Chen Wentian almost fell out of the sky when he found out about Abbotess Liang. Chen Mo was hiding a corner and managed to overhead everything. He didn't expect such a conspiracy to be brewing and for Gong Liyun to be involved. He liked to pride himself on being prepared but this caught him completely off guard.
"What can I do?"
He kept asking himself this question over and over again but he couldn't find a clear answer. His thoughts were in chaos. Fear and uncertainty wracked him, something that very rarely happened and not since his days as a mortal. This was his first true challenge since he had broken the shackles of mortality and reached the Spirit Lord Realm.
This enemy, Abbotess Liang, was also a complete stranger, an unknown menace. He also didn't know anything about her background. He didn't recognize her and had no idea where she came from. From the amount of respect that Gong Liyun showed her, that woman was seriously bad news. He could not grasp exactly how threatening she was. If he made a wrong step, he could possibly stir up a hornet's nest and create an even bigger disaster.
Coveting disciples was against the rules of the Immortal Association and yet the two wrinkly shrews were still willing. This meant they were capable of bearing the cost and penalties. They didn't fear any repercussions so the assumption was that there wouldn't be any in the first place.
Chen Wentian was reminded of Immortal Phoenix Legend Shi Shi and the meeting they just had. Since it was possible to make an immortal sell out their own disciples, it was also possible to let an immortal sell out other people's disciples. Everybody had a price and whatever Gong Liyun's was, Abbotess Liang was able to pay it.
Gong Liyun wouldn't care if he lost a disciple. It didn't affect her in any way. It didn't affect the other kings of the capital either and he wouldn't be able to get help from any of them. She was probably jealous of his disciples and couldn't wait to see one get taken away.
"That slut!" He cursed the sky and the passing clouds.
Gong Liyun was extremely dangerous and unpredictable, a person that could never be trusted. He always kept her at arm's length but after many years of her not doing anything bad to him and helping him surreptitiously, his guard against her had dropped to an all-time low. She didn't bother him after the first time he fought off her dream art. She was the loudest and most eager among all the grannies that propositioned him for sex. She supported his disciples during the Immortal Sect Competition. She supported him in taking over Glacier Palace. There was so much blatant favoritism that a bystander might have assumed that the two of them had some kind of special relationship.
These things meant nothing in the end. Misfortune came when he least expected it.
He blamed himself. He couldn't believe he let his two best disciples into the dream array. He was blinded by riches and rewards, just like countless other immortals before him.
But... he wasn't like other immortals. He wasn't an ordinary Spirit Lord. He wasn't completely helpless, at least not yet. With the Anatta Soul Nirvana Art, he still had a chance to fight back. It would be incredibly dangerous but it wasn't impossible.
The most important thing now was not to panic or overreact but to gather information. He needed to know who this Abbotess Liang was and where she came from. He needed to know what her relationship with Gong Liyun was. He needed to know if the other Spirit Kings were complicit. He needed to know so many things and only limited time to investigate.
As the third-place finisher, Long Yifei could last in the dream array for six or seven weeks. More than a week had already passed so he had at most a month to get to the bottom of this and come up with a plan.
And for all of this, he needed…
"Master, what's wrong?"
Zhou Ziyun saw the severe expression on his face as he returned and knew something was wrong. She had been around him long enough to know that he rarely got angry or showed emotions like this.
Chen Wentian sighed heavily and sat her down to explain everything he knew so far. She listened silently as he spewed his thoughts until there was nothing left. He finished with another conflicted sigh and rubbed his brow.
"We have five weeks to gather information and come up with a way to save Long Yifei. I need some ideas." He asked.
She peered at him, studying his face and body language. She smiled lightly and patted his arm.
"Good, at least you are using your brain instead of your dick."
"What… is that supposed to mean?"
"Master, tell me honestly. If Chengcheng, myself, or any of the others fell into a similar situation, would you want to save us too?"
"Of course! You're all dear to me, I won't let anyone in the world take you!" He was almost offended she would ask such a question.
"Are you confident you'll be able to save Sister Long?" She asked sharply.
"…"
An awkward silence followed. He didn't have that much confidence. That's why he needed a good plan.
"What if she doesn't want to be saved?" She asked. "What if she wants to switch masters again?"
"…"
He didn't think that would be the case but he couldn't completely rule it out. That would certainly throw a boulder in everything. He felt an irrational fear erupt within his heart before he quickly quashed it.
She prodded him once again, "What if I said… the best possible plan to defeat this abbotess and taking back Sister Long had a fifty percent chance of death. What would you choose to do then? Would you still try? What if it was even riskier?"
Chen Wentian was stumped. A fifty-fifty chance of death was terrible odds. He quite liked his life and he didn't want to die. He hadn't tackled anything with such bad odds in a very long time.
He had made such risks in the past but they were for the sake of breaking through the shackles of mortality. Now that he was a Spirit Lord, he had to seriously ask himself. Was he willing to risk it against any odds for his disciples, for his women?
"Let's put it this way," Zhou Ziyun continued, "The consequence of your failure is not only that Long Yifei will be lost to suffer whatever fate awaits her. It's that you'll die. If that happens, you will also be abandoning the rest of us to an uncertain and perhaps tragic future. What would Chengcheng do that happened? What would Sister Qianyu do? I don't even know what I would do. What would other people do to us? I think in our hearts, the last thing any of us want you to do is to throw away your life needlessly. We need you. This is why I am glad you came and asked for my opinion. It means you are thinking things through and considering everything before jumping blindly into action. Instead of risking everything for one woman, you have to consider the rest of us as well."
She pulled out her sect badge and placed it on the table in between them.
"You are our master, the master of Ten Thousand Flower Valley. Long Yifei is the tenth disciple. You have so many other disciples you are responsible for as well. If you are still determined, as disciples, we will naturally obey. If you have made your decision with care and consideration, we will follow you willingly and without question into whatever dangers the world may throw at us."
Chen Wentian stared at the badge; a water lily carved onto white jade. He had one made for each of his first three disciples to symbolize purity, enlightenment, and rebirth. It reminded him of the responsibilities of a sect master, of the bond between master and disciple.
Her words were shrewd and enlightening. They reverberated in his mind, combined with his instincts, and he was able to arrive at a suitable decision.
"Ziyun."
"Yes?"
"We will utilize all resources available to us to defeat this conspiracy and save Long Yifei. This what I would do for any one of you. But the plan must be safe for everyone, you, me, the others, and also Long Yifei. I won't be charging in to duel the abbotess or anything like that. The plan needs to somehow derail her plan to take Long Yifei and force her away from the city empty-handed without having to resort to violence."
Zhou Ziyun nodded, "I agree completely. We should get the other's opinion too, especially Jasmine. I can already think of some ways to use her as bait."
"Oh… she won't be happy about that!"
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This is the end of Volume 7. There will be some side stories but only a very short time skip until the action resumes.
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