Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Is the Heavenly Dao Bullying Me?
Behind the door was an empty room.

In the room there was only an alchemy cauldron.

The cauldron stood on four legs, covered in dragon patterns so vivid they looked alive.

From the corners of the cauldron, several beams of light converged at the center, holding up a Spirit Bead.

The Spirit Bead looked crystal clear, yet in the dimness there was a wisp of black qi inside.

Song Wan Ning frowned. The Spirit Bead did not look like something good. Especially the aura clinging to it, it felt familiar to her.

Was it a Devil Path thing?

Her heart jolted. Then her expression changed, and her aura started to surge out of control.

Even her eyes took on a crimson tint.

Those mad memories from the past broke through the sea of consciousness like a flood, crashing toward her with overwhelming force.

Her spirit trembled, and blood rushed upward.

Pfft!

Song Wan Ning suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood. She swayed and braced herself against the wall.

Her slender hand clawed at the rough white wall, leaving scratch marks that slowly seeped with blood.

Her fingers were ground raw, but she did not even feel it. She fought to suppress the malice stirring inside her.

It forced her to hide everywhere she went.

But they spread rumors that the Song Family was colluding with the Devil Clan, and that led to ten thousand people gathering to besiege the Song Family.

Even knowing it was a trap, Song Wan Ning still had to walk into it.

They accused her again and again of killing without restraint.

They accused her of targeting Ye Chu Xue, of forcing Gu Qing Yuan into marriage…

She could not defend herself.

And she did not want to.

She had never been a good person, and she had never hidden her malice.

She wanted Ye Chu Xue dead!

In the end, when she lost, she blamed only herself for being outmatched!

But those people abused and slaughtered the Song Family—her parents, the elders of her clan, the younger generation…

Even innocent children were spared none.

Song Wan Ning finally broke down. Crying and begging, she asked Gu Qing Yuan to make them stop.

Gu Qing Yuan was unmoved, so she turned and begged Bai Yang instead.

He was the disciple she loved most, the child she had raised with her own hands, like her own son…

But under her hopeful gaze, Bai Yang drove a sword into her chest.

Even now she still remembered Bai Yang’s cold eyes.

“From the moment you targeted Chu Xue, you stopped being my master!”

The young disciple An Ze even clapped at the side, calling her a “devil” over and over.

Even Lu Nan Feng, the softest and most indecisive of them, only twisted his fingers in his robe and said, “Master, Junior Sister Chu Xue is really kind. You shouldn’t hurt her…”

The sword pushed deeper into her body.

In that instant, Song Wan Ning was swallowed by a madness of hatred.

Pfft!

Song Wan Ning spat out blood again. The Devil Qi buried deep in her soul surged back, wrapping around her and trying desperately to burrow in.

Reborn into this life, the Heavenly Dao still wanted to force her onto the Devil Path.

Why?

Why did she have to be controlled by the Heavenly Dao?

Why did she have to be that damned wretch, while Ye Chu Xue was pure snow atop the highest peak?

She stared wide-eyed, biting her lip hard until it bled, and still she did not loosen her grip.

Her life, Song Wan Ning’s life, could only be controlled by herself!

Song Wan Ning’s eyes sharpened. She reached out and pulled the Spirit Bead off the cauldron from a distance, drawing it into her palm.

Dense Devil Qi writhed wildly, rushing out of the Spirit Bead toward her like a swarm.

Instead of retreating, Song Wan Ning stepped forward. A manic glint flashed in her eyes as she put the Spirit Bead straight into her mouth.

The Spirit Bead erupted with a burst of blinding light and shot toward her dantian.

Endless Devil Qi poured out and swallowed her whole.

—

In the Immortal Realm, at the Limitless Sect.

Mu Zi Xu was playing go with his friend Wang Yang when the hand holding a white stone suddenly paused.

“Someone has entered my Medicine King Sect’s Inheritance Hall.”

With a wave of his hand, a water mirror appeared in midair, projecting two figures, Song Wan Ning and Ye Chu Xue.

“Back then, when we found a path to the Spirit Realm, my Medicine King Sect moved overnight to the Spirit Realm, leaving only palaces behind in the Lower Realm.”

“After hundreds of thousands of years, we’ve finally waited for someone with fate.”

Mu Zi Xu’s eyes brightened slightly. He stroked his beard, feeling deeply pleased.

“In ancient times, the Remote Ruins Realm was split apart by a great war. A perfectly good Great Thousand World was cut in two, splitting off the Spirit Realm, rich in spiritual qi.”

“I heard your Medicine King Sect moved its entire sect back then.”

Wang Yang placed a stone and smiled faintly.

“After all these years, you can still find a successor in the Lower Realm. That’s interesting.”

During the Medicine King Sect’s relocation back then, they encountered a Spatial Storm. More than half the disciples died, and they paid a painful price.

Mu Zi Xu often brought it up, and every time he regretted it.

Even after reaching the Ascension Stage and becoming an immortal, he still carried it in his heart and felt he had failed his sect’s disciples.

Mu Zi Xu clearly remembered it now as well. He sighed softly.

“Yes. To find a successor in the Lower Realm means my Medicine King Sect was never meant to disappear from the Lower Realm!”

He set down his stone and studied the two people in the water mirror carefully.

The Medicine King Sect’s relocation not only caused the Lower Realm to lose its legacy, it also left the sect’s disciples dead or wounded by the tens of thousands. It had always been a wound in his heart.

Now that fate had come, he would choose the best legacy successor and revive the Medicine King Sect!

However…

“Why does that person look like she’s fallen into Devil cultivation?”

Wang Yang frowned, his expression shifting.

Anyone trapped by heart demons was destined to have no path on the immortal Dao.

Mu Zi Xu’s brow lifted as well. A flash of displeasure crossed his eyes.

“How did someone like that enter the Inheritance Hall? She can’t even control a mere heart demon, and she wants my Medicine King Sect’s legacy?”

“Keep dreaming!”

His words dripped with contempt as he looked at the other image, where Ye Chu Xue was.

At that moment, Ye Chu Xue had a long table in front of her, covered with all kinds of spirit herbs.

On the other side was a formula, describing in detail how to handle each herb.

Different herbs required different methods. Some needed their skin peeled off, while others had to keep their roots.

Even the simmering times were all different.

Not to mention that some herbs were mutually incompatible, yet still had to be forced into a single pill. That demanded intense control from the cultivator.

This was only the simplest stage of preparing the ingredients. The requirements during actual pill refining were even harsher.

That was why high-tier pills were so rare, and why alchemists held such an exalted status.

Ye Chu Xue studied the formula seriously. Even though she coughed from time to time, it did not affect her at all.

Mu Zi Xu stroked his beard with satisfaction. “This child is not bad. She’s sick, yet she still throws herself into the pill Dao. She also seems quite clever. She’d make a fine successor for my Medicine King Sect!”

And for some reason, just watching Ye Chu Xue made him feel close to her.

In contrast, the person wrapped in Devil Qi made him dislike her at first sight.

Whether it was heart demons or murderous karma, neither could bear great responsibility.