Chapter 359: Fated Rivals

Somewhere in the temporary quarters of the Purple Sun Sect.

All the Purple Sun Sect heavyweights had gathered in one area.

Master Shuiyue was slightly embarrassed to be facing her brethren and began to reflect. “Forefather, fellow daoists, Shuiyue was incompetent and dragged everyone down so that all lost face with me.”

Spiritual Master Zixu was the head of the sect and naturally had to project himself as thus at this time. He comforted her, “Junior sister Shuiyue, everyone knows that, although your temper is fiery, you act for the best of the sect at all times. Many factors were at play in this matter, and it wasn’t all your fault. It was the other three sects that have always been jealous of us, so they wouldn’t have passed up on this opportunity at all.”

“Right, junior sister need not admonish yourself. This was just a mere secular cultivator with no knowledge of the vastness of the world. There will naturally be sect geniuses who will vent your ill will for you when he reaches the sky quadrant.”

“There is reason in these words. Although this candidate has great potential, there is still a large gap between him and the premier geniuses of our Purple Sun Sect.”

Everyone started comforting Master Shuiyue.

It wasn’t that they had close relationships with Master Shuiyue, but that everyone knew she had taken in an incredible disciple.

This disciple was going to be a pillar of the sect sooner or later. Even forefather Sunchaser had said that Long Juxue was theoretically the disciple with the greatest hope of ascending to the origin realm.

There was no reason for this other than her innate constitution. That fact alone made her superior to all the other sect geniuses.

Master Shuiyue felt a bit better receiving all of their words of comfort. However, she still hadn’t dared to look at forefather Sunchaser ever since coming back.

She had indeed committed a grave mistake this time, particularly when the forefather had already sent her a message telling her to not make a move lightly.

She hadn’t respected his wishes and had fancied herself clever in playing with fire, resulting in her picking up rocks to smash her own feet in the end. Not only had she lost face, but she’d paid the price of two personal disciples as well.

“Forefather, Shuiyue is incompetent. Please proclaim your punishment.” Shuiyue was afraid of nothing beneath the heavens and on the earth, but forefather Sunchaser was the only exception.

Even the most powerful senior executive in the Purple Sun Sect didn’t dare act wildly in front of forefather Sunchaser, including Master Shuiyue.

“Hmph. Shuiyue, it was an achievement in taking in Long Juxue, and it was a black mark in your books when you defied my orders this time. Merits offset demerits. This matter is over.”

Forefather Sunchaser snorted coldly and gave Shuiyue a way out.

Master Shuiyue felt quite anguished. She knew that the forefather’s words meant that her merits in scouting Long Juxue had been completely wiped out. She would no longer enjoy any more special privileges within the sect.

This was no small blow to her.

However, since the forefather had spoken, she dared not haggle. After all, he hadn’t pursued her guilt in defying his orders. This was already an act of mercy.

“Forefather, there is still one thing I must report.” Master Shuiyue thought for a moment and still gathered her courage to speak up.

“What?”

“I suspect that the secular freak genius is very likely Long Juxue’s rival in the mundane world—Jiang Chen!”

Everyone was stunned when she gave voice to her speculation.

“What did you say?” Spiritual Master Zixu also couldn’t sit still. “Jiang Chen? You mean the kid who was being feted by the other three sects before the selection?”

This thought had once flashed through Spiritual Master Zixu’s mind as well, but he hadn’t thought more deeply on it. He couldn’t help but ask now that Master Shuiyue had brought it up, “Do you have evidence of this?”

“I don’t have concrete evidence, but this candidate has been at odds with our sect ever since he’s entered the second selection. Why is this? In addition, I have the slightest feeling of unease about this candidate. All of you know that for a cultivator at my level, I wouldn’t have unexplainable emotional hunches. Therefore, I’m worried that this intuition will become reality.”

The intuition of martial dao!

A cultivator’s intuition wouldn’t appear for no reason; there are no waves without the wind. Something was usually bound to happen once it appeared.

This time, even forefather Sunchaser sank into deep musing.

He was a venerated origin realm practitioner and had a deep understanding of the intuition of martial dao. When random thoughts such as these appeared, they were often very accurate.

The stronger one was, the more accurate these thoughts were.

“Can it be that the secular genius really is Jiang Chen?” Sunchaser had never made much of Jiang Chen. At his level, any so-called genius was just a minor character to him.

Those who didn’t have the potential to enter the origin realm would be unable to make it into his line of sight.

He did look favorably on several geniuses in the Purple Sun Sect, and the one most likely to enter the origin realm happened to be Long Juxue.

As long as all proceeded smoothly, an azure phoenix constitution would have at least a seventy to eighty percent chance of ascending to the origin realm.

Therefore, Long Juxue was without a doubt the most popular character amongst the younger generation. She had the privilege of being first priority when it came to enjoying the sect’s resources.

Sunchaser, in turn, saw in this secular cultivator a certain potential, namely the potential of becoming a venerated origin realm cultivator.

This was why he’d told Master Shuiyue not to suppress this candidate.

But if this genius really was Long Juxue’s rival, then he couldn’t be allowed to live.

“Can it be that a mere Eastern Kingdom has birthed two geniuses all at once?” Sunchaser murmured softly to himself.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Forefather, what do you mean?” Those assembled were surprised.

Sunchaser sighed, “I hadn’t thought much of this before Shuiyue had brought it up. But since she’s had this hunch, this is a sign from the heart and basically has no room for error with it. This candidate may truly be Jiang Chen, Long Juxue’s death rival. It looks like heaven’s ways are fair. Long Juxue is such a genius that she is destined to have such a rival. I have investigated her background and discovered that Jiang Chen truly is her fated rival.”

“Forefather, do you think so too?” Master Shuiyue was greatly stunned when she heard forefather Sunchaser speak so. She’d always hoped that her intuition was wrong.

This was because the shock that the secular genius had brought to her was simply too great.

It was great to the point where she wasn’t completely confident that Long Juxue would be able to suppress him.

“Let’s wait and see.” Sunchaser spread out his hands. “If this candidate is truly Jiang Chen, he is destined to be unable to coexist with Long Juxue. He will certainly become her internal demon if he doesn’t die.”

“On the other hand, if he truly is Jiang Chen, he would actually be the best tool to temper Long Juxue with. If Long Juxue can overcome him, then she will surely rise to the skies like a phoenix soaring the nine heavens.”

“Forefather, do you mean to allow this candidate to enter the sky quadrant and compete with Long Juxue?” Master Shuiyue asked hoarsely with surprise.

“What?” Sunchaser smiled coldly. “You can’t bear for this to happen out of a desire to protect your disciple?”

“This kid is crafty and tricky, whereas Long Juxue’s personality has yet to form and she lacks a certain amount of tempering. I’m worried...”

“Don’t worry unnecessarily like the man fretting about the sky falling in.” Sunchaser said remotely. “In order to become one above all, one must be able to make it past everything. If a fated rival is enough to stop her, then all is futile no matter how high her potential is.”

The other heavyweights of the sect all nodded in agreement.

Geniuses not only needed to have potential, but also needed various conditions that would allow them to grow into their own. The design of the initial selection encompassed all of this.

If Long Juxue was unable to make it past this obstacle or was unable to defeat all of her opponents, then what right did she have to stand at the pinnacle of the sect and enjoy treatment that no one else had?

“Shuiyue, your personality is fiery, but this isn’t a shortcoming. Even your fierce protection of those close to you isn’t a shortcoming, but you must remember that although a master’s protection is necessary in the development of a cultivator, too much interference is actually a type of confinement. If you do everything for her, what true tempering can she undergo? If her personality isn’t forged, how will we trust her with important situations?”

Sunchaser’s tone became stern. “Therefore, if this candidate is indeed Jiang Chen, this is actually a good thing. He will become Long Juxue’s most ideal test. To have a fated rival during the rise of genius is a stroke of luck and not disaster, do you understand?”

Master Shuiyue was grave as she suddenly understood something.

She really did feel quite a bit of regret in this moment. If she’d understood this earlier, she wouldn’t have lost so much face this time. Not only had she wrecked her own reputation, she’d paid the price of two personal disciples as well.

“Alright, that will be all. Shuiyue, treat this matter as a type of trial for yourself as well. Temper your personality well.”

Sunchaser waved his hand and was about to leave.

“Forefather, please wait. There is still one more thing regarding Jiang Chen.” Master Shuiyue suddenly remembered something.

“What else is there?”

“That day in the Eastern Kingdom, Jiang Chen was one step away from being killed by my disciple Chu Xinghan when a mysterious person appeared out of nowhere and saved him. He gave Chu Xinghan the message that Long Juxue and Jiang Chen’s matter should be settled by only the two of them. If the Purple Sun Sect or any others interfere, then the mysterious person will personally come to the Purple Sun Sect for an explanation. It now seems that this person may be the person secretly mentoring Jiang Chen.”

“Mysterious person? Smoke and mirrors.” Sunchaser laughed coldly in succession. “Apart from us four old fellows in the sixteen kingdoms, who else has the right to be mysterious?”

“Think no more on this matter. Whoever they are, our sect fears nothing in the sixteen kingdoms. He’s not worthy of threatening the Purple Sun Sect!” Sunchaser delivered this in a domineering tone.

“Mm, I actually suspect that the mysterious person could be the spirit king protector of the Skylaurel Kingdom, Ye Chonglou.” Master Shuiyue still voiced the suspicions in her heart.

“Ye Chonglou?” Sunchaser’s tone grew even more contemptuous. “Spirit king protector of the kingdom? Since he’s a spirit king, then there’s nothing to worry about. He can come talk to me as equals when he enters the origin realm. However, will he be able to do so with his endowments? Heh heh, impossible!”

Although Sunchaser wasn’t familiar with Ye Chonglou, he still knew of him. He knew that this man was only a step away from the origin realm but had always been unable to break through.

This was a bottleneck. If he hadn’t been able to bridge it in a hundred years, it meant he didn’t have the ability to take the final step.

This was the difference between the origin realm and the spirit realm. It was just one line, but that line encompassed a thousand mountains and ten thousand moats.

Since forefather Sunchaser had set the tone, there was nothing much for anyone else to say. Everyone left to go about their own business, leaving Master Shuiyue still a bit worried.