The Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Captured the Villainous Demon Venerable - Chapter 49

Chapter 49: Mo Xun, You Broke Your Promise

Yun Wushang quickly appeared above the Water Moon Immortal Sect.

This time, she didn’t need to chase anyone, so she didn’t use the Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman. Anyway, with her Great Ascension stage cultivation, she could travel thousands of miles in an instant even without the talisman.

But upon arriving at Water Moon Peak, she did not approach the Sect-Protecting Array but hovered above it for a long time.

She was hesitating whether to barge in or send a message to Bai Muqing.

All the cultivators of the Water Moon Immortal Sect knew her true identity, so there was no need to reverse her meridians and disguise herself as an immortal cultivator to enter. Moreover, she did not trust Bai Muqing.

Just as she was undecided, a voice was transmitted directly into her mind: Since you are here, why not come in for a visit?

Yun Wushang was momentarily stunned.

Even after years of separation, she recognized Bai Muqing’s voice immediately.

Whatever the greeting, it would no longer be “Master.”

Bai Muqing proactively opened a gap in the Sect-Protecting Array.

Yun Wushang pursed her lips, ultimately accepting the invitation, passing through the gap, and entering the Water Moon Immortal Sect.

She flew skillfully to the Inner Sect main peak and landed in front of Bai Muqing’s residence. She placed one hand behind her back, intending to wait outside for Bai Muqing to come out.

However, Bai Muqing’s voice was transmitted into her ear again: Come in.

Yun Wushang: …A mere Soul Transformation cultivator dares to order me around.

Yun Wushang approached Bai Muqing’s residence expressionlessly, pushed the door open, and, as soon as she entered, threw the black jade bracelet Mo Xun had asked her to deliver to Bai Muqing.

She used less than one-tenth of her strength. Bai Muqing calmly raised her hand and caught the bracelet steadily: “What is the meaning of this?”

Yun Wushang stood at the doorway and said, “Your good disciple personally refined a protective magic treasure for you and asked me to bring it to you. I forgot the name; it’s a protective magic treasure, anyway.”

The name “Infinite Evasion Bracelet” was truly something she couldn’t say; it would damage her dignity as a Demon Venerable. If she had a say, a fifth-grade magic treasure that could easily evade a Soul Transformation stage attack should have a more fitting name, like “Rage-Inducing Soul Transformation Eliminator Bracelet”… Forget it, naming magic treasures was a job for the Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Bai Muqing held the jade bracelet, her gaze sweeping over the identical one on Yun Wushang’s wrist. She said indifferently, “She is thoughtful.”

Then, without giving Yun Wushang a chance to respond, she immediately asked this question: “Why haven’t you dissolved the Life-and-Death Contract?”

Yun Wushang froze for a moment, not responding.

She hadn’t expected Bai Muqing to sense it…

Seeing her silence, Bai Muqing continued on her own: “I know you tampered with the Life-and-Death Contract, making it impossible for Mo Xun to perceive its existence, but when I sealed the contract for you, I infused a trace of my divine sense into it. Therefore, you cannot hide it from me.”

Yun Wushang: “…”

She actually infused a trace of her divine sense? This woman is truly mad.

When divine sense is integrated into a contract, if the contract is dissolved, the divine sense is damaged, which will harm the soul of the divine sense owner, causing immense spiritual pain.

Just to… protect me?

Yun Wushang let out a low chuckle: “Now that you know I am the Demon Venerable, do you regret it?”

“To say I wasn’t surprised would be self-deception, but…” Bai Muqing paused before continuing, “I originally intended to nurture you to protect the cultivators of the Water Moon Immortal Sect from being bullied by outsiders. Now, you shelter the Water Moon Immortal Sect under your identity as the Demon Venerable, so my goal has been achieved. Since that is the case, why should I regret it?”

Yun Wushang: “A cultivating sect sheltered by a demonic cultivator; aren’t you afraid of becoming a target?”

This made Bai Muqing let out a light laugh: “Some people cultivate immortality but only want to climb up by stepping on the corpses of fellow Daoists. Some people cultivate demon arts but do not hesitate to go against the three major immortal sects to protect their peers. Although my judgment of people is usually poor… I can still distinguish right from wrong.”

Having said that, she asked the same question again: “So, since you have recovered your Great Ascension stage cultivation, why haven’t you dissolved the Life-and-Death Contract?”

Yun Wushang was silent for another moment before giving this answer: “I have been fallen into the demonic path for several hundred years, and the people who want to kill me are countless, yet they have all failed. Suddenly having a weakness that can easily threaten me is quite amusing.”

Bai Muqing stared at her for a while: “Having taken you as a disciple for a few months, I had no idea your personality was so difficult.”

Yun Wushang: “…” Are you insulting me again?

Bai Muqing sighed: “What does it matter if you admit you like Mo Xun? If it is true affection, gender is irrelevant.”

“You are overthinking things.” Yun Wushang turned to leave, but after taking two steps, she suddenly remembered something and tossed a storage brocade pouch she took from her person to Bai Muqing.

Bai Muqing took it and scanned it with her divine sense, seeing that it was packed full of talismans, each one inscribed with the elegant, dancing script of “Thousand Mile Teleportation.”

“If the Spiritual Sword Immortal Gate attacks again, this Venerable will not come to the rescue,” Yun Wushang left this sentence, said nothing more, flicked her sleeve to close the door, rose into the air, and disappeared in a few breaths.

Bai Muqing looked at the brocade pouch and the jade bracelet in her hands, sighing helplessly.

She had long heard that demon cultivators were inconsistent in their words and difficult to trust, but she hadn’t expected this kind of “inconsistency.”

Mo Xun returned to the Inner Sect tower of the Artifact Forging Immortal Gate.

As soon as she stepped into her room, she heard Senior Xu Lizhi’s voice: “Did you meet the person you wanted to see?”

Mo Xun replied with an “En.”

Xu Lizhi: “Having successfully refined a seventh-grade magic treasure, you should have taken advantage of the feeling, summarized your experience, and paved the way for refining the next artifact while improving your cultivation. Yet you deliberately went out to see someone. Could this person be your Dao Companion?”

Mo Xun: “…Not exactly.”

Mo Xun: Not yet, but I’ve already decided. As soon as I refine a ninth-grade magic treasure, I will propose to her!

Mo Xun did not say this out loud.

However, as if guessing her thoughts, Xu Lizhi cautioned: “Artifact forgers should most avoid deep affection. If you truly refine a ninth-grade magic treasure, don’t be foolish enough to give it away. Maybe the other party is just waiting for that day to take the artifact, kick you aside, and go dual cultivate with someone else.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Senior, but please focus on refining your own artifact.”

Mo Xun couldn’t be bothered to refute her. What she had already decided, even Yun Wushang couldn’t stop, let alone an outsider.

Not only would she give the first ninth-grade magic treasure she refined to Yun Wushang, but the eighth-grade magic treasure she was about to refine was also for herself and Yun Wushang.

This time, she decided on the name of the magic treasure before she began refining: She would call it the Nest of the Two Poles!

The system heard the name and attempted to guess: With spiritual energy and demonic energy as the two poles, is it your love nest with Yun Wushang?

It was a perfect guess.

Mo Xun: “…As expected of a name I chose, it’s truly self-explanatory.”

System: …I think you’re right.

Mo Xun set up five layers of restrictions, isolating herself from the outside world. She carefully visualized and verified every detail of the “Nest of the Two Poles” in her mind. After ensuring no mistakes, she took out all the necessary materials from her storage brocade pouch, set up a Spirit Gathering Array, released her spiritual fire, and began refining.

Using the ribs of the eighth-grade demonic beast as the frame, various forging materials were filled in and refined separately, constructing the walls, floor, and roof of this “love nest.”

While constructing, she simultaneously carved the array patterns, distributing them like meridians throughout the artifact, not just carving them on the surface.

The almost transparent white flames enveloped all the materials, burning them bright and translucent, like colored glaze.

Through the glaze-like walls, one could see the intricate array patterns, one closely following the next, intertwining and emitting a brilliant golden light.

The exterior shape of a spatial magic treasure was not difficult to refine; even a crude appearance was fine, as it wouldn’t affect the scenery inside.

Just like the two secret realms Mo Xun had entered, they looked like unremarkable rocks from the outside but contained a world of their own inside.

Therefore, Mo Xun focused on the durability and comfort of the magic treasure during refinement.

Since it was an eighth-grade magic treasure, it had to withstand the attacks of a Body Integration stage cultivator, and even if it couldn’t withstand a Great Ascension stage attack, it needed the ability to escape from one. Both defensive and evasion array patterns had to be carved.

The interior could be decorated later, but the temperature, humidity, and air freshness must be comfortable. Different regions would be given different environments, allowing one to stay in any environment they wished, and some areas could even be used to grow spiritual herbs during leisure time.

Yun Wushang had an Ice Spiritual Root, making cultivation twice as effective in a world of ice and snow. Her half of the world could have a small area created within it to place the cold jade bed she had in the Demon Realm.

Mo Xun patiently carved all the necessary array patterns once, combining the refining and carving into one step, yet not losing her rhythm at all.

Refining the seventh-grade magic treasure took her nearly a year.

Refining this eighth-grade magic treasure, which was also a complex spatial artifact, took her two and a half years, even though she maximized efficiency through various means.

In fact, after two years of seclusion, her artifact was almost perfect, but as she was completing the final steps, she suddenly had an insight.

The space within a spatial magic treasure—was it illusory or real? Was it true or false?

What is illusory, and what is real? What is true, and what is false?

To me, who lived in the original world, the original world was real, and the world in the novel was fictional.

But to me, who crossed into this world, this world is real, and the original world only exists in my memory, and memory can be fabricated. If my memory is false, is that world still real?

The illusory and the real, the true and the false, transformed because of my single traversal.

The variable in this is “me.” The world I inhabit changed, so my perceptions followed suit.

If so, what is real? Seeing is believing. What is illusory? An empty dream is illusory.

What I see, what I feel, is all true.

A world, regardless of truth, falsehood, or illusion, is real as long as I can see it, touch it, and feel it.

The illusory realm is the real realm.

The moment she reached this conclusion, Mo Xun successfully initiated the Illusory Realm (Void Refinement), perfecting the magic treasure while her spirit soul traversed between the illusory and the real. Her cultivation reached the Void Refinement stage.

Sensing the impending ferocity of the Heavenly Tribulation, Mo Xun had no time to admire the newly refined magic treasure. She quickly put it into her storage brocade pouch, removed the restrictions, and left the high tower.

Mo Xun’s Heavenly Tribulations were always strange. The Void Refinement stage lightning might have the power of the Body Integration stage, so to avoid harming innocent people, she used the Spatial Folding technique to arrive at a desolate mountain far from the Artifact Forging Immortal Gate and Yun Wushang’s dwelling.

The Void Refinement stage still required the Six-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, a total of 54 bolts of lightning.

These 54 bolts of lightning could penetrate space, so hiding in the Illusory Realm would not evade them. Fortunately, the Spatial Folding technique was unaffected.

Mo Xun hovered over the desolate mountain. Dark clouds gathered above her head.

The first bolt of lightning struck. She vanished into thin air with a Spatial Folding technique, reappearing in another nearby location.

Although the heavenly lightning was attracted to her and curved as it struck, its speed was too fast. It ultimately grazed past her and violently smashed into the ground, blasting out a huge crater without harming her in the slightest.

At the same time, on the other side, Yun Wushang sensed Mo Xun’s aura instantly. She immediately left her cave dwelling and flew toward Mo Xun’s location.

Yun Wushang knew how terrifying Mo Xun’s Heavenly Tribulation was; she wanted to help her block it.

However, as soon as she left the cave dwelling, a dense wave of spiritual energy descended from the sky.

Not good!

Yun Wushang instinctively dodged, but the attack came even faster. At the same time, a hateful female voice sounded from above: “Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda, seize!”

Luo. Bao. Zhu!

Yun Wushang gritted her teeth and looked up, seeing a huge golden tower descending from the sky. The diameter of its base spanned thousands of miles, blocking the sunlight and turning the day into night.

The range covered by this terrifying magic treasure exceeded Yun Wushang’s ability to evade. She had nowhere to run!

Just as she was about to be sucked into the tower, the black jade bracelet on Yun Wushang’s left wrist suddenly emitted a deep purple light.

Yun Wushang: !

As expected of Mo Xun!

Having narrowly escaped death, Yun Wushang didn’t have time to think. She took out a Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman from her storage brocade pouch, stuck it on herself, and flew toward the Demon Realm.

The Demon Realm was saturated with dense demonic energy. If an immortal cultivator entered, not only would their spiritual power be suppressed and their cultivation difficult to advance, but they would also be prone to inner demons. Therefore, even immortal cultivators with the deepest killing intent toward demons dared not enter the Demon Realm easily.

However, the demons in the Demon Realm were not benevolent either. Seeing their Demon Venerable severely injured, they would not seek to protect her; they would only seek to stab her in the back and take her place.

This was why, years ago, Yun Wushang, severely injured by Yun Qianchong, did not dare to flee into the Demon Realm but could only disguise herself as an immortal cultivator and live precariously in an immortal sect.

Luo Baozhu sensed Yun Wushang’s aura suddenly vanishing and reappearing thousands of miles away, and a flicker of surprise crossed her face.

She did not hesitate, put away the Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda, and summoned a pair of speed-boosting shoe rests, carrying her shoes as she chased in the direction Yun Wushang had fled: “A rat in a ditch, still so hard to catch. Today, I will seize the entire Demon Realm, and we’ll see where else you can hide!”

The emotional fluctuation caused the Great Ascension stage spiritual energy to ripple out like water, traveling a thousand miles and sweeping over Mo Xun’s location.

Sensing this terrifying spiritual energy, Mo Xun’s pupils sharply contracted. The momentary distraction almost caused the heavenly lightning to strike her.

She had already dodged 32 bolts of lightning, with 22 remaining. Moving rashly now would endanger countless lives.

But…

Yun Wushang might be in danger!

System! Answer me! System!

System: Southwest direction, eight thousand miles.

Mo Xun immediately used several Spatial Folding techniques in succession, without hesitation, toward the direction the system had indicated.

As she flew, the Heavenly Tribulation followed, the sound of thunder startling masses of mountain birds, and countless spiritual beasts scattered in panic.

34th bolt, 35th bolt, 36th bolt…

Yun Wushang heard the sound of thunder.

Closer, it was getting closer.

It’s Mo Xun.

Fool! When she sensed the Great Ascension stage spiritual energy, she should have immediately fled! Fled without looking back!

How dare a mere Void Refinement cultivator worry about me?

What if you get captured along with me…

“I’ve caught up.” Luo Baozhu’s icy voice appeared directly above Yun Wushang. Her escape speed, boosted by the eighth-grade magic treasure, easily surpassed Yun Wushang’s.

Immediately following, another equally icy voice sounded from the high altitude on the other side: “Yun Wushang, do not resist.”

This voice… was too familiar, so familiar that Yun Wushang would never forget it in this lifetime.

She instinctively looked up and saw that head of snow-white hair, blending with the surrounding clouds and mist.

Why?

Why are they suddenly coming after me?

Besides Mo Xun, the only one who knew she was at the Artifact Forging Immortal Gate was Chu Jiuchu.

Could it be that I was betrayed again…?

Wait, no.

“Meiyan!” Yun Wushang roared in anger.

She calculated for everything, but didn’t factor in that Meiyan, a Void Refinement stage demon, would collude with immortal cultivators!

These two, they hate me so much that they are willing to join forces with a demon cultivator?!

Yun Wushang continued to flee toward the Demon Realm. Luo Baozhu pursued her from above, summoning her magic treasure: “Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda, seize!”

The palm-sized tower grew rapidly the moment it was thrown, instantly obscuring thousands of miles of sky.

The “Infinite Evasion Bracelet” activated again, absorbing nearly one-tenth of Yun Wushang’s demonic energy, allowing her to flash out of the range covered by the Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda.

However, the direction of evasion was random. Although Yun Wushang once again escaped Luo Baozhu’s capture thanks to the bracelet Mo Xun refined, she was now heading away from the Demon Realm.

Luo Baozhu and Yun Qianchong pursued her together. Other cultivators from the Heavenly Mountain Immortal Gate followed behind them, but their escape speed wasn’t as fast as the two leaders.

Everyone wore light-gold robes, giving off a sense of sacred nobility.

“Yun Wushang, it’s been many years, and you have become even more outrageous, even setting your sights on the Artifact Forging Immortal Gate.” As Yun Qianchong spoke, hundreds of sharp longswords appeared around her, most of them high-grade artifacts of the seventh-grade or higher.

She looked down at Yun Wushang and said coldly, “Don’t worry. After I capture you, I won’t kill you immediately. My Senior Sister and Junior Brother, the Sect Master’s three disciples, and everyone you killed at the Heavenly Mountain Immortal Gate—I will make you suffer all the pain they endured in life!”

Yun Wushang scoffed: “After all these years, you are still twisting the truth and being disgustingly hypocritical! I am no match for you, but you won’t catch me either!”

As she finished speaking, and was about to continue fleeing, Yun Qianchong’s hundreds of spiritual swords flew toward her!

The jade bracelet on her wrist continuously exerted its effect, helping Yun Wushang evade attacks that would otherwise have been unavoidable countless times, but the metallic sword qi still precisely severed the Thousand Mile Teleportation Talisman stuck to her body.

Without the talisman, Yun Wushang’s escape speed slowed. Yun Qianchong attacked with full force, but her target was not Yun Wushang herself, but the bracelet on her wrist!

Yun Wushang, a Great Ascension stage demon cultivator, felt no pain from Yun Qianchong’s sword qi, but the fifth-grade bracelet only needed to be grazed twice by the sword qi to develop cracks. On the third graze, it shattered with a “crack.”

The moment the bracelet fell from her wrist, Yun Wushang’s heart constricted in pain. The emotion that first erupted in her chest was not the fear of being captured, but the heartache of losing something precious.

The sun was once again blocked by the massive body of the Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda, and this time, there was no magic treasure left to protect Yun Wushang.

Yun Wushang raised her head in despair, watching the huge shadow descend.

Before she was completely swallowed by the tower, she curved her lips, revealing a smile, though it was filled with sorrow.

You promised you would put a ninth-grade magic treasure on me within three years.

Mo Xun, you broke your promise.

Mo Xun was ultimately a step too late.

The moment Yun Wushang was sucked into the tower, she arrived at the tower’s edge, but it was already too late to do anything.

The final heavenly lightning bolt struck down. She instinctively evaded it, avoiding injury from the lightning itself, but her whole body was in excruciating pain, from her chest to her fingertips, numb with agony. Spiritual energy healing was completely useless.

She looked up at the Heavenly Mountain cultivators flying above her, looking at the two leaders.

One had her hair in a high cloud bun, the other had snow-white hair. Both wore expressions as cold as frost.

This was the first time Mo Xun had seen them, yet she easily confirmed their identities.

The person who captured Yun Wushang with the tower-like magic treasure was most likely the Great Ascension stage artifact forger who called herself Immortal Venerable Baosheng, Luo Baozhu.

And the one who could simultaneously wield hundreds of spiritual swords and possessed a single Gold Spiritual Root must be the Sect Master of the Heavenly Mountain Immortal Gate, Yun Qianchong.

Mo Xun instinctively wanted to question them but couldn’t make a sound.

Before she could act, the artifact forger with the high cloud bun noticed her: “Who?”

With this icy sound, the pressure of the Great Ascension stage descended from the sky! Mo Xun’s body was instantly pressed to the ground, forcing her to squat with both feet planted firmly, refusing to kneel.

Is this the pressure of the Great Ascension stage? It felt like a truck rolling over her, her internal organs squeezed and deformed. Because she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t even let out a sound despite the intense pain.

She had spent so much time with Yun Wushang, a Great Ascension stage Demon Venerable, yet it wasn’t until today that she truly experienced the pressure of the Great Ascension stage. It was quite unbelievable.

“Wait.” Yun Qianchong suddenly spoke, stopping Luo Baozhu. “This person carries the aura of Yun Wushang’s bracelet. She must be the artifact forger enslaved by Yun Wushang. Do not harm the innocent.”

Luo Baozhu immediately withdrew her pressure upon hearing this: “Name?”

The Great Ascension stage pressure had been withdrawn, but it still took Mo Xun a long time to slowly stand upright. She then bowed her head to the two, responding in a tone as calm as stagnant water: “Mo Xun.”

“The Demon Venerable Yun Wushang has been suppressed by me. You are free,” Luo Baozhu said.

Mo Xun remained silent.

“What is it?” Luo Baozhu was surprised by her reaction. “Did being enslaved for so long make you feel sorry for her?”

“…No.” Mo Xun squeezed the word out almost through gritted teeth, then lowered her head and said, “Senior’s magic treasure is extremely powerful. Mo Xun is deeply impressed. May I ask Senior to teach me artifact forging?”

She spoke one word at a time. With every word, her chest felt as if it were being punched, so suffocated with pain that she couldn’t breathe.

She wanted to kill the two of them. She wanted to rescue Yun Wushang. For a moment, she even wanted to destroy the entire Heavenly Mountain Immortal Gate! She wanted to kill everyone! She wanted to destroy the entire cultivation world! This cultivation world that hurt Yun Wushang might as well not exist!

But she couldn’t.

This was contrary to her Dao, and her strength was insufficient to accomplish all this.

The most urgent matter was to find a way to approach Luo Baozhu, and through approaching Luo Baozhu, to get close to the Nine Heavens Demon Suppressing Pagoda.

As long as she could find a way to meet Yun Wushang, she would find a way to save her!

Thinking this, Mo Xun pursed her lips, raised her hand, and let her ninth-grade spiritual fire ignite in her palm.

“Senior, this is the reason why the Demon Venerable targeted me. May I ask Senior to take me as a disciple?”

Water Moon Immortal Sect, Inner Sect Main Peak.

Bai Muqing was sitting cross-legged in her room cultivating when her soul suddenly felt a sharp pain, her heart palpitated, and she violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

She quickly took a Replenishing Pill and swallowed it, then showed an expression of disbelief.

The Life-and-Death Contract she sealed for Mo Xun and Yun Wushang… was broken?