The entire Busi Manor had been reduced to ruins.
No one was willing to stay there for long.
Qu Yougu, Xie Xianzhi, and the others had no choice but to hurry back to their sect and discuss how to deal with what had happened.
Whether it was the matter concerning the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect or the appearance of the Blood Demon Ancestor, neither was anything trivial. It was certainly not something a few of them could decide on their own.
Situ Jian, however, was left behind by himself. When the two uncles from the Longevity Daoist Sect departed, they had practically forgotten that this nephew of theirs even existed.
Situ Jian thought that was perfectly normal. They had always been that kind of people.
“I can’t stay here for too long, either.” Xu Guan glanced at Situ Jian, then at Shu Xin. He understood that the relationship between the two was far deeper than it appeared.
As her master, he did not want to interfere too much in his disciple’s romantic affairs.
“You can return to the sect once you’ve finished handling everything.” Xu Guan thought for a moment, then added a reminder. “But don’t make any more trouble. Your master is only at the Immaculate realm, not some Earth Immortal.”
Shu Xin could only nod. It was not as if she could decide these things herself.
Those people kept rushing over to cause trouble for her. She was helpless about it too.
Once nearly everyone had left, Situ Jian and Shu Xin temporarily departed from the territory of Busi Manor as well.
A simple fight with demonic cultivators was actually easy to resolve. The hardest part was dealing with the aftermath.
With Busi Manor’s collapse, the cities that had been established around and dependent on it naturally began to fall apart as well.
The city lords, all of them at the Dao Infant stage, had long since had their vital essence extracted by the Blood Spirit Pearl. Moreover, with so many powerful cultivators appearing outside Busi Manor earlier, any cultivator with even the slightest sense of caution had fled in the blink of an eye.
Cities that had once been bustling and prosperous became completely deserted within just a few hours.
Only the mortals who had come to the cities for work remained, staring at the empty streets with tears in their eyes.
“…Why have all the immortals run away?”
“They haven’t paid me yet.”
“Father, we came here on an immortal’s flying vessel. How are we supposed to get home?”
…
The mortals gathered in twos and threes in the streets, their eyes filled with confusion and helplessness about the future.
They had long grown accustomed to relying on cultivators for their livelihood. They had no idea what kind of life they were supposed to lead without them.
They knew even less that they had come within a hair’s breadth of becoming nothing more than nameless bones.
Shu Xin and Situ Jian descended from the sky.
“Greetings, Immortal.”
“Immortal, have you come to take us away?”
“Immortal, I can work! I’m very good at cultivating spirit fields!”
These people had never expected to see an immortal return. They immediately seemed to find something to rely on, and light returned to their eyes.
Shu Xin and Situ Jian exchanged a glance. Situ Jian took out a flying vessel and gestured for the mortals to board.
The mortals had long grown used to the immortals’ reticence. One by one, they obediently lined up and boarded the vessel.
Without an immortal treasure and relying only on their own legs, it would probably have taken them several months to make it home.
After that, Shu Xin and Situ Jian went to the mortal villages and brought out the remaining groups of mortals one after another.
The flying vessel Situ Jian had taken out was manufactured by the Longevity Daoist Sect. It could hold tens of thousands of people, and it flew incredibly fast.
Although the mortals were somewhat puzzled, they did not dare to speak or ask questions. They could only obediently nibble on their dry rations.
Immortals always needed them to farm and work, so relocating them was perfectly normal.
Besides, even if that was not the reason, what could they possibly use to resist?
Shu Xin and Situ Jian stood on the deck of the flying vessel. After setting up several formations and confirming that the area was secure, they began discussing the real matter at hand.
“Although the Blood Demon Ancestor was an unexpected variable in this plan, overall, everything was completed smoothly.” Shu Xin felt somewhat relieved.
The idea of coming to Busi Manor and using the Profound Spirit Daoist Sect to rise to prominence had been Shu Xin’s.
Ever since learning that the Age of Great Strife was about to begin, Shu Xin had been working to make the Daoist sects and demonic sects of the cultivation world fight one another properly.
The reason was simple. Only after the Daoist and demonic sects had fought and suffered severe losses would they temporarily lose their grip on the cultivation world and no longer have the ability to control the mortals.
That would give Shu Xin the opportunity to do many things.
It would also give Situ Jian a chance to seek revenge.
“Yes. Thanks to you, Sister Shu, I finally got to see the two people I’m after.” Whenever Situ Jian mentioned Fu Ge and Wen Jingshu, his voice became terrifyingly cold. He had already treated the two of them as dead men. “Once the Blood Spirit Pearl appears, given their personalities, they definitely won’t let it go easily.”
That way, the pawn he had planted in advance could be inserted beside them without arousing suspicion.
Situ Jian had always been unable to find them because they were disciples of an Earth Immortal from the Longevity Daoist Sect. Whenever they entered secluded cultivation, it was incredibly difficult for Situ Jian to locate them.
But things were different now.
He could accurately track their movements. Moreover, because he had become Gong Changshou’s disciple, he could naturally get to know Fu Ge and Wen Jingshu.
After enduring in silence for so many years, he had finally seen a glimmer of hope.
“You can’t rush this. Wuweizi of the Longevity Daoist Sect is nothing like his name suggests. He’s extremely shrewd.” Shu Xin was worried that Situ Jian would be consumed by hatred.
Revenge had to be plotted step by step. Otherwise, all their efforts might come to nothing at the final moment.
“Yes.” Situ Jian obediently accepted her reprimand.
Shu Xin was about to say something else when she saw her two flying swords excitedly pounding against her arm.
Oh. She had nearly forgotten to restore her connection with the Sword Spirits.
It should be safe now.
Shu Xin added two more spells to the formation, which was already perfectly secure, before finally restoring her connection with the Sword Spirits.
The moment the connection was restored, the two flying swords, which had seemed ordinary just moments before, instantly became brimming with spiritual energy.
“You finally remembered me!” the Sword Spirit said indignantly.
Although she had indeed forgotten by accident, Shu Xin was not about to let the Sword Spirit use that against her.
Of course, she had to strike first!
“The name Immortal-Slaying Sword certainly sounds impressive. I never expected to hear that name from the Blood Demon Ancestor.” Shu Xin looked coolly at the flying sword in her hand. “How about giving me an explanation? You stayed in the Longevity Daoist Sect for so long without being discovered. How did a demon manage to see through you?”
“The name Immortal-Slaying Sword is unbearably awful.” The Sword Spirit had only just reconnected with Shu Xin, and now it heard such a question. It immediately became furious and forgot all about pestering Shu Xin further. “You humans are so annoying. My name clearly has five characters. I’m called Slayer of All Immortals, yet you forcibly shortened it to something like Immortal-Slaying Sword. I don’t acknowledge that name at all, all right?”
Shu Xin thought about it and decided the Sword Spirit had a point. If other people refused to call her by her name and instead referred to her only by the initials of its pinyin, she would be annoyed too.
“I didn’t notice it before, but when that big fellow appeared, I sensed the aura of my old scabbard on him.” The Sword Spirit was thoroughly depressed. “It was forged for me by my former master, and it stayed with me for a very long time. Later, I somehow lost track of where it went. He probably became so sensitive to me because he has my scabbard.”
“Now you know why I insisted on splitting you in two back then, right?” Shu Xin said smugly. “Come on. What did you call me back then? Apologize.”
“I’m only a Sword Spirit. How can you hold a grudge like this?” the Sword Spirit exclaimed in disbelief. “Don’t you remember how many times I saved you?”
“I don’t care about that,” Shu Xin snorted. “I just don’t like being the one who loses out.”
“Fine, fine, you were right. I was the one who failed to stay vigilant in peaceful times. Happy now?” the Sword Spirit replied irritably.
“Oh? You’re even using idioms now. You really do need to keep following me.” Shu Xin beamed.
The Sword Spirit was completely at a loss. No wonder the Blood Demon Ancestor had thought Shu Xin couldn’t possibly be its master.
If someone had told it ten thousand years ago that its future master would turn out to be someone like Shu Xin, it would probably have chopped that person into minced meat out of sheer anger.
Who could have imagined that it had now grown accustomed to Shu Xin’s every word and action?
“The Blood Demon Ancestor’s emergence means that the restrictions imposed on the Earthly Immortals of the cultivation world are gradually weakening,” Situ Jian said only after Shu Xin and the Sword Spirit had finished talking. “I remember the family’s old books mentioning that when spiritual energy becomes scarce, the number of Earthly Immortals drops dramatically. Moreover, since the Earthly Immortals have absorbed most of the spiritual energy in this world, when they travel outside, not only can they no longer absorb spiritual energy, but a phenomenon known as spiritual-energy reversal occurs. The spiritual energy within their bodies is instead drawn out and absorbed by their surroundings.”
The total amount of spiritual energy in the cultivation world generally remained constant. The more the Earthly Immortals absorbed, the less remained for other cultivators.
To maintain its own operation, Heaven and Earth could only find a way to draw spiritual energy from these Earthly Immortals, who were essentially walking concentrations of spiritual energy.
As a result, the Earthly Immortals almost never traveled outside. On the rare occasions when they appeared, they did so through incarnations.
If one of them truly needed to appear in person, it meant they had already been forced into a desperate situation.
“Could the Age of Great Strife have begun ahead of schedule?” Shu Xin frowned. “As large numbers of highly accomplished cultivators gradually fall, the spiritual energy they absorbed will return to Heaven and Earth. Once the world’s spiritual energy becomes abundant again, the Earthly Immortals will gain much more freedom to move about. In that case, the Blood Demon Ancestor’s emergence would make perfect sense. Have many cultivators died recently?”
“Shu-jie, do you still remember Luo Huannian?” Situ Jian asked.
“Who’s that?” Shu Xin froze. The name struck her as vaguely familiar, but it took her quite a while to recall it.
“Someone unimportant.” Situ Jian’s tone relaxed considerably. “I once sent him to recruit disciples from a remote affiliated sect of the Longevity Dao Sect. The place was extremely isolated, and the journey there and back took a long time. But precisely because it was so remote, that sect had stood for a thousand years in relative peace. Yet some time ago, the message Junior Brother Luo sent finally reached the sect. He said that by the time he arrived, the sect had already been wiped out.”
It was not only the affiliated sects of the Longevity Dao Sect. Affiliated sects of other Daoist sects—those with little presence in the world—had also vanished without a trace.
If even those affiliated sects had disappeared, then the obscure cultivation clans naturally could not have met with any better fate.
The cultivation world had never cared about cultivators who were already unknown. Naturally, no one knew much about whether they lived or died.
“The demonic sects have been preparing for this for a long time. They look forward to the Age of Great Strife even more eagerly than the Daoist sects do,” Situ Jian said with certainty. “The Earthly Immortals in the cultivation world today are still the same group that existed ten thousand years ago. The number of Mahayana cultivators has barely changed either. But things are different now. The Mahayana cultivator from the Profound Spirit Dao Sect is about to die, and the other one probably won’t last much longer. When one part is affected, the whole body moves. This is the best opportunity.”
“Likewise, this is also the best opportunity for Senior Sword Spirit to fully recover,” Situ Jian continued.
The Sword Spirit began to stir restlessly.
He was right.
If all those fiends remained hidden inside their shells, then with Shu Xin’s personality, who knew how long it would take her to hunt them down and kill them one by one? But things were different now. As long as they seized the opportunity, there was still a chance for it to completely restore the glory it had once possessed!
“Don’t try to manipulate it. It’s not very bright to begin with.” Shu Xin shot Situ Jian a glare. “By the way, is the pawn you planted trustworthy?”
The moment Situ Jian heard this, he knew that Shu Xin had already met the person he had arranged.
“Shu-jie, do you think he resembles him?” Situ Jian asked.
“He looks about seventy or eighty percent alike. At first glance, he seems very similar, but if you look closely, there are differences,” Shu Xin replied.
“If he were exactly identical, they would certainly become suspicious.” A mocking, contemptuous expression appeared on Situ Jian’s face. “They don’t dare face my father. What she needs is a substitute—someone who can give her that tiny bit of false affection an outlet, not someone she genuinely feels guilty toward.”
Shu Xin recalled the horrific scene she had witnessed back then and said nothing. She simply waited for Situ Jian to calm down on his own.
“Shu-jie, we’re here.” Situ Jian brought the flying vessel to a stop.
They had arrived at the seaside.
This was the place where, over the years, they had kept the mortals they rescued isolated from the rest of the world.
Any cultivator who came here would have been stunned by how terrifying the place was.
A hundred years ago, a certain sea in the cultivation world had suddenly become abnormal. Not only did enormous waves rise from it without warning, but it also blocked spiritual energy. Any cultivator who approached recklessly would have their spiritual energy drawn away and would come under attack from unknown entities.
At the time, quite a few cultivators had assumed that some demon or monster had emerged from the sea and tried to take advantage of the situation. Instead, they never returned.
Since virtually no natural treasures grew there, the major sects and cultivation clans could not be bothered to intervene. As time passed, the place became a forbidden zone for many rogue cultivators.
As for what lay on the other side of the sea, they had no idea—and no interest in finding out.
Without spiritual energy, it had to be a barren wasteland.
The mortals aboard the flying vessel streamed down in a crowd. When they saw the vast, seemingly endless sea, confusion filled their faces.
“Where you’re going next is a place without cultivators or spiritual energy.” Shu Xin turned to face them and tossed them a token. “Take this with you. Someone will naturally receive you once you get there.”
“Immortal… If there are no cultivators and no spiritual energy, how are we supposed to survive?” One of the mortals caught the token, then fell to his knees, his entire body trembling.
He had even thought that Shu Xin intended to throw all of them into the depths of the sea to feed the fish, leaving them no chance of survival.
“Mortals never needed cultivators, nor did they need spiritual energy.” Shu Xin could not help laughing. “What you need is to use your own hands to build a kingdom belonging solely to mortals. As long as no outside force interferes, you will naturally develop in all sorts of ways.”
After being completely isolated for thousands—or even tens of thousands—of years, you would be able to create a civilization that belonged entirely to yourselves.
Perhaps it might even grow a little closer to the world in her memories.
With that, Shu Xin patted the Sword Spirit.
【Understood.】 The Sword Spirit had long since become adept at this. It quickly flew into the sky and casually resonated with the sword qi it had left in the sea. The surging waves immediately calmed, forcibly parted by the sword qi and leaving a passage through the middle.
“Go.” Shu Xin pointed toward the divided sea. “I can’t tell you how to live, but as long as you aren’t lazy, you’ll always find a way to survive.”
The mortals clustered together. They did not dare disobey the immortal’s command and could only proceed forward uneasily.
One after another, densely packed, they looked like strings of ants.
They seemed incredibly tiny.
But Shu Xin had once been one of them.
Over the years, she had moved many mortals to the opposite shore of the sea. That land was filled with barren mountains and wilds, lakes, and tributaries. In the eyes of many cultivators, it was an uninhabitable wasteland—a desolate region overseas.
The spiritual energy there had already been thin to begin with, and Shu Xin had used a secret technique to extract it all, completely turning the land into a place where cultivators could not survive.
Then, little by little, she had relocated the mortals there.
Even without cultivators, conflicts would still arise among mortals, and they would gradually form all kinds of societies and civilizations.
But at the very least, their fate would be in their own hands.
Shu Xin could not interfere with everyone’s destiny. This was all she could do.
Once the last mortal had departed, the sea, which had been split apart, returned to its former state.
“Sister Shu, I should be taking my leave as well.” Situ Jian glanced at the sky and cupped his hands. “The Longevity Dao Sect is probably waiting for me to explain everything that happened.”
“Go on, go on.” Shu Xin waved him off. “I need to return to the Inquiring God Sect too.”
They had long since grown accustomed to parting ways.
Everyone had their own matters to attend to. Being able to meet again after taking care of them was already something to be grateful for.
Situ Jian waved from afar, then quickly vanished without a trace.
Shu Xin likewise mounted her sword and flew toward the Inquiring God Sect.
At the Inquiring God Sect.
Xu Guan was being pestered relentlessly by several disciples.
“Master, why hasn’t Big Sister come back yet?”
Because your Big Sister was reminiscing with that Situ Jian, Xu Guan thought wearily, but he could not bring himself to say it outright.
These disciples still believed that Situ Jian was the scumbag who had wronged their Big Sister. They were wholeheartedly planning to grow stronger and make him pay someday.
Since Shu Xin herself had not said anything, Xu Guan did not feel it was appropriate for him to explain.
“Master, how could you leave Big Sister there all by herself? It’s so dangerous!”
There was no need to worry about that. Your Big Sister was the most dangerous one of all.
Xu Guan was being pestered so badly that he could hardly bear it. Then, sensing Shu Xin’s aura, his face instantly lit up with a smile.
“All right, all right. Your Big Sister is back. Stop bothering me.”
The moment he finished speaking, Shu Xin arrived.
The disciples who had just been surrounding Xu Guan—Cao Ru, Yuan Dawei, and the others—immediately abandoned their master and swarmed around Shu Xin, asking after her with concern.
“Big Sister, Master said that an incarnation of a land immortal appeared this time? The outside world is far too dangerous. You have to be careful!”
“That’s right, Big Sister. Senior Brother Qi has already gone into seclusion. He’ll soon reach the Dao Infant stage, and we’ll catch up soon too.”
“Big Sister, take us with you next time!”
“All right, all right. We’ll talk about all that after you’ve made some progress in your cultivation.” Shu Xin answered them with great patience. “You need to cultivate harder as well. Otherwise, there will probably be many cultivators coming to visit our sect soon, and you’ll need to beat them into submission.”
Her words immediately stirred Cao Ru and the others’ competitive spirit, and they scattered like startled birds and beasts.
They had to improve their cultivation first!
“They respect you much more than they respect me,” Xu Guan said somewhat sourly.
“That’s because they regard you as family. Naturally, they act spoiled in front of family. As for me, I’m more like someone they admire. Those are two different things.” Shu Xin knew that Xu Guan was only joking.
“You manage not to offend either side.” Xu Guan laughed. “Come with me. There’s something I need to tell you. Renjie, you come along too. You need to know about this as well.”
Yi Renjie was summoned by his master. He glanced at Shu Xin and smiled before obediently following behind them.
“Junior Brother’s cultivation has improved again.” Shu Xin immediately noticed that Yi Renjie had reached the middle phase of the Dao Infant stage and was pleasantly surprised.
“I accompanied Master to a banquet before that and exchanged pointers with disciples from several sects and clans. I happened to gain some insights.” Yi Renjie felt embarrassed. Compared with Big Sister, this little bit of progress of his was hardly worth mentioning.
“That’s still very impressive.” Shu Xin was completely sincere. “Your foundation is exceptionally solid.”
Yi Renjie smiled even more brightly.
Xu Guan led Shu Xin and Yi Renjie to the sect’s library.
Though small, it had everything one could need.
The library contained nearly all of the Inquiring God Sect’s current foundations and treasures.
“Senior Book Immortal, please reveal yourself.” Xu Guan bowed toward the east.
【Holy crap.】 The Sword Spirit was stunned. 【Your luck really isn’t a joke. Out of so many sects, you actually managed to choose the Inquiring God Sect?】
No wonder it possessed the fortune that required the Sword Spirit to suppress it.
Shu Xin was somewhat curious and confused, but she knew that anything capable of shocking the Sword Spirit was certainly no small matter.
【It’s an artifact spirit. The Inquiring God Sect has one too, but it’s different from me. It isn’t focused on killing. Its grade is considered extremely high, though.】 The Sword Spirit explained. 【Don’t worry. It won’t detect me. I’m the strongest!】
After Xu Guan finished bowing, a yellowing book slowly swayed up from the shelves. It transformed into a tiny sphere of light no larger than a fist, which then condensed into a line of words.
【What do you want?】
“These are my eldest disciple, Shu Xin, and my second disciple, Yi Renjie.” Xu Guan took the initiative to explain. “If nothing unexpected happens, they will become the foundation of the next generation of the Inquiring God Sect. That is why I brought them here especially to pay their respects to Senior.”
【Understood.】
The Book Spirit formed these words.
Xu Guan knew that Senior Book Spirit probably had not fully woken up yet, but he did not take offense. After all, he had only come to inform it of the matter.
“Disciple, you once asked me why the Longevity Dao Sect has never been able to swallow up the Inquiry God Sect, didn’t you?” Xu Guan smiled. “This is the reason. The Inquiry God Sect has neither an Earthly Immortal nor any Mahayana cultivators. The only thing we have is Senior Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book, an artifact spirit. The Divine Fire Diagram Spirit Book is a top-tier spirit treasure, comparable to an Earthly Immortal.”
