Chapter 86: You Can Only Like Me (12)
“How are you?” Wei Jingqian asked.
“Hm?” Song Jin’yue returned to her senses and looked at Wei Jingqian. “I’m fine, what about her?”
She clasped her hands nervously. The elder of the Myriad Swords Sect had just healed her injuries, they weren’t serious, but she still needed to rest for a while.
“The Wei family has already sent people,” Wei Jingqian said, sitting two meters away from Song Jin’yue. “What exactly happened?”
Song Jin’yue shook her head: “I don’t know either… What will you do if you capture her?”
“Whether it’s the rules of the Myriad Swords Sect or the Wei family, those who fall into demonic cultivation will either have their spiritual roots severed or be imprisoned forever,” Wei Jingqian said without any emotion, seemingly having no sibling affection for Jiang Zhiyan.
Song Jin’yue’s expression changed, she looked at Wei Jingqian, gripped her cup tightly, and coughed twice: “Is there no room for redemption? She didn’t do anything, I think she might have been accidentally misled by the demons, or something else.”
“There’s no turning back after falling into demonic cultivation, and there’s only one outcome for human cultivators who fall into demonic cultivation, they lose their minds and go on a killing spree,” Wei Jingqian said. “Her Dao Heart was unstable, that’s why she fell.”
Song Jin’yue’s emotions surged, she wanted to say something, but coughed violently, unable to utter a word. After a long while, she finally spoke: “How can you be so cold-blooded?”
Wei Jingqian didn’t speak.
There was a knock on the door, then someone pushed the door open and walked in, looking at Song Jin’yue: “She imprisoned you for more than three months and even sealed your meridians.”
“But she didn’t do anything to me,” Song Jin’yue looked at her.
“Didn’t do anything to you? Imprisoning you, sealing your meridians, abandoning you in the Demon Realm, and striking you with a palm, and that’s considered nothing? What else does she have to do to be considered ‘doing something’?” The person crossed her arms. “She’s always hated you, this time she was trying to kill you.”
“I don’t think so,” Song Jin’yue said. “I spent so much time with her, I know how she treats me.”
The other person twitched the corner of her mouth and rolled her eyes, not saying anything more to Song Jin’yue. In many people’s eyes, Song Jin’yue’s mind wasn’t quite right.
Song Jin’yue didn’t want to talk to them either and lay down.
She was annoyed.
Wei Jingqian was willing to sit here and accompany her, she should be happy, but now she only felt irritated.
Her mind was in a mess. She knew that with Jiang Zhiyan’s current abilities, it wouldn’t be difficult to make sure her actions weren’t discovered, but she had still left clues, to make sure Jiang Zhiyan wouldn’t be implicated if she fell into demonic cultivation.
But it was difficult for her to distance herself from Jiang Zhiyan.
Song Jin’yue couldn’t understand Jiang Zhiyan’s motive for falling into demonic cultivation, there were only a few common motives, but she felt none of them applied to Jiang Zhiyan.
“You can leave now, I want to rest,” Song Jin’yue said, turning her back to them.
“Okay.”
Song Jin’yue tightly closed her eyes, feeling uncomfortable that she hadn’t completed her eight hours of cultivation today. After several months, eight hours a day had become a habit.
Although there was no wooden puppet and no Jiang Zhiyan, she still felt a bit guilty.
…
The Wei family elder’s cultivation was a minor realm lower than the Northern Demon King’s, and at the same realm, demons were stronger than human cultivators, so the Wei family elder could only barely hold him back, preventing him from reaching the mirror.
The two Spirit Severing elders guarding the border quickly arrived. Hearing that the Sun and Moon Mirror had been taken by Jiang Zhiyan, they immediately notified the elders at the Myriad Swords Sect to check.
As expected, the mirror at the Myriad Swords Sect was gone.
Actually, the mirror was still there, but after leaving it, Jiang Zhiyan used forceful methods to make it undetectable to everyone in this world. If both mirrors appeared at the same time, even if the mirror could be used, she might be hunted down by the Northern Demon King. Now that everyone knew the mirror was with the Northern Demon King, it greatly reduced the pressure on her.
The System experienced another violent tremor.
Jiang Zhiyan used to make excuses for her cheating, but now she was doing it openly, without any concealment, not even exploiting loopholes, but directly creating them.
Shocked the first time, numb the second time.
Everything that happened to Jiang Zhiyan seemed normal.
Jiang Zhiyan returned to the depths of the Demon Realm. Normally, the demonic aura here would be uncomfortable for a newly fallen demon cultivator like her, but it wasn’t, she felt as comfortable as breathing, her strength rapidly recovering. Although strange thoughts would occasionally pop up in her mind, she could control them, it was like reading irrelevant comments on a live stream.
Was this the power of a god’s descendant?
It seemed a bit useless, but still somewhat helpful.
She found the volcano based on the coordinates and jumped directly into the crater.
System: …
“Host, can you not be so reckless?”
“I won’t die.”
Jiang Zhiyan fell into the churning lava. Having just experienced a heavenly tribulation, this burning pain felt much better.
“Let’s throw Song Jin’yue down here when she finishes her fifth body refinement,” Jiang Zhiyan said.
“As expected, good things should be shared with your wife, right?” the System commented.
“Mm,” Jiang Zhiyan agreed.
Her body rapidly descended, her high-grade protective robes couldn’t withstand the heat and disappeared first, followed by her hair. She silently recited the cultivation technique she learned from the Demonic Sword, resisting the surrounding lava.
The lava here wasn’t ordinary lava; it was a “volcano” created accidentally during an ancient war. The lava here was a rare liquid spirit ore, containing a type of energy that wasn’t demonic aura or spiritual energy, but something like their initial, primordial state.
“Primordial Qi?” Jiang Zhiyan wondered.
This primordial energy flowed through her meridians again and again, it was very painful, but she gained a lot from it. She felt like she was about to explode, but she could barely hold on, Jiang Zhiyan started strengthening every inch of her skin.
“Host, the Northern Demon King got the mirror, he called for reinforcements.”
“He has allies?” Jiang Zhiyan was surprised. “He must have offered them quite a bit, I wonder if he’ll still keep his promise to me.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“If he doesn’t, then he’ll be the first one I deal with,” Jiang Zhiyan descended further.
“Host, I advise you to take it easy.”
“I haven’t reached my limit yet,” Jiang Zhiyan found a good spot and stopped. “This is perfect.”
While cultivating, Jiang Zhiyan’s breathing almost stopped several times.
The System was terrified. Although Jiang Zhiyan was now at Nascent Soul, and her soul wouldn’t die even if her body did, she would have to start cultivating all over again if she became a wandering soul!
…
After returning to the Myriad Swords Sect, Song Jin’yue was assigned to the courtyard next to Wei Jingqian’s, partly for protection, partly for surveillance. Many people thought she was innocent, but some also believed there was some kind of deal between her and Jiang Zhiyan, every day, people came to ask her all sorts of questions.
Su Huo was also questioned. When she heard that Jiang Zhiyan had fallen into demonic cultivation, she thought she had misheard. Although she wasn’t surprised, when she learned that Jiang Zhiyan had also injured Song Jin’yue, her jaw almost dropped. However, after learning the details, she understood Jiang Zhiyan’s intentions.
She didn’t say anything, claiming she didn’t know Jiang Zhiyan well, but the people investigating her didn’t leave, continuing to follow her. She was a bit tired, although she was thick-skinned, being watched while flirting with others was still very uncomfortable.
She had originally wanted to make them give up, but then she discovered that the person following her was a monk, who didn’t care about her flirting at all.
“Damn monk, damn Jiang Zhiyan!” Su Huo felt like this was retribution for taking a bag of Star River Ore.
Song Jin’yue’s situation wasn’t much better than Su Huo’s. She resumed her cultivation, but they wouldn’t let her leave the courtyard. The food wasn’t as good as what Jiang Zhiyan prepared for her, the people weren’t as kind as Jiang Zhiyan, when she talked to them, they were reluctant to respond, and when she complained to the Song family, they told her to behave.
It was better being “imprisoned” by Jiang Zhiyan.
“Jiang Zhiyan’s soul lamp flickered today,” the person guarding Song Jin’yue said, surprisingly taking the initiative to speak to her.
Song Jin’yue was stunned for a second: “Why would her soul lamp flicker?”
“It’s normal, for those who fall into demonic cultivation, few survive.” The person stared at Song Jin’yue’s face. “You were with Wei Jingqian before, and now this, when will you come to your senses?”
Song Jin’yue looked at the person without speaking, her eyes blank, she felt something stirring within her, but she couldn’t remember, there seemed to be a barrier between her and her memories.
At times like this, she chose to practice her swordsmanship to relieve her emotions.
That day, she practiced for nine hours, then was forcibly sent back to her room.
The next day, Song Jin’yue broke through, reaching late Golden Core.
The guard was shocked, and while Song Jin’yue was practicing her swordsmanship, he sensed her sword intent, an exceptionally melancholic sword intent. With a single swing of her sword, his mind went blank, and he even shed tears.
Song Jin’yue felt like crying. She looked up at the sky, while confined in Jiang Zhiyan’s courtyard, she had looked up at the sky countless times, wondering if Jiang Zhiyan would suddenly fly back, but now she really wouldn’t.
She had actually comprehended sword intent not long after Jiang Zhiyan left.
And she couldn’t inform her, how frustrating.
“Jiang Zhiyan, Jiang Zhiyan!” Song Jin’yue called out in her heart.
But there was no response. She had called out many times these past few days, but there was no sound from the other end, had she severed the connection too? But the rune on her body was still there.
She thought of Jiang Zhiyan saying she was too weak.
Song Jin’yue looked at the two guards at the door, she was indeed too weak, if she were stronger, she could break through this door, find Jiang Zhiyan, and get answers to all her questions, those people wouldn’t have dared to confine her here in the first place.
In the end, it was all because of their disdain and disregard.
The guard snapped back to reality, looking at Song Jin’yue in disbelief. What kind of person could break through and comprehend sword intent consecutively, and she was only at Golden Core? He stared at Song Jin’yue for a long time, confirming that she hadn’t fallen into demonic cultivation, and was slightly relieved, but also felt jealous and resentful.
Song Jin’yue adjusted her breathing, her expression unchanged: “I’m going into secluded cultivation, there’s no need to send me food anymore.”
“Okay…” The guard looked at her blankly, his attitude clearly much more respectful.
Song Jin’yue, sensing this immediate change, felt a bit amused, and paused: “If there’s any news about Jiang Zhiyan, please let me know.”
“Okay.”
This time, he didn’t say her mind wasn’t clear, although Song Jin’yue also felt like her own mind wasn’t very clear.
She returned to her room and called out two more times before entering meditation.
Still no response.
Song Jin’yue frowned, thinking about Jiang Zhiyan’s flickering soul lamp, her heart pounding, her brow furrowed.
It wasn’t that Jiang Zhiyan was deliberately ignoring her, but she was currently in a rather mysterious state, automatically blocking all outside information, including the connection between her and Song Jin’yue. She could only communicate with the higher-dimensional System.
She was like a baby in the womb, curled up, enveloped by lava, as if countless umbilical cords were connected to her, frantically absorbing nutrients from the surroundings.
“Host, your current state is a bit terrifying.”
“But I feel very good,” Jiang Zhiyan half-opened her eyes, revealing half of a crimson pupil. She tried for a moment and managed to fully open them. “As expected, I should throw her down here, this place is very comfortable for body refining.”
“Yes, it’s just that there’s no hair,” the System said.
“It’s fine, this is the cultivation world, hair grows back quickly,” Jiang Zhiyan felt her forehead and eyebrows, then closed her eyes again.
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