Chapter 7: Blessing or Curse

Violent-talent… The Zenith of all talent.

This could either be a great blessing, or a calamity for the sect!

Such fate depended on how they handled it. Meanwhile, the little girl, Shen Ai, was waiting for her sister to give her order. The humming around the jade prevented her from hearing the commotion around her. Being a bit longer than she thought, she opened her eyes, turning to her big sister for instruction.

Shu Fen took hold of herself, quickly went and hug Shen Ai off the rainbow jade. As her hands got off the jade, the magnificent violet soon dissipated, followed by the Indigo and the lower colors.

Having a better grasp of her mind, Grand Elder Ling stood up. She realized, she must take control of this information quickly, and seriously. Thus, she ordered;

“All present, kneel,”

Hearing her, the elders and disciples there understood. This matter still seemed unbelievable, yet still, it happened. They kneeled, ready to hear her orders. Shu Fen got confused. Must she kneel too?

Seeing all other kneel, she did it as well. Her sister followed suit, all while being confused. Grand Elder Ling stood silent, soon, she asked;

“I ask all present… Elders, disciples… Do you have absolute loyalty, to the Blood Oath Sect?”

“Yes, we swore a Blood Oath, of absolute loyalty!”

“Then, to all elders here… Swore to me and the Blood Oath Sect, the Blood Oath of Silence. Swear this on your soul,”

“We hear, and we obey! By our soul—”

As soon as the elders chanted the oath, her hands clasped, her fingers moving in an incantation gesture. Soon, a formation appeared below her; a red, bloody formation surrounding her, linking her with the six elders there.

“…All which happened here, shall never surface. Lest our soul shattered, never to recover. This is, our Blood Oath, of Silence!”

“I, Grand Elder Ling Qi, witnessed your Blood Oath,”

The formation trembled. Something was moving from the elders into the formation below Grand Elder Ling. Slowly, the formation dissipated. With the successful Blood Oath, she ordered;

“Elders, rise!”

“Yes, Grand Elder!”

Turning to the twelve disciples in the hall, she asked;

“Disciples, I shall ask all of you, a little sacrifice for the Blood Oath Sect. Are you willing?”

“We are willing, Grand Elder,”

“Then, assemble, all of you— to me.”

Obeying the order, they gathered around her. These disciples were all inner sect disciples, valuable assets of the sect. Their loyalties were already tested and proved. However, this, still need to be done.

“Sit in meditation pose around me. Elders, prepare for a Soul Cleansing formation, rank One.”

“Yes, Grand Elder!”

Hearing so, the disciples gulped. While the Soul Cleansing technique at rank 1 only had a temporary side effect, the technique itself was quite infamous. It was used to wipe out memories of secrets in the sect, for those who happened to lose the trust or running the risk of divulging the secret. It had five ranks in total.

Rank 1 was the lowest. The process itself was painful, but fortunately, it had only temporary side effects. Often, it resulted in dizziness for around two weeks and unstable cultivation for one month. While it was the lowest rank, the result however, was most desirable in this case.

This technique would make them forget anything substantial for the last ten days or so. This way, the sect would insure important secrets would not leak to outsiders. As for these disciples, if their elders noticed their symptoms, they would just use the excuse that they went for a secret mission, and thus the need for this technique. As soon as the disciples lowered their body’s Qi barrier, Grand Elder Ling commanded;

“Soul Cleansing, consume,”

As soon as she mentioned the word, the face of these disciples turned red. Veins on their face started to bulge, and there was excruciating pain throbbing in their head, as if something was draining their brain, bit by bit.

Soon, some of the disciples lost consciousness. Then, as the technique came to a close, Grand Elder Ling clapped her hands, making all of them lost consciousness altogether. She sighed, clearly weary.

This technique took a lot of Qi to be successful. Even with the help of these six elders, she spent almost half of her own Qi.

“Monitor their recovery,”

“Yes, Grand Elder,”

She took a small red jade by her waist, then poured some Qi inside. Instantly, in many different peaks all around the sect, twelve other people with the same red jade noticed – A call of utmost importance.

An Assembly of Grand Elders.

Turning to the two sisters, Grand Elder Ling approached, squatting by them just as before. She smiled, with the same kindness as before. Seeing Shen Ai still being timid, she addressed Shu Fen;

“Little friend, it seems your little sister is more amazing than we expected.”

“Is that… No, that’s a good thing, right?”

“It is, but…”

“B-but?”

“You could lose your sister, if today’s event, other people know…”

“W-what? T-then… What should I do? No, what should we do?”

“Then, are you willing to follow what I say?”

“If it meant keeping Xiao Ai safe, then of course!”

“Good. First, if people ask what happen, you should just be vague— Just say we’re happy with the result, and—”

It was not agreeable to wipe Shu Fen’s memory, since she was not even a cultivator. At least, not without harming her sanity. Grand Elder Ling proceeded to teach her what to do, all to contain the details of what transpired here.

Within a closed hall, various formations filled the space, golden and red colors moved in magnificent glory.

In a roundtable, sat twelve people, with Grand Elder Ling standing, explaining the reason she called for an emergency meeting. The Sect Leader and the other Grand Elders thought it might somehow be bad news, with the recent conflict and all… Yet it turned out, it was a golden egg falling from the heaven, right onto their laps. Upon hearing this, all of these serious-looking seniors, all

petrified… before jumping up their chairs.

“Is this t-true! Grand Elder Ling?!”

“J-junior, my good junior, you mustn’t be joking like this— My old heart can’t take it!”

“…I’m afraid this is not a joke, senior.”

“I-if this is true— Then this is big, no, this is Mount Tai itself! We must—”

“Grand Elder Ling, did you contain this information, I fear—”

“I already did, Sect Leader. We did a Containment Seal in the Testing Hall before the jade hitting violet. Right away, the six elders swore a Blood Oath of Silence with their soul, and all twelve disciples had a Rank 1 Soul Cleansing.”

“Well done! Then…”

With much vigor and elation, they discussed for quite some time. It was decided, that no matter what the cost, they must have this girl named Shen Ai.

For the following days, the two sisters stayed in the Blood Oath Sect. After meeting with the Grand Elders and the Sect Leader, they even met with the two Ancestors of the sect. These seniors were thrilled, but still, they tried to keep calm about it. After three days in the sect, only then did Grand Elder Ling and the elders escorted the sisters home.

As it turned out, there had been representatives of the sect coming to their home. They made sure that the grandpa was taken care of. Miraculously, he made amazing recovery within just three days. Not only that, the representative also relocated them to a much nicer home with a splendid garden, much closer to the sect.

While such treatment could raise an eyebrow, the sect managed to cover it by using the excuse that it was a charity for the orphanage. Given how much Grand Elder Ling favored children, it came as not too much of a surprise. With this in mind, even the other elders within the sect did not inquire too much.

Just when their family moved in, Grand Elder Ling brought them over, flying over the mountain. While they were taken for a flight before, it was the first time they flew right into their new home.

Seeing the new house from above, the sisters could not believe their eyes. It was almost like a little mansion. As they entered the garden, they saw grandpa and granny, as well as their other siblings.

Already, Grandpa was able to stand, and when he turned to see them, he was petrified.

Seeing their grandpa’s stiff face, they felt a bit anxious…

Will he get mad? What should we say?

They expected the worse. Yet, as it turned out, they saw him in tears. With his weak legs, supported by granny, he approached the sisters, embracing them tight.

He kept without words for some time, with only sobbing sound accompanying the embrace. Soon, he managed to utter;

“Girls… I’m sorry… Grandpa, is so, sorry…”

Trying hard to keep his sobbing, he kept on apologizing.

And apologizing…

“Grandpa…?”

Shu Fen and Shen Ai did not understand. But, with him crying and apologizing, soon, the same feeling crept into them. Tears started to swell in their eyes… Yet they did not understand at all, why…

Why are we crying?

As their grandpa kept on apologizing, their cry turned to wail. Wailing, with swelling eyes…

It’s not your fault grandpa… not your fault…

Yeah, yeah… not your fault… so please, don’t cry… huu…

The two little voices echoed in the garden, gently consoling one broken heart.

…

Grandpa passed away nine years later. A month later, grandma followed suit. Shu Fen and Shen Ai returned to their home for that short time. It was during this kind of time, that they reassured the fact that they were still family.

The time being in the sect kept them busy. As it turned out, Shen Ai was positioned as a Direct Disciple, a successor to Grand Elder Ling. The sect had hidden her true talent so well, with the rest of the elders only knew her as having Heaven-ranked, Blue-colored talent. Meanwhile, her big sister started in the Outer Court. The difference between the two was like heaven and earth, royalty and commoner.

Time passed.

Twenty plus years being in the sect, Shu Fen met with an unexpected trial. The trial some called the best elixir in life, while some called a lifelong curse…

The same challenge her grandpa faced;

She, fell in love.

It was during a mission, that she met that man… Xin Jian.