Lin Xinyi walked to the edge of the table and placed the stack of cultivation manuals flat upon it.
Even that small amount of weight caused the table, which was cobbled together from wooden planks, to groan in a most unimpressive manner.
“Why are you bringing out those meager manuals? Is it to show off to me…?”
Although Luo Qingyao could not touch objects, her soul form was not otherwise restricted.
She wanted to see exactly what Lin Xinyi was plotting, but when she realized the girl was taking out cultivation manuals, she paused.
“An Immortal Venerable like you could pull out any random manual, and there probably wouldn’t be a single technique in the world that could compare. How could I dare show off in front of you?”
“Then why are you taking out so many manuals…?”
“Naturally, it is to… destroy someone.”
“Who do you want to destroy…?”
Luo Qingyao was confused, but the moment she asked the question, she saw Lin Xinyi’s eyes drift toward the bed.
Alarm bells immediately rang in Luo Qingyao’s heart.
“What do you plan to do to her!”
“Nothing much.”
Lin Xinyi’s answer was nonchalant, but it made Luo Qingyao’s fingertips tremble.
After all, if the other girl truly wanted to do something, it was a mere pipe dream for Luo Qingyao to stop her in her current state.
“You! You had better not lay a hand on her!”
Luo Qingyao clenched her fists, her words dripping with threats.
In a sudden burst of agitation, she lunged forward and grabbed Lin Xinyi’s collar.
“If you dare touch her, I will make your life a living hell, even if it means my soul is scattered to the winds!”
Luo Qingyao’s words were threatening, but they carried no actual weight.
Lin Xinyi remained utterly indifferent.
After all, how much trouble could a remnant soul cause when she couldn’t even resist a seal?
It seemed she had overestimated her opponent; ten years of accumulation could not make up for the exhaustion she had suffered before then.
“Immortal Venerable, please don’t be like that. You’re wrinkling my clothes.”
“You! No, wait… I can touch things?”
Luo Qingyao let go in surprise.
She reached out in delight to touch Bai Qianqian, but her hand passed right through the girl.
Luo Qingyao immediately understood; it wasn’t that she had regained the ability to touch things, but rather that Lin Xinyi was allowing her to touch her.
“How long do you intend to humiliate me…?”
“Didn’t the Immortal Venerable agree to a deal? You are to teach me for one year. Isn’t it a bit too early to go back on your word?”
“That is no reason for you to imprison me here! Undo the formation quickly, or I’ll self-destruct!”
As Luo Qingyao spoke, she began to gather the remnant spiritual energy within her body.
Although she was only a wisp of a soul, she was still the soul of an Immortal Venerable.
That tiny amount of spiritual energy was like a fuse on a bomb; it could easily ignite the whole thing.
Even if Lin Xinyi was a Nascent Soul cultivator, she certainly wouldn’t dare to underestimate such an explosion.
Hearing Luo Qingyao’s threat, Lin Xinyi hesitated for a moment but did not panic.
Instead, she unhurriedly funneled spiritual energy into the ring in her hand.
Luo Qingyao’s ethereal form suddenly became remarkably vivid.
“Wait… wait, what did you do?!”
Luo Qingyao watched in shock as her body gradually filled out.
Her soul, which had felt like it might dissipate at any moment, began to solidify.
It was clear that Lin Xinyi had helped her stabilize her spirit form.
Despite this, Luo Qingyao did not lower her guard.
“With this bit of spiritual energy, the Immortal Venerable needn’t worry about her form fading away.”
“A slap followed by a sweet treat… your behavior is a bit too cliché.”
Luo Qingyao felt the steady stream of spiritual energy flowing into her body.
In just this short amount of time, it had already exceeded the amount she had absorbed during her ten years with Bai Qianqian.
Though the quality was slightly lower, the quantity was overwhelming.
“I am providing the Immortal Venerable with spiritual energy to stabilize her form. Does that not prove my sincerity?”
“But you want to move against Bai Qianqian…”
“Alas, with the Immortal Venerable showing such hostility toward me, I am truly heartbroken.”
“Hmph, don’t play the victim. Even if you have that treasure that alters your appearance, do you really think everyone is blind…?”
Lin Xinyi had intended to put on a sorrowful act, but her gaze turned cold the moment she heard those words.
It was obvious that this Luo Qingyao was more troublesome than she had imagined.
Not only had her hidden cultivation level been seen through at a glance, but even the spell masking her appearance had been exposed.
Luo Qingyao’s presence here was a complete wildcard.
Fortunately, she had been kept close.
If she had remained with Bai Qianqian, Lin Xinyi’s plan to approach them disguised as an injured maiden would have been seen through before she could even get near.
“Sigh… since you’ve seen through that as well, there’s no point in continuing the facade.”
Lin Xinyi tapped the table lightly.
The spell altering her appearance instantly dissolved, revealing an exquisite face to Luo Qingyao.
Luo Qingyao had already been guarded, but seeing that face made her even more suspicious.
After all, the “good sister” who had stabbed her in the back had looked quite similar.
“You look like a woman with the heart of a snake or scorpion. No wonder you hid your appearance!”
“Hey, even someone as good-tempered as me will get angry if the Immortal Venerable keeps talking like that.”
Luo Qingyao didn’t actually have a prejudice against Lin Xinyi’s looks.
The issue was that the girl was simply too beautiful.
With her phoenix eyes and the beauty mark beneath one eye, she looked every bit the part of a fox-spirit who could bring down an empire.
“Forget it. Regardless, you’re about to watch with your own eyes as I destroy that precious treasure you’re so proud of.”
“Treasure? What treasure could I possibly have?”
Lin Xinyi wore a sinister smile.
Luo Qingyao realized what she meant a moment later.
Lin Xinyi spread the cultivation manuals across the table and gave the panicked Luo Qingyao a provocative look.
“In the coming days, I am going to teach these manuals to Bai Qianqian one by one right in front of your face. I want you to watch closely as the disciple you wanted to nurture so badly turns into a useless person.”
Luo Qingyao’s eye twitched.
She wondered if this was some kind of absurd revenge, but when she turned her gaze toward the manuals on the table, she lost her composure.
“You! You actually!”
Luo Qingyao floated to the table.
As an Immortal Venerable, her experience in the mortal realm was limited, but when it came to cultivation manuals, she could discern the quality and progression of a technique with just a glance at its general contents.
“These are all trash manuals! Are you trying to ruin her!”
[Jade Girl Dual Cultivation Method] (Fragment)
[Effect: Cultivators of this technique can rapidly increase their cultivation level. Spirit qi within the body will double. The more intimate encounters one has, the higher the cultivation. However, the body will develop a constitution that cannot survive without women.]
[Side Effect: One cannot live without Dual Cultivation. Only interested in the same sex. Male cultivators should use with caution, otherwise…]
[Heartless Sword Intent Dao] (Fragment)
[Effect: The more indifferent the cultivator’s emotions, the faster the progress. Any emotional fluctuation will cause cultivation to regress at best, or result in qi deviation at worst.]
[Side Effect: Emotional fluctuations are forbidden. Intimacy is forbidden.]
[Heaven Devouring Technique] (Fragment)
[Effect: Cultivators can increase their power by devouring heavenly materials and earthly treasures. Those who reach Great Mastery can even swallow stars and moons.]
[Side Effect: Weight gain. Those with weak wills may suffer from self-cannibalism.]
Luo Qingyao only needed a cursory glance to see the effects and side effects of these manuals.
One could even argue that these techniques weren’t inherently terrible, but the side effects alone were enough to make anyone stay far away.
To make matters worse, they were all fragments.
“You! You don’t actually plan to teach her these, do you?!”
Luo Qingyao hadn’t expected Lin Xinyi to be even more evil than she had imagined.
If she were simply seeking to take a life, Luo Qingyao might have been powerless to help, but this kind of torment—this fate worse than death—was no different from the methods of a demonic cultivator.
“Not only am I going to give these to her, but I’m going to make her take me as her Master.”
Lin Xinyi slowly placed the manuals back on the table, pulled over a nearby chair, and sat down unhurriedly.
Luo Qingyao clenched her fists in desperation, but she was helpless.
While she could escape control by self-destructing her soul, that was no different from suicide.
“Despicable…”
“Ah, that’s the expression. That look of being unable to stand me yet being unable to hurt me.”
Lin Xinyi leaned toward her and gently lifted the other’s chin, admiring the helpless, resentful expression on the face of the Immortal Venerable.
Luo Qingyao was furious, but her mind was already racing for a way to escape.
If Bai Qianqian truly learned these techniques, her path of cultivation would be completely ruined.
‘I can’t wait! To see a world-renowned genius fall from grace…’
Lin Xinyi’s plan was simple, but it was incredibly sinister.
The foundation laid by one’s initial cultivation manuals decided their future ceiling.
Lin Xinyi was already beginning to fantasize about the wonderful life she would lead once her perfect plan succeeded and she was free of her burden.
No matter how monstrously talented Bai Qianqian was, she couldn’t possibly comprehend her own path of cultivation from a pile of fragments.
When the time came, she would struggle to even break through her cultivation levels.
How could she possibly compete then?
“And with that… checkmate.”