After leaving the Sutra Library, Wu Yan went directly back to Zhuqu Peak.
Meanwhile, inside the side hall of Zhuqu Peak.
Yu Qingyao sat cross-legged on a couch. Before her lay several stalks of low-grade spirit grass and a collection of bottles and jars.
Her face was somewhat pale, and her forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat.
“Puff—”
A weak cluster of spirit fire flickered at her fingertip for a moment before extinguishing, turning into a wisp of black smoke. The spirit grass subsequently withered away.
Foundation Establishment Stage.
This body was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage.
Even though she possessed the soul-level experience of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and the memories of countless profound cultivation techniques, the meridians of this body were far too narrow, and her spirit roots had yet to fully awaken.
She was like a beggar who possessed mountains of gold and silver but had no way to access them, struggling even with the most basic cultivation.
“With the memories of my past life, if I want to take the top spot in the Five Sects Tournament, I must practice the Taishang Induction Chapter to strengthen my prediction abilities. But this technique has extremely high requirements for one’s Divine Sense…”
Yu Qingyao gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her knuckles turning white.
She cast her gaze toward the pitch-black night outside the window. Her vision seemed to pierce through the rain curtain, falling upon a place not far from Zhuqu Peak—Kurong Peak, which was shrouded in dark clouds year-round.
That was the sect’s abandoned land and the edge of the forbidden zone.
Due to its special terrain, it was a natural wind vent. Every rainy night, the Yin Evil Chi from underground would surge upward, feeling like steel knives scraping against bone.
Ordinary disciples avoided it at all costs, but in the memories of her past life, it was an excellent place for tempering the Divine Sense.
Moreover, a mysterious secret realm was hidden there. The move she had used when she and Wu Yan perished together in her previous life was obtained from that very secret realm.
“Cangwu Secret Realm…”
A flash of self-deprecation crossed Yu Qingyao’s eyes.
According to the timeline of her past life, that secret realm was not supposed to open until three years after the end of the Five Sects Tournament.
“I don’t have the fate to take that opportunity now, nor do I have the ability to forcibly break the seal.”
She stood up and casually threw on a pitch-black cloak, concealing her clear yet gloomy young face.
“But by using the Yin Evil Chi there to wash over my Sea of Consciousness, even if it hurts like being sliced slow by a thousand cuts, I must break through the bottleneck of my Divine Sense. Although that Female Devil Wu Yan is acting like a human being in this life, who knows when she will go mad? I must become stronger. Strong enough to kill her a second time.”
She pushed the door open and stepped out, her figure instantly melting into the cold, rainy night.
***
Inside the study of the main hall at Zhuqu Peak.
Candlelight flickered, casting a cold silhouette against the window paper.
Xia Lingshuang, dressed in a plain white Taoist robe, sat at her desk reviewing the sect’s scrolls.
Due to the Sect Master’s sudden secluded cultivation, most of the sect’s affairs had fallen onto her shoulders—the woman once known as the “second most powerful person in the Piaomiao Sect.”
Although her body and cultivation were gradually recovering after taking the Five Elements Meridian-Connecting Pill, she still needed to take certain medications every day.
“Master.”
An extremely soft and cautious voice sounded at the door.
Xia Lingshuang’s hand holding the brush paused slightly. She did not look up, and her voice was as cold as the rain outside: “What is it?”
The door was pushed open slightly, and Wu Yan walked in carrying a carved wooden bowl.
Today, she wore a pale green disciple uniform. The hem of her somewhat oversized robe was soaked by the rain, making her figure look even more delicate. Her hair was simply tied up with a wooden hairpin, with a few stray strands clinging to the side of her face. Her ink-colored eyes still held emotions that Xia Lingshuang could not see clearly.
Concentration incense burned in the censer on the desk, yet it could not suppress the inexplicable irritability in Xia Lingshuang’s heart.
“It is time for your medicine.”
Wu Yan walked very slowly. She did not stop until she was three feet from the desk, placing the wooden bowl down before Xia Lingshuang.
Although Xia Lingshuang’s gaze remained cold, there was a hint of confusion hidden behind that coldness.
The Wu Yan of this life was too strange.
In her previous life, that treacherous disciple would never have done such a thing.
Though that Wu Yan would also pretend to be respectful, her small habits could not be hidden.
Even when she performed her most respectful act, she had never been like this—personally delivering medicine day and night, acting with such extreme caution.
An act. It must be an act.
How could a person’s temperament change so thoroughly overnight?
She must be plotting something, just like in her previous life when she betrayed the sect after gaining trust, pushing it into a fiery pit.
“Master, you promised me that you would take your medicine properly.”
As if seeing what Xia Lingshuang was about to say, Wu Yan interrupted her just as Xia Lingshuang opened her mouth.
Indeed, Xia Lingshuang had promised her when she asked Wu Yan to temper the Thunder-Struck Wood.
Xia Lingshuang placed the vermilion brush heavily on its stand with a crisp crack. Then she picked up the bowl and downed the medicine in one gulp.
“Get out.”
Xia Lingshuang picked up the scrolls again, not sparing her another look.
Only when the door closed again, cutting off the warm light from inside the room, did Xia Lingshuang stop her pen.
Xia Lingshuang thought of those eyes that were clear to the point of being foolish, and the suppressed hatred and sense of dissonance in her heart collided once again.
She looked at the empty doorway with a complex and unreadable gaze that eventually turned into a cold snort, forcing her vision back onto the scrolls.
However, she couldn’t register a single word on those scrolls for a long time.
—
The cold wind, mixed with thin rain, blew against her face. Wu Yan walked along the corridor holding the wooden bowl, her clothes shivering in the wind.
“Heh, fool.”
A lazy and mocking voice suddenly spoke up.
“I told you, she is a stone that cannot be warmed. What can you get by sending her medicine other than humilliating yourself? She can’t wait for you to die during the Grand Competition.”
Wu Yan (Inner) stared at Wu Yan with blood-red eyes. Her left hand was on her hip while her right index finger poked Wu Yan’s forehead: “And you’re doing this kind of thing using my body.”
“After all, this is because of what you did. I will continue to deliver it until she has fully recovered.”
Wu Yan’s right index finger unconsciously rubbed against the bowl as she spoke in a flat tone.
“Tsk, you’re only touching yourself. When you get sold out by others, don’t come crying and begging this venerable one to save you.”
Wu Yan did not respond further.
She walked along the long corridor, preparing to return to her own cave dwelling to rest.
Suddenly, an extremely faint ripple of spiritual energy flashed through the distant rain curtain.
Wu Yan paused and instinctively looked up.
She vaguely saw a dark shadow rushing from Zhuqu Peak toward Kurong Peak on the back mountain.
Was that… Yu Qingyao?
What was she doing at Kurong Peak so late? That place was a well-known dangerous area. At best, the invasion of Yin Evil Chi would damage one’s meridians; at worst, it would lead to Chi Deviation!
“Oh? What is that girl doing at Kurong Peak? Oh—!”
Wu Yan (Inner) was somewhat confused when she saw Yu Qingyao heading for Kurong Peak, but she had personally experienced the previous life after all, so she immediately guessed Yu Qingyao’s purpose.
“Little Wu Yan, follow her. You wouldn’t want your Junior Sister to get into trouble, would you?”
“……” Although she was indeed worried about her Junior Sister, Wu Yan felt that Wu Yan (Inner) was hiding some sort of scheme when she said those words.
Atop the precipice of Kurong Peak.
Strange rocks were jagged, and all vegetation was withered. The howling mountain wind whistled through the rock crevices, making a shrill sound like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves. The rain falling here seemed to carry a metallic, rusty scent.
Yu Qingyao sat on a protruding black rock, her face as pale as paper.
“Ugh…”
A muffled groan of pain escaped her throat.
The invisible Yin Evil Chi around her was frantically boring into the crown of her head. It felt as if countless rusted steel needles were violently churning her brains.
Stormy waves surged in her Sea of Consciousness, each impact making her body convulse with pain.
Endure it… what does this bit of pain matter…
Compared to the previous life, this is nothing at all!
Yu Qingyao bit the tip of her tongue hard, using the sharp pain to maintain consciousness. She forcibly operated her mental cultivation method, refining the violent Baleful Chi bit by bit to polish her fragile Divine Sense.
One incense stick worth of time. Two.
Her body was trembling, and traces of blood were faintly seeping from her seven orifices, but her gaze became increasingly clear and fierce.
Finally, with a soft buzz in her mind, a crack appeared in that invisible shackle.
The power of her Divine Sense flowed like a trickling stream; though weak, it was several times more refined than before.
“Phew…”
Yu Qingyao leaned back as if exhausted, gasping for air.
She had succeeded. Although it was only an extremely small step, it at least proved that this path was viable.
In that case, even if her cultivation still couldn’t catch up to that Female Devil Wu Yan in three years, she would at least have the power to fight after re-acquiring that secret method within the Cangwu Secret Realm.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to practice that secret method now; naturally, she did.
But that secret method had certain requirements for the Divine Sense and the Divine Soul. With her current strength, attempting to practice it would undoubtedly be a suicidal act.
She calmed her surging blood for a moment and was about to get up and leave this hellish place when her peripheral vision suddenly caught something strange.
In front of a recessed mountain wall on Kurong Peak, the rain there… was actually black.
“That’s…”
Yu Qingyao was startled. She warily lowered her body and moved closer silently under the cover of the night.
It was a natural stone wall, its surface covered in moss.
But in the memories of her past life, behind this stone wall was the entry node for the Cangwu Secret Realm.
Normally, this place should have a powerful restriction left by the sect ancestors that even a Nascent Soul Cultivator could not detect in the slightest.
But now…
Yu Qingyao’s pupils constricted.
She saw wisps of black gas, like ink, seeping from the cracks in the stone wall.
That black gas carried a nauseating corrosiveness, silently eroding the originally golden restriction runes.
The restriction was broken?
No, it wasn’t broken; it had been tampered with!
“How is that possible?” Yu Qingyao’s heart was in turmoil. “The Cangwu Secret Realm was clearly opened by the Sect Master herself three years later. Why are there traces of artificial destruction now?”
She moved closer, condensed a wisp of spiritual energy at her fingertip, and cautiously touched the traces of the remaining black gas.
Sizzle—
A burning pain came from her fingertip as that domineering corrosive force even followed the spiritual energy, trying to backlash into her body.
Yu Qingyao decisively cut off the spiritual energy. Looking at the small black char on her fingertip, her expression became ugly to the extreme.
“This is… Blood-Dissolving Demonic Balefire?”
Such a sinister method was only used by the death-sworn of demonic cultivators. Moreover, judging by the degree of corrosion, this was not the work of a single day; it had been seeping through for at least several months.
In other words, in her previous life when she was completely unaware, demonic cultivators had already infiltrated the Piaomiao Sect and were secretly planning to open the Cangwu Secret Realm early?
Why didn’t this happen in the last life?
Or did it happen, but it was covered up for some reason?
Or was it the butterfly effect brought about by her own rebirth?
Countless questions exploded in her mind. Yu Qingyao instantly realized that the severity of this matter far exceeded her imagination.
If the secret realm was opened prematurely without any preparation, the vicious beasts and traps inside would be enough to wipe out the current younger generation of the Piaomiao Sect.
“Who is it?!”
Just then, the extremely faint sound of a snapping twig came from the mountain path not far away.
Yu Qingyao’s eyes turned sharp. She instantly pulled out three Explosive Flame Talismans and held them in her hand. Her body sprang up like a leopard, staring fixedly at the direction of the sound, her killing intent cold and clear.
“Come out!”
A figure slowly emerged from the rain.
The person was soaked, their pale green Taoist robe clinging to their body, their hair disheveled.
When she saw that face clearly, the killing intent in Yu Qingyao’s eyes froze instantly, replaced by an extremely complex mix of shock and disgust.
“Wu Yan?”
Why was she here? Could she be the one behind this demonic balefire? Was she already colluding with the Demon Sect now? Was what that demonic cultivator in the Western Wilderness said true?
Wu Yan did not notice that anything was wrong with Yu Qingyao; she simply thought her Junior Sister had encountered a problem with her cultivation.
She walked forward quickly, instinctively wanting to steady Yu Qingyao: “I saw you running this way just now. The Yin energy on Kurong Peak is too heavy, and you are only at the Foundation Establishment stage…”
“Don’t touch me!”
Yu Qingyao abruptly took a step back, the spiritual light on the talismans in her hand flashing brightly. Her eyes were as cold as knives: “Why are you here? Are you tracking me?”
Wu Yan’s hand froze in mid-air, startled by her Junior Sister’s violent reaction.
“I was just passing by and saw some movement here.”
Seeing Yu Qingyao reacting so defensively, Wu Yan no longer moved forward recklessly. She slowly retreated, maintaining a distance from Yu Qingyao.
Yu Qingyao stared fixedly into Wu Yan’s eyes.
In those ink-colored eyes, there wasn’t the slightest panic of a scheme being exposed, nor was there even a glance toward the gap in the restriction.
She didn’t see it? Or was she pretending not to see it?
No, if it were that Wu Yan, she would have long since acted to silence me after being caught, or she would have directly mocked me for overestimating myself.
The suspicion in Yu Qingyao’s heart did not dissipate, but the light of the talismans in her hand dimmed slightly. She moved her feet imperceptibly, blocking Wu Yan’s view of the stone wall.
“I am fine, Eldest Senior Sister. I was just a bit startled,” Yu Qingyao restored her previous Junior Sister persona, pretending to be frightened as she patted her chest.
“Since you are fine, come back with me.”
Rainwater slid down Wu Yan’s cheeks. Her somewhat pale face was full of calmness.
That expression again. Clearly, she was the monster who pushed everyone into the abyss, yet why must she put on this facade now?
The inexplicable irritability in Yu Qingyao’s heart intensified.
“Yes, I’ll do as Senior Sister says. Let us head down the mountain.”
She had to leave this place immediately. She couldn’t tell Wu Yan about the abnormality in the restriction, nor could she rashly report it—if she did, how would she explain her presence here late at night?
She needed to plan carefully.
Wu Yan simply followed behind Yu Qingyao as they left.
She didn’t notice that the moment she turned to leave, the eyes of Wu Yan (Inner) were staring fixedly at that restriction.
Heh, it seems certain people are not only fools when it comes to dealing with others, but are fools in this regard as well.
The rain became even heavier.
This sky-filling wind and rain seemed to be washing away the black traces seeping out of the stone wall bit by bit, burying the massive crisis once again in the darkness, only waiting for the moment it would explode.