After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 62

In the tranquil darkness, Wu Juncheng had no physical form, yet she remained by Wu Ruo’s side like a kind and gentle elder.

“As for the story between you and her that’s all I know. She wasn’t in the wrong either. If there’s still affection in your heart, when you see that sword cultivator girl again, give her a hug.”

Wu Juncheng’s tone was calm, yet it seemed to conceal something, as if she saw her own past regrets reflected in the younger generation’s tale.

Between her and her former lover, everything began and ended too soon. She was determined to draw a clear line with demonic cultivators, while the other’s love for her was too resolute.

Back then, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had not yet nurtured endless possibilities. Even the Wish Temple was just an ordinary ancient red-brick shrine, no different from the countless red-brick temples scattered across the continent.

She recalled her first meeting with Dong Lingjiu in one such ordinary temple on the Five Provinces Continent. With spiritual energy waning, the once Buddhist temple had become desolate and dilapidated, serving only as a temporary lodging for hurried travelers.

At that time, she was not yet the Holy Maiden of Miaojiang. Driven by curiosity, she traveled with empty pockets and took shelter in the red temple for a night. While wandering inside, she saw another woman, battered and covered in blood, stumbling into the temple. Several demonic cultivators pursued from afar with great clamor.

It appeared these demonic cultivators were bullying a lone, vulnerable girl.

Wu Juncheng’s protective instincts surged. Young and spirited, with extraordinary talent, she summoned giant snakes and scorpions with a wave of her hand, swiftly driving off the demonic cultivators and thus beginning their acquaintance.

The woman thanked her solemnly, her words elegant and sincere, every gesture radiating noble grace.

She said her name was Dong Lingjiu, who had incurred the enmity of those demonic cultivators and was hunted all the way here.

She also said her greatest wish along the journey was to survive and be reborn. Never did she expect that, fleeing blindly into the temple, her wish would be granted by a goddess-like figure.

Seeing the genuine smile on the other’s face, Wu Juncheng, who had grown up in secluded Miaojiang with little exposure to the outside world had only one thought:

So people in the cultivation world speak so eloquently.

She healed the other’s wounds with medicinal gu, carelessly revealing every detail of her identity without reservation.

They journeyed together through the cultivation world, forging a deep friendship. For the first time, she found someone she could connect with so profoundly, building such seamless understanding that with just a blink of her eyes, the other would know what she desired.

When parting, blunt as ever, she asked if the other liked her. Dong Lingjiu said nothing, only offering a soft laugh and saying, “We are different.”

She didn’t probe further but felt an inexplicable sting of rejection. Choked with frustration, inspiration struck, and under the sway of her emotions, she crafted a unique love gu.

Later, after becoming the Holy Maiden of Miaojiang, she encountered Dong Lingjiu again.

This time, Dong Lingjiu wasn’t being pursued, her clothes were finer, and she seemed to have fared well over the years. Upon seeing her, Dong Lingjiu was as sincere as before, as if no confession had been made and no rejection given.

Suddenly, she wanted to test the love gu’s effect.

The ancient texts contained no records of the use of a love gu; she had invented it herself, using her own emotions and sincerity. On a whim, she decided to test whether this newly refined concoction could truly make someone fall in love with her.

She succeeded. Dong Lingjiu chose to stay by her side, his eyes brimming with affection for her. When asked that initial question, he would now answer that he loved her.

Life was beautiful. She had her beloved by her side, and Dong Lingjiu was utterly devoted to her, treating her with the utmost respect and tenderness.

Until the leaderless demonic cultivators, worried about their demon lord’s safety, began searching the cultivation world for their long-lost leader. They stormed into Miaojiang and, after slaughtering half the village at the foot of Black Mountain, finally found their demon lord Dong Lingjiu, who was accompanying Witch Lord Cheng on a date at the Red Temple, reminiscing about their past.

It turned out that Dong Lingjiu’s initial pursuit by demonic cultivators was due to internal strife within the demon sect, not because he was an innocent victim hunted by ruthless fiends.

Witnessing the brutal deaths of the villagers under the demonic cultivators’ blades, Witch Lord Cheng was consumed with rage. The one who shared her bed was none other than the most unforgivable of demonic cultivators, the mastermind behind the conflicts ravaging the cultivation world!

She decisively broke up with Dong Lingjiu, her reasoning simple since his love for her was merely the effect of the love gu, all she had to do was undo the gu.

Faced with his desperate pleas, she revealed the truth about the love gu to Dong Lingjiu. As if to reassure herself or force herself to let go, she pressed further: “Would you have fallen in love with me during this time?”

Stubborn as ever, with tears glistening in his eyes and teeth clenched, he forced out the words: “No.”

Then it was undone.

The moment the gu was lifted, something conceptual flowed into her consciousness. In an instant, she understood the purpose of the love gu and the consequences of its removal.

She trembled, then breathed a sigh of relief. Dong Lingjiu had said he wouldn’t love her. Without love or hatred, they could simply go their separate ways from then on.

Or so she thought.

Her thoughts were shattered by excruciating pain, leaving no time to ponder the truth of her own words. All she could see was her former lover, so close, tear stains still fresh on his face, yet his eyes blazing with boundless hatred.

And his life-bound divine weapon, the Soul-Severing Netherblade, radiating endless malevolence.

It was said that the demon lord was the daughter of a former demonic protector, capable of wielding the Soul-Severing Netherblade the treasure that safeguarded the demon realm since the age of five. This blade could shatter the three souls of all beings, extinguishing the heavenly soul, corrupting the earthly soul, and rendering the living soul witless.

Only in the face of overwhelming enmity, only when hatred ran bone-deep, would the demon lord summon his life-bound divine weapon.

Witch Lord Cheng stared blankly at the blade piercing her chest, blood gushing out. Her consciousness seemed to split into three, as if something was leaving her body. The pain was unbearable, but her mind was already fading.

Is this because of the backlash from the love gu, or do you truly hate me to the core?

She wanted to ask, but the words lingered on her lips, unspoken.

Scalding blood splattered across the ground of the Red Temple. Dong Lingjiu turned and left without another word, though he seemed to glance back once.

The Holy Maiden of Miaojiang died at the hands of the demon lord. Miaojiang swore eternal enmity with the demonic race. The cultivation world acknowledged Miaojiang’s gu masters, but due to their unique cultivation methods, they were always ostracized by the orthodox sects.

Later, it was said that Demon Lord Dong Lingjiu went mad. He launched three great wars in the cultivation world, once occupying the Five Continents and Black Mountain, scouring heaven and earth in search of something.

The Demon Lord had created a soul-fusion technique, targeting all red-tiled temple structures across the land. He confined powerful demonic energy within countless small temples, clouding the minds of the masses. Using equivalent exchange as bait, he deceived the infatuated into making wishes, seizing the life force and fortunes of those who entered the temples to nourish a shattered soul.

She, utilizing her exceptionally potent demonic energy, fulfilled the wishes of the infatuated, though these wishes often had some connection to the demonic cult.

Wu Juncheng’s three souls were completely shattered. Her earthly soul was retrieved by Dong Lingjiu and could only be imprisoned within the red temple where they first met. There, she watched everything unfold in a daze, unable to speak or change anything.

She could only watch as countless people made wishes filled with hope, only to lose their lives because of those very wishes. Their meager life force served as nourishment, helping her mend her shattered soul and repair her damaged spiritual form.

And she watched as Dong Lingjiu knelt daily on a worn-out cushion in that same red temple, his crimson eyes filled with emotions she could not comprehend.

Dong Lingjiu believed that as long as enough sacrifices were made, a shattered soul could be restored and see the light of day once more.

Later, when Dong Lingjiu’s demonic cultivation reached its peak and he was on the verge of dissipating into the world, he parasitized his own soul onto the Soul-Severing Netherblade, enabling him to seize the body of a later-generation Demon Lord.

Generation after generation, cycle after cycle, the once-familiar Dong Lingjiu changed greatly over the long passage of time. He no longer frequented the temple, growing increasingly extreme, violent, and wholly immersed in pure malevolence, descending into utter darkness.

The only thing that remained unchanged was his obsession with this matter.

However, Dong Lingjiu’s killing aura was too intense. Whenever he seized a body, it would rapidly decay. Even if the vessel was a young maiden, she would wither into an elderly woman on the brink of death after being possessed.

No vessel could last long. Dong Lingjiu’s method was to halt the possession halfway creating a dual-soul, dual-persona existence.

A two-faced being.

Wu Juncheng recounted many things, perhaps merely narrating her past regrets. In their youth, both she and the other had been too resolute. She did not wish for anyone to follow in her footsteps, yet Wu Ruo, guided by the intricate threads of fate, ended up walking a similar path.

However, the future can still be shaped.

The interlinked destinies of Wu Ruo and Luo Qingyi would not lead them down a similar tragic end.

“Good child, you and that young sword cultivator are both pure of soul. In the future, you must live without regrets, understanding and protecting one another.”

She paused, then continued, “Because of me, these red temples that should not exist continue to operate, causing countless cultivators to lose their lives. Perhaps meeting you is the last chance for me to seek help.”

The elder smiled and handed Wu Ruo a sword. Its blade shimmered like water, its hilt entwined with a silver serpent, the entire weapon glowing with a radiant light, a breathtaking sight.

It was Wu Ruo’s life bound sword.

Wu Ruo’s heart began to pound. She stood cautiously, not immediately taking the sword. Instead, she knelt once more and performed the bow of a disciple from a cultivation family toward Wu Juncheng.

“You!”

She did not finish her sentence, but a boundless warmth enveloped her entire being, as if a spiritual spring were flowing through her organs. Powerful spiritual energy nourished her heart, lungs, dantian, and her once-empty purple mansion.

A powerful surge of spiritual energy coalesced into an unrefined spiritual mass, swirling within her inner sanctum. It contained the cultivation base of the past and the life force provided by countless wish-makers, imprisoned within the Red Temple for over a thousand years.

She had a premonition that if she could successfully refine it, she might break through to the Mahayana stage, truly standing shoulder to shoulder with Luo Qingyi and ascending together.

“Good child. Your two friends are waiting for you inside the temple, and they are unharmed. As for the one outside, she has not yet taken over a body, her soul is unstable, and she will not enter the temple. You can refine the spiritual energy with peace of mind. Once you succeed, help me break these shackles and grant me release.”

Breaking the shackles meant shattering the Red Temple from the inside out. Without this source, Wu Juncheng’s earthly soul would quickly wither across the three realms, his three souls shattered, leaving him unable to even reincarnate.

“Senior, you!” Wu Ruo knelt anxiously, her natal sword planted in the ground before her. She gripped the hilt, using it to support herself as she rose, but stared blankly around at the empty silence.

Wu Juncheng’s voice had vanished.

Her vision suddenly brightened, no longer the illusion of a pitch-black wilderness, but the reality of her standing inside the Red Temple. Beside her were Du Chuncao, her face full of concern, and Lanting, whose complexion had improved.

“Chuncao!” she called out.

“Teacher?” Du Chuncao exclaimed in surprise. “I called you several times just now, but you didn’t respond. How are you now? Can you hear me?”

Wu Ruo replied hoarsely, “Yes. How long was I in that state?”

Du Chuncao rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a moment. “Just a few breaths. It wasn’t long, Lanting hasn’t even woken up yet.”

So, in that dark and bewildering world, the long conversation she had with Wu Juncheng had taken no time at all in reality.

Perhaps that illusion was her soul interacting with his fragmented soul in another dimension.

She touched her forehead, feeling the powerful mass of spiritual energy swirling and gathering within her inner sanctum.

If she refined it, she would have the strength to face the Right Envoy outside or rather, the next host Dong Lingjiu had set his sights on.

But Dong Lingjiu had lived for so many years, and she was just a novice cultivator. It was uncertain whether she could defeat him. Moreover, this spiritual energy mass was not merely her senior’s legacy; it contained the life force of countless wish-makers. She couldn’t…

If only Luo Qingyi were here.

The thought surfaced out of nowhere, and Wu Ruo mentally slapped herself, quickly dismissing the idea.

She didn’t want to selfishly believe that her love for the other was merely about exploiting their strength.

She ought to cultivate, to elevate her own abilities to the same level as Luo Qingyi’s, to stand side by side, rather than growing accustomed to their protection and complacently enjoying a sheltered life.

“Teacher, sit down. Let me treat your injuries. You were badly hurt earlier. I’ve been working hard to improve over the years trust my medical skills.”

Du Chuncao, growing restless beside her, chattered incessantly in Wu Ruo’s ear, reminiscent of their days in Miaojiang when she, as a little girl, would bask in the sun beside Wu Ruo, talking nonstop.

“Alright,” Wu Ruo said.

Du Chuncao instructed, “Sit down, take a deep breath, settle your energy, and don’t move. I’m going to insert the needles now.”

The opponent’s technique was quite practiced. With several bursts of internal force channeled into her meridians, she felt as though her soul was cycling through a celestial orbit. The spiritual energy circulated along a defined path within her body, bringing a sense of relief to her limbs and bones. In an instant, her energy was restored to its peak.

Under the support of the medical cultivator, Wu Ruo split the spiritual energy ball given by her senior into two parts. One part was the opponent’s own spiritual energy, while the other was the life force of the wish-makers.

A warm sensation spread throughout her body as she slowly refined the former. As her meditation time gradually increased, her power steadily grew, becoming stronger and more formidable.

“Ah! Ah, ah, ah! Teacher!” Du Chuncao suddenly exclaimed.

“What’s wrong?” Wu Ruo asked.

Du Chuncao set down the golden needle in her hand, but her sleeves fluttered gracefully as her spiritual energy circulated. As a medical cultivator of the Xinglin Sect, skilled in healing and recovery rather than combat, they were most sensitive to changes in the surrounding spiritual energy.

“Teacher, I can sense an extremely powerful spiritual energy fluctuation outside. It seems a righteous cultivator is fighting that half-faced villainess!”

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