The Immortal’s "White Moonlight" Reborn - Chapter 21

The Fall of the Wenshen Sect

“If that’s the case, all the more reason to take you away! If the Medical Immortal is at her wit’s end, we’ll head further afield to find a cure. Who’s to say the ancient secret realms don’t hold some record of it? And if all else fails… there’s the Demon Realm. I’m certain the Medical Immortal hasn’t ventured there!” Zuo Lan paced back and forth, looking like an ant on a hot griddle.

Wei Xiheng tried to contact her clan elders to ask about treatments for such a condition, but unfortunately, no messages could bypass the isolation of the Reflection Cliff. She was so frantic that tears began to well in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, and please don’t cry,” Wen Qiwu said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe Wei Xiheng’s face, which was now streaked like a little tabby cat. “Am I not still doing fine right now?”

Zuo Lan bit her lip. How could Wen Qiwu look at her current state and think anything was “fine”?

“Is the Medical Immortal still at the Wenshen Sect?” Zuo Lan asked.

“She should be at the medicine hall on Mount Wanyao,” Wen Qiwu answered. Before she could even finish her sentence, Zuo Lan had already rushed out.

Wei Xiheng let out a tearful hiccup. “I’ll go back and ask my ancestors. We’ll find a way to save you.”

“Earlier, the Immortal Sovereign said you weren’t seeing guests. I thought she was just trying to keep us away, but I didn’t expect…” She didn’t expect “Little Sparrow” to be this ill!

When Wen Qiwu heard Wei Xiheng mention her Senior Sister, the hand wiping the tears paused for a moment.

“Did Senior Sister make things difficult for you?”

Wei Xiheng instinctively shook her head, but remembering the Sovereign’s terrifying gaze, she couldn’t help but shiver.

“The Sovereign… she was incredibly stern,” Wei Xiheng whispered.

Wen Qiwu let out a faint laugh. Her Senior Sister’s usual cold and unsmiling demeanor was indeed intimidating.

“She even scolded us,” Wei Xiheng added, hanging her head with a wronged expression.

Scolded them?

Wen Qiwu found it hard to believe. By nature, her Senior Sister was not someone who angered easily. To provoke her to the point of a scolding was quite an achievement in itself.

“Did you say or do something?”

“Well… the Sovereign thinks we’ve been a bad influence on you, so she was very angry.” Wei Xiheng felt miserable; she truly didn’t know what she’d done wrong. “Then Zuo Lan started arguing with her, saying that if she wasn’t willing to accept your feelings, she should just let you go.”

Wen Qiwu fell silent. After a long while, a trace of bitterness touched the corners of her mouth. Though she hadn’t witnessed the exchange, she could piece together what had happened from Wei Xiheng’s words.

Ultimately, even after all these years, her Senior Sister was still unable to let go of what had happened back then.

“I’m sorry. I’ve dragged you into my mess.” Wen Qiwu thought that perhaps she really had made a mistake. Her pale, sickly face carried a sense of fragile desolation.

Wei Xiheng waved her hands frantically. “No, no, not at all!”

“That aside, Qiwu, are you really being held here by the Sovereign?”

Wen Qiwu didn’t speak, but a flicker of sorrow passed through her eyes.

“…Then, why don’t you come with me to Falling Star City? This place is terrible for recovery. Zuo Lan and I agreed—I’ll ask my parents, and she’ll ask her Master to come and persuade the Sovereign. If that fails, we’ll find a way to sneak you out!” Even though Wei Xiheng was still terrified of Yun Heng, she was willing to risk it for her friend.

Wen Qiwu shook her head gently. “Thank you for the kindness, but I’m doing well here. It’s quiet, which is good for resting.”

“Is that so…” Seeing Wen Qiwu’s persistence, Wei Xiheng didn’t push further. “If you need anything, just have that Elder Lu send me a message!”

“Thank you.” Wen Qiwu smiled softly. She reached into her storage bag and pulled out several insights she had written during her confinement, handing them to Wei Xiheng. “I promised these to you. I intended to give them to you three years ago, but unfortunately…”

Wei Xiheng’s eyes lit up, but she immediately began nagging Wen Qiwu to rest more, telling her to set aside such mentally taxing tasks for now. For an array-obsessed person like her to say such a thing was rare indeed.

It was quite some time before Zuo Lan returned. Her expression was even grimmer than before. She had likely heard more from the Medical Immortal and looked sour knowing there was no way to get Wen Qiwu out of the Wenshen Sect.

On the bright side, she had confirmed one thing: the Immortal Sovereign wasn’t so cold-blooded as to leave Wen Qiwu here to die. The Medical Immortal mentioned that Yun Heng was already researching the only potential method to save her, but it would take time.

Having traveled extensively, Zuo Lan knew that neither the environment nor the emotional weight of this place was conducive to healing. If Wen Qiwu weren’t bound here, Zuo Lan would have preferred to take her out to see the world; a change of scenery would do wonders for her health.

She sat by the bed and sighed. “Once your condition stabilizes a bit, leave this place with me. I clearly misjudged her, who knew the Immortal Sovereign was such a hopeless traditionalist? Don’t hang yourself on one tree. Once we’re out, I’ll introduce you to eight or ten others. They might not be as stunning as the Sovereign, but they’ll definitely be more tender and attentive!”

Staring at that Sovereign every day was just asking for heartache. One way to forget pain is to shift one’s focus. Zuo Lan had friends everywhere; there were plenty of female cultivators who adored a delicate, gentle beauty like Wen Qiwu! When that time comes, let’s hope the Sovereign doesn’t come around to ruin the fun!

Although Yun Heng insisted she only viewed Qiwu as a younger sister, Zuo Lan was skeptical of the Sovereign’s true feelings. If she truly felt nothing, her reactions were far too extreme.

But now that she had locked Qiwu in the Reflection Cliff, the matter of feelings was secondary. Qiwu was the one suffering most. Rather than waiting for a block of ice to thaw, it was better to escape the sea of bitterness early.

Wen Qiwu lowered her gaze and spoke softly, “If there is a chance…”

If there was a chance, leaving for a while wouldn’t be bad. Once time had dulled the impact of these events, perhaps she might be able to face her Senior Sister normally again.

Unfortunately, Wen Qiwu could feel her body deteriorating. She likely didn’t have that chance left.

“There will definitely be a chance!” Zuo Lan encouraged her. “I heard you’ve hardly had the chance to leave the Wenshen Sect since you were a child. Get well, and when you’re recovered, I’ll take you all over the Cangwang Realm.”

Zuo Lan began describing the customs and landscapes she had seen during her travels. She spoke with such vivid passion that even Wen Qiwu felt her spirits lift slightly.

“When I’m a bit better, I’ll go with you. Just don’t blame my weak body for slowing you down,” Wen Qiwu joked.

“No way! If she minds, I’ll go with you!” Wei Xiheng piped up, raising a small hand.

Zuo Lan gave her a mock glare. “I won’t mind. Just focus on getting better.”

The future Zuo Lan painted was beautiful, and for the first time, Wen Qiwu felt an interest in a future that didn’t involve her Senior Sister.

“Cough, cough…” While she was listening intently, a sudden, suffocating tightness seized her chest. She leaned over the edge of the bed, struggling to stabilize her soul. Her two friends were terrified, frantically moving to find the Medical Immortal.

The Medical Immortal had left a magical artifact on Wen Qiwu specifically to detect such episodes. She arrived before Zuo Lan or Wei Xiheng could even leave.

This wasn’t a full-blown flare-up, but rather secondary symptoms common in the late stages of Spirit-Dissipating Syndrome.

Under the Medical Immortal’s care, Wen Qiwu gradually recovered. In her groggy state, she heard Zuo Lan’s angry voice outside.

“She isn’t coming? Busy? She had plenty of time to block us earlier, but now she’s busy? This is her Junior Sister! She won’t even come for a single look?! When did the Immortal Sovereign switch to the Path of Heartlessness!” Zuo Lan seemed to be arguing with someone, though her ire was directed squarely at Yun Heng.

It seemed Zuo Lan had contacted her Senior Sister, but she refused to come. Even after all this time, a familiar ache spread through Wen Qiwu’s heart. Senior Sister really doesn’t want to see me at all…

A second later, the voices outside vanished, likely because the Medical Immortal had kicked Zuo Lan out.

Wen Qiwu drifted in and out of sleep all afternoon. By evening, Zuo Lan and Wei Xiheng still hadn’t left. Having spent years on the road, Zuo Lan had a house-type artifact a portable dwelling that offered both protection and comfort.

She set the house up next to Wen Qiwu’s quarters, intending to stay there with Wei Xiheng for the time being.

Fortunately, after three years of grueling trials in the Heritage Tower, Zuo Lan had broken through to the Earth Immortal Realm. The suppression of the Reflection Cliff affected her less now, allowing her to use a portion of her immortal power; otherwise, things would have been difficult.

Although Yun Heng did nothing to drive them away, Zuo Lan could feel a gaze falling on her from time to time. The observer’s strength far exceeded her own and made no effort to hide, acting as a clear warning. The only person who fit that description was the True Immortal Sovereign herself.

Zuo Lan felt a strange sense of pride. The Sovereign surely wanted to throw her out, yet couldn’t. How many people in this world could annoy Yun Heng without being banished? She was one of them now, she’d truly made it!

However, as she lingered near the cliff, Zuo Lan noticed the atmosphere outside was changing. The high-level elders and disciples looked tense, their expressions vacillating between grim focus and deep worry.

She looked into it and discovered the trouble involved the Demon Realm.

For Earth and Gold Immortals to be this alarmed, the situation had to be dire. If the Demon Realm was making a move, the Yuxi Sect wouldn’t be able to stay out of it either.

Just as Zuo Lan was about to send a message home, she received one from her Master. The message was urgent: return immediately for a council of war.

Simultaneously, Wei Xiheng was summoned back by her clan. The Demon Realm had launched a sudden expansion, and the regions bordering the demon lands were being devastated. All sects were mobilizing to support the front lines.

The world outside was descending into chaos, but those who visited the Reflection Cliff tacitly agreed not to tell the patient. They didn’t want Wen Qiwu to worry. Thus, by the time the news reached the isolated cliff, the three Demon Lords had already left the Demon Realm, and the Cangwang Realm was in total upheaval.

It was the first time in tens of thousands of years that the Demon Lords had stepped out of their domain. With one True Immortal and two Great Perfection Gold Immortals, the various sects were in full retreat. The sects guarding the borders were wiped out in silence. Only one disciple from the Tianyu Sect managed to escape to send a distress signal, but he was captured shortly after and died under brutal torture.

Logically, even against Demon Lords, those sects should have had time to send a proper signal. Their total silence suggested something far more sinister.

At this point, the Wenshen Sect could not remain idle. All remaining elders were dispatched to the front, leaving only one Gold Immortal and Elder Lu Qiaoyi to maintain the sect’s protective array.

With the war escalating and more land falling to the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Souls, Yun Heng set out the moment she received the briefing.

Before she left, Lu Qiaoyi found her. This elder, who had watched the two sisters grow up, remained silent for a long time.

Years ago, Lu Qiaoyi had encountered a life-threatening danger while searching for a cure for Spirit-Dissipating Syndrome. Their Master had rushed to save her. Lu Qiaoyi returned, but their Master remained there forever.

Since then, Lu Qiaoyi had carried a deep guilt, which she poured into her care for the sisters—especially Wen Qiwu. Lu Qiaoyi never hid her doting nature toward the girl, which was why Yun Heng felt safe leaving her Junior Sister in the elder’s care while she went to war.

In this sect, no one would ever doubt Lu Qiaoyi.

“Little Sparrow said she wanted chestnut cakes. Make some when you return. My skills don’t compare to yours; she isn’t used to mine.” Lu Qiaoyi seemed to have a thousand words buried in her heart, but in the end, she only whispered that single request.

Yun Heng immediately checked her spatial storage. Her supply of chestnut cakes was gone. A flicker of regret crossed her eyes.

Wen Qiwu was swallowing her bitter medicine, tears nearly stinging her eyes.

Suddenly, she saw a paper crane fly in through the window. It shimmered with a faint silver-white glow, the mark of the Wenshen Sect Leader.

She scrambled out of bed to open the window. Because she moved too fast, she swayed and nearly hit the table.

The small crane landed in her palm, and her Senior Sister’s voice drifted from it. She told her to listen to the Medical Immortal and Elder Lu, to take her medicine properly, and promised to make chestnut cakes for her upon her return.

Hearing that voice, Wen Qiwu felt her nose prickle with salt. She didn’t know why her Senior Sister had suddenly sent such a message. Perhaps she believed Wen Qiwu had finally realized her “mistake,” but regardless of the reason, her Senior Sister was talking to her again.

Life at the Reflection Cliff was hard. If Senior Sister wanted her to have realized her mistake, then… she would be “mistaken.”

But did this mean her Senior Sister was going away? The world was so chaotic right now. Wait—if the Demon Lords were invading, was she heading to the front lines?

Wen Qiwu was restless until nightfall when Lu Qiaoyi arrived. She grabbed the elder’s sleeve and asked frantically, only to have her fears confirmed.

“Don’t worry. The Demon Realm is just a rabble. Even the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Souls only reached the True Immortal Realm through external means. His foundation is unstable; he’s no match for the Sect Leader,” Lu Qiaoyi comforted her, supporting her weight.

Wen Qiwu could only try to believe her. Her Senior Sister was so powerful; those demon cultivators couldn’t hurt her.

Yet, the battlefield was treacherous. After Yun Heng left, Wen Qiwu couldn’t rest, often plagued by nightmares.

A patient shouldn’t be burdened with such worry. The Medical Immortal noticed this, and Lu Qiaoyi suggested adding a sedative component to Wen Qiwu’s medicine. The Medical Immortal agreed.

From that day on, Wen Qiwu noticed her medicine grew more sour, and she felt perpetually drowsy. She spent most of her day in a deep sleep.

Both the Medical Immortal and Elder Lu assured her this was normal and that she just needed rest.

Wen Qiwu followed their instructions. Though the sourness made the medicine nauseating, she could still stomach it.

But one day, Lu Qiaoyi brought the medicine personally and watched her drink it. That day, the sourness was overwhelming. Wen Qiwu forced it down, but the moment Lu Qiaoyi left, the nausea became unbearable. She ended up vomiting most of it back up.

After that, she slept for a long time. When she woke, her head throbbed with a dull, rhythmic pain.

She sat on the edge of the bed for a while, trying to clear her mind.

She opened the window for some fresh air, but the sight before her made her heart stop. The sky was stained a visceral, bloody red, permeated with a faint demonic aura.

The Wenshen Sect was the premier righteous sect of the Eastern Dawn Domain. How could there be demonic energy in its sky?

Wen Qiwu immediately realized something was terribly wrong. she rushed out of her room toward the exit of the Reflection Cliff. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a faint, weak crying.

She followed the sound to the base of the cliff. The scent of blood filled the air.

She reached a pile of jagged rocks and found a child covered in blood.

“A-Yue!” Wen Qiwu’s pupils dilated as she recognized the girl. She ran toward her to check her injuries, but before she could reach her, three dark figures landed beside the child.

They were within the bounds of the Reflection Cliff, where the Spirit-Dissipating field was still active. However, three grown men could easily kill a wounded child without using any power at all.

The three men bore the insignia of the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Souls. They were drenched in demonic energy—loyalists of the Demon Realm.

The Demon Realm has bypassed the front and broken into the sect?!

“Is this the last brat? Heh, small as she is, she sure can run.”

“Did you really think you could get away? Look at you, that fall from the mountain must hurt. You’re going to die anyway, you should have just stayed put and saved yourself the pain.”

“Enough. Kill her quickly and do another sweep. We can’t have another runner like at the Tianyu Sect. The Demon Lord will skin us alive if we fail.”

A flicker of genuine fear passed through the men’s eyes at the mention of their master. They stopped joking and raised their blades to finish off the dying child among the rocks.

Anger surged through Wen Qiwu, overriding her shock. She drew the Nine Tribulations Bow and moved silently behind them.

In the blink of an eye, the three men’s throats were slit by the bowstring, and their souls were instantly shredded by the divine artifact.

These demon cultivators weren’t strong, but Wen Qiwu was so frail that the slight exertion left her vision swimming.

Ignoring her dizziness, she threw herself into the rocks and scooped up the bloody child. Wen Qiwu pulled out her best healing medicine and forced it into Dong Shiyue’s mouth. Fortunately, the child’s wounds were mostly superficial; once the medicine took effect, she would be out of danger.

Regaining some strength, the child began to wail. She clung to Wen Qiwu’s neck, sobbing out the horrors occurring outside.

Powerful villains had appeared within the sect. The protective array had not only failed to protect them but had been inverted into a cage. The Gold Immortal Elder had been captured. Everyone in the sect was either being slaughtered or imprisoned. A-Yue’s Master had sacrificed her life to smuggle her out, only for the girl to be spotted by a demon patrol.

“Elder, save Master, please… hic…” Dong Shiyue begged through her tears.

Wen Qiwu’s arms trembled violently. She could hardly process what she was hearing. The array failed? Did Elder Lu… happen to something?

She carried the child along the paths she knew so well. The once-elegant scenery was now a landscape of gore and malice. The bodies of her fellow disciples lay everywhere. Some had died with their eyes wide open, staring up at the blood-red sky in disbelief.

Wen Qiwu covered Dong Shiyue’s eyes. She fought back her own tears and grief as she moved forward. She was too late to save those on the paths, but there were still survivors who needed her.

Above the summit of Mount Wendao, the sky was filled with swarms of black dots—the Demon Lord’s forces. They hovered arrogantly, looking down at the “lambs” below. Any captive Wenshen disciple who showed a hint of resistance was killed on the spot.

A rift had been torn in the sky above the mountain, and from it emerged countless evil spirits. Some were massive, nearly the size of the mountain itself. Foul ichor dripped from their maws as they consumed several elders.

This was the handiwork of the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Souls.

Though Wen Qiwu had never met him, she recognized his techniques from ancient records. She looked toward the leaders of the black swarm, and a sense of total despair began to climb up her spine.

It was the Demon Lord of Ten Thousand Souls. He wasn’t at the front lines; he had circled back for a sneak attack on the sect.

No… wait.

His power felt strange, different from a true True Immortal.

Was this his true body? Or just an avatar?

He should be at the border, occupied by her Senior Sister. Yes, the one before her was likely not the main body. Calm down…

Wen Qiwu gripped her bow so hard her knuckles turned white. She looked at her weapon, a Divine Artifact and her only hope: the Nine Tribulations World-Falling Bow.

There were only five known Divine Artifacts in the world. The Wenshen Sect’s public artifact was Yun Heng’s sword. Their secret second artifact was this bow. It had been brought back from the Myriad Forest Domain by an ancestor and was once the weapon of the Demon Emperor. For tens of thousands of years, no one had been able to bind with it—until Wen Qiwu.

The bow was born at the dawn of the Cangwang Realm, embodying the nine tribulations the world faced during its creation. Legend said that if its full power were unleashed, it could destroy the entire realm.

However, wielding such a weapon required immense power. In her current state, Wen Qiwu’s body would only allow her to fire a single shot.

A sudden commotion broke out on the summit of Mount Wendao. Dong Shiyue’s wounded Master was dragged forward; the Demon Lord was about to harvest her soul.

Wen Qiwu drew back the string. Simultaneously, she tore the first seal of the Divine Artifact. Those with sharp senses noticed that even the sun, hidden behind the blood mist, seemed to grow dim.

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