Chapter 1
The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the entire Tianxuan Sect.
On Lingji Peak, a female cultivator in black was hidden in the darkness. She was the evil cultivator who had been brought back by Sect Leader Yun Zheng a few days ago.
Jiang Liuya was a Gu cultivator. At this moment, a Gu worm the size of a thumb in her hand emitted a faint green glow, appearing particularly eerie in the darkness. This Gu was called the Phantom Gu; it flew extremely fast, possessed keen senses, and could freely traverse mountains, forests, and valleys, making it difficult to track. Today, she would use this Gu worm to investigate the secrets of the Heavenly Profound Sect's forbidden area.
With a flick of her finger, Jiang Liuya sent the Gu worm flying several miles away in a blur. In the darkness, the shadowy creature moved like a ghost, searching and finally stopping at the forbidden area in the northwest corner of the Tianxuan Sect.
However, the moment the Gu worm touched the forbidden area's barrier, a barely perceptible fluctuation of spiritual energy arose around it.
The Tianxuan Sect has nine peaks and eighteen monasteries. On Lingcui Peak, a Daoist in blue robes seemed to sense something. He was sitting cross-legged in his cave, cultivating with his eyes closed, surrounded by spiritual energy like a misty haze.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed slightly, and his eyes snapped open, his sharp gaze piercing through the darkness.
With a wave of his hands, Daoist Danxi unleashed a burst of spiritual energy that shot out like lightning. Instantly, the Phantom Gu turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished.
On Lingji Peak, Jiang Liuya felt a buzzing in her head and a sweet, metallic taste rising in her throat.
She staggered half a step, drawing the surging blood back to her dantian.
Relying on the residual spiritual energy fluctuations left when the Gu worms dissipated, Daoist Danxi quickly located Jiang Liuya's position.
“Lingji Peak…” he murmured softly, and in a flash, he appeared in front of Jiang Liuya.
Upon seeing the cultivator appear out of nowhere, Jiang Liuya's face showed disbelief, and her pupils contracted sharply.
Although he didn't know the other person's background, he could tell at a glance that this person's strength far surpassed his own. Just by standing calmly in front of him, the pressure he exuded made him tremble involuntarily.
Since advancing to the Nascent Soul stage, Jiang Liuya has never felt this powerless again...
At the very least, he's at the Nascent Soul stage. Jiang Liuya pondered to herself.
The Dao Lord before her had eyes like an icy pool, coldly staring at Jiang Liuya, his voice devoid of any warmth: "Speak, who are you?"
Jiang Liuya forced a smile and feigned composure. She lied, "Senior, I am a rogue cultivator who became acquainted with Sect Leader Yun Zheng during our travels. I only arrived at your sect a few days ago and am still unfamiliar with the Tianxuan Sect. Today, I merely released a Pathfinding Gu, which I believe offended you. I apologize for this." As she spoke, she bowed deeply.
Jiang Liuya's mind raced. This person appearing at Lingji Peak at this time was most likely an elder of the Tianxuan Sect. Jiang Liuya mentioned Yun Zheng in her words, attempting to use the sect leader's influence to sway him and hope that he would show some leniency.
"Yun Zheng didn't tell you that this place is a forbidden area." Daoist Danxi's face was cold and his voice was deep.
Jiang Liuya thought to herself: It is precisely because it is a forbidden area that we should investigate it thoroughly. However, she never expected that the Tianxuan Sect would have such a reclusive master unknown to outsiders.
A thousand years ago, spiritual energy in the world was becoming increasingly scarce. Cultivators who could reach the Nascent Soul stage were extremely rare, and those who reached the Divine Transformation stage were like mythical beings, hidden from the world and rarely seen.
If I had known this would happen, I should have been more careful...
"Senior, please forgive me. I've only been here a few days and truly don't know where the forbidden areas are. As a Gu cultivator, I know I'm not tolerated by righteous cultivators. Today I learned that there's a quiet, deserted wasteland in the northwest corner of the Tianxuan Sect, and I figured that cultivating there alone wouldn't disturb the sect's disciples. So I sent the Pathfinding Gu to check it out, but I never imagined it would be a forbidden area..."
At this point, Jiang Liuya feigned grievance, her eyes glistening with tears. She glanced slightly at the Daoist Lord before her, secretly observing his expression. Then she quickly lowered her eyes again, her demeanor portraying a pitiful and helpless air.
“Senior, although I am a Gu cultivator, I have always been kind to others. Today, I simply wish to find a quiet place to cultivate…”
Danxi Daojun remained unmoved, and snorted coldly: "You don't need to say anything, I'll see for myself."
After saying that, he moved his consciousness, and a huge force invaded Jiang Liuya's sea of consciousness like a tide.
Jiang Liuya was filled with shock and anger. The sea of consciousness is an extremely important and private place for cultivators. If an outsider forcibly enters, the slightest mistake could damage their mind and turn them into a mentally impaired person.
But the other party was unrepentant and far more powerful than him, so he had no choice but to give up resisting for the time being and force himself to relax his spiritual sense as much as possible so that the other party could see the information he wanted to obtain as soon as possible.
Within Jiang Liuya's sea of consciousness, Daoist Danxi casually perused her memories.
With water and fire as their two spiritual roots, and their mutual restraint, cultivation is not easy... Everywhere you look, there are fragments of memories from people who would stop at nothing to improve their cultivation.
He didn't really care about these things; the cultivation world was full of people with mediocre talent who tried every means to climb up the ranks.
This person lies so easily, his affected manner so natural, and his intentions so sinister. Moreover, his purpose in coming to the Tianxuan Sect was to search for clues about the power of chaos. What he just said was utter nonsense; keeping him alive would only bring trouble. In a short time, Daoist Danxi made his decision.
"He's full of lies and has a lot of bad intentions."
Having said that, his murderous aura surged, and he was about to unleash his killing move.
Jiang Liuya was shocked. Was she going to die here today?
Her eyes hardened instantly, and she mobilized all her spiritual power. Even if it meant fighting back to the death, it was better than sitting and waiting to die.
At this moment, Daoist Danxi suddenly stopped what he was doing. A strange expression appeared on his usually calm face, and a hint of surprise showed in his eyes, which were like a cold pool.
He released his divine sense again, this time scanning Jiang Liuya's entire body as if searching for something.
Ultimately, it only stopped at her Dan Yuan point, as if confirming something.
He hesitated for a moment, but in the end he only separated a wisp of his divine consciousness, which turned into green smoke and attached itself to Jiang Liuya.
"I am watching your every move." After saying this, Daoist Danxi vanished in a flash, leaving only his words echoing in the air.
The series of events unfolded so swiftly. Jiang Liuya, still shaken and with a hint of panic on her face, was already calculating in her mind. This Dao Lord had clearly intended to kill her, yet suddenly stopped. Jiang Liuya, with her keen observation, certainly wouldn't miss the subtle expressions on Dao Lord Danxi's face. The scene flashed rapidly through her mind—his astonished gaze…
What exactly did he discover in himself?
What could have surprised a Nascent Soul cultivator so much that he changed his mind, spared the person he considered a villain, and even spared him with a wisp of his divine sense?
Jiang Liuya returned to her temporary cave dwelling and set up a protective barrier.
She sat cross-legged and swallowed a healing pill. Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, calmed her mind, and used her divine sense to examine her body, trying to find any clues that had caused the Dao Lord's unusual reaction.
However, everything was normal, and there was nothing unusual.
His divine sense swept over the meridians, bones, and internal organs again and again, finally settling on the Dan Yuan (energy center).
He seemed to have been "watching" here for a long time.
The Dan Yuan, the core of a cultivator's power, condenses the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. At this moment, a transparent Gu worm is curled up. This is her natal Gu—Lin Yuan, already at the Gu King level. As a Gu cultivator, having one's own natal Gu is not surprising. Although Lin Yuan is powerful, it's insignificant in the eyes of a Nascent Soul cultivator. Beside Lin Yuan, closely connected to it, is a tiny figure with identical features—her Nascent Soul. Within the Dan Yuan, spiritual energy flows gently around the Gu King and the Nascent Soul like a babbling brook. There seems to be nothing particularly special about it.
Could there be some deeper secret that you haven't even discovered yourself?
Today's events began with my release of the Phantom Gu and my nighttime intrusion into the forbidden area. My purpose in exploring the forbidden land was to search for the power of chaos.
Jiang Liuya had probed Yun Zheng about the power of chaos, but his reaction suggested he knew nothing about it. As for the forbidden area, the newly appointed sect leader only knew that it had once been a training ground for sect disciples. Fifty years ago, it suddenly became a forbidden area, off-limits to everyone.
A thought struck her. Since the other party wasn't going to kill her, why not take the initiative and turn the tables?
The next day, Jiang Liuya called out to a nearby disciple, "Little guy, come here."
The disciple who was called to a halt hesitated for a moment.
The disciples in the sect had long been talking about her. It was said that this beautiful woman was not only highly skilled in cultivation, but also a Gu cultivator, with the ability to bewitch people.
The disciple stood at a distance, not daring to approach: "Is there something you need?"
Jiang Liuya smiled warmly, her face blooming like a flower, and asked, "Sect Leader, is there anything important today?"
The disciple dared not look at her any longer, and said with his head down and sideways, "With such a large sect as Tianxuan Sect, the sect leader naturally has busy matters every day."
"What are you doing standing so far away? I'm not going to eat you," Jiang Liuya teased. "Is the sect leader on Lingyun Peak right now?"
"How could an ordinary disciple like me know such detailed information about the sect leader's whereabouts? Please don't make things difficult for me..." After saying this, the junior disciple fled as if he were running away.
She watched her disciple leave, covered her mouth and smiled faintly, thinking to herself, "How did this make things difficult for him?"
Jiang Liuya's spiritual sense stirred slightly, and a paper crane flew out of her Qiankun bag. With a gentle wave of her hand, she sent the paper crane away with a burst of spiritual energy, and it disappeared in a moment.
On Lingyun Peak, Yun Zheng was dealing with trivial matters within the sect, his brows slightly furrowed.
He wasn't actually good at handling these mundane affairs. It was just that his master, the former sect leader, had recently failed to advance to the Nascent Soul stage, causing his cultivation to decline. He no longer wanted to deal with trivial matters and only wanted to cultivate in seclusion from now on. Although there were several other elders and grand elders with profound cultivation in the sect, they all preferred cultivation and were unwilling to get involved in sect affairs. Yun Zheng, as a leading figure among the younger generation of the sect and the former sect leader's chief disciple, couldn't refuse. Therefore, the burden of the sect had to fall on his shoulders.
At that moment, a flash of light appeared, and a paper crane gracefully flew through the air, landing steadily in front of Yun Zheng. With a wave of his hand, the paper crane obediently landed in his palm.
A familiar voice reached my ears: "How are you today?"
The question of who could have done it flashed through my mind, and I was immediately filled with joy.
Yun Zheng moved swiftly, flying through the air, and appeared at Lingji Peak in a short while. Lingji Peak was originally his residence, but since assuming the position of sect leader, he had moved to Lingyun Peak. This place had been left vacant, and since Jiang Liuya had come to Tianxuan Sect, he had arranged for her to stay here temporarily.
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