Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 518 - 19: Poison

The Saint Sect Leader was truly impressed by Zhao Chenlu’s audacity.

The prestige of the Saint Sect was supreme throughout the Xiangzhou region. Mentioning the Saint Sect, even the most wicked demons would restrain their wild behavior and remain silent.

But with Zhao Chenlu, the Saint Sect seemed like a joke from start to finish. From the first day the Sect Leader met Zhao Chenlu, he never received the slightest respect that was due. Initially, the Sect Leader was even pleased with Zhao Chenlu’s audacity to break all boundaries, thinking that if guided well, such a person could surely become a great leader who could guide the world forward.

But now he understood that his thoughts were indeed too naive.

"Don’t worry, old man. I didn’t take a single thread or needle from you. If it’s not mine, I don’t randomly take it. I just wanted to look at your foundation; I didn’t expect you to be even poorer than I anticipated. Has the cost of exploring the Primordial Ruins really been that high over the years? Do you need me to investigate any corruption in the middle process?"

Upon hearing this, the Sect Leader smiled to himself.

You won’t randomly take things that aren’t yours? Those words are really... maybe somewhat believable, but who would gamble on Zhao Chenlu’s morality? You indeed haven’t committed any grand evil deeds, but you’ve never stopped your little antics! That little girl from the Li Family writes bizarre menus for me daily in Heaven-Reaching City, even coming up with Vortex Gold Sashimi. Do you think I’ll believe you?! The warehouses at Yulin and Huajiang are not entirely devoid of supplies—exploring the Primordial Ruins indeed costs a lot, making the Saint Sect’s two millennia of accumulation feel slightly strained, but it hasn’t entirely emptied our foundation—it’s because the Sect Leader had long instructed his people to transfer the important resources.

This is also foresight developed from years of dealing with Zhao Chenlu, and now it seems... this guy really doesn’t disappoint!

"Since you’ve seen everything and I’ve caught you on the spot, can I ask you to leave soon?"

Zhao Chenlu laughed, "In such a hurry to chase me away? Don’t you want to see what good things I’ve found?"

The Sect Leader was both angry and amused, "No matter how good it is, isn’t it the inheritance of the Saint Sect Leader? Do I need you to show it to me?"

"You speak as if you know these inheritances like the back of your hand. Old man, if I’m not wrong, you’re here to find items related to the Demon Race, right?"

The Sect Leader was taken aback, "Did the Sword Spirit tell you?"

Zhao Chenlu shook his head helplessly, "He couldn’t think of passing the message to me. When it comes to issues related to the Demon Race, he’s indifferent to everyone. But precisely because he hasn’t paid any attention to me these two days, I guessed it must be related to the Demon Race. Ever since I awoke, I’ve been keeping an eye on your Saint Sect. If you really had any issues related to the Demon Race, I would have noticed it. So if there’s a problem, it must be with the previous generation, and you’re here to find the inheritance of the previous generation for this, aren’t you?"

This series of deductions was practically flawless, and the Sect Leader nodded in acknowledgment, "He indeed judged that the First Generation Sect Leader was related to the Demon Race, but this connection is not yet clear..."

"Not clear?" Zhao Chenlu looked at Wang Jiu in surprise.

The Celestial Divine Sword’s sensitivity to the Demon Race is extremely sharp; once the Demon-Pointing Sword is drawn, everything related to the Demon Race becomes untraceable. Even if the Sword World has degenerated, it’s hard to imagine it having a relationship that it can’t clearly identify.

Wang Jiu said, "Indeed, the situation is very strange. We’ve never seen a similar precedent before, so it can only be judged that it’s related to the Demon Race, but the specific nature of the relationship is still entirely indeterminable."

After that, Wang Jiu briefly described the experiences at the Golden Cloud Peak ruins and asked, "What do you think?"

When it comes to the Demon Race, Zhao Chenlu certainly had no heart for jokes or jests. After contemplating for a long time, he said, "I think those two First Generation Sect Leaders might have received some kind of favor from the Demon Race, such as consuming the Demon Race’s elixir pills or cultivating the Demon Race’s cultivation techniques."

"Elixir pills and cultivation techniques..." Wang Jiu frowned, "The physical differences between the Demon Race and humans are immense, and whether it’s elixir pills or cultivation techniques, neither are compatible. They’re even toxic to humans."

Zhao Chenlu explained, "First of all, the humans of Xiangzhou have already changed compared to the Jiuzhou Era, and their compatibility with the Demon Race has increased."

Wang Jiu thought for a while and found this reasoning acceptable.

The Xiangzhou Continent expanded and extended from the remnants of the Central Continent. As the main battlefield for the decisive battle, the Central Continent was said to be imbued with the aura of the Demon Race everywhere. And during the decisive battle between the Demon Emperor and the Divine Sword, the laws of the entire world were twisted and shattered, so it’s not surprising that during the subsequent recovery, there was an influence from the power of the Demon Race.

This kind of influence is imperceptible and ubiquitous, concerning the entire world, and with the current state of the Demon-Pointing Sword, it might not be able to discern it. So under such an environment, it’s not impossible for the new generation of humans to have increased tolerance to the Demon Race’s cultivation techniques.

"Moreover, I think it’s highly likely that the two founding Sect Leaders of the first generation were poisoned."

"Huh?" This conclusion surprised the current Sect Leader, poisoned by the Demon Race?

Zhao Chenlu said, "Dear, do you remember the model cultivator theory promoted by the Myriad Immortals Alliance back then?"

Wang Jiu, of course... didn’t remember.

"To put it simply, the Myriad Immortals Alliance loved to promote those unrealistic moral saints as models. The actions of those people were nowhere near logical human reactions. At the time, Shang Lanfei even viciously claimed that unless someone’s brain was flooded, or they took the wrong medicine, they wouldn’t become model cultivators."

Wang Jiu seriously corrected, "It was you who said that at the time."

"... You seem to remember that very clearly, but what I mean is, don’t you think the two founders of the Saint Sect looked like they’ve taken the wrong medicine? Caring neither for personal gain nor private matters, leading society aloofly their entire lives, and no reliable scandal surfaced even two thousand years after their deaths. What differentiates such people from patients with a mental anomaly?"

The Sect Leader retorted, "Your understanding of humanity is too extreme!"

"Extreme? I’ve encountered more people in my life than you have, seen all kinds of personalities, even a few as obsessed with a single path like the Nameless Sword God, but I’ve never met a moral saint! That kind of idealized human never existed in the past, doesn’t exist now, and won’t exist in the future. And you think my understanding is biased, have you ever seen one?"

The Sect Leader shook his head. Indeed, when it came to personal experience, he had never seen someone as flawless in morality as the first-generation Sect Leaders.

"To be precise, I have seen someone similar once," Zhao Chenlu continued. "In a human experiment lab run by an evil cult. At that time, the cult operators were experimenting with drugs to control human thoughts, and an unintended by-product managed to erase all selfish thoughts, forcibly making people into moral saints. According to the experimental records, the post-drug reactions bore some similarity to that of the founders of the Saint Sect."

"You’re making a far-fetched connection," the Sect Leader retorted. "Although I haven’t seen the experimental records of that time, using drugs to control human thought would certainly affect intellect, but the wisdom and insight of the founders are widely acknowledged!"

Zhao Chenlu said, "Widely acknowledged? Their legendary deeds, like creating the Three Academies, settling in Heaven-Reaching City, allying with the Seven Great Noble Families... If you analyze them carefully, you should realize these actions reflect not strategic planning, but decision-making capabilities; they chose from existing options. As the Sect Leader, you should understand the difference here."

The Sect Leader was silent for a while and said, "I believe that being able to find the correct choice in a complex situation precisely demonstrates their high intellect."

"That’s wrong. If a test only consists of multiple-choice questions, even a fool can score full marks through luck, which doesn’t prove their intelligence. We only know what choices they made then, but we are clueless about why they chose them, as there’s no record left even in history books."

"... The two Sect Leaders were reserved and didn’t like to talk, so naturally, no historical records were left. What’s strange about that?"

"Not strange, but this allows for various interpretations by future generations. For instance, I now propose a hypothesis. Their ability to make the right choices wasn’t due to their intelligence. On the contrary, because they were fools, they always made the most unwise choice during significant decisions. For example, creating the Three Academies, when they subdued the first batch of loyal followers with strength, any normal person would consider using these followers to build a new force centered around themselves. But they split them into three independent sects, with no intention of concentrating power."

The Sect Leader said, "But later, it proved to be a long-term plan. With the Three Academies as a buffer, relations between the Seven Great Noble Families and the Saint Sect could stabilize."

"That was proved later. From the perspective of decision-making at the time, no normal person would voluntarily disperse power in such a delicate situation. Only a fool would choose to support three independent sects."

"Or perhaps the two Sect Leaders saw through the personality differences among the founders of the Three Academies, which made long-term cooperation difficult, so they had no choice but to separate them."

"Or perhaps they had social anxiety disorder, disliked working with outsiders for extended periods, and that’s why they sent those clingy followers as far away as possible. This could also explain why, after establishing the Saint Sect, they rarely recruited disciples and managed their daily lives without servants, which had nothing to do with being approachable or of exemplary virtue, but purely social anxiety."

"... What kind of nonsense theory is this!?"

Zhao Chenlu ignored the Sect Leader’s doubts and continued, "The decision to settle in Heaven-Reaching City followed the same logic. Among several options, they chose the one that seemed most appealing but also the most difficult to achieve. It wasn’t because they thoroughly calculated the feasibility and expected benefits of settling there, but purely because the option seemed better, so two fools, without considering the execution difficulty, chose Heaven-Reaching City without hesitation. When someone questioned the difficulties of settling in Heaven-Reaching City at the meeting, they answered with only a sentence—if there are difficulties, then overcome them."

"In the end, they did overcome many seemingly insurmountable difficulties."

"As I first mentioned, as long as luck is good enough, even a fool can score full marks on a multiple-choice test. But that doesn’t prove they aren’t fools."