Jian Qing was instantly excited. She immediately hurried back to the stone chamber, sat down, and focused her mind to use the Communication Jade Slip.
Suddenly, she “saw” a light blue virtual interface. Strangely enough, even when she closed her eyes, she could still see the screen.
The interface displayed the following functional options: 【Personal Account】, 【Personal Journal】, 【Friend Messaging】, 【Sect Management】, 【Dao Discussion Community】, 【World Trade Alliance】.
First, she immediately went into 【Personal Account】 to take a look and found that her account balance was about 40,000 low-grade spirit stones. Her heart instantly settled back down.
She had previously thought the original owner didn’t have a single spirit stone to her name.
So it wasn’t like that after all—now she could rest easy.
Next, she went into the 【Personal Journal】 interface.
【Personal Journal】 was a place for writing articles, and each article could be set to different reading permissions.
The original owner was clearly not someone who enjoyed writing.
She had only written five articles in total. Judging by their titles, the content was either technique analysis or cultivation experience, with reading permissions set to sect members only.
Jian Qing skimmed through them briefly and suddenly understood—no wonder the original owner’s bare hands were so incredibly powerful!
It turned out that the original owner had actually trained her body and was a tank-type cultivator specializing in defense.
Jian Qing was overjoyed. A healer with a tank’s defensive power—wasn’t that like a mouse falling into a rice jar? Unstoppable!
Thank you, original owner, for your generous contribution!
She happily exited, skipped over the 【Friend Messaging】 feature, and went into the 【Sect Management】 interface.
For no other reason than she felt guilty—she didn’t want to deal with the original owner’s close friends, afraid of being found out that she wasn’t the real one.
【Guiyuan Sect】：Yellow-grade sect, located in the southeastern region of the Central Province on Guiyuan Mountain. Jurisdiction includes Yunxia City, Red Maple City, and Wuyin City.
【Sect Account】：31 low-grade spirit stones
【Personnel Management】：Elders (Zero), True Disciples (Zero), Inner Disciples (Three), Outer Disciples (Five)
【Sect Administration】：Mission Management, Income & Expenditure Management, Bounty Application, Aid Application, Sect Rating Application.
Jian Qing: “!!!”
She really had to ‘thank’ that Grand Elder who fled in the face of battle—he’d actually left behind 31 spirit stones when he made off with the treasury.
‘Aaaargh! Die! Die! Die!‘ Important things must be said three times.
Jian Qing clutched her chest and went into the “Income & Expenditure Management” interface to take a look.
Sure enough, nearly a million spirit stones had been spent by the Grand Elder—all of them used to purchase various spiritual materials and pills!
Fortunately, what was somewhat comforting was that the sect’s monthly fixed income was also around a hundred thousand spirit stones, mainly including shop rents, mining taxes, and the like.
So even if she couldn’t recover the sect’s funds, things would gradually improve after a rough period.
Jian Qing took several deep breaths and finally calmed down a bit, then continued to check the other interfaces in 【Sect Management】.
As it turned out, this world was ruled by the Immortal Alliance, whose members included all sects of the Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow grades, forming a strict hierarchical sect system from top to bottom.
While each sect enjoyed the resources of its territory, it also bore the responsibility of maintaining public order.
The Immortal Alliance decreed that dereliction of duty, desertion on the battlefield, and the like were all serious crimes. Once confirmed, the offender would be exiled to the front lines to fight against demons and monsters.
Jian Qing: “…” So what was the difference between the Immortal Alliance and a feudal dynasty? Well, actually, her transmigration start wasn’t bad either—wasn’t it good to be reborn as part of the ruling class?
She accepted her fate. From now on, she was Jian Qing, Sect Master of Guiyuan Sect.
After all, she had been an orphan before, raised in an orphanage, with no home and no career—there was nothing on Earth for her to miss anyway.
Since I’m here, I might as well stay.
In addition, she now knew how to deal with the Grand Elder. She immediately worked her fingers to the bone and submitted a bounty application to the Immortal Alliance.
Now, all she had to do was wait for the Immortal Alliance to review and approve it, and the wanted notice would be officially issued. When that happened, the assets she wanted to recover should be recoverable.
Thinking this, she felt much more at ease.
Thankfully, she had the Immortal Alliance backing her. Otherwise, faced with that runaway Grand Elder, wouldn’t she be completely helpless right now?
It seemed necessary to work hard on developing the sect and elevate its status within the Immortal Alliance. With this thought, she was suddenly filled with motivation. From now on, she would strive to lead the sect upward.
But when she looked at the state of her disciples, her heart sank again.
The requirement for a Yellow-grade sect to advance to Mysterious-grade was: among the sect’s members, at least one person must reach the Nascent Soul stage, and at least two must reach the Golden Core stage.
But right now, Guiyuan Sect only had eight disciples left (the deceased would have their Heavenly Network accounts automatically deactivated). Among them, the three inner disciples were all at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the five outer disciples were all at the Qi Refining stage.
At this rate, advancement seemed utterly out of reach for the foreseeable future.
Jian Qing couldn’t help but sigh, and took a moment to glance at her skill bar.
Luck Value: 0.
It seemed that browsing the Heavenly Network did absolutely nothing to increase her Luck Value.
…
Jian Qing’s secluded cultivation chamber was located deep within the valley, while the main buildings of Guiyuan Sect were situated around the outer perimeter of the valley.
At this moment, after the demonic calamity, the entire Guiyuan Sect was in a dismal state. Many buildings had been destroyed, and the stench of blood lingered in the air for a long time.
By a broken-down house, a young woman in green robes sat slumped on the ground, silently looking around.
The rampaging demons had already vanished, but many of her fellow disciples had also lost their lives forever, never to wake again.
For someone like her, who had managed to survive this battle, it was already a pretty good outcome, wasn’t it?
Yet, having been poisoned by the Twin-Headed Serpent Demon, how much longer could she really hold on?
After being poisoned by the two-headed serpent demon, a person would first gradually lose their cultivation. Once their cultivation was completely gone, they would then begin to lose their vital essence, until ultimately, they died.
To detoxify the poison, one had to venture deep into the demon domain to find the companion herb of the two-headed serpent demon.
However, those who had the chance to return unscathed from the demon domain were invariably powerful enough to hold their own in any region. Why would such people easily risk their lives? This meant that once infected with this demonic poison, one could only wait for death.
Of course, if one could continuously supplement spiritual energy and minimize the rate of spiritual energy loss, the poisoned person could live a little longer—up to as long as a year at most.
The green-robed girl took a deep breath, tried to calm her emotions, sat down cross-legged, and prepared to circulate her qi and regulate her energy.
As an inner disciple of Guiyuan Sect, she had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage. If she wanted to prolong her life a little longer, it wasn’t particularly difficult to do so.
But in the end, she would probably be doomed to die anyway, right?
Just then, she suddenly sensed someone approaching.
The green-robed girl opened her eyes and saw a young man in green robes flying over on a sword. He had handsome features and a gentle, refined temperament—it was Song Junfeng, who was also an inner disciple like her.
As far as she knew, Song Junfeng was the son of the city lord of Yunxia City. With his cultivation talent, he had originally been qualified to join Mysterious-grade or Earth-grade sects.
But for some reason, he had ultimately chosen to join the Yellow-grade Guiyuan Sect, becoming its only disciple with an Upper-grade talent.
In the blink of an eye, Song Junfeng landed near her and greeted her with an elegant cupped-fist salute: “Junior Sister Lin, are you all right?”
The green-robed girl’s name was Lin Yueming. She nodded: “I’m fine.”
Lin Yueming did not mention the poisoning. She did not believe that Song Junfeng could help her with anything. When it came to the poison of the two-headed serpent demon, there was simply no one who could save her.
Song Junfeng hesitated slightly, then said: “If Junior Sister Lin is safe and sound, why not join the rescue efforts? There are still two people who have yet to be found.”
Lin Yueming nodded: “Alright.”
“If anyone is severely injured, as long as they are sent to the Sect Master in time, they can also receive treatment.” Song Junfeng informed her of the meeting point and told her which areas had not yet been searched.
Lin Yueming nodded silently, but in her heart, she was thinking—if only she were merely injured and not poisoned, how wonderful that would be.
Song Junfeng didn’t think much of it, assuming she was simply feeling down because of the sect’s situation. He gently comforted her: “Junior Sister Lin, cheer up. The departed are gone, and the living must carry on. Saving people is what matters most—I’ll go ahead.” With that, he flew off on his sword to continue the search and rescue.
Not far ahead, Song Junfeng suddenly sensed a faint breathing sound coming from a pile of ruins.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator’s perception was naturally far beyond that of ordinary people. Even from a distance, he could clearly sense the other person’s aura.
Song Junfeng descended, casting spells to move away the fallen rocks and debris.
The person buried beneath was an unconscious female disciple. She appeared to be around ten-something years old, with a hint of youthfulness still lingering on her face.
Song Junfeng immediately took out a Rejuvenation Pill and fed it to her.
The female disciple slowly woke up, and her injuries seemed to have improved somewhat, but her complexion remained ashen.
Her eyes were lifeless, devoid of any will to live: “Senior Brother Song, why did you bother saving me? Dying early or dying late—it’s all the same death. It would be better to just die sooner and save myself some suffering.”
Song Junfeng was taken aback and asked gently: “You’re Outer Disciple Lü Rongrong, right? May I ask why Junior Sister Lü is so disheartened? Feel free to speak your mind—perhaps I can help you?”
Lü Rongrong sniffled, then suddenly broke down emotionally, tears streaming down her face: “I… I’ve been poisoned. I’ve been poisoned by the two-headed serpent demon.”
Upon hearing this, Song Junfeng’s expression turned somewhat grave: “Now that I think back, there were indeed extremely rare two-headed serpent demons that appeared in this demonic calamity. Junior Sister Lü… please don’t lose heart. After the Sect Master came out of seclusion today, she has actually mastered a healing method. Perhaps she might also have a way to resolve this two-headed serpent demon poison?”
“Really?” Lü Rongrong’s eyes widened, casting a hopeful gaze at him.
“Well…” Song Junfeng averted his gaze guiltily, “I’m only guessing—I can’t be completely certain.”
In the past, the Sect Master had never possessed healing abilities, yet now there was this sudden change. He presumed she must have advanced to the Nascent Soul stage and grasped some unknown law.
Upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, one could begin to grasp laws. And the power of laws was unfathomable, enabling people to accomplish many incredible things—these were naturally beyond his ability to speculate.
When he had congratulated the Sect Master on her advancement earlier, she hadn’t denied it either, had she?
So there was still a glimmer of hope.
“So Senior Brother Song is only guessing. That’s right—how could this poison be easily cured?” Lü Rongrong couldn’t help but break down in tears again, her heart sinking back into despair.
Song Junfeng was silent for a moment, then said: “Junior Sister Lü, how about this—I’ll continue searching for others first. You wait here for now, and don’t lose heart just yet. Let’s wait until we’ve asked the Sect Master before we decide anything.”
Lü Rongrong acted as if she hadn’t heard him, simply sitting there in tears.
Song Junfeng stood up and encouraged her: “Junior Sister Lü, no matter what, don’t give up hope so easily. Wait here for a moment—I’ll be back shortly.” He turned and left, continuing his search for survivors.
Due to the threat of demonic calamities, the lower-grade sects that lacked sufficient strength tended to have their main building complexes more densely clustered, so that disciples could come to each other’s aid in time.
The area he was responsible for searching was not large, so he quickly and easily completed the search—but found nothing.
Just as he was feeling disappointed, he suddenly spotted Lin Yueming in the distance, flying on her sword toward the depths of the valley with an injured disciple in tow.
The depths of the valley were precisely where the Sect Master was in secluded cultivation. There were many stone chambers built there, with extremely abundant spiritual energy, and it was always quiet and uninhabited—making it the most suitable place for seclusion.
Seeing this, Song Junfeng let out a breath of relief. This should be the last survivor.
He flew back on his sword to where Lü Rongrong was and saw her still sitting there wiping her tears, trapped in despair with no way out.
“Junior Sister Lü, don’t lose heart. I’ll take you to see the Sect Master right now.” Song Junfeng lifted Lü Rongrong and flew after Lin Yueming on his sword.
Lü Rongrong finally responded, sobbing and whimpering through her tears: “Th-thank you…”
Two streaks of sword light shot toward the depths of the valley through the sky.
At the same time, on the ground, in a narrow alleyway, a stocky young man seemed to sense something and suddenly looked up at the two streaks of sword light streaking across the sky like shooting stars.
The stocky young man frowned and murmured softly: “My luck is terrible this time—how did I end up attracting a two-headed serpent demon? Sigh… that Grand Elder… he ran too fast. I was just a little short—if only he had died here… Oh well, looks like I’ll have to wait for the next time. The next sacrifice… Jian Qing…”
He originally had a rather honest and simple-looking face—no one who saw him would ever suspect that he was a person with ill intent.
But at this moment, a sinister smirk laced with malice crept across his face.
After standing there briefly, the stocky young man turned and left the alleyway. He hadn’t gone far when he encountered another handsome young man.
The other greeted him: “Senior Brother Tie, have you finished searching your side?”
The stocky young man smiled and nodded in reply: “Yes, all surviving fellow disciples have been found. Junior Brother Meng, let’s head straight to the main hall to regroup.”
“Alright.”