Dual Cultivation

"Great Elder Han! You better have a good explanation for all of this!" The Sect Leader yelled at him without any care for the surrounding disciples and Great Elder Han’s face, his voice filled with anger.

The disciples and sect elders sympathized with the Sect Leader’s anger, as their hearts burned with frustration after experiencing the feeling of being powerless — and to a single entity at that.

"And you! You are coming with me as well!" The Sect Leader then pointed to Zhang Xiu Ying, who was still lost in her thoughts.

The other disciples and sect elders all gazed at Zhang Xiu Ying with a curious gaze. They were all wondering her relationship with Su Yang, and some of them even felt jealousy towards her.

After all, who didn’t want to have such a close connection with someone so powerful that even the entire Burning Lotus Sect cannot stop him?

What’s more, because Zhang Xiu Ying used to be a mere Outer Court disciple until very recently, pretty much everybody there haven’t seen her face until today, much less know her name.

The people there stared at Zhang Xiu Ying’s pretty face with wide eyes as she followed the Sect Leader with nervous steps, almost like they wanted to engrave her appearance into their mind so that they don’t offend her by accident in the future.

Forget about the Core disciples, even the Sect Elders there would rather eat shit than to offend Su Yang after seeing his dominating presence and dreadful prowess that could threaten even an entire Sect by himself.

Once Zhang Xiu Ying, Great Elder Han, and the Sect Leader left the area and enclosed themselves in a private room, the Sect Leader began questioning Great Elder Han first.

"What the hell happened out there? Who was that monster?"

Great Elder Han sighed deeply and began explaining to him everything that happened before he’d arrived.

"That man, who’s identified as Su Yang, apparently attacked Sect Elder Lao’s disciple inside Lotus City along with three other Inner Court disciples. He also admitted being the culprit for Wang Ming’s death, the Inner Court disciple whose ashes were found very recently within the Inner Court."

"W-Wait! S-Su Yang only attacked them because they—"

Zhang Xiu Ying tried to defend Su Yang and his actions but was interrupted by the Sect Leader, "You will have your turn to explain later."

The Sect Leader tried to remain a calm voice when speaking to her, almost as though he was afraid of scaring her after Su Yang’s clear warnings.

"Elder Lao was the first one to encounter Su Yang, and during their exchange, Elder Lao decided to use the Emergency Talisman, summoning the rest of us. This is also when I arrived. And because his background is still in the mist after my exchange with him, I have decided to make him leave behind one of his arms as a punishment for killing one of our disciples. He refused, even mocking us, and everything after that was just plain chaos..."

Great Elder Han then explained to the Sect Leader about how both spiritual techniques and spiritual treasures were ineffective against Su Yang and how he felt like they were fighting against an immovable mountain made of pure steel.

"That man... he’s something straight from one’s worst nightmares..." Great Elder Han sighed, feeling like many years of his lifespan have been shaved away after the events today.

The Sect Leader closed his eyes to ponder after listening to Great Elder Han’s explanation.

After many minutes of silence, the Sect Leader opened his eyes to look at Zhang Xiu Ying and said, "Go ahead, and introduce yourself to me before you begin."

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded and said, "This disciple is called Zhang Xiu Ying. I was an Outer Court disciple until recently. At the Lotus City... Su Yang only attacked them because they were provoking him with nasty remarks! And that Core disciple attacked Su Yang first! A-As for Wang Ming... because he would often abuse his status as an Inner Court disciple to force female Outer Court disciples to sleep with him, Su Yang killed him..."

The Sect Leader began pondering again, and after a few more minutes of silence, he spoke to Zhang Xiu Ying, "Did Wang Ming pressure you?"

He couldn’t find any good reasons that could’ve led Su Yang to Wang Ming unless Zhang Xiu Ying was the cause.

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded with a bitter expression and said, "Before his death, Wang Ming has been pressuring me to sleep with him."

"How did you meet with that man named Su Yang?" The Sect Leader then asked her.

"I met Su Yang at the Burning Lotus Auction House during this year’s opening," she said, purposefully avoiding the details, especially how she gave him her Pure Yin Essence during that time.

"The Burning Lotus Auction House? Does Elder Wang also know about him?" he asked her.

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded.

The Sect Leader was beginning to have a headache from all of this. How will Wang Shuren react once she learns the identity of her cousin’s killer? It would be ideal for her and the Burning Lotus Sect if she doesn’t go after him for revenge.

After pondering for many minutes, the Sect Leader said, "Great Elder Han, I want you to speak with Elder Wang about Su Yang, and if she wants revenge for her cousin, I want you to try and convince her to throw that thought away at all cost."

And he continued, "As for today’s events, just treat it as though it had never happened."

"Excuse me?" Great Elder Han looked at the Sect Leader with wide eyes.

"You are more than welcome to go find him and hold him accountable for today," said the Sect Leader.

Great Elder Han immediately shook his head.

"As for the Profound Blossom Sect, they are clearly not apart of this so there’s no reason to cause trouble for them. And you, Disciple Zhang. I want to apologize for Wang Ming’s actions, as it is a failure on my part as the Sect Leader. Starting today, I will ensure that there will be no more offenders like Wang Ming."

Zhang Xiu Ying immediately bowed and expressed her gratitude, "Thank you, Sect Leader!"

Although the Sect Leader may be prideful and arrogant, he is not stupid and without reason. He realized his mistakes and will be correcting them on the spot. As for the bitterness in his heart that was caused by his encounter with Su Yang, there’s nothing he could do but to try and forget it.

Aside from the non-threatening injuries sustained by some of his disciples, there wasn’t any true damage done to the Burning Lotus Sect so he could ignore the events today to a certain extent. If anything, he was thankful to Su Yang for not killing any of his disciples when he clearly had the ability to.

"This is all for now."

The Sect Leader dismissed Great Elder Han and Zhang Xiu Ying. But before Zhang Xiu Ying left, the Sect Leader said to her, "If you find any more disciples like Wang Ming, you can give me a visit and I will personally deal with it."

Zhang Xiu Ying nodded, "This disciple understands."

Once Zhang Xiu Ying left the place, she stared at the clear sky with a dazed look, thinking about the extraordinary events that have happened in these last few days because of Su Yang.

Meanwhile, Great Elder Han went directly to Wang Shuren’s living quarters.