169: Chapter 169 Guarding the Mind First

"Slaying one Golden Core Initial Stage evil cultivator, three Foundation Establishment Middle Stage evil cultivators, seven Foundation Establishment Initial Stage evil cultivators, and rescuing countless wounded.

Awarded three major merits, promoted to Inner Disciple, bestowed one Medium Grade spirit sword, one foundation establishment pill, and ten bottles of peiyuan pills."

Below the stage, there was an immediate uproar.

"Slaying a Golden Core Stage?!"

"Li Changsheng? The one who came out of the Hundred Herb Garden?"

"I heard he is only at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage; how could he possibly slay a Golden Core Stage?"

The sounds of discussion rose and fell.

Countless gazes fell upon Li Changsheng.

Li Changsheng did not pay attention to those gazes; he just calmly walked onto the stage.

On the stage, Ling Cang was looking at him, his gaze deep.

"You are Li Changsheng?"

Li Changsheng bowed and saluted.

"This Disciple is."

Ling Cang nodded and smiled, saying,

"Not bad. Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, slaying a Golden Core Stage—although it was an injured one, it is still remarkably difficult."

"Cultivate well; your future prospects are limitless."

He took a long sword from the tray beside him and handed it to Li Changsheng.

It was a long sword that was entirely verdant green, with a slender body and sharp blade, emitting a faint spiritual light.

On the hilt, two simple, ancient characters were carved — "Qing Shuang".

A Medium Grade spirit sword.

Li Changsheng took the sword and felt a cool aura emanating from the blade, which invigorated his spirit.

He bowed respectfully: "Thank you, Sect Master."

Ling Cang handed over another jade bottle.

"This is a foundation establishment pill. You didn't use one when you reached Foundation Establishment, so you can use it later when you have a Breakthrough to the Middle Stage."

Li Changsheng took the jade bottle and thanked him again.

Ling Cang looked at him and suddenly asked,

"I heard that on the Jinyang Sect battlefield, you defended a section of the wall alone and saved many people?"

Li Changsheng said: "This Disciple was merely doing his duty."

Ling Cang smiled, his smile carrying a hint of meaningfulness.

"Doing your duty... Good. If everyone could do their duty, why worry about the Righteous Path not flourishing?"

He waved his hand, signaling for Li Changsheng to step down.

Li Changsheng bowed and saluted, then turned and walked down from the commanding platform.

When he reached the bottom of the stage, he couldn't help but look back.

Ling Cang was still sitting there, smiling, his gaze gentle.

But Li Changsheng always felt that behind that smile, something was hidden.

He withdrew his gaze and walked back into the ranks.

After the merit awarding ceremony ended, Ling Cang spoke again.

"Fellow Disciples, although the Blood Fiend Sect has been destroyed, the Demonic Cult has not been eliminated, and evil cultivators still remain."

"Yunzhou is temporarily safe, but the outer regions are eyeing us covetously."

"If our various Sects of the Righteous Path fight on their own, it will be hard to avoid being defeated one by one."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the stage.

"Therefore, I propose to integrate the various Sects of Yunzhou, unify our commands, and protect the Righteous Path together."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate uproar below the stage.

"Integrate the various Sects?"

"What does that mean?"

"Is this... wanting to unify Yunzhou?"

Those young Disciples discussed among themselves; some were excited, some confused, some worried.

On the stage, those Golden Core Elders were very calm, as if they had known this would happen all along.

An Elder stood up and said loudly,

"Sect Master is wise! The various Sects of the Righteous Path should have been working together all along."

"Now that the Jinyang Sect has split, the Qingxin Pavilion has been severely damaged, and the Medicine King Valley has closed its gates to self-isolate, it is the perfect time for our Qinglan Sword Sect to step forward and lead the Righteous Path!"

Another Elder stood up.

"Indeed! Although the Blood Fiend Sect has been destroyed, the Demonic Cult has not been eliminated. If there is no unified command, how can we cope in the future?"

A third Elder also stood up.

"Sect Master is wise! This Disciple seconds the motion!"

For a time, more than a dozen Golden Core Elders stood up one after another, echoing in unison.

Li Changsheng stood below the stage, watching this scene, a complex emotion surging in his heart.

He looked at those Elders who were seconding the motion.

On their faces, there was excitement, thrill, fawning, and sycophancy.

The only things missing were worry and caution.

Just then, he noticed one person.

True Lord Three Swords.

That Grand Elder at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage was sitting on the side of the commanding platform, never having spoken.

His expression was calm, showing neither joy nor anger, but his gaze was slightly lowered, as if he were thinking about something.

Li Changsheng's heart stirred.

True Lord Three Swords, does not agree?

After the merit awarding ceremony ended, the Disciples dispersed one after another.

Li Changsheng was not in a hurry to return to the Hundred Herb Garden; instead, he walked slowly along the mountain path alone.

He had many questions in his heart.

The Sect Master's ambition, the Elders' echoing, True Lord Three Swords' silence... all of these made him feel uneasy.

After walking for a while, he suddenly stopped his steps.

Ahead, an old man with white hair was standing by the side of the mountain path, hands behind his back, gazing at the sea of clouds in the distance.

True Lord Three Swords.

Li Changsheng felt a shiver in his heart and quickly stepped forward to salute: "Disciple Li Changsheng greets True Lord."

True Lord Three Swords turned around and looked at him.

That gaze was as deep as an abyss, as if it could see through everything.

"Li Changsheng," he said, his voice flat, "what are you thinking about?"

Li Changsheng was stunned for a moment, then answered frankly,

"This Disciple is thinking about the Sect Master's words."

True Lord Three Swords nodded without speaking.

Li Changsheng hesitated for a moment and said,

"True Lord, this Disciple dares to ask... is the 'unified command' mentioned by the Sect Master really correct?"

True Lord Three Swords looked at him, a trace of complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

"What do you think?"

Li Changsheng was silent for a moment and said,

"This Disciple does not know."

"But this Disciple remembers that on the Jinyang Sect battlefield, we fought side by side with the people from Qingxin Pavilion and Medicine King Valley."

"At that time, there was no unified command, but everyone helped each other and cooperated tacitly. But after the battle... things turned out like that."

Li Changsheng paused, then added in a low voice,

"This Disciple does not understand why people who fought side by side suddenly became enemies fighting amongst themselves."

True Lord Three Swords was silent for a long time.

Then, he spoke slowly,

"In troubled times, the human heart is hard to fathom."

He looked at Li Changsheng, his gaze deep.

"Li Changsheng, remember one sentence."

Li Changsheng said respectfully,

"Please enlighten me, True Lord."

True Lord Three Swords said word by word:

"Guarding the heart first."

He turned around and looked towards the distant sea of clouds.

"No matter how the outside world is disturbed, no matter how the Sect changes, guarding your own heart is the most important thing."

"The sword can be lost, people can die, but the heart cannot be chaotic."

He turned his head and looked at Li Changsheng.

"Can you understand?"

Li Changsheng's heart was shaken, and he solemnly cupped his hands.

"This Disciple understands."

True Lord Three Swords nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

His white hair fluttered, and he soon disappeared into the clouds and mist.

Li Changsheng stood where he was, watching his retreating figure, remaining motionless for a long time.

"Guarding the heart first."

These four words, like a thunderbolt, exploded in his heart.

He suddenly understood one thing.

No matter what the Sect Master wants to do, no matter what the Sect becomes, he must guard his own heart.

Not to be lost for fame and fortune, not to be driven mad by ambition, not to be corrupted by power.

Just guard that original heart.

Returning to the Tool Storehouse, Li Changsheng lit the lamp and placed the qingshuang sword on the table.

The blade was verdant green, with spiritual light flowing; it was indeed a good sword.

He picked up the sword and examined it carefully; suddenly, his gaze froze.

"Something is wrong!"

He saw that on the sword body, there were faintly some extremely pale lines.

Those lines were as thin as hair; if one didn't look carefully, they couldn't be discovered at all.

They meandered along the sword body, forming a strange pattern.

Li Changsheng's heart stirred, and he compared those few lines with certain things in his memory.

Then, his pupils contracted slightly.

Those lines were somewhat similar to the runes on the Blood Fiend Sect altar.

Although extremely faint, although almost imperceptible, he would not mistake that strange aura.

"This sword..."

He gripped the hilt tightly, a sense of unease surging in his heart.

"How could a spirit sword of the Qinglan Sword Sect have runes from the Blood Fiend Sect?"

"Is it a coincidence, or..."

He did not know.

But he knew that this matter was not simple.

He carefully put the sword away without making a fuss.

That afternoon, Li Changsheng was loosening the soil for the Jade Dew Ginseng in the spirit field.

Recently, he had picked up his old trade of farming again.

Outside of cultivation, he managed the spirit fields and tended to the tea trees; his days were plain and fulfilling.

The bloodthirst and baleful aura he had picked up on the battlefield were gradually washed away in this day-after-day toil.

"Brother Changsheng!"

A crisp voice came from the edge of the field ridge.

Li Changsheng looked up and saw a familiar figure walking towards him.

The person arriving had a ponytail, wore a plain-colored ru skirt of the Hundred Herb Garden, and her skirt hem fluttered slightly without wind, as if draped in a layer of extremely faint moonlight. Her face was full of excitement, and she had been calling out from far away.