Sometimes, being too strong was also a burden. They hadn’t even walked a few steps when they already caught the culprit.
Most importantly, Li Jin’an felt she hadn’t had enough fun yet. Such outings, where she played and Xie Huaixue cleaned up after her, were rare between them, and she was quite reluctant for it to end.
Xie Huaixue handed the butterfly to her. “It’s just a spiritual clone, like ours.”
The first thing Li Jin’an did upon getting the butterfly was to reveal an inscrutable smile.
This was Master Zhang’s Second Master’s room, also the exact center of the entire compound. It probably held some specific significance, but it was not within Li Jin’an’s scope of knowledge.
The First Master and Second Master were a male couple. The First Master was over fifty years old, and the Second Master was under thirty, but Master Zhang’s eldest daughter was already twenty.
Although she didn’t know how two men gave birth to a daughter, she was born anyway. She was probably an unlucky soul who had mistakenly entered this place.
This was no longer just a chaotic timeline; it was as if time simply didn’t exist here.
Xie Huaixue silently took a few steps back.
Under the black-patterned butterfly’s terrified gaze, Li Jin’an held the corner of its wing and began rapidly shaking it.
She not only shook it so fast that afterimages appeared, but also created a strong gust of wind that blew Xie Huaixue’s sleeves.
It was hard to say if Li Jin’an was doing it on purpose.
The black butterfly was shaken until it was dizzy, and it couldn’t help but let out a sharp, high-pitched sound. “Let me go! I can let those few people go.”
Li Jin’an hadn’t had enough fun, so she kept shaking, shaking, shaking.
The black butterfly looked at Xie Huaixue with a pleading gaze. “Let me go. Whatever you want to know, I can tell you.”
Xie Huaixue shifted her gaze, looking towards the front courtyard, as if watching the ceremony. However, the two newlyweds had already entered the bridal chamber, so who knew what she was looking at.
“What kind of thing are you?” Li Jin’an spoke her mind directly.
“A spirit monster,” the black butterfly said aggrievedly.
“…” Li Jin’an was utterly speechless. “Do I need you to tell me you’re a spirit monster? I asked you how you grew up, and how you occupied this town!”
The black butterfly finally realized that the beautiful woman in white next to her was completely a mere decoration in front of the beautiful, fierce woman in red. Not a single word she said was useful. No wonder she didn’t dare say anything after being rejected in her declaration of love by the one in red!
In its opinion, the previous conversation between the two, after the maid wished them eternal unity in heart, was Li Jin’an rejecting Xie Huaixue.
So submissive, so deeply affectionate, so enduring for love! In the black butterfly’s opinion, Xie Huaixue was simply the best candidate to fall into the illusion and be assimilated by the town!
The black butterfly glanced at Xie Huaixue again, as if its eyes were stung, and hurriedly withdrew its gaze, not daring to look again.
It was clearly just a spiritual clone, yet the oppressive feeling was extremely strong, as if it could arbitrarily decide its life and death.
What a fiend!
“Answer the question! Is the answer written on her face?” Li Jin’an was unhappy and continued shaking, shaking, shaking the black butterfly.
This one was also an equally impressive fiend!
“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” The black butterfly failed to struggle and could only numbly surrender.
“I don’t know how I came into being. When I gained consciousness, I was in a dark, deep valley. Above were miasma, demonic energy, and death energy. Below were all kinds of lifelike corpses—human, demon, and devil—piled layer upon layer. Strange flowers and exotic herbs grew on top of the corpses. Every day, I would float in the middle, counting whether the corpses on the ground had increased or decreased. At the bottom of the deep valley, there seemed to be a formation constantly operating. When I probed with my spiritual sense, that formation directly absorbed my consciousness!”
At this point, the Black Butterfly remembered the past and couldn’t help but feel sorrow. “When I first emerged, I was already weak. After my consciousness was absorbed, I used every last bit of strength to force my way into a human cultivator’s spiritual sea. Immediately after, I was forced into slumber. A long time passed before I woke up again. Feeling that this place was very dangerous, I tried my best to float out of the deep valley, drifting and wandering until I finally arrived here.
“Oh, right, it was in that human cultivator’s spiritual sea that I gained inspiration and insight, believing that loyalty to one’s partner and a happy, fulfilling marriage could resolve all disputes!”
Li Jin’an was curious: “Was that cultivator absolutely loyal to her cultivation partner?”
“No! She was very fickle; she had partners everywhere and added new ones every day. She told spiritual plants and beasts that she would marry them once they transformed into human form, and she made promises to beautiful demonic races and yao races.”
The sword cultivator, who hadn’t seen much of the world, blinked her eyes: “And then?”
“Her partners fought among themselves, her partners ganged up on her, and her partners’ suitors also beat her. Once they entered the battlefield, they all fought together.”
“…If the Three Realms War was ignited for such a ridiculous reason, then the Lancang Continent is doomed.”
Wars involving the human, demon, and fiend realms were numerous, even frequent, and countless ancient battlefields were created as a result.
Humans coveted every part of the demonic race, loving them so deeply they wished they could tear out their hearts and livers; the demonic race felt humans bullied them too much, while also wanting to seize human territory and use humans as food; the yao race was inherently tyrannical and bloodthirsty, cunning and insidious, wanting to kill and devour any living thing they saw…
Three Realms Wars typically began with the yao race challenging the other two, with the human and demonic races ‘forced’ to participate, eventually descending into chaos, forming alliances and breaking them, always wary of each other, ready to turn hostile at any moment.
When disciples of major sects attended classes at the academy, the elders would explain these wars, though naturally, the human race was always portrayed as the righteous side, and it was considered proper for them to make extravagant demands after the war.
Li Jin’an alone had participated in many battles, and her formidable reputation was built upon them. After all, merely showing off within the cultivation world would inevitably lead to accusations of being a bully at home; only by flourishing both internally and externally could it be proven that the title ‘Jijin Sword Sovereign’ was in no way inferior to ‘Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’.
Before, Li Jin’an never considered the schemes and triggers behind these battles; she simply fought, and as long as she enjoyed the fight, she was happy. But now!
She felt sullied!
If every great war was ignited because of the romantic debts of a philandering and promiscuous person, that’s simply outrageous! Could things ever get better?
She wouldn’t accept it!
“This damned Lancang Continent, this damned Heavenly Dao, couldn’t it just empty out the wastewater in its brain? Stop neglecting proper affairs day after day, and only thinking about ruining good girls from respectable families!”
Could it be that the upper beam is crooked, making the lower beam awry? Is the Heavenly Dao an oddball, and are all living beings on the Lancang Continent oddballs too?
A bunch of wretched creatures.
Xie Huaixue interrupted her indignant lament. “To my knowledge, the Three Realms Wars of the past ten thousand years were not ignited for such absurd reasons. Mostly, they were caused by internal instability within the yao race leading to external wars, the instigation of ambitious individuals, the allure of supreme treasures, legacies, and secret realms…”
Li Jin’an smiled, her face brightening: “Even sinister schemers are better than idiots with love on their brains!”
The Black Butterfly seized the opportunity to curry favor: “I think so too! That’s why I make everyone loyal to their partners; no betrayal, no harm.”
Li Jin’an scoffed: “Can humans cultivate feelings with spiritual plants and beasts too? They haven’t even gained sentience yet.”
“Of course! They liked them themselves to begin with.”
Li Jin’an didn’t think so. Could cultivators like spiritual plants and beasts because they could be exchanged for spiritual stones?
If that guy, God of Fortune, fell into this illusion, wouldn’t he have to marry a spiritual vein?
Thinking this, Li Jin’an asked: “If someone didn’t like these things, and only liked spiritual stones, what would you do? Or if someone already had a beloved and didn’t like anyone else, how would you arrange things?”
Xie Huaixue knew immediately that she was referring to Shang Dangge, and couldn’t help but glance at her.
Li Jin’an misunderstood, and handed the Black Butterfly to her, sharing generously: “Do you want to play too? This little thing is quite fun; it cries out when you shake it, and it answers every question.”
Whether its answers were true or not, it at least answered.
The Black Butterfly, racking its brains to prepare answers for the ‘God of Misfortune’: …
Can’t people badmouth others without a butterfly present these days?
Xie Huaixue took it, but didn’t interrogate it. She simply held it up for Li Jin’an to see.
The Black Butterfly was enraged, the Black Butterfly was unyielding, the Black Butterfly honestly answered the question: “I would project such people’s emotions onto other individuals.”
“And what else?”
These three words were asked by Xie Huaixue, and though framed as a question, her tone was extremely certain.
The Black Butterfly awkwardly replied: “Generally, those with low cultivation and insufficient willpower would become disoriented and at my mercy upon entering the illusion. Even those with strong willpower, if they stayed in the illusion for a long time, would have their resolve worn down by beautiful dreams and soft comforts, still ending up at my mercy.”
No matter what, they would all become its prey.
“You feed on cultivators’ spiritual sense and willpower within their spiritual seas? What about their divine soul?” Xie Huaixue mused.
The Black Butterfly was facing the fierce-looking Li Jin’an, and being held by Xie Huaixue, who had just asked a crucial question, it was utterly dispirited and dared not resist.
It was a master of spiritual sense, and naturally could tell that both individuals were only divine consciousness clones. If it wasn’t honest, once their true bodies arrived, it would truly have nowhere to hide.
“Also eats.”
Xie Huaixue nodded in understanding, and said to Li Jin’an: “After being assimilated by the illusion, their divine souls are partially consumed by it, and they naturally become its puppets.”
“What about the three cultivators who came in a few days ago? Release them!” Li Jin’an was furious. “You have the guts of a bear and a leopard; you dare lay hands on Sword Sect disciples? Aren’t you afraid I’ll summon the entire Sword Sect to flatten your measly little mountain?”
The Black Butterfly wanted to cry but had no tears. Who could resist delicious food right before their mouth? It was a spirit monster, not a desireless saint.
“Release, release, release! But, but…”
“But what?”
“It’s not good to release them now, because they are deeply immersed in the illusion. If forcibly pulled out, it would cause significant damage to their spiritual seas.” Seeing Li Jin’an’s expression worsen, the Black Butterfly hastily added: “I’ve already lifted the restrictions on them and returned all the spiritual sense I previously absorbed. I’ve also made the illusion holding them captive fake; they’ll be out completely unharmed very soon!”
It had truly paid a heavy price, just to send these two immortals away.
Li Jin’an chuckled lightly, and said with utter certainty: “I don’t think you’d want to know the consequences of deceiving us.”
The Black Butterfly nodded, enduring the humiliation.
“Oh, right, what about those three wretched… three people who came in before us? How did Zhong Fei become one of the wedding newlyweds?”
The Black Butterfly in Xie Huaixue’s hand stiffened. “She was easily enticed; she willingly allowed her emotions and beautiful dreams to be corroded without even needing to enter the illusion.”
Li Jin’an suppressed the urge to instinctively glance at Xie Huaixue. The words were subtly put, but having thoroughly studied those three wretched creatures, how could she not know? Zhong Fei, that wretched creature, most likely mistook Miss Zhang for Xie Huaixue!
Damn it!
She increasingly felt that allowing those wretched creatures to live another day was a blessing upon them.
Li Jin’an’s eyes darted, and she began to plot mischief again.
This was a perfect opportunity; not making use of it would be practically inhuman.
But how could she get rid of Xie Huaixue?
Seriously, they were both thousands of years old. What great storms hadn’t they seen? How many times had they walked the line between life and death? How were they still sticking to her so closely, not leaving her side for an inch? They were such great Immortal Venerables, weren’t they ashamed!
Xie Huaixue noticed her peculiar gaze, and couldn’t help but look back in confusion.
Li Jin’an immediately averted her gaze, looking at the sky and the ground, just not at Xie Huaixue, avoiding eye contact.
This was typically how Li Jin’an behaved when she was about to do something mischievous, and this mischief was, more often than not, related to Xie Huaixue.
Soon, this hint of guilt would disappear, because Li Jin’an would use her own logic to convince herself, and then become self-righteous. She might even glare sideways at Xie Huaixue, thinking Xie Huaixue was too petty for not letting her do ‘proper business’.
This was precisely the type of person who complained first.
Li Jin’an extended her hand.
Xie Huaixue gave her the Black Butterfly.
Li Jin’an nodded approvingly, and said nonchalantly: “Go and check on your and my disciples who are still in the illusion. I’ll guard here, in case Zhong Fei truly settles down here; Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s reputation would be ruined, wouldn’t it?”
The Black Butterfly honestly said: “I can have the butterflies guide you.”
No sooner had it spoken than Li Jin’an smacked one of its wings. “How rude! You must use respectful terms when addressing Qingxiao Immortal Venerable!”
“I will guide you!” The Black Butterfly, unable to fight, decided to join instead.
A swarm of colorful small butterflies fluttered their wings, happily flying in in a line, forming a long trail, suspended in the air, clearly excellent guides at a glance.
Li Jin’an’s reason was sound, so Xie Huaixue couldn’t refuse. However, before leaving, she left a remark: “Do not act rashly. Think thrice before you act.”
“Got it, got it!”
She was prone to acting on impulse, but she wasn’t a dullard lacking shrewdness. Having learned from past mistakes, how could she possibly do the dirty work herself this time?
Didn’t she just happen to have a scapegoat in hand?
The Black Butterfly shivered, looking at Li Jin’an with a mix of confusion and wariness. Its unease grew, feeling as if something bad was about to happen.
Li Jin’an released her hold on the Black Butterfly, and raised an eyebrow. “You wouldn’t run away, would you?”
If she hadn’t pressed two fingers together, directly unleashing wisps of sword energy, she might actually have appeared somewhat kind to spirit monsters.
This is a threat, right!
The Black Butterfly nodded tearfully: “Right!”
The problem was, there was nowhere to run. Its true body was right here in Purpleleaf Town, unless it was willing to abandon the headquarters it had operated for so long, become ruined overnight, and turn into a pauper again.
Li Jin’an looked up at the sky, and muttered to herself earnestly: “Qingxiao has already helped this Venerable look after my disciple, so I must also take good care of her disciples.”
This was simply a courtesy exchange between Jijin Peak and Qingxiao Peak, mutually beneficial!
Although the Black Butterfly hadn’t known Li Jin’an for long, it could still hear the insincerity in her words. Did she really think spirit monsters were ignorant bumpkins from the mountains, unaware of worldly affairs!?
Even in a small place like Purpleleaf Town, the names ‘Jijin Sword Sovereign’ and ‘Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’ were widely known.
It was well-known that the Sword Sovereign and the Immortal Venerable were archenemies. Not long ago, the Sword Sovereign had even messed up the Immortal Venerable’s disciple acceptance ceremony. And now she planned to ‘take care’ of the Immortal Venerable’s disciples?
The Black Butterfly thought this inwardly, but outwardly, it ceaselessly praised Li Jin’an, extremely fawning, as if wanting to praise Li Jin’an into blooming a flower.
Although Li Jin’an was easily flattered and would become conceited, the problem was the Black Butterfly wasn’t human; she couldn’t possibly be soft-hearted towards it. Instead, she said callously: “Go and ‘take care’ of Zhong Fei. She’s a junior disciple in the Foundation Establishment stage, with weak strength and insufficient willpower. If she encounters an old and cunning spirit monster and accidentally dies, it would be understandable. You understand what I mean, right?”
The Black Butterfly was petrified in mid-air.
Heavenly Dao above, someone here is using a borrowed knife to kill!
Originally, it had suspected that while the Sword Sovereign and Immortal Venerable appeared to be at loggerheads, they had secretly been colluding behind the scenes. But now it seemed the world’s eyes were truly sharp; not only were they at loggerheads, the Sword Sovereign was already eliminating rivals… no, assassinating the opposing sect’s disciple!
Such dirty human hearts, such dirty tactics, such dirty malicious competition.
The Black Butterfly trembled: “How could I not understand? What if the Immortal Venerable finds out? This would be incredibly difficult to explain!”
She’s an Immortal Venerable’s disciple, you just kill her just like that?
In the past, whenever it lured people into Purpleleaf Town, it knew not to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs; it needed to ensure a steady, long-term flow. Unfortunately, the Sword Sovereign didn’t understand this principle.
“No, or you can forget about this wisp of your divine consciousness clone right now. And don’t think your true body can escape either.”
A plain and unadorned threat.
With wolves ahead and tigers and leopards behind, it was just a matter of dying sooner or later. If it really killed Zhong Fei, Qingxiao Immortal Venerable might not do anything to Jijin Sword Sovereign, but how could she possibly let it go?!
But it had no choice!
The Black Butterfly, who had been causing trouble in Purpleleaf Town, finally faced the darkest day of its spirit monster life.
“I’ll go.”
The Black Butterfly flew towards the bridal chamber as if resigned to its death, with Li Jin’an following closely behind, neither too far nor too close. The coming and going maids, servants, relatives, and guests all seemed blind, not even glancing at them as they walked straight past.
Meanwhile, Miss Zhang’s courtyard had already concluded the bridal chamber revelries, and the guests were winking and nudging as they departed. The two newlyweds were about to drink their shared cup of wine, and Zhong Fei’s secret little wish was about to be fulfilled, when Li Jin’an brazenly squatted on the windowsill, vowing to occupy the best viewing spot. A Black Butterfly also slipped in through a crack.
At a glance, Miss Zhang fainted onto the bed.
Li Jin’an shook her head regretfully. Many of the red dates, peanuts, longans, and lotus seeds on the bed were crushed by Miss Zhang’s sudden collapse. She remotely retrieved the remaining undamaged ones into her hand.
Presumably, the Black Butterfly had, at some point, witnessed mortal wedding procedures, and simply copied them without any alterations.
While the Black Butterfly was attempting to forcibly kill Zhong Fei, she was dividing the spoils.
“I don’t like lotus seeds, give them to Xie Huaixue. The small, shriveled red dates also go to her. The rest are all mine.”
The Black Butterfly’s wing slipped, almost making it fall from the air. Surely Jijin Sword Sovereign wasn’t planning to fob off Qingxiao Immortal Venerable with so little?
Killing someone’s disciple, not only showing no remorse, but also planning to use worthless dried fruits as compensation? She wasn’t even willing to buy them herself, and she gave away the ones she didn’t like!
Even spirit monsters wanted to shout, “Be a human, for crying out loud!”
Watching the utterly pure white-robed woman collapse before her, Zhong Fei froze for a moment, then tore off her bridal veil, and was about to rush towards her beloved.
Although Zhong Fei’s memories were locked and her emotional projections redirected, seeing the white-robed woman, she still cried out those two words.
“Master… Venerable…”
Li Jin’an’s fair, slender fingers moved lightly, crushing a peanut shell and tossing it into her mouth, slowly chewing.
The Black Butterfly was startled, fearing it would be the next to be crushed, and hastily burrowed into Zhong Fei’s head.
The next second, the fluttering Black Butterfly vanished into thin air. Zhong Fei’s eyes rolled back, and she heavily crashed onto the ground.
Li Jin’an, who had promised to ‘take care’ of the Immortal Venerable’s disciple, did not extend a hand to help her up, fearing Zhong Fei would open her eyes and try to extort her.
She had heard it say before that it could burrow into a cultivator’s spiritual sea, and thought it was a clash on the spiritual sense level. She never expected it would actually burrow in.
This little thing possessed unique abilities concerning spiritual sense and divine souls.
As for what the Black Butterfly had revealed during the interrogation? Not to mention Xie Huaixue, even Li Jin’an didn’t believe it. Nine parts fake, one part true, with many omissions; they considered it all just a story, as it couldn’t escape their grasp anyway.
Li Jin’an had entered Purpleleaf Town precisely to see if she could forcibly kill those wretched creatures. The moment she saw the Black Butterfly, she came up with a better idea. It wasn’t necessary to commit mischief herself; wouldn’t it be better if someone else did it for her?
Spiritual sense attacks couldn’t be considered direct harm. At most, Zhong Fei’s spiritual sea would shatter, causing her to fall into eternal coma and slumber, but her physical body would still be perfectly intact!
She had conceded so much; surely Xie Huaixue and the Heavenly Dao couldn’t say anything now, right?
How could one be so clever!
Li Jin’an even admired her own quick thinking. The world still focused too much on her achievements in the path of the sword, respectfully calling her the ‘Sword Dao Sovereign. In truth, she was also an unparalleled strategist with deep cunning!
Actually, she was on par with those cunning schemers from the Dao Sect, she simply didn’t use her wisdom and strategies lightly.
People always try to compensate for what they lack, and Jijin Sword Sovereign was no exception. Before she could revel in her self-congratulations much longer, her hairs suddenly stood on end, a chill spread from the depths of her heart, and her entire body stiffened on the spot, too late to even dodge.
The fallen Zhong Fei was like a dead salted fish suddenly reanimating, convulsing violently a few times, and then spat out the Black Butterfly, shattered into several pieces, impossible to put back together.
Li Jin’an became honest, desperately trying to conceal her presence, her face utterly innocent.
If her entire body hadn’t been immobilized, she would have taken several steps back no matter what, terrified of being lumped together with the Black Butterfly. They were not on the same side!
Suddenly, she felt something vast and heavy, cold and merciless, sweep over her, like a pressure from another dimension, making one feel indescribably insignificant. She immediately straightened up, lowered her gaze impassively, and remained silent.
This was the Heavenly Dao’s impatient warning.
Causing trouble then playing innocent; the Sword Sovereign’s forte.
She was just that kind of person; she’d easily take an inch if given a foot. If she wasn’t clearly stopped the first time, then it was over; she’d immediately climb the pole at lightning speed.
On this matter, Chixin Sword Lord, Yinyue Monarch, and Xie Huaixue all had something to say.
In an instant, the pressure dissipated.
Were it not for the two collapsed newlyweds and a shattered butterfly in the room, it would have seemed as if nothing had happened at all.
However, Li Jin’an felt nothing. After all, facing the Heavenly Dao wasn’t a one-time or two-time occurrence; once was unfamiliar, twice was familiar.
Besides, what kind of good Heavenly Dao would be so easily infuriated by her?
Li Jin’an muttered criticisms inwardly, occasionally looking up at the sky. Good, no heavenly lightning had descended.
Good chapter