“This fellow is like… barging in as a guest with a scalding bowl of tofu. The host has no choice but to partake, and a moment’s carelessness could result in more than just a burnt tongue – it could sear the very core.”

Jiang Sheng suddenly understood. “I was wondering why Uncle Wei would take time from his busy schedule to waste his days at Zhengyang Mountain.”

Wei Liang nodded, his eyes narrowed in contemplation. “I had to come, for I need to learn this art of maximizing utility in disassembly from a young man.”

Wei Liang, the Legalist cultivator who was “grandfather, son, and grandson all in one,” serving as Grand Commandant of the Azure Phoenix Kingdom generation after generation, fell silent. Then, he chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It’s infuriating! That lad was so pure back then. Now, he’s forced me to hold my nose and humbly seek his guidance in this matter.”

At Sword-Stopping Pavilion on First Line Peak, Sect Leader Bamboo Emperor looked at the female ghost who had rendered such meritorious service to the mountain, his eyes filled with pity and guilt. Pity for her being a woman with such a pitiful fate, and guilt that he, as Sect Leader and a Jade Purity Realm cultivator, still needed her to leave Solitary Isle to receive the sword from Liu Xianyang.

Xia Yuancui’s expression was complex. This involved a long-buried secret of the sect. Even Zhengyang Mountain elders like Tao Yanbo and Yan Chu, who held high positions, only had private speculations and dared not mention it easily. All they knew was that the woman, a Nascent Soul Realm female ghost cultivator, had taken over the role of Wick-Filler in secrecy.

The white-robed old ape, upon seeing her, looked displeased. He communicated telepathically with the elder Sword Immortals, “Her wretched life is not merely her own. It is tied to the Grand Formation of the Ancestral Mountain. If her soul scatters, it will damage the linchpin of the formation at its root. Not to mention the loss of divine coin. Why would the Sect Leader squander the mountain’s fortune in such a way? Who will compensate for the damage afterward?”

Xia Yuancui, usually possessing an unfathomable composure, showed rare anger on her face. “Venerable Yuan’s words are rather offensive.”

This behind-the-scenes supporter, a female Nascent Soul sword cultivator who, according to the records, had long passed away, secretly served as Zhengyang Mountain’s Wick-Filler.

Her duty was to replenish the oil in the ancestral hall’s lamps, sustaining the vitality of the mountain.

She hailed from Full Moon Peak and was once one of Xia Yuancui’s most prized disciples, a sister apprentice to the woman whom Li Tuanjing had personally killed and whose bones had been displayed in the Wind and Thunder Garden.

Both had once had the chance to succeed Peak Lord from Xia Yuancui, who had intended to focus on sword practice and help with mundane affairs, and even hoped to become a Mountain Lord. It should be known that among Zhengyang Mountain’s peaks, the current Sect Leader Bamboo Emperor, although extremely talented in sword practice, was never the most gifted sword cultivator.

However, their paths to cultivation were fraught with setbacks. One died and vanished, while the other harbored resentment and chose a path of no return, becoming neither human nor ghost.

Because of them, or rather, because of all of Zhengyang Mountain, they encountered Li Tuanjing, the Wind and Thunder Garden sword cultivator destined to clash with them.

Bamboo Emperor consoled, “Senior Aunt Xia, Venerable Yuan’s words are always directed at the matter, not the person.”

The Wick-Fillers of each generation, male or female, had to be sword cultivators. Once they took on the position, they were practically half-dead. Not only would their names be removed from the ancestral hall’s records, erased completely, but a random excuse would be found, such as failed secluded cultivation or self-disintegration. Moreover, each appearance to deliver the sword was often extremely dangerous, a life-or-death gamble.

Before Xia Yuancui and Bamboo Emperor reached the Jade Purity Realm, she, after turning into a ghost, was actually the most lethal sword cultivator in Zhengyang Mountain. Her existence was meant to counter Li Tuanjing’s likely challenge to Zhengyang Mountain, preventing him from ascending the mountain and turning the ancestral hall upside down. Zhengyang Mountain naturally didn’t expect her to be able to slay Li Tuanjing. It was similar to the sword contest between Yuan Bai and Huanghe. Such measures were a helpless act of the sect seeking self-preservation when the peaks were weak.

The white-robed old ape sneered.

It naturally knew what Xia Yuancui and Bamboo Emperor were planning. They had long found the ghost woman an eyesore. In the past, Zhengyang Mountain couldn’t do without her, needing her to guard against the invincible Li Tuanjing, preventing him from dismantling the entire ancestral hall and severing the mountain’s sword path. But now, she had become an old stain on the calendar. The best thing would be to have an outsider help wipe her away. After all, Zhengyang Mountain no longer lacked half a Jade Purity Realm sword immortal.

Xia Yuancui was preparing to dispose of an illegitimate disciple based on this merit…