Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 70

“Immortal Venerable’s second disciple, Zhong Fei, is a half-yao. There’s no need to mention her human father. Her demonic mother, I believe, is well-known to everyone: Monster King Mo Lin. Yes, the same Mo Lin who incited the beast tide to attack the human realm.”
Boom—
The entire venue, which had been silent enough to hear a needle drop, erupted into an uproar, instantly boiling over.
Li Jin’an’s first action was to look at the person beside her, taking Xie Huaixue’s wrist in her hand. She mouthed silently, “Do you trust me?”
Xie Huaixue met her phoenix-like eyes, also mouthing silently, “I will always trust you.”
Amidst the clamor, the two exchanged a knowing smile.
Cultivators who had lost family or friends in the beast tide instinctively looked with hatred at Zhong Fei, who was pale-faced and glaring resentfully towards Li Jin’an, Xie Huaixue, and Jie Yunjin.
Everyone understood the truth, but they still felt a tremendous sense of absurdity. This was the number one immortal sect on the Lancang Continent, not some flimsy, paper-made place. How could a mere half-yao have infiltrated it for so long?!
“If you don’t believe me, I can prove it to you.”
With that, Jie Yunjin meticulously pulled out a dusty bronze mirror.
Before she could act, Zhong Fei hesitated no longer. She didn’t even try to defend herself. She decisively soared into the air, fleeing madly into the distance.
In an instant, a dazzling white light descended, so blinding in the sunlight that it made people’s eyes ache.
The events began and ended in a very short instant. It wasn’t until Jie Yunjin asked, “Don’t you need my help?” that it pulled everyone back to their senses.
Everyone silently watched the white light dissipate, and Zhong Fei’s body fell, hitting the ground with a heavy thud, kicking up a cloud of dust.
That white light wasn’t caused by anyone’s attack; it was the Dao Sect’s sect-protecting array that had activated!
Li Jin’an raised an eyebrow, unsurprised, her fingertips still casually caressing Xie Huaixue’s wrist.
She saw it clearly: as Zhong Fei fled madly, Jingting Dao Lord glanced their way, and Xie Huaixue nodded slightly. Immediately after, the Dao Sect’s great sect-protecting array activated, instantly locking onto Zhong Fei and unleashing punishment like a world-destroying thunderbolt, without the slightest intention or room for Zhong Fei’s defense.
It was said that the Sword Sect was domineering and protective of its own, a group of troublesome sword maniacs, with endless complaints and internal criticisms. But dared anyone openly discuss the Dao Sect’s way of doing things?
No. Even though the Dao Sect had no explicit prohibitions, no cultivator had ever publicly discussed the Dao Sect’s practices.
Unlike the boisterous Sword Sect, which always made a grand show of killing for revenge, the Dao Sect never gave anyone time to prepare. Their methods were decisive and ruthless, suppressing with overwhelming force and severity. The entire process was filled with an unquestionable ferocity.
Countless cultivators and factions had proven one thing to the world: those who offended the Dao Sect would die a miserable death.
The Dao Sect’s prestige was unshakable, inviolable, and without a single flaw.
Therefore, there was no need to produce evidence of how many disciples Zhong Fei had harmed over the years, because that wasn’t important. If Zhong Fei had been a legitimate human cultivator, as long as she hadn’t personally attacked, even if she framed fellow disciples, as an Immortal Venerable’s disciple, she would only be confined for a dozen years if judged by the Enforcement Hall.
But she was a half-yao, and that one fact alone was a monstrous death sentence.
Not to mention that Jie Yunjin had openly stated her mother was Monster King Mo Lin.
Almost immediately after Jie Yunjin spoke, Jingting Dao Lord and all the Dao Sect elders present pronounced Zhong Fei’s death sentence, requiring no extra actions.
A mere half-yao infiltrating the Dao Sect for over a decade, even becoming a disciple under Immortal Venerable Qingxiao, committing evil deeds under the guise of an Immortal Venerable’s disciple—if not for Jijin Sword Sovereign bringing her demon friend to expose this matter, this half-yao could have continued to lurk… Regardless of whether this half-yao had stolen Dao Sect secrets, this incident had deeply struck a nerve with the Dao Sect’s old fogeys. Just thinking about it felt like a thorn in their side.
To hold the title of Immortal Venerable’s disciple and lurk in the Dao Sect for over ten years, what was next, assassinating the sleeping Daoist Venerable?!
Where was the Dao Sect’s dignity? How would the cultivation world view the Dao Sect then!
Even if Zhong Fei’s Monster King mother, Mo Lin, had personally come, she wouldn’t have had such ability. But that didn’t stop the Dao Sect’s old fogeys from making such assumptions.
As long as Xie Huaixue had no objections, Jingting Dao Lord, who had once been extremely kind to Zhong Fei, would immediately activate the sect-protecting array with an expressionless face, with no thought of holding back.
Aside from the Dao Sect’s own members, no one understood the Dao Sect’s ways better than Li Jin’an, an unofficial member. The Dao Sect’s tendencies could be seen from Jingting Dao Lord: ordinarily, she sheathed her sharp claws, appearing placid and even harmless, but once their interests and prestige were threatened, they would ruthlessly tear apart any enemy.
In the face of the Dao Sect’s reputation and interests, personal feelings were irrelevant.
There was no need for a trial either. They weren’t interested in Zhong Fei’s inner thoughts. From the moment the charge was established, Zhong Fei was no longer an Immortal Venerable’s disciple.
Those three troublesome brats were still too young; they didn’t understand the Dao Sect’s fundamental rules thoroughly enough. This time, it would surely teach the other two troublesome brats a profound lesson.
As for how Jie Yunjin knew Zhong Fei’s mother was Monster King Mo Lin, that was naturally thanks to Li Jin’an.
With that accursed Heavenly Tome, what didn’t Li Jin’an know?
She had even specifically flipped through the latter half of the Heavenly Tome yesterday and found content related to Zhong Fei’s background.
And then she was so infuriated she laughed.
Because the Heavenly Tome hyped Zhong Fei, claiming that she was so excellent and would become a Monster King because of her pure and superior bloodline, and that her mother was Monster King Mo Lin, who had been killed by Immortal Venerable Qingxiao. That was why Zhong Fei hated humanity so much, and why her attitude towards Immortal Venerable Qingxiao was so complex and twisted, a mix of love and hate. She clearly cared deeply, yet she still wanted to harm her…
Hahahahahahaha.
Jijin Sword Sovereign, who had killed her fair share of Monster Kings, couldn’t help but laugh from anger. Revenge is revenge, why involve this disgusting ‘love-hate entanglement’?
Every Integration Stage cultivator had at least one Monster King’s life on their hands. Were these great cultivators supposed to willingly let the Monster Kings’ offspring extort and plunder them?
Given the demonic race’s reproductive capabilities, all the cultivators at the Integration Stage and above in the entire cultivation world wouldn’t be enough to be divided amongst them.
Then Li Jin’an would be doomed. She was just one person, completely insufficient. She used to hunt demon beasts whenever she ran out of spiritual stones, accumulating countless demon lives. Was she supposed to have tortured romances with all their descendants?
What kind of logic was that? Humans, demons, and demonic races had always formed a tripartite balance, mutually hostile, and could even be said to be each other’s food source. After all, the demon and yao races never hesitated when devouring humans.
Would she and Xie Huaixue sparing these Monster Kings prevent them from devouring common mortals?
Xie Huaixue killed Monster King Mo Lin, who incited the beast tide to attack the human realm. At that time, the common mortals were scrambling to erect longevity tablets for Xie Huaixue.
Furthermore, when Zhong Fei was young, she couldn’t control her half-yao form and often transformed into a half-human, half-yao. The nearby common people regarded her as a monster, resisted her, and drove her away. That wasn’t Xie Huaixue’s fault, was it? After all, her mother was Monster King Mo Lin, and her birth father abandoned her.
So, Zhong Fei resented her birth parents when she was bullied, but after becoming powerful, she was grateful to them and promoted how excellent her bloodline was. Her morals were too fluid, weren’t they?
Her distraction lasted only an instant. Li Jin’an looked at the falling corpse and felt nothing, only that Zhong Fei seemed to have died a little too easily.
She didn’t believe Zhong Fei could escape the Dao Sect’s sect-protecting array’s lock, but she suspected Zhong Fei had other tricks up her sleeve.
Those three troublesome brats weren’t worth her being so cautious, but a Child of Destiny had to be guarded against.
Suddenly, Li Jin’an, Xie Huaixue, and Jingting Dao Lord simultaneously looked up, gazing in the opposite direction from where the corpse fell. A barely perceptible ripple of aura flashed in the air somewhere.
This ripple was almost nonexistent, comparable to the faint aura of a passing bird or an insect on a blade of grass. It was like a single leaf gently falling onto a bustling street, not at all out of place.
Normally, Li Jin’an might not have noticed such a small movement, but now she was diligently scanning the entire area with her spiritual sense. No changes could escape her.
It was precisely because the movement was so subtle that it alerted her to something amiss.
But Li Jin’an didn’t make a move. She naturally put her arm around Xie Huaixue’s waist, telling her not to move either, then looked at Jingting Dao Lord with an innocent smile.
She didn’t act because it wasn’t her place to do so on Dao Sect territory. And she didn’t want Xie Huaixue to act because she didn’t want Xie Huaixue to bear the bad reputation of killing her own disciple.
Although Li Jin’an didn’t consider those three troublesome brats to be Xie Huaixue’s true disciples, she still didn’t want such a blemish to appear on Xie Huaixue.
Since Jingting Dao Lord had activated the sect-protecting array, she might as well see it through, be a good person to the end, and give Zhong Fei one last send-off. It would be a complete and proper conclusion, fulfilling Zhong Fei’s connection with the Dao Sect.
How good was that?
To die by Jingting Dao Lord’s hand was also Zhong Fei’s fortune.
Who wouldn’t say that Jingting Dao Lord was compassionate and righteous!
Jingting Dao Lord exasperatedly pointed a finger at Li Jin’an through the air. This troublesome child! Dao companions need protection, but elders can be ruthlessly tormented, can’t they?
In such a tense and exciting atmosphere, Li Jin’an, Xie Huaixue, and Jingting Dao Lord appeared excessively relaxed, completely out of place with everyone else. Even Jie Yunjin, who was observing, was more anxious than they were.
Jingting Dao Lord no longer played coy. She let out a cold huff, extended her right hand, and quickly closed it. In an instant, something was seized in her grasp.
Her fingers moved slightly, and with little effort, she completely crushed the object.
At the same time, a terrifying, inhuman shriek echoed, exploding in everyone’s ears, its resonance lingering for a long time.
In the sudden silence.
Jingting Dao Lord stood with her hands behind her back, her cold, majestic gaze sweeping across everyone present. “May you all take this as a warning, and do not lead yourselves astray.”
Jie Yunjin, who had been glanced at, shivered instinctively. She quietly shuffled her feet, inching closer to Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue. At this point, only those two could give her a sense of security; otherwise, she was truly afraid Jingting Dao Lord might casually deal with her too.
As for the Sword Cultivators who had stumbled into the Dao Sect’s bloody internal cleansing, they were either looking up at the sky or staring at their own feet. Sword sovereign Xiaoxiang and Sword sovereign Junxing were pressed tightly together, their hearts pounding frantically.
If this wasn’t handled well, it could lead to the Sword Sect interfering in the Dao Sect’s internal affairs, potentially causing a complete breakdown in relations between the two sects… No, no, this was too stimulating! Honest Sword Cultivators like them simply couldn’t handle it!
And the three from Jijin Peak had only one thought in their minds: There truly was a reason why Master was Master.
At most, they would think of ambushing Lan Ci in the secret realm and giving her a good beating. But their venerable Master was different; she resorted to striking with borrowed might, requiring no personal effort at all.
Before, when Master and Master’s Wife were sworn enemies, they would at most engage in fights. Now that they were family, the destructive power towards Qingxiao Peak had actually risen to another level.
Was it their misconception? They somehow felt that as Master’s power increased, she also became more insidious and cunning. The Master of the past would never have thought of using such a trick as striking with borrowed might.
Li Jin’an’s face remained entirely innocent, as if Zhong Fei’s death had absolutely nothing to do with her.
She laughed inwardly. In the face of absolute power, the Child of Destiny seemed equally vulnerable. She had thought Zhong Fei would struggle a few more times.
Li Jin’an leaned close to Xie Huaixue, whispering not-so-quietly.
“She brought this upon herself, so what regrets could there be? She should have foreseen this day the moment she joined the Dao Sect as a half-yao. She can’t possibly enjoy years of the Immortal Venerable’s unrestrained teachings without bearing any risks. Moreover, she clearly had ulterior motives, so you must not feel burdened.”
Xie Huaixue’s eyes moved slightly, her eyelashes fluttering.
Li Jin’an understood her meaning. She grasped Xie Huaixue’s hands, full of emotion. “Say no more, I understand you. It’s not your fault that a disciple you painstakingly taught turned out to have a human face and a beastly heart, to be so deceptive. Don’t blame yourself, don’t be sad. You still have me, and you have my disciples.”
Actually, Xie Huaixue’s expression meant that she felt no burden and didn’t need Li Jin’an to worry about her. But it didn’t matter, Li Jin’an had her own mouth; she could make things up and freely interpret Xie Huaixue’s expressions.
Xie Huaixue was silent for a moment, then softly assented.
The onlookers looked expressionless. They even had time to think that the idiom Jijin Sword Sovereign used was very apt; it truly was “human face, beastly heart” in a literal sense—
Zhong Fei looked like a human, but her inner core was a demon core.
It was a pity that even after her second death, they didn’t see Zhong Fei’s true form. She was probably a Black Flood Dragon, like Monster King Mo Lin.
Even more bizarre, a flood dragon naming itself Mo Lin? Was she trying to impersonate a Mo Qilin?
No wonder Immortal Venerable Qingxiao killed her. She truly didn’t die unjustly.
Others still had the leisure to complain, while Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng were still covered in cold sweat and filled with lingering fear even as the group recommenced their journey to the Solitary Mountain Secret Realm.