The Young Patriarch's eyes flickered as he shook his head. "You planted yourself as a heart demon within her Dao heart. You should know that if she refines you, you will become the means by which she achieves success."
"Whether she refines me or I take possession of her, the two of us will achieve one body."
The voice of Cult Master Li Tianxing came from Grandma Si's body. "Whether she refines me or I refine her, good or bad, it is my choice. When I decided to marry her, I already knew clearly that she was my heart demon, a heart demon I had to eliminate. Only after eliminating her can I devote myself fully to the Dao and advance further. I ask the Teacher to grant me this."
Qin Mu's heart jolted, and he looked toward the Young Patriarch.
He had long known that a great heart demon was hidden inside Grandma Si. This heart demon was extraordinarily powerful; even Xiqiluo's Buddhist staff from the Great Thunderclap Monastery had been unable to refine it.
Only now did he learn that this heart demon was the former Cult Master, Li Tianxing.
Grandma Si had killed Li Tianxing, yet Li Tianxing had transformed into a heart demon and planted himself in Grandma Si's Dao heart. The two of them were fighting over a single body.
Naturally, Qin Mu wanted to help Grandma Si refine Li Tianxing, but the Young Patriarch clearly intended to treat both sides impartially and would not think that way.
Whether Grandma Si refined Li Tianxing or Li Tianxing usurped the host and took over Grandma Si's body, it would be a good outcome for him. He had no reason to interfere.
After a while, Grandma Si returned to normal. She was still smiling, as if nothing had happened.
Qin Mu could see that the various hall masters and elders of the Heavenly Demon Cult did not treat Grandma Si well. It was probably because she had killed Li Tianxing, leaving the Holy Cult without a Cult Master for forty years, scattering it like loose sand and causing it to miss many opportunities. Thus, they harbored some resentment toward her.
Grandma Si had mainly come to attend the Holy Cult Master's enthronement ceremony because of Qin Mu.
She feared that the people of the cult would bully her, so even if she had to endure their cold looks, she still came to support him. As for whether the unified cultivation method would be passed on, she did not care much. She only cared about Qin Mu.
The Young Patriarch sighed. The phrase "a beauty brings disaster" described a woman like Grandma Si. She was too beautiful. Even if she committed no evil, others would do evil because of her.
This worldly realm could hardly contain such a beauty.
Li Tianxing was worldly, the Young Patriarch was worldly, and no one else could completely escape the world's conventions.
If she wanted to survive in this worldly realm, she could only remain Grandma Si. She could not reveal her true appearance, and she could not even reveal her real voice.
After the enthronement ceremony, the Young Patriarch summoned Qin Mu and walked beside him, introducing the scenery of Sacred Descent Mountain. This place was the Forgetting Emotions Terrace, that place was the Phoenix Arrival Pavilion, another was the World-Pervading Tower, and yet another was the Fish-Viewing Pool.
He explained many things and recounted much of the Heavenly Demon Cult's past. Some of its history was extremely ancient. If he did not tell Qin Mu now, no one would know it after he died.
"Patriarch, why is the enthronement of our Heavenly Saint Sect's Cult Master called an enthronement?" Qin Mu asked. "Isn't that a word used only for emperors?"
The Young Patriarch glanced at him and shook his head. "At the height of our Heavenly Saint Sect, we governed six states, and the emperors of all six states were subjects of our Holy Cult. The Holy Cult Master used the same words as an emperor for his enthronement. In truth, that was giving the emperor too much credit. Times have changed. Now a state is the greatest sect. It is difficult for a sect to make everyone become its disciple, but a state can make everyone within its borders become its people."
Qin Mu pondered this.
The Young Patriarch led him up the mountain. "Sacred Descent Mountain is the headquarters of our cult. Entering the headquarters is still difficult for you. This time, the hall masters of the three hundred and sixty halls activated a transmission flag to bring you here. But as the Holy Cult Master, how can you lack a way to enter the headquarters by yourself?"
Qin Mu followed him into a great hall inside the mountain. The hall was ordinary in form, without any of the grandeur or luxury of the Loulan Golden Palace. It was merely built of gray bricks and red tiles.
The interior was just as plain, with only a statue of a sage placed inside.
The Young Patriarch lit several sticks of incense before the sage's statue. Qin Mu followed him in bowing to it. The Young Patriarch said, "Many elders and Heavenly Kings of our Holy Cult are proficient in transmission arts and can return to Sacred Descent Mountain. The method of transmission is engraved on the walls of this hall. Study it slowly."
Qin Mu looked toward the walls. What was engraved there was a method of refining treasures: the method for refining transmission flags, along with the divine art formations and runic patterns used to make them.
The Young Patriarch said, "Every hall in our Holy Cult has different cultivation methods engraved upon it. We do not forbid disciples from learning and practicing them. There is no need to hoard what we have. Once a cultivation method is passed on, the ability to learn it is what matters. You must have breadth of mind and a generous heart."
Qin Mu acknowledged this.
The Young Patriarch continued, "Everything in the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra may be passed on. There is no need to keep it secret. How much they can comprehend depends on their own destiny. Matters within the cult are handled by the hall masters when they are small, by the elders when they are important, and by the Heavenly Kings when they are even more serious. There are also inspectors who patrol every hall, law-enforcement elders who uphold the law, and transmission elders who teach the arts. There are not many matters that require your personal attention. You only need to control the Holy Cult's general direction."
He looked at Qin Mu. "What is the first thing you plan to do after becoming the Holy Cult Master?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment. "Establish primary schools in every hall, and create the three hundred and sixty-first hall: the School Hall. The National Preceptor of Yankang reformed the state, established primary schools and universities, and created another profession in this world. Therefore, our Holy Cult must have one more hall. I want to establish three hundred and sixty primary schools and teach the disciples of the cult how to cultivate."
The Young Patriarch nodded. "You can summon the Left and Right Protectors and give them this order. They will discuss it with the hall masters, select talented people, and organize the schools. This is what it means to control the general direction while delegating authority to your subordinates. If you personally handle everything, you will not have enough energy, and your cultivation will suffer as well."
Qin Mu was filled with admiration.
A strange thought suddenly arose in his mind. The Heavenly Demon Cult did not resemble a sect. It resembled a state instead.
If the State of Yankang was a sect disguised as a state, then the Heavenly Demon Cult was a state disguised as a sect.
The Heavenly Demon Cult was far too similar to a state.
The three hundred and sixty halls each had their own duties and engaged in every kind of occupation. The disciples of each hall made their own livings. Inspectors toured the halls, while the Protecting Cult Elders and Suppressing Cult Heavenly Kings formed an army that resisted foreign enemies. The Left and Right Protectors carried on the Heavenly Demon Cult's traditions.
The cult's followers numbered in the millions, making it entirely comparable to a small state.
Of course, the followers of the Heavenly Demon Cult did not call themselves members of the Heavenly Demon Cult. They called themselves the Heavenly Saint Sect.
"There is one more matter." The Young Patriarch's expression grew solemn as he earnestly instructed him, "I know you like taking things apart. I had Libationer Bashan watch over you, but he still failed to keep an eye on you, and you dismantled the Scholars' Residence again. You may dismantle the Scholars' Residence, but you absolutely must not dismantle Sacred Descent Mountain. Every hall and palace on Sacred Descent Mountain is an ancient site, and each contains many wondrous cultivation methods."
Qin Mu's face reddened. He stammered, "I don't dismantle things that often."
"I understand. You had been at the Imperial Academy for less than eight days, and you only dismantled it two or three times before going beyond the frontier to dismantle things there."
The Young Patriarch walked out of the hall. The Law-Enforcement Elder was waiting outside with a travel pack on his back. The Young Patriarch waved to Qin Mu. "I am leaving. Cult Master, you need not see me off. This parting is permanent. No matter how far you see me off, we must eventually part."
Qin Mu shook his head and insisted, "Even if it is an eternal farewell, seeing you off is the expression of my feelings."
The Young Patriarch nodded and began walking down the mountain.
Qin Mu followed closely beside them.
He had spent little time with the Young Patriarch. Unlike the other elders in Disabled Elderly Village, who had watched him grow up, the Young Patriarch had been with him only briefly. Yet Qin Mu had seen qualities in him that differed from those of the elders of Disabled Elderly Village.
Qin Mu had learned a great deal.
In Disabled Elderly Village, he had always been a child, a child who would never grow up in the eyes of Village Chief and Grandma Si.
But beside the Patriarch, he had learned to grow.
He had now grown into an adult.
One may see off a friend for a thousand miles, but they must still part in the end. Sacred Descent Mountain was not a thousand miles from summit to foot, yet at last they still reached the end.
The Young Patriarch turned around and bowed. "Holy Cult Master, please stop here."
Qin Mu stopped. A sadness he could no longer suppress suddenly filled his heart, and he bowed. "I respectfully see off the Patriarch!"
The Young Patriarch leaped from the foot of the mountain. The Law-Enforcement Elder leaped after him, and the two vanished into the boundless sky.
Qin Mu remained bent over for a long time. Only after a while did he slowly straighten, raise his head, and look at the sky. He knew that he would probably never see this young elder again.
When the Law-Enforcement Elder returned, he would likely be carrying nothing but the Young Patriarch's ashes.
Where does one go after death?
One entrusts one's remains to the mountain's embrace.
Perhaps the Young Patriarch's final wish was to become like this Sacred Descent Mountain.
He had fulfilled the Heavenly Demon's teaching, carrying it through his entire life.
Suddenly, the great banners atop Sacred Descent Mountain began to billow, and the hall masters of the three hundred and sixty halls departed one after another. Qin Mu summoned Fox Ling'er and returned beneath the pine and cypress tree. Several Protecting Cult Elders were still there, and when they saw him approach, they all smiled and called, "Holy Cult Master."
Qin Mu returned their greetings. There was hardly anyone left on Sacred Descent Mountain. Only these few old men and women remained. Grandma Si had also left, probably to see the Young Patriarch off.
Qin Mu found the Left and Right Protectors and spoke to them about establishing schools. The two Protectors were middle-aged men, one dressed in black and the other in white. They exchanged a glance, and the Left Protector asked, "What does the Holy Cult Master intend to teach in the schools?"
Qin Mu said, "All the cultivation methods and divine arts in the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra may be taught. In addition to the schools, we must establish a Heavenly Records Tower on Sacred Descent Mountain to collect the strengths of every sect and store them there, so that the disciples can consult them. The simplest approach is to copy the collections in the Heavenly Records Tower of the Imperial Academy and send them to our Heavenly Records Tower."
The Left and Right Protectors took note.
Qin Mu added, "Are any of our brothers serving as officials in the court? Ask them to record the court's cultivation methods as well and send them to the Heavenly Records Tower."
"We will obey the Holy Decree."
After asking about a few details, the Left and Right Protectors immediately rose. The two men, one in black and one in white, lifted their robes and swept them over their bodies. Both the men and their robes vanished, apparently having transmitted themselves away from Sacred Descent Mountain.
"The transmission arts of our Holy Cult are truly formidable."
Qin Mu praised them repeatedly, then hurried with Fox Ling'er toward the great hall to study its transmission art. Without mastering the transmission art, he had no way to leave this place.
As the Holy Cult Master, he could not shamelessly beg someone else to take him away, could he?