After the Demon Lord was Reborn, She Switched to a Master-Disciple Romance Script - Chapter 16

“Excellent!”

The Elder seated high above clapped his hands with a smile. “Our Sect truly boasts a wealth of talent. This final battle was particularly breathtaking, a spectacle to behold!”

The other Elders echoed their agreement.

Chu Fengxiu stood behind his Master, his gaze drawn to the blackened crater on the arena floor and the surrounding ruins. He couldn’t help but glance sideways.

But what truly astonished him was the radiant figure who had shone so brightly moments ago.

Could it really be her?

Chu Fengxiu recalled how he had always sensed something extraordinary about this Junior Sister, whose striking features were occasionally punctuated by a sharp glint in her eyes. She had never seemed destined for mediocrity, and now, her exceptional performance confirmed his suspicions.

Scanning the expressions of the Elders and Sect Leader, he mused inwardly, It seems we’ll be seeing Junior Sister Zhu in the inner sect soon.

******

Zhu Jiyun lay in bed for two days.

After the second round of the Grand Competition, disciples were given two days to rest and recover from their injuries. After that, they would all go to Heart-Questioning Cliff to have their Dao hearts tested.

By the end of the first day, more than half of her injuries had already healed.

Zhu Jiyun realized that her body’s healing ability was much stronger in this life. In her previous life, it would have taken at least ten days for most of these injuries to heal.

But now, she was almost fully recovered in just two days.

She didn’t want to think too much about why. She just chalked it up to a perk of being reborn.

In truth, Zhu Jiyun didn’t get much rest during those two days.

Whenever she closed her eyes, she would dream of things from her past life that she preferred to forget.

These memories, once blurred and distant, now resurfaced repeatedly in her dreams, like ancient artifacts gradually revealed by careful polishing, becoming clearer and clearer.

Thinking about this, Zhu Jiyun’s expression turned annoyed.

She turned her head to look out the window.

The sky was still the sky, and the clouds were still the clouds.

Everything was the same, yet everything had changed.

In her previous life, she hadn’t won the second round of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, nor had she defeated Ji Chengyu.

But she had still become someone’s disciple.

An Elder with a kind face took a liking to her. After asking for her opinion, he accepted her as his disciple.

But later, the bloody truth proved that a kind face doesn’t always mean a kind heart.

Remembering the pain of having her skin peeled and bones extracted, Zhu Jiyun’s knuckles clenched, a crimson glint flashing in her eyes.

“Sister…”

Seeing the look on Zhu Jiyun’s face as she turned around, Ji Nianyan instinctively fell silent.

“What is it?” Zhu Jiyun asked.

Ji Nianyan shook her head. “Nothing. I just wanted to see if you were up. We’re gathering at the foot of Heart-Questioning Cliff soon.”

“Alright,” Zhu Jiyun said. “I’ll get ready and head over.”

As Ji Nianyan left, she couldn’t resist glancing back at the door.

This time, she saw nothing.

It was as if the cold, fierce expression she’d just witnessed had been her imagination…

Pulling her collar tighter, Ji Nianyan dismissed the thought and hurried away.

At the foot of Heart-Questioning Cliff.

“The third stage of the Outer Sect Grand Competition is to climb the Heart-Knocking Ladder all the way to the cliff’s peak. Please note the first 270 steps. Any disciple who fails to cross them will be eliminated. Those who successfully reach the middle 270 steps will pass the third stage.”

“However, if any disciple wishes to continue climbing the top 270 steps, they are welcome to do so. But if they can’t endure any longer, they must stop!”

“Alright, everyone, you may begin now!”

To ascend from the Heart-Knocking Ladder to the Heart-Questioning Cliff, there are a total of 810 steps.

These 810 steps are divided into three sections: the bottom 270 steps test the heart’s desire for the Dao; the middle 270 steps test the heart’s cultivation of the Dao; and the top 270 steps test the heart’s defense of the Dao.

When Zhu Jiyun reached the 320th step, she glanced back and noticed that very few disciples had been eliminated.

That was to be expected. By the third stage of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, those with unstable mental states would have already been weeded out.

However, as they climbed further, some disciples’ steps began to falter, as if each step weighed a thousand pounds. Their faces flushed red, sweat streamed down their faces, and their robes were nearly soaked through.

Zhu Jiyun withdrew her gaze and continued upward.

By the 500th step, her legs felt heavy, and the number of fellow climbers had dwindled.

Ji Nianyan trailed behind her by about a dozen steps, struggling upward with her hand pressed against her lower back.

Xia Lianjiao was to her right and slightly behind. Noticing Zhu Jiyun’s glance, she turned and smiled, her cheeks flushed crimson.

To her far right, Ji Chengyu was climbing silently, almost parallel to her.

He hadn’t defeated her in the second round of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, but because the final matches of that round featured only the strongest opponents, the Elders and Sect Leader watching from the stands must have assessed their combat performance during their confrontation. Even though Ji Chengyu had lost, he was deemed qualified to advance to the third stage.

This had been explicitly stated before the competition, and such situations had occurred in her previous life as well.

With these thoughts, Zhu Jiyun withdrew her gaze and continued climbing.

By the time she reached the 710th step, the only sounds around her were a few gasps for breath and the wind whistling past her ears.

Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Zhu Jiyun lifted her legs, each feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds, and struggled upward.

Only one thought occupied her mind: reach the summit! Reach the summit!

She didn’t even notice when Ji Nianyan fell behind.

Everything faded into silence; her eyes saw only the path ahead.

In her previous life, when she had reached the 750th step, the oxygen in her brain seemed to have been completely drained away, leaving her gasping for air. Her legs felt as if they were weighed down by ten thousand pounds of stone, making it impossible to lift them any further.

Zhu Jiyun tilted her head back, gazing at the endless steps stretching upward like an insurmountable chasm.

She gritted her teeth, determined to climb higher.

Seven hundred fifty-one, seven hundred fifty-two, seven hundred fifty-three… seven hundred ninety-seven.

A haze clouded Zhu Jiyun’s vision.

“What path do you guard?”

A mysterious voice seemed to materialize out of thin air, so close it felt like a whisper in her ear, yet so distant it echoed like a phantom sound carried on the wind.

“…What path do I guard?”

Zhu Jiyun murmured to herself, her past life dissolving into nothingness before her eyes.

“I guard the path of freedom, of unrestrained liberty.”

“Wrong!”

A thunderous voice exploded in her ears.

Blood seeped through her eardrums, trickling down her cheeks.

“Wrong…”

Zhu Jiyun struggled to lift her foot, but it refused to come down.

“What is that… what is that!”

Clenching her jaw, veins bulging, she finally planted her foot firmly on the ground.

“Your path is something you must see for yourself.”

“See for myself…” Zhu Jiyun snarled. “If I see for myself, then my path is one of freedom and unrestraint!”

Another thunderous boom.

“Wrong!”

Blood trickled from her nostrils.

Zhu Jiyun seemed oblivious to the metallic tang of blood. She felt as if an unyielding mountain had slammed onto her back, its weight crushing her spine.

Her spine was about to snap.

She stumbled, her knees slamming to the ground with a thud.

“My path… the path I must protect…”

Zhu Jiyun dug her fingers into the earth, her fingertips grinding against the ground until they bled. She seemed oblivious to the searing pain, her head tilted upward. Within her frail frame resided an indomitable spirit. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to stand again.

Her body swayed precariously, as if about to collapse at any moment.

Zhu Jiyun saw the world through a crimson haze, blurred and indistinct. But as she gradually straightened her posture, she seemed to find her answer.

“My path…”

“…My path is to never yield!”

Blood filled her ears, nose, and eyes.

Yet Zhu Jiyun seemed not to notice.

Guided by instinct alone, she moved her battered body, one step at a time.

“My Dao is unyielding!”

“I uphold the unyielding Dao: to never regret, even in the face of death, and to remain steadfast throughout life!”

Unyielding to life, unyielding to fate, unyielding to the Heavenly Dao!

Zhu Jiyun’s eyes burned with astonishing brightness as she stood proudly on the 809th step of the Heart-Knocking Ladder. Her aura was overwhelming, like that of a giant determined to defy heaven and change destiny.

Rumble—

Under the clear daytime sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

Dark clouds gathered swiftly, their oppressive weight threatening to crush the spirit.

Zhu Jiyun finally faltered, tilting her head to cough up a mouthful of dark blood before collapsing onto the step.

A single second stretched like an hour. Her bloodshot eyes focused on the final step. She braced her palms against the ground, arching her body slightly, trying to push herself up.

Thud.

She fell back down.

She tried again.

Thud.

She collapsed once more.

Her vision swam with crimson, her body pushed to its absolute limit.

But only one step remained!

“Hah…”

Zhu Jiyun smiled, and blood gurgled out of her mouth.

She raised her arms, feeling for the next step above. Her hands, already raw and bloody, gripped the stone. Head tilted back, she dug her fingers into the step, her core muscles straining as she wriggled upward.

Ha, just because I can’t stand doesn’t mean I can’t climb!

Inch by inch, she crawled forward.

By the time she reached the 810th step, she was gasping for breath.

Her head throbbed like a hundred hammers were pounding inside, threatening to explode. Blood streamed from her eyes, nose, and mouth, smearing her face.

But she had conquered the Heart-Knocking Ladder and reached the Heart-Questioning Cliff!

Ning Huaizhu, who had been watching from the cliff’s edge, couldn’t resist stepping forward. But a hand stopped her.

Xun Juexue gazed at Zhu Jiyun sprawled on the ground, her eyes filled with emotion. She shook her head at Ning Huaizhu. “Wait.”

Though confused, Ning Huaizhu halted.

Zhu Jiyun lay sprawled on the eight hundred and tenth stone step, her lips bitten raw. She gripped the ground, arching her back again, gathering strength to stand.

The mountain pressing down on her seemed to have vanished. The crushing, insurmountable weight was gone, but her internal organs trembled with a pain that felt like they were shattered.

Wiping the blood from her mouth, Zhu Jiyun slowly crawled to her feet.

Her vision swam in crimson. The sky was red, the clouds were red, everything was shrouded in a bloody haze.

Tilting her head back, feeling the wind brush past her ears and cheeks, Zhu Jiyun laughed wildly at the sky.

“I won again.”

The next moment, her consciousness plunged into darkness, and she lost consciousness.

In her final breath before collapsing, Zhu Jiyun felt herself fall onto something cold and soft, as if she were being held in someone’s arms. Then a clear, cool voice whispered in her ear, sighing softly, “Yes, you won.”

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