Backlash Part 1

Chapter 189: The Stronger You Grow

Nie Mingjue felt his sabre tremble eagerly in its scabbard, a response to Nie Mingjue's irritation. It was a testament to the strong resonance between Nie Mingjue and Baxia. Something that was a sign of strength and power. It had started happening during the last year and had been taken as an omen of Nie Mingjue's power and capability.

It was a sign of strength, but it was also a sign of increased sensitivity to negative emotions. Those not privy to the inner workings of the QingheNie sect's cultivation were ignorant to the cost of the QingheNie sect's methods. The battlefield was both the perfect place for a QingheNie cultivator and also the last place they should be. The bloody battlefields strengthened their sabre spirits just as effectively as a difficult nighthunt.

Every cultivator of Nie Mingjue's sect that survived a battle was rapidly growing in power. Often more quickly than the battle honed skills of the other sect cultivators. Not that Nie Mingjue thought anyone was paying too close of attention to that. This was a war, and the QingheNie sect style was known for raw power and battle strength. Nie Mingjue knew perfectly well that every increase in power reduced the age at which one of his cultivators would need to put down their sabre, or die with it in their hands.

Nie Mingjue was no exception to this. The trembling of Baxia in response to his irritation was a landmark of sorts. A sign of his own strength, and the first indicator of interaction between his cultivation and his temperament. It wasn't much to worry about now. It would still be a long while before he had to worry about a cultivation fuelled qi deviation, but it was a reminder that this strength came with an expiration date. Nie Mingjue wondered if Wei Wuxian's did too.

Nie Mingjue's grip tightened on Baxia, commanding it to remain still. It was infuriating just how much there was to deal with following a battle. Nie Mingjue never wanted his didi near the fighting. Not when Nie Huaisang could barely even lift his sabre, let alone defend himself with it. Not when Nie Mingjue would rather gouge his own eyes out then see Nie Huaisang in pain.

However, when the battles were over and Nie Mingjue was inundated with tasks and duties that seemed both endless and tedious, Nie Mingjue really wished Nie Huaisang was around. For all his whining and complaining, Nie Huaisang was actually very good at the administrative minutia involved in running a sect. All the things Nie Mingjue struggled to remember and found frustratingly tedious, were things Nie Huaisang could probably have dealt with in his sleep.

The endless questions and interruptions were half the reason Nie Mingjue had never considered attempting to meet with individual cultivators. Even ones as important to the war as Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Nie Mingjue simply did not have the time to spend meeting with cultivators who could, and should, be participating in the strategy meetings. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were both high ranking enough that they should attend those meetings alongside their respective siblings.

Wei Wuxian attended the strategy meetings, occasionally. His contributions were often equal parts helpful and disruptive. Though to be fair the disruptions mostly came from others reacting to Wei Wuxian rather than from Wei Wuxian himself. Nie Mingjue did not particularly fault Wei Wuxian for avoiding the strategy meetings. Nie Mingjue might have done the same in his position.

Nie Mingjue deliberately stayed out of the debates regarding Wei Wuxian's cultivation methods. He was of the opinion that the cultivation techniques of another cultivator was none of his business. How Wei Wuxian chose to cultivate was the business of Wei Wuxian and his own sect. Although from what Nie Huaisang had implied that was perhaps a more complicated distinction for Wei Wuxian than most.

Ultimately, unless it was actively harming innocent people, Nie Mingjue was of the opinion that cultivation methods were a personal decision. Nie Mingjue honestly wouldn't have had much ground to stand on to complain if Wei Wuxian even founded a sect with his new methods. He might have opposed it if Wei Wuxian did do that. At the least Nie Mingjue would not have liked to see anyone founding a sect using methods that were probably harmful to the user.