After I Failed to Reform the Female Lead of a Tragic Novel - Chapter 25

The illusion realm shrouded in night had already begun to glow with faint, scattered points of light. The yin hour was about to end.

It was also at this moment that several people appeared out of thin air above the illusion realm.

The person at the front had ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall. His white robes, trimmed with gold, set off his hair beautifully. His wide, flowing sleeves billowed in the wind, free and unrestrained. His face was as warm and refined as polished jade, like an immortal banished to the mortal world, but his expression did not look good.

“Zhenren, why is demonic energy surging into the sky within this illusion realm?” A middle-aged man accompanying him sensed something was wrong and respectfully asked Xu Ruozhen.

That was right. The newcomer was none other than Gong Dongling and Xie Yu’s master, Daofa Zhenren Xu Ruozhen. After receiving the news from Qiu Yan that the Xuanji Grass plan had failed, he could no longer sit still and brought several of his retainers to the illusion realm.

But the moment he entered the illusion realm, he sensed an unusual aura. Demonic energy was practically surging into the heavens. The key was that they had happened to encounter the yin hour, which gave the Demon Clan even more opportunity to hide.

“Perhaps some demon slipped into this illusion realm under cover of night. As for the target, whether it is the Xuanji Grass or some other person, that remains unknown.” Xu Ruozhen pondered for a moment, then said, “The yin hour is about to end. Once it does, we can follow this wanton demonic energy and search.”

Xu Ruozhen narrowed his eyes. This demonic energy had come at just the right time. It could even conceal his true reason for coming to this illusion realm.

Meanwhile, at the source of the demonic energy, Qiu Yan was kneeling on the ground. In the flickering light, the obsessive, fanatical emotion in his eyes appeared and disappeared.

Xie Yu had just given the order to kill.

“Kill… kill them?” Qiu Yan widened his eyes, a trace of hesitation showing in them. Clearly, he had not expected Xie Yu to make such a demand.

“What is it? You don’t dare, or you don’t have the ability? If so, what right do you have to ask me for a gift?” Xie Yu merely glanced at Qiu Yan with contempt, as if she had expected this result long ago, as if she had never acknowledged him at all.

Seemingly provoked by her cold attitude, Qiu Yan clenched his fists. His nails dug several red marks into his palms, and he gritted his teeth. “I can! I have the ability to kill them!”

After saying that, he ignored the flesh and bone that had been carved away from his knee. He stabbed the tip of his sword into the ground and used it to shakily support himself upright. A trace of viciousness flashed through his eyes as he looked toward the “prey” trying to flee.

Xie Yu gave a soft laugh and stood in place, watching from afar as they slaughtered one another. The temperature in her eyes had chilled deep into her bones.

Perhaps this was human nature. With only the temptation of a little benefit, an alliance could easily be dissolved, making them fight over what they desired.

This kind of sin was the soil in which the power in her body grew. She took a deep breath, as if even the air had been stained with the evil of desire.

By now, the sky of the illusion realm had brightened by more than half. In the open wilderness, no one had anywhere to flee. Qiu Yan also locked onto the two people’s position in an instant.

As a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, Qiu Yan did not take two mere Foundation Establishment disciples seriously. He sealed off the sensation in his lower leg and was no longer disturbed by that bone-piercing pain. Using only qinggong, he made a graceful flip and landed like a ghost in front of the two people fleeing for their lives.

Qiu Zijian knew he could not beat Qiu Yan. He brought Qi Tuo with him and directly showed weakness, trying to make Qiu Yan come to his senses. “Eldest Senior Brother! Wake up! Xie Yu is just taking revenge on you! If you’re so easily bewitched by her, not only will you gain nothing, you’ll lose your life in the end!”

Hearing the word “revenge,” Qiu Yan remembered something.

Back in the Demon Realm, he had originally been a hidden guard. His hands had been stained with who knew how much blood. But ever since he was chosen as an undercover agent and sent to Buzhou Mountain, under the influence of righteous spells and peaceful surroundings, he had never allowed himself to touch such “dirty matters” again.

He had once even used this matter to provoke Xie Yu. He did not know whether she was deliberately taking revenge by making such a demand.

Thinking of this, his heart suddenly sank. Only then did he cool down and sober up from his fanatical obsession. Xie Yu seemed to be filled with malice toward him, slowly returning everything she had suffered back onto him.

Qiu Yan turned his head. As if Xie Yu had expected it, she raised a brow at him in provocation.

That provocation seemed to make Qiu Yan lose even more control. His eyes went bloodshot, and his features twisted. His entire mind was filled with the command Xie Yu had given him.

So what if it was revenge?! As long as he killed Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo, the Demon God would acknowledge his power and understand all the painstaking effort he had made to awaken her!

He no longer hesitated. His grip on the sword tightened, and he poured his spiritual power into it. A cold gleam flashed along the blade. His speed was so fast that only a silver shadow could be seen cutting through the dark night, stabbing straight toward Qiu Zijian, who was still pleading bitterly and completely defenseless.

Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo had never imagined that Qiu Yan would truly be this cold-blooded. He did not even need any mental preparation to commit murder and assault; he had struck so quickly.

“You…!”

Before Qiu Zijian could say anything, Qiu Yan’s expression seemed to fall into madness. He yanked the sword out of his body, then carefully watched him fall like a rag, as if admiring a beautiful scene. Blood gushed from the wound, his mouth, and his nose.

The act of killing had undoubtedly affected his mind. The former violence and addiction to bloodlust reappeared in his body and face.

How boring…

Xie Yu coldly watched everything. She knew that all of this was merely the result of Qiu Yan’s own despicable nature. He had wanted to do these things all along.

Qi Tuo supported Qiu Zijian’s body from the side and cried out, “Qiu Yan!”

No matter how much he hated Xie Yu, he knew that the true evil ghost here to claim lives was Qiu Yan. If Qiu Yan were not naturally addicted to killing, how could he have immediately attacked Qiu Zijian just because of one sentence from Xie Yu?

The fear in Qi Tuo’s eyes was gone. After truly witnessing his companion being harmed, he instead grew desperate and frantic. “Even if I have to die here today, I’ll take you down with me!”

As he spoke, he gripped a small bottle in his palm, pushed the lid open with his hand, and blocked the mouth of the bottle with the pad of his finger.

With courage that came from who knew where, Qi Tuo rushed forward and used his momentum to tackle Qiu Yan to the ground. While Qiu Yan was still struggling and had yet to react, Qi Tuo pried open his mouth and poured the contents of the bottle inside.

A faint glimpse of an insect could be seen falling from the bottle onto Qiu Yan’s tongue.

Qi Tuo pressed down on Qiu Yan’s mouth with all his strength, refusing to let him spit the insect out. His eyes burst with the light of satisfying vengeance.

“Mmph—!” Qiu Yan could feel the insect gnawing open a wound in the roof of his mouth before burrowing inside. The instant it touched his flesh and blood, pain made his whole body convulse.

It was a gu worm! He just did not know what kind.

Qiu Yan had seen similar methods in the Demon Realm. When his demonic aura had been sealed so he could act as an undercover agent, a gu worm had been placed inside him too. It had been the same agony, as if ten thousand insects were devouring his heart.

Although his vision blurred until he could not see, he relied on instinct to stab his sword chaotically into Qi Tuo’s body. Qi Tuo had no choice but to let go and dodge, while covering the bloody cuts Qiu Yan had made.

Taking advantage of this moment of broken defense, Qiu Yan threw Qi Tuo to the ground. He lay prone and reached into his own mouth, trying to dig out the gu worm. But the insect had already followed his flesh and vanished.

The heart-devouring pain did not last long. But the sensation that followed made Qiu Yan tremble.

Because the first thing this gu worm did after entering his body was devour the gu worm that had sealed his Demon Clan bloodline.

Like all gu worms, it did not allow another gu worm to exist within the body it controlled. Wars between two worms often ended with the stronger side devouring the weaker one.

Qiu Yan could no longer think about what this gu worm would bring him. At this moment, the demonic energy sealed within his body surged out in full force and erupted completely. He lost control entirely, unconsciously releasing the demonic energy that nearly tore through his meridians.

So he really was a demon.

After Qiu Yan’s series of strange behaviors, Xie Yu had already guessed as much. Only now, seeing the black mist surrounding Qiu Yan’s entire body, did she confirm it.

By now, the yin hour was no longer there to block anything. Qi Tuo also took in this strange sight fully. He also guessed that Qiu Yan was from the Demon Clan. His legs trembled as he collapsed to the ground and kept backing away.

This movement instead drew the attention of the now violent and lawless Qiu Yan.

His speed was even faster than before. He raised his sword and stabbed down, not even looking for a fatal spot. He repeated the action of stabbing and pulling out the sword in a frenzy, nearly turning Qi Tuo into a honeycomb.

With the slaughter, the black mist on his body grew even thicker, as if it had been dyed with a layer of blood, making it especially terrifying.

She could not let this continue…

Xie Yu held Xuanling and was about to meet him head-on.

But just then, she suddenly looked toward the sky. Her senses, now many times sharper than before, told her that someone had come—and that it was an unfathomably powerful expert.

Xie Yu swiftly withdrew her demonic energy and used only her original sword cultivator methods. Compared with her strength from earlier, it was practically not worth mentioning.

Sure enough, when Qiu Yan sensed Xie Yu approaching, his demonic energy exploded outward and knocked Xie Yu back more than ten steps. With a wave of his hand, black energy turned into arrows and shot out. Xie Yu deliberately did not dodge and allowed one to nail into her left shoulder blade.

Qiu Yan was about to pursue, but a powerful pressure pinned him in place.

If he had been conscious at this moment, he would have discovered that his master, Xu Ruozhen, was standing not far away. His face was covered in dark clouds, as if he wished he could destroy this traitorous disciple on the spot.

Unfortunately, Qiu Yan’s mind was currently filled only with the desire to vent his bloodlust. He only roared, trying to resist the pressure. Naturally, the result was that he was crushed until blood flowed from all seven orifices, and he fainted on the spot.

Aside from Xu Ruozhen’s group, among the four people present, only Xie Yu remained conscious. The others had all collapsed in a vast pool of blood. It was unknown whether they were still alive.

The conscious Xie Yu was also in poor condition. Her hand could barely hold Xuanling, allowing it to fall to the ground with a clang.

Everyone’s gaze gathered on her. She looked utterly battered. In particular, there was a terrifying wound on her left shoulder. The wound, corroded by demonic energy, had turned black-purple, and even the blood flowing from it was an abnormal dark red. Clearly, she had been injured by demonic energy.

Several people lifted the unconscious Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo, who were covered in wounds, and took them for emergency treatment. As for Qiu Yan, everyone knew he was from the Demon Realm and did not dare approach for a long time.

“Xie Yu, what happened here?!” Xu Ruozhen’s voice carried authority even without anger.

Although Xie Yu currently appeared to be the victim, his instincts told him that things were not so simple. He wanted to extract information from her.

“Replying to Zhenren, during the yin hour earlier, Senior Sister and I were waiting in a cave for the darkness to pass. But who knew someone would blow knockout powder into the cave? Senior Sister fell asleep, so I came out to see what had happened. When I came out, I saw Senior Brother wrapped in black energy and harming fellow disciples. I drew my sword and rushed over, wanting to save Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo. But I did not expect to be injured by that powerful demonic energy…”

The more she spoke, the more confused she sounded. At last, she looked at Xu Ruozhen in fear and unease. “Zhenren, could Senior Brother have suffered qi deviation and fallen into demonic cultivation…”

These words were exactly what everyone was thinking. But it also did not quite make sense. After all, Qiu Yan had not broken through in this illusion realm, nor had he encountered any huge upheaval. Logically speaking, there was no reason for him to suddenly suffer qi deviation.

Aside from that, there was only one other possibility. Qiu Yan himself was a demon, someone sent to Buzhou Mountain as an undercover agent.

Thinking of this possibility, Xu Ruozhen’s expression grew even uglier.

Because the reason Qiu Yan had come to Buzhou Mountain in the first place was precisely Xu Ruozhen’s own insistence.

At the time, the war between the spirit and demon realms had just ended. The Demon Clan had suffered a crushing defeat, while Xu Ruozhen found a young man on the battlefield whose spiritual root and talent were extremely similar to his own.

But the young man’s origins were unknown. With such excellent talent, he had not a single bit of cultivation, and he had appeared in such a sensitive place at such a sensitive time. From top to bottom, Buzhou Mountain had not been very supportive of Xu Ruozhen taking Qiu Yan as his disciple.

Back then, Xu Ruozhen had declared firmly that he could guarantee Qiu Yan was not a demon. Only after layer upon layer of inspections by Buzhou Mountain’s elders did they reluctantly agree.

But now, Qiu Yan’s demonic energy surged into the sky as he wantonly harmed fellow disciples. Each of these things slapped Xu Ruozhen harshly across the face.

Everyone present knew about this matter and secretly looked toward Xu Ruozhen, not knowing how he would deal with his beloved disciple. They only saw him sweep his sleeve. “Take him to the dungeon first. Handle it as it should be handled and follow the proper procedure. If he truly has Demon Clan bloodline, then from this day on, there is no longer any reality of master and disciple between us.”

There was not much regret on his face, as if Qiu Yan were not the eldest disciple he had personally raised and taught for more than ten years. It was indeed impartial, but it also seemed… cold-blooded to the extreme.

“As you command.” The retainers said nothing more. They turned Qiu Yan’s body over, bound his hands and feet with immortal-binding rope, and prepared to escort him to the dungeon.

Just then, he let out a faint mosquito-like sound. He had actually suddenly woken up.

Xie Yu secretly looked into his eyes and saw some confusion there, much more normal than his crazed appearance from before. She knew he had now escaped the control of the demonic energy.

“Mas… Master?!” Qiu Yan tried to struggle free of the immortal-binding rope while turning his head back to call Xu Ruozhen.

“You vile creature! You carry Demon Clan blood, yet deceived me all this time. If I had not personally seen this scene today, who knows when I would have discovered the truth!” Xu Ruozhen was furious. Even his usually gentle brows and eyes were filled with disgust.

“No, it wasn’t me. I was harmed by Qi Tuo. He fed me some unknown gu worm! I’ve been Master’s disciple for so many years. Does Master still not know whether I am human or demon?”

Qiu Yan still had the injury Xie Yu had left on his knee. At this moment, he was so weak he could hardly move forward on his own. Half his body was kneeling on the ground, and his eyes were still filled with pleading as he looked at Xu Ruozhen.

“Enough! There is no need to explain. My lifelong reputation will be ruined by a traitorous disciple like you. Whether you truly have Demon Clan blood or not, you harmed your fellow disciples! I will not change what I have said. Our fate as master and disciple is over. From this day on, all grace and righteousness between us are severed!”

What Xu Ruozhen cared about most was his reputation as a gentleman. Even if those who spent more time with him knew he was nothing but a hypocrite, to outsiders, Xu Ruozhen’s character and cultivation were both excellent.

After discovering that Qiu Yan had Demon Clan blood, Xu Ruozhen’s first reaction was to cut ties with him before this matter was exposed to the public, so that his own life would not be stained because of it.

So what if the people around him thought him cold and heartless? Outsiders would only say he was impartial and did not shield his beloved disciple.

Qiu Yan and Xu Ruozhen had been master and disciple for so many years. Even if there was not much affection between them, he was still the one who best understood Xu Ruozhen’s selfish and dark side. He knew very clearly that no matter how he explained, Xu Ruozhen would not save him. The hope in his eyes gradually extinguished. He stopped struggling and instead looked quietly toward Xie Yu.

In the end, he still did not expose Xie Yu’s identity. Although Xie Yu had harmed him, Qiu Yan knew that with Xie Yu’s current vengeful nature, she definitely would not let Xu Ruozhen go. Even if he could not take revenge himself, it would be good if someone could take revenge on Xu Ruozhen for him.

After truly waking from the danger, he finally understood that the Demon God was not something just anyone could profane. Those who fancied themselves clever, like him, would only suffer the backlash…

Xie Yu also met Qiu Yan’s gaze, amusement flowing through her eyes. She silently mouthed, “Goodbye.”

Without her needing to act, all three had destroyed themselves because of their own desires. The restlessness in Xie Yu’s heart finally dissipated somewhat. She coldly watched everything, but not a trace of sympathy existed in her heart. This was merely what they deserved.

If one had desire but no ability, then one had to bear the result of being smashed to pieces. After all, her former self had been just as pathetic.

In a short while, everyone present dispersed. Only Xu Ruozhen and Xie Yu, master and disciple, remained.

But “master and disciple” was truly an unsuitable term for them. Ever since Xie Yu entered Buzhou Mountain, she could only address Xu Ruozhen as Zhenren. She could not even call him shizun or master, because Xu Ruozhen disliked others remembering that he had accepted a useless disciple.

Xie Yu had once wondered why Xu Ruozhen, who cared so much about his reputation, had taken her as a disciple. It was only when she saw Gong Dongling’s portrait that she understood everything in an instant. What he had valued was always this face.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. Xie Yu suddenly thought of the illusion.

It was not only Gong Dongling who had seen Xu Ruozhen’s figure on the second floor. After Xie Yu fused with the broken soul fragment’s memories, she also clearly remembered that at the railing on the second floor, aside from Prince Beiye, Xu Ruozhen had also been there.

That day, Xu Ruozhen had stood on the high platform and coldly witnessed the entire process of Prince Beiye drawing his bow, aiming, and shooting. He had even been extremely satisfied when Grandmother died in the end, because Xie Yu’s mortal ties had been severed.

“Zhenren, do you know that the Xuanji Grass can weave dreams? Anyone who steps inside will be pulled into the dream and believe themselves to be the person within it.”

Ignoring the wound still bleeding on her body, Xie Yu only stated this to Xu Ruozhen word by word.

Xu Ruozhen turned and looked toward this little disciple he had never cared about, his gaze slightly cold. “So?”

His relationship with Xie Yu was awkward, and Xu Ruozhen naturally knew it. In front of him, this disciple had always been timid and shrinking. When had she ever dared stand out and speak to him like this? Had Gong Dongling taught her?

Thinking that Gong Dongling’s recent changes were all because of this insignificant, useless disciple before him, Xu Ruozhen’s jealousy began to grow wildly. He was clearly the person closest to Ling’er. How had this master-disciple relationship been so easily destroyed by Xie Yu?

“When I relived the dream, I unexpectedly saw Zhenren’s figure. So I wanted to ask Zhenren—was the day I killed Prince Beiye truly the first time you saw me?” There was no extra emotion in Xie Yu’s eyes, as if this question was not important at all, as if she were only confirming whether Xu Ruozhen had appeared there.

But Xu Ruozhen’s expression froze. Rare sarcasm appeared on his gentle face. “You mean to say that I secretly followed and investigated you just to take a disciple with a useless spiritual root under my name? You think too highly of yourself.”

If it had been the Xie Yu of before, she would certainly have been humiliated by Xu Ruozhen’s ridicule and licked her wounds alone. But at this moment, Xie Yu already had an answer in her heart. She had only asked to see whether he would tell the truth.

She lowered her head, looking as if she felt inferior and hurt. But in her eyes, hidden beneath her stray hair, a clear trace of hostility flashed, exactly like when she had seen Qiu Yan and the other two earlier.

Looking at Xie Yu like this, Xu Ruozhen gave a cold snort through his nose, showing his disdain. He had thought she had changed that timid, shrinking personality, but wasn’t this old self back again?

He looked down from above and said, “Where is your senior sister? Wasn’t she knocked unconscious by the drug? I’ll take her to be treated.”

“There is no need to trouble Zhenren. The drug was not strong. She will wake naturally after sleeping for a while.” Xie Yu blurted this out, almost forgetting to temporarily hide her true nature in front of Xu Ruozhen.

Xu Ruozhen seemed to see through her desire to monopolize Gong Dongling. He sneered. “I don’t need you to lead the way. I know where she is.”

He walked straight toward that cave. Xie Yu’s breath caught, and she quickly followed.

The little tricks and illusion methods Xie Yu had placed there could not fool Xu Ruozhen’s eyes at all. Before long, he walked up to the sleeping Gong Dongling. He only checked her pulse before preparing to take her away together with the blanket wrapped around her.

The instant Xie Yu saw Xu Ruozhen touch Senior Sister’s exposed skin, something exploded in her heart. Black mist surged into her right hand, and she almost lost control of her demonic barrier.

Calm down. Now is not the time!

Xie Yu silently repeated this in her heart. Only then did the demonic energy recede, preventing Xu Ruozhen from discovering it.

Xu Ruozhen deliberately looked back and admired Xie Yu’s expression as she lost control. His smile reached all the way into his eyes. “Did you know? Your senior sister lost her parents when she was young. They entrusted her to me, and I raised her bit by bit from the time she was six. Our affection was never the same as that between ordinary master and disciple. It is not something someone random like you can compare with.”

“I know you have always wanted to attract my attention, but you failed again and again. So you turned your target to your senior sister instead, simply wanting to gain a little attention. How pitiful.”

Xie Yu said nothing. She raised her head and looked at Xu Ruozhen, her eyes like a dead pool without a ripple, frighteningly dark.

“Once Ling’er wakes, the first person she wants to see will definitely be me. From childhood until now, it has always been so.”

Those words made Xie Yu suddenly remember when Senior Sister had just returned from the Far North and was bedridden to recuperate. She had always stayed at Xu Ruozhen’s place under his care day and night. It was because as long as Gong Dongling woke and did not see Xu Ruozhen beside her, she would become so distressed and helpless that she cried and vomited blood.

Everything Xu Ruozhen said was true. Xie Yu had no way to refute it, yet she was entirely unwilling to believe it.

Senior Sister…

Xie Yu watched helplessly as Xu Ruozhen took Gong Dongling away in front of her. Her body was stiff, yet she could not move even an inch.

She had no reason, and no ability, to snatch Senior Sister back.

What made her whole body grow even colder and unwilling to believe was the fact that she was the one who came later. Senior Sister had too many people in her life who loved and admired her. Xie Yu was the latecomer, the most unremarkable one. She had merely received a little pity, care, and sympathy from Senior Sister, yet she delusionally wanted to monopolize all of Senior Sister’s feelings.

She truly overestimated herself. Xu Ruozhen was right.

Xie Yu knew she should not be such an ungrateful wretch. Senior Sister had cherished and treated her like this, yet she was still not satisfied. She still wanted Senior Sister’s eyes to see only her.

But the moment she thought of how Senior Sister had once relied on Xu Ruozhen like this, her heart throbbed painfully.

Her sense of pain was clearly blocked. Even the wound corroded by demonic energy did not make her feel the slightest pain. So why was the pain in her heart so obvious?

Black demonic energy flickered between her brows. If she did not do something, Xie Yu knew she might also fall into qi deviation and lose consciousness.

Ignoring the wound on her left shoulder, she stumbled onto her sword and flew toward the place where the Xuanji Grass had grown. She knew that Senior Sister had also entered a dream that day. Senior Sister had seen her dream, so she also wanted to find Senior Sister’s memory fragments.

Xu Ruozhen had accompanied her through every spring, summer, autumn, and winter of her life. But Xie Yu had never understood even the slightest bit of Senior Sister’s past.

The Xuanji Grass had long since been picked, and even the surrounding herbs were mostly gone. Xie Yu knew better than anyone that this was nothing but futile, yet she still could not help coming here like a madwoman, searching and searching.

Just then, faint rustling came from the grass beside her.

If her five senses had not become many times sharper than before, she would have been ambushed by this black evil scarlet-patterned python just like last time. But this time, she showed not the slightest panic.

It came at just the right time.

Xie Yu tightened her grip on Xuanling. This time, she would defeat this giant python.

The black evil scarlet-patterned python sensed the killing intent from Xie Yu and knew it had been exposed. With a boom, it broke through the leaves and vegetation covering its body and raised its noble head high. It recognized Xie Yu and knew she was the prey that had escaped its grasp a few days ago, making it even more excited. Its tail slapped the ground, producing drumbeats like a summons to death.

Xie Yu restrained the demonic energy stirring inside her body. She wanted to compete with the giant python using only her own strength. The demonic energy was power sealed inside her body. Although she could use it, it was ultimately an external force.

Perhaps even Xie Yu herself had not noticed that when she felt so inferior before Senior Sister that she had nowhere to hide, it was as if she had returned to that incomplete, cowardly main soul from before. Her pride and arrogance were especially unable to withstand anything related to Senior Sister.

This was also why, when she had been with Grandmother as a child, she had been willing to break all her pride for Grandmother’s sake.

The giant python opened its mouth and lunged toward her, as if wanting to swallow Xie Yu whole. Xie Yu flashed aside and dodged.

She coldly stared at the python’s golden vertical pupils and threw Xuanling high into the air. Her hands formed seals, gathering spiritual power between her palms. Gradually, the outline of a light sphere appeared. She lifted the light sphere with one hand, and the instant she gripped the sword hilt, she transferred this spiritual power into Xuanling. Xuanling’s pale red blade, forged from crimson iron, seemed to be lit up at this moment, emitting a dazzling red glow.

Xie Yu had never before used Xuanling to this level. She faintly sensed that Xuanling’s sword soul had awakened under her intense emotions and was assisting her.

She looked only at her target. Her toes pushed hard against the ground, and she charged toward the giant python. Using qinggong and the scales on the python’s body, she actually used the python itself as footholds and continued climbing upward.

The giant python twisted its body rapidly, trying to fling Xie Yu off. But it was useless. Xie Yu was too fast, and her lower body was extremely stable. Even amid the earthquake-like shaking, she maintained that momentum.

Xie Yu only focused on her target: the giant python’s pair of golden vertical pupils. As long as she destroyed its eyes, dealing with it would become much easier.

Closer!

She looked at the vertical pupil half as large as her own body, gripped the sword with both hands, and used all her strength to stab into that glass-like eye.

After the giant python was blinded, it went mad. It slammed the upper half of its raised body down onto the ground, its entire snake body rolling across the earth. Its long crimson tongue was about to roll Xie Yu into its mouth.

Xie Yu did not have time to pull Xuanling out from where it was still stuck in the pupil. She could only hold the sturdy sword hilt, swaying unsteadily, refusing to let herself be thrown off by the python’s rolling. During this, she also had to dodge attacks from its tongue and venomous fangs.

She gripped Xuanling tightly and refused to let go, allowing the giant python to batter her until her whole body was covered in injuries.

“Master, with your spiritual power, you won’t be able to hold on for long.” The mass of black mist finally could not keep watching. It took form at last and spoke to Xie Yu in an especially obscure tone.

Xie Yu gritted her teeth and refused to say a word.

The black mist knew that the source of the frustration in her heart was not this giant python, but something else entirely. Its words carried implication. “Master, why go to such lengths? If you use the power of the evil soul, won’t you be able to defeat him and obtain what you want?”

Those light words fell into Xie Yu’s ears like a stone thrown into a dead pond. It was such a small stone, yet it could stir up a thousand waves.

“How long will it take to defeat Xu Ruozhen?” A seed was planted in her heart at that moment. She asked in a low voice.

“At the fastest, two years, and I will be able to transfer all the power to Master. This is the unique power of the evil soul, something even the Demon Lord has searched bitterly for and failed to obtain.” The black mist was utterly respectful.

“Faster.”

Xie Yu no longer suppressed the demonic energy inside her body. She suddenly released Xuanling and pressed both hands against the scales on the giant python. Black mist slowly poured into the black evil scarlet-patterned python’s body. In an instant, there was a loud bang.

Black fragments fell from high above like a storm. The giant python’s body ended in this way, returning to the soil of the illusion realm.

After the black curtain fell, Xie Yu caught Xuanling in one hand and looked with disgust at the corpses scattered across the ground. She landed steadily a little farther away.

…

On the other side, Gong Dongling woke inside the bed curtains. Before her eyes were a soft couch, gauze curtains, and glazed bead drapes. Every decoration around her was especially unfamiliar.

Alert, she flipped herself upright, knocked her still dizzy head, and carefully recalled where she had been before.

It seemed that after the yin hour descended, she and Xie Yu had been huddled inside a cave. Everything around them had been warm and safe, making even Gong Dongling, who had hidden worries in her heart, gradually relax her guard.

But no matter how careless she was, she would not have fallen asleep just like that, right? And this place she had woken up in was unfamiliar too. A guess faintly formed in her heart. Could it be that the plot had gone wrong and replayed again? Had she been drugged unconscious, while Xie Yu, unable to defeat the combined strength of everyone else, blackened and was judged to have fallen into demonic cultivation before being imprisoned in the dungeon?

This guess made her whole body tense. While getting out of bed, Gong Dongling frantically hammered at the system. “While I was unconscious, did Xie Yu blacken?!”

【Detected Xie Yu hovering on the edge of blackening for a period of time, but after several emotional fluctuations, it seemed to be suppressed again,】 the system told Gong Dongling.

Before Gong Dongling could breathe a sigh of relief, the room door was pushed open.

The person who came in was Xu Ruozhen, whom she had not seen in a long time. The moment Gong Dongling saw him, she frowned.

“Ling’er, do you feel better? Master heard that you encountered danger in the illusion realm and immediately rushed over to bring you back. Fortunately, it was only a sleeping drug and had no poison.” Xu Ruozhen carried a bowl of medicinal soup and walked to Gong Dongling’s side, about to sit down along the edge of the bed.

Gong Dongling immediately stood. “Mas… Master, I’m already fine. May I leave?”

But a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Xu Ruozhen’s mouth. “Master has just lost one disciple. Are even you going to leave me?”

“Lost a disciple?!” Connecting this to everything from earlier, Gong Dongling’s first reaction was that Xie Yu had suffered disaster again, perhaps so severe that Xu Ruozhen had severed their master-disciple relationship.

“Yes. Your senior brother Qiu Yan was actually an undercover agent sent by the Demon Clan. More than ten years of master-disciple affection was severed because of such a thing. Master now only has you…” Xu Ruozhen’s eyes flickered slightly as he brewed some emotion.

Gong Dongling did not fall for this act, but she was still shocked by this sudden news. “Hold on! What did you say? Qiu Yan is a Demon Clan spy?”

How was it not Xie Yu whose identity had been exposed, but Qiu Yan instead? In the original novel, he had not been exposed this early! Gong Dongling’s mind felt as if someone had stuffed a tangled mess inside it. She did not even know what to do.

“If I had not personally seen him use demonic energy to harm fellow disciples, even Master would not believe this result. Inner disciples Qiu Zijian and Qi Tuo have both fallen unconscious due to severe injuries.”

Gong Dongling had no interest in those two. She urgently asked, “What about Xie Yu? How is Xie Yu?!”

With Qiu Yan’s demonic energy going berserk, how could Xie Yu, who had only just reached Foundation Establishment, withstand his attacks? Thinking of this, Gong Dongling’s brows twisted together.

Xu Ruozhen, however, stopped speaking. He scooped a spoonful of medicine from the bowl in his hand, blew on it, and was about to feed it to Gong Dongling. “Drink the medicine first.”

Looking at his fake, affected manner, Gong Dongling broke into a cold sweat all over. She shoved the spoon away and raised her voice. “Where is Xie Yu? What exactly happened to her?!”