Chapter 13 - 10: Weak, but Highly Malleable Fairy
Xia Lianxue should never have been corrupted by the Desire Demon.
It began with a single thought—a tiny flicker of jealousy toward Qiu Yuehan. A thought she should have been able to extinguish on her own after the grand competition.
As a True Inheritor of Miao Yu Palace, her Heart Method cultivation was solid. She shouldn’t have been so easily corrupted by a Desire Demon.
But someone had planted a demon in her.
On the night the competition ended, while her mind was in turmoil, someone took advantage of her vulnerability. They planted a Demon Thought in Xia Lianxue, which only needed another moment of mental shock, aided by the sound of a xiao flute, to make her fall completely to the Desire Demon.
’These are all worn-out tricks. I can’t believe someone dug them up again.’
The art of planting demons was once all the rage—the perfect choice for taking revenge on enemies and framing fellow cultivators.
When Lu Changyuan was the Chang’an Daoist, he had already outlawed this art and destroyed all related cultivation techniques. To think that after only five hundred years of his absence, the art of planting demons had reappeared.
"Ugh!!!"
Lu Changyuan’s hand plunged directly into Xia Lianxue’s stomach, yet it caused no physical wound. It was as if his hand had entered some unknown space. Even so, the Fairy’s gentle, serene face was gone, replaced by a painful frown.
"Bear with it for a moment. I’m exorcising the demon for you."
The number of people in this world who could exorcise a demon for someone could be counted on one hand. Conveniently, Lu Changyuan was one of them.
The cultivation technique, the Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique, was created by Lu Changyuan precisely to be immune to the Desire Demon’s corruption.
Using his hand as a conduit, the endless black qi within Xia Lianxue was forcibly drawn into Lu Changyuan’s body, yet it couldn’t harm him in the slightest.
The Desire Demon could not corrupt him.
"Ngh!"
Lu Changyuan pulled out his hand, extracting a seed filled with black qi from within Xia Lianxue’s abdomen.
SCREEE!!!
’The seed is actually screaming?’
Lu Changyuan’s expression didn’t change. With a firm squeeze, the black qi dissipated into the air.
"Cough, cough!!"
Xia Lianxue collapsed to the ground, clutching her throat and coughing violently. She fought back the urge to retch, and it was hard to tell if it was blood or tears leaking from the corner of her mouth. Her simple white dress was now stained with scarlet blood and filthy mud, a wretched sight that would stir pity in anyone’s heart.
Before she could even recover, she heard a leisurely voice ask, "Do you want revenge? For instance, to go back and kill that... Hanyi Master?"
Xia Lianxue instinctively looked up, but tears blurred her vision. She couldn’t see Lu Changyuan clearly.
"You weren’t the one who brought the Blood Demon Palace here. You never colluded with them, correct?"
The Fairy replied in a small, hoarse voice, "Correct."
"You were indeed jealous of Qiu Yuehan, but at first, it never went so far as wanting to kill her, right?"
After the demon was planted, Xia Lianxue’s inner thoughts were magnified without limit, spiraling toward the darkest parts of human nature.
Lu Changyuan chuckled. "Hanyi Master wears a xiao flute at her waist. Take a guess—do you think she had a hand in you falling to the demon?"
Xia Lianxue silently curled into a ball.
’She didn’t dare to think about it.’
"How could Hanyi Master, who is close to the Sixth Realm, and with the element of surprise, let a Fifth Realm Town Elder escape?"
"Stop talking!" Xia Lianxue had calmed down, but the pain wracking her body, the churning in her stomach, and the disorienting feeling of having her cultivation destroyed had completely shattered her will.
The Fairy’s eyes swam with tears, her white robes stained with blood.
But Lu Changyuan paid no mind to Xia Lianxue’s fragility. "Who really called the Blood Demon Palace? Why were they so relentless in their pursuit of Qiu Yuehan? And why did that Town Elder only start chasing you after you had met up with her?"
"Stop, just stop!"
"And why did Hanyi Master arrive... so quickly, so coincidentally!" Lu Changyuan said with a smile as he crouched down. He reached out, grabbed Xia Lianxue’s chin, and forced her to face him, looking down at her. "I’ll give you three breaths. I have only one question: do you want to go back and kill them?"
Lu Changyuan’s tone was severe. "Stop crying. The crying counts toward your time!"
Lost in her confusion, three breaths passed in an instant.
Xia Lianxue was still dazed.
So Lu Changyuan pushed her head down into a nod and said, "Then that’s a yes. I’ll help you."
"My cultivation is completely gone."
All the Essence, Qi, and Spirit had drained from Xia Lianxue’s eyes. She looked even more vulnerable than the heavily injured Qiu Yuehan had, allowing Lu Changyuan to toy with her delicate chin without resistance.
Lu Changyuan raised an eyebrow. "You’re much more timid than your senior sister. Qiu Yuehan is incredibly resilient. She could still joke with me in a life-or-death situation. So boring."
His words stung Xia Lianxue. She bit her lip, trying her best to suppress the sob in her voice, but Lu Changyuan still heard it. "Senior Sister has always been stronger than me."
Lu Changyuan smiled gently, revealing his white teeth. "I’m not criticizing you. What I mean is, you have more potential to be molded. I will help you. So what if your cultivation is gone? As long as you listen to me obediently, you’ll be able to defeat Qiu Yuehan by the time I take you back to Miao Yu Palace. Remember, just do exactly as I say."
"Do... as you say?"
"Yes. You do whatever I tell you to do. Do that, and in half a month at most, I’ll take you back to Miao Yu Palace to get your revenge. How about it?"
The words in his vision were wiped away by Lu Changyuan.
[Seven days until the Heavenly Repair Pill appears]
’There’s a ready-made Heavenly Repair Pill right next door.’
’I’ll go get my hands on that Heavenly Repair Pill first.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Qiu Yuehan struggled to open her eyes.
The wind howled past her ears, carrying the chill of the rain.
Only then did she realize she was on a giant immortal crane, with Hanyi Master steering it from the front.
"Hanyi... Master?"
Hanyi Master didn’t turn around, her voice astonishingly cold. "Rest well. We will be back at the palace in two more days."
"What about my Junior Sister? And that... Lu Changyuan?"
"They’re both dead."
"Both dead!?" Qiu Yuehan said in disbelief. "How is that possible!?"
Deep down, she didn’t believe a word Hanyi Master said.
Hanyi Master said coolly, "Just consider them dead. Your junior sister was jealous of you and became corrupted by a Desire Demon. She colluded with the Blood Demon Palace to try to kill you. I have already expelled her from the palace and destroyed her cultivation."
Qiu Yuehan’s voice rose to a pitch she herself could hardly believe. "Junior Sister has never been one to contend with the world!"
Hanyi Master turned her head. "The more someone seems to be above worldly strife, the filthier their thoughts are. Do I need to teach you this lesson again!?"
"Impossible!"
"Hah. What good could possibly come from someone brought up by Han Shui? I have already prepared a recording to be submitted to the palace. You can go see it for yourself then!"
Qiu Yuehan was stunned, carefully studying Hanyi Master as if seeing this True Master for the very first time.
"Master... why did you arrive so quickly?"
Hanyi Master didn’t answer Qiu Yuehan’s question, continuing instead, "Before Han Shui died, her words put you in the eye of the storm. Did she think she could preserve what’s left of her lineage? Others may have fallen for it, but I didn’t. I knew long ago that Xia Lianxue was hiding malicious intent."
It was well-rumored within the palace that the two True Masters, Hanyi and Han Shui, did not get along, but no one thought it had reached this point.
Qiu Yuehan took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent thoughts in her mind. "Then, what about the young man who saved my life twice?"
This question seemed to infuriate Hanyi Master. She dropped her transcendent demeanor and roared, "Qiu Yuehan!? Are you questioning me?"
"I wouldn’t dare. It’s just..."
"Then shut up! A final verdict will be reached when we return to the palace! As for the matter of the Chang’an Daoist’s hidden elixir, you need not concern yourself with it any longer. Someone else will handle it."
Qiu Yuehan said no more. The wind on the crane was bone-chillingly cold.
She didn’t believe Hanyi Master, but she was a smart woman and knew what to say and what not to say.
Suddenly, Lu Changyuan’s voice sounded in her ear.
"Help me find the Drunken Red Simurgh. It should be in your palace. I’ll come to your palace to retrieve it in a few days."
The Demon Pattern was still there.
Lu Changyuan was still the scoundrel who held her life in his hands, but compared to the Hanyi Elder before her, this scoundrel was surprisingly much warmer.
A warm current flowed slowly from the Demon Pattern into Qiu Yuehan’s heart, warming her nearly frozen body.
A wondrous insight spread from it, finally coalescing into a title in her mind.
The Supreme Pure Spirit Forget Immortal Technique
Lu Changyuan’s teasing voice followed. "That’s my Heart Method. Practice it well. It’s much stronger than anything from your Miao Yu Palace. The next time I see you, I’ll be testing your progress."
Qiu Yuehan couldn’t help but think.
’My junior sister was most likely coerced by that man, and I’ve been marked with a Demon Pattern.’
’I’m afraid that in the future, Miao Yu Palace is going to be a plaything in that young man’s palm.’
’Miao Yu and Shuang Lian were both ruined at the hands of one person.’