Chapter 1587: Position of sect master

A wry smile appeared on Lin Fan’s face when he heard this.

Before this, he thought that he was already a candidate for the position of sect master. But it turned out that this was just a misunderstanding on his part.

The token itself gave him the right to seek that position, but it wasn’t enough to actually allow him to become the sect master.

Only after gathering all this authority did the token start to change and grant him the right as a candidate.

Before this, he was just someone that possessed a token.

Now, he was someone that was actually recognized by the souls that were left behind by the Dao Sect.

Regardless of what it was, at least it meant that his foot was in the door.

So the only thing that was left was to gather more authority from the pavilions and upgrade the token.

From what Lin Fan had seen so far, he knew that it was all about gathering authority. It seemed that only those that had the full authority of the Dao Sect would be able to become the sect master.

Instead of continuing to ask Su Ling about the token, Lin Fan started asking about where he should go next.

She was the one that had told him about the pavilions last time when he brought out the map. Lin Fan was hoping that with more authority, Su Ling would be able to tell him even more about the pavilions of this inner part of the Dao Sect.

Specifically, he was hoping that she would be able to tell him the correct order to go to these pavilions.

Only it didn’t seem like Su Ling was going to tell him anything.

Instead of looking at the map that he took out, Su Ling was looking at him with what seemed to be a complicated look on her face. From the connection that he felt with her, he could tell that there was something that she wanted to say and was struggling to say.

It felt like there was something that was even restraining her from saying more.

Thinking back on how Su Ling had acted in the past, Lin Fan could already guess that there was something that was restraining Su Ling from saying too much.

It was most likely a measure that the Dao Sect had put in place because of what happened to them. Since that was the case, it wasn’t as if there was anything that Lin Fan could do to change it.

Since she wasn’t able to say anything, then he wouldn’t push any further.

Or at least that was what he was thinking until Su Ling suddenly asked something that caught him off guard.

"What do you think is the position of sect master?"

"Huh?" A visibly confused look appeared on Lin Fan’s face the moment that he heard this.

He just looked at Su Ling with this same expression on his face as he tried to figure out what Su Ling was thinking by asking him this question. Only from the calm look that was on Su Ling’s face, he wasn’t able to figure out anything.

It didn’t seem like Su Ling was planning anything by asking this question, it was as if she was just asking this question for the sake of asking this question.

That just made Lin Fan even more confused as he didn’t know what she wanted from him.

So in the end, he slowly said, "The sect master is the one that leads the sect and makes decisions to make the sect better."

It was a very simple answer, but it was fundamentally what a sect master did in a sect.

Without knowing what Su Ling was thinking, this really was the safest answer.

It was just that from the way that her expression changed, it didn’t seem like Su Ling was satisfied with this answer. It didn’t seem like this was the answer that she was hoping to hear.

Lin Fan revealed an awkward look seeing this, but he really didn’t know what she wanted him to say.

So in the end, he just asked, "What is a sect master to you?"

Su Ling didn’t answer this question right away as she just looked at him with the same disappointed look, but eventually that expression on her face changed.

It wasn’t that she was hiding the disappointment, rather it almost seemed like she was understanding why he answered this way and wasn’t blaming him. Though there was still that trace of disappointment in her eyes.

Even with this look in her eyes, she still started explaining, "The sect master of the Dao Sect is a bit different. It’s all because of what the Dao Sect was when it was first established."

With a sigh, she continued, "In the first place, the Dao Sect was a place where one strived for the dao whether that was through conventional or unconventional means. It was a place where one reached for the end of the dao so that they could become immortal."

Another confused look appeared on Lin Fan’s face when he heard this.

After all, what she was saying was the very foundation of what cultivation was.

Anyone that cultivated only did it because they wanted to live forever, so it wasn’t as if the goals of a sect would be any different. A sect was just a place where those that shared the same goal gathered.

But it didn’t make sense that she would say all of this for no reason.

Which meant that there had to be something else that Su Ling was trying to achieve by telling him all of this.

The way that she paused made it seem even more likely that this was the case.

As she looked at him while pausing, it was almost as if she was waiting for him to figure out what she was trying to say.

But Lin Fan really had no idea what Su Ling was telling him, so he had no choice but to wait for her to continue.

Seeing that Lin Fan wasn’t going to say anything, Su Ling continued by saying, "The sect master is the one that reigns them in when it comes to a sect like the Dao Sect."

Slowly, Lin Fan was putting it all together.

In the first place, the Dao Sect was the sect that had spawned the Five Great Sects.

It wasn’t just the righteous sects alone that came from the Dao Sect, it was even the Heavenly Demon Sect that came from it. Which meant that the Dao Sect was a sect that combined both orthodox and demonic cultivation techniques.

This was a gathering of all kinds of cultivators that only had a single goal.

Which meant that there had to be someone that restrained all of the cultivators of the different factions.

From Su Ling’s words, it seemed like the sect master was the one that decided all of this.

Then Su Ling added, "To decide this, the sect master needs to decide what crosses the line and what doesn’t." Then after a pause, she added, "That decision comes from the knowledge passed down from the ancestors."

With Su Ling laying it bare like this, Lin Fan was fully aware of what she was saying.

In short, what she was giving him was a warning.

If he were to continue pushing down this path, it would only be a matter of time before he touched on something that he shouldn’t touch.

Lin Fan didn’t say anything as he stared at Su Ling after she said this.

Though he didn’t show anything on his face, it was clear by the way that he looked at her that he could tell what she had done to tell him all of this.

He already knew that she was under some kind of restriction, so the fact that she said this meant that she was breaking that restriction. It wasn’t as if she wouldn’t be punished for breaking this restriction.

Even now, it seemed like she was suppressing her reactions to this.

So in the end, Lin Fan didn’t say anything as he organized his thoughts.

After a while, he finally said, "I already know a bit of what happened, it’s something that came naturally from the clues that I’ve found."

Su Ling seemed a bit surprised to hear this, but then she couldn’t help thinking of the way that Lin Fan returned from one of the trips.

Thinking of this, she slowly nodded to show that she understood.

If that was the case, then...

"I know that it’s a risk, but I still have to do it. It’ll be reduced to a certain extent because of what I know and I hope that will be enough."

Su Ling looked like she was still struggling a bit with this decision of his, but she agreed with him in the end. It seemed like she had been convinced by him with the way that she suddenly gave a sigh.

Lin Fan didn’t say anything since it wasn’t as if there was anything that he could say.

Instead of pushing this matter, Su Ling pointed at the map.

She didn’t point out a pavilion, but rather she pointed at where the law enforcement pavilion was before moving her finger in a direction. She didn’t bring it to one of the other pavilions, she just used it to point out a general direction.

With the way that Su Ling’s finger trembled, Lin Fan knew that this was already her pushing the limit of what she was capable of.