"The higher-ups of the Sever Gold Sect, various families, including the Jin family’s elders—under all kinds of restraint, this matter cannot proceed for now..."
"My father blames everything on me, thinking it’s my fault he can’t become Sect Leader."
Jin Yicai’s expression contorted slightly. "Does he even reflect on it? If he truly had the capability, these seventy years ago, he would have already ascended by now."
"Who knows what he’s been doing all these years? And now, at the last critical step, he blames me for ruining his big opportunity?"
"Tell me, is this even my fault?"
Jin Yicai’s gaze turned venomous. "If it hadn’t been for that despicable Gu Changhuai meddling in my business, catching me red-handed, listing my crimes, and reporting them to the Taoist Court, would I have fallen to this state? Forced to endure my father’s scolding, shamed utterly, and confined to this cave residence?"
"It’s downright laughable..." Jin Yicai sneered coldly. "My father and the others, they always preach about the worthlessness of common lives, saying human lives are mere grass, that it’s unnecessary to consider some people as equal to us. Treating them as cattle horses would suffice. And we, as the offspring of the Jin family, are naturally born superior, far removed from ordinary people, different in destiny."
"But what happened? I believed those words. I treated human lives like grass. I indeed stood above others. Yet all I did was direct some lackeys to eliminate a few insignificant beings, refine a few batches of pills—not even dirtying my own hands."
"My father, my grandfather—suddenly they righteously rebuke me, claiming my mindset is skewed, not following the Righteous Dao..."
Jin Yicai sneered incessantly. "Absolutely absurd!"
The tall cultivator’s pupils slightly contracted. He spoke with indifference, "Do not defame your family’s elders in the presence of outsiders."
Saying so, he glanced at Jin Gui.
Jin Gui immediately hung his head low, pretending not to have heard anything.
He knew, despite sharing the surname "Jin," he was not truly considered part of the Jin family in their eyes. He was merely slightly better than grass and cattle horses.
Jin Yicai also realized he had misspoken, but his expression remained frosty, unwilling to appear contrite.
Nevertheless, toward his steady yet ruthless "cousin," whom he had grown up with, his heart remained a mixture of closeness and reverence.
"Brother, what should we do now?" Jin Yicai’s face was exceptionally grim. "I’ve already suffered my father’s cold shoulder. If I provoke greater calamity this time, my father would undoubtedly beat me to death!"
The tall cultivator saw Jin Yicai’s apprehensive demeanor, with tinges of fear. His gaze slightly tightened as he slowly nodded and said:
"Then do not act hastily. Lie low for now and act covertly."
"The matter with Taixu Gate—we’ll settle it later."
"Good!" Jin Yicai gritted his teeth. "And Gu Changhuai and the Gu family too!"
Jin Yicai’s gaze turned ominous. "On the day I was captured, aside from Gu Changhuai and the Gu family’s minions, there was also some little brat from Taixu Gate who used that vile and disgusting Water Prison Technique!"
"Had it not been for his Water Prison Technique, I might have managed to escape that day."
"Being confined to this cave, I haven’t had the chance to send someone to investigate his origins. I don’t even know which family he belongs to."
"The next time I encounter him, I will tear that Water Prison Technique bastard into pieces to sate my fury!"
"No, tearing him apart would be too merciful..."
Jin Yicai’s eyes turned frigid. "I’ll sacrifice him alive, feed him to the Demon Refining Diagram, and let him suffer the torment of being devoured by a thousand demons, consumed by evil thoughts, dying in indescribable agony, his soul obliterated, beyond reincarnation!"
Jin Yicai’s handsome face began to gradually distort.
The tall cultivator shook his head slightly.
His cousin harbored far too strong a desire for revenge.
Such a volatile temperament, revealing joy and anger so openly—how could one remain composed when facing significant events?
Was Tao Cultivation supposed to be this easily achieved?
If it hadn’t been for his fortunate birth, a father of high rank and status, a mother ridiculously indulgent and protective, he likely would have died countless times by now.
Still, he remains useful for now—and highly so...
Clad in a Sever Gold Taoist Robe, the tall and imposing cultivator silently glanced at Jin Yicai beside him, his gaze deep.
...
"Sever Gold Sect backed down?"
Inside Taixu Gate, Mo Hua looked rather astonished.
Cheng Mo nodded. "Indeed, they’ve turned into a bunch of turtles hiding in their shells, not showing their faces at all."
Having said this, Cheng Mo grabbed a massive roasted pork knuckle and started gnawing on it.
It was midday, and a group of disciples was gathered in the dining hall, eating spiritual meals in lively camaraderie.
Mo Hua furrowed his brows slightly.
Something seemed off...
This didn’t seem at all like the Sever Gold Sect’s usual style.
He had thought Sever Gold Sect was petty, vindictive, and relentless, bound to feud endlessly with them.
Even if they couldn’t win, they would surely persist with annoying provocations.
Yet unexpectedly, they had backed down so decisively.
"Let’s monitor them for a while, keeping wary of tricks," Mo Hua advised.
"Understood!" Cheng Mo nodded.
Over the following period, Refining Demon Mountain remained calm and uneventful. Not a single Sever Gold Sect disciple appeared to provoke them.