Mu Jinyu was taken aback at Xie Yuan's words. He wanted to explain that aside from Wen Rou, the other two were not his girlfriends, but he thought about it and couldn't be bothered to explain so much, so he shook his head and said, "It's nothing."
Xie Yuan smiled, reached out to pat Mu Jinyu on the shoulder, and consoled him, "Actually, you don't need to blame yourself. This massacre is related to you, but actually, not that much."
"Hmm?" Mu Jinyu turned his head with a surprised look at Xie Yuan.
Xie Yuan spoke softly, "The Blood Sword Sect has long been accustomed to the title of the First Sect of the Yan Kingdom, having always taken the most cultivation resources. This time, in the Four Sects Martial Meeting, they became second, and their resources drastically reduced. Even if you hadn't taken the Blood Essence Crystal, they would eventually have found an excuse and waged war against us."
"If that had been the case, by then you probably would no longer be in the Heavenly Sword Faction or even in the Yan Kingdom. When we two sects go to war again, the sect's casualties would definitely be even more severe. But now, because of you, the two-sect war was triggered ahead of time, and we even managed to eliminate Zhou Yun and the others. The destruction of the Blood Sword Sect is now a task at hand. The casualties this time were actually worth it!"
"We even have to thank you for detonating this bomb ahead of time, and giving us the opportunity to eradicate the tumor of the Blood Sword Sect and to dominate the Yan Kingdom."
Mu Jinyu stared at Xie Yuan without blinking, listening to him speak eloquently, and was a bit unable to tell whether he was trying to comfort him or if he really thought so.
"But... they're dead after all. They didn't have to die..." Mu Jinyu sighed.
Xie Yuan laughed heartily, with a bit of self-mockery, "Having embarked on the path of cultivation, do you still think you can have smooth sailing and live to a ripe old age? Who present dares to say they will definitely live to die of old age?"
Shaking his head slightly, Xie Yuan said, "I don't even dare to be sure that I will live to a ripe old age. In this battle, I originally thought I was bound to die, but because of you, I got away with my life. But I'm not sure I will have such luck next time."
"And our Heavenly Sword Faction has developed in the Yan Kingdom for over a thousand years. Although it's not a big sect, whenever a sect war occurs, isn't the casualty always greater than this time?"
"You don't need to think much. For the disciples who died, their relatives will be compensated well by our Heavenly Sword Faction!"
"What you should think about now is not sadness or self-blame, but avenging them!"
At the end of Xie Yuan's words, his tone suddenly grew cold and chilling to the bone, like a cold wind blowing from the Nine Serenities.
"Revenge?!"
Hearing Xie Yuan's words, the confusion, self-blame, and perplexity in Mu Jinyu's eyes began to gradually disappear, transforming into clarity and determination with a faint murderous aura.
"Yes, revenge!" Xie Yuan's tone also carried a hint of murderous intent, "The Blood Sword Sect first plotted against you, wanting to refine you in the Blood Essence Pool. Your taking of the Blood Essence Crystal was a fair return! But they used this excuse to retaliate against us. Now their Sect Leader and Supreme Elder have mostly died at your hands, but many elders still remain in the Blood Sword Sect. Once they hear the news and learn the Sect Leader and Great Elder are dead, they will definitely think of escaping!"
"Now, while they are unaware of Zhou Yun and the others' deaths and are still celebrating and awaiting good news, we should strike at the Blood Sword Sect and wipe them out in one fell swoop!"
Mu Jinyu, upon hearing Xie Yuan's words, had a flash of hesitation in his eyes.
If he also goes to the Blood Sword Sect and exterminates them completely, how would his actions be any different from the Blood Sword Sect's?
He hesitated and asked, "Is it to eradicate the senior and high-level elders, and then disband the Blood Sword Sect, or to annihilate them entirely?"
Xie Yuan paused at Mu Jinyu's inquiry, then laughed in surprise, "Of course, we can't annihilate them entirely. We are not devils, just kill the top and most loyal ones, and dismiss the ordinary disciples after destroying their cultivation."
"Alright!"
Upon hearing Xie Yuan's words, Mu Jinyu was relieved and felt less pressured.
He felt the ordinary disciples were quite innocent because they would be implicated and buried with the sect's demise, without even knowing what happened, due to the decisions of their sect's high-level management, which was truly unfortunate.
Xie Yuan, observing the change in Mu Jinyu's expression, suddenly said, "Do you feel the ordinary disciples are innocent and shouldn't be implicated?"
"Yes." Mu Jinyu looked up at him and responded.
Xie Yuan's expression turned peculiar, with a sneer and disdain, "Actually, the ordinary disciples are not innocent. It's just that our Heavenly Sword Faction doesn't want to create too much slaughter, harming the harmony of heaven, so we chose to let them go."
"Think about it, hasn't the rise and development of the Blood Sword Sect been paved with white bones?"
Mu Jinyu thought for a while and nodded.
He had heard rumors that the Blood Sword Sect was originally not one of the Four Sects of Yan Kingdom, but, like today's Liuyun Sect, it had wiped out a sect, rising to become one of the Four Sects of Yan Kingdom, even the foremost of the Four Sects.
Saying they didn't rise on white bones, probably even the Blood Sword Sect itself would not believe it.
Seeing Mu Jinyu nod, Xie Yuan continued, "In that case, the cultivation resources obtained by the Blood Sword Sect are stained with blood and filth, yet their disciples still relish them—shouldn't they also bear this guilt together?!"
"When the sect was unscratched, they performed murders and robberies while sucking blood from the corpses. And when the sect is in trouble, they claim innocence and disassociate themselves, asserting that the sect's crimes have nothing to do with them?"
"There's no such good thing!"
Xie Yuan snorted coldly and asked Mu Jinyu, "If you hadn't woken up in time and Zhou Yun and they had completely taken control of the Blood Sword Sect, intending to conduct a thorough reckoning but without wanting to do the killings themselves, would the disciples handle it?"
Mu Jinyu hesitated for a moment and nodded.
If it were Beixue Mountain Villa or Mingyue Valley, it might be hard to say, but in the case of the Blood Sword Sect, Mu Jinyu believed these disciples would certainly do it.
"Right? These disciples are actually capable of it. In a few years, they would also become the backbone or even the high-level in the Blood Sword Sect, so what reason is there to say those who grew up devouring blood and filth aren't guilty and are innocent?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Jinyu shuddered, and the perplexity in his eyes completely vanished.
Indeed, the sect and the disciples are, of course, one entity—how can they be separated?
When there are benefits, as disciples, we don't care whether the cultivation resources are obtained through murder and robbery by the sect. When there's no benefit and there might even be a life-threatening danger, we clarify that those matters aren't our doing and claim innocence...
There's no such good thing!
If truly innocent, one would have long since cut ties with the Blood Sword Sect and left the sect, wouldn't one?
Seeing that Mu Jinyu understood what he meant, Xie Yuan smiled with satisfaction.
He was just afraid that Mu Jinyu was too young and too soft-hearted, and if he let the Blood Sword Sect go this time and other enemies in the future, he might suffer great losses!
That's why he said so much to him.
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