Chapter 258: A Tripartite Standoff

Hua Changxi saw Hua Minghe and Hua Minghua off; their arrival had once again unsettled her mind.

Upon learning earlier that the imperial house and various nobles had joined forces to boycott her, she had felt indignant but not overly concerned.

She believed that once the manifest spiritual artifacts were refined and cultivators elsewhere learned of the Danyuan Secret Realm recruiting apprentices, the boycott would collapse on its own.

But now, the imperial house had extended its reach to the Hua family itself.

This matter was not unsolvable; if the Hua family truly faced danger, she could simply arrange for them to relocate to Mount Wuzhi.

Mount Wuzhi was her Dao ground; as long as the Hua family stayed within its bounds, their personal safety would be assured.

However, implementing this plan would not be easy.

First, the Hua family members might not all be willing to leave Jingcheng; her eldest brother would likely refuse to leave the Demon-Suppressing Army, and her other siblings might have their own arrangements.

Second, truly tearing off masks with the imperial house and nobles would require the Hua family to remain hidden within Mount Wuzhi for a long time unless they rose enough to fear no external oppression, and the younger generation might not endure such isolation.

Furthermore, cultivation required venturing out for trials; staying entrenched in one place was not a good strategy.

In short, the aftermath would be troublesome, severely restricting both survival and development.

The more Hua Changxi thought about it, the more irritable she became; if she were alone, she would have ignored the boycott by the imperial house and nobles entirely, but the problem was that she had the Hua family behind her.

Hua Minghua had bluntly urged her to remove the Oath Stele; although her father had not spoken explicitly, his expression showed he agreed with Hua Minghua's suggestion.

Hua Changxi returned to the square, standing before the Danyuan Secret Realm's Oath Stele, her face grave as she gazed at the oath inscribed upon it.

Remove the Oath Stele?

Hua Changxi's expression turned cold and stern; what had she been striving so hard in cultivation for?

Was it not to avoid being controlled or dominated by others?

If she truly removed the Oath Stele and allowed other factions to plant their people inside the secret realm, not only would her acquisition of the Shenmu Secret Realm become meaningless, but even her day-and-night efforts in cultivation would become a joke!

Just as Hua Changxi stood motionless before the Oath Stele, various factions within the Medical Bureau were watching her closely.

Ever since learning that Hua Minghua and Hua Minghe had arrived, all eyes had been drawn here, closely monitoring Hua Changxi's movements.

Now, seeing her stand before the Oath Stele, many felt a surge of joy, assuming Hua Changxi could not bear the pressure, had taken the advice of Hua Minghua and Hua Minghe, and decided to remove the Oath Stele.

Gu Xing was also observing Hua Changxi; behind him stood Sun Nu, her face etched with worry: "Will Changxi remove the Oath Stele?"

Gu Xing shook his head: "I don't know."

Sun Nu looked at him: "Why don't you help Changxi?"

Gu Xing sighed: "I cannot help her; some hurdles she must cross on her own, otherwise she will never realize her own problems."

Sun Nu frowned: "Everything Changxi does is for the Sacred Land; what problems does she have?"

Gu Xing replied: "If she were merely an ordinary person, her actions would be perfectly fine, but she is not; she is the Secret Realm Master."

"What is a Secret Realm Master?"

"Aside from the Hall Master and the Director of the Qihuang Hall, the Secret Realm Master holds the greatest authority, controlling the allocation and distribution of secret realm resources; she must inevitably learn how to employ people and collaborate with others."

"But look at her current conduct: though wholeheartedly devoted to the Sacred Land, she ignores others, yet she remains convinced she is without fault."

"If I help her pass this hurdle, she will only become more convinced she is right, and her future actions will be even more extreme. Over time, her nature will become increasingly self-willed."

Hearing this, Sun Nu's expression showed clear disagreement: "But I do not think there is anything wrong with Changxi's nature."

Gu Xing shook his head: "That is because neither you nor Hua Changxi have yet awakened; you are both still trapped in the mindset of 'I do my own work, I provoke no one, and no one should provoke me'."

"But humans do not exist in isolation."

"If one only focuses on walking forward without noticing who is ahead or behind, the end result will either being battered until bloodied or ending up betrayed and abandoned by all."

Seeing Gu Xing speak so gravely, Sun Nu grew worried: "You are making it sound too severe."

Gu Xing said: "Severe? Just think of the fate of those martial artists who wander the Jianghu alone; they either die amidst pursuit and killing, or perish lonely and helpless in some unnoticed corner."

Sun Nu felt a heavy weight in her heart as she looked at Hua Changxi standing alone before the Oath Stele: "Then call Changxi over and explain it to her clearly."

Gu Xing sighed: "She will not listen; if mere words of reason could change a person, then matters in this world would not be so difficult to handle."

"Hua Changxi has walked the path ahead entirely on her own, and moreover, she has achieved considerable success; she will only believe that continuing down this path is correct, easiest, and most familiar."

"People are unwilling to change."

"Change is too difficult; only when one stumbles in affairs, feels pain, or loses something, will one be forced to reflect upon oneself."

Sun Nu felt helpless: "So we can truly only stand by and watch?"

Gu Xing replied: "...One must walk the path of life alone."

While the two were discussing, Hua Changxi left the secret realm entrance and walked toward Jiujie.

Nowadays, Jiujie was divided by Chaosheng Road; the courtyards on the left were occupied by cultivators from the Dao-Protecting Families, while those on the right were held by the imperial house and various nobles.

When still more than ten meters away from Jiujie, Hua Changxi saw Xia Zhen, Meng Qingyao, and others standing on the second floor of the left courtyard watching her; she also saw Prince Shou, Chu Junhao, and others in the right courtyard watching her as well.

Noticing this scene, Hua Changxi stopped in her tracks.

At this moment, Hua Changxi vividly felt herself being 'surrounded and watched,' sensing the outside world pressing against her like surging waves.

At this moment, alone and weak, she stood face-to-face against the colossal forces of the Dao-Protecting Families and the imperial house with its nobles.

Ordinarily, she should have felt fear and retreated, yet a flame surged within her heart, a flame that wished to burn those two colossal entities to ashes.

At this moment, Hua Changxi stood facing Chaosheng Road, forming a tripartite standoff with the Dao-Protecting Families on the left and the noble faction on the right.

High in the sky, hidden above the white clouds, Wei Zhenjie watched this scene, his eyebrows raising high.

"One person forming a faction, her momentum losing nothing to the other two sides; judging by this, Hua Changxi will not remove the Oath Stele."

The reason Wei Zhenjie had come to the Medical Bureau was fearing Hua Changxi might buckle under external pressure and compromise, intending to secretly assist her.

It seemed now that he had clearly underestimated this little girl.