Chapter 1: Cause a generation-ending blow to the Hengxue Sect!

The weather was clear and sunny. Meng Baixu was currently carrying out the activity that members of demonic sects were best at—infiltration—inside the number one righteous sect under heaven, the number one cultivation academy in the world: the Hengxue Sect.

Although he came from the infamous Fuguang Sect, he possessed a face of utmost purity and kindness. Every frown and smile of his looked innocent and proper, as if he were the legitimate heir of some prestigious righteous family.

Meng Baixu’s foremost task was to destroy Sect Master Wen Tingshu’s Dao heart.

On the side, he would also sow discord among the various sects, secretly turn cultivators against them, and smear the reputation of the Hengxue Sect.

However, as Wen Tingshu’s only disciple, he had eaten and lived with Wen Tingshu for three months. He brainwashed him every single day, yet Wen Tingshu’s Dao heart remained unmoved. Meng Baixu might as well have been an ant trying to shake a tree.

“Stinky rock.”

As Meng Baixu walked, he kicked a small stone by the roadside.

Today’s morning class was Moral Standards of Cultivation. The old thing giving the lecture started before daybreak. Meng Baixu did not like listening to it at all, yet it just had to be a required course—and there was even an exam.

How could he, the mighty leader of a demonic sect, study something like this?

“Ah.”

A white-robed cultivator happened to be sitting behind an evergreen shrub and was unexpectedly struck on the butt by the little stone. He turned his head slightly and saw Meng Baixu walking over. He hurriedly stood up and said respectfully, “Good morning, Da-shixiong.”

Although Meng Baixu was young, he was the Sect Master’s only direct disciple. The other cultivators were all disciples of the twenty-seven peak masters under Wen Tingshu’s jurisdiction. When they saw Wen Tingshu, they could only call him Sect Master, not Shizun.

So whenever any cultivator saw Meng Baixu, they had to respectfully call him Da-shixiong.

The demonic sect leader was very satisfied with this title.

In storybooks, the da-shixiong was always steady and kind, while the rebellious one was always the little shidi. If one day it was exposed that the Hengxue Sect’s da-shixiong was an out-and-out demon, it would certainly shock the righteous sects and deal a heavy blow to his sect.

The better he disguised himself in the early stages, the greater the waves when the truth was revealed.

Even the perfect da-shixiong was evil. Then how many good people could the Hengxue Sect possibly have? And since Wen Tingshu had accepted only him as a disciple, Wen Tingshu would not be able to escape suspicion either.

“Qi-shidi, why do you look so troubled?” Meng Baixu stopped and asked gently. His gaze swept over the letter hidden behind the other’s back, and he immediately understood. Something must have happened at home.

Cultivation was actually a cruel thing. After all, the lifespan of cultivators and ordinary mortals differed greatly. They could only watch their family and friends grow old, helpless to stop it.

The first thing one had to learn in cultivation was how to sever one’s attachments.

Qi Feng quickly glanced up at his da-shixiong, then immediately lowered his head again. Da-shixiong was simply too beautiful. One glance at him was like moonlight shining upon dust. The master-disciple pair of the Sect Master and Da-shixiong not only had otherworldly appearances, but their character was also unparalleled in the world.

Qi Feng tightened his grip on the letter. “Da-shixiong, it’s nothing serious. Just some trivial family matters.”

Meng Baixu softly comforted him, “You might as well tell me. Keeping it bottled up will only make you more upset.”

Cultivators in difficult situations were the easiest to turn. Use wicked methods to help him solve his problem, and naturally, he would start remembering the benefits of wicked methods.

After being coaxed by Da-shixiong, Qi Feng instantly softened. He sighed.

He was the only person in his family who possessed spiritual veins and could cultivate. He had traveled a thousand li to cultivate at the Hengxue Sect and had not returned home for three years. He could not serve his parents by their side. Fortunately, he still had an older brother at home. But this morning, his father had sent a letter describing the family’s current situation, and it was truly not good.

“My older brother idles about all day, and my sister-in-law is addicted to gambling. Originally, I thought that after my nephew was born, the two of them would restrain themselves for his sake, but things did not turn out as hoped…”

“My parents were very disappointed in my brother and sister-in-law, so they focused all their efforts on raising my nephew to become successful. Who would have thought that my nephew would gather all the worst traits of both his parents? He neither studies nor farms. Last month, he stole the family’s land deed and gambled it away, leaving the whole family with no choice but to sleep on the streets.”

“Before I left home, my family was still fairly well-off. My parents told me to cultivate well and not worry about home… Sigh. I… I want to request leave and go home for a while.”

When he left home, he had brought some silver with him, but he had not spent a single coin. It would be just enough to bring back and buy his parents a small house.

Meng Baixu said, “This matter cannot be delayed. I will request leave on your behalf.”

“Thank you, Da-shixiong!” Qi Feng was overjoyed.

For cultivators, requesting leave was neither particularly easy nor particularly difficult. If Da-shixiong spoke up for him, he would be spared the embarrassment of explaining his family affairs himself.

Meng Baixu could not help saying, “Your useless brother, sister-in-law, and nephew—”

Just throw them into the mountains to feed the wolves. Don’t let them interfere with your parents’ retirement.

Meng Baixu stopped himself in time.

Such words could not be said among the righteous path.

Qi Feng also spoke with feeling. “When the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be crooked too. Children learn bad habits the easiest. A prodigal son really ruins the family. With such a child, even a fortune of a thousand gold will collapse in an instant.”

A prodigal son…

A prodigal son…

Meng Baixu stood in place as a flash of white light streaked through his mind.

Was this the fastest way to destroy the Hengxue Sect?

What if Wen Tingshu had a prodigal son?

The Hengxue Sect would face a devastating generational blow!

Even more conveniently, Meng Baixu could give birth. The leaders of their Fuguang Sect, regardless of gender, could all bear children.

He decided.

He was going to conceive Wen Tingshu’s child. The child would definitely take after him—a belly full of wicked schemes, a little villain. Then he would send the child to the Hengxue Sect to torment Wen Tingshu.

“Qi-shidi, wait!”

Meng Baixu called out to the worried shidi, then pulled a handful of gold leaves from his pocket.

“Take these back to honor your parents. Consider it a small token of care from the sect.”

The cultivation world used spirit stones for trade, while the mortal world used gold and silver as wealth.

Thankful that Qi-shidi had given him such a good idea, Meng Baixu was in high spirits and acted generously. A faint smile even spread across his eyes and brows.

His black hair was simply tied behind his head with a silver hairpin. It was plain and simple. At the end of the silver hairpin was an embedded silver butterfly, less than an inch long. Under the morning light, it looked as if it were about to spread its wings and fly, as lively as its owner.

Qi Feng almost stared in a daze, then abruptly lowered his head.

Becoming the Sect Master’s personal disciple was indeed a supreme honor, but not everyone could bear such an honor. The Sect Master was a saint, aloof and upright, strict with himself and with others. His very existence was more like the law and standard of the cultivation world. Law was the most merciless, yet also the most compassionate. Only a saint could remain by his side.

Qi Feng asked himself honestly: if it were him, he was afraid he would disappoint the Sect Master greatly within three days.

At first, many people often doubted whether Meng Baixu deserved his position. Later, everyone admitted it—

The position of Da-shixiong could belong to no one but Meng Baixu!

Only Da-shixiong truly “found joy in helping others” from the bottom of his heart. He handed out heavy gold leaves to others, yet he himself looked even happier. He was kindhearted, elegant, gentle, and approachable. He had never looked down on outer disciples like them and was always offering them help.

Qi Feng choked up. “Da-shixiong, if there is ever anything you need from me in the future, I will go through fire and water for you.”

Meng Baixu wore a faint, calm smile and waved his hand.

“Between fellow disciples, there is no need to speak of such things. Hurry home. Don’t let your parents sleep on the streets.”

Qi-shidi, whose family had fallen into decline and who had many attachments, was exactly the kind of talent easiest to rope in. First, invest a little, then guide him gradually.

Watching Qi Feng walk away, Meng Baixu clenched the jade gourd hanging from his belt and paced excitedly in place.

The question was: how could he get that old-fashioned man into bed with him?

Meng Baixu rummaged through his qiankun pouch and pulled out a forbidden book from the cultivation world: Rebirth: The Blackened Disciple Imprisons His Cold Shizun.

He flipped to the page where the disciple set up a trap to lure his shizun into an illusion realm. His thick, long lashes lowered slightly as he fell into thought.

“Da-shixiong! You’re comprehending the Dao this early?”

A clear voice came from behind him.

Meng Baixu quickly put the book back into his qiankun pouch, then calmly glanced over. “Hm?”

The Hengxue Sect recruited disciples once every three years. Cultivators from the same batch usually had similar courses and almost always attended and left class together. Some cultivators came from aristocratic families and had their own family resources, while others came from fishermen or woodcutters’ families, penniless and relying entirely on talent.

The person who had arrived was Shen Luoyan, the sixteenth shidi. His family was poor, but he was bright and cheerful. When his pair of puppy-like eyes looked at someone, they seemed especially innocent, and he was familiar with everyone in the sect.

Shen Luoyan looked at the qiankun pouch at Da-shixiong’s waist, suspecting that what he had just seen was a cultivation manual given to Da-shixiong by the Sect Master. Everyone knew that the Sect Master granted Meng Baixu whatever he asked for.

The Sect Master stayed in seclusion all year round, and very few people had seen him. The only time Shen Luoyan had seen the Sect Master was at the recruitment assembly. The Sect Master had suddenly appeared, his brilliant divine bearing like the sudden brightening of the sky, making those who lived in dusk and dawn unable to look directly at him.

That day was the first time many people had seen Wen Tingshu.

The Sect Master appeared for only one reason—

To accept Meng Baixu as his disciple.

In Shen Luoyan’s view, the Hengxue Sect would sooner or later be led by Meng Baixu.

So Shen Luoyan’s smile grew even brighter. “Da-shixiong, let’s walk together.”

Meng Baixu said, “Sure.”

Although Meng Baixu was under the Sect Master’s name, he studied cultivation courses together with the disciples of the twenty-seven peak masters. The major peak masters took turns giving lectures.

***

Two hours later, Meng Baixu finished the morality class with deep hatred and bitterness, then immediately tailed an alchemy cultivator back to Danlu Peak.

“Shidi!”

Hearing the voice, Lin Yao turned around. When he saw Meng Baixu, he stopped happily and called out, “Lanshe-shixiong, your speech in class just now was like the words of a sage. It was deafeningly enlightening. Do you still have more guidance for me? Lin Yao is all ears.”

“Lanshe” was the courtesy name Wen Tingshu had given Meng Baixu on the day he became his disciple. People often used the elegant and rich fragrance of orchids and musk to describe noble character. Wen Tingshu hoped Meng Baixu would have an orchid-like heart and be steeped in virtue.

Unfortunately, he had misjudged him.

Fellow disciples who were closer to Meng Baixu often called him by his courtesy name.

His insincere speech in morality class was a dark stain in the demonic sect leader’s history. As soon as class ended, Meng Baixu would force himself to forget it.

“Shidi is exceptionally perceptive. I have nothing to guide you on.”

Lin Yao said, “Da-shixiong is too modest.”

Meng Baixu said, “Lin-shidi, I plan to raise a cow on Hengxue Mountain. There is something I would like your help with.”

Lin Yao was surprised. “A cow?”

Hengxue Mountain was clean, elegant, and refined. Raising a cow there would be far too out of place.

Meng Baixu said, “The Sect Master’s place is too deserted. Aside from the two of us, the largest living creatures there are merely a few cold carp. So I thought I would raise a huge blue ox to make the place seem a little more crowded and lively.”

Wasn’t a cow a bit too much…

But then Lin Yao thought about it. Laozi rode a blue ox through Hangu Pass and wrote the world-famous Dao De Jing. A blue ox was precisely the mount of a sage.

Lanshe-shixiong was implying that the Sect Master was a sage. He had actually failed to understand it right away. How shameful.

“Then what can I help you with?”

Meng Baixu said, “I hope it can give birth to a calf. You know, the Sect Master is all alone. The blue ox cannot also be solitary and lonely, keeping the Sect Master company in shared desolation.”

Lin Yao said, “Shixiong’s words make sense.”

Meng Baixu said, “This blue ox is too stubborn. Shidi, help me refine an aphrodisiac pill.”

Before sleeping with Wen Tingshu, he had to figure out whether Wen Tingshu’s parts could still be used. Perhaps, just like his expressionless face, after several hundred years of not moving the relevant muscles, everything had long since become as calm as still water, without the slightest vitality.

Lin Yao said, “That isn’t difficult. Shixiong can come retrieve it tomorrow.”

Meng Baixu said, “It must work on both humans and animals, and it must be colorless and tasteless.”

Lin Yao raised a brow. “That is a rather novel requirement. I’ll research it.”

Meng Baixu said, “It must be strong enough to knock down a large blue ox.”

Wen Tingshu was even more stubborn than an ox. Even a slightly smaller dosage would not do.

Lin Yao said, “As you command.”

Meng Baixu pulled out a handful of spirit stones from his pocket. “Thank you for your trouble, Shidi.”

Lin Yao waved his hand and refused. “No need, no need. This is all for the Sect Master’s good. Our hearts are the same. Without the Sect Master, we would not have such peaceful days.”

The cultivation world had always been one where the weak were prey to the strong. If not for the Sect Master suppressing the cultivation world with his supreme cultivation, displaying martial might across the world and using battle to stop evil, how could there be peace from all directions and a united heart toward goodness?

How could Lin Yao safely research pills in peace? He feared that before even one furnace of pills could be refined, robbers and plunderers would already be watching hungrily.

Meng Baixu whistled.

My heart is nothing like yours.

Poor Lin-shidi was being played in the palm of the demonic sect leader’s hand. He did not know that he was currently helping a tyrant do evil and serving as an accomplice to a tiger.

Once the Hengxue Sect collapsed, this cult leader would be the first to take in the heartbroken Lin-shidi.

WORDS TO REMEMBER

• Eldest Senior Brother → Da-shixiong

• Junior Brother → shidi

• Senior Brother → shixiong

• Master/teacher → Shizun

• Sect Master → Sect Master