Chapter 24 Part 3

Were Three Saints Academy true disciples this generous? Handing out a million at once. No—why suddenly give her a million? Was she trying to… pfft, invest in her?

Li Ruoshui scratched her hair bun. If it were five hundred, she’d shamelessly accept.

But a million tested her morals and conscience.

This million she couldn’t accept might as well not exist.

Staring at the mountain of gold, Li Ruoshui itched to slap herself.

Maybe she shouldn’t act human anymore?

Chen Buyan: “Fellow Daoist Shangshan, I’ve benefited greatly from the Dao texts you sent.”

Li Ruoshui felt suffocated by the massive amount, her eyes reddening. Her teeth ground together as she resisted accepting, replying only: “A small matter.”

“Were it not for Fellow Daoist sharing so generously, I might still be stuck in Shedding Mortality Realm, unsure of my future path. Fellow Daoist has shown me such deep grace; I must repay it.” While exchanging pleasantries, Li Ruoshui inwardly screamed for her to take it back.

“The sincere bond between us Fellow Daoists can’t be measured by Spirit Jade Pills, right?”

—Next time, could she send less? Too much was embarrassing to accept.

Lian Rusu felt ashamed at Li Ruoshui’s righteous words, inwardly reflecting on her mistake in using Spirit Jade Pills as thanks. Fellow Daoist Shangshan lacked them but wanted to earn them herself, didn’t she? Gifting them humiliated her dignity.

“My apologies. Fellow Daoist is noble and upright, a model for us all.”

Li Ruoshui fell silent.

The fire pent up in her heart could flatten a mountain with one slap.

After Lian Rusu canceled the transaction, the gold mountain finally vanished from Li Ruoshui’s sight.

Li Ruoshui sighed in relief. She had nearly caught gold fever.

Chen Buyan said no more, but soon sent a Dharma Transmission Jade Slip.

Li Ruoshui: “?”

Chen Buyan: “This is an escape technique called Carefree Wander, a divine ability I comprehended in the past. I’ve added new annotations based on the Dao texts you sent earlier; it should suit your cultivation.”

“As Fellow Daoist said, dark currents surge beneath the peace of the Nine Provinces. If you grow strong, it will be a great boon to the cultivators of the Nine Provinces. Please don’t refuse.”

Fearing refusal, Chen Buyan piled on excuses.

Snapping out of her daze, Li Ruoshui thought: Spirit Jade Pills no, but this escape technique—she really needed it! She quickly claimed the Dharma Transmission Jade Slip and replied smoothly: “Many thanks, Buyan Fellow Daoist. Your deep grace is etched in my heart. For a drop of kindness, I’ll repay with a spring. If you ever need me, even through fire or boiling water, offering my body—I’ll do it without hesitation.”

Li Ruoshui didn’t notice what she said. Staring at the jade slip in the Tianyan Mirror, she felt great. Her divine sense swept through it, and dense text flowed into her mind like swimming fish.

It wasn’t obscure scripture requiring her own deduction.

Copying homework felt truly wonderful!

Li Ruoshui desperately wanted to start practicing the escape technique right away, but her vow urged her to go and kill Ruin Spirits quickly.

Otherwise, misfortune would cling to her, and she would completely turn into one fated for decline.

In the Taiyi Sect.

Lian Rusu stared blankly at the four words “promise my body to you.”

The name seal of Fellow Daoist Shangshan had dimmed without light, indicating that she had exited the Tianyan Mirror.

“Are people from the outer sect that hard to find?” The Sword Spirit’s troubled mutter pulled Lian Rusu back from her thoughts. “That Ru Bing wouldn’t have ended up buried in the belly of a wild beast in the Taiyi Mountains, right? And that one called Ruoshui—little Chaosheng said she saved her life, but even after searching the outer sect, there’s no trace of her. Has she not come back yet? What’s going on with the outer sect anyway?”

“Hm?” A strange thought flitted through Lian Rusu’s mind, but she didn’t catch it in time. Her attention was captured by the Sword Spirit’s actions. She furrowed her brows and said, “Can you stop transforming into my appearance?”

The Sword Spirit let out an “oh” and then said, “I’m made from the three corpses you severed and refined. How am I not one of your transformations?”

Lian Rusu: “…”

The hanging gauze curtains in the hall were light and thin, swaying gently with the wind.

When the pleasant bell hanging under the eaves rang out, the Sword Spirit swallowed the remaining pastries in one gulp and transformed back into a brilliantly radiant sword, quietly lying on the sword rack.

“Sect Master.” The visitor was Xiang Yingshou.

Lian Rusu said warmly, “Senior Sister, what did the Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace say?”

Two months ago, a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace had arrived, claiming to be acting on the Demon Venerable’s orders to escort Ji Canglang back to the demonic palace.

According to the old conventions, Taiyi would not interfere in matters of demonic cultivators.

But Xie Chaosheng had come pleading day after day, fearing that the demonic cultivators would kill Canglang. Moreover, Fellow Daoist Shangshan had hinted at something earlier, so Lian Rusu had decided to save Ji Canglang.

Xiang Yingshou said, “Ji Qingye is consolidating the demonic path’s forces.” The Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace was not the only sect in the demonic path, just the largest. But now, news from the demonic path indicated that Ji Qingye had grand ambitions, aiming to unify all demonic forces, and any who resisted would be executed on the spot.

Lian Rusu asked, “And Byu?” Ji Qingye was the elder sister of the previous Demon Venerable, Ji Yucheng. There had been no rumors of discord between the sisters. In fact, Ji Qingye had yielded the position of Demon Venerable to Ji Yucheng back then, choosing to go into secluded cultivation and ignore demonic affairs. But after Ji Yucheng’s fall, she had returned and driven out Ji Yucheng’s daughter.

“Consolidating the demonic path is a massive undertaking.” Xiang Yingshou let out a light chuckle. Not to mention them—even the other sects and Cave Heavens were secretly on guard upon hearing of Ji Qingye’s actions, fearing she might recklessly ignite an immortal-demon war. She and several fellow Daoists had pressed Ji Qingye together, but they got no useful information from her. “She said Ji Canglang is too weak to be the master of the Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace.”

Lian Rusu pondered for a moment and said, “There’s another possibility: she might have sensed the anomalies in the Return to Ruins Realm. Although Ji Canglang has the body of a True Dragon, her cultivation is only at the Heart Fixing Realm. She has no ability to control the board.” If there were changes in the Return to Ruins, it was naturally best for the demonic path to have a powerhouse in charge.

Xiang Yingshou nodded. “In any case, Ji Qingye has relented. She’s willing to let Ji Canglang go, but on one condition: she must become a disciple of our Taiyi Sect. Taking in a little dragon is no big deal; we just don’t know if that little dragon is willing to stay in Taiyi.”

Before Lian Rusu could respond, Xiang Yingshou added, “We’ve done all we can. Whether she lives or dies is up to the little dragon herself.”

Lian Rusu nodded slightly, having no objections to the matter.

In the Taiyi Sect, the only one familiar with Canglang was Xie Chaosheng.

And Xie Chaosheng was the Sect Master’s personal disciple, making her the most suitable to deliver the message.

At the cliffside.

Dressed in profound black robes, Canglang sat in a solitary pavilion. Behind her stretched a sea of clouds dyed brilliant crimson red by the evening glow.

The sea of clouds surged and rolled in the cliff winds, like tides and waves.

Canglang lowered her eyelashes, her cheeks pale. A mocking, cold smile played at the corners of her lips. The wind slightly lifted her wide sleeves, and the dragons embroidered with golden thread seemed to soar through the clouds and mist as well.

“You want me to abandon my identity as Young Lord of the demonic palace, join Taiyi, and sever all ties with the demonic path?” Canglang sneered coldly. She could feel that the Taiyi cultivators weren’t very welcoming toward her. After her wounds healed, she had wanted to leave the Taiyi Sect, but they wouldn’t let her go, yet also refused to save her. What was this now? Pitying her? Handing her an identity out of charity?

She abruptly stood up and stared at Xie Chaosheng, whose robes fluttered gracefully. “My mother was the master of the Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace—that’s mine by right. Why should I give it up?”

Xie Chaosheng looked at Ji Canglang in bewilderment, unable to understand what was wrong with becoming a Taiyi cultivator. Wasn’t everyone pursuing the Dao? After Canglang’s identity was exposed, their relationship had cooled to freezing point. A dignified Young Lord of the demonic path, reduced to her spirit pet—it must have been humiliating. Xie Chaosheng didn’t mention that Canglang had promised to obey her. She said softly, “But you’re only at the Heart Fixing Second Layer right now.”

Upon hearing this, a fierce aura surged from Canglang.

Everyone kept reminding her of her weakness, how insignificant she was.

She wasn’t a True Dragon; she was just an ant.

“Am I doomed to stay at the Heart Fixing Second Layer forever?” Canglang said hatefully. She looked at Xie Chaosheng, her heart filled with irritation—grateful for her risking her life to save her back then, yet annoyed at Taiyi’s arrogance and her own incompetence. The experience of being hunted had made her sensitive and sharp-tongued. Under the dominance of impulse, those grateful words receded, leaving only cold, self-loathing barbs. “I don’t need your pity.”

Xie Chaosheng grew even more perplexed.

When she had first encountered the little snake, it had been on the verge of death.

She had brought her back to Taiyi out of sympathy.

Why couldn’t she show pity now?

“I won’t stay in Taiyi. You don’t need to persuade me anymore.” Canglang walked away quickly.

Just as she was about to brush past Xie Chaosheng, Xie Chaosheng reached out and gripped her wrist.

Canglang instinctively shook her hand free, but Xie Chaosheng, caught off guard, stumbled and tripped over a stone. A flash of regret passed through Canglang’s eyes, but before she could reach out to help Xie Chaosheng up, a sudden change occurred.

“Then let me deliver your head to the Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace!” With a sharp whoosh, a razor-sharp sword beam streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning toward Canglang. If she hadn’t dodged quickly, that merciless sword would have beheaded her!

Canglang’s heart pounded with lingering fear as she glared angrily at the figure who stepped out from the sword beam—it was Dan Li, the personal disciple under Chu Jiangkuo.

But the newcomer ignored her and helped up the fallen Xie Chaosheng.

She turned to the furious Canglang with a look of disdain. “Some fellow Daoist already told me that on the Path of No Return, you hid behind my Junior Sister Xie, making her take the attacks for you. You’re just a spineless coward. What airs are you putting on now, pretending to be the Young Lord of the demonic path? You’re like a dung beetle that fell into a garlic mortar!”

Though Canglang had been hunted all along the way, she had never been scolded to her face like this. She was so angry her head spun.

Xie Chaosheng’s face flushed red with embarrassment as she tugged at Dan Li’s sleeve, begging her to say less.

Far away on the Path of No Return.

Li Ruoshui inexplicably sneezed.

Who was gossiping about her behind her back?

She kicked away the corpse of a Ruin Spirit, and a Taiyi Blazing Fire Profound Light burned it to ashes.

Opening the Tianyan Mirror, Li Ruoshui received a message from Feng Qing.

Canglang was going to stay in the Taiyi Sect.

This was… not following the script of Cunningly Take and Boldly Seize anymore?