The Young Lady Only Wants to Cultivate Immortality Chapter 97

They say when people are in darkness, unable to see, their other senses become heightened.
A’Ling believed it now. The moment she stepped into the darkness, she smelled a distinct, familiar scent.
That light, faint fragrance, she had only ever encountered it on one person. The instant her wrist was held, the cool touch against her skin, it made the normally vigilant A’Ling drop all her defenses, allowing herself to be pulled into the darkness.
The next moment, feeling the coolness on her wrist turn warm and then start to leave, A’Ling’s subconscious reacted faster than her mind. As if afraid the person would disappear in the darkness, she twisted her wrist and grabbed the other person’s slender hand.
Not only that, she held onto the hand and, before the person could react, pulled them back forcefully. She reached out and embraced the person, who stumbled from the unexpected pull.
Without waiting for a reaction, A’Ling embraced the person with one arm around their waist and the other holding their hand, pulling them into her embrace.
As if afraid the person would escape, once they were in her arms, she wrapped both her hands around them, her fingers interlocking behind their back like a lock.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Shi Qingqian felt as if she had stepped into an illusion, everything so unreal. She had been holding back her reluctance, determined to leave immediately after sending A’Ling back into the barrier.
She had just slightly loosened her fingers when she was enveloped by A’Ling’s presence. She could rest her chin on the crook of A’Ling’s neck with a slight bow of her head.
She could even hear A’Ling’s rapid breaths beside her in the darkness.
“Don’t even think about running. I know it’s you.”
In the darkness, A’Ling’s voice was still a little unsteady, carrying a tremor that reached Shi Qingqian’s ears.
Shi Qingqian stiffened, her foot mid-step into the void halting. The warmth near her ear caused her to tilt her head.
Her heart was in chaos, her steps faltering. Shi Qingqian turned, embracing A’Ling and stumbling into a faint glow.
She had only intended to send A’Ling back into the barrier…
A’Ling instantly went from darkness to this place with a gentle glow. She felt her embrace still full, her tightly clasped hands involuntarily wiggling their fingers. Even the corners of her lips, which had been pressed into a straight line, curled up uncontrollably.
Her eyes, which she had been afraid to close, felt strained. A’Ling blinked them shut forcefully and let out a heavy sigh.
She had felt it just now, this person wanted to run!
Suppressing the strain in her eyes, A’Ling opened them again and clearly saw the person in her arms.
“Shi Qingqian.”
She called out softly, filled with a sense of relief and reassurance. All her senses had told her that the person in the darkness was her, but before she could see clearly, A’Ling’s heart remained suspended.
How afraid she was, of it being a false joy, of mistaking the person, of this possibly being just a hallucination.
“Mm.”
Shi Qingqian had heard A’Ling call her name countless times before, but never had she liked the name, liked those three words coming from A’Ling’s lips.
And at this very moment, the warmth in her embrace made her incredibly greedy.
A’Ling tilted her head, gazing at Shi Qingqian, who was so close. They had only been apart for less than a day, yet she felt as though they had been separated for a hundred years.
No, longer than a hundred years. It felt so long that Shi Qingqian even seemed a little unfamiliar.
A’Ling looked at the face before her, which had changed somewhat. Her eyes trembled, and with a sigh, she slowly loosened her hands clasped behind Shi Qingqian’s back.
This sigh was so faint it was almost inaudible, yet it felt as heavy as a mountain rock, piercing directly into Shi Qingqian’s ears and flowing down to her heart.
A’Ling…
Shi Qingqian slightly turned her face, not wanting A’Ling to see the corner of her left eye.
She had forgotten about her current changes.
She lowered her gaze, not daring to look into A’Ling’s eyes. She was so afraid, afraid of seeing disappointment, disgust, or horror in A’Ling’s eyes.
Feeling the hands that had been around her waist loosen their grip, Shi Qingqian felt as if a wound had been gently opened in her heart by a dull knife.
But before Shi Qingqian could see the bloodstain seep out, the warmth on her face caused her thoughts to snap back.
A’Ling tentatively loosened her hands clasped behind Shi Qingqian’s back. Seeing that the person showed no sign of leaving, she finally relaxed and withdrew one hand.
She reached out, her slender fingers touching Shi Qingqian’s face.
Under Shi Qingqian’s trembling gaze, A’Ling brushed her cheek with the back of her fingers.
She seemed to have become even thinner.
Her fingers moved from her gaunt cheeks to the corner of her eye where a bewitching red mole resided. A’Ling held her breath, her fingers flipping, her warm fingertips gently touching the corner of Shi Qingqian’s eye, which was filled with dark red blood streaks.
“Can’t take it back anymore?” A’Ling felt the unevenness under her fingertips, her heart skipping a beat.
Shi Qingqian had wanted to dodge A’Ling’s hand since earlier, but her body disobeyed. She allowed A’Ling’s touch, and where she was touched, her skin burned with a shocking warmth.
Now, if A’Ling glanced over slightly, she would surely see the tips of Shi Qingqian’s ears burning red.
She didn’t know why A’Ling asked this, but she figured she must look terrifying now, and she truly couldn’t hide these red markings.
“Mm.”
Shi Qingqian’s tone carried no extraneous emotion about the matter, but A’Ling felt a pang of heartache.
“Does it hurt?” This was A’Ling’s greatest concern.
Shi Qingqian’s heart skipped a beat. This was the first time A’Ling had spoken to her so gently, asking if it hurt.
The word “no” was on the tip of her tongue, but seeing A’Ling’s eyes, which reflected only her, filled with such concern, her words turned into a different sound.
“Mm.”
A’Ling thought, as expected. How could falling into demonhood be comfortable? Even if Shi Qingqian, due to her special constitution, breathed smoothly, there must be pain that others didn’t know about.
Hearing that it hurt, A’Ling’s own eyes felt a dull ache when she looked at the red markings at the corner of Shi Qingqian’s eye.
“Can Apothecary Yang Xia help?”
She remembered seeing Apothecary Yang Xia remove these red markings at the corner of the eye before.
Moreover, just now, when the faint glow lit up, she had quickly scanned the empty room and recognized it as the secret chamber of the Tranquil Shade Herb Hut. It was in this very secret chamber that she had seen Apothecary Yang Xia treating Shi Qingqian.
“Is it very ugly?” Shi Qingqian didn’t answer A’Ling’s question but asked hesitantly.
Was her current appearance too ugly that A’Ling cared so much?
A’Ling shook her head. “It’s not ugly.”
If Shi Qingqian hadn’t said it hurt, she actually found it quite beautiful, possessing a breathtaking charm.
Besides, she had seen plenty of ugly things. A’Ling seemed to recall something and let out a laugh.
“It’s okay if it’s ugly. I like ugly things.”
This light laughter and teasing tone quickly dispelled the somber mood in the dim chamber. Shi Qingqian naturally understood the meaning behind her words.
She was also quite curious about this matter: “How did you know?”
A’Ling pretended not to understand what Shi Qingqian was asking, raising an eyebrow and smiling. “Know what?”
Shi Qingqian looked down at the person in her embrace, one hand still on her face. When she asked this, she lightly tapped her.
She knew perfectly well that A’Ling was deliberately feigning ignorance, but seeing the sparkling smile in her eyes, she had no choice but to pretend not to know that she was pretending.
“Know that I am…” The last two words were too difficult for her to utter.
A’Ling laughed enough and didn’t trouble her anymore. “I saw it in Pi Lingyun Valley.”
Shi Qingqian was somewhat surprised but not entirely unconvinced. It was only in Pi Lingyun Valley that her Nascent Soul had been injured again. She figured her Nascent Soul must have transformed into that state while she was unconscious.
“You saved me.” Shi Qingqian’s tone was serious, her gaze towards A’Ling even more tender.
This sincere demeanor made it difficult for A’Ling to continue teasing. She withdrew her hand, interlocking her fingers behind Shi Qingqian’s back again, still wary of the person running off without a word.
“Mm, want to pledge yourself to me?” A’Ling’s eyes sparkled.
Shi Qingqian looked at the person right before her. They were so close, the warmth transmitted from their touching skin proving this was not a dream.
But if it wasn’t a dream, how could she hear so many dreamlike words?
A’Ling was actually asking her if she wanted to pledge herself.
“I am a demon.”
A very faint sigh escaped Shi Qingqian’s lips. The next words, ‘You are a cultivator,’ didn’t even have time to be spoken before the trailing end of that sigh turned into a muffled sob.
The warm touch on her lips rendered Shi Qingqian unable to utter another word.
Upon hearing the wronged “I am a demon,” A’Ling could no longer suppress her emotions. Those words were like ammunition for a firearm, requiring only a spark to explode.
So what if she was a demon? In her past life, she was also a demon, and she had still captured Shi Qingqian, who was already in the Soul Transformation stage.
This time, it was Shi Qingqian who had fallen into demonhood, and she could still capture her.
A’Ling, with an emotion she couldn’t suppress, moved forward and pried open the slightly cool, stiff lips that had forgotten to part.
Only when those lips warmed and softened did A’Ling’s suppressed emotions find an outlet.
Speaking of which, their identities, which always seemed to be on different paths, were like their indelible exchanged lives.
Perhaps it was their unusual natures that made them irreplaceable to each other.
They had lived through each other’s identities for over a decade. She had shielded Shi Qingqian from pursuit, and Shi Qingqian had endured hardship for her in the Huo family.
In her previous life, she had fallen into demonhood because of Shi Qingqian; in this life, Shi Qingqian had fallen into demonhood to save her.
They were destined to be together.
What if their paths differed? What if she was a demon? She liked her, and that was enough.
A’Ling closed her eyes, releasing her embrace around Shi Qingqian and moving her hands to Shi Qingqian’s waist.
In the dim secret chamber, only the faint light from above existed. Yet, at this moment, it seemed to pour entirely into Shi Qingqian’s eyes.
Her shining, shimmering eyes flickered with an ecstasy and shock that prevented one from looking directly.
She hadn’t expected A’Ling to kiss her.
The warm breaths mingled, tested, and fused in the small gap beneath her nose. Shi Qingqian’s gaze deepened, becoming thick and viscous, and even her ears burned uncontrollably.
In the silent air, she heard a swallow, unable to distinguish whose it was. Shi Qingqian’s mind had completely ceased to function. Before her body melted away, she tightly embraced the person, as if they would never be separated again.
The caress on her waist abruptly turned into a squeeze, causing a slight pain, which made Shi Qingqian’s mood soar even higher. Sensing that the initiator of the intimacy seemed to be trying to escape, Shi Qingqian tightly grabbed the other’s burning nape.
Holding her lips, she felt like a traveler in the cold night who had found a home. Her heart was filled with the wish for this luck to last longer.
She pleaded, “Don’t go.”
Continuing to entwine, continuing to deepen.
A’Ling felt that the two words that suddenly escaped amidst their rapid breaths were filled with an emotion she couldn’t ignore.
A tremor ran through her heart, as if something was about to fly out.
A light entered the secret chamber and then quickly withdrew. Apothecary Yang Xia clutched her chest and, without a word, sealed the secret chamber door with a barrier and then set up an illusion.
Scared to death!
Clutching her chest, she walked forward two steps, bracing herself against a pillar inside the apothecary, trying to calm herself.
She had been in the inner chamber to get a bone-setting medicinal pill for someone whose leg had been bitten off by a ferocious beast. As soon as she entered the inner chamber, she sensed something unusual.
A unique anomaly emanated from her secret chamber. She worried something had invaded her apothecary…
She closed her eyes tightly. Apothecary Yang Xia wanted to erase the scene from her mind. She truly hadn’t expected these two to be doing such things in her secret chamber.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t, but at least they could have given her a heads-up. In her hundreds of years, she had never witnessed such a blush-inducing, heart-pounding scene.
It was too, too… Apothecary Yang Xia couldn’t find a suitable word.
In short, it was inappropriate for someone who had lived a few hundred years in quiet abstinence to witness!
And the look in Qingqian’s eyes when she suddenly appeared… for anyone else, they would have already knelt and begged for mercy.
Fortunately, she recognized her in time, and she ran fast enough.
The new Demon Lord of the Demon Realm, the aura she possessed now was something ordinary people couldn’t withstand.
Apothecary Yang Xia clutched her chest, and after her racing heart returned to normal, she quickly sent a message to Elder Zeng.
The person they couldn’t find was now in her secret chamber.
Elder Zeng looked worriedly at the group of beasts with plants growing on their backs outside the barrier. A quarter of an hour ago, A’Ling had rescued a little girl from them, and she hadn’t come out since.
The plants on the beasts’ backs converged towards the center, forming a natural barrier, making it impossible to see what was inside.
The little girl who had been rescued insisted on not going into the inner chamber for treatment. She stayed by the edge of the barrier, gazing longingly at the area enclosed by the beasts. The sister who had rescued her hadn’t come out yet.
Elder Zeng worried that if they waited any longer, A’Ling might be in danger. He couldn’t care about anything else and first sent a message to Apothecary Yang Xia about the matter, instructing her that if he didn’t return, the academy would be handed over to her.
He also asked the cultivators who had come with A’Ling inside the barrier to guard this barrier carefully.
The cultivators from Mystic Crane Mountain hesitated. They were also worried about A’Ling, but their cultivation was average. If they left the barrier, their lives might be in danger.
However, seeing Elder Zeng, an outer disciple, willing to risk his life to search for A’Ling, how could they, his fellow disciples, stand by and be criticized?
They were about to discuss a plan: who would break through the plant barrier on the beasts’ backs, who would go in to rescue her, and who would attract the beasts’ attention.
Before they could come to a conclusion, Elder Zeng received a message from Huang He and said there was no need to search.
“A’Ling is fine.” Elder Zeng’s heart relaxed. He had received a message from Yang Xia, saying she was there, and Shi Qingqian was also there.
No, they could no longer call her that. She was their new master, the new ruler of the Demon Realm.
She had come to save them!
Others couldn’t understand why Elder Zeng’s expression changed so quickly. “How do you know? A’Ling hasn’t come out of the beast encirclement for so long.”
Elder Zeng naturally couldn’t reveal the real reason. He couldn’t possibly say, “Our Demon Lord has taken the person away, so don’t worry.”
He pointed at the barrier A’Ling had set up. “I was just worried. A’Ling’s barrier is fine, so she must be fine. I suppose there’s something more important. We should listen to her and wait patiently inside the barrier.”
With their master here, A’Ling must be fine. Not only A’Ling, but they would also be saved.
Everyone immediately understood. The situation had been critical just now. They had only seen A’Ling rescue the person and hadn’t seen her come out, so they had assumed she was in trouble.
But if she were in trouble, how could the barrier she had set up still be so strong and powerful?
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Although the little girl who had been rescued didn’t understand the reason, she felt reassured when everyone told her that the sister who had just saved her was fine, and then she went into the inner chamber to get bandaged.
She was considered lucky. Although she had encountered the beasts and her leg had been broken, fortunately, she had met A’Ling.
A’Ling not only saved her but also reconnected her broken leg with spiritual energy.
Few people who were alone on this night were as fortunate as she was.
Shan Lei, all the way, had seen those running around and fleeing, but they were trampled to death by these out-of-control beasts, their spines broken, their limbs crushed, and some even had their heads crushed open.
With bloodshot eyes, she rode her sword towards Mystic Crane Mountain in the pouring rain.
When Shan Xinci had asked her to help mutate these demonic beasts, she hadn’t said it would be like this. She had clearly said that these beasts were controllable, and even if they occasionally lost control, they could operate the controllable beasts to eliminate the uncontrollable ones.
Shan Lei had always trusted Shan Xinci’s words. But later, when the beasts they released ignored their commands and destroyed the Soaring Rainbow Tower, even she could sense that something was wrong. Shan Xinci still blindly trusted Saint Venerable Dao Rong, believing that what he was doing was right.
Shan Lei’s understanding of Saint Venerable Dao Rong, apart from what was rumored, was only what Shan Xinci told her unilaterally.
It was all about Saint Venerable Dao Rong’s benevolence, compassion, and great righteousness.
In the past, Shan Lei, like Shan Xinci, believed in these things.
However, this time, she was sent to the human world to rescue civilians injured by ferocious beasts. The tragic scenes completely subverted her understanding.
Before witnessing some things firsthand, they were always just cold descriptions. For example, what Shan Xinci told her: there would be no major issues, at most the human world would be a bit chaotic, and they, as medical cultivators, would receive more gratitude from the people.
The civilians who came to Mystic Crane Mountain for help said that hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of people had been killed by the beasts. Hearing it was just a number.
But when she was truly immersed in it, she really couldn’t consider the death or injury of a hundred people as a minor matter.
Those were a hundred living people. When their dismembered and unrecognizable corpses lay around her, it was hard for her to believe that the person who created this disaster was a compassionate and merciful person.
She had to go back to find Shan Xinci and make her see for herself what the human world had become.
If the rampaging beasts were not stopped soon, the human world would quickly become a hell of blood and seas.
A thunderous roar erupted from the dark night. Winding lightning exploded beside her. Shan Lei was so startled that she almost fell off her sword.
She quickly stabilized herself. At this moment, the light from the lightning allowed her to see a mutated Leopard Cormorant Beast chasing a woman holding a child below.
Not good, Shan Lei saw that if it weren’t for a pillar blocking its path, the Leopard Cormorant Beast would have bitten the woman just now.
The child in the woman’s arms also seemed frightened and cried out loudly. This caused the Leopard Cormorant Beast to track them by their cries, even in the darkness.
Shan Lei quickly descended on her sword. She also found the woman following the crying sound and rescued the woman and her child before the Leopard Cormorant Beast could.
She rose again on her sword. Fortunately, she encountered this non-flying Leopard Cormorant Beast. If it had been able to fly, she would have had trouble escaping today.
The woman shrieked in the air. The child, however, stopped crying due to the fright of flying.
After some reassurance, the woman gradually calmed down.
She had important matters to attend to at Mystic Crane Mountain, and bringing these two along would be inconvenient. She wanted to find a safe place to leave them and saw a barrier with a light from afar.
As she approached, she recognized someone.
Lan Fushang had just finished treating the last injured person and was about to go out to support Gu Jingyang and the others. From afar, she saw someone approaching on her sword.
Seeing that it was Shan Lei, she felt a little relieved. Shan Lei was also a medical cultivator, and they had met at Summer Shadow Peak before.
Shan Lei said that she had rushed back from the human world and rescued people along the way. She had urgent matters to attend to at Mystic Crane Mountain to find Shan Xinci, and after leaving the people, she planned to depart.
But Gu Jingyang and the others wanted to know the current situation in the human world, so she had to stay a little longer and said that the places with ferocious beasts in the human world were in complete chaos, with corpses everywhere and thick blood mist.
Gu Jingyang frowned deeply. “This disaster is clearly man-made. If the reason for the mutation of the demonic beasts cannot be found and the culprit cannot be brought to justice in time, the human world will not survive at this rate, and Mystic Crane Mountain will also be in danger.”
Everyone’s hearts sank. The person who caused such a disaster probably intended to destroy the world.
Shan Lei averted her gaze slightly, her cheeks flushing a little. She was also one of the culprits.
Fortunately, everyone else was immersed in grief and anger, and no one noticed her, except for Lan Fushang, who had just finished treating the injuries of the woman and child Shan Lei had rescued.
Lan Fushang, seeing Shan Lei’s unusual reaction, was puzzled. After Shan Lei left, she immediately reported this discovery to Gu Jingyang.
Gu Jingyang was very surprised. She silently mulled over Shan Lei’s name and asked Lan Fushang, “Do you know the relationship between Shan Lei and Shan Xinci?”
Lan Fushang pondered. “It should be good.”
She had been left at Summer Shadow Peak by Shan Xinci for a long time and was even taken as a disciple by Shan Xinci. She was considered an elder at Summer Shadow Peak and had free access.
Although Shan Lei and Shan Xinci seemed to have no interaction in front of others, Lan Fushang had seen Shan Lei secretly come to find Shan Xinci several times on nights when she hadn’t slept while cultivating herbs.
Gu Jingyang was lost in thought, recalling the Moon Essence Ice Crystals they had seen in the demonic beast cave in Zhuoling Mountain. At that time, she had already investigated Shan Xinci.
Perhaps…
She quickly took out her spirit mirror and wanted to contact A’Ling to tell her about these new clues.
However, the scarlet bead on the spirit mirror lit up and then went out. After several attempts, she still couldn’t contact A’Ling.
“What’s going on? Did A’Ling get into trouble?” Gu Jingyang said worriedly, looking at the unresponsive spirit mirror in her hand.
Lan Fushang also looked tense. “Try sending a message to ask the Mystic Crane Mountain disciples who went with A’Ling to the west of the city.”
Gu Jingyang nodded quickly. Fortunately, after they had assigned their respective directions, they had left each other contact information through Huang He.
Upon receiving the reply, knowing that A’Ling had left the barrier to rescue people from the beast group and had not yet returned, but that the barrier A’Ling had set up was still intact, Gu Jingyang was slightly relieved. The intact barrier meant that A’Ling was fine.
Since she couldn’t contact A’Ling, she could only deduce the matter herself. She guessed that these ferocious beasts were related to Shan Xinci.
On the other hand, while Gu Jingyang was still making a guess, A’Ling had already confirmed who the culprit was.
“It’s Saint Venerable Dao Rong!”
After hearing what Shi Qingqian said, A’Ling exclaimed in surprise and anger, punching the jade bed. But she forgot that her hand was still interlocked with Shi Qingqian’s, and it was Shi Qingqian’s fingers that hit the bed.
“Ah, are you okay?”
In the dim secret chamber, the two heads that had been close together separated due to this sudden incident.
A’Ling pulled Shi Qingqian’s hand and gently blew on it. Before A’Ling could apologize, her head was gently guided back.
In the dim light, their heads were pressed together again, shoulder to shoulder.
This person, truly…
A’Ling didn’t know what to say for a moment.
“Do you want to continue listening?”
Shi Qingqian placed their clasped hands on her lap. Although her fingers had been cushioning it, A’Ling’s wrist had still bumped against the jade bed.
A’Ling quickly nodded and said “yes.” It had taken her considerable effort to pry open Shi Qingqian’s mouth and make this person, who kept everything bottled up, willing to reveal what was hidden in her heart. She naturally couldn’t miss this rare opportunity.
And thinking about how she had pried open Shi Qingqian’s mouth, it had been quite an effort.
A momentary lapse in thought, remembering what had just happened in the secret chamber, brought back that ticklish feeling.
“Wait a moment.”
A’Ling tilted her head and leaned over slightly, gently kissing the corner of Shi Qingqian’s lips. When Shi Qingqian looked over with trembling eyes, she smiled and said, “Alright, you can continue.”
Although there were still a hundred little cats scratching in her heart, this kiss at least subdued one of the little claws.