After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 31

The study room had been completely ransacked. In a fit of rage, Yin Xi indiscriminately killed all the mute serving maids who had been in the back courtyard that night. Raising her pale hand, she said coldly, “Throw them into the great formation. It is their honor to become nourishment for my Lord.”

The immortal envoys, led by Ye Su, stood below the platform, not daring to speak.

Before coming here, their leader was not this woman. However, within the cult, the strong preyed on the weak. The woman’s appearance before them meant their previous immortal master was dead, and this group of immortal envoys naturally submitted to whoever came next.

But they were unfamiliar with Yin Xi’s temperament and could only tread carefully. As it looked now, this person was also a difficult master, much more ruthless than the previous one.

The previous master had been soft-hearted enough to set a bottom line when extracting the spiritual energy of the people in Huarong Village. Their actual cultivation would not drop below the middle Qi Condensation stage. If it did fall short, lifespan would be used to replace the cultivation.

Crossing the threshold of Qi Condensation generally extended one’s lifespan by one or two hundred years, which was truly much gentler compared to the previous requirement of sucking them dry.

But Yin Xi was clearly different. Thirty heads rolled at the wave of her hand, and with a single sentence, she took the souls of everyone to strengthen the array.

The woman glanced around dismissively and called out the name of the person standing at the very front. “Ye Su, is Yueping Town really that big? You’ve been searching for so long since last night, and you can’t find them?”

“Venerable One, perhaps they have already left Yueping Town?” Ye Su’s voice trembled, and he dared not lift his head.

“Oh, so you’re saying you are all useless trash?”

“No, no, no. I’ll immediately send people to search in Yuehua Mountain, right away.”

Yin Xi gave a mocking laugh, waved her hand in assent, and no longer paid attention to the few people sitting below. She turned and returned to the inner room, taking out a jade pendant.

In a moment, Lin Yuxue responded, “Are you done?”

Yin Xi sneered. “Axue, why didn’t you tell me that Ran Fanyin also came along?”

“She’s targeting you? Leave quickly, and don’t expose clan matters.” The young girl’s voice was tinged with anxiety, urging her to leave.

“Leave? Are you joking! Ning Songwu has already drunk the spirit-raising medicine. How could I possibly let go of this opportunity? What you couldn’t get, I will take.”

After a moment of silence, Lin Yuxue said coldly, “Ran Fanyin treasures her disciple very much. Yin Xi, I command you to leave.”

Yin Xi cut off the transmission and casually tossed the jade pendant into the armor placed nearby.

Aside from the fact that her documents had been completely stolen, she had finally managed to feed the pill to Ning Songwu; how could she give up now? If she could seize the item her Master wanted first, she could advance another rank sooner.

Even if she couldn’t get it, taking control of Yueping Town and perfecting her Master’s arrangements in the southeast was the most pressing matter right now. Otherwise, the lost materials would be enough to get her thrown into the Thousand Caves and turned into nourishment.

She could not retreat.

Failing to kill one person in the Thousand Caves back then meant she was now constrained by Lin Yuxue everywhere. This feeling was truly unpleasant.

Yin Xi tapped her forehead, summoned a person to enter, and said lazily, “When does the Immortal Master’s ritual to save people begin?”

“Everything is as scheduled.”

【This so-called Immortal Master is truly an animal, not even sparing children? But why didn’t Little Tao…**

【Shizun really… I could cry to death… How can she always sense my mood changes so accurately?**

【I really am a little sad…**

【But for these people, I have no reason to blame them. The limitation of productivity is here…**

“Your disciple wants to put on a show,” Ning Songwu said, rarely sounding so firm. She detailed her script word by word, and then her clear eyes fell on Ran Fanyin, waiting for her conclusion.

Ran Fanyin shook her head. “No. Not only is it too dangerous to attempt a breakthrough outdoors without an array or pills, but your Master cannot even be at your side to protect you. It’s unacceptable.”

“Shizun, there is an array. The Spirit Gathering Array is set up here, and it would be a waste not to use it. As for the pills, the herbs have been gathered. Your disciple can envelop them with spiritual energy, and they can still be used.”

The habitually taciturn person was unusually talkative today, as if afraid Ran Fanyin would refuse outright. She went over the risks of the matter and her planned countermeasures several times, finally tightly gripping Ran Fanyin’s hand.

She was just short of sprouting a pair of puppy ears and a small puppy tail that would wag pitifully in the air.

And it would have to be a little white dog with a pair of black ears, a black tail, and four little black paws.

Ran Fanyin secretly mused. She wondered if Helan knew any dog spirits. She wanted to see if a genuine little dog spirit lied just like her little disciple.

But she kept her face straight and asked coolly, “When did you come up with such a meticulous plan?”

Why hadn’t she even thought of it in her mind, so much so that she only found out today, and now she couldn’t refuse?

Ning Songwu blinked, stating frankly, “I stayed up all night drawing and planning on paper, and this is the result of that night.”

“Shizun…” The young girl bit her thin lip, her beautiful eyes full of struggle. As if making a decision, she spoke softly: “…I beg you.”

【Shizun, please rub it a little more. Let me be secretly weak again, just for a moment.**

【Shizun said to handle it myself. I’ll give it a try.**

South of Chaomu Peak, in the Shangyun Sect—

Ever since she was thrown out of Chaomu Peak by Ran Fanyin years ago, Lin Yuxue was forbidden to step onto the main peak without permission.

But the entrance to the great array wouldn’t be on the main peak, would it?

Lin Yuxue decided to start her search from the southern side of the mountain range.

Thanks to the sect’s relatively loose management of inner disciples’ free time, her movement between the peaks was largely unrestricted and quite easy.

However, the south is associated with water and the north with fire. Would an array core, which is based on cold, really place its entrance on this side?

As Lin Yuxue searched carefully, a pain shot through her chest, and she knelt on the spot.

This was the woman’s usual way of contacting her.

Enduring the dull ache, she found a hidden spot and took out the jade pendant. The woman’s voice, cold yet laced with anger, suddenly floated out—

“I gave you a year’s worth of medicine, and in turn, you destroy the southeast region I painstakingly arranged? Lin Yuxue, did you think I wouldn’t pay attention to you for this year?”

The young girl tightly clutched her chest and gritted her teeth. “I warned Yin Xi, but she didn’t listen. I couldn’t help it.”

The woman gave a cold laugh. “I remember you can control her. Her rank isn’t as high as yours.”

“They don’t submit to me. After all, I only have middle Core Formation strength. My talent can only convince you, not them.”

Inside the jade pendant, the woman’s voice paused, then she laughed a moment later: “Oh? Are you suggesting…”

A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on her back. Lin Yuxue quickly shook her head. “No, Master. I don’t mean anything else. I will find a way.”

The transmission jade pendant suddenly dimmed. The young girl wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and slowly stood up, leaning on the ground.

A small stone was easily nudged, rolling down the slope into the boundless darkness.

Lin Yuxue leaned against the wall to catch her breath. It was a long time before she realized—that small stone just now seemed to have rolled very far.

An inexplicable thought came to her, followed by joy.

For some reason, her intuition told her that what she was looking for seemed to be right here. The moment the thought surfaced, a map flashed across her mind. Although it only showed one path, it was winding and complex.

The destination was the core of the Jue Tian Array (Heaven-Severing Array) that she had been searching for all along.

How could this be?

The young girl held her forehead, walking inward despite her disbelief. After just two steps, the map in her mind became a bit clearer.

Could it be here!

She gripped the jade pendant, injecting spiritual power into it. Just as it lit up, the woman’s furious voice came through: “A bunch of useless trash! The Yuehua Mountain array was just broken, hmm? I no longer want the living hearts. Just kill Ning Songwu directly!”

Lin Yuxue took a few deep breaths and said flatly, “Master, I seem to have found the entrance to the Jue Tian Array.”

The woman calmed down a bit, her voice light: “Axue, remember the route and then kill her directly.”

“She managed to destroy the largest Spirit Gathering Array in the southeast before she even fully developed… Kill her directly, and then come to the Demon Domain. I have a way to keep you alive.”

【I am a social butterfly, I am a social butterfly, I am a social butterfly…**

【Will Shizun have a person she is fond of in the future? Will she get married?**

【I don’t want Shizun to get married…**

The red string suddenly lit up, pulling Ning Songwu to fly up, barely dodging the attack. In her mind, Ran Fanyin’s voice floated: “First time. One thousand laps of the ‘Returning Door Circling Mountain’ footwork practice.”

This was discussed last night. At that time, Ran Fanyin had said casually, “Her cultivation was clearly raised by sucking dry that demon, so it’s unstable. Your strength is more than enough. Therefore, I will only protect you three times. Every time you use it, you have to increase your practice.”

She didn’t expect to use the first one so soon.

Ning Songwu pursed her lips, not daring to be distracted. She gripped her long sword, and as the force on her wrist loosened, she created ice under her feet to twist her body. Before Yin Xi could react, the long sword went straight into her shoulder. Blood spread, and the cold froze half of the woman’s body. Just as she was about to twist the sword to completely sever the arm, a burst of spiritual energy suddenly erupted. She was flung back, holding the sword, and landed heavily.

She knelt on the ground, panting heavily, and looked up at Yin Xi. The extreme cold had frozen half of the woman’s arm. She couldn’t possibly—

The young girl forgot to breathe, staring blankly at Yin Xi’s actions.

The woman waved her pale hand, summoning the man standing at the side to guard the law. She seized his neck, twisted forcefully, and a blast of cold spiritual energy suddenly erupted and then retracted. Ning Songwu’s hard-won broken arm was restored to its original state.

The young girl opened her mouth, the name Ye Su stuck in her throat, unable to be uttered.

The man quickly withered away, his eyeballs bulging as if they were about to fall out, filled with terror—a coldness that even the frost could not cover. The man, sucked dry, was like a piece of trash. Yin Xi didn’t even look at him, casually tossing him off the platform.

The ordinary people watching the show had already descended into chaos when she began extracting life force. However, the venue was surrounded by immortal envoys, and despite their anxiety, they couldn’t get out. All kinds of curses and foul language were hurled at the people on the stage. The vulgar words were more hurtful than rotten eggs.

After all, they couldn’t distinguish who was good or bad on the stage, so they generally cursed everyone together.

Yin Xi smiled, working her shoulder as she stood up. “Look, they’re cursing you.”

Ning Songwu rolled her eyes. 【Big Sister, not even primary school students fall for your provocation trick.**

Her mind raced quickly. Right now, the most important thing was getting the common people below the stage to leave. A chaotic crowd was too easily prone to causing trouble.

Yin Xi clearly wouldn’t give her time to rest. Half-person-thick vines wrapped in iron blocks smashed down repeatedly. She blocked them left and right, and also had to dodge the small, thin vines that occasionally darted out to grab her ankles.

But Ning Songwu did not merely defend. The snowflakes drifting lazily in the air seemed to gain purpose, suddenly sharpening. Yin Xi’s robe was quickly torn to shreds, even drawing blood.

Yin Xi gritted her teeth tightly. The frequency of the vines emerging increased by several folds. The snowy blades tangled with these vines.

Things piled up one after another, creating a chaotic and busy situation.

【The reason she escaped disaster is that her parents didn’t love her, and even despised her.** ⊙

【That’s a bit absurd.**

【But it was caused by their own greed. How can it be considered pitiful?**

【But, looking at that child whose bone age is only four, who has lost more than ten years of his life for nothing, and may lose more in the future. It’s even unlikely that this village will have any so-called descendants… If this cultivation technique spreads…**

Ning Songwu sat cross-legged in the Spirit Gathering Array.

Her goal was clear: to summon lightning to destroy this Spirit Gathering Array, and at the same time, use this Tribulation Thunder to establish the image of a god in the hearts of the people of Huarong Village.

After all, to change these simple people who faced the loess soil day after day, the simplest and most effective way was to establish another god or Buddha they could believe in.

A startling thunderbolt descended. The pain was expected, but the sound was unexpected.

She did not hear the anticipated thunderous roar. Instead, she heard a flurry of voices.

At first, she thought she had tinnitus. She shook her head, but the voices became clearer.

“Demon! Isn’t that demon dead?”

“What demon? She is clearly a celestial being.”

“No matter what, she died many years ago, …, her body and spirit destroyed. How is she seen again? Logically, she shouldn’t enter the cycle of reincarnation, and also… ah.”

“Alas, it’s a long story…”

Ning Songwu strained her ears to continue listening. Another thunderbolt struck. The previous noise completely dispersed, replaced by a slightly familiar laugh.

She did not open her eyes, but in the special space formed by boundless consciousness, she saw a green-robed cultivator appear opposite her, also sitting cross-legged, with her hands forming a Dharma seal, seemingly undergoing a tribulation as well.

The white mist was vast, still obscuring the woman’s face.

Ning Songwu stirred her mind, and her own voice rang out in her consciousness: “Who are you? Are you the sword spirit of the Twin Snow?”

The woman shook her head.

Another lightning bolt struck, but this one was much lighter on her body, seemingly diverted by the woman in her consciousness who took half of it.

Ning Songwu asked somewhat urgently, “Who exactly are you? How are you affecting the intensity of the thunder tribulation?”

The woman ignored her. After a long time, she clicked her tongue softly, saying helplessly, “She got away.”

“Who got away?” Ning Songwu’s internal alarm bells rang loudly. However, the pressure of the thunder tribulation had even seeped into her mind, so she could only sit in place and look at the green-robed woman.

The woman moved. Ning Songwu could feel a pair of sharp eyes piercing the white mist and falling straight onto her. As the woman stood up, her gaze also shifted until the woman was fully standing.

She looked a bit shorter than Ran Fanyin—for some unknown reason, she inexplicably wanted to make this comparison—but with the green robe accentuating her figure, she was tall and straight, resembling a bamboo shoot. Her voice was clear and elegant, and she said softly, “You did very well. You found many blind spots. Keep up the good work.”

【If it can be changed, maybe this opportunity can also change the villagers’ perceptions of girls.**

【Even if it’s just a small village.**

【This should be what Axin wanted to say but didn’t. That’s why when Shizun said her health wasn’t good, Axin must have considered this point.**

【His hesitation, perhaps, means he has already regretted it.**

【…This question, not choosing the latter option would be an injustice to myself.**

After two days of commotion, the theft at the Immortal Master’s residence settled down. On the day the ceremony began, it was mainly tourists who came to watch. There weren’t many people from the town itself.

There were immortal sects near Yueping Town, and many of the townspeople were only interested in the宗莲教 (Sect Lotus Cult)’s boast that everyone could cultivate. Now, this so-called Immortal Master was robbed before even starting and couldn’t catch the supposed culprit after two days of searching, making them look like a clown.

Yin Xi sat on the main seat, dressed in a heavy purple robe, her hands palm-up and clasped in front of her. She glanced at the people below and whispered, “Didn’t the local official say he would organize more people?”

Ye Su, dressed in grey and black, also kept his voice low: “We urged them. Only this many people have come so far. Venerable One, it’s time to begin, or the Master will hold us accountable.”

Yin Xi took a deep breath, suppressing the cold light in her eyes. She strained to force a smile toward the common people.

The trouble Ning Songwu caused was more than she had imagined. But she had searched all around Yuehua Mountain and investigated several sects, yet found no trace of her.

It seemed that having a peerless expert following you truly allowed one to act recklessly.

Greed surged from her heart. These people below the stage were all her nourishment. Once she consumed the people of this half-town, she could also increase her rank, and then she would settle the score with Ning Songwu.

Her speech was just a set of predefined rhetoric. Yin Xi recited it numbly, randomly picked an eager man onto the platform, grasped his hand, and prepared to activate her spiritual energy to “enlighten” him.

Just then, a great wind suddenly swept over their heads. In the late spring, a single snowflake fluttering down was extremely conspicuous.