Gu Baiqing deliberately made it sound light, but immediately felt the person behind him stiffen.
Gu Baiqing was a little doubtful—what, even saying that doesn’t work? As a righteous Immortal Lord, he wasn’t even being prejudiced, saying he’d kill him or cleanse the sect or anything like that. Wasn’t that good enough?
It’s not like Mo Xuanli could turn into a demon, and he would still go on hugging and kissing and lifting him high, right?
Actually, the original answer he wanted to give wasn’t so different from what he said. If his disciple really had an accident, he would definitely keep an eye on him while trying to find a way to help. It was impossible for him to just shout for blood. But just thinking of the bond between master and disciple, he couldn’t bring himself to say something like that. It felt too close, not fitting the relationship they had at this moment—awkward to say.
And in truth, things could never get to that point. If Mo Xuanli fell into demonic ways, that would mean his own death sentence. If that day ever came, he wouldn’t even need to worry about how to answer or what to do.
Just as he was about to turn back and look at Mo Xuanli, suddenly he felt a few cold drops fall on his neck.
Gu Baiqing froze. “Xuan…”
“Master, I won’t—I swear… I will never become a demon. So please don’t… don’t abandon me.”
That weak, hoarse voice—maybe it was because he was injured and frail. Surely it couldn’t be… crying?
“Mn.” Gu Baiqing didn’t dare look back. His mood suddenly grew heavy.
And soon it wasn’t just his mood—his body and head grew heavy too. Just as he stepped into the guest room and set Mo Xuanli on the bed, Gu Baiqing toppled forward stiffly, right onto the already gloomy Mo Xuanli.
Mo Xuanli let out a muffled grunt, crushed under the weight.
“Ah! Master, Xuanli!” Three Bean cried out in alarm.
Li Xiuran and Ji Chuling rushed inside.
“What happened? Senior, he’s—” Li Xiuran exclaimed.
Mo Xuanli knew it was his master’s aftereffects flaring up. He could only say: “Master suffered some internal injuries, he needs to sleep for a while.”
“That’s true, senior consumed too much spiritual power.” Li Xiuran nodded.
“Shall I take a look?” Ji Chuling asked.
Mo Xuanli knew Ji Chuling’s methods differed from their usual medical arts, so he nodded his assent.
But Ji Chuling couldn’t see anything either, only felt it strange. “All spiritual power exhausted?”
Mo Xuanli frowned slightly. Ji Chuling said, “Don’t worry, this kind of thing recovers quickly. What you should worry about is yourself. Although they just dispersed all the demonic energy, there’s still a trace lingering inside you. You need to meditate and expel it properly.”
Mo Xuanli’s brow twitched. He didn’t know whether what Ji Chuling sensed came from Ruiyao’s remnant… or from his own momentary slip.
“Alright, you rest. I’ll help carry senior to the next room.” Seeing nothing serious, Li Xiuran stepped forward, intending to take Gu Baiqing away.
But just as he was about to support him, Mo Xuanli moved his hand and pressed down on Gu Baiqing’s shoulder.
Li Xiuran glanced over in confusion, only to see Mo Xuanli looking a little dazed.
Li Xiuran thought for a moment, then understood. A confession, a kiss—it was certainly worth savoring. He almost laughed, stood up and said, “This bed is big enough. You two just rest together.”
Mo Xuanli froze, his eyes flickering, making Li Xiuran want to laugh even more.
Ji Chuling was startled. “There’s no need, is there? It’s not like we can’t afford more rooms—there are plenty empty.”
Li Xiuran sighed. “We don’t have time to watch over them. And we still need to monitor the situation outside. It’s easier for them to take care of each other if they stay together.”
Ji Chuling had no rebuttal to that.
The two of them left, while Three Bean, already exhausted, curled up at the foot of the bed and fell asleep.
Mo Xuanli tucked his master into bed, sat silently watching him for a moment, then crossed his legs and began to slowly circulate his spiritual energy, sensing the seal’s recovery.
As the sun set, the City Lord’s Manor finally realized something had gone wrong.
Since the Zhuo family had no heirs, everything fell on Lin Ningshuang to handle. With the help of several of Zhuo Ling’s assistants, she managed to stabilize the situation.
In their eyes, Zhuo Ling and Zhu Si’s vengeful souls had perished together. Lin Ningshuang could only explain it that way—she had to preserve Zhuo Ling’s reputation, maintain peace in Star-Stepping City. She could only tell everyone that to protect the city, Zhuo Ling had sacrificed himself.
“The City Lord’s ashes…” someone asked.
“Find a way to separate them. The City Lord must be buried with honor. As for this evil spirit…” Lin Ningshuang glared bitterly at the heap of ashes on the ground. She couldn’t accept that the man she loved, in the end, was bound together with another woman. She wanted to tear them apart—because to her, Zhuo Ling should have been her husband.
“Better to bury them together,” a voice said. It was one of Zhuo Ling’s sworn brothers, who had later aided him as City Lord. He looked faintly at Lin Ningshuang, as though he knew much, but said nothing outright. Only: “Since the City Lord chose to die together with Zhu Si in this way, it must have been to suppress something. If we separate them, I fear there will be trouble.”
“She’s already completely dead, there won’t be…” Lin Ningshuang wanted to refute, but as soon as the others heard that reasoning, they believed it instantly and agreed one after another.
The tide had turned. In the end, the ashes of the two were placed into the same urn.
The entire city grieved, and preparations were made to send off the City Lord in three days.
…
At night, the lamplight flickered softly, blending with the moonlight into a lazy orange glow.
Gu Baiqing felt someone moving his body. He slowly opened his eyes—and right above him, close enough to touch, was Mo Xuanli.
Gu Baiqing looked at him in a daze, his body so weary, his muddled brain circling just one thought.
This brat again? When will he stop! Hurry up and be done with it already.
It was as if he was back in that all-too-real dream. Gu Baiqing hooked his leg around Mo Xuanli’s waist, feeling the other’s body go instantly rigid.
One last time—if he doesn’t stop, then I’ll kick him out of bed myself…
He was just about to say it, when suddenly numbers flickered through his mind.
【Spiritual Power Value 1】
Wait!
Gu Baiqing’s whole body trembled, he jolted awake with a start. His face instantly changed, and the leg he had hooked out jerked up reflexively, kicking out hard. With a bang, a body hit the floor.
Gu Baiqing scrambled to sit up, staring in shock at Mo Xuanli, who had been knocked to the ground.
Mo Xuanli let out a muffled groan and lifted his head. “Master? Disciple… I only meant to use a medical cultivator’s technique to help channel your spiritual power. Startling Master was this disciple’s mistake.”
As for just now when Master suddenly… did that—he probably got muddled in his sleep.
Gu Baiqing took a deep breath, dragging back the soul that had just been scared away.
What a thrilling way to wake up. He really had been so exhausted he didn’t even know what day it was anymore.
What scared him even more was that, muddle-headed just now, he had actually reflexively cooperated.
He had—cooperated!
This had to be some kind of possession! Too terrifying.
It was like his nerves mistook everything for a continuation of the dream. As if his brain had been brainwashed—just thinking back on it now made it feel unbelievable. Ruiyao really had ruined him.
If before, the imagined scenes from dubbing combined with seeing the real person had only stayed at the level of mental images, then after Ruiyao’s meddling, that dream had made everything unbearably vivid—leaving behind the feeling of… touch, warmth, pain, limits.
Ahhh, simply unbearable to recall.
If Mo Xuanli weren’t right here, Gu Baiqing would’ve wanted to bang his head against the wall to clear his mind.
Wake up, you! My straight-man soul!
Quickly giving himself mental suggestions—it’s fine, it’s just a bunch of accidents piled together, nothing more. With a man? With Mo Xuanli? Now that his head was clear, even thinking about it was unacceptable.
“Oh, I get it, I was just dreaming just now.” Gu Baiqing absentmindedly made an excuse.
Dreaming? Dreaming of hooking my waist? Mo Xuanli instantly grew even more uneasy, lowering his head and kneeling obediently.
“Get up. How are you feeling now?” Gu Baiqing steadied his mind and asked.
Mo Xuanli stood. “Disciple is fine. I only accidentally fell under the path of the Heart Demon.”
Gu Baiqing nodded.
“Master… Master’s body has no spiritual power again. Disciple… you shouldn’t have given me the spirit crystal. If there were spirit crystals now, I could try to help regulate Master’s body.” Remembering how, just moments ago, his probing revealed Master’s condition of having no spiritual power, Mo Xuanli felt regret. “I could form my golden core on my own, or use supreme-grade spirit stones. Spirit crystals are hard to find—they should never have been wasted on me. Healing Master is what’s most important.”
Seeing Mo Xuanli blaming himself like that, Gu Baiqing could only put on the stern face of a strict teacher. “I wasn’t sacrificing myself for you. I know my own condition—spirit crystals are useless to me. From the start, I meant them for you.”
“Master…” Mo Xuanli frowned. He knew Master was saying this for his sake—otherwise, why would he refuse without even trying?
“And besides—congratulations on successfully advancing to the Golden Core stage.” Gu Baiqing’s mood brightened a little as he mentioned it.
Mo Xuanli froze, then finally curved his lips. “Many thanks for Master’s guidance. Master, are you hungry? I’ll prepare something to eat for you.”
Gu Baiqing indeed needed some time alone.
Once Mo Xuanli left, Gu Baiqing finally took the chance to properly check the system interface.
Cultivation Progress: Early Golden Core, 10%. Not bad, not bad. As expected of the protagonist, jumping straight to 10%.
Account Points: 588. He’d exchanged some earlier for spiritual power, then exchanged for a strategy pouch, plus task rewards—the balance was decent.
Charged Spiritual Power: 25. This was the spiritual power charged through contact with Mo Xuanli. If unused, it wouldn’t show up in his body’s readings—it was like being stored in a backup battery. With all the adding and subtracting, Gu Baiqing couldn’t even be bothered to keep track anymore.
Last item—Demonization Value: 18.
What! 18?
Wait, wasn’t it only 9 before he got captured?
How did it double in the blink of an eye?
Some of it should’ve been due to his mental state being affected—but not that much. Then… it must have been Ruiyao’s move that pushed Mo Xuanli’s demonization higher. So this thing, besides being linked to one’s mindset, can also be influenced by external attacks?
Yes, that must be it. Back on Ten Thousand Swords Island, wasn’t he almost affected by the Sword Demon?
Thinking of this possibility, Gu Baiqing regretted not managing to block that attack for Mo Xuanli back then. And now, the numbers made his heart clench. He’d have to be extra cautious in the future.
Just as he was thinking this, a knock sounded at the door. Not Mo Xuanli? Gu Baiqing got up to open it, and there stood Si Chun.
“Senior.” Si Chun bowed respectfully. Even with her veil, it couldn’t hide her tired, sorrowful expression—like a celestial maiden whose light had dimmed.
Gu Baiqing thought about how his disguise had been completely exposed by now, and it was honestly a little awkward.
“Miss Si Chun, you came because…”
Si Chun said, “This junior came to apologize. For the harm caused to you because of my master—please forgive me.”
Gu Baiqing was a little surprised. After all, back then the junior disciples of Chui Xue Pavilion had all hated him bitterly. And now with Ruiyao dead, he thought she would still hold resentment against him. Unexpectedly, she had come sincerely to apologize. Truly, a good girl.
As she spoke, Si Chun was about to kneel, but Gu Baiqing quickly reached out to pull her up. “There’s no need. This matter has nothing to do with you. Since your master is already dead, it’s all in the past. Ah, and I should thank you too. No doubt when your master sent you into Mo Xuanli’s Heart Demon Trial, you must have helped him.”
Si Chun’s face shifted slightly, her expression complicated as she looked at Gu Baiqing. “I didn’t help much—it was all him, breaking through on his own.”
Seeing her expression change, Gu Baiqing wondered if she had seen something she shouldn’t have. Could the Heart Demon Trial have revealed Mo Xuanli’s bloodline secret?
Surely not. If it had, Si Chun wouldn’t be reacting so normally. After all, in the cultivation world, a half-blood was an existence even more feared than her master’s fallen-cultivator kind.
Gu Baiqing had guessed half of it. Si Chun had indeed heard some things, but nothing about mixed blood. To Si Chun’s ears, it was probably that Mo Xuanli had a poor background or had once made some mistake, so within the heart-demon trial he feared his master would dislike or reject him. After all, some lofty immortals truly did look down on disciples of lowly birth or those with past transgressions. On this point, Si Chun merely felt a bit of sympathy for Mo Xuanli and never once thought of anything relating to the demon race.
As Gu Baiqing was thinking this, he heard Si Chun say: “I must be leaving now. May I ask where Mo Xuanli is? I’d like to bid him farewell.”
Gu Baiqing froze. Going out of her way to bid Mo Xuanli farewell?
Looking at the veiled young girl before him, he recalled the tradition of Chuixue Pavilion—this veil, who was it worn for? Could it be for Mo Xuanli? He couldn’t shake the sense that the two of them shared a certain fate. Moreover, as Ruiyao’s personal disciple, yet pushed into Mo Xuanli’s heart-demon trial by the Net of Passion, Gu Baiqing couldn’t help but feel that Ruiyao had done it deliberately. Could it be that…
“He went—” Gu Baiqing had not yet finished speaking when a voice came from the staircase.
“Master… Miss Si?”
Turning her head, Si Chun saw Mo Xuanli carrying a tray, the air of mortal smoke and fire about him. On the tray were delicate dishes, two sets of bowls and chopsticks. It seemed he had planned to dine with Gu Baiqing. Cultivators generally had no need to eat, but Si Chun had once imagined that, if one had a Dao companion, sharing a meal like this would be warm and blissful.
Only, there would be no place for her at such a table.
“I came to say goodbye.” Si Chun gazed deeply at Mo Xuanli.
Mo Xuanli nodded and, with polite detachment, said directly: “Safe journey.”
Si Chun’s breath caught. Gu Baiqing almost slapped his own forehead. He had wanted his disciple to remain a “straight man,” but not this kind of straight—the kind that couldn’t spare even a shred of tenderness!
The fairy had come especially to bid him farewell. At least say a few more words! Even Gu Baiqing could see that Si Chun wished to speak with Mo Xuanli—was the boy blind?
Just then, a cry for help rang up from below.
“Mo Xuanli, come quickly!”
Everyone was startled. Looking down, they saw Ji Chuling supporting the unconscious Li Xiuran as he staggered in from outside. Mo Xuanli handed the tray to Gu Baiqing and immediately flew down to take Li Xiuran into his arms. After checking his pulse, he said, “Don’t panic. Let’s get him back to his room first—no serious harm for now.”
Once Mo Xuanli confirmed it, he too let out a breath of relief, hoisting Li Xiuran onto his back. Ji Chuling hurried ahead to open the door.
Gu Baiqing and Si Chun naturally followed to see.
After a detailed examination, Mo Xuanli determined: “It should be the same as in the Void-Spirit Secret Realm—he received an inheritance and is still digesting it. Forcing himself awake midway left it incomplete and put a strain on his body.”
“Ah, now I remember!” Ji Chuling said anxiously, eyes brimming with tears. “After you all left, I was so worried. At that time Li Xiuran was in meditation in his room, and I kept talking beside him. He must have heard me and forced his way through. No wonder he spat blood when he woke! Will he be alright?”
“Don’t worry, I can heal him,” Mo Xuanli said.
“I can help too. Chuixue Pavilion has special methods of treatment.” Si Chun stepped forward.
So the group discussed, and in the end Mo Xuanli and Si Chun worked together. With their combined arts, Li Xiuran’s color quickly improved and his spiritual energy stabilized.
However, Mo Xuanli and Si Chun themselves looked somewhat drained.
“Such a domineering sword intent… surely this isn’t Supreme Sword Intent?” Si Chun frowned.
Mo Xuanli nodded. Supreme Sword Intent and the Void-Spirit Domain shared the same origin; he could sense it. But this sword intent was far too overbearing, exceeding Supreme Sword Intent by several levels. If a tribulation-stage cultivator like his master received it, it would indeed be wings added to a tiger. But with Li Xiuran’s current cultivation, it was more harm than good. Yet cultivation was always about seizing fortune amid risk and burden.
“Was this inheritance gained within that wild spirit vein?” Gu Baiqing asked, curious as before.
Ji Chuling nodded. “We actually don’t know exactly how it happened. We clashed with others, fell into a cave, and while fighting muddle-headedly, suddenly when Li Xiuran used Supreme Sword Intent, a streak of light rushed into his body. Right after that, the whole spirit vein’s aura began to drain away.”
Hearing this, Gu Baiqing broke into a cold sweat. If they’d been late in harvesting the spirit crystal, it too would have been ruined.
This matter was strange. The original text hadn’t mentioned such a thing. And about the inheritance—if it existed, why did Li Xiuran inherit it and not Mo Xuanli? Was it only because Mo Xuanli had already taken that rare dual-element wind-fire crystal? As precious as that was, compared to an inheritance, the latter was far superior.
It wasn’t that he selfishly thought his disciple should have all the best things—but the current situation deviated far too much from the familiar novel pattern he knew.
He recalled that in the secret realm, Li Xiuran had also gained an inheritance. On Ten-Thousand-Swords Island, he had suddenly obtained an immortal-grade spirit sword.
All in all, both Li Xiuran and Mo Xuanli had great fortune. But Li Xiuran’s luck overall was far better—his path smooth, while Mo Xuanli paid dearly each time, skirting the edge of death more than once.
It really felt as if Li Xiuran were the one with the protagonist’s halo.
Thinking this, Gu Baiqing froze, then quickly shook his head. Impossible. In the story he himself narrated, the protagonists were Mo Xuanli and Gu Baiqing.
Maybe it was just that, since they were the true leads, the chances and stories of others weren’t described in detail, and so…
But even thinking so, what was happening here still made no sense.
Gu Baiqing was utterly baffled.
At that moment, a voice suddenly came from the bed.
“It’s the Sword Intent of the Godslayer Sword,” Li Xiuran said.
“The Godslayer Sword?!”
The three in the room all gasped in shock—except for Mo Xuanli, whose face changed drastically. In that instant, he nearly lost his balance, the light in his eyes blazing ever brighter.
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