"Man proposes, Heaven disposes." This widespread saying might appeal to mortals, but in Xinzi's ears, the words sounded like the awkward jam of drunken zither enthusiasts. Was it not man's duty to ensure that Heaven couldn't "dispose" of his fate? The Armored Lion King's interruption did overhaul our monk's plans, but that didn't mean that he'd let nature take its course. If things took a turn for the worse, he'd adapt accordingly, and should a case arise where sacrifices needed to be made, then sacrifice he would.
With that said, Xinzi couldn't afford to keep Xue Yuanshao in either Xiao Hu or his soul—even with erased memories. More blanks or alterations meant more questions to answer, better set the ghost and nun on a little quest to keep them out of the night's way.
The more time Tusha spent on Xinzi's side, the more chaotic her understanding of him became. One day, he'd appear like a merry Lianist monk seeking his Liberation in the beauties of life, and on another day, he'd turn into a cold-blooded scoundrel able to send thousands to their death to secure his plans. Were there any that the Liberation Abbot wouldn't sacrifice for self-gain? How big was that list and how did one get on it?
Tusha didn't want to become a vulgar sacrifice on Xinzi's checkerboard—unless of course that enabled her to bring her master back to life. The nun's thoughts buzzed, and she returned the body to Chun Xu. Meanwhile, Xinzi neared the White Immortal sect, unaware that Qingxin's announcement had reached it already, making disciples and elders alike shudder in excitement.
"Without Abbot Qingxin's shelter, that impious monk only has talent to shelter him. The sect might still treasure his potential, but they will also use this opportunity to take him down a peg. Xinzi will now be forced to understand that, without Abbot Qingxin, he only has the White Immortal sect."
"Think about all those that he has offended already. Various elite disciples, clans and elders, the Yang Patriarch and Dark Moon cult. That Xinzi redefines audacity with every move, and knows absolutely no bottom line."
"His Liberation Temple is a den of whores, and he deserves to be damned. What a pity that this announcement came after he consummated his relationship with the Sword Fairy." The White Immortal sect's streets buzzed with the news, but as more than one female disciple lamented Abbot Qingxin's "ruthlessness," the males rejoiced at Xinzi's expulsion, hoping that swift karmic retribution would bring our monk down.
Within the Dongli state, the status of Eminent Monk was on par with the average Nascent Soul expert. So while most had no idea of how terrifying Abbot Qingxin's abilities were, they still dreaded and deferred to his status. The White Immortal sect elders were no better. Guang Fanghu, Zi Yao and Lord Hanxing aside, not a single one had a decent understanding of Qingxin. And while Lord Hanxing had learned Xinzi's background from his old friend, he didn't share the information with his juniors.
Combine this lack of intel with Qingxin's announcement, and the males whose ladies had become frequent donors of Xinzi's Liberation Temple were up in arms.
"You people are not thinking straight. A father might kick his son out of the house, but that doesn't mean he will allow the local thugs to bully him. Also, I don't buy that orphaned prodigy story. It might just have been cooked up by Qingxin to hide Xinzi's true background. In any case, the world has no shortage of cheap women, but a man only lives once. I will not risk my neck because of a green hat."
"…"
On the way back, Xinzi had three stops to make. The Liberation Temple came first. Our monk reached the White Immortal sect's gates, dropped from his magenta flame cloud, and walked right in. Initially, Xinzi aimed to make a quiet return to his temple. But never did he expect that as he neared his target, a procession of grumbling males would block his ways.
Sleeves rolled up, the males folded their arms and stomped their feet like a gang of fuming town housewives. Most belonged to the inner court, but several elite disciples also stood in their midst, with three Golden Core elders leading the charge.
"Can I help you? My Liberation Temple doesn't accept male disciples, but donations are always welcome." Eyes stretched to the limit, Xinzi swept the group. The inner disciples had been fudged by his Klesha Haze, so whenever necessary, Xinzi could take control of them. The elite and elders, however, still stood out of his reach. A small battalion of 120, the disciples spread out, forming cluttered circles around Xinzi.
The leader, an aging mid-stage Golden Core elder, stepped forward, staring at our monk with flaming, bloodshot eyes.
"No rubbish today! Abbot Xinzi, where is my wife?" Waves of Spiritual Qi followed the words, making them boom across the scene and ring Xinzi's eardrums. Confused, our monk tilted his head to the left, staring at this senior citizen with lopsided eyebrows.
"Your wife? Who are you? Why am I supposed to have your wife in storage? Ain't this a bitch? These centuries-old fogeys manage to lose grown adults in broad daylight, then knock on my doorsteps to demand restitution." Xinzi shook his head, unimpressed by the old man's performance.
Like most factions, the White Immortal sect divided the elder group into three, administrative, named and guest elders. As the names implied, administrative elders managed various halls such as the Treasure Hall, Law Enforcement or Xinzi's own Spirit Formation hall. Named elders had no administrative duty, but received equal pay and could focus on cultivation only. As for guest elders, they received decent cultivation rooms and marginal pay for the right to become the sect's meat shields.
In the sect, administrative elders might have substantial political power and influence, but in the grand scheme of things, their status couldn't compare to the named elders, on who the sect counted to suppress all disturbances. The Law Enforcement and Spirit Formation elders were the only exceptions, and from his attire, Xinzi could tell that this aging elder just so happened to belong to the Law Enforcement hall. As such, his abilities among fellow mid-stage Golden Core experts commanded respect, and even in the White Immortal sect, his name carried prestige.
No one expected Xinzi to face him with such a casual tone, especially when…
"Yan Le is my wife!" Bright-red flames erupted from the Law Enforcement elder's eyes, and the temperature in the vicinity soared to smoldering heights. Inner disciples backpedaled, the elite unleashed their Pulses, resisting the heat that threatened to smoke all the water in their bodies and knock them all out.
"Ah yes, someone like that does seem to exist. True, I attacked the Soaring Crane mountain with Yan Le in my troops, and returned without her. Didn't the Life Plate hall tell you all that you needed to know? Yan Le is dead. You didn't care to ask me when I returned. Why the sudden show of concern?" Xinzi sighed, his disappointment growing by the second.
Following the invasion, the Life Plates of A'Zhi, A'Zhu and Yan Le broke, at first making their acquaintances believe that all three had died. But upon further examination, the thought made no sense. All three received Xinzi's protection, occupying privileged slots in the Funerary Rite of the Grand Legion. On top of that, among the disciples that Xinzi led, their cultivation bases ranked at the top. When even the Qi Refinement outer disciples didn't experience a single scratch, how was it possible for those three to vanish simultaneously? No, either Xinzi killed them or they jumped into other bodies, thereby making their life plates obsolete.
The elder leaned on the latter, and now that Xinzi had lost Qingxin's shelter, he wouldn't hesitate to punish the brat for all the cucking and slam that faithless wife to death. In any case, by the time that Xinzi rose to his level, he'd have already died of old age.
"Let me guess. You don't think that she's dead and don't really care. Right now, all you want is to find a reason to beat me senseless for all the green that has been on your head since your lady became a faithful donor of my temple. I understand the rage, but you have to look at things from an objective standpoint. Yan Le married you just so she could increase her cultivation base. Then you go ahead and become impotent, losing the main resource that brought her to you: Dual Cultivation abilities.
Before getting a trophy wife, you have to be prepared to pay the maintenance fee. You lost that ability, leading her to me—rookie mistake." Xinzi shrugged and said in a half-serious tone. These words were the last straw, veins beat across the elder's body, and his cultivation base erupted in full force.
Tongues of orange fire coiled upward, morphing into a great flaming sword that hovered by the elder's side. "Abbot Xinzi, talent-wise, you may transcend all generations, but that alone doesn't mean you can afford to run amok. Today, this old man will do you a favor and curb…your insolence!"
The elder said and grabbed the hilt of his flaming sword. In the distance, several Nascent Soul elders watched the show—including Zi Yao, who wondered how Xinzi would handle this. No one expected the monk to match a single of the elder's blows, and Zi Yao had already decided that, after Xinzi got beaten black and blue, she'd descend from the sky to save him from further abuse and behead the elder to position herself as Xinzi's new background. Other Nascent Soul elders had similar thoughts, but knew that they couldn't compete with the matriarch.
Alas…
The elder curved his sword for a horizontal slash. Mesmerizing arcs of searing flames rolled out, racing towards Xinzi with startling destructive power.
Xinzi's lips curled into a smile, strands of multicolored Spiritual Qi soared out of our monk's dantian, forming a rudimentary shield that met the elder's sword move. Barely had the fire arcs reached the elemental shield that they broke into flickering ember—then vanished subsequently.
"In all the stories that I've read, the villain must establish his prestige so that the randoms of the street dare not challenge him, and focus on the nameless hero instead. Perhaps I've forgotten to make a good enough statement in the Soaring Crane mountain. Never mind, I won't make that mistake again."
Seven-colored water mist poured out of Xinzi's dantian, rising upward and expanding into colossal sea waves. The seven-colored sea spread further, covering the entirety of the White Immortal sect, the Ice-Fire cave and nearby villages—all lives underneath rose on tiptoes.
Xinzi stretched out his right hand and made a downward motion. Irresistible pressure dropped on the scene, and from disciples to golden core elders, all fell on their knees—unable to put up the tiniest struggle before Xinzi's Dao Foundation.
Our monk's cultivation base erupted, and the world lost its breath.