Chapter 518: Passion Cools, Visions Fall Through

"What do you want?!"

Above the imperial court, the one appearing to be at odds with Huizheng was not the Emperor of the Qing Kingdom, nor the various officials of the Qing Kingdom, but a little girl who had suddenly popped out from the other side.

She had been eavesdropping outside the court, and now she dared to jump out and question her, which could be called extraordinary courage, far exceeding the crowd of adults who were currently in a panic and stammering, not daring to speak.

Huizheng had long known of her existence, yet was still surprised by her bravery; she turned her head to look at her seriously and spoke in a very rigid manner: "I want to establish the Dharma Research Society, obtain all corresponding rights, and join forces with the currently scattered cultivators of the Qing Kingdom to accomplish this great undertaking!"

"If it is based on the matter of the Grudge Demons, then the Divine Tree Sect is already responsible for dealing with it. At this point, what is the point of gathering the remaining loose cultivators?"

"Of course there is!"

The divine light in Huizheng's eyes shone brightly, as if she had been waiting for someone to ask.

Moreover, despite having just made a breakthrough, she now gave people the absurd illusion that she could immediately break through like bamboo and move forward again.

She asserted and declared: "People should not be trapped only on the ground, under that false blue sky! Since the Divine Tree has given us a chance to recuperate, we must seize this hard-won opportunity and advance toward the space above the blue sky, the place where our ancestors came from—that universe, that boundlessness, that true heaven and earth!"

Such desire and ambition were simply wishful thinking in the current Qing Kingdom! This stunned even the little girl who had dared to step forward; she couldn't help but tug at her little finger, and while being infected by it, a trace of yearning subconsciously appeared in her eyes, yet she rationally felt it couldn't be done, so she was unable to make a choice or decision for a moment and could only turn her head to look far away at the Emperor on the throne.

Huizheng naturally followed her gaze, looking at the one in charge.

My thoughts have been stated, the three-chapter pact and such are fine, in short, you must provide everything needed for the establishment of the Research Society today; if you don't give it, you are an insect with a different Dao, and I will wipe you out first before taking it—in the end, you'll have to give it anyway!

"……Granted."

The Emperor, in the prime of his life, had a pale, heroic, and dignified face at this moment; he spoke with some humiliation, yet also appeared relieved.

She didn't fear that she had no ideas or demands; she only feared that she would truly do as she pleased! Thus, the establishment of the Research Society was quickly implemented.

As for the Divine Tree Sect? Naturally, they had no objections there; rather, the fact that Huizheng dared to kill her way into the imperial court to demand people and things meant she had already communicated with them in advance, and she was not the type of person to be self-righteous.

"So, why must it be like this?"

As one of the representatives of the imperial court, the little girl had spent some time with her during the process of the establishment and witnessed that she liked to do things herself and was always overflowing with youth; in fact, she was not arrogant or rampant, at most her demeanor was relatively easygoing, and sometimes she even had a lively, ordinary side.

Thus, she asked with confusion: "Clearly, doing this will only make people feel humiliated, and they will certainly not support it wholeheartedly in the future; they might even trip you up or cause obstacles in the open or in secret!"

"Then, if I don't do this, will there be no tripping up or obstacles?"

Huizheng just smiled as she said this, and even reached out to rub the hair opposite her, her gaze becoming somewhat deep, "Those people, not to mention the situation of dragging things out with red tape, even if you just work and interact with them normally, there are all sorts of factions, choosing sides, party strife, and all kinds of messy things, like layer upon layer of spider webs. Where would I have the time to play that game with them now?"

"But, but... stop rubbing my hair!"

"Hehe, little girl, you still don't understand. The essence of the imperial court is the fist; only with a big fist can you stabilize the hearts of the people, only with a big fist can you maintain survival, and only with a big fist can you distribute things. Even the Divine Tree Sect actually comes from this, so as long as I am always the number one cultivator in the Qing Kingdom, there is no need to take any other detours!"

She let go with regret, because she still had to go get busy.

At the end of leaving this place, she paused and gave a warning without looking back: "If you want to join the Divine Tree Sect, that's no problem, but don't get the direction wrong. I don't want to see you again and find you have become a rigid person who only knows how to nag about devoutly believing in the Divine Tree and supporting the Witch Sacrifice!"

Then.

The Research Society was officially established, and according to the three-chapter pact, the three parties began to cooperate.

Huizheng basically treated the Qing imperial court as a granary; whenever she lacked things or ran out of supplies, she would go to open the granary and take grain, taking all kinds of resources basket by basket, gradually emptying out the various cultivation resources that had flowed there after the destruction of the sects.

Leaving them for that bunch would only be used for enjoyment and cultivating lackeys, so give them all to me!

At the same time, her cultivation also appeared to have another breakthrough, rapidly, like a balloon being blown up.

"Do you really have selfish motives?"

When she saw the little girl again, the person opposite had already grown up, wearing heavy armor and a closed helmet, with gloomy eyes peering through the gaps, and her voice no longer sounded crisp.

Huizheng never expected her to develop in this direction; she felt a bit downhearted, and looking at the short, slightly withered hair tips exposed by the other party, she couldn't help but sigh softly: "Why must it be like this?"

"You still haven't answered my question!"

She didn't care, just fixated on the question.

In the capacity of an imperial envoy of the Qing court.

"Selfish motives? Haven't I always put this out in the open?"

"What?"

"High above the heavens, the boundless universe!"

Huizheng looked at the high distance she had struggled for nearly ten years to reach but still couldn't attain; the brightness in her eyes had not dimmed, but it already appeared steady, "Leading many fellow Daoists, in order to solve the Grudge Demons, in order to ascend into the universe—this is my selfish motive!"

"You... have you really not embezzled various resources? According to the three-chapter pact when the Research Society was established, various resources can be given to you, but you cannot enrich yourself through embezzlement... Don't tell me you're going to say that 'the bigger fist is the hard truth' again?"

When she was halfway through speaking, Huizheng looked down, her eyes seeming to become intriguing and somewhat dangerous.

However, the person in front of her at this moment had not been afraid of any threats since she was a child, and just looked back coldly.

"……Look, hasn't the bullshit already arrived? Four groups of people have come with various excuses in just one year. It seems my rapid breakthrough in realm has made them all unable to sit still?"

"How could that be?"

"How could it not be?"

"……I still want to see it with my own eyes."

"Fine, if it's you, that's no problem. After all, you can be considered half my disciple. Sigh, I shouldn't have let you go back then."

"……"

The imperial envoy did not say any more idle words and left in a hurry after the audit and confirmation were completed.

Watching her back, Huizheng sighed in a low voice: "If she had just grown crooked, it would be fine; it could be interfered with and corrected. But it just so happens that isn't the case, and that is what makes one feel helpless."

She had some misgivings about this, so she left behind this trace of obsession.

Then time began to flow rapidly.

And suddenly stopped.

The old mage jumped out.

"A heaven-gifted genius has emerged?"

Listening to the other party's description, Huizheng, who was about to break through to the late Golden Core stage, couldn't help but be very interested.

She was just about to say something when, suddenly, everything paused.

The two onlookers and she herself all turned their heads to look, looking at the culprit of everything.

Under the shadow of the building, the depths seemed to be connected to another place at this moment, with the silhouette of swaying bushes; a figure wearing layered clothing and a mask with gradually fading patterns appeared there suddenly, looking as if they had been there the whole time.

Shaman Priest Qinglan.

"Qinglan, you?!"

Huizheng was naturally surprised by this, not knowing the reason why the other party had used the power of the Divine Tree to appear directly here.

Shaman Priest Qinglan's gaze swept over here, as if looking at Du En and Wurei, and the voice that emerged sounded level and indifferent: "Do not attempt to assist the Heaven's Pride born to meet the tide of destiny."

"Why?"

Huizheng raised an eyebrow.

Shaman Priest Qinglan shook her head.

She said nothing more.

She retreated silently into the shadows.

She left.

Wurei was dumbfounded at this moment; she had not expected that the mastermind behind everything would actually be Shaman Priest Qinglan, and the key was that she said nothing at all, making it impossible for anyone to know why.

Even Du En felt a sense of doubt arise.

"You want me to obey your orders without saying a word? What kind of person do you take me for!"

Although Huizheng muttered this to herself, conveying her inner thoughts.

Yet, not knowing what she was considering, she still rejected the old mage's request.

The other party appeared very angry, looking at her as if she were a traitor.

This was also to be expected, as there had already been some differences in their cognitive understanding between them.

I am not some selfless person.

Huizheng thought silently, pausing alone as she stood on this newly built Star-Gazing Platform, overlooking the various parts of the Dharma Research Society, and finally raised her head to look at the boundless blue sky.

"The high heavens are too far away..."

Therefore, even the mages of the Dharma Research Society mostly treated this as a slogan; in reality, few took it seriously. They were merely displaced, simply in need of a new reliance, or even using this to prove they had regained their former sense of superiority, which was why they had gathered under this goal.

It was also only natural.

"It will flow away." Huizheng said, as time flowed away.

The day the old mage plotted to steal the Dharma and launched his action.

The problems within the Dharma Research Society began to erupt.

"Huizheng, you are wrong; you are leading everyone down a crooked path!"

Someone stood up and accused her thus.

The key was that cultivation base which had broken through without a sound—yet another Golden Core stage in the Qing Kingdom.

"Heh, those who rise by this shall surely perish by this."

Regarding the two people peeking from the side who could hear these words in her heart, she felt no anger, not even a sense of lament, just a calm confrontation.

Because she had long anticipated this point, she had not wiped out the normal development brought about by the Qing Kingdom's imperial court. The pity was that, firstly, she was not that ruthless, and secondly, the Qing Kingdom's imperial court was indispensable; if she wiped it out and took over the duties herself, she would have no personal time at all and would be completely dragged down by the endless border incursions of the Grudge Demons and various livelihood matters.

She was prepared and calmly retorted: "To focus on resolving the Grudge Demon disaster, to allocate resources under the joint witness of the three parties, to provide manpower and support for the war at the Border Wall, and additionally, not to recklessly violate the laws of the state—tell me, have the Dharma Research Society not done well regarding these three chapters of the covenant?"

"I may indeed look like a tyrant, but in reality, I can at most be called a bit of a loner—ah, no, a 'lone talent'? In any case, the Star-Gazing Platform I built for myself was saved from my own personal expenses, and I built it with my own hands. Come, let's see what kind of flowers you can spout according to the rules."

Faced with Huizheng's somewhat cold and clear retort, many of those accompanying the troublemakers lowered their heads in shame.

However, the leader's expression was indifferent as he coldly retorted: "You are too sluggish and slow!"

Hm? Wurei could not help but be stunned.

Huizheng was also surprised, then thought of something, and her expression instantly turned ugly.

"I originally thought you were just..."

"No need to beat around the bush. To defeat the Grudge Demons and leave this cage, one must risk one's life. That's right, I have decided to establish a society that delves into the personal study of Grudge Demons—let's call it the Demon Research Society!"

"Then you can only die here today!"

As soon as they spoke, they began to fight.

Two Golden Core stage cultivators erupted into a great battle on the spot.

The other side dared to jump out and set up a new stove at this moment, so naturally, they had some tricks up their sleeves; the Dharma battle fell into a stalemate for a time.

Huizheng did not hold back just because she was inside the Dharma Research Society. Seeing that she could not kill him quickly, she first cleared out a portion of his colleagues and cronies, and considering the possibility of the other party's secret maneuvers, while fighting, she also sent a bolt of Dharma light toward the Dharma Repository Building.

As a result, she accidentally blasted out the old mage.

And then she let the other party escape unscathed.

"Privately hiding the ancestors' legacy, and also..."

Muttering this in her heart, Huizheng clearly knew that the establishment of the Demon Research Society could no longer be stopped. In fact, a split did subsequently occur, and one-third of the mages successively chose to leave the Dharma Research Society and join the Demon Research Society.

The reason the old mage was obsessed with the legacy outside the Qing Kingdom was actually because of this Dharma battle.

Because the Qing Kingdom's number one cultivator, who had been invincible and peerless, had actually "lost."

The seed had already been planted, waiting only to take root and sprout.

At this juncture, Huizheng did not remain in the Dharma Research Society.

She went to the old warrior's hometown and found the young Heaven's Pride.

Wurei suddenly became a bit nervous, but Du En knew that this was just an unremarkable meeting; in the eyes of the Heaven's Pride, it left not a single echo.

In fact, the two merely brushed past each other; when he won his martial arts competition, she quietly replaced his weapon with a blade, or rather, a blade blank.

"Whether the final forged result is a blade that can cut through fate or a dull, useless blade, it can only depend on yourself."

She had actually wanted to secretly teach the young Heaven's Pride on behalf of the imprisoned old mage, but she was stronger than the old mage—her genius level even slightly exceeded his—so, as soon as she saw him, she knew she could not teach him; he simply did not need to be taught.

Even her own existence might affect the thoughts that were beginning to take shape in him; even if it were just a slight deviation, it could cause a huge change in the outcome.

"When all is said and done, this is just the limitation of a genius, and the two consecutive blows, plus the unsolvable status quo, have also dampened her spirit."

Du En commented sharply.

Wurei rolled her eyes.

She felt relieved regarding Huizheng, though she couldn't help but mutter to herself that she really didn't seem like that kind of person, because the other party had left a deep impression on her from the moment she appeared.

Then, immediately following that, came her muttering about her own sister.

After leaving the old warrior's hometown, Huizheng was also muttering about the same person.

"As long as I come over to take a look, I will reach this conclusion. Why does Qinglan still have to speak in riddles this time? It is simply superfluous!"

She thought this, and then thought again, whether she was being a bit too mild-mannered.

Consequently, she went to the Border Great Wall.

She sought out the Shaman Priest Qinglan to inquire.

But it was to no avail; the other party still did not state the reason.

In the days that followed, Huizheng made rapid breakthroughs again. The once high-profile Demon Research Society began to move underground as a result, and many people forgot about them over time. Meanwhile, under Huizheng's leadership, the Dharma Research Society became more active, and she herself traveled to the Border Great Wall many times to fight, especially after breaking through to the Golden Core Perfection.

Among these, she accidentally encountered an old mage who was acting suspiciously and clearly looking for death, so she stepped in; otherwise, he would not have ended up with just local confinement for committing a serious crime.

This segment of the obsession memory was actually very general, like a fleeting glimpse of light.

It became detailed again, lingering on the eve of the Grudge Demon's gloomy rain falling.

"Haha, my obsession is and can only be one thing. If I fall and turn into a demon, and someone comes to purify me, I fear they will only see a thin and bland life!"

Standing on the Star Gazing Platform, having already sensed her own end, the light in her eyes finally began to dim, replaced by a melancholy sigh.

Then she raised both hands, and her magic power, like points of starlight, was boiling and flowing in an orderly fashion, and even her Golden Core began to disintegrate and break apart.

The mages of the Dharma Research Society appeared astonished and puzzled; they stopped what they were doing one after another and looked up into the distance toward this side.

Calling to friends and companions, they made everyone run out of the buildings, appearing uneasy.

Building after building lit up with starlight.

Veins of energy emerged naturally.

Array points were revealed before everyone's eyes.

"What is going on?!"

"An array?"

"Since when did the society have this kind of array?!"

"It's Huizheng, she set it up secretly!"

The restlessness spread rapidly. People couldn't help but think of the events of that year, the splitting off of the Demon Research Society. Although the Demon Research Society now operated in seclusion, the mages of the Dharma Research Society had not forgotten, and at this moment, various emotions could not help but well up in their hearts.

Unease, panic, doubt, disbelief...

Huizheng did not look at them, only gazing at the gloomy, heavy rain in the firmament.

"If anyone still comes to view this experience, then go to the Asura Secret Land. The Demon Research Society once secretly utilized the nearby underground prison there. After being discovered, they severed the prison and moved away. Later, Qinglan and I tried to study paths to solve the Grudge Demon there, setting up multiple layers of protection for this purpose. I hope it will be of use."

"Simply put, that is how it is. After all, the Dharma Research Society has been established for decades and can be said to have achieved nothing; there is simply nothing worth mentioning. However, there are some problems with the Demon Research Society, but they hid away so I couldn't find them, and the Imperial Court is protecting them too. So, either start with the Demon Research Society itself, or start with the Imperial Court. In short, the two parties are close; remember, they are close."

Huizheng finished saying these things extremely quickly, and breathed a sigh of relief at the end.

It was as if she could finally cast off all sorts of trivial matters.

The rain began to fall.

The array began to activate.

She muttered to herself in her heart.

It is over, the Dharma Research Society I built with my own hands.

It is over, the vision I have had since childhood.

Talented people will quickly reach the boundary. Even though the road ahead is actually very clear, they are completely unable to step into it. That kind of pain... is actually secondary.

What I wanted to see was the place of light in the boundless universe above the blue sky and gray sky, those diverse suns and spirit stars.

So, it is over, and in the end, I even have to cover the sky with my own hands.

Then.

Goodbye, High Heaven.

(End of chapter)