I've Learned My Lesson

Eastern Victory Divine Continent, Northern Cang Nation.

This nation lay to the north of Cangxi Nation, the two countries separated by the Cang River which marked their shared border.

Zhao Xuan was currently stationed in Northern Cang Nation, having established a hidden temporary stronghold along the Cang River. With a single glance across the river, he could see Cangxi Nation on the opposite bank.

This stronghold was concealed; Zhao Xuan had told no one of its existence.

As the famed Black Crow Runner known throughout the world, Zhao Xuan's keenest instincts were for sniffing out danger and finding every possible way to avoid it.

The most effective method, naturally, was—screw the details, retreat was the best strategy.

Now, the Evil Spirit Cult's movements in Cangxi Nation had grown blatantly bold. Not only had they stirred up Cangxi Nation itself, they had even driven those incense-gods to absolute frenzy.

These actions were so absurd that Zhao Xuan half-wondered if he was some heavenly righteous soldier, liberating Northern Jambūdvīpa with the people's hearts turning to him.

Zhao Xuan understood full well that the Evil Spirit Cult was a genuine evil cult—the kind you'd be wary of walking on the street, lest someone recognize you and beat you up on sight.

Such flagrant actions could only be done quietly in the shadows. The moment they were brought into the open, what awaited was not a sweet reward, but an iron fist that could crush a man to death.

The events of late had been utterly mad, and Zhao Xuan was powerless to stop them.

Now, the cult's vice-cult leader, Evil Spirit, clearly held far more say than before.

Many matters had completely bypassed Zhao Xuan. Evil Spirit had begun arranging every operation independently.

The only authority Zhao Xuan still had as nominal cult leader was receiving messages—assuming those messages hadn't been tampered with.

Evil Spirit was by no means a reckless adventurer. This manner of behavior was not Evil Spirit's true nature.

Then the final hand pushing all these strings must be the Heavenly Demon pulling from behind Evil Spirit.

Things had escalated to such a degree that anyone with a sound mind would sense something was wrong.

Whether it was the background Chu Xingchen revealed or Evil Spirit's aggressive ambitions, Zhao Xuan felt that this time, they were steering the entire Evil Spirit Cult toward its doom.

Ever since his last meeting with Chu Xingchen, after long deliberation, Zhao Xuan's sense of crisis had ultimately triumphed over greed.

Now, Zhao Xuan had completely abandoned any hope of succeeding in their schemes, and no longer dared to covet the so-called ultimate breakthrough secret method for blood-qi cultivators that Chu Xingchen supposedly held.

But as the initiator of this whole affair, with things having reached such a pass and losses so great, simply walking away and declaring it over was also impossible.

One who controls such a vast organization will inevitably be controlled by it in turn.

The only recourse now was to watch the fire from the opposite shore and let things unfold as they would.

Zhao Xuan also harbored his own calculations. If the Evil Spirit Cult were truly to meet its doom here, that might not be a bad thing.

Then he could truly break free from the cult's shackles and properly live as his valley master.

In the path of cultivation, how many gifted prodigies never reached the end?

As a cowardly evil cultivator, coming this far was already more than enough to content himself.

Now, the cult's momentum, driven by Vice-Leader Evil Spirit and tacitly permitted by Zhao Xuan, had gone completely mad.

Zhao Xuan was also waiting for the Evil Spirit Cult to die.

As for the Heavenly Demon's bizarre moves, Zhao Xuan could no longer fathom them.

After all, the destruction of the Evil Spirit Cult should bring no benefit to the Heavenly Demon either.

All he could say was: those celestial powers play their chess, and mortals cannot comprehend the board.

Zhao Xuan let out a faint sigh, clad in black robes, standing before the surging Cang River, his gaze fixed across toward Cangxi Nation.

Across the river, for reasons he couldn't explain, he seemed to behold the image of the Evil Spirit Cult's ruin.

The cult's high-ranking members decimated, the attendant evil cultivators slaughtered to the last, pursued relentlessly...

"Ah..." Zhao Xuan withdrew his gaze, about to crawl back into his hidden stronghold.

"Why does this fellow Taoist sigh?"

A sudden voice came from behind Zhao Xuan.

An electric chill shot through Zhao Xuan's body. His divine sense lashed out behind him while his protective treasure and top-tier teleportation artifact were already gripped in his hands.

His divine sense extended, only to collide against a wall of iron—blocked entirely, yielding not a shred of information.

Zhao Xuan did not dare turn around. He simply triggered the teleportation artifact in his hand.

Being at the peak of the Body Integration stage, teleportation talismans were no longer sufficient to carry a cultivator of such immense cultivation. One had to compress vast amounts of spiritual power into the artifact, then carve the finest small-scale teleportation array onto the best materials.

Like a talisman, this was a one-time use item. Once triggered, it was spent, and the teleportation distance was not particularly great.

But what made it worthy of being called an artifact was—it was absurdly expensive.

So expensive that Zhao Xuan, the Black Crow Runner, possessed only one, kept as his final trump card for escape.

Zhao Xuan's teleportation artifact triggered, his form flickered and reappeared.

Yet the sound of the Cang River remained unchanged, and that somewhat aged yet gentle old man's voice was still behind him.

"Fellow Taoist, leaving without so much as a word in reply—is that not rather impolite?"

Zhao Xuan's breath quickened.

He did not know what means the old man behind him had used to render his artifact useless, but he understood that the old man's cultivation was likely so deep Zhao Xuan could not even begin to comprehend it.

Zhao Xuan quickly assessed his situation. He turned, bowed low, and dared not raise his eyes:

"How could I bear being called a fellow Taoist by a senior? It was merely that the senior arrived with such suddenness, and this junior has always been timid by nature—an instinctive reaction, nothing more. Please forgive my rudeness."

"A cultivator at the peak of Body Integration should not be so timid," the old man chuckled lightly. "Come, lift your head and look."

Hearing this, Zhao Xuan's body stiffened slightly. But as meat on the chopping block, he could only raise his head with great caution.

In his sight, an old man stood high in the air, dressed in robes edged with auspicious cloud patterns in gilded trim—garments resembling those of the Supreme Elder of Cloud Dream Pavilion—his aura sealed and unexposed like an ordinary mortal, gazing at Zhao Xuan with an interesting, appraising look.

Zhao Xuan's heart pounded violently; his divine sense collapsed and scattered.

This is truly over...

The only hope was that this Supreme Elder did not know his true identity and would let him go like passing gas.

The Supreme Elder's expression was mild, his gaze appraising Zhao Xuan with curiosity as he spoke:

"Zhao Xuan, cult leader of the Evil Spirit Cult, codename Black Crow—am I right?"

The words fell, and Zhao Xuan's face immediately turned ashen.

Seeing Zhao Xuan's expression, the Supreme Elder stepped forward until he stood before him:

"No need for such a look. As a cultivator, one must not give up until the final moment."

Zhao Xuan let out a bitter laugh: "This junior still has some self-awareness... I only wish to die with clarity—how did you find this place, and how do you know my identity?"

The Supreme Elder smiled and shook his head:

"Some questions, if you know the answer, you die. If you don't, perhaps you won't."

"Falling into my hands is but a beginning, not an end. After all, that mess of troubles in Cangxi Nation still needs cleaning up."

Hearing this, Zhao Xuan's expression warmed slightly. He took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the river:

"So everything from Xu Si onward was a carefully laid scheme, all for the Evil Spirit Cult and for me."

"The Heavenly Demon knew precisely what was happening, yet willingly and even eagerly sent the cult to its slaughter."

"The affairs you seek to accomplish are too grand. The Evil Spirit Cult was merely bait. And my vision is too narrow—I couldn't see the thin threads descending from the heavens."

The Supreme Elder remained all smiles:

"Still young, you are. The ways of the world cannot be spoken of in such simple terms."

“Life is like weaving, and deeds are like threads. When you do something wrong, the thread tangles around you.”

“The more you do, and the more you do wrong, the less room you have to maneuver. You could say you’ve spun a cocoon around yourself.”

“Today you didn’t lose because you did the wrong thing, but because you did it wrongly.”

“Besides, you know full well that in this world, we simply cannot be bothered to hunt you down—but there is no one we cannot catch if we set our minds to it.”

Zhao Xuan was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded:

“I have been taught.”