Collecting Disciples for a Hundred Years [Transmigration] - Chapter 14

Second Senior Brother Ji Yang was saved by the sect leader.

His entire clan had been annihilated by demonic cultivators. As a child, he was treated as a plaything by a rampaging demon commander and tossed to vultures for amusement. A vulture carried him over the Qing Ping Sect’s grounds, where the sect leader spotted him and managed to rescue him, sparing Ji Yang’s life.

Because of this traumatic experience, Ji Yang was consumed by a desire for revenge against the demonic leader responsible. However, over the years, that demon had grown increasingly powerful, rising to become an elder among the demons, widening the gap between him and Ji Yang even further.

Driven by this burning need for vengeance, Ji Yang frequently went into seclusion to cultivate, making him the most diligent practitioner in the Qing Ping Sect.

Song Junyu still remembered how Ji Yang looked when he first joined the sect—barely breathing and covered in wounds.

Over the years, she had come to regard him as family and naturally wouldn’t stand by and do nothing.

Just as she had anticipated, Elder Wan planned to send someone to seek help from the Compassion Pagoda.

At the moment, Ji Yang was barely clinging to life, sustained only by Elder Wan’s spiritual energy. He could hold on for at most half a month. As one of the four great sects in the world, the Compassion Pagoda’s willingness to lend aid was uncertain.

With only a handful of disciples available, Elder Wan decided to split their efforts.

“Lin Ying, you will go to the Compassion Pagoda.”

Elder Wan stood up, casting a glance at the unconscious Ji Yang before turning to Song Junyu, his expression troubled.

“Young Sect Leader, I must ask you to prepare some gifts and pay a visit to the Qing Ping Sect.”

“See if they might be willing to mediate on account of our shared origins.”

Over the years, aside from the nearby destitute Bai Family Sword Sect, composed only of Bai Chi and his father, the Qing Ping Sect had little interaction with other sects.

Even though the Qing Ping Sect was one of the four great sects, the Qing Ping disciples had never sought to leverage this distant connection. Now, seeking their help would likely result in disdain and humiliation.

Lin Ying had a fiery temper, and if he were to clash with the Qing Ping Sect, it would only worsen the situation. Thus, the task fell to Song Junyu.

But with Ji Yang’s life hanging by a thread, they had no choice but to swallow their pride and reach out.

“I’ve also sent messages to the other disciples, asking them to gather any information they can about the Bodhi Fruit.”

After making these arrangements, Elder Wan secluded himself to focus on channeling spiritual energy into Ji Yang—a demanding task even for him.

Lin Ying immediately mounted his flying sword and headed down the mountain toward the Compassion Pagoda. Song Junyu took a deep breath but didn’t rush to depart. Worried, she stepped out of the room, her brow furrowing as she tried to recall the original plot of the book.

She had no intention of groveling before the Qing Ping Sect and planned to offer only a casually crafted magical artifact as a gift. Coincidentally, the Qing Ping Sect was not far from Redstone Town, and her true destination was Redstone Town.

According to the book, Redstone Town was an extremely eerie place. In recent years, as worldly impurities grew thicker, Redstone Town had become one of the sources of this tainted energy.

Cultivators exposed to these impurities were highly susceptible to inner demons.

Yet, the inner demons in Redstone Town were not the most terrifying aspect.

Years ago, the town had been enveloped in impurities overnight, trapping all its residents, none of whom escaped. Their restless souls remained imprisoned there, causing endless disturbances. Even the male and female protagonists, when trapped in Redstone Town, only managed to escape with the help of a Buddhist monk who had taken the form of the female protagonist’s master.

The book did not detail how the monk managed to escape.

Over the years, aside from the monk and the protagonists, the only ones known to have emerged alive from Redstone Town were ordinary mortals.

After all, mortals cannot cultivate the Dao, so they remain unaffected by the turbid energy…

Song Junyu’s heart jolted, snapping her out of her chaotic thoughts as she remembered Ji Chan.

She glanced back and saw Ji Chan silently following behind her. For some reason, Ji Chan’s face looked unusually pale.

“Xiao Chan, what’s wrong?”

Unable to hold back her concern, Song Junyu grasped Ji Chan’s hand and discreetly channeled a stream of spiritual energy into her.

Apart from a slightly disordered flow of energy, there seemed to be nothing unusual about Ji Chan’s body.

Ji Chan shook her head.

Only then did Song Junyu release her hand, thinking that perhaps the sight of Ji Yang on the brink of death had reminded Ji Chan of her painful past. She patted Ji Chan’s hand reassuringly and said, “It’s alright. Those things are in the past now. You’ve started a new life.”

“Your Uncle Ji Yang will recover too.”

As she spoke, Song Junyu brought up another matter.

Elder Wan had been wholly focused on treating Ji Yang lately and probably had no time to look after Ji Chan.

Hongshi Town was dangerous, and Ji Chan was still young—it wouldn’t be right to take her along.

“Xiao Chan, I’ll be heading to Qing Ping Sect for a while. Would you prefer to stay in Li Village or remain here at the sect?” Song Junyu asked.

Everyone would be too busy to pay much attention to Ji Chan during this time, and she might feel lonely. At least in Li Village, there would be children her age to play with.

Ji Chan looked up at Song Junyu, recalling the dull and uninteresting peers in Li Village. Suppressing the sharp, needle-like pain in her head, she chose to stay at the sect.

–

Song Junyu planned to set off the next morning.

After making sure Ji Chan was settled, she gave her a few specially modified, sweet-tasting medicinal pills to strengthen her body and urged her to rest in her room. Then, Song Junyu began packing items that might be useful in Hongshi Town while racking her brains to recall the relevant plot details about the town.

Thinking Ji Chan was already asleep, she tried to keep quiet to avoid disturbing her. Unbeknownst to her, in the adjacent room, Ji Chan was curled up on her bed, biting her lower lip hard as she endured a pervasive, stabbing pain throughout her body.

The discomfort had struck Ji Chan the moment she entered Elder Wan’s room.

Had anyone been present, they might have noticed that the roots of Ji Chan’s hair were gradually lightening in color, only to darken again in an instant.

Ji Chan felt as though she were a cicada struggling through a difficult molting process—her skin burned as if scorched by fire.

And as the excruciating pain slowly subsided, the memories that had always been shrouded in mist and indistinct finally began to clear, revealing a faint, elusive fragment of the past.

“How strange! So many poisons, yet you’re still alive!”

“What kind of monster are you?”

The man’s voice was dark and slimy, like a venomous snake slithering through the mud: “Look what I’ve found—you’ve actually become a Gu King!”

At first, his eyes were filled with arrogance and disdain, regarding her as nothing more than a curious object. But then, his gaze widened, gradually filling with terror.

“Why can’t I kill you?”

“How can you cultivate? You… you actually feed on turbid energy!”

“No… I must inform the major sects!”

…

With a final scream, the man’s voice vanished completely from the world.

Ji Chan opened her eyes.

At first glance, her eyes held a hint of crimson, appearing both bewitching and demonic in the half-light of dusk. Moments later, the redness gradually faded, and she returned to her usual quiet and obedient demeanor.

Upon closer inspection, however, a layer of frost seemed to veil the depths of Ji Chan’s eyes.

Just as she had suspected—she had once been a test subject for drugs and had snapped the neck of the person who forced her into that role. Moreover, she was indeed no righteous figure; in fact, she was an enemy of the cultivation world.

She still couldn’t remember who she was.

But she knew that if outsiders were to discover her past identity, the Qing Ping Sect would not be able to protect her.

Before the cultivation world uncovered her true self, she had to grow stronger as quickly as possible.

Ji Chan pursed her lips, recalling the cultivation methods from her dreams, and her gaze fell upon the books on the desk.

Having thoroughly studied the maps of the cultivation world, she knew that near the Qing Ping Sect, where Song Junyu was headed, there was a place filled with the world’s most malevolent turbid energy…

“Redstone Town…”

Ji Chan lowered her eyes, her lips pressed together, and a plan swiftly formed in her mind.