Chapter 56: Return to Changfeng County
Chapter 56: Chapter 56: Return to Changfeng County
In another cabin, Zhou Chengyue and Zhou Xianmo were already waiting. Zhou Chengyue still sat in the main seat, his expression calm and unruffled. Zhou Xianmo stood respectfully to the side, his deferential posture hiding a hint of imperceptible scrutiny.
"Fellow Daoists." Chu Zeyu gave a slight nod in greeting, his voice a bit deep. "I am Chu Zeyu, and I have come to escort my family’s unworthy junior, Chu Yongming, home. I’ve troubled you with his care."
Zhou Chengyue gestured with his hand. "Ninth Elder Chu, you’re too kind. The young master of the Chu Family has been a guest in our camp; there’s no need to speak of ’caring’ for him. Please, sit."
Chu Zeyu did not sit. His gaze swept across the cabin as he cut right to the chase. "Aside from retrieving my junior, I have another matter to discuss. On my way here, I saw that your esteemed family and the Changfeng Zhao Family seem to have had some... misunderstanding? To resort to arms and cause such devastation is truly not something we cultivators wish to see. Since I am already here, I cannot bear to see both families suffer further casualties. I wonder if Elder Zhou would be willing to give me some face, and the Chu Family some face as well, and agree to a truce? I trust a family of the Zhou Family’s standing would not be the type to annihilate their enemies completely."
His words were high-sounding and sanctimonious, positioning the Chu Family’s intervention on a high pedestal, as if he, Chu Zeyu, and the Chu Family were saviors descended from the heavens to uphold justice. He had deliberately emphasized the words "some face" and "face," his tone filled with the characteristic arrogance of the Chu Family.
Zhou Chengyue picked up the Spirit Tea beside him and took a gentle sip, a faint, unreadable smile playing on his lips. He didn’t immediately respond to Chu Zeyu’s proposal. Instead, he said slowly, "Fellow Daoist Chu, your timing is perfect. I was just looking for a witness myself."
Chu Zeyu’s brow furrowed slightly. "Oh? A witness? For what matter?"
Zhou Chengyue set down his teacup, his gaze suddenly sharpening to pierce right through Chu Zeyu. "I’ve just received a message. An Inspection Envoy from the Upper Sect’s Precepts Hall—Fellow Daoist Meng Changhe—has reached the border of Changfeng County. He will arrive here within a matter of days."
"He is traveling on the orders of the Precepts Hall’s Hall Master himself, to investigate why the Zhou and Zhao Families have resorted to war, causing such devastation and disturbing the peace of the region! He has also ordered both families to cease hostilities immediately and await his inquiry!"
He paused, his eyes fixed on Chu Zeyu’s suddenly rigid expression. His voice remained even, yet it carried an invisible weight. "Since Fellow Daoist Chu is so ’concerned’ with the affairs of our two families, why not wait here for a few days? You can help ’explain things’ to Fellow Daoist Meng on our behalf. Surely, Fellow Daoist Chu, you wouldn’t refuse to give face even to a Steward of the Upper Sect’s Precepts Hall... would you?"
With this final rhetorical question, Zhou Chengyue likewise emphasized the words "Upper Sect" and "face," countering him tit-for-tat, not yielding an inch. The meaning couldn’t be clearer: ’The Chu Family wants to use its reputation to pressure the Zhou Family? Fine! But now someone from the Upper Sect is here, and their face is even greater! So, Chu Zeyu, will you stay or will you go? If you dare to leave, you’ll be disrespecting the Upper Sect! And you will bear the consequences!’
The expression on Chu Zeyu’s face instantly became a colorful spectacle, shifting between pale and livid. He had never imagined that after arriving with the full weight of the Chu Family’s prestige, intending to pressure them into a simple resolution and display the Chu Family’s status, he would run headfirst into the arrival of an Inspection Steward from the Upper Sect’s Precepts Hall!
’No matter how powerful the Chu Family is, before the Upper Sect, we’re just a regional power. Disrespect the Upper Sect? I don’t have the guts! Forcibly take Chu Yongming away? That would be a dead giveaway, making it look like the Chu Family has something to hide!’
The atmosphere in the cabin instantly froze over. Zhou Xianmo focused his gaze downward, acting as if he’d heard nothing. Zhou Chengyue, however, remained perfectly composed, leisurely sipping his Spirit Tea as he awaited Chu Zeyu’s response.
After a long moment, Chu Zeyu finally forced a few words through his clenched teeth, his voice hoarse. "The Upper Sect’s... orders... must naturally... be respected. I... will impose... for a few days, then, and await... Steward Meng’s arrival."
In the end, he did not dare to defy the authority of the Upper Sect. No matter how aggrieved and unwilling he felt, he could only swallow his pride and accept it. This time, the Zhou Family had used the Upper Sect’s might to land a firm and resounding slap across the face of the Chu Family and Chu Zeyu himself!
「Two days later.」
Inside the encampment, Lu Zhao was seated cross-legged, regulating his breathing and calming his Heart Spirit, which had been stretched taut for days. Suddenly, a sharp glint of sword light tore through the sky, as fast as lightning, heading straight for the massive Flying Ship.
It was a Flying Sword of ancient design, radiating a chilling Sword Qi. A figure stood steadily upon the blade. The man wore a Profound Daoist Robe, his features cold and severe, his aura as deep as an abyss. A Profound Iron Token engraved with the word "Precepts" hung at his waist. He did not linger in the sky above the camp; the Flying Sword descended without pause onto the deck of the Flying Ship.
"The Bixia Sect’s Inspection Envoy!" A sharp-eyed cultivator in the camp recognized the identity represented by the token and the flying sword, crying out in a low voice. An invisible, solemn atmosphere once again spread through the area. Lu Zhao understood. Even the Bixia Sect, the Overlord of the Chen Country, had arrived.
Outsiders had no way of knowing what transpired inside the Flying Ship. However, less than half an hour later, a talisman glittering with golden light shot out from the Flying Ship, flying toward the Marketplace.
Immediately after, the Zhao Family’s Foundation Establishment Cultivator who had been holding down the fort in the Marketplace also transformed into a streak of light and flew into the Flying Ship. A decisive, high-level discussion was clearly taking place inside the vessel.
Another half-day passed before the specific orders were finally handed down through the ranks like a flurry of snowflakes, reaching every unit:
"By order of the Upper Sect Precepts Hall’s Inspection Envoy: The conflict between the Zhou and Zhao families is to cease immediately. All cultivators belonging to the Zhou Family are to pack their belongings and withdraw from this location in an orderly fashion. Return to Changfeng County."
Withdrawal!
The real order to withdraw had finally come!
The entire camp immediately burst into activity. Cultivators began packing up their tents, organizing Array Banners and Magical Artifacts, and dismantling the small, temporary Arrays they had set up. The tense fighting spirit completely dissipated, replaced by the exhaustion of a great battle and the aimless feeling of the dust finally settling.
Lu Zhao silently packed his own belongings. He stood at the edge of the camp, gazing at the distant, ravaged ruins of the Marketplace where the Spiritual Qi was in chaos, and at the mountains further beyond, where the smoke of battle had dispersed. A thousand emotions welled up in his heart.
’On the ground and in the sky, Qi Cultivators had fought to the death for over a year, shedding rivers of blood and consuming immense resources. Countless families rose and fell because of it. And yet, the entire conflict’s direction, its final outcome, was decided by a single sentence from a higher power, or by a shift in the bargaining chips between behemoths like the Chu Family, the Zhou Family, and the Upper Sect.’
’In the end, the Cultivation Realm is a place where only one’s Cultivation level truly matters,’ Lu Zhao thought to himself, his gaze fixed on the quietly docked Flying Ship that now seemed to control everything.
In this upheaval that had engulfed an entire county, Qi Cultivators were nothing more than slightly larger specks of dust.
Their life-and-death struggles, their very survival, seemed so insignificant before the will of Foundation Establishment Cultivators and the authority of the Upper Sect, represented by a Golden Core Sect.
He turned and merged into the torrent of cultivators that had begun to move. Changfeng County was his destination for now.
’And the only way to survive and make a place for myself in this dog-eat-dog Cultivation Realm,’ he thought, ’is to raise my Cultivation, increase my strength, and seize more control over my own fate.’