Chapter 19
No! How did this Qin Lingxiao appear more youthful, completely unlike his previously captured mature look in his twenties or thirties?
It was as if the Sect Leader Qin had cultivated some rejuvenation technique, making him seem much younger?
Cui Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but widen her eyes, staring at the young Qin Lingxiao before her as her mind raced.
However, she immediately recalled that Qin Lingxiao was said to be the young pavilion master of the Lingyun Pavilion that was destroyed by Wei Jie back then.
It was to avenge the extermination of his sect that he had concealed his identity and joined Wei Jie’s sect as a disciple.
After killing Wei Jie, he reverted to using his original name Qin Lingxiao. But the Lingyun Pavilion had long been destroyed, so Qin Lingxiao simply established a new sect, becoming the founding patriarch of what is now the Nine Mystic Sword Sect.
The current Qin Lingxiao should still be the carefree young pavilion master of the Lingyun Pavilion, unaware of life’s hardships.
His current cultivation base was not high, hence his forehead lacked the imprint of the eight-petal lotus. His appearance exuded youthful immaturity, though he already cut a tall and slender figure as a handsome young man.
However, his bright and elegant looks paled in comparison to Wei Jie’s bewitching masculine charm.
Cui Xiaoxiao had originally thought this Qin Lingxiao shouldn’t recognize her. But when her gaze met the young Qin Lingxiao’s, she immediately sensed something was amiss.
Because when Qin Lingxiao saw that the people emerging were Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao, his pupils involuntarily constricted sharply, as if greatly shocked.
Moreover, the way he looked at Cui Xiaoxiao did not seem like a first encounter.
When he spoke, he addressed Cui Xiaoxiao directly: “How did you end up here?…And you even brought him out?”
Originally, when the ancient divine statue absorbed the power of the two demon pearls, it had also drawn in Cui Xiaoxiao and Qin Lingxiao, who each possessed one of the demon pearls.
However, Qin Lingxiao was in his elemental spirit form back then, so when he was sent back two hundred years, his elemental spirit lacked a physical body to reside in and naturally attached itself to his younger self.
The current Qin Lingxiao outwardly appeared as a youth, but inwardly contained the weathered soul of the great Sect Leader Qin who had experienced two hundred years.
Initially, when Qin Lingxiao first returned two hundred years ago, he was greatly shocked as well.
But upon seeing the familiar palaces and halls of his former Lingyun Pavilion, along with his once well-known loved ones, Qin Lingxiao pondered and suddenly felt it wasn’t so bad.
Ever since he rose to fame, he had been overshadowed by Wei Jie’s presence.
Even after becoming the paramount figure of the Sword Sect, there were those who whispered behind his back, saying that without absorbing Wei Jie’s powers, he would have been a nobody, nothing more than a treacherous disciple who killed his master and ancestors.
This time, by returning two hundred years, although he had lost the cultivation of a hundred years, he could start anew and surely avoid all regrets, achieving even greater and more perfect attainments through his own efforts.
Moreover, this time he would absolutely not allow Wei Jie to rise to prominence and exterminate the entire Lingyun Pavilion.
Events unfolded just as they had before – he led his disciples to Elder Mountain to intercept Wei Jie in his father’s name.
Back then, the young and frivolous Qin Lingxiao had underestimated the unknown Wei Jie, even leaving midway to hunt a black flood dragon in the Misty Origin River to collect dragon oil for his mother’s pill refinement.
As a result, the disciples sent to apprehend the spirit pill thief were heavily injured by Wei Jie, who was ultimately knocked off the cliff. However, this granted Wei Jie a fortuitous opportunity to cultivate an unmatched demonic art.
When Wei Jie emerged from seclusion, he allied with the Demonic Fox Clan and steadily grew his power, amassing forces to establish the Demonic Sect. His first act of vengeance was to single-handedly strike against the Lingyun Pavilion, destroying the centuries-old cultivating sect overnight.
Thinking of this made Qin Lingxiao’s teeth itch with hatred. This time, on his second go-around, he would keep Wei Jie firmly trampled in the dust, never allowing him a chance to rise!
So this time, Qin Lingxiao did not frivolously go hunt the black flood dragon. Instead, he personally led his men to Elder Mountain.
Earlier, while the other three sects dispatched disciples to encircle and attack Wei Jie, Qin Lingxiao had the Lingyun disciples stand by at the mountain’s base.
For he was well aware that even if everyone went up, it would only result in mutual losses against Wei Jie.
Moreover, in that battle, the Lingyun Pavilion would lose its four most powerful disciples, leaving it defenseless against Wei Jie’s massacre thirty years later.
Therefore, this repetition of past events saw Qin Lingxiao only posting guards at the mountain’s base, waiting for the clashing sides to exhaust each other. Once Wei Jie fell off the cliff and was poisoned in the serpent’s den, he would lead his men into the valley and easily finish off Wei Jie with a single sword while he battled the venom.
However, all these plans were disrupted when he saw Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie emerge unharmed from the valley.
No matter how Qin Lingxiao calculated, he never expected Cui Xiaoxiao to also travel back two hundred years, and to even mingle with Wei Jie, seemingly disrupting the course of events by allowing Wei Jie to leave the valley safely.
What was going on? Could Cui Xiaoxiao’s presence have made the Soul-Devouring Serpent disappear as well?
It was in extreme shock that Qin Lingxiao had uttered those words.
Once he spoke, Cui Xiaoxiao immediately guessed that this young Qin Lingxiao must recognize her!
Qin Lingxiao must have, like her, been sent back two hundred years by the ancient mysterious statue.
The Wei Jie standing beside Cui Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Lingxiao. Although he didn’t recognize this youth, judging by his attire, he should be from the Lingyun Pavilion.
Seeing the way the young man stared intently at Cui Xiaoxiao, it seemed there was quite a grievance between them…
Thus, Wei Jie’s long eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized the two, asking Xiaoxiao in a low voice: “What’s going on? Do you know someone from the Lingyun Pavilion?”
A myriad of emotions swirled within Cui Xiaoxiao as she looked at the two men awaiting her response, momentarily unsure of how to explain.
However, before Xiaoxiao could answer, the people from the other three major sects saw Wei Jie and rushed over, shouting: “Thief, where are you running?”
Wei Jie drew his sword to engage them, while Xiaoxiao swiftly retreated and sprinted down the mountain.
Qin Lingxiao ignored Wei Jie and directly gave chase after Cui Xiaoxiao, seizing her wrist and saying sternly: “What have you done? I’m asking you, why don’t you answer?”
Cui Xiaoxiao glanced at Wei Jie, who was preoccupied, then grabbed Qin Lingxiao’s collar and said through gritted teeth: “I should be asking you! If you hadn’t pulled some stunt, how could I have ended up in this godforsaken place?”
Qin Lingxiao’s nose nearly bumped into hers, his face reddening with anger. He dragged her around the mountain bend and, once they were far from the fighting crowd, said sternly: “Did you happen to obtain the divine statue of Zhi Jiuyin?”
Zhi Jiuyin, also called Shi Long, was the mountain deity of the ancient Zhong Mountain. The Classic of Mountains and Seas records it as having a half-human, half-serpent appearance, its opening eyes bringing daylight and closing eyes bringing night.
It was the ancient deity that controlled the yin-yang and darkness of time.
Cui Xiaoxiao immediately thought of the statue she and her fellow disciples had found in the cave…Could that be the Zhi Jiuyin that Qin Lingxiao spoke of?
Seeing Cui Xiaoxiao not deny it, Qin Lingxiao was convinced it was so.
He glared angrily at Cui Xiaoxiao: “This is all your doing, you actually broke the seal on Zhi Jiuyin. I shouldn’t have entrusted that inept Tang Youshu with dealing with the divine statue in the first place…Now with the heavens and earth inverted, returning us to two hundred years ago, if Wei Jie seizes this opportunity to commit even greater massacres, it will be the calamity you have brought upon us!”
Faced with this blame flung at her, Cui Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes – she couldn’t have accomplished this “great deed” alone, the great Sect Leader Qin played an integral part too!
She shook off Qin Lingxiao’s hand and studied his much younger face: “Little brother, speak more respectfully to your sister! If your disciples hadn’t tried to capture me, how could we have touched that statue’s mechanism and been sent here? Instead of interrogating me, you should be thinking about how to get us back quickly!”
It had been a long time since Qin Lingxiao was mocked in such a manner. Seeing this rude girl address him as “brother”, his youthful lips pursed into a line, intending to properly discipline her!
However, in their earlier tussle, Qin Lingxiao had sensed that his current inner energy was not much higher than this dead girl’s.
Damn it, after all this was two hundred years ago, and Qin Lingxiao’s current body was far too shallow in inner energy. Even with his mastery of energy cultivation and spirit pill refinement, it would take time and opportunities to improve.
However, this also meant he no longer had to endure the backlash of his demonic nature. This sense of unfettered lightness was something Qin Lingxiao hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Qin Lingxiao swiftly weighed the pros and cons, and felt that redoing this journey was better.
As for this Cui Xiaoxiao, she didn’t belong in this era and was an existence that defied the laws of nature. Of course she was eager to return…
With this thought, Qin Lingxiao let out a cold laugh. He couldn’t allow this variable to run amok. He would first take her back to the Lingyun Pavilion and imprison her in the rear mountain. If she was sensible, after he killed Wei Jie, he might find an opportunity to send her back. However, before then, he absolutely could not allow Cui Xiaoxiao to reveal heavenly secrets and disrupt his plans.
Qin Lingxiao suddenly reached out to grab Cui Xiaoxiao’s wrist and seal her acupoint to render her unconscious. If it were the Qin Lingxiao from two hundred years ago, he wouldn’t even need to move, a flick of his finger could pierce her accupoints with his energy needles.
But now, as soon as Qin Lingxiao raised his hand, Cui Xiaoxiao sensed it.
Over these past few days of sitting in meditation, she had been contending with the demonic pearl within her, rapidly accumulating energy in her dantian. Earlier in the valley, due to being poisoned by the serpent’s venom, she had again used her dantian’s energy to expel the poison, so her inner power was currently surging.
Although Qin Lingxiao’s movements were swift, to Xiaoxiao’s eyes they appeared slowed down. After a few bouts of exchanging blows, Xiaoxiao realized the great Sect Leader Qin could no longer unleash his seven flying swords whirling overhead!
She parried swiftly and decisively kicked towards Qin Lingxiao’s abdomen.
Qin Lingxiao dodged, finally managing to grab Cui Xiaoxiao’s ankle, then seized her shoulder, gritting his teeth: “Do you still want to go back or not?”
Cui Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Lingxiao’s slightly reddened face, feeling that while his current cultivation was low, he exuded a more human quality, unlike the transcendent deity aura of two hundred years later who held all under heaven in his grasp.
If Qin Lingxiao also wanted to return, then everything could be negotiated. So Xiaoxiao told him to release her first, and they could calmly discuss a solution.
Qin Lingxiao also knew he could not subdue Xiaoxiao for now, so he stopped fighting and listened as she briefly recounted her encounter with Wei Jie.
As Cui Xiaoxiao spoke, Qin Lingxiao understood: Since Wei Jie had avoided being injured and bitten by the serpent due to Cui Xiaoxiao’s involvement, that was for the best!
On the path of cultivation, lacking either innate talent or fortuitous opportunities doomed one to failure.
This time, Wei Jie had missed the opportunity to become demonic, so he could not become the paramount demonic lord, much less have the ability to single-handedly strike against the Lingyun Pavilion!
With his memories of two hundred years of cultivation, everything would come naturally. Given time and by following the proper steps, he could still achieve transcendence through his status as the young pavilion master of the Lingyun Pavilion.
This time, even if he personally slew Wei Jie, no one could accuse him of being a treacherous disciple who killed his master and ancestors to usurp his position!
