Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 8

Through this series of actions, it wasn’t hard to guess that it was the Heavenly Dao showing her this source of all evil.
So, the question arose.
It wouldn’t let her directly harm the three abominations, yet it showed the Heavenly Book to her, someone who was absolutely at odds with them. What was it trying to do? What were its intentions?
Was it that fond of sharing? How could it not keep a secret? It wasn’t even anything good; there was no need for such a strong desire to share. She wasn’t curious in the slightest.
Giving her a book was worse than giving her immortal legacies, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, top-grade spirit stones and spiritual marrow, miraculous elixirs and medicines… At least she could use those, instead of them just being a nuisance. Even if she couldn’t use them, she could give them to her eagerly awaiting disciples.
Li Jin’an waited and waited. Uncharacteristically, she picked up a brush and paper, meticulously writing down what she wanted. Still, she saw no treasures appear before her, so she could only purse her lips, “Stingy old ghost, go drink some cold water!”
Making the donkey pull the millstone without giving it hay. It sought her help yet offered no benefits. Might as well be stingy to death.
After the small interlude, Li Jin’an began to guess the Heavenly Dao’s intentions.
In the latter half of the Heavenly Book, the three abominations all became powerful figures. The third one even directly murdered her father and siblings, thoroughly purging the entire Demonic Palace. That was a good thing, yet not entirely good. Compared to a Demon Lord with no weaknesses save for the Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, the cultivation world would rather see a chaotic and disordered demonic realm internally.
Even if the second and third disciples revealed they weren’t purely human, it wouldn’t matter. When one’s strength was sufficient and one stood high enough, racial boundaries ceased to be important. They would maintain a precarious, war-prone border with the cultivation world. Even the eldest, who was so useless she completely forgot to seek out the murderer of her entire clan, broke through to the Body Integration realm and couldn’t be underestimated.
However, these three abominations possessed no compassion or benevolence. Their minds were solely fixated on how to strike down love rivals and snatch Xie Huaixue away from the other two to possess her for themselves. In the first half, the three abominations would occasionally cooperate to eliminate perceived love rivals; in the latter half, they became even more unrestrained. Many had died because of them when they were weaker. Once they became powerful, wars could erupt at any moment, and the number of innocent people caught in the crossfire and killed would be immeasurable.
If the plot truly unfolded as described in the book, these three abominations, possessing all three races—human, demonic, and monster—would, if they ascended to high positions, be an unparalleled disaster for the Lancang Continent given their nature. The outcome would likely be widespread devastation.
This was absolutely not the situation the Heavenly Dao wanted to see.
Thinking of this, Li Jin’an’s expression shifted momentarily. She wondered if, in the latter half of the book, those deluded idle people would blame everything on Xie Huaixue, collectively attack her, and propose handing over Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, who protected the stability of the human race, to the three abominations? Such stupid and malicious individuals would never be in short supply.
Li Jin’an crumpled the wish list she had just written into a ball and couldn’t help but sneer, “As if they’re worthy!”
Xie Huaixue’s fated enemy and arch-nemesis could only be her, and only she had the right to blame Xie Huaixue without reason. What were those mere nobodies? She didn’t feel pity for Xie Huaixue; she felt pity for herself. If Qingxiao Immortal Venerable’s standing was lowered by others, wouldn’t Jijin Sword Sovereign, who had fought Qingxiao Immortal Venerable for over a thousand years, also be lowered?
How did that saying go?
To gauge a person’s caliber, one must not only look at their friends but also their opponents. Was her opponent Qingxiao Immortal Venerable, or some nameless, unknown rogue cultivator? The difference between the two was vast. Perhaps in the book, even after her death, she wouldn’t find peace, her posthumous reputation dragged through the mud.
It had to be said, the Heavenly Dao truly had a hold on her.
Li Jin’an pulled out a new sheet of paper and scribbled on it, “Can’t directly act… so does that mean I can use external forces to trap and kill these three abominations?”
So roundabout. It seemed the Heavenly Dao had many restrictions. Just seeing Xie Huaixue’s eldest and second disciples still alive and kicking, beating her own little rascals, showed that the Heavenly Dao couldn’t act directly. It couldn’t even strike down these three abominations with heavenly tribulation. What a pity.
So, it needed to use her hands to indirectly eliminate these three troublesome beings? Did it want her to participate in the plot and change everything?
Li Jin’an scoffed, “Change what?! I want to watch Xie Huaixue become a laughingstock!” Since she already knew everything, she naturally wouldn’t fall so easily. As for Xie Huaixue bullying her for over a thousand years, wouldn’t it be fair for her to enjoy a bit of a spectacle? Such a rare and explosive spectacle hadn’t been seen in tens of thousands of years; she absolutely had to get a few more glances. A plot as foul-smelling as rotten grass—she wouldn’t get involved. She’d just watch from the sidelines.
If she didn’t laugh Xie Huaixue to death then, she wouldn’t be Li Jin’an!
While the righteous path of the cultivation world didn’t explicitly forbid master-disciple relationships, they also didn’t approve of them. Some sect rules, like those of the Dao Sect, would clearly state such prohibitions. These major sect cultivators typically joined the sect at a very young age, with shallow familial ties. Yet, they might spend thousands of years with their masters and fellow disciples, easily developing feelings. On one hand, this was a shock to ethics; on the other, emotional changes were no small matter—murder, betrayal, falling into the demonic path… There were precedents for all of this. Venerable Shanglu and her disciple, Immortal Baiqing and her master… each case was more tragic than the last. Simply dying without seeing each other again was considered a good outcome among them; shattering one’s Dao heart was not uncommon.
Xie Huaixue was the most self-disciplined, adhering strictly to etiquette and rules; calling her meticulously rule-abiding wouldn’t be an exaggeration. When the three abominations’ sinister ambitions were revealed, Li Jin’an guaranteed she would laugh very loudly on the Dao Sect’s territory. She imagined that Xie Huaixue, usually as pure as accumulated snow, would display many more expressions, and utter mortification wasn’t impossible.
Just imagining it, Li Jin’an felt her thousand years of pent-up frustration dissipate. She was finally vindicated! Sure enough, Jijin Peak’s reputation still had to be earned by her; those three were completely unreliable. Jijin Peak’s great comeback was just around the corner!
Li Jin’an stroked her chin. There was one more thing she cared about—wasn’t Xie Huaixue the protagonist of the book? Why were there only the dirty thoughts of those three abominations, and none of Xie Huaixue’s? Not only could the three abominations in the book not see what Xie Huaixue was thinking, but Li Jin’an, outside the book, didn’t know either. She somewhat wanted to know what the Xie Huaixue in the book was thinking.
Based on Li Jin’an’s understanding of Xie Huaixue, she would likely expel such individuals from the Qingxiao lineage and hand them over to the Dao Sect’s Enforcement Hall the moment she discovered any signs. She would absolutely not bend the law for personal gain, nor would she resort to private torture.
Such a little stickler. No, now she was an old stickler.
Everyone in the world believed that becoming an Immortal Venerable’s disciple meant boundless prestige and honored status, but the three abominations probably held little weight in Xie Huaixue’s heart. This person indeed had extremely faint emotions.
But it was fine; the Emotionless Dao would always meet its retribution.
And Xie Huaixue’s retribution would come in threes!
Li Jin’an happily hummed an ancient folk tune from a thousand years ago as she went to see her master—Chixin Sword Lord.
Her unlucky master, whose disciple had surpassed her, didn’t escape. She watched gloomily as Li Jin’an “made herself at home” and shamelessly monopolized her good wine. When she received word from her sectmates that her disciple, who had long since graduated, had left her peak and was headed towards Chixin Peak, Chixin Sword Lord immediately tried to flee. Unfortunately, Li Jin’an caught her red-handed.
Chixin Sword Lord watched with immense heartache as Li Jin’an guzzled her wine, unable to resist retorting, “Why are you back again? Are you looking for the bed you wet as a child? You won’t find it; you destroyed the evidence yourself before I could discover it. But I do have a recording stone of you with pigtails, teary-eyed, being punished to copy sect rules. Want to see?”
Li Jin’an’s face darkened, “You’re a Sword Lord of such high standing; can you not be so stingy?” Was stinginess in the cultivation world inherited down the lineage? The Heavenly Dao was like this, and so was her master. Might as well be stingy to death, all of you!
“Then give me all your annual peak master allowance; I want to brew wine!” Chixin Sword Lord immediately stretched out her hand.
Li Jin’an, who was equally not well-off, pretended not to hear anything. One thing she couldn’t understand was why she was still so poor, even as a Sword Sovereign, unable to experience the joy of showering Chixin Sword Lord with spirit stones until she smiled broadly.
Li Jin’an drank every last drop from the wine jar, then stood up and circled Chixin Sword Lord, who was sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, scrutinizing her from every angle. Chixin Sword Lord felt bewildered by Li Jin’an’s gaze, deeply suspecting that her hopeless disciple, who had already graduated, had been severely traumatized by the Immortal Venerable next door, rendering her silly. She decided she’d later instigate the Sect Master to demand compensation from the Dao Sect. Her disciple couldn’t be silly for nothing; they had to earn something back.
Li Jin’an wasn’t content with just observing from a distance. She reached out and pinched Chixin Sword Lord’s face, tugging at it without a hint of politeness, murmuring, “It’s real, and still warm.”
Everything about her was real. So what if the world was a book? Sword cultivators feared nothing; she’d just cleave it open with a single sword!
“What’s gotten into you?!” Chixin Sword Lord couldn’t feel sentimental in the slightest, swatting away her hand. “Nonsense! Is there anyone who could replace me in the Sword Sect?”
Li Jin’an crinkled her nose, muttering, “You never know.”
“What exactly are you here for?” Chixin Sword Lord asked with amusement, seeing her rarely seen youthful demeanor. “Are you back with another wild idea, asking if you can exploit a loophole?”
Li Jin’an was aghast, “Master, what are you saying? When have I ever exploited a loophole? I was looking for reasonable ways to defeat Xie Huaixue!”
“When did I say Qingxiao Immortal Venerable?” Chixin Sword Lord looked at her, puzzled. “I was talking about your previous wild flights of fancy.”
When Li Jin’an was a child, she was exceptionally innocent and lively. Even before embarking on the path of cultivation and sword refinement, she was filled with curiosity about the cultivation world, asking so many questions daily that they could drown Chixin Peak. Her questions, however, were unlike those of other children.
Thanks to Chixin Sword Lord, Li Jin’an also remembered the various bizarre and tricky questions she used to ask.
What if during tribulation, she crawled into a Monster King’s belly and let the Monster King take the lightning for her? Would that work?
What if she married her spiritual consciousness clone? Could they have a baby? If they formed a cultivation bond, would the Heavenly Dao be willing to bear witness?
What if she combined many swords together? Could she fly while lying down during sword flight?
After she met Xie Huaixue, an additional one emerged.
What if she transformed into Xie Huaixue’s appearance, and let a fellow disciple transform into her own appearance? If she then defeated that disciple, wouldn’t that be…
Then Chixin Sword Lord covered her little face with a hand, “From now on, there is no such word as ‘if only’ on Chixin Peak!”
Whether the Heavenly Dao was willing, Chixin Sword Lord didn’t know, but she knew she wasn’t!
…
Li Jin’an, her face falling just like Chixin Sword Lord’s grand-disciples, turned and left, “This disciple still has matters to attend to. See you, Master!”