A Max-Level Demon Lord Starts An Alt Account [Rebirth] - Chapter 2

Xu Liang walked out of the courtyard and went to the pond behind it to check on the Southern Region’s Tianshan lotuses. Many Tianshan lotuses had been planted here, but only one had bloomed.

There were also big white geese in the pond. They looked perfectly ordinary, yet these big white geese possessed the strength of the Golden Core stage. When they were not provoked, their temperaments were extremely gentle, and every day they simply swam and played in the water.

Xu Shang squatted beside the pond, looking at the Tianshan lotus that had vanished without wings. Her face looked as though she were about to cry. “Sister, you have to testify for me. I really didn’t do this! I only discovered the Tianshan lotus was gone after I came back.”

Xu Liang went over to inspect it. “There are no spiritual power fluctuations. The break is uneven, and there are no traces left on the surface of the water. It seems it really wasn’t you.”

“Exactly!” Xu Shang nodded repeatedly. “But how could the Tianshan lotus disappear? It was clearly blooming so well. I was still waiting to eat the lotus seeds.”

Xu Liang thought for a moment. “An outsider couldn’t possibly enter this place. The person most likely to pluck the Tianshan lotus was only you. Since you weren’t the one who broke it off, then… perhaps something went wrong with the Tianshan lotus itself.”

Xu Shang blinked, then abruptly stood up. “So after considering the whole sect from top to bottom, I’m the only suspect, right?”

“…Mm.” Xu Liang nodded lightly. “Shang’er, after all, you do have a record.”

There had originally been seven Flying Cloud Geese in this pond. When Master had first brought the Flying Cloud Geese back, they were only at the Foundation Establishment stage. At the time, Xu Shang was also at the Foundation Establishment stage. She had gotten greedy in the middle of the night, climbed out of bed to steal the big geese, and had actually succeeded.

In one night, she had eaten two Flying Cloud Geese—one stewed and one roasted.

Before this, what had been planted in the pond had not been Southern Region Tianshan lotuses either, but fire-sand caltrops introduced from Guangyang Kingdom. The moment they finished growing, Xu Shang had eaten them. Because they were so delicious, she ate every last one of them, directly driving the fire-sand caltrops in the pond into extinction.

“That was all from when I was little. I’m already a Golden Core cultivator over a hundred years old now. How could I possibly be that childish? This Tianshan lotus really wasn’t my doing! Sister, you have to believe me.”

“Mm. Give me your hand.” The more Xu Liang thought about it, the more suspicious Xu Shang seemed, so she asked her to hold out her hand.

Xu Shang held out her hand. Xu Liang took her pulse and found that her pulse was steady. It did not seem like the pulse of someone who had eaten a great tonic like the Tianshan lotus.

“All right. It wasn’t you. When Master and Eldest Sister return, I’ll testify for you.” Xu Liang patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. Even if you had eaten it, it wouldn’t be a big deal. Master has never punished you, has she?”

Seeing that she was still pondering this matter, Xu Liang asked her, “How did your discussion with Sister Zhao go?”

“We finished discussing it. Sister Zhao said we can recruit disciples. But the state of our sect right now isn’t very suitable. From top to bottom, inside and out, there’s only this one courtyard that we live in ourselves. It really doesn’t look like a great sect at all.”

Xu Shang took a scroll out of her storage ring. After she spread it open, a completed construction blueprint of the sect was drawn on it.

“Sister, look. This is something I designed a long time ago. What do you think about using this design to build the sect?”

Xu Liang examined it carefully. The construction blueprint was drawn in great detail and with great clarity. It was obvious that Xu Shang had put a tremendous amount of effort into it.

The main hall was extremely grand and magnificent. The training ground was also extremely spacious. All kinds of facilities had been drawn out. Once it was built, Cangyun Gate would indeed look, at least from the outside, as imposing as the number one sect under heaven.

“How is it?” Xu Shang rubbed her hands together eagerly. “Doesn’t it make your blood surge? Don’t you especially want to roll up your sleeves and do something big?”

Xu Liang finished looking over the entire construction blueprint and discovered that there was even a separate Lingyun Peak where Xu Shang had designed medicinal fields and a medical workshop for her.

“Where does Eldest Sister live?” Xu Liang looked around the entire diagram but did not find Eldest Sister’s residence. “Did you forget to prepare a place for Eldest Sister?”

Everyone else had a main peak. Even Little Sister, who was missing part of her soul, had a place of her own. Only Eldest Sister’s residence could not be found.

Xu Shang was somewhat guilty. “She spends all day traveling outside and doesn’t come home often anyway. Isn’t it enough to arrange a place for her to stay? It’s here.”

Xu Shang pointed with her hand.

On the enormous diagram, Xu Liang saw a circle the size of a grain of millet at the foot of Spiritual Beast Peak.

“Heh.” Xu Liang rolled up the construction blueprint and slapped it into her arms. “I advise you not to cause trouble. When Eldest Sister teaches you a lesson, I won’t be able to stop her. Master dotes on you, but she also dotes on Eldest Sister. She won’t help you block Eldest Sister.”

Xu Shang put away the scroll unhappily. “Fine. I’ll open up another mountain peak later. The four of us martial sisters can live in a row. It’ll look very impressive.”

Xu Shang’s mouth could not stay idle. As she walked, she said, “Did you go see Little Sister? How is she today? Master said that during this period, her soul might return and become whole. When that happens, her spiritual awareness will clear up. I wonder when exactly she’ll get better.”

“I went to see her. Little Sister is still the same as before.” When Xu Liang said this, she suddenly paused. A few thoughts flashed through her mind. She was their senior sister and took care of both her junior sisters equally, but because Little Sister had been missing one soul since childhood, she was especially partial to her.

It would not even be wrong to say that Little Sister had been raised by her own hands.

Today, she had faintly felt that Little Sister was somewhat different. But as for what exactly was different, she could not say.

“Let’s take good care of Little Sister and wait for Master to come back before saying anything else.” Xu Liang counted the days. “I’m going to the medicinal fields to take a look and refine Soul-Calming Pills for Little Sister. It will probably take around ten days before I can come out. While I’m gone, you must take good care of Little Sister, listen to Sister Zhao, and quickly settle Eldest Sister’s residence. Don’t make trouble at home.”

Xu Shang nodded obediently. “I know.”

Xu Liang went to refine medicine, while Xu Shang cheerfully ran off to Little Sister’s room.

“Little Ming’er! Third Sister is back! Did you miss me?” The moment Xu Shang entered the room, she started making a fuss, startling the little girl who was looking at the flowers.

The little girl furrowed her brows in displeasure, but very quickly returned to a blank and confused expression, turning her head to look at the young girl who had pushed open the door and entered.

Cultivators lost track of time. Once one reached Foundation Establishment, one could practice fasting and preserve one’s appearance. Xu Shang’s talent was quite good. Before she was ten, she had already reached the peak of Qi Refining. In order to avoid remaining in the appearance of a child forever, she stubbornly dragged it out until she was seventeen or eighteen before finally establishing her foundation.

At present, her appearance was also fixed at that time.

“Sister…” Ye Ming spoke. She had the original owner’s memories, but the original owner had been missing one soul before and was truly a foolish child. The things a foolish child remembered were disordered, and she easily confused reality with fantasy.

Through the original owner’s memories, she roughly knew that this sect was called Cangyun Gate. It had one sword cultivator Master and several personal disciples.

Eldest Sister Xu Yi, peak Golden Core.

Second Sister Xu Liang, late Foundation Establishment.

Third Sister Xu Shang, early Golden Core.

Little Sister Ye Ming, which was her current self, seventh level of Qi Refining.

Among them, the eldest and third were both sword cultivators, while the second was a medical cultivator. As for her, because she had previously been a foolish child, she had never cultivated properly.

It was only because her constitution was too poor and she had been fed medicine since childhood that those spiritual medicines had forcefully fed her all the way up to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

There was also a Sister Zhao in the sect who was not a member of their sect. She was rather mysterious and kept mostly to herself. Only when the little fool’s condition became severe and Master was not in the sect would she come out to treat the little fool.

At all other times, she stayed on her own small mountain peak in seclusion, cultivating.

Ming Ye’s thoughts turned over and over. She only felt that this sect was very strange. The three disciples the Master had accepted were all quite talented, so why had she accepted a little fool as well?

It was clearly a sect, yet it remained hidden from the world. There were only a few scattered disciples in the gate, yet every blade of grass and every tree here was a precious treasure. Even the floor tiles laid in the courtyard were a spirit-nurturing array connected to a spiritual vein.

The peony in front of her looked very ordinary, but the soil in the pot had been scorched by Heaven-Fallen Fire, and the water used to irrigate the peony was condensed dew from a spiritual spring.

This room was filled with abundant spiritual energy. Even if she did not circulate any spells, spiritual power automatically burrowed into her body, assisting it in being nourished.

What exactly was that Master plotting?

Many thoughts shifted through Ming Ye’s mind, but none of them showed on her face. She maintained the expression of a foolish child as she looked at Xu Shang, who had barged in.

Xu Shang sat down beside her. “Little Sister, isn’t it boring staying in your room all day? How about I take you to the back mountain to play? I’ll perform swordsmanship for you.”

Ming Ye also wanted to go outside and have a look, or at the very least understand the specific situation of the place she was currently in.

But she was afraid that leaving rashly would arouse suspicion from others.

Since Third Sister wanted to take her away, then she would not stand on ceremony.

“Play, play… want to play.”

Xu Shang’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go! Sister will take you to play. What’s so interesting about looking at flowers in your room all day? The back mountain is full of pretty flowers.”

Xu Shang held her hand and led her out of the courtyard.

When they passed by the lotus pond behind the courtyard, Xu Shang muttered, “I wonder who picked the Tianshan lotus. Could it be that I sleepwalked and picked it? But didn’t I only come back today? And I didn’t even doze off during the day.”

Ming Ye’s fingertips curled slightly, and an unnatural look flashed across her expression.

Because the Tianshan lotus had the effect of calming the soul, and she had only just seized this body, she was afraid something might go wrong. Seeing that the Tianshan lotus was unguarded and that the entire pond of lotuses was growing luxuriantly, she had taken one flower and consumed it.

She had originally thought no one would know, only to unexpectedly discover that this simpleton Xu Shang had actually been counting the lotuses one by one.

Xu Shang understood everyone in this sect far too well. She could not think of anyone besides herself who might make a move on the Tianshan lotus.

Ming Ye looked at the lotus pond. Xu Shang stopped walking. Seeing her gazing at it in a daze, she smiled and said, “Little Sister, do you want to eat stewed big goose? The big geese in this pond are really delicious!”

“…” Ming Ye looked at those Flying Cloud Geese. Their entire bodies were treasures. Flying Cloud Geese were extremely fast and excelled at diving and swimming through water. To cultivators who were disadvantaged in water battles, they were priceless treasures. The down feathers shed by Flying Cloud Geese could be refined into magical robes. When spiritual power was poured into them, they could resist external attacks and also add speed to cultivators while they moved.

The goose eggs of Flying Cloud Geese were also extremely nutritious, containing extremely rich spiritual power, and could help ordinary cultivators draw qi into their bodies.

Perhaps many small sects would raise Flying Cloud Geese as the sect’s spiritual beasts.

After comparing things from every angle, although the value of goose meat was high, no one would do something as foolish as killing the chicken to get the eggs. Directly eating Flying Cloud Geese was not worth it.

“I’m telling you, the meat of fat swans is really delicious.” Xu Shang wiped the corner of her lips. “And these are Golden Core-stage Flying Cloud Geese too. Every single one of them is so plump and tasty. Little Sister, if you eat one, maybe you’ll become smarter.”

Ming Ye sneered inwardly without end. Who would grow greedy and eat such precious treasures?

She had originally thought Xu Shang was a decent one. She had not expected her to be full of bad intentions, coaxing her into eating the Flying Cloud Geese so that after the incident was exposed, she could push all the blame onto a fool and escape unscathed herself.

Ming Ye did not understand this sect, nor did she understand that mysterious Master, so naturally, she did not dare act rashly.

“Little Sister, Little Sister? Do you want to eat it?” Xu Shang tempted her. “A big, plump swan. When you bite down, the aroma bursts out, and oil sizzles everywhere. Roasted until the heat is just right, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with fragrant skin and delicious meat. It’s unbelievably tasty.”

Ming Ye did not want to eat it, but after hearing Xu Shang say so much, she did want to see whether it was as delicious as she claimed.

Besides, as long as she maneuvered things a little when the time came, even if they were discovered, she would not let Xu Shang pin the crime of secretly eating the Flying Cloud Geese on her. At worst, the two of them would be punished together.

“All right. Want to eat.”

When Xu Shang heard Little Sister say she wanted to eat it, she immediately became happy.

Although these big fat geese were being raised here for them to eat, she was the only greedy one in the entire sect. When she was little, she had not cared, but now that she was over a hundred years old, she was embarrassed to come eat them.

Now, things were different. It was Little Sister who wanted to eat them!

“Wait here! Sister will go catch one for you!”

Xu Shang took out a long sword. It was not her bonded sword, Liuguang, but an ordinary spiritual sword. After all, if she used her bonded sword to slaughter a big goose, Liuguang would definitely have an opinion.

Ming Ye was also very curious to know whether Xu Shang, who had only formed her core not long ago, could deal with a pond full of Golden Core-stage Flying Cloud Geese.