I’ve Led the Villain Astray, How Do I Fix It?
Chapter 410
For an ordinary person, hearing such a cough would at most raise concerns that the person might have a minor cold or something. However, to Xu Ziyan, that sound was nothing short of a thunderclap!
A patriarch of the deity transformation stage is injured!!!
It was worth noting that once a cultivator had integrated spiritual energy into their body, they were almost immune to illnesses. Except for injuries sustained during battles with others, the concept of being “sick” would never apply.
The higher the cultivation base, the higher the spiritual energy stored in their body. Being impervious to illness was just the tip of the iceberg. For cultivators like Patriarch Qingping, who had reached the deity transformation stage, not even poison would affect their bodies.
Yet, despite the immense strength, Patriarch Qingping had somehow been injured. That was a testament to how fierce the battle against the devils had been when they besieged Liuguang sect.
As the most powerful deity transformation sword cultivator within Liuguang sect, his task was to guard the teleportation array, a task that was both easy and crucial.
It was considered easy because, at this stage, those who dared to use the teleportation array were mostly members of the cultivators’ alliance. Patriarch Qingping only needed to confirm that there were no traces of manipulation on their bodies. However, it was crucial because the teleportation array was connected to many external ones. There was even a possibility that some besieged cities did not have time to destroy their teleportation arrays, allowing the devils to launch an attack through them. In such cases, Patriarch Qingping would use his formidable strength to suppress the enemies, which was why they had asked him to guard the place. Of course, to recover from his injuries at the same time.
After bidding farewell to Patriarch Qingping, Xu Ziyan’s expression turned heavy as he made his way back to the mountain gate. The atmosphere in the sect’s residence was extremely tense, with cultivators patrolling around the mountain peaks continuously.
From the mountain gate to Tianluo Peak, at least five powerful divine consciousness swept over Xu Ziyan along the way, including his Master Big Foot Luo’s.
Before they even reached the mountaintop, Big Foot Luo’s voice rang out, “You two troublemakers! Why did it take you so long to return? Master has already fought with others several times just to protect your little assets!”
Xu Ziyan: …→.→ Master is still as lively as ever, that’s great!
On the other hand, when Xu Zirong heard Big Foot Luo’s words, his attention was focused entirely on the “keywords”. Someone wants to snatch Brother’s belongings? They’re truly seeking death!
The two climbed slowly along the mountain road, but not far from their departure point, they noticed a huge courtyard that had sprung up on a flat area near the mountainside. Outside the courtyard’s main gate, some very young children were playing.
“Young patriarch!” A crisp call made Xu Ziyan pause. He looked up and was astonished to find that the children playing at the gate were actually the next generation of the Xu Family.
Xu Ziyan was instantly overjoyed, “All of you are here? Is everyone doing well?”
The one in front of him was a child of about six or seven years old, having a dim look in his eyes. He ran over, grabbed Xu Ziyan’s arm, and cried, “Young patriarch, many people in our family have died. Some of the adults from the branches are all gone, only some children are left.”
Xu Ziyan sighed silently. That was something he had expected. After all, even the devil-slaying army, which he had personally trained, had been reduced by two-thirds. The Xu Family’s members, both in terms of cultivation and experience, were far inferior to the devil-slaying army. Even if the devil-slaying army did their best to protect them, the losses in the Xu Family were foreseeable.
He crouched down, gently patting the child’s head, “Be good, don’t cry. We cultivators defy the heavens, so we will face various tests from fate. Those who have passed away didn’t die in vain, but they had sacrificed their lives to give you a chance to survive. So, you all must live well, bring glory to the Xu Family, and do justice to those who sacrificed themselves for you, understand?”
The child wiped away his tears, nodding vigorously. The other children who had gathered around also clenched their little fists, seemingly recalling the adults who had protected them so selflessly in the midst of battle. They secretly vowed in their hearts to cultivate diligently and uphold the honor of the Xu Family. Those children who had survived the battle and continued to live on were bound to become the backbone of the Xu Family’s future development!
Xu Ziyan took out some small trinkets from Mr. Square and gave them to the children. He also summoned Snowball and Pink Hair to play with them.
As a cultivation family, the Xu Family was not particularly large, but the spirit shown by its members after the breakout had left Xu Ziyan deeply moved.
Not every cultivation family could, in such an environment, sacrifice their lives to ensure the continuation of their branches.
Many large cultivation families might not experience such brutal battles, but in their day-to-day lives, they would continually suppress other branches over resource allocation. It was even possible for them to use various means to exterminate a certain branch.
It could be considered a disadvantage that came with the expansion of the family. However, based on the current situation of the Xu Family, that had not occurred.
Perhaps there would be power struggles between the main branch and the other branches, but when it came to the continuation of the family, those adults shouldered their responsibilities.
After sending a communication talisman to his Master, explaining that he wanted to first assess the situation of the Xu Family, Xu Ziyan entered the temporary residence of the Xu Family.
The residence on Tianluo Peak was far from the original grand mansion of the Xu Family. However, the Xu Family members residing there did not feel that it was cramped.
In the past, the main branch and branch members could fill the entire grand mansion of the Xu Family. Now, only a few remained, mostly very young descendants with only cultivation of the Qi-refining stage.
The siege of Yunxiao City had occurred over two months ago. After breaking out, the Xu Family members had gone through a transition period of two months and had not overly immersed themselves in grief.
Now, the children within the family seemed to have grown significantly overnight. Except for those who still had poor fitness and no spiritual roots, all others were tirelessly cultivating day and night.
Everyone knew that it was now a matter of life and death in Xuanyu Realm. Even those young people who had not yet fully cultivated were pushing themselves to their limits in their cultivation practices. They understood that with their current cultivation, they might not even qualify as cannon fodder on the battlefield. However, they could only vent their frustration and anger by cultivating diligently.
“Young patriarch!” One of the young men exclaimed upon seeing Xu Ziyan.
The rest of the youths turned their heads as well, looking at the young nascent soul cultivator with pride, the pride of the Xu Family!
“Everyone has worked hard,” Xu Ziyan looked at their clear eyes and was momentarily at a loss for words. He could only awkwardly say that sentence.
The one in charge of training them was Xu Ziyan’s former instructor, Xu Mo. However, at that moment, Xu Mo had already lost a leg and could only stand in the center with the help of a crutch.
When Xu Mo saw Xu Ziyan, a hint of a smile appeared in his eyes. However, his expression remained very serious as he “fiercely” shouted, “You bunch of little brats! Do you think that just because the young patriarch is here, you don’t need to train anymore? Do you think the young patriarch can free you from this ordeal? Let me tell you— It’s impossible! Even if it’s the young patriarch, once on the battlefield, they will be fighting enemies of equal strength. Do you think, with the young patriarch’s level of cultivation, there will be time to worry about whether you are injured or dead when facing cultivators in the nascent soul stage?!! Each and every one of you, stay focused! If you get distracted over such a small matter, you’ll already be dead on the battlefield!”
Xu Ziyan had no objections to Xu Mo’s way of teaching. After all, over the years, the Xu family had not produced any playboys or corrupted villains, except for Xu Zirong. Perhaps Xu Mo’s words were not very pleasant to hear, but they were undeniably the unvarnished truth. Even Xu Ziyan himself could not guarantee that he would come back alive once he stepped onto the battlefield. For those youngsters, who were equivalent to cannon fodder, the only way to survive the major battle was by diligently improving their own cultivation.
“Continue your cultivation practices, don’t be disturbed by my presence.” Xu Ziyan gently spoke.
“Yes! Young patriarch!” The voices of the young lads were clear and bright. They looked at Xu Ziyan with utmost respect, as if they were seeing a celestial being.
Speaking of which, that was all thanks to the devil-slaying army. After experiencing the breakout battle, each and every one of those children had viewed the members of the devil-slaying army, who protected them during the breakout, as their idols.
The devil-slaying army was brought up single-handedly by Xu Ziyan. After mingling with them for years, the result was that Xu Ziyan’s devil-slaying(diehard) army(fans) had brainwashed those immature young lads with ease.
Now, Xu Ziyan had successfully become the most admired idol in the Xu family— Not one of the most!
As for why Xu Zirong was not on par with him… Hehe, who would like a big block of ice who remained cold all day and did not even spare a smile for their juniors!
Aside from Xu Ziyan, Xu Zirong did not care for anyone at all. Not killing them was already his limit. Trying to get a smile from him was completely an impossible task!
Facing those faces that were both innocent and tender, Xu Ziyan quietly opened Mr. Square. Under everyone’s astonished gazes, he took out enough spiritual stones to pile up into a small hill!
Xu family’s young cultivators: =口=
“Here, use them for your cultivation. Don’t be stingy, spiritual stones are lifeless, but you are alive. As long as you can survive, you can always earn more spiritual stones!”
“We’ll obey the young patriarch’s orders!” The young boys, their faces flushed with excitement, shouted in unison.
Xu Ziyan nodded calmly and then left the Xu family’s residence.
He did not expect much from those young ones in terms of their performance on the battlefield. In fact, the reason he gave them those spiritual stones was in the hope of accelerating their cultivation progress.
The cultivation gained through absorbing spiritual stones might not be very stable, but there was no time for them to slowly cultivate now. Instead of laying a solid foundation only to die on the battlefield due to insufficient cultivation, it was better to speed up their progress and give them a better chance at survival.
