Chapter 86

Chapter 86: Ye Chu Xue Refines Pills Again

That was how she managed to dodge wave after wave of cultivator pursuit.

But in front of Gu Qing Yuan and the others, she still wasn’t enough. Once trapped in his sword formation, she was finally bound by Gu Qing Yuan himself.

Every move and stance had been carved into her soul. She didn’t dare forget.

And with 100 years of knowing Gu Qing Yuan, she understood his strength inside and out.

After countless rounds of study, she revealed it to Lu Xing Yao one step ahead during their sparring sessions and gave him time to figure out a way to counter it.

Lu Xing Yao’s comprehension and talent were top-tier. In just half a month, he mastered it completely.

At the same time, he was very clever.

He immediately understood her intent and cooperated—crushing Gu Qing Yuan’s mental defenses and planting a heart-demon barrier in his mind.

His Dao heart was damaged; a heart demon began to take shape.

If he could never beat Lu Xing Yao again, then Gu Qing Yuan could forget advancing to the Divine Transformation Stage. Even reaching the late Nascent Soul Stage would be difficult.

Song Wan Ning’s brows and eyes were full of gentleness, her smile mild, yet it made people shiver for no reason.

“Come to think of it, it’s pretty funny. The deeper you love, the deeper you understand. Gu Qing Yuan must be depressed to death… hahahahaha…”

The Sword Spirit laughed with her.

“Serves him right. He won’t figure out this answer for his whole life. When he wakes up, he’ll definitely start doubting everything!”

After all, it was a killer technique he had never shown to anyone. Who could handle having it shattered so easily?

Song Wan Ning quickened her pace, feeling even better.

It was just a pity she couldn’t see what Gu Qing Yuan would look like when he woke up.

—

“Sect Master, Master is still unconscious. Martial Uncle Lan is in seclusion and refuses to come out. This disciple begs the Sect Master to help.”

Ye Chu Xue went to the Sect Master’s hall full of resentment, humiliation sharp enough to draw blood.

The looks from the surrounding disciples seemed to pierce straight through her.

She rubbed the storage ring on her finger, eyes dark.

Master had given her the storage ring so she could survive a year in the Eroding Wind Cave, and she had even advanced to the late Foundation Establishment Stage.

But because of that, all the pills inside were used up.

Originally, she went down the mountain with the remaining spirit stones to buy pills, but none of the shops had a single high-grade pill.

Low-grade pills were useless to Master, so she only bought a few for herself and hurried back to the sect.

She had wanted to beg Lan Le, but as soon as Lan Le heard the news, he went into seclusion. She never even saw his face.

Ye Chu Xue knew Lan Le still held a grudge.

She clenched her fist, unable to understand how she and Master had ended up like this.

“Heh. Martial Niece Ye, it’s not that I won’t help, but I already had people take out all the sect’s stores and give them to Junior Brother Gu. I thought Junior Brother Gu could win some honor for the sect, but who knew…”

The Sect Master stared at Ye Chu Xue with a fake smile. He already had a pile of problems to handle, and now she came to add more.

“You also know that since Junior Brother Gu and Junior Sister Song fell out, Junior Sister Song hasn’t provided the sect with pills anymore. I have no other options.”

He shoved a small porcelain bottle into Ye Chu Xue’s hands. “How about this? I still have a few Rejuvenation Pills here. Take them and use them.”

“I hope Junior Brother Gu recovers soon,” he added briskly. “The Heaven-Questioning Sect still needs him!”

After a few empty pleasantries, he turned and left, not caring how terrifying Ye Chu Xue’s dark expression had become.

Inside the bottle were only a pitiful few Rejuvenation Pills, barely third-grade.

The way he’d done it—stuffing them into her hands like charity—was treating her like a beggar.

Ye Chu Xue’s fingers tightened around the bottle until they turned white.

How dare he?

He had never treated Master like this in the past.

So this was human nature.

The Cultivation World.

Truly chilling.

Ye Chu Xue clenched the bottle and marched back in anger.

“Tsk, she still has the nerve to come beg for pills?”

“I heard that for this duel, the Sect Master gave the only eighth-grade pill to Grandmaster Gu. Who would’ve thought he’d lose so humiliatingly!”

“Exactly. Yesterday I wanted to crawl into a crack in the ground. Losing was one thing, but I never expected him to lose like that…”

“Sword Lord Qing Yuan? I think it’s all bragging. Put any Nascent Soul Stage grandmaster up there, and you still wouldn’t get that result!”

“Tsk, isn’t it just that beauty ruined him? I heard Grandmaster Gu got badly hurt a few times for Martial Uncle Ye, and his cultivation hasn’t budged for years!”

“Seriously?”

“Of course it’s true. My brother plants spirit herbs on Grandmaster Gu’s peak. He said Grandmaster Gu doted on Martial Uncle Ye like the Spirit Bead in his eye!”

“Tsk, tsk…”

The disciples whispered behind her back. All kinds of measuring gazes landed on Ye Chu Xue without restraint.

Wretches.

She forced down the killing intent and quickened her steps without looking back.

Today’s humiliation would be repaid a hundred, a thousand times.

The Heaven-Questioning Sect—that damned place—should fall apart!

—

After failing to get medicine, Ye Chu Xue returned to her peak. Seeing Master unconscious again, her feelings were complicated—heartbreak, and underneath it, a faint weariness.

She was sick of the Heaven-Questioning Sect.

When Master woke up, she would leave this place. The world was vast. There would always be a place for her.

She opened the porcelain bottle, took out the barely useful pills, and fed them to Master. Then she pressed her lips together, determination flashing in her eyes.

Since no one was willing to give her pills, she would refine them herself.

Last time was just an accident. As long as she studied carefully, she would make everyone see how formidable she was.

The Heaven-Questioning Sect would regret it.

She turned and plunged into the alchemy room.

—

“Master, I heard Ye Chu Xue went to the Sect Master to ask for pills, and the Sect Master brushed her off.”

Li Ruo hopped in happily, carrying a little rabbit, grinning from ear to ear.

She had just come back from the back mountain and overheard disciples talking. Between the lines, they all said Ye Chu Xue was never satisfied and still dared to beg for pills.

Song Wan Ning didn’t answer. She glanced at the bruises on Li Ruo and smiled instead.

The little girl looked soft, but she hit hard. She must have run into another demon beast on the back mountain.

These days, Song Wan Ning needed to spend more effort on Li Ruo and raise her properly.

Li Ruo was not a tool she had picked up to disgust Bai Yang and the others, nor a pet taken in on a whim.

She didn’t intend to repeat old mistakes and raise ungrateful wolves.

As for Ye Chu Xue, Song Wan Ning had expected it.

She could only hope Ye Chu Xue mastered alchemy quickly and “nursed” Gu Qing Yuan well.

“Come on,” Song Wan Ning said. “Your master will take you to the training platform.”

—

News of Lu Xing Yao utterly crushing Gu Qing Yuan spread quickly.

Someone always took desperate risks for spirit stones, selling sect information to anyone who paid. The Sect Master couldn’t stop it at all. With countless eyes watching, there was nothing he could do.

“Haha! The Myriad Swords Sect has fired the first shot. The Seven Stars Sect can’t fall behind. Tomorrow we’ll take Junior Brother Mingyue and set out for the Heaven-Questioning Sect!”