“You—you are really able to help me find my senior sister?” Li Wanxing was no fool. The moment the female cultivator before him hinted that she might help him, he quickly came to his senses.
Then he saw the aura of this female cultivator, who had originally been only at the Core Formation stage, rise steadily until she reached the realm of an Immaculate cultivator.
The pressure of her overwhelming cultivation forced Li Wanxing flat onto the ground, leaving him unable to crawl away.
“Hmm. If I tell you I’m here to help, you probably won’t believe me,” Shu Xin said with a beaming smile. “I’m only here to investigate what happened to the Nine Heavens Dao Sect. While I’m at it, I’ll take a look at what happened to the senior sister you mentioned. I’m a very fair person. If you’re willing to help me, take me to the inner sect. But if you refuse and miss this opportunity, you’ll have to deal with the consequences yourself.”
As she spoke, Shu Xin casually rolled her wrists.
[Isn’t that just a blatant threat?] the Sword Spirit complained.
“What else could I do? It’s not as if I can claim I was moved by the sight of two lovers being kept apart and came running to help him out of the goodness of my heart. That sort of lie would only fool children,” Shu Xin replied.
Sure enough, Li Wanxing’s expression softened somewhat when he heard that Shu Xin had come to cause trouble for the Nine Heavens Dao Sect.
He struggled to his feet, then knelt on the ground. “Rest assured, Senior. I’ve already figured out how to enter the inner sect. I’m willing to lead the way.”
“Then lead on.” Shu Xin nodded, speaking as though she were bestowing a favor upon him.
Li Wanxing’s eyes lit up. “Senior, please follow me.”
“See that? Every snake has its own path, and every rat has its own hole,” Shu Xin said smugly. “If Jingzhi and I had to search our way in ourselves, who knows how long it would have taken us to enter the inner sect? But when you get someone from inside the sect to help, everything becomes much easier. No wonder so many sects are so eager to plant spies in other sects.”
There was no helping it. It saved time.
Just having someone who knew the way could save them an incredible amount of effort.
“Tell me about the Nine Heavens Dao Sect. The matter involving your senior sister probably isn’t an isolated case. You must have investigated quite a few things over the years,” Shu Xin continued questioning him.
“Yes, Senior is truly perceptive.” Li Wanxing immediately recounted everything he had discovered. “After I realized that my senior sister had started acting strangely, I began investigating the other disciples who had entered the inner sect from the outer sect. According to what I found, these disciples had clearly begun to change. This only started happening within roughly the past century.”
“Senior may not know this, but the treatment of inner-sect and outer-sect disciples in our Nine Heavens Dao Sect is vastly different.” Li Wanxing thought for a moment before continuing. “For example, an outer-sect disciple receives one low-grade spirit stone as a monthly allowance. An inner-sect disciple, on the other hand, receives two hundred low-grade spirit stones a month, not counting additional subsidies for pills and magical artifacts. Even if an inner-sect disciple and an outer-sect disciple wish to become Dao companions, they must undergo layer upon layer of review. The mountain ranges where inner-sect disciples cultivate are also separated from those of the outer-sect disciples by hundreds of formations. If it weren’t for the fact that dozens of outer-sect disciples are promoted to the inner sect every year, it would be perfectly reasonable to say that we are actually two separate sects.”
“With such a huge difference, it seems they’re trying to prevent the two sides from interacting,” Shu Xin replied.
The difference between the outer and inner sects of the Longevity Dao Sect was also substantial, but it was nowhere near this absurd.
The Nine Heavens Dao Sect had deliberately blocked every channel through which its inner- and outer-sect disciples could communicate. This was fundamentally detrimental to the sect’s development.
“Yes. And over the years, the gap between the inner and outer sects has continued to widen.” Embarrassment deepened across Li Wanxing’s face. “That’s why, at first, I thought my senior sister’s temperament had changed after she entered the inner sect. But later, I went to great lengths to see her several times, and only then did I realize that it wasn’t merely her personality that had changed. She had practically become a completely different person.”
Li Wanxing led Shu Xin along a narrow path.
According to him, there were too many formations blocking the way between the inner and outer sects. Anyone who traveled normally might be discovered. But this path was outside the formations’ coverage, so they could sneak into the inner sect as long as they were careful.
“This passage must have existed for a very long time.” Shu Xin followed Li Wanxing into a cave and began walking through an underground tunnel.
Though the underground passage was rather dim, it was extremely sturdy. It was certainly not something that could have been dug out in a day or two.
“Yes. This used to be where our sect’s spirit beasts lived,” Li Wanxing said with a sigh. “In its early years, the Nine Heavens Dao Sect actually rose to prominence by raising spirit beasts. I heard that, at the height of its glory, the guardian beast of our sect possessed the cultivation of an Earthly Immortal. Among demon cultivators, it would have been considered a great expert. But later, as spiritual energy declined, spirit beasts could no longer transform into human form, and our sect gradually abandoned the path of beast-taming. This tunnel was once used by those spirit beasts to travel through the mountain. Very few people know about it. My senior sister loved spirit beasts and often sneaked off to see the young ones. That was how she discovered this passage, and she secretly told me about it as well.”
“But when I saw her later, she actually asked me how I had gotten into the inner sect. She had completely forgotten that she was the one who told me about this passage!” Li Wanxing said through clenched teeth. “That was definitely not my senior sister. It had to be some kind of monster!”
That was the difference between possession and parasitism.
In the former, one person could completely transform another into themselves, gaining all of the host’s memories and aptitude after taking over their body. It was more like the two had fused together. In the latter, however, the parasite completely replaced the host. It possessed neither the host’s emotions nor memories, did not inherit the host’s aptitude, and continued to rely on its own power.
“What about inside the sect?” Shu Xin considered the matter before continuing her questions. “The youngest and most talented member of this generation of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect is Xie Xianzhi. Have you ever seen him?”
“I’ve seen him from a distance once,” Li Wanxing answered after thinking for a moment. “But Xie Xianzhi’s life has been completely different from ours since childhood, and we rarely get the chance to see him. The sect enclosed a piece of land outside the mountain gate. Everything and everyone inside it is part of a carefully arranged exercise. Xie Xianzhi grew up in that kind of environment, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds every day. We’ve only heard about him—we’ve never actually met him.”
“Then who is protecting you?” Shu Xin suddenly stopped as she walked. “You were able to discover the path into the inner sect and investigate the changes that have taken place throughout the sect over so many years, yet you’ve remained safe and sound.”
Li Wanxing stopped as well.
“If I were you, after discovering that my senior sister was acting strangely and that something was wrong with the sect, I would do everything possible to escape and make plans for the future. I wouldn’t continue staying here,” Shu Xin said calmly. “Before we leave, I hope you’ll tell me the truth.”
Li Wanxing’s body began to tremble slightly.
He had not expected Shu Xin to notice something was wrong so quickly.
“It was… it was an elder of the inner sect.” Under Shu Xin’s unwavering gaze, Li Wanxing still couldn’t hold out for long. “He was an elder I knew in the past. He—he protected me and told me that if I ever discovered someone investigating the sect’s affairs, no matter who they were, I had to find a way to bring them inside.”
“And where is this elder you mentioned?”
“He fell years ago.” Li Wanxing lowered his head. “They said he encountered a demonic cultivator while out adventuring. I didn’t dare investigate, and I didn’t dare say anything.”
It wasn’t that there were no clear-sighted people in the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect. It was just that those people either met with mysterious deaths in one way or another, or else chose to remain silent. In the end, the sect had become what it was through the convergence of countless factors.
After leaving the tunnel, Li Wanxing brought Shu Xin to the so-called “cultivation grounds for inner disciples.”
The moment they emerged, the sword at Shu Xin’s waist began trembling excitedly.
The spiritual energy here was abundant, but there was always a strange sense of incongruity that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
Shu Xin released her divine sense and discovered that the cultivation grounds for the inner disciples were vast but sparsely populated. The number of inner disciples was far lower than that of a normal sect.
“Wow, the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect really is interesting. They carved an incredibly powerful formation here. Be careful—the formation is used to gather life force,” the Sword Spirit suddenly said.
“Oh?” Shu Xin was curious. “What do you mean? I can’t sense any demonic aura here.”
She was quite familiar with demonic cultivators. If even she couldn’t sense anything, then any other cultivator would likely be unable to detect it either.
“It’s a variation of an ancient formation. I don’t know exactly how it was altered, but I have a general idea of what’s going on.” The Sword Spirit found it difficult to explain. “You’ve seen that bloodline forbidden art before, the one that gathers the bloodlines of an entire clan into a single person, right? This is somewhat similar, but not quite the same. This formation is like a Spirit-Gathering Formation, except that it gathers life force rather than spiritual energy. People age a little faster inside a formation like this than they would outside it. And the life force gathered by the formation can’t be used directly. It’s generally used to nurture extraordinarily powerful spirit beasts.”
“In ancient times, demon beasts needed Imperial Flowing Ointment to take human form, but Imperial Flowing Ointment wasn’t always available. So some powerful demon beasts would use this kind of formation to ensure that their descendants could develop intelligence as quickly as possible, infusing the life force of adult members of the clan into the next generation. In any case, demon beasts have long lifespans, so this formation was nothing harmful to them. Helping their offspring awaken their intelligence was what mattered most. Humans, on the other hand, already have short lifespans, and they don’t need to awaken their intelligence, so there’s no reason for them to use it.”
Shu Xin’s expression gradually changed.
She had already suspected that Patriarch Yuanzhou, the Earthly Immortal of the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect, couldn’t possibly be unaware of what the sect had become.
She and Wen Jingzhi had also wondered whether Sect Master Xuanwu of the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect had possessed Patriarch Yuanzhou, leading to the current state of affairs.
But Xuanwu still had a great deal of life left in him. He had only lived two or three thousand years.
Only Patriarch Yuanzhou would need a formation that gathered life force.
It wasn’t that the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect had invaded the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect. Rather, the patriarch of the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect had handed the entire sect over to the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect.
Although she had been prepared for this possibility, Shu Xin still couldn’t help drawing a sharp breath when she saw the evidence with her own eyes.
“I’m often disappointed by the limits of my imagination.” Shu Xin looked up at the sky above the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect. “The Mahayana cultivators of the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect were willing to die for the sake of their sect. I used to mock them for being foolish. But now that I’ve seen Patriarch Yuanzhou of the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect, I feel that the people of the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect weren’t foolish at all.”
Dying for one’s sect might sound unpleasant—even foolish—but at least it was worthy of respect.
Betraying and abandoning one’s entire sect merely to extend one’s own life was true shamelessness.
“So what do we do next?” the Sword Spirit asked curiously. “Do we just charge in and kill them all?”
“Violence and bloodshed are so inelegant.” Shu Xin rolled her eyes. “Besides, don’t we already have someone right here?”
With that, Shu Xin smiled brightly at Li Wanxing.
Li Wanxing looked startled, his face filled with confusion.
One day later.
“Sister, Sister, I caught a demonic cultivator!” Li Wanxing excitedly called out as he hurried to a familiar place.
A woman cultivating in the mountains heard him. A flash of impatience crossed her face.
Why was it that boy again?
Unfortunately, they were in the Nine Heavens Daoist Sect now, and she couldn’t kill people casually. Otherwise, killing him and putting an end to everything would be better than having him come bother her whenever he pleased.
With that thought, the woman could only rise helplessly to her feet.
“I’ve already told you not to harbor any delusions. I’m an inner disciple, while you’re only an outer disciple. If you come harass me again, I’ll report you to the sect and have you expelled.” The female cultivator was strikingly beautiful, wearing an orange-yellow dress and dressed in an exceptionally flamboyant style.
“Sister, I caught a demonic cultivator. Once I report this to the sect, I’ll definitely be promoted to an inner disciple. Then I’ll be able to come see you.” Li Wanxing acted as though he hadn’t heard a word she said and continued talking to himself. “This female cultivator kept trying to fish for information from me, so I sensed that something was wrong and secretly found a way to capture her. Sister, guess where she’s from.”
“Oh? What kind of demonic cultivator could you possibly catch?” His senior sister spoke impatiently. “That demonic cultivator must have been pretty stupid.”
“Haha, she’s from the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect!” Li Wanxing danced about excitedly. “I’ve already questioned her thoroughly. She was injured before and, in her panic, actually fled straight toward our sect. That made it easy for me to catch her. Sister, I remember that disciples of the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect are extremely difficult to capture. With this achievement, I’ll be promoted to the inner sect. Then I’ll be able to stay with you.”
With that, he led his senior sister over to see his “spoils of war.”
It was a female cultivator covered in injuries, lying unconscious on the ground.
She looked extremely weak, hovering on the verge of death.
His senior sister had initially felt nothing in particular. But the moment her gaze landed on the mark on the female cultivator’s wrist, her expression changed.
“Junior Brother, there seems to be something wrong with the identity of this demonic cultivator. Why don’t you let me examine her first?” A smile appeared on the woman’s face as she spoke to Li Wanxing.
“Sister, are you… trying to take my achievement?” Li Wanxing hesitated and even took a step back, intent on protecting his prize. “Normally, if there’s anything you wanted, Sister, I’d give it to you without a second thought. But right now, becoming an inner disciple and being with you are more important to me.”
His senior sister continued smiling, but inwardly she cursed Li Wanxing from head to toe.
“You used to say over and over that you loved me. Were all those words lies?” Her eyes reddened slightly. “Don’t worry, I won’t steal your achievement. I just think there’s something unusual about this demonic cultivator’s identity, and I want to confirm whether she really is a cultivator from the Spirit Parasite Demon Sect.”
“Then… Senior Sister, go ahead and ask. I’ll just stay here and watch.”
Li Wanxing still showed no intention of leaving.
“Oh? Is that so? Then I suppose…” His senior sister lowered her head, as though hesitating.
“Senior Sister.” Li Wanxing stepped forward.
The next moment, his senior sister suddenly raised her head and blew gently toward him.
Li Wanxing collapsed on the spot.
“What a nuisance. It’s not like I can just kill people whenever I want.” His senior sister spat in annoyance, then walked over and forcibly stuffed a pill into the mouth of the injured female cultivator lying on the ground.
After quite some time, the female cultivator slowly opened her eyes.
“You’re from the Soul Division?” his senior sister asked. “How did you get captured?”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.” The injured female cultivator immediately denied it. “Kill me or torture me, whatever you want.”
“I’d heard that cultivators from the Soul Division were especially stubborn, but I never expected it to be true.” His senior sister sneered and exposed the mark on her own wrist. “Don’t stare. I’m a cultivator from the Spirit Division. How did you end up getting captured by that idiot Li Wanxing? That boy is unbelievably stupid. I’ve wanted to kill him more times than I can count, but unfortunately, this body still has some attachment to him. If I kill him, the original owner will self-destruct and take me with her. I heard your Soul Division has a secret technique that can completely eliminate the original owner’s consciousness. Teach me that method, and I’ll save you.”
“No. The sect rules forbid the techniques of the Soul, Corporeal, and Spirit Divisions from being shared. You’re a disciple of the Nine Heavens Dao Sect—don’t even think about tricking me into revealing anything!”
With that, the female cultivator closed her eyes and refused to acknowledge anything.
Seeing that the woman would not exchange techniques, his senior sister was furious, but at the same time, she gained a measure of trust in her.
The Possessed Spirit Demon Sect was somewhat different from the other demonic sects.
The Possessed Spirit Demon Sect was divided into three branches: the Soul Division, the Corporeal Division, and the Spirit Division. Each branch cultivated its own unique possession techniques. According to the sect’s rules, only cultivators above the Dao Infant stage who had passed the sect’s examination were permitted to learn the techniques of the other two branches.
The reason was simple. The disciples of the Possessed Spirit Demon Sect did not cultivate their physical bodies—they cultivated only their souls. When possessing another body, they were easily influenced by the original owner’s emotions. In the early stages, learning too many techniques would only cause the original owner to turn the tables and devour them instead. Only after reaching the Dao Infant stage, when their souls had grown sufficiently powerful, could they learn the techniques of the other two branches.
“The Nine Heavens Dao Sect?” His senior sister began to laugh. “You followed the sect’s mark all the way here, didn’t you? This is our sect. You didn’t come to the wrong place, so relax.”
“Could it be that your Nine Heavens Dao Sect deliberately forged our sect’s mark to lure me here?” The female cultivator opened her eyes, looking uncertain.
“Of course not. This is our sect.” His senior sister smiled. “The original owner of this body is named Wang Wan. Just call me Wang Wan, so we don’t give ourselves away.”
“My surname is Bai. My name is Bai Fumei.” The female cultivator stood up, still half-convinced. “But that man has already discovered my identity. We should eliminate the threat and kill him.”
“No.” Wang Wan sighed. “There are still some people in this Nine Heavens Dao Sect who aren’t our disciples. We can’t act at a critical moment. Besides, if you really want to kill Li Wanxing, you’ll have to do it when I’m unaware and unable to see it. The original owner of this body seems to have feelings for that fool. I’ve tried to make a move several times, but she threatened to self-destruct every time.”
“You… still haven’t erased her consciousness?” The female cultivator using the alias Bai Fumei asked curiously. “Are the disciples of the Spirit Division really that incompetent?”
“Incompetent? This Wang Wan doesn’t have a single relative or friend. I wanted to use her body to sever all affection and love, then extract her resentment, but I couldn’t even find a place to begin!” Wang Wan snapped. “I haven’t had the chance to build up much power. We rely on the resentment and inner demons of the original owners to cultivate. But the original owner has nothing she cares about, so there’s no opportunity for me to work on her gradually. Whenever I try to make a move against Li Wanxing, she threatens to self-destruct. I’ve worn her down for more than a decade, and only a tiny remnant of her attachment remains. Once I completely devour it, the first person I’ll kill will be Li Wanxing. He’s such a nuisance. Because of him, the elders have warned me several times not to expose myself.”
After that, Wang Wan continued complaining about her bad luck and how she had chosen a body that was unsuitable for cultivation. Her every word and gesture hinted that she hoped Bai Fumei would teach her the techniques of the Spirit Division.
“Senior Sister, the techniques of the Spirit Division aren’t particularly difficult to learn.” Shu Xin sighed. “But if this really is our sect’s headquarters, how could I possibly teach them to you here? The moment I did, the elders of our Soul Division would kill me.”
“Then come to my cave abode.” Wang Wan immediately made the suggestion. “I’m almost at the Dao Infant stage. Learning a little of the Soul Division’s techniques ahead of time shouldn’t be a problem…”
Wang Wan clearly had no intention of giving up the opportunity.
She dragged Li Wanxing into her cave abode with one hand and tossed him inside, then reached out and took Shu Xin by the hand.
“We’re fellow disciples, after all. Once I become a Dao Infant cultivator, we’ll both be important figures in the Nine Heavens Dao Sect.”
Shu Xin was forcibly pulled into the cave abode by her.
“Junior Sister, look over there. What’s that?” Wang Wan suddenly pointed in a direction.
Shu Xin turned to look.
Wang Wan revealed a dagger in her hand and swiftly thrust it toward Shu Xin’s chest.
“Senior Sister is in such a hurry to learn the techniques of our Soul Division?” Shu Xin resisted with a smile. “I think you’re actually planning to possess me directly and refine me into a clone.”
Wang Wan’s expression changed. “You’re not at the Core Formation stage?”
In the next moment, Wang Wan’s body swayed and collapsed.
And who else could the person who had struck her be but Li Wanxing?
Shu Xin made her move and sealed the cave abode completely.
“Wait. I’ll extract her soul first.” Shu Xin gestured for Li Wanxing not to act yet, then crouched down and prepared to circulate her cultivation technique.
“You… you’re in the Wugou Realm?” Wang Wan’s expression changed drastically. She had never expected to encounter such a formidable opponent.
Only cultivators above the Wugou Realm were capable of extracting the soul of a Possessed Spirit cultivator.
“What a coincidence—I just broke through.” Shu Xin smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she extracted the soul of the Possessed Spirit cultivator directly from Wang Wan’s body.
“There isn’t much time.” Shu Xin looked at Li Wanxing, whose eyes had reddened, and sighed. “The souls of cultivators possessed by the Possessed Spirit Demon Sect have mostly been devoured. For them, death is actually a form of release. You… say your farewell to her.”
With that, Shu Xin walked out of her own accord, leaving the cave abode to Li Wanxing and Wang Wan.
“Impossible. The Soul Division mark on your body is real.” The extracted Possessed Spirit cultivator still seemed unwilling to believe it.
“You mean this?” Shu Xin smiled sweetly and peeled away a layer of skin from her wrist. “I killed quite a few of your fellow disciples in the past. I noticed they all had marks like this on their wrists, and they were difficult to imitate, so I simply chopped off their hands. Then I specially found someone to peel the skin off intact. Keeping the spiritual energy unchanged was quite difficult, too.”
The Possessed Spirit cultivator seemed to be frightened by this.
“Senior, we’re all demonic cultivators here. Please be magnanimous and spare my life.”
【Hahahaha.】The Sword Spirit burst out laughing without the slightest restraint.
Thank you all for your New Year’s wishes on the blessing wall. I’ve received every one of them, but that stupid thing couldn’t copy them, so I’m thanking everyone all at once.
