In the original text, after Mo Xuanli had touched and kissed Gu Baiqing in that intimate way, his body reached its limit and he fainted. Upon waking, he naturally dared not admit that it had been his own thoughts and actions, choosing instead to feign amnesia.
Gu Baiqing could not say anything outright, only assuming his disciple had lost control due to demonic energy invasion. After all, he was usually obedient and well-behaved; Gu Baiqing had not suspected that his disciple truly harbored designs on him. Although such intimate contact inevitably left Gu Baiqing somewhat awkward, what concerned him more was the demonic aura Mo Xuanli had exuded at that time.
The powerful force Mo Xuanli displayed then was something even he—a cultivator in the Tribulation Crossing stage—could not withstand. This was the first time Gu Baiqing began to suspect something about Mo Xuanli’s physical condition.
After all, being tainted by demonic energy and truly awakening one’s own demonic nature were two different matters. Gu Baiqing couldn’t tell for sure at the time, but he felt something was unusual. Naturally, this could not be revealed publicly, lest others exaggerate the matter and target his disciple. So outwardly, Gu Baiqing concealed the fact that Mo Xuanli had been touched by the sword demon, choosing instead to observe him in private.
The original master’s handling of the matter also served as a warning to the current Gu Baiqing—no one must see Mo Xuanli’s state when facing demons or demonic beasts. This was why Gu Baiqing now had to act alone, not even daring to bring Chu Fei along. If anyone really did see something, it would be best if only he knew—then everything would be much easier to deal with. Otherwise, for a matter like protecting a disciple, Gu Baiqing would have surely passed it off to someone else rather than come in himself and risk stepping into a trap.
Riding on Three Bean, Gu Baiqing entered the crevice, immediately expanding his spiritual sight to sense Mo Xuanli’s position. Thanks to the master-disciple contract, even with other forces obstructing him, he could quickly locate him.
Gu Baiqing directed Three Bean, drawing Morning Snow. Sure enough, Morning Snow began to grow and shrink uncontrollably, taking quite some time before it finally stabilized into combat form.
Three Bean, as Gu Baiqing had expected, was completely unaffected.
Gu Baiqing let out a breath of relief. Now that he had arrived clear-headed, there was no fear of being too late.
Just then, Gu Baiqing spotted a glow deep within the crevice, and Three Bean immediately flew toward it.
At this moment, Mo Xuanli had already retrieved from the glowing cliff wall the object that had summoned him—but once it was in his hand, the light vanished, replaced by nothing more than a silver-white stone.
It wasn’t a sword calling him, but… a stone?
For a moment, Mo Xuanli was stunned. He did not notice that when he had taken the stone, he had accidentally cut his finger, and a drop of blood had seeped into the nearby cliff wall.
The crevice trembled.
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
“Demonic bloodline? Half-breed?”
In an instant, Mo Xuanli’s face went pale, the blood in his body seeming to reverse its flow. This secret… everyone who had known it was already dead, and with the seal given by an enlightened being, it should have been nearly impossible for anyone to discern his bloodline.
Mo Xuanli instantly drew his sword, his body tense and ready to strike, eyes scanning his surroundings in high alert.
Suddenly, wild laughter echoed again and again through the cliff walls, making his ears throb with pain.
Then a voice sounded directly in his mind, laced with temptation.
“Young man, I can help you break the seal, burn your bloodline, restore your demonic clan’s honor, and give you the greatest power. As long as you form a pact with me and help me recover, whatever you desire—I can give you.”
As the voice spoke, demonic energy began seeping from all around.
Mo Xuanli hadn’t expected there to truly be a demon here. His mind raced—regardless of whether he could win or not, he wanted no entanglement with the demon clan. So no matter what the voice said, Mo Xuanli turned and rushed toward the unconscious Yun Yue, intent on taking her away.
“It’s useless. Without my permission, with that sword in your hand devoid of even a trace of spiritual power, you can’t possibly fly out of here. How ignorant—you think I mean to harm you? This is a gift beyond measure! So many demons yearn for me and cannot have me. Would you really be content to remain trapped in such a feeble shell? Let me help you.”
Thick demonic energy coiled around Mo Xuanli’s legs like a giant python, beginning to crawl toward his dantian.
Mo Xuanli’s heart flared with rage, afraid the seal would be disturbed. He roared, “What exactly are you! Hiding and cowering—nothing but the behavior of a rat!”
The opponent was lurking in the shadows where he couldn’t be attacked directly. The only option was to lure it out.
As soon as Mo Xuanli’s words fell, a glimmer lit up in the darkness. Fixing his gaze, he saw it was a broken sword radiating a dark red glow. Thick demonic energy coiled around the blade, and at the other end of that demonic aura it condensed into a humanoid figure. At first glance it looked like a person wielding the sword, but on closer inspection it was clearly the broken sword manipulating the magic into a human shape.
“I am the Sword Demon—born of the sword, made demon. Once I was the weapon of the previous Demon Lord, until that dog Baili cut me in two. After losing consciousness, I was trapped here.”
Mo Xuanli’s face shifted several times as he heard this, and in the end the blood drained from his features entirely. He stared at the Sword Demon, unblinking.
The Sword Demon didn’t notice anything amiss and continued, “It seems your blood woke me just now. Boy, that means we are fated.”
The broken sword let out a shrill laugh.
Mo Xuanli’s whole body began to tremble uncontrollably. The expression on his face slowly faded, and an ominous aura spread from within him. The sword in his hand even began to crack under the influence of this aura.
He remembered—he had seen this sword before.
Blood… death… All that was good was instantly shattered, and the heaven he had finally clawed his way into turned to h*ll in a blink.
He ought to crush this sword to dust.
A malicious thought surged up. Mo Xuanli’s senses seemed to be dragged into a barren darkness, and a power was on the verge of taking over everything in him.
In that instant, a bolt of lightning split the air, startling the entire depths of the fissure and casting a spark of light into Mo Xuanli’s pitch-black eyes.
He snapped awake, looking up to see a lean black figure descending like a god in the pale-blue lightning, flying toward him and landing in front of him.
Mo Xuanli’s eyes widened. Seeing that familiar back, his mind stalled for a beat. Instinctively, he wanted to reach out.
The stray current of electricity struck his hand, and the faint tingling seemed to make his heart beat again. His mind cleared completely.
“Master?” Mo Xuanli called out in disbelief.
But the person ahead only turned an ear slightly, not looking back, and a familiar cool voice rang out.
“Three Bean, get them far away.”
These words weren’t even addressed to Mo Xuanli, yet they moved him deeply. His Master—his Master was truly here again, for him…
The moment he finished speaking, Gu Baiqing charged at the Sword Demon, sword in hand.
The Sword Demon, already forced back by the sudden surge of powerful magic, was struck again by a sword aura laced with lightning before it could recover. The blow scattered the humanoid magic form behind it.
“Ahhhh! Lightning… I remember now—you’re Gu Baiqing!” the Sword Demon roared in fury.
Gu Baiqing paused—this Sword Demon knew him?
Ah, yes. He recalled that the original body had taken part in the Immortal–Demon War, and had naturally fought the Sword Demon.
Though at the time he was no match for it, he had still managed to give the Sword Demon a bitter experience, earning himself a name.
Now his cultivation was higher, the Sword Demon was broken, and without its master beside it. Even if it was still tricky, it was no longer a threat—so long as his points held out.
After all, the situation now wasn’t the same as in the original plot. Back then, the Sword Demon couldn’t make Mo Xuanli obey, was continually weakened, and in desperation pierced his heart in an attempt to control him with demonic energy. But it failed, and the magic was absorbed instead, leaving it gravely injured. When the original master woke, the Sword Demon was already spent and was easily slain in one move.
Now, though, it might still take a little time.
Even while fighting, the Sword Demon shouted at Mo Xuanli, “Boy, take me up—kill this cultivator! I’ll devour him and restore my demonic energy. Afterwards, you’ll be my master! Without that dog Baili in the cultivation world, no one will be our match. You’ll be invincible!”
Mo Xuanli, still dazed from his Master’s sudden appearance, heard the Sword Demon say it wanted to kill his Master. He was instantly enraged, ready to charge forward—only for Three Bean to block him.
“Xuanli, listen to Master. Let’s go first!”
Mo Xuanli immediately handed the unconscious Yun Yue to Three Bean, but did not mount up. Instead, sword in hand, he rushed forward.
“Master, let me help you.”
He knew his teacher must have regained spiritual power at the last moment to come save him. Master was always like this—how could he possibly be at ease letting him face such a powerful enemy, especially one he had provoked?
“Get out of the way!”
Seeing Mo Xuanli refuse to leave and charge in instead—wasn’t he just getting in the way? If the Sword Demon tried that same move from the original story, all his efforts would be wasted.
But even when Gu Baiqing used a harsh tone, Mo Xuanli pretended not to hear and resolutely joined the fight.
The Sword Demon hadn’t expected Mo Xuanli not only to reject its invitation, but to side with Gu Baiqing against it. It roared, “You’d actually help a cultivator!”
Afraid the Sword Demon might say something it shouldn’t, Mo Xuanli attacked even more fiercely. But his sword couldn’t hold out for more than a few exchanges before being broken by the Sword Demon, forcing him to switch to talismans and spells to assist from the side.
The two ended up working together with surprising synergy, giving them an advantage over Gu Baiqing fighting alone. At this rate, the Sword Demon would be weakened soon.
Gu Baiqing, seeing he couldn’t drive Mo Xuanli away, could only try to block any attack paths toward him.
Mo Xuanli, noticing his teacher always shielding him with his body, felt his heart skip and his gaze waver. He redoubled his efforts in support.
The Sword Demon, battered and in disarray, finally erupted just like in the original.
This was exactly what Gu Baiqing had been waiting for. Grabbing Mo Xuanli and flinging him aside, he barked, “Move! Don’t get in the way!”
Then, facing the Sword Demon, now blazing with red light, he swung his sword down.
“Lightning Kill!”
A blast of lightning, as wide as the length of a sword’s blade, shot toward the Sword Demon like a cannon.
This was Gu Baiqing’s most powerful move—devastating against a single opponent. Against the current Sword Demon, it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
He didn’t bother checking his remaining points; the system would warn him when they ran low. All he wanted now was to end this quickly—one decisive strike to eradicate the enemy completely, to cut the grass and pull out the roots so it would vanish in this beam of lightning.
A pale blue so bright it was nearly white flashed, flooding the depths of the fissure with daylight. The lightning cleaved open the chasm entirely, surging outward.
The Sword Demon vanished into the electric blaze.
Just as Gu Baiqing and Mo Xuanli let out a breath of relief—
Three Bean, hovering above, suddenly shouted, “Watch your head!”
They looked up to see a palm-sized dark red shard darting through the air.
Gu Baiqing instinctively shoved Mo Xuanli aside the instant he noticed it, but still wasn’t fast enough.
The shard pierced Mo Xuanli’s body with blinding speed, slammed into a rock wall, and shattered into powder.
Gu Baiqing’s face darkened as he watched Mo Xuanli sway, his eyes beginning to turn red.
【Demonization Value 11…】
Gu Baiqing sucked in a sharp breath, rushing toward him—only to be repelled by a barrier emanating from Mo Xuanli’s body. That meant the Sword Demon’s residual demonic energy had already taken hold inside him.
D*mn it.
He hadn’t expected to be careless enough to let the demonization climb. If it kept going, he’d be finished.
Gu Baiqing immediately halted his point expenditure, abandoning the maintenance of his spiritual power—he needed to redeem a strategy pouch, now.
Without his spiritual energy sustaining them, Three Bean instantly reverted to a small cat and tumbled down with Yun Yue.
He caught them first, then prepared to redeem—only for the demonization value to suddenly stop.
It froze at 25.
He didn’t know what was happening, so he could only watch Mo Xuanli nervously.
Those red eyes stared at him blankly, but the brows were furrowed tight.
“Xuanli!” Three Bean called anxiously, trying to rush forward, but Gu Baiqing pulled him back to his shoulder. “Don’t go near him. It’s dangerous.”
Mo Xuanli’s state seemed extremely unstable. Gu Baiqing wondered—was it because it was only a shard, so the demonic energy wasn’t enough to fully awaken the demon nature?
He couldn’t decide. But the next instant, Mo Xuanli suddenly moved—red eyes blazing like they held fire, emotions thick and intense. He lunged at Gu Baiqing like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.
Gu Baiqing’s pupils contracted—he tried to dodge, but Mo Xuanli was faster. In a flash, his wrists were pinned. Looking up, he saw Mo Xuanli looming over him with crushing pressure—just like in the original novel’s description.
Gu Baiqing’s face turned green. Cr*p! He’s not really going to…?! Over my dead body!
Meanwhile, inside Mo Xuanli’s sea of consciousness, waves raged violently. His spiritual consciousness hovered in midair, watching the wisp of demonic energy before him warily.
The Sword Demon had indeed been destroyed by Gu Baiqing, but its last wisp of demonic energy had been hidden in the shard, entering Mo Xuanli’s body and lodging in his sea of consciousness.
When it spoke again, the voice was that of an old man—fading, nearly spent. It couldn’t control Mo Xuanli, but it refused to accept that he had aided a righteous-path cultivator. To the Sword Demon, this was tantamount to betrayal. A half-demon practicing the righteous path? Laughable. It wanted to ruin everything—best if it could turn master and disciple against each other.
The conscious mind might not know what was happening outside, but the real Mo Xuanli was already influenced by its demonic energy, his deepest, most hidden desires surfacing—driving him to do exactly what he wanted.
This was its final gamble: that as long as someone was human, they had desires. And to fulfill desire, they had to become stronger.
“Mo Xuanli, I’ll give you my last wisp of demonic energy. It will let you begin cultivating the demonic path, and I promise—you can cultivate within your own sea of consciousness so no one will ever know you’ve fallen. Become strong, and you can have anything you want. Accept it.”
“I have no desire that needs a demon like you to fulfill. Disappear. If I want to become strong, my master is enough.” Mo Xuanli’s voice was firm.
“Your master… hah… so it really is your master.” The Sword Demon looked meaningfully toward the depths of the sea of consciousness.
Mo Xuanli looked down—and saw images of Gu Baiqing flashing again and again.
