84: Chapter 84: The Worldview Strikes By Like a Lucky Break

Zuo Ciyuan did not keep anyone waiting for too long.

A day later, the main hall was filled with people once again. The same long desks and teacups remained, but the atmosphere was completely different from the day before.

Sect Master Shen Du sat on the right side of the long desk, the frost dust on his cuffs already brushed away, his fingers slowly tapping on the edge of the table. Lv Xu sat opposite him with a face even darker than yesterday, his mouth pressed into a tight line. Grand Cultivator Helan Yan had no expression, holding his teacup and sipping unhurriedly. The two Vice Ministers from the Ministry of War and Ministry of Justice sat side by side.

The Prefect of Qingzhou stood lower down; although he had changed into fresh sleeves, he was still constantly wiping away sweat.

Poor Prefect, he did not even have a seat.

Zuo Ciyuan stood in the center of the main hall, his long black robe falling to his feet, both hands tucked inside his sleeves.

Without an opening remark or a lengthy speech, he went straight to the result:

"The losses caused by this boy are indeed considerable. But the main responsibility does not lie with him. Tianque Sect failed in oversight regarding the Seal first, and Ranhuo City subsequently covered up the anomalies in the earth fire, allowing the anomalies of Qingzhou to take advantage of the opening. Are you expecting him to bear this alone?"

Lv Xu's lips twitched. Zuo Ciyuan looked straight ahead and continued, "Anomalies are difficult to track down; everyone seated here knows this better than I do. Over the years, when various Sects went out to purge anomalies, how many hands were lost, how many were cleared, and how many were missed? After this battle, eight or nine out of ten anomalies in Qingzhou have been wiped out. He did not clear them all alone, but the top credit goes to him. Offsetting his faults with his merits is not unreasonable."

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping across Sect Master Shen Du's face. "Qingyun Sect will not pursue charges. Once this kid regains his freedom, he still belongs to Qingyun Sect."

Sect Master Shen Du sat at the right side of the long desk, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly before he quickly pressed it down again.

He set down his teacup and began whispering to Qin Tianzong beside him, roughly saying that once everything was over, he would give Xie Feng a long vacation—after all, he had accomplished a grand feat and returned safe and sound.

Qin Tianzong nodded perfunctorily, thinking to himself: Didn't you slam the table yesterday so hard against Grand Cultivator Helan Yan that teacups went flying?

"Governor of Qingzhou!" An Elder beside Lv Xu stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor tiles with a piercing screech. "This kid harbors multiple demonic evils within him! How can we offset his faults with merits and release the tiger back to the mountain? If he loses control again in the future, who will bear the consequences?!"

Zuo Ciyuan turned to him. The gaze of a Ninth-Realm Cultivator was exceedingly indifferent and light, as if looking at something completely insignificant.

"Does your Sect have an objection?" Zuo Ciyuan stared right at that Elder. "Six hundred years ago, Tianque Sect suppressed a Great Old One fragment into the earth veins, and successive city lords kept it secret. If not for this kid teaming up with the Voormis underground to activate the forbidden art, once that fragment broke free from the Seal, Sect Master Lv knows full well what the consequences would have been for your Sect. My refraining from holding Tianque Sect accountable for negligence is already leniency. Do you really want to reckon consequences with me here?"

"Or perhaps..." Zuo Ciyuan's tone became light, the corners of his mouth curling up with a smile in his eyes. "...your Sect wishes to challenge me?"

Lv Xu gripped the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white. He wanted to say something, but he knew there was nothing he could say.

Successive Governors were directly appointed by the imperial court and came from different factions, while Zuo Ciyuan was a Loose Cultivator who aligned with no Sect and owed favors to no one. In Qingzhou, he was the local emperor. If he said innocent, it was innocent.

Zuo Ciyuan pulled his hands out of his sleeves and turned in Xie Feng's direction. "Xie Feng."

Xie Feng stood up.

"My agreement with you remains unchanged. Once you identify the entity inside the Third Princess, you may return to Qingyun Sect on your own. Before that, you will stay by my side for now."

Having said this, Zuo Ciyuan tucked both hands back into his sleeves and glanced around the main hall.

"This matter ends here. Dismissed."

His tone was gentle, yet he consulted no one; he was simply notifying everyone that the matter had concluded.

The sound of chair legs scraping against the floor echoed throughout the main hall. Lv Xu was the first to stand, flicking his sleeves with a sharp snap and walking out of the hall without looking back. Grand Cultivator Helan Yan set down his teacup, cupped his hands to Zuo Ciyuan in a polite gesture, and also left.

The Prefect of Qingzhou finally wiped his forehead with his sleeve and trotted off after the Ministry of War and Ministry of Justice.

Sect Master Shen Du stood up and walked over to Xie Feng. He looked down at Xie Feng's chest beneath his clothing, then looked at the dark, bizarre pupil in Xie Feng's left eye.

"It's good that you're back." Sect Master Shen Du patted Xie Feng's smooth green forehead. "Before you go with Lord Zuo, return to the Sect once. Wen Heng prepared a few things for you. Also, Tu Ziguan has been squatting at the inn for a whole day; if you don't show your face soon, he'll probably climb over the wall to get into the Governors Mansion."

Xie Feng tapped his blind cane on the ground. "Understood. Thank you, Sect Master."

Sect Master Shen Du nodded, turned, and walked out. After a few steps, he stopped again.

"About the long vacation, I've agreed on it with Elder Qin. As soon as you return, I'll approve it."

Xie Feng followed Zuo Ciyuan through the hallway at the side of the main hall, made two turns, and returned to the tea room from yesterday. Zuo Ciyuan sat down across from the low desk, the sleeves of his black gown resting on his knees, and raised his hand to pour Xie Feng a cup of tea.

Xie Feng took the teacup but didn't drink. He felt that this Ninth-Realm Cultivator calling him over today was not merely to continue yesterday's tea session.

Zuo Ciyuan picked up his own cup, took a sip, and spoke casually, as if making small talk: "How are your injuries?"

Xie Feng froze for a moment. "The superficial injuries are mostly healed. The wound on my left arm is scabbing over, though the Meridians inside are still a bit sluggish. Elder Zhao said half a month of rest will restore them."

Zuo Ciyuan nodded, then asked a few more questions about his cultivation, whether his Third Realm Peak state was stable, and whether those silver-white threads in his body were still running amok. Xie Feng answered them one by one.

After exchanging pleasantries, Zuo Ciyuan set his teacup on the low table, rested his crossed hands on his knees, and suddenly asked, "Xie Feng, you know those Outer Gods and Great Old Ones like the back of your hand, but how much do you know about Jiuzhou?"

Xie Feng pondered for a moment.

It had been nearly two years since his Transmigration. From Cangyun City to Qingyun Sect, from Qingyun Sect to Ranhuo City, he had fought anomalies, flipped through ancient texts, slammed tables with Sect Elders, and bargained with princesses. Xie Feng felt his understanding of Jiuzhou was hardly superficial.

"I know a bit."

Zuo Ciyuan looked at him and smiled.

"The ranks of imperial court officials, from which rank to which rank, and what each level is called."

"How many Sects there are in Qingzhou, where their mountain bases are located, what the Sect Heads' surnames are, and how high their cultivation is."

"The cultivation System of Jiuzhou, from entry-level to the Ninth Realm, where the Bottleneck for each heaven lies, what conditions are required for a Breakthrough, and the mutual generation and restraint relations between spiritual powers of different attributes. What are the standards for grading anomalies, which set of standards the imperial court and Sects use respectively, and how to convert between the two?"

"The imperial court and the Sects have two different sets of standards??"

Xie Feng snapped his mouth shut. He couldn't answer a single one; he simply had no such information in his mind.

The original host had been locked up in a side courtyard for three years and knew nothing about the court's official System or the distribution of Sects in Jiuzhou.

Ever since he transmigrated, he was either recovering from injuries or fighting, flipping through forbidden books or getting dragged into the next incident.

Zuo Ciyuan did not mock him. The Ninth-Realm Cultivator's expression didn't change from start to finish; he merely picked up his teacup and took another sip.

"You stood on the ruins of Ranhuo City for so long, weathered three or four continuous waves of anomaly assaults, and directly conversed with at least six Outer Gods or Great Old Ones.

Those who wanted to kill you, Seal you, or recruit you into the imperial court's enshrinement know less than half of what you know about those Outer Gods and Great Old Ones combined.

Yet your understanding of the Jiuzhou they live in is not even a fraction of theirs."

He set his teacup down.

"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. Ever heard that, kid?"

Xie Feng was silent for a long time. The teacup slowly rotated in his palm; the tea had already gone cold.

"Senior is right. I've been in Jiuzhou for quite some time, but most of the time I've been... dealing with those things. No one has systematically taught me, nor are these in the original host's memories."

Xie Feng knew that Zuo Ciyuan understood the weight of the term 'original host'.

Zuo Ciyuan glanced at him, as though able to peel back layer by layer the omissions hidden within Xie Feng's words.

"After reporting back to the imperial family, the Third Princess will set out, taking a few days on the road. These few days, I'm free, and you're free. Stay at the Governors Mansion for now and come to me every morning. The imperial court official System, Sect distribution, and cultivation Systems—I will teach you from scratch."

"You are a Disciple of Qingyun Sect; these things should originally have been taught by Sect Master Shen Du. But Qingyun Sect has its way of teaching Disciples, and I have mine. You caused the biggest trouble in Qingzhou, but you also earned the greatest merit. In the future, whether you return to Qingyun Sect to continue your cultivation or are reassigned elsewhere by the court, you cannot avoid this chessboard of Jiuzhou. Right now, you don't even know what the chessboard looks like—how will you play in the future?"

Xie Feng did not hesitate. "Thank you, Senior."

He stood up and bowed to Zuo Ciyuan. The gesture was a family etiquette used toward Xie Tianxiong in the original host's memory—not entirely formal, but bent low with sincerity.

"First of all, this etiquette is incorrect." Zuo Ciyuan nodded slightly. "Alright. Go back and prepare. Tomorrow at the hour of Chen, bring your blind cane and come here."

By the time Xie Feng came out, the sun was already slanting to the west.

Zuo Ciyuan was right. It had been nearly two years since he came to this world, constantly pushed along. To truly solve problems at their root, knowing a few names of the Great Old Ones was not enough.

If Outer Gods and Great Old Ones could infiltrate Jiuzhou through human cults, then Jiuzhou itself must have its own defense System—not merely a single Sect's mountain defense formation or the personal favor of a Ninth-Realm Cultivator, but a whole operational logic covering the imperial court, Sects, Loose Cultivators, and common folk.

Zuo Ciyuan was right: this was not Xie Feng's fault, but it was a lesson Xie Feng had to catch up on.