Chapter 1448: Greater Good (I)

The owls in the sky screeched as tears streamed down Houfu’s face, who was standing to the side like a ghost. He stepped back within the surging black light, lifted his sleeve, and took out a white talisman.

The talisman bore profound and intricate patterns as it radiated brilliant light. It shone with an upright, resplendent brilliance within the black glow. The owls circling higher and higher in the sky seemed to receive some kind of summons. Reluctant and struggling, they descended, carrying all the black light with them, condensing once more into a single talisman that flew into the white talisman.

Then the great crows shrieked harshly and fell from the sky in droves, smashing against broken pillars and thrones. Blood splattered everywhere as they died one after another. In less than half a quarter hour, the corpses of birds covered the ground, wings stiff, eyes wide open, leaving the place in utter ruin.

The black mist at the horizon seemed to be suppressed by something. It did not spread, but instead weakened continuously and vanished.

A Daoist Master with three divine abilities and a Sword Immortal Grand Daoist Master with four divine abilities fell at the same moment... how overbearing... what a display of power...

Light pulsed through the sky as the black glow gradually receded. The grand formation's radiance dimmed, and a woman appeared in the wind. She landed nearby, withdrew her enchanted umbrella, and stood in silence.

It was Hengxing.

Li Ximing stood among the scattered bird corpses, while Tinglan stepped aside. They watched as Houfu walked up the steps one at a time. The man in brown robes tucked the talisman back into his sleeve, his expression already calm again. He sat down where Kuiqi's body had once been, raised his brows slightly, and said quietly, "I have received my martial uncle's final order to withdraw to Jiangnan."

Hengxing's expression was extremely complex as her red lips pressed together. But with her gaze lowered, the emotions in her eyes could not be seen. After several breaths, Li Ximing finally noticed two lines of tears streaming down her pale face, as if she were quietly sobbing. "So stubborn about his pride! Did Lin Jianqi[1] not know how dangerous this journey was? He had at least reached the Purple Mansion Realm..."

The cultivators had sensed that something was unusual about this north-south conflict, but none had expected the north to be so ruthless. Hengxing's words sounded more like an emotional outburst. Houfu lowered his head slightly and replied, "Everyone makes their own choices. Risky moves bring risky consequences. Many thanks to you both for considering the overall situation..."

Hengxing's emotions turned to deep grief and pain. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Year after year you closed your Dao lineage, allowing devil cultivators and Buddhist cultivators to run rampant. Who knows how many lives were lost back then? And now you act so righteous. Why not think of the greater good, take some of the people's blood essence, or use a few Purple Mansion Realm spirit items? With the abilities of your Great Xiukui Temple, how could you not save him?

"The greater good... so why not think of the greater good now? If your Great Xiukui Temple had thought of the greater good earlier, become another Azure Pond Sect, and made use of the Heavenborn Devil Dao, you could have resisted the devil cultivators and Buddhist cultivators in the north by now. Even if many cultivators and common folk had suffered, would that not still be better than letting those fiends sweep across all of Jiangbei? Even now, if you truly cared about the greater good, shouldn't you save Lin Jianqi first? Isn't it just condoning killing? Has there been any shortage of that?"

She turned to look at Tinglan and cried, "At worst, it would have been like Chi Wei. At least you could have settled things. But instead you insist on walking the Orthodox Dao all the way without clarity, while entangling yourselves ambiguously with the north. The north-south conflict... the north-south conflict... was it not your northern factions working with those Buddhist cultivators in the past? When you stood by and watched the Murong Family move south, did you ever think of today? Bargaining with a tiger! And now everything has fallen apart..."

At this point, she finally choked up and fell silent. Tinglan wept without speaking. Houfu raised his brows, his gaze somewhat dim, "What is the greater good? Our Xiukui Dao was never particularly renowned. It was once only a branch of Huyi Upper Sect. At that time, the world was in chaos. True Monarch Taiyue came from the sea, took over as head of the branch, and established a Dao lineage called the [Kui Cultivating Sect][2], bringing peace to the region."

"The True Monarch passed down the Dao lineage and took in two disciples. One bore the surname Lin, the ancestor Honglan of our Great Xiukui Temple, and held the [Tian Xiu][3]. The other bore the surname Nian, who held the [Bu Yue][4], and was the forebear of the present Nian Family, Daoist Master Dongtai."

Daoist Master Tinglan said nothing, listening as he continued, "Later, the True Monarch sought the Dao and went to Jiangbei with Daoist Master Dongtai and several cultivators, establishing the Yue Cultivating Sect. Ancestor Honglan remained to preside over the Kui Cultivating Sect. After the ancestor fell, he left a final decree to establish a temple, changing the character 'Xiu'[5] to 'Xiu'[6] and adding the character 'Great', thus founding the present Great Xiukui Temple."

Houfu’s expression dimmed as he said, "If we speak in terms of Dao lineage, the Yue Cultivating Sect and the Kui Cultivating Sect come from the same source. But in terms of lineage inheritance, the Yue Cultivating Sect is our superior sect. Jiangbei, the Three Streams, even the Yue Cultivating mountain gate... whether it was Lord Louxing or Martial Uncle Kuiqi, both had once gone there and cultivated there."

Li Ximing felt both grief and shock as he listened, thinking to himself,

Yet the Yue Cultivating Sect never made a move...

The man before him continued quietly, "The Origin Mansion once issued an order: immortals and mortals were to remain separate. All sects were to withdraw into the mountains and forests, forbidden from exercising rule. All were to uphold Green Pine and not act in the name of Supreme Yin. At that time, that was the greater good. Later, the Origin Mansion sealed itself and no longer manifested in this world. In Jiangbei and Jiangnan, only four factions adhered most strictly to these rules.

"The Yue Cultivating Sect, the Sword Sect, Xiukui Dao Gate, and Hengzhu Dao Gate."

Tinglan remained silent at the side as Houfu said softly, "Under the Great Xiukui Temple, mountain peaks spread everywhere and temples stood in clusters. Since then, before Martial Uncle Kuiqi's time, our Xiukui did not intervene much. Even when Li Jiangqun proclaimed himself a successor of Supreme Yin, Lord Louxing merely went to Yue Cultivating Sect to study and never joined his faction.

"In terms of staying detached from worldly affairs, the rules of our Great Xiukui Temple are no fewer than those of the Sword Sect. We are simply far removed in the deep mountains. We’re not guided by moral orthodoxy, and lack spirit pine and sword scriptures. Yet when the time comes to change, the difficulties are just as great.

"Having come this far, I will speak bluntly. Aside from matters concerning your Hengzhu Dao Gate, our Great Xiukui Temple has wronged no one. Now that Martial Uncle Kuiqi has fallen, it was also for the sake of the Supreme Yang Dao lineage, and for the greater good! Otherwise, we could have withdrawn into Huyi. What would the affairs of Jiangbei have to do with us?"

Houfu slowly closed his eyes and said softly, "The matter of the Azure Pond Sect was merely the Chi Family alone. Now it has already been destroyed..."

Hengxing wiped her tears and shook her head, "Do you think I simply do not understand?

"Now is not the time to argue. I only have a few questions. Everyone speaks of the greater good, but how many truly act for it? The northern mountains, the Golden One Dao lineage, speak with such certainty. Is everything they do now not for their own greater good? The so-called greater good is important, yes, but more often it is merely a tool the Orthodox Dao uses to temporarily bend its own bottom line. It forces some to compromise, and at times even abandoning morality is excused. How many evils began in the name of the greater good? How many killings have been justified by it?!"

With tears in her eyes, she said angrily, "Lin Jianqi was willing to die for this. How many in this world could be like him?!"

1. The birth name of Daoist Master Kuiqi. ☜

2. The original chinese raw of [Kui Cultivating] 'Xiukui' (修葵) has the same pronunciation to the 'Xiukui' (鸺葵) of Great Xiukui Temple. It has a different meaning but pronounced the same. I changed it to Kui Cultivating as the 修(Xiu) of the name means cultivation, and it'll be easier to differentiate. ☜

3. A spirit artifact that once appeared in Chapter 862. ☜

4. A spirit artifact that once appeared in Chapter 862. ☜

5. This 修(xiū) here means 'cultivation'. It is the 'Xiu' for Kui Cultivating Sect as previously mentioned. ☜

6. This 鸺(xiū) refers to a type of owl, specifically a small owl in classical Chinese. It is the 'Xiu' for Great Xiukui Temple/Xiukui Dao Gate. ☜