Chapter 525: Tian Mo Sect, The Final Curtain Opens
The night was clear and starry. On the rooftop of the Astrology Pavilion in Donghuang Immortal City, Si Xuanji sat on a soft couch on the open-air pháp platform. Dressed in an extravagant immortal robe several times longer than her height, she lay with her legs stretched out, gazing blankly at the starry sky.
Myriad stars were captured by her heteromorphic yin-yang eyes. Ever since the war between immortal families and demonic cultivators began, she had been watching this celestial chessboard, observing the fall of countless immortal heroes and the disintegration of demonic fiends, all reflected in her eyes through the sky’s tapestry.
Among them were several posthumously famous descendants of immortal families who had made significant contributions to the Eastern Domain. The Sect Masters of the Beast Taming Sect, Hundred Birds Sect, and Tiger Soaring Sect had sent numerous jade slips, praising a few individuals in an attempt to gain Si Xuanji’s attention. After all, she was the Sect Master of Xuan Xing Sect. Which Sect Master in the Western Regions wouldn’t want to send their disciples to her, hoping she would take them as disciples or offer them opportunities?
However, the people they recommended, while outstanding among their peers, failed to catch her eye. Great Heroine Xuanji was quite picky. Mr. Qi had a better judge of character; he had recommended the Young Master of the Hundred Lotus Sect, who was excellent… capable of defeating demons and breaking through Tian Bei City, and also attending to her without ceasing for three months…
Si Xuanji pursed her lips like a cat and shifted her gaze to a dark star circled by the two bright stars, “Tianshu” and “Tiansha.” A hint of longing flickered in her yin-yang heteromorphic eyes. In the past, a month was merely a blink of an eye for her. But now, with a cultivation partner, days without him felt like years.
Si Xuanji rubbed her small belly, realizing she had overestimated her patience. This was her first time having a cultivation partner, and she lacked experience. She had thought that since Young Hero Ye had fed her heartily before, she could go without food for half a year or so, but only a few months had passed, and her little tiger belly was rumbling again. She longed to be intimate with Ye Anping…
“Sigh…” Si Xuanji lowered her head to look at Xiao Yunluo, who was currently massaging her feet. Seeing that Yunluo was also absent-minded, she shook her head slightly and then turned to look behind her. Pei Lianxue’s face was etched with reluctance as she forcefully massaged Si Xuanji’s shoulders, seemingly intending to cause her pain.
Seeing her awkward expression, Si Xuanji pouted and asked, “Are you that unwilling to massage and knead my shoulders for me?”
Pei Lianxue pouted and complained, “Yes, I am unwilling. I want to go find my Senior Brother…”
“I understand that you want to find your Senior Brother, but why did you bring Yunluo and only seven people to rampage through the Xuan Ming Sect?”
“…Well, I didn’t rampage. I killed the Sect Master of the Xuan Ming Sect… Ouch!”
Si Xuanji frowned and flicked her forehead. Perhaps thinking Pei Lianxue’s forehead was hard, she flicked it quite forcefully, producing a puff of blue smoke. Although Si Xuanji knew Pei Lianxue was quite strong and the Sect Master of Xuan Ming Sect wouldn’t be able to trouble her, it was still a demonic sect. Pei Lianxue bringing Xiao Yunluo to attack the Xuan Ming Sect was indeed a bit risky. After all, Pei Lianxue and the others relied on a bit of luck to succeed. If Zhou Minghe hadn’t underestimated them from the start, Pei Lianxue and the others might have been trapped in the Xuan Ming Sect, isolated and helpless, not necessarily dead, but at least severely injured.
Ye Anping had entrusted Pei Lianxue to her care. If Pei Lianxue were to get hurt, it would be difficult for her to explain to Ye Anping later. This brat was extremely important in Ye Anping’s heart, even more so than she was. She felt a twinge of jealousy. However, she wasn’t petty. Great Heroine Xuanji had a magnanimous heart and no interest in competing with a bunch of young girls for favor…
“Whether it’s a day earlier or later, you won’t see your Senior Brother. Why are you in such a hurry?”
Pei Lianxue rubbed her forehead and said, “Second Idiot is following him. If Second Idiot has ill intentions towards Senior Brother, won’t Senior Brother be at a disadvantage?”
“Then I also have ill intentions towards your Senior Brother.”
Pei Lianxue frowned and glared at Si Xuanji, clenching her fists. “Then I’ll beat you up later.”
“Not beating me up now?”
“I can’t beat you now… I’ll beat you when I can.”
*Bang—*
“Ouch!”
Si Xuanji flicked her forehead again and then gently tugged on her cheek. “Then this Venerable One will wait for that day.”
“Wuwu…” Pei Lianxue’s cheeks puffed up in frustration, like a young girl with a determination in her eyes.
Xiao Yunluo, who was massaging her master’s feet, listened to their conversation and couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. Although Si Xuanji seemed unfazed, she was truly worried that Pei Lianxue might anger her master, and who knew how her master would retaliate then…
Xiao Yunluo massaged Si Xuanji’s left foot, then her right, back and forth for a while. Suddenly, a burst of starlight appeared out of nowhere beside the three. Qiu Shui Rou descended, her brows furrowed, and walked to the soft couch. She nodded and said, “Little Master, I just received news. Chen Mingfeng, the Sect Master of the Northern Underworld Sect in the Southern Domain, and the five thousand Northern Underworld Sect disciples accompanying him, have fallen in Tianlan Valley north of the Blood River.”
Hearing this, Si Xuanji’s yin-yang eyes narrowed slightly. She immediately looked up at the stars in the night sky. The Northern Underworld Sect was a considerable sect in the Southern Domain, with far more disciples than the Moon Shadow Sword Sect and possessing considerable resources. Their Sect Master, Chen Mingfeng, was a cultivator at the mid-stage of Deity Transformation.
Xiao Yunluo was surprised and quickly asked, “Aunt Qiu, which demonic sect did they encounter?”
“It is rumored that they encountered disciples from the Tian Mo Sect. The specific details are unknown, but it is rumored that the demonic cultivator who responded was only at the late Nascent Soul stage. With less than five hundred people, they annihilated the entire Northern Underworld Sect in Tianlan Valley.”
Si Xuanji’s expression was calm. She merely scanned the celestial field and captured a dim, blood-red star point. She had seen the Sect Master of the Northern Underworld Sect a few times hundreds of years ago. While not exceptionally outstanding, he was an old sword cultivator who had survived the previous battle between immortals and demons. As the saying goes: heroes emerge in times of war, and the new replaces the old. In recent months, many outstanding juniors had emerged among the immortals, and the same was true for demonic cultivators. That dim, blood-red fate star was likely a prodigy among the demonic cultivators.
Si Xuanji’s eyes narrowed. As a player, if a demonic cultivator had deployed a powerful piece, she naturally had to counter her move. She wondered who was more formidable, Pei Lianxue behind her, or the person with the blood-red fate star. After observing the stars for a moment, she noticed Ye Anping’s rebellious star trajectory heading directly towards the person with the blood-red fate star. Si Xuanji stroked her chin and asked, “Pei girl, aren’t you looking for your Senior Brother?”
“Huh? Yes!!”
“Yunluo, you and Pei girl, take the disciples of Tianyun Peak to Luoyue Gorge.”
“Ah… Yes.” Xiao Yunluo was stunned for a moment, then quickly got up and cupped her hands as she gave the order. She breathed a sigh of relief, glad she no longer had to massage her master’s feet; her hands were getting sore. Pei Lianxue also quickly moved from the soft couch, cupped her hands in a salute, and slung the Snow Jade Myriad Spirit Sword on her back.
“Pei girl, be careful.”
“…Okay!!!” Pei Lianxue and Xiao Yunluo nodded, then quickly walked down from the observation deck and flew their swords towards Donghuang City. After the two left, Qiu Shui Rou stepped forward and asked, “Little Master, perhaps let Elder Lei accompany them? After all, they are Young Master Xiao and Miss Pei. What if something happens…?”
“Consider it a trial. They should meet Ye Anping and the others there, so it will be fine.” Si Xuanji squinted and smiled, then relaxed and brewed for a while. With a鲤鱼打挺 (carp leap), she jumped off the couch and walked to a sand table nearby. However, she found that the sand table was quite high, and she couldn’t see it even when standing on tiptoe. She frowned and scolded, “Who made this sand table?”
“Uh… Elder Lei made it.”
“Oh…” Si Xuanji pouted and floated above the sand table, scanning the exquisite mountains and rivers of the Eastern Domain. “It’s about time, I should also set off. Tell Mr. Qi and the Great Fox to come over… I have something to tell them…”
“Yes…”
… …
——
At the same time, on the peak of a side peak of the Tian Mo Sect.
Under the dark clouds and strong winds, a red wooden tall building was brightly lit. He Buqun, the Grand Elder of the Tian Mo Sect, was leaning in front of a sand table, listening to the disciples who had been sent out as scouts report on the war in the Eastern Domain.
Since the immortal families set foot in the Eastern Domain, in just a few months, the demonic sects outside the Blood River in the Eastern Domain had been defeated one by one by the immortal families, retreating steadily. The Ghost Spirit Sect had directly confronted the Empress of Hantian Kingdom, but after losing Donghuang and with the seven ghosts already injured, despite holding on for two months, they were still forced out of Ghostly Fiend Valley by the Snow-clothed Guard led by the Empress herself and their whereabouts were now unknown. As for the Hehuan Sect and the Gu Poison Sect, because both their Void Realm cultivators had died at the hands of the Dao Ancestor, their sects were already in chaos. The immortal families from the Southern and Western Regions trampled over the two sects as if walking on flat ground, and they had all fled to the Tian Mo Sect for refuge.
The disparity in combat power was one reason for the demonic cultivators’ retreat. But the disparity in combat power alone could not explain why the immortal families had crossed the Blood River in just a few months. One must know that the last time the immortal families and demonic cultivators went to war, it took the immortal families nearly 150 years just to reach the vicinity of the Blood River. After crossing the river, they were counter-attacked by the Tian Mo Sect and had to abandon their campaign and withdraw from the Eastern Domain. However, a few months? He Buqun suspected a major traitor within the demonic cultivators, constantly tipping off the immortal families. But who was this traitor? No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out… Who had the ability to inform the immortal families of the demonic cultivators’ every move at all times? Even he, the Grand Elder of the Tian Mo Sect, might not have such detailed information…
What puzzled him even more was that the spies the demonic cultivators had sent into the immortal families had all been eliminated by the immortal families over a month ago, with not a single one left…
*Tap tap—*
A series of hurried footsteps approached. A servant of the He family rushed in from outside the pavilion, shouting with joy, “Reporting, Master! The Eldest Miss is back!!”
He Buqun twisted his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes slightly. “Who?”
Seeing his gaze, the servant’s face turned pale with fright and he quickly nodded and corrected himself, “Young Master…”
*Swish—*
Before he could finish, a streak of bloody light swept across his neck, and the servant’s head fell to the ground. He Buqun frowned and ordered the two young pages standing by, “Drag him to the Pill Room and refine him into a blood pill! This is the consequence for speaking erroneously.”
“Yes…”
One page carried the head, and the other carried the body, and they ran out trembling. As they ran out, a slender man about seven feet tall, carrying a head, crossed the threshold of the pavilion. He glanced at the dismembered servant, his sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes unmoving, sharp and piercing. This person was He Buqun’s eldest “son”, He Qingjiao, a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.
Because the He family’s secret techniques could only be cultivated by men, He Buqun had wanted to refine her into a pill at birth, but her aptitude was simply too good. Compared to He Buqun’s other two sons, He Jiming and He Jifeng, she was in a league of her own. Thus, He Buqun had no choice but to keep her, giving her a male name and letting her present herself as a man outside.
He Qingjiao walked into the room and disdainfully threw the head in her hand onto He Buqun’s desk. “Father, your son has returned.”
“Hmm…” He Buqun looked down at the head, saw it was the Sect Master of the Northern Underworld Sect, and immediately stroked his beard, nodding with satisfaction. “To easily kill a Deity Transformation cultivator at the late Nascent Soul stage… Qingjiao, you are much better than your two useless brothers.”
“Heh… Thank you for your praise, Father. If there’s nothing else, your son will return to his room to cultivate.”
“Wait.” He Qingjiao, who had just turned around, stopped again, as if finding the conversation boring, and walked back. “Is there any news about Junior Sister Gu?”
“…Junior Sister Gu? You still call her Junior Sister? She betrayed the sect and colluded with immortals, she is no longer your Junior Sister.”
He Qingjiao narrowed her eyes slightly and said, “Father, I have said this many times. I know Junior Sister Gu’s temperament and do not believe she would betray and collude with immortals.”
“But Jiming died at her hands. That was your third brother.”
“My third brother always liked to provoke her. It was his own fault for being killed. If Junior Sister Gu is branded as colluding with immortals simply for killing him, Father, please forgive me for not accepting it.”
“…”
“Moreover… I examined the corpse of He Jiming. He died of蛊毒 (gu poison), which is not like Junior Sister Gu’s method. If Junior Sister Gu had done it, he would have been chopped into meat chunks, not died with his upper body exploding and leaving only his lower body.” He Qingjiao’s gaze was sharp, directly at He Buqun, as if questioning him.
Seeing that look, He Buqun remained silent for a moment and decided to stop hiding. He said directly, “Qingjiao, then Father will be frank with you. Gu Mingxin did not collude with immortals. I framed her for colluding with immortals, but He Jiming was indeed killed by her…”
He Qingjiao seemed to have already known this and was just waiting for her father to say it. Her face showed no emotion, only asking, “Why?”
“If she were in the Tian Mo Sect, you would never have been accepted as a personal disciple by Venerable God of Hell.”
“Heh… Unnecessary.” He Qingjiao tilted her head up and looked down at her father, “Within the Tian Mo Sect, I only acknowledge her. I had planned to fight her after she reached the Nascent Soul stage. I could have still obtained this position as the Ancestor’s personal disciple by killing her during the sword competition.”
“Qingjiao, I know your temper. If you really can’t find an opponent, why not try fighting the immortal families?”
“Heh… Immortal families?” He Qingjiao sneered, looking at the head on the table. “This Sect Master of the Northern Underworld Sect, a late Deity Transformation cultivator, only lasted one hundred and twenty moves before I severed his divine sense…”
“Qingjiao, don’t be too arrogant.”
He Qingjiao spread her hands. “I am merely stating facts.”
“Then why don’t you go directly to the Xuan Xing Sect and kill that old woman Dan Yue?”
“Perhaps after a few more years when I reach Deity Transformation, it might be worth a try.”
“Hmph…” He Buqun snorted coldly, thinking this girl was overestimating herself, but he didn’t say much. He took out a scroll from the side and threw it into her hand. “Here, go bring back the heads of these two girls.”
He Qingjiao unfurled the scroll and saw two abstract portraits. One was ordinary, while the other seemed to have dragon horns. She asked with some curiosity, “Who?”
“The one with horns is the Young Master of the Xuan Xing Sect, and the one without horns is called ‘Liang Xiaoxue’. A few days ago, the two of them, along with four or five disciples from the Xuan Xin Sect, completely wiped out all the elders of the Xuan Ming Sect. According to the news, the spirit sword in Liang Xiaoxue’s hand is the natal spirit sword of the Yun Jian Shang Xian back then… She is also the successor of Yun Tian Mi’s legacy.”
“Yun Jian Shang Xian? Isn’t that the castrated Sect Master of the Moon Shadow Sword Sect? I heard before that he single-handedly broke through Tian Bei City. I was planning to find him for a fight…”
“Heh… Arrogant, you’ll suffer sooner or later.”
“Heh…” He Qingjiao twitched the corner of her mouth. “But they sound like they have some background. I wonder if they are truly powerful or just boastful.”
After cupping her hands and bowing to He Buqun, He Qingjiao put the scroll into her storage bag and turned to leave the pavilion.
He Buqun seemed to remember something and added, “Qingjiao!! Go to the Tian Mo Hall and tell the Ancestor about your feat of killing Chen Mingfeng.”
“… …”
However, there was no response. He Buqun clicked his tongue slightly and sighed, but didn’t say more, continuing to ponder the battle situation.
… …
