After the Immortal Venerable Failed to Attain Dao - Chapter 4

The phantom demon was still too naive. Shi Li had no choice but to lower his voice, coaxing it to open its mouth, teaching it how to please him and how to wrap its legs around his waist.

This pure soul had already learned to kiss, responding to him with passion and clumsiness. The red silk drapes filling the tent dazzled Shi Li’s eyes. Seeing the desire on this face, he had long forgotten he was in a secret realm, vaguely feeling as if he had returned to the past.

It had been too long since he last kissed this face.

Just then, a pair of scissors abruptly flew toward them. Shi Li scooped up the figure beneath him and flipped them to the inner side of the bed. The scissors narrowly grazed their faces and stabbed into the mattress.

He grabbed a scattered wedding robe nearby to cover the phantom demon. The broken sword on the floor shot through the window, and a sharp, ghostly scream echoed from outside the door.

Shi Li stared thoughtfully out the window when he suddenly felt a soft touch on his lips. The phantom demon, unfazed by the commotion outside, had wrapped itself around him again.

He pulled the figure closer into his embrace, fingers tangling in its hair, kissing it intermittently, and praised, “You have a sharp mind. You learn everything quickly.”

This praise reminded the phantom demon of being called foolish not long ago. Shi Li had neither apologized nor comforted it.

As it pondered this, Shi Li began dressing it, explaining as he did so, “We were supposed to shed blood when we entered either yours or mine. The little demons outside were waiting to feast on flesh, but all they heard was a scene of passion. They’re angry now.”

The phantom demon paid no mind to this. As Shi Li tied its robe, it kept messing it up until Shi Li suddenly held its shoulders, looking at it with utmost seriousness, and said, “I will miss you.”

It slapped Shi Li on the forehead.

The soul that had melted into softness just moments ago suddenly stirred with energy, leaping angrily within the phantom demon.

It and Shi Li were inseparable, yet Shi Li’s tone made it sound as though he was about to leave.

Shi Li was taken aback. Seeing the anger rising in the phantom demon’s previously calm eyes, though it couldn’t speak, he smiled, grabbed its hand, and cursed on its behalf, “You bastard. One night of passion, and you abandon me. I’ll forget you tomorrow.”

Once the words were spoken, the phantom demon felt slightly better, but Shi Li’s expression darkened, his gaze fixed intently on it. “You’re going to forget me?”

As he spoke, his grip on its hand tightened.

The phantom demon was still angry itself and silently turned its head away, ignoring him.

The broken sword, having finished killing the demons outside, flew back into its scabbard, still covered in blood, lying on the ground.

It didn’t even know how to clean itself. The phantom demon was utterly disgusted and was already thinking of ways to make Shi Li abandon this unrefined treasure. Wasn’t Hua Jing enough?

But before it could act, Shi Li picked up the broken sword and shoved it into its hand, commanding, “Clean it.”

The sword was covered in blood and filth. The phantom demon refused and was about to throw it to the ground when Shi Li picked up the nearby bridal veil, stuffing it into its hand while complaining:

“You know how to listen when I tell you to lift your waist, but you refuse to clean a sword. You only like indecent things. It seems you love that kind of activity more than the sword. How about this? When we return, every time he practices with the sword, you cling to him and make him fall. Neither of you will clean the sword, and let Hua Jing rust to death in the room.”

The phantom demon was left bewildered by his words, its soul leaping even more furiously with anger.

It simply didn’t want to clean this dirty sword of unknown origin, yet Shi Li had almost completely negated its character.

Fuming, it sat to the side, pulled out the broken sword, picked up the bridal veil, and began wiping, trying hard to clean the filthy blood but only leaving streaks of smudges, making it look even dirtier.

Shi Li leaned against the door, watching it with a deep gaze, seemingly hesitating.

I want to take him away.

To leave this secret realm, from the sixth year of Star Era to the ninth year of Star Era.

If I do this, Shi Li of this time period will lose this wisp of divine soul, but he has everything, what difference would losing a wisp of divine soul make?

He took out the silver ghost mask and slowly approached the illusion demon.

The illusion demon had struggled for a long time but still couldn’t clean the sword properly. In frustration, he threw the bridal veil to the ground.

He began to worry he had to find a way to prove to Shi Li that he definitely loved the sword more than that kind of thing.

Suddenly, his face felt cool. Shi Li held his head and placed the silver ghost mask on his face, then extended a hand toward him. “Let’s go.”

The illusion demon was puzzled but still took his hand.

The secret treasure had been given to the one who deserved it, and the entire secret realm began to crumble bit by bit. Shi Li led the illusion demon out, deliberately avoiding the people in the main hall.

As the secret realm vanished, the burly man in the wedding hall flew into a rage: “I knew it! I knew it! It’s him again! Damn that luck even ghosts would turn into cut-sleeves if they met him!”

The female cultivator held her sword, silently watching as the surroundings disintegrated, revealing the stone walls of the cave.

Her eyes searched around until they suddenly paused, spotting two figures darting past a corner ahead.

The others were already preparing to leave, but the young cultivator from the Kui Ming Sect was still muttering: “I thought it’d be something amazing, but there’s nothing here at all.”

A young man beside him explained: “When that cut-sleeve ghost took him away just now, we could’ve rushed in to seize the treasure. But everyone knows how powerful that person is. If we couldn’t get the treasure and ended up offending the Xuan Qing Sect, how would we survive in the Star Realm in the future?”

“The Xuan Qing Sect?” the young cultivator scoffed. “Why can’t we survive in the Star Realm if we offend them?”

“My young master, the Kui Ming Sect is a major sect of the Celestial Pivot. Naturally, you have nothing to fear. But for us small sects, it’s already hard enough to survive we dare not recklessly provoke the Xuan Qing Sect…”

As the secret realm dissipated, they all changed back into their original clothes. Seeing the young cultivator’s purple robe, the young man’s eyes grew even brighter. He smiled obsequiously, kicked away a stone in front of him, and walked out together.

The burly man cursed as he got up, glanced at the female cultivator, and seeing her plain black clothes without any prominent sect insignia, completely dismissed the idea of befriending her. He walked out on his own, intending to catch up with the one from the Kui Ming Sect.

Shi Li avoided the others and brought the illusion demon to the cave where they had first appeared.

On the stone platform where they had fought earlier, traces of blood remained, but the body had vanished without a trace.

Shi Li looked around. “Strange, where is he?”

The illusion demon followed his gaze and saw only a pool of dirty blood, wrinkling his nose in disgust once again.

Why did Shi Li get himself so dirty today?

Earlier in the secret realm, they had been wearing wedding attire. As soon as they emerged, the illusion demon noticed the bloodstains on Shi Li’s clothes. Reluctantly, he let go of Shi Li’s hand, then forced himself to use the hilt of his sword to push aside Shi Li’s clothes and check for injuries.

Only when Shi Li said, “I’m fine,” did he withdraw his sword, but he refused to hold hands again no matter what.

Shi Li circled the cave, examining every crevice without missing a single one, but he couldn’t find the body that had vanished without a trace.

Just then, footsteps echoed from outside, growing closer and closer someone was approaching.

The illusion demon sensed something, his eyes flickering slightly. Just as he was about to move, Shi Li grabbed him and leaped onto the stone wall, hiding in a dark crevice.

The people outside had already reached the corner. From the sound of footsteps, there were two of them. Shi Li slightly turned his body, about to investigate, when a voice abruptly rang out, “Are you sure you saw me here?”

He suddenly looked up, grabbing the phantom demon who was about to rush out, and whispered, “Don’t move.”

The other person replied, “Absolutely certain! I saw them turn in here, and you were holding someone’s hand, Young Master.”

“Holding?”

The female cultivator nodded firmly, her dark eyes gleaming. “I couldn’t have been mistaken.”

The other person fell silent.

The two turned the corner and walked deeper into the cave.

Seeing the bloodstains all over the ground, the female cultivator clicked her tongue twice and added, “It seems the demons and ghosts fought among themselves. Not only did they take on your appearance, but they also came here to brawl.”

The Young Master remained silent. He glanced over the bloody scene in the cave, then suddenly leaped, landing on a clean spot on the stone platform.

He surveyed the entire cave, his gaze finally settling on a dark crevice in the stone wall.

Shi Li was also watching him, their eyes meeting across half the cave.

The Young Master stood in the center of the stone platform, his black hair tied in a jade crown, wearing narrow-sleeved silver robes. His pale blue eyes fixed intently on the dark crevice, which seethed with intense blood energy, and he suddenly struck.

Almost instantly, Shi Li pushed the phantom demon aside, raising his broken sword horizontally in front of his chest to block the incoming blade.

Something fell to the ground. The female cultivator instinctively reached to catch it but grew confused upon seeing the phantom demon’s face.

“…Young Master? No, it’s a demon ghost!”

The phantom demon touched his face and realized that Shi Li had not only pushed him down but also removed the mask he had given him.

He looked discontentedly toward the stone wall, where a battle was already underway one in the light, one in the shadows, their swords clashing.

Meanwhile, the female cultivator restrained the phantom demon with her sword. Seeing that he offered no resistance, she was momentarily unsure what to do and could only shout toward the other side, “Young Master, I’ve captured this demon ghost! How are things on your end?”

Shi Li remained hidden in the shadows. The man’s long sword pierced the stone wall just past his shoulder but could advance no further.

The Young Master lowered his gaze to the blade pressed against his throat and asked, “A sword cultivator?”

Shi Li made no sound.

“You lack a good sword.”

Or rather, a complete sword.

The Young Master sheathed his sword and returned to the stone platform.

Avoiding the bloodstains on the ground, he passed the female cultivator, glanced at the fleeing phantom demon, and said calmly, “Let’s go.”

The phantom demon refused to leave, his gaze lingering on the dark crevice in the stone wall as if reluctant to part.

The Young Master kept his eyes fixed on the phantom demon but addressed the dark crevice, “Come out, sir. My phantom demon is reluctant to leave you and wishes to take you back with us.”

Before there was any movement from the crevice, the phantom demon nodded first.

“…”

The female cultivator didn’t understand what a phantom demon was. Seeing only that this Young Master seemed familiar with the demon ghost, she turned her sword and lunged directly at him.

The Young Master paid her no mind, casually blocking her strike, but nearly had his sword knocked away.

He paused, looking at the female cultivator. “The Carefree Sword?”

The second strike was already upon him.

By this time, he had already reached the third stage of the Seeking Realm, unmatched among cultivators his age. Yet this female cultivator had exchanged over a dozen moves with him without falling behind, even showing signs of pushing him into retreat.

Shi Li watched from the shadows above, sighing inwardly.

It seemed that even before joining the Xuanqing Sect, Xue Zhun already possessed the skill to challenge him.

Suddenly, a face appeared before him. The phantom demon, seeing that he hadn’t come down, had personally come to pull him.

Shi Li put on the mask and whispered to the phantom demon, “How do I explain this to him?”

The phantom demon blinked.

He didn’t understand what needed explaining. This was Shi Li, that was also Shi Li all souls were connected in kinship and affection. What was there to explain?

In the future, he might get to enjoy two pieces of candy.

But Shi Li clearly didn’t see it that way. He tightened his grip on the broken sword in his hand, a flash of ruthless killing intent flickering in his eyes.

Just as the two were locked in combat, a broken sword suddenly shot toward them, wrapped in a thick aura of blood.

The sword strike was fierce, carrying a tenfold intent to kill.

But the moment Shi Li landed, he let out a muffled groan. A sharp, electric-like pain shot through his back the lightning strike from earlier had chosen this moment to flare up.

He stood frozen between the two, his heart sinking to the depths.

Covered in blood and grime, his face turned deathly pale, and fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

His once imposing and domineering broken sword was easily knocked to the ground by someone’s blade tip.

Seeing his state, the female cultivator abruptly sheathed her sword and said with displeasure, “Fellow immortal, this isn’t how it’s done. Can’t you see I’m sparring with the Young Lord? You’ll have to wait your turn!”

“…”

Shi Li remained silent. There was another, more pressing issue that demanded his attention.

He couldn’t go back.

Just moments ago, the moment the lightning scar on his back flared up, his cultivation realm had been forcibly suppressed to match that of Shi Li at this age the third stage of Seeking Realm.

This meant that the laws of heaven and earth acknowledged the existence of two Shi Lis in the same space and automatically harmonized their realms. Shi Li was the master, and he was the subordinate his highest realm could not exceed Shi Li’s.

Why?

Seeing the broken sword fall to the ground again, the phantom demon instinctively went to pick it up, walked over to him, and hung it back in place.

Though the phantom demon disliked the blood and grime on him, seeing him suddenly in distress, it still considerately took his hand and looked at him with concern in its eyes.

Having just grown close not long ago, the phantom demon’s affection for him was still fresh. Shi Li squeezed its hand in return and said softly, “It’s fine, I’m okay.”

The Young Lord from three hundred years ago was right behind them. With the phantom demon showing affection to him in front of the Young Lord, Shi Li didn’t even need to turn around to feel the icy gaze fixed on him.

He fell silent for a moment, letting out a silent sigh.

Then, he pushed the phantom demon away and snapped at the female cultivator nearby, “Xue Zhun, what do you think you’re doing?”

“?”

His tone was furious as he shoved the female cultivator. “We agreed to work together from inside and out, to flank him and snatch the treasure from his hands. Why didn’t you tell me this Young Lord was a fake? After twenty years of friendship, over some measly little treasure, you’d actually try to keep it all for yourself?”

“You…” Before Xue Zhun could even ask, “Who are you?” she was shoved back another step.

Shi Li pressed forward, sneering coldly. “Me? What, didn’t expect me to survive after leaving with the demon? You’re clever, sending me to test the waters while you cozy up to the real Young Lord. Xue Erhua, how did I never see through what kind of person you are before? A social climber, greedy for wealth and lust, betraying friends for profit, faithless and treacherous!”

As he pushed her, they reached a corner. Shi Li took a deep breath, ignoring the female cultivator’s stunned expression. He had to leave quickly now.

He had only taken one step when a long sword suddenly pierced the stone wall in front of him. The blade was silver-white, cold and sharp, its reflected light aimed directly at his face.

The person behind him spoke calmly, uttering only two words.

“Come back.”