Kong Qingzhu shut his eyes in thought, as if he had not heard a word of what Jian Dan said. The other Kong cultivators only traded looks. No one dared transmit a message in front of a Zhēnzūn.
Kong Kong left and returned. Entering the hall, he bowed to the Ancestor and presented three storage bracelets for inspection.
After a glance, Kong Qingzhu waved a sleeve for the Patriarch to deliver the bracelets to the three visitors.
Jian Jing did not stand on ceremony. A sweep of divine sense revealed one million supreme-grade spirit stones. Satisfied, she waved them straight into her own storage bracelet.
Jian Dan did the same. Jian Po followed suit, taking only the spirit stones and not the empty bracelets.
Kong Kong was not embarrassed. He retrieved the now-empty bracelets as they were.
Just then a flying-sword letter shot to Kong Kong. He caught it, scanned it with divine sense, and his face half blackened.
Jian Dan did not need to probe to guess. That would be Kong Hui's message, sent only after he finally made it back to the cultivation world.
Jian Dan liked this sort of thing. Late, but arriving in the end. Late was still late.
Jian Jing knew what the letter must be and rose to say,
"Since the matter is resolved, we will not delay Kong Zhēnzūn in disciplining his junior. We will return to the sect."
The Ancestor nodded. Kong Kong stepped forward to guide the three out, eager to see these three calamities off with full courtesies.
As Jian Dan passed Kong Xingkun, she hooked his chin up with her fan, forcing him to meet her eyes. A blue gleam flickered in her gaze. She kept her smile.
"Kong Xiaoyou, if you change your mind, you may come to Tianyue Peak at any time. The door to my cave is always open. However, you are no longer a virgin. In my place you would be only a servant."
Cold sweat broke out over Kong Xingkun. "I dare not."
He backed away repeatedly, dodging the fan.
"Tsk. No fun." Jian Dan muttered and fell in behind her Senior Sister, leaving the hall.
Only after the three departed the Kong domain did Kong Qingzhu drag Kong Xingkun before him and order him to recount everything, without the least concealment.
Kong Xingkun knew his rashness had shamed the clan and cost them stones. He did not dare lie. After confessing start to finish, he went to self-seclude and face the wall. He left briskly, but his maids became the scapegoats. For failing to assist their young master, their cultivation was stripped and they were sent to the outermost lands to till spirit fields.
"Kong Kong, those two women seized this handle, toured our domain once, and asked spirit stones as compensation. Is that not thunder with little rain." Kong Qingzhu stroked his beard and asked the Patriarch.
Kong Kong's round face held doubt as well. At last he answered, "Likely they feared our influence in the sect, so they ended it with a whimper."
"No. Others might fear it. Jian Lu will not. She is a lone wolf. Once she bites, she does not let go. Look at the Fu clan's end. Back then she was only at peak Void Refinement and still dared to storm their gates."
"That was because the Fu clan truly had problems. Their house was crooked and she took hold of the flaw. What Xingkun did can be large or small. They had no need to cling on."
"While you were away she said someone in our Kong clan spread rumors about her. Is that true."
"It is. Some in the clan whispered that when Jian Li returned to the Law Enforcement Hall, Jian Lu went back to Tianyue Peak and took no further part in the Hall, therefore..."
At that, Kong Qingzhu cut him off. "Nonsense. Others may not know, but as Patriarch you should. Is anyone allowed to serve as deputy head of the Law Enforcement Hall. That position must be affirmed by the sect's Mahayana Zhēnzūn. Otherwise no one would heed her."
"This is my failure to oversee. It should be from Kong Qiankun's branch. I will shut their mouths."
"Enough. They still resent that I abandoned Kong Qiankun back then. It seems I have been too lenient over the years and let them believe they can waste my patience forever. Investigate and recall every rumor-monger. Punish them by the clan rules."
"Yes, Ancestor. Abandoning Kong Qiankun was last resort. Otherwise we would have stood against Zhēnzūn Tian Yun and against the Heavenly Sword Sect. The entire clan would have been dragged down. And that branch was too ambitious, trying to control the clan by clinging to a Mahayana Zhēnzūn's direct line."
"There is no point in rehashing. At the time the proper Hall Master, Jian Jun, held the reins. Had she dug deeper, we might well have been the next Bian clan."
Kong Qingzhu rubbed his brow. A large clan bred many voices. Every branch nursed its own selfishness.
"I understand the difficulty, Ancestor. I will handle that branch with care."
While the Kong clan settled how to deal with its rumor-mongers, Jian Dan's trio had already caught up with the returning flying boats. They boarded quietly. Only Wu Siyuan and Jian Wu knew the three had been away half a day.
Seeing the three return in good spirits, Wu Siyuan and Jian Wu exchanged a look and did not ask.
Back in the cabin, Liuli and Jin Ai came up to salute. Liuli's large eyes blinked, wanting to ask yet not daring, staring at Jian Dan with open curiosity.
"We are almost back at the sect. Tell your aunt the basics of the sect first."
Jian Dan dismissed them with that. Helpless, Liuli took her aunt out.
"Junior Sister, did you get your result."
"Yes. The Ancestor gave me the opening. Every Kong elder present received their share." Jian Dan's smile turned sly and her answer crisp.
"You showed consideration to the Kong Ancestor too."
"Naturally. He tried to press us with his aura."
"Junior Sister's divine sense seems stronger than your cultivation?" Jian Jing asked directly. After all, the pressure earlier had been Mahayana, even if early stage. Jian Po watched Jian Dan with the same curiosity.
"It is due to my cultivation art. My divine sense has been tempered and stands a realm above my cultivation."
"I see." Hearing that, Jian Jing did not press further. It touched on personal cultivation, and it would be improper to pry.
She did not know Jian Dan had already placed her art in the Scripture Repository. Among the disciples recruited this time, some in the future would cultivate the Primordial Chaos Art, carry it forward, and surpass the so-called orthodox Jian family. But that was a tale for later.
As the Heavenly Sword Sect's flying boats sped toward the sect, the Heavenly Demon Palace received a report from Nine Shas Hall. A new kind of blood insect had entered the cultivation world.
Mo Su read the message and his brow never relaxed. Nine Shas Hall had earned merit this time. He had not expected the insect race to move so fast, and the thing he feared most had come to pass.
Mo Su had not returned to Moyan Peak for some time. Lately he handled palace affairs in the main hall on Tianmo Peak. Palace Master Mo Lie had become a hands-off ruler, saying it would help Mo Su familiarize himself with all matters of the Heavenly Demon Palace, convenient for taking the throne in the future.
"Mo Su, I hear Mo Lie Zhūnzhǔ is preparing to hand you the palace master's seat."