The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 74

Shi Qingqian finally managed to stabilize the chaotic spiritual energy rampaging through her body, calming her trembling soul.
Just as she was about to meditate to heal her injured internal organs with spiritual energy, her already settled heart suddenly lurched.
She abruptly opened her eyes, her gaze sharply fixed on a spot in the void before her.
A’Ling’s steps faltered under that gaze. She had just seen Shi Qingqian meditating on the vine bed, and hated her so much she wanted to go up and strangle the bastard.
But before she could get close, the person opened her eyes.
A’Ling grew even angrier. All that talk about her life hanging by a thread, almost dying—wasn’t she perfectly fine? She was now certain that Shi Qingqian was deliberately trying to kill her!
Furious, she immediately wanted to rush forward and fight her.
With a ‘pfft,’ Shi Qingqian suddenly coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood right in front of her.
A’Ling watched the blood mist pass through her body without leaving a trace, and she stumbled back in shock.
Shi Qingqian clutched her incessantly throbbing heart. What’s happening? Why do I have such an unsettling feeling?
Moreover, no matter how she tried to meditate, the spiritual energy within her wouldn’t calm down; instead, it surged even more wildly.
She could no longer hold it in, and a mouthful of fresh blood gushed out.
Shi Qingqian had always trusted the anomalies she instinctively sensed; something must have happened.
Her first thought was A’Ling. Had something happened to her?
But she immediately dismissed the thought. A’Ling should be confined to her cave abode for self-reflection right now; what could possibly happen?
As her thoughts churned, Shi Qingqian struggled to get up from the bed, supporting her body.
Regardless, she believed that this unusual sensation meant something was definitely amiss.
The disciple guarding outside the cave abode jumped when Shi Qingqian, who was supposed to be in seclusion, suddenly emerged. Especially since a large patch of fresh red blood stained Shi Qingqian’s chest.
Before the disciple could even open her mouth to ask, Shi Qingqian spoke first.
“Has the interrogation at the Immortal Rainbow Platform concluded?”
Shi Qingqian’s voice was hoarse and cracked, as if she had to strain her throat just to produce a sound.
The disciple was startled by her raspy voice. After a slight daze, she replied, “Reporting to Venerable One, it’s all concluded. A’Ling has been punished according to Venerable One’s instructions.”
She had only just been assigned to guard Shi Qingqian. Although she wasn’t present at the Immortal Rainbow Platform’s interrogation, she had heard about it from other disciples.
Thinking that A’Ling was the one who had caused their Venerable Beiming to be in such a miserable state, she felt the punishment was too light.
Her heart should have been dug out first to see if it was black.
Shi Qingqian felt a little relieved after hearing her words. If A’Ling was sent back to her cave abode to reflect on her misdeeds as Shi Qingqian had intended, she likely wouldn’t cause any new trouble.
But for some reason, the strange sensation within her body still wouldn’t subside. Shi Qingqian had a peculiar feeling that she had to see A’Ling with her own eyes to feel at ease.
Before she could act, the disciple, seeing Shi Qingqian’s lack of movement, assumed she wanted to hear more details.
She angrily continued, “Venerable One, rest assured, that A’Ling will never appear before you to bother you again.”
Shi Qingqian abruptly looked up at her. “Hm?”
The disciple, thinking of A’Ling’s fate, felt a sense of satisfaction. “A’Ling has probably already been thrown into Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.”
“What did you say?”
Shi Qingqian’s icy gaze made the disciple’s heart tremble fiercely, almost causing her to kneel before Shi Qingqian. Venerable Beiming truly was the top combat power of Mystic Crane Mountain; her oppressive aura alone, just a single glance, could make anyone dare not be disrespectful.
She hastily lowered her head, not daring to speak about the matter with emotion, and simply recounted the original events.
“It was that A’Ling. She illegally brought in an item, causing the ancient fire dragon bird to go mad, which resulted in injuries and casualties among fellow disciples. The Twelve Cave Abodes unanimously passed a resolution to expel A’Ling from Mystic Crane Mountain, to be cast out from Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.”
In her opinion, this was already a lenient sentence. The Abode Masters were still too soft-hearted, saying that A’Ling’s actions were indirectly responsible, not directly or intentionally meant to harm fellow disciples.
A’Ling, listening nearby, was seething with rage. She was framed! This wasn’t her doing!
“Shi Qingqian, you bastard! It’s all because of you! I didn’t do this! You idiot who can’t tell right from wrong, you deserve a horrible death!”
But no matter how she screamed, the two people seemed unable to hear her!
No sooner had the disciple finished speaking than she felt a sudden dampness on her face. She looked up and saw Shi Qingqian clutching her chest, coughing up a large mouthful of dark red blood.
“Venerable One, you—”
“Didn’t I say I wanted her to return to her cave abode for self-reflection? Where is the messenger disciple? Didn’t she convey my instructions?” Shi Qingqian interrupted her, clutching her chest as she asked sharply.
The other person raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Didn’t Venerable One send word that she should be punished for her wrongdoing?”
Shi Qingqian cast a sidelong glance at her. Seeing that the surprise on her face wasn’t feigned, Shi Qingqian immediately understood.
This was a scheme against her. Was it a coincidence or deliberate? Was it simply targeting A’Ling, or was this whole incident aimed at her from the very beginning?
That idiot. Thinking of A’Ling, Shi Qingqian’s chest suddenly ached fiercely, and the metallic taste of blood in her mouth intensified.
She swallowed hard, not wasting a moment, and headed towards Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.
Her spiritual energy was damaged, preventing her from teleporting. Shi Qingqian could only with great difficulty fly on her sword.
A’Ling watched the person before her struggle to mount her sword, and her curses abruptly ceased. What did Shi Qingqian mean by that earlier statement?
Her punishment was to return to her cave abode for self-reflection?
But the messenger disciple only conveyed four words.
The disciple beside her didn’t know what Shi Qingqian intended by sword-riding. Given Shi Qingqian’s current state, even being able to get up was a testament to her profound cultivation and powerful combat strength. But no matter how strong she was, she shouldn’t be running around, let alone flying on her sword.
The Peak Master was worried Shi Qingqian would do something to disregard her injuries, which was why she had been ordered to watch Shi Qingqian at the cave abode’s entrance.
She hastily stepped forward to block her. “Venerable One, where are you going? You cannot! Your spiritual energy is severely depleted; you need to go into seclusion to heal your injuries!”
But once Shi Qingqian mounted her usual iron sword, she was like a fish returned to water. Despite her severe injuries, not a single hint of it could be seen from the smooth flight of the iron sword.
She quickly tried to dissuade her while simultaneously flying on her sword to give chase.
She couldn’t chase for long before the figure grew increasingly distant. In her heart, she couldn’t help but marvel, Shi Qingqian is truly too strong.
With such severe injuries, she could still fly on her sword, and so fast that she couldn’t keep up.
A’Ling looked back at the person chasing behind her. She had heard the entire conversation between the disciple and Shi Qingqian. A’Ling then turned her gaze back to Shi Qingqian, who was struggling to stand on the iron sword due to her speed and injuries.
She didn’t know why her Nascent Soul could only follow Shi Qingqian like this. When Shi Qingqian flew up on her sword, A’Ling was dragged along like a kite on a string.
The wind whistled past her ears, and A’Ling thought again about what Shi Qingqian had said earlier…
Shi Qingqian only wanted her to go into seclusion and reflect?
A’Ling was confused. Then why did the messenger cultivator say that Shi Qingqian’s words were ‘wrongdoing must be punished’?
Wait, wrongdoing must be punished. It’s ‘wrongdoing,’ not ‘crime.’
Shi Qingqian said she was ‘wrong.’ Given Shi Qingqian’s personality, if she knew that A’Ling had deliberately carried a pill that made the ancient fire dragon bird go mad, causing the deaths of fellow disciples and severely injuring her, she wouldn’t simply consider that a ‘wrongdoing,’ would she?
A’Ling looked at the pale, solemn person in front of her. So where is she going now?
A’Ling watched her swiftly overcome numerous obstacles, traversing towering mountains and ridges. The speed was so immense that A’Ling felt the howling wind would scatter her Nascent Soul.
Finally, when A’Ling could no longer keep her eyes open, she suddenly felt the wind cease.
Have we arrived?
“Ah—” A’Ling gasped out. “What’s happening? Did Shi Qingqian lose the ability to fly and is now falling?”
The disciple who had been following arrived near Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff and, seeing the distant scene, turned pale with fright, almost falling off her sword.
“Venerable Beiming, no!”
Her voice echoed through the mountains. She watched, wide-eyed, as Shi Qingqian leaped down Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff, completely unable to stop her.
By the time she quickly flew to the edge of Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff and looked down, the white figure had already vanished.
“Venerable One, come back quickly! Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff is dangerous—”
A’Ling heard the shouts from the top of the cliff, but she couldn’t open her eyes to see. The intermittent feeling of weightlessness made her so uncomfortable that she could do nothing but curl up tightly.
She couldn’t even think about why Shi Qingqian would jump down Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.
When the suffocating feeling of weightlessness suddenly vanished, A’Ling’s heart pounded as she opened her eyes to a world of pure white.
Everything was white, silent.
This is…?
The deepest fear in A’Ling’s heart surged forth, making her scalp tingle with dread.
She had actually returned to the seventh layer of Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff.
Amidst the pure white, she saw a patch of pure black lying on the ground.
A’Ling saw herself lying peacefully on the ground, her face serene, as if in a deep sleep.
In the pure white, she was encased by swirling black mist, resembling a cicada pupa, with only her head exposed.
A’Ling looked at her prone self on the ground, at the demonic energy overflowing from her fingertips, and her heart jolted. She had fallen to the demonic path.
Shi Qingqian’s expression was solemn as she quietly watched the person on the ground, who looked as if she had been lulled to sleep. Her brows were relaxed, her face serene, truly as if she were sleeping.
A’Ling had actually fallen to the demonic path in her sleep.
Shi Qingqian had seen all sorts of cultivators fall to the demonic path; without exception, they all developed evil intentions and ferocious appearances.
No one had ever fallen to the demonic path as effortlessly as A’Ling, as if in her sleep.
And why would this idiot fall to the demonic path in her sleep?
If anyone on Mystic Crane Mountain was least likely to fall to the demonic path, Shi Qingqian thought it would probably be this idiot in front of her.
No matter how much she hated someone, the most she could think of was making that person look foolish, or digging a hole for them to fall into and starve for a few days, or like this time, being used by someone without knowing it.
She could completely imagine the idiot’s simple thoughts at the time: likely wanting to hinder her cultivation, or prevent her from gaining prominence, something like that.
Shi Qingqian reached out and picked up the person on the ground, then checked the demonic energy within A’Ling. Being a demon was very difficult; this idiot would probably cry.
It’s strange, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her cry.
“Strange, this demonic energy…” Shi Qingqian withdrew her hand in surprise, looking at the person in her arms.
How could someone who had just fallen to the demonic path possess such pure and powerful demonic energy? She tried to guide this demonic energy away, but it completely defied her.
She even faintly felt that this demonic energy was so powerful it could contend with her own.
Shi Qingqian furrowed her brows, looking at the still unaware person, her gaze deep and unreadable.
She wanted to try again. Just as she made a move, a mouthful of fresh blood surged up into her throat. Shi Qingqian fiercely swallowed with all her might.
This exertion made her face momentarily grim.
Despite using all her strength, blood she hadn’t managed to swallow still seeped from the corners of Shi Qingqian’s lips.
In this world of pure white, it was particularly striking.
Shi Qingqian clutched her chest, her head, which she could no longer support, resting on A’Ling’s neck.
A faint warmth slowly transferred from their touching skin to Shi Qingqian’s increasingly cold body.
After sword-riding and searching for A’Ling within Heaven-Bearing Sorrowful Prison Cliff, she was now a spent force, unable to circulate even a trace of spiritual energy.
Shi Qingqian looked at the person in her arms. Even if she took her back now, she couldn’t protect her anymore.
“Idiot, this time you should finally learn your lesson.”
As Shi Qingqian spoke, another trickle of fresh blood seeped from the corner of her mouth.
That single word, ‘idiot,’ brought A’Ling back to her senses from the shock of seeing her own demonic state. Her eyes trembling, she watched everything.
She couldn’t tell if this was a dream, or if she had truly returned to the past.
Before she could figure out the reason, the person who had just cursed her seeped more blood.
A’Ling watched Shi Qingqian’s increasingly pale face, which was almost merging with the pure white world. Yet, Shi Qingqian still had the presence of mind to call her an idiot.
Shi Qingqian ignored the blood that had already seeped from her lips. She reached out and brushed A’Ling’s lips, wiping away the lingering trace of blood.
A’Ling watched this scene, her expression frozen. Shi Qingqian…
But soon, before she could understand what kind of strange fit had caused Shi Qingqian’s unusual behavior, the bloodstain on Shi Qingqian’s fingertip gradually darkened, turning a dark red like hellfire.
In the blink of an eye, the dark red seemed to evaporate as if by raging fire, forming a cluster of black mist in Shi Qingqian’s palm.
Shi Qingqian’s hand, glowing with black mist, clasped one of A’Ling’s hands, which hung by her side.
A’Ling watched this scene with furrowed brows. A cluster of black mist slowly rose from their clasped hands, but in the next instant, it surged upwards like a raging storm, completely enveloping Shi Qingqian.
Her white robes instantly appeared as if dyed with ink, and even her pale face seemed shrouded by the black energy.
A’Ling looked at the black mist in Shi Qingqian’s eyes and felt as if this appearance was familiar.
In an instant, from Shi Qingqian’s kneeling knees, streaks of black mist sliced through the pure white like blades, cutting across the land. Pitch-black ravines appeared in the pure white world, and countless streams of blood spread from these cracks in all directions.
In just a single breath, this white world, which made A’Ling tremble every time she thought of it, was instantly dyed pure black.
An overwhelming, powerful aura spilled forth from their clasped hands.
A’Ling’s eyes widened in astonishment as she looked at their clasped hands, where root-like blood threads emerged.
They were like fuses, igniting the black mist swirling around Shi Qingqian.
The next instant, Shi Qingqian gently raised A’Ling’s hand, subtly parting her loosely cupped palm to reveal the black mist burning within her palm, the eerie dark flames leaping higher and higher.
Shi Qingqian, holding A’Ling’s hand, waved it casually.
The silent, pure white world, as it was dyed black, burst into dark flames. In the void, sudden wails echoed.
Howling winds swept through this endless space, making the black flames resemble hellish evil spirits, desperately trying to escape from the endless ruins.
A’Ling finally remembered; wasn’t this the move Shi Qingqian had used in the Mutated Dragon Sword Demon Cave?
Only here, there was nothing but a pure white space that simply looking at it invoked fear.
What is she trying to do with this move?
“Forget it. In the cultivation world, ‘demons and ghosts’ run rampant anyway.”
Shi Qingqian looked at the person in her arms, her eyes holding a tenderness that was strikingly incompatible with her current fierce and domineering form.
“Then, become a demon.”
Shi Qingqian tore open the void, rising from the ground with A’Ling in her arms.
The torn void, eroded by the black mist, resembled a slowly opening door.
Shi Qingqian walked steadily inside, holding A’Ling.
A’Ling’s vision went black. After a suffocating sensation as if she had plunged into an abyss, when she could finally see the scene before her again, she immediately recognized it.
They had arrived in the Demon Realm.
Looking at the iron-tower-like structure standing tall amidst a patch of scorched earth, A’Ling immediately recognized it. This was where she had first woken up in the Demon Realm.
That iron tower was also her future residence in the Demon Realm.
Shi Qingqian walked to a charred, massive rock that looked as if it had been struck by heavenly lightning, and gently set the person in her arms down, leaning her against the black rock.
She had just used the Demon soul Crimson Phoenix Art and become the new Demon Lord of this Demon Realm. No Great Demon, she thought, would dare offend someone she intended to protect.
Shi Qingqian gently brushed her hand over A’Ling’s tightly closed eyes. “Idiot, wait for me in the Demon Realm.”
Feeling a slight tremor beneath her hand, Shi Qingqian concealed the fleeting reluctance in her eyes and vanished into the void before the person in front of her could open her eyes.
A’Ling watched wide-eyed as Shi Qingqian disappeared into the void, looking at the familiar surroundings.
So, in her previous life, it wasn’t that she didn’t remember how she got to the Demon Realm; it was that she herself didn’t know she had arrived in the Demon Realm this way.
A’Ling stood dumbfounded in the desolation, her heart feeling like the charred dust beneath her feet, indescribable.
She looked down at herself on the ground. ‘She’ seemed about to wake from a dream, her eyelashes trembling violently.
The moment she saw herself on the ground open her eyes, A’Ling suddenly felt dizzy. A kaleidoscopic flurry of scenes flashed before her eyes like snowflakes, finally ending with a burst of light.
A’Ling felt like a fish thrown out of water. With a pounding heart, she frantically grabbed the nearest thing, abruptly opened her eyes, and gasped for air.
“What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
A’Ling heard the familiar voice and, disbelieving, looked up. Shi Qingqian’s face, filled with concern, completely came into view.
Is this some new dream?
A’Ling looked around anxiously. In the pitch darkness, there was only the faint glow of an illumination talisman in one corner.
“Where is this?” A’Ling looked at what she had frantically clutched, which turned out to be Shi Qingqian’s hand.
Her hand was slightly cool, but A’Ling could still feel the warmth of her human body.
Shi Qingqian looked at the person in front of her, who seemed a little off since waking up, and gripped her slightly trembling hand in return.
“A tent. You’re in a tent.”
She had suddenly heard A’Ling’s shouts from outside just now. She heard her calling her name.
Shi Qingqian didn’t hesitate to break through the barrier and enter, only to find A’Ling seemingly trapped in a nightmare, unable to be woken.
A tent? I’m in a tent? I’m back?
A’Ling still had lingering fears, but looking around, she found she was truly fine, in a tent!
Her eyes flashed with surprise, but when she saw the person in front of her clearly, that surprise turned to confusion.
“Why are you in my tent?”