"Subtle"

Arriving at the conference hall, Qing Yangzi sat down on the main seat without any hesitation.

After the six elders arrived, they saw that he was acting as if they were facing a great enemy again, so they could only move back the matter of settling scores with him.

"Senior Brother, just tell us what happened." Shui Rou of the water spiritual root branch asked.

Qing Yangzi waved it off, "Wait for Junior Brother Zhang!"

Hearing this, everyone could only sit in their seats and wait silently.

In a few minutes, Zhang Yan hurried to the conference hall.

When he sent Chen Mu to the Outer Sect's residential area, Qing Yangzi sent him a voice transmission saying that he wanted to gather everyone to discuss something extremely important.

He was afraid that Qing Yangzi would cause trouble behind his back. Therefore, he did not even have the time to garner any goodwill before rushing over hurriedly.

Looking at how Qing Yangzi was seated on the Sect Leader's seat with a stance as though everyone owed him spirit stones, he could not help but feel infuriated.

When he recalled the things that Qing Yangzi had done earlier on, he was even more enraged. He mocked immediately, "Senior Brother, aren't you going into seclusion?"

"Don't worry about it. Leave the position of the Sect Leader to me."

When Qing Yangzi heard this, he snorted coldly, "I originally wanted to hand it over to you, but the situation has changed. I must personally control the situation!"

When Zhang Yan heard this, he sat down on the First Elder's seat and said with an impatient expression, "If you have something to say, say it quickly. We're well aware of each other's thoughts here, so stop pretending in front of me."

Qing Yangzi's face was still grim as he spoke coldly, "I've just discovered something."

The seven elders held their breaths and listened attentively.

It was only then that Qing Yangzi continued, "Earlier on, I investigated that young man who was destined to resolve the calamity…"

"I realized that his aptitude was average."

The six elders who had not arrived before Chen Mu frowned when they heard this.

First Elder Zhang Yan said scornfully, "So what?"

"Although aptitude is important to cultivators, it cannot play a decisive role."

"As long as you have a good temperament, have opportunities, and mediocre talent, you can still become a great cultivator!"

The six elders nodded in agreement.

Qing Yangzi replied exasperatedly, "Do you think that I don't understand such a simple logic?"

"Heh, this child's temperament is excellent and extraordinary."

"Furthermore, his appearance is out of this world. One look and one can tell that he is definitely not an ordinary person."

"Think about it, the heavens had already spent a great deal of effort to give him peerless beauty. Would it be stingy to give him a peerless aptitude?"

"The reason why he lacked talent is because the Heavenly Dao is flawed. If he is too perfect, it will make him feel proud, leading to his premature death."

"I'm certain that his opportunity is still ahead."

"Since you know, why do you have to act like this?" Zhang Yan asked.

Qing Yangzi scoffed out coldly.

"Fool!"

"Can our perspective be the same as his?"

"We know that his future is extraordinary. But can he know it himself?"

"Let me ask you, assume your aptitude was average, and you also came late when you entered the sect."

"In this situation, what would you think if you were nurtured by the sect?"

Zhang Yan fell into deep thought.

He somewhat understood Qing Yangzi's intentions.

They had already agreed not to let that youth know what kind of fate he had…

They were afraid that he would have to bear the pressure that he should not have at his age.

Even if he did not know about this, they could still nurture him.

As long as his aptitude was good, they could find an elder to take him in as a personal disciple. In the future, he would be given resources and groomed with all their might.

But…

His aptitude was average.

Under such circumstances, if they were to groom him…

Instead, it would make him feel fear.

After all, as the saying went, one who was unaccountably solicitous must be hiding evil intentions.

Everything had to make sense.

Otherwise, the better they treated him, the more anxious he would feel.

He might even think that the Azure Yang Sect was doing an experiment on him…

Thinking of this, Zhang Yan probed, "Why don't we treat him as a normal disciple and let him grow naturally?"

When Qing Yangzi heard this, he had an expression of 'Indeed, you're not suited to be the Sect Leader'.

"Junior Brother Zhang, if we really do that, what's the point of ancestor's deduction?"

"Didn't he tell us the identity of the person to face the calamity because he wanted us to treat that person well?"

Everyone looked troubled when they heard this.

If they nurtured that young man with all their might, it would cause him to panic.

But it was impossible not to nurture him.

Then what should they do?

When Qing Yangzi caught sight of the expressions on everyone's faces, he stood up slowly. His eyes were filled with calmness as though everything was under control.

"Everyone, although the person to face the calamity has arrived, that doesn't mean our mission is over."

"When the calamity of sect extermination comes, if no one is harmed, we would have survived the calamity."

"But if half of us are either dead or injured, that is also a sign that the remaining people have survived the great calamity of extermination."

"As for whether we remain unharmed or dead, that will depend on how we nurture this young man who is destined to deal with it."

"Sect Leader, why don't you just tell us what we should do?" Zhang Yan's tone became more respectful.

Qing Yangzi replied indifferently, "It's simple. Not only do we have to provide good material resources for him, we also have to let him feel at ease."

"We have to be subtle, do you understand that?"

"We just have to nurture him with all our might and not let him feel that we are doing it intentionally."

"This… is a little difficult."

"Hehe, if it was not difficult, why would I gather you here? I'll provide you with some ideas and then we can gather our thoughts."

"Senior Brother, what do you think…"

"First…"

...

The eight of them spoke one after another and started to tackle this sect's difficult problem.

...

On the other hand, after Chen Mu was arranged to stay at Outer Sect, he tidied himself up, changed his clothes, and went to sleep.

He had not slept for two days and two nights. After experiencing a battle of wits and courage, he was indeed tired.

...

The sky gradually brightened.

In a cave beside the Immortal Seeking Path, Zhou Jinglei slowly woke up.

Once he regained consciousness, he suddenly sat up and touched his chest.

He took out an ancient black jade pendant.

When he saw this jade pendant, his expression immediately relaxed, but he was still extremely scared.

How could he fall into an unconscious state?

If this jade pendant was lost… or if someone found out about it…

Zhou Jinglei wiped the sweat off his forehead, feeling a lingering fear in his heart.

After calming down for a moment, he started to check his own condition.

He was not hurt, just a little dizzy.

He then looked at the other things he had with him…

Nothing was missing. His decent saber was still there.

Nothing seemed to have changed compared to before he fainted.

"What happened?" Zhou Jinglei was momentarily at a loss.

At this moment, he finally saw the letter pinned by a rock beside him.

...

"Brother Zhou, by the time you read this letter, I will already be in the Azure Yang Sect."

...

Zhou Jinglei read the letter several times with a complicated expression.

To be honest, he did not really believe the contents of the letter.

He even felt that it was Chen Mu who had ambushed him.

But he had no proof.

Most importantly, he could not understand why Chen Mu would ambush him.

His most precious treasure, the treasure that was more important than his life, was still here.

He was not injured at all.

As for other areas of his body…

Uh, there was nothing strange about it.

Why would Chen Mu ambush him?

...

But if what Chen Mu said was true…

There was indeed an attack by a spirit monster. A cautious elder of the Azure Yang Sect appeared in time and took Chen Mu away after dealing with it.

There were too many unreasonable things about this.

Even if he wanted to believe this, it had to fulfill an important condition first, right?

That was, Chen Mu's aptitude had to be heaven-defying indeed.

It was so absurd that the deacon elder panicked when he found out. He did not dare to delay and immediately brought him back to the sect to meet the Sect Leader.

It was not as if such existences did not exist in this world. His background was extraordinary, and he had heard many related legends.

There were even more exaggerated stories.

However, such people were one-in-a-billion.

He had encountered someone like that?

A heaven-defying genius was actually by his side?

The probability was too low!

"I don't believe it!" Zhou Jinglei mumbled to himself.

He had some secrets on him. It was actually a good thing for him to be ignored while he was unconscious.

However, he was not convinced.

After all… wasn't he a prodigy himself?

Why wouldn't he have some pride?

Just as he refused to believe that Chen Mu's aptitude was heaven-defying, he suddenly recalled Chen Mu's looks…

It had to be said that there was indeed the feeling of a genius on him.

Could it be true?

Zhou Jinglei stood up abruptly.

He was originally prepared to join the Azure Yang Sect, and now he wanted to go to the Azure Yang Sect to confirm it.

Sects like the Azure Yang Sect would usually not accept late Immortal Seekers.

Chen Mu said that his potential was heaven-defying?

'Alright, I can believe it!'

'But you have to let me see how exactly…'

'Let's see if you really entered the Azure Yang Sect when you were late and really received the treatment that a disciple with heaven-defying talent deserved.'