Chapter 56
Chapter 56: Framing and Shifting Blame
After being sent out of that pure-white space, Shao Heng looked around and matched her surroundings to the thin silk map.
She was still roughly near Soaring Moon Mirror.
Just as Zhao Qing Tu had said, the maze had eight exits. Before Shao Heng brought Jiang Feng’s group inside, she had already found three.
At one exit, the Shattered Moon had already been taken by someone else. At the other two, yin ghosts at First Realm perfection were tangled up there.
She was alone, and her cultivation was still shallow. Before, she had relied on the Vine Demon as an outside force to kill Lu Yao. Against yin ghosts, even though fire-element arts naturally countered them, it still wasn’t something Shao Heng could handle head-on.
So she’d lured a group in to pin the yin ghosts down, then snatched the benefit.
And now, even though Shao Heng could harmonize sun, moon, and starlight power and use it to barely contend with a cultivator at First Realm perfection, she absolutely could not drag out a fight. If she did, she would lose.
Besides, in the secret realm she couldn’t absorb sunlight. Every bit she used was gone for good. That meant the move could only be a trump card.
“The spiritual energy from the earlier Shattered Moon still hasn’t been fully refined, and I still have three left.” Shao Heng exhaled slowly. “I might as well go into seclusion for a while and strengthen my cultivation.”
Back in that pure-white space, if not for the maze master’s rules, with Zhao Qing Tu’s ability to easily restrain Jiang Feng’s three people, Shao Heng would’ve had no chance at all to fight him for the Great Expansion Spirit-Refining Art.
But when she recalled solving the puzzle, taking the art, and catching a glimpse of that male cultivator’s furious face, she couldn’t help laughing.
Shao Heng headed west.
The thin silk map recorded Shattered Moon cluster points, and she could use it in reverse. Shattered Moon appeared where spiritual energy was dense. Places without markings were often thinner in spiritual energy and visited by fewer cultivators. If she chose carefully, she could still find a seclusion spot she liked.
—
A hand pushed aside layered leaves, revealing a young girl’s plain, delicate face.
The Azure Carp Demon on Jiang Yun Jiang’s shoulder leapt out. The once-docile carp opened its mouth wide, revealing a cold row of white fangs, and bit hard into the roots of the Moon Yin Vine Demon ahead.
A demon art flared. Azure demon power wrapped the Moon Yin Vine Demon in an instant, freezing it in place.
At the same time, power gathered at the girl’s fingertips—pure white, cold enough to make one’s skin crawl.
The moment the Moon Yin Vine Demon was touched by that white power, it suffered as if carved by a thousand blades. It cracked inch by inch, then exploded on the spot.
“Not bad,” Dan Hua said. “This mid-stage First Realm Vine Demon is no longer your opponent.”
“Before, to break through quickly, you consumed quite a few pills. Your foundation is steady, but your power is still a bit unstable, and your combat strength can’t keep up.”
“Use this secret realm to find demons around your level and spar with them. Condense your power. Hone your arts.”
Dan Hua’s voice reached Jiang Yun Jiang’s ears, but Jiang Yun Jiang’s expression stayed tight.
With the Vine Demon dead, she lifted her right hand, rubbed her forehead, and kept her face cold. “I really don’t know what Master is thinking.”
“Among the four disciples, only I have High-Grade Aptitude. If the Cavern Mystery Jade Pivot Thunder Canon isn’t passed to me, who else could it go to? Yet I still have to compete for Shattered Moons, comparing who gets more. Only the winner earns the right to comprehend the mysterious canons.”
“Those three are trash. Even if they get a chance, will they ever earn the Cavern Mystery Jade Pivot Thunder Canon’s recognition? Can they even understand it?”
Dan Hua didn’t interrupt. She only listened quietly.
After Jiang Yun Jiang vented her frustration, she drew a deep breath and forced her tone back into place. “I’ve embarrassed myself in front of Senior Dan Hua.”
“It’s fine. You’re still young,” Dan Hua said. “Just remember: you have High-Grade Aptitude, and you have an innate divine ability. What you lack is only time.”
Dan Hua followed at her side and naturally knew Jiang Yun Jiang’s luck was extraordinary.
After entering the secret realm and following the map True Lord Tian Bai had obtained through a deduction art, in only a dozen days they had already found Shattered Moons at three different places. Not a single spot was empty because someone else had taken it first.
But Jiang Yun Jiang herself was only at mid-stage First Realm. If she ran into another cultivator fighting over one, she would inevitably fall behind.
Even exhausting her methods and tricks, she had only seized two Shattered Moons so far.
Jiang Yun Jiang calmed her mind and told herself not to rush.
She spoke to Dan Hua by voice transmission. “Senior Dan Hua, ever since I entered this secret realm, I’ve felt something calling to me. At first I thought it was some guiding illusion, but after checking myself again and again with the Heart-Bewitching Eye, I still haven’t found anything strange.”
“Does Senior Dan Hua have any advice?”
Dan Hua pondered for a moment, then replied, “With your ability, you’re born immune to most illusions.”
“If we rule that out, then it’s probably an inheritance site in this secret realm that has already chosen you.”
The Mystic Moon Secret Realm held many inheritances left behind by great experts. They had investigated that before entering.
“And if it can choose you, then that inheritance site likely has a faint spark of intelligence. That means it’s exceptional.”
Only then did joy finally appear on Jiang Yun Jiang’s face.
She lowered her head, violet eyes flickering.
In truth, she had hidden part of it: that call felt intensely familiar. If she had to name it, it was like a mother’s embrace.
That inheritance site should bring benefits far beyond what she imagined.
As she was thinking that, three people suddenly approached from the distance.
One of them was a burly man. The moment he saw her, his face turned vicious.
“Shao Heng!”
“Don’t run. Just wait right there!”
Jiang Yun Jiang’s gaze snapped around.
Shao Heng?
Where?
But the burly man clenched a gilded fist and charged to punch her.
Jiang Yun Jiang understood at once. Her brows drew tight as she moved like a swimming crane, dodging fast while shouting sharply, “My name is Jiang Yun Jiang. I am a true disciple under True Lord Tian Bai of the inner sect!”
Yu Wen was reckless to begin with. Seeing that her voice, face, and cultivation all matched, he treated her words as nonsense. His golden fists whipped through the air, shattering several afterimages.
Jiang Yun Jiang had just broken through not long ago, with only a bit over three hundred furnaces of power.
Yu Wen, on the other hand, was a late-stage cultivator with over eight hundred furnaces. The gap was too wide. A punch caught her left shoulder. Her breath churned, and she spat a mouthful of blood.
“Stop!”
A woman in a long dress rushed in—it was Bai Hong. She immediately blocked Yu Wen, who still wanted to strike.
The last person was naturally Jiang Feng. He studied Jiang Yun Jiang cautiously and asked, “Are you truly not Shao Heng?”
Jiang Yun Jiang wiped the blood from her lip and forced a calm smile. “My name is Jiang Yun Jiang. I’ve been in the sect half a year, and I don’t know many Senior Brothers or Senior Sisters.”
Jiang Feng’s pupils tightened. Bai Hong, still gripping Yu Wen’s left arm, looked grim as well.
They exchanged rapid voice transmissions.
“This female cultivator is also at mid-stage First Realm, but her aura is completely different. She shouldn’t be cultivating the Origin-Nourishing Qi-Raising Art.”
“To my senses it’s razor-sharp and extraordinary. It’s probably something only a mid-grade method could produce.”
“Maybe we really did mistake her.”
Jiang Yun Jiang’s thoughts churned.
It must be Shao Heng framing her.
Did Shao Heng disguise herself into her face?!