NOVGO.NET Chapter 2343 - Requesting Aid
Chapter 2343 – Requesting Aid
After a while, Wen Ruoxue asked softly, “What do you think I should do next, Sect Leader?”
“Leave the sect,” said Ling Qingfeng.
“Leave?” Wen Ruoxue was a bit confused.
“You spent three years locked in bloody combat with the Church of the Black Cloud, and you slew many of their warriors. If we submit, you and your companions will be the first people they target,” said Ling Qingfeng with the utmost solemnity. “When the time comes, the spineless cravens in our ranks will sell you out without hesitation to curry favor with the Church of the Black Cloud. Thus, you’d best leave now while you still can!”
Wen Ruoxue’s gaze was conflicted.
They’d fought for three years, bathed in blood, losing many of their companions. Who could have imagined that after all they’d sacrificed, they’d receive only retribution in the end?
Suddenly, the sound of cheering emanated from beyond the grand hall.
The oppressive atmosphere that had enveloped the sect for the past three years vanished completely.
Wen Ruoxue felt indescribable grief. We just surrendered. Why are they all so happy?
“It’s grating to the ears, isn’t it?” said Sect Leader Ling Qingfeng.
Wen Ruoxue nodded woodenly.
“People have to experience setbacks if they are to progress. The same is true for sects,” said Ling Qingfeng. “Just wait. When the Church of the Black Cloud takes control of our sect, all of those spineless cravens will discover that becoming servants of the church will only worsen their situation. They’ll naturally understand then.”
Wen Ruoxue sighed. “But by then, it will be too late.”
Ling Qingfeng fell silent.
A little while passed before he said, “The tides of battle are as unpredictable as the current. So long as we live on, we have a chance to turn things around and regain everything we’ve lost.”
Wen Ruoxue’s eyes were dull. Inwardly, she said, But those of us who sacrificed their lives in battle over the past three years won’t be coming back.
“Submit! I refuse, dammit!”
“How could you smile over something so deeply humiliating?”
“So what if we’re defeated? Death is nothing to be afraid of. I refuse to become a dog of the Church of the Black Cloud!”
Curses, shouts, and insults emanated from afar, reaching the grand hall.
Ling Qingfeng smiled. “See that? The sect has its share of weaklings, but quite a few of us still have our spines.”
Wen Ruoxue nodded silently.
After bidding the sect leader farewell, she went to see her master, Tu Youfang. It was he who’d found her on the Road of Celestial Guidance and brought her back to the sect.
When she saw her master, she expressed all of her confusion and disappointment.
Tu Youfang listened, then sighed. “Ruoxue, only time will tell whether this decision was good or bad.”
Wen Ruoxue immediately fell silent.
After leaving her master’s home, she went to her personal cultivation grounds.
Along the way, she heard a clamor of voices. When she looked over, she saw a cluster of outer sect disciples surrounding and chastising Mu Bai.
“Traitor! You’d kill even one of Senior Fu Yong’s descendants? You really are an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!”
“Everyone, you’d best be on guard! Mu Bai killed one of Senior Fu Yong’s descendants today. Who’s to say he won’t kill one of us tomorrow? He’s an untameable beast!”
“Feh! Mu Bai, you’d best be careful not to give me an opportunity. Given the chance, I’ll fucking beat you to death!”
……Even when the crowd cursed and spat at him, Mu Bai just stood there calmly, entirely unmoved.
But Wen Ruoxue found the sight of his solitary figure a bit hard to take.
She promptly walked up to him and said, “Mu Bai, come with me.”
Wen Ruoxue was a sect elder, so the outer sect disciples promptly fell as silent as cicadas in winter. All of them lowered their heads, and none dared say anything.
It was only after Wen Ruoxue led Mu Bai away that they resumed insulting him to their hearts’ content.
Meanwhile.
“It hurts, doesn’t it?” asked Wen Ruoxue.
Mu Bai shook his head. “I’ve gotten used to it.”
Wen Ruoxue said gently, “The sect will soon surrender to the Church of the Black Cloud. You’d best learn to keep your temper in check. Otherwise, I’m afraid the Church of the Black Cloud won’t let you off lightly.
Mu Bai was stunned, then uncharacteristically dazed. “The sect… has admitted defeat?”
Wen Ruoxue’s gaze filled with grief. “In any event, you’d best be prepared.”
Mu Bai pursed his lips. “I won’t surrender. I’d rather die before becoming our enemies’ servant!”
Wen Ruoxue nodded inwardly.
When she reached her private cultivation ground, she told Mu Bai to go home and rest. THen, she returned to her room.
“Senior.” Wen Ruoxue’s awareness entered her sea of consciousness.
“Is something wrong?” A female voice with a hint of unique magnetism ran out.
A battered black feather hovered in Wen Ruoxue’s sea of consciousness. It emanated wisps of black flame that outlined the indistinct figure of a phoenix.
“This junior has come to request your aid,” said Wen Ruoxue before laying the situation out in the open.
When she finished, she said pleadingly, “Senior, can you please help save the Opening Origins Daoist Sect?”
“At my peak, I could have destroyed the Church of the Black Cloud with a snap of my fingers. Unfortunately… in my current state, I can’t even protect myself, let alone help you.” A woman’s grief-stricken voice emanated from the battered feather. “Your sect leader was right. You’d best leave the sect as soon as possible. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to protect yourself.”
Wen Ruoxue’s gaze was wooden. She naturally understood what was about to happen to her. How could she not?
“It might break your heart, but do you want to hear my honest advice?” The mysterious woman in the black feather said suddenly.
“Advice?” Wen Ruoxue furrowed her blow. “Please, enlighten me, Senior.”
“Let me ask you this. Imagine that you suddenly had the power to turn the tides and save the sect from disaster. How do you think the sect would treat you afterward?” asked the mysterious woman.
Wen Ruoxue shook her head. “I never even considered all that. I just want to defeat the Church of the Black Cloud and save the sect.”
The mysterious woman was obviously displeased with this answer. She snorted coldly, “Childish! I’ve been guiding your cultivation all these years, and you seriously can’t grasp something like this on your own?”
Wen Ruoxue hung her head like a misbehaving child.
The mysterious woman sighed. “I’ll just tell you the answer, then. If you turn the tides and save your sect, you won’t win their respect or approval. On the contrary, you’ll ruin your reputation and become a universally reviled villain!”
Wen Ruoxue’s bright eyes widened in disbelief. “How is that possible!?”
“Why shouldn’t it be possible?” The mysterious woman laughed coldly. “Think about it from their perspective. If you had the power to save the sect all this time, why didn’t you use it when the Church of the Black Cloud first began their invasion three years ago?
“How will the people who fought alongside you for the past three years feel?”
Wen Ruoxue’s heart shook, and her beautiful face paled. She was starting to understand.
“Now let me ask you this. It’s only been a few years since you joined the sect. If a newcomer like you turns the tides and saves the sect from disaster, how will the sect’s old-timers see you?” said the mysterious woman. Her voice was calm, but her words were as sharp as swords thrusting into Wen Ruoxue’s heart.
Wen Ruoxue felt a chill in her hands and feet. She didn’t even need to think to know that the sect would start to question her background.
They might even suspect her of harboring ulterior motives for joining them!
That aside, even if she did it to save the sect, revealing that kind of strength would intimidate the sect’s old-timers, leaving them unable to eat or sleep in peace! Who in the sect would be able to tolerate her presence after that?
“Admittedly, you could reveal my existence to them, but consider this: doing so would only make the sect more afraid of you, and even less willing to accept you!
“Those who admired you and those close to you will distance themselves. Even your master, Tu Youfang, will suspect you of harboring malicious intentions.
“In that case, how… will you remain in the sect?”
The mysterious woman said calmly, “Ultimately, you’re just a small fry who only recently stepped into the Divine Dao. Do anything unbefitting of that status, and you’ll only invite disaster!
“That’s reality!”
Wen Ruoxue’s expression shifted erratically. An indescribable sense of helplessness washed over her.
This is reality? Don’t tell me I have no choice but to watch helplessly as we surrender to our enemies?
How… How did things become like this?
After a while, Wen Ruoxue said, “Senior, if I had the power to turn the tides, couldn’t I prevent all those problems by resolving the sect’s difficulties in secret?”
The mysterious woman said, “You want to accomplish a great feat, then vanish into uncredited obscurity? That could actually work, but… what are you hoping to achieve?”
What am I hoping to achieve? Wen Ruoxue instantly fell silent.
The mysterious woman continued, “Is a sect like this… really worth going to such lengths for?”
Wen Ruoxue couldn’t help but recall the meeting earlier that day and the faces of the sect higher-ups who’d pushed the sect leader to surrender.
She also couldn’t help but the way they’d criticized and ridiculed her.
An indescribable feeling arose in her heart, and her sense of helplessness intensified.
But in the end, she just sighed and said softly, “Senior, if possible, I still want to save the sect”
“It was my master, Tu Youfang, who brought me here from the River of Epochs. I have to repay him; such an act of benevolence is worthy of my full effort.”
Wen Ruoxue’s gaze grew increasingly staunch. “There are indeed some spineless cravens in the sect, but both the sect leader and my master are good. It’s just that the situation is not in their favor, and there’s nothing they can do.”
The mysterious woman sighed. “You understand the importance of repaying others’ kindness. That’s rare and precious. Very well. Although I cannot help you, I can point out a path to victory.”
Wen Ruoxue’s eyes lit up.
“But first, there’s two things I must tell you,” said the mysterious woman.
“Please, go right ahead, senior!”
“First, I can’t say with certainty that this method will work, so you shouldn’t get your hopes up.
“Second, if this does manage to help you… You must leave the sect, never to return!”
Wen Ruoxue’s heart clenched, and her expression filled with uncertainty.
In the end, she nodded with great difficulty, then said, “Senior, I… Agree!”
“Good. I’ll teach you a method to refine a talisman. With your cultivation, you should be able to refine it successfully within three days.
“When the time comes, all you need to do is inscribe the word “help” on the talisman, then shatter it.
“If he senses it, I doubt he’ll remain a bystander.”
The mysterious woman suddenly sounded a bit frustrated. “If not for you, I really wouldn’t have wanted to ask him for help. He… has more than enough trouble already!”
The mysterious woman sighed.
Wen Ruoxue instantly felt guilty.
But then, she couldn’t help but be curious. Just who is this man? Could he be a wondrously powerful Nine-Tribulation Master God, just like that senior?