Chapter 768: The Fall of Ghostface
In his heart,
He Song thought that if he could help without affecting himself, he would naturally aid the Zhou family in avoiding disaster.
But if helping would put him in danger or jeopardize his safety,
then the Zhou family would simply have to fend for themselves.
However, although He Song had already formed an idea in his mind regarding this matter,
a full commitment was absolutely impossible.
After all, the Zhou family was a Foundation Establishment family.
Such families could attract enemies with equally deep and powerful backgrounds.
Thus, whether the enemy the Zhou family provoked was another Foundation Establishment family or even a Gold Core sect,
these forces would also have their own backing.
And once He Song truly intervened,
there might emerge situations where dealing with the lesser opponent would bring forth stronger ones, and then even more formidable ones.
This scenario was precisely what He Song wanted to avoid most.
Although his cultivation had now reached the late stage of the Gold Core level, making him no longer a weakling in the cultivation world,
facing such a situation still made him uneasy.
What if, in the worst-case scenario, the other party summoned a Nascent Soul Elder?
Therefore, concerning the affairs of the Zhou family,
He Song believed it was better to keep the final decision on whether to help in his own hands.
Otherwise, if the Zhou family used his current words to request his assistance,
and He Song were forced to act due to a prior commitment,
provoking some powerful enemies could cost him his life.
Such an outcome
was something He Song certainly wished to avoid.
For He Song, any actions that could give others leverage to morally coerce him or damage his reputation based on his words,
were best avoided.
After all, if He Song promised Zhou Ruo today that he would definitely assist the Zhou family if they faced trouble,
then later, there might be unreasonable people who would use his words to morally pressure him into protecting the Zhou family.
Simultaneously, if after making such a statement, he chose not to help when the Zhou family encountered trouble,
the Zhou family might also use this to tarnish his reputation.
Thus,
if He Song agreed to this,
the risks he faced would not only be the destruction of his own reputation and being morally coerced.
If He Song really couldn't resist persuasion and chose to help the Zhou family,
he might face situations where dealing with the lesser opponent brought forth stronger ones, and then even more formidable ones.
Such scenarios would endanger his life.
Such matters,
He Song would definitely not agree to.
Therefore, even facing Zhou Ruo's direct request, He Song did not fully commit but instead said he would decide later.
Because of this,
as long as He Song didn't verbally commit to this, once the Zhou family encountered trouble in the future, He Song could naturally stand aside without hesitation.
There would be no obligation like before, where since he promised, he must act.
As long as He Song didn't verbally commit to this,
regardless of whether the enemies the Zhou family faced had strong backing,
He Song could make his own choices.
Whether to decisively help upon seeing the opponent lacked backing,
or to decisively abandon the Zhou family upon seeing the opponent's strong backing,
both decisions rested in He Song's hands.
As long as he didn't commit to this,
He Song wouldn't be morally coerced by the Zhou family.
Nor could the Zhou family use his words to damage his reputation.
After all, He Song never said he would definitely help the Zhou family; he merely said he would decide later.
Under these circumstances, the situation He Song faced would be much easier than if he had fully committed.
When given a choice,
He Song would naturally deliberate repeatedly before choosing the most advantageous option for himself.
With these thoughts flashing through his mind, He Song's gaze towards Zhou Ruo remained extremely calm.
Now,
it was the Zhou family pleading for his protection.
Not He Song seeking to protect the Zhou family.
The initiative was in He Song's hands.
Thus, He Song's heart naturally remained very calm.
It was as if he casually rejected a small matter, turning down Zhou Ruo's request.
However, this matter was significant for Zhou Ruo.
Upon hearing He Song's refusal, Zhou Ruo's expression changed several times.
But ultimately, she could only barely recover her smile and bowed to thank He Song.
This time,
He Song had already given an extremely precious Foundation Establishment Pill,
along with many low-grade spirit stones.
These spirit stones were what He Song previously gave Zhou Ruo to purchase information from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion every few days.
Now,
He Song no longer needed her to buy information about advanced escape techniques from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion every few days.
Thus, the spirit stones He Song previously gave her naturally belonged to her.
This time, when He Song summoned her here, he had no intention of reclaiming those spirit stones.
Therefore, besides the thousands of low-grade spirit stones He Song just gave her,
Zhou Ruo also possessed another set of thousands of low-grade spirit stones that He Song previously entrusted to her for purchasing information from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
And these thousands of mid-grade spirit stones, barring any accidents, entirely belonged to Zhou Ruo.
Under such circumstances,
the benefits Zhou Ruo received far exceeded others' imagination.
In the cultivation world, even some newly promoted Foundation Establishment practitioners would envy Zhou Ruo's wealth at this moment.
A Foundation Establishment Pill alone could fetch at least forty to fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones in the market.
Adding the two sets of thousands of low-grade spirit stones Zhou Ruo possessed,
the total amounted to at least fifty to sixty thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Such a vast amount of spirit stones,
even a newly promoted Foundation Establishment practitioner would covet.
Yet such substantial benefits
were obtained simply because Zhou Ruo caught He Song's attention and relayed messages for him over several months.
Such an opportunity,
placed on any Qi Refining practitioner,
would make them eternally loyal and devoted to He Song.
Similarly, this situation naturally made Zhou Ruo almost utterly devoted to He Song.
Especially after He Song handed her the Foundation Establishment Pill,
Zhou Ruo's loyalty to He Song had risen to an exceptionally high degree.
Consequently,
when Zhou Ruo's request was refused by He Song this time, despite sighing inwardly, she still treated He Song with respect.
This setback, according to Zhou Ruo's thoughts,
probably meant she hadn't yet gained He Song's genuine trust.
But she believed that if she could interact more with He Song in the future, he would surely understand her intentions.
With these thoughts, Zhou Ruo still respectfully thanked He Song after hearing his refusal,
rather than reacting otherwise.
When this matter concluded,
He Song didn't speak further with Zhou Ruo.
Instead, he quickly let her leave on her own.
Once Zhou Ruo left the residence where He Song was staying,
He Song promptly extended his divine sense, scanning the entire residence.
Soon,
He Song dismantled the Grand Yang Divine Thunder Formation he had set up in this residence and placed the things he previously left here into his storage pouch.
After finishing everything, He Song's figure quickly sank underground and headed towards the outskirts of Red Maple Prefecture.
After traveling hundreds of miles underground away from Red Maple Prefecture,
He Song emerged from the ground and quickly took out his mid-grade spirit tool flying ship, heading north.
Currently,
He Song was in the Red Maple Prefecture, within the territory of Lingfeng Valley.
Bordering Red Maple Prefecture was Qinglin Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the Golden Snake Sect.
Heading north through Qinglin Prefecture and the territory of the Golden Snake Sect would lead into the territory of the Yiyang Sect.
He Song's destination this time was naturally Yunzhou Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of the Yiyang Sect.
There,
He Song would be the safest.
As a guest elder of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, He Song could receive internal protection from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
Therefore,
after concluding this affair,
He Song naturally headed north towards Yunzhou Prefecture.
However,
just as He Song left Red Maple Prefecture and headed towards Yunzhou Prefecture,
while aboard his mid-grade spirit tool flying ship, He Song suddenly received a message.
Inside the flying ship,
He Song casually removed the voice transmission talisman from his body and gently extracted the thin paper inside.
Unfolding the thin paper and placing it in front of him, He Song's gaze quickly showed a hint of change.
After a long while,
He Song finally placed the thin paper into his storage pouch.
His gaze shifted westward, towards the location of Yanyun Prefecture.
Before coming to Lingfeng Valley to search for the advanced escape technique, He Song had obtained a cultivator's Gold Core in Yanyun Prefecture.
That cultivator's Gold Core was obtained from Ghostface True Lord.
Previously, He Song even suspected that the true cultivation level of Ghostface True Lord might not be at the Gold Core stage.
But as time passed,
He Song gradually uncovered Ghostface True Lord's schemes.
This led He Song, upon leaving Yanyun Prefecture, to use an illusion technique to trap Ghostface True Lord in Yanyun Prefecture.
However, more than a year had passed since then.
Logically, Ghostface True Lord should have long seen through He Song's illusion and known that He Song had already left Yanyun Prefecture.
Yet this message came from Xiaoqing.
Xiaoqing was He Song's informant in Yanyun Prefecture.
Previously, Xiaoqing had also met with Ghostface True Lord.
Today, Xiaoqing's message informed He Song of certain news.
When He Song initially left Yanyun Prefecture, he left enough spirit stones in the formation of the residence to last several months.
Unexpectedly,
one day after He Song's departure, Shadow Fox True Lord, the master of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion in Yanyun Prefecture, became interested.
He prepared to visit He Song's residence to discuss cultivation with him.
However, He Song was no longer in that residence at that time.
Seeing that the array around He Song's residence was active, Shadow Fox True Lord didn't force his way in.
He merely sighed and then sought out the person in charge of the arrays at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, instructing him to add some spirit stones to the array.
This way, once He Song finished his seclusion, he would know about it and come to seek him personally.
As a result,
the array operating in He Song's former residence was replenished with spirit stones sufficient for an additional year.
In other words,
until today,
the array operating in He Song's former residence only dissipated due to the exhaustion of spirit stones.
Because when He Song left Yanyun Prefecture, he left enough spirit stones to sustain the array for several months.
Later, Shadow Fox True Lord instructed someone to add enough spirit stones to sustain the array for another year.
Thus,
it resulted in the array only exhausting its spirit stones more than a year later, revealing that He Song had long departed.
This
was the reason Xiaoqing sent the message to inform He Song of everything.
According to Xiaoqing,
upon discovering that the residence was empty, Shadow Fox True Lord's expression changed several times.
He then summoned Xiaoqing and questioned him thoroughly.
Upon learning that He Song employed the golden cicada shedding technique due to being targeted,
Shadow Fox True Lord finally smiled.
However, he disapproved of He Song's method of choosing to shed his shell and flee upon realizing impending danger.
Therefore, upon learning of Ghostface True Lord's existence, Shadow Fox True Lord immediately took action.
According to Xiaoqing's message,
after Shadow Fox True Lord learned of this matter, he quickly picked up the voice transmission talisman, manipulated it for a while, and then put it down.
He then reassured Xiaoqing not to panic and stated that Ghostface True Lord would soon perish.
At that time,
please convey to He Song that if he ever returns to Yanyun Prefecture in the future, he should not dwell on such trivial matters.
This matter,
was precisely the fundamental reason for Xiaoqing's message to He Song.
Based on He Song's speculation,
after Shadow Fox True Lord learned of this matter, he probably sought out the law enforcement personnel of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion because Ghostface True Lord targeted He Song, a guest elder of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
He wanted the law enforcement personnel of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion to take action and eliminate Ghostface True Lord.
This way,
this matter would be resolved.
Otherwise,
if a guest elder of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion were targeted on their own territory and had to secretly flee using the golden cicada shedding technique,
such news, if spread, would severely damage the reputation of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion and attract countless rogue cultivators.
And precisely because such incidents could occur,
the Treasure Gathering Pavilion indeed had law enforcement personnel internally.
The primary targets of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion's law enforcement personnel were such arrogant cultivators who dared to target members of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
End of Chapter