Although Gu Qingfeng knew what Huode was worried about, he couldn’t bring himself to care about it, and it was even less likely for him to restrain himself.

A person’s personality could be tempered with time, as his experience increased and he learned to be more restrained, however, a person’s character would remain the same, even if thousands of years had passed.

Moreover, Gu Qingfeng cultivated for freedom, therefore, his attitude was dictated by how he felt.

Huode understood that Gu Qingfeng was a person that followed the motto “Fate was determined by a man’s character”, that was why he rushed back to the Redcloud Sect as fast as possible.

Afraid that Gu Qingfeng would get angry, Huode stopped complaining and continued to act like a grandson, but Gu Qingfeng wasn’t in the mood to play with him right now, so he got up and went to sleep, leaving Huode there with a gloomy expression on his face.

Soon enough, numerous angry people from the Li family came and asked him to hand over Gu Qingfeng, which made him even gloomier.

Many members of the Li family held important positions in the Redcloud Sect, and the Li family was also a major family in the Bluesun Domain. Many people in the sect were trying to get on their good side, and it also had a good relationship with Jinde.

Now that Li Ziheng was seriously injured and crippled by a disciple, the Li family was obviously angry. Right now, it wasn’t even clear whether Li Ziheng would actually wake up or not.

However, it was all useless because Huode just sat in the Spiritual Garden drinking wine, and no matter what the members of the Li family said, Huode simply replied that he wouldn’t hand over Gu Qingfeng.

He didn’t care if they said he was relying on his Grand Elder position to protect a disciple, or that he was disrespecting the rules of the sect. Although the Li family was a major family in the Bluesun Domain, there was nothing they could do against Huode’s unruliness.

Even though Huode had cultivated for eight centuries, he didn’t have any background or any faction in the Redcloud Sect. In fact, all that he had in the sect was his position as the Grand Elder.

But despite this, there was one thing about Huode that no other person could match, and because of this thing, the Li family didn’t dare to do anything about him.

It was because of Huode’s connections.

Huode had a lot of friends in all the various factions of the world. He knew a lot of people, from elders of major sects, to small merchants. As someone who had spent 800 years in the Bluesun Domain, there were very few people that he didn’t know. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that if he called all of the famous and illustrious persons from the Bluesun Domain, half of them would come.

Due to various reasons, those persons would not be able to meddle in the affairs of the Redcloud Sect, however, if Huode said that there were people bullying him, they would not hesitate to go to battle for him.

Honestly speaking, the Redcloud Sect managed to survive the Tribulation of Heavens mostly because of Huode’s connections. Therefore, even if the Li family would’ve been even angrier, they still had to think about the consequences of going against Huode.

Seeing that things were working, the Li family tried calling Elder Jinder and Elder Mude, but Huode still refused to hand Gu Qingfeng over to them.

No matter the person, Huode’s answer remained the same.

After being in a deadlock for about four hours, the Li family gave up and left extremely angry.

In the early evening, a rare guest had appeared in the Spiritual Garden.

Elder Rende.

Elder Rende rarely came here, and the last time he did was over a decade ago. Although Huode and Rende were apprentice brothers, their relationship wasn’t extremely great. It wasn’t too bad, but not too good either.

In Rende’s eyes, Huode was a vulgar and irresponsible elder who barely spent any time taking care of the Redcloud Sect. In an entire year, Huode would spend at best just a few days in the sect, therefore, he disliked him.

In Huode’s eyes, Rende was an obstinate ignorant fellow who only cared about respecting the rules. He didn’t know what being flexible was.

In Huode’s words, there were not too many things that they had in common, and they didn’t speak the same language.

Seeing that Rende came to his place, Huode started making some sarcastic remarks, but to his surprise, Rende didn’t have much of a reaction and he only smiled at Huode’s words.

This greatly surprised Huode, because in his impression, Rende had always been a serious person that never knew how to smile, and whenever someone joked, he would maintain a stern look on his face. However, today was completely different.

What shocked Huode even more was that not only was Rende smiling, but he even wanted to go to a quiet spot to talk about the past.

Although Huode was completely stunned by this and wondered what Rende was plotting, he didn’t refuse him. Despite his dislike for Rende, he had to admit that if it weren’t for him, Jinde and Shuide would’ve already destroyed the Redcloud Sect. It was Rende who took care of everything ever since the Sect Master entered seclusion.

Huode knew that Rende didn’t drink, so he didn’t prepare anything. He just led him to a quiet spot and listened to what he had to say.

As soon as he sat down, Rende actually began reminiscing about the past between them. When he reached the part about the Tribulation of Heavens, he sighed, “If it weren’t for you, I’m afraid the Recloud Sect would’ve been destroyed…”

Huode interrupted him, “Alright, that’s enough. I can’t stand to watch this act of yours. Just tell me what do you want.”

“After the tribulation had passed, the Sect Master entered seclusion. That was 100 years ago… Although I’ve been taking care of the Redcloud Sect for all these years…sigh…”

Jinde never drank but at this time he poured himself a cup of wine and said in a helpless tone, “Junior brother Jinde had been secretly roping in some clans and he had trained many people in the inner and outer sects. He has been eyeing up the position of Sect Master for a very long time.”

“There’s also junior brother Shuide, who has the Nineglory Alliance behind him. As for Mude, let’s not even talk about him, I know he is in the same pack with Jinde.”

Huode didn’t say anything, he just listened and wondered what Rende was trying to say.

“The Sect Master had been in seclusion for 100 years, but I’m afraid everyone knows that his chances of staying alive are quite slim. Shuide and Jinde are well aware of this, and they had trained many people and are waiting for the right moment to seize the position of the Sect Master.”

Huode pondered for a moment, “Senior brother, if you have anything to say, just say it. Stop beating around the bush.”

“Alright. Then let me ask you this, is Gu Qingfeng someone that you found to compete for becoming the successor of the Sect Master?”

Huh?

Huode was slightly surprised, but he didn’t show any emotion on the outside. He looked at Rende for a while and asked, “What if he is? And what if he isn’t?”

Elder Rende was extremely serious and earnest, “If my guess is right, then he should be the one you chose for becoming to next Sect Master.”

Huode wanted to say something but was interrupted by Rende, “Although I don’t know who he is, Gu Qingfeng is no ordinary person. I came to this conclusion when I first saw him in the inner sect examination.”

“He has a demeanor that no man his age should have, and he is extremely moderate and composed. Although he seems very arrogant, he is actually quite nonchalant and unrestrained.”

Huode was thinking about many things in his mind, but on the outside, he let out a hollow laugh, “Aren’t you overthinking things?”

“Senior brother, don’t misunderstand me, I’m not asking you about his identity. I believe that since you chose him, he is trustworthy. I only want to know if he really has the strength to compete for becoming the successor of the Sect Master. This is very important to me.”

“Oh? Why?”

“If he really has that power, I will help you.”

Huode was greatly surprised by Rende’s statement, because in his impression, Render had always been in the natural faction. Although he disagreed with Jinde and Shuide’s ways, he still didn’t stop them because Render didn’t care about who would become the next Sect Master as long as the Redcloud Sect’s future wouldn’t be affected.

“I was wrong in the past… I always thought that it didn’t matter who became the next Sect Master as long as our sect survived, but as the battle between Jinde and Shuide evolved, I started to realize that the Redcloud Sect would most likely have no future if any of them ended up in control.”

“Therefore, I came here to ask you if Gu Qingfeng has the power to become the Sect Master’s successor. If he does, I will disregard all criticism and make him a direct disciple as soon as possible.”