Chapter 61: Disciple and Wife
Hair adorned with flowers, golden hairpins swaying, the bridal chamber warm and inviting.
Tao Ning stood at the doorway, momentarily captivated by the scene, before stepping inside.
As she approached, Cen Dianshuang lowered her veil demurely, sitting still and silent.
The space beside her dipped as Tao Ning sat down, reaching out to lift the veil.
The room, illuminated by flickering red candles, brightened as the veil was removed.
Tao Ning gazed at Cen Dianshuang, her eyes filled with a near-obsessive adoration.
520 panicked. 【Host, snap out of it! You’re not that far gone!】
Tao Ning, ignoring its pleas, reached out, gently tilting Cen Dianshuang’s chin upwards, her face drawing closer, as if about to kiss her.
Cen Dianshuang closed her eyes, her long eyelashes fluttering, her cheeks flushed as she felt Tao Ning’s breath on her skin.
But instead of a kiss, a voice whispered in her ear, “Do you know where you made your mistake?”
A thud, followed by a gasp. The sound of a candlestick piercing flesh.
Cen Dianshuang’s eyes flew open, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. She looked down at the candlestick protruding from her abdomen, then at Tao Ning, her eyes filled with disbelief and betrayal.
The “Cen Dianshuang” in bridal attire gasped, her voice laced with pain and confusion. “You… I love you so much! Why…?”
Tao Ning, her expression hardening, her eyes cold and calculating, twisted the candlestick, another splatter of blood staining her face.
“Tsk.”
520, initially frantic, now watched in stunned silence, then whispered, 【So you weren’t fooled after all.】
Tao Ning: “It would take more than that to trick me.”
Examining the sharp end of the candlestick, she walked around the room, searching for something.
Within the illusion, her cultivation was suppressed. She couldn’t access her powers, her subconscious believing she was an ordinary mortal.
520, watching her pace, then return to the candlestick, asked, 【What are you looking for? I can scan the room for you.】
Tao Ning: “The formation’s focal point.”
520: 【…Unfortunately, I don’t have that capability.】 Locating a formation’s focal point was an advanced skill, beyond the capabilities of a three-digit system.
Tao Ning hadn’t expected any help from her system. The quickest way to break an illusion was to find its focal point, but it was also the most difficult, especially if it wasn’t within the illusion itself.
“If it’s not here, then there’s only one other option.”
Before 520 could ask what she meant, it watched in horror as Tao Ning plunged the candlestick into her own neck, its electronic eyes momentarily blinded by a flash of red.
520: 【…】 Ahhhhhhhhhh！！！ I’m just a three-digit system! Why is the world so cruel?!
A sharp pain, then darkness. Tao Ning opened her eyes, the familiar, battle-scarred Meiyan cave coming into focus.
Pushing herself up, she saw Cen Dianshuang lying nearby, still trapped within the illusion.
The Meiyan leader, about to strike, turned to see Tao Ning, sword in hand.
“How…? You escaped so quickly?”
Her expression turned vicious. “But it only delays the inevitable. I’ll kill you first, then take your skin.”
She lunged at Tao Ning, her movements swift and predatory, then was sent flying, crashing into the wall with a sickening thud.
The Meiyan leader: …Are you two playing games with me?
Coughing up blood – she had lost count of how many times she had done so today – she gasped, “How did you… escape the formation…?”
Cen Dianshuang, her white robes pristine, her face still slightly flushed, didn’t answer.
Her voice, cold and sharp, echoed through the cave. “Absurd. Utterly absurd.”
Her sword flashed, its pale light reflecting in the Meiyan leader’s eyes. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, she wasn’t easily killed, and she certainly wasn’t ready to die.
While others might have interpreted Cen Dianshuang’s stance as aggressive, the Meiyan, with its innate sensitivity to emotions, sensed something else, dodging her attack and lunging towards the beast-shaped ornament.
As the formation’s master, she could access the illusions experienced by those trapped within.
She quickly absorbed the information, then, looking at Cen Dianshuang and Tao Ning, burst into laughter. “You… you have feelings for your disciple!”
Before she could finish, Xuan Ying pierced her Nascent Soul, shattering it.
Blood gurgled from her mouth as she clutched the blade, her strength fading.
But she wasn’t ready to give up. Her dying words, a venomous whisper, echoed through the cave. “My children… will avenge me… They will ruin you…”
Cen Dianshuang’s voice was ice. “Then I’ll kill them all.”
The cave, no longer supported by the leader’s demonic energy, began to tremble and collapse. A scurrying sound from the depths, then a swarm of small, unformed Meiyan emerged.
Several, disoriented, stumbled towards Tao Ning, their deaths swift and brutal.
The others fled, their inherited memories and partial cultivation providing a burst of speed as they scrambled away, their high-pitched shrieks echoing through the tunnels.
Their voices, a chorus of condemnation, chanted, “Cen Dianshuang of the Hanshan Sect! You have feelings for your…!”
Before they could finish, a wave of spiritual energy erupted, sending them flying, followed by a flurry of sword strikes, each one precise and deadly.
The scene was strangely beautiful, like snow falling in the dead of winter.
The Meiyan’s lair collapsed, all traces of their evil eradicated.
Outside the Pink Miasma Forest, Tao Ning shielded her eyes, letting out a low whistle.
She turned to Cen Dianshuang, tugging on her sleeve. “Master…”
Cen Dianshuang turned, a flicker of… something… in her eyes. Seeing Tao Ning staring at her, she asked, “What is it?”
Tao Ning finished her earlier sentence. “Master, I want to learn that technique.”
She had sensed a… loss of control… in Cen Dianshuang’s attack, a surge of uncontrolled spiritual energy.
But now, Cen Dianshuang seemed calm, her face only slightly flushed.
Looking down at the hand on her sleeve, a familiar weight she hadn’t felt in days, she replied, “I’ll teach you another time.”
Tao Ning smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Master! You’re the best!”
With the Meiyan’s lair destroyed, they returned to Butterfly City, bringing news of the demon’s demise. The city erupted in celebration, the City Lord weeping tears of joy, offering to host a banquet in their honor.
Cen Dianshuang, disliking crowds, declined, accepting only lodging for the night, intending to leave the next day.
The City Lord, seeing their resolve, didn’t press further, offering them a treasured bottle of Three Lives Dream, a rare and potent wine.
She had only tasted it once herself, her weak spiritual roots, barely able to guide spiritual energy, somehow achieving Foundation Establishment and losing one of her five spiritual roots after a single cup.
It clearly had some effect on cultivation.
While it was simply spirit-infused wine to Cen Dianshuang, it was the City Lord’s most valuable possession, a token of her gratitude.
“A small gift, Elder Cen. Please accept it.”
Cen Dianshuang had revealed her affiliation with the Hanshan Sect, a name that even the isolated City Lord recognized. She had also identified Cen Dianshuang by her sword, addressing her with the respect due to an elder.
The maid and the steward behind her, however, couldn’t hide their curiosity, their gazes lingering on the two cultivators.
Returning unscathed after slaying such a powerful demon suggested the Hanshan Sect was a formidable force.
While they might have been accustomed to the presence of cultivators, the steward sensed a subtle shift in their demeanor, a sharp, almost predatory aura.
Such an aura was only found in those who had shed blood.
Cen Dianshuang accepted the wine.
The maid, surprised by the sudden lightness in her hands as the bottle vanished from the tray, gasped softly.
The most powerful cultivators they had encountered, aside from the City Lord, were the deceased resident elders, but none of them had possessed such an imposing presence as Cen Dianshuang.
Flustered, she excused herself.
Tao Ning recognized the Three Lives Dream. In the original storyline, it had been gifted to the protagonist by “Hu Feng’er,” helping him purify his spiritual roots.
Having just awakened his bloodline and reached Golden Core, his rapid progress had destabilized his cultivation. The wine had stabilized his realm.
After presenting their gift, the City Lord and her steward departed.
Cen Dianshuang, holding the bottle, addressed Tao Ning. “This wine is quite potent. I’ll give it to you after you reach Golden Core.”
Tao Ning, confused, tilted her head. “Huh?”
Cen Dianshuang: “You kept looking at it. Did you want some?”
Tao Ning: “…I was just curious.”
Cen Dianshuang: “Wine is never a good thing. Avoid it if possible.”
Tao Ning didn’t understand her aversion to alcohol, but agreed nonetheless.
Cen Dianshuang, seemingly not in a talkative mood, gave Tao Ning a few instructions – essentially, stay close and don’t wander off – before returning to her room.
Her departure was so abrupt that Tao Ning didn’t even have a chance to ask about sword practice.
Standing alone in the courtyard, Tao Ning frowned. “Strange.”
520: 【What’s strange?】
Tao Ning looked up at the sky. “I predict rain over the City Lord’s mansion tonight. I should practice my sword strikes before it starts.”
520, checking the humidity levels, disagreed. It’s not going to rain.
Then, realizing something, it added, 【It’s daytime, Host. Not night. How can you predict rain by observing the night sky?】
Tao Ning, practicing her sword forms in the courtyard, her movements precise and fluid even without using spiritual energy, sweat dripping from her brow after a hundred strikes, replied, “Want to make a bet?”
520 felt a sense of déjà vu. It trusted its data more than Tao Ning’s predictions.
【You’re on. I bet it won’t rain tonight.】
Reality, however, proved 520 wrong. That night, a torrential downpour lashed the city, lasting for hours.
520, listening to the rain: Why is the world against me?
Tao Ning, meditating in her room, her eyes closed, her hands forming intricate gestures, spiritual energy flowing through her meridians, was nearing another breakthrough.
She was on the cusp of Golden Core, awaiting the right moment.
Reaching Golden Core wasn’t as simple as advancing from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. Guiding spiritual energy was merely the first step on the path of cultivation, Foundation Establishment the second.
Countless cultivators in the Radiant Realm had reached Foundation Establishment, but less than half achieved Golden Core.
Like the City Lord, her five spiritual roots somehow achieving Foundation Establishment after a single cup of Three Lives Dream, she might never reach Golden Core.
An hour later, a faint, clear cry startled Tao Ning from her meditation.
She opened her eyes, but heard only the rain, the sound from moments earlier seemingly a hallucination.
“520, did you hear anything while I was cultivating?”
520, always vigilant during Tao Ning’s meditation sessions, ready to alert her to any danger, replied, 【No. Just the rain. I recorded some of it. White noise is supposed to be good for insomnia. I heard they have that in the main world too.】
Tao Ning: “I see.” She ended her meditation, sitting on the bed, a hesitant expression on her face.
Her hesitation was obvious. 520: 【You want to go find your master again, don’t you?】 So much for being content with a master-disciple relationship. She’s definitely looking for a second spring.
Tao Ning did. And she also remembered the warding screen Cen Dianshuang had given her.
The five-panel ivory screen, depicting a massive white bird, its wings spanning the heavens. But she shook her head. “No, not now. It’s not the right time.”
520 was stunned. It had never heard such words from Tao Ning. It glanced at the rain outside. It wasn’t red. No emergency.
【Host, you’ve changed. You’ve gone from ‘creating opportunities’ to… this. Your sudden consideration for others is unsettling.】
Tao Ning: “…”
“520, let’s talk about our bet this afternoon.”
Soon, the rain stopped.
In the adjacent room, Cen Dianshuang, occupying the larger of the two, was… transforming. If Tao Ning had entered at that moment, she would have witnessed her master’s true form.
Larger than anything Xu Xian had ever seen, it barely fit within the room.
Fortunately, the room was spacious.
Unable to contain the surge of spiritual energy, Cen Dianshuang had reverted to her true form. Not the small, fluffy bird, but a massive, bed-crushing avian creature.
Shangxi birds were considered divine, their plumage pure white, shimmering with iridescent colors upon closer inspection.
Cen Dianshuang lay on the remains of the bed, her tail feathers spread across the floor, their shimmering aura like moonlight on water. She shook her head, suppressing the urge to cry out.
If she hadn’t activated a sound-dampening artifact before transforming, her cry would have echoed through the entire city, revealing her true nature.
This was why her senior sisters had opposed her taking a disciple.
The Radiant Realm’s stance on demons was clear: eliminate all threats. Even the Hanshan Sect, the most powerful sect, would face severe repercussions if discovered harboring a demon.
She was a hybrid, her bloodline a mix of Shangxi and human. The advantage was that she was born with a human form, only occasionally reverting to a small bird.
The disadvantage was that her meridians often struggled to contain her rapidly increasing spiritual energy. Her master had constantly warned her against rushing her cultivation, fearing she might explode.
Otherwise, she would end up like this, reverting to her true form to alleviate the pressure on her meridians.
A demon’s innate abilities were often beyond human comprehension.
Unlike pure-blooded Shangxi, who were born at Soul Transformation, she had been born as a human infant, with spiritual roots and meridians, capable of cultivating like any other human.
She had never met her parents. Her human father had entrusted her to her master’s care.
Her mother, a pure-blooded Shangxi, had sealed her away after birth, only remembering her human lover centuries later, as a great tribulation approached, sending her to him.
Her father, after centuries of unrequited love, had sought out the previous Hanshan Sect Leader, leaving his life’s savings before joining her mother.
According to her master, he had perished under tribulation lightning, her father, unable to bear the loss, choosing to die with her.
Cen Dianshuang couldn’t judge their actions, only knowing that the people she cared about most were in the Hanshan Sect.
The massive bird within the ruined room shimmered, then vanished, replaced by a small lump under the covers, which wriggled and squirmed, eventually emerging.
A small, fluffy bird, its feathers ruffled from its struggles, shook itself, its plumage returning to its pristine white state.
By Shangxi standards, Cen Dianshuang wasn’t an adult. The massive bird had been an illusion, a projection. This small bundle of fluff was her true form.
After sulking for a moment, she shifted back to her human form, changing into a new robe after her previous one had been torn during her transformation.
She restored the room to its original state, retrieving a bottle of pills and pouring one out, then hesitated before swallowing it.
While Frost Flower nectar was sweet, the refined pills were incredibly bitter. Her senior brother, after refining his first batch, had been reduced to tears by their master, fleeing into the rain, refusing to admit he had added Coptis root.
He hadn’t. The other ingredients made the pills naturally bitter.
“I swear to the heavens, I didn’t add any Coptis root! Please, Junior Sister, stop chirping! It’s raining so hard!”
Cen Dianshuang sighed, taking a sip of sweet water to wash down the pill.
The faint fruity sweetness surprised her. She didn’t recall having any flavored water.
Then she saw the bottle, its familiar shape a sudden, unwelcome reminder. It wasn’t flavored water, but Three Lives Dream.
Cen Dianshuang: “…”
In her three hundred and sixty-two years, she had only consumed alcohol twice.
The first time, she had accidentally drunk her senior sister’s spirit fruit wine, waking up three days later to her master’s exasperated lecture about nearly turning Red Stone Spring into a frozen wasteland.
The second time was now.
She froze, a wave of heat rushing to her head.
Hopefully, Butterfly City won’t be underwater when I wake up.
No, I need someone to… prevent me from… doing anything… regrettable.
Hearing the rain stop, Tao Ning opened the window, then turned at the sound of a crash from the next room.
Cen Dianshuang, dressed in a lilac robe, stood in the doorway, her face slightly flushed.
Leave a Reply