After Faking Her Death and Fleeing, the Emotionless Daoist Master Regretted It - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Cause and Effect – Master Explains

Su Lingqing focused her gaze, only to see her Master’s graceful and ethereal figure gradually disappear as the sword technique was performed.

Silence instantly descended all around.

A moment later, a sound came from the nearby purple bamboo forest.

A clearly audible crack instantly rang out. Several yards high, the purple bamboo split open in response, falling outwards like scattered flowers.

At the same time, Ling Yunyue’s figure appeared from the side, standing with her sword.

“The Moonfall Silence sword technique emphasizes taking the enemy by surprise. Its frontal confrontation power is slightly less than the previous two sets of techniques. Lingqing, you must choose flexibly when facing an opponent in the future.”

The young girl nodded in response. Her Master’s implied meaning was that this set of sword techniques was suitable for sneak attacks.

When dealing with an enemy, there was no such thing as an unfair victory. Any method that achieved the goal could be used.

Once the Moonfall Silence sword technique was executed in sequence, it could no longer be perceived by the naked eye. Therefore, this time, Ling Yunyue chose to teach the moves individually.

Su Lingqing held the Flowing Light Sword, closely following her Master’s rhythm, gradually learning…

At the entrance of the Dongfu, Ruozhu squatted quietly on the ground, its moist fox eyes watching its owner practice the sword art without blinking.

A wisp of Xu Miaoluo’s divine sense was attached to its body. Everything it saw could be perceived by the other party.

At Beast-Taming Peak, Xu Miaoluo had currently stopped all her affairs, fully concentrating on the young girl’s actions.

She had once regarded Su Lingqing as an enemy, but now, she had to admit that the girl was excellent, and her talent in the path of the sword far surpassed her own.

The only pity was that Su Lingqing was too engrossed in cultivation, and she could never find a suitable opportunity to approach her…

Xu Miaoluo felt rare frustration. She comforted herself, telling herself that there was plenty of time ahead and no need to rush.

Since sending the white fox to Su Lingqing’s side, she would subconsciously sense the young girl’s every move, neglecting her own peak’s affairs.

For instance, at this moment, a message talisman was hovering outside her cultivation Dongfu, and had been for a long time. Xu Miaoluo either ignored it, or rather, because her mind was entirely preoccupied with the young girl, she failed to notice the commotion outside.

Elsewhere on the peak, several Foundation Establishment cultivators gathered, discussing in low voices.

“Senior Sister hasn’t replied yet. What should we do?”

“Sigh, Senior Sister has been acting strange these two days. She’s been staying inside her Dongfu, not coming out, and she’s not in seclusion either. We don’t know what she’s doing.”

“Junior Sister Chi and Senior Sister have always had a good relationship. Why don’t we look for Junior Sister Chi?”

“That’s all we can do. The Peak Master and the Elders are all away. Besides Senior Sister, only Junior Sister Chi can be our backbone. I hope everything goes smoothly…”

At Profound Heaven Peak, Su Lingqing gradually mastered all the sword moves related to Moonfall Silence by following her Master’s steps.

After becoming proficient, she began to increase her speed, linking the moves together, and her entire body gradually became invisible.

A moment later, a purple bamboo tree in the distance split into two halves without warning.

Having succeeded in the strike, Su Lingqing withdrew the sword posture, and her figure slowly reappeared from the side.

Ling Yunyue looked at this scene and nodded with satisfaction: “Moonfall Silence has been mastered by Lingqing. Next, we will begin the fourth set of sword techniques, Azure Sea Tide Heaven.”

As the words fell, the wind arose. Su Lingqing focused her gaze. Within her line of sight, a sky full of sword light instantly formed, like the tide of a blue sea, wave after wave, continuous and unbroken.

A few breaths later, the sword momentum gradually stopped.

Ling Yunyue flew to the young girl’s side with her sword, saying gently: “When facing an enemy, executing this sword technique can effectively prevent the enemy from closing in for a sudden attack. Its defensive role outweighs its offensive one.”

Su Lingqing was a little surprised.

“This disciple just watched Master execute the sword moves. The power looked much higher than the previous three sets of techniques. I didn’t expect it to be primarily defensive.”

Ling Yunyue smiled and replied: “The offense and defense of a sword technique are not judged solely by its power.”

At this point, she formed a hand seal with one hand, and a water mirror instantly gathered in front of her.

Su Lingqing focused on watching. She saw several columns of text gradually appear in the water mirror, each with corresponding diagram annotations below.

Having completed the spell, Ling Yunyue explained gently: “These are the four universally recognized realms of the Sword Dao among cultivators in the Heavenly Profound Realm. Lingqing is currently new to this path and has not yet reached the initial realm, but you can learn about them in advance.”

“Master, how long does it usually take to reach the first level, the Sword Qi Realm?”

“This depends on both talent and personal effort. Very few can achieve it during the Qi Condensation stage. Most can only achieve it during the Foundation Establishment stage.”

Hearing this, Su Lingqing slowly nodded, secretly resolving in her heart to strive to reach the Sword Qi Realm during the Qi Condensation stage.

According to the water mirror display, above Sword Qi was the Sword Aura Realm. When Sword Qi accumulated to a certain extent, it could transform into Sword Aura, primarily for defense.

Above Sword Aura was Sword Intent, which targeted the cultivator’s Divine Soul, focusing on killing, and a master of Sword Intent could slay enemies across realms.

Above Sword Intent was Sword Domain, a field formed by multiple layers of Sword Intent. The longer one remained in it, the greater the increase in one’s own strength and the faster the reduction in the enemy’s strength.

Su Lingqing finished reading the entire content. Her beautiful eyes then turned to the cold, immortal-like woman, asking curiously: “What realm is Master currently at in the Sword Dao?”

“I have cultivated the Sword Domain.”

Although she had an expectation in her heart, hearing this in person still shocked Su Lingqing.

At this moment, she suddenly recalled the Heaven and Earth Stele located at the junction of the four continents.

Her Master was the head of the Daoist Sect and the well-deserved number one person recorded on the Heaven and Earth Stele.

If she ever had the chance, she would definitely go there to see it.

As the fourth set of sword techniques had not yet been mastered, Su Lingqing quickly put away her thoughts and continued to practice with her Master…

From dawn to dusk, one day passed in the blink of an eye.

Su Lingqing mastered the Azure Sea Tide Heaven sword technique just before nightfall.

The moment she put away the Flowing Light Sword, she remembered the rumor she had heard while having a meal yesterday. Hesitating for a moment, she carefully spoke: “This disciple heard that a family in Yin Wind Valley met with trouble. Is this related to the Soul Devouring Abyss seal Master mentioned?”

This matter was not a secret. Ling Yunyue did not intend to hide it, so she nodded in affirmation: “It is indeed related. Yin Wind Valley was affected by the Soul Devouring Abyss, which led to the trouble.”

“This disciple is a little curious. According to the rumor, whenever dense fog appeared in Yin Wind Valley, corpses of demon beasts and spiritual beasts would appear, and later cultivators started disappearing. Is the truth the same as the rumor? Also, what is that dense fog?”

“The facts are indeed so. The missing people have become walking corpses, wandering at the bottom of the Soul Devouring Abyss. As for the dense fog, it is Nether Fog formed when Yin energy accumulates to the extreme.”

“Master, can those missing people still be saved?”

“Their souls have dispersed. Even if the Great Luo Golden Immortal were present, it would be difficult to reverse the situation.”

Ling Yunyue looked up at the red moon in the sky and continued: “Lingqing, remember this: the hardest thing to predict in the world is the human heart. The disaster in the Soul Devouring Abyss this time arose precisely because of the human heart.”

“May Master tell me the details?”

“Lingqing should know that the Soul Devouring Abyss is the former ruins of the Demonic Sect, the Bl00d Shura Sect.”

“Master mentioned it at the Welcoming Immortal Tower. At that time, Master said that nine hundred years ago, a world-shattering Demon-Extermination War had occurred on the Azure Profound Continent. The Bl00d Shura Sect’s one hundred and eighty peaks were razed to the ground. Seven hundred years ago, an unprecedented earthquake turned the area into a deep abyss, and it has been called the Soul Devouring Abyss ever since.”

“That is correct. When the Bl00d Shura Sect was destroyed, its sect-suppressing treasure, the Bl00d Demon Wheel, disappeared without a trace, and no one found it. There have always been rumors outside that the Demonic Cultivators of this sect used a secret technique to bury the Bl00d Demon Wheel in an independent space deep underground. Several months ago, a few traitors of the Daoist Sect were tempted by this rumor and went to the Soul Devouring Abyss, wanting to find this treasure.

“To make their actions smoother, they used the Bl00d Sacrifice Method, set up the Bl00d Fiend Array, and lured out the Nether Fog from the bottom of the abyss. They did not know that this unintentionally awakened a wisp of remnant soul left behind by the former Sect Leader of the Bl00d Shura Sect through a secret technique many years ago.

“The remnant soul seized the body of one of them and, capitalizing on the right time and place, used the Bl00d Fiend Array as a catalyst, along with forbidden spells, to integrate the residual divine sense into the entire Soul Devouring Abyss, becoming an indestructible body.

“As long as the Soul Devouring Abyss still exists, the opponent cannot be killed. Even I can only seal him now.”

Having learned the cause and effect, Su Lingqing still had doubts.

“Master, since the Bl00d Demon Wheel is a Demonic Sect treasure, it should be useless to Daoist cultivators. Why did those few people take such a big risk to search for it in the Soul Devouring Abyss?”

Ling Yunyue explained slowly: “The reason is simple. There is an illusory rumor that the Bl00d Demon Wheel contains the Art of Longevity. If one can comprehend it, they can gain eternal life even if they cannot achieve immortality. Before the Bl00d Shura Sect was destroyed, it attracted countless disciples by leveraging this, committing countless evil deeds. Until the sect’s destruction, the various Daoist Sects collectively declared to the outside world that the rumor was false, but there are always some people who believe it to be true.”

Hearing this, Su Lingqing suddenly realized.

Most cultivators pursue longevity. This temptation is great enough in the eyes of some people—so great that they can discard everything.

If it were me, would I do this?

The moment this thought appeared, the answer was already in her heart.

No.

Although she also wanted to pursue longevity, she had her own moral bottom line. She would not stop at nothing to gain longevity and harm the innocent. And… in her heart, there was someone more important than longevity…

At this moment, Su Lingqing looked up at the immortal-like person with unparalleled beauty standing beside her with her hands behind her back, meeting the woman’s deep, starlike eyes.

The young girl’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly lowered her head, not daring to look again.

Her Master had warned her more than once that she must never repeat past mistakes.

Although Su Lingqing had tried her best to conceal it, her uncontrollably flushed earlobes betrayed her current emotions.

Ling Yunyue gazed deeply at the young girl. She seemed to have seen through her thoughts but did not point it out.

“It is getting late. Lingqing, go to the dining hall for your meal soon. I will come back tomorrow to teach the fifth set of sword techniques.”

Su Lingqing responded softly. When she looked up again, she only saw her Master’s gradually receding back.

Her hands, hidden in her sleeves, unconsciously clutched her clothing. She wondered, Did Master see something?

She was always like this. Although she had sworn long ago, she still easily exposed her true feelings.

How can I completely conceal the emotions deep within my heart… I don’t want to see the disappointment in Master’s eyes…

At Beast-Taming Peak, Xu Miaoluo saw the young girl’s downcast look through the wisp of divine sense attached to the white fox Ruozhu.

For some reason, she, who had once regarded Su Lingqing as an enemy, felt the urge to run over and comfort her at this moment.