Chapter 223

Chapter 223: You as sect master should stand up too
The System answered: “Ding! This potion is a new product that was just developed and is still in the testing period. Its effect is stable, but it will cause side effects after being taken. The side effects will be different depending on the person who drinks it. Host, please place your order with care.”

Ye Cong Xin’s eyes flashed as she asked: “Will it kill him?”

The System replied: “Ding! No. But he may have problems such as going blind, going deaf, or losing control of his bowels.”

The System’s words made Ye Cong Xin fall into deep thought.

The first two side effects were still acceptable, but the last one…

Ye Cong Xin really could not imagine what the number one Divine Transformation expert in the whole cultivation world, Master Qing Yan, would look like if he wet and soiled himself.

She sucked in a sharp breath. After hesitating for a long time, she still decided to wait and see.

If Master Qing Yan’s condition did not improve at all, it would not be too late to buy the potion then.

A few days later, the flying boat stopped steadily in front of the mountain gate of the Five Elements Dao Sect.

When Elder Sun and the others came forward to welcome them, they found that the first person to step down was not their own sect master, but Sect Master Wu Sang of the Greenwood Sect.

Elder Sun paused for a moment, then quickly stepped up with a warm smile and said: “Sect Master Wu Sang, welcome, welcome.”

He did not mention their own Sect Master at all.

Sect Master Wu Sang cooperated and chatted politely with Elder Sun. With Zhou Jin Yue, Zhang Jun, and the others blocking the view, the Five Elements Dao Sect disciples’ attention was drawn over to them. None of them noticed that their own Sect Master and Master Qing Yan, who had gone out with them, had not come down from the flying boat.

As soon as Sect Master Ji Yuan returned to the Five Elements Dao Sect, he held Master Qing Yan in his arms and used Blink Step to appear at the gate of a small farmyard where chickens and ducks were raised and vegetable and fruit trees were planted.

He stood at the fence and called out: “Grand Elder, Ji Yuan asks to see you.”

The wooden fence gate creaked open.

A small, thin old woman with kind brows and gentle eyes walked out of the mud house.

She glanced at Master Qing Yan in Sect Master Ji Yuan’s arms and let out a soft sigh: “What should come has come after all. Take him inside.”

“Yes.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan carried Master Qing Yan into the side room and laid him on the wooden bed. Lowering his head, his face full of guilt, he said: “Grand Elder, Qing Yan’s attack this time was caused by me. I have failed the sect.”

The Grand Elder sat at the side of the bed and placed one hand on Master Qing Yan’s wrist. Spirit power poured from her hand into his body in a steady stream.

Master Qing Yan’s pale face slowly gained a bit of color, but he still showed no sign of waking up.

The Grand Elder said quietly: “You do not need to blame yourself. His temper has become more and more extreme these years. I knew this day would come sooner or later. I just did not expect it to come so fast.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan lowered his eyes and murmured: “He has always had an old illness. I should not have argued with him in a moment of anger.”

He still could not forgive himself.

He had thought that after a bit of shouting and a bit of fighting, Master Qing Yan would be like before and just have headaches for two days. He had never expected it to become this serious.

The Grand Elder shook her head and said: “He is the one with the twisted temper, and he refuses to listen when others try to talk sense into him. You cannot be blamed.”

Although the Grand Elder lived a peaceful, secluded farm life inside the Five Elements Dao Sect, that did not mean she did not care about what was happening in the sect.

The matter between Master Qing Yan and Yu Zhao had caused a huge uproar. Of course she had heard about it. She had even gone to find Master Qing Yan in private, advising him not to rush to a conclusion and to give Yu Zhao another chance.

But Master Qing Yan’s attitude had been firm. She could do nothing and had to come back with no result.

At that time, she had already had a faint bad feeling.

The Grand Elder pulled her hand back. Her face, carved by years of wind and frost, showed clear guilt as she said: “In the end, I still owe him.”

Back then, when three Divine Transformation cultivators had joined hands to attack, she had been in closed-door cultivation, trying to break through to peak Divine Transformation. Ji Yuan and the other elders had also been tied up by all sorts of matters.

At that critical moment, it was Master Qing Yan who had stood up without fear, using a method that harmed the enemy a thousand and himself eight hundred to quickly end the crisis and defend the reputation of the Five Elements Dao Sect.

From then on, Master Qing Yan’s personality had changed greatly. His moods became more and more unpredictable.

The Grand Elder had worried that Master Qing Yan’s thoughts were too heavy, so she had come up with an idea. She kept arranging new disciples to be sent to Lone Moon Peak, hoping that by raising disciples, he would slowly change his temper.

She still remembered clearly how, when Master Qing Yan had brought Yu Zhao back to the sect, she had been so happy it felt like she had one less wrinkle on her face.

Who would have thought that, in the end, the pair of master and disciple she considered the best match would end up like this.

She sighed again, then looked at Sect Master Ji Yuan, who stood there like a child who had made a mistake, hands hanging at his sides, not knowing what to do. She said softly: “These years you have put up with him in so many ways. I have seen it all. You have had a hard time too.”

The tall man’s eyes reddened. He shook his head again and again and said: “Qing Yan has sacrificed so much for the sect. This is what I should do.”

“You are both good children.” The Grand Elder nodded slightly. A sharp light flashed in her cloudy eyes as she said, “The sect will not give up on Qing Yan.”

As she finished speaking, she pulled a bright green pill from her sleeve. Ignoring Sect Master Ji Yuan’s attempt to stop her, she placed it into Master Qing Yan’s mouth.

Sect Master Ji Yuan cried out in shock: “Grand Elder, that is the sect’s last Longevity Pill.”

The Longevity Pill, as its name said, could extend a person’s lifespan by a hundred years. It was a legendary fifth-grade pill that was rarely seen in the world.

Even a sect as strong as the Five Elements Dao Sect had only ever gained three over so many years. By now, this was the only one left.

Handing this Life-Extending Pill to the Grand Elder for safekeeping had been the decision of all the elders.

The Grand Elder was already very old, with less than a hundred years of lifespan left. If she took the Longevity Pill, she could gain another hundred years.

Now, the Grand Elder had given this Longevity Pill to Master Qing Yan. That meant she was giving up her last chance to live longer.

Sect Master Ji Yuan’s voice trembled: “Grand Elder, why go this far?”

The Grand Elder looked at Master Qing Yan and said softly: “I should have given this Longevity Pill to him the year he was injured. It is good that it is not too late even now.”

She turned to Sect Master Ji Yuan and said: “First contact Wanderer Bao Hua and see if she has any way. If even she has no solution, then you will issue a bounty notice in the cultivation world. Whoever can cure Master Qing Yan, as long as the Five Elements Dao Sect can do it, we will agree to whatever they ask.”

“Grand Elder!”

Sect Master Ji Yuan was shocked.

If the news of Master Qing Yan’s injury spread, it would definitely cause a huge uproar. It might even attract greedy people to make trouble again.

But the Grand Elder’s expression was firm. She said: “Even if Qing Yan is not here, I am still here. Even if I have to use up these old bones, I will protect the Five Elements Dao Sect. And if worse comes to worst, there is still you and Guan Yun and the others.

“No matter how strong Qing Yan is, he cannot always shield the Five Elements Dao Sect alone. You, as sect master, should stand up too.”

“Yes! Ji Yuan understands.”

Sect Master Ji Yuan felt as if he had been struck hard on the head. His mind became clearer than it had ever been.

These years, everyone in the cultivation world had treated Master Qing Yan as the true leader of the Five Elements Dao Sect. Without noticing, Ji Yuan himself had started to rely on Qing Yan in many things and had grown lax in managing the sect.

Otherwise, the situation where everyone blamed Yu Zhao while no one stood up to speak for her would never have happened.

At the root, it was because he, the sect master, had been too careless these years and allowed so many bitter fruits to grow.

As Sect Master Ji Yuan thought it through, his restless emotions slowly settled down.

The Grand Elder nodded to herself in secret.

“To know your mistake and change it is not too late,” she said. “Go now and properly fix the atmosphere of the Five Elements Dao Sect. Leave Qing Yan here. I will take care of him.”

“Yes!”