In the main hall of the Xuanyuan Sect, the Lord of Demons Wenren È had already been in secluded meditation for seven days, door shut tight behind him, the food and drink sent daily by his subordinates untouched. Who knew what profound cultivation technique he had comprehended?

Altar Master Yuan, who managed the main hall, felt quite troubled. The Venerable Lord suddenly entered seclusion without any orders to his subordinates, and no one knew when he would emerge. If he’d really enlightened to a new technique or ascended in realm… shouldn’t a celebration be prepared?

The Lord of Demons wasn’t extravagant in nature and didn’t like formalities. But if he really rose in level, then Altar Master Yuan should at least assemble everyone in the meeting room of the main hall, in order to congratulate him on his increase in strength and discuss the future of the Xuanyuan Sect in conquering the cultivation world[1].

Altar Master Yuan, after puzzling over his dilemma, finally decided to ask the Xuanyuan Sect’s Left Protector, Yin Hanjiang, for help. Yin Hanjiang was the Venerable’s closest confidant and had contact with him right before he entered seclusion. He was the one most likely to understand Wenren È’s thoughts.

Yin Hanjiang had been guarding the door to the meditation chamber for the full seven days, wearing all black, a frosty expression on his face. He was a man of few words. After listening to Altar Master Yuan’s concerns, his indifferent face showed a slightly puzzled expression, and he seemed to be at a loss.

The rather short Altar Master Yuan looked up to meet Yin Hanjiang’s eyes, waiting for advice from him.

Yin Hanjiang worked his mouth and forced out a few words. “Not for now.”

“Huh?” Altar Master Yuan said blankly. “This one heard that the Venerable received a rare tome seven days ago and immediately entered seclusion. The Venerable has not had a breakthrough in his cultivation for years, and there are very few techniques that might catch his eye. If he’s secluding himself, might there not be hope for a breakthrough?”

“Like I said, it’s not necessary,” Yin Hanjiang said coldly, and the sword in his hand flashed with a keen light. Altar Master Yuan didn’t dare to ask any more questions and hurried away.

After he left, Yin Hanjiang turned to look at the tightly-shut door behind him, and his frosty expression became one of confusion.

The Venerable indeed received a book seven days ago. Everyone assumed it was a secret tome, but only Yin Hanjiang, who was nearby at the time, caught a glimpse of the book’s title—Abusive Romance: You Are the Unchanging One in My Heart.

The title was mushy enough to make Yin Hanjiang’s teeth ache. Nothing about this book resembled a book of secret techniques. Even the romance novels written by mortal scholars had more classy titles than this.

Yin Hanjiang had thought that Wenren È would immediately burn that rubbish work to ash, but who could’ve imagined that he’d open it, glance at the first page, let out a deep sigh, and immediately seclude himself with it?

For the Lord of Demons, was a mortal novel worth carefully pouring over for seven days?

The longer Yin Hanjiang stood in front of the doors, the more troubled he was.

This was the cultivation world—it couldn’t be compared to the Jianghu and Wulin[2] of the mortal world. Wulin and Jianghu were communities of mortals who dedicated themselves to strengthening their bodies in order to stand out as slightly stronger than ordinary men. No matter how much they trained their inner power, it was only acquired strength, and at most they could manage to slay a beast with one fist. However, the cultivation world was a level above the martial world of Wulin. Cultivators left behind the affairs of the mortal world, using various methods to ascend to the realm of immortals. Their innate power also far surpassed the Wulin martial artists’ acquired power.

The people of Wulin could concern themselves with love and lust, and stories of heroes and beautiful women, but cultivators tried to abandon the secular world, cut off familial and romantic ties, and enlighten to their own version of the great Dao. And the Xuanyuan Sect was a demonic sect[3]. Those there who cultivated using male-female relations only did so with lust, not love. They were using the art of plucking and replenishing[4] to steal essence from other people, not looking for a heartfelt romance.

And the path Wenren È cultivated was the Path of Slaughter. He had never had sexual relations. How… how could he read Abusive Romance: You Are the Unchanging One in My Heart for seven days and seven nights?

Yin Hanjiang didn’t understand. He didn’t understand at all, but he was one of the Venerable’s protectors, Wenren È’s most loyal subordinate. He had vowed he would die before letting anyone give Wenren È so much as a scratch. Anyone who wanted to kill Wenren È had to first go through Yin Hanjiang.

So even if he knew the Venerable was reading a love story, not meditating in seclusion, Yin Hanjiang still held his sword and stood before the doors of the cultivation chamber, still and silent, not moving a step.

On the other side of the door, Wenren È placed the book down, one hand hovering over the cover. For a moment it seemed as if he would disintegrate the book with one blow. But his hand was trembling slightly, and finally he withdrew it, leaving the book intact.

He had his brows furrowed, one fist propped against his forehead, and seemed to be thinking his way through a thorny problem.

Seven days ago, Wenren È had been discussing with Yin Hanjiang how they should teach a lesson to the righteous cultivators always threatening Xuanyuan Sect, when a thick volume suddenly appeared in his hand. Wenren È was one of the most powerful figures of the cultivation world. Unless an immortal had descended from the upper realms, no one in this world could place a book into his hand without him noticing, and without leaving any sign of their presence.

Wary of this situation, Wenren È didn’t destroy the book and, managing to look past the title, opened the cover and found a few lines on the first page: “Due to an overabundance of plot holes, this story has been rejected by its readers. Thus, the most popular character among the readers has been selected to personally verify the story’s consistency, and make suitable changes.”

After reading this line, Wenren È immediately secluded himself, spending a full seven days reading this novel of over one million words cover to cover, word by word, several times over. With his strong powers of cognition, he had memorized it by the first read and had no need to reread, but he still did so several times, considering the meaning of every sentence.

After spending all this time, if there was something he still didn’t understand, he never would.

He understood all the words and sentences. He could even visualize what was described when they were linked together. But in the end, he just didn’t get it!

The book told the story of the love and resentment of a man and woman’s entanglement across two lifetimes.

The female lead, in her previous life, was a primordial goddess of heaven. Unlike a mortal who had acquired godhood, she was born as a god, at the same time as heaven and earth. She was in charge of calamities, spreading plague, disaster, and death across the mortal world. It sounded like she was an evil goddess, but in fact she maintained the balance of the cosmos. Life and death must always coexist. In the cycle of the universe, all things have a beginning and end. She was absolutely just and impartial, never targeting any race of people, doing her work for uncountable ages without joy or sorrow.

After an indeterminable number of eons, most of the primordial gods had fallen, and the divine realm was populated by many ascended gods. These gods were those members of humanity, chief among all living things, who had awakened to the ways of heaven, gathered the essence of heaven and earth inside their bodies, and passed thousands of trials in order to gain power on the level of the primordial gods and ascend to the divine realm. The male lead was one of them.

The male lead was someone who saw all lives on earth as his responsibility. In the divine realm, he learned that the female lead was one of the rare primordial gods, in charge of unleashing disasters. Many natural disasters he had heard of as a human were in fact caused by her. Thus he began constantly making appeals to the female lead, hoping for her to change her ways.

The primordial goddess was as emotionless as the cosmos. To her, the male lead was no different than the drifting clouds, the soaring birds, or the buzzing of a fly near her ears. All he could do was bother her, so she would often use a silencing spell to seal his lips and toss him down from the thirty-three layers of heaven.

But the male lead was stubborn. He climbed back up every time, found a way to get rid of the silencing spell, and went back to earnestly begging her to have empathy for mortal lives.

Millions of years passed like this, and the goddess’s predetermined trial came.

The cosmos must undergo the three calamities of wind, water, and fire, being destroyed and recreated innumerable times, and this applied to gods as well. The female lead accepted her own fate and actively faced the tribulation[5]. When she was prepared to undergo it, the male lead showed up.

The tribulation of a primordial god far surpassed any normal one. The female lead knew she would certainly die. Only if she could maintain her soul, undergo reincarnation, and comprehend again the principles of heaven did she have a chance of survival. Therefore, before she underwent her tribulation, she left behind her divine essence, sealed somewhere in the human world, so that in the future she could reclaim it, regain her power, and return to the divine realm.

As she was undergoing her tribulation, about to relinquish her body and enter reincarnation, the male lead arrived and blocked a lightning strike for her, effectively taking on part of the tribulation in her stead. The two entered the reincarnation cycle together.

Unknowingly, the male lead had created a karmic relation with her. After reincarnating, the naive and innocent female lead was inducted into a cultivation sect, and when she laid eyes on the sect’s chief disciple for the first time, she was met with a sensation like her heart being struck by lightning. A lightning strike was how Wenren È judged the book’s description: “A tingling sensation spread through her body at first sight, and she was unable to move her gaze away or take a single step.” Wenren È had never experienced love, and assumed that these symptoms could only be caused by lightning strikes.

The two fell in love at first sight. The female lead, named Baili Qingmiao in this life, had her heart stolen by Hè Wenzhao, the chief disciple who as before cared wholeheartedly about mortal lives. This was the beginning of a masochistic story of the female lead being abused body and heart, yet never relinquishing her love, and finally giving up the divine essence for Hè Wenzhao, only wanting to live happily ever after with her beloved.

An overview of the specifics would be false accusations, misunderstandings, Baili Qingmiao being imprisoned, being abused, being poisoned, being hunted down, Hè Wenzhao marrying someone else, several important supporting male characters being wholeheartedly devoted to Baili Qingmiao, protecting and cherishing her, but Baili Qingmiao only loving Hè Wenzhao, ignoring everyone else’s goodwill, insistent on finding Hè Wenzhao and marrying him, then after being hurt by her enemies or fellow disciples, another male character would save her, and after recovering she would run off to be abused again.

This kind of plotline went on for over 800,000 words, and Wenren È nearly had a qi deviation[6] from reading it. If Baili Qingmiao appeared in front of him right now, he would crack open her skull to see just how her brain worked.

The last page had no more story but a bunch of odd messages, labeled as a reviews section. The reviews were mostly along the lines of—

[This MC is insane, giving up being a god to stay with a previously married scumbag!]

[Trash, underdeveloped, kept me waiting for over a million words for MC to reclaim her divinity and punish the scumbag, but she was a wh*** until the end.]

[Hè Wenzhao loves the MC, but the world is more important than her, the sect elders are more important than her, the common people are more important than her, everything else is more important than her. Hè Wenzhao can toss her aside whenever he wants. This love is far too humble, I can’t handle it.]

[Hè Wenzhao ruined MC’s life twice. She was a primordial goddess, she saw things in a different way than an ascended god. Causing disasters was her duty, and it was also in order to balance the universe. He kept pressuring her to favor humanity and messed up her heavenly tribulation, making it so her next life she couldn’t help but be bound to him. This guy is too terrifying, torturing the female lead for the sake of righteousness!]

[Falling in love at first sight can be treated as the karma from their past life, but how come this karma is nothing to Hè Wenzhao? Yet it’s Baili Qingmiao who wants to die for him? Hè Wenzhao can marry the Violet Spirit Pavilion Master, so why can’t Baili Qingmiao marry Zhongli Qian or Wenren È? Is the heir to the number one cultivation family not good-looking enough, is the Lord of Demons not cool enough? Why do you gotta hang yourself on Hè Wenzhao?]

[Wenren È was the only thing keeping me going for 1 million+ words. I wanted to see him tear the male lead a new one, but in the end the female lead still got him killed.]

[Wenren È, Zhongli Qian, Yin Hanjiang, any of them are better than Hè Wenzhao, the MC is blind!]

[That may be true but let’s forget about Yin Hanjiang, he’s too scary.]

[Cross out Yin Hanjiang, just seeing that name is gonna give me nightmares.]

[Cross him out +1, let’s just talk about Wenren È.]

These names that kept appearing in the comments, Wenren È, Yin Hanjiang, Zhongli Qian, and other familiar names, were the reason the Lord of Demons endured reading through the book.

Wenren È knew the one written in the book was he himself.

Just like the first lines in the book said, Wenren È was Abusive Romance: You are the Unchanging One in My Heart‘s haughty but infatuated second love interest. The world he lived in was but a story in a book.

A normal cultivator who learned such a truth about the world would probably take a heavy psychological blow, either apathetically living out the rest of their days, or deviating and going mad. Even Wenren È was in a daze for a while, but he was a person who sought enlightenment in the midst of death and slaughter, and had an unshakable will. He quickly realized that the cultivation world was only one of the myriad worlds of the cosmos. In other people’s eyes, his world was only a novel, but the novel Abusive Romance: You are the Unchanging One in My Heart only recorded the love, hate, amity, and animosity of a few dozen people. The things not included within it were enough to make up an entire world. The book was only a record of the lives of certain people at certain times, not a world in itself.

Wenren È knew that he certainly existed, his thoughts and actions weren’t subject to anyone else’s control, and the world was real, so that was enough for him.

The thing that Wenren È really couldn’t figure out was that the book said he would, in the future, fall in love with Baili Qingmiao, take on the world for her, and give his life for her. The cold and dispassionate Wenren È couldn’t understand this.

Just by reading the book, he wanted to yank Baili Qingmiao’s soul out of her body, make her forget her feelings for Hè Wenzhao, then shove it back in. How could he, for the sake of protecting her, risk his life to help Hè Wenzhao because she asked him to?

Wenren È knew that if he didn’t get to the bottom of these things, the obsession might give rise to an inner demon[7] that would obstruct his cultivation. He had to figure out these matters, not necessarily to fulfill the assignment he was given at the start of the book, but just to settle his mind.

After contemplating for three days, he made his decision—that he would figure out why Baili Qingmiao was such a shameless… ahem, why she was so hopelessly infatuated. He himself couldn’t figure out, and maybe Baili Qingmiao was also muddleheaded—she’d been struck by lightning, after all, so maybe her brain wasn’t working right. But the other people in the book, in particular Baili Qingmiao’s romantic rivals, probably knew what they were doing. After all, they also loved Hè Wenzhao, and were willing to fight each other to the death for his sake.

If one person wasn’t enough, then he would just have to find more. If he asked enough people, he was certain to get an answer. When he figured out the problem, the difficulty of changing the plot would decrease.

After he made his plans, Wenren È opened the doors. As Yin Hanjiang, standing guard just outside, saw him, he dropped to one knee and set his sword on the ground, quietly awaiting the Venerable’s command.

Wenren È looked at his Left Protector whom he trusted above anyone else and remembered that he was also in the novel. “Protector Yin, your thoughts on love… Actually, nevermind.”

After he said only a few words, Wenren È remembered Yin Hanjiang’s actions in the story that caused all the readers to be so creeped out and decided against asking.

Yin Hanjiang probably also didn’t understand love.

1. Not literally a world. Refers to the community of cultivators who exist separately from normal society, but in the same world. ↩

2. Jianghu and Wulin are terms referring to the communities of martial artists in wuxia novels, separated from ordinary society. ↩

3. Not literally demons. Demonic sect, demonic cultivator, and demonic path will be used to refer to those who cultivate using destructive methods not approved of by righteous sects, or those methods. ↩

4. Refers to a technique to cultivate by having sex. ↩

5. Tribulations are sent by the will of heaven in order to enforce certain laws of the cosmos. This is usually relevant because cultivators defy the laws of heaven. A cultivator often has to undergo a heavenly tribulation in order to move up a stage, usually taking the form of a shitton of lightning strikes. If they fail, they die. ↩

6. If you cultivate with an unstable state of mind, your qi can become messed up and damage your body and mind. ↩

7. Literally, heart demon. Also not actually a demon. An obsession that someone cannot let go of which eventually prevents them from advancing, disrupting their mind and causing them to see illusions. ↩

Yin Hanjiang figured out what Wenren È was about to say, that he was asking him his thoughts on love. Honestly, Yin Hanjiang also didn’t understand.

As a child, he was picked up out of a mass grave by Wenren È and taken back to Xuanyuan Sect. From the beginning, the Venerable’s command was his will, and he had never expressed his own opinions. Even though Wenren È hadn’t finished the question, Yin Hanjiang bowed his head and said, “The Venerable’s preferences are this subordinate’s beliefs.”

If the Venerable liked stories, Yin Hanjiang would collect all the stories on Earth for him. If he liked men or women, Yin Hanjiang would bring all the people he liked before him. The Venerable’s wishes were Yin Hanjiang’s command.

Wenren È stared at Yin Hanjiang kneeling before him and recalled the novel filling his brain for the past few days.

Judging by the novel’s account, Yin Hanjiang really did act according to his words.

Yin Hanjiang was Abusive Romance: You are the Unchanging One in My Heart‘s love interest number four, trusted subordinate to number two Wenren È. He was habitually silent and reserved, faithfully protected Baili Qingmiao, and tended to her every need. When Wenren È couldn’t watch over Baili Qingmiao himself, he would send Yin Hanjiang to guard her. Yin Hanjiang took blows for her, got poisoned for her, got injured for her, and nearly lost his life, all without a word of complaint. He never even confessed to her. The most revealing words he’d ever expressed was when, while the two of them were facing danger, Baili Qingmiao told him to escape first. He replied in a hoarse voice, “Either we both survive, or I die to protect you.”

What girl could resist such devoted, honest, and heartfelt words? In the earlier parts of the novel, Yin Hanjiang’s popularity exceeded Wenren È’s at some point. Even Baili Qingmiao, still crazy for Hè Wenzhao, once told Yin Hanjiang in tears that she couldn’t repay her debt to him if she spent her life trying.

All the readers, including Wenren È, thought Yin Hanjiang was deeply in love with Baili Qingmiao, but after Wenren È died for her, Yin Hanjiang…

Wenren È thought back to the storyline he had reread four or five times. He asked Yin Hanjiang, “While this Venerable is here, you certainly are wholeheartedly loyal. But what if, someday, this Venerable is no longer here?”

Listening to Wenren È’s words, a shudder ran through Yin Hanjiang’s body, and the arm propping him up trembled slightly. It seemed as if he could hardly endure even thinking about the possibility of Wenren È’s death. He didn’t want to imagine, but Wenren È had asked the question, so he forced himself to consider it. In a few moments, a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and it seemed he was at his limit.

After a long while, he forced an answer out through gritted teeth. “This subordinate will die before the Venerable.”

Wenren È absently wiped away the sweat on Yin Hanjiang’s forehead with a brush of his sleeve. His actions were warm, but his words were uncaring. “What if this Venerable had unfinished business, and didn’t allow you to die?”

Yin Hanjiang’s pupils trembled, and he switched to kneeling with both knees, pressing both hands against the ground, lowering his head deeply. “This subordinate doesn’t know.”

He didn’t know, but Wenren È did.

In the book, Wenren È ordered Yin Hanjiang to protect Baili Qingmiao before he died, thinking that Yin Hanjiang also liked Baili Qingmiao, and would certainly protect her just as he himself intended. And Yin Hanjiang indeed carried out his order, never leaving Baili Qingmiao’s side.

But at the same time, a man in a ghost mask inexplicably appeared in the story. He seemed to be inescapable, using every method he could think of to harm Baili Qingmiao. After Baili Qingmiao was injured, he sprinkled bone-melting powder on her wounds. After Baili Qingmiao passed out, he threw her into the Thousand Snake Pit. When Baili Qingmiao was alone, he hung up a cauldron and tried to refine her into lamp oil. With each of his appearances, he became more and more depraved.

The entire time, the readers had been trying to guess exactly which wicked female character was disguising herself as the Ghost Mask. Even though he was described as a man, in the cultivation world, there were many ways for a woman to pretend to be a man.

But no one could’ve guessed what happened when, at one point, Baili Qingmiao and Yin Hanjiang hid in a cave as they fled from the Ghost Mask. Baili Qingmiao had said quietly, “Mister Yin, I’m so lucky you’re here.”

“Really?” Yin Hanjiang had said.

Baili Qingmiao was exhausted, about to doze off against his back, when she saw that a corner of a bundle that Yin Hanjiang had been carrying the whole time had fallen open. What she glimpsed inside was the very same sight that had made her jerk awake from countless nightmares, the ghost mask!

After Wenren È died, Yin Hanjiang finally acted against his orders. He wanted to kill Baili Qingmiao after subjecting her to every torture, he wanted to send her down to accompany Wenren È, he wanted to refine her soul into an everburning lamp, to light Wenren È’s path in the afterlife.

All the ways he had taken care of her in the past weren’t because he loved her, but because this was what Wenren È had ordered. Because of that, he made Baili Qingmiao’s safety his priority. After Wenren È died for Baili Qingmiao, Yin Hanjiang only wanted to hurt her in a thousand different ways.

While reading, Wenren È didn’t understand Yin Hanjiang’s motivations. Only after coming out and asking him did he realize how much pain Yin Hanjiang must’ve been in. His first point of confusion in the book was now solved.

“You can get up,” Wenren È said.

Yin Hanjiang, after wiping his bottom lip with his sleeve, got steadily to his feet. Wenren È caught his arm and smelled a tinge of blood on his sleeve.

Forcing him to imagine the Demonic Lord’s death actually caused Yin Hanjiang this much pain. Even Wenren È, who cultivated the Path of Slaughter, was a bit moved.

Right now Wenren È hadn’t fallen in love with Baili Qingmiao like the him in the book, so he didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Yin Hanjiang did. Among those who cultivated the demonic paths, who could be considered selfless? If you can’t have something, destroy it. If you die, take your enemy with you to the afterlife. This was all perfectly normal.

Wenren È just wanted to tell the book’s Yin Hanjiang, “Not bad!”

And while he’s at it, he’d like to beat up the book’s Wenren È. The female lead at least had something wrong with her head. What Wenren È really couldn’t accept was that he himself had abandoned everything for the sake of love. That was totally impossible.

Why would he be pulled under and become completely unable to free himself? And why would Baili Qingmiao be infatuated with Hè Wenzhao until she lost herself, still wanting to be with him after being injured so many times? Why would the jealous female villains frame an innocent girl because of Hè Wenzhao?

There was too much that Wenren È didn’t understand.

Yin Hanjiang had cleared up one point of confusion for him, but there were many more questions facing the Lord of Demons.

Wenren È rested a hand against Yin Hanjiang’s chest and sent a stream of energy into him to help him heal. Yin Hanjiang put up no resistance, allowing Wenren È’s oppressive energy freely enter his dantian[1] and help suppress his spiritual essence, in turmoil from his unsteady mental state.

After casually fixing up Yin Hanjiang, Wenren È commanded, “Tell the Right Protector to come to the meeting room.”

Yin Hanjiang obeyed, taking out one of the Venerable’s commanding talismans and sending a summons to the Right Protector.

The two came to the meeting room and waited a while, until a woman in purple clothes arrived leisurely. What she was wearing could less be called clothes and more a strip of purple gauze wound about her body, barely covering any vital areas, and instead outlining her alluring figure, capturing people’s attention.

Unfortunately, the two in front of her were blind and had hearts of ice. The Right Protector, Shu Yanyan, had long gotten used to this kind of reaction from them. She made a suggestive bowing motion to Wenren È, and after being allowed to rise, said impatiently, “Venerable, do you need me to go beat up those two-faced hypocrites of the righteous sects? This subordinate has been itching to do it.”

She covered her mouth, while revealing a bashful smile.

Wenren È well understood this subordinate of his. “Are you itching to punish them, or to harvest their yang to supplement your yin[2]?”

“Aren’t those the same?” Shu Yanyan fluttered her eyelashes at Wenren È. “Venerable, you know me. I follow the path of desire. I wouldn’t miss the chance to kill two birds with one stone.”

Wenren È raised a hand. Shu Yanyan, receiving his permission, walked to the seat on his right and sat down, languidly stretching out her long legs, every movement displaying irresistible feminine charm.

Wenren È ignored the seduction she had inadvertently released and said unhurriedly, “Do you know the chief disciple of Shangqing Sect, Hè Wenzhao?”

“Oh, him? Now that piques my interest.” Shu Yanyan sprawled lazily across the chair, without a hint of proper posture. Propping her chin with one hand and batting her eyes, she said, “Venerable, didn’t you send us out three months ago to investigate the righteous sects’ plans? I disguised myself as a frail and pitiful songstress and pretended to be mistreated in a restaurant before some young disciples of Shangqing Sect. Hè Wenzhao was the one who came to my aid. That guy…”

Stopping there, Shu Yanyan licked her lips, as if savoring a taste, and paused for a moment before continuing. “His true yang was quite satisfying.”

Wenren È knew exactly what she was thinking about.

In the book, Hè Wenzhao’s true yang was indeed taken by Shu Yanyan, and he had lost a lot of his cultivation. Shu Yanyan locked him up in her cultivation grounds and just about sucked him empty, and in the end it was Baili Qingmiao, as always, who risked her life to save him. In addition, to help him replenish his true essence, she went to the Thousand Mile Ice Plains to find the elixir known as the Snow Flame. She then helped Hè Wenzhao absorb it, increasing his cultivation immensely.

Shu Yanyan was essentially the number one villain of the first part of the story. She wasn’t in love with Hè Wenzhao but simply coveting his yang energy, a temptress in all aspects. And due to Shu Yanyan being a wicked person trying to harm Hè Wenzhao, Baili Qingmiao, for the first time, forgave him for having dealings with another woman.

The temptress of Xuanyuan Sect practiced the art of seduction, and her power was far above that of Hè Wenzhao. If she wanted to do something, Hè Wenzhao had no way to resist. He was the victim here.

What Baili Qingmiao didn’t know at the time was that there would be a second occasion and a third, and innumerable occasions beyond that when Hè Wenzhao was being “coerced”, expecting her to understand.

“Tell me what happened then,” Wenren È said.

Going by the book’s word count, the current plot should only have advanced 70 or 80 thousand words in, which was also the only happy portion of the book. After Baili Qingmiao entered Shangqing Sect, falling in love with Hè Wenzhao at first sight, the two of them cultivated for over ten years, spending time together as innocent children. Hè Wenzhao showed every consideration to his little shimei[3]. The two often secretly stole out to pick flowers and watch the moon, or practiced techniques with each other in the dead of night, never going further due to propriety. Their affections toward each other were as sweet as honey, enough to give one cavities.

There were also some female disciples who stirred up trouble, but back then everyone was young and innocent and none of them did anything improper. Hè Wenzhao was also an upstanding young hero, the sect’s beloved prodigy, and yet to take on any heavy responsibilities.

The temptress Shu Yanyan was the first conflict between them.

“Who remembers that much?” said Shu Yanyan. “All I was thinking about was that man’s yang energy. As I’m sure the Venerable knows, my cultivation level has remained stagnant for many years. If this keeps up much longer, I’m going to get wrinkles.” While talking, she brought out a mirror and inspected her face, which looked no older than a sixteen-year-old girl’s, and after finding it satisfactory, continued. “Hè Wenzhao’s yang energy is unusual. He has a lightning spiritual root, and there also seemed to be a deeper, mysterious power inside him. I’m certain that if I can take his essence, I’ll be able to raise my cultivation!”

Among cultivators, there were five different kinds of normal spiritual roots—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—and five kinds of variant spiritual roots—wind, lightning, ice, light, and land. Ordinary people mostly had mixed spiritual roots of three, four, or five elements. People with dual element spiritual roots were already considered naturally gifted. A normal pure spiritual root was one in a million. A pure variant spiritual root was a heaven-blessed genius which might not be encountered even once in ten thousand years. Yet Hè Wenzhao possessed a pure lightning spiritual root.

Did this lightning spiritual root come from the heavenly lightning he was struck by in his past life? Wenren È muttered to himself, deep in thought.

And that mysterious power was naturally his divine power. Hè Wenzhao was an ascended god in his past life and kept his acquired divine essence with him in reincarnation. Baili Qingmiao possessed a primordial divine essence which was born together with heaven and earth. Unlike Hè Wenzhao’s, it could not follow her into a mortal body.

If Shu Yanyan stole Hè Wenzhao’s essence, his divine power would certainly increase her cultivation significantly.

“Why didn’t you take action against him three months ago? His level of strength can’t stand up to yours,” Wenren È said.

“Ah,” Shu Yanyan sighed, “I wanted to take him, but the power in him is very unusual. If he isn’t willing to be with me, I can’t force him. He has a sweetheart, a little girl whose looks aren’t worse than my own. She’s very sharp too, and was suspicious of me the whole time, always keeping an eye on her man. I couldn’t even find a chance.”

“Oh?” Wenren È raised an eyebrow slightly. “They have to be willing?”

The book hadn’t mentioned that. It was written from Baili Qingmiao’s point of view, and when Hè Wenzhao told her that Shu Yanyan drugged and abducted him, Baili Qingmiao believed it.

“Venerable, don’t you know me at all?” Shu Yanyan said, pouting. “In these matters, I always pay attention to mutual consent. If a man performs particularly well and I like him, I’ll pay him back a little while cultivating and help replenish his lost essence. Aside from my enemies, those sweethearts at my cultivation grounds have all received benefits. Sometimes I get tired of someone and try to shoo them away, but they aren’t even willing to leave.”

‘I actually never knew that. It seems what this Venerable doesn’t know amounts to a great deal,’ Wenren È thought.

“But I won’t let Hè Wenzhao off lightly,” Shu Yanyan said faithfully to Wenren È. “His Shangqing Sect was the ringleader in the last assault on Xuanyuan Sect. How can I show mercy to the chief disciple of an enemy sect? Don’t worry, Venerable, I’ve already had secret contact with Hè Wenzhao behind that little Baili Qingmiao girl’s back for several days, while pretending to be an innocent maiden. He pities me and kept sneaking out to bring me gifts. He’ll be mine soon enough.”

Wenren È hesitated for a moment. “No, it’s not necessary,” he said.

“What isn’t necessary?” Shu Yanyan said, blinking her large, pretty eyes.

“It’s not necessary to ruin him,” Wenren È said, tapping a finger on his armrest. “Do what you’re accustomed to. Draw it out for a while. He indeed has a unique power within him, which will be of benefit to you. No need to do anything extreme.”

“Huh?” Shu Yanyan stared in shock. Is this the same Venerable Lord who would eradicate his enemies root and branch and not show a shred of mercy?

She furrowed her brows. “He’s Shangqing Sect’s most favored chief disciple, pillar of the righteous sects. Should we not deal with him while he’s young, and instead leave him to become a problem in the future? If I repay him while cultivating with him, his power will rise even more quickly. This might benefit me, but it wouldn’t be a benefit to Xuanyuan Sect.”

As Shu Yanyan spoke, her expression became vicious, all signs of her gentle, charming manner gone.

These words pleased Wenren È greatly.

If you asked Wenren È, this was how a cultivator should be. The great Dao is emotionless. Rather than cling to passions, better one uses them for their own benefit. And one must stand firm, lest in a moment of weakness they bring about their own demise.

Seeing Shu Yanyan’s farsightedness and Yin Hanjiang’s efficiency, then remembering the him in the book, so blinded by love he was willing to abandon the Xuanyuan Sect for Baili Qingmiao, Wenren È felt deeply that he wasn’t much above his two Sect Protectors.

A normal person would probably try to stay away from Baili Qingmiao in the future, to avoid the possibility of being entrapped, but Wenren È was a person who faced problems head-on. He was determined to meet Baili Qingmiao and Hè Wenzhao, to harden his heart and not be moved by any emotion!

Thinking that, he ordered, “Shu Yanyan, we must think more long-term. You need to sabotage Shangqing Sect.”

Shu Yanyan thought for a moment and clapped her hands, eyes lighting up. “Venerable, this subordinate understands your intention. What I must do is use the guise of a poor, honest woman to lure astray the future pillar of the righteous sects, break down his defenses and have him wrapped around my finger, letting him believe that I’m a good-hearted woman who went down a wicked path, but inside still wishes for redemption. I should get him obsessed with me, captivated by my beauty, captivated by the power he can gain from me. And afterward, if one day I plead to him, ‘save me,’ he’ll happily divulge information regarding his sect that he doesn’t see as very important. Even better if he can take leadership of the sect in the future. I can slowly lead him onto the demonic path, until he finds himself in too deep and unable to turn back.”

Shu Yanyan got more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, wanting to immediately head out to play damsel in distress. Playing the long game was the right way to go!

Wenren È: …

He just wanted Baili Qingmiao to see clearly that Hè Wenzhao was willingly together with Shu Yanyan, so let Shu Yanyan hook Hè Wenzhao. But as it turned out, Shu Yanyan thought more deeply than him, and elevated it from a matter of a relationship to being about the Great Sect War.

His Right Protector actually was a woman with high aims. In the past, Wenren È hadn’t even known.

“Your plan is functional. But keep two points in mind. First, do not harm Baili Qingmiao. Second, do not be entangled by love yourself,” Wenren È said.

“The Venerable indeed has keen foresight. Leaving Baili Qingmiao alone and letting her cause trouble will only push Hè Wenzhao closer to me, the good and obedient one. She’s certainly more useful alive than dead,” Shu Yanyan said, nodding. “As for Hè Wenzhao, there’s no need for concern. Your subordinate is a seasoned veteran; she can see though all the two-faced men in the world.”

After saying this, Shu Yanyan turned and left the meeting room, leaving the two silent men with the image of her slim back.

“Protector Yin,” Wenren È said after a long while. “This Venerable is not much better than the Right Protector.”

He was referring to the him in the book.

Yin Hanjiang said, “The Venerable is the most farseeing man in the world. The Right Protector is not worth a thousandth of the Venerable.”

“Ah, you…” Wenren È shook his head and changed the subject. “Leave the mountain with me. I want to meet this junior from Shangqing Sect.”

He wanted to see, now that Shu Yanyan wouldn’t steal Hè Wenzhao’s essence, just how Hè Wenzhao was going to explain himself to Baili Qingmiao, and whether or not she would forgive him as she had in the book.

The Lord of Demons was quite curious.

1. The dantian is an area in the lower abdomen where qi is gathered in order to form a golden core, to concentrate and refine the qi and increase in power. ↩

2. The principle of dual cultivation, cultivation by having sex. Men are high in yang, and women are high in yin. A woman will take yang from a man to complement her yin, and vice versa. ↩

2. Marital sister. Used to refer to two peers from the same sect

Being the protagonist of a novel, Baili Qingmiao’s appearance had no flaws. She wore the buttercup yellow dress of the female disciples of Shangqing Sect, hair tied in a simple bun with an ordinary multicolored string. A fresh peach blossom was stuck in her hair, and her face held the same gentle flush as its petals. A few strands of hair fell elegantly across her forehead and framed her face, clear and free from makeup. She wore a pair of light yellow bead earrings and was filled with a youthful grace.

Wenren È was engrossed with her divine light and hadn’t noticed her appearance at all. Yin Hanjiang clutched his sword. In his eyes, this girl who had confronted Wenren È with hostile intent was already dead.

Hè Wenzhao finally made it up the stairs. He had known Baili Qingmiao for over ten years, and would’ve gotten used to it no matter how beautiful she was. After getting to the second floor, all his attention was on Shu Yanyan. With a few coins, he sent one of the waiters to get a doctor who could treat fractures, then crouched near Shu Yanyan’s chair and said anxiously, “Don’t worry, Miss Shu, I’ll make sure to get justice for you!”

Shu Yanyan: …

No way, was she the only one who noticed this little Baili Qingmiao girl was really quite beautiful? Do these three men all have eye problems? And the one getting justice is clearly Baili Qingmiao, what is Hè Wenzhao trying to get in on the action for?

Even though she was filled with doubts, Shu Yanyan had a strong work ethic and remembered her task—seduce Hè Wenzhao. With effort, she placed her pale hand into Hè Wenzhao’s considerably larger palm, and said with eyes full of affection, “This maiden’s life is as thin as paper. Being able to meet Young Master Hè today is the fortune of three lifetimes. Miss Baili, you don’t need to make enemies for someone like me.”

Even if you do, you can’t beat them, Shu Yanyan grumbled in her heart.

Baili Qingmiao was still too young, barely at Foundation Establishment. Hè Wenzhao was a bit older, but still only at Core Formation stage. Wenren È didn’t need to act, and Yin Hanjiang didn’t need to unsheathe his sword. He could kill these two Shangqing Sect juniors with one finger.

Baili Qingmiao was even more furious after hearing Shu Yanyan’s words, and she also felt regretful. That day, Hè Wenzhao had wanted to call on Miss Shu, saying that some disciples met her in the small town a few days ago and helped her out. Even if it was a chance encounter, they had to take responsibility until the end. If they helped her but abandoned her halfway, this karma would be on them, and their heavenly tribulations would be harder in the future.

Baili Qingmiao was always preoccupied with her own jealousy. She’d just had yet another spat with her shixiong Hè Wenzhao about Liu-shijie. They had originally planned to set out at seven in the morning, but she had delayed them until nine. Her shixiong’s cultivation was much stronger than hers and he could deduce the ways of heaven better than she could. Maybe today he’d gotten a feeling that something was wrong, and that’s why he was anxious to leave early. If she had been just a bit earlier, maybe Miss Shu wouldn’t have…

While berating herself, Baili Qingmiao heard Shu Yanyan’s words and couldn’t restrain her anger anymore. She reached out an arm and the strip of silver silk around her waist, which clashed with the color of her clothes, moved of its own accord. This was the bonded weapon she had refined after attaining Foundation Establishment, the Moonlit Frost Silk. As it uncoiled, it resembled a streak of silver light glittering under the full moon, sublime and beautiful.

“Shimei!” Hè Wenzhao was concerned about Shu Yanyan, but he also worried for Baili Qingmiao, whom he had taken care of throughout her childhood.

Seeing her bring out her bonded weapon, he was anxious she would get hurt if her opponents turned out to be cultivators. He flashed in front of her, the sword on his back rising out of its sheath to float in the air, tip aimed at the two men.

“Please don’t get hurt for my sake!” Shu Yanyan sobbed.

All the guests in the cafe had already run off when Yin Hanjiang threw Shu Yanyan off, so the only people left on the second floor were the few caught in this confrontation.

Yin Hanjiang’s expression darkened. If the opposing side had already brought out their weapons, then he might as well…

“Hanjiang.” Wenren È held Yin Hanjiang’s hand on his sword down, gripping it tightly, preventing him from killing the two protagonists in one stroke.

Because Yin Hanjiang had lain in a corpse pile for several days in his childhood and still had death qi left in his body, no matter how much he cultivated, his limbs were always chilled, and his hand was currently ice-cold.

Wenren È sought the Dao in hot-blooded warfare. His body temperature was higher than normal people’s, and his hand was burning hot. Wrapped around Yin Hanjiang’s hand, it slowly transferred warmth to it.

Yin Hanjiang, after coming into contact with Wenren È, didn’t dare to move. It seemed to him it would be improper to let even the tip of one finger brush against Wenren È’s palm.

With his hand this cold, Yin Hanjiang probably had some internal injury, most likely left over from his childhood experience. This was likely also the reason Yin Hanjiang had a hard time advancing in realm, Wenren È thought. The treatment happened to be finding the strongest concentration of yang under the heavens, dwelling only in the bitterest frost—the novel’s Snow Flame.

Yes, the very Snow Flame Baili Qingmiao nearly threw her life away to get for Hè Wenzhao.

Wenren È wasn’t interested in taking the protagonists’ opportunity for himself. He was the number one cultivator in the world and didn’t need those kinds of things, but Yin Hanjiang did need the Snow Flame.

He hadn’t concerned himself with Yin Hanjiang for many years, just treating him as another subordinate. If it weren’t for that book, he probably would’ve disregarded him forever. Thinking of how Yin Hanjiang had become so crazed and obsessed after his death, Wenren È was emotionally moved and couldn’t help but want to treat him a little better.

“Seeing as you two are honorable cultivators with profound powers, what need is there to pick a fight over a lowly woman?” Wenren È didn’t want to make an enemy of his half master Baili Qingmiao, so decided to back down first.

“What did you say?!” Baili Qingmiao got angrier at his words and tried to charge, but Hè Wenzhao blocked her way.

Baili Qingmiao had yet to suffer the cruelties of the novel and had a simple and frank outlook, unable to see these people’s hidden depths. Hè Wenzhao already had much more experience with the outside world and could see that Wenren È was likely of higher capability than he let on. These two were so calm; what if they were Nascent Soul stage experts?

His palms broke into a sweat and he transmitted to Baili Qingmiao, “Shimei, they aren’t good opponents for us. I’ll hold them off for now, you hurry back to the sect for backup.”

In Hè Wenzhao’s heart, Baili Qingmiao was his beloved little shimei who he was deadset on protecting. Even if he died, he couldn’t let his lovely shimei get hurt.

“Shixiong…” Baili Qingmiao saw how tense and serious her shixiong was and realized they’d run into high-level opponents. She felt frightened, as well as grateful.

While they were transmitting messages and making plans, they were unaware that with how much lower their realms were, the other three in the room could hear them loud and clear.

Wenren È was a bit confused. He had already backed down, so how come the atmosphere had become even more tense? How should they end this? In the past, what did he usually do in these situations? It seems it was… kill ’em all? He couldn’t even remember the faces of the people who’d picked fights with him in the past.

Luckily, Shu Yanyan was there. As the Venerable’s Right Protector, she immediately saw though his thoughts and dragged her broken body to before the four of them, grabbing the silver piece on the table with a trembling hand. “Young Master Hè, Miss Baili, you don’t need to get hurt for my sake. What this master said was right. I am no more than a lowly woman.”

She bitterly put the silver piece into her lapel herself and choked out, “Thank you, honored guests, for your generosity.”

While saying her lines, she transmitted to Wenren È, “I’m begging you, Venerable, just say, ‘since you know your manners, I’ll save the Shangqing Sect some face and avoid picking a fight with its juniors’, and then go. I’m certain my acting has managed to hook him.”

Wenren È nodded and said woodenly, “Since you know your manners, I’ll save the Shangqing Sect some face and avoid picking a fight with its juniors.”

The moment he finished speaking, he grabbed Yin Hanjiang and disappeared. Hè Wenzhao and Baili Qingmiao couldn’t follow even if they wanted to.

“Miss Shu!” Hè Wenzhao frantically held Shu Yanyan in his arms, who had broken her bones and could only crawl. His heart ached incessantly for her. His cultivation was too low, and he had no way of defeating those two probably Nascent Soul stage experts. He could only let this frail but self-reliant woman who was like a lotus flower rising pristine from the mud humiliate herself to protect him. The fault was on him.

Baili Qingmiao looked at Hè Wenzhao holding Shu Yanyan, and, also seeing Shu Yanyan’s bleeding legs and her white dress which had already been stained half crimson, couldn’t bring herself to feel jealous. “Miss Shu probably won’t recover completely even if treated by a doctor. I’ll return to the sect and bring Yao-shixiong to help her.”

Hè Wenzhao nodded. “Alright, I’ll take her home.”

After Baili Qingmiao left, he picked Shu Yanyan up in his arms and brought her to her run-down thatch hut.

Though the inside was shabby, it was clean and neat, and a few pieces of delicate embroidery hung on the walls. You could tell at one glance that the owner was a poor but honest and cultured maiden.

Hè Wenzhao set Shu Yanyan carefully on her straw bed. Shu Yanyan had lost too much blood and was hovering on the edge of unconsciousness, her breathing growing faint. She weakly lifted her bloodstained fingers and said softly, “Young Master Hè, this lowly woman should’ve long since passed. There’s no need for you…”

The moment her cold fingertips touched Hè Wenzhao’s cheek, Shu Yanyan fainted, leaving a streak of blood down his face.

“Miss Shu!” Hè Wenzhao felt her pulse and found her life force extremely weak. He feared she couldn’t wait for his shimei to fetch Yao-shidi.

He gritted his teeth and said, “Sorry about this!”

He undid Shu Yanyan’s sash. Seeing a silver piece fall out, he felt another pang in his heart. Putting aside the proper relations between men and women, he pressed his palm to the warmth of Shu Yanyan’s chest and poured his spiritual energy into her, at the same time taking out a medicinal pill.

It was true that ordinary people could not withstand a cultivator’s medicine and couldn’t take them directly. But if a cultivator was willing to use their spiritual power to help break down the medicine and guide it through the body, they could absorb it.

The cultivator would lose some strength by doing this. Not often would cultivators waste their hard-earned spiritual essence on an ordinary person. Yao-shidi had drugs that would help an ordinary person take the pills, typically used for new disciples who couldn’t absorb qi yet, but he couldn’t wait any longer.

Hè Wenzhao was at Core Formation stage and had a comfortable amount of spiritual essence. After his qi completed a circuit in Shu Yanyan’s body, he fed the pill to her mouth-to-mouth, helping her absorb it.

After a few minutes, Shu Yanyan was completely healed. Hè Wenzhao embraced her and breathed a small sigh.

Only now did he realize how he was holding the warm and pliant body in his arms, like…

Why wasn’t shimei back yet?!

While pretending to be unconscious, Shu Yanyan sent a long distance transmission to her underlings. “You guys, delay Baili Qingmiao for me, I’ve almost got it. No matter what, don’t let her bring that Yao-shixiong to wreck my plans!”

“No need to send your subordinates. I have delayed Baili Qingmiao,” a familiar deep voice sounded by Shu Yanyan’s ear.

Shu Yanyan: …

Venerable, how come you want to do it yourself again? This—this subordinate doesn’t wish to trouble you; nothing good could come from you being involved!

Though she shed tears in her heart, she was fully in control on the surface. She opened her eyes with a soft cry and, finding herself lying in Hè Wenzhao’s lap, with her clothes… She exclaimed weakly, and her face turned bright red.

Elsewhere, Baili Qingmiao once again brought out the Moonlit Frost Silk, her expression grim, facing off against Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang.

Wenren È forbade Yin Hanjiang from acting and, extending a finger, tapped the silver silk once lightly. Baili Qingmiao’s bonded weapon quietly returned to within her body, and she found out she was unable to exert a hint of spiritual power.

Baili Qingmiao finally realized the extent of her opponents’ strength. She had grown up at Shangqing Sect and not really traveled the world before. As a cultivator, she had beaten countless Wulin martial artists, but she never expected such hidden masters to be mingling among the populace.

Her shixiong was far more experienced and had probably already seen through these people’s true depths, yet he still stood his ground in front of her. Her shixiong treated her so well, willing to risk his life for her, yet she was always throwing tantrums and distrusting him. Her behavior was altogether too ungrateful.

“If you want to kill me, then go ahead! If I even flinch, I’m not worthy of being a disciple of Shangqing Sect!” Baili Qingmiao said resolutely.

Wenren È didn’t know what twists and turns her thoughts were taking, and said evenly, “Miss Baili, don’t misjudge us. This Ven— I purposefully sought you out, as I have a request of you.”

He raised a hand, and in the mountain wilderness, three elegant chairs appeared. They didn’t come from a storage item on him, but were transparent chairs condensed from the spiritual energy of the mountains. Mahayana cultivators could connect to the heavens and the earth and manifest their will with a thought. Oftentimes cultivators at this stage wouldn’t lightly use their magic weapons, and could create weapons out of ambient spiritual energy to attack their opponents.

Wenren È made a gesture for Baili Qingmiao to help herself. After a trembling Baili Qingmiao sat down, he sat as well.

Usually he would sit first, but he had to show the proper respect to his half master, so he offered the seat to Baili Qingmiao first.

One of the three chairs was for Yin Hanjiang, but Yin Hanjiang didn’t sit, instead standing behind Wenren È without a word.

Wenren È didn’t make any demands to Baili Qingmiao. “Miss Baili,” he said, “you can probably tell that, with our strength, we’ve no need to trouble an ordinary person. Earlier, I had seen you walk by downstairs, and merely threw down an object to catch your attention.”

Baili Qingmiao was furious, but the people she was facing were too powerful. Holding herself back with fists clenched, she said, “That was a person, not an object!”

“Really?” Wenren È flicked a finger and an ant crawling across the ground was whisked up by a gust of wind and landed on Baili Qingmiao’s knee. “What difference between that and this?” he said indifferently.

The ant struggled to crawl on Baili Qingmiao’s leg. She lifted it with one hand and set it on the ground. “They are different,” she said in a shaky voice. “And ants are also guiltless.”

“In your life, have you eaten meat?” Wenren È asked

Baili Qingmiao didn’t say anything. Cultivators past Foundation Establishment could go without food, sustaining themselves on the qi of the environment. She established her foundation a year ago, and had grown up eating mortal food for the previous seventeen years.

She could only shake her head and say, “That’s not the same.”

“As a cultivator, you should know that all life under heaven goes to the same destination, and all things have their own awareness. There is no distinction between man and other living beings,” Wenren È said. “We as cultivators absorb the spiritual energy of the environment. Do you know how many lives that energy could’ve given rise to? Shangqing Sect has occupied its spiritual mountain for centuries—do you know how many unique creatures and spiritual beings that mountain sustained in ancient times? Why is it that now, not one is left? Because human beings cultivating on that mountain have seized the spiritual energy. That mountain is no longer able to give rise to mystical creatures.”

Baili Qingmiao had been a cultivator for only a short time, and had no way to refute Wenren È’s words. Her heart was in disorder, feeling like her old worldview had been toppled. Her spiritual essence ran wild out of her control, and sharp pains stabbed into her internal organs like knives.

Wenren È wasn’t willing to just watch his half master have a qi deviation, so changed his angle and said, “There’s no need to blame yourself for this. Humanity is currently the chief of all living things, and this was also decided by fate. In the age of gods and demons, humanity suffered endlessly. Any beast of the land or air, or deadly flower or tree, could treat human beings as its prey, refine their bodies into magic tools or absorb their souls. Now, the fact that humanity has the upper hand can be seen as nothing more than the revolution of fortunes.”

Hearing this, Baili Qingmiao’s expression eased. The things that bewildered her in her mind seemed to be resolved, and her mental state relaxed quite a bit.

She closed her eyes to contemplate in silence. After a quarter hour, she opened her eyes, stood, and cupped a fist toward Wenren È. “Thanks to this master for the guidance.”

Wenren È waved a hand. “It was hardly anything. I just randomly said some truths of heaven. The fact that you were able to comprehend shows that you’re naturally suited to cultivate the Path of Indifference. In your future cultivation, don’t choose the wrong path.”

Baili Qingmiao had just enlightened to a principle of heaven, and the expression in her eyes was currently far from that of the innocent young girl she had been. Underneath her long lashes, her eyes were dispassionate yet held compassion, and though she was looking at that ant, she also seemed to be looking at nothing at all.

Wenren È looked upon her with approval, but in the next instant, Baili Qingmiao’s eyes brightened. Coming back to her senses, she said, “Shixiong and Miss Shu are still waiting for the medicine!”

Her eyes twinkled like stars, resembling once more the lovestruck girl from before.

“No need for concern, that woman is fine,” Wenren È said. “I came to you because I needed you to help me retrieve something.”

“Senior just guided me in my cultivation. Baili is deeply grateful. If there’s anything I can do to help my senior, I would not hesitate to do so,” Baili Qingmiao said.

“I am looking for the spiritual treasure called the Snow Flame, to help my sub— friend recover from his injury,” said Wenren È.

Yin Hanjiang looked at Wenren È in astonishment.

“I have heard of the Snow Flame from my master before. It appears in the Thousand Mile Ice Plains, and no one knows its location. Any cultivator below Core Formation stage who enters would almost certainly die. Senior, your cultivation is profound. Can this junior really be of use?” Baili Qingmiao said in confusion.

“The Snow Flame is fated to be yours,” said Wenren È. “Other people can’t take it. We can only have it with your permission. Everything has its predetermined outcome, and one cannot obtain everything just by having power.”

Actually, they could just follow Baili Qingmiao, and after she obtained the treasure, take it from her. This would be the way of a demonic cultivator. But Wenren È couldn’t steal something from his master, and he didn’t want to do something as lowly as rob another person of their fortune either. He wanted to make an exchange.

“I can help you ascend to divinity. I can help you comprehend the Dao. I can assist you in obtaining the things you want, all in return for the Snow Flame.”

Wenren È thought this was a fine idea which could repay his debt to his master and help Yin Hanjiang at the same time, and secretly approved of himself for his own quick thinking. Behind his back and unbeknownst to him, Yin Hanjiang’s eyes were faintly rimmed in red.

Yin Hanjiang bowed his head, hiding his eyes, and spoke hoarsely. “Venerable—”

Wenren È, with a sweep of a gold-embroidered black sleeve, cut off Yin Hanjiang’s words. He transmitted to him, “This Venerable is giving it to you, so you’re not allowed to refuse.”