"After the chaos within the Ruthless Sect, the higher-ups had to kill a number of people to suppress the situation,"

"Normally, a show of force by making an example of a few would suffice, but it doesn't work with the Ruthless Sect."

"Those devoid of compassion lack the emotion of fear; they only see their own interests. Merely killing a few doesn't serve as a deterrent. Only by striking down a large number can the rest be made aware of the high-ranking members' resolve, weighing the pros and cons before deciding to back off."

Recalling that scene from his younger days, Daoist Buyu clicked his tongue in amazement; it was the first time he'd witnessed such clean and decisive killing.

"However, things didn't calm down quickly. With the Ruthless Sect's leadership having their own hierarchy, and influenced by those below, they began to turn on each other. It's said that even the Master survived more than one assassination attempt."

"After the internal strife was quelled, the Ruthless Sect started dredging up the past and traced the source of the troubles back to me, preparing to execute me—presumably because there was also dissatisfaction with my 'improved' version of attaining enlightenment through murdering my wife."

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Luckily, I was at the Spirit Transformation Stage back then, and I had a life-saving magic artifact given by my master. With that, I barely managed to escape from the Ruthless Sect."

"It's a pity, though. I had planned to stay undercover in the Ruthless Sect to find out the location and the ins and outs of their headquarters. I didn't expect them to be so impatient and intent on killing me, even though all my actions were in line with the teachings of the Ruthless Sect."

Daoist Buyu shook his head, feeling that with his understanding of the doctrine of Ruthlessness, the Ruthless Sect should have considered making him their Master.

"Although I didn't get to uncover the full extent of the Ruthless Sect's secrets, I figured out that they had two Vice Hierarchs and one Master. The Master's cultivation level is unknown, but the two Vice Hierarchs are at the early and mid-stages of the Transcendance Tribulation Stage."

Lu Yang gasped in shock; this intelligence was unknown even to Yaoyang Sect and Jiuyou Sect, and it suggested that the Ruthless Sect had at least three members at the Transcendance Tribulation Stage, stronger than both of those sects.

"What happened afterward?" the Great Ancestor asked earnestly, eager to know more.

"After that, I ran away," Daoist Buyu curled his lip, "Seeing that the Ruthless Sect couldn't take a loss, I dropped the act. I immediately contacted my sect and Great Xia to destroy every Ruthless Sect stronghold I knew of—killing those who deserved it and saving those who could be saved."

"First came the internal turmoil, then the Righteous Path's suppression. After two rounds of blows, the Ruthless Sect was severely weakened and stayed quiet for a few hundred years."

"Didn't the Ruthless Sect seek revenge on you afterward?" Lu Yang inquired.

Daoist Buyu pointed out the flaw in Lu Yang's thinking: "They don't possess 'hatred,' so why would they seek revenge on me?"

"However, you're right that there were many who wished to take revenge on me, to prove their enlightenment through hatred. It's also a path of Ruthlessness. One such person, Su Moran, harbored the greatest enmity toward me. He was a mid-stage Transcendance Tribulation Vice Sect Hierarch, presumably because I had tricked him rather severely at the time."

"But, well, Su Moran isn't too keen on letting others know he wants revenge on me."

"Why is that?"

"Because wanting revenge on me means he harbors hatred for me, temporarily deviating from the path of Ruthlessness, which indicates that his cultivation has hit a bottleneck."

"And hitting a bottleneck, with the cessation of his cultivation progress, would lower his standing within the Ruthless Sect."

"The Ruthless Sect is that dangerous," the Great Ancestor shuddered in retrospective fear, feeling lucky to have been captured. If he had joined the Ruthless Sect, he might have been exposed in less than two days.

"Lucky for you, Great Ancestor, that you didn't join the Ruthless Sect," the Gold Clan Leader voiced the concern on behalf of Daoist Xiantian from the side.

Daoist Buyu glanced at the Gold Clan Leader: "Go on, you're not from our Seek Dao Sect, so stop calling him 'Great Ancestor.'

"Don't speak like that, big brother. I think there's potential for cooperation between our Qiongqi Clan and your Seek Dao Sect. If we join forces in the future, wouldn't it be easy for us to clinch a spot in the top ten powers of the Great Era?"

Daoist Buyuyu thought about his excellent disciple Yun Zhi and felt that there was no need for an alliance with the Qiongqi Clan—his Seek Dao Sect could become a top ten power on its own.

Originally, Lu Yang thought it was quite safe for his ancestor to stay in prison, and it would suffice for him and Old Meng to visit frequently. However, the discovery that his ancestor and master were imprisoned together suddenly made him uneasy.

Lu Yang consulted with Old Meng through voice transmission, "Should we go to the prison to protect our ancestor?"

"That might be unnecessary. Although our ancestor looks young and inexperienced, let's not forget he is a Great Power who chose to start over after disbanding his cultivation. He has been honing his Daoist heart for a long time; he shouldn't be so easily influenced by the Sect Leader." Meng Jingzhou thought that perhaps Lu Yang had too much confidence in the Sect Leader's influence.

Before Lu Yang could reply, he heard Daoist Buyu lecturing Daoist Xiantian.

"Ancestor may not know this, but our Seek Dao Sect has a tradition of staying in prison."

"You know, in the secular world, there's a profession where people go to hotels to sleep, test the living conditions, and provide suggestions for improvements."

"Our Seek Dao Sect also has a similar profession. You see me walking through the streets and alleys all year round, observing various city jails to investigate the environment. This task isn't suitable for government officials; those from above would improve the jail conditions temporarily for inspections, so what can they really uncover? Therefore, we must rely on our own means."

"It's not just me. A couple of years ago, the Minister of Justice also joined me in prison to inspect the conditions. What I'm telling is not made up; you can inquire in the Imperial City; it's common knowledge. Even His Majesty often mentions this matter in the court as a laudable anecdote."

"So that's how it is." Initially, Daoist Buyu didn't quite believe what Lu Yang and his colleague said about the disciples of Seek Dao Sect frequently entering prison. But after Daoist Buyu explained it this way, he suddenly realized and felt less guilty about being in prison.

Meng Jingzhou felt that having the ancestor and Daoist Buyu together was indeed very risky.

"Let's move in together after all."

"And commit what kind of offense?"

There was a particular way to be put in prison; the ancestor was only imprisoned for half a month. If the offense they committed was too light, they might not be detained at all. However, if it was too severe, being locked up for two to three months would not be worth it.

"How about we steal something? That's the simplest." Lu Yang suggested earnestly.

...

At the City Lord's mansion, the City Lord looked troubled as he listened to the two men making accusations at the foot of the hall.

"Are you saying you're called Lu Yang, you stole two thousand nine hundred Spirit Stones from Meng Jingzhou, and you refuse to return them?"

The City Lord then shifted his gaze to the other person.

"And you're saying you're called Meng Jingzhou, you also stole two thousand nine hundred Spirit Stones from Lu Yang, and you also refuse to return them?"

The two men nodded earnestly.

They had checked it out; in this region, the threshold for a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator to be charged with theft was three thousand Spirit Stones. If the amount was less than that, it could only be treated as an administrative case.

And the maximum punishment for an administrative case was detention for fifteen days.

Since they stole from each other and refused to return the items or reconcile, the City Lord had no choice but to give them the maximum penalty, detaining them for fifteen days.

Treating the offenses as canceling each other out and acting as if nothing happened was not an option either, because the cases were independent and could not be merged.

The City Lord hissed in frustration, having heard that disciples from the Seek Dao Sect enjoyed Enlightenment in prison; could the rumors be true?