"He's not Li Zhaoye, Master!" Luo Luo spoke rapidly, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion. "What if Li Zhaoye is already dead? Master, I dreamed... I saw his head inside a fish's belly."
At her words, Master Qingxu's hair stood on end, and goosebumps erupted across his cheeks.
He shuddered. "There are no ghosts in this world. Don’t scare your master like this."
He abruptly stood up, rubbing his arms as he paced back and forth in the side hall.
Luo Luo pressed her lips together, watching his restless movements.
After a moment, Master Qingxu raised three fingers, gesturing vaguely in the air before turning to ask, "Aside from the lack of resonance with his soul-blood, is there anything else?"
Luo Luo shook her head honestly.
His temperament was different—but she had no experience with memory loss and didn’t know whether such a drastic change was normal.
"Just the soul-blood..." Master Qingxu's eyes flickered with an emotion Luo Luo couldn’t decipher.
Luo Luo frowned. "Isn’t the lack of soul-blood resonance enough to prove he’s an imposter?"
Master Qingxu fell silent for a long moment.
Finally, he spoke slowly, weighing each word. "Luo Luo... he can’t possibly be fake."
Luo Luo was furious. "Master!"
If she weren’t too weak to move, she might have drawn her sword against him in defiance.
Master Qingxu sat on the edge of her sickbed, hunched over with a sigh. "Have you forgotten? Daoist Xuan Yi himself reforged Li Zhaoye’s sword meridian. If there were any issue with his identity, how could it have escaped that one’s notice? And where would anyone find someone who looks exactly like Li Zhaoye, with the same bone structure and cultivation techniques, to impersonate him?"
Luo Luo insisted, "The body is his, but the soul has been replaced."
Master Qingxu asked, "Because of the soul-blood?"
Luo Luo thought carefully before nodding. "Not just the soul-blood. It’s also my intuition. Master, I don’t know why, but I feel like Li Zhaoye is even more miserable than I am..."
She paused, suppressing a sob before continuing calmly, "Someone as proud as him... if he can’t return, he must feel utterly humiliated."
Master Qingxu turned his face away.
He lifted his hand, intending to pat hers in comfort, but quickly realized this stubborn girl wouldn’t want her vulnerability exposed. His fingers twitched before curling back.
"The soul," Master Qingxu sighed, "cannot exist independently of the flesh. This was taught in the very first lesson of Daoist principles. Were you dozing off during morning lectures?"
Luo Luo pressed her lips tighter.
Master Qingxu tapped the edge of the bed lightly. "The soul, the consciousness—they are one with the body’s flesh and meridians. Even when one cultivates to the Divine Transformation stage like me, it is the flesh that ascends to sainthood."
He motioned for her to sense the vast power emanating from him. "The body is me, the soul is me. Destroy the flesh, and the soul will vanish with it. Forget the Nascent Soul stage—those weak wisps of consciousness would scatter in the wind without a body. And those who reach Divine Transformation? Every single one is a prodigy among prodigies. Who would throw away their cultivation, risk soul annihilation, just to seize a body leagues beneath their own?"
These were fundamental truths of cultivation. Luo Luo wasn’t ignorant.
She simply refused to accept it. "But Li Zhaoye’s soul-blood has changed."
Master Qingxu hesitated, then sighed again.
Luo Luo declared firmly, "I have a way to see his 'true self.' Will you help me, Master?"
Master Qingxu’s expression sharpened. "Oh?"
Just then, a thunderous crash echoed from outside the hall.
The furious voice of Sect Master Lingxue exploded through the air: "Qing! Xu!"
Master Qingxu sucked in a sharp breath. "Tsk! What’s that madwoman shrieking about now?"
Before his words fully left his mouth, the barrier he had placed outside the hall was shattered by a single strike from Master Lingxue—along with half the door.
The dull crack of splintering wood made Master Qingxu’s face turn green.
Footsteps and the rustling of robes approached swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, Master Lingxue, dignified in her high crown and flowing robes, stormed in with her entourage.
No trace of spring accompanied her—only a wave of frost that plunged the Hall of Heart’s Reflection back into winter.
The Elder of Penal Law trailed behind her, his face the picture of despair. Barely a few days of peace, and yet another incident.
Gu Meng hurried in after him, her eyes red and swollen like a rabbit’s. The moment she entered, she frantically scanned the room before calling out in a tearful voice, "Brother Li! Brother Li!"
Master Lingxue narrowed her phoenix eyes at Master Qingxu. "Where is Li Zhaoye?!"
Master Qingxu hissed, "Tsk... what’s this? You arrived too fast!"
Truly, bad news traveled swiftly.
As it turned out, Gu Meng had witnessed the fight between Li Zhaoye and Luo Luo in the Radiant Pavilion.
She had watched in horror as Li Zhaoye was stabbed in the side, frantic but trapped behind locked doors and windows, pounding on the wood like an ant on a hot pan.
After what felt like an eternity, she discovered a hidden window left unlatched.
She climbed out and rushed to the Elder’s Peak for help, only to be told that Master Qingxu had never brought Li Zhaoye there for treatment.
Gu Meng had nearly lost her mind with worry.
The disciples at the Elder’s Peak, hearing her panicked account, assumed Luo Luo had killed Li Zhaoye in a rage and Master Qingxu was covering it up. The matter was too grave for them to handle, so they immediately took Gu Meng to the main peak to report to the sect master.
And so, Master Lingxue had come to demand answers.
Once he understood the situation, Master Qingxu slapped his chest in frustration, glaring daggers at the sobbing Gu Meng as if he could pierce her through with his gaze.
He stomped his foot. "How could you believe this mortal’s nonsense?! My two disciples were just sparring! They’re both perfectly fine!"
Master Lingxue’s voice was icy. "The pool of blood in front of the Radiant Pavilion says otherwise, Qingxu. How dare you shield her?!"
Master Qingxu: "..."
Thud.
Hearing the commotion, Li Zhaoye limped into view, leaning against the doorframe. His voice was hoarse as he said, "I’m fine. There’s no need for concern, honored elders."
His pale face and unsteady breath suggested otherwise.
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Gu Meng rushed to him, weeping.
Master Lingxue laughed coldly, pointing an accusing finger at Master Qingxu. "Look at what your precious disciple has done! Qingxu, search your conscience—has your favoritism gone too far?!"
At that, Master Qingxu’s expression darkened instantly, the air around him growing heavy.
Though he was often erratic and quick-tempered, few had ever seen him truly enraged.
Now, his fury was unmistakable.
The wrath and pressure of a mid-stage Divine Transformation cultivator descended upon the hall. Everyone except Master Lingxue staggered under the weight, as though a mountain pressed upon their shoulders, their knees nearly buckling.
Master Lingxue’s aura flared in response, clashing against his like blade against blade.
Their gazes locked, sparks flying.
"Lingxue... Lingxue." Master Qingxu spoke through clenched teeth, each word dripping with venom. "How quick you are to judge others by your own standards. Just because you once harbored improper feelings for your master, you assume all disciples are as shameless as you!"
Everyone else: "..."
Wh—wh—wh—WHAT?!
If not for the suffocating pressure from the two Divine Transformation experts, the entire hall would have erupted in gasps.
"You!" Master Lingxue clearly hadn’t expected him to say such things in public. Her blood surged with a mix of humiliation and fury. "How dare you slander me and our master with your baseless accusations!"
"Stop—" Master Qingxu raised a hand, his smile icy. "What do you mean 'you and our master'? This was your own delusional, one-sided infatuation—what does our venerable master have to do with it? If not for me covering for you, would you even have the face to stand before him?"
A murderous intent flashed in Master Lingxue’s eyes. "Qing—xu!"
Master Qingxu didn’t back down. "I’ve given you enough face, yet you keep targeting my disciple. Since you’re pushing me, I don’t care about shame anymore. Let’s lay it all out today—back then, our marriage pact was just words spoken in the heat of the moment. There was no real affection, and I never laid a finger on you. Yet who would’ve thought you’d covet our master and plant a fine green hat on my head!"
Master Lingxue took a deep breath, struggling to restrain herself.
By now, it was too late to dismiss the onlookers.
This long-buried secret, known to only a handful, had been exposed before everyone.
Master Qingxu, having thrown caution to the wind, let out a cold laugh and turned to Luo Luo on the bed. "I didn’t want to say this, disciple."
He shook his wrist. "The Heartbond Oath—if even one person betrays it, if their heart strays, the connection between them fades. Not only that, but it also disrupts the flow of qi, greatly harming one’s cultivation. I suffered this once before!"
Luo Luo: "Oh…"
So that’s why, when she mentioned sensing no trace of the soul-blood earlier, her master had hesitated, his expression complicated.
So betrayal had the same effect.
Her master must have thought Li Zhaoye had changed his heart, fallen for Gu Meng, and couldn’t bear to tell her.
Wait—hold on. Her master and the sect leader had…?!
Luo Luo’s realization came belatedly. She gasped, her pupils trembling with shock.
Looking around, she saw the Elder of Penal Law, Senior Uncle Fuling, and the unfortunate disciples present all wearing expressions of sheer astonishment. Li Zhaoye even shoved Gu Meng aside—she was blocking his view of the drama.
"A matter from eight hundred years ago," Master Qingxu waved a hand dismissively. "The marriage pact was dissolved almost immediately, kept quiet to avoid embarrassment. Ugh!"
The crowd: "…"
For a long moment, they were dazed.
Who had been Master Qingxu and Master Lingxue’s shared master? None other than Daoist Xuan Yi, the revered Half-Step Immortal who had long secluded himself in closed-door cultivation.
A Half-Step Immortal stood beyond mortal ties, no longer bound by titles like "master" or "disciple."
Nothing Master Qingxu did could surprise anyone—but who would’ve imagined that the stern, rule-abiding sect leader had such a scandalous past, one that even involved that legendary figure?
The crowd lowered their eyes, feigning ignorance.
After a long silence, Master Lingxue let out a soft, chilling laugh. "Qingxu, Qingxu. After all this, you’re still just protecting your disciple. What a pity—even with my reputation in tatters, I haven’t forgotten why I came here today. Your disciple, guilty of harming a fellow sect member, has committed no small offense!"
Before Master Qingxu could explode, Luo Luo grabbed his sleeve.
"Master, Sect Leader," she said weakly, "I admit my wrongdoing. I’ll accept my punishment."
Master Qingxu whipped his head around to stare at her.
Luo Luo blinked, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Their gazes locked, her silent plea unmistakable—Master, master, master! You’re so much smarter than me, you understand what I’m planning, right? Help me!
Master Qingxu sighed in resignation.
"Sect Leader," Luo Luo turned to Master Lingxue, her tone almost smug, "I injured Li Zhaoye this badly. According to sect rules, I should be sent to the Nether Prison to atone, right?"
The Nether Prison was where the worst offenders were sent.
The Reflection Cliff was for discipline and repentance—safe, controlled. The Nether Prison, however, could be deadly.
Master Lingxue narrowed her phoenix-like eyes. "You’re aware of this?"
Luo Luo nodded. "But I’m injured. I doubt I can subdue demons there. Master…"
She deliberately turned a pitiful gaze toward Master Qingxu.
Master Qingxu: "…"
His disciple’s acting was truly painful to watch!
He sighed dramatically, planting his hands on his hips and tilting his chin up. "My disciple is injured! The Nether Prison is too dangerous—send her to the Reflection Cliff instead!"
Seeing him still shielding her so blatantly, Master Lingxue’s voice turned sharp. "Injuries have never been grounds for exemption from punishment!"
"Fine. I accept," Luo Luo conceded smoothly. "But Sect Leader, Li Zhaoye also attacked me. It was mutual combat. If I go to the Nether Prison, so does he!"
Master Lingxue: "…"
Luo Luo pressed on. "Sect Leader, examine my injuries. I’m not much better off than he is!"
Master Lingxue: "…"
Gu Meng, listening anxiously, cut in. "No, no! Sect Leader, please reconsider! Brother Li is injured! How can he go somewhere so dangerous in his condition?"
Luo Luo immediately threw Master Lingxue’s own words back at her. "Injuries have never been grounds for exemption from punishment."
Master Lingxue had no choice but to punish them both.
With every argument preemptively countered, what else could she do?
There was no way out.
The Elder of Penal Law announced tonelessly, "Disciples Li Zhaoye and Luo Luo of Mirror Twin Peaks, for disregarding sect law and harming a fellow disciple, are sentenced to one hundred days in the Nether Prison to atone through service."
Luo Luo glanced at her master, their eyes meeting in silent understanding.
Master Qingxu sighed again, nodding helplessly. "Do what you must."
Luo Luo: "Mm!"
Warmth bloomed in her chest.
She knew her master didn’t truly believe Li Zhaoye was an imposter—yet he still supported her "recklessness" without hesitation.
