“Elder Lin! You’ve gone too far!” Lu Sheng’s face was icy cold. Frost crystals of pale blue spread from under her feet, and in the span of a single breath, her scarlet long robe turned into a glacial blue. The black pupils in her eyes transformed into a void-like white.
This was the aura of a powerful cultivator at the Fusion Realm!
One step further, and she would reach the Great Ascension Realm! Only by stepping into the Great Ascension Realm could one truly begin to touch the mysteries of immortality and catch a glimpse of the Immortal Realm.
Lin Xing was unbothered. Was he supposed to be afraid of a woman on his own turf? “Wanna fight?” he asked, sounding almost eager.
Lu Sheng hesitated. She looked at the swollen, pig-faced Qiu Liu, then at Ye Feng still coughing up blood, and finally fixed her eyes on Lu Hengge, who now had no spiritual Qi at all. Her heart ached with helplessness. In just one day, her three disciples were each in miserable shape.
After a long moment of silence, Lu Sheng restrained her anger, and her ice-blue robe reverted to red. “Hengge, let’s go home.”
Now was not the time for conflict. All three of her disciples were injured. She needed to heal them quickly.
“I don’t have a home,” Lu Hengge said coldly. “Don’t pretend we’re still connected.”
He cast a glance at Lu Sheng and walked to Lin Xing’s side. “Elder Lin, could you please help me find a quiet cave residence?”
Lin Xing nodded without acknowledging Lu Sheng and led Lu Hengge out of the Hall of Justice.
Inside the main hall, disciples displayed all sorts of expressions. Some were excited, believing they now had a shot at the Holy Son position. Others looked at Lu Sheng and Ye Feng with odd, suggestive glances. Although Lin Xing had clearly forbidden anyone from spreading the news about Lu Hengge shattering his own Nascent Soul, he never said anything about not spreading other gossip.
It was likely that after today, rumors about a messy love triangle between Lu Sheng, Qiu Liu, and Ye Feng would spread throughout the Three Thousand Dao Sect. A juicy topic indeed.
Lu Sheng watched Lu Hengge’s figure fade into the distance, her heart twisted with pain. The disciple she had once loved the most had walked away from her.
Seeing this, Ye Feng took the opportunity to squeeze in, “Master, you still have me.”
That line came in at just the right time.
Lu Sheng snapped back to her senses and looked at him tenderly. “Your senior brother must have been disturbed by demonic Qi and damaged his Dao heart. As your master, I will find a way to bring him back to normal.”
Ye Feng put on a perfect performance. At least in public, he showed no flaws.
As soon as Lin Xing left, Qiu Liu couldn’t hold back her anger any longer. She shrieked, “Master, stop caring about that useless trash Lu Hengge! He’s just a mortal now, he doesn’t even have the title of Holy Son anymore. Why bother with him!”
Lu Sheng had a headache and softly scolded, “Liuer, that’s enough! Hengge is your senior brother. How could you call him by name?”
Lu Sheng sighed. “Even if Hengge is no longer the Holy Son, his alchemy skills remain. If he doesn’t help you refine pills, what will you and Xiao Feng do in the future?”
Ye Feng looked at Lu Sheng with surprise. Damn. She’s even more ruthless than he was. Ye Feng only wanted to cripple Lu Hengge, but Lu Sheng was trying to extract all the remaining value from him before discarding him.
A woman’s heart is truly the most vicious.
Ye Feng made a mental note—when he had Lu Sheng pinned under him in the future, he wouldn’t see her as a person, but as a lust slave. That way, there’d be no guilt in playing with her.
Qiu Liu thought for a moment, then snorted, “Fine. If he still has some value, calling him senior brother isn’t entirely unacceptable.”
Lu Sheng opened her mouth to explain. She didn’t mean to use Lu Hengge’s value like that. She only wanted to remind Qiu Liu how important he was to Qingyun Peak. But Qiu Liu had clearly misunderstood.
“Liuer, help Xiao Feng back to the cave residence. I’ll make a trip to the Scripture Pavilion.”
The Scripture Pavilion of the Three Thousand Dao Sect contained countless techniques, pill recipes, and treasures. She was certain she could find a way to repair Lu Hengge’s Nascent Soul.
Ye Feng was still coughing up blood. If not for being a cultivator, he probably would’ve bled to death by now.
Qiu Liu helped support him. Though her own face was swollen like a pig’s, she still looked at Ye Feng with concern. “Master, is there something wrong with junior brother? He keeps coughing up blood…”
Lu Sheng’s heart ached slightly. “Go to my cave later and pick a few precious medicinal herbs for Xiao Feng. When I return, I’ll personally treat him.”
Qiu Liu’s eyes lit up. Her master’s cave had many treasures. And since her master didn’t care much, she might as well take a few more. It would comfort her heart a bit.
With that thought, Qiu Liu happily led Ye Feng away.
Lu Sheng stood still, her thoughts adrift. She seemed to see again the determined back of Lu Hengge walking away.
“Hengge. I will heal you!”
The breeze passed gently. The Hall of Justice was now empty.
…
“Elder Lin, please send me to the Sword Prison.” This was the fifth time Lu Hengge asked.
Lin Xing was clearly annoyed. “Why are you so eager to go into the Sword Prison? Ordinary disciples tremble just hearing the name, and you’re doing the opposite.”
“Elder Lin, I’ve lost my cultivation and cannot protect my title as Holy Son. If other disciples challenge me, how can I defend myself? Rather than suffer humiliation in public, I’d rather die in the Sword Prison. It would at least fulfill a long-held wish of mine.” This chapter is updated first at novelping dot com.
“Besides, if I’m not punished today, how will the sect explain things to the outside? As Holy Son, I should put the sect’s honor first.”
Lu Hengge had long prepared his reasons. He had to enter the Sword Prison. Otherwise, he’d miss too many opportunities. Once he emerged from the Sword Prison, depending on the situation, he would kill a few people, then defect from the Three Thousand Dao Sect. He’d rebuild his strength, and once he was powerful enough, he’d return to destroy the entire sect.
Lu Hengge didn’t have a system or some god-tier cheat. So he had to seize every advantage to rebuild quickly and advance further.
Lin Xing frowned, deep in thought. Lu Hengge sounded genuine, without a trace of deceit. But sending him to the Sword Prison was still difficult to decide.
The two walked together. Lin Xing deliberately slowed his pace so Lu Hengge could follow more easily.
To be fair, Lin Xing wasn’t a particularly hateful man. He judged based on logic, not emotion. In his past life, based on all the fake evidence Ye Feng had fabricated, Lin Xing had inflicted many tortures on Lu Hengge—skinning, blood draining, bone crushing, soul burning… If not for those forged proofs, Lin Xing might not have gone that far.
But Lu Hengge still had to kill him.
If Lin Xing had just investigated a little, he would’ve seen how obvious the flaws in the evidence were. But he hadn’t. He had chosen to believe Ye Feng unconditionally. For that alone, Lu Hengge would never forgive him.
Still, Lu Hengge wasn’t cruel. When he killed Lin Xing someday, he would at least leave him a whole corpse.
Unknowingly, the two arrived at a quiet wooden hut.
“You’ll stay here for now,” Lin Xing said, pointing to the rundown hut. He wasn’t trying to make things difficult. It was just that Lu Hengge’s situation was special—he didn’t want to return to Qingyun Peak, and he couldn’t stay in the Holy Son’s residence.
Lin Xing rarely left the Hall of Justice, so this was the best he could offer.
Lu Hengge was satisfied. The place was quiet, and almost no one came by.
Lin Xing turned back toward Lu Hengge, looking conflicted. After a moment of hesitation, he took out a black token from his sleeve. “This is the token for entering the Sword Prison. If you really want to go in, I won’t stop you.”
With that, Lin Xing left.
Lu Hengge played with the token in his hand and sneered. This old fox was slick. He left the decision to Lu Hengge so that if anything went wrong, he could push the blame back. After all, he hadn’t forced Lu Hengge in—Lu Hengge insisted on going.
Cultivators all had eight hundred schemes in their minds.