The Sect Leader Raised a Fox to His Own Detriment - Chapter 13

Floating Cloud Hall was situated at the summit of the South Peak, where the snow was white as bone and the chilling winds raged relentlessly.

A-Yin had been kneeling here for an entire day and night.

His legs had long since frozen stiff. Initially, he had shivered uncontrollably from the cold, but eventually, his body went numb; he could no longer even feel the frost.

The winter wind swept by, kicking up translucent snowflakes that struck A-Yin’s face and head, making it impossible to tell if that pure patch of white was the falling snow or his own silver hair.

At dusk, the setting sun was as red as blood.

Yue Xichen appeared before A-Yin and asked the same question once more.

“Do you acknowledge your mistake now?”

A-Yin kept his head lowered, remaining silent and refusing to utter a word.

Yue Xichen let out a somewhat helpless sigh.

At this moment, A-Yin’s face was deathly pale from the cold, his cheeks were flushed a feverish red, and his lips were entirely devoid of color.

A-Yin was a half-demon with extraordinary self-healing abilities. The lash mark Yue Xichen had delivered earlier would have left a lifelong scar on anyone else, but for A-Yin, the mangled wound had already completely healed by the time he was brought to Floating Cloud Hall.

Still, Yue Xichen was worried. If A-Yin continued to kneel in this frozen wasteland, his body would eventually give out, even as a half-demon.

Why… can’t you just yield?

Yue Xichen’s sword-like brows furrowed as he questioned himself.

Was this the innate temperament of a half-demon, or did A-Yin truly believe he had done nothing wrong?

“A-Yin, I ask you: if given another chance, would you still disregard the safety of the people of Yangzhou just to obtain the Ice Tear Pearl?”

Failing to understand why his Master had suddenly become so talkative, A-Yin raised his head, his eyes glaring directly at Yue Xichen with burning resentment.

“I didn’t cause the flood, and I didn’t know the Chiru was at the bottom of the river…”

“But the people of Yangzhou were indeed placed in mortal danger because of your recklessness…”

A-Yin opened his mouth, but found himself speechless.

“If you had known beforehand that taking the pearl would awaken the Chiru, would you have refrained from doing so?”

“Not necessarily,” A-Yin replied with absolute certainty. “I want to become strong. The Ice Tear Pearl was my only hope.”

“Why… do you want to become strong so badly?”

This question made A-Yin let out a derisive laugh. “Then I ask you, Master: why did you choose to cultivate and become strong in the first place?”

“I…” Yue Xichen’s thin lips moved slightly as he took a sharp breath.

A-Yin saw a flash of difficulty and confusion on Yue Xichen’s breathtakingly beautiful face an expression his Master rarely ever showed.

“Someone as powerful as you could never understand how I feel.”

After saying this, A-Yin lowered his head, his thin lips pressed into a tight line.

Sensing the aura A-Yin was radiating—one that pushed him thousands of miles away—Yue Xichen shook his head and threw a sword down in front of the boy.

“Wasn’t your old sword broken? This one is new.”

His gaze fell upon the new weapon, and A-Yin sneered internally.

What a joke. The old sword was rusted, and this one looks like a piece of broken stone. It’s just as useless.

After Yue Xichen left, A-Yin picked up the stone sword. He strained with all his might but was unable to even draw it from its scabbard.

“I know you hate me, Master, but I didn’t think you would go so far as to play tricks on me…” A-Yin gritted his teeth, the fire in his heart actually driving away some of the cold in his body.

Night fell. The bright moon was like frost, shadows of trees danced in the wind, and all was silent.

A-Yin was still kneeling in the snow. The extreme cold exacerbated his exhaustion, and he was on the verge of falling asleep.

If he fell asleep now, he probably wouldn’t live to see tomorrow’s sun.

Freezing to death within my own sect—that death would surely make me the laughingstock of the cultivation world.

Just as A-Yin’s eyelids were fighting to stay open, a figure abruptly appeared before him.

“…Master?” Raising his frozen little face, A-Yin’s eyes widened in surprise.

The newcomer stood before him with hands behind his back. Like his Master, he wore snow-white robes and was of a similar height, but his face was concealed behind a demonic mask with green features and bared fangs.

People who wore such masks usually came from the Demonic Sects, but Lingyun Mountain had restrictions; Demonic Sect members shouldn’t be able to enter.

“Who are you?!” A-Yin was instantly alert.

“I am your benefactor.” When the man spoke, his voice was aged and raspy, inconsistent with his physical appearance.

A-Yin frowned.

He had originally thought that even if this wasn’t his Master, it should be a young and handsome man like him.

But then again, if one were good-looking, there would be no need to wear a mask.

“I don’t even know you. By what right do you call yourself my benefactor? How shameless,” A-Yin retorted bluntly.

Yue Xichen felt a slight sense of relief seeing that A-Yin still had this much spirit after kneeling on the snowy summit for a day and a night.

“I have a way to make you strong, provided you take me as your Master.”

“Huh?” A-Yin’s eyes widened, completely bewildered. “Who exactly are you? This is Lingyun Mountain; it’s not a place where you can just wander in.”

“There are restrictions here, I know. But they cannot stop me,” Yue Xichen spoke the simple truth.

They couldn’t stop him because he was the one who had personally laid them.

A-Yin looked the masked man up and down, the suspicion in his heart intensifying. “I already have a Master…”

“But he refuses to teach you, does he not?”

“How do you know that?” A-Yin raised his eyes in shock.

“Never mind how I know… Take me as your Master and learn my methods of cultivation. Then, you will become strong.”

“Can I become stronger than my Master?”

A-Yin’s question caused Yue Xichen to pause.

“You… wish to be stronger than your Master?”

“Exactly!” A-Yin’s face was serious as he spoke with absolute conviction. “I want to surpass him and become the most powerful existence in the entire cultivation world!”

“…Why?” Yue Xichen’s brows, hidden behind the demonic mask, furrowed slightly. “Do you hate your Master?”

“He’s the one who hated me first!” A-Yin replied righteously, his wide eyes seemingly burning with a fierce fire. “I want to become stronger than him, make him bow at my feet, and let him experience what it feels like for the weak to be bullied.”

“…” Yue Xichen’s brow furrowed even tighter.

“Well? Can you do it? If you can, I’ll take you as my Master.”

Yue Xichen gave a bitter smile, his heart filled with complex emotions. “This time, you don’t care who I am? Are you not afraid that I might be a demonic cultivator?”

I’m a half-demon anyway!

A-Yin replied in his head, but aloud he said, “As long as you can make me strong, I don’t care who you are!”

As he saw his goal within reach, Yue Xichen couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh in his heart.

A half-demon could not cultivate using conventional methods because they were born with demonic power. Mortals wishing to cultivate immortality relied on spirit roots and true essence.

Yue Xichen’s original plan was to keep A-Yin on Lingyun Mountain for the rest of his life. Though he wouldn’t be strong, his safety would be guaranteed.

Once one becomes strong, the responsibilities grow heavier, and the desires within the heart expand.

This is true for humans, and it is true for half-demons.

However, in the grand scheme of things, there are always matters beyond one’s control.

“I can make you stronger than your Master…”

Before Yue Xichen could finish his sentence, A-Yin cupped his hands toward him, smiling to reveal two small canine teeth. “Then from this moment on, you are my Little Master.”