Although Meng Li certainly didn’t believe it in her heart, she would absolutely never say it out loud. She could only give a faint acknowledgment and then continue to sit to the side, planning to keep slacking off until the other party let her out. She hadn’t even broken through to Foundation Establishment yet; forget about fighting her way out.
“If you find it boring, why not practice a cultivation art…”
“I’ve only ever learned one…”
“I didn’t expect you to actually know one move. That’s passable, I suppose…”
Ling Qingyue had just spoken when she looked up and saw Meng Li standing right before her. The smug look on the other’s face was utterly unrestrained now. Ling Qingyue couldn’t understand why she was suddenly so confident.
“What are you doing…”
“Shizun, that ‘One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones’ you gave me before—you meant to make things difficult for me, didn’t you~!”
“If you find it difficult, then simply don’t practice it. How does that amount to making things difficult…”
Ling Qingyue continued wiping the long sword in her hand, completely unconcerned with whatever scheme her little disciple was cooking up this time. But Meng Li walked straight up to her, her hand forming a finger seal.
“But what if I’ve already mastered it~!”
“You’ve mastered it…?”
Ling Qingyue had been pondering how to properly mold this little disciple into one everyone would praise, when she heard that the other had actually mastered the cultivation art she’d casually tossed her way.
“You’re merely at Qi Refining, yet you claim to have mastered this Soul Division Art. If you wish to continue teasing your Shizun, perhaps choose a different topic…”
[Spirit Art: One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones]
[Good · Evil · True]
“Shizun, surely you don’t really think I’m teasing? How about this, then~”
Ling Qingyue had thought it was just idle talk, but unexpectedly, this little disciple truly unleashed this move. Three figures slowly began to separate from the center. When the light faded, Meng Li stood where she was, but several more figures had appeared beside her.
“What do you think, Shizun? Can my ‘One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones’ catch your eye~”
“It’s merely a minor achievement. What is there to be so proud of…”
“I’m at the Qi Refining Stage! This skill requires at least… well, I don’t actually know, but doesn’t this prove I’m a genius?!”
“Then why are there four…”
“Four? What do you mean, four?”
Meng Li was a bit puzzled and hadn’t yet grasped Ling Qingyue’s meaning. Suddenly, Meng Li also noticed something off. Normally, she would have three perspectives, while she herself remained in a hazy state.
But now, not only did she lack three perspectives, her consciousness was terrifyingly clear. As if a thought struck her, Meng Li whirled around and truly found three identical Meng Lis standing behind her.
“Yay, I’m out again~”
“Shizun is as beautiful as ever, just like always~”
“Shi! Shizun! Why?! Why, why did you have to call me out at a time like this? You really deserve to die!!!”
Meng Li watched with a face full of black lines as the three identical Meng Lis stood behind her. She had expected to be split into three parts, but instead, it seemed the other party had been split off from her body, manifesting three identical copies.
“Th-this… what is this situation?”
“I didn’t expect you to be able to improve upon a cultivation art yourself. It seems I underestimated you…”
Ling Qingyue propped her right cheek on her hand and watched the four little figures before her with great interest. Observing their chattering forms was like watching pets she had raised. She glanced at the one already sitting on the ground beside her, one pair of legs trembling without cease.
Just a single glance aimed in that direction, and a clear liquid slowly trickled down those legs. The terror on her face was completely unhidden. Ling Qingyue hadn’t expected this one to fear her so deeply.
“This is your True Self, isn’t it? It seems she has some opinions about me…”
“No! Don’t kill me, don’t kill me! I was wrong, okay, I admit I was wrong!”
True Self Meng Li’s legs trembled violently. This pitifully frightened appearance made the Meng Li standing nearby look utterly exasperated. Although she feared Ling Qingyue might suddenly skewer her with a sword and cause her to die without knowing why, she wasn’t afraid to this extent.
“Hey, you! Get up!”
“Th-that! That’s Ling Qingyue! And don’t you know what you did?!”
Meng Li grabbed the other by the collar, wanting to give this True Self a good talking-to. But the words that came out of True Self’s mouth nearly scared the Meng Li before her half to death. She hastily clamped a hand over the other’s mouth, then whipped her head around to look at Ling Qingyue behind her.
“Y-you! How can you just say anything…!”
“Things done to me… It seems my good disciple has been up to some interesting things behind my back in places I don’t know about…”
Hearing Ling Qingyue’s questioning words, Meng Li instantly felt her brain spinning frantically, thinking of any way to bluff her way through. In just a few seconds, she was drenched in sweat.
“Ugh, so annoying. I knew I shouldn’t have shown off. Now, I’m going to show myself right out of existence!”
Meng Li’s heart was in utter chaos, but she dared not say a single word, afraid that a careless remark would strike a nerve. Just as she was planning to make up some excuse, she lifted her head and was nearly scared out of her wits by the scene before her eyes.
“Shizun smells so good~ To think my Shizun has been thinking of me all along. I never really noticed before, but now, it’s worth dying for~”
Evil Self, at some unknown point, had already come to Ling Qingyue’s side. Her two small, tender hands slowly stroked Ling Qingyue’s slender fingers, the desire on her face completely unhidden.
“Y-you! What are you doing?!”
Meng Li no longer cared about the True Self in her arms whose mouth she was covering. She sprinted over at the fastest speed she had ever achieved in her life, then leaped from the spot into a double-footed flying kick, slamming directly into the still-molesting Evil Self.
The speed was so great that the other party didn’t even have a chance to react, sent flying by the solid kick. Meng Li wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and turned around, looking apologetically at Ling Qingyue before her.
“Shi… Shizun, I… I’m rather unique in personality myself, so these incarnations are also just a little bit…~”
“Normally, if someone treated me like that, I might very well run them through with a sword. But since it’s you, it’s fine…”
Meng Li breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she was done for, but unexpectedly, Shizun was actually quite magnanimous. When Meng Li raised her head, however, she met Ling Qingyue’s gaze, cold and terrifying.
“Th-this… she’s completely bothered by it…!”
Meng Li’s thoughts were a mess, but what actually irritated Ling Qingyue wasn’t the sensation of being touched by the incarnation. It was that she hadn’t felt disgusted when touched by the incarnation manifested by her good disciple. She should have felt hatred.
“Could it be that I’m changing too…”
Ling Qingyue felt incredibly frustrated. From the very start, she had only one thought in mind, but when it came time to act, she couldn’t bear to. Ling Qingyue no longer knew what attitude to adopt toward this unfilial disciple who made her feel both love and hate.
As Ling Qingyue was lost in self-reflection, she felt a tug on her sleeve. Turning to look, she saw Good Self Meng Li, a pitiful expression on her face, gazing beseechingly at Ling Qingyue before her.
“Shizun, I’m hungry. Can you open the cave door and let me out~”
“Hungry? Without Inedia, it really is troublesome…”
Seeing Ling Qingyue’s thoughtful expression, the True Body Meng Li immediately flashed a “just as planned” expression. Who knew one of these three would actually be useful? Just throw out a random reason as bait, and once she was out, she’d make a run for it. Hide at Situ Xue’s place—even if she was Shizun, could she actually lock her up in front of her own disciple?
“Hehe… once I’m out, I’ll just avoid her every day…”
