VAP - Chapter 81
Chapter 81: Flawless Cold Bone, The Peerless Sword Venerable (5)
The future Star Wheel Sword Venerable, Mu Xingluo, was the main female protagonist of this world.
And the future Slaughter Night Demon Venerable, Ji Changqing, was the main male protagonist.
Everything Yue Du knew about the original plotline of the Qianhong small world came from the unnamed file in the system’s database.
…The one that was a full ten million words long.
To summarize, it was the story of a girl from an ordinary small village who suddenly suffers the annihilation of her clan. To avenge her family and friends, she joins a sword sect, thus beginning a thousand-year-long, tumultuous life story.
Mu Xingluo joined the sect at the age of seven. She possessed dual Gold and Wood spirit roots. Her aptitude was decent but not outstanding, so she was taken in by an ordinary Nascent Soul elder.
At first, Mu Xingluo’s performance was unremarkable.
But who would have thought that just as she was at the peak of the Qi Refinement stage and about to break through to Foundation Establishment, she would encounter a heaven-sent opportunity—to be tempered by Heavenly Fire!
This Heavenly Fire was so turbulent and fierce that it directly refined the Wood spirit root into pure life force within Mu Xingluo’s body and tempered the Gold spirit root to be even more solid and sharp.
To not die when Heavenly Fire descended was already a great fortune, yet Mu Xingluo managed to survive and even improve her aptitude—
It was a one-in-a-hundred-million chance that created this miracle.
A single Gold Spirit Root—the most suitable configuration for a sword cultivator.
Mu Xingluo resolutely abandoned the unorthodox Wood Spirit Sword Art she had previously practiced and switched to cultivating the Lingtian Sword Sect’s legendary technique, the Heaven-Slaying Sword Art. From then on, she began to shine with dazzling brilliance among the disciples of her generation.
Yue Du watched the young woman on the stage, who was laughing and chatting happily, and felt a momentary daze.
The participants in the grand competition were all young cultivators under one hundred years old, with cultivation levels mostly at the peak of Golden Core or early Nascent Soul.
And Mu Xingluo, who was not yet forty this year, had already entered the ranks of Nascent Soul cultivators. Her talent and diligence were plain to see.
—But that wasn't what Yue Du was concerned about.
Mu Xingluo had a pair of almond-shaped eyes, as clear as crystal, that sparkled when she looked around. At first glance, she seemed pitiable and cute, but the high bridge of her nose, the sharp line of her jaw, and her tall, slender figure, like that of a white crane, gave her the heroic and frank air of a swordswoman.
Watching her speak with her senior brothers and sisters, she seemed to have heard something amusing, and her eyes curved as she broke into a cheerful, toothy smile.
With that one smile, well, the valiant female sword cultivator instantly transformed into a carefree, natural airhead.
Yue Du lowered her eyes slightly.
In truth, Mu Xingluo was eighty percent similar to Yue Hao, both in appearance and in temperament.
Yue Du knew this didn't mean anything. Across thousands of small worlds, the number of humanoid species was as countless as the sands of the Ganges. It was perfectly normal for people to bear a resemblance to one another.
Yue from the previous world, Yue Zhuo from this world—if the two of them stood together with Yue Du, they would look like triplets. Even so, it couldn't change the fact that they were completely different, unrelated individuals.
A similar appearance was just a coincidence.
But something like longing would never be swayed by reason.
Yun Yijiu had been quietly observing from the side for a long time before finally asking, “Who are you looking at?”
Yue Du said, “There, a disciple from your sect. Fifty disciples from the Lingtian Sword Sect came, and all fifty emerged victorious from the melee. Truly impressive, worthy of the name of the number one sect of the righteous path.”
“It’s only the first round,” Yun Yijiu said.
She glanced down, then added, “Don’t try to placate me. What’s so special about that junior that you keep staring at her?”
Yue Du was a little surprised. “You don’t recognize this girl?”
“Why should I?” Yun Yijiu frowned. “I have not seen any of the people born in the sword sect within the last thousand years.”
Yue Du expressed that she was very interested in her daily life over the past millennium.
The Wushuang Sword Venerable told her the truth.
For the last thousand years, and for the several thousand years before that, ninety-nine percent of her time had been spent in meditation and dream cultivation.
In other words, spacing out and sleeping.
Alright, that was very much her host.
The rest of the time was spent receiving visits from the sect master, the various elders, and the major figures of the cultivation world, who would report the events of recent years one by one.
As for a trivial matter like the sect accepting a disciple with a single Gold Spirit Root, it naturally wouldn't be specifically mentioned.
Yue Du became thoughtful and asked, “In your opinion, what do you think of this girl?”
“Her aptitude is excellent, and her disposition is acceptable,” Yun Yijiu gave a fair assessment.
Yue Du then pointed to the male lead, Ji Changqing. “What about him?”
At that moment, Ji Changqing was standing among the seats, exuding a murderous aura that made no one dare to approach him.
Yun Yijiu looked over. “His aptitude is not bad, but he still needs to be polished.”
“Mm,” Yue Du said.
Then she pointed back at herself. “Then, how does the Wushuang Venerable see me?”
“…”
She froze for a moment, then repeated, “How I see you.”
Yue Du nodded, propping her chin on one hand with a beaming smile. “Venerable One, you don’t need to hold back. Feel free to say whatever you want.”
Yun Yijiu turned her gaze back, her dark lashes lowering as if she were deep in thought.
Just when Yue Du thought she wasn’t going to answer, the woman suddenly spoke, her voice soft. “You are different from the others. You… are very good.”
Yue Du’s eyes widened slightly, but in the end, she just smiled. “You are very good too.”
The second round of the competition was held among the four hundred and ninety-six remaining cultivators.
Following the host’s words, the massive arena in the center rumbled and slowly split into four smaller arenas, which then moved in different directions.
With fewer people, the competition format naturally changed.
It would be one-on-one duels, with four pairs competing simultaneously. The winner would advance to the next round, while the loser would, of course, be eliminated.
Those who remained at this point were basically the elite disciples of various sects or the most outstanding among the rogue cultivators.
For both the righteous and demonic paths, losing even one was a loss. Therefore, the Tribulation Transcendence Venerables on the stone pillars would be watching closely, ready to intervene and block any attack that a junior from their side couldn't handle.
—They couldn’t be crippled, and they couldn’t be killed. Those were the only two requirements.
And any cultivator who required them to intervene would naturally be disqualified from the next round.
In truth, having these great Tribulation Transcendence experts do this job was a bit of an overkill.
But the venerables’ presence was meant to intimidate the other side, and sometimes they would even trip each other up.
Protecting their own, after all, was something they could do casually, so it wasn't a big deal.
However, with the Wushuang Sword Venerable present this time, both sides were very restrained.
The demon venerables, needless to say, wouldn't pull any dirty tricks with their own boss watching. The righteous venerables were also intimidated by the Sword Venerable, so they all put on solemn and dignified faces, every one of them a paragon of virtue.
During the competition among the young cultivators below, Yue Du paid special attention to a few people, with Mu Xingluo being the primary focus, of course.
The second was Ji Changqing.
In the original story, this man was judged to have a cursed fate.
He cultivated the righteous path and, relying on its techniques and moves, won first place in this grand competition.
Of all his opponents, only Mu Xingluo earned a word of praise from him: “If we were the same age, I would be no match for you.” He looked down on everyone else.
But his performance in the first round still made the people of the righteous path gossip about him. Some even said outright that this person would surely fall to the demonic path in the future. In the end, even the master who had raised him began to suspect he would betray the sect.
Ji Changqing was quite something himself. With a simple “as you wish,” he decisively joined the demonic path and was said to have received a warm welcome from the demonic cultivators.
Some troublemakers even went to his original sect to thank them for gifting such a good prospect to the demonic path for free, nearly causing the sect master to faint from anger on the spot.
…All in all, he was also a man with quite a story.
The other few people to watch were the prodigies of this generation.
On the righteous path, there was Yu Bugui, a disciple of the Medicine Cloud Sect, and Mu Ningzhi, the daughter of the Qingtang Palace’s master.
On the demonic path, there was Dugu Jun, a disciple of the Minghe Sect, and Xu Zishi, a disciple of the Suixin Gate.
They were the outstanding geniuses of the same generation as the male and female leads. Regardless of whether they were friend or foe, righteous or demonic, good or evil, they were all destined to stir up storms in the future.
Thinking of this brought Yue Zhuo to mind, and Yue Du couldn’t help but sigh.
To reach the Tribulation Transcendence Stage at seven hundred years old was a remarkable achievement. It was just too regrettable that she was betrayed.
Speaking of which, Yue Zhuo had appeared in the sight of demonic cultivators four hundred years ago, but how she had lived before that, and what her family background was, were all complete mysteries.
If possible, she wanted to do something for this woman who had been proud her entire life.
After a full twelve days, the grand competition finally came to an end.
The final winner was still Ji Changqing. Second was Dugu Jun of the Minghe Sect, and Mu Xingluo ranked third.
But she was only in her forties, after all. As Ji Changqing had said, if she were older, it was hard to say who would have taken the top spot this time.
Her future held infinite possibilities.
With the competition over, it was time for everyone to return to their respective sects.
But no one dared to move without permission, because the Wushuang Sword Venerable in the brocade-curtained pavilion had not moved.
After a few breaths of quiet waiting, a corner of the curtain was finally lifted.
The first to emerge was Yue Du. Once out of the pavilion, she was once again the arrogant demoness who disliked idle chatter.
Yun Yijiu walked out from the other side. Her expression was cold, her gaze imperious, presenting a frosty demeanor.
Guaranteed, no one could tell how she had just been lying on beast furs, eating snacks.
Yun Yijiu’s feet tapped on the empty air. After taking two steps, she stood still and slowly took out a beast whistle, letting out a long, drawn-out note.
The giant Peng that had carried her here before once again flapped its wings and flew over, ready to serve.
Yun Yijiu stood before the bird’s curved neck, then suddenly turned around and said, “You…”
You come with me.
But she was cut off by Yue Du, who said, “Venerable One, please hear me out.”
Forced to stop, Yun Yijiu paused. “Mm, go on.”
Yue Du revealed a proud smile, just like Yue Zhuo’s. “In the days I have spent with you, Venerable One, I have felt nothing but immense joy. After much thought, I believe I have developed feelings of admiration.”
“Therefore, I have decided to follow you for a time. I hope you will not find me wanting.”
“…”
Yun Yijiu looked as if she hadn't processed a single word.
However, the others weren’t faring much better.
Especially the Gu Ling Demon Venerable. The folding fan in his hand fell directly to the ground below, smashing a small pit in the arena and drawing everyone’s attention.
Among everyone present, the first to react was, surprisingly, Wuqiu Dao Venerable.
He was so angry he raised a hand and pointed at Yue Du, his finger trembling.
“You demoness, do you have any idea what you’re saying?!”
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