A leisurely life in the world of cultivation

Chapter 201 Acting for Heaven
On the outer slope of Qingmu Peak, the four arenas had just been washed by the autumn rain, and specks of autumn water remained in the cracks of the bluestone.

Luo San stepped onto the wet steps, unfolded the grudges, and announced loudly: "Today's first grudge duel: Sha Tu, the retainer of the Crimson Sand Sect, versus Shui Ling, the retainer of the Cold Water Pavilion!"

Clearly, the two were not originally members of the sect; they had only joined as retainers.

As soon as the words were spoken, the two figures landed at opposite ends of the arena almost simultaneously.

The sandman on the east side wore a short, earth-yellow outfit, his bare arms covered with calloused, gritty skin, and dark red sand grains embedded between his fingers.

He carried a crescent-shaped iron shovel on his back, the shovel surface engraved with swirling sand patterns. Standing there, he looked like a stubborn rock carved out of the Gobi Desert. When his eyes swept over Shui Ling, they carried an undisguised ferocity.

On the west side, Shui Ling wore a moon-white long dress with pale blue water patterns embroidered on the hem. In her hand, she held a long ice crystal whip, the tip of which dangled to the ground, where a thin layer of frost had condensed on the bluestone surface. Her face was pale, but her lips were as red as blood. Her eyes, which looked at Sha Tu, held no hatred, only a silent, chilling coldness, something colder than hatred itself.

"It's the grudge from the 'Cold Water Spirit Mine' twenty-five years ago!"

Someone in the audience recognized them and said, "Back then, the Shui family was considered a medium-sized family. They discovered the Cold Water Spirit Mine, which should have been a stroke of good fortune, but unfortunately, the news leaked. Sha Tu was in the demon-hunting team back then... hey, he did a lot of dirty work, double-crossing people. Everyone knows what kind of people they are. In the end, after the two sides fought over it, only one member of the Shui family was left... They've fought many battles over the years, but none of them have been successful. This time, it seems like it's a fight to the death."

Amid the murmurs, Sha Tu suddenly let out a sinister laugh and stomped his foot hard on the arena.

In an instant, a rolling wave of sand surged up from beneath the platform, and the sand condensed in the air into dozens of sand spikes as thick as an arm, piercing towards Shui Ling with a "whooshing" sound.

This is his unique skill: sand casting.

It can mobilize sand and gravel within a radius of ten zhang, making it extremely domineering.

Shui Ling remained expressionless, advancing instead of retreating. She suddenly lashed out with her ice crystal whip, the tip of which drew a graceful arc in the air. Wherever it passed, the sand spikes instantly froze into ice pillars, which shattered and fell to the ground with a few crisp "crack" sounds.

Her voice was colder than her face, sending chills down one's spine: "Sha Tu, the hatred of wiping out your entire family, I will avenge today. You think I'll only kill you? Do you know why I'm two hours late today? The Sha family village in Shenmiao Township are all your relatives, right? They went down ahead to wait for you. Let me tell you, they didn't even leave a chicken behind."

"Beast, you are courting death!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Tu was stunned for a moment, then instantly flew into a rage. He suddenly raised his shovel, and the sand patterns on the shovel surface suddenly lit up. The surrounding sand waves instantly gathered into a sand wall ten feet high, with rotating sand blades covering the surface, which crushed towards Shui Ling.

This move, "Sand Prison," is his killing move; countless opponents have been turned into mincemeat by this ferocious attack.

Before the gasps from the audience had even subsided, Shui Ling had already made a peculiar hand gesture.

Suddenly, white mist rose around her, which turned into ice flakes as it cooled. The moment the ice flakes hit the ground, a frozen lake appeared out of thin air on the west side of the arena, with countless icicles and spikes faintly visible beneath the surface.

"The cold waters return to the ruins!"

One cultivator exclaimed, "This is the forbidden technique of the Cold Water Elder, which requires one's own essence and blood as a catalyst... Wasn't it lost to time?"

The moment the sand wall struck the frozen lake, the sand blades collided with the ice shards, creating a blinding light.

The sand wall tried to crush the ice surface, but the frozen lake continued to spread, freezing and shattering the sand and gravel. The two sides were locked in a stalemate in the center of the arena, with sand and ice shards flying everywhere, like a strange sand and snow scene.

"what!!!"

Sha Tu's forehead veins bulged, and he looked like a madman. He bit his tongue hard, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the iron shovel, and roared, "Crimson Sand Devours the Heavens!"

The sand wall suddenly exploded, turning into billions of sand grains. The sand grains condensed in the air into a giant sand claw, the tip of which glowed with a dark red halo. This was a killing move infused with his natal spiritual sand; anyone who touched it would have their flesh and blood devoured by the sand grains.

As Shui Ling watched the sand claws rushing towards her, a ripple finally appeared in her eyes.

She slowly raised her hand, the icy whip spinning around her fingertips, and the ice shards beneath the lake suddenly stood up, reflecting a blurry, unreal image...

That was a middle-aged woman in a blue robe, the very mother who had risked her life to protect her as she fled.

"Mother, your daughter has avenged you."

After speaking softly, she plunged her long whip into the icy lake.

In an instant, the frozen lake began to boil, and countless ice needles shot out from the surface, colliding with the sand claws. The ice needles, though seemingly slender, carried a chilling coldness, and they actually carved countless tiny holes in the sand claws, freezing the flow of the sand grains.

"impossible!"

Sha Tu was filled with disbelief. He felt his natal spirit sand constantly stiffening in the cold air of the ice needles, and even the iron shovel began to tremble.

Shui Ling gave him no chance to react, her figure suddenly transforming into an ice shadow, darting to Sha Tu's side along the trajectory of the ice needles, her ice crystal whip wrapping around his wrist. The chill spread along the whip, and Sha Tu's arm was instantly covered in frost, making it difficult to even move a finger.

"Twenty-five years ago, I knelt down and begged you, saying, 'I don't want the spirit mine anymore, do whatever you want, just please stop killing people.' But you still indiscriminately slaughtered innocent people, not even sparing my one-year-old brother, you beasts! Now, I'll let you see with your own eyes what karma is! Otherwise, you'll die with your eyes wide open!"

With that, Shui Ling waved her hand, and a bunch of human heads frozen into ice crystals were thrown out of the storage talisman.

The onlookers were all deeply moved and horrified, because...

There are old people and young people.

The white-haired old man is fine, but the young one...

Her eyes were fixed on Sha Tu. With a flick of her whip, she pulled out two men: one fat and big-eared, the other more handsome. The older one looked about twelve or thirteen, and the younger one about four or five. Her chilling voice rang in his ear, mixed with a maniacal laugh, and she said, "See them clearly? These two are your sons! The two you raised in Qingshui City are fake, a decoy. You think I don't know?"

Sha Tu's eyes were bloodshot, no, his eye sockets were bulging, and tears of blood streamed down his face as he frantically cursed, "You slut! You slut! I should have torn you to pieces back then! Regret! Hatred! Do you want to know how your mother died? She was gang-raped by the twelve of us..."

Before he could finish speaking, his head shattered into ice fragments with a "bang".

The world became quiet instantly.

Luo San hesitated for a moment, but still let Lan Gu go up.

After taking the stage, Lan Gu glanced at the scene and said in a deep voice, "Shui Lingsheng, you can choose a house in the Five Elements Tenant Area to recuperate for half a year. During this period, no spirit stone fees will be charged. I wish you a speedy recovery and a fresh start in your life."

After a long pause, Shui Ling slowly asked, "Fellow Daoist Lan, I would like to join the Five Elements Sect. I'd like to work as a menial servant in the outer sect."

Her cultivation level was even higher than Lan Gu's. Her ice-based Daoist techniques, in terms of refinement alone, without considering supernatural powers, far surpassed Feng Biwu's.

Lan Gu twitched the corner of her mouth and shook her head, saying, "I can't make the decision on this matter; I need to consult with my superiors. You should go and recuperate. You've killed a thousand enemies but also lost eight hundred of your own; be careful that your foundation doesn't collapse. Remember, you only have six months."

Shui Ling's face grew increasingly pale, almost transparent, and she staggered away.

The cultivators around the arena were thoroughly enjoying the spectacle, and Li Weizhou was also deeply impressed, exclaiming, "It's truly amazing!"

Upstairs in the Five Star Building, Tao Ling'er and Xi Mei were also exclaiming in surprise. With each life-or-death divination, they gained a deeper understanding of the world.

A dish of candied fruit sat by the window, glistening rock sugar coating the fruit, its sweet aroma filling the table.

Tao Ling'er held a candied fruit in her hand but didn't put it in her mouth. Her square face scrunched up in a frown. Suddenly, she nudged Xi Mei next to her and asked, "Xi Mei, do you think... our sect leader will let that Shui Ling join our sect?"

Xi Mei was holding a glass jar and scooping out spirit fruit jam with a small silver spoon when she heard this. She mumbled with the spoon in her mouth, "Why not? She did a good job."

Tao Ling'er blinked her big eyes and then suddenly raised her voice, "Didn't you see? She killed so many people, she didn't even spare the children! My God, this person is too ruthless!"

After she finished yelling and felt relieved, she covered her mouth and whispered, "When our sect accepts disciples, we always ask if they have a righteous heart and examine their character. Someone like her... we dare not accept."

Xi Mei put down her spoon, wiped the jam from the corner of her mouth, and said, "That's the child of a bad person! Sha Tu killed her whole family back then, not even sparing her one-year-old brother. Why can't she take revenge?"

She slammed her small hand on the table, making the glass jar rattle, and said fiercely, "If anyone dares to harm my brother, I'll crush not only the bad kids, but even their dog!"

"But the puppy didn't do anything wrong."

Tao Ling'er's face turned red with anxiety. She grabbed a candied fruit but didn't even put it in her mouth. She said, "Why not just kill the culprit? Why involve innocent people? They don't even know what happened!"

"Whether you know it or not, you deserve it!"

Xi Mei remained defiant, her little braid swinging like a rattle-drum as she said, "Who told them to be born into the wrong family? Do you dare say they didn't enjoy the things that the man surnamed Sha burned, killed, and looted? If that man surnamed Sha hadn't died, when his children grew up, they would most likely be proud of him and applaud him. What's this talk of innocence?"

Tao Ling'er was speechless after hearing this, and finally managed to say, "You little brat, you're really ruthless. Let me ask you, if one day your brother's enemy comes knocking on your door, and that enemy becomes an extremely powerful and formidable figure who wants to kill you, what will you do? Will you feel wronged?"

"Injustice my foot! Don't even mention killing me, killing you wouldn't be unjust!"

Xi Mei ate with great relish, and her mouth tasted delicious too.

Tao Ling'er's braids almost stood on end as she exclaimed, "I'm not wronged?!"

Xi Mei curled her lip and said, "Didn't you get any benefits from my brother? If you did, and you're close to him, then don't complain. Of course, I don't expect you to die, but like that woman, live to get out and hone your skills to avenge us."

Tao Ling'er asked, "Don't you want to live? To avenge everyone?"

Xi Mei shook her head, her cheeks puffed out, and said, "I don't want to."

Tao Ling'er asked curiously, "Why is that?"

Xi Mei said, "Dying is easy, but living is too difficult."

Tao Ling'er's eyes widened as she asked, "How did you know?"

With her best friend right in front of her, she's really putting on an act!
Xi Mei glanced at her and said, "I'm alright, but I've seen how hard and painful it was for my brother after our parents died. Believe me, there are very few things in this world more painful than that."

Tao Ling'er: "..."

……

Li Weizhou said to Luo San, "So, in other words, once Shui Ling leaves the Five Elements Territory, she will be hunted down to death by the Crimson Sand Sect?"

Luo San nodded and said, "That's right. It's one thing for her to kill the entire Sha Tu family, but she also put up human heads in front of so many people and admitted that she did it. As a result, Han Shui Pavilion can no longer accept her. Sect Leader, think about it, who doesn't have a family? No one dares to protect someone like that. Some things can be done in secret, but you can't talk about them."

Li Weizhou said, "Everyone knows about what happened back then, the massacre of the Shui family by Sha."

Luo San nodded and said, "More or less. But Sha Tu and the others don't admit it, insisting that it was the sinful clan who did it."

Li Weizhou asked curiously, "Is this kind of thing common? They say it was done by the Sinners, so it really was?"

Lan Gu sneered from the side, "They were prepared all along, hiding several corpses of the Sin Clan. Moreover, they didn't intend to keep the spirit mine they discovered for themselves; they 'offered' it to the Xuan Tian Pavilion, and the Xuan Tian Pavilion even generously gave Shui Ling a large sum of spirit stones. After each of them received a large amount of spirit stones, they stopped being rogue cultivators risking their lives. They bought cultivation techniques, magic weapons, and pills, and rented a house in Qing Shui City. They had also rented a house at Five Elements Peak before."

However, karma is a bitch. They hadn't expected that only one girl would escape. That girl possessed extraordinary talent; she became an apprentice of the Black-Hearted Granny at Black Wind Lake. Although she suffered greatly, perhaps due to her hard work and natural talent, she truly inherited the Black-Hearted Granny's mantle. Moreover, of the twelve people in that group, the other eleven died tragically, each more gruesome than the last. The Black-Hearted Granny herself was too badly injured and died because of this. Sha Tu was the last, and also the one who died the most tragically.

Li Weizhou clicked his tongue and said, "Xuantian Pavilion really does accept all sorts of shady goods."

After listening for a while, Hou Haikun asked Li Weizhou, "Sect Leader, if they come to us with something like this... should we accept it?"

Li Weizhou said expressionlessly, "What do you think?"

Hou Haikun, understanding the implication, glanced at Li Weizhou and quickly said, "Then we definitely can't accept it!"

Li Weizhou sneered, "We'll take them in, but first we'll take the heads off these beasts and feed them to the dogs. No wonder others look down on the harsh land of the Northern Spirit Region. How can they tolerate such despicable acts? I don't care how rogue cultivators fight for rare treasures outside, or how they secretly plot against us. Cultivation is about fighting for a chance at survival. Once you've stepped in, you have to accept the consequences. If you're not as skilled, there's nothing to say. But to go so far as to prey on women, children, and the elderly is too beastly. I can't control such things outside, but within a three-thousand-mile radius of our Five Elements Territory, it's not allowed to happen."

I don't mean to meddle, but for something like this to happen right under my nose is disgusting, isn't it? You're all from humble backgrounds, and Hou Haikun is well-informed. You should take stock of what other similar incidents have occurred.

The Shui family only had one exceptionally talented member to take revenge. What about the ordinary aristocratic families? They were harmed by heartless villains and didn't even have a chance to seek justice. Investigate thoroughly, and my Five Elements Sect will act on behalf of Heaven to uphold justice!

What a fuck!

……

(End of this chapter)