The Sect Leader Raised a Fox to His Own Detriment - Chapter 19

Why… why didn’t Master tell me?

A-Yin couldn’t wrap his head around it. If Yue Xichen was going to give him such a precious treasure like Silver Moon, he should have been upfront about it from the start!

And furthermore…

A-Yin rubbed his chin, his delicate brows knitting into a tight knot. If he remembered correctly, Yue Xichen had given him Silver Moon right when he began his punishment of kneeling. At that time, he hadn’t yet received any guidance from the masked man; his cultivation was only at the first level of the Qi Refining stage.

The old A-Yin shouldn’t have been able to wield Silver Moon at all.

Unless his Master possessed foresight knowing that after receiving Silver Moon, his cultivation would skyrocket and reach the Golden Core stage as it had now.

“Which means…”

Suddenly, a possibility exploded in A-Yin’s mind.

“The masked man…”

He recalled that the masked man had appeared before him right after Yue Xichen gave him the stone sword. The masked man and Yue Xichen had similar builds, wore the exact same plain white robes, and both carried that familiar, refreshing scent of peach blossoms.

“Could it be that the masked man… and Master…”

Are the same person?!

“No, no, no!” A-Yin shook his head violently.

How could the masked man and Yue Xichen be the same person? He had said so many bad things about Yue Xichen right to the masked man’s face…

A-Yin clutched his head, tousling his striking silver hair in a fit of flustered anxiety.

While his thoughts were in a whirlwind, Yue Xichen, who was flying ahead, suddenly began to descend.

“Where is Master going? Shocking Thunder is still flying up there…”

A-Yin adjusted his flight altitude to follow Yue Xichen, only to realize belatedly that on the ground, a large number of ordinary cultivators including rogue cultivators were being hunted down by corpse puppets while searching for resources.

“Don’t you four major sects pride yourselves on being righteous sects? You’re always shouting about upholding justice for the heavens! If you leave these corpse puppets alone, they will slaughter every last one of those cultivators,” one of the demonic cultivators controlling the puppets shouted upward.

“Hmph! Save your breath. We are in a secret realm; life and death are determined by fate,” Luo Feiyu declared with absolute conviction.

However, those words sounded like a mere excuse. A genius like Luo Feiyu had no intention of wasting time saving insignificant cultivators. Right now, they had only one goal: to obtain the divine weapon, Shocking Thunder.

The demonic cultivators from the Blood Spirit Sect clearly wanted Shocking Thunder as well. That was why they had created a massive swarm of puppets to attack the low-level cultivators, hoping to keep the four major sects too busy to interfere.

“Hahaha! The people of the four major sects are nothing special after all! Once the puppets have finished killing the cultivators on the ground, those dead will also become puppets. When this army of puppets charges out of the secret realm and slaughters its way to the villages at the foot of the mountain, I want to see how you four sects explain yourselves to the immortal families and the people of the world!”

The demonic cultivator spoke with smug satisfaction. Before he could even finish his sentence, Yue Xichen had already landed on the ground. Holding Falling Flower, he struck down two puppets with a single sweep of his sword.

Among the many high-level cultivators from the four major sects, Yue Xichen was the only one to descend.

“With Lingyun Mountain’s Sect Leader Yue Xichen here, these puppets are nothing to worry about!” Luo Feiyu took the opportunity to dump the task of killing the puppets entirely onto Yue Xichen.

“Eldest Senior Brother is right! He can handle it alone.”

“With him there, there’s no need for us to meddle.” The Xuanqing Sect disciples chimed in one after another.

“He isn’t just the Sect Leader of Lingyun Mountain; he is also the Leader of the Immortal Alliance. As the saying goes, the higher the status, the greater the responsibility. Stopping the puppets from escaping the realm and protecting all living beings is his duty and mission…”

“Exactly! It seems Sect Leader Yue is a sensible man who knows what he should be doing at a time like this.”

The people from Crescent Moon Island and Heavenly Abyss Valley also watched coldly from the sidelines, acting as if the situation had nothing to do with them.

“You hypocritical, selfish bastards!” A-Yin was so angry his teeth ached.

At that moment, Lin Fengfei’s voice drifted into his ears.

“Master is currently the number one person in the cultivation world, with a rare Great Vehicle stage cultivation. As his disciple, I have faith in his strength!”

Hearing Lin Fengfei say this, the other Lingyun Mountain disciples followed suit: “Senior Brother Lin is right!”

“The Sect Leader is so powerful; let him handle the puppets alone.”

“The rest of us should focus on snatching Shocking Thunder. We cannot let it fall into the hands of other sects!”

A-Yin never expected the disciples of his own sect to say such things. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes hard.

Below, amidst the countless corpse puppets, Yue Xichen’s snow-white figure was particularly eye-catching. Alone, he drove forward with irresistible force, appearing like an invincible god of war. No matter how many puppets there were, he could cut them down effortlessly.

“Master really doesn’t seem to need any help…” A-Yin murmured to himself.

If he went to help Yue Xichen now, he would surely miss his chance at Shocking Thunder. Even though he had Silver Moon, it was ultimately Yue Xichen’s weapon, and it acknowledged Yue Xichen as its master. It was only following his orders to serve A-Yin for now.

His mind became a muddled mess, and without realizing it, A-Yin flew higher and higher, growing further and further away from Yue Xichen.

The mountain range that birthed Shocking Thunder had completely collapsed. Magma overflowed, turning into winding rivers of fire that left shocking scars across the earth ravaged by the thunderous rain.

As Shocking Thunder flew through the sky, the rain intensified and the thunder roared, as if a giant monster were lurking deep within the thick dark clouds, watching and snarling. It was a hair-raising sight.

Yue Xichen was already soaked from head to toe. Rainwater streamed down his matted hair, dripping and mixing with the sweat on his skin.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning struck overhead, its light making Yue Xichen’s already jade-white face appear even paler. Even though he had prepared himself mentally, the deafening roar of thunder that followed still caused his slender frame to shudder.

Looking up at the night sky, his deep black pupils immediately reflected the lightning tearing through the horizon. Yue Xichen squeezed his eyes shut and swung Falling Flower to pierce through a corpse puppet.

“It never ends…”

Even Yue Xichen couldn’t help but complain at this moment. If it were any other weather, it would be fine, but a thunderous rainy day was the weather he hated most. The torrential rain drenched his body, making his hair and clothes stick to his skin in a cold, uncomfortable mess.

The lightning and thunder reminded him of memories that had long since passed but never truly vanished from his mind.

Rumble!

Another roar of thunder sounded. Yue Xichen’s body jolted, and he subconsciously clutched his chest.

How strange…

The true essence within his body was becoming somewhat uncontrollable.

Just as Yue Xichen took a deep breath to re-gather his essence, the scenery around him suddenly changed—

This was no longer the Northern Cloud Secret Realm. Looking out, there were no longer any puppets baring their fangs and claws. The only thing that remained the same was the thunderous rain.

“This is…” Yue Xichen was dumbfounded.

He never imagined the images from the depths of his memory would actually become a reality.

No, that’s not right…

Closing his eyes tightly, Yue Xichen fought to drive away the phantom image of that thatched hut lodged in his mind.

It was at this moment that he vaguely perceived a sound masked by the thunder.

“This is…” He snapped his eyes open, his face changing drastically.

It was the Soul-Devouring Bell!

So, he had been hearing the bell all along? No wonder his mind was being affected. Yue Xichen knew the bell he had shattered earlier couldn’t have been the real one; the Soul-Devouring Bell was the guardian treasure of the Blood Spirit Sect, it couldn’t possibly be that fragile.

However…

His snow-white figure began to waver in the pouring rain. Even though Yue Xichen realized he was being eroded by the Soul-Devouring Bell, it was already too late.

He felt as though he were drunk, or perhaps suffering from a severe illness. His body was weak, his mind was chaotic, and his consciousness flickered between clarity and a blur. The images before him frequently transformed back into that thatched hut where he had lived for many years.

Dark clouds pressed against the city, fierce winds howled, lightning flashed, and rain poured.

In his trance, Yue Xichen reverted to his nine-year-old self weak, helpless, and at the mercy of others.

“No… it’s not true… this is all fake… I am the Sect Leader of Lingyun Mountain. I am the most powerful existence in the cultivation world. My disciples, my sect, and even the entire world depend on me for protection!”

Opening his eyes wide, Yue Xichen finally saw through the illusion to the reality—

A corpse puppet had its blood-filled maw wide open and was biting down on his neck.