“You don’t know either? This is going to be difficult. If you refuse to speak, Senior… maybe we should tell the Academy. Losing your cultivation is no small matter!”
Yun Fei’s brow furrowed.
She was about to take out a Spirit Talisman to contact her Master when she heard Jiang Qing call her name.
“Yun Fei… can you come here for a moment? I… I have something to ask you.”
Her voice remained weak.
Not daring to delay, Yun Fei hurried over and supported the staggering Jiang Qing, helping her sit on a stone bench.
Out of concern, Mu Lingxi followed them, standing quietly behind them without saying a word.
“What do you want to ask me, Senior?”
“Yun Fei… you… you are that Little Young Lord from the Demon Realm, right?”
“What? Senior, you…”
Yun Fei froze, looking at Jiang Qing in shock.
Logically, her identity should only be known to the Academy’s upper management.
Hadn’t Jiang Qing been in seclusion? How did she know?
“Ah… don’t be nervous. I was being abrupt. The Academy didn’t tell me. My aunt told me. She is the Sect Master of the Evergreen Sect. As you know, she is also Lingxi’s Master.”
Hearing that she was the niece of that Sect Master, Yun Fei’s tense nerves relaxed slightly.
“Why do you bring this up, Senior?”
“The Demon Realm is the primary battlefield against the Void. Regarding Void Erosion, I think you probably know more than Lingxi. I want to ask if you know of any effective way to resolve the erosion?”
“Void Erosion? Don’t tell me you’ve been eroded, Senior!”
“No! It is not me… it is Liang Yin, your Senior from Room 4. She was injured in a Secret Realm six months ago. For some reason, a Void crisis suddenly erupted in that Secret Realm. Of the four people in our district, two died and one was injured. I managed to escape with Liang Yin, but she was eroded. Her cultivation is dissipating over time. I have been trying to find a way to save her. The Academy says she is beyond help, but I do not believe them… during this seclusion, I used a special method to transfer part of my own cultivation into her body to temporarily stabilize her condition.”
“I know this is not a long-term solution, so I thought I would ask you, though I did not hold much hope…”
Yun Fei fell silent.
She hadn’t expected the reason for the Senior’s exhaustion to be this.
However, as far as she knew, there was no way to resolve the erosion.
The Demon Realm had mastered many methods of protection — currently, every soldier in the Demon Realm army was equipped with special armor capable of isolating Void energy.
But the special material used for isolation lacked sufficient hardness.
If a Void creature broke through the defense and left a wound on a person, the Void energy would rapidly invade the body.
Yun Fei wanted to tell the truth, but when she looked up and saw the expectant look in Jiang Qing’s eyes, she swallowed hard.
“Although the Demon Realm is the main battlefield, I have no experience on the front lines. I do not know how to fix this, but I can contact my family. Do not worry, Senior. Since the Void exists, there must be a way to restrain it. Isn’t that how this world works?”
“Thank you… I appreciate the trouble.”
Jiang Qing let out a sigh of relief, as if a great weight had been lifted.
At this moment, Mu Lingxi, who had remained silent, finally spoke.
The corners of her eyes were slightly red.
“Sister… before you did this, did you speak with Master?”
“I… my aunt… she did not agree with me doing this. But I had no other choice! If the Spiritual Power in her body is completely eroded, she will die! Two have already died; I cannot let her die in vain as well! Lingxi, you have not experienced that kind of pain, so you will not understand… Ha, even if you tell my aunt, it will be to no avail. The Spirit Transferring Array has already connected me to her. It will continue to transfer Spiritual Power to her. It wouldn’t matter even if my aunt locked me in solitary confinement!”
A miserable smile appeared on Jiang Qing’s face.
Because of her slight agitation, her complexion grew even paler.
“Sister! You have been suffering from a recurring illness since that incident. If you continue like this, your body will collapse!”
“Ha… collapse? I do not care. I was someone who should have died anyway. If Liang Yin hadn’t blocked that attack for me, the one dead now would be me. I owe her this life.”
Seemingly haunted by a painful memory, Jiang Qing closed her eyes.
Her pale fingertips trembled uncontrollably.
Watching the confrontation between Jiang Qing and Mu Lingxi, Yun Fei clenched her hands inside her sleeves and then slowly relaxed them.
“Enough, Mu Lingxi. Stop talking and let Senior rest. Senior, these are Fourth-Grade Spirit Recovery Pills. Since the array is already formed, do not worry about Senior Liang for now. Protect your own body. I will go find a solution.”
Yun Fei forced several bottles of pills into Jiang Qing’s hands, then turned and walked into her own room without looking back, closing the door behind her.
Jiang Qing stared blankly at the pills in her hand and the departing Yun Fei.
A strange feeling rose in her heart.
‘I didn’t expect the Little Young Lord of the Demon Realm to be less cold-blooded than the rumors suggested… Ah, Lingxi, sorry. I made you worry.’
Mu Lingxi’s eyes had turned bright red, looking as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment.
“I am going to find Master. I have always thought of you as family, so nothing can happen to you!”
With that, Mu Lingxi also ran into her room.
Hearing the words Mu Lingxi had practically shouted, Jiang Qing couldn’t help but feel a surge of guilt in her heart.
“Oh my, oh my~ Such a touching sisterly bond~ Having two junior sisters who care about you so much is truly enviable~”
It was a chillingly cold voice.
Hearing it was enough to make one’s skin crawl.
A plume of white mist drifted out from the ring on Jiang Qing’s finger.
Within the mist, a shadow materialized, its face indistinguishable and its gender difficult to discern.
“Why have you come out? Go back quickly, before they see you.”
“Why so nervous? Their attention isn’t on this courtyard. I have only appeared for a little research. Well? How is the effect of the array? Hearing your dear friend’s voice after so long, did you cry tears of joy?”
“…But at this rate, even with the Spirit Recovery Pills Yun Fei gave me, I won’t be able to hold on for long…”
“Of course. This is the necessary price. Just like everything else, since it exists, there must be a price. You want your companion to live, and the price is your Spiritual Power. It is quite reasonable and fair, is it not? However, for such a reasonable deal, you don’t seem to trust me? You even went to ask that girl if there were other ways?”
“…The power you used to set up the array is neither Spiritual Power nor Demonic Power. It makes it hard for me to simply trust you.”
“But you still did not stop me from laying down that array. At the time, as long as you said ‘no,’ I would have stopped immediately. But you didn’t.”
“I was at my wit’s end…”
“Exactly… you were at your wit’s end… so you can only trust me, can’t you? Hehehe…”
After a burst of sinister, cold laughter, the white mist ducked back into her ring, leaving no trace.
Jiang Qing gripped the ring tightly and looked up at the birds soaring in the sky.
Finally, she let out a powerless sigh.
‘Aunt, if you were faced with such a choice… how would you choose? Ha, I must be crazy. You would surely kill her without hesitation, right? Just like you killed my parents without hesitation all those years ago…’
Jiang Qing stood up from the stone bench and walked shakily back to her room, swallowing a Spirit Recovery Pill on the way.
Meanwhile, Mu Lingxi was not in her room.
At some point, she had unexpectedly returned to the secret grounds of the Evergreen Sect.
The disciple guarding the secret grounds saw Mu Lingxi emerge from a small spatial rift and hurried forward to support her.
“My Lady Saintess, what matter is so urgent that you did not hesitate to use the Sect Master’s Space Secret Treasure?”
“Where is Master? Is she still in seclusion? I have urgent business with her!”
“Reporting to the Saintess, the Sect Master is indeed in seclusion. However, she left behind a communication Phantom this time. I will take you to see it.”
“Good. Lead the way. Thank you for your hard work.”
“It is no trouble. Serving the Saintess is my honor.”
Soon, guided by the disciple, Mu Lingxi arrived at a lakeside.
Jiang Jiang’s Phantom was standing by the water, eyes closed as she rested her spirit.
Hearing the hurried footsteps behind her, Jiang Jiang slowly turned her head.
“Oh? Lingxi has come? Has something happened? Such a panicked appearance is unlike your usual self.”
“Master!”
Mu Lingxi gasped for air and reported Jiang Qing’s situation.
Jiang Jiang merely frowned and spoke unhurriedly.
“That girl Qing’er really is a handful. It seems what was meant to come will arrive sooner or later… I will not help her with this matter.”
‘It’s that she won’t help, not that she can’t?’
“But… Master! Why? You can help, can’t you? Senior Sister is your niece…”
“Enough, Lingxi. I know what you want to say. But if I am not mistaken, this calamity is her Life Tribulation. I have already reached the Taichu realm. If I use my power to help her through this time, there will still be a next time. Only by overcoming it herself can the Life Tribulation truly be considered passed.”
“Life… Life Tribulation? What is that? Master, why have you never told me about this…”
“It is a term you will encounter in the future. Everyone has a Tribulation, some more than others. They are categorized by the price of failure. Common ones include the Life Tribulation, the Love Tribulation, the Memory Tribulation, and so on.”
“So… for a Life Tribulation, the price of failure is losing one’s life?”
“Alas — unfortunately, yes. Although I very much want to help her because of what happened to her parents, a Life Tribulation is no joke… I hope those in the underworld can understand me…”
“However, Lingxi, although I cannot interfere, aren’t you together with that girl from the Demon Realm? You two are the most outstanding prodigies of your respective realms; you will surely think of a solution. Now, go back.”
Jiang Jiang’s Phantom sighed and slowly walked toward the center of the lake, gradually vanishing.
‘Lingxi… your Tribulation… is also fast approaching. But… why? Why can’t I see it clearly? What kind of Tribulation is it? A Life Tribulation or a Love Tribulation? Why is it that even when I activate the Heavenly Secrets Revelation Array, all I see is a mass of fog? Why can I only faintly hear your heart-wrenching cries?’