Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Chapter 744: Chapter 78: Junior Sister Xu Confesses Her Feelings
 

“What should we do next?”

After the grand hall meeting ended, all the cultivators from the Zhao Family of Guyuan gathered in Elder Yuan Shou’s cave dwelling to discuss countermeasures.

The current situation was not optimistic. The Xu Family and the Ge Family had already joined forces, intending to support Qiu Changtian as the successor to the Sect Leader.

If they achieved their goal, the Zhao and Luo families would undoubtedly suffer the most damage.

Of course, if it were simply a competition between families of cultivators, the Zhao Family might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

But the problem at hand was that compared to Qiu Changtian, Zhao Jinghong was clearly inferior, both in terms of talent for the Path and strategic acumen.

Within the Kunlun Taiqing Sect, despite the existence of the four great families, cultivators born within various small to mid-sized families and sects accounted for the majority of Golden Core True Persons and Nascent Soul Elders. If left unchecked, based on the current performances of the two candidates, most of these neutral high-rank cultivators would definitely support Qiu Changtian.

Therefore, Elder Yuan Shou suggested interfacing with a selection of these neutral cultivators who were close to the Zhao Family, to have them cheer for Zhao Jinghong.

Then with these people’s help, to further expand their influence… and ultimately surpass Qiu Changtian in terms of prestige.

The other elders then started to do the math with him: if they were to buy enough Nascent Soul Elders, the cost would be astronomical.

“If Zhao Jinghong really does become the Head of the Kunlun Sect in the future, this money would have been well spent,” said an elder with a troubled look. “The problem is, where in this world is there anything that’s a hundred percent certain?”

“If he doesn’t become the leader in the end, and the money has already been spent, it would be a severe blow to the vitality of our clan.”

“By then, we won’t need to apologize to the entire clan; the clanspeople below will have already risen in rebellion: with so many cultivation resources, instead of supporting our own people’s training, they were spent to buy over outsiders, what does that mean?”

Elder Yuan Shou waved his hand impatiently:

“You can’t be tentative in doing things… Don’t forget, we’ve already invested so much resource for Zhao Jinghong to become a candidate for Sect Leader; what are you suggesting now?”

“Are you saying all the previous investments have been wasted?”

“That’s not exactly what we mean,” the elders suggested tentatively, “We can continue to compete, but we can’t fight at any cost. Even Changgeng True Person proposed attacking Iron City Mountain knew to control the scale of the war to avoid unnecessary casualties!”

“If we hadn’t gone all in at the beginning, sending a large number of people to launch a surprise attack on Mount Beimang, we wouldn’t be in this situation now…”

Elder Yuan Shou became furious, just about to speak, when he heard Zhao Jinghong wave his hand and say:

“Third Grandfather, it’s okay.”

He spoke calmly and slowly:

“I’ve already thought it through. The position of Sect Leader is still worth competing for, but there’s no need for the family to continue depleting its resources.”

“Foolish boy, if you fight alone, how could you possibly win against Changgeng True Person!” Elder Yuan Shou said, disappointed in his lack of steel, “Do you know how much effort and blood the Ziwei Master has poured into that Qiu Changtian? Do you know how much the Xu Family of Southern Heaven has invested in him? That Tianyuan Yiqi Sword carried by Qiu Changtian was a direct gift from the Xu Family of Southern Heaven!”

“So what?” Zhao Jinghong sighed and began to earnestly console Elder Yuan Shou, “The other party has a Daoist Heart Clarity, a First Grade Golden Core! If our Zhao Family had been the first to discover his potential, how would we have treated him?”

“The family has been grooming you for so many years, it’s impossible to switch bets to him at the last minute,” Elder Yuan Shou replied coldly. “In any case, this Sect Leader position, you must fight for it, whether you want to or not!”

“All that previous investment can’t be wasted just because such a monster appeared!”

He left in a huff, leaving Zhao Jinghong and the other family elders looking at each other in silence, each lost in their thoughts.

——————

With the plan to besiege Iron City Mountain approved, Qiu Changtian began to deploy the strategy.

At this time, Kunlun was engaged in battle with the Demon Cult in Guanzhong and to now besiege Iron City Mountain meant dispatching troops on two fronts, unavoidably expanding the scale of the war and requiring a surge in manpower.

And because Iron City Mountain was the Asura Path’s base, directly threatening their lineage, the Asura Path would surely resist with all their strength.

How to control the intensity of the war and avoid escalation was a true test of Qiu Changtian’s skills as a commander.

Xu Yinglian returned to her cave dwelling and came to Qiu Changtian’s side. Seeing him still engrossed in thought, she couldn’t help but advise,

“Senior brother, don’t wear yourself out too much. Kunlun has no shortage of wise and cunning individuals. Why must you take so much upon yourself?”

“Cough,” Qiu Changtian chuckled and said, “It’s my duty, I dare not neglect it.”

“Senior brother is still the same as always,” Xu Yinglian, seeing he wouldn’t listen, wasn’t annoyed, but sat down beside him and began to prepare tea.

“Junior sister.” Seeing her skillfully preparing the tea, Qiu Changtian suddenly felt an idea strike him and asked, “Back when the Zhao Family of Guyuan approached the Xu Family for a marriage alliance, why did your clan leader not agree?”

“Of course, because they thought he wasn’t worthy.” Xu Yinglian replied indifferently.

“Not worthy?” Qiu Changtian asked curiously, “Although Zhao Jinghong can’t compare to me, isn’t his talent considered high among his peers? The Xu Family of Southern Heaven looks down on him?”

Xu Yinglian: ………..

How can you say with such composure, “Although he can’t compare to me”?

But considering that her husband was indeed formidable, having directly defeated the opponent in terms of strategic intellect, Xu Yinglian for a moment felt as if thinking, “I’m his wife, so by extension, it’s like I’m formidable too,” and, feeling slightly elated, said,

“Because I possess the Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart. To be my husband, one cannot surpass me in talent for cultivating immortality. How could that be acceptable?”

“Do you really think that way?” Qiu Changtian teased, “Then if there was no me, Qiu Changtian with Daoist Heart Clarity, in the world, would you never marry?”

“It’s not impossible,” Xu Yinglian spoke calmly, “For us cultivators, marriage is but an optional matter. If I do not meet someone whom I approve of, I would rather remain unmarried forever.”

“What if one day, I suddenly lost my talent for Daoist Heart Clarity?” Qiu Changtian asked again, “Would you, my wife, want to separate from me?”

Hearing him switch from calling her junior sister to wife, Xu Yinglian felt a touch of shyness, but quickly regained her composure and answered,

“Once joined as Daoist companions, how could we separate? Unless my husband kept a concubine behind my back, then it wouldn’t matter if he lost his talent for cultivation— even if he lost all his cultivation and became a mortal, I would not forsake my duties as a wife. At worst, I could simply support my husband for the rest of our lives.”

“Haha, is that so,” Qiu Changtian laughed awkwardly.

“What do you mean by ‘is that so’?” Xu Yinglian became somewhat irate at his dismissive attitude, “In my husband’s eyes, am I the kind of woman who sets high standards for others but not for herself, marrying only a genius?”

Seeing his wife rarely showing anger, Qiu Changtian could only repeatedly offer soothing words of comfort and explained away his misstep.

Internally, however, he felt a bit uneasy, thinking that with Junior Sister Xu’s pride and high-spirited nature, if she knew about the existence of Miss Shi and Jiang the Witch, wouldn’t she become angry enough to beat me until I lost all my cultivation and became a mortal?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

As long as my cultivation realm completely overpowers junior sister’s, I will never face such a tragic fate!