After the path was cut off

Chapter 14 Leveraging Power

Gu Xiangyang repeatedly declined the jade disc containing the immortal cultivation technique.

In his view, it was nothing more than settling ordinary people, and it was really not worth Li Wangxiang spending such a large sum of money.

But Li Wangxiang's face turned cold.

"If you don't take it, then don't mention taking care of your relatives again."

"If you won't even accept this, how can I entrust my family to you?"

Gu Xiangyang was taken aback. He was about to decline, but he swallowed his words back.

When he left, Li Wangxiang did not get up to see him off. He just sat in the pavilion and watched the figure gradually disappear along the stone path into the floating stones and morning mist.

The genuine feelings that Li Wangxiang revealed this time were not entirely feigned.

He also had another consideration.

Even if something unexpected happens to me in the future, at least my brothers and the others will have someone to take care of them.

A mountain breeze swept by, and a corner of the map on the table was slightly lifted.

Li Wangxiang raised his hand and pressed it down, his gaze slowly falling on the stagnant pool.

With the immortal arts sealed, the bidding for the Corrupted Water Abyss has become much more unpredictable.

It's necessary to make a trip to the General Affairs Hall to investigate which immortal sects are linked to the Corrupted Water Abyss.

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When Gu Xiangyang went down the mountain, his pace was much faster than when he came.

This trip to see Li Wangxiang was extremely fruitful.

There was none of the tension he had imagined, nor the cautious probing and defensiveness he had anticipated. Aside from the initial awkwardness, the atmosphere afterwards was much more relaxed than he had expected.

While he was pondering, he had already reached the foot of Xiaohuan Mountain.

Liu Ruyan and Zhou Mingyuan were waiting not far away. When they saw him come down, their expressions changed.

Just as Gu Xiangyang was about to speak, his divine sense suddenly detected several faint, almost imperceptible, probing glances passing by from different directions.

His expression changed slightly, and he immediately swallowed his words.

"Let's go back and talk about it first."

Liu Ruyan and Zhou Mingyuan were both intelligent people, so they stopped asking questions and the three of them hurriedly returned to Qingyun Xiaozhu.

Once the door closed, the barrier fell, and the faint light from the soundproof shield rose again, Gu Xiangyang took out the item from his sleeve and gently placed it on the table.

A jade tablet of immortal skills.

Beneath the jade lamp, the light within the jade tablet slowly flowed.

Liu Ruyan was taken aback at first, then picked up the jade tablet to examine it. The next moment, she could no longer suppress the surprise in her eyes.

"Senior brother, you've really gained a lot from this trip."

She handed the jade tablet to Zhou Mingyuan.

Zhou Mingyuan took the scan and his brows immediately furrowed.

"...One thousand immortal skills."

He slowly raised his eyes and looked at Gu Xiangyang.

"What exactly did this True Disciple Li say to his senior brother?"

After pondering for a moment, Gu Xiangyang gave a general account of what had happened after he went up the mountain.

At first, Liu Ruyan just listened quietly.

When she heard that Li Wangxiang not only didn't bring up the past, but also remembered that Gu Xiangyang had spoken up for him back then, her eyes curved slightly, and her smile couldn't be clearer.

"Senior brother is truly remarkable."

She covered her mouth and chuckled softly, her tone slightly teasing.

"So, even your true disciples got beaten up by you when they were kids."

Gu Xiangyang's forehead twitched at the sound, and he immediately raised his hand to press her down:

"Junior sister, that's enough for you to say. Don't go spreading this around."

Liu Ruyan nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't go around gossiping about such old things."

As Gu Xiangyang continued, mentioning the immortal skill jade tablet, Li Wangxiang's unintentional first ring, and entrusting Gu Xiangyang to settle his mortal relatives, the smile on Liu Ruyan's face gradually faded.

Zhou Mingyuan didn't utter a single word from beginning to end.

He simply listened with his eyes lowered, his fingertips slowly stroking the edge of the jade tablet, his expression growing increasingly somber.

After Gu Xiangyang finished explaining the whole story of the meeting, the room fell silent again.

Liu Ruyan spoke first, her tone no longer as light as before.

"So, those rumors outside actually have some truth to them."

"Li Wangxiang is indeed interested in the spiritual land of Yunmeng Marsh, and what he has his eye on is the dangerous area of the second ring."

She paused, her brows furrowing slightly.

"But I still don't understand. Is he really so willing to sacrifice everything just to settle his relatives?"

Gu Xiangyang shook his head.

"Junior sister, you don't understand how much Li Wangxiang cares about his family."

"Moreover, the Central Plains is not peaceful either. Its spiritual energy is locked up, and no Taoist sects in the world have set up shop there, making it an ideal place for evil cultivators to thrive. Moreover, now that the Northern Plains has been defeated, some cultivators who are unwilling to go to Yunmeng will inevitably flee to the Central Plains and become evil cultivators."

"It's not surprising that he was in a hurry to move his relatives out."

At this point, he couldn't help but lower his voice:

"Moreover, the second ring is unpredictable. Even if he is a true disciple, I don't think he can handle it with ease. It's perfectly normal to leave a way out for his mortal relatives first."

Zhou Mingyuan. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."

"What does Senior Brother think of Li Wangxiang's current condition?"

Gu Xiangyang paused slightly.

The image of Li Wangxiang sitting in the pavilion suddenly appeared before his eyes again.

Beneath that restrained, calm, and unfathomable aura, there seemed to be an occasional, extremely slight, and discordant disturbance that surfaced, like a ripple in deep water, which he then forcefully suppressed.

Gu Xiangyang hesitated for a moment before whispering:

"He hid his presence very well."

"Judging from appearances alone, he doesn't even seem like an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator; he looks more like a low-level disciple with weak Qi. But if you think about it carefully, you always feel that there's something that shouldn't be there buried in that calmness."

"I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps it's due to the cultivation technique, or perhaps..."

He didn't say anything more.

Liu Ruyan picked up the conversation and added a sentence for him:

"Li Wangxiang comes from the Tianzhu Peak lineage, which cultivates the 'Return to Earth' Daoist tradition. All energies enter the earth, and all things return to their roots. This lineage is best at concealing and hiding one's strength. If he deliberately hides his abilities, it is not surprising that others cannot see through him."

Zhou Mingyuan let out a long sigh.

"In other words, we still cannot understand his condition."

"Bei Chen has returned, the only survivor. He's keeping a close eye on the second ring of spiritual lands, suggesting he has other plans."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan finally frowned.

"Junior brother, trying to figure out other people's secrets is useless."

"Even if something is wrong with Li Wangxiang, that's his own business. The adults up there aren't saying anything, so why should we make a scene?"

Zhou Mingyuan said calmly:

"If we have absolutely no connection with him, I would be as far away from him as possible."

"But things are different now."

He raised his hand and placed it on the jade tablet of immortal skills.

"Now that this thing has fallen into the hands of the Seventh Peak, the situation that follows won't be one where you can simply extricate yourself."

Liu Ruyan had long lost the surprise she felt when she first saw the jade tablet, and was now somewhat perplexed.

"Senior brother, you accepted this jade tablet far too hastily."

"He wants to use us to settle his relatives and also to shield himself from the limelight."

Gu Xiangyang was a little embarrassed by her words and could only scratch his head.

"Given the circumstances... I couldn't very well refuse outright."

Liu Ruyan gave a soft snort; though she was complaining, her tone wasn't too harsh.

She knew in her heart that if Gu Xiangyang weren't this kind of person, he might not have been able to gradually bring together all these people with different thoughts and ideas on Seventh Peak to where he is today.

Zhou Mingyuan lowered his eyes for a moment, then said calmly:

"I have a sure thing, but I'm afraid none of you will want to hear it."

Liu Ruyan frowned, instinctively feeling that her junior brother was about to say something shocking again.

Gu Xiangyang only said one word:

"speak."

Zhou Mingyuan said:

"Return the imperial genealogy now."

"From today onwards, the Seventh Peak will go into seclusion, cease its quest for the Yunmeng Spiritual Land, and temporarily put aside the matter of establishing an immortal sect. We will reconsider our plans once Li Wangxiang leaves the sect."

Upon hearing this, Liu Ruyan's expression immediately changed.

"impossible."

She rejected it almost without thinking.

"I've used up all my favors and reputation over the years. How many disciples on the Seventh Peak are waiting for us to settle them? More than a decade of planning, all for this one step. Now you want to stop just like that? It's not that easy!"

She paused, her gaze growing even colder.

"Besides, Senior Brother has already accepted the jade tablet. If you were to return it now, wouldn't that be a direct refusal of the true teachings? How could you even come up with such an idea!"

"If you had known this would happen, why did you force me to see Li Wangxiang in the first place?"

Zhou Mingyuan raised his eyes, his tone remaining flat:

"I never expected that he and his senior brother would have such a deep old friendship."

"What I didn't expect was that he not only gave me the Immortal Skill Jade Tablet, but also entrusted the matter to the Seventh Peak."

Liu Ruyan raised an eyebrow, finally unable to suppress the anger in her heart.

"You're here again."

"You always point out the worst-case scenario first, and then all you think about is retreating. If you're this cautious in everything, what's the point of cultivating the Way?"

Zhou Mingyuan did not refute, and remained silent with a sullen face.

Gu Xiangyang, listening from the sidelines, felt embarrassed. Ultimately, it was his rash acceptance of Li Wangxiang's invitation that caused the trouble.

"In this world, there is no task that is easy to accomplish, nor is there any task that is impossible to accomplish."

"If you really want to fight, you can't be afraid before the battle even begins."

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the two of them:

"My Seventh Peak lineage is incomplete, and remaining within the sect makes further advancement difficult. If we wish to find a way out, we can only look outwards."

"This mountain gate is a must-build."

The room was quiet for a moment.

Liu Ruyan suddenly spoke, a hint of sharpness flashing in her eyes:

"I have something to say, senior brothers—do you dare to challenge me?"

Gu Xiangyang and Zhou Mingyuan both looked at her at the same time.

Liu Ruyan sat up straighter, speaking slowly and deliberately:

"Since Li Wangxiang has entrusted his affairs to my Seventh Peak, we might as well make full use of his influence."

"If we're going to compete for Woye, we should also try to take advantage of any suitable opportunities elsewhere. There's no need to hide it openly; let people know that the Seventh Peak has the true lineage behind it."

Gu Xiangyang frowned slightly.

Zhou Mingyuan asked first:

"What if other peaks are also worth photographing?"

Liu Ruyan gave a cold laugh.

"Then they need to figure out whether they are competing with the Seventh Peak or with Li Wangxiang."

"If someone dares to use their influence behind the scenes to suppress us—"

She paused, and the smile on her lips turned cold.

"Then dig upwards along that hand. Once you've dug it out, place it in front of Li Wangxiang."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Mingyuan finally raised his eyes.

"What if Li Wangxiang's influence doesn't last until the bidding war?"

This time, Liu Ruyan wasn't stumped. She just stared at him and said, word by word:

"At this point, even if we relinquish our imperial seal and close our peak now, we may not be able to truly extricate ourselves from this situation."

"Since you're already involved, being timid and hesitant will only hasten your demise."

Gu Xiangyang looked down at the jade tablet on the table, his thoughts sinking deeper and deeper.

What Li Wangxiang offered was not just a piece of immortal skill.

There is another way.

Since Li Wangxiang's stated reason was to find a way out for his mortal relatives, they had to pave that way for him first. In this way, no matter who came to inquire or ask questions, Seventh Peak could provide a plausible answer.

Thinking of this, Gu Xiangyang finally raised his eyes again, and his voice became more steady.

There are three things to do right now.

Liu Ruyan and Zhou Mingyuan both sat up straighter.

"First, fertile land, fight for it with all your might."

"Whether it's divine skills or borrowing power, there's no need to hide it. Since we've already gotten involved with Li Wangxiang's influence, let's make the most of it."

Liu Ruyan's eyes brightened slightly, and she nodded gently.

Gu Xiangyang continued:

"Secondly, secretly purchase a sacred site outside the sect."

"It doesn't need to be in Yunmeng, nor does it need to be too nice. A location near Zhongzhou is sufficient to settle down our mortal relatives."

Zhou Mingyuan and Liu Ruyan's expressions changed slightly at the same time.

Gu Xiangyang looked at the jade tablet of immortal skills and slowly said:

"This matter must be accomplished."

"Since Li Wangxiang entrusted us with the task of settling his ordinary relatives, we must pave the way for him first."

Liu Ruyan nodded slowly, the sharpness in her eyes finally softening.

Gu Xiangyang then turned his gaze back to the deeper parts of the map.

"Thirdly, the second ring—no one is allowed to touch it, much less explore it."

"If Li Wangxiang wants to go, that's his path. Seventh Peak is just using his position to gain leverage; he won't go with him to take the blame."