After My Thoughts Were Read, My Master Led Me to Change My Fate - Chapter 37

The two pairs of eyes met unexpectedly, and the more mature, aqueous eyes curved into a slight smile first. She also patted Ning Songwu’s head, seemingly not wanting to show favoritism and perhaps to soothe her uneasy heart.

“The father of Leyan and I are both children of the fourth member of the Yuan generation. Back then, Elder Brother stood up for me, making the already fractured relationship between the Ning and Yue families even more split. Later, he had a conflict with Ning Yuanyue and eventually… Leyan was left behind. She was not favored in the clan and happened to come here. I taught her cultivation… No matter what, you must take Leyan away from here.”

Ning Leyan stiffened for a moment and nestled closer, “Auntie, you must leave with me.”

Ning Songwu nodded slightly, “We will leave together. I want to know why Ning Yuanyue and Ning Yuanlie, both only at the Body Fusion stage, were able to severely injure Aunt Cheng to such an extent?”

Ning Xiujie clearly reacted to the address, hesitatingly repeating, “Aunt… Cheng? Cheng Yunhuan, you… never mind. You should know that although the four great families are not harmonious, they share honor and disgrace. Yunhuan acted rashly and faced not only the not-so-strong Ning family but also the encirclement of the other three great families. This time, you won because it was unexpected.”

“Unexpected… is it…” Ning Songwu frowned, casually conjured an identical ring on her finger, and pushed Ning Xiujie away. The woman instantly realized something and reverted to her weary, exhausted state.

“Unexpected? How interesting.”

The next moment, the door was kicked open, and several torches burst into the room.

Outside the Lingyuan Abyss Palace—

The walk here was utterly smooth. Standing at the entrance of the palace, Ran and He Lan both realized the true purpose of Ye Wuchen’s invitation.

Ran Fanyin, however, smiled, looking down at the ground stained red with blood decades ago. She wondered if the fiend who led the masses to raise the banner of rebellion and caused the Lingyuan Abyss to run with blood decades ago would have imagined that a similar fate would befall her again decades later.

This time, there wasn’t even much resistance.

Finally, she saw a round jade pendant on the ground. After a moment of thought, she still chose to bend down and pick it up. She examined it carefully in her hand and found a small carving underneath the pendant.

A lazy, resting Nine-Tailed Fox lay quietly on the carving, smooth and clean as if it had been newly carved.

This was Ye Wuchen’s insignia. It should be a pendant that only an official under her command could wear. Now, it lay quietly in the dirt, without even much blood on it. Either the pendant’s owner was extremely careless, or they had abandoned it to defect to another master. So-called righteous causes were nothing more than this.

For the livelihood of the fiendkind of the Lingyuan Abyss, for the legitimacy of the royal family, for the humans who were inexplicably attacked due to Ye Wuxin’s unfounded suspicion, and for the relationship between the Human, Demon, and Fiend Clans.

With so many banners, she couldn’t think of a reason for Ye Wuchen to fail.

He Lan Mianmian settled the injured and walked over, gently holding Ran Fanyin’s arm and whispering, “Senior Sister?”

“Hm? What is it, Mianmian?”

He Lan Mianmian walked over because Ran Fanyin had been standing there in a daze, playing with the jade pendant. Seeing that her expression was normal, she was relieved. She gently hugged her arm and swayed it, saying coquettishly, “I thought Senior Sister was angry, after all, the livelihood of the people is destroyed and living beings are plunged into misery. I know my dear Senior Sister can’t bear to see that.”

Ran Fanyin pinched the little girl’s face and said helplessly, “That should be sadness, not anger.”

Besides, what was there to be angry about?

It was a process of mutual utilization. She needed the Fiend Clan to stand behind her and not betray her at the crucial moment, so she had to show enough sincerity. Just one Luo Sheng, one small help, how could that be enough?

It was the same with Fenghua. Fenghua wasn’t stupid. She naturally knew the principle of ‘the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.’ Even more so now that the situation was becoming clearer. She took advantage of the pressure on her to seal her door and recuperate. Sometimes, not responding to any olive branch was also a response.

But she needed to add more weight to the Demon Clan’s side. After all, the temptation thrown by the Tiancheng Immortal Gate was currently heavier on the scales than the weight they offered.

What else was there to write in…

Ran Fanyin tapped her arm with her finger, her gaze lowered, pondering for a long time. A pair of cloud boots dusted with a little dirt stopped in front of her.

Ye Wuchen: “Do you want to go inside and take a look?”

Ran Fanyin tilted her head: “I would be honored.”

【But Master let me decide all of this myself, didn’t she?】

【I think my decision was pretty good.】

【But I don’t think there was anything wrong… Is Master angry that I saved Huarong Village at the end? But…】

【I was afraid you… wouldn’t agree.】

【Didn’t you agree then…】

【Are there girls who cannot get cultivation resources because of their gender?】

【Is this Master’s mother? Her biological mother? A Mortal-grade Ice Spiritual Root gave birth to a Heaven-grade Fire Spiritual Root?】

【Actually, I didn’t really want to break through that much… It would be enough just to be alive.】

Ran Fanyin scrutinized the person in front of her. The splash of red clothing was particularly striking, and she had bounced up to her from the moment she saw her. This person was slightly shorter than her, so she was slightly looking up at her at this moment, a smile on her lips but not speaking, seeming to wait for her to begin.

Ran Fanyin spoke gently and politely, “Presumably, you are the Formation Spirit of the Trapped Earth Formation, and also Senior Xiao Wanchen?”

“Mhm, that’s me.”

“Senior has gone to such great lengths, using Jiang Mang as bait to invite the two of us here. I imagine it’s not just to let us see this so-called secret realm, is it?”

“Mhm, continue.”

Fairy Ran also smiled and said, “Senior wishes to tell me that Ning’er actually did not cross a minor world, but was recuperating here during the time she couldn’t return to her body, is that right?”

Xiao Wanchen finally changed her smile, adopting a bit of smugness, and said, “You guessed wrong this time. She truly entered a minor world, not this kind of illusion.”

She seemed to be waiting for Ran Fanyin to show confusion, and Ran Fanyin was indeed quite confused.

She knew there were three thousand minor worlds in the universe, and their world was just one of them, but crossing worlds was extremely difficult. Could the privilege of a Formation Spirit be so great?

Xiao Wanchen chuckled, “There are immortals in the Ninth Heaven, and below the Ninth Heaven are three thousand minor worlds, and below the minor worlds are minor minor worlds. They surround the minor world, just as the minor world surrounds the Ninth Heaven.”

“Among the minor minor worlds, there are some blank worlds. I made a deal with the Ten Kings Hall, obtained data from other worlds, and constructed a world belonging to Ning Songwu with her consciousness as the main body. How is it? Not bad, right? So, you must have also noticed that Teacher Lin inside…”

The unspoken words suddenly sent waves surging through Ran Fanyin’s heart.

If that world was truly built on the foundation of Ning Songwu’s consciousness, then the people inside…

However, Xiao Wanchen spoke lightly, but Ran Fanyin listened with apprehension. “Senior, why did you do this?”

Controlling a minor minor world sounded extremely difficult. The price paid might not be any less than hers. Why would a non-relative go to such lengths for them?

Xiao Wanchen dropped the playful expression and said, “You are all trying to save the world; how can I drag my feet? I can’t help much with the fighting, as I’m not good at it, so why not change some things fundamentally?”

“It’s not enough for you to change. Having foresight and guidance is also not enough. The person involved must know her own heart.”

“In other words, for the core of the plan to have her own perspective from the start instead of merely drifting with the current, she must have her own complete life, not the numb existence of her previous life.”

She waved her hand impatiently, “In short, that’s roughly it. You can figure out the specifics yourselves.”

Ran Fanyin couldn’t ask anything else, so she said, “Thank you, Senior,” and then paused before asking, “Where is Ning’er now?”

“She needs to know the price you paid, so naturally, she went to the final part of your memory in the previous life.”

“My memory?”

“I know you can’t recall the specifics. There’s no way; only I can restore the conversation with the gods. Don’t worry, I helped you keep one detail a secret.”

Ran Fanyin didn’t say anything more. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Can I go in and take a look? Perhaps I need this memory too.”

Surprisingly, Xiao Wanchen agreed very quickly, only setting one condition: she required Ran Fanyin to leave her sword here as collateral, raising an eyebrow as she said it was merely because she was afraid she wouldn’t come back.

How could she not return from this illusion?

The uneasy feeling in Ran Fanyin’s heart grew stronger. Her journey here had been too smooth. This Formation Spirit had been helping her all along, and now the price requested was so small…

But she still left the Warm Serenity Sword behind, and then entered the next layer of illusion.

She naturally missed the sight of the woman in this space holding the long sword, tears welling up but a faint smile gracing her lips.

Xiao Wanchen also didn’t want her to see. Some things, even if guessed, were better left unknown, as there was no room for maneuvering anymore.

Since the price was paid by Ran Fanyin, the time of the reboot could only be adjusted to her timeframe, and they…

Xiao Wanchen hugged the sword and sat cross-legged, the sword hilt gently pressed against her forehead. She whispered, “You bad thing, you promised to live for ten thousand years. You have eight thousand years left to live, you wretch. Who gave you permission to die?”

Their story had ended a thousand years ago. Even by Ran Fanyin’s timeframe, that story ended more than three hundred years ago. There was no room for reversal. The embrace that came at this late hour seemed… so pitiful.

But she knew there was a spirit in the sword; she had known that in the previous life.

Time would reboot, but she, as a spirit transcending the Three Realms, naturally jumped out of the repeated timeline, retaining all her memories, and then—

She put all her effort into anticipating this reunion.

She craved the success of this reboot method more than anyone, only so that she could meet this bastard again and again under this pretext—this bastard who promised to live a long, long life but died after only a few hundred years.

“Who gave you permission!” Xiao Wanchen gnashed her teeth. “You caused all that mess back then, and you raised Little Ran’er like that, you big bastard! You better hope I don’t find a way to drag you out of the Ten Kings Hall, or I’m definitely going to beat you up severely!”

Heaven knew how shocked she was the first time she saw Ran Fanyin. She knew a piece of her energy had been dug out, but she didn’t know there was actually a cultivation method that could combine energy to give birth to a child. Even more unexpected was that someone could raise their daughter to be so rigid and dull.

She was simply wooden to the extreme!!

It made her furious!

This bastard, knowing she couldn’t raise a child, couldn’t she have found someone to raise her!

Be that as it may, everything was too late when they met last time. Despite her anger, she still provided considerable help. During that time, Ran Fanyin had been in the north, fighting off the Demon Clan with her head full of silver hair and rescuing the weak, while looking for a method to reboot in her spare time.

It was utterly impossible that there was no selfishness in this reboot method, but…

At that time, the woman looked a little fatigued, but her Dao Heart was as firm as ever. She said, “First, there is the world, and only then do we individuals exist. While reviving Ning’er is important, in the current situation, if we cannot reboot and resolve all the problems, that revival will be meaningless.”

“Moreover, to save a collapsing edifice, to support the decline of the world, to resist the invasion of foreign races, and to fulfill the will of the people and the virtue of Heaven, this is the responsibility of cultivators like us… is it not?”

Xiao Wanchen couldn’t utter any words of refutation.

She also had to admit it.

Although the small details were wrong, although she had accidentally raised the child into a dull, unromantic block of wood, it had to be said…

The child had grown up quite upright.

The self-serving actions of some people had inadvertently left this world with a chance to start over.

She actually felt sorry for Little Tian. Originally, she had the chance to reach adulthood, completely break free from the formation’s constraints, and love and hate freely. But she truly couldn’t bear to watch Ran Fanyin’s vitality be completely…

【Aww, Master is inexplicably angry again.】

【I almost forgot the most important thing. I have to talk about the woman in green and those words I heard. I have to talk about them.】

【That woman in green. I feel a bit familiar with her, but I can’t quite place it.】

【Cool, handsome, beautiful girl, hee hee…】

【So familiar. Why is this place so familiar to me?】

【In the dream, Ah Sheng held an oil lamp… Master…】

【So familiar. It sounds like it’s calling me…】

However, Ning Songwu clearly did not leave her time to think. She brandished her sword, sending up several layers of ice thorns descending from above, rushing towards Ning Yuanyue one after another. Almost simultaneously, countless ice prisms transformed into snowflakes, drifting down. They didn’t pause for a moment as they merged into the strong wind, heading straight for her with a clear target.

What on earth is this…

Ning Yuanyue actually felt a sense of being difficult to deal with. A flash of light, and a bamboo flute appeared in her hand. Before she could bring it to her lips, the snowflakes seemed to develop sentience and rushed up, blocking the sound holes of the flute. Just at that moment, the girl arrived, sword in hand, intending to cleave towards Ning Yuanyue’s forehead.

Ning Yuanyue raised her hand to block, used the long flute to repel the sword, and then used the flute as a sword to strike Ning Songwu’s sword-wielding hand, drawing out a slight whooshing sound.

Ning Songwu paused, her eyes slowly shifting down to look at her struck hand.

Beside her ear, the woman seemed to let out a sigh of relief, sneering, “Ah, Cheng Yunhuan even taught you this secret technique? Where is she? Let me see her.”

“I want to tell her that with this secret technique, cultivation speed is fast, but it is extremely easy to…”

The woman retreated several steps, the long flute placed against her lips. The remaining words slowly drifted out with the sound of the flute: “…be affected by me.”

This was an extremely light and melodious tune, but when it entered Ning Songwu’s ears, it sounded like demonic music, like a long needle piercing straight through her ears, plunging into her heart along the ear canal. It instantly pierced her heart meridian, robbing her of the right to breathe.

The person who had been advancing so well suddenly knelt on the ground. The Morning Frost Sword clattered onto the ground. She clutched her chest tightly with both hands, as if trying to pull something out.

Blood surged up, spilling from her mouth and nose. Her eyes were blood-red, as if penetrated by fresh blood. In the next instant, blood was about to burst out.

The snowflakes dancing in the sky instantly became chaotic, like countless small flying knives circling in the air. Everyone retreated. Only Luo and Liu resisted the pressure, trying to rush onto the competition ground.

Failing several times, Liu Ruoying shouted angrily, “Family Head Ning, we haven’t caused any substantial harm! Are you trying to take my Senior Sister’s life?!”

Ning Yuanyue slowly lowered the long flute, drawing an extremely beautiful arc in the air. She forced out a long, slightly suggestive hum, saying, “But she secretly learned my clan’s secret technique. Otherwise, why would she be affected by the sound of this flute, which only affects people of my clan?”

Liu Ruoying was stunned.

Combining this with Ning Songwu’s state over the past few days, she seemed to have guessed the hidden complications behind this.

Ning Yuanyue continued, “According to the Ning family rules, the one who wins all the family challenges is the victor. She lost. If she loses, she must surrender her life. And she also secretly learned my clan’s secret technique…”

She supported her chin with one hand and slightly tilted her head, “If your sect is unconvinced, feel free to try and challenge the four great families.”

Almost at the exact moment she spoke, the person who had been barely holding herself up through sheer will plunged straight to the ground, engulfed in a cloud of dust.

Ning Songwu’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were all bleeding. Her ears only registered a blur. It seemed someone was calling her name, and someone was crying.

Suddenly, a conversation from the distant past drilled into her mind—

In front of her, the figure gradually became clear, astonishingly transforming into the arrogant Lin Yuxue from the last period of her previous life. After a short time, it changed again into Fenghua, who supported her chin with a half-smile but always carried a hint of sarcasm… The figure changed back and forth, but the waves in her heart surged momentarily until the balance point was broken, and she once again regained control of her body.

The suppression that Ning Yuanyue was so proud of instantly lost all effect. The spiritual energy between Heaven and Earth frantically surged towards the person lying on the ground, and just as frantically rushed towards Ning Yuanyue. However, the spiritual energy rushing over carried an extremely strong hatred, as if trying to kill her.

Spiritual energy, trying to kill her?

Ning Yuanyue was unwilling to believe that the spiritual energy she had manipulated for thousands of years was now snatched away by a brat. She raised her flute, intending to continue playing, but the spiritual energy violently rushed into her body. The next moment, foamy blood surged from her mouth. A mouthful of black blood sprayed straight onto the long flute, instantly corroding a layer of the carving on the flute’s surface.

The girl slammed her hand against the ground, using the force to fly up. The Morning Frost Sword obediently returned to her hand, moving as she moved, pointing toward the sky.

Her unbound white hair flew wildly behind her, further accentuating her blood-red eyes, which were terrifying to the extreme. Even a momentary glance was enough to make Ning Yuanyue break out in a cold sweat.

Was she not human? Was she not the child Ning Xiujie desperately protected back then?

What was this? Was this human? Who would dare say this was human?

A cold lotus slowly rose behind the girl. The petals unfolded one by one, seemingly very slowly, but when Ning Yuanyue tried to raise her hand to cast a spell, she realized that the surrounding air had already transformed into a dense spiritual energy shield that tightly trapped her. Even the simple and casual action of slightly raising her hand was enough to lock her down, let alone reaching for the long flute.

The moment the ten thousand petals of the cold lotus unfolded, a bolt of lightning shot up from the building, reaching the sky in an instant. In one moment, one side was dark blue, the other dark purple, echoing each other, dyeing the Ning family’s sky into a colorful tomb.

And only two incense sticks’ worth of time had passed since the three people were captured in the building.

Ning Yuanyue realized whose lightning this was. She turned her head in disbelief, just in time to see Cheng Yunhuan flying out from the ruins with Ning Xiujie in her arms. The heavy iron used to restrain them looked like a joke.

She saw Cheng Yunhuan hold Ning Xiujie’s head, turning her away, and quickly covered her ears.

Then, the person in the air pressed her long sword down.

The countless petals of the cold lotus instantly turned into countless small knives.

The size of the knife didn’t matter, as long as it could hit the vital points.

In a few breaths, the small knives pierced through one blood hole after another. The arrogant person lost the chance to counterattack without even moving. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, seemingly still not understanding what had happened.

It wasn’t until the small knives turned into ice mist and disappeared that she looked down at her body, trembling in disbelief. Except for her dantian, her entire body was covered in large holes that had not bled out yet due to the coagulation of the frost. Once the frost dissipated, she would likely bleed to death instantly.

The people of the Land… have already reached this level?

The person suspended in the sky showed no reaction. Her voice was hoarse, accompanied by growls, as she once again raised her long sword.

The final strike was aimed at Ning Yuanyue’s dantian.

“Wait!” A golden rope suddenly rushed over, binding Ning Songwu. A tall, handsome figure, with a hint of world-weariness, appeared before everyone.

Ning Songwu was momentarily stunned. She slightly tilted her head, her red eyes filled with confusion.

The two people below also broke free from their restraints, pushed away the surrounding people, and came face-to-face with the person who had suddenly arrived.

The man bowed respectfully and said, “I am Ning Yuanlie, Ning Yuanyue’s Elder Brother, and the person who usually interacts with your Sect.”

Liu Ruoying slowly let out a breath, “What are you doing, Your Excellency?”

Although he was the person they usually dealt with, he immediately bound Ning Songwu upon arrival and looked like he wanted to talk to them. She didn’t know what he was planning…

Liu Ruoying tightened her brow, her palms covered in cold sweat. The next moment, a hand slipped into hers. Luo Sheng held her tightly. When their eyes met, they nodded to each other, offering encouragement.

Ning Yuanlie first turned around to seal several pressure points on the person covered in blood holes. Then he turned back and said, “This is, after all, an internal matter of my Ning family. I ask the few of you to leave this matter to our clan to resolve ourselves.”

“After all, she is my sister.”

Luo Sheng angrily rebuked, “My Senior Sister has been reduced to this state because of you people, and you only now pretend to come out to stop us? Heh heh. Isn’t that just a Spirit Binding Rope? Do you think I can’t undo it?”

“I advise against it, Little Friend.” Ning Yuanlie still smiled with an air of composure. “I was late. That’s merely because the battle situation here changes in the blink of an eye. Didn’t I rush here as soon as I received the news?”

What a shameless and smug display.