Crush's Cold Senior Sister is Actually Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: “The Divine Bone You Promised the Demon Lord Has Arrived.”

Ling Qi didn’t even react for a moment. “Aren’t you all in the East Sea?” No matter what, Chongguang True God was an ascended True God, and the East Sea was sparsely populated. What kind of problem could there be that she couldn’t handle?

“We initially thought it was an ordinary evil array, but after coming here, we realized the problem is a bit tricky,” Cen Xiyao explained from the other end of the communicator. “This evil array was set by the Dragon Girl. Now she needs to cooperate to break it, and she said unless you come, there’s no room for discussion.”

“So Chongguang True God asked you to find me?” Ling Qi found this quite unusual. Her Master always disliked others meddling in her affairs and was quite displeased with Ling Qi often overstepping her bounds and managing Chongguang Palace. So, even when encountering difficult situations in the past, she never asked Ling Qi for help, even if she couldn’t resolve them. What was different today?

“She didn’t explicitly say so, but she probably wants you to come. And I think… you’ll be interested in this array.”

“What array?” Ling Qi was initially uninterested. However, the next second, Cen Xiyao’s words made her stand up directly—

“The Heaven and Earth Array.”

Ending the communication, Ling Qi stood by the giant rock, reaching out to An Jin, who was sitting on top of it. “Let’s go.”

“The divine bone you promised the Demon Lord has arrived.”

…

On the way to the East Sea, An Jin learned that the Heaven and Earth Array, mentioned by Senior Sister Cen, was one of the three ancient evil arrays. The so-called three ancient evil arrays, besides the Heaven and Earth Array which required divine bones and sacrificed countless lives for reincarnation, also included the Heavenly Mandate Array, which could manipulate a True God’s will and turn them into a puppet, and the Soul-Locking Array, which could devour or imprison divine souls.

“Who does the Dragon Girl of the East Sea want to resurrect with the Heaven and Earth Array?” To insist on setting up this array, even willing to be reviled by everyone in the Upper Realm, and causing such a huge commotion, she must be a very important person. But how innocent were those sacrificed lives?

“It seems to be… her cat?” Ling Qi said with an uncertain tone; she was truly incredulous when she first heard about it. But An Jin didn’t seem very shocked. She just said “Oh” and then asked, “Why does she insist on seeing you? Were you two very close before?”

“Not very close, I guess. A long time ago, a… friend of mine helped her once, and I happened to be there,” Ling Qi said, choosing her words carefully. “But that was over a thousand years ago.”

With that, she quietly waited for the other party to ask who that friend was. Who knew An Jin would, as always, miss the point.

“Over a thousand years ago? Didn’t Chongguang True God just ascend eight hundred years ago?” Could it be that Ling Qi, like Senior Sister Cen, was already by Chongguang True God’s side before she even ascended?

“…Before entering Chongguang Palace, I was a disciple under True God Feiling.” After saying this, Ling Qi ignored An Jin’s wide-eyed, shocked expression and didn’t give her another chance to ask questions. “We’ve arrived. Time to go.”

The East Sea churned with towering white waves, the surging waters capable of instantly engulfing seabirds flying overhead. The entire sea area was shrouded in mist; nothing could be seen except for the crashing waves.

Ling Qi did not take her into the seabed. They rode their swords, eventually landing on a small island in the middle of the East Sea. The island was covered by vast green vegetation, with strangely shaped rocks standing everywhere, showing almost no signs of life.

After walking for a long time, the two finally reached a wooden hut in the center of the island. The hut was small, and the entire island didn’t seem to have any other buildings. Chongguang True God and the several inner disciples An Jin had seen in the hall that day were guarding the entrance of the wooden hut.

Seeing the two approach, the disciples bowed to Ling Qi, while Chongguang True God frowned slightly, watching them without speaking. Cen Xiyao came forward. “The Dragon Girl is very resistant to talking with us. She drove all of us out, saying she wouldn’t see anyone unless you came.”

“I understand.” Ling Qi nodded, pushed open the wooden hut’s door, and walked in.

Inside the wooden hut.

Looking up at the newcomer, the East Sea Dragon Girl said nothing. Before Ling Qi could speak, she handed over a wooden box. “Someone asked me to give this to you.”

Ling Qi took the wooden box. She didn’t ask who this “someone” was, nor why it was given to her. She just nodded. “Thank you.”

But…

“Why didn’t you come directly to Chongguang Palace to find me?” Ling Qi originally didn’t believe that the East Sea Dragon Girl in front of her wanted to activate the Heaven and Earth Array. Even if she loved her cat dearly, she wasn’t the kind of person who would sacrifice other living beings. Otherwise, Yuan Shunhua would never have saved her back then.

“I needed to be able to get in first, you know.” The Dragon Girl sighed, sitting at the wooden table, propping her head up as she watched Ling Qi. “I looked for you once before you went to organize that disciple convention in the mortal realm. As soon as I mentioned your name, I was immediately kicked out. Others who came looking for people just needed to state a name to get in. How was I supposed to argue with that?”

Ling Qi was silent for a moment, saying nothing more. Knowing that Chongguang True God was very displeased with her, and hearing firsthand what had happened, felt quite different.

A sudden silence fell over the wooden hut. After a long while, Ling Qi raised her hand and gently brushed over the wooden box. A faint golden light flashed, and then she slightly frowned. “The divine bone isn’t complete?”

“Huh?” The Dragon Girl’s divine power was not strong enough to examine the divine bone inside the wooden box. It was her first time hearing this. “Really? Lord Baihu didn’t mention it when she gave it to me.”

“What else did Yuan Xihe tell you?”

“She said…” The Dragon Girl leaned back in her chair, trying hard to recall. Too much time had passed; she was also a bit fuzzy on the details. “She said, she hoped that when we meet again… all past ties would be gone, and the world would be at peace.”

“We’ll meet again, right?” The Dragon Girl’s tone became a little anxious. “Stripping a divine bone only results in memory loss and reincarnation. Only those who destroy their own divine bones, like Emperor Qingyuan, will have their souls scattered, right?”

“…Right.” Ling Qi looked directly at her, unsure if she was speaking to the Dragon Girl in front of her or to herself. She said, word by word, “We will definitely meet again. It won’t be like this forever, I promise.”

…

Outside the wooden hut, everyone from Chongguang Palace was waiting at the entrance. After smiling at An Jin to indicate she was fine, Ling Qi looked at the others. “The Heaven and Earth Array has been destroyed. We can go back.”

“What about the divine bone?” Before Chongguang True God could speak, Yang Anping interjected with a question, “Did Senior Sister just keep the divine bone for herself after getting it?”

The other disciples, seeing this, all shut up, pretending they weren’t even there. Chongguang True God said nothing but also stared at Ling Qi. She was clearly suspicious. Cen Xiyao was about to speak, but seeing Ling Qi shake her head at her, she swallowed her words.

“The divine bone is, of course, in the East Sea Dragon Girl’s hands.” Ling Qi’s expression showed no discernible emotion. “Or does Junior Sister Anping think my abilities are so great that I could make the other party cooperate to destroy the array and also hand over the hard-won divine bone?”

Their group had been there for so long and couldn’t even get the Dragon Girl to communicate. If Ling Qi arrived and the other party immediately agreed to destroy the array and hand over the divine bone, wouldn’t that be a slap in their faces?

The expressions on everyone’s faces changed subtly, and Chongguang True God’s face also didn’t look good. “Are you sure the divine bone isn’t in your hands?”

Ling Qi met her gaze calmly. “Master, why don’t you go in and ask yourself?”

The two stood in a stalemate for a while. In the end, Chongguang True God waved her sleeve, signaling them to return together.

…

After returning to Chongguang Palace, An Jin’s life resumed its previous dullness. All day, it was nothing but classes, sword practice, sword practice, classes. She didn’t understand why other fellow disciples still couldn’t wield a sword after seeing a sword demonstration once, nor why the spells Senior Sister Cen taught still needed more practice.

To show respect for her Senior Sister, An Jin, as always, dared not sleep in class. She lay on her desk, but noticed that her fellow disciples around her had recently been secretly looking at her with very strange gazes.

Until one day after class, Liao Huan, whom she had met in the mortal realm, came over to thank her. “It’s a good thing you and I exchanged spirit stones back then, otherwise I would’ve definitely failed the selection… Senior Sister Ling didn’t make things difficult for you afterwards, did she?” Although Liao Huan thought Senior Sister Ling probably didn’t know about it since she didn’t mention it on the spot, she was still a little worried in her heart.

She had imagined many possible replies from the other party, including direct or indirect hints about returning the favor, or a generous dismissal that it was nothing among fellow disciples. But she never expected the other party to look at her with surprise.

“I took the wrong spirit stone back then?” An Jin put her hands together, looking guilty. “I’m sorry, classmate Liao Huan, I was too careless. Thankfully, it didn’t cause a major mistake.”

Liao Huan was stunned. “…Ah, no, no problem.”

Seeing her reaction, An Jin smiled and asked, “Do you know why recently…” She looked around, and seeing no one nearby, continued, “Why is everyone secretly looking at me recently?”

“Probably because Senior Sister Ling is very close to you,” Liao Huan replied. “The other day, when you weren’t here, the academy was abuzz with rumors that Senior Sister Ling would rather defy Master than go out without you.” She then sighed with emotion, “I used to think that those from the academy looked down on ordinary people like us.”

Immortal cultivators with innate immortal bones, who have officially cultivated under a True God, are still considered “ordinary people”? An Jin was curious, “What’s that?”

After Liao Huan’s explanation, An Jin learned that Emperor Qingyuan had once established an academy on Wuyou Island. Besides being the main lecturer herself, she also invited various gods and immortals from all corners of the world to teach at the academy. Those who could teach at the academy were the top echelon of the Upper Realm’s elites. Besides Emperor Qingyuan’s own disciples, there was also Ling Qi from Jiuyang Palace at the time, and True God Youhan’s two disciples, Ying Baizang and Ying Huaiyu.

At that time, all True Gods and immortal cultivators considered it an honor to teach at the academy. The disciples in the academy were once called the successors of the Upper Realm, enjoying immense glory for a time. However, as time passed, few of those six once glorious academy members remained.

“I think I’ve… seen that True Immortal Ying Baizang,” An Jin recalled the Demon Realm forest, her tone uncertain. “She was quite patient, and kept leading the way. When I screamed in fear and dared not move because of some things, she didn’t rush me either.”

Liao Huan was a little surprised. “It seems rumors can’t be fully trusted. They used to say that those few from the academy were arrogant and exclusive, and would ignore others when doing tasks together.”

Then how would they do tasks? Through telepathy? An Jin also felt a bit helpless. Some rumors just didn’t make sense, but many people still believed them.

Just as they were chatting animatedly, a cheer suddenly erupted outside. Liao Huan opened the door and looked out. Outside, it was bustling and noisy, with deafening clamor, mixed with chaotic footsteps. The footsteps grew further and further away; it seemed many people were running outside.