As dawn broke, Duobao, having finished everything, dragged his weary body back to Kunlun. He happened to meet Qichen at the mountain gate.
Seeing Duobao’s exhaustion and red eyes, Qichen stroked his head. "Junior Brother Duobao, what's wrong? Why are you only returning now, with red eyes? Did someone bully you? Tell Senior Brother, and he'll get justice for you!"
As Duobao listened to Qichen’s comfort, he suddenly hugged Qichen and burst into tears. "Senior Brother, I never wanted to preside over Kunlun. But Master, Grand-Masters, and the Hall Masters are all in seclusion, and Second Grand-Master is contemplating the Great Dao. I had no choice but to accept this important task. But you know me, I don't want it at all. I just want to cultivate in peace."
Qichen patted Duobao's back. "Alright, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been punished by First Grand-Master, this burden wouldn't have fallen on your shoulders. Tell me, what exactly happened?"
As Qichen spoke, he pulled Duobao to sit down at the mountain gate.
After sitting down and under Qichen's comfort, Duobao finally calmed down and slowly told Qichen about Ma Yuan.
Upon hearing this, Qichen frowned. He hadn't expected such a heretic to emerge from Kunlun. He immediately asked, "Where is Ma Yuan?"
Duobao gloomily lowered his head and said softly, "I crippled his cultivation and expelled him from Kunlun!"
Qichen, hearing this, immediately spoke indignantly, "You didn't kill him? You just crippled his cultivation?"
Duobao nodded. "After all, we were fellow disciples. I couldn't bring myself to kill him. I didn't even destroy his Dao foundation, just dispersed his cultivation!"
Qichen, enraged, struck the back of Duobao's head. "You fool! In the past, when the demon race had intentions towards the human race, Master almost wiped out the entire demon race. It was only when Empress Nuwa intervened that Master stopped. If Master knew what Ma Yuan did upon emerging from seclusion, you might even be punished! Ma Yuan's actions warrant nothing less than the disintegration of his soul!"
Duobao looked up at Qichen in disbelief. "First Senior Brother, is it that serious?"
Seeing Duobao's reaction, Qichen knew he hadn't realized the gravity of the situation. He explained, "Duobao, you are a human, raised by Master and our two Grand-Masters. Their feelings for the human race might not be any less than ours, their disciples. When the human race was first created by Empress Nuwa, Master and the two Grand-Masters were present. They were considered father figures by the humans and have always been very concerned about human affairs. Ma Yuan should not have harmed humans!"
Duobao immediately lowered his head. Although Qichen had said a lot, he still couldn't accept that he had crippled Ma Yuan. Perhaps if Yuan Shi hadn't tasked him with managing Kunlun, he wouldn't have known about this and wouldn't have gotten involved.
Duobao said softly, "Senior Brother, Duobao understands!"
After speaking, Duobao got up and left. Seeing this, Qichen said nothing more and silently watched Duobao depart.
After Duobao left, he dejectedly went straight to the foot of Taiqing Peak.
Xuan Du and the others all saw that Duobao was not in good spirits. Seeing Duobao appear at the foot of Taiqing Peak, they assumed he wanted to ascend it. Xuan Du stepped forward and said, "Senior Brother Duobao, Taiqing Peak is temporarily closed. Please return."
Duobao did not respond to Xuan Du. He looked up at the location of the Taiqing Palace and then knelt directly before Taiqing Peak.
Xuan Du and the others were bewildered by Duobao's actions. They tried to question him, but he only shook his head, refusing to say anything.
Seeing that Duobao had become much thinner, Jin Jiao wondered what had happened. "Second Master Bao, what's wrong?"
Upon seeing Jin Jiao, Duobao finally spoke. "Duobao has made a mistake. I will await Master's emergence from seclusion."
Jin Jiao wanted to ask more, but Duobao shook his head at him. Seeing this, Jin Jiao wisely stopped questioning.
After Qichen cleaned the mountain gate, he came to the foot of Taiqing Peak and saw Duobao kneeling, refusing to rise. He sighed and then knelt beside Duobao.
When Duobao saw Qichen, just as he was about to speak, Qichen patted his head and shook his head at him.
Xuan Du and the others were starting to panic as Duobao had not been sent away yet, and Qichen had come to join him.
"First Senior Brother, what is this?"
Qichen looked at them and shook his head. "Just do your jobs. Don't worry about me and Duobao."
Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao quickly said, "Young Master Chen..."
Before Jin Jiao and Yin Jiao could finish, Qichen interrupted them. "Jin Jiao, Yin Jiao!"
Upon hearing this, they knew Qichen didn't want to talk about it and stopped speaking.
Qichen glanced at Duobao, sighed inwardly, knowing that this had become an obstacle on Duobao's path to cultivation. If not handled properly, it might even lead to a heart demon, hindering his progress.
After Duobao crippled Ma Yuan's cultivation, Ma Yuan cast a resentful glance at Kunlun Mountain and then descended without looking back.
Below Kunlun Mountain, a weary wild horse stumbled towards the distance. Ma Yuan was indignant. He couldn't understand why he had been crippled for merely taking the lives of some lowly humans. With so many humans, what was the harm in a few deaths?
Duobao, out of consideration for their years as fellow disciples, had crippled Ma Yuan's cultivation but preserved his intellect and life.
At the foot of Mount Sumeru, Ma Yuan collapsed weakly. Looking at Mount Sumeru before him, his eyes erupted with intense hatred. He vowed to take revenge on Duobao for ruining his years of arduous cultivation.
Ma Yuan knew clearly that only the Wa Huang Palace, Mount Sumeru, and the Underworld, all holy ground sanctuaries, could help him.
Wa Huang Palace was in the chaos far beyond the Great Desolation. In his current state, he could not reach it. He also could not reach the Underworld. His only option was Mount Sumeru.
Looking at Mount Sumeru within reach, even though the journey from Kunlun to Mount Sumeru had exhausted him completely, Ma Yuan, with his feeble body, dragged himself step by step towards the summit of Mount Sumeru.
In the Sumeru Palace, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti frowned as they watched Ma Yuan struggle towards the mountain.
Zhun Ti looked at Jie Yin. "Senior Brother, this little horse has great perseverance. He is already exhausted but still heading towards the summit! Why don't we bring him into our Western Teachings?"
Jie Yin shook his head. "Junior Brother, Ma Yuan is originally a disciple of Kunlun. For some unknown reason, he was expelled. The heavenly secrets of Kunlun are disturbed by the Great Daos of those Saints. We cannot divine it. It is best not to take in this source of trouble. What if the Three Pure Ones come knocking on our door after we take him in?"
Zhun Ti disagreed with Jie Yin. "Senior Brother, think about it. Ma Yuan was originally a disciple of Tong Tian. If he committed a great transgression, with Tong Tian's temper, would he still be alive? Moreover, his reaching us is all due to our destiny!"
Jie Yin fell into deep thought. Zhun Ti continued, "Senior Brother, besides, Ma Yuan was able to stand out among Tong Tian's disciples when he was accepting them, so his roots must be good. After suffering this ordeal, his character should have matured. Perhaps he can become a part of our sect's rise in the future!"
Jie Yin felt that Zhun Ti's words had merit, but he was still somewhat worried.
Seeing that Jie Yin was wavering, Zhun Ti immediately said, "Senior Brother~, Kunlun has many Saints, and we are no match for them. Future confrontations between our sect and Kunlun might fall upon these disciples. Our sect has been fortunate to have disciples like Ji Zang and Yao Wang come to us, and we cannot let this opportunity slip by! Senior Brother~"
Jie Yin looked at Zhun Ti's pleading expression and helplessly shook his head. "Fine, fine. Since you have this intention, go and bring him up!"
Zhun Ti's face lit up with joy. He immediately descended the mountain and came before Ma Yuan.
Ma Yuan saw a pair of bare feet suddenly appear before him. He looked up and saw Zhun Ti's smiling eyes.
Ma Yuan was overjoyed. He hadn't expected it to be Zhun Ti, one of the two Saints of the West. He knew that joining the Western Teachings was almost certain.
Ma Yuan forced himself to get up, staggered, and knelt before Zhun Ti. "Please, Saint Zhun Ti, accept this disciple into your sect!"