Chapter 3 There's Something Wrong with This Enemy
You could hear a pin drop in the Xianmen Council Hall, and the air was filled with the fragrance of premium spiritual tea and eight hundred years of hypocrisy.
Jiang Xuelan sat upright below the chief, his back straighter than ten-thousand-year-old black ice, his eyelids barely raised. His hair was bound in a jade crown, his snow-white robe spotless, even the curve of his cuffs precise as if measured with a ruler. He was the moral standard for the entire sect—aloof, abstinent, and disciplined—engraved into his bones. Above the chief, the Immortal Venerable was preaching in a rhythmic voice about his century-long plan to "eliminate demons and restore peace to the Three Realms," his spit threatening to spray into the faces of the disciples in the front row.
Jiang Xuelan lowered her eyelashes slightly, seemingly listening intently, but in reality, her mind was frantically scrolling through the 8621st Immortal Rule, "Calm the Mind and Concentrate the Spirit." She had to. A vast light curtain, condensed by the Water Mirror Technique, hung in the center of the conference room. Within, the demon king, Li Jiuyou, clad in azure black, his face etched with the expression "I want to kill," was condensing his murderous aura into substance across the vast void, unleashing it freely.
Demon Realm, Red Blood Palace.
Li Jiuyou kicked over the heavy table in front of him made of thousand-year-old dark wood. The black jade wine pot and the luminous cup shattered to the ground, and the scarlet wine flowed out like spilled blood.
"A bunch of cowards! All you can do is fart through the water mirror!" He growled, his voice like sandpaper polishing rough black iron, and with a monstrous rage, he smashed into the immortal sect members on the other side of the water mirror. "You slaughtered my people and dug out my bones to take my elixir! This blood debt, I will make you pay with your lives! Don't even think of escaping!"
As he uttered the last word "escape," a violent demonic force, like a tangible black python, slammed fiercely into the water mirror light curtain! The light curtain shook violently, ripples spreading wildly, and the air in the entire conference hall seemed to be instantly sucked dry. The disciples with lower cultivation levels turned pale and had a fishy and sweet taste in their throats.
The Immortal Venerable's face was as gloomy as water, his wide robe sleeves moving without a breeze, clearly straining to maintain the water mirror's stability. Fairy Baizhi sat diagonally behind Jiang Xuelan, her delicate fingers clenched into fists, her nails practically digging into her palms. Her eyes, brimming with icy hatred, gazed at Li Jiuyou in the water mirror.
At this moment when the murderous aura was at its most intense and the pressure was at its greatest—
Jiang Xuelan felt an extremely sudden heat flow, without any warning and with great momentum, burning from the tailbone all the way to the top of the head!
An extremely light yawn, with a hint of sleepiness and a slightly rising ending tone, slipped out of the throat of this moral role model in the immortal world at an inopportune time.
Then, something even stranger happened. His eyes, usually as calm as the depths of a cold pond, seemed to be choked by invisible smoke, and quickly became covered with a layer of physiological water. The corners of his eyes turned slightly red, and a crystal clear teardrop, without any warning and extremely slowly, slid down the outline of his clear and cold profile.
The teardrops fell on the front of his snow-white Taoist robe, creating a small dark stain. The sound was so soft that it was almost inaudible, but in the conference hall where you could hear a pin drop and everyone was holding their breath, it was like thunder from the sky!
Dozens of gazes instantly fixed on Jiang Xuelan's face from the violently vibrating water mirror screen! Shock, confusion, disbelief... Especially Bai Zhi, the hatred in her beautiful eyes was instantly replaced by astonishment, staring straight at the tear marks in the corners of Jiang Xuelan's eyes and the annoying water stain in front of him.
The Immortal Venerable's hand that was maintaining the spell trembled slightly, and the water mirror that was forcibly stabilized began to ripple again.
Jiang Xuelan: "..."
He froze in place, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat. He could clearly feel the roots of his ears, burning like a prairie fire, the heat rushing straight to his cheeks! A voice in his heart roared wildly, making his sea of consciousness buzz:
**Heart-destroying Contract! Li Jiuyou, you bastard! Is releasing murderous intent from a distance of thousands of miles considered "emotional pollution"?! And the pollution is so refreshing and refined?!**
This damn ancient curse! It's bound, and the pain is barely bearable, but the side effects of this "emotional pollution" are simply insane! Li Jiuyou's rage and murderous intent are transmitted to him, and it actually twists into yawns and tears? Who can he turn to for justice? How can he avenge this? The moment his enemy is furious, he yawns and tears, the image is suffocating!
Jiang Xuelan forced down a second yawn, braving dozens of penetrating gazes. With a blank expression, he raised his hand and, with his fingertips, very slowly and forcefully wiped away the remaining tears from the corners of his eyes. His movements remained graceful and composed, as if the tear had just been a collective hallucination.
He raised his chin slightly and turned his gaze back to the water mirror. His eyes were as cold as ice, and he tried to torture the culprit in it a thousand times with his eyes.
On the other side of the water mirror, Li Jiuyou seemed to pause for a moment at the sudden, eerie silence. His blood-red eyes pierced through the ripples, accurately capturing Jiang Xuelan's tear-wiping movements and the icy gaze that threatened to spit fire.
Li Jiuyou's brows were twisted into a knot.
What's wrong with this pretty boy from the Immortal Sect? He's been hurling threats through the water mirror, flipping tables, and charging at me with murderous intent. Shouldn't the normal reaction be an angry counterattack or a full-scale defense? He... why is he wiping his eyes? That look... is it of grievance? Or... provocation?!
The unpleasant feeling of a fist pounding into cotton, mixed with a subtle awkwardness he didn't even notice, instantly diluted Li Jiuyou's raging rage. He stared at Jiang Xuelan's cold and austere face, now inexplicably vibrant with a blush on her ears. He felt the rage in his chest grow even stronger, but he couldn't find a suitable outlet.
"Jiang Xuelan!" Li Jiuyou's voice grew deeper and hoarse, filled with an affronted irritation. "Stop playing tricks on me! Who are you trying to show off to?!"
The atmosphere in the meeting hall grew even more eerie. The Immortal Sect members looked at the furious Demon King in the water mirror, then at the icy yet red-eared Immortal Lord standing below the Chief. They felt the atmosphere between the two was... bizarre. It didn't seem like a blood feud, but more like... a young couple having a quarrel.
Bai Zhi's expression was beyond description. She stood up abruptly, her voice filled with sharp anger, "Li Jiuyou! Stop being so arrogant, you evil monster! Junior Brother Lan has such a beautiful and graceful figure, how can you sully her with your dirty words!" She turned to Jiang Xuelan, her tone softening instantly, filled with worry and a subtle hint of possessiveness, "Junior Brother, is this demon king's evil magic disturbing you? Don't be afraid, Master and I are here!"
"Defiled?" Li Jiuyou seemed to have heard a huge joke. His bloodshot eyes narrowed dangerously, his gaze like a poisoned hook, locking onto Jiang Xuelan tightly, completely ignoring Bai Zhi. "I want to see how long you can keep this immortal body and bones!" Before he finished speaking, his demonic power surged again. This time, it was no longer a simple murderous attack. A pitch-black demonic blade, as condensed as a substance, tore through the ripples of the water mirror and rushed straight into Jiang Xuelan's face with a piercing scream! The speed was so fast and the power was so fierce that even the Immortal Venerable only had time to shout, "Watch out!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
