“This…” Mu Qiuhan was shocked and angry. It took her a good while to finally voice a complete sentence.
“This Elder Shang, after all, is an elder of the sect. Although she’s only an honorary elder and doesn’t handle much business, she’s still a senior. Isn’t this method of ours a bit improper? Is there really no other way?”
Master Yu Yang waved her hand.
“Han’er, you don’t know about this.”
“This Shang Ningye was originally a tree on my Longxuan Mountain. When the Founding Master was alive, he often liked to cultivate under the shade of this tree.”
“Perhaps because it absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, and was nourished by the spiritual energy gathered when the Founding Master cultivated, this tree actually gained enlightenment and, over time, even took human form.”
“The Founding Master, grateful for its sheltering kindness, specially took it as a disciple, taught it diligently, and named it Shang Ningye.”
“However, since Shang Ningye is a plant that took human form, its spiritual intelligence is ultimately shallow. Although the Founding Master personally taught it, it ultimately only cultivated a low-grade spiritual root, no different from the most ordinary disciples on the main peak.”
“After the Founding Master passed away, Shang Ningye once disappeared. It wasn’t until a hundred years ago that she returned to Longxuan Mountain.”
“The Founding Master’s third-generation disciple, Master Tong Yang—who is also Elder Xuan Qing’s master in the current Violet Sun Hall—was still alive at that time. He recognized this woman as the youngest disciple the Founding Master had once taken.”
“Master Tong Yang, considering Shang Ningye’s seniority, respectfully called her ‘Senior Martial Aunt’ and gave her the status of an elder. Otherwise, with her mere low-grade spiritual root, she would never have been able to become an elder.”
“Han’er, I know what you’re worried about.”
“You are kind-hearted. I knew this ever since you were little.”
“Rest assured, that Shang Ningye is just a plant that cultivated into human form; she isn’t a person in the true sense. What we are doing isn’t considered harming a person.”
Seeing Mu Qiuhan was still hesitating, Master Yu Yang continued, “We are merely taking her heart blood; we’re not harming her life. What is there to hesitate about?”
Mu Qiuhan didn’t speak.
Something so cruel, yet Master Yu Yang could speak of it so casually.
Imprisoning Shang Ningye, taking her heart meridian blood to refine pills—this unending pain, day and night, is even crueler than killing her directly.
A cultivator’s life is a life, and a tree demon’s life is also a life. Could it be that a cultivator’s life is truly nobler than a demon’s life?!
Seeing she still didn’t speak, Master Yu Yang finally got a little angry.
“Could it be, in your eyes, the lives of thousands on my Dongtian Peak are not worth as much as one tree?!”
Hearing this, Mu Qiuhan paused.
What was she arguing with this Master Yu Yang here for?
This wasn’t her Demonic Realm. Although this old woman before her was detestable, her cultivation was far beyond her own. If they were to fight now, she would definitely be the one to suffer.
A Demonic Monarch would never do such a foolish thing.
Forget it. What did Shang Ningye or Jade Dragon Peak have to do with her anyway?
What was most important now was to find a way to return to the Demonic Realm as soon as possible.
She composed her expression. “Master’s lesson is right. Disciple understands what is more important. Disciple was just momentarily confused. I hope Master will not be angry.”
Seeing Mu Qiuhan’s attitude had changed, Master Yu Yang quickly extinguished her anger, and her voice also softened considerably.
“Mhm, that is good.”
After saying this, she looked at Mu Qiuhan and didn’t speak for a while.
Mu Qiuhan felt a chill under her gaze.
She always felt that this malicious old woman shouldn’t be that easy to deal with.
Sure enough, the next second, she heard Master Yu Yang say to her, “Oh right, Han’er, I forgot to tell you something. You’ve taken the Marrow Cleansing Pill, and there will be a slight side effect in the future.”
“From now on, on the fifth day of every month, you must receive a pill from your Senior Sister Qin and take it. Otherwise, within half a month, you will die from blood worms gnawing at your heart.”
…This vicious woman.
She really hadn’t misjudged her.
How could Mu Qiuhan not know that the damage from the Marrow Cleansing Pill was completely gone the moment she had undergone the process of severing tendons and cleansing her marrow?
And the so-called blood worms gnawing at the heart must be something she added to that pill, so that disciples who successfully passed through the gates of hell could still be controlled by her even after leaving Dongtian Peak.
Mu Qiuhan was furious at this moment.
To think that she, a dignified Demonic Monarch, not only lost all her cultivation and became such a useless person, but was also controlled by someone without even realizing it.
What was the original owner of this body thinking? It’s infuriating!
What should she do now?
Could she really have to cooperate with these people and harm that old tree demon who gained enlightenment?
Forget it, forget it. She could only take things one step at a time.
After all, protecting herself first was the most important thing.
When Mu Qiuhan saw Master Yu Yang out, Rou’er was still waiting outside her door.
After that woman had gone far away, she stepped forward and asked Mu Qiuhan, “Senior Sister, Senior Sister, what did Master tell you?”
Mu Qiuhan was in a bad mood, so she deliberately put on a straight face to scare the girl. “Master said I won’t be going to this selection event for now.”
To her surprise, the girl didn’t fall for it. “That’s impossible! Senior Sister, you are now the disciple with the highest spiritual power on our Dongtian Peak. All the hope for this selection is on you, Senior Sister. If you don’t go, our Dongtian Peak probably won’t get a top three ranking.”
“Senior Sister, don’t joke with me. Hurry and go back to your room to pack. We’ll be leaving in half an hour.”
Longxuan Mountain was usually shrouded in mist, its true appearance hidden from outsiders. The main peak, Violet Sun Peak, soared high into the clouds.
Mu Qiuhan, along with hundreds of disciples from Dongtian Peak, was led by Master Yu Yang, traveling on a giant magic artifact, flying towards Violet Sun Peak.
For a grand event like this, held once every five years, all Foundation Establishment disciples from the eighteen peaks would participate. However, those who weren’t selected to compete would attend as spectators.
Mu Qiuhan was currently sitting on the giant boat-shaped treasure artifact, lost in thought.
Just a moment ago, when she boarded this giant boat with Rou’er, she saw her face for the first time on the boat’s side, which was like a mirror.
This cultivator named Qiuhan actually looked nearly identical to herself!
Mu Qiuhan had originally thought her entering this body was just a coincidence. Now, it seemed there should be a deeper connection between the two of them.
She was worriedly planning for the future, while Rou’er beside her was excitedly craning her neck, looking around.
Rou’er was still in the Foundation Establishment stage and couldn’t control spiritual energy to fly, much less operate any high-level flying magic artifacts. Thus, this special treatment, which only happened once every five years, was very rare to her.
Mu Qiuhan was very worried about meeting some old acquaintances at the selection event.
This face that was so incredibly similar to hers and that almost identical name would likely bring her trouble.
About half an hour later, the “giant vessel” reached the sky above the Violet Sun Hall.
As the boat began to descend, Mu Qiuhan felt as though she was once again experiencing the process of being forced into desperation by a group of immortals in her previous life.
The pain from the moment she detonated her spiritual core still lingered in her memory. Mu Qiuhan subconsciously gripped the edge of the boat, instinctively closing her eyes.
Because of this, she perfectly missed the purple light that enveloped the entire boat and quickly dissipated as the “giant vessel” landed on the white jade plaza in front of the Violet Sun Hall.
The plaza in front of the Violet Sun Hall was boundless, stretching as far as the eye could see—almost a small plain.
When the disciples from Dongtian Peak arrived here, they scattered in all directions like a group of unleashed rabbits.
Rou’er pulled Mu Qiuhan’s hand. “Senior Sister, hurry! If we’re late, we won’t be able to grab the good stuff.”
Mu Qiuhan had a face full of questions. Weren’t they here for the selection event? Why did everyone leave so quickly?
She subconsciously looked for Master Yu Yang’s figure, only to see that woman heading alone towards the hall.
Seeing her gaze was fixed on Master Yu Yang, Rou’er pulled her anxiously.
“Senior Sister, Master is going to meet with the main peak elders to discuss the distribution of the selected disciples for this term.”
“Let’s hurry and go. I can already smell the fragrance of pills. The senior and junior brothers from Chiyan Peak must have arrived long ago. If we’re any later, there won’t be anything left for us.”
???
The selection event hasn’t even started, so why are they already deciding on disciple distribution?
Mu Qiuhan asked, puzzled, “Rou’er, didn’t you tell me that the nine elders from the main peak needed to inject spiritual energy into the immortal artifact ‘Three Purity Mirror’ left by the Founding Master, so that it could distinguish each disciple’s spiritual energy attribute and aptitude? How…?”
“That’s right,” Rou’er said, looking at Mu Qiuhan with a confused expression. “Didn’t the purple light emitted by the Three Purity Mirror already select us once long ago?”
Mu Qiuhan widened her eyes.
As expected of the immortal artifact rumored to have been left by Master Daoyou. She had thought they would have to go through one by one to be selected.
It seemed there were quite a lot of good things within the Taiqing Immortal Sect.
Mu Qiuhan was pulled by Rou’er to a place with a sea of people.
At this moment, she finally understood. At this selection event, selection was just one part; more importantly, it was an exchange.
Disciples from each peak were gathered together, provided with a venue to exchange items they had collected but didn’t need, such as spirit herbs, magic artifacts, pills, cultivation techniques, and so on.
This was simply a giant market!
Since Mu Qiuhan had always thought the selection event was just a major competition of spiritual power, she hadn’t asked Rou’er any detailed questions about anything other than the selection itself.
Rou’er had already excitedly run off.
Mu Qiuhan watched as she ran up to a young man wearing fiery red robes and started haggling with him.
“This is Resurrection Grass! It’s a bit small, but there’s no problem exchanging it for a high-quality Purity Pill. Your pill is clearly only upper-medium grade, why won’t you trade?”
“This Junior Sister, you don’t know. My fire control ability isn’t good enough, and I still can’t refine second-grade pills. And your Resurrection Grass can’t be stored for long, so…”
Mu Qiuhan listened for a few sentences, her gaze quickly sweeping over the large area of “stalls” nearby.
They were all just ordinary pills. She lost interest after just one glance and turned to observe the crowd coming and going.
The disciples from the eighteen peaks wore robes of different colors, making them easy to distinguish.
For example, their Dongtian Peak wore cyan-green robes, while the large group around here wore fiery red, likely from Chiyan Peak.
Rou’er had already finished exchanging pills and skipped back to her side.
“Senior Sister, what do you plan to exchange for?”
Mu Qiuhan shook her head. “No plans for now. I’ll look around first.”
Rou’er nodded innocently. “That’s true. There are so many good things in the Five Ridges. You definitely won’t fancy these later.”
Mu Qiuhan smiled and held out her hand towards Rou’er. “Let me see, what did you exchange for?”
“Here, a Purity Pill.” Rou’er handed her the pill she had just exchanged for.
Mu Qiuhan took it and sniffed. “The quality of this one is quite good. But I remember you already have several Purity Pills. Why didn’t you exchange for something else?”
“How can you ever have too many of these things? Although this pill isn’t high-grade, it’s the most popular among our Dongtian Peak disciples every time. After all, we spend most of our time outside looking for spirit herbs. Who doesn’t get bitten by poisonous insects sometimes?”
“It’s good we came quickly. If we were any later, all the good stuff would have been snatched up by others.”
Good work 👏