Chapter 2 The ever-composed and steady Immortal Venerable stumbled for the first time.
"Your mother is on the shore." The man's voice was clear and melodious, with a faint sense of detachment.
Ling Shu hurriedly looked down at the shore, where a motionless woman in plain clothes lay.
The man moved extremely fast, almost instantly bringing Ling Shu to the shore, where Ling Shu went straight to the pale-faced Wen Ji.
She hugged Wenji tightly, calling out urgently, "Mother, Mother, Mother, wake up!" Wenji did not respond. Lingshu quickly laid her flat on the ground and checked her breathing and pulse. Fortunately, she was still breathing and had a pulse.
Ling Shu turned her head, wanting to thank the person with joy, but when she turned back, the person had completely disappeared.
Quickly check the mouth and nose for any foreign objects, and use spiritual energy to keep the person alive.
Blue spiritual energy entered her body, and Wen Ji woke up shortly afterward.
With tender, loving eyes, she gently wiped away Ling Shu's tears, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Why are you crying, my dear daughter?" she asked. Ling Shu grasped her hand, which was wiping away her tears. "Mother, how are you feeling?"
"Mother... is fine... you..." Before she could finish speaking, Wen Ji suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her hands trembled as she gripped Ling Shu's hand. "Listen to your mother... you... go to Shangqing Mountain, find your mother, and return to your ancestral home."
"No, I'm not going anywhere! Mother, don't talk, don't waste your energy talking." Ling Shu tightly grasped the hand that was already losing its warmth.
“Listen to me! This world cannot tolerate demons. My thousand-year-old demon core is inside you… I cannot let anyone with ill intentions obtain it. If you do not seek the protection of the number one sect in the Shangqing Realm, you will be hunted down to death… My good daughter, promise your mother,” Wen Ji spat out another mouthful of blood, and a faint white light dissipated from her body. “Go, go… go to Shangqing Mountain to find Wang Lifu, the sect leader of the Shangqing Sect. After I die… she will be your only family. You… take this token and go. You must see her.”
A flash of white light appeared in Wen Ji's hand, and a red jade ring pendant carved with flame patterns appeared in her palm. She took Ling Shu's hand and handed it to her.
Ling Shu clutched the jade pendant tightly, tears streaming down her face.
The mother's demonic soul has begun to dissipate.
Ling Shu suddenly slapped his dantian, but Wen Ji used all her magical power to stop him.
"Ling Shu! Don't force out the demon core! Your mother's foundation has been destroyed by them, and there's no way to save her. This is the only thing your mother can leave you to protect yourself."
Ling Shu, whose cultivation was still shallow, was no match for Wen Ji. Wen Ji forcibly merged the demon core into her body. The intense energy within Ling Shu's body was about to break through the restraints of her body, and the burning sensation intensified. Under the dazzling light of the magic, her mother's smiling face gradually blurred.
Ling Shu couldn't move. She wanted to hug her mother. The demon core carried too much weight. All she wanted was her mother.
Her mother wanted her to live forever, so the demon core could only be placed on her.
As the magic continued to flow in, Wen Ji's body transformed into more and more tiny white lights, until finally... the last trace of magic lost its source power, and Wen Ji was no longer seen in this world.
Ling Shu looked at the empty shore and burst into tears.
Wen Ji's voice still echoed in my ears: "Go to Shangqing Mountain...find your mother and return to your ancestral home."
————
At the foot of the ten thousand steps leading up to the entrance of Shangqing Mountain, a slender young girl stood before the white jade steps.
Ling Shu lifted her leg to step onto the stairs, but her toes were blocked by a barrier. She reached out and gently touched the barrier, which instantly reflected a golden light. Ling Shu was caught off guard and was knocked to the ground.
Behind the barrier, two people dressed in blue sect robes appeared on either side of the steps. They held sharp swords and pointed their swords. The male cultivator on the left said, "Who dares to trespass on the sect's territory!" The female cultivator on the right saw that it was just a callow child, lowered her sword, and stepped forward, saying, "What are you doing here at Shangqing Mountain?"
The blow hurt Ling Shu a lot, but the demon core protected her and she was not injured. Ling Shu got up, patted her clothes and said, "I'm here to find Wang Lifu."
"How dare you! You dare to address my sect leader by his name!" the cultivator on the left roared.
The female cultivator on the right pressed down his sword and said, "Let's hear what she has to say first."
Seeing that the man on the right was very polite, Ling Shu said, "I'm here to see my mother."
The male cultivator on the left seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world: "You say Sect Leader Wang is your mother, hahaha! Sect Leader Wang married a woman, so how could he have a daughter?! I've seen plenty of people like you trying to climb the social ladder! Get down the mountain!"
Ling Shu suppressed his anger and took out the red jade pendant with flame patterns: "Please trouble you, Daoist, to give this token to your sect leader."
The two cultivators were speechless. The Flame Red Jade was a token of the Supreme Master of the Shangqing Sect. Seeing the Flame Red Jade was like seeing the Supreme Master of the Shangqing Sect. The cultivator on the right took it, nodded in agreement, and pulled the cultivator on the left to disappear into the mountain gate together.
A cold wind swept through, and fine snowflakes drifted down, covering the long steps in snow. Ling Shu waited for two hours in the cold wind and fine snow.
The cultivator on the right, whom she had met before, came out and returned the token to her: "Our sect leader said he would not see you."
After saying that, the cultivator disappeared.
In the depths of winter, amidst thick snow, Ling Shu's body was warmed by the thousand-year-old demon core, but her heart was chilled by the jade pendant. Ling Shu clenched her fist and punched the barrier, the power of the thousand-year-old demon core tearing a hole in it.
Ling Shu's eyes were resolute as she gazed at the endless ten thousand steps. She stepped up one by one, and when she reached the hundredth step, dozens of cultivators arrived on their swords and surrounded her.
"There is demonic energy in the torn mountain gate barrier! You! How dare you, a mere demon, trespass on Shangqing Mountain!"
"I've long heard of a thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox in the Shangqing Realm. Legend has it that this demon has a daughter, a half-demon bastard born from mating with a human. That bastard must be you!"
Hahahaha!
"Speak! Where did you steal the token from?!"
Ling Shu cursed, "You dog, stop slandering me! This was given to me by my mother! My mother is Wang Lifu! She abandoned us, mother and daughter, to find a new lover, and I haven't even settled accounts with her yet! I'm not the one in the wrong, so why are you cursing me!"
"Stop slandering the sect leader's reputation!"
"Come on, quickly capture this demon and refine it into a magical artifact!"
A cultivator rushed up and delivered a powerful sword strike.
The spell was deflected by a beam of light emanating from Ling Shu's body, knocking the cultivator to the ground. Ling Shu stepped on the man's back, snatched the sword from his hand, and plunged it into the back of his hand, her sharp eyes fixed on the other cultivators.
Ling Shu threatened, "If you don't let me see Wang Lifu, I will slaughter you all from the mountain gate to the top of the mountain, and I will make your entire family pay for my mother's death."
Having said that, he drew his sword and pressed it down on the neck of the cultivator who had been trampled.
Suddenly, a magical force knocked the sword out of Ling Shu's hand. Following the source of the force, a person slowly walked down the steps behind the group.
The woman wore a flowing white dress with white plum blossoms embroidered on the hem. Her demeanor was aloof and otherworldly. As she stepped down, the crowd spontaneously made way for her and bowed to her.
She nodded, her expression indifferent, and said softly, "Let's go back."
Ling Shu stood up, stubbornly saying, "Who are you? Why should I listen to you!"
Her indifferent eyes swept over her: "A half-demon should not be here."
“Even you call me a bastard.” Ling Shu glared at her, her eyes filled with unyielding resentment.
"..." The person remained silent, cold as snow.
The ethereal immortal remained silent for a long while before saying, "Why don't you become my disciple?"
The cultivators stared in disbelief, their eyes filled with jealousy and envy, some even piercingly sharp. One of them, dissatisfied, immediately spoke up: "Immortal Venerable Qingxi, she is a half-demon!"
"So what?"
The cultivators fell silent, and even the one on the ground dared not speak of his suffering.
Before Ling Shu could react, she heard the immortal say, "Follow me into the mountain gate."
"You can all leave now."
The cultivators flew away on their swords. Zhuang Jinfu turned and walked towards the mountaintop. After taking two steps, she didn't hear any footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw Ling Shu staring at her with bright eyes.
"Keep up."
Why did you help me?
"You don't want to see your mother anymore?"
"……I think."
"Keep up."
"Hey!"
Ling Shu followed her step by step, walking up the ten thousand steps and straight into the mountain gate at the top of the mountain. To everyone's surprise, they entered the Qingxi Hall.
The main hall has a double-eaved hip roof, blue tiles and white walls, and is thick and solemn. Stepping into the hall, it is warm inside. There are many orchids planted in the courtyard, which are somewhat dim and fragrant. When the servants saw their immortal master leading a thin, commoner-dressed girl into the hall, they all stopped what they were doing.
A well-dressed female attendant in green robes approached and said with a smile, "The Immortal Venerable has returned."
Zhuang Jinfu said calmly, "Hai Gu, turn on the Shuiyue Hot Spring."
Ling Shu clasped hands and watched Zhuang Jinfu's retreating figure.
Steam rose from the Shuiyue Hot Spring. Haiwen carried a change of clothes and walked ahead, placing the clothes on the shore before stepping back.
Ling Shu clutched the hem of her clothes, looking at the woman who hadn't left yet, and tentatively asked, "Why...did you bring me here? Weren't you taking me to see my mother?"
Zhuang Jinfu: "Your mother is of noble status, so it is proper etiquette to bathe and change clothes before meeting her."
Ling Shu's palms were sweating; the thousand-year-old demonic power within her made her body hot, and arriving at the gentle hot spring only made it more unbearable: "Oh... then what are you still doing here..."
Zhuang Jinfu asked calmly, "Are you sure you can dispel the thousand-year-old demonic power within you?"
Ling Shu stared at her warily, took a few steps back, and looked towards the exit: "Don't even think about getting my demon core!"
Zhuang Jinfu stared at her intently: "The demon core has become one with you. Unless you voluntarily take the core, no one can separate you from it." After saying that, she added: "I am worried about your life, not about wanting your demon core."
"Your mother wants you to come to Shangqing Mountain to recognize your relatives for two reasons: first, to seek a place of refuge for you, and second, to have your mother help you dissolve the thousand-year-old demonic power after the recognition, so that the demonic power can merge with you."
"She's gambling, betting your life on Master Wang."
The grief of losing her mother and the sorrow of having her elixir taken weighed heavily on Ling Shu's heart. She frowned, tears welling in her eyes: "Didn't she ever think... that my mother didn't want me...?"
Zhuang Jinfu remained silent for a long time before saying, "That was the only solution she could think of."
"Tell me the truth," Ling Shu said through gritted teeth, fighting back tears, "Does she not want to acknowledge me at all!" With that, her hatred erupted, and the thousand-year-old demonic power within her burst forth with her roar. The magical wind swept across the surface of the hot spring, splashing water onto the blue bricks on the shore.
Only a single strand of Zhuang Jinfu's hair was stirred by the wind before she regained her composure.
The red fox's ears were pressed back, revealing long, sharp claws. A bushy fox tail appeared behind it, and a violent red demonic power emanated from the corners of its eyes. Its shrill fox cry was almost enough to pierce eardrums.
Zhuang Jinfu slowly stepped forward to approach her, but Ling Shu resisted her approach and scratched Zhuang Jinfu's arm with her sharp claws.
Zhuang Jinfu remained expressionless, pressed down on her arm, and with a forceful push, pushed Ling Shu into the water.
Ling Shu was startled by the water hitting her. When she saw the person in front of her, she grabbed Zhuang Jinfu's ankle and dragged him into the water.
Zhuang Jin was planted in the water.
The usually composed and dignified immortal stumbled for the first time, losing face and becoming utterly disheveled.
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