Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 98

Look at those three monstrous disciples, then look at her such considerate and excellent dao companion. The contrast couldn’t be more obvious.
This wasn’t just a world of difference; it was more than an entire Lancang Continent’s worth of difference.
Immortal Venerable Qingxiao’s discernment had an incredibly high upper limit but also a terrifyingly low lower limit. Those three monstrous disciples were all oddities rarely seen in the cultivation world in ten thousand years. Others might not encounter even one of them, yet Immortal Venerable Qingxiao inexplicably brought them all back to Qingxiao Peak.
However, this deficiency was compensated for in her choice of dao companion.
Xie Huaixue understood her meaning. She lowered her gaze and smiled faintly. “I am fortunate.”
Li Jin’an’s lips couldn’t help but curve upwards. Her voice, inexplicably tinged with coaxing, asked, “How so fortunate?”
Xie Huaixue softly said, “For me, everything about you is a blessing.”
Li Jin’an’s brow twitched. Her restless heart began to thump again. She stared blankly at Xie Huaixue, and it took her a long while to recover before she said with utmost sincerity, “It’s correct that you usually speak so little.”
When a cold and indifferent person speaks words of affection, their moving power increases countless times.
If one had to describe it, it would only be “as if hearing celestial music momentarily ringing in one’s ears.”
If she said a few more words like that, who could withstand it? It’s likely the entire cultivation world would become Li Jin’an’s love rivals.
Moreover, given Li Jin’an’s cluelessness back then, others would probably be fighting fiercely for Xie Huaixue, while she would still be on the side, foolishly clapping and cheering them on, urging them to fight harder.
Actually, that would work too: clear the battlefield for her love rivals. Wait until they’ve all fought each other to death, then it would be time for Jijin Sword Sovereign to make her grand entrance and take the beauty home.
Of course, the greater possibility was that Immortal Venerable Qingxiao, the referee, was already biased. She had determined the ultimate winner from the very beginning of the match. No one else would capture even a sliver of her attention; no matter how many suitors there were, it would be in vain.
Li Jin’an took Xie Huaixue’s hand and sat down, still patting her chest with lingering fear. “Good thing you didn’t give up on me when I was still an idiot.”
Looking back at the sword cultivators in their lineage, though both old and young were rather unremarkable and could be summoned with a mere flick of a finger, they enlightened to love much earlier than Li Jin’an. Chixin Sword Lord practically hung on Yinyue Monarch all day long; Qi Lingzi and Lingqiu developed feelings for each other quite early; and Tan Yanyi, not to mention, spent more time and energy flirting with pretty young disciples than she did cultivating her sword or cultivating.
Only Li Jin’an, in the middle, was slow to enlighten. If not for Xie Huaixue’s excessive patience and perseverance, the current Li Jin’an might still be diligently sending Xie Huaixue challenge letters to duel.
Xie Huaixue chuckled and gently said, “You just see me as too important and are too nervous about me.”
She was never self-deprecating or arrogant, nor would she inflate her own importance in the eyes of the world. She would only calmly examine herself.
To the world, Immortal Venerable Qingxiao was an immortal, a deity, a cold symbol—anything but a living person, dispensable, and not that important. But Li Jin’an was her dao companion, and they had known each other for a thousand years; her feelings were naturally different.
Li Jin’an thought to herself, she couldn’t help but be nervous. As long as that damned Heavenly Tome was still in her spiritual sea, she wouldn’t dare relax for a moment.
Constantly guarding against the monstrous disciples and Heavenly Dao causing trouble. For example, Lan Ci learned in a dream that she would be Venerable Lingxu in the future—this was clearly external interference, wanting her not to lose so cleanly, and to make her struggle and flounder a bit more.
Otherwise, who could dream of content from the later parts of the Heavenly Tome? Is it a mere daydream?
They simply saw her and Xie Huaixue living too happily, found it unpleasant to see, and wanted to make them sick.
Don’t let her find out who the author of this book is. If she doesn’t cleave this damned author with her sword, she isn’t Li Jin’an!
“Look, your three disciples. The eldest is vicious-minded and involved with Futu Valley. The second is a half-demon, whose mother is a demon king who stirred up beast tides to attack the human realm, and carries the remnant soul of a great demon. The third is even more incredible, a direct demon, and behind them, there’s also a skulking Heavenly Demon Clan, secretly eyeing us. How can I not be nervous? I’m scared to death.”
Li Jin’an pointed accusingly.
She simply couldn’t imagine Xie Huaixue suffering even the slightest harm, so she could only nip all dangers in the bud and absolutely would not give those monstrous disciples a chance to run wild.
Li Jin’an’s voice lowered. She gazed at Xie Huaixue with lingering affection; she wasn’t blaming Xie Huaixue for her poor judgment in taking disciples at all, it was more like flirting.
It wasn’t coquetry, but it surpassed it.
Xie Huaixue raised a hand and smoothed Li Jin’an’s unconsciously furrowed brow. She said with a gentle smile, “Then I’ll trouble Venerable Elder Sister to worry for me.”
“…It’s no trouble. Just make sure you come back tonight.” Li Jin’an chuckled suggestively, then hooked her lips and said, “This Venerable will certainly dedicate her utmost effort for Immortal Venerable, until death do us part.”
Such a simple matter.
Li Jin’an deeply believed in the principle that effort must yield reward. Even if Xie Huaixue didn’t give her a reward, she could take it herself.
She was willing to dedicate her utmost effort for Xie Huaixue in all aspects.
When it came to effort, it applied to all, regardless of race.
As much as Li Jin’an guarded against the monstrous disciples causing trouble, Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng worked just as hard to accumulate power, striving forward and racing against time, digesting vast resources, and from time to time, casting dark, sinister gazes towards the direction of Dao Sect in Huanlang Domain.
When the guests left, Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng followed the crowd out of Dao Sect. They didn’t inform Xie Huaixue, nor did they even take on a mission before leaving.
They were afraid that if they ran into Jijin Sword Sovereign, they wouldn’t be able to control the hateful expressions on their faces, and Master and Jijin Sword Sovereign would notice something amiss. They were even more afraid that Jijin Sword Sovereign would disregard martial ethics, bullying the younger and weaker, and cause them to lose face publicly.
Seeing how powerful and influential they would be in the future, Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng found it even harder to accept being so humble in front of Jijin Sword Sovereign and displaying such an embarrassing appearance to their master.
The contrast between the future and the present was too brutal. Lan Ci and Ning Zhufeng could only go all the way down a dark path, and desperately try to convince themselves to believe in that beautiful future. Otherwise, life truly wouldn’t be bearable.
Whether human or demon, everyone needs a bit of hope, even if it’s false hope, lest the spirit in their hearts completely dissipate.
So they always firmly believed they could turn the tide against the wind, and gloriously kill their way back to Dao Sect, trampling Jijin Sword Sovereign underfoot and reclaiming their master.
There was no reason for them to lose to Jijin Sword Sovereign when they held every advantage.
After leaving Dao Sect, this pair of senior and junior sisters parted ways. Ning Zhufeng stealthily returned to the demon realm, while Lan Ci went to plunder resources.
Unlike in the future, where she would have Ming Xuan, the former Grand Elder of Futu Valley, as her enforcer, Lan Ci currently not only had low cultivation but also had to painstakingly plan and act herself. She wasn’t so foolish as to think that if she simply stood before Ming Xuan now, he would instantly prostrate himself, lead the charge for her, and brave any danger without hesitation.
Whether it was dirty work or strenuous labor, Lan Ci had to do it herself. Even so, what she obtained was not as much as she had imagined. The treasures were indeed there, but one needed the strength to acquire them.
The emergence of many spiritual treasures was accompanied by guardian demonic beasts; the higher the grade, the stronger the demonic beasts. It wasn’t something one could obtain just by knowing its location.
The more this was the case, the more easily she recalled the scene of her defeat by Qi Lingzi on the arena.
It clung to her like a shadow, like a persistent gangrene.
Jealousy, humiliation, and resentment burned Lan Ci’s already paranoid heart. Finally, as she rapidly broke through to the early Stage of Spirit Transformation, she made a decision: she planned to kill Qi Lingzi to prevent herself from developing inner demons, and incidentally, take revenge on Jijin Sword Sovereign.
Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing…
As Lan Ci gained unprecedented power, her disposition became increasingly tyrannical. She couldn’t suppress her desire to prove herself with her formidable strength. Thus, the only path before her was to kill Qi Lingzi.
Unfortunately, her plans were good, but she was stuck at the very first step of executing them.
Qi Lingzi was also at the perfected Golden Core Stage, just a step away from the Nascent Soul Stage. Li Jin’an, their direct master, was immersed in a tender embrace, unable to extricate herself, having not returned to the Sword Sect at all. Chixin Sword Lord, as their grandmaster, couldn’t just ignore them, so she had no choice but to force the three of Jijin Peak into secluded cultivation, preventing them from going out to show off and making them honestly comprehend and digest all their gains from this period.
Knowing what was important and what wasn’t, Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Lingqiu still had some sense. They didn’t complain and obeyed their grandmaster’s arrangements.
No matter how many tricks Lan Ci had up her sleeve, what good was it if Qi Lingzi didn’t leave the house? Could Lan Ci really break into the Sword Sect and forcibly kill Qi Lingzi?
She might want to, but would wanting it help?
In front of everyone, Zhong Fei, despite having two lives, was only focused on fleeing, having no will to resist, yet still died without a burial place. And Jingting Dao Lord didn’t even truly make a move; she merely watched coldly as Zhong Fei sought her own death.
Lan Ci still couldn’t see herself clearly and was filled with malice towards the Dao Sect and Sword Sect, but under the enormous disparity in strength, she had to learn reverence.
The turning point came after Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Lingqiu all broke through. They planned to go show off to their master and master’s wife, and if they could get some rewards along the way, that would be even better.
They also planned to challenge their old friends from Dao Sect to the arena to battle the winds and clouds again and stage a “Return of the King”!
Chixin Sword Lord knew what they wanted to do as soon as she heard it. She waved them away, letting them go, to avoid them staying in the Sword Sect and annoying her endlessly.
She didn’t think any foolish children would be so unlucky as to disappear the moment they stepped out. The short distance from the Sword Sect to the Dao Sect—the three of them had traveled it countless times; they could even fly there with their eyes closed. There was no need to worry at all.
But the previous lesson was still vivid in her mind. Chixin Sword Lord sent a message paper crane to Li Jin’an after Qi Lingzi and the other two departed, informing her that three little fools were waiting for her and Xie Huaixue to receive.
After the paper crane flew out, Chixin Sword Lord cast the matter to the back of her mind and continued to drink herself into oblivion.
Because it was the first time she had seen Jingting Dao Lord since Yinyue Monarch’s demise, memories, good and bad, surged forth. Crowds of people filled her memories, but outside of them, she was utterly alone. Chixin Sword Lord could only raise her cup to drown her sorrows, but her sorrows only deepened.
So when Li Jin’an’s paper crane flew into her hand, Chixin Sword Lord’s intuition told her not to open it. It surely meant trouble.
Sure enough, the children were lost on the way again… What a familiar scene.
History repeated itself.
Chixin Sword Lord smiled wearily.
How wonderful. Not only did she have Li Jin’an as her disciple, but she also had three such grand-disciples who would disappear the moment they were let go.
How could anyone be so unfortunate?
Li Jin’an also wanted to ask what exactly was going on. Were Qi Lingzi, Tan Yanyi, and Lingqiu planning to get into danger and wait for her and Xie Huaixue to rescue them every single time?
Couldn’t they be a bit more independent and give their master and master’s wife a little private space!
Of course, Li Jin’an knew whose doing this was, so she planned to find the culprit and settle this score properly.