Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 44

Even the wisest can make a mistake.
If they didn’t fight, it would truly be an insult to the two renowned venerables of the cultivation world who had lost control to such a terrible extent in tiny Ziye Town. Jijin Peak and Qingxiao Peak were utterly defeated, with no one spared. If word got out, no one would believe it.
Those who didn’t know would even think that the two of them found the Ziye Needle illusion too unsophisticated and deliberately walked into the spirit creature’s trap.
Li Jin’an wasn’t sure if Xie Huaixue was deliberate, but she certainly wasn’t. She wasn’t leading such a good life that she had to seek out excitement for herself!
Don’t they know that sword cultivators detest such mysterious and perplexing illusions the most!
Now that things had come to this, not having a fight would leave her truly unreconciled.
Jijin Sword Sovereign warmly invited her, and Qingxiao Immortal Venerable could only oblige.
The mountaintop that had just been leveled by Li Jin’an’s sword intent was now completely gone. The aftermath of their battle altered the surrounding terrain. Mountains turned into fertile plains, directly plowing tens of thousands of acres of land for the nearby mortal populace; they didn’t even need to turn over the soil again.
Li Jin’an was not in a hurry to return. Who knew what had happened with her main body? Now that she had the chance to fight Xie Huaixue to her heart’s content, she naturally couldn’t let it go.
From day to night and back to day, the two fought fiercely, lasting far longer than junior cultivators like Qi Lingzi.
Mainly, neither of them was in their main body; they were in a divine sense state, making them evenly matched. Li Jin’an rarely had such a smooth fighting experience, just like Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Ling Qiu fighting the three wretches, where Ning Zhufeng was holding the other two back. It was as if they were aided by gods. Not fighting to their satisfaction would truly be a disservice to their trip to Ziye Town.
A draw!
On the evening of the second day, Li Jin’an had fought to her heart’s content. Her mood finally lifted. She secretly calculated that her main body would also need a fight before she would let Xie Huaixue go.
She didn’t care whether Xie Huaixue had gone easy on her or truly fought to a draw. Anyway, this was the final result, and it was also the latest battle report for Jijin Sword Sovereign and Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s twelve-hundred-year rivalry—no longer constant losses, but a draw!
With a draw in hand, was the day of completely defeating Xie Huaixue still far off?
Not far at all!
It’s just around the corner, imminent!
Li Jin’an instantly coaxed herself into a good mood. She no longer scowled at Xie Huaixue, but she still didn’t want to see Xie Huaixue or be in the same space as her.
It was simply that whenever she thought of the word “illusion,” she would easily stamp her feet and bristle, not to mention the deeper implications of that tacit approval and indulgence. Just thinking about it made her scalp tingle and made her restless, giving her a feeling that once she understood it fully, it would be even more shocking than seeing a Heavenly Tome. It was as if her entire past twelve hundred years of life were about to be overturned again…
She wasn’t ready to face the next Heavenly Tome yet. She needed a long period of internal struggle, contemplation, and clarification of her thoughts. No matter what earth-shattering conclusion she eventually reached, she simply needed that time.
Sensing that her main body was no longer blocking her, Li Jin’an gave Xie Huaixue a triumphant smile and simply fled. “Goodbye!”
“……”
Goodbye will certainly happen again.
Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue had drunk tea until they were sick of it in Jingting Dao Lord’s illusion. After finally being released, Li Jin’an recalled her avatar as soon as she reached the foot of Qingxiao Peak. She nonchalantly began to receive all the memories her avatar had gathered in Ziye Town. At this moment, she had no idea of the severity of the situation.
The extremely large amount of information in the memories instantly froze Li Jin’an, who was about to lift her foot and follow Xie Huaixue back to Qingxiao Peak.
Ziye Town, Steward Zhang’s residence, the black butterfly, the illusion, fiancée, bounty, Master Xie, getting married, kissing…
Finally, her avatar had fought Xie Huaixue to a draw, and that triumphant emotion was still echoing in Li Jin’an’s mind. She fiercely closed her eyes. “……”
Is this something worth celebrating? Can’t it have some backbone?!
To think that I, Jijin Sword Sovereign, who lived a life of overbearing arrogance and committed countless evil deeds, would end up in such a state!
Her avatar and Xie Huaixue’s avatar kissed, kissed, kissed…
Didn’t I go out to bring those troublesome disciples back? How did I end up getting myself entangled in this!
Hahahahahaha!
She truly was mad, otherwise, how could such a horrifying thing have happened!
Li Jin’an quickly opened her eyes, her bright eyes staring at Xie Huaixue. “Has your avatar returned?”
Xie Huaixue shook her head, puzzled, her eyes full of confusion. She replied, “Not yet. My avatar is bringing my disciples back to the Dao Sect. Do you have something you want to ask my avatar? I can help you now…”
“No need.” For Xie Huaixue’s kindness, Li Jin’an only offered a polite refusal.
Within the range of divine sense, an avatar could transmit memories to its main body. However, the greater the distance, the slower the transmission speed. If it exceeded the divine sense’s range or entered a place like Ziye Town, which had natural formations, the transmission would become intermittent, showing only a few scattered images.
But now, with her avatar out of Ziye Town and her main body out of Jingting Dao Lord’s secret realm, all obstacles to communication between her main body and avatar were gone. It was convenient to access the memories whenever needed.
Li Jin’an subconsciously let out a breath of relief, then felt she looked too undignified acting like this. She again said fiercely to Xie Huaixue, “Goodbye!”
And then.
Having uttered her harsh words, without waiting for Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s reply, Jijin Sword Sovereign, as if chased by a vicious dog, shot away on her Blazing Radiance Sword, vanishing without a trace.
The junior disciples didn’t see anyone flash away from the Dao Sect. Only peak masters and elders could see Jijin Sword Sovereign impolitely and arrogantly flying through the air in someone else’s territory. But Jijin Sword Sovereign had done far too many impolite things at the Dao Sect already; one or two more made no difference.
Li Jin’an flew at full speed, returning to the Sword Sect in just fifteen minutes, much faster than Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Ling Qiu, her three disciples who were still dawdling on the way.
She didn’t know what was wrong with them; they just couldn’t hurry. They did everything slowly, probably not wanting to face their master’s wrath directly.
Upon returning to Jijin Peak, Li Jin’an burrowed into her bedroom and didn’t come out. She didn’t cultivate or practice swordplay; primarily, in this state, if she were to meditate and cultivate, she was genuinely afraid she would deviate from the cultivation path and explode to her death.
Had she spent time thinking?
No.
As soon as she recalled the scenes from the illusion, Li Jin’an’s entire face would flush red. She would then forcibly suppress the blushing and heart palpitations, only for certain images to uncontrollably surface in her mind a moment later, her cheeks and ears turning red again, only to be suppressed once more… This cycle repeated endlessly.
Until Qi Lingzi and the others leisurely returned to Jijin Peak, Li Jin’an was still caught in this loop, unable to extricate herself, with no time to pay them any mind.
Thankfully, they had become clever. They didn’t go and annoy Li Jin’an, fearing that their escort missions would increase from three to six. What was the difference between that and a loss-making venture? The people of Spring Rejuvenation Valley would die of laughter and sincerely thank the heavens for sending so many suckers their way.
After returning, the three went to Chixin Peak to pay their respects to their Grandmaster. They didn’t return to Jijin Peak directly, instead heading to take on missions, planning to avoid lingering under their master’s nose for a while.
Regardless of what had happened between their master and the Immortal Venerable in the illusion, whether it was their master bullying the Immortal Venerable or the Immortal Venerable bullying their master, it wasn’t something they could get involved in. Even if they were direct disciples, they couldn’t suffer the same miserable end as Lan Ci and the other two. Hiding was the right thing to do.
In Qi Lingzi’s view, Lan Ci, Zhong Fei, and Ning Zhufeng were simply too well-fed and idle. They just had to stir up trouble between their master and the Immortal Venerable, just had to court trouble. How was that different from provocation? Was their master someone with a good temper?
…
Li Jin’an rested her meditation cushion on her head, sitting cross-legged, gazing profoundly at the Blazing Radiance Sword she held in her hands.
Now, she could only talk to the Blazing Radiance Sword. After all, the encounter in the illusion left her truly unable to speak her mind. She couldn’t tell anyone, not even Chixin Sword Lord.
“Tell me, why exactly did it happen? Why did I lose my mind the moment I entered that illusion, foolish beyond cure!”
She was like a little kitten, believing whatever Xie Huaixue said, clinging fiercely to Xie Huaixue, afraid of losing out if she didn’t cling enough, and repeatedly bringing up that waiter from the restaurant who delivered food…
Amnesia is no excuse, after all, amnesia and losing one’s mind are not the same thing.
Li Jin’an couldn’t even imagine how Xie Huaixue would view her after receiving her avatar’s memories.
Just thinking about it made her vision go black repeatedly; it was simply the darkest moment of her life.
“What do you think Xie Huaixue was thinking? Why was she so completely obedient to me in the illusion? Didn’t she know how to resist? It couldn’t be that if I went silly, she went silly too, right!”
Li Jin’an was completely baffled, unable to understand why Xie Huaixue had such a good temper in the illusion, letting her demand anything.
To shirk responsibility, Jijin Sword Sovereign was willing to admit that her illusionary self was an idiot.
“Speak!”
Blazing Radiance Sword sensed its sword sovereign’s anxious and complicated mood. It hummed once, and its tip moved perfunctorily, as if in comfort.
After all, it had great spiritual awareness, but no wisdom. What could it say? Tell its sword sovereign to act less crazy, be more independent, and solve her own problems?
“I knew I couldn’t rely on you. You chose Xie Huaixue back then too. No wonder you’re not on my side, you traitor!”
“……”
These days, even Sword Sovereigns blame their lifebound swords.
Blazing Radiance Sword hummed in protest again. After that, it ignored Li Jin’an no matter what.
Unable to pester her lifebound sword, Li Jin’an could only quietly rest her chin on her hand and stare blankly, occasionally letting out a long sigh. She had been in this foolish state ever since returning from the Dao Sect.
This wouldn’t do. She decided to find something to occupy herself with.
Li Jin’an looked at the shimmering Heavenly Tome trying to approach her in her sea of consciousness. This made her think of the three audacious wretches in Ziye Town. She felt that wretches belonged in the animal realm, not stirring up trouble in the human world and fantasizing about a certain Immortal Venerable.
She decided to defeat them one by one, starting with the weakest link among the three wretches: Zhong Fei, the half-yao.
As a Heavenly Tome protagonist, Zhong Fei’s scheming and cunning couldn’t compare to the other two wretches, but she couldn’t be underestimated either. The reason she could suppress her demonic transformation instinct and stay in the Dao Sect was that she had received a legacy from a Mahayana stage great demon in her childhood.
In fact, in terms of starting point, Zhong Fei was higher than both Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng. Unfortunately, she was cunning, venomous, and evil enough, but also foolish enough.
Li Jin’an sneered. A Mahayana stage Monster King was indeed formidable, but a dead Mahayana stage one wasn’t so valuable anymore. Moreover, a great demon’s legacy didn’t mean Zhong Fei was also a great demon.
It was best to kill her now, before Zhong Fei had fully assimilated the great demon’s legacy.
She wasn’t doing this for Xie Huaixue; it was purely because the three wretches had disgusted her. She decided to rid the world of evil.
Li Jin’an wrote a letter, folded it into a paper crane, and sent it flying out. Besides Jiang Fengmian and Shang Dangge, she also had a fascinating yao race friend.
The Sword Sovereign’s friends were indeed few, but each was a well-known figure in the cultivation world and… a demon creature. Jie Yunjin was that demon creature.
Unlike Zhong Fei’s half-yao nature, Jie Yunjin’s first twenty-plus years of life were unremarkable. One day, after meeting Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue, she suddenly mutated and reverted to her ancestral form, becoming a majestic and formidable… little white snake. Unfortunately, this person’s greatest fear was snakes.
As soon as her paper crane flew out the window, another new paper crane flew in.
It was Chixin Sword Lord’s paper crane.
Li Jin’an’s expression changed instantly when she read it.
“Jin An, I still underestimated your destructive power. After you left, Qingxiao went into seclusion. Can you tell me what outrageous thing you did this time? I’m genuinely curious. When the Dao Sect comes knocking, I’ll decide whether to hand you over to Qingxiao as an apology!”
Seclusion?
What happened to Xie Huaixue?
Besides the illusion and fighting her avatar, what else did I do to Xie Huaixue? Did Xie Huaixue see the avatar’s memories and find them unbearable, so she chose to avoid people too?
Li Jin’an frowned in thought. Suddenly, her phoenix eyes fixed.
She remembered. It was the cold poison!