Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 72 - 71: Fellow Disciples

How is this possible?! Liu Shuyue was stunned.

She had been using her Heart Method perception to walk here, and if someone were present, she should have detected them long ago.

Yet the dried corpse in front of her, from any angle, couldn’t possibly come back to life!

But Liu Shuyue quickly noticed something was amiss, as she could see the dried corpse still sitting on the lotus platform, not abruptly reaching out; she herself stood before the stone platform, body leaning slightly forward, right hand placed on the jade tablet.

Yes... she saw.

Her perspective at this moment seemed to be set behind her body, rather than through her own eyes. The "Liu Shuyue" and "dried corpse" in her sight were completely motionless, maintaining the posture of contact from a few breaths ago.

This feeling... it’s as if her soul was forcibly torn from its shell!

She couldn’t move, nor return to her body. Apart from the lotus platform illuminated by light, all around was darkness.

"Don’t be nervous, this is merely a Technique, allowing us to converse without disturbance." A voice suddenly came from the darkness.

Rich, gentle, and not at all offensive.

"Who are you?" Liu Shuyue asked.

"Liu Zhidong, a disciple of the Lotus Cloud Sect," the other person calmly said, "And you are Liu Shuyue, just like me... from the same sect."

Liu Shuyue was truly surprised.

She had considered this possibility, but when the other confirmed it, she still felt a slight dizziness! The former disciple she had sought for so long without any clue actually still existed in the world?!

Even so, she tried her best to keep her voice steady, "How can you prove it?"

"Do you really need proof? The fact that you’ve followed clues to find this place is merely to seek some truth. For instance, why haven’t my glorious deeds been left in the world, why am I hidden in such a secluded place. Some... were due to my personal experiences, and some... I fear are questions every disciple would ponder." The man even chuckled here, "Of course... I’d also like to meet you in the flesh and have a normal conversation, but regrettably, the person on the lotus platform is indeed my physical body. As you can see, I’m already dead, so I can only use this method."

A spell that transcends life and death?

Is this truly a realm a sect disciple can reach?

But each word he spoke struck deeply into Liu Shuyue’s heart, yes... if he weren’t a disciple of the Lotus Cloud Sect, he absolutely couldn’t express thoughts identical to hers!

"I am all ears."

"Hahaha..."

"Why is the senior laughing?" Liu Shuyue asked.

"I thought you’d be more eager... or more enthusiastic." The man teased, "After all, the path down the mountain is so lonely, no one can understand your thoughts, nor can anyone help you. Sometimes you even ask yourself, is all that I’m doing worth it? Now that you’ve finally met someone who shares your path, isn’t this a great joy?"

Unexpectedly, he’s quite talkative; is it because he hasn’t communicated with people for too long? Liu Shuyue smiled, but unfortunately, she wasn’t the same. Just coming down the mountain not long ago, she met someone she could confide in and get help from, "I’ve only been down the mountain for five years, so my understanding of loneliness and helplessness may not be as profound as senior’s."

"That’s true, then let me tell you my story," Liu Zhidong sighed, "In the beginning, like you, I came to this Kingdom with ideals of saving the world and helping the people..."

The King of Qi valued him highly, treating him with the respect of a State Preceptor, and he entered the court, using all his learned knowledge to build the Great Qi.

In less than five years, the civilian agriculture flourished, commerce thrived, people lived and worked in peace, and the country’s military was strong and vigorous.

Besides fighting demons everywhere, he also found a civilian woman he took as his wife, and they had children.

Except for needing to travel constantly, making it hard to stay in one place for long, he was content with such days and believed the sect’s vision would soon be realized.

Unfortunately, good times didn’t last long. The aged King of Qi suddenly fell ill and died unexpectedly during a court meeting.

According to rules, the eldest son would assume the throne, but the eldest son was incompetent, and a scramble for the throne involving many parties ensued. Liu Zhidong chose not to intervene and waited on the sidelines for the outcome, as the Immortal Master aids the Kingdom, not someone with royal blood. In his eyes, the bloodline of these monarchs wasn’t nobler than that of ordinary people.

"However, facts proved that this was a mistake of mine," Liu Zhidong’s voice deepened slightly, "The one who ultimately ascended was the original fourth prince. And what set him apart from his many brothers wasn’t wisdom, but sheer ruthlessness and more despicable means. The first thing the new King of Qi did was to purge all forces not belonging to him, including ministers and local officials who didn’t accept the usurpation."

Liu Shuyue immediately realized what would happen next, "Did the Old King of Qi’s policies fall to ruin?"

"That’s right, not only is the court in chaos, but the previously suppressed local forces have also started to fight back... In just a little over two years, the peak prosperity of Qi Kingdom has vanished."

The loss of prosperity is not a big deal; the common folk are far from destitution. Starting over is always an option. Liu Zhidong could wait since he had seventy or eighty years to live, enough to see the next change in the throne. During this time, he no longer visited the Royal City and spent most of his time with his wife, living away from people.

Until one day, he received a Sound Transmission Talisman, inviting him to the Royal City by the new King of Qi.

"I never expected it to be a trap set for me." Liu Zhidong paused momentarily, "...the King of Qi wanted to kill me."

Recalling her situation, Liu Shuyue felt a slight tension in her heart, "Why?"

"Because of my distance and indifference. The further I stayed from the Royal City, the more uneasy he felt. After all, I got along so well with the Old King of Qi. Was I lingering from a bygone era? What if one day I turned to support another usurper? How would he cope? Suspicion, once it takes root, never ends," Liu Zhidong said with a self-mocking smile, "For that, he prepared thoroughly. Nearly a hundred Loose Cultivators gathered in the Royal City, setting up an array to disrupt the Spiritual Qi, preventing me from escaping with the Wind Riding Talisman or any other technique. The ones who actually came to kill me included the palace guards, several reckless Evil Cultivators, and someone I never expected."

"Who?" Liu Shuyue instinctively asked.

"Another disciple from the Lotus Cloud Sect," he said blandly.

It was like a thunderclap in Liu Shuyue’s heart!

A cultivator from the Lotus Cloud Sect taking action against a fellow disciple? And even joining forces with Evil Cultivators!? Each statement sounded like a fairy tale!

"I didn’t know his name; only later did I learn he was an Immortal Master from the Ning Kingdom."

"Ning Kingdom?" Liu Shuyue couldn’t find information about this kingdom in her memory, "Why did he want to kill you?"

"It’s not hard to guess. The Ning Kingdom is a small country sandwiched between Great Qi and Luo Kingdom. The stronger Qi Kingdom becomes, the more pressure they face. If they don’t find a way to weaken Great Qi, they will meet their end sooner or later." Liu Zhidong let out a series of cold laughs, "Hehehehe... Now, do you see where the problem lies?"

Liu Shuyue suddenly felt a chill down her spine.

Every kingdom’s strength and situation differ, yet each gets an Immortal Master. The task of an Immortal Master is to support the kingdom and naturally to avoid the risk of the kingdom’s destruction. In other words, from the moment the sect’s disciples step down from the mountain, they transform from fellow cultivators into incompatible rivals!

Why join forces with Evil Cultivators? Because this is how a weak nation supports and defends itself.

She couldn’t even say the other did wrong!

Thinking deeper, it might be the encouragement of the Ning Kingdom’s Immortal Master that led the new King of Qi to resolve to kill his own Immortal Master.

Liu Shuyue suddenly felt her stomach churning as though she was about to vomit, yet she couldn’t bring herself to cover her mouth.

"Unfortunately, my skills and luck were decent. Even as sect disciples, I had a slight advantage. He died, the Evil Cultivators died, the new King of Qi also died, and I survived — even though I was severely injured and barely clinging to life," Liu Zhidong said with irony, "The person who saved me surprised me as well; he was a servant of the Old King of Qi, spared due to old age and frailty. But none of the princes knew this servant knew every secret passage in the palace. He smuggled me out of the city, allowing me to escape certain death."

"Oh, this Ning Kingdom quickly declined after losing the Immortal Master, soon divided by Qi and Luo kingdoms. It was quite surprising... after all, to outsiders, the Immortal Master of Qi Kingdom also died suddenly that day from illness."

So the one truly buried in the forbidden grounds of the Royal City was the Immortal Master of Ning Kingdom?

Liu Shuyue remained silent. She never expected that so many changes had occurred over the past century.

Many questions within her heart gradually found answers.

After the usurping new King of Qi’s death, the Royal City would likely erupt into another fierce power struggle. But no matter who ascends, they surely wouldn’t want to document such disgraceful history. Not just disgraceful... colluding with Evil Cultivators and murdering an Immortal Master undoubtedly violates the Lotus Cloud Sect’s bottom line, and the new king must completely erase this history to ensure his safety.

The turmoil and strife from continuous internal conflict have also considerably weakened Qi Kingdom’s national strength. This generation’s King of Qi therefore desires the sect’s techniques so intensely. Yet she chose to distance herself from the court’s path, focusing instead on Demon Slaying and taking care of the people, in stark contrast to Liu Zhidong’s enthusiastic interference in court affairs, which also destined their conflict to grow big enough to become irreconcilable one day.

As for Lan Qin from Luo Kingdom? Did she realize this truth too, prioritizing military expansion as her foremost duty?

When she leads troops to attack Great Qi, would she see herself as an enemy that must be eradicated?

"Do you think that’s the end?" Liu Zhidong suddenly said with a playful tone, "What truly shook me wasn’t the deadly battle with a fellow disciple, but the moment of his death. Do you know what I saw?"

At this point, his previously gentle tone carried a trace of uncontrollable anger. Even after all these years, it still weighed on him.

"What did you see?" Liu Shuyue asked.

"His soul vanished," he said word by word, "that body became an empty shell."