NOVEL NEXT Ch. 8
Chapter 8: Immortal Fairy’s Fall into Demonic Desire (Hanshan changed to Hanshui, to avoid misunderstanding)
The disciples of Jade Palace had already gone through several generations without seeing Palace Mistress Jade.
After all, Palace Mistress Jade had been in seclusion for a hundred years, paying no attention to worldly affairs.
Thus, these young disciples naturally believed what True Person Hanshui said to be true, and all turned to admire Qiu Yuehan instead.
In truth—
Before True Person Hanshui came out of her cave-dwelling, there had never been any rumors about Jade Palace appointing a Young Palace Mistress.
It seemed likely that since the Palace Mistress had been in closed cultivation for so long, Jade Palace needed someone who could represent the sect publicly.
Hence, such rumors began to spread.
Xia Lianxue herself cared little about the position of Young Palace Mistress.
Her temperament was always serene and gentle.
Moreover, Senior Sister Qiu Yuehan had always been more outstanding than her.
The position naturally belonged to Qiu Yuehan.
Only... deep down, she simply felt a trace of unwillingness.
Because True Person Hanshui—was Xia Lianxue’s guide to the immortal path!
Over ten years ago, before True Person Hanshui prepared to attempt a life-and-death seclusion to break through to the Jade Radiance Stage, she descended the mountain once.
Three years later, she returned with a young girl, personally imparting to her the first chapter of Jade Palace’s heart technique. Yet she never accepted her as a disciple—only calling herself a guide.
After placing the young girl in the disciples’ quarters, True Person Hanshui entered her life-and-death seclusion.
That young girl indeed possessed extraordinary talent.
At a very young age, she quickly rose above others, soon reaching the peak of the Fourth Realm, becoming one of the two True Disciples of Jade Palace.
The girl felt that she had not failed the expectations of her guide.
Thus, when she learned her guide was about to emerge from seclusion, she was so excited she could not close her eyes for several days.
But on the day of emergence—
True Person Hanshui did not praise the young girl she had personally brought back to the sect more than ten years ago.
She did not even recognize Xia Lianxue, but instead fixed her gaze only on Qiu Yuehan, whom she was meeting for the first time.
A young girl could change much in eighteen years.
It was understandable that True Person Hanshui did not recognize her. But when Xia Lianxue reported her name and respectfully addressed her as “True Person,” Hanshui still did not spare her a single glance.
Yet Xia Lianxue had no reason to be angry.
She disliked contention, and True Person Hanshui had a great debt of kindness toward her, so she let it go.
During last year’s grand sect competition, she had thought—if she lost to her senior sister, then she would simply devote herself to assisting her from then on.
After all, the next generation of Jade Palace could never be supported by just one person alone.
As expected, she lost.
By reason, that should have put her heart at ease.
But the human heart seemed never to sail in the same boat as reason.
She did not know why, but on the night she lost, she could not close her eyes even once.
Countless chaotic thoughts surged through her mind, nearly bursting her head apart.
So, from the next day onward, she began to wear a veil, unwilling to let others see her expressions.
That was only the beginning.
In the nights that followed, her thoughts grew darker, more venomous.
She truly had thought—if only Qiu Yuehan were gone.
Yet such thoughts were always forcibly crushed by the torment of her own conscience.
Over and over, Xia Lianxue told herself: “Xia Lianxue, how can you harbor such filthy thoughts!”
If a cultivator’s desires could neither be restrained nor released, in the end, a Desire Demon would invade their body.
To cultivate was first to cultivate the heart.
Xia Lianxue had already fallen into “Desire.”
Rip!
The feather robe never reached the carriage.
The entire carriage burst apart, the skeleton within exploding in a dazzling blaze.
Outside, the rain fell in sheets.
Yet around the carriage, bathed in moonlight, no rain fell—only fire rose, burning fiercely.
Fire within rain.
Sword within fire.
A streak of sword light erupted.
“Jade Balance, Fifth Stage?”
The carriage door was kicked open.
From within stepped out a young man, his face full of helplessness.
The youth carried an Immortal Fairy with blood at the corner of her lips. Step by step, he walked out: “Aren’t big fish supposed to be in the front? You, a Fifth Stage, hiding behind juniors to launch a sneak attack—that’s rather disgraceful.”
Qiu Yuehan had already fallen unconscious.
Her spiritual power had been completely drained, even injuring her very foundation.
That earlier sword strike had been forced out by Lu Changyuan, gripping her hand.
A mist of blood burst apart, slowly revealing a pale-faced middle-aged man: “As long as it kills, the means don’t matter.”
Lu Changyuan said: “That’s true enough—just shameless.”
The middle-aged man replied: “Shamelessness doesn’t matter. Living matters.”
Two black-robed men of Blood Demon Palace respectfully bowed: “Elder Zhen.”
Reaching the Fifth Stage of cultivation, one was already qualified to be called an elder of a great sect.
Elder Zhen narrowed his eyes, strange blood-colored lines etched on his face: “If you put down Qiu Yuehan now, you may leave. My palace does not kill the innocent.”
Lu Changyuan turned his gaze toward Xia Lianxue, frozen motionless in midair, and asked: “What have you done to her?”
Something was clearly wrong with Xia Lianxue. Her once gentle eyes were now stained with a frenzied crimson.
Earlier, Lu Changyuan had sensed no trace of a Desire Demon from her. But now, the stench of maddened desire pouring from her nearly made him retch.
Those tainted by Desire Demons could generally be divided into two stages.
Xia Lianxue was now in the first stage—still retaining human form, but her reason had already been devoured by desire.
Elder Zhen sneered: “We did nothing to her. She herself gave rise to jealousy, a Desire Demon entered her body, and she sought to replace Qiu Yuehan. Righteous Immortal Fairies are always like this—suppressing desire, suppressing desire—until in the end, they cannot escape the invasion of desire itself.”
Perhaps one of these words struck a chord.
Xia Lianxue suddenly raised her head.
Sword in hand, she dove down, straight toward Qiu Yuehan.
She wanted to kill Qiu Yuehan.
Her entire mind was consumed with killing Qiu Yuehan!
Lu Changyuan focused his will and shouted coldly: “Xia Lianxue, is this all you amount to?! Unable to surpass her, so you kill her? If you kill her, you’ll never surpass her again.”
With these words, Lu Changyuan activated the Supreme Pure-Spirit Forget-Immortal Technique.
Xia Lianxue seemed struck by a heavy blow: “No... Senior Sister... I want to... kill Senior Sister?”
Lu Changyuan firmly replied: “Yes, of course you want to kill her!”
Her eyes once again turned scarlet, her killing intent boundless, sword sweeping like a rainbow.
But Lu Changyuan’s next words made her falter once more.
“Of course you want to kill her—but you should kill her at her full strength. Otherwise, doesn’t it prove that you’re always beneath her? That you only dared to strike her when she was defenseless?”
“Yes... yes! How could I be beneath her? If I kill Senior Sister at her peak, then... I’ll be stronger than her? No, I don’t want to kill Senior Sister... I just want to win... win once.”
In the end—
What Xia Lianxue truly cared about was not the position of Young Palace Mistress, but the fact that she was inferior to Qiu Yuehan.
Now, with her mind already clouded, she was misled by Lu Changyuan’s secret use of the Supreme Pure-Spirit Forget-Immortal Technique.
Lu Changyuan let out a sigh of relief.
Elder Zhen even clapped mockingly: “So pedantic. Winning is winning. The dead are the losers.”
Xia Lianxue closed her eyes in pain, as if two voices battled within her mind.
One voice urged her to kill Qiu Yuehan.
The other voice clung desperately to her true heart.
For now, Xia Lianxue had no attention to spare for Blood Demon Palace.
Elder Zhen still did not act, but his eyes locked firmly on the sword in Lu Changyuan’s hand.
It was absurd.
He actually felt a trace of dread.
In truth, his relatively “polite” attitude was not out of kindness—but because of this inexplicable sense of dread.
A mere mortal, holding a sword—could actually make one who had entered the Dao feel apprehension?
Elder Zhen folded his hands behind his back, a Blood Demon Seal condensing in his palm.
No matter what—
He would strike first.
And once he did—
Someone’s head would surely fall.
Very soon—someone’s head fell.