“Xuantian Dao Sect, why would you kill my Pill Valley’s honored guest Elder? If you don’t give me a satisfactory explanation, just wait for Pill Valley’s sanctions!”

There were dozens of red-robed elders standing in front of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s mountain gate. All of them had the image of a pill furnace embroidered on their chests.

These people came from Pill Valley. The Alchemy Pavilion Master had been one of their members. He could be likened to one of Pill Valley’s external Elders, one of their outside workers.

On the Martial Heaven Continent, ninety-nine percent of all alchemists were related to Pill Valley in some way. If they weren’t direct disciples of Pill Valley, they were still under Pill Valley’s name. One reason was because this status was grander, while the other reason was that this status would allow them to receive Pill Valley’s protection in times of trouble.

The Alchemy Pavilion Master had only dared to do what he had done because of his status as part of Pill Valley. According to reason, if he had truly committed such a grave crime, the Xuantian Dao Sect should have first alerted Pill Valley. With his status, he couldn’t be killed just because they wanted to kill him.

And so Pill Valley’s people had come for an explanation. Seeing this, Long Chen sank into thought. It seemed this matter was growing more and more complicated.

“Scram!”

In front of these tyrannical experts from Pill Valley, the Xuan Master’s reply was just a single word. It was curt and sharp, clearly expressing his attitude.

Those Pill Valley experts were all infuriated. They represented Pill Valley, but they had been told to scram?

Their leader shouted, “How brazen! Do you realize what you’re doing?”

Suddenly, the Xuantian Tower located at the center of the sect lit up with blazing light, and a terrifying pressure descended.

“I’ll give you to the count of three. Scram or die. Choose for yourself.” The Xuan Master’s icy voice rang out once more.

“Fine! Then let’s wait and see! I hope your Xuantian Dao Sect can stay so obstinate to the end! Don’t come crawling on your knees to my Pill Valley!”

With a final roar, the Pill Valley experts left. All the Elders were worried. The usually refined and patient Xuan Master had actually become this coarse. He even completely offended Pill Valley.

With their Alchemy Pavilion and medicinal fields destroyed, the Xuantian Dao Sect would quickly reach the point of despair.

“Long Chen, come to my room.” Just as Long Chen was watching Pill Valley’s experts leave, the Xuan Master’s voice rang out in his head.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see that the Xuan Master’s expression was very relaxed. He was leisurely steeping some tea.

“What? Is my expression different from what you imagined?” The Xuan Master smiled.

“Cough, maybe a bit.” Long Chen sat beside the tea table. He saw the tea had just finished steeping and was about to pour some.

But the Xuan Master beat him to it, pouring tea into Long Chen’s cup. At this time, the Xuan Master didn’t have any bit of a sect leader’s imposing dignity. Instead, he seemed like an ordinary elder.

“Do you have many questions?” The Xuan Master pushed the teacup in front of Long Chen.

Long Chen hastily received it with both his hands. He nodded. “Yes. But I’m afraid that once I ask, you’ll once again say that it’s not something I should know. Then I won’t have any face and I’ll feel like a foolish child.”

“You are a baby barely into his twenties. Compared to us, you are naturally a child. You’re still in the process of learning how to walk and accumulating experience. The more you fall, the more you’ll learn.

“Some things can’t be told to you because of karmic restrictions, and some things would not be the slightest bit beneficial to you if you learned them. Instead, they would rattle your Dao-heart. But, as long as certain things are within the right scope, you can still learn them,” said the Xuan Master with a smile.

“Then disciple won’t stand on courtesy. I want to know, what was that figure that only appeared for a flash in the scene that day? Was it someone from Pill Valley?”

The Xuan Master laughed, “Child, your eyes are sharp. I put it away so quickly, but you still noticed. Yes, that person is truly from Pill Valley. In fact, he’s one of the people that came today.”

“Then does that mean you are completely clear about everything that happened?”

“Correct. Other than the Tower Department Head, no one else knows this, but every action, every movement in the Xuantian Dao Sect is under the surveillance of the Reincarnation Mirror. The only exception is you.”

Hearing that everyone was under the Reincarnation Mirror’s supervision startled him. Then wouldn’t that mean his secrets had been exposed?

“In truth, I’m quite curious about your secrets. I’d be interested in knowing what trump cards you have. But the Reincarnation Mirror was once injured because of you, and it doesn’t dare to watch over you any longer as it is afraid of being infected by karma.” The Xuan Master helplessly shook his head.

Back in the Eastern Wasteland’s branch sect’s trial, Long Chen had suddenly encountered the soul of an expert from the Corrupt path. It had helped him activate the Future Lake within the trial, which had allowed him to look at his origins.

But only a few scenes had appeared before everything had vanished. In order to con the soul, he had then asked it to help him deduce the origin of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.

Future Lake was a projection of the Reincarnation Mirror. Deducing the origin of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art had almost caused the Reincarnation Mirror to be permanently damaged, so as soon as he arrived in the Xuantian Dao Sect, the Reincarnation Mirror had noticed him, which was why the Xuan Master and patriarch had immediately taken note of him.

“I am very clear on what happened with the Alchemy Pavilion. In fact, I intentionally allowed it. Zhao Changting was actually a chess piece that Pill Valley placed inside my Xuantian Dao Sect to keep watch over us. You don’t need to find that strange. Pill Valley is far greater than you imagined. Although Pill Valley claims that it doesn’t participate in the cultivation world’s struggles and is neutral, it actually secretly controls countless sects. That’s because all the large sects are dependent on it. Although the Dao Sect treated Zhao Changting well, his aspirations were too high. Even though this matter was a result of Pill Valley’s decision as well, the original idea definitely didn’t come from them.”

“Disciple doesn’t understand.”

“Pill Valley has an outer valley and inner valley. The inner valley rarely gets involved in mundane matters. Instead, they focus on cultivation and researching the Pill Dao. But the outer valley is in charge of Pill Valley’s regular operations and businesses. It is in charge of the Pill Towers that interact with the rest of the world. There are four hundred and eighty Pill Towers in the Central Plains, all of them in charge of the supply of medicinal pills in different regions. The group of people that just came are in charge of the Pill Tower in the region we are in, and their relationship with the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect is very good. Now do you understand?” explained the Xuan Master.

Now Long Chen understood. This matter had been done intentionally by Pill Tower because of their relationship with the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect.

The Alchemy Pavilion Master wished to become a true member of Pill Valley, which was a sacred land for alchemists. As long as the Pill Tower set up a few conditions and made a few promises, guaranteeing that the Xuan Master wouldn’t do anything to him, the Alchemy Pavilion Master wouldn’t possibly be able to resist their enticement. That was what had caused the Alchemy Pavilion to explode.

But the Alchemy Pavilion Master hadn’t thought that his protective talisman would be completely useless. The Xuan Master hadn’t even given him a chance.

“Is the Pill Tower really so brazen? Isn’t the Xuantian Dao Sect one of the three great heavenly sects? They dare to treat us like this?” asked Long Chen.

“Yes, we are part of the three great heavenly sects. But the three great heavenly sects have long since declined. That saying is just a sign of our former glory. Now, there are other more powerful sects, and the three great sects are only a bit above middle-level powers. We fell from the ranks of the top sects a long time ago.

“The most important thing is that the Pill Tower’s people know that no matter what, Pill Valley will protect them. Pill Valley’s power is so great that as long as they declare you are black, you will never be white again. Furthermore, Zhao Changting’s actions will cause us to be dependent on Pill Valley, so they wouldn’t punish anyone. Instead, they would secretly reward the Pill Tower for this,” said the Xuan Master indifferently.

“Then aren’t we currently in a grave crisis?”

“We entered a constant state of crisis a long time ago. The dangers you can see aren’t fearsome. The worst danger is the one of the frog being boiled alive in a slowly heating pot of water. By the time you react, it would be too late. Now, the danger is crystal clear. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. As for those people from the Pill Tower, they’re trying to hit us while we’re down. They want us to be completely under the banner of Pill Valley. Rather than that, having them directly scram will make the Dao Sect’s interior much cleaner and is even beneficial,” said the Xuan Master.

“But our medicinal pills and medicinal fields…”

“Foolish child, since I could allow Zhao Changting to do this, how could I not have my own preparations? Four hundred years ago, I secretly created another alchemy region and recruited quite a few alchemists. Although it wasn’t as much as the Alchemy Pavilion, there are enough stores of medicinal pills to last us a few years.” The Xuan Master involuntarily laughed.

Long Chen also awkwardly laughed. But his laugh was a bit forced.

“Do you feel like I’m too cruel?” asked the Xuan Master.

“Perhaps it just really is like you say. I’m not suited to be a ruler.” Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh emotionally. This matter had killed so many people. The Xuan Master had clearly known that would happen, but he had still allowed it to occur.

Although to a ruler, doing such a thing wasn’t a problem, Long Chen still felt uncomfortable with it. He definitely wouldn’t just watch as members of his Dragonblood Legion died, not even one.

“There is no absolute right and wrong in this world. The only thing that matters is the final result. If there comes a day that you have to sacrifice a part of your Dragonblood Legion to save the majority, what would you do?” The Xuan Master looked at Long Chen.

“I wouldn’t allow such a thing to happen.”

“But what if it did happen? What would you choose? If you hesitate, it will only cause more people to die.”

“If such a thing truly happened, I wouldn’t sacrifice a part. I would bring everyone to die along with them! Hypothetical questions are all senseless things.” Long Chen smiled, completely calm.

The Xuan Master was startled. He hadn’t thought about this answer. After a long moment, he sighed. Long Chen’s style of handling things was too domineering. But compared to a soft approach, hard things snapped easier. Long Chen’s character was lacking elasticity.

“Alright, then let’s talk about proper things. I’m preparing to send you to get a large sum of money,” said the Xuan Master.