Could it be that I am the cruel villain?

"Meet at Yuqing Hall."

With that one sentence, they basically knew the outcome.

Usually, Zhang Shanyuan only cultivates his mind in the back mountain and never bothers with the myriad of issues outside. Even when going to war with other sects, he's too lazy to make an appearance. The last time he came to Yuqing Hall...

was during the previous Heavenly Power Peak's snitch incident.

As the only one untouched by the range damage, it was because Liu Tangxi, having learned about the Yuqing Hall meeting, left a backup plan. She had Ao Qing soaring in the sky, responsible for surveillance, which is why she was the first to arrive when Deacon Ma launched his sudden attack.

This time Jiang Feng was unharmed, and everyone thought it was because of the backup plan Liu Tangxi left on Jiang Feng, and she herself tacitly approved this explanation.

Well, she wouldn't possibly disclose the truth anyway.

"Why is everyone silent now? Weren't you all fiercely competing when vying for disciples, shouting that those you taught were the most capable? Now you're all mute?"

"If the disciples were given to you to teach and guide, a rare promising seedling who could bring honor to the sect is going to be destroyed by you useless bunch! You can't even protect a disciple, and there were hundreds of people in the Martial Arts Arena!"

"They were all the sect's seedlings, the future of the sect, and you didn't bother to arrange even one more person to watch over them. Later, when I took a walk around, hey, they were all put on the outer boundaries of the outer sect, what were you supposed to be doing?"

"Are you worried that your Qiniu Patriarch can't hold up? Huh? Or are you worried I can't guard the main gate? What's more important, this mountain's young disciples or your damned gate?"

"Does everyone's face mean so much?"

Violent output.

No one expected that this old man, who seemed to walk unstably, would suddenly appear rejuvenated at such a time. By now, he had continuously vented for over an hour without stopping, scolding in varied ways.

The key point is.

His scolding hits the mark every time, clearly indicating that the Nine Peaks Martial Conference was exploited due to unreasonable manpower allocation and untimely meetings, leading to inevitable consequences.

The majority of stewards and protectors were moved to guard the Eight Mountain Gates to prevent outsiders from scheming at such times, while the sect's higher-ups were still in meetings, leaving the Martial Arts Arena unguarded, allowing Xuan Xiaozi to succeed in his plans.

Yes, if he didn't have itchy hands, he likely would have succeeded.

"A hundred years ago, I warned you all about internal threats. Big trees catch the wind; with more people, some can always sneak in. I won't blame you for a couple of spies getting inside; after all, what tree doesn't have a few bugs."

"But who thought of leaving them unguarded even after knowing there were bugs? Even if there was no one to guard them, couldn't you useless folks at least learn some skills?"

"I taught you the Grand Profound Serenity Dao, but you couldn't learn it, didn't want to learn music, even when the Piano Demon's true teaching was at your face, you dismissed it as something for women, and ultimately gave it to that little girl from Heavenly Power Peak."

"Now you ostracized her, yet she still comes back every year to work, using music to probe others' mental states."

"I taught you the Escaping Word Technique, to traverse through fire in all directions, but from Yuqing Hall to the incident location, you couldn't even make it in half a cup of tea's time. Fine, I went to Demon Puppet Sect, humbled myself, and got you some Daoist Skills so you could use puppets if you couldn't split yourself."

"Then you dismissed it as demonic ways!"

It's obvious now the old man was close to having a lung burst from the anger.

However, on the flip side, the elders of the house long foresaw potential risks in the future, considered all aspects comprehensively, and provided a series of solutions, including transmission arrays, puppets, and various techniques for probing and manipulating Divine Sense.

These methods can't necessarily eradicate problems, but they could somewhat avoid some issues, alleviate the situation, then… the younger members of your family either refuse to learn or can't learn.

Now that something happened, and it became such a big issue, in the end, it's up to the juniors to help clean up the mess.

"Great, now one by one you're treating my words as nothing. With such a huge scandal now, how can you manage to handle it?"

Cold sweat broke out.

Several elders cautiously glanced at the Junior Master, then at Liu Tangxi. Among all present, only Liu Tangxi could possibly have some influence to at least stop the Junior Master.

Liu Tangxi, noticing the elders' pleading eyes, took two steps forward, waving a small wooden tea cup with steaming hot tea.

"Ancestor Master Uncle, getting angry is bad for your health. Please, have a sip of hot tea."

He didn't refuse, smoothly accepting the tea cup Liu Tangxi handed over, but the second half of the sentence almost made the criticized crowd spit out.

"Moisten your throat with tea, so you can continue scolding."

Cardiac arrest.

But as everyone's hearts paused, Fairy Liu suddenly spoke: "Ancestor Master Uncle, while indeed it was an oversight on our part, the sect's internal system played a larger role."

"I sent Yu Ying to inspect Xiao Xuan's corpse, and discovered some residual souls within, uncovering many secrets after searching through memories."

"In summary, that disciple named Xiao Xuan was unremarkable when first entering the mountain, merely an outer one, receiving no attention. In these circumstances, a residual soul possessed him, fully willing to guide him in cultivation."

"In a short time, he gained tremendous support, climbing from the outer to the inner sect, helping manage the Spiritual Spring, and his status soared. I imagine no disciple could resist such temptation."

"Because of this, he was gradually controlled. I couldn't find a residual soul on Deacon Ma since his Nascent Soul had entirely burned out."

"But likely something similar occurred. I've already called the person here."

Even though the daily harassment from the match-making elders watching over the Mountain Gate was annoying, in critical moments, they would still come to the rescue. She then disclosed all her investigative findings.

Upon hearing Liu Tangxi's investigative results, the old man's expression visibly improved, nodding as a gaudily dressed woman holding a pipa promptly appeared at the entrance of Yuqing Hall.

Unlike the usual insincere smile, Yu Ying's demeanor this time was extraordinarily meek, not daring to show any gloating, bluntly recounting the findings from others' Divine Souls…

The conclusion was simple.

Human nature.

From a certain perspective, Xuan Xiaozi's Longevity Technique is essentially a method of soul possession. The disciple named Xiao Xuan was of humble beginnings within Purple Cloud Palace.

During an accidental adventure while on a mission, he "found" a severely damaged Divine Soul of an older predecessor.

The Divine Soul seemed weak and negligible as a threat in his eyes. Originally, Xiao Xuan intended to guide it into reincarnation, but unexpectedly…

"I was once a renowned cultivator in this cosmos. Since fate has brought us together, how about I impart all my skills to you?"

From then on, there was an 'old grandfather' residing within Xiao Xuan's body.

Such a scenario would be hard for anyone to refuse. A weak tattered Divine Soul, once a powerhouse of the Cultivation World, willing to mentor you in cultivation—how many people dream of having such a legendary mentor?

Indeed, under this predecessor's guidance, his craft grew every day. He taught you Daoist Skills and Cultivation Techniques, provided mysterious formulas to concoct potions enhancing physique, elevating your standing within the entire sect.

Just by viewing Xiao Xuan's trajectory, one understands his rapid progression.

Admittedly, some cultivation techniques could uncover anomalies in disciples' Divine Souls, but the problem is they discern only when the control struggle arises passively or coercively.

However…

If one willingly embraces it, even actively encasing Xuan Xiaozi's residual soul with their own for nurturing, how should it then be resolved?

There's no solution.

Over time, under the older soul's influence, he gathered residual souls, harvested flesh, continually devouring, eventually even Xiao Xuan failed to realize during these long decades of arduous cultivation, he no longer owned his body.

His soul was no longer his.

Until Xiao Xuan's flesh was entirely ruined, he didn't realize he was no longer Xiao Xuan, but Xuan Yinzi.