Volume 5, Chapter 65 – Delegating Authority

Night fell, yet Zhennan was still brightly lit.

The closer one got to Shenming main peak, the denser the lights became. Quite a few cultivators who were highly respected and held lofty status elsewhere were now sitting on the ground like beggars, mixed into the clamor as they waited for the staff to hand out food.

Because the lecture had been extended.

It had originally been scheduled to last until eight in the evening, after which everyone would disperse and go home. Aside from the dojo’s own disciples, it had not been meant to provide meals for anyone else. But the response had been so enthusiastic that it had to be extended, and the dojo kitchens were now working at full capacity, desperately cooking more food.

After everyone had eaten, the lecture continued, and it went on all the way until two in the morning. Only then did this grand affair—one that had practically become a pilgrimage and a carnival—finally come to an end and begin dispersing.

Bai Zhuqing stood to the side of the main hall with the little white fox in her arms, her eyes fixed on Bai Xiang, who was currently talking with Xu Shu, Liu Yong, and Chen Jing. Inwardly, she suspected that Bai Xiang had deliberately dragged things out this late.

Anyone could see why. For cultivators, this amount of delay hardly counted for anything. Even setting aside the fact that they had been fed, even if they had been given nothing to eat and forced to endure half a day or more—ten-odd hours—it still would not have affected them that much.

But for those who did not cultivate qi methods, it was different. Even if ordinary people were well fed, making them sit there and wait that long was absolutely a kind of torment.

She suspected Bai Xiang had done it on purpose, just to make those scholar groups “waiting for an audience” miserable.

This time, however, she had really guessed wrong. Bai Xiang had not spared much attention for that matter at all.

Even when Taishang Response had earlier allowed her to overhear that exchange between her younger sister and her grandfather, what moved her more was not that “so many people oppose me,” but rather that “it isn’t appropriate for those two to clash like that.”

In her previous life, Bai Xiang had had no family. Now that she had finally managed to have one in this life, she considered this family more important than many other things.

“Master.” Liu Yong’s eyes were wide. “You mean… you want the three of us to form an advance scout squad and head into the wilderness first to track down the positions of the voidfiends?”

“That’s right.” Bai Xiang nodded. “But it definitely can’t be just the three of you. You can pick a batch of disciples from Zhennan to take along as well… What do you think?”

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What else could he think? It was exactly what he had hoped for.

Liu Yong trembled, visibly overwhelmed with emotion.

The blow of losing a limb had been enormous for him.

He was Di Xiang’s disciple, the one and only personal disciple acknowledged and accepted up to now by the greatest Dao Lord in the history of Shenming Sword Dao. In that line, there was not even a second person besides him.

A status like that was not the same as Xu Shu’s and the others’. Though people like Xu Shu were called inner disciples, their formal lineage had always been under Bai Shengju’s name. Between them and Bai Xiang, there was the reality of being taught by her, but not a direct and explicitly affirmed status like his.

So it was easy to imagine that Liu Yong drew far more attention. More people would watch him, wanting to see what exactly was special about him, and even envying him for being granted such an identity.

But then he was crippled by the loss of a limb. That meant he was bound to be battered by a storm of public opinion. There would certainly be no shortage of gossip saying he was incompetent, saying he was useless, saying he had only been listed as a personal disciple because of luck.

Some would even say he had tarnished Di Xiang’s prestige.

All of that was pressure. Mixed together with the hard fact of his maimed body, it became vast and crushing, like towering waves smashing Liu Yong until he saw stars, dealing him a devastating blow mentally.

That was why he had insisted on going to meet Bai Xiang himself, and why the moment he saw her he had dropped to his knees and confessed his failure, saying he was useless and had brought shame upon her.

And yet what Bai Xiang was saying now was this: she did not think he was ruined. He was still capable of joining an elite advance squad to carry out a key mission assigned by the dojo.

No amount of verbal comfort could compare to the reassurance of that kind of concrete trust. That was why Liu Yong was so emotional. At last, he felt that he still had value.

I really do pay too little attention to these disciples.

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Seeing him like this, Bai Xiang could only shake her head inwardly.

She had taught them too little, and yet made them bear identities like this. Honestly speaking, that was a bit too irresponsible.

In the future, she could lecture to them more often like she had done today. She could also add a question-and-answer segment and try, within a few years, to push all of their cultivation up a notch.

After offering Liu Yong a few simple words of comfort, Bai Xiang turned to Xu Shu and Chen Jing. “What about the two of you?”

“We have no problem with it, Dao Lord.”

The two of them spoke almost at the same time.

Why was it called an “advance scout squad”? Naturally, because a large force would be following behind it.

What a thrilling and exhilarating thing that was… It was practically the same as making it clear to them that the day of reckoning and vengeance against the Qingyun Army was drawing near.

“Kainian, you’ll still be the team leader for this operation.” Bai Xiang looked at Xu Shu. “When you recruit disciples, don’t pick only from the inner sect. There should be some from every level and stratum.”

This… Did the Dao Lord mean to promote certain disciples, to make the flow between social strata more vigorous?

Xu Shu was not sure what Bai Xiang was really thinking. But one good thing about him was that if he did not understand something, he asked. He immediately voiced his doubts.

Bai Xiang did not give a clear answer. She simply told him to use his own judgment. Then, after reminding Chen Jing not to forget to go to Starwater Company and pick up the mechanical arm, she got up and left the main hall.

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

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Xu Shu was dumbfounded.

It was not the first time he had led a team. He had previously led operations clearing out the demon beasts that had built up in Chilong Circuit, so mobilizing personnel itself was not difficult.

But Bai Xiang’s identity was different now. Take today’s extended lecture, for instance. If she had only been acting as the “Dao Lord of Shenming,” then she definitely would not have ordered the kitchens to provide food for the people below the mountain.

Yet she had still done so. Xu Shu believed the core reason was this—at the same time, she was also the ruler of all under heaven. Even though those people below had not entered the Shenming Dao lineage, they still counted as her subjects. From that perspective, she ought to take responsibility for them.

So when selecting disciples, should I be filtering out some of the children of great families so that kids from ordinary backgrounds get more opportunities?

“That’s your responsibility as senior brother now.”

Chen Jing smiled faintly and teased him, then glanced over at Liu Yong.

If Junior Brother Yong was joining the squad too, then wouldn’t those two friends of his happen to fit the standard perfectly?

But that was none of her business.

She planned to return tonight, meditate quietly, and digest what she had gained from the lecture. Tomorrow, she would go to Starwater Company and have the mechanical arm reassembled.

…

Elsewhere, as Bai Xiang came down the steps, Bai Zhuqing immediately drifted up beside her on a wave of fragrance and said, “They’re already waiting ahead.”

“How many?”

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Bai Xiang’s gaze rested on the little white fox. Following the line of its fluffy body, she casually glanced at the half-exposed collarbone revealed by her younger sister’s clothing.

“Hu Wenping is leading them. There’s also Fu Guangxian from Qingze Academy, Tian Yaozhong from Baiyun Academy… Altogether, there are seventeen of them,” Bai Zhuqing said.

“You could have handled this matter yourself. Why did you insist on waiting for me?”

“Because…” Bai Zhuqing frowned. “This is obviously something that has to be decided by you.”

She was a little confused. What exactly was Sister talking about?

You’re the emperor. If you don’t make the decision, am I supposed to act first and report later?

At that point, Bai Xiang suddenly stopped walking.

Bai Zhuqing froze, not understanding what she meant.

“Just this once, fine.” Bai Xiang turned and looked at her. “Next time, you can act freely.”

“Because you obviously know what I care about more.”

“I’d be very happy to let you ‘protect’ me, and keep these gnats and flies from bothering me in ordinary times.”

“That way, I can free up most of my energy for cultivation.”