44: Chapter 44 So What If I Know?

[You stood up.]

[The chair made a soft sound, which was exceptionally harsh in the quiet main hall.]

[Everyone's gaze turned towards you instantly.]

["The Martial Dao Sect is not the heavens."]

[Your voice was not loud, but it was incomparably clear in the silence.]

["It is merely an Earthly Immortal."]

["Why can't my Cangyun Sect produce another one?"]

[The moment these words fell, the air in the main hall seemed to freeze.]

[Everyone looked at you, their expressions varied.]

[Zhao Changgeng widened his eyes, his lips moved, but he could not speak.]

[Sun Mobai turned his head sharply to look at the Sect Head, his eyes saying, "This girl has gone mad."]

[Several young Disciples subconsciously looked outside the hall, as if afraid that walls have ears.]

[And Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan beside you—]

[His teapot almost fell to the ground.]

["Sit down!" Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan grabbed your sleeve, pulling you down, lowering his voice, speaking extremely fast, "You child! Is this something you can say here?!"]

[You were pulled down by him and sat, without struggling.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan's hands were shaking; you were not sure if it was from anger or fear. He leaned close to your ear, his voice almost a whisper: "Are you trying to scare your Master to death? Do you not know the rules of the Martial Dao Sect? Any School that dares to cultivate an Earthly Immortal, that is..."]

[He did not finish his sentence, but you understood.]

[The Martial Dao Sect has been established for eight hundred years; the reason it can firmly sit at the top of the Jianghu is not by reasoning, but by monopoly.]

[The highest combat power of Mortal martial arts is only allowed to be in the hands of the Martial Dao Sect.]

[Any School that produces a seed for an Earthly Immortal must either send them to the Martial Dao Sect or—they disappear.]

[This is an unspoken rule.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing coughed twice and looked at you with a complex gaze.]

["Senior Sister Lin Shuang." His voice carried a warning, "Do not say such things again in the future."]

[You lowered your eyes, your face respectful: "This Disciple spoke out of turn."]

[The hall was silent for a few moments.]

[Then Sect Leader Qin Tianxing suddenly laughed, shook his head, and looked around at everyone.]

[Sect Leader Qin Tianxing stared at you for a few moments, as if confirming your attitude. Then his gaze turned to the others in the hall, and he suddenly sighed and shook his head.]

["You old things." His tone changed, carrying a bit of helplessness and an indescribable meaning, "Living for most of your lives, arguing for so long, and yet none of you see as clearly as a thirty-year-old girl."]

[Zhao Changgeng's face felt hot.]

[Sun Mobai lowered his head.]

["What are you worrying about? What are you being so defeatist about?" Sect Leader Qin Tianxing leaned back against the chair, his fingers tapping on the armrest, "If the Black Tiger Gang wants to set up a branch, let them. My Cangyun Sect has stood for six hundred years; are we afraid of one of their branches? The sky will not fall. The real thing we should be doing is making ourselves stronger, not sitting here cursing."]

[Zhao Changgeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly grinned: "Sect Head is right. I was obsessed."]

[Lin Ruoxu also nodded: "What the Sect Head says is absolutely correct."]

[The atmosphere loosened.]

[Someone laughed along: "Indeed, to be outdone by a girl, it would be shameful if word got out."]

["Hey, that is no ordinary girl." Another person replied, looking at you, "A thirty-year-old Grandmaster at the Peak, the number one person in our Cangyun Sect in a hundred years; the future will depend on Senior Sister Lin Shuang."]

[You did not reply, sitting expressionless.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan glared at you from the side, but you acted as if you did not see it.]

[The meeting continued for another incense stick time, deciding on some details for dealing with the Black Tiger Gang's branch settling in—which areas could be conceded, and which bottom lines could not be touched.]

[After the meeting, you followed Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan back to West Peak.]

[He did not speak along the way, walking very fast.]

[Until returning to the study on West Peak, he closed the door and turned around.]

[You stepped forward and cupped your hands: "Master, this Disciple was reckless."]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan looked at you for a long time and sighed.]

["Alright, as long as you know." He walked behind the desk and sat down, then suddenly glared at you with annoyance, "But what you said was not wrong; not being allowed to say it does not mean you are not allowed to do it."]

[You slightly raised an eyebrow.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan did not continue this topic; his expression suddenly changed, settling down from his previous annoyance, becoming grave.]

["Shuang'er, there is something I have been waiting for you to come out of seclusion to tell you."]

[Your heart skipped a beat.]

["What is it?"]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan was silent for a few moments, as if weighing his words.]

["The year you entered the School, you told me about your mother in Yunjin City, so I sent two people to meet her and protect her in secret."]

[You remembered; this was the first thing you asked your Master for after entering the School.]

["Half a year ago... those two people of mine lost contact." Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan did not look at you, his gaze landing on the tea stain on the table, "Three months ago, I received definite news that they were intercepted by people from the Black Tiger Gang."]

[Your fingers tightened slightly.]

["If the Black Tiger Gang interrogated anything out of them..." Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan looked up at you, "Wei Feisen might already know that you are still alive and are at the Cangyun Sect."]

[The hall was silent for a few moments.]

[Your breathing was steady, and your heartbeat was not chaotic.]

[This news did not surprise you.]

[It was only a matter of time.]

["What about my mother?" you asked.]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan's lips moved, but in the end, he shook his head.]

["In the last letter before those two people met with an accident, they said your mother was still on Yongan Street, but as for the situation after that... I cannot confirm."]

[You nodded.]

["Shuang'er." His voice softened, "Failing to protect your mother, your Master broke his promise, but you must believe one thing: if Wei Feisen wants to touch you, even if an Earthly Immortal is standing behind him, I will risk this old life of mine to protect you."]

[You looked up at him.]

[A ninety-three-year-old man, silver hair like snow, face thin and gaunt; even if his cultivation is heaven-defying, in the face of time, he is also growing old.]

[Your throat felt slightly tight.]

[But you only curved your lips in a smile, the smile very shallow, and quickly retracted it.]

["Master." you said, "My mother, I will personally go and bring her back."]

[Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan looked at you for a few moments and suddenly laughed.]

["Good. That is the spirit one should have." He took a yellowed booklet from his sleeve and pushed it onto the table, "These are my notes from when I had a Breakthrough to Great Grandmaster. You are now at the Peak of Grandmaster; it is time to read them."]

[You stepped forward and received it with both hands.]

[The booklet was very thin, with no words on the cover, the edges of the paper somewhat curled, traces of having been flipped through countless times.]

["The Taixu Visualization Method is a Cultivation Technique that leads directly to an Earthly Immortal." Supreme Elder Su Chenyuan leaned back against the chair, his tone returning to his usual casualness, "To have a Breakthrough to Great Grandmaster, one needs to condense an object from the visualization into a phantom image within one's Divine Sense, while at the same time, the Protective Aura in the Dantian must be completely transformed into True Qi. This process..."]