Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 156

Unlike Xie Huaixue, who was calm, profound, and never showed her thoughts on her face, Li Jin’an was skilled at using expressions to convey her meaning; a raised eyebrow was enough to make her intentions clear.
However, this skill was usually employed by her to mock enemies; a casual glance was enough to make ninety-nine percent of people jump in anger, clamoring to kill her.
The Heavenly Demon Clan had some understanding of Li Jin’an, knowing that this Jijin Sword Sovereign disliked useless efforts and that every expression of hers served a purpose.
And now, Li Jin’an’s expression was quite interesting: pure incomprehension and puzzlement.
Gui Li and the rest of the Heavenly Demon Clan instantly felt a bad premonition rise in their hearts.
The next second, the air above Li Jin’an and the nine black-clad figures shimmered like a rippling water surface. Immediately after, a pair of long, fair hands passed through, effortlessly parting the Heavenly Demon Clan’s seal on this place.
Bright, warm light poured in, dispelling the gloom of the Misty Forest, as heaven’s light and cloud shadows danced together.
“It seems not. Between us, there’s no point in speaking; a single word is too much,” Li Jin’an said with a raised eyebrow and a smile, even calmer than when Gui Li had just admitted she was one of the Ancient Eight Clans.
Isn’t it just putting on an act? As if anyone couldn’t do the same.
That air of feigning power, bullying others by relying on authority, and complacent arrogance was evident without needing any expression.
What was there to say to the Heavenly Demon Clan?
She was the Jijin Sword Sovereign, not a storyteller in a tavern or teahouse who had to chat with customers. Did she look idle?
She actually could, if she wanted to, but the Heavenly Demon Clan probably couldn’t afford her reward.
Beyond mere life and death, calling it a blood feud between the two sides wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The three lives of Yinyue Monarch and Xie Huaixue’s parents, manipulating Wu Zhaoxing to approach Xie Huaixue in an attempt to re-enact the Heavenly Tome’s plot, and then, upon discovering it couldn’t be re-enacted, wanting to erase Li Jin’an, the variable… Each of these crimes was unspeakable. How could they possibly think there was still anything to say between them?
What nerve.
Did she look like a good-tempered person? Did they truly think she was so reckless as to come alone without any preparations?
…Hmm, she actually hadn’t prepared anything and had just come by herself, but if her Dao companion prepared, then she considered it prepared. A family shares everything!
What these Heavenly Demon Clan members would say, Li Jin’an could guess without even thinking. It would simply be that since both sides had read the Heavenly Tome, they weren’t necessarily enemies and could completely seek common ground while reserving differences. Perhaps they would even arrogantly offer Xie Huaixue to her, to prove that the two sides could indeed coexist and even cooperate for mutual benefit. After all, Wu Zhaoxing was dead and could no longer stir up trouble, so her opinion didn’t matter…
But did she look like an idiot who would believe the enemy after a few casual deceptions?
If Xie Huaixue fooled her, it was her willing choice. But if the Heavenly Demon Clan also wished to do so, they were truly tired of living.
Li Jin’an rested her Blazing Radiance Sword in the crook of her arm, crossed her arms, and gave a cold smile. “Here with this Venerable, there is only one possibility: you will be prisoners, subject to my interrogation.”
“Prophecy? Did you all predict this scene?”
“The Gui Clan of the Ancient Eight Clans were indeed skilled in time and prophecy arts, communing with spirits and foretelling the future. But they dedicated their lives to humanity, serving until death, solving problems for mortals and preparing for the unexpected. They were not like you venomous sorts who only harm people from behind. You really know how to gild your own face.”
Li Jin’an was incredibly arrogant. She had remembered what Xie Huaixue had said; these people couldn’t deceive her.
“Delving into the profound and subtle, reaching far and wide, to determine the world’s fortunes.” Xie Huaixue, descending from the sky and standing with hands behind her back, had cold eyes and brows. She stood beside Li Jin’an, looking at the Heavenly Demon Clan opposite, and followed up on her Dao companion’s topic. “Treading on frost, one knows of ice; observing the past, one knows the future. This is the Gui Clan.”
Li Jin’an followed closely behind and coldly snorted with disdain. “If it were truly the Gui Clan, what couldn’t they calculate? Heavenly Demons are Heavenly Demons, fakes are fakes. Why bring up the Gui Clan? You can’t deceive others, so don’t self-deceptively deceive yourselves.”
Although she didn’t know how Xie Huaixue and Jingting Dao Lord managed to evade the Heavenly Demon Clan’s foresight, it didn’t prevent her from putting on a grand show in front of the enemy.
This feeling of effortlessly infuriating the enemy was truly great.
One explained coolly and distantly, while the other angrily cursed people. Each had their own way of taunting, and the combined power of this Dao companion pair was truly greater than the sum of its parts.
Xie Huaixue gently nodded towards Gui Li and the others and softly said, “I’ve long known of your esteemed names, so I suppose introductions are unnecessary.”
Li Jin’an didn’t have her good temper. From the side, she jabbed with heavy sarcasm, “How could they not know Qingxiao Immortal Venerable? After all, they schemed too cleverly to kill you, only for it to backfire and cost them their own lives. A single oversight in a hundred precautions, truly a pity.”
“What’s a pity?” Jingting Dao Lord, who arrived a step late, casually chimed in. There was nothing she wasn’t curious about.
Three against nine.
Clearly, all nine Heavenly Demon Clan cultivators were at the Mahayana stage, but standing opposite Li Jin’an, Xie Huaixue, and Jingting Dao Lord, they seemed to be surrounded instead.
“It’s a pity they schemed for thousands of years, only to end up with a futile effort.” While she said this, the mockery on Li Jin’an’s face didn’t look like regret at all.
“That truly is a pity.” Jingting Dao Lord, with great interest, flicked her horsetail whisk into the crook of her arm, and her peach blossom eyes, full of dignity and unyielding charm, looked at Gui Li with a half-smile.
Li Jin’an relaxed and chatted casually with Jingting Dao Lord, completely disregarding the nine people opposite. “Where’s my master?”
Jingting Dao Lord succinctly replied, “Guarding the household.”
Li Jin’an was forced to be silent for a moment. What she said about her master was akin to treating her as a mere guard. It was only because her master wasn’t here now; otherwise, with a formidable enemy in front of them, these two would have started fighting each other first and wouldn’t have united against the external threat until a winner was decided.
“How did you get my master to agree?”
Sword cultivators were all battle fanatics, and Chixin Sword Lord, who had a belly full of anger, was even more so. Especially concerning Yinyue Monarch and Xie Huaixue, it was even less likely for Chixin Sword Lord to quietly stay at the Dao Sect waiting for them to return.
Of course, Li Jin’an also didn’t approve of Chixin Sword Lord coming along, mainly because Chixin Sword Lord was somewhat out of place with everyone present, whether on their side or the enemy’s. The moment she arrived, she would become the only cultivator not at the Mahayana stage, easily becoming the target of the Heavenly Demon Clan’s concentrated attacks. She just didn’t know what excuse Jingting Dao Lord used to stop her.
Jingting Dao Lord didn’t know what she recalled, but her mouth twitched, and she gave Li Jin’an a meaningful glance. “Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed.”
Li Jin’an found her odd and mysterious. She disdainfully moved back a step, only stopping when she bumped into Xie Huaixue.
Gui Li opposite recovered from her shock. Her smile was a little stiff, but she managed to maintain it. “Jijin Sword Sovereign, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, Jingting Dao Lord, for the three most renowned human Venerables of the cultivation world to visit our clan, it truly brings honor to our humble dwelling. Failing to rush out to welcome you is our clan’s discourtesy.”
How could uninvited guests bring honor to her humble dwelling?
“When unwelcome guests arrive, there are no such courtesies.” Li Jin’an held the Blazing Radiance Sword, slightly raising its sharp tip, and inadvertently aimed it at Gui Li.
It wasn’t an old friend’s meeting, so why so many polite formalities?
Xie Huaixue’s phoenix eyes lifted in response, her divine light contained within, her dark pupils hidden from view, making her awe-inspiring and impossible to look at directly.
Gui Li’s eyes flickered. The Heavenly Demon Clan members behind her couldn’t help but step forward, staring with wide eyes and angrily looking at Li Jin’an.
The tense standoff atmosphere was on the verge of erupting.
Gui Li, however, gave a sinister smile. “Have the three of you never considered that our clan has been waiting for you for a long time?”
“Form the array!”
As soon as her words fell, she and the remaining eight Heavenly Demon Clan members took up positions, forming an encirclement. A closed eye pattern appeared on their foreheads, emitting a dazzling light. All rapidly formed hand seals and chanted incantations.
Their stance was the same as the initial encirclement of Li Jin’an; it seemed there were many profound mysteries within.
On the matter of wholesale slaughter, the goals of both sides were very consistent. They had never thought of reconciliation, and their attacks were aimed at completely killing the other side.
Everyone understood the principle of rooting out evil. How could they possibly let go of enemies who posed a threat to them?
It wasn’t a time to show mercy.
One could only say that they were all equally ruthless.
Li Jin’an had no habit of letting enemies complete their preparations. Just as she was about to swing her sword to interrupt the Heavenly Demon Clan’s hand seals, she saw the calm expressions of Xie Huaixue and Jingting Dao Lord beside her. She puffed out her cheeks, and with a backhand, placed her Blazing Radiance Sword behind her back. Her expression was cold as she strove to keep up with Xie Huaixue’s pace, pretending that the overly alarmed person wasn’t herself.
Jingting Dao Lord, however, leisurely explained to Li Jin’an, “Those nine people are all eye-nodes of the array, indispensable. But the most important eye-node is still on their clan leader. Using her body as a bridge and connecting with incantations, only then can the array be formed. It is indeed exquisite.”
Li Jin’an didn’t pay attention to her. Instead, she turned her head to gaze at Xie Huaixue’s flawless profile in a trance. After recovering, she reached out and held Xie Huaixue’s hand, giving it a squeeze.
Xie Huaixue smiled faintly, sensing Li Jin’an’s concern and worry for her, and softly said, “I’m fine.”
Jingting Dao Lord caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of her eye and couldn’t help but purse her lips and roll her eyes.
Although the three stood there seemingly at ease, as if nothing was happening, in reality, the celestial phenomena were chaotic. Fierce winds suddenly rose all around, dry branches and shattered stones were all swept up, and the entire Misty Forest was trembling.
Tumbleweeds and rolling stones, dust obscuring the sky, whistling winds and the shrill cries of cranes, empty howls and ghostly whispers—a scene of gloom and terror.
Li Jin’an squinted her eyes against the wind. Instead of secretly transmitting her voice, she openly conspired in a loud voice, “Shouldn’t we do something? Just watch like this?”
Xie Huaixue raised a hand and tucked Li Jin’an’s wind-blown stray hairs behind her ear. “Master said the Heavenly Demon Clan — no, the Gui Clan — had one opportunity to draw upon outer-realm power. During the great changes in ancient times, the Gui Clan did not use this opportunity, allowing the Ancient Eight Clans to perish.”
The master here naturally wasn’t Chixin Sword Lord, but Yinyue Monarch, who had painstakingly plotted until this day.
“So now the situation is either we endure it, or the Heavenly Demon Clan kills us?” Li Jin’an expressed her meaning in the most straightforward way.
Xie Huaixue smiled and replied, “Yes.”
By now, both sides had revealed their cards.
The Heavenly Demon Clan stole the Gui Clan’s authority and glimpsed the existence of the Heavenly Tome, laying out their plans in advance. Yinyue Monarch and the Heavenly Dao had, at some unknown point, reached an understanding, with countless methods continuing to be executed even after her death.
Missing this opportunity meant death, so the Heavenly Demon Clan naturally knew how to choose.
They weren’t breaking the Heavenly Demons’ array power accumulation because it simply couldn’t be destroyed. After all, it was the legacy of the Ancient Eight Clans; even the Heavenly Dao was helpless.
In the late ancient period, the Gui Clan gave up on self-salvation and vanished into the long river of time on the Lancang Continent along with the other seven great clans. But the Heavenly Demon Clan chose to fight like cornered beasts, to make a desperate struggle.
They naturally had nowhere to hide and could only face the challenge head-on.
Li Jin’an squinted her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me anything? Are you treating me like my master!”
She only knew about the Ancient Eight Clans and nothing else; her whole mind was completely muddled.
Jingting Dao Lord added fuel to the fire. “Yes, yes, yes, you two master and disciple are so easily played in the palm of their hands.”
“You old coot are truly making things more complicated…”
Before she finished speaking, Li Jin’an stopped.
Because.
The sky broke.