The weight of power descended upon them, and Shang Can instinctively reached for the hilt of Fei Wang at her waist, but immediately pulled her hand back as if burned. She muttered, “…You forged it?”
“That’s right,” Yu Jiu remained still, inclining her head slightly with an air of calm dignity. “The most promising young talents who distinguish themselves during their studies at Tianwai Tian are awarded a blade forged by us. Considering how exceptional the two of you were, it’s only natural that the swords you received came from the hand of the Head of Tianwai Tian.”
A chill ran down Shang Can’s spine. She stared at Yu Jiu, who was still seated on the giant lotus leaf, for a long moment before she managed to speak, her voice strained: “So all these years, you’ve been… here? At Qinglian Lake, even back when we went to Wenxin… were you there too?”
“…” Yu Jiu didn’t answer right away. She slowly lowered her gaze, an unreadable smile forming at the corners of her lips, a barely audible sigh escaping her. “…Not that I chose this place myself.”
“But yes, that’s right.”
She quickly resumed her previous detached demeanor, answering flatly, “Qinglian Lake has always been the medium for Wenxin trials. After I went into ‘seclusion,’ I enhanced the array here. Since then, everyone who undergoes Wenxin at Qinglian Lake has to pass through my hands. It’s almost as if I’ve become the embodiment of Heaven’s Will.”
Yu Jiu’s tone was mocking, yet she didn’t even bother to force a smile before letting the words fade. “Originally, I only intended to do what I could for the benefit of Tianwai Tian. Who knew it would actually prove useful.”
She lazily raised a hand, pointing directly at Shang Can, her dark eyes gleaming with unfathomable depth. “First, it was you. When you came here for your Wenxin trial, I noticed the complexity of your memories, far beyond what a normal person could possess. After a few investigations, I realized that this world still had an unaware little half-demon phoenix walking around.”
“But at the time, I didn’t pay much attention,” she paused, as if it had been ages since she had spoken so much, and took a brief moment before continuing slowly. “After all, you were from Qingyu, and that had nothing to do with Tianwai Tian. I was happy to watch Qingyu suffer a setback in the future, so I didn’t intervene.”
Hearing her deepest secret, one she hadn’t even been aware of herself, spoken so lightly by Yu Jiu stirred a wave of nausea and frustration in Shang Can. She opened her mouth to retort, but Yu Jiu’s hand moved leisurely, pointing to the person standing beside her.
“And then there’s you.” Yu Jiu’s finger shifted towards Yun Duan, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully before a light chuckle escaped her. “Qingyu wasn’t having an easy time of it either. After all, they finally produced an immaculate celestial body, only for that person to harbor feelings of Fei Wang for a half-demon.”
Yun Duan’s posture stiffened, and Shang Can saw a rare flicker of anger flash across her usually composed face as she responded coldly, “…So the sword Tianwai Tian gifted me—was that why you named it Fei Wang?”
“Exactly. I told you, it was my idea,” Yu Jiu nodded cheerfully, though her smile never reached her eyes, her voice dropping to a cold, eerie tone. “…Hope that should not exist. The world calls it Fei Wang.”
“I couldn’t bear to watch any longer.”
She paused for a moment, before letting out a soft sigh, as if the thought had suddenly weighed heavily upon her. “But, it’s fine. We’ve reached this point, so I might as well explain things clearly. Not that it matters, since you won’t be leaving here to tell anyone.”
Yu Jiu’s tone was filled with a quiet certainty, a confidence that neither of them could escape. She raised her gaze and spoke again, her voice calm, as if recounting a casual tale. “The second time the half-demon failed her Wenxin trial and coughed up blood—it was my doing. The medicine you were given afterward, at Tianwai Tian’s medicine furnace, was designed to incite uncontrollable demonic rage.”
“It was a bit of a roundabout method, but since I couldn’t leave this place, I couldn’t think of a faster solution.” She delivered the words as if they were inconsequential, revealing past actions that neither Shang Can nor Yun Duan had known about. “I didn’t expect the little phoenix to be more resilient than I anticipated. Even after taking the medicine, spending every day with the immaculate celestial body, she didn’t lose control. So, I had to come up with something else.”
“As it happened, Tianwai Tian’s interim head seemed to have some interest in you, so it was easy to get him to listen to my suggestions—” she stopped, eyeing Shang Can’s widening gaze, the shock painted across her features seemed to amuse Yu Jiu. Her voice grew lighter, almost playful. “When your demonic nature finally awakened, it was quite a scene. You took down several Tianwai Tian cultivators.”
Fury surged through Shang Can, clenching her fists as her voice cracked with rage. “You’re insane…”
“Hardly, half-demon. Hardly,” Yu Jiu smiled faintly, seemingly unfazed by the insult. “At least, not as insane as you were that day.”
“…Since we’re here, I might as well do you another favor. I’ll tell you something you’ll be glad to hear.”
Yu Jiu’s eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze drifting between the two women before landing back on Shang Can. Her voice, now laced with a chilling iciness, cut through the air: “You’ve always believed that it was you who injured Yun Duan back then, haven’t you?”
Shang Can froze, her mind racing back to the horrific scene she’d witnessed when she’d first regained consciousness amid the firestorm. Slowly, she turned to look at Yun Duan, whose brow was furrowed in confusion. Shang Can suddenly remembered—Yun Duan had no memory of that day, no knowledge of what had transpired.
As unsettling thoughts began to take shape in her mind, Shang Can turned back to Yu Jiu, catching sight of the thin smile on her face.
“You’ll be pleased to know,” Yu Jiu said softly, “that it wasn’t you.”
“I watched it all. You were completely out of your mind, the heavenly fire consumed everything, and you tore through anyone in your path like they were nothing.”
Her gaze flickered briefly toward Yun Duan, her eyes cold and calculating. Yun Duan’s typically clear expression now clouded with doubt, her dark eyes locked unblinkingly on Yu Jiu, a sharpness in her stance that was wholly different from the time she’d faced the rampaging half-demon, desperately calling out for her “Shijie.”
“But in that frenzied state of yours, even the near-uncontrollable heavenly fire avoided the immaculate celestial body. Not a single flame touched her.”
“You were both so far gone, yet neither of you was willing to hurt the other…”
Yu Jiu’s expression darkened briefly, a flicker of malice crossing her face. Startled, Shang Can instinctively dodged to avoid the shadow that moved to strike her from behind. The figure halted in its tracks, making no further attempts to chase her, simply standing and watching her in silence.
“Compared to you two, I suppose I’m not the mad one after all.”
Yu Jiu’s voice, now distant, regained its calm composure as the ever-silent Qing Lian Jun landed gracefully on the massive lotus leaf behind her, taking up a quiet vigil at her side.
“It would have been better if I had given Qing Lian Jun more time to act back then,” Yu Jiu sighed softly, casting her gaze into the reflection in the lake. “But alas, you woke up at just the right moment, and I didn’t expect you to have something like that—a medicine that could bring the dead back to life.”
So young.
Yu Jiu sat poised on the surface of a lotus leaf, the wind howling behind her, transforming into blades that fended off the onslaught of attacks without her needing to lift a finger.
This time, she didn’t plan to let these two go. Clearly, they knew that too, as their strikes were merciless. Even though they weren’t wielding the weapons she had forged, Yunzhong Jun and Canzhe were still formidable adversaries, not ones to be easily handled. If not for facing her, there was likely no one else who could withstand even a few moves from the two of them.
Her gaze unintentionally locked with a pair of eyes the color of molten gold—beautiful, like the blazing sunset. But in that brief moment, all she could feel was the chilling killing intent, as though the slightest lapse in focus would result in her throat being slit. Yu Jiu couldn’t help but want to laugh. How like a half-demon she appeared when facing her, yet around the Immaculate Celestial Body, she became a docile little bird. She wondered if all phoenixes were like this.
What is this, really? As Yu Jiu effortlessly countered the ceaseless barrage of attacks, her thoughts wandered idly. Why did she, of all people, have to watch this scene of a demon and a human standing side by side?
It shouldn’t be. It shouldn’t be.
Unnecessary emotions only create weaknesses, and Yu Jiu was adept at exploiting those weaknesses. As long as she pretended to focus her attacks on Yun Duan, Shang Can would inevitably react, and the slightest distraction on the little phoenix’s part would be enough. Enough for the strongest cultivator in the realm to seize her wings.
Her right arm took a direct hit from the wind blades, the wound deep enough to expose bone, blood splattering into Qinglian Lake with her movements. Deliberately, Yu Jiu pressed harder on Shang Can’s wound. The little phoenix, now trapped by the wind, made no sound. Instead, golden-red flames erupted from her wound, burning into Yu Jiu’s palm, leaving a gory, searing wound behind.
Ah, she must be in so much pain right now. Yu Jiu thought as she reached up and grasped Shang Can’s throat, drawing close for the first time to properly observe those eyes—still dazzling, still impossibly beautiful, even in the midst of intense pain.
Why hadn’t she killed her sooner?
At first, she had thought it didn’t matter. Later, she had reasoned it would be far more torturous to let the half-demon believe she had personally killed Yun Duan. And after that, she thought… well, since demons and cultivators had already parted ways, what did it matter?
…That must be it.
Yet, deep inside, there was still that strange, nagging sense of something out of place. Yu Jiu closed her eyes for a moment, and without realizing it, her grip loosened ever so slightly. When she spoke again, her voice was quiet, almost as if compelled by some unknown force:
“…Back then, when you saved the Immaculate Celestial Body… the medicine you used—”
Her tone betrayed a hint of agitation. Yu Jiu raised her hand to counter Yun Duan’s silent sword thrust. In Yun Duan’s dark eyes surged emotions Yu Jiu couldn’t quite discern. In the span of a single breath, Yun Duan had struck more than ten times, her sword aura as cold as frost and snow, an almost reckless attack, abandoning all defense. Her snow-white robe was soon slashed open in several places by Yu Jiu’s wind blades, but Yun Duan seemed utterly indifferent to her injuries—nothing like the calm and composed figure of Yunzhong Jun that people had once spoken of.
“She’s a half-demon, not one of our kind.” Yu Jiu hadn’t intended to provoke her, but for some reason, she began to murmur, “…You won’t kill her, fine, but why go so far for her, risking your life like this?”
The sword aimed at Yu Jiu’s face was blocked by a dense shield of wind. Yun Duan’s delicate features were so close now, her pale lips pressed tightly together. As her lips parted slightly, Yu Jiu could almost feel the cold air seeping out with her words.
“—Then why, after you killed the previous Demon Lord, did you create a puppet that looks exactly like her to keep by your side?”
Yu Jiu’s mind wavered for a moment, causing the wind shield to falter. She only barely managed to tilt her head aside as Yun Duan’s blade grazed her cheek, leaving a thin line of blood. A moment later, the blood finally began to flow from the wound, warm and sticky as it slid down her face.
Steadying herself again, Yu Jiu reinforced the wind shield and slowly reached up to touch her cheek, staring at the blood on her fingertips.
“…Why?” Yu Jiu murmured, “…Yes, why indeed.”
It seemed as though everything had slipped out of her control.
By the time she noticed, she had already been surrounded by lotuses, had already created a puppet in her likeness, and could no longer tolerate seeing any other demon or cultivator in companionship or, worse, in love. By now, everything she had done could only be right. Any hint of proof that might suggest there was another way had to be eradicated—those possibilities should never have existed in the first place. Demons and cultivators could never walk the same path; she wasn’t wrong.
The Immaculate Celestial Body, now clearly straying down a misguided road, could not be allowed to remain. What a pity, she thought. She was such a promising talent, her path of cultivation once full of potential, but she had been tripped up by a demon.
In those years after Shang Can’s death, Yu Jiu had never considered harming Yun Duan. She didn’t even know why. It was as if watching Yun Duan waste away to skin and bones had been enough, a voice inside whispering: Look, this is what happens when you take the wrong path. There can be no good outcome—it’s the natural order of things.
Thinking back now, if she had held the Dao Discussion Assembly at Qinglian Lake back then, instead of using heart-testing talismans, things would have been different. If only she had done that, she wouldn’t have missed the chance to eliminate Yun Duan and the other promising disciples when Shang Can had infiltrated the event. She wouldn’t have to be fighting this battle today.
It was all for Tianwai Tian, not for selfish reasons, Yu Jiu thought. Although, deep down, she did indeed want to kill Yun Duan. Seeing this person always seemed to bring up memories from her youth—memories she shouldn’t be recalling.
A violent emotion stirred within her heart. Yun Duan’s attack faltered momentarily, but she didn’t retreat. Yu Jiu noticed a flicker of surprise in her eyes, and her voice seemed to come from far away: “…You practice demonic cultivation.”
“Not quite yet,” Yu Jiu lowered her eyes, dipping her bloodstained fingers into the lake to wash them clean. Her voice was soft as she replied, “Back then, before I was fully consumed by the demonic path, I made a choice. At least I didn’t make a terrible mistake.”
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