After Infusing Love Poison to the Cold Sword Sovereign - Chapter 64

Luo Qingyi slowly descended to the ground, her spine still ramrod straight. Her snow-white hair and pristine white robes stood out starkly against the predominantly dark hues of the demon realm, appearing both strikingly out of place and ethereally transcendent.

The edge of her sword emitted a faint white glow. In a land devoid of sunlight or moonlight, she resembled the moon sinking below the horizon, a solitary splash of brightness in the field of vision.

“…” Luo Qingyi lightly covered her mouth, then quickly lowered her hand. Her expression was as cold as frost, her gaze sharp like icy blades as she coldly stared at the defeated Right Envoy.

No, something was wrong.

Wu Ruo knew Luo Qingyi well when she eliminated demonic cultivators, she never left loose ends, always ensuring a single, fatal strike. If her enemy wasn’t dead, Luo Qingyi wouldn’t simply stand still.

Luo Qingyi was bluffing. The real her was already at the end of her strength, barely maintaining her upright posture to preserve the dignified bearing of an immortal elder.

Wu Ruo steadied her mind and caught a glimpse of Jiang Qingbei approaching as well. The latter had recovered from her post-sword-sickness dizziness and shot Wu Ruo a meaningful look.

“Something’s wrong with Senior Sister.”

Jiang Qingbei had initially assumed her senior sister would have no trouble dealing with a mere demonic cultivator and had even considered finding a spot to wait it out not that she hadn’t thought of helping, but Luo Qingyi’s sword techniques were notoriously overwhelming. Every time she tried to join the fray, she ended up accidentally injured and scolded, so she’d wisely learned to stay back.

Besides, she had barged into the Red Temple and unexpectedly found Wu Ruo and her companion surely that counted as a great achievement!

But this was the first time she had seen her revered senior sister not finishing off the enemy, but merely standing there upholding the dignity of an immortal elder!

“I’ll go out!”

Before Jiang Qingbei could finish, she saw Wu Ruo rush out without waiting for her, pushing open the temple doors and charging straight toward Luo Qingyi.

Not to be outdone, Jiang Qingbei followed suit, though she didn’t go to check on her senior sister she had the sense not to play the third wheel. Instead, she scanned the surroundings, wrinkling her nose in disgust at the sight of the barely breathing Right Envoy. So ugly.

The biggest threat at the moment was a roaring green Taotie-pao not far away.

She summoned her lifebound sword and swung it down fiercely.

“What are you roaring for! Trying to be a third wheel? I’m not even shining, why are you butting in!”

While Jiang Qingbei was happily battling the monster, Wu Ruo was running forward without a care.

“Qingyi!”

Wu Ruo ran swiftly, spiritual energy gathering in her palms. Her eyes were fixed solely on that upright figure that touch of plain white standing stark against the oppressive darkness, looking so fragile.

Nothing else in her mind mattered anymore. Not the love curse, not the wishes, not the tangled conflicts.

Luo Qingyi was injured. She wanted to hold her.

Just wanted to hold her.

Hearing the commotion, Luo Qingyi glanced over, a flicker of surprise and confusion crossing her face, as if wondering where she had come from.

“Ah Ruo.” Her voice was very soft.

But before Wu Ruo could reach her, Luo Qingyi suddenly blinked, then quickly opened her eyes and urgently said, “You don’t come any closer.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

As soon as she asked, Wu Ruo realized something was off. When Luo Qingyi had spoken to her earlier, the first sentence was uttered when they were still far apart, and she couldn’t see clearly. But with the second sentence, the other wasn’t speaking to her.

“No, no!” Luo Qingyi murmured to herself.

“It’s me!” Wu Ruo finally rushed before the other person, grabbing their arm firmly, only to realize there were no severe bleeding wounds on their body, they were practically unscathed.

Except for one thing.

Their spiritual energy was raging uncontrollably, their qi flowing in reverse, surging wildly through their limbs and meridians, igniting all the once-calm and gentle spiritual energy.

Their inner energy had lost its balance, meridians were in turmoil, and spiritual power was growing wildly yet impurely.

A precursor to qi deviation.

A deeply unsettling premonition rose in her heart. She gripped the other’s arm tightly, channeling pure spiritual energy into them in an attempt to soothe the agitated inner core.

Luo Qingyi, held by her, did not resist as she usually would invincible and untouchable but instead relaxed obediently, leaning against Wu Ruo’s shoulder, breathing in ragged gasps.

“Ah Ruo.” The other’s voice was muffled, as if holding back a mouthful of blood, unwilling to cough or swallow.

“It’s me, it really is me. After I left with you, I found out the demonic cultivators had captured Chuncao. So I went with Lanting to break into the prison and rescue her. On our way out, the Right Enforcer discovered us, and we hid inside the Red Temple.”

She normally disliked explaining so much, but now she wished she could recount every single detail.

“I also learned about some things from the past. Qingyi, I was wrong before.”

So, please don’t succumb to inner demons, please don’t. I’ve only just learned everything, the truth you can’t fall now.

“Mmm.”

Luo Qingyi seemed to swallow the blood in her throat, panting, then suddenly pushed Wu Ruo away.

“Don’t get too close to me.”

Wu Ruo froze, staring at her in disbelief. She moved closer again and heard the other speak haltingly: “That Right Enforcer is…”

Is? Is what?

Does she mean the Right Enforcer is still alive? Or that the Right Enforcer is someone Luo Qingyi knows?

Wu Ruo swiftly turned around, gathering spiritual energy at the tip of her sword. The newly comprehended magical power swirled around her, making every strand of her hair seem to glow.

Her gaze finally settled on the Right Enforcer.

The Right Enforcer’s body was battered almost everywhere, blood gushing out in streams. Her robes, which had once covered her limbs completely, were now torn to shreds, revealing her arms.

Just like her face one side was the warm, fair skin of a young woman, while the other.

Was covered in wrinkles, mottled with brownish-black spots that spread across one side of her arm, already in a completely aged state.

The shattered Asura mask lay not far in front of her, having fallen to the ground during her abrupt descent. It was cracked all over, covered in dense, branch-like fractures, beyond repair.

She was clearly defeated, had crashed hard onto the ground, completely incapacitated, facing the fate of being executed by the righteous cultivators. Wu Ruo, Jiang Qingbei, and even Du Chuncao who had also rushed out, clutching a handful of golden needles stood ready.

But as if blind to Wu Ruo, she crawled obsessively toward the Red Temple.

“I have to go in. I can’t let that thing parasitize me, I can’t!”

Several qingtiao pao followed behind her. She dragged herself over a glaring trail of blood, and the monsters licked up her spilled blood.

The woman lowered her head, strands of hair stained with brownish-black blood obscuring most of her face. She reached out a withered, skeletal hand, brushed the hair to one side, and revealed her face.

Wu Ruo held her breath.

This half of the face had always been concealed by a mask, never shown to the outside world. But now, the Asura mask had completely shattered, and the Right Envoy of the Demon Sect finally revealed her true face.

Just as the rumors said, half was a maiden, half was a ghost.

The skin on the aged half was as decayed and withered as the maiden half was delicate and lovely.

Just like eighteen years ago on the cliffs of Miaojiang, two young girls, full of dreams for the future, sat on a rock and imagined what was to come.

But that once closest friend her gentle, kind-hearted, unambitious friend who got along with everyone now lay on the ground, revealing a familiar half of her face.

Dark blood flowed from the maiden’s crimson lips, dripping onto the cracked, parched, and scorched yellow earth. It did not seep in but pooled into a small puddle, flowing just like that.

“I don’t want! I don’t want to be parasitized. I don’t want to die, I don’t!”

The Right Envoy she brushed aside her disheveled hair, evenly covering her ugly left side, leaving only half of a delicate, youthful face. Step by step, she crawled toward the Red Temple.

“Ah” Xiang.

Wu Ruo did not finish calling the other’s name. She uttered a single syllable quickly and then abruptly stopped.

This was no longer her friend.

Her friend was the one who had shared joy and sorrow with her, sneaked down the mountain together, copied clan rules as punishment together, stood outside the classroom corridor for detention, and laughed knowingly with just a single glance.

The one who, when she and Jin Hua were sulking and refused to eat, secretly brought her pancakes, afraid she would go hungry. The one who, in class, timidly yet resolutely stood up to support her when she questioned the elders. The one who, at the edge of a cliff, made a vow with her to roam the martial world and achieve great things in the cultivation realm.

Not this dual-faced ghost, leading tens of thousands of demon troops, slaughtering Miaojiang to its end, and cruelly harming Lan Ting and the other clans.

A brutal monster.

Yet, though the sound was faint, A Xiang still heard it. Her turbid eyes shifted, and she finally adjusted to a more comfortable position, catching sight of Wu Ruo’s face.

Her body was twisted in a grotesque, stitched-together manner, her neck misaligned with her torso, yet she clung stubbornly to life, as if some vital demonic energy sustained her.

“Hahaha!” A Xiang tried to speak, but all that came out were wheezing, breathy sounds and thick, black blood. Her lovely cheek flushed with an excited hue, burning with intense heat heavy and frenzied.

“Wu… Ruo.”

A Xiang laughed wretchedly, halting her crawl toward the Red Temple. She screamed hysterically, not as if speaking to Wu Ruo but to someone else: “It’s her! Someone as mediocre as me, why did you choose my body as a vessel? Look, the one you’ve always dreamed of—”

She merely laughed maniacally, and by the time anyone realized what she intended to do, it was already too late.

“Come on, stop me!”

She seemed to utter a few incomprehensible syllables. Several Qingtao Pao gathered around her, lapping greedily at her blood, and in the next moment, they lunged fiercely at Wu Ruo and Luo Qingyi, tearing into them with ferocity!

Swish!

Wu Ruo stood with her sword drawn. In the flash of cold steel, only the brilliance of heaven and earth remained. Her sword techniques were tinged with the whiteness of snow, pure and clear.

She showed no fear, even wearing a smile.

One sword, one slash, one strike, one withdrawal.

The sword gleam in her hand almost became a residual shadow of escaping light, with powerful spiritual energy swirling around her. She stood in front of Luo Qingyi, at a distance neither too close nor too far, shielding the other behind her.

“Falling Snow Style.” She repeated this move over and over, using constancy to counter endless changes. The sword light reflected countless glimmers in the air until, finally, the dust settled.

Just a few hours earlier, the Qing Jiao Pao, which she had needed to challenge beyond her level to counter-kill, was no longer a match for her. She was no longer afraid.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and gave Luo Qingyi a reassuring smile, only to realize the other wasn’t looking at her. Instead, Luo Qingyi lowered her gaze, left hand gripping her right arm, as if forcibly suppressing something.

Worried, she glanced at Luo Qingyi before turning her attention back to Ah Xiang. Even if it was her former friend, today she had to…

Purge the ranks.

Luo Qingyi had already severely wounded Ah Xiang for her sake; she had to deliver the final blow.

Wu Ruo looked at Ah Xiang again, her expression turning icy. A powerful sword intent* flowed and circulated at the tip of her blade, and with a hurricane-like stance, she struck fiercely toward the opponent’s forehead, targeting the Zifu.

Clang!

Her sword did not reach its target. As her wind-splitting sword technique drove straight in, locking onto the Miaojiang traitor, a surge of intense demonic energy erupted from the other’s body, stronger than ever before, shooting straight into the sky.

It was like a cry to the heavens.

“Ah! I forgot after you entered the Hundred Coffins Grand Array, you’d fall into weakness! You can’t possess a healthy person, you can only possess me, ugh!”

Ah Xiang wore a mocking smile, already on the brink of death, yet she continued to spew curses, her face shrouded in dark malevolence in contrast to the pale complexion of a cultivator, righteous cultivators turned pale when they lost spiritual energy, while demonic cultivators remained purely black.

“Ah, ugh! Ugh you old thing! You bastard! Go die, ahhh! No, don’t think you can replace me!”

Her voice of resistance grew fainter. At the final moment, her face contorted even more, wrinkles rapidly crawling over half of her youthful cheek, now dark and stormy, now emitting a fierce and terrifying laugh.

Suddenly, the damaged shell of a body burst forth with a blinding light, swiftly escaping from her forehead, fleeing in a pitiful and wretched manner.

“You think you can.”

Her voice was sharp and piercing, like the sound of a startling gong echoing across the desolate wilderness. Then, abruptly, it vanished.

Immediately after, an overwhelmingly tangible pressure descended upon the demon realm, like an ancient, worn-out bell heavy and oppressive. Almost fixed in place, unable to move.

Wu Ruo felt her heartbeat intensify under the immense pressure, her entire body weighed down as if by Mount Tai. She couldn’t move her legs, not an ounce of strength to shift.

She shook her head, quickly regaining clarity, but in what seemed like the blink of an eye, everything before her, including Ah Xiang, the shell of the Right Envoy had quietly disappeared.

Only the corpses of several damaged Qing Jiao Pao remained, covered in dense sword marks. The monsters lay scattered on the ground, with no one to collect their bodies, left to be devoured and gnawed by the demon realm’s wild beasts.

Ah Xiang was gone.

No. To be precise, it was after Ah Xiang was possessed another soul manipulated Ah Xiang’s body and used its powerful demonic energy to escape.

In the final second, the skin on Ah Xiang’s face had completely aged, tainted by the ancient demon lord’s malevolent aura, transforming her into an elderly woman with a face full of wrinkles.

As for the other party.

Wu Ruo could not deal with them according to clan rules. In fact, if the other party fell into her hands, she would be at a loss.

After all, that person was her once closest friend.

Moreover, the other party’s current plight was inextricably linked to her. If she hadn’t yielded the first place to Ah Xiang, perhaps the other would still be living peacefully in the Miao village.

With a sigh, she settled her heart and turned her gaze back to Luo Qingyi, whom she was protecting behind her.

Luo Qingyi’s complexion seemed to be growing increasingly worse, her lips losing their color, tightly clenched, and her face pale, pale?

No, not pale, it even seemed a bit dark.

She noticed that the hair at Luo Qingyi’s temples was faintly darkening, a black mist gradually spreading outward, slowly creeping across her face.

Damn it.

Cultivators nourish their bodies with spiritual energy, which is white, while its counterpart is the black demonic or malevolent energy.

Luo Qingyi’s eyes were closed, whether because she couldn’t open them or because she was seeing too many things and didn’t dare to open them.

“Luo Qingyi, wake up. Can you hear me?”

The other person clutched her chest as if suppressing some agony. When Wu Ruo spoke the first time, Luo Qingyi seemed not to hear at all, as if it went in one ear and out the other.

“Wake up?”

The second time, Luo Qingyi finally moved.

She opened her dazed eyes, turned her face toward the sound, and spoke word by word, as if all her strength had drained away.

“Ah Ruo…” she whispered.

She closed her eyes again, not to escape the ever-present inner demons, but to focus intently on the voice of her beloved.

“I… the Right Envoy just planted a heart demon curse on me. It’s irreversible and unsolvable. Once it takes effect, my actions will be no different from those of a demonic cultivator, perhaps even more destructive. Ah Ruo, before I fully succumb, kill me.”

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