"All you ever think about is food. Can't you use your head a little? Haven't you noticed anything different in the sect? The massive changes that have been happening?"
Wen Chang could only snort in reply, silently rebutting in her head, "What does Cheng Yuan expect? I'm a cow. If I didn't think about food, I'd be letting down my lineage. It's not like I can stroll around the sect, putting on a sage-like expression and giving people random advice on life and cultivation in my best lofty tone—especially not while using that trashy transmission bead that distorts my voice."
Seeing her expression, Cheng Yuan sighed and gave up. He began to explain things slowly, hoping to help the court get a clearer picture of the situation.
"Ever since I became sect master of Green Fog Swamp Sect, it has been my dream to push it further—not let it remain stuck where I inherited it," Cheng Yuan said, his gaze distant.
"Until today, I thought Elder Peng Zhen shared that dream."
A brief silence settled over him, the weight of his words palpable.
"The previous sect master had three disciples: Peng Zhen, me, and Zou Wen," Cheng Yuan said, his tone tinged with sadness.
"However, Zou Wen passed away during one of our sect missions," he continued, his eyes dimming as he relived the memory.
"Her loss still weighs heavily on us. It's one of the reasons I'm so desperate to improve the sect."
He shook his head, as if to dispel the lingering sadness.
"When we were younger, Peng Zhen was the clear frontrunner for the sect master position. His talent far outmatched mine. The only thing I had going for me was hard work, and even then, I lagged behind." He gave a bitter smile.
"He broke through to the foundation stage while I was still at the seventh level of qi refinement, even though we started cultivating around the same time. Luckily for me, despite my poor performance, our master showed no favoritism and guided us both equally."
Cheng Yuan paused, his gaze falling to the ground as if reflecting on the passage of time.
"Then Peng Zhen's progress began to slow, while mine seemed to speed up after I broke through to the foundation establishment realm. In less than five years, I caught up with him at the fifth stage. Soon after that, our roles reversed, and I was at the forefront. It shames me to admit that, after years of being behind, I didn't handle the shift with the same grace he did."
Cheng Yuan looked embarrassed as memories of his youthful arrogance surfaced.
Unwilling to dwell on his past mistakes, Cheng Yuan pressed on.
"I reached the peak of the foundation stage while Peng Zhen remained at the eighth level. Despite the widening gap, he never showed envy or discontent. He stayed focused on cultivation and the sect's needs, just as our master treated us both with the same unwavering care.
When I reached the peak of the foundation stage, the core formation realm already in sight, our master began shifting his attention toward preparing me to take over. He was aging, and his time was running out." Cheng Yuan's voice cracked slightly.
"Our master was a core formation expert, but a severe injury left him with a cracked core, damaging his foundation and shortening his lifespan. For someone who could have lived 3,500 years, his life was reduced to just 1,000—and his end was near.
Because of this, he trained us with desperation. He couldn't afford to leave the sect unprotected, especially with him being its only core formation expert at the time. I can't imagine the struggle he must have endured."
Cheng Yuan clenched his fists, frustration and regret evident. "Our sect lacked the resources to heal him. Maybe if he'd survived, Peng Zhen and the others..." His tone faltered, dispirited.
"For the sect to survive in the Green Fog Region, it needed a core formation expert at the helm. So our master decided the first among us to reach the core formation realm would become sect master. That's how I ended up in this seat. Even now, I wonder if I deserve it. Judging by recent events... perhaps my doubts were justified," Cheng Yuan said with a bitter smile.
"Back then, I relied heavily on Peng Zhen—more than I'd like to admit. He was the only person I felt I could truly confide in. Tragedy has a way of bonding people, and in the Green Fog Region, tragedy is guaranteed. Peng Zhen and I shared two deep ones: we lost our junior sister, and soon after I stabilized my core formation cultivation, our master passed away.
It almost felt like he clung to life just to see the sect produce a core formation expert. Once that was achieved, he let go."
Cheng Yuan's eyes dimmed. "I lost my master and my martial sibling. If anyone understood that pain, it was Peng Zhen. We both knew why they passed—it was because we were weak, and the sect was weak. We needed to strengthen both."
"Until today, I believed Peng Zhen and I were on the same page about that. The sect's current strength owes much to him."
Cheng Yuan sighed, his heart heavy. Even now, with the evidence in front of him, he struggled to believe Peng Zhen could betray him—or the sect, especially the latter. They both loved and respected their master deeply. Tarnishing the sect felt like tarnishing his memory. Yet the person the evidence painted Peng Zhen as, made him unrecognizable.
But Cheng Yuan, long accustomed to disappointment and loss, steadied his heart and mind enough to continue.
"Some years ago, Peng Zhen failed to break through to the Core Formation realm. He was lucky to survive.
At the time, I unilaterally decided to use all available resources to repair the damage to his foundations, even though it meant the sect's plans would face significant setbacks.
I couldn't save our master back then, but I wasn't going to let my junior brother meet the same fate. Thanks to the sect's progress, the growth of the Tupelo tree, and the advantages it provided, we managed to repair most of the damage."
"Even though we healed him, the damage he suffered—both physically and mentally—made me doubt he would ever advance beyond the Foundation Establishment realm. For someone like him, a cultivation fanatic, I couldn't imagine a worse fate.
His single-minded devotion to cultivation was unmatched, even by our master. With his path forward shattered, I could only imagine how devastated he must have been.
That's why I was so ecstatic when he told me he had found the luminescent star flower. With it, his path to the Core Formation realm had been revived," Cheng Yuan said.
The luminescent star flower was a top-tier sky-rank herb whose wondrous properties made it nearly as valuable as a monarch-grade herb—a rank above it—especially to the right person.
The flower had a singular purpose: polishing foundational pillars. It strengthened them, creating a sturdier foundation and, as a result, offering a better chance of breaking through to the Core Formation realm.
It was useless for anything else, which explained its classification as a sky-grade herb. But for someone like Peng Zhen, who had stumbled at the doors of the Core Formation realm, the luminescent star flower was as precious as a bloom plucked from the gardens of heaven.
That's why Cheng Yuan was stunned to find it in the sect's treasury. Peng Zhen would never part with it, and Cheng Yuan would never have accepted it, even if he had.
Everyone present—except Wen Chang—already understood the flower's purpose. Cheng Yuan explained it briefly for her sake, helping her grasp the gravity of their situation.
He went on to describe the significance of the other herbs, many of which belonged to elders likely colluding with Peng Zhen. These elders were unlikely to part with their herbs willingly. Finally, he addressed the sky-grade herbs Wen Chang had complained about earlier.
"Those sky-grade herbs are meant for disciples nearing the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm. Their effects are somewhat similar to the luminescent flower, though far milder. Even so, they're incredibly valuable for strengthening pillars and aiding disciples in their breakthroughs.
As for why I didn't feed them to you—it's because they would do nothing for your cultivation. Their greatest effect lies in enhancing foundational pillars. With your talent, I believed it was better for you to rely on the potential of your bloodline rather than external means. Your foundations would be much firmer when breaking through to the Core Formation realm as a result of it."
Cheng Yuan had conveniently left out another detail: he hoped that the toil without external assistance would help Wen Chang build her mental resilience—an area he strongly believed she was severely lacking. In terms of physical strength, she was among the best in the sect, but in terms of mental fortitude, he felt she languished at the bottom, on par with the outer sect disciples.
The day her mental resilience caught up with her physical talent, perhaps that would be the day Green Fog Swamp Sect produced its first-ever Palace Realm expert.
Cheng Yuan deeply hoped for that. At the very least, achieving such a milestone might finally lift the sect from its desperate existence—an existence where every day felt like their last. Too afraid to sleep, too afraid to venture out, too afraid to even exist.
"Whether she is fortunate enough to reach that realm, only time will tell..."
Cheng Yuan quickly pushed those thoughts aside, bringing his focus back to the task at hand.
"As much as I respected my master—idolized him even—and understood why he did what he did, I couldn't follow the same path as him. He focused all the sect's resources on a few talented individuals, like us.
But we are a minority in the Green Fog Region be it in terms of talents or even just humans as a whole. Our numbers are but a drop if we were to compare our numbers to the spirit beasts that call the Green Fog Region home, and a handful of talented individuals cannot bridge that gap to secure the sect's survival—at least not without heaven-defying talent.
And if someone had such talent, they'd likely choose a more prestigious sect, a much safer and better option than our sect.
So I chose a different approach.
I sought a broad-based strategy. I lowered the threshold for acceptance for becoming core disciples so that not only the most talented but also those of average yet promising ability would be included. Then, I poured the sect's resources into nurturing them equally.
This approach wouldn't produce exceptional experts in a short time, but it would gradually elevate the sect's overall strength. With the resources shared among a larger group, the entire sect would benefit.
Of course, the plan didn't sit well with everyone in the sect," Cheng Yuan said meaningfully.
"The ones Wen Chang mentioned are among them.
Elder Jia Tingfeng was responsible for training the core disciples, a role that demanded impartiality. Instead, he focused on building his own faction within their ranks rather than fulfilling his duty. I demoted him and took over their training myself.
Elder Gui Bingwen opposed my decision to promote disciples who had reached the late stages of the Foundation Establishment realm to elder positions. I wanted them to share the duties of some senior elders, but he—and others—resented this shift.
Then there's Elder Hao Ye. He was one of the vice heads of the alchemy division. My policies hurt him when I reallocated resources from his personal research to support promising young disciples in alchemy whose work aligned with the sect's needs.
Finally, there's Dong Yanlin—the only one on that list I didn't have a personal conflict with. It's understandable that he sided with Peng Zhen, though, as Peng Zhen had nominated him for his deacon position due to his strong communication skills and connections. Dong Yanlin was a rogue cultivator before joining the sect," Cheng Yuan explained.
Wen Chang seemed utterly stunned by it all.
"What about the leaves of the Tupelo tree?" Wen Chang asked, grasping at anything that might prove Cheng Yuan to still be the villain she knew him to be.
Cheng Yuan sighed softly, his gaze turning sympathetic as he looked at her.
"Wen Chang..." he called gently.
"While I may not know much about spirit beasts, I know more about the Tupelo tree than those beast tamers ever could. I can promise you that. Its leaves do have miraculous effects, but they are far from guaranteed.
Over the years, we've recorded cases of sect members poisoned and on death's door eating its leaves and being instantly healed. But there are also cases—plenty of them—where both healthy and injured cultivators ate the leaves only to suffer harm. Some even had their entire cultivation dissipate.
Its effects are unpredictable. That's why I couldn't risk giving it to you," Cheng Yuan explained softly.
"No, that can't be..." Wen Chang muttered, her features paling. Her mind reeled as she repeated the same sentence over and over, as if refusing to believe it.
"It is," Cheng Yuan replied, his tone soft but heavy. "Peng Zhen and the others tricked us both. By now, they've probably emptied the sect's vaults—or achieved whatever it is they were planning.
I can only hope they won't harm the rest of the sect."
His voice trembled slightly, filled not only with sorrow but a deep, underlying worry. The future of the sect—of all those he had nurtured and fought for—was hanging by a thread.
A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face, as if he was unwilling to fully confront the possibility of a ruinous outcome. Still, the weight of those words was undeniable.
"If they do," he whispered, almost to himself, "the Green Fog Swamp Sect will fall. And everything we've worked for... will be lost."
Wen Chang stood motionless, processing the gravity of his words, her mind too shocked to form a response.