Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 12

Qingxiao Peak, true to its master’s nature, despite having lush, thriving vegetation planted throughout its mountains, exuded an aura of cold solitude from within.
The back mountains, in particular, were perpetually covered in snow, with few living creatures.
As a cultivator with a fire spiritual root, Li Jin’an had disliked such an environment since childhood. When she sought out Xie Huaixue of Qingxiao Peak for a fight, she also disliked coming to the back mountains.
When her cultivation was low, the back mountains’ environment had a considerable suppressive effect on her. Once her cultivation rose, her one-sided enmity with Xie Huaixue grew, and she naturally had no desire to wander through Qingxiao Peak’s back mountains.
Revisiting old haunts.
Snowflakes rustled down, only to be instantly vaporized and vanish without a trace the moment they touched Li Jin’an.
Looking at the back mountains, which hadn’t changed even a jot in over a thousand years, Li Jin’an belatedly remembered something: Qingxiao Peak’s back mountains were covered in formations and restrictions. Even she would find it absolutely impossible to force her way in!
As the wealthiest and most extravagant sect among the Five Sects and Four Clans, the Divine Mechanism Sect produced remarkably sophisticated formations; their highest-tier formations could even block Mahayana realm cultivators without issue.
So the question arose: after a thousand years, did she still have authorization to enter the back mountains?
When the formations were established, Yinyue Monarch, treating everyone equally, had also recorded Li Jin’an’s aura into the back mountain formations, allowing her free entry and exit, even more freely than she was on her own Jijin Peak.
The entanglement between Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue could be traced back to when they were both ‘little dumplings.’ The Chixin Sword Lord, Yinyue Monarch, and Jingting Dao Lord had all maintained good relations, and Li Jin’an would sometimes be brought by the Chixin Sword Lord to visit the Dao Sect.
Yinyue Monarch greatly favored her, often keeping her to stay at the Dao Sect for a period. When the Chixin Sword Lord came to pick her up, Yinyue Monarch would be reluctant to let her go, leading the Chixin Sword Lord to jokingly call her a ‘child snatcher.’
At that time, Qingxiao Peak was still called Yinyue Peak, and Li Jin’an even had her own small courtyard there, practically making her the third master of Yinyue Peak.
This was also why Li Jin’an could throw her weight around on Qingxiao Peak, plucking spiritual herbs to use as barbecue ingredients, while the Dao Sect dared not express their anger.
Time had passed, and ever since Yinyue Monarch’s demise, Li Jin’an’s interest in the renamed Qingxiao Peak had greatly diminished. When she came to find Xie Huaixue, it was for only one thing: fighting, fighting, and more fighting.
Now, Li Jin’an truly couldn’t tell if Xie Huaixue would still grant her access. She used to think she was the person who understood Xie Huaixue best, besides Yinyue Monarch, but the Heavenly Book told her: No, you are not.
The moment she thought of the Heavenly Book, the Heavenly Book in her sea of consciousness went wild. Its cover, emblazoned with ‘Rebellious Disciple Above, Cold Immortal Venerable Cannot Escape,’ burst forth with golden light. From the looks of it, it seemed to be actively promoting itself, hoping Li Jin’an would open it.
Accursed thing!
Li Jin’an’s expression darkened for a moment. She thought, If Yinyue Monarch were to see this damned book, even someone as gentle and kind as her would probably fly into a rage, utterly furious.
Who could stand by and watch their treasured disciple be so humiliated?!
Even the kindest person would have to go on a killing spree.
“If Xie Huaixue dares to erase this Venerable’s aura…” Li Jin’an’s expression flickered; she seemed lost, like a child, and murmured, “I’ll go complain to Yinyue Monarch!”
In the past, whenever Xie Huaixue angered her, Li Jin’an would tearfully run to Yinyue Monarch to complain, letting Yinyue Monarch comfort her. While being held and fed various delicious spiritual fruits, she would gleefully point fingers at Xie Huaixue, who was reading.
To whom could she complain now?
Li Jin’an lost the urge to reminisce about the past and brazenly charged into the back mountains.
The next second, the snowflakes gracefully falling between heaven and earth paused in mid-air. The entire back mountain fell silent, and Li Jin’an’s figure vanished the moment she crossed into the formation’s boundary. The few seconds of stillness seemed as if the formation was welcoming its long-unseen master.
The scenery inside and outside the formation was entirely different.
Outside was the back mountain, but inside was its underground, the space simply distorted by the Divine Mechanism Sect’s formation, directly teleporting her deep beneath the earth in a single step.
A thousand years had passed, yet the formation was as good as new, requiring no maintenance whatsoever.
The Jijin Sword Sovereign saw it, grew envious, and wanted to rob it.
Underground was a colossal cavern, with one cave leading into another. Spiritual energy was so dense it condensed into water, which then accumulated and solidified into spiritual marrow stones, glittering with brilliant colors. These stones were then gradually dissolved and separated into independent, diverse, steep, and beautiful formations.
The deeper she ventured, the more biting the chill became. The uneven walls were covered in condensed frost.
It was crystal clear and quite beautiful.
After passing through five or six caves, Li Jin’an couldn’t help but shiver, her heart growing heavier.
She had visited this place before, when the formation was completed and Yinyue Monarch had her record her spiritual essence. At that time, the cavern she called her secret base wasn’t like this. There was indeed a cold pond at the end, but it shouldn’t have been this cold.
There was only one possibility.
Xie Huaixue was using the cold pond to release the cold poison from her spiritual root, and the intrusive cold air had transformed the cavern into its current state.
Cold poison that even a Perfected Integration stage Immortal Venerable couldn’t fully endure or completely eliminate was formidable. Its power was clearly immense, capable of eroding the landscape, which was perfectly normal. If there hadn’t been a formation blocking the inside from the outside, the entire Qingxiao Peak would have been consumed by frost.
Li Jin’an pursed her lips, her face unconsciously showing anger. She was furious that Xie Huaixue hadn’t told her about such a grave matter.
If she had known…
She wouldn’t have gone back and forth looking for fights with Xie Huaixue so often, constantly using spiritual energy and her spiritual root. When the cold poison flared up, it would spread throughout her body, erode her spiritual core, and even using a trace of spiritual energy would be unbearable.
Rather than mere cold poison, it was more akin to a demonic curse.
She didn’t know how Xie Huaixue had endured it.
Every single thing was Xie Huaixue’s fault. Could she have intentionally fought her while afflicted with cold poison, trying to gain sympathy? Or did she simply enjoy the sense of accomplishment from defeating her even with the cold poison?
Li Jin’an’s face was grim as she strode purposefully to the end of the cavern. Her red robes were already soaked with the cold air, and even after being dried by her fire spiritual energy, tiny ice crystals formed on them, making her look particularly like a candied hawthorn skewer.
The final cave was entirely occupied by a cold pond. Its water was an icy blue, and the millennium frost crystals along with various ice-attributed minerals at the bottom were clearly visible. The moment she drew near, she could feel an extreme coldness.
Even a cultivator at the Integration stage couldn’t endure it here. If it weren’t for wanting to see Xie Huaixue’s predicament, Li Jin’an would have turned and left long ago.
Mist permeated the air.
Li Jin’an took a step forward, gazing intently, and saw Xie Huaixue, who had fainted by the shore.
Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s face was extremely pale, her eyes tightly shut, and her long hair splayed out. Her brows were slightly furrowed, as if she wasn’t at peace even in unconsciousness, completely lacking the calm composure she had shown earlier in the main hall.
Sickly.
She was still wearing the Dao Sect’s white robes, their insignia completely soaked. She seemed utterly frail, wet and wrinkled, sprawled by the shore.
The vast cold pond made Xie Huaixue seem like duckweed, adrift and without support.
It was as if Xie Huaixue would be swallowed by the cold pond in the next second.
Li Jin’an retreated several steps in a daze. She couldn’t believe it. How could this be Xie Huaixue?
How could Xie Huaixue be like this?
She was Xie Huaixue, how could she look so fragile?
The Heavenly Book was real; Xie Huaixue’s spiritual root truly carried cold poison.
Even if she had anticipated it, she still felt immense absurdity.
The Lancang Continent was a book that only knew of love and affection, and they were merely supporting cannon fodder?
Perhaps even her and Yinyue Monarch’s demise, and their tragic backgrounds, were all just to enhance Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s cold loneliness, drawing more people’s covetousness.
This was truly…
Unreasonable.
Li Jin’an stood not far away, gazing deeply at Xie Huaixue. All her imagination paled in comparison to the shocking impact of reality.
At this moment, she couldn’t even pinpoint the source of her towering rage, or what it was truly about.
How could a dignified Sword Sovereign be so humiliated? How could she accept that her painstaking cultivation and sword practice for hundreds of years would lead to such an outcome, and even become a tool for those beasts to feel jealous over!
Sword cultivators never accepted manipulation or humiliation!
And they certainly wouldn’t accept fate!
Besides, as her sworn enemy and destined rival, was Xie Huaixue someone ordinary people could humiliate?
Go to hell!
No matter what, Xie Huaixue was not someone those three beasts could fantasize about bullying.
Some petty squabbles to let her see Xie Huaixue’s embarrassment was fine, but Immortal Venerable Qingxiao absolutely could not fall from her pedestal. Otherwise, wouldn’t the stature of Jijin Sword Sovereign also decline?
Xie Huaixue should stay at the lonely, cold peak of the snow mountain, occasionally coming down to fight her. As for love or not love, it was all illusory.
Emotionless Dao cultivators and sword cultivators should both be lone wolves; seeking a cultivation partner was simply a heterodox path.
Otherwise, where would she find such a good sparring partner?
Anyone who dared to make her sparring partner fall into the abyss should be stabbed into a bloody gourd by her Blazing Radiance Sword!
Those three beasts should go to the animal realm!
She was doing this entirely for herself and the Lancang Continent. Eliminating the scourges of the cultivation world was everyone’s responsibility.
Furthermore, how was this interfering with others’ karma? After she killed those three beasts, when a person died, all troubles vanished, and karma would disappear directly, perfectly resolving the problem of interfering with others’ karma.
As for Xie Huaixue, for Yinyue Monarch’s sake, she would reluctantly protect her for a bit. Truly reluctantly.
Li Jin’an advanced through the extreme cold, reached the shore, and half-squatted. Her outstretched arm froze, leaving her somewhat at a loss.
Rarely did she treat Xie Huaixue with such caution. Unable to advance or retreat, her heart full of tangled emotions, she didn’t know whether she should pull Xie Huaixue out of the cold pond.
Through the Heavenly Book, she already knew that soaking in the cold pond when the cold poison flared up was merely “fighting poison with poison.” It treated the symptoms but not the root cause, only leaving more toxins in the body.
But there was no other method besides this. Yinyue Monarch and Xie Huaixue hadn’t failed to look for other methods, but they only provided relief, not eradication.
Li Jin’an didn’t know if touching Xie Huaixue would worsen her condition.
Perhaps sensing a scorching yet comforting aura in her sleep, Xie Huaixue spontaneously nestled into Li Jin’an’s embrace, rubbing her moist face against Li Jin’an’s shoulder, hoping to gain more warmth.
In the extreme cold, even an ice spiritual root cultivator couldn’t help but crave warmth strong enough to melt her.
Li Jin’an lowered her eyelids in a daze, quietly gazing at her rival’s ethereal profile.