Mist—endless, boundless mist.
When Wu Yan (Yan) and Bai Zhiqiu stepped side by side into that ancient canyon, the world around them seemed to be stripped of all color and vitality in an instant.
The originally gray rock walls and withered trees twisted and elongated within this eerie fog, finally transforming into countless grotesque fragments that swirled and bored into their Sea of Consciousness.
There was no sound, no direction, and even the passage of time became blurred and indistinct.
This place felt like the end of the world, or perhaps the stomach of some unnamable ancient creature, slowly digesting the souls of the intruders.
This time, Wu Yan (Inner)’s judgment had clearly failed. This was not a simple Soul-Bewildering Array.
This was the guardian array that the fourth Sect Master of the Piaomiao Sect was most skilled in, recorded within the sect’s scrolls—the Nine-Bend Soul-Confusing Array.
It does not harm the physical body; it only severs the soul.
It sets no traps, for the fears and desires deep within every person’s heart are the hardest cages to escape in this world.
***
Bai Zhiqiu felt as though she were having a very long dream.
In the dream, she was still that genius girl of the Tianyan Sect who attracted everyone’s attention.
She was the “Little Divine Diviner” recognized by the cultivation world, holding the Heavenly Secret Compass, planning with unerring accuracy, and enjoying boundless glory.
“Zhiqiu, this divination concerns the thousand-year destiny of the sect. Go up to the Star-Gazing Platform and calculate it well for me, your Master, and for the three thousand disciples of this Tianyan Sect.”
The scene shifted, placing her upon the towering, majestic Star-Gazing Platform of the Tianyan Sect that rose into the clouds.
The night sky was as clear as if it had been washed, and the galaxy was brilliant, seemingly within reach.
The white-haired Sect Master and Master was looking at her with a face full of affection and expectation. The trust contained in that gaze felt as if the entire future of the sect had been pressed onto her slender shoulders.
Behind her Master stood several highly respected Elders, and in the square below the platform were countless fellow disciples, looking up with eager and fanatical eyes.
The wind caught her pale green Taoist robes, and Bai Zhiqiu felt an unprecedented sense of heroic ambition.
Full of confidence, she offered up the Ink Jade Compass in her hand, spiritual energy flowing through her fingertips.
“Begin the divination!”
With her clear shout, starlight erupted from the Lopan. Countless runes moved like tadpoles, eventually converging into a grand star map.
Bai Zhiqiu closed her eyes to sense it. A moment later, she snapped her eyes open, two beams of sharp light shooting from them. Her voice was crisp and loud, echoing through the mountains with an unquestionable certainty:
“Master, please rest assured! I have already performed the calculations hundreds of times! The opening of the Cangwu Secret Realm this time is an auspicious omen for our sect! The Life Gate in the southeast is wide open, and purple mist rises from the east for thirty thousand miles! As long as the sect’s elites go all out, our Tianyan Sect will surely become the top power in the Central Province, enduring for ten thousand generations!”
“Good! Good! Good!”
The Master stroked his beard and laughed, his eyes full of gratification. “Zhiqiu is truly the Qilin Child of my Tianyan Sect! Send out the order: the entire sect shall assemble and depart immediately!”
And so…
Countless flying ships covered the sky, banners fluttering, carrying the thousands of years of heritage of the Tianyan Sect and everyone’s beautiful vision of the future as they sailed grandly toward the “Life Gate” she had predicted.
Bai Zhiqiu stood on the flagship at the very front, high-spirited, as if she could already see the moment the sect surpassed the Lingxiao Sect.
However—
The moment the ships crossed the boundary wall and were about to arrive at the so-called Life Gate.
The originally auspicious purple mist suddenly dissipated, replaced by a bloody red light so intense it was nauseating.
That was no Life Gate at all; it was clearly a giant abyss of a mouth that had been open and waiting for a long time!
“BOOM—!!”
A world-shaking explosion rang out, as if the sky had collapsed.
Bai Zhiqiu watched helplessly as the flagship at the very front was snapped in half by a pitch-black spatial turbulence in an instant.
Those Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters who usually greeted her with smiles didn’t even have time to scream before they were ground into a spray of flesh and a rain of blood by that terrifying power.
“No… that’s not right… this isn’t right!”
The Lopan in Bai Zhiqiu’s hand began to shake violently, the needle spinning wildly and letting out a piercing wail of sorrow.
“Enemy attack! It’s a trap! Retreat quickly!!”
The Master’s shrill roar came, but it was already too late.
From the surrounding void, countless Demonic Cultivators dressed in black robes swarmed out like locusts.
They had been lying in ambush for a long time, grinning as they harvested the lives of the Tianyan Sect disciples.
“Zhiqiu! Is this the Life Gate you calculated?!”
An Elder who usually doted on her most was now covered in blood, half of his body blown apart. He stared deathly at Bai Zhiqiu, and in his eyes, there was no longer affection, but bone-deep hatred and despair.
“You’ve killed us! You’ve killed us all!!”
“Bai Zhiqiu! You liar!”
“What Divine Diviner! You are a disaster star! You are the disaster that destroyed the sect!!”
“I want you to die too! I want you to come down and be buried with us!!”
The scene became blood-red and distorted.
Flying ships fell, and the sect collapsed.
Those dead fellow disciples turned into vengeful ghosts, their faces covered in blood, their eyes bulging as they crawled out from the fires of hell.
They stretched out withered, skeletal arms, clutching desperately at her as she stood on the high platform.
“No, it’s not like this! I didn’t miscalculate… I clearly calculated…”
Bai Zhiqiu retreated in terror. With every step she took, there was a sea of blood beneath her feet.
The Lopan in her hand let out a crisp crack and shattered into powder.
She looked at her Master, that kind old man; only half of his face was intact. The other half was already rotten and infested with maggots, revealing white bone.
He stared at Bai Zhiqiu with his remaining, clouded eye that wept tears of blood. His voice was hoarse, like a vengeful spirit rubbing against sandpaper:
“Zhiqiu, Master trusted you. The entire sect trusted you. But you led us into hell—”
“Give our lives—back to us!”
The Master reached out a rotting hand, reaching for Bai Zhiqiu’s neck.
“AAHHH—!!”
Bai Zhiqiu screamed in collapse, kneeling in the pool of blood.
The surrounding scenery began to cave in. Countless black shadows surged from all directions; they had no physical forms, yet they were sharper than any blade.
The shadows submerged the once-proud girl like a tide. A desperate sense of suffocation choked her throat, and she could only shiver in the endless darkness, waiting for the final judgment.
***
At the same time, on the other side of the mist.
Yu Qingyao opened her eyes, finding herself in a daze. She was not in that gloomy canyon, nor was she on the way to the altar.
Sunlight—dazzling and warm sunlight.
She subconsciously raised her hand to block it. The scent her nose caught was no longer that of rotting leaves, but the dry smell of wind and sand tinged with a hint of blood.
This is… the Western Wilderness?
Memories surged like a tide.
In her own memory, this should be the Illusionary Realm created by that Soul-Bewildering Array. As long as she left this place, she would be able to obtain the Soul Governance Art immediately.
Suddenly, a giant Blood Scorpion materialized from the yellow sand in front of her, its massive stinger thrusting straight toward her.
Just then, a figure in pure white descended from the sky like an immovable mountain, blocking her path.
“Puchi—”
The sound of a sharp barb entering flesh was muffled and clear.
It was from that time in the Western Wilderness.
Yu Qingyao calmly made her judgment.
Blood stained those snow-white Daoist robes, dripping down the arm and onto the yellow sand, a shocking sight.
Wu Yan (Inner) turned her head.
That cold face now carried a hint of cautious tenderness that Yu Qingyao had never seen before.
Her face was pale, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat, yet she revealed a very faint smile when she saw that Yu Qingyao was safe and sound.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Wu Yan (Inner) spoke softly, reaching out her uninjured hand to gently wipe the blood and dirt from Yu Qingyao’s face. “With Senior Sister here, no one can touch you.”
At that moment, Yu Qingyao felt her heart stirred for a split second.
The scenes began to flow like a revolving lantern.
Wu Yan (Inner) silently placing precious healing pills by her bedside; Wu Yan (Inner) rushing forward without hesitation under the giant mouth of the twin-headed python to pull her back from the brink of death; the moment Wu Yan (Inner) handed the Jade Box containing the Soul Shaping Grass into her hands.
Yu Qingyao stood in place, her heart feeling as if it were soaked in warm water, aching and swollen.
That feeling of being protected and cherished was the dream she desired most, yet dared not touch.
“Perhaps this life really is… different?”
A voice whispered quietly in the depths of her heart.
“She isn’t that Female Devil. Her eyes are so clear and gentle now. She is just my Eldest Senior Sister; she is truly good to me.”
“Do I still need revenge? Do I still need to get the Soul Governance Art? If I get it, can I really bring myself to use it?”
Yu Qingyao’s fingers trembled slightly, and her originally steady pace came to a halt. She looked at the “Wu Yan (Inner)” ahead who was smiling at her and holding out a hand, and she subconsciously wanted to reach out.
“As long as she doesn’t become the Demon Venerable, as long as we are okay. Hatred and everything else, perhaps—”
Just as her fingertips were about to touch that warm palm, just as she was about to indulge in this false tenderness—
“Hehehe~ Fool.”
A light laugh filled with mockery, malice, and disdain instantly shattered this tender scene. Like a mirror being smashed, the fragments cut into her heart.
The originally sunny sky suddenly turned blood-red, and the expression on the face of that tenderly smiling Eldest Senior Sister distorted instantly.
Her pupils turned an enchanting blood-red, and the white clothes on her body transformed into fire-like red gauze.
A world-toppling Demonic Chi erupted from her body, instantly dyeing the surrounding yellow sand black.
“My dear Junior Sister, you really never learn.”
Wu Yan (Inner) looked down at her, her gaze like she was looking at a lowly ant.
Beneath her feet was no longer yellow sand, but the corpses of the Piaomiao Sect Master and fellow disciples. Her face wore a cruel and playful smile:
“A few pills and blocking a couple of blades moved you this much? A pathetic waste like you who is so starved for love deserves to be a stepping stone for the completion of my Demonic Arts.”
“Look around you. This is the consequence of your soft-heartedness. This is the price of believing in me.”
Yu Qingyao whipped her head around.
She saw the Piaomiao Sect in a sea of fire; she saw Master Xia Lingshuang pierced by ten thousand swords; she saw countless fellow disciples wailing in pools of blood.
And that Red-Robed Deviless was standing atop the mountain of corpses and sea of blood, laughing wildly until she shook.
“No… NO!!”
Yu Qingyao violently retracted her hand, the confusion and tenderness in her eyes shattered in an instant.
In its place was bone-deep hatred and fear.
It was the shame and annoyance of being deceived, the rage of being toyed with.
It’s fake! All that tenderness was fake!
She is a demon! She is that demon who kills without blinking!
As long as she is alive, all of this will happen sooner or later! A leopard cannot change its spots; a demon is a demon!
“I cannot be soft-hearted! Absolutely not!!”
Yu Qingyao gritted her teeth, her nails digging deep into her flesh. The dripping blood caused the pain that instantly cleared her mind.
She looked up, her originally moist eyes now becoming as cold as blades, staring fixedly at the illusion before her.
“Even if you haven’t turned bad in this life, even if you really are a good Senior Sister right now, I must obtain the Soul Governance Art.”
“This is my trump card, the only chip I have to fight against you.”
“To prevent that future from happening… Senior Sister, I’m sorry.”
Boom!
A powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from around Yu Qingyao.
“BREAK—!!!”
With a piercing, angry roar, the longsword in her hand swung out. Fire snakes erupted from the blade, instantly slashing the red-robed demonic shadow and the sea of blood and corpses to pieces.
Crack—
The Illusionary Realm collapsed.
Yu Qingyao panted heavily, her entire body drenched in cold sweat. She found herself standing in a deep corridor.
At the end of the corridor, upon an ancient altar, a jade slip emitting a gray light and exuding endless soul-crushing pressure floated quietly.
The Soul Governance Art.
Without the slightest hesitation, she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth. Her gaze was terrifyingly determined as she walked step by step toward that jade slip.
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