The Romance of the Immortal Cauldron

Chapter 2322 Jingmen Situation

Li Jingshan took a deep breath, his eyes filled with a hint of heaviness and resentment, and he slowly said, "Senior, this is what happened. Originally, our Jing Sect lived a relatively stable life in the original place. Although monsters would occasionally come to invade, we easily repelled them. The disciples of Jing Sect practiced diligently, and the sect's power gradually grew. Everything was moving in a good direction."

He paused, with a hint of helplessness in his tone: "However, the good times did not last long. People from the Tushen Temple suddenly came to us. Seeing that our Jingmen was developing rapidly, they asked us to join the Tushen Temple and become their affiliated force. I was hesitant at the time. After all, Jingmen is not owned by me alone, but the result of the joint efforts of many disciples. If I rashly join the Tushen Temple, I am afraid that I will lose the independence of the sect. Therefore, I declined their proposal."

A trace of bitterness appeared on Li Jingshan's face: "At first, I was afraid of rejecting the Tushen Temple, worried that they would retaliate against us. After all, the Tushen Temple is powerful. If they intend to target us, Jingmen may find it difficult to resist. However, unexpectedly, the Tushen Temple did not take any action against us, as if our rejection did not cause them dissatisfaction."

He changed the subject and his tone became heavy: "However, since then, the number of monsters attacking us has increased dramatically. At first, I did not connect this matter with the Slaughter God Temple. I just thought that Jingmen developed too fast and attracted the attention of the demons. After all, the demons have always been sensitive to the expansion of human power, and similar attacks have occurred several times. However, as time went on, the demons' offensive became more and more fierce, and a wave of monsters would attack almost every few days."

A trace of pain flashed in Li Jingshan's eyes. "The continuous attacks of the demons have caused us heavy losses. Many disciples died in the battle, and some even chose to flee Jingmen out of fear. The atmosphere in the sect has become depressing and heavy, and everyone feels exhausted. We fought with all our might, but the offensive of the demons seemed endless. In the end, we couldn't hold on any longer and were forced to evacuate from our original place and find a new place to live."

At this point, Li Jingshan clenched his fists unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white.

There was a tremor in his voice: "Even so, I still didn't connect this matter with the God-Slaughtering Temple. It was not until we came here that we met several fellow Taoists who had the same experience as us. They also began to suffer fierce attacks from the demons after refusing the recruitment of the God-Slaughtering Temple. After we discussed it for a while, we finally realized that the real mastermind behind all this was actually the God-Slaughtering Temple!"

Li Jingshan's face was filled with anger, and his tone became excited: "The Tu Shen Temple is ostensibly fighting against the demons, but secretly they are using the demons to suppress those forces that are unwilling to submit to them. They use such despicable means to force us to surrender, even at the cost of sacrificing countless innocent lives. This behavior is simply outrageous!"

He took a deep breath, tried to calm his emotions, and continued: "Senior, although our Jing Sect is not as powerful as the Tushen Temple, we will never succumb to their tyranny. We would rather fight the demons to the death than become puppets of the Tushen Temple. However, now Jing Sect is seriously injured, and the disciples have died or fled. The sect is almost dead in name only. As the sect master, I am really ashamed of the expectations you had back then."

Li Jingshan's tone was filled with deep self-blame and helplessness, and he was obviously heartbroken about Jingmen's current situation.

He raised his head with a glimmer of hope in his eyes: "Senior, now that you are back, Jingmen may still have a chance of survival. I beg you to give us some pointers and help us get through this disaster."

Matthew listened to Li Jingshan's story quietly, his expression remained calm, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

He had long guessed that there was an unknown conspiracy behind the rise of the God-Slaughtering Temple. Matthew's eyes swept over Li Jingshan, and his tone was calm but with a hint of unquestionable majesty: "I have my own plan for the God-Slaughtering Temple. Since Jingmen was founded by me, I will not let it perish."

When Li Jingshan heard this, a hint of excitement suddenly flashed in his eyes.

He bowed deeply, his tone full of respect and gratitude: "Thank you very much, senior! With your words, Jingmen has a backbone."

Matthew nodded slightly, turned his gaze to the depths of the valley, and said calmly: "Tell me about the current situation of Jingmen first."

When Li Jingshan heard this, a warm feeling suddenly surged in his heart.

Li Jingshan took a deep breath and began to tell Matthew in detail about the current situation inside Jingmen.

There was a hint of helplessness and heaviness in his tone, and he was obviously heartbroken about Jingmen's current situation.

"Senior, the current Jingmen is no longer the original Jingmen."

Li Jingshan spoke slowly, with a complicated look in his eyes.

"Since we were forced to evacuate our original sect headquarters, Jingmen has absorbed many other remaining forces from other sects that were harmed by the Tushen Temple. Although these people joined Jingmen, they also brought their own ideas and interests. Today's Jingmen has become a hodgepodge. Although it is still called Jingmen in name, it is actually no longer something that I can call the shots alone."

There was a hint of bitterness in Li Jingshan's tone, and he was obviously helpless about Jingmen's changes.

He continued, "Now, there are three Nascent Soul cultivators in Jing Sect. In addition to me, there are two others, namely True Man Chiyan and Xuanyinzi. In name, all matters of the sect are decided by the three of us, but in reality, I don't have much say."

At this point, Li Jingshan's eyes revealed an undisguised look of disgust.

Obviously, he had suffered a lot at the hands of those two Nascent Soul cultivators, and might even have been ostracized and suppressed.

There was a hint of resentment in his tone: "Master Chiyan and Xuanyinzi are both more powerful than me, and they have each recruited a group of disciples to form their own forces. Important decisions within the sect are often led by the two of them, and it is difficult for me to intervene. Even if I raise objections, they are often rejected by them on the grounds of 'the overall situation is more important'."

Li Jingshan clenched his fists unconsciously, and his knuckles turned white.

There was a tremor in his voice: "Senior, Jingmen was founded by me with my own hard work, but now it has become like this. I am really ashamed of your expectations back then."

Matthew listened to Li Jingshan's story quietly, his expression remained calm, but a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.

He keenly realized that Li Jingshan's injury might be related to the two Nascent Soul cultivators.

So, he asked directly: "Why did you get injured this time? I see that the magic array here is still intact. Logically, you shouldn't fall into danger so easily."

When Li Jingshan heard this, his expression changed slightly and his eyes began to flicker, as if he was hiding something.

He replied in a low voice: "Senior, I was misled by false information and entered a demon stronghold by mistake. I was besieged and injured."

Although his tone was calm, Matthew saw a hint of uneasiness and hesitation in his eyes.

Obviously, Li Jingshan did not tell the whole truth.

Matthew's gaze narrowed slightly, and a circle of spiral lines suddenly appeared in his eyes. The lines were deep and mysterious, as if they could see through all illusions.

The moment Li Jingshan saw the spiral pattern, his head suddenly became dizzy and his consciousness became confused at this moment.

His eyes became empty, as if he had lost the ability to control himself.

Matthew's voice was low and powerful, with an irresistible majesty: "Tell me, what is the real reason for your injury?"