Wen Jingzhi had not expected Ning Weixuan to recognize him so quickly.
But then again, it was not entirely unexpected.
Unlike the two idiots Wen Jingshu and Fu Ge, Ning Weixuan had genuinely fought his way up to his current position through countless battles within the Longevity Dao Sect.
Wen Jingzhi had remained silent in the hope of delaying the moment Ning Weixuan figured out his identity.
Unfortunately, things had not gone according to plan.
Originally, he had only intended to buy time. As long as Xu Guan emerged from seclusion, Ning Weixuan would have no choice but to leave obediently, no matter how unwilling he was.
But now that Ning Weixuan had deduced his identity and even connected it to his relationship with Shu Xin…
He had to die!
Wen Jingzhi no longer held back and unleashed his full power.
The disguise Sword Spirit had placed on him had originally been meant to help suppress the faint traces of demonic qi within him. Now that Wen Jingzhi had decided to remove all restrictions, his true appearance naturally returned as well.
In the blink of an eye, his original youthful figure transformed into that of a grown man. His mask shattered, revealing Wen Jingzhi’s true face.
“Senior Uncle Ning is indeed impressive.” Wen Jingzhi smiled calmly, but his eyes were filled with murderous intent. “You were the one who killed my master, yet now you have the nerve to accuse me of plotting against the Longevity Dao Sect. This level of shamelessness is something I, your junior nephew, truly ought to learn from.”
Before his voice had even faded, Wen Jingzhi had already summoned his Yin-Yang Dharma Idol. The demonic qi around him boiled, and every move he made was aimed at killing Ning Weixuan.
Ning Weixuan had never taken Wen Jingzhi seriously.
In his view, there were no shortcuts to cultivation. Wen Jingzhi’s cultivation had advanced far too quickly in such a short period of time, so he must have taken some kind of shortcut. But for a cultivator in the Unblemished Realm, taking shortcuts was just like Qin Rushan had done: they might appear lofty and untouchable, but in truth, they were so fragile that a single poke could break them. Their actual strength naturally could not amount to much.
However, after exchanging several blows, Ning Weixuan realized that he had been disastrously wrong.
How could cultivation achieved through a shortcut possibly be like this?
It was as though Wen Jingzhi had fought his way out of a sea of blood!
Ning Weixuan was horrified. He became even more determined to kill this cheap junior nephew before him. Otherwise, not only would his own life be in danger, but this man might one day become his most significant obstacle on the path to the Mahayana realm!
At the same time,
Shu Xin also sensed the disturbance coming from the sect’s rear mountain.
【Wen Jingzhi and Ning Weixuan are fighting.】
【That bastard Ning Weixuan has guessed the little fox’s true identity—and he’s also figured out that the two of you are connected. We absolutely cannot let him live!】
Sword Spirit had stayed by Shu Xin’s side for many years and had picked up quite a few things from her.
Now that it had heard Ning Weixuan expose the connection between Wen Jingzhi and Shu Xin, its first reaction was to eliminate the problem at its root.
“He’s figured out our identities? Then indeed, we can’t let him live.” Shu Xin nodded, then praised Sword Spirit. “Not bad. After following me for so many years, you’ve finally learned how to manage risks.”
【Oh, it’s not like that.】Sword Spirit happily accepted Shu Xin’s praise at first, but before long, it began to feel that something was wrong.
Wait a minute. How did I start becoming like her?
I wasn’t like this before.
For a moment, Sword Spirit had no idea whether this change was good or bad. After thinking it over, it could only blame Shu Xin for being too poisonous. Staying by her side might not make one learn good habits quickly, but learning bad ones was guaranteed to happen at lightning speed.
Shu Xin lifted her foot and walked toward the sect’s rear mountain.
After two steps, she stopped and turned toward the cultivators in the sky.
“Someone has entered the place where my master is in seclusion and is causing trouble. I’m going in to help my master remove the obstruction. If any of you wish to do my master a favor, please help ensure that no one enters and no one leaves. Shu Xin thanks you in advance.”
With that, Shu Xin walked openly into the rear mountain, as though she were not speaking to a group of cultivators in the Unblemished Realm, but simply giving orders to her own subordinates.
And yet, they had no choice but to obey.
“Could that girl be treating us like free labor?” Yin Rushi’s cheap master could not help muttering.
“The Old Ancestor ordered us to assist her. If we are not laborers, then what are we?” Cui Yuhua sighed. “When all is said and done, this is about keeping the Daoist sects in check. If the Daoist sects truly unite, the good days of our Demon Sect will be over.”
There was nothing wrong with that reasoning.
The cultivators of the Blood Demon Sect had no alternative.
Several cultivators who had other ideas tried to follow Shu Xin into the rear mountain, but Cui Yuhua, White Crane Dao Lord, and the others stopped them.
“Fellow Daoist, didn’t you hear what Shu Xin said just now? No one is allowed in, and no one is allowed out. Please stop here. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to treat you as an enemy.”
“You people actually treat the words of a little girl as sacred law?” one Unblemished Realm cultivator sneered. “I merely wish to go in and help Xu Guan.”
“Then I’m sorry.” Cui Yuhua blocked his path. “The Old Ancestor has given her order, and we dare not disobey. Since I have no idea what you truly intend to do, I can only stop all of you.”
“Cui Yuhua, do you really think the Seeking Gods Sect will remember this favor?” The cultivator who had been stopped flew into a rage. “Righteous and demonic paths cannot coexist. Even if you save Xu Guan’s life today, he may not spare you in the future when you stand against him.”
“I never expected to receive such a favor.” Cui Yuhua scoffed. “As long as I can survive the Old Ancestor, that’s enough.”
Seeing that Shu Xin left without the slightest hesitation or concern, Yin Rushi could not help feeling a trace of admiration.
Such courage and ability to grasp the situation were truly one in ten thousand.
【You’re really not worried about them stopping the other enemies for you?】Sword Spirit asked, genuinely curious.
“Because they can no longer stop Master from ascending to the Mahayana realm, so they can only maximize their own benefits,” Shu Xin replied calmly. “Being our friends is better than being our enemies. Besides, no one wants to see the Longevity Dao Sect become the sole dominant power. In a way, we’re benefiting from the Longevity Dao Sect’s actions. But who can blame us? It was the one that upset the balance between the righteous and demonic paths in the cultivation world.”
Originally, the nine great sects and ten major schools had restrained one another, with none capable of overwhelming the rest.
But now, the Longevity Dao Sect was showing faint signs of becoming the sole dominant force.
If Xu Guan did not ascend to the Mahayana realm, were they supposed to hand that position over to the Longevity Dao Sect and wait for it to destroy their own sects?
How would that be any different from raising a tiger that would eventually turn on them?
The rise of the Seeking Gods Sect at this moment was both accidental and inevitable.
Therefore, Shu Xin was not worried that these people would turn against them halfway through.
When their own interests were involved, they were clearer-headed than anyone.
For now, the most important thing was to kill Ning Weixuan!
“We’ve fought Ning Weixuan before.” Shu Xin had a deep impression of him. After all, back then, she had briefly restored Sword Spirit to its complete state, yet because of the limits of her cultivation, she had still been unable to kill him with a single strike.
Sword Spirit had clearly once claimed that killing an Earthly Immortal was as easy as chopping vegetables.
And yet, it had failed to kill even a cultivator in the Unblemished Realm.
[He’s quite formidable. If it weren’t for the restrictions on spiritual energy these days, he would have reached the Mahayana stage long ago.]
The Sword Spirit was not nearly as disdainful toward Ning Weixuan, and its assessment remained fairly objective. [He has the bearing of a classic earthly immortal. It’s just a pity he was born in an age like this. If he had been born in ancient times, he would have long since become a soul beneath my sword.]
Shu Xin smiled. “Indeed, Ning Weixuan is both gifted and clever. Among the Nine Sons of Everlasting Life, only he has always been able to contend with Master Yushan. Unfortunately, Master Yushan has already achieved the Mahayana stage. The only thing this defeated opponent can count on now is Wuweizi’s regard. If Master reaches the Mahayana stage first, who knows how long Ning Weixuan will have to wait?”
A man like Ning Weixuan was exceedingly arrogant and intelligent, and ruthless when he acted.
Gong Changshou had been his junior apprentice-brother for many years, yet Ning Weixuan had killed him without the slightest hesitation.
That was also why Shu Xin had rejected Ning Weixuan’s attempts to recruit her back when she was still in the Everlasting Dao Sect.
If she had to choose a master, Xu Guan was still the better choice. He had a sense of responsibility and the right principles. He might be a little poor, but he gave her plenty of freedom—and he truly knew how to shoulder responsibility.
If she had chosen someone like Ning Weixuan, he probably would have dug up her corpse and sold it for money even after she died!
[Although the little fox has the Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Swapping Technique, her foundation is still shallow. She’s strong enough to restrain Ning Weixuan, but killing him outright will still be extremely difficult.]
Cultivators in the Immaculate Realm were already notoriously hard to kill. Ning Weixuan probably also possessed a magical treasure bestowed upon him by an earthly immortal. It would be far too difficult for Wen Jingzhi to kill him.
[I’m afraid you’ll have to use me again.] The Sword Spirit hesitated for once. [But I’m too close to the place where your master is secluded. If I fully recover in a short period of time, I’m afraid I’ll interfere with your master’s tribulation.]
As it said this, the Sword Spirit even abandoned its usual habit of boasting.
It was afraid that if it told Shu Xin that the moment it revealed itself, Xu Guan’s tribulation would essentially be doomed, Shu Xin would snap it into four pieces on the spot.
“Haha, we can’t rely entirely on you.” Shu Xin smiled.
She tightened her grip on the sword, then suddenly stopped.
“One cultivator in the Immaculate Realm isn’t enough to kill Ning Weixuan. What about two?”
The Sword Spirit suddenly realized what she meant and immediately began to panic.
[What? You’re going to break through into the Immaculate Realm right now?]
Wait, wait, wait. Couldn’t you at least find somewhere to go into seclusion?
And didn’t you say you were going to break through in the middle of battle?
I haven’t even seen you break through!
The Sword Spirit was utterly bewildered.
It realized that it didn’t actually understand Shu Xin as well as it had thought.
“The so-called Immaculate Realm is achieved when the body, the spirit, and the Dao heart all reach a state of perfect flawlessness.” Shu Xin slowly took a step forward.
Her body began to emit a soft, glimmering light.
The spiritual energy within her seemed to have been tempered. From quantity to quality, it underwent an obvious transformation.
A breeze blew in from somewhere.
It lifted Shu Xin’s hair, making her entire person seem to glitter with light.
Two more gusts of wind swept past.
Only then did the Sword Spirit realize what was happening.
The Three Winds and Four Fires.
Shu Xin was actually undergoing her tribulation?
But in all the years the Sword Spirit had lived, it had never seen a tribulation like this. It had never even heard of one.
And yet, it was happening right before its eyes.
What?
Was Shu Xin the Heavenly Dao’s illegitimate daughter?
The Sword Spirit racked its brains, but could not make sense of it.
The Heavenly Astral Wind, the Earthly Fiend Wind, and the Yin-Yang Wind took turns sweeping over Shu Xin’s body.
Shu Xin did not move at all, allowing them to test the foundations of her cultivation.
Not one of the three found a single flaw.
The Three Winds blew with all their might for quite some time, but in the end, they were unable to do anything to Shu Xin and gradually faded away.
The Sword Spirit’s eyes widened. It wondered if it had seen wrong.
Were those really the Three Winds, or merely a spring breeze?
“Cultivators enter seclusion simply to place themselves in a completely tranquil environment, allowing them to shut out all distractions and settle their minds.” Shu Xin took another step forward.
With a sudden roar, four different flames began to burn across her body.
For an instant, Shu Xin’s hair turned snow-white.
But in the next moment, her abundant and enduring lifespan restored it to black.
Even the wrinkles on her face lasted for less than a breath.
Under normal circumstances, the Lifespan Fire would burn away most of a cultivator’s longevity when they advanced into the Immaculate Realm.
If their lifespan was insufficient, if they had once used techniques that consumed their longevity, or if their foundations had ever been lacking, the Lifespan Fire would immediately burn away their years. It would transform a young man or woman into a frail old person, until they could no longer maintain their youthful appearance and died beneath the Five Signs of Heavenly Decay.
But Shu Xin was only a little over a hundred years old.
Almost none of her lifespan had been consumed.
Even when she saw herself grow old, her Dao heart did not waver in the slightest.
So what if she grew old?
Everyone grew old eventually.
She had already lived for more than a hundred years. Even if she became an old grandmother, she would still be the most formidable old grandmother around!
When the Fame and Fortune Fire ignited, her spiritual sense expanded several times over in an instant.
Every movement in her surroundings appeared one by one within her mind.
The shock on the faces of the Immaculate Realm cultivators outside appeared there as well.
Of course they were shocked and curious.
Shu Xin had entered the rear mountain less than fifteen minutes ago, yet they had already sensed the sudden change in her aura.
In the blink of an eye, Shu Xin heard countless voices praising her, voices filled with disbelief.
“She’s only a little over a hundred years old, and she’s about to become an Immaculate Realm cultivator? This is unprecedented—and likely never to be repeated.”
“Does the Questioning Gods Sect actually have a disciple like this?”
“No, that can’t be right. How could the Everlasting Dao Sect have cast out a disciple of this caliber?”
“Have they gone mad? Even in ancient times, unless someone was a reincarnated immortal cultivating anew, how could they advance at such a speed?”
“Who exactly is she?”
“The title of the youngest Immaculate Realm cultivator, currently held by Xu Guan, is about to pass to someone else.”
…
Her spiritual sense seemed to drift even farther away.
Countless praises, expressions of admiration, and looks of appreciation settled upon her.
Even Xu Guan, who had already entered the Mahayana stage, showered her with praise when he saw her. He declared that she was worthy of being his disciple and that she would become the finest sect master the Questioning Gods Sect had ever known.
Endless spirit stones were piled before her, one heap after another.
Even spirit veins—resources that had become rarer with every passing day—were brought before her, with people willing to cultivate alongside her.
These cultivators were even willing to agree to her most unreasonable demands.
For example, they would relocate all mortals to a certain country, where no cultivator would ever disturb or interfere with them again.
Everything was proceeding exactly as she imagined.
Everything in the world would be hers for the taking, so long as she desired it.
Shu Xin gave a soft laugh.
“A world like this may be wonderful, but I don’t like receiving things from others. I only like creating them myself.”
With just a few words, Shu Xin extinguished the Fame and Fortune Fire in her heart.
The Sword Spirit had lost all desire to complain.
Heaven was truly unfair.
How could this woman be so clear-minded?
The splendor and riches of the cultivation world—including everything she desired—were placed directly before her, yet Shu Xin was able to reject them with a clear mind.
Then, one after another, Shu Xin seemed to witness the births, aging, illnesses, and deaths of countless people.
They were the mortals she had sent across the sea to that barren land.
Some of the mortals she had sent there managed to live well, but others did not.
After being kept like livestock by cultivators for so long, many of them had lost the ability to withstand natural disasters.
When faced with all kinds of calamities, they did not think about how to overcome them. Instead, they knelt and kowtowed, begging the immortals for help.
Naturally, some of them died.
Others survived more comfortably by exploiting their fellow people.
Even a kingdom made up entirely of mortals could not escape the division between high and low.
Shu Xin naturally understood this.
She had come from the mortal world herself, and knew better than anyone that the mortal world was not a harmonious paradise.
On the contrary, once the cultivators—their common oppressors—were removed, mortals would begin to divide among themselves, assigning different people to different ranks.
The souls of those mortals clung tightly to Shu Xin’s clothes.
They wailed in agony, condemning what she had done.
“We could have lived well with the cultivators’ help! It was you! You’re the one who got us killed!”
“Why did you drive us to this place without helping us? We’ve fallen into this state because of you!”
“You killed us!”
“Give me back my life!”
“Give our lives back!”
…
The enormous weight of karma pressed down on Shu Xin like a succession of towering mountains.
The Three Winds and Four Fires of the Immaculate Realm’s tribulation were naturally on a completely different level from those of the Grotto-Heaven Realm.
Since Shu Xin had altered the karma of others, she naturally had to suffer the corresponding backlash.
And these mortals were the people whose fates she had changed the most, and the ones who burdened her with the greatest karmic weight.
Now, they had gathered around Shu Xin one after another, each demanding an explanation from her.
Shu Xin looked at them. Her eyes held pity and reluctance.
But there was no regret in them.
“I only gave you another choice.”
“As for how you lived after making that choice, that isn’t my responsibility. It’s yours.”
“You were always praying for me to change your fate, or for the cultivators to change your fate. Yet you never considered that the only people who can truly change your fate are yourselves.”
“The road is something you must walk with your own feet.”
“If you never learn to rely on yourselves, then no matter how much help I give you, you still won’t be able to survive.”
Shu Xin spoke to the mortals, each word clear and deliberate. “I owe you nothing, and I owe no one anything.”
“The only people you owe anything to are yourselves.”
The mortals were nearly incredulous when they heard her say this.
They threw themselves at her, trying to tear and bite her.
But Shu Xin felt not the slightest bit of guilt. Even as they tore at her while she stood there, she did not so much as frown.
She had done nothing wrong.
Reform required bloodshed. That was inevitable.
If they could not learn how to survive on their own even through blood and suffering, then no one could save them.
After all, where in this world was there a true paradise?
The flames of karmic fire could not burn even the slightest mark into Shu Xin’s body.
She stood open and unashamed, calmly accepting all the karma that came her way.
She had already anticipated every consequence before making her decision.
Since that was the case, accepting all those consequences without flinching did not make Shu Xin feel that she had wronged anyone.
Instead, she was merely frustrated by their failure to live up to their potential.
The Sword Spirit simply stopped and watched, waiting to see how Shu Xin would overcome her tribulation.
It had already run out of ideas.
The Three Winds and Four Fires were almost over. Only the final Fire of Passion remained, right?
The Sword Spirit’s interest was piqued.
If it remembered correctly, Shu Xin had shown a slight reaction the last time she faced the Fire of Passion.
What would happen this time?
The Sword Spirit was filled with anticipation.
Yet this time, it was disappointed.
There were no different people or bizarre action scenes like before.
There was only one person after another.
They stood in a line, quietly waiting for Shu Xin to choose.
At the very front stood Wen Jingzhi.
Qu Yougu, Xie Xianzhi, and the others all stood behind him.
But even Wen Jingzhi merely smiled at Shu Xin.
“Sister Shu, do you think I’m truly awake or not?”
That was all he asked.
Shu Xin only smiled.
“Whether you’re awake or not, I know that you’re you. That’s enough.”
“I already know exactly what I want.”
With that one simple sentence, the magnificent Fire of Passion was extinguished in an instant, as though a torrential rain had been poured over it. In the blink of an eye, it vanished without a trace.
Rumble—
Perhaps even the Heavenly Dao no longer had any expectations of Shu Xin.
It merely sent down a few thunderbolts for show. They struck Shu Xin’s body, serving as a final seal upon the completion of her tribulation.
From beginning to end, it seemed that even the heavenly tribulation had no way to deal with an oddity like Shu Xin.
“My Dao heart has long since reached perfection, while my body and soul have been tempered under intense pressure this entire time.” Shu Xin held out her hand and smiled. “Sword Spirit, cultivation is a very unreasonable thing.”
“It’s like when I used to take advanced calculus. No matter how hard I worked, all I could get was a passing grade.”
“But the geniuses I knew could glance through the textbook once and then solve problems even the teacher couldn’t do.”
Cultivation had always been a privilege available to only a tiny minority of people.
Those cultivators should have lived in seclusion, devoted wholeheartedly to pursuing their own Great Dao, instead of determining the future of the entire cultivation world.
In the end, the resources of this cultivation world had once been far too abundant. They had created far too many cultivators, turning many people who should never have been able to cultivate into cultivators and forcing the world to pay the price for their pursuit of immortality.
So many cultivators had crowded into a world that was never truly suited to support cultivation on such a massive scale. As a result, they had been driven to oppress mortals without limits—or to oppress cultivators weaker than themselves.
Step by step, the cultivators nurtured by this world had pushed it to the brink of destruction.
Ultimately, it was this world that had chosen her, not the other way around.
Shu Xin had never been in a hurry to enter the Immaculate Realm because she knew that the only thing she lacked was an opportunity.
And that opportunity could arrive at any moment.
Just like now.
The reason she needed to advance to a higher realm was simply that she required greater strength to kill Ning Weixuan.
That was all.
She took three steps.
Under the Sword Spirit’s utterly stunned gaze, Shu Xin completed her transformation from the Grotto-Heaven Realm to the Immaculate Realm.
Smiling brightly, she had become an Immaculate Realm cultivator!
