Chapter 158
Editor: Casey
Another xianxia world, huh.
Shi Qing sat in the seat of the sect master. Flipping his soft black hair, he asked the people respectfully kneeling below, “Did you capture them all? The Heavenly Derivation Sect’s Gu Qiushu as well?”
The eyeless face of the man below had a metallic sheen to it. He answered quickly. “Everyone Sect Master requested has been brought back to our Steel Bones Sect.”
“Well done. You’re dismissed.”
Shi Qing waved his hand and watched the man leave.
One black-robed disciple stepped out of the group below. “Sect Master, aren’t we going too far by outright capturing the inner circle disciples of the major sects?”
“What are you so afraid of? It’s not like they know our Steel Bones Sect is responsible.”
Shi Qing dismissively waved his hand. “Besides, I only invited these disciples here as guests. How could I offend them if I haven’t done anything yet?”
“But…they’ve all been placed in the dungeons…”
“So what if they were? Did I hit them, scold them? No! I just locked them up to visit at my leisure, that’s all.”
Shi Qing raised an eyebrow and said particularly righteously, “If they weren’t always trying to escape on the way here, I wouldn’t have needed to put them in the dungeons. This only happened because they weren’t obedient little ducklings, ah.”
“On another note, why did you come and ask me such things? You’re a member of my Steel Bones Sect, right? You’re not planning on being a disobedient little duckling like them, right?”
Shi Qing was willing to swear an oath that he was definitely smiling when he asked those questions.
However, his affable att.i.tude didn’t stop that disciple from palling like he was about to die and kowtowing frantically.
“This disciple is wholeheartedly devoted to the Sect and Sect Master! Forgive me! Please forgive me, Sect Master…”
Shi Qing waved his hand, and a man immediately appeared in the originally empty s.p.a.ce behind him. He had the same metallic and eyeless face as the other person. Advancing forward, the man picked up that frantically kowtowing disciple.
That disciple was even more scared now. He shook all over, afraid to even beg for mercy at this point.
“What are you acting like this for? Our Steel Bones Sect is a renowned righteous sect, not some wicked demonic offshoot. As a disciple of this sect, you’re one of my people. Do you really think that I’ll do something to you?”
The disciple frantically nodded at Shi Qing’s words. “I, I see! I see!”
The other disciples seemed too scared by what happened to him to speak up. Shi Qing waved his hand. “Confine yourself for three days.”
At first, the disciple was too astonished by the fact that his life was spared. Then he was so moved that he started bowing in thanks even though he was still being held in the air.
After that, no one dared to question Shi Qing’s decision to detain those disciples.
It wasn’t that they were intimidated by his great might. Actually, the body he was in didn’t even have enough spiritual roots to cultivate like a normal cultivator.
The fact that he could sit here was all thanks to his great dad.
The previous Sect Master of the Steel Bones Sect pa.s.sed just five days ago.
Before he died, he left all the puppets he had refined to his son. Although these puppets resembled humans, they were anything but.
Technically speaking, the Steel Bones Sect was founded only 500 years ago by Shi Qing’s dad, a truly formidable character to put it mildly.
He rejected the countless cultivation paths that already existed in the world and chose to make puppets.
His puppets were refined using steel, various spirit stones, and bits and pieces of good quality materials.
However, one disadvantage was the limitations of a person’s concentration.
For example, Shi Qing’s dad could control more than a hundred puppets, but Shi Qing couldn’t even come close. Even though he’s been fed various miraculous pills and exquisite medicines growing up, he was basically still a mortal. The most he could manage at one time was three.
So his father did something big. He smelted down all his puppets in his final days to make three puppets at the Ascension stage for his son.
As everyone knows, the Ascension stage was the highest realm of cultivation in the cultivation world. Anyone more powerful than that would’ve already ascended.
By giving his son these three puppets, Shi Qing could basically do whatever he wanted in the cultivation world despite being a mortal. That was, as long as he didn’t do anything foolish.
But this son really was a gigantic fool in the original plotline!
The protagonist of the original plotline was Gu Qiushu, the second-generation disciple of the Heavenly Derivation Sect who Shi Qing just inquired about.
Gu Qiushu was born with heavenly spiritual roots and immense potential. He was a peerless genius not seen for thousands of years in the cultivation world. The Heavenly Derivation Sect’s current Sect Master accepted him as a disciple on behalf of his already ascended master, making Gu Qiushu his shidi and a second-generation disciple.
He grew up in the Heavenly Derivation Sect and started cultivating at a young age. Cold and distant in temperament, he was already at the at only 25 years old. Most of his age in the cultivation world were only at the Foundation Building stage. Those who managed to reach the Golden Core stage would be praised as genius.
As you could probably see, Gu Qiushu was quite OP.
Logically, not everything could be smooth sailing for the protagonist. What was the author supposed to write about then?
This was where the villain came in.
Yep. It was the body Shi Qing now inhabited, the new Sect Master of the Steel Bones Sect.
The original host was found to have no spiritual root at birth, meaning he couldn’t cultivate. Even though his father was the Steel Bones Sect’s Sect Master and had few equals in the cultivation world, he had no way of allowing his son to embark on the path of immortal cultivation.
Things would’ve been fine if he could watch over his child for the rest of his days, but his life came to an end before Shi Qing did.
Left without a choice, his dad could only leave behind three puppets of the Ascension stage before his death. He hoped that they could keep his son safe in his stead for the rest of Shi Qing’s life.
Unfortunately, the original host had a remarkable capacity for foolishness, ah!
He refused to remain a mortal for the rest of his life and live only a century or so. He came up with a potential solution to this problem.
He decided to capture people with pure spiritual roots and experiment with transplanting them into his own body. Of course, there was no guarantee of efficacy or safety because no one had done this before.
To be on the safe side, the original host simply struck while all the inner circle disciples of the major sects had entered a secret realm together. He sent his puppets in and captured them all.
And he even mentioned the protagonist by name, insisting he must be brought back.
Everyone in the cultivation world knew that Gu Qiushu possessed a heavenly spiritual root, which made his cultivation prospects extremely good.
Naturally, the original host wanted Gu Qiushu’s spiritual root.
So the group of disciples were imprisoned in the Steel Bones Sect’s underground dungeons as the original host ordered people to carry out experiments. As disciple after disciple died horrifying deaths after having their spiritual root stripped from them alive, Gu Qiushu’s cultivation advanced a stage.
He broke through his restraints, but those three Ascension stage puppets made it so that he could only rescue two disciples who were still alive.
At the same time, the other sects of the cultivation world also found out what was going on. They joined together to besiege the Steel Bones Sect. But by then, the original host had already succeeded in transplanting a spiritual root into himself. He watched them destroy the Steel Bones Sect before escaping with his puppets.
After that, he trailed after Gu Qiushu on his journey like a stalker. Finally, near the finale, Gu Qiushu reached the Ascension stage, destroyed the three puppets, and ended the original host with his own hands.
However, after this small world became a world of its own…
Gu Qiushu had a bad reaction to the hallucinogen the puppets dosed him with during his capture. Trapped in neverending illusions, he succ.u.mbed in the dungeons.
By the time Shi Qing arrived, he already got word of those disciples’ capture. Only Gu Qiushu was still on the run.
He sent word specifying that hallucinogens were not to be used. Knocking him out and taking him away was good enough. This was basically implying that his previous order to hide that they were from the Steel Bones Sect was null and void.
But there was no need to conceal it from Gu Qiushu either.
Although Gu Qiushu was inexperienced in defending against the methods of evil because he had never come down the mountain before, he was a pretty smart lad. He could figure out that the Steel Bones Sect was responsible as soon as those Ascension stage puppets struck.
After all, the original host sent out two of them, and there were only so many people at the Ascension stage in the cultivation world. Even if they did end up working together, they wouldn’t use such underhanded tactics to capture a few juniors.
Now that Gu Qiushu’s death has been avoided, it’s time to look at the animosity value.
Shi Qing: [Tongtong?]
The System was already pretty thick-skinned at this point. After all, the animosity value had never been under 100 in any world they’ve been to. It very smoothly stated: [Ding! Gu Qiushu’s animosity value: 100/100]
This guy even had the face to congratulate the Host: [Congrats Host! It’s only 100 this time!]
Shi Qing snickered. [Little Tongtong, you really have been around me for too long. If nothing else, you’re growing more shameless by the day.]
The System: [Yingyingyingying.]
[It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s not like I said this was a bad thing. You’re right, it’s only 100 this time. It seems like this Gu Qiushu really is the pure and kindhearted type. He’s so forgiving, ah.]
Shi Qing clapped his hands as he rose from the Sect Master’s seat. “Since these disciples came freely to be guests of our Steel Bones Sect, we have to pay them a visit as the host. All of you, walk with me.”
The disciples of the Steel Bones Sect: “…”
Although the new Sect Master has only been in power for a short time, they already had an ominous feeling brewing inside…
After all, they had seen few as shameless as Shi Qing in all their time as cultivators.
So the group just waltzed into the dungeon like that.
Just as they entered, they heard someone inside speaking.
“Who the h.e.l.l are you guys, and why did you capture us?!”
There was also someone who spoke with more confidence, “Do you really have the guts to detain me? Do you know who I am?? Do you know who my father, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather are???”
A wide smile appeared on Shi Qing’s face at those arrogant words. He stepped forward and quipped, “Who said that? Come say it to my face. If I like what you say, I’ll put you in a big bedroom.”
All of the disciple startled to their feet. They regarded the newcomers warily.
After catching sight of their uniforms, one of the disciples exclaimed: “The Steel Bones Sect?”
“They really are from the Steel Bones Sect! Why are you detaining us?!”
“Detaining you?”
Shi Qing chuckled. “What nonsense are you juniors on about now? Obviously, you all came to be guests of my Steel Bones Sect.”
“We came to be guests?? You’re the one talking nonsense! We’ve obviously been captured!”
“Yeah! We were captured!”
Shi Qing paid their outrage no mind. He just clapped and took a seat on the chair brought by his subordinates. Raising his chin at the group, he proclaimed, “All of you came of your own volition because you recognize this sect master’s medical expertise. You’re here to have the hidden injuries on your bodies treated.”
Author’s Corner
Cough cough cough. Thanks everyone for tuning into the new world even though I didn’t put a preview up. I just went to add a synopsis to the end of the last chapter. I suddenly realized how foolish it was to not say anything about what the next world would be in a quick transmigration story.
I don’t want to write outlines… I’m a free-spirited writer who loves running around naked and being free~
After I finished writing, I was like, “Oh my G.o.d, I’m such a genius. How on Earth did I come up with such an awesome world? G.o.dd.a.m.n, I’m so good!”
Begging for nutrient fluid! Please water this poor little author wuwuwu.
Hahahahaha
Randomly sending out red pockets~ Night night~