Chapter 57
Cang Yi stood firmly at the entrance of the hall.
He glanced around at the people lying in pain on the ground, his brow furrowed.
Then, his eyes fell on the severed head of Wu Qianyuan in Zeyuan’s hand, and his expression turned even sharper, filled with shock and fury.
“Zeyuan, did you do this?”
Zeyuan, still gripping his spear and kneeling on the ground, looked up coldly at Cang Yi, his tone icy as he replied, “I did.”
Cang Yi closed his eyes briefly, his figure swaying slightly.
After a moment, he spoke with a hoarse voice, “Why did you do this?”
“I did it, so what? What does it have to do with you? If you want to avenge them, just come at me.”
Seeing the pain on Cang Yi’s face, Zeyuan sneered, “There’s no need to put on such a show. Who are you trying to fool?”
“Do you know how many innocent lives this will take?” Cang Yi stared at Zeyuan, his usually calm face full of urgent anger. “And have you thought about what will happen to you after this? What about your father?”
Zeyuan’s face changed slightly at the mention of his father, and he lowered his head.
After a while, he spoke in a low voice, filled with hatred and despair, “They killed my beloved.”
Then, abruptly raising his head, his voice trembled as he spoke each word, “They killed my Wanglan, tortured him for over ten days, and he died with his eyes wide open, his body horribly disfigured.”
“I searched everywhere, but I never thought he’d be captured and locked in the Yulu Mountain dungeon. I failed him, I didn’t protect him. Now that he’s gone, I want the entire cultivation world to pay in blood.”
Zeyuan’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice filled with anguish, like the howling of a lone wolf mourning the loss of its mate.
“I ask you again, what will happen to your father?” Cang Yi shouted sternly, his fingers trembling slightly at his side.
Zeyuan suddenly cut him off, roaring, “I don’t care! All I know is that Wanglan is gone, Wanglan was killed by them!”
“You ask me what will happen to my father now, but all those years before, did you ever ask about him? Did you ask about me?”
“We meant nothing to you! Now you pretend to care, but what’s the point? Why put on this act? Aren’t the celestial sects supposed to be united? If you want to kill me, come and do it! What use are all these words!”
Cang Yi’s face had already turned pale, and his body trembled as he closed his eyes in pain after hearing those words.
Seeing this, Liu Siqian immediately became wary and shouted at Zeyuan, “What nonsense are you spouting to our Immortal Lord? It’s well-known that the demonic beings of the Demon Realm are skilled in bewitching minds. What have you done to our Immortal Lord?”
Cang Yi abruptly opened his eyes and raised a hand, gesturing for Liu Siqian to stop. Liu Siqian could only swallow the rest of his words and begrudgingly fell silent.
“Where is his body? Where have you placed Wang Lan’s body?” Cang Yi, now much calmer, suddenly asked.
“His body is well taken care of by me. What does it have to do with you?” Upon hearing Wang Lan’s name, Zeyuan’s eyes immediately sharpened, like a wary beast.
Cang Yi ignored Zeyuan’s hostility and continued, “You know deep down that I would never harm you.”
Zeyuan kept his gaze on him, as if both guarding and observing his expression.
Cang Yi didn’t waver, meeting Zeyuan’s eyes with a deep and inscrutable look.
“He once went with me to Qishan. At the foot of the mountain, there’s a herb field. He said the flowers blooming there were beautiful.” After a long pause, Zeyuan murmured.
“Why did you go to Qishan?” Cang Yi’s gaze turned strange, his voice low and trembling slightly.
“I told him I wanted to introduce him to my family. Even if he couldn’t meet them, it would be nice to see where they lived.” Zeyuan suddenly let out a soft laugh, as if mocking himself.
Then he raised his eyes to look far off through the hall’s doors, his gaze empty. “I also promised him that we would live by that herb field, growing herbs and watching the flowers bloom.”
“So, I placed him in a jade coffin, letting him rest beside that herb field. But he won’t be lonely, as those two flower spirits—his parents—are by his side.”
“And Xiao Hei is there too.”
“When I’ve avenged him, I’ll join him.”
“Hurry and take me there. The jade coffin has sealed his soul; there’s still time.” Cang Yi interrupted his muttering, speaking urgently.
It seemed as though Zeyuan hadn’t heard him, still lost in his thoughts, his face blank. Even when Cang Yi stepped right in front of him, Zeyuan didn’t notice.
Cang Yi grabbed Zeyuan’s collar and dragged him up from the ground, shouting sternly, “Take me to see Wang Lan right now. There’s still time.”
“What…what do you mean by ‘still time’?” Zeyuan trembled all over, as if suddenly awakened, staring at Cang Yi in a daze, his voice shaking. His eyes brightened instantly, filled with disbelief, hope, and deep longing.
Despite being held by the collar, he didn’t resist, his eyes pleading desperately.
“We’ll talk when we get there,” Cang Yi said as he released him and strode out of the hall. With a wave of his hand, he stepped onto a sword suspended in the air.
Glancing at the rolling silver line of water in the sky, he turned back and shouted, “Withdraw the water of the Hidden Sea first.”
Zeyuan, no longer panicked, said nothing and rushed out of the hall. With a swing of his spear, the silver line in the sky slowly began to retreat.
Just as the two were about to fly toward the direction of Qishan Sect, a hoarse voice came from the ground. “Immortal Lord, this demon killed our sect leader, destroyed our sect, and injured our disciples. This blood debt, you must help us avenge it.”
The voice was filled with deep resentment.
The speaker was a member of Yulu Sect, who had lost an arm in the battle.
After receiving some treatment, he had just awoken from his blood loss-induced coma. Leaning against a pillar, he glared at Zeyuan with hatred.
Cang Yi paused for a moment, then turned slightly and said coldly, “I will investigate this matter thoroughly. Whoever has committed evil will pay the price.”
After speaking, he mounted his sword and flew into the sky. Zeyuan followed closely behind on his silver spear.
Back at Yulu Mountain, the remaining people began treating their wounds and recovering. The body of Yulu Sect’s leader, Wu Qianyuan, was sealed in a coffin.
Seeing that Yulu Sect was safe for now and that Zeyuan had left with Cang Yi to Qishan, Liu Siqian still felt uneasy. He quickly gathered the remaining disciples and returned to their sect.
They anxiously awaited Cang Yi’s return deep into the night. When he finally appeared, they rushed forward, bombarding him with questions.
Cang Yi waved them off tiredly. “Zeyuan has perished, his soul scattered. Don’t bring this matter up again.”
Then, his eyes sharp, he added, “It was Wu Qianyuan’s misconduct that led to this. Instead of cultivating properly, he resorted to vile practices, taking the lives of innocents. This is why the Demon Realm’s young master sought revenge.”
“Although Zeyuan also harmed several from Yulu Sect, it was a consequence of their own actions. And Zeyuan has paid the price he deserved.”
“From now on, no one in the cultivation world is allowed to seek revenge on the Demon Realm. If I find out anyone is harboring resentment and acting on it in secret, I won’t forgive them.”
Seeing that everyone fell silent, not daring to contradict him, Cang Yi’s expression softened.
He announced that he would go into seclusion and leave the sect’s affairs temporarily in the hands of Tianxuan.
His voice was low and his face haggard as he spoke. Occasionally, he couldn’t suppress a light cough.
The disciples were surprised by his sudden decision to enter seclusion, but they noticed that he seemed to have suffered from a fierce battle with Zeyuan. Though he had ultimately defeated the demon, the demonic power must have taken a toll, leaving the Immortal Lord in need of recovery.
Understanding this, they didn’t press further.
After dismissing the others, Cang Yi stayed behind with Tianxuan. No one knew what they discussed, but it likely concerned the sect’s affairs during his absence.
That very night, Cang Yi vanished, presumably entering his seclusion.
The disaster was thus averted, and the floodwaters receded.
From that moment on, the Demon Realm’s Zeyuan was never heard from again in the cultivation world.
During this time, it seems Jie Shang had been keeping a close eye on Cang Yi’s movements. As soon as he heard that the Immortal Lord had emerged from seclusion, he came seeking revenge.
When Jie Shang mentioned the words “vengeance for my son’s death,” the atmosphere turned completely silent.
Because of Cang Yi’s stance back then, the Qishan Sect never spoke of the events on Yulu Mountain, but everyone in the sect knew the story. They would whisper about it during idle conversations or before bed. Now, hearing that Jie Shang had come for revenge, everyone was terrified, their bodies cold with fear.
“Back then, Cang Yi pleaded with me not to harm any of you before he emerged from seclusion, and in a moment of weakness, I agreed. But who would’ve thought that even after coming out of seclusion, he would still cower and not dare show himself? Is he afraid that I would come to exterminate your entire Qishan Sect?” Jie Shang coldly scanned the crowd, sneering.
“You wicked demon! Stop speaking nonsense!” Cheng Ming, enraged by Jie Shang’s disrespect toward Immortal Lord Cang Yi, could no longer hold back his fury.
The shining sword that had been hovering above his head suddenly gleamed with silver light and shot straight toward Jieshang.
“Tian Quan, stop!” Liu Sixian hurriedly tried to intervene, but the sword had already been released.
Just as it was about to strike Jieshang, it halted several meters in front of him, trembling slightly, unable to move any closer.
Jie Shang didn’t even glance at it, but spoke to the space ahead, “Cang Yi, I know you’ve come out of seclusion. The agreement we made back then ends today. I will avenge my son’s death—this won’t end until one of us dies. If you don’t show yourself, I will kill ten of your disciples every half-hour until you appear.”
Although his voice wasn’t loud, it echoed across the entire Qishan Sect.
Xia Yi heard this and instinctively grabbed Gu Wenzhu’s arm, while wrapping his other arm around the Qilin’s neck.
“Is Jieshang some kind of edgy villain or a full-blown psychopath? He looks all smiles, but every word out of his mouth is about killing. Every half-hour, ten people? What is this madness?”
“Shut up!” Liu Sixian couldn’t hold back any longer, and raised his sword toward Jie Shang. “We once respected you as the Demon Lord, but now you exploit the fact that our Immortal Lord was in seclusion. First, you abduct our disciples and leader, and now you speak disrespectfully of our Immortal Lord?”
“You think our Qishan Sect will just surrender and let you butcher us? Even if you are the Demon Lord, today we’ll fight to the last man to make you pay!”
“All disciples, prepare your swords!”
As soon as he finished speaking, hundreds to thousands of swords began to glow, vibrating with a humming sound, before streaking toward Jie Shang like a shower of meteors.
“Ah,” Xia Yi let out a short scream, closing his eyes.
Even though Jie Shang was a dangerous psychopath, as a law-abiding citizen raised in modern society, Xia Yi couldn’t stand to watch someone get stabbed to death.
But the expected screams never came. Instead, there was an earth-shaking crash, followed by the clattering sound of swords falling to the ground.
Xia Yi opened her eyes in shock.
On the ground before him lay countless fallen swords, some stuck upright in the cracks between stone slabs, still trembling.
Yet Jie Shang remained standing where he was, his red robes fluttering like blood in the wind. His snow-white skin made his dark eyes appear even deeper, like an unfathomable abyss.
Xia Yi couldn’t help but glance at Gu Wenzhu beside him.
Sensing Xia Yi’s gaze, Gu Wenzhu turned his head, raising an eyebrow in a questioning look.
His eyes, too, were as dark as deep water.
Xia Yi quickly shook his head and pointed forward, signaling to continue watching.
Just as Gu Wenzhu turned back to look, he cried out, “Something’s wrong!”
Before Xia Yi could ask what, he saw that Jie Shang, who had seemingly not moved, now had one of the Qishan disciples in his grasp.
The disciple was tall and strong, but he was being held in Jie Shang’s hand like a helpless chick, unable to resist.
When Jie Shang turned him around, Xia Yi almost cried out in shock.
It was Qingxiu.
Jie Shang had one hand gripping Qingxiu’s neck and the other hovering above his head, a dark energy swirling in his palm.
“Cang Yi, I’ll count to ten. If you don’t appear by then, don’t blame me for starting the slaughter.”
“One, two, three…”
Tears welled up in Qingxiu’s eyes as he gazed longingly in the direction of his fellow disciples, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes.
“Four…” Jieshang continued to count slowly, his voice casual, but his eyes betrayed an inner turmoil.
“Stop!”
Jieshang had barely reached five when a clear, firm voice rang out from the sky.
