Chapter 30 Part 1

Yan Zhichuan was refining pills, but her gaze remained fixed on Zhan Yujie.

The Heavenly Dao System had said this instance hadn’t triggered the tragic event from the original fate line. Yet, based on her experience reading those stories, once someone entered the trap, they might not escape the fate of gradual darkening.

“Should I go persuade her to be kind right now?” Yan Zhichuan quietly asked the Heavenly Dao System, blinking her eyes. “She seems about to kill someone. And those Chongxu Sect people probably wouldn’t want to see that. What if they go out and slander my senior sister?”

The Heavenly Dao System fell silent. Its system processors were practically overheating.

But soon enough, Zhan Yujie made her decision: no killing.

“What a clever ploy—borrowing a knife to kill and diverting trouble eastward,” Yan Zhichuan praised from the bottom of her heart.

The Heavenly Dao System: “…”

Outside the Three Ways River.

Miao Tianyin was pulling several Cave Heaven experts into a dice game.

Those Cave Heaven and Soul Transformation Cultivators had little interest in gambling, but with her Formless dice spinning and shifting unpredictably, they didn’t dare refuse. Who knew if it might suddenly turn into a sword and stab them?

Across the entire Nine Abyss, Miao Tianyin was the most capricious.

Often, her decisions hinged on the dice’s whims—even pricing her artifact forging came with discounts based on the roll.

They’d originally suspected her of cheating with the dice, but Miao Tianyin kept losing, leaving them baffled.

Had they misunderstood her?

Not far away, Chongxu Sect’s Cave Heaven True Person Jin Posha wore a sullen expression.

In the past, even amid tensions between their sects, they’d maintained face in public.

This time, if it had been any other Cave Heaven from Nine Abyss, things wouldn’t have turned this awkward. But it had to be the willful and reckless Miao Tianyin.

Back when she’d just entered the Dao, Miao Tianyin had bullied her. Now that she’d reached Cave Heaven, she still couldn’t get the upper hand.

Was it because their sect leader was in secluded death retreat from grave injuries?

Don’t stoop to her level.

Jin Posha muttered to herself silently.

Suddenly, a flash of light burst from the passage.

Everyone knew it meant a cultivator inside had encountered danger and chosen to teleport out. Normally, it wouldn’t alarm a Cave Heaven expert, but that stray wisp of demonic qi was far too obvious. Even Miao Tianyin set down her cards, her brows furrowing as she stared ahead.

“It’s a junior from Chongxu Sect. On her body… hm? Demon Cultivator?!” The one who dragged Liu Lizhu out was a Nascent Soul cultivator waiting outside.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Jin Posha’s expression drastically changed, assuming Liu Lizhu had been corrupted by demonic qi. She transformed into a streak of light and shot forward.

But Miao Tianyin’s movements were faster. Her dice halted Jin Posha mid-motion, and with one hand, Miao Tianyin seized Liu Lizhu, her icy gaze laced with scrutiny.

Jin Posha fumed, “What are you doing?” In her eyes, Liu Lizhu’s dantian and meridians were shattered, her body brimming with demonic qi, on the verge of death. Had she encountered some peril to end up like this? Though not her direct disciple, Liu Lizhu was one of Chongxu Sect’s most prized juniors!

Miao Tianyin plucked the sealed letter from Liu Lizhu’s body—stamped with seals from various sects—skimmed it quickly, then tossed it to Jin Posha with a cold sneer.

Fearing Miao Tianyin might crush Liu Lizhu, Jin Posha swallowed her rage and caught the thrown item. But after a few glances, her face paled, her boiling fury doused like ice water. Her voice caught in her throat, like a goose with its neck wrung.

“Doesn’t Chongxu Sect even know one of their own has fallen to become a Demon Cultivator?” Miao Tianyin questioned coldly. As her words landed, the following cultivators jolted, piecing it together.

This wasn’t demonic corrosion from a Demon Creature in the Three Ways River—she’d been a Demon Cultivator from the start.

“Impossible!” Jin Posha bellowed in denial, her qi surging chaotically. For a moment, she wanted to shred the letter. But lifting her head, she met Miao Tianyin’s icy, mocking stare, and reason trickled back. This thin paper detailed Liu Lizhu’s origins, sealed not just by other sects’ experts, but Chongxu Sect’s own.

Had they all been coerced?

A chill gripped Jin Posha’s heart. She looked down at the dazed Liu Lizhu, mouth opening and closing, before finally squeezing out, “I’ll take her back to Chongxu Sect for interrogation.”

Miao Tianyin smiled faintly. “A Demon Cultivator hid in Chongxu Sect for years without exposure—who sheltered her?”

She was implicating the entire Chongxu Sect.

Miao Tianyin held no great prejudice against demons; even those from Sky Nether City could reform under her watch. But Demon Cultivators? Impossible. The Demon Clan at least had some autonomy.

Yet Liu Lizhu had unleashed a demonic beast tide and planted Puppet Threads on the cultivators—that was torment of body and soul!

Jin Posha’s ears rang, multiple gazes pinning her.

Drained of strength, for a fleeting moment, she even suspected Liu Kongsang.

Liu Yanqing hadn’t fallen to demons, but her actions defied Chongxu Sect’s tenets. Now Liu Lizhu’s scandal—Liu Kongsang couldn’t escape blame.

“Since we’re idle, why not interrogate her here? What brought a Demon Cultivator to the Three Ways River?” Miao Tianyin drawled unhurriedly. She called it “interrogation,” but it was no gentle questioning. She reached straight for Liu Lizhu’s nascent soul and brazenly performed a soul search.

The True Persons present watched, eyes flickering, but none dared stop her.

Liu Lizhu, lost in stupor, awoke to the agony of her nascent soul being extracted. Her shriek was shrill and raw. Realizing something, she ignited the power within her nascent soul, detonating it in a suicidal blast.

A mere Golden Core explosion posed no threat to a Cave Heaven True Person.

Miao Tianyin merely flicked her sleeve, brushing away the surging turmoil like dust from her robes.

She tsked. “Demon Cultivators are awfully loyal to Sky Nether City.”

She tossed the ruined husk back to the stunned Jin Posha, then casually called her gambling buddies to resume their game as if nothing had happened.

Only after a long while did Jin Posha shudder, as if holding a scalding hot potato.

Soon, news of a true disciple from Chongxu Sect turning Demon Cultivator would spread across the Nine Summers Continent via the Heaven-Penetrating Treasure Mirror.

But she had no time to worry about the sect’s reputation.

Besides Liu Lizhu, who else in the sect?

If Chongxu Sect didn’t investigate itself, the major sects would pressure them into a full purge!

–

In the Three Ways River’s Glacial Cold Valley.

Desolation stretched on all sides, silent and empty.

The cultivators from various sects weren’t in high spirits, unsure where to head next.

Yan Zhichuan sprawled atop Cloudy, utterly exhausted.

The demonic qi erupting from those implanted with Puppet Threads required Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills to resolve.

As for the Demon-Luring Lamp, Yan Zhichuan had quietly stashed it away—no one dared use it anyway.

She’d distributed the previous batch of Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills and needed to brew a new furnace. That meant buying more Subdue Demon Spirit Grass from the system shop, which in turn required her to refine other Dao Pills.

Fortunately, Dao Pills came in clumps. She stored and exchanged them without notice; others just assumed they were her alchemical waste.

Fellow medical cultivators from Miracle Hand Sect had it easier—their Clear Heart Pills were useless here, only good for other injuries.

“Not enough,” came a deeply frustrated voice.

Yan Zhichuan rolled over, pretending not to hear.

Yes, not everyone had received a Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pill.

But she couldn’t refine day and night without rest. She needed to recover.

Yan Zhichuan sank into the soft cloud like a limp puddle.

On one hand, thinking how useful the Heavenly Dao System’s gift package had been. On the other, she scooted closer to Zhan Yujie’s side, seeking utter security.

Zhan Yujie: “…”

She glanced at Yan Zhichuan, her eyes deep and inscrutable.

This silly, oblivious junior sister harbored many secrets.

Along the way, she’d tallied her junior sister’s refined Dao Pills—a good portion had mysteriously vanished.

She couldn’t have eaten them herself, could she?

Yan Zhichuan slept soundly, but the cultivators grew restless.

It started as quiet mutters. Seeing no reaction, their voices swelled.

“It takes several furnaces to yield one batch of Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills, and they don’t even look proper. Probably Fellow Daoist Yan lacks the mana, right?”

“Don’t we have Miracle Hand Sect folks here? At a time like this, why hoard the recipe?”

“Precious pill formulas are a sect’s guarded secret—how could they hand it over so easily?”

…

Jie Tianxuan was bandaging an injured cultivator when she stood, overhearing the gossip.

Her brows knit tightly. She shot a displeased glare at the loudest Chongxu Sect cultivator.

She strode toward them. Amid their puzzled stares, she said calmly, “Fellow Daoist Yan already gifted the Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pill recipe to me.” To cut off further nitpicking from Chongxu Sect, Jie Tianxuan skipped mentioning the missing Subdue Demon Spirit Grass and added, “It’s our own failing—we couldn’t master it and must rely on Fellow Daoist Yan.”

The cultivator flushed red then pale, finally muttering, “I was just anxious. Fellow Daoist Yan refining alone is too taxing. Those plagued by demonic qi might not hold out.”

Jie Tianxuan replied coolly, “Then teleport out. Aren’t jade slips for emergencies like this?”

Miracle Hand Sect healers had seen plenty of moral blackmail from patients.

The woman shut her mouth.

No one had heard of Clear Heart Subdue Demon Pills before.

Likely a new concoction from Nine Abyss Medicine Peak.

Would they share it amid bad blood with Chongxu Sect?

Besides, staying in the secret realm offered chances for points—not yet hopeless.

“Clear Heart Pills can’t root out the demonic qi, but they offer some suppression. Take them for now,” Jie Tianxuan told the tormented cultivators, a flicker of pity in her eyes. These people were luckier than her junior sister, weren’t they?

Silence fell once more.

But it didn’t last. Zhan Yujie rose, sword in hand, approaching the chattiest Chongxu Sect cultivator.

The cultivator’s heart clenched at Zhan Yujie’s expressionless face, fear rising.

She sensed killing intent from Zhan Yujie, who halted a few feet away, her icy, stern gaze appraising her—like scouting a fatal strike angle.

Zhan Yujie was going to kill her?!

The cultivator’s scalp numbed, nerves taut.

Half-asleep Yan Zhichuan was pecked awake by the Heavenly Dao System.

It couldn’t fathom why Zhan Yujie was suddenly veering toward darkening.

“Senior sister?” Yan Zhichuan’s mind was foggy, her eyes dazed as she stared blankly at Zhan Yujie.

Zhan Yujie glanced back. “Too noisy,” she explained.

Yan Zhichuan flopped back down. She thought it was too noisy too.