After Faking Her Death and Escaping, the Junior Sister Fell to the Demonic Path - Chapter 59

“So, is the Venerable one truly the Boundless Immortal Venerable?”

Qin Qingyi took a deep breath, her eyes blank.

Even now, she still couldn’t quite accept it.

No matter who it was, if someone suddenly came forward and told them: “I am a certain Immortal Venerable,” they wouldn’t be believed, would they?

It was the same for Qin Qingyi.

She naturally couldn’t accept it.

“This Venerable one has not deceived you. You have already asked this question more than ten times.”

It was still that voice, tirelessly coming from Qin Qingyi’s Dantian.

Qin Qingyi fiercely closed her eyes.

The day she rushed back from the training arena, she confined herself, announcing to the outside world that she had gained some enlightenment and needed a brief retreat.

For several days, Qin Qingyi kept herself locked in her room.

She couldn’t figure it out.

But she couldn’t speak to anyone about it, so she could only lock herself in.

During these few days, she finally managed to understand some things from the other party.

For example, the other party was indeed the Boundless Immortal Venerable, and a fellow sect sister of the Faultless Immortal Venerable.

Furthermore, the Boundless Immortal Venerable had indeed ascended a long time ago. This wisp of lingering soul was a piece of her soul that she had carved out before her ascension, sealing her natal sword and this piece of soul in place. That was how Qin Qingyi had the chance to meet her.

“This junior still doesn’t understand,” Qin Qingyi was utterly baffled. “Why did you insist on planting the Soul-Link Gu after carving out my demon core?”

“She is my junior sister, and not to mention that for the two of us to become Dao companions would violate ethics, my junior sister is cultivating the Dao of Emotionlessness. Isn’t what you did going to shatter her Dao?”

Zhou Zhixue inherited the mantle of the Faultless Immortal Venerable and had already cultivated the Dao of Emotionlessness to the fifth level. If she were to force her to comply, wouldn’t she become a sinner for eternity?

Qin Qingyi’s mind was more tangled than the balls of yarn she used to play with as a child.

“This Soul-Link Gu absolutely cannot remain. It cannot stay, for either of us!”

The other party, however, gave a cold snort, seemingly unbothered by her transgression, but her words were extremely sharp and hit the nail on the head: “The Dao of Emotionlessness, if one cannot overcome the emotional barrier, how can one achieve the Dao and ascend?”

“Looking at your good junior sister, she doesn’t seem like someone whose six senses are pure and dedicated to cultivation.”

Qin Qingyi was speechless.

She truly couldn’t refute this, as Zhou Zhixue’s current state was indeed not quite right.

Despite cultivating the Dao of Emotionlessness, which should have led her to discard personal feelings long ago, the child’s eyes when looking at her were always overly tender. She wasn’t an idiot; how could she not understand the other party’s feelings for her?

But while Zhou Zhixue could harbor unspeakable feelings for her, as her senior sister, she shouldn’t let it develop. Thus, she had always ignored her and never responded.

She pressed her hand to her forehead, weakly retorting, “Even if her Dao heart is impure, it’s not a reason for me to be bound to her as a Dao companion without her knowledge.”

As she spoke, Qin Qingyi’s brows furrowed even deeper.

She never imagined things would develop to this stage.

If she had known earlier, she would never have endangered her junior sister by venturing deep into the Black Water Cliff.

If not for that, she wouldn’t have been caught in this dilemma.

Qin Qingyi was filled with remorse.

Seeing the regret on her face, the lingering soul of the Boundless Immortal Venerable spoke again: “You don’t need to be so conflicted. The way things are now is not entirely a bad thing.”

Qin Qingyi listened attentively.

She wanted to see what kind of explanation the other party could come up with.

The other party lightly coughed twice, as if trying to find an excuse: “This Venerable one planted the Soul-Link Gu in both of you back then to save her. There is a difference between humans and demons; ordinary people who absorb demon energy would have their meridians instantly severed. If this Venerable one hadn’t bound you two together with the Soul-Link Gu so that the demon core would recognize her, she would have only had one path: death.”

“You worry about her shattering her Dao heart, but do you know that at the sixth level of the Dao of Emotionlessness, one must enter the mortal world and overcome the emotional barrier? Only by overcoming the emotional barrier can one transcend the mortal world and achieve transformation. Otherwise, even with the best roots and talent, in the end, the Dao heart will remain unstable, and after a hundred years, they will only turn into a mound of yellow earth.”

Cutting in before Qin Qingyi could object, the other party added, “Furthermore, this Venerable one told you before that this Soul-Link Gu is a good thing for you, allowing your cultivation to greatly advance. As long as you dual-cultivate more with your good junior sister, you won’t harm your cultivation due to the loss of half a demon core.”

“If you wait until her cultivation enters the sixth level of the Dao of Emotionlessness before engaging in dual cultivation, it would be beneficial for both of you without any harm, and both your cultivations would advance by leaps and bounds. Why are you so resistant?”

The Boundless Immortal Venerable was also full of doubts.

To her, cultivation surpassed everything. If she could improve her cultivation by paying a small price, why wouldn’t she be happy to do it?

Where did this child get such high moral standards?

“If you ask me, you don’t need to be so troubled. Besides, your junior sister clearly likes you. It’s a natural progression of things; why struggle?”

The other party skillfully persuaded, every word a temptation that others could not resist.

Why refuse something that could increase cultivation without side effects?

The Boundless Immortal Venerable couldn’t quite understand the thoughts of the younger generation today. If it were her, she definitely wouldn’t refuse.

They were demons, and demons didn’t have the same high moral standards as humans. To a demon, as long as it didn’t harm oneself and didn’t violate the natural order, it was the best thing under the heavens. Not doing it would, on the contrary, violate the natural law.

Qin Qingyi remained silent.

How could she explain?

She had watched her junior sister grow up. Even though they had some conflicts before, she was always a junior in her eyes. How could she bring herself to do it?

Qin Qingyi squeezed her eyes shut, the shame of the matter causing the corners of her eyes to turn crimson. When she spoke again, her voice was hoarse: “Is there no other way?”

“Dual cultivation,” the Boundless Immortal Venerable said concisely.

“Dual cultivation with your junior sister is the best solution right now.”

Unexpectedly, this statement directly angered Qin Qingyi, almost grinding her teeth to pieces: “This junior is asking about other methods, a way to remove the Soul-Link Gu besides dual cultivation!”

“Ah,” the Boundless Venerable regretted, “You still refuse?”

Seeing that she was truly unmoved, the Boundless Immortal Venerable sighed, saying, “If you truly don’t want to, this Venerable one naturally won’t force you. After all, it’s your business. It’s just that now that you’re missing half a demon core, the estrus period of your adulthood will come much faster. If my estimation is correct, once your cultivation breaks through again, you will experience an estrus period every full moon, and it will intensify as your cultivation increases. If you endure it without intervention, it will likely be quite an ordeal.”

Qin Qingyi fell silent again.

In the end, all she could say was, “Let’s take things as they come.”

Not to mention that her demon core was now damaged, and her cultivation had stagnated. The next breakthrough was nowhere in sight. Worrying about the future now was the great taboo for a cultivator.

The conversation between the two ended.

Qin Qingyi stood up, pulled open the door that had been shut for five days, and let the stale air in the room completely dissipate.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the slightly chilly air of the Hidden Snow Peak into her lungs. Only then did her mind feel clear, and the matters that had troubled her for days could be temporarily put aside.

“Let’s take things as they come.”

She said it again, but this time, it was much lighter than the first.

Qin Qingyi thought, “Forget it. In any case, when the soldiers come, the generals will block; there will always be a way.”

“Senior sister, you’ve emerged from your retreat.”

Zhou Zhixue was practicing her swordplay. Seeing her come out, she immediately stopped, retrieved her sword, and stepped forward with concern.

It was barely dawn, and she faced the morning light, still carrying the chill of the early morning.

“Why are you up so early?”

Qin Qingyi was surprised. She had set up a barrier in the room these past few days and hadn’t known that Zhou Zhixue was practicing swordplay outside her door.

“Didn’t Senior Sister also meditate until dawn?”

Zhou Zhixue countered, which genuinely stumped Qin Qingyi.

If she hadn’t mentioned it, it would have been fine, but now that she did, Qin Qingyi was reminded of what the Boundless Immortal Venerable had said, and her gaze towards Zhou Zhixue became a little more complex.

In two days, it would be the date she and her junior sister had set to go down the mountain for travel. She only hoped that everything would go smoothly and nothing unexpected would happen.

Qin Qingyi looked at the distant mountains, her feelings a complex tangle.

However, this thought of hers was ultimately destined to fall through.

Before the two could say anything more, the Sword Sect’s mountain-protecting formation suddenly issued waves of abnormal movement. Explosions roared across the sky, and even the Hidden Snow Peak shook.

Bang—!

Bang bang—!!

Bang bang bang—!!!

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!

At first, there were only a few scattered sounds, as if testing, and then came the dense, heart-stopping bombardment.

Qin Qingyi and Zhou Zhixue simultaneously looked up at the sky.

At the same time, almost all the disciples of the Sword Sect stopped what they were doing and looked up in unison.

At the training arena, Xie Su and Hu Yu stopped their sparring and looked up.

In the talisman class, Yan Li looked up.

On the Sword-Wielding Peak, Feng Ning looked up.

At the spiritual herb field, Feng Ying looked up.

“What is going on?!” Qin Qingyi murmured.

For a moment, this was the question in almost everyone’s hearts.

But at this moment, the bombardment suddenly ceased.

However, the next sound was the more terrifying sound of cracking.

Like ice cracking in winter, or a glass mirror shattering, in any case, the “crack-crack” sound came from the sky above the Sword Sect and from all directions.

Qin Qingyi stared at the empty sky, her face tight.

There was nothing there; it looked—

Perfectly clear.

What could that sound be?

She suddenly felt a bone-chilling coldness creep into her heart, running down her spine, gradually spreading to her fingertips. Her heart seemed to be suspended in mid-air, forcing her to look up at the sky.

Zhou Zhixue beside her was the same, her breathing barely audible, also staring motionlessly at the sky.

At the same moment, almost all the disciples shared the same action.

Looking up, gazing at the sky.

The Sword Sect was absolutely silent at this moment.

Even when her eyes became painfully dry, and tears slipped down the corners, Qin Qingyi still did not blink. She stared intently at the violently churning clouds high up.

What was behind those clouds…?

Feng Ying held a spiritual herb in his hand, murmuring to himself:

“Has it finally come?”

The cloud cover over the Sword Sect gradually dispersed, and Qin Qingyi saw clearly.

Her breath hitched, and then her heart pounded wildly.

The Sword Sect’s mountain-protecting formation was cracked.

But that wasn’t the reason for her terror.

At the very top of the mountain-protecting formation, several cracks gradually spread. Emanating from the cracks was sinister demonic energy, just a glance causing people’s hearts to turn cold.

Pieces of the shattered formation dropped from the sky. The formation, flowing with spiritual energy, was gradually being corroded and ripped apart from the top, revealing the original sky.

Ominous, sky-obscuring demonic energy began to seep in from the cracks in all directions.

Qin Qingyi’s pupils contracted. She saw them!

They were the advance troops of the Demon Race!

Following her thought was the blare of the Sword Sect’s enemy attack horn.

“Wooooo————————————”

At the same moment, the six-sided bronze bells under all the Sword Sect’s eaves shook wildly in unison. The ridge beasts guarding the rooftops chimed together, and the sounds of sword clanging and dragon roaring quickly spread throughout the entire Sword Sect in a single breath.

Feng Ning, standing guard outside the main hall of the Sword-Wielding Peak’s deliberation council, felt a gust of wind in front of him. Then, the tightly closed doors of the deliberation hall opened, and dozens of figures swarmed out.

“Enemy attack!!!”

“All disciples, prepare for battle!!!”

This was the soul-wrenching cry of the Elder of the Enforcement Hall.

Enemy attack?!

Feng Ning’s heart tightened. He thought of Feng Ying, who was still in the herb field.

“Feng Ning, notify all Sword Sect disciples! The Demon Race is attacking; prepare for battle!!”

Shangguan Yu walked out of the deliberation hall, her expression solemn, her body wreathed in spiritual energy and a fierce aura.

She didn’t look back as she spoke these words to Feng Ning, then led dozens of Elders, who followed closely behind her Sect Master, swiftly flying towards the shattered sky above the mountain-protecting formation.

Feng Ning didn’t have time to respond before he saw dozens of Elders quickly fly up to the sky above the Sword Sect with their Sect Master.

In an instant, sword energy was sharp, and sword light danced. In a blink of an eye, the Elders were entangled in combat with the invading Demon Race.

Lines of sword energy and demonic energy intertwined. As the white robes of the immortal sect and the black armor of the Demon Race clashed, there was the sound of metal striking stone.

Occasionally, figures wreathed in demonic energy fell, which were low-level demons struck down by the Elders.

Half of the Elders were engaged in combat, each dealing with four or five demons. The other half were dedicated to repairing the mountain-protecting formation, desperately trying to keep the Demon Race, who had suddenly attacked the Sword Sect, out.

However, the number of demons breaking through the cracks in the mountain-protecting formation was clearly more than anyone had anticipated.

Qin Qingyi watched helplessly as those demons headed towards the training arena, the busiest place in the Sword Sect now.

A sinking feeling struck her heart.

Turning her head, she read the same thought in Zhou Zhixue’s eyes.

They had to go and save the disciples whose strength was not yet sufficient to deal with the Demon Race.

Qin Qingyi’s back tensed. In an instant, she summoned her Liubai Sword and stepped onto it. Zhou Zhixue’s reaction was clearly just as swift, her Changle Sword immediately soaring into the air.

“Senior Sister!”

Qin Qingyi nodded: “Hurry!”

They had to be fast. As long as they were faster than the Demon Race, they could save more people.