After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 13

Countless ages ago, the world split into three realms—

Respectively, the Mortal Realm (an isolated island), the Xuantian Realm (four continents and four seas), and the Underworld Ghost Realm (the Ten Halls of Yama).

Mortals cultivate to become immortals, ascending from the Mortal Realm to the Xuantian Realm to choose a sect for rigorous cultivation, seeking longevity; or, if they accumulate merit during their lives, they may enter the Underworld Ghost Realm after death to take up an official post.

The Mortal Realm is mostly inhabited by mortals, the Underworld is for ghosts, and the Xuantian Realm is more complex, containing the Demon Clan, cultivators, and other spirits and monsters.

However, those who walk the Xuantian Realm are mostly cultivators; the rest of the demon clan and spirits rarely show themselves, and even when they do, they mostly conceal their identities.

Qin Qingyi is a demon. Not only is she a demon, but she is also the Young Mistress of the Demon Clan.

But she has another identity—the Eldest Direct Disciple of the Hidden Snow Peak of the Sword Sect.

In the Sword Sect, except for a few who know her true identity, everyone else assumes she is just an ordinary disciple.

An ordinary disciple, that is, who is not motivated, whose assignments always just barely pass, who doesn’t practice her sword seriously, who has stayed in the Golden Core stage for a full ten years, is not ashamed but rather proud of it, and spends her days either drinking and having fun or heading down the mountain to wander.

Disciples from the other peaks rather look down on Qin Qingyi’s behavior. After all, upon entering the inner sect, who doesn’t want to make a name for themselves? Who doesn’t want to become an immortal?

Qin Qingyi doesn’t.

She’s a demon. What kind of immortal does a demon become?

So, she doesn’t care if others don’t understand her.

Anyway, she doesn’t care, and her Master doesn’t care, so why bother about what others think?

That’s why she’s not keen on the Sword Sect’s assignments. Sometimes she remembers and goes, and the same goes for sword practice; she occasionally remembers and goes to the training ground to show off a little.

More often, she is sleeping on the few peach trees on Hidden Snow Peak, letting her two junior disciples go down the mountain to buy her wine.

But today is different. Today, she must take her Junior Disciple Sister to class to recognize the Elder who teaches the lessons.

Just as dawn was breaking, Qin Qingyi opened her eyes.

The child in her arms was a very sound sleeper, barely moving all night. Perhaps feeling the warmth in her arms, she simply turned over, snuggled tightly against her, and didn’t change position again after that.

She was quite well-behaved. Qin Qingyi looked at Zhou Zhixue curled up in her sleep and ultimately said nothing more.

She got up with extremely gentle movements, picked up the robes at the bedside and put them on, tidied herself up, and then gently woke Zhou Zhixue, who was still deep in sleep.

Zhou Zhixue opened her eyes groggily. Seeing Qin Qingyi so close, her eyes immediately widened.

“Good morning, Senior Disciple Sister,” she whispered.

“It seems you slept quite well next to me,” Qin Qingyi chuckled, rubbing Zhou Zhixue’s fluffy head.

Zhou Zhixue gave a soft sound, and it took her a moment to realize what Qin Qingyi had said. The little girl’s eyes widened a bit more. She looked at Qin Qingyi, then down at the bed, and her face instantly flushed bright red.

“Why was Senior Disciple Sister…” in her room?

Zhou Zhixue wanted to ask but was too embarrassed. After all, when her Senior Disciple Sister got up just now, she had some awareness, but her mind was foggy at the time, and she thought she was still dreaming.

It now seemed that the warm dream and the close soft touch of the latter half of the night were all brought by her Senior Disciple Sister.

Seeing her reaction, Qin Qingyi was even more inclined to tease her. She smoothly took Zhou Zhixue’s clothes draped over a chair nearby and handed them to her: “Last night, you were as cold as a block of ice, shivering. I happened to notice and had to come and check on you. Do you remember whimpering and burrowing into my arms in the latter half of the night?”

“I don’t… I don’t remember any of that,” Zhou Zhixue shook her head, blushing. She had slept soundly in the latter half of the night and was completely unaware of these things.

However, Qin Qingyi wasn’t wrong. In the latter half of the night, Zhou Zhixue, seeking a heat source, had indeed unconsciously snuggled into her arms, hugging her tightly, only loosening her grip around dawn.

She had a good night’s sleep, but Qin Qingyi, unable to adapt to sharing a bed with someone, had stayed awake until morning, especially since she had to circulate spiritual energy to suppress the cold in the child’s body and dared not slacken.

Fortunately, her cultivation level no longer required much sleep, so she was still energetic this morning.

After washing up, Qin Qingyi took the small Zhou Zhixue’s hand and led her out of the peak.

“It’s a coincidence today; it’s Elder Wei’s turn to teach swordsmanship. You don’t need to be nervous when you see Elder Wei; she is a very kind person.”

Along the way, she noticed that Zhou Zhixue’s palms were sweating from nervousness. The small child had a tense little face, which looked quite serious.

Yet, when asked if she was nervous, Zhou Zhixue would pretend to be calm and shake her head, her answer always being, “Not nervous.”

Qin Qingyi suppressed a laugh and didn’t expose her. She simply slowed her pace again and again, and it was nearly mid-morning when the two leisurely arrived at the classroom.

However, they were not late for the class; their timing was just perfect. When they landed, the disciples who had been sparring had just cleaned up the remnants of the scene and were finding their seats, waiting for Elder Wei to arrive and begin the lecture.

Elder Wei’s swordsmanship class is held at the Sword Sect’s Enlightenment Cliff. This is where past generations of Sword Sect elders came to meditate on the Great Dao. As swords are the most commonly used weapons by the Sword Sect members, over time, the cliffs and walls here became covered with the sword marks left by the elders during their enlightenment.

Most of these sword marks contain the Dao charm—the closest to the truth of the Great Dao—that the enlighteners had at the time. Naturally, this place became the best spot for junior disciples to seek enlightenment.

In fact, among all the weapons in the world, the sword is often the most shunned and disliked. Since ancient times, those who use weapons adhere to the principle that “an inch longer is an inch stronger, an inch shorter is an inch riskier,” and the sword is not prominent among a host of advantageous weapons, hence it is often looked down upon.

However, among the ten thousand laws of the world, there is always a way to break the deadlock. Though universally disliked, some still picked up the sword and, under the puzzled gaze of the crowd, honed it to perfection.

That person was Immortal Venerable Wugui, the grand patriarch of all sword users in the world and the founder of the Sword Sect. Legend has it that it was Immortal Venerable Wugui who greatly promoted the way of the sword, pioneering the precedent that everyone could practice the sword and everything could be a sword, which is why the Sword Dao flourishes and endures to this day.

Now in the Xuantian Realm, those who cultivate the sword account for five or six out of ten, most of whom are either disciples of the Sword Sect or have been taught by someone from the Sword Sect.

Thus, the level of respect the Sword Sect commands in the Xuantian Realm is evident.

Qin Qingyi recalled that she had agreed to come to the Sword Sect with True Master Wen Qing precisely because of the Sword Sect’s reputation, hoping to learn something different from the Demon Clan’s ways.

She just hadn’t expected True Master Wen Qing to be so unreliable, picking her up, dumping her on Hidden Snow Peak, and then leaving her to fend for herself, calling it “letting her be independent.” Not only that, but he also kept picking up random children outside and dumping them on her. He was truly unreliable.

Qin Qingyi pouted, ignoring these useless thoughts. She led Zhou Zhixue to the spot where she had first sought enlightenment. Hidden Snow Peak has its own designated area for listening to lectures. As soon as she approached, Xie Su and Hu Yu, who had arrived early and found their seats, immediately came to greet her.

“Senior Disciple Sister, you’re here,” Xie Su greeted Qin Qingyi.

Hu Yu, on the other hand, cautiously looked at Zhou Zhixue by Qin Qingyi’s side and apologized: “I’m sorry, Junior Disciple Sister. Yesterday I was too rash and frightened you.”

After he cried yesterday, Xie Su dragged him back to his inner room and thoroughly lectured him, making him realize that his words yesterday had hurt the Junior Disciple Sister’s feelings.

He was still wondering how to apologize, and coincidentally, they met again at the swordsmanship class.

The disciples from other peaks who came to attend the class saw the new face next to Qin Qingyi and began to whisper. They hadn’t forgotten the gossip from a few days ago. This must be the new disciple taken in by Hidden Snow Peak.

Zhou Zhixue gently shook her head. She hadn’t intended to blame anyone: “Senior Disciple Brother didn’t mean to.”

Hu Yu was about to say something more but was interrupted by a sudden low cough from behind him: “Disciples of Hidden Snow Peak, the teaching time has begun. Why are you not yet seated?”

It was Elder Wei’s voice. Hu Yu’s spine instantly tightened. He almost subconsciously turned and lowered his head: “My apologies, Elder Wei. Disciple is sitting down now.”

Zhou Zhixue followed the voice to look at the person Hu Yu called “Elder Wei.”

Elder Wei was dressed in the Sword Sect Elder’s robes, her face serious and unsmiling. The cyan blue trim of her gown made her skin appear even fairer. Her phoenix eyes were sharp. As she walked over, leaning on her sword, a whiff of clean bamboo scent followed her.

Perhaps Zhou Zhixue stared for too long, as Elder Wei turned her head while passing her:

“The new disciple True Master Wen Qing took in?”