Training the Villain to Become a Big Sister Obsessed - Chapter 93

Returning to Tianhe Town again, Lan Shan-jun pondered the voice she had heard. It was indeed what Jiu Ying had said, so what did her sentence mean?

“Hurry, find Xi, hurry!”

Find Xi…

A faint premonition arose in Lan Shan-jun’s heart. If they could not find Xi and dispel Tan Zhen’s inner demons this time, some matters would reach a point of no return.

Just like last time, they needed to find Cang Wu first, and then the others.

The group gathered inside the tavern next to where Tan Zhen had rescued people. Lan Shan-jun keenly noticed that there were far fewer people in the tavern than when they first visited.

She looked closely and confirmed that people were missing. The two girls who should have been sitting opposite, eating and discussing their favorite spring flowers, were gone, leaving only an empty table and chairs. Furthermore, the old woman who should have been passing the window diagonally in front, accompanied by her grandson who was loudly begging for candied hawthorns, was also absent.

Why were they all gone?

As she was thinking, Lan Shan-jun’s attention was drawn to two sentences of conversation:

“Boss Shan, business is booming.”

“Haha, Shan Lin, you sweet talker. Don’t worry, the things you wanted are all set aside.”

The tavern owner and a young girl were talking by the counter, but Lan Shan-jun subtly frowned.

The boss’s surname was Shan, and the girl’s surname was also Shan. If she remembered correctly, the old woman from the steamed bun shop outside the small courtyard was also surnamed Shan.

Shan, Shan Jing—all surnamed Shan. Could this be such a coincidence?

No.

Lan Shan-jun suddenly stood up, her gaze falling upon the people of Tianhe Town surrounding them. After looking at them one by one, the idea in her mind solidified.

“This is not Tianhe Town; this place is the Shan family.”

The Shan family that Xi had annihilated.

“Ah?”

“She, she, she, they…” Lan Shan-jun pointed them out one by one.

The others followed the direction of her finger.

“Look closely at the inner corner of their robes; there is a thin, long bamboo leaf there. All immortal sects and families have their own sect marks or family crests. This bamboo leaf is likely the Shan family’s emblem.”

Hearing Lan Shan-jun’s words, Xiao Jiu’s eyes widened. She looked, and sure enough, when a person walked and their robe lifted, she saw the embroidered half-bamboo leaf on the inside.

“It really is!”

“But wasn’t the Shan family already annihilated by Xi? Why did she use demonic power to create an illusory Tianhe Town filled with Shan family members?” Mo Huai-sheng asked.

“Perhaps it’s for Senior Tan Zhen?” Ling Guang speculated. “Senior Tan Zhen developed inner demons after killing Shan Jing. She sought out the Shan family, who were originally annihilated, and Xi, unwilling to see Senior Tan Zhen suffer, created this Tianhe Town.”

“That makes sense. You’re right.” Xiao Jiu reached out to Ling Guang, and the two gave each other a knowing high-five.

“Senior Tan Zhen is here,” Song Qing-cheng reminded in a low voice.

Outside the window, Chao, covered in injuries, had already caused a significant stir, and Tan Zhen was now amongst the crowd.

Ling Guang turned her eyes to Lan Shan-jun, still standing there, and asked in surprise, “Lan Shan, shouldn’t you be going up to dance right now?”

Lan Shan-jun gave her a meaningful look: “Aren’t you also not serving dishes and delivering food?”

Ling Guang thought for a moment and realized she was right.

“The demonic power in Tianhe Town seems much weaker than the first time we came. Our ‘identities’ can no longer restrict us.” Zhao Chen quietly spoke. Compared to the others, she, as a young mistress, was the one who shouldn’t have been present here at all.

The demonic power was indeed weaker. There were fewer people in the town, and it seemed that some corners full of life were slowly fading. Could something have happened to Xi?

That must be why Jiu Ying was so anxious for them to find Xi.

Tan Zhen still took Chao away without hesitation or delay. After she left, Lan Shan-jun and the others followed. Along the way, they met Xie Qing-shuang, who had the same objective, and Ming Yu, who was reluctant but followed Xie Qing-shuang anyway.

After dispelling her own inner demon, Xie Qing-shuang had become gentler. She would smile and nod when she saw Lan Shan-jun, and her hostility towards Cang Wu had lessened; she truly treated her as a junior sister of Yang Valley.

The group converged. Ming Yu watched from a distance, but quickly averted her gaze after just one look.

Hmph, a bunch of people who haven’t even figured out their own lives yet, enthusiastically rushing to help an ancient senior dispel their inner demon.

“Ming Yu and I were also in the town when the demonic shadows appeared. The dead people materialized suddenly; their death appearances were illusions conjured by the demonic shadow’s power,” Xie Qing-shuang said.

“In Tianhe, the demonic shadow originated from Senior Tan Zhen. A very heavy demonic power has condensed on her,” Lan Shan-jun said in a low voice. “Could it be that we were wrong from the start?”

“The demonic shadow isn’t Xi, and Chao isn’t Xi. Are these all creations of Senior Tan Zhen, influenced by her inner demons?”

“But Senior Tan Zhen is human; how could she possess such powerful demonic energy?”

As soon as Xiao Jiu asked, she immediately refuted herself: “Wait, that’s not right. Tu Wu-shuang was also human before, and she could cultivate the Demonic Race’s Concealed Blood Art. It seems like Chong Yan was also human at first, but somehow became a demon.”

“If a person possesses demonic power, there must be a part that has been demonized,” Xie Qing-shuang took over. “If the demonic shadow truly is the demonic power condensed from Senior Tan Zhen, then her level of demonization should be very deep, yet she shows no demonic form. Could it be…”

“A demonic core?”

“She has a demonic core inside her?”

Song Qing-cheng and Xie Qing-shuang spoke simultaneously.

Xiao Jiu and Ling Guang immediately straightened their backs, and Zhao Chen couldn’t help but frown.

For a demon, the demonic core is more important than life itself. Not only does it contain the Heaven and Earth spiritual energy they have absorbed and refined since birth, but it also nourishes their soul.

When a cultivator dies, they need to reshape their physical body, requiring celestial treasures to regenerate bone and flesh. When a demon beast dies, if its demonic core is undamaged, it can cultivate a new demon body after a hundred years of recuperation.

If there is a demonic core within Tan Zhen, then surely Xi…

“Is Xi dead?”

Someone uttered this sentence. Lan Shan-jun instantly recalled the demonic corpse she had seen that was only a skeleton, which, like the demonic shadow in Tianhe Town, had many tails.

Lan Shan-jun’s breathing suddenly caught. If that skeleton was truly Xi’s, the only one who could have killed Xi was Tan Zhen. This would also explain why Tan Zhen possessed Xi’s demonic core.

Did Tan Zhen kill Xi at the annihilated Shan family?

Her wrist was suddenly wrapped in warmth, and Lan Shan-jun heard Cang Wu say: “It’s gone.”

What was gone?

Just as Lan Shan-jun was confused, she heard Ling Guang’s surprised cry: “Where’s the town?”

She looked back. The former Tianhe Town seemed like layers of illusory shadows that people could pass directly through.

“This time might be the last time,” Xie Qing-shuang said softly. Afterward, her gaze shifted to Tan Zhen’s courtyard, which was the only place that was not a mere illusion.

“Why can’t we just go wake up Senior Tan Zhen? Then we’d know exactly what happened, and if Xi is really dead,” Xiao Jiu became anxious. “If anything serious happens, don’t we still have Jiu Ying and Elder Xue?”

They had someone to back them up; what was there to fear?

Ling Guang nodded in agreement.

“Let’s try it then.”

“That’s Tan Zhen! And a Tan Zhen with inner demons! All of you together wouldn’t be enough for her to look at,” Ming Yu scoffed, seemingly mocking their recklessness—rushing into action without considering the consequences.

Xiao Jiu disliked hearing her talk, but due to the slightly ambiguous relationship between Xie Qing-shuang and Ming Yu, she only shot her a look of displeasure.

Xie Qing-shuang said: “I have already sent a message to my Master; she should be arriving.”

“The Valley Master is coming?” Lan Shan-jun’s eyes instantly brightened upon hearing this, and she immediately felt a boost of confidence.

Xie Qing-shuang nodded and asked her: “Lan Shan, have you told the Eastern Lord?”

Lan Shan-jun looked helpless: “I told her, but she hasn’t replied to me.”

If one could see the communication history between the jade tokens, she and the Eastern Lord were like an endless single-line communication—or more accurately, not even communication. Since the Sleepless City, the Eastern Lord seemed to have been shelved by this world.

The Vermillion Bird Hall Master said the Eastern Lord went to the Azure Dragon Hall, and the Eastern Lord seemed to have some connection with the Azure Dragon Hall Master. Could the Eastern Lord know about the entanglement between Cang Wu and the Azure Dragon Hall?

A crisp bell sound pulled Lan Shan-jun’s thoughts back. She refocused her mind and concentrated on the task at hand.

Xiao Jiu had already taken out the Heart-Guiding Bell, and Mo Huai-sheng was twirling his short flute in his hand.

Lan Shan-jun took a deep breath and closed her eyes, channeling spiritual energy into her palm. A light golden glow instantly enveloped her whole body, and her wind-tousled hair seemed to be gilded.

When she opened her eyes again, Lan Shan-jun’s pupils flashed a dazzling gold. As she moved her lips and chanted the Heart-Cleansing Incantation, one golden spell character after another floated in the air.

The bell and flute sounds rang out in unison. At the same time, a massive array slowly descended over their heads. The formation points and cores constantly shifted, and the spiritual power encompassed by the array surged toward the three people.

Not long after, the hundreds of golden spell characters suspended in mid-air encircled Tan Zhen’s small courtyard. The flowers, plants, and trees formed by the demonic power slowly withered and collapsed, finally dissolving into demonic power that flowed toward the small courtyard.

Demonic energy surged and rampaged, instantly destroying the small courtyard. A burst of sword qi cut through the demonic energy and shot straight toward Lan Shan-jun.

A cold light flashed before her eyes, and a chilling frost qi rushed into her face.

The female protagonist’s cold voice came: “Continue; do not stop.”

Ming Yu, who was standing alone far away, saw Xie Qing-shuang directly drawing her sword to confront Tan Zhen, and her heart involuntarily tightened.

Golden spell characters struck Tan Zhen’s chest and back one by one. She held no sword in her hand, yet she could block Xie Qing-shuang’s sword moves out of thin air.

After Xie Qing-shuang executed a turning wrist and retracting sword with a follow-up thrust, Tan Zhen’s expression suddenly became momentarily dazed: “Reverse the Sea… Senior Sister Xie You?”

This move, Reverse the Sea (Dao Hai), was precisely a unique sword technique created by Xie You.

Seeing the familiar sword move from her former fellow disciple, Tan Zhen still reacted slightly.

“Cang Wu!” Xie Qing-shuang shouted.

Although there were two disciples of the Eastern Lord present, only Cang Wu had learned the Eastern Lord’s swordsmanship.

Cang Wu narrowed her eyes. Just as she clicked her tongue, her lower back was suddenly patted.

Lan Shan-jun signaled with her eyes: Hurry up.

Cang Wu looked left and right, and finally used spiritual energy to conjure a slender vine as a sword.

The vine parried Tan Zhen’s palm. Cang Wu turned her body, pushing Xie Qing-shuang to one side, and then thrust the vine toward Tan Zhen’s brow.

At this moment—the familiar sword moves and familiar posture—Tan Zhen’s eye sockets reddened.

“Xing Yuan.”

“Cang Wu, Stabilize the Universe.” Xie Qing-shuang stepped to Cang Wu’s other side, directly facing Tan Zhen.

Stabilize the Universe was a set of sword moves left behind by Yang Valley’s founder, consisting of seven forms, and named after the final move, ‘One Sword Stabilizes the Universe.’

Cang Wu did not reply to her, but still cooperated with her, beginning to shift her steps and turn her hands. They did not aim at Tan Zhen but simply performed the set of sword moves in front of her.

If a disciple of Yang Valley cultivates the sword, Stabilize the Universe is the first set of moves they learn, personally taught by the Valley Master.

“My heart has no secrets; the Heavenly Dao rewards diligence!”

Xie Qing-shuang’s speaking voice was usually cold and low, but this sentence sounded like she roared it out, her voice high-pitched and forceful, traveling very far.

“My heart has no secrets; the Heavenly Dao rewards diligence!”

“My passion overflows; Heaven and Earth submit to my will!”

“My righteousness is awe-inspiring; all ghosts and demons are startled!”

“My ambition soars; water rises and the wind stirs!”

Chanting each word and phrase, as the golden spell characters poured into Tan Zhen’s heart, she slowly lowered the ‘sword’ in her hand. Looking at the consistent movements of the two people before her, she actually smiled.

The demonic energy around them subsided, obediently swirling around Tan Zhen.

“My heart has no secrets; the Heavenly Dao rewards diligence.”

Tan Zhen followed the movements of Xie Qing-shuang and Cang Wu, and also recited the lines Xie Qing-shuang had just shouted.

One person in front, two people behind; their turns and swings of the sword were incredibly natural and continuous.

Seeing Tan Zhen completely calm down, the flute and bell sounds gradually ceased. Lan Shan-jun finished chanting the Heart-Cleansing Incantation for the last time and stepped toward the three of them.

The golden spell characters had not yet finished but had transitioned from the Heart-Cleansing Incantation to the Yang Valley Sect Rules.

As the final golden character sank into Tan Zhen’s brow, and Xie Qing-shuang and Cang Wu executed the final sword move, Lan Shan-jun bowed to them and Tan Zhen.

Tan Zhen looked at the three juniors before her, as if seeing the shadow of old friends in them.

“So much time has passed already. Senior Sister Xie You and Xing Yuan both have disciples,” Tan Zhen raised her head, the blinding sunlight stinging her eyes until they were moist.

The Tianhe Town behind Tan Zhen completely vanished, dissipating as if turning to dust. In its place, only broken walls and ruins remained, faintly recognizable as the immortal dwelling it had been a hundred years ago.

Xie Qing-shuang straightened her back first. Lan Shan-jun, seeing this, also stood up, reaching out her hand to secretly soothe Cang Wu.

During the bowing just now, she had been the one to press Cang Wu’s hand down.

Cang Wu kept a straight face, looking displeased, but when she felt the woman’s fingers tickling her palm, her eyebrows couldn’t help but twitch slightly.

“Did we succeed?” Xiao Jiu whispered.

Looking at Tan Zhen’s state, Ling Guang thought: Probably?

“Not yet,” Song Qing-cheng looked back.

A thousand zhang high in the sky, the water of the Heavenly River poured down. The Path to the Heavenly River was wider and grander, and also more illusory.

Tianhe Town disappeared, but the Heavenly River remains.

Tan Zhen seemed to have sobered up, but what she truly wanted to conceal was the Heavenly River, or rather, what she dared not face was beneath the waterfall.

Therefore, after Tianhe Town vanished, this Path to the Heavenly River became even more magnificent.