When Lonemoon came back from causing a distraction outside, Qi Chengyu’s battle had already ended. The originally arrogant Gan Zirui was completely devoid of breath while on the other hand, Qi Chengyu was covered in wounds all over. She had indeed held true to her word; she had fought on with all her might as tough as it might be to avenge herself and did not allow anyone to help her. At the moment he took his last breath, her unstable body had seemed to finally relieve its last breath and had fallen flat onto the ground, her long sword stained with blood also dropping from her hands.
“Hey, it’s done.” Shen Ying who had just came back suddenly spoke and nudged the person beside her.
“Holy sh*t!” Taken aback, Lonemoon retreated a step. “Where did you just go to?”
“Up the mountain.” Shen Ying pointed towards the peak.
Lonemoon paused and seemed to think of something. His mouth twitched and for some baffling reason, he did not feel like asking her what she had done.
“What happened to the Grand Vacuity Sect?” Yi Qing looked toward the peak and asked. From the beginning, he had felt that there was quite a din coming from the periphery of Sword Comprehension Peak.
“Oh, I told their sect master that we lost the Fiendish Cultivator here and suspect there is a Fiendish Cultivator mole in the Grand Vacuity Sect,” Lonemoon said seriously. “They are now busy gathering the disciples to look for that spy, so no one will come to Sword Comprehension Peak for the time being. Let’s take this opportunity to escape.”
“You deceived them?” Shen Ying looked up and gave him a look.
Even Yi Qing turned his head over in a somewhat confounded manner. I never expected you to be that kind of Supremacy!
“What’s with that look of yours?” He rolled his eyes back at the duo. “Wasn’t I just cleaning up your mess? Besides. We’re all from Blackheaven Sect, so how can we not fabricate an excuse when we come to their mountain to stir trouble?”
After finishing his piece, he harrumphed and turned his head toward the immobilized person on the ground who was still covered in blood. He could not help but knit his brows together.
At that moment, Qi Chengyu suddenly picked up the sword on the ground as she struggled to stand up with the aid of the sword hilt. She stumbled over, each step she took dying the green ground a blood red. It took her great difficulty to arrive at a spot five footsteps away from them before she knelt down.
“I thank the three of you for helping me exact my vengeance.” She looked up as though she had finally unloaded a huge burden. She smiled at them. “I have no more regrets in my life. Supremacy, I’m willing to accompany you back to Blackheaven Sect and await my judgement. Regardless of the punishment your esteemed sect metes, I will not say a single word.”
She was ultimately a Fiendish Cultivator, and since good and evil were on opposing sides, moreover taking into account her murder of a hall master of Blackheaven Sect, it was only right for them as orthodox cultivators to capture her regardless of her reasons.
Her entire life had been destroyed because of immortal cultivation and she had suffered utter humiliation. Therefore, she had abandoned the orthodox path to turn fiendish. And yet, she never had expected that the ones who would ultimately help her would be orthodox Immortal Cultivators.
All these years, she had lived to seek revenge against Gan Zirui. She knew very well that as long as Gan Zirui had remained at Sword Comprehension Peak, there would have been absolutely no hope for her to kill him. If not for Shen Ying, there would have been perhaps no way for her to take a step into Sword Comprehension Peak her entire life.
In fact, ever since she set off for Sword Comprehension Peak, she had had no plans on returning alive. The Sword Cultivator, Yi Qing, had said that Lonemoon was a Soul Formation Supremacy of Blackheaven Sect. There was no reason for them to let her off! It was just that… she had no means to repay her debt to Shen Ying.
With this in mind, she looked up at Shen Ying whose mind appeared to be wandering as though she had no idea what was happening at the moment. For the first time in centuries, she felt warm emotions in her heart. If only… they had met earlier.
“Supremacy, please mete out your punishment!” Shen Ying had already given her enough hope; therefore, she absolutely could not put her into a difficult spot again. She took a deep breath and then cupped her fists with great difficulty. She wore a determined expression, one that was resolved for death.
Lonemoon’s tightly-knit brows eased as he looked at the Fiendish Cultivator who was on her last legs. As an orthodox cultivator, he did have the intention to capture her and throw her over to Xi Qiu for punishment. In addition, he had been brought to Sword Comprehension Peak by Shen Ying for some baffling reason. He had planned on taking action after all was over.
Now, with Qi Chengyu submitting to him obediently, he suddenly found the matter troubling. He… was actually unable to carry out the deed!
It’s all that f**king Shen Ying’s fault! Besides, why ask me to pass judgment? Why don’t you ask that foodie?
“Hmph! My purpose of coming out was to seek a person and not to rid fiends and protect the Dao.” He snorted coldly and turned his head away.
“Supremacy?!” Qi Chengyu was shocked as she looked up in disbelief. He was… planning on letting her off?
“I have many things to deal with every day. I don’t have the time for you.” He shot a glance at her. “However, if you ever dare harm the innocent again in the future, I will definitely not show mercy.”
Qi Chengyu was taken aback as her expression changed a few times. Her watery eyes shimmered as she gave him a deep bow. “Thank you, Supremacy. I’ll definitely keep that in mind!”
Lonemoon turned around and prepared to fly off on his sword, but his eyes met two deep, meaningful eyes. “What are you looking at?” His heart skipped a beat as he turned his head to stare back. “Are you unhappy with the way I handled things?”
“Nope.” Shen Ying shook her head.
“Then why aren’t you leaving? Are we waiting to be caught?” His expression turned even more ferocious. “Isn’t this all because of you? If not for us being from the same hometown, do you think I would have given a damn about this?!” He was a mighty Soul Formation Supremacy of Blackheaven Sect, so how could it be easy for him to close one eye on this matter?
“Oh…”
“Oh my ass. Let’s leave quickly!”
“Oh…”
“…”
———————
Three days later.
“Shen Ying, why did you go to Sword Comprehension Peak that day?” Lonemoon could not help but ask. After all, at that time, it had not been long since Qi Chengyu had dealt with Gan Zirui. She was also a Fiendish Cultivator and there had been three Soul Formation cultivators on the mountain; it was impossible for none of their group to have been discovered. Yet despite that, the other side had not appeared from beginning to end.
“Let me ask a question,” Shen Ying returned languidly.
“Is it about Gan Zirui?” He was taken aback. “Did you figure out something from your investigations?”
Shen Ying glanced at him and then switched to a more comfortable position while continuing to slump back. “That Gan… Gan…”
“Gan Zirui.”
“Oh, he didn’t die a pointless death. Qi… Qi… Roasted Chicken Gal.”
“…” Are roasted chickens the only f**king thing you can remember?
“She wasn’t the first human cauldron whom Gan Zirui was seeking for Yu Ding. I heard that he had many disciples under him and they were all female. However, none of them managed to live for long. Later, when Roasted Chicken Gal turned fiendish and achieved the Nascent Soul stage and got her Fiendish Cultivators to seek him out, he sensed danger and hid in Sword Comprehension Peak.”
“If that’s the case, he deserved death!” Lonemoon frowned. “But why was he at Sword Comprehension Peak? Although rearing human cauldrons is common in Azure World, specially recruiting disciples to rear them into human cauldrons is just too vile. It’s impossible that all his disciples had pure Yin bodies. The Six Schools Three Sects would not permit such actions, much less shelter him.”
“The old folks said that he was related to someone in Azure World, so he was allowed inside as an exception to the rules. In name, he was a disciple who guarded Sword Comprehension Peak. Upon reaching Soul Formation stage, he would have been allowed to directly head to the Upper Azure World.”
“The Upper Azure World?!” Lonemoon was alarmed. “It’s no wonder he was a Nascent Soul despite his average talents. So it has to do with his connections with the Upper World.”
Shen Ying suddenly looked up at him with unclear intentions. “Do you believe it?”
“Ah!?” What did she mean?
“Yu Ding.” She suddenly said a name.
Lonemoon was taken aback, his eyes widening abruptly as he suddenly thought of something. “Are you referring to…”
Shen Ying did not reply while Lonemoon immediately stood up and turned around, swooshing straight over to Yu Ding’s Elixir Peak.
Half an hour later, he returned wearing a conflicted look. He held several bottles and urns in his hands as he placed them on a table in front of Shen Ying. His brows were crossed.
“You guessed correctly. It’s really related to the Upper Azure World… It’s Yu Ding!”