43: Chapter 43 Could it be a terrestrial immortal?

[You are squatting on the ground, grooming Xiao Wang, when your hand pauses at the sound.]

["What is the matter?"]

["I-I don't know, but all the Grand Elders have gone!" The Disciple runs over, covered in sweat. "Elder Zhou sent me to invite you, saying you must be present."]

[Even the Grand Elders have gone.]

[You stand up and brush the tiger fur off your hands.]

["Let's go."]

[The Assembly Hall is located halfway up the main Peak. To get there from West Peak, you must cross a suspended plank road. On both sides of the plank road are bottomless clouds and mist, and the wind blowing up from the valley makes your robes flutter.]

[On the way, you encounter a few Inner Sect Disciples who bow and give way from afar, their eyes filled with awe.]

[Thirty years old, Grandmaster Peak.]

[This news spread throughout the entire School less than half a day after you finished your seclusion.]

[The Assembly Hall is a grand palace with flying eaves and bracket sets. The hall doors are wide open, and many people are already seated inside.]

[When you enter, the buzzing discussion in the hall pauses slightly, and many gazes turn toward you.]

[In the center is the Sect Head's high seat, which is empty. Flanking it are the seats for the Peak Masters and Grand Elders, and below them are the positions for the Core Disciples of each Peak.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan sits in the second position on the left, holding a purple clay teapot and pouring tea into his mouth, his posture as leisurely as if he were at a teahouse listening to a storyteller.]

[Senior Brother Gu Changfeng sits in the first seat of the Disciples' area. Seeing you enter, he nods slightly and smiles at you.]

[You nod in response and then walk straight toward Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan.]

["Master, what is the matter? The Elders from all the Peaks are here," you ask in a low voice.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan puts down the teapot without even raising his eyelids: "I don't know."]

["...You don't know?"]

["I am ninety-eight this year. My daily tasks are drinking wine, drinking tea, sunbathing, and maintaining my health." Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan raises a hand to point at his hair, "Look at how much has turned white? It's all from worrying."]

[The corners of your mouth twitch slightly.]

["Master, you call this maintaining your health? Yesterday, Junior Martial Uncle Zhou from the pill room said you drank three jars of his fifty-year-old Drunken Immortal Brew all by yourself."]

["That is medicinal wine." Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan says without changing his expression, "It promotes blood circulation and removes blood stasis."]

["..."]

[You say nothing more and find your seat to sit down.]

[In the Disciples' area, there is an empty seat next to Senior Brother Gu Changfeng, which is yours. After you sit down, you gaze forward, without any unnecessary small talk.]

[Senior Brother Gu Changfeng says nothing either, the silence between the two of you natural.]

[More and more people fill the hall. The Peak Masters, Grand Elders, and Core Disciples arrive one after another. The buzzing discussion never ceases, and everyone's face carries a suppressed gravity.]

[A moment later, steady footsteps come from behind the hall.]

[The discussion vanishes instantly.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing walks out from the back hall, wearing a grey Daoist robe, his face gaunt and refined, his temples slightly frosted. His aura is deep and restrained, but the moment he takes his seat, the entire hall seems to sink by a fraction.]

[He does not speak, only sweeping a glance across the entire hall.]

[There is silence for three breaths.]

[North Peak Master Zhao Changgeng is the first to lose his patience, slamming his hand on the armrest: "Sect Head, what is the final word on this? Is the Martial Dao Sect going to do anything about it or not? The hands of the Black Tiger Gang have reached into our Yunzhou territory! The day before yesterday, my North Peak outer sect patrol Disciples encountered a team of Black Tiger Gang members in Qingquan Town, and the other party didn't even lift an eyelid!"]

[East Peak Master Sun Mobai follows closely behind, saying coldly: "The Martial Dao Sect has been established for eight hundred years. When have they ever been soft on such transgressive forces? Back then, the Evil King of the Southern Border only swallowed six Schools, and the Patriarch of the Martial Dao Sect personally took action, destroying his entire sect with one palm. Now, the Black Tiger Gang has swallowed thirty-seven Schools, and yet the Martial Dao Sect is silent?"]

["It is more than thirty-seven now." An Elder in grey robes sitting in the corner flips through the intelligence in his hand, "News just arrived yesterday that the Listening Rain Pavilion in Nanzhou is gone too."]

[The hall is in an uproar.]

["Listening Rain Pavilion? That place had a Grandmaster!"]

["What is the use of that? Wei Feisen is now a Great Grandmaster, and he has two Grandmaster Peak guards by his side. No matter how many Grandmasters go, they are just serving themselves up as food."]

["I just don't get it. He is just a Gang leader, where does he get the confidence to challenge The Ten Great Sects?" someone says indignantly.]

["Could that rumor actually be true?" a younger Elder lowers his voice, "They say there is an Immortal in the Black Tiger Gang..."]

[As soon as these two words are uttered, the hall goes quiet for a moment.]

["What Immortal?" Zhao Changgeng scoffs, "If you ask me, that person is at most a lone Earthly Immortal. The Patriarch of the Martial Dao Sect is also an Earthly Immortal. Two Earthly Immortals are wary of each other, which is why the Martial Dao Sect chose to concede. It is that simple."]

["If it were just an Earthly Immortal, the Martial Dao Sect wouldn't be this cowardly," Sun Mobai shakes his head, "Unless... that person's cultivation is above that Earthly Immortal of the Martial Dao Sect."]

[The hall becomes completely silent.]

[No one dares to pick up this topic.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing finally speaks, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.]

["I called everyone here today to discuss this matter."]

[He pauses, sweeping his gaze across the hall.]

["Three days ago, I received a communication from the Martial Dao Sect—"]

["Effective immediately, all Schools must allow the Black Tiger Gang to establish branches in their jurisdictions and must not obstruct them."]

[Dead silence.]

[A full five breaths of dead silence.]

[Then, it is like a pot of boiling water exploding.]

["What?!" Zhao Changgeng stands up directly, his chair sliding back a foot, "Let us open our doors to the Black Tiger Gang? Has the Martial Dao Sect gone mad?!"]

["Who does Wei Feisen think he is? A Gang leader, and he dares to plant his flag in the territory of The Ten Great Sects?"]

["The Martial Dao Sect has sold us out!"]

["It can't be... Wei Feisen isn't the illegitimate son of the Patriarch of the Martial Dao Sect, right?" a young Disciple mutters quietly, and the corners of the mouths of those around him twitch in unison.]

["So the rumors were true after all..." Sun Mobai closes his eyes, his tone heavy, "Whatever can make the Martial Dao Sect bow its head is definitely not as simple as an Earthly Immortal."]

[The hall descends into chaos.]

[The Sect Head presses his hand down, and the noise in the hall barely subsides.]

["I can understand everyone's feelings." Sect Leader Qin Tianxing's voice is calm, "But this is an order issued by the Martial Dao Sect, and The Ten Great Sects are no exception. I have already confirmed that the Qingshuang School, Wudang, Kunlun... have all accepted it."]

["We have no choice."]

[This sentence is like a basin of cold water poured over everyone's heads.]

[The atmosphere in the hall shifts from anger to silence, and from silence to dejection.]

[Some Elders lean back into their chairs and close their eyes. Some Disciples lower their heads, clenching their fists.]

[Zhao Changgeng sits heavily back into his chair, saying nothing.]

[— —]

[You sit in your seat, listening to all of this.]

[You do not speak.]

[You are thinking about one thing.]

[The Patriarch of the Martial Dao Sect is an Earthly Immortal, the end of the Martial Dao, but he has actually yielded now...]

[What does this mean?]

[You raise your eyes.]

[The Sect Head is saying some comforting words, the Peak Masters look ashen, and a sense of powerlessness permeates the entire hall.]

[This atmosphere makes you very uncomfortable.]

[It is exactly the same as what you felt in front of Wei Feisen in your first life.]

[The strong make the rules, and the weak can only obey.]

[This is the essence of the Martial Dao world.]

[No.]