The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 73

A’Ling now reflected that she truly was an utter idiot.
At that time, she genuinely believed Shi Qingqian was repaying kindness for resentment, truly intending to save her. Gazing at the heavily injured Shi Qingqian, A’Ling wished she could take her place.
A’Ling ceaselessly whispered, “I’m sorry,” for today’s wrongs and for those of the past. For years, whenever she had a chance, she would seek trouble with Shi Qingqian.
She hadn’t expected that in this moment of life and death today, it would be Shi Qingqian risking her life to save her.
A’Ling wished she could slap herself. What had she even done before?
Listening to the painful, suppressed breaths nearby, seemingly accompanied by muffled sobs, A’Ling’s heart was fiercely seized, throbbing with a dull ache.
It was her first time seeing Shi Qingqian so vulnerable and pitiful. Even someone as powerful as her would get hurt, would feel pain, and would seek someone to sob to after being injured.
A’Ling even thought of her missing ugly dog. When she first found it, it was just as pitiful, making one unable to bear listening to its whimpers.
Suppressing the sourness in her heart, A’Ling put in all her strength, with the fastest speed, to send Shi Qingqian back to her Cave Dwelling.
After entrusting Shi Qingqian to the disciples of Winter Snow Peak, A’Ling wanted to quickly return to the medical cultivator Cave Dwelling to ask Elder Qi Yu if there was any good medicine to treat injuries from the Scarlet Soul Flame.
Before she could even leave Winter Snow Peak, A’Ling was tied up.
The Abode Masters of the Twelve Cave Abodes had gathered at the Immortal Rainbow Platform to interrogate the matter of subduing the Ancient Fire Dragonbird today, which had taken an unexpected turn, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries among fellow disciples.
A surviving disciple reported that it was A’Ling who, when Shi Qingqian was subduing the Ancient Fire Dragonbird, used despicable methods and deliberately plotted harm, causing the Ancient Fire Dragonbird’s mind to mutate and triggering this disaster.
Abode master Beiming, Shi Qingqian, was also heavily injured as a result.
A’Ling knelt in the center of the Immortal Rainbow Platform, looking at a pouch of Spirit Suppressing Incense placed an arm’s length in front of her.
That item had dropped in the demon cave then, and Shi Qingqian had thrown it back to her, telling her to put it away. But later, she had been focused on saving someone, and the situation had been particularly chaotic, so she couldn’t remember if she had put it away properly.
Looking at the pouch on the ground, A’Ling was filled with regret. She had been single-mindedly focused on quickly getting Shi Qingqian back to her Cave Dwelling to heal; she hadn’t thought about this item at all. Not only had she not put it away properly, but someone else had picked it up.
“I was carrying this, but I didn’t mean to harm Shi Qingqian. It wasn’t me who made that Ancient Fire Dragonbird go mad,” A’Ling said, her face flustered. She just, she just wanted to weaken Shi Qingqian’s cultivation, to prevent her from standing out. She didn’t want to kill her!
As soon as A’Ling spoke, Elder Qi Yu, who was listening nearby, felt her heart skip a beat. This idiot, her first sentence amounted to admitting she did it.
Elder Qi Yu stepped out from the crowd and knelt on the ground with a look of apprehension. “Abode Masters, please see clearly. Spirit Suppressing Incense indeed only has the effect of suppressing a cultivator’s cultivation; it cannot cause a demon beast’s mind to mutate.”
A’Ling turned to look towards the sound behind her. It was her Abode master, Elder Qi Yu; she had come to speak for her.
She saw her Abode master looking at her with worry, and she shook her head almost imperceptibly at her.
A’Ling knew the gravity of the matter. She would not reveal that Elder Qi Yu had given her this Spirit Suppressing Incense.
This concerned the reputation of the entire medical cultivator Cave Dwelling. If others knew that the medical cultivator Cave Dwelling was pulling strings behind the scenes to seize the [Fire Empress Jade Pearl] dropped by the Ancient Fire Dragonbird, even if they explained it was to use that item to save more people, it was likely no one would believe them.
They would only think that the medical cultivators were sanctimonious, benevolent in words but insidious in action. She couldn’t let the entire medical cultivator Cave Dwelling be insulted because of her.
This matter was her mistake to begin with. A’Ling looked at Elder Qi Yu with guilt. Her Abode master was typically not good with words, usually so low-key as to have no presence. For her to stand up and say these words this time, A’Ling was already very grateful.
She had messed this up; she would bear the consequences of her actions alone.
Several other medical cultivator elders also came forward to verify, stating that Spirit Suppressing Incense generally had no possibility of causing ancient demon beasts’ minds to mutate.
But some also argued that there was always a chance for anything; generally having no impact didn’t mean there was absolutely no impact.
Just as both sides were at a stalemate, someone A’Ling couldn’t have imagined even if she scratched her scalp raw stepped forward.
Looking at Zhao Diqing, who slowly walked to the center of the Immortal Rainbow Platform, A’Ling initially thought she had come to plead for mercy on her behalf. She was about to open her mouth to thank her, but A’Ling also knew that Zhao Diqing was just an ordinary disciple of the Cave Dwelling, and her words wouldn’t carry much weight.
She appreciated her intention and wanted to advise her not to speak for her, to avoid being implicated herself.
Her words were still on the tip of her tongue when she saw Zhao Diqing, who had walked up to her, looking at her with bloodshot eyes and deep resentment.
A’Ling’s heart skipped a beat. What was wrong?
“Greetings, Abode Masters.”
Zhao Diqing walked past A’Ling and stood before her, paying her respects as a disciple to the Abode Masters seated at the head, her eyes still red.
“What is your business?” The elder presiding over the trial at the head spoke with a solemn expression.
Zhao Diqing stood in front of her. A’Ling couldn’t see her expression, she only heard her indignant voice.
“This disciple learned that in this mission to subdue the Ancient Fire Dragonbird, the disciples who went suffered heavy casualties. Just now, this disciple also visited Abode master Beiming and learned that her injuries are severe, her life hanging by a thread. She will likely need to seclude herself for healing, and there’s no telling when her cultivation will return to its original state.”
Zhao Diqing choked up as she said this. She had snuck into Shi Qingqian’s Cave Dwelling by following medical cultivators delivering medicine, and when she saw the person covered in blood and barely clinging to life on the bed, her heart twisted like a knife.
Then she heard from disciples who had also been on the mission that Shi Qingqian was injured by the Ancient Fire Dragonbird while saving A’Ling.
A’Ling, it’s A’Ling again. Why are there only A’Ling in Shi Qingqian’s eyes?
She’s clearly such an idiot, she always causes trouble and annoyances for Shi Qingqian, so why would Shi Qingqian risk her life to save her?!
What was she lacking compared to A’Ling? Was it because she wasn’t as foolish as A’Ling?!
Zhao Diqing’s heart hardened. She had had enough, she had had enough of swallowing her anger and standing by that idiot, while Shi Qingqian could only see that idiot and couldn’t see her!
A tear slipped down her cheek, followed by a torrent of continuous tears. Zhao Diqing cried very sadly on the Immortal Rainbow Platform, under everyone’s gaze.
As she cried, she intermittently spoke words that struck A’Ling like five bolts of lightning.
“I can’t hide it for A’Ling anymore… I advised her… I thought she had listened… I didn’t expect her nature to be so malicious…”
A’Ling straightened up a bit from her kneeling position. She strained her arm to reach Zhao Diqing’s hem. “A-Qing, what are you saying? What didn’t I listen to?”
She didn’t understand Zhao Diqing’s words. What had she done?
Zhao Diqing turned to glance at the person on the ground, her eyes filled with tears, but not for A’Ling. Her gaze towards A’Ling was icy, making A’Ling shiver.
Zhao Diqing also pulled back her skirt from A’Ling’s hand at that moment. She wiped a hand over her face, as if she had made a great resolution.
“Even if A’Ling hates me, even if the Cave Dwelling punishes me, I must speak the truth. Only then can I do right by the fellow disciples who were innocently implicated and severely injured today.”
Zhao Diqing straightened her back, her gaze fixed on the Abode Masters seated at the head, and said loudly, “A’Ling carries many medicinal pills. Some are pills that can make demon beasts go mad. I heard her mention them before, and I also warned her not to carry them. But I didn’t expect her to truly resent Shi Qingqian, insisting on putting her to death, even disregarding the lives of fellow disciples.”
Her words were spoken with true emotion and resounding clarity; every word was like a massive boulder, aimed at killing A’Ling.
A’Ling couldn’t recover her wits for a long time. She looked at Zhao Diqing’s back, her heart blank with confusion. What was going on?
A-Qing, how could she?
Had she been possessed? Why was she talking nonsense here?
“A-Qing, what’s wrong? How could I have any pills that make demon beasts go mad? A-Qing, have you been possessed? Who are you? Why are you framing me?”
As A’Ling spoke, she was about to get up. She wanted to pull out the other person’s Nascent Soul from Zhao Diqing’s body. This wasn’t A-Qing; A-Qing wouldn’t harm her.
Unfortunately, as soon as A’Ling made a move, the cultivators watching her on either side pressed her back down. The force was so great that it directly broke one of A’Ling’s arms.
A’Ling cried out in pain and fell to the ground, but still struggled to get up, wanting to pounce on Zhao Diqing and ask for a clear explanation.
Zhao Diqing turned her head, looking at A’Ling, who was pressed to the ground with a twisted expression. The hatred in her eyes could not be hidden.
How could someone so dark and twisted, like a cockroach in a gutter, dare to touch someone as pure and radiant as the moon in the ninth heaven?
She heard Shi Qingqian’s Cave Dwelling disciples say that A’Ling had carried her back, and the bloodstains on A’Ling’s body were all Shi Qingqian’s, blood Shi Qingqian shed for her. How could she, how could she?!
Die, A’Ling must die. What need is there for such a person to live? The world would be clearer then.
Zhao Diqing looked at the Spirit Suppressing Incense on the ground. A’Ling, this idiot, couldn’t have gotten her hands on this. This person probably still hasn’t realized how foolish she is, even now. It’s better if she dies; the world would be clearer then.
“Those medicinal pills should still be on A’Ling’s person.” Zhao Diqing suddenly stretched out her hand, stepping back a few paces, and pointed at the person on the ground.
Upon hearing this, the presiding Elder immediately dispatched someone to use a spell to search an interspatial bag containing many medicinal pills from A’Ling’s person.
After the spell forcibly opened it, Elder Qi Yu was the first to rush to the medicinal pills on the ground and inspect them.
Then, she frowned tightly as she looked at A’Ling. The disappointment in her eyes was like sharp little knives, fiercely stabbing into A’Ling’s chest.
“No, that’s not… ”
Before A’Ling could explain, Elder Qi Yu walked away with a look of disappointment.
Because of her actions, everyone basically understood that these medicinal pills were indeed problematic, and discussions erupted everywhere.
After Elder Qi Yu had hidden herself in the crowd, she secretly sent a message to the person above Qiongdian Peak, informing them of the sudden change here.
She had just checked; although those pills could cause demon beasts to act abnormally and lose control, they didn’t have such a great impact on powerful ancient demon beasts.
The true thing that made the Ancient Fire Dragonbird lose control was hidden in the Spirit Suppressing Incense, and that item was given by that person above Qiongdian Peak. It was impossible for anyone present to detect it.
She quietly glanced at Zhao Diqing, who had suddenly appeared. This person was clearly not their prior arrangement.
A’Ling’s gaze was pleading. As Elder Qi Yu’s figure disappeared into the crowd, she saw her fellow disciples around her all looking at her with disgust.
She then looked at Zhao Diqing, who had retreated to the side, watching her from the corner – the person she had once thought was her only friend.
Zhao Diqing’s face was filled with hatred, so much so that it seemed she wished A’Ling would die at that very moment.
A’Ling let out a bitter laugh. Only now did she realize that Zhao Diqing didn’t consider her a friend.
Not only that, she hated her, hated her so much she wished her dead.
The bag of medicinal pills on the ground were the various failed pills Zhao Diqing had given her as birthday gifts over the years. They were also the only birthday gifts she had ever received.
Her eyes hurt so much she could barely open them. A’Ling thought, how miserable. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. The emotions that could have been released through tears were now completely blocked. Her eyes went from sore to aching, as if all the un-shed tears had turned into knives, slicing her eyelids one by one.
This bag of pills were the various failed medicinal pills Zhao Diqing had made after learning to refine them.
She had said, “A’Ling, I know you’re a medical cultivator. Only medical cultivators who can refine top-grade medicinal pills are considered powerful. I’ll refine with you. When I refine peerless good medicinal pills, I’ll give them all to you. For now, take these discarded pills as a token. Later, when I refine rare pills, you can exchange them with me.”
“But you can only exchange one on your birthday each year. This way, we can celebrate many, many birthdays together.”
A’Ling clutched her chest, which felt as if it were being torn open, looking at these birthday gifts on the ground that had now become evidence of her crime. These were the only gifts she had ever received…
“Why? Why are you doing this to me?” A’Ling’s eyes were bloodshot. She pressed tightly on her chest, her gaze fixed directly on Zhao Diqing, stubbornly wanting an answer.
Why, why did A-Qing suddenly change? Why would she do this to her?
Just yesterday, they had been laughing together. She had said she envied A’Ling being able to participate in this mission, and A’Ling had even promised her that if she got anything good today, she would definitely give it to her.
Why, why had everything changed in just one day?
Zhao Diqing covered her face, revealing only her eyes. Though filled with tears, which should have been warm, her gaze was terribly cold.
“A’Ling, I can no longer help you. This mistake is truly severe. A’Ling, don’t be stubborn anymore. Everyone knows about the things you did to Abode master Beiming before. Abode master Beiming said she didn’t hold it against you, and no one made things difficult for you, but this time you’ve truly gone too far. Abode master Beiming is still lying in bed, covered in injuries.”
A’Ling slowed down for a moment. Abode master Beiming? Shi Qingqian?
She hadn’t done anything this time! She just wanted Shi Qingqian’s cultivation to be hindered, she didn’t want to kill her! A’Ling recovered her wits and shook her head vigorously, explaining that she hadn’t wanted to harm Shi Qingqian.
“And these things, they’re not mine, they’re hers, Zhao Diqing gave them to me!” A’Ling grabbed a handful of medicinal pills from the ground and threw them at Zhao Diqing. “It’s her, she’s lying!”
As soon as A’Ling finished speaking, discussions erupted everywhere, all saying that she was vicious in heart, exposed and then turned to bite at others.
“She’s really lying, believe me!”
A’Ling screamed with all her might, her eyes filled with pleading. She looked at some familiar faces in the crowd, hoping they would believe her.
She searched for Elder Qi Yu’s figure. She wanted to tell her, it wasn’t her, she didn’t know the effects of these things, but Elder Qi Yu’s figure was already gone from the crowd.
Elder Qi Yu, having received Saint Venerable Dao Rong’s instruction to let this matter develop as it was, with no need for her to intervene further, quietly left the Immortal Rainbow Platform.
Before leaving, she glanced at A’Ling. What a pitiful idiot, she probably wouldn’t know until death why today’s events unfolded.
She rarely felt a trace of sympathy, perhaps because of their rare destiny. The child Saint Venerable Dao Rong had told her to hunt down, she later learned, was A’Ling.
She hadn’t expected that after all these twists and turns, this person would become her disciple. A’Ling trusted her wholeheartedly, to the point that even now, she hadn’t thought to reveal her.
Elder Qi Yu’s lips curled up, completely changing her usual dull expression, and she laughed somewhat mockingly.
She laughed not just at A’Ling, but also at Shi Qingqian. A’Ling entering the Cave Dwelling was Shi Qingqian’s doing. She also hadn’t expected Shi Qingqian to choose her. If Shi Qingqian knew in the future that she was the one who delivered A’Ling into her hands, would she also call herself an idiot?
Elder Qi Yu left the Immortal Rainbow Platform in a joyful mood.
A’Ling searched desperately in the crowd but couldn’t find Abode master Qi Yu. Thinking of the look of disappointment on her face just now, A’Ling’s shattered heart ached even more.
It really wasn’t her!
Why did no one believe her? Not a single person believed her! Only at this moment did A’Ling realize how much of a failure she was as a person.
Everyone chose to believe Zhao Diqing’s words, concluding that A’Ling had deliberately intended to kill Shi Qingqian, which caused the deaths and injuries among their fellow disciples.
Because A’Ling had always had conflicts with Shi Qingqian, and now the motive, material evidence, and human testimony were all complete, no one would listen to A’Ling’s explanations anymore.
A’Ling looked around, isolated and helpless. No one was willing to listen to her explanation, and no one stood up to speak for her.
Despair welled up in her heart.
A’Ling’s heart sank into an ice cellar. She collapsed onto the ground, seeing the spots of blood on her robes—they were Shi Qingqian’s.
Suddenly, in despair, A’Ling caught a glimmer of light as if in the dark night. She thought of Shi Qingqian. Yes, Shi Qingqian!
A’Ling didn’t know if it was despair that made her delusional, or if she implicitly believed Shi Qingqian.
Now only Shi Qingqian could save her. She was Abode master Beiming; people would listen to her words.
A’Ling ignited her last shred of hope. She hoped the Cave Dwelling would send someone to ask Shi Qingqian.
She straightened her back again and shouted at the presiding Elder at the head, “It wasn’t me! Shi Qingqian saw it, she can testify for me! I just took the Spirit Suppressing Incense, I just wanted her cultivation to be hindered, I didn’t want to kill her!”
“You’ll know if you ask her! Go ask her!”
A’Ling screamed with all her might, demanding that those high-and-mighty judges give her another chance to seek verification from Shi Qingqian.
Shi Qingqian could testify for her; she had seen it. A’Ling had only taken out the Spirit Suppressing Incense.
A’Ling insisted on a fair trial. Since it was a trial, she should have an opportunity to defend herself; otherwise, she would absolutely not admit to anything.
“Send someone to ask Shi Qingqian! She knows I’m innocent!”
Seeing A’Ling stubbornly refuse to admit, the presiding Elder agreed to her request and sent someone to seek verification from Abode master Beiming. This was also judicial custom, always giving the accused an opportunity to prove themselves.
However, in the presiding Elder’s view, this was merely a dying struggle, A’Ling trying to buy some time.
Upon hearing that the presiding cultivator agreed, hope rekindled in A’Ling’s heart. She silently prayed for Shi Qingqian to come quickly; only she could save her now.
Shi Qingqian was about to seclude herself for healing, but now, enduring the tearing sensation of soul-wrenching pain, she held onto her last breath and listened to the report.
The disciple before her said that the Twelve Cave Abodes were investigating the matter, and had now discovered that A’Ling had illegally used the Spirit Suppressing Incense. The presiding Elder wanted to ask Shi Qingqian what to do with A’Ling.
Shi Qingqian’s expression tightened. This idiot, she was found out after all.
But thinking about it, it wasn’t surprising. When A’Ling dropped the item, she wasn’t the only one who saw it.
Shi Qingqian pressed her temples, trying her best to make her seemingly tearing head clear.
Enduring the severe pain, she said in a low voice, “Those who err must be punished… Confine her to the Cave Dwelling for self-reflection… I will personally punish her after I come out of seclusion…”
A’Ling clutched her chest and knelt on the ground. During the time she waited for Shi Qingqian’s message, she regretted more than once why she had always had to antagonize Shi Qingqian before.
If she hadn’t targeted Shi Qingqian so much before, perhaps someone would be willing to believe her now.
She thought of Shi Qingqian. In fact, Shi Qingqian seemed to have reminded her before that Zhao Diqing didn’t consider her a friend.
But at the time, she only thought Shi Qingqian was trying to sow discord, unable to bear her having friends.
A’Ling let out a bitter laugh. She was wrong, she really was an utter idiot.
She truly hadn’t expected that the one who could save her was actually Shi Qingqian, whom she had always hated.
Would Shi Qingqian come to save her?
A’Ling’s heart wavered. At one moment, she thought of Shi Qingqian risking her life to save her in the demon cave, and at another, she remembered that Shi Qingqian had also called her an idiot in the end.
A’Ling silently prayed in her heart: If Shi Qingqian is willing to save her this time, she will never be foolish again in the future. She will definitely turn over a new leaf and, from now on, worship Shi Qingqian.
In less than an incense stick’s worth of time, the cultivator sent to inquire returned.
She relayed Shi Qingqian’s words.
“Abode master Beiming said, ‘Those who err must be punished.’”
After the disciple sent to inquire finished speaking, she retreated into the crowd and exchanged glances with Zhao Diqing on the Immortal Rainbow Platform.
She had actually spoken the truth. Abode master Beiming had indeed said, “Those who err must be punished.” As for the punishment itself, Abode master Beiming didn’t need to come personally.
Her message finalized the decision. Just like that, with four simple words, A’Ling was expelled from Mystic Crane Mountain, to be immediately enforced, and sent out to the Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.
That was a nightmarish place A’Ling feared to recall, even if she were to be reborn.
At that time, she felt such deep hatred. She hated Shi Qingqian for saving her. She would rather have died under the Ancient Fire Dragonbird’s Scarlet Soul Flame than be thrown into the Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.
Did Shi Qingqian save her just so she could experience a feeling worse than death?!
Ruthlessly thrown down the Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff, her body suddenly plummeted downwards. The pain of weightlessness fiercely seized her heart.
Immense pain struck, and A’Ling’s Nascent Soul suddenly emerged from its shell, leaving her continuously falling physical body.
What’s going on? Is she dreaming?
She didn’t remember her Nascent Soul leaving her body at that time.
A’Ling watched her physical body rapidly falling, but her soul rapidly rising. In the blink of an eye, she actually arrived at a Cave Dwelling.
With just one glance, she recognized it as Shi Qingqian’s Cave Dwelling.
She was quite familiar with it. After her ugly dog went missing, she had watched as that ugly thing ran into Shi Qingqian’s Cave Dwelling, but Shi Qingqian lied through her teeth, saying she hadn’t seen any dog.
After that, A’Ling often came to search for it whenever she had a chance.
Unfortunately, that ugly thing seemed to have vanished into thin air, never appearing again.
A’Ling even thought that perhaps by the next red moon, that ugly thing would reappear, but that eerie sight never happened again.
Everything was like a dream she had.