Chapter 52

He's really gone mad.

Pei Xueyan did not rush to the Qingzong Sect. Instead, she found a mountain to sit quietly for a long time, lying on a rock facing the stream and staring blankly at the flowing clouds every day.

In a short period of time, she has experienced countless twists and turns, and now she really doesn't know where to go or what to do.

Why is he so determined to find Jiang Qiye?

Besides wanting to confirm his well-being, is there something else hidden deep in his heart that he longs for?

When people are in a state of extreme mental confusion, they often try to clear their minds and distract themselves with other things.

Pei Xueyan sat on the cliff for several days to fast, focusing all her energy on comprehending the mental cultivation method.

The effect is still quite remarkable.

After descending the mountain, she specially changed into men's clothing.

The Qingzong Sect is known for its strict security; even women dressed as women would find it difficult to sneak in.

It would be better to change into men's clothing and take a different approach, which would be more convenient.

Upon arriving outside the Qingzong Sect's barrier, she flew down to a branch of an old tree, lay down among the thick branches, and quietly observed the situation at the sect's gate.

Forcibly breaking through the barrier is not difficult, but once you step into the sect, if you encounter the various subdivided barriers, you will definitely attract many disciples instantly.

How annoying, why did they have to sneak in?

In recent days, Jiang Qiye had not sent a single message. The thought of her taking the initiative to request an audience only to be turned away was unbearable.

Let's sneak in, take a quick look, and then leave.

As night fell, Pei Xueyan got up and quietly went around to the back of the Qingzong Sect.

After some effort, she managed to break through the barrier, only to find that Jiang Qiye was not resting inside the hall.

That's right. I looked up at the roof and saw that it had just been repaired, and the furnishings and decorations inside the hall hadn't been arranged yet.

But where will he go?

Pei Xueyan was at a loss for what to do, so she casually summoned Lingyu and sent it to search for Jiang Qiye's whereabouts.

However, the spirit feather seemed to have lost its divine power, hovering in the air for more than an hour without any clue.

Since Jiang Qiye acquired the cultivation level of True Person Wangyu, these ordinary spirit feathers have long been unable to sense his aura.

It seems that things like spirit feathers are only effective for immortals with ordinary cultivation levels.

It was already dark, and she was really tired.

She randomly found an unused storage room within the sect, pushed open the door, and fell into a deep sleep on a pile of hay in the corner.

Perhaps because she hadn't rested properly during her fasting period a few days ago, coupled with today's travel, she slept straight through until noon the next day.

When I woke up, my stomach was growling loudly with hunger.

She casually picked up a piece of clothing from a Qingzong Sect disciple. Although the clothes were a bit loose, she carefully folded the hem and cuffs a few times, and they fit her just barely.

After tidying up, she pushed open the door of the storage room and walked out, blending in with the disciples coming and going. Surprisingly, no one noticed anything amiss.

As expected, the sect was large, with hundreds of disciples, and they might not all know each other.

She searched and searched, but couldn't find the person.

I could smell the aroma of food.

Pei Xueyan followed the aroma of food and wandered around to the dining hall.

The menu includes steamed buns, shumai, mantou, and vegetables. Although there are many vegetarian options, there is also a fair amount of meat.

As soon as she stepped across the threshold, the cook, who was busy behind the stove, reached out his hand to her without even looking up, his movements as familiar as if he were treating a disciple who came to get his meals every day.

Pei Xueyan asked in confusion, "What?"

The chef then raised his eyes and glanced at her, his gaze calm yet scrutinizing: "A new apprentice?"

Her heart tightened slightly, but she nodded calmly.

"Gold, silver, hairpins, or ritual implements—take any one of these to pay for your meal."

"What? I have to pay for a meal?"

"Didn't your master teach you the rules of the Qing Sect?" The chef stopped what he was doing, noticing something was wrong, and his hands, hanging by his sides, were already quietly gathering spiritual energy.

He had worked in this food court for over ten years and had seen countless new disciples, so he was quite good at recognizing people.

Before Pei Xueyan could find an excuse, the chef raised an eyebrow and pressed, "Are you a woman?"

The moment her identity was exposed, Pei Xueyan's first reaction was to run away.

She swiftly grabbed two hot buns from the steamer, turned around, and dashed out.

Upon seeing this, the chef behind him immediately shouted towards the door, "Quickly set up a barrier to catch them! An intruder has broken into the sect!"

The Qingzong disciples patrolling the area quickly gathered, and several beams of spiritual light intertwined to form a transparent barrier, instantly covering the sky above the food pavilion.

Pei Xueyan had just flown into the air when she was blocked back by the barrier.

In a moment of panic, she quickly sheathed her sword and turned to walk towards the small hill ahead.

In situations like this, applying oil to the soles of your feet is the most effective solution.

The Qing Sect is simply too large.

Pavilions and towers flashed by, the roar of waterfalls filled the air, and winding paths crisscrossed, dazzling the eyes.

The footsteps and shouts behind her grew closer and closer, so Pei Xueyan could only keep her body low and hide behind the artificial rocks and deep in the flower bushes, not daring to even breathe loudly.

She watched the disciples coming and going, and slowly moved her feet from the edge of the stone into the depths.

The further you go, the fewer people you see, but the more magnificent and spectacular the scenery becomes.

Upon reaching a mountaintop, Pei Xueyan spotted two guards in the distance, gazing up at the shimmering barrier in the sky. She immediately understood that it was best to conceal her spiritual power at this moment.

She lightly touched the ground with her toes and silently moved forward.

After all this wandering, night had already fallen on the horizon.

Seeing that this place seemed to be a forbidden area, and no one dared to cross the line, Pei Xueyan used the same trick again and found a secluded corner to rest for the time being.

But before he had slept for even an hour, a shrill roar shattered the silence.

Pei Xueyan suddenly woke up, immediately got up, and peeked through the crack in the door.

It was Jiang Qiye!

He was dressed in a black robe, and his whole body had fallen into madness, his long hair dancing wildly under the force of external shock.

A thick black mist swirled around him, clearly a sign of demonic possession.

Indeed, the Qingzong Sect's cultivation emphasizes a proper foundation, requiring gradual progress to deepen one's understanding.

His master's cultivation method always took a shortcut, and forcibly merging two completely different paths naturally made it very easy for him to go astray and become possessed by demons.

Jiang Qiye knelt down in agony, perhaps due to the unbearable heat in his body, and had already thrown his outer robe aside.

Even though he was in excruciating pain, he suppressed the wails in his throat and struggled to stay afloat with sheer willpower.

Pei Xueyan watched from behind the door, and a feeling of pity welled up in her heart.

Just as she was about to push the door open, she heard Jiang Qiye shout sharply, "Who's outside?"

Before Pei Xueyan could react, a powerful force suddenly struck, pulling her body directly in front of Jiang Qiye.

He seemed to have lost all his memories and did not recognize the person in front of him at all.

His disheveled long hair obscured most of his eyebrows and eyes, leaving only the lower half of his face covered with an extremely deep chill. His voice was icy and piercing: "Who are you? How dare you trespass on the top of the Milky Way?"

Pei Xueyan instinctively reached out to brush away the stray hairs from his forehead, wanting him to see her face clearly.

Before her fingertips even touched her hair, Jiang Qiye suddenly flicked his sleeve, and an even stronger force sent her flying again, crashing heavily into the door frame behind her, as if her bones were about to crack.

A metallic taste rose in her throat, and she forced back the excruciating pain, vomiting blood. Her eyes bulged with resentment and bitterness as she gritted her teeth and cursed, "You filthy man! Jiang Qiye, you and your heartless master deserve to go to the eighteenth level of hell!"

In the instant the excruciating pain struck, Pei Xueyan remembered that his master had personally severed his emotional ties.

If we don't escape now, when will we?

She dared not delay, and with her remaining spiritual power, she turned and flew away.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the dark figure had already caught up to the outside of the palace.

Pei Xueyan had no choice but to retreat hastily and hide in the courtyard next door.

With such speed and power, his cultivation level now seems to be almost invincible.

She had barely moved when she heard a whooshing sound behind her; he had caught up.

In desperation, Pei Xueyan darted to hide on a tall, thick ancient tree in the courtyard, not daring to even breathe loudly.

At this moment, she was in excruciating pain, with her back and waist aching, and her bones feeling as if they were being torn apart.

The first time I saw him under the tree, he was breathing rapidly, looking like he was about to suffocate from nervousness.

Watching him stand under the tree, looking around, was even more chilling than when his master personally came to interrogate him years ago.

Jiang Qiye's cultivation level was already top-notch, and his breath-holding technique was even more unparalleled.

Therefore, it's not so easy to sense that someone is in the tree.

A gust of wind blew by, and he seemed to become much more lucid. He adjusted his breathing slightly and then turned to go back into the hall.

Seeing him leave, Pei Xueyan's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, and she subconsciously let out a soft sigh of relief.

He instantly caught that extremely subtle hint.

A sharp gust of wind suddenly swept in, scattering her hair, and then a tremendous force pulled her down, causing Pei Xueyan to fall straight off the tree!

The Heavenly River Palace is the most secure and tightly protected place in the entire Qingzong Sect, and it is not a place that ordinary people can trespass on.

Someone actually managed to get in!

She couldn't care less about anything at that moment, and fell heavily to the ground, further aggravating her already injured waist, causing her to feel dizzy from the pain.

Pei Xueyan: "......"

A torrent of profanities almost spilled from my mouth.

She clutched her waist, about to prop herself up and start cursing, when she saw Jiang Qiye summon his longsword, its cold, gleaming tip piercing straight at her!

"Sect Leader! Don't make a move!"

Jiang Qiye had already sensed the orthodox spiritual power of the Qing Sect flowing through her body, and his sword strike suddenly stopped, allowing him to withdraw his hand in time.

He used his sword to brush aside the stray strands of hair from her forehead, his gaze falling on her face, but his eyes held only complete unfamiliarity, without the slightest sense of familiarity.

"Are you a woman?"

Pei Xueyan stared into his cold, unfamiliar eyes, observing his completely unrecognizable expression.

Before leaving, Master Wangyu personally severed his emotional ties, which must have had an effect.

Is he the sect leader?

He... actually became the sect leader?

As the head of a sect, one should be wholeheartedly devoted to the sect; the seven emotions and six desires are actually shackles on the path of cultivation.

Perhaps this was the ultimate expectation that Master Wangyu placed on him.

Seeing that she remained silent, he asked again in a cold voice, "Who is it?"

Pei Xueyan felt weak all over, her eyes revealing an indescribable fragility, and she did not want to answer.

Lingchuan naturally knew they were husband and wife, but he didn't know that his master had severed his emotional ties. He simply assumed that Lingchuan had lost his memory after going astray and couldn't recognize his wife.

He quickly bent down and helped Pei Xueyan up, explaining in a low voice, "Madam, the sect leader is currently balancing the cultivation levels of Master and Master Ye, and his mind is not yet fully stable."

Pei Xueyan naturally understood what he meant.

She looked up at Jiang Qiye: "Are you... going to kill me?"

Of all the things I've cared about most in my life with him, this is still the most important thing.

Jiang Qiye did not answer her question, his gaze sharp as a knife: "Who taught you the Breath Holding Technique and the Flash Movement Technique?"

Pei Xueyan, unwilling to comply with his wishes, forced a smile despite the excruciating pain and asked him in return, "What do you think?"