VAP - Chapter 92
Chapter 92: Flawless Cold Bone, The Peerless Sword Venerable (16)
The moment Yue Du saw the faint glimmer that flashed through Yun Yijiu’s eyes, she knew something was amiss.
She was all too familiar with that expression. Whenever the side of her host belonging to “desire” revealed itself, she would be met with that exact gaze.
It was like the sudden cracking of an ice sheet, revealing the turbulent undercurrents surging below.
Though not fervent, it seemed to hint at something, making one’s heart race unconsciously.
Yue Du averted her gaze, her attempt to cover up her thoughts only making them more obvious. “I don’t know.”
She hadn’t opened the vial to look before. She had merely sensed its aura, and after confirming it was harmless, she had paid it no further mind. Naturally, she had no way of knowing what kind of pill it was.
But Yun Yijiu said, “You haven’t looked at it?”
“No.” Yue Du paused. “It was a gift for you. Naturally, I wouldn’t deliberately inspect it.”
Yun Yijiu pondered for a moment before saying softly, “Perhaps it was a gift for the two of us.”
Yue Du was speechless.
Wait a minute.
Why did that sound so suggestive? Combined with her host’s earlier gaze—seriously, this couldn’t be some kind of restricted-grade pill, could it?
Though her thoughts were racing, Yue Du’s expression remained nonchalant, tinged with an innocent confusion, as if she hadn’t thought of anything at all.
Yun Yijiu stared at her, but not seeing the reaction she had hoped for, she lowered her eyes with a hint of disappointment and tipped a pill out.
The pill was snow-white, marked with a crimson-gold crescent pattern. Perfectly round and lustrous, it lay in Yun Yijiu’s jade-like palm, emitting a delicate medicinal fragrance.
Judging by its appearance alone, it was clearly a rare and high-quality pill.
Yue Du subconsciously analyzed it.
The Crimson Jade Moon Wheel Pill. It could be split along the crescent marking to be consumed by two people simultaneously. Its properties were gentle, with almost no contraindications, and it served as an aid for joint cultivation between those with compatible techniques.
The definition of “compatible techniques” was quite broad, including blood relatives of the same lineage, sect members practicing the same methods, or cultivators whose elemental attributes were mutually generative.
If Dao Companions were to obtain it, they could also take it, as it was exceptionally effective when paired with dual cultivation.
However, because the act of sharing a pill sounded so intimate, it was typically only consumed by Dao Companions or close blood relatives.
Yue Du finally understood. “Ahem. The Crimson Jade Moon Wheel Pill. It’s for assisting cultivation. That’s nice.”
And to think she had just been imagining it was some kind of aphrodisiac or lust-inducing pill.
But on second thought, it made sense. The gift was from Mu Xingluo. No matter how naturally dense she might be, she wouldn’t give a sect elder something so inappropriate. That would be far too disrespectful.
Yun Yijiu was clearly aware of the pill’s specific uses. She poured it back into the vial and commented calmly, “This item is rare. The giver was thoughtful.”
Yue Du agreed. “Mu Xingluo is a good person.”
Yun Yijiu froze.
“Do not praise others in my presence.”
Yue Du didn’t immediately understand. “Hm?”
The Wushuang Sword Venerable put the vial away and said in a cool, nonchalant tone that completely belied her words, “I’m afraid… I won’t be able to resist putting it to use ahead of schedule.”
Now Yue Du understood.
Yep. When it came to jealousy, her host was still her host.
She skillfully placated her. “Of course, Ah Jiu is the best.”
This sentence seemed to greatly please the arrogant Sword Venerable. She rested her chin in the hollow of Yue Du’s shoulder, her eyes half-closed, as if even her sword-like bones had softened into something gentle.
Yue Du switched from verbal placation to physical action. Perhaps it was just psychological, but she always felt that stroking Yun Yijiu’s incredibly soft and smooth long hair was even more satisfying than petting a cat.
Ah, this was so satisfying.
It was hard to say who was more content—the one being soothed, or the one doing the soothing.
Of course, Yue Du couldn’t see the dark light brewing in Yun Yijiu’s eyes from her vantage point.
No matter how beautiful and pure her exterior, her inner self was always the color of the abyss.
She didn’t want to be the best; she wanted to be the only one who was “good.”
But Yue Du was different. Yue Du couldn’t see only one person the way she did. Therefore, being the eternal best would have to be enough.
If anyone dared to compete with her for that position…
Yun Yijiu lifted her lashes, her eyes dark and profound.
No one would ever get the chance.
Mu Xingluo: Achoo!
Yue Du had a new item on her to-do list: help the original Yue Zhuo be reborn.
Compared to helping Yun Yijiu ascend, this task couldn’t have been simpler.
For cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above, as long as their primordial spirit was intact, they could use secret arts to reconstruct a physical body. There were countless methods, and if one was lucky, their new body’s innate talent could even surpass their original one.
Although Yue Zhuo’s primordial spirit had sustained some damage, it was still mostly intact. All it needed was time to rest and recuperate.
Yue Du carefully set up several small spirit-gathering formations on the jade pendant to accelerate the recovery of Yue Zhuo’s primordial spirit.
As for the rest, it was a matter of time.
One day, Yue Du was again flipping through ancient texts.
She had already gone through all the books on Wushuang Peak once. Whether relevant or not, none of them had been useful.
Therefore, she was now perusing a book from the Lingtian Sword Sect’s library—the place with the most comprehensive collection in the sect, aside from the Sect Master’s private collection.
If she still couldn’t find any relevant records among these books, Yue Du was seriously considering investigating the Sect Master’s private library.
The accumulated collection of dozens of generations of sect masters would surely be an astonishing number.
The book Yue Du was currently reading was titled The Legend of the Autumn Water Venerable. It was less a biography and more a heroic tale, classified in the library as leisure reading. Disciples would read such books to relax when they grew tired of cultivating.
One sentence in the book caught Yue Du’s attention.
“At that time, the demon hordes gathered outside the mountain, preparing to attack. The Autumn Water Venerable declared with awe-inspiring righteousness, ‘So long as this venerable one does not perish, the Sword Sect shall not fall! You lowly fiends shall not trespass!’ The great formation then arose, annihilating the demon hordes, and all the disciples of the sect bowed down in worship.”
This was not the first time the book had mentioned the great formation.
The Lingtian Sword Sect’s mountain-protecting formation was truly marvelous. Not only had it endured for a hundred thousand years, but its destructive power was also immense.
If you called it a purely defensive measure, it had somehow annihilated several Demon Venerables. If you called it a formation balanced in both offense and defense, it never actively attacked—it was just that anyone who dared to strike it would not live to tell the tale.
For such a powerful weapon, it was strange that it had no apparent restrictions. It could be activated and deactivated at will, consumed no spirit stones, and required no sacrifices.
Wasn’t that a bit too unusual?
Yun Yijiu knew little about the mountain-protecting formation. In truth, it was controlled entirely by the Sect Master’s lineage and was rarely put to use.
However, whenever it was activated, it never failed. It had been so for thousands of years.
Could it really be just because Situ Chu’s mastery of formations was that profound?
Yue Du finished the book, feeling that the mountain-protecting formation and Situ Chu were practically inseparable.
Another point of suspicion. And considering all its secrets were managed by the Sect Master…
“The Sect Master gets another point.” Yue Du acted as an emotionless scorekeeper, adding points to whichever of her suspects seemed the most suspicious.
Incidentally, the Sect Master’s score was currently in a commanding lead.
Yun Yijiu said, “You suspect there’s a problem with the formation.”
“I don’t suspect it, I’m certain of it,” Yue Du shrugged.
But she wasn’t sure if this problem was related to Ah Jiu’s inability to ascend.
“The last few times the great formation was activated, I felt nothing.”
“You didn’t sense the ring on your forehead, either, did you?”
Yun Yijiu fell silent.
Yun Yijiu didn’t know much else about the mountain-protecting formation, but she did know the location of its core—the formation’s eye.
Yue Du said she wanted to go take a look.
Yun Yijiu immediately said, “I’ll go too.”
Yue Du waved her off. “You can’t. What if the person behind this can sense you approaching the formation’s eye? Someone who hasn’t left her peak in a thousand years showing up there would be too conspicuous.”
“A Demon Venerable loitering alone by the eye of the mountain-protecting formation sounds even more inappropriate,” Yun Yijiu pointed out.
Yue Du was speechless.
Two people with such conspicuous identities. It really wasn’t easy.
In the end, Yue Du went alone.
If nothing else, when it came to concealment, very few in the Qianhong Divine Province could compare to her.
After all, she had the System Store as her cheat.
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