On the day of the finals, the Jietian Saintess still remained in her own palace, resting under the pretext of being “unwell” and did not appear. Jietian Dao Sect sent another Tribulation stage great cultivator to represent them instead.
This Elder Hu seemed to rarely go out in normal times. Among the dozens of cultivation world’s great cultivators on the observation platform, very few recognized him. Only that Daojun from Taihua Immortal Sect, who had friends throughout the five great regions, immediately greeted him with a cheerful smile.
Hu Yunu returned a bitter smile and heavily took his seat in the primary position.
It wasn’t yet Qin Xun’s turn, so he watched with confusion and transmitted his voice to ask, “Master, what happened to the Fox Demon King? Why does he look so dejected?”
Normally, even when pretending, this Fox Demon King would put on a dignified and proper appearance. But looking at him today, his peach blossom eyes were slightly leaking demonic qi, clearly having suffered some heavy blow that made it difficult for him to even control his true nature.
After greeting him, Yin Lang withdrew his gaze. “Wu Daozhu has emerged from seclusion.”
The three great Demon Kings had originally infiltrated as spies to steal things during the gap when the three Daozhus were in seclusion recovering from injuries. However, the demon race had long lifespans and truly had no concept of time, so their work efficiency was genuinely quite low. Now seeing their three mortal enemies pop up one by one, how could they not be anxious?
Wasn’t the one hiding in Taihua Immortal Sect also immediately finding an excuse to go out traveling, not daring to face Yuan Daozhu at all?
Below on the arena platform, a sword cry rang out with a “clang!” Ji Chang’an, tightly gripping the Xiehong sword, stepped onto the stage.
Her opponent was an Out-of-Body mid-stage disciple from Tiantai Buddhist Sect. The two had equivalent cultivation levels. Yin Lang only glanced once before making his judgment. “Xiao Chang’an’s match is a bit precarious.”
Qin Xun didn’t understand. “Why?”
Although Buddhist cultivators did counter sword cultivators heavy with killing intent, if their cultivation levels were equivalent, Ji Chang’an, who had experienced the Eighteenth Hell, had far more practical combat experience and should clearly have a higher chance of winning.
Yin Lang said, “Her heart demon hasn’t been completely resolved, and she’s unaware of it. This battle will either end with her losing after struggling for a while, or it will be a pyrrhic victory with mutual destruction—she might even lose her combat ability entirely.”
Ji Chang’an’s talent could indeed be considered among the top tier of the younger generation, otherwise she wouldn’t have touched the edge of the Spirit Transformation stage heart demon tribulation while only at Out-of-Body mid-stage. Unfortunately, rather unluckily, after going through Heavenly Sword Sect and the Eighteenth Hell, she hadn’t completely overcome her heart demon tribulation.
Buddhist cultivation only had a thirty percent advantage over sword cultivation, but was a complete counter to heart demons.
On the platform, Ji Chang’an was indeed as he predicted. After briefly gaining the upper hand, she quickly fell into the quagmire of Buddhist light, unable to escape. Buddhist cultivation methods were all relatively gentle, threading through the gaps in sword light strand by strand. Ji Chang’an was like being trapped in a honey jar, struggling with every step.
After a prolonged stalemate, Ji Chang’an’s heart uncontrollably grew restless.
She couldn’t see her own eyes and didn’t know that her pitch-black pupils were gradually becoming tinged with a layer of crimson, looking extremely eerie.
“This…”
The young monk across from her showed slight surprise. He silently chanted “Amitabha” twice and raised high the alms bowl in his hand, continuously pouring spiritual qi into it. Soon the alms bowl was completely covered in golden light.
The monk gave a light shout and flung the bowl toward her. Ji Chang’an raised her sword to strike without thinking. When she hit the bowl, it eerily made no sound at all. Instead, golden light blazed forth, enveloping her entire person.
After a good while, the golden light dissipated and the bowl fell to the ground with a “clang,” landing upside-down on Ji Chang’an’s arm as she softly collapsed, having lost consciousness.
The young monk put his palms together and chanted “Amitabha” several more times before carefully using a spell to retrieve his bowl. He explained to the referee. “This female benefactor seemed to be possessed by a heart demon, which is why the Buddhist light had such a significant effect… This humble monk had absolutely no intention to harm anyone.”
At Yin Lang’s signal, Ji Chang’an was quickly carried off by female disciples from the same sect for treatment. She soon woke up groggily, covering her head and softly crying out in pain.
The appearance of a heart demon tribulation basically meant she had touched the edge of the Spirit Transformation stage. A whole crowd of people enviously congratulated her on her imminent major advancement in cultivation. Ji Chang’an forced herself to smile and dealt with a few of them. After expressing that she felt somewhat unwell and hoped to be alone and quiet for a while, she stayed by herself indoors, smiling bitterly as she hugged herself tight.
Heart demon tribulation, ah…
She had thought that when she shattered her previous understanding and recognized this world anew, she had already passed that hurdle. Who would have thought there was still this matter, forever buried deep in her heart, yearning for the truth?
That evening, when the first round of finals ended and Yin Lang was heading to his lodgings, Ji Chang’an hurriedly rushed to his side against the flow of people, saying she had some things about cultivation she didn’t understand and hoped to receive her Martial Uncle’s guidance.
It sounded like no big issue. After all, although Shen Muxuan wasn’t a sword cultivator, he was recognized throughout the cultivation world as a professional expert who, despite not being a sword cultivator, surpassed sword cultivators.
Regarding this, Yin Lang was noncommittal and let her follow along.
Ji Chang’an seemed to have put in effort. Yin Lang guessed she might have pulled out all the questions she originally planned to ask Gu Fuxuan when she returned.
Her attitude basically indicated that the remaining heart demon was related to him. Yin Lang mainly wanted to see how long this girl could hold out.
“Martial Uncle Shen…”
They had clearly already said farewell, yet Ji Chang’an stood rooted to the spot, her left hand desperately wringing the corner of her robe, looking full of troubled thoughts.
Yin Lang patiently waited for her for half an incense stick’s worth of time. The girl still had that conflicted look of whether or not to ask, so he turned and walked away.
Ji Chang’an frantically chased after him. “Martial Uncle, wait for me!”
She quickly moved past him, blocking his necessary path. Looking up at his eyes with trepidation, she mustered her courage and loudly asked—
“I want to know, was the Jihe Alliance really slaughtered by Demon Venerable Yin Lang leading his people!”
She called out Yin Lang’s name, yet her eyes stared fixedly at the snow-robed figure under the night sky, speaking each word extremely slowly, as if confirming something, yet also fearing what would be confirmed.
“I know that as his ‘mortal enemy,’ you must know the truth of this matter, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Ji Chang’an looked at him even more expectantly, waiting for an answer.
But that person walked past her.
Ji Chang’an was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran after him. “Martial Uncle, you haven’t finished speaking. Why are you leaving?”
Yin Lang said indifferently, “I’ve already told you what you wanted to know. Why are you still standing there in a daze?”
“Ah, when did you—”
Ji Chang’an froze in place.
Yes.
I was the one who slaughtered the Jihe Alliance.
He had walked very far when he looked back. The woman’s figure still stood in the same spot, motionless.
The last rays of the setting sun also disappeared behind the mountain ranges, and night fell.
The cicadas cried mournfully. It was clearly a midsummer night, clearly a cultivator immune to heat and cold, yet the cold wind coming from the horizon was like a knife, scraping painfully against flesh and bone, chilling the heart.
Yin Lang raised his hand and pushed open the courtyard gate. In the corner of the courtyard, on a bamboo stalk with only short roots remaining, a fluffy creature that had somehow tunneled in alertly perked up its ears. Clutching the “provisions” it had gnawed off, it dove head-first into the grass that barely reached the ankles without looking back.
Only the roots, gnawed into a pitiful, riddled state, remained standing forlornly in the cold wind.
Far away, Ji Chang’an heard the sound of the courtyard gate closing, carried on the night wind.
“Treating others as they have treated you—nothing more than that.”
The morning sun rose, and the second round of finals began. The one from Jietian Dao Sect presiding over matters was still Elder Hu Yunu.
However, today Elder Hu looked much more rosy-faced. Like the Jietian Saintess before him, he plopped down beside Tianji Daojun and chatted idly with him.
Strangely enough, while this Elder Hu clearly seemed less dignified, and both of them had abandoned their own sect’s main seats to crowd near Tianji Daojun, somehow their casual posture when sitting, their lazy tone when chatting, and that seemingly intimate yet unforced conversation looked far more pleasing than that Saintess.
Hu Yunu held a wine cup, seemingly savoring it slowly, but was actually transmitting his voice to “whisper in his ear”. “Ah, what a hassle! Can’t that fake just be a bit more well-behaved? Every day she has to create some trouble for people to clean up after her, as if she’s uncomfortable otherwise. I was happily staying in my cave when I got thrown out to manage this mess. It’s simply a disaster from nowhere!”
It must be said this tone already somewhat broke Elder Hu’s character, but Yin Lang pretended not to notice and chatted with him casually while fishing for information.
As expected, Jietian Dao Sect had long discovered that this “Jiang Mingyue” was fake! But their attitude really didn’t seem like what it should be after their heavyweight successor had been possessed…
Hu Yunu continued sighing. “I’m telling you, it’s only because you’ve probably already figured it out, and the Li family’s young lady has such a good relationship with you—we’re all smart people, there’s no point in hiding it.”
Yin Lang decided to play dumb, saying hesitantly, “Does the Elder mean… the Saintess has been possessed?”
Hu Yunu pinched his chin, carefully observing Shen Muxuan’s expression.
Three parts anger, three parts surprise, three parts hesitation, mixed with one part disbelief.
Mm, based on his Fox Demon King’s many years of experience deceiving people, it didn’t look like an act. This kid seemed to truly have no understanding of this strange “person from another world.”
He casually chatted a few more sentences, then quickly changed the topic. “If it weren’t for the Saintess being familiar with me, and this person being afraid of exposing herself in front of me, she wouldn’t have recommended me to replace her sitting here. Tsk, a group of little brats who haven’t even grown all their hair fighting—how utterly boring… Hey, that kid who just went on stage below, isn’t that your little disciple?”
Yin Lang had already extracted quite a bit of information from their brief exchange. Hearing this, he looked down along with him.
Oh, that annoying protagonist again.
He just wanted to know when this guy would hurry up and jump out to tear into Feng Jiangcheng. They were birds of a feather—whoever died, he’d celebrate universally. Of course, both of them going to hell together would be best.
Xu Rong displayed his consistent high level of desperate counterattacks, especially when he sensed that familiar gaze falling on him—he was like he’d been injected with adrenaline, displaying his charm in all aspects.
Just as he was about to enter his most glorious moment of desperate counterattack, his eyes even turning red with excitement, a violent burst of light suddenly erupted from the distant southern horizon. More than half of Jietian Dao Sect’s palaces floating in mid-air were shrouded by this suddenly expanding light.
Sharp warning transmissions quickly spread throughout all of Jietian Dao Sect. Hundreds of streaks of light flew out from the shrouded palaces. After brief chaos, they followed commands and took orderly positions in all directions, joining forces to control the explosive aftermath within this range, preventing it from expanding outward.
After this explosion, there was no follow-up. The stirred-up chaotic clouds were also quickly dispersed, and even the re-exposed palace buildings looked almost undamaged from the outside.
Jietian Dao Sect immediately arranged personnel to check the losses from the attack. Soon a scream came from the [Heavenly Treasure Pavilion].
“The treasures that the Sacred Master specifically instructed us to guard carefully have been stolen!”