Mo Xuanli’s eyes flew open, heart pounding. He saw two figures descending from above, and his gaze locked onto the tall, graceful figure in white. He had long since grown used to enduring hardship alone and had stopped hoping for anyone to stand up for him. But now…
“Master?” Mo Xuanli’s voice was as light as mist, as if afraid that saying it aloud might break the moment.
Hearing that, Gu Baiqing turned and glanced at him—and his eyes lit up.
The kneeling youth had delicate, handsome features, his brows and eyes refined and naturally elegant. Though he was still a boy of sixteen or seventeen, one could already imagine how he’d grow into a moon-bright beauty, dazzling as the stars.
So… this was his disciple?
Just as the novel described: eyes full of emotion, born with a beauty that could shake hearts.
Because of his injuries, flecks of blood still stained his fair face, and the cuts scattered across his skin gave his snow-white complexion an oddly captivating contrast.
But in Gu Baiqing’s eyes, all of this was fleeting. As a straight man, he could only appreciate it in passing. Still, the moment he remembered the kind of relationship they had in the original story, that pretty little face involuntarily merged with the explicit scenes he used to voice—Gu Baiqing’s expression instantly soured, and a certain part of him clenched.
Especially since this very trial platform reminded him of that scene—
He, bound to the central pillar of the platform, robes ripped open, his body pressed tightly against the engraved talismans, like a prisoner from ancient times. His disciple, mercilessly…
“It was right here. Master once took the lashes for me, protected my life. And now you want to kill me alongside these self-righteous hypocrites?”
“…You wicked disciple. Had I known you’d turn out like this, I never would’ve saved you!”
“Hahaha… Well then, Gu Baiqing. I’d like to see just how long you can keep talking tough.”
“…”
Little b*stard didn’t even let his master finish a full sentence. Recording that scene nearly killed him.
Gu Baiqing forcefully shoved those vivid memories from his mind. This brat… he’s the one who’ll lust after me in the future? With a head full of sm*t trying to mess me up in every possible way? And I’m supposed to help him?
Absolutely not.
With the arrival of two Guardian Elders, the punishment was naturally paused.
Luo Nianyi, having overheard the sentence just now, was startled and immediately asked what was going on.
Gu Baiqing maintained a cold, aloof demeanor while secretly checking the mission interface.
Three options? That meant it wasn’t mandatory. As long as I help reduce the damage, there’s room to maneuver.
System: [Recommendation: Choose Option 1. Simple, effective, no side effects.]
Pah! As if I’d fall for a classic Master trope—take the punishment, stir the disciple’s feelings, and recreate that d*mned scene in real life? Not a chance. That ending gets crushed right here, in the cradle. Forget taking his place—Gu Baiqing thought it was already merciful enough not to whip the boy himself just to prevent future problems.
Option 2 wasn’t viable either. The original Gu Baiqing would never abuse authority. Acting out of character might raise suspicions of possession—and that could be disastrous. Best to let character shifts happen slowly and subtly.
Even though the system was practically begging him to choose Option 1, Gu Baiqing wasn’t having it. After some thought, he locked his gaze on Option 3.
He selected it.
The interface disappeared.
Time to solve this on his own.
Elder Lin said, “Elder Flying Crane, the punishment we decided on was already lenient, considering that this child is Elder Luofeng’s only direct disciple.”
Luo Nianyi gave a cold snort. “Elder Lin, have you gone senile? You really believe he could’ve done all this alone? I just don’t buy it.”
“Elder Flying Crane, you shouldn’t let your bias show just because Mo Xuanli has been cultivating in your Flying Crane Pavilion,” Elder Lin muttered awkwardly, clearly uneasy. As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the center of the judging platform.
There sat a middle-aged man in brown robes, holding a feather fan, with a constant, fixed smile like a glued-on mask of goodwill. He was Elder Fu Zhiyi, Head of Qianren Pavilion, a Guardian Elder of Zixiao Sect, and both Luo Nianyi and Gu Baiqing’s second senior brother. Since their senior sister, the sect master, was in closed-door cultivation, Fu Zhiyi was currently in charge of sect affairs.
“Second Senior Brother? Did you all interrogate him thoroughly?” Luo Nianyi pressed, unwilling to let up.
Fu Zhiyi shook his fan helplessly. “Of course we questioned him thoroughly. He answered every one of them and took full responsibility for all charges. What more would you have us ask, Junior Sister?”
Luo Nianyi clearly sensed something fishy and, already agitated, turned toward Gu Baiqing. “Hey, he’s your disciple. Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Junior Brother,” Fu Zhiyi echoed, “why not ask your disciple again?”
Gu Baiqing, already knowing the truth, lowered his gaze and met Mo Xuanli’s eyes—eyes that shifted from initial shock to quiet apology.
He instantly understood what Mo Xuanli was thinking. With a shift of thought, he slowly opened his mouth: “Mo Xuanli, you entered the forbidden grounds alone? Broke the seal on your own? There’s truly nothing else to this?”
The moment he said this, Elder Lin’s heart gave a jolt, and among the disciples below, quite a few faces turned ashen. One pair of eyes after another stared nervously at Mo Xuanli.
Mo Xuanli was silent for a moment, then nodded. “I’m sorry, Master, for letting you down.”
If you won’t say it, then I certainly won’t go soft on you.
Gu Baiqing’s voice turned cold. “Very well. I truly hadn’t expected such an exceptional disciple. An alchemy cultivator—without even forming his foundation—can already accomplish something like this. Truly, an extraordinary talent.”
Mo Xuanli’s face went pale in an instant.
Those who still hadn’t caught on began to feel uneasy. Right… with his current level of cultivation, how could he have pulled this off? Unless… there’s more to it.
Luo Nianyi gave a cold laugh. Fu Zhiyi raised a mild eyebrow.
The two of them silently came to the same conclusion: surely, Gu Baiqing would now start digging into the truth to defend his disciple.
They both believed that while Mo Xuanli was involved, he couldn’t be solely responsible. They didn’t understand why he was taking the full blame, but if they could uncover the others involved, the punishment could be shared. That would be the fairest outcome.
They hadn’t expected their normally silent and aloof junior brother to step up like this when it mattered.
Meanwhile, those who were guilty started to feel the invisible weight of judgment settle on them, as if the cold and unrelenting Elder Luofeng would call them out at any second. A few hidden among the crowd even felt the urge to turn and flee.
Just then, Gu Baiqing slowly stepped onto the trial platform, walked over to the one holding the Spirit-Flaying Whip, and took it from them. He raised it high and slammed it down hard onto the ground.
Crack!
The sharp sound split through the air like lightning, striking every heart like a thunderclap.
“Since that’s the case, I will personally carry out the punishment. These ten lashes will be administered by me.” As he said this, Gu Baiqing looked coldly—almost cruelly—at Mo Xuanli.
“What?!” Fu Zhiyi froze mid-fan-flap.
“Gu Baiqing, are you mad?” Luo Nianyi shouted, pointing at him furiously.
The rest were momentarily stunned, then chaos erupted below the stage. Everyone had just thought Gu Baiqing would step in to defend his disciple.
But now, looking back, it made sense. Gu Baiqing had always kept a cold attitude since taking in Mo Xuanli. The two barely interacted. To him, this disciple was completely dispensable—why would he clean up Mo Xuanli’s mess?
The Spirit-Flaying Whip was a spiritual weapon. Its power varied depending on the wielder’s cultivation. If someone at the Golden Core stage used it, ten lashes might still be survivable. But everyone knew—Gu Baiqing was the strongest in Zixiao Sect, already at the Tribulation Crossing stage.
Forget ten lashes—one would probably kill the boy.
Maybe Gu Baiqing regretted taking in a disciple and just wanted to beat this one to death so he could take on a new one. That was brutal.
Of all the people present, only Fu Zhiyi and Luo Nianyi outranked Gu Baiqing—and only they had the right to intervene.
Luo Nianyi was about to launch into a tirade, furious that what she thought would be help had turned into betrayal. Whoever ends up as his disciple must’ve been cursed for eight lifetimes.
But Fu Zhiyi spoke first.
“Junior Brother, I know you have a strong sense of justice and hate evil, but isn’t this a bit… irregular? Your cultivation is too high. If you carry out the punishment, you might as well just expel Mo Xuanli from the sect.”
At that moment, Luo Nianyi, who had just been about to join in the verbal smackdown, suddenly froze.
Wait a minute—Gu Baiqing… hadn’t even had the spiritual energy to ride a flying sword earlier! Right now, he was basically no different from his little disciple! If he administered the punishment, wouldn’t that mean… he’d go easy on it?
Oh my god, her junior brother was actually being crafty?
Luo Nianyi stared at Gu Baiqing in disbelief—but she still hadn’t guessed what he was really thinking.
Gu Baiqing wasn’t even thinking about his spiritual energy issue anymore. He was laying the groundwork.
He ignored the crowd’s reaction and turned to Mo Xuanli. “Mo Xuanli, if you must blame someone, then blame yourself. You are my only disciple. I must set an example. If it means your death, so be it. Do you accept?”
He was still just a youth, and clearly hadn’t expected things to go this way. The blood drained from Mo Xuanli’s face. It was as if he remembered something terrifying. Gradually, the pure black of his eyes, once like gleaming pearls, dulled and lost their luster.
In that instant, Gu Baiqing felt like he had truly done something cruel.
He thought the boy would hesitate. But instead, Mo Xuanli slowly knelt and bowed three times, each kowtow echoing clearly—like a farewell.
“Master, my life is tough, I can take it. Just don’t expel me from the sect—anything else is fine.”
Gu Baiqing figured that Mo Xuanli probably didn’t even know whether he could survive being whipped by him. But seeing Mo Xuanli still unwilling to speak the truth even at this point, Gu Baiqing couldn’t help but feel a bit of admiration.
The surrounding crowd’s voices trying to dissuade him rang out nonstop.
Yet Gu Baiqing ignored them all, raising the whip high and about to bring it down—when suddenly, a figure rushed onto the platform, crying out:
“Senior Uncle Gu, please don’t hit him! I confess—it was me who went into the forbidden grounds with Junior Brother Mo. If there’s punishment, we’ll take it together!”
And then, like a floodgate had burst, more and more disciples surged forward, kneeling beside Mo Xuanli on the trial platform—dozens of them, all confessing alongside him.
Bathed in the setting sun, it was almost a youthful, touching scene of shared hardship.
Gu Baiqing curled his lips into a faint smile. He’d gambled that these young ones still had malleable hearts—and he’d been right.
He lowered the whip and turned to look at the elders on the high platform. The trial restarted.
At this moment, a girl knelt in the front row, face pale, and spoke bitterly: “It’s all my fault. This happened because of me. My mother gifted me a spirit pet that accidentally ran into the forbidden zone. I asked everyone to help me find it. This is my fault.”
“No, I was the one curious about what was inside the forbidden grounds. I’ve always wanted to go. That’s why…”
“I’m the oldest, and I didn’t stop them. Instead, I joined in. My fault is the greatest.”
“We all decided to go together. Don’t punish Senior Brother Xuanli alone—we’ll all take the punishment.”
Because everyone was speaking out so emotionally, the truth soon came to light.
Indeed, the incident had started with a fifteen-year-old girl named Lin Jiaying—Elder Lin’s beloved granddaughter. Spoiled since childhood, she was willful and arrogant. Because she was pretty and young, many doted on her.
When she cried and wailed about her lost spirit pet, everyone gathered to help. To young, fearless cultivators, a forbidden ground was just something to be explored. So they grouped up and went in.
Among them, the first to step forward during the trial was Tang Yu—an eager participant. He’d joined out of curiosity, but remembered the place was full of formations and barriers. Among his acquaintances, Mo Xuanli was the most skilled in that area, and they were somewhat familiar, so he dragged him along.
At first, Mo Xuanli didn’t want to go. He always followed the rules strictly and only wanted to stay and watch over his unconscious master, Gu Baiqing. But then he overheard a senior sister from Flying Crane Pavilion say that there was a spirit plant inside the forbidden zone that could treat the aftereffects of thunder tribulation. The pavilion’s own supply was gone, and getting more would take time.
That made Mo Xuanli hesitate—so he went.
Later, they ran into danger and had to escape in panic. To cover the retreat, Mo Xuanli stayed behind, which was why he was the only one caught by the elders who arrived.
The others, realizing the gravity of the situation, knew they would face punishment. Someone suggested that since Mo Xuanli had already been caught, they might as well let him take the blame to avoid exposing the rest. Some were tempted—after all, no one wanted a stain on their sect record.
Even those who felt it was wrong were silenced with arguments like:
“Be loyal to your friends.”
“If I’d been caught, I’d do the same.”
“There’s no need for unnecessary sacrifice—that’s just stupid.”
“He’s Elder Luofeng’s only personal disciple. He’s higher status than us, and his punishment won’t be as bad.”
The herd mentality slowly eroded their sense of right and wrong. They subconsciously believed Mo Xuanli was soft, easy to bully, and unprotected—even his Master didn’t care much for him. He was the perfect scapegoat. At worst, they’d just treat him better afterward to make it up.
So they sent someone to negotiate with Mo Xuanli in secret, asking him to take the blame. Surprisingly, he agreed.
Of course, Mo Xuanli, though still kindhearted, was not naïve. He agreed for two reasons.
First, although the sealed demon had been disturbed by others, it was Mo Xuanli’s presence that triggered the outbreak. People were injured because of him—he felt deeply guilty and believed he couldn’t deny his part in the crime. He had a duty to bear responsibility.
Second, among those involved were two people who had always treated him well since he entered the inner sect: Tang Yu, and that senior sister from Flying Crane Pavilion.
Especially Senior Sister Yun Yue—she had looked after him when he was cultivating at Flying Crane Pavilion. She was the one who accidentally told him about the spirit plant. Knowing he would go, she worried for his safety and went along to help find it quickly. As a result, she was injured. With her already weak constitution, another lash from the Spirit-Flaying Whip might be fatal. Tang Yu, on the other hand, was a pampered young master with a weaker cultivation than Mo Xuanli’s.
Mo Xuanli was mild-mannered and respectful. If someone treated him kindly, he’d return it tenfold. And if someone treated him badly, he rarely held grudges.
So ultimately, he chose to take the punishment alone.
Once the truth was out, the punishment was divided among the group. Each person received one lash, plus confinement and transcription punishment.
Everyone anxiously watched Gu Baiqing, afraid this “great demon king” would still insist on wielding the whip.
Gu Baiqing gave Mo Xuanli, dazed in the crowd, a glance, then handed the whip off to someone else and returned to the judgment platform to watch the punishment. Only then did the crowd breathe a sigh of relief.
The Spirit-Flaying Whip was truly fierce—each lash left its recipient collapsed on the ground, unable to get up.
Mo Xuanli was the first to volunteer to take Yun Yue’s punishment. Others followed suit, wanting to take blows on behalf of weaker companions. Normally such requests wouldn’t be approved, but Elder Lin this time was the one pleading—after all, someone was willing to take the punishment for his precious granddaughter.
Such mutual support among fellow disciples pleased Fu Zhiyi, and he ultimately gave his approval.
Mo Xuanli still took two lashes and fainted on the spot. He was carried away by other disciples who hadn’t yet been punished.
Gu Baiqing didn’t act like other masters—he didn’t step forward to care for his disciple, didn’t even spare a second glance. He simply sat there, listening to the system prompt ringing in his mind, already deep in thought.
【Ding! Beginner Guidance Quest: Assist Mo Xuanli in reducing harm — Completed. Daily Teaching Check-In unlocked. Quest Tracker unlocked. Redemption Mode unlocked.】
【Initial stats refreshed — Cultivation Progress: Qi Refining 99%, Account Points: 10, Demonization Value: 3.】
Author’s Note:
Cultivation stages: Qi Refining → Foundation Establishment → Core Formation → Nascent Soul → Soul Transformation → Ascension → Tribulation Crossing
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