Chapter 582: Ashamed Before the Sword Sect, A Head of White Hair

Still, for Situ You, being willing to "act" was better than nothing. Whether for himself or for Wei Tu, this performance was needed. If the act turned into reality, that would be the best outcome for them both.

Situ You had once schemed with Ji Wuyai to kill him.

Even though, during that betrayal, Situ You as a friend had spoken up for him several times before Ji Wuyai, pleading on his behalf… a stab in the back was still a stab in the back. That was the fact.

On an emotional level, Wei Tu could understand, but in reality, he could never forgive.

And Situ You, whether guilty inside or not, could never again be his true friend, meeting honestly face-to-face about this matter.

So, acting was best. It spared both of them some dignity.

"Brother Situ, restrain your grief."

Wei Tu cupped his fists in salute. He didn’t expose Situ You’s disguise but continued the act with him.

The two exchanged a few polite words at the mountain gate.

Then Situ You led the way, inviting Wei Tu into the great hall where the Nascent Soul Ceremony was being held, seating him just below Venerable Master Jiuli and Feng Yunqi.

This time, even though Jiuli and Feng Yunqi had "failed" to kill Ji Wuyai, it didn’t lessen the righteous cultivators’ respect for their strength.

"This must be Master Wei, the Divine Master?"

"Truly in the prime of youth, handsome and refined."

Feng Yunqi had already wanted to befriend Wei Tu. Now, seeing him "gravely injured" but still taking a seat not far from his own, he immediately struck up conversation.

His words carried clear goodwill.

Better to cross an old man with white hair than to underestimate a youth.

Feng Yunqi understood that his own peak was far from the end for someone with Wei Tu’s potential.

Even if Wei Tu never reached late-stage Nascent Soul, just attaining mid-stage would make his power incomparable to mediocre peers like himself.

Venerable Master Jiuli, meanwhile, did not speak to Wei Tu right away. He silently studied him, searching for any similarities to Daoist Fu.

Among the many suspicions he held about Daoist Fu, one was that Wei Tu might be him.

But from what he observed, the differences between Wei Tu and Daoist Fu were far too great.

Wei Tu’s mana was pure, his foundation steady, no different from an ordinary righteous cultivator. There was not the slightest trace of demonic arts on him.

'I was being foolish.'

'How could Wei Tu possibly be mid-stage Nascent Soul already?'

After a moment, Jiuli shook his head at his own thoughts.

To advance from a newly ascended Nascent Soul to mid-stage in just 200 years—in the entire cultivation world of Great Cang—that was utterly impossible.

'The long-vanished Ancestor Chilong…'

'The disciple he secretly took in—the one known as Daoist Fu…'

'Could it be…?'

Quickly, a guess rose in Jiuli’s heart. One he thought very likely.

That was, the two came from the same master. Wei Tu was Daoist Fu’s junior disciple.

Only this could explain why their cultivation levels differed so greatly, and why, in the matter of Ji Wuyai, Daoist Fu had appeared so suddenly at the battlefield—killing Ji Wuyai but letting Wei Tu go.

Nothing else. Daoist Fu hadn’t "just happened" to come across Ji Wuyai. He had been called there by Wei Tu.

Wei Tu dared to boldly go after Ji Wuyai alone only because he had Daoist Fu, that senior brother, watching over him.

'Next time if I want to find Daoist Fu, I could just go to Wei Tu directly, then let him lead me to him.'

So thought Venerable Master Jiuli.

Daoist Fu’s movements were secretive. He never stayed long in any one place.

If their connection was casual, that wouldn’t matter. But now Jiuli still had something to ask of him—he needed Daoist Fu’s help against Old Demon Jiuchuan.

So a stable line of contact was necessary.

But Jiuli wasn’t foolish enough to expose this thought. He simply smiled and, like Feng Yunqi, began speaking to Wei Tu in the normal manner of making friends.

To the other cultivators in the hall, this scene stung a bit. After all, both Feng Yunqi and Venerable Master Jiuli were figures on par with sect masters of major sects. Compared to ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators, their status was far higher.

Now that these two had singled out Wei Tu to befriend while ignoring the rest, how could the others not be envious?

…

After a brief reunion, half a day passed.

Situ You’s Nascent Soul Ceremony was declared over early.

After all, Madam Tian Qiuyun had died "heroically." What was meant to be a celebration had become a mourning. Both by reason and by emotion, it was improper to continue such festivities.

Before leaving, Wei Tu offered comfort to Situ You, fulfilling the duty of a friend.

Of course, his words were all polite formalities, nothing as deep as two hundred years ago.

"Farewell, Brother Situ…"

Leaving Ancient Sword Mountain, Wei Tu paused on the clouds. He turned back to look at Situ You, who stood at the mountain gate seeing him off from afar, and smiled as he cupped his fists.

For now, it looked like they were still friends under the same roof.

But both he and Situ You knew that after this farewell, they would be strangers from here on.

No other reason—when meeting, there would be no words left to say.

"Farewell, Brother Wei."

Situ You bowed deeply. His white hair fell across his face, hiding his guilt well.

He had no intent to harm, yet ended up complicit in harm.

Even though Wei Tu had come to no serious injury this time, as someone who had aided an enemy, how could he still call himself Wei Tu’s friend?

Now the prime culprit was dead… yet he, the accomplice, still lived.

With Wei Tu’s strength, Situ You never doubted that revenge was possible.

'If not for Ji Wuyai, if not for Tian Qiuyun, maybe I would still be drinking with Brother Wei now…'

When he saw that Wei Tu had left, Situ You slowly straightened his back. Before his eyes rose the scene of his ceremony being held as it was meant to, without ruin.

He let out a long, heavy sigh. The illusion dissolved like mist.

"Golden Core, full of ambition… Nascent Soul, reduced to survival…"

"Is this what I, Situ You, have become?"

He regretted not striking Tian Qiuyun down with one sword two hundred years ago when he discovered her betrayal. If he had, how would he have sunk to this end?

If only he had known…

He would rather… he would rather…

"Would rather… never have formed a Nascent Soul?"

Situ You mocked himself. He didn’t even have the decisiveness to be firm in his own imagination.

Shaking his head, he walked back through the sect gates, hearing disciples call out their reverence to their Sword Master along the way.

"Situ is ashamed before the Sword Sect. I voluntarily resign my position and yield it to another. From this day… I will seclude myself in the back mountain, guarding the Sword Sect’s foundation. I ask my fellow Daoists to understand!"

When he reached the grand, golden hall at the mountain’s peak, Situ You removed the sect’s inheritance spirit sword and hung it beneath the beam. With his back to the crowd, he spoke calmly.

At that moment, no one noticed that the midnight moonlight had covered him entirely in white, even the strip of hair at the crown of his head.