowd grew more and more restless but they soon fell quiet. As more and more of the content was revealed, the righteous cultivators felt a wave of nausea wash over them. A few felt as if their backs were being pricked by needles. A sense of unease slowly wrapped the entire stadium, leaving only the sound of Zhou Ying’an’s voice until the last character.
And then silence.
Sect Master Zhong remained where he was for a moment before he softly thanked Zhou Ying’an. The woman bowed her head and retreated back into the shadows beside the other members of Frost Cliff Pavilion.
“The seal and signature, as well as the handwriting has already been verified as authentic. As the contents of the letter states, Yu Lan Sword Immortal is innocent. He was only merely exterminating a demonic cultivator,” Sect Master Zhong said.
He allowed his words to simmer over the crowd for a moment. He glanced at Wu Lingtian, who stood silently beside him, and then turned to the crowd. “The floor is now open for discussion.”
“Of course, it’s them again!” a righteous cultivator started off. “Isn’t your Black Scale Palace supposed to be keeping a rein on all of them? Isn’t that a part of our treaty!?”
More than several righteous cultivators murmured their assent while the demonic disciples began to rise up in anger.
“What the hell do you mean by that?” one of them shouted back. “What does it have to do with us?”
“If it’s a demonic cultivator, naturally they will be someone who is part of your Fengya territory!” a female cultivator reasoned. “According to the treaty between righteous and demonic sects, this should have been taken care of by you.”
“Wow, you really enjoy accusing us of whatever happens to go wrong in your sects, don’t you?” another demonic cultivator spoke up. “As expected of righteous cultivators! Able to twist black into white.”
“Do you really think that us demonic cultivators have the time to entertain who comes in and out of our territory? If we were so free, we would have conquered the entire world by now!” another shouted.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Sect Master Zhong looked over. “Lord Wuma, do you have something to say?”
Sticking out from the stands of the demonic sect was only one flag (an ebony dragon curling ferociously against a dark background) despite the size of the sect. Sitting at the top, on a simple throne, was a young man dressed in black brocade robes. His hair was a snowy white that retained a streak of black. His skin was honey-toned, contrasting well with his jarring, sharp eyes. His thumb pinched at his lower lip as he slowly sat forward. His ringed hand fell onto his lap.
“I do have something to say,” Wūmǎ Qiónglǐng (巫马瞏岭) drew out his words. His Fengya accent particularly jarring after hearing the righteous cultivators drabble on for so long.
“Please, speak.”
“Um…how do I put this?” Wuma Qiongling snapped his fingers. He tilted his head towards the man standing beside him. “Bai Qiu, how do I say this?”
Before, no one had paid attention to who sat at the top of the stands of the demonic sect, but now no one could ignore them. A horrifying pressure seemed to close in around their throats. A cold sweat began to seep through their clothes.
The story of Wuma Qiongling was known far and wide. It was the type of story to scare children into behaving and it was the type of story that kept cultivators that had no business in Fengya from ever going there. He is someone people would reference when asked to provide an example of a demonic cultivator—someone who backstabbed their own shizun, slaughtered his own sect members, and turned around to unite the entire Fengya under the rule of his newly established Black Scales Palace.
He was a terrifying existence to say the least. Yet Bai Qiu, the man beside him, did not seem phased.
“Is it not survival of the fittest?” Bai Qiu asked, a cold expression on his face.
Wuma Qiongling chuckled, the sound causing many to shudder. He wiggled his finger. “No, no, no. That wasn’t what I wanted to say. I wanted to say….hm…Oh. I remember.”
Wuma Qiongling looked across at the righteous cultivators with a lazy cock of his eyebrow. “What’s it got to do with us?”
No one dared object.
“Fengya isn’t the only place you can cultivate demonically,” Wuma Qiongling continued. “The world is so vast, just how naïve do you have to be to believe that? Where there is greed, anger, and sadness, there will be demons. Just because you think you’re pure, doesn’t mean you actually are. Also, if what you say is true and that a demonic cultivator from Fengya truly came, posed as one of your sect leaders, and led to her death, then that still has nothing to do with us. My Black Scale Palace continues to uphold our treaty year after year—we stay out of your hair and you stay out of ours. If any idiot dares to cross the border to start trouble, then they obviously are no longer part of my Fengya territory. Isn’t that right?”
Wuma Qiongling lazily rolled his head towards Bai Qiu. “Bai Qiu, is what I say correct?”
“According to what Lord Wuma has written in the laws, that does seem to be the case,” Bai Qiu confirmed.
“What was that…what was that thing I added?” Wuma Qiongling jabbed at his temple. “Gosh, what was it again? Ah, right. If anyone dares to violate these laws, then they will be eaten inside out by poisonous insects and thrown into Fire Valley, never again to see the light of day even as ghosts.”
Wuma Qiongling laughed, his gaze simultaneously darkening. “So, it couldn’t have been anyone from Fengya. Because they would have been dead already.”
An unsettling silence blanketed the stadium until Sect Master Zhong chuckled. “Lord Wuma is good at handling problems as always.”
Wuma Qiongling’s smile turned friendlier. “Sect Master Zhong, you’re overpraising me.”
Sect Master Zhong cleared his throat. “Any other concerns?”
The entire stadium remained silent.
“Good, good,” Sect Master Zhong smiled. “I will say it here now then—pertaining to the case of Yu Lan Sword Immortal killing the late Sect Leader Rong, the Hall of Impartiality and Frost Cliff Pavilion will take no part in any future conflicts. Sect Leader Li, is that suitable?”
“Yes,” Li Ran’s voice echoed through the hall for the first time during the conference. His eyes were concentrated on Wu Lingtian, standing behind Sect Master Zhong. “It is as Sect Master Zhong has said.”
“Good,” Sect Master Zhong turned to Wu Lingtian and lowered his voice. “You can go back to your seat.”
Zhou Ying’an was prepared to guide Wu Lingtian to the viewing box that Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect was occupying. However, to her and everyone else’s surprise, Wu Lingtian merely bowed his head before turning his back on his shijie and walking the exact opposite direction. He exited the stage and calmly made his way to the stands that Screeching Sparrow Sect occupied.
The disciples’ eyes lit up with excitement. Someone even began to cheer, causing the rest of the disciples to follow suit. Wu Lingtian looked at the disciples with a helpless gaze and pressed his finger to his lips. Only then did the disciples of Screeching Sparrow quiet down, much to the surprise of everyone else present.
Wu Lingtian walked up the steps and took his place behind Fan Yi.
Fan Yi turned and looked up at Wu Lingtian. “Do you want a chair?”
“No need.”
“If you start feeling tired, tell me,” Fan Yi whispered back. “I can stand.”
Tian Xiewen glanced at the two whispering men and decided to whisper as well. “We can all rotate standing.”
“That’s right. Wouldn’t it be more fun that way?” Ren Yizhou teased.
Fan Yi’s gaze only remained on Wu Lingtian, waiting for his confirmation. Under such a gaze, Wu Lingtian could only nod, though he had no plans to actually request to sit.
The remainder of the conference dragged on for the day until day became night. Some opted to stay in the camping ground set up for the conference while others decided to head back to the city for a better night of rest.
As Wu Lingtian walked out of the stadium with the members of Screeching Sparrow Sect, a familiar voice called out to him. His steps came to an abrupt stop and he turned to find Li Ran walking towards him with Zhou Ying’an and other members of Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect.
Tian Xiewen clicked his tongue and took a step forward to confront them, but Wu Lingtian stopped him. He turned to Fan Yi and them. “Return first.”
“Are you sure?” Fan Yi asked.
Wu Lingtian nodded. “During the time of the conference, they cannot harm me, lest they want to face Frost Cliff Pavilion.”
Fan Yi glanced back at the crowd that loomed behind Wu Lingtian. “It would be better if I stayed with you.”
“Let Fan Yi stay with you,” Ren Yizhou urged.
Wu Lingtian opened his mouth to reject them again, but he hesitated when he saw the worried expressions of the three Pillars. He acquiesced and watched as Ren Yizhou and Tian Xiewen left to guide the confused disciples away. The disciples of Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect had also begun walking away, but their gaze lingered on Wu Lingtian. Despite the situation reaching a well-explained conclusion, there was still hostility within their eyes. Though whether it was currently righteous indignation, or just embarrassment of having been slapped in the face, it truly was difficult to tell.
Fan Yi stayed behind Wu Lingtian as they approached Zhou Ying’an and Li Ran. He remained a respectful distance away, but he could still clearly hear everything. Li Ran frowned at Fan Yi and looked at Wu Lingtian.
“Why is he here?”
“What did you want to speak to me about?” Wu Lingtian asked.
Li Ran’s brows pinched. His eyes darted towards Fan Yi again before he looked at Wu Lingtian. “You are not going to return to Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect?”
“I have already been kicked out of the sect,” Wu Lingtian said. “There is no reason for me to return.”
“That had been a mistake,” Zhou Ying’an said. “Now that it’s cleared up, da-shixiong said you can return.”
“I have already been kicked out of the sect,” Wu Lingtian repeated. “I will not be returning.”
“Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect is your home,” Li Ran said. He pointed at Fan Yi. “You would really follow him rather than return to us?”
Wu Lingtian’s chest ached. His fingers threatened to dig into the palm of his hand but he resisted the urge. Instead, his fingers began to tremble imperceptibly at his side.
“Before, we were too rash,” Li Ran admitted. He stepped forward and reached for Wu Lingtian’s hand, his gaze soft. “Come back with us. We’re your family.”
Wu Lingtian avoided Li Ran’s touch. The look of hurt caused the guilt in Wu Lingtian’s chest to dig its claws further in and seep into the deepest parts of his lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He let out a shaky breath.
“No.”
“No?” Li Ran’s brows furrowed.
“…I…” Wu Lingtian’s voice was caught in his throat. He looked between Li Ran and Zhou Ying’an. “I…”
His mind began to blur. He couldn’t come up with a reasonable excuse to not return. He just didn’t want to go back. Something inside of him was desperately struggling to get further away. But why would he not return? Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect, his shizun, his da-shixiong, and his shijie—they were all that he had.
“He said he doesn’t want to go back,” Fan Yi’s voice rang beside Wu Lingtian’s ear.
His head shot up and he looked at Fan Yi. The growing anxiety began to recede.
Fan Yi’s face was devoid of the usual smile he carried, even when he was dealing with unpleasant business. Since he smiled all the time, it was difficult to remember just how cold his features were. When he was stone-faced, it was quite terrifying.
“This is our sect business. Outsiders should step aside,” Li Ran growled.
“I apologize, Sect Leader Li, but Lingtian is no longer a member of Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect. From what I remember, you had already shattered his sword and discarded him in a dark, enclosed cell,” Fan Yi said, a trace of mocking to his tone. “He is now a member of my sect, thus under my protection. And if a member of my sect is uncomfortable, then I will obviously step in to help.”
Li Ran glared at Fan Yi. His gaze shifted to Wu Lingtian. “Are you uncomfortable? Do you hate us that much?”
Wu Lingtian stiffened. His mouth opened a few times, but no sound managed to come out.
Sensing that something was not quite right, Zhou Ying’an reached out to pull at Li Ran’s sleeve. “Da-shixiong, stop forcing him.”
“I just want to know the reason,” Li Ran pushed Zhou Ying’an’s hand away. “Has our sect not been anything but good to him? We took him from that disgusting village and raised him up to the Heavens. Everything he is now is all due to our sect.”
“Da-shixiong!”
Fan Yi laughed in anger. He guided Wu Lingtian to stand behind him. “Don’t act like your sect is so high and mighty, Sect Leader Li. If it weren’t for the late Sect Leader Wang, do you think anyone would have allowed Lingtian to enter Drifting Clouds Mountain Sect? If it weren’t for the late Sect Leader Wang, would Wanli Sword Immortal have taken him in? How many people chastised him for bringing in an orphan from Heixue Town of all places? If Sect Leader Wang’s dying wish hadn’t been for Wanli Sword Immortal to accept him as her disciple, do you really think they would have let him stay?”
“What do you know? You’re just slandering us now!”
“Am I?” Fan Yi’s voice rose. “You may have been too young—too wrapped up in your own head—but I remember it all clearly. I have many regrets in life, but the biggest one I have is leaving Lingtian with you hoard of scoundrels!”
Fan Yi’s voice echoed in their surroundings. His grip on Wu Lingtian’s hand tightened as his gaze grew vicious. “I should have taken him out of that damn hellhole when I had the chance.”
Li Ran slowly smirked, his gaze turning smug. It was a complete contrast to the hurt look he wore previously. “But why didn’t you? If we were so bad, why didn’t you? Wasn’t it because Wu-shidi chose to stay with us? When you asked him to leave with you, what did he say? Do you remember?”
Fan Yi pursed his lips together. His gaze flickered back to Wu Lingtian. The other man shifted closer. He felt the hand that was previously limply trembling in his give him a squeeze.
“Can we go?” Wu Lingtian asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Fan Yi turned to Wu Lingtian and felt the grip around his hand tighten.
“Sect Leader, let’s go.”
↳ 黑鳞宫; Hēi lín gōng – Black Scale Palace
↳ Fengya Province (风雅省; Fēngyǎ shěng)
Also wanted to note that there are “demons” and “demon spirits”, which are mutually exclusive. Demons are bad, “Demon spirits” are not necessarily bad and both can take on human form, but they’re both different from “demonic cultivators”. When it’s “demonic”, then it’s human/something not a demon that’s affected by the demonic energy.
WUMA QIONGLING (((o(*°▽°*)o))) sigh. Situ Hong and Wuma Qiongling….I will write extras for you two. I swear on it–
Wuma Qiongling …. 💀 looking forward to extras
No the poor man, he has too much trauma and the issue is still in the sect effecting him😭
Wu Lingtian should not be held accountable for a decision he made as a child. In fact, everything Li Ran said is confrontational and too personal for someone who fully intended Wu Lingtian’s death if Fan Yi hadn’t come for him. Is leaving him with Drifting Clouds the debt and guilt from before?
me 🤝 Screeching Sparrow Sect disciples: cheering for Wu Lingtian going to stand with them