Chapter 85
Chapter 85: Who Gets the Inheritance?
Back then, Shao Heng could split her spiritual sense into only eight threads, and even so she had been able to contend with First Realm peak cultivators like Ji Fei Guang.
Now she could divide it into 128 threads. In terms of sheer spiritual strength, she was enough to match an early Second Realm Mystic Passage Realm cultivator.
So when she examined the secret realm again, everything looked different.
A place could only evolve into a small world by forming rules.
From above, Shao Heng could trace the flow of the earth veins. Up close they looked tangled and knotted, but seen as a whole they carried a natural harmony, as orderly as the meridians within the human body.
That was why—even after the Tai Yin star fragment had been devoured whole as nourishment for the Gray Cocoon—the Mystic Moon Secret Realm still had not collapsed.
It would continue to open once every 60 years. It would remain rich in spiritual qi. But from now on, it would likely never produce a treasure like Shattered Moon again.
A faint ache of emotion had just stirred when she felt a gaze too sharp to ignore. Shao Heng turned her head.
The forty-some cultivators who had entered the secret realm were all falling now, dropping toward the ground while each used their own methods to stay aloft.
Even at this distance, Shao Heng could tell the gaze came from Jiang Yun Jiang.
Jiang Yun Jiang’s aura had not changed much. Looking closely, she had a little over 400 furnaces of spiritual power—hardly the sort of surge that came from a great opportunity.
So the Moon Palace Inheritance Ground had been destroyed in time by the Azure Emperor sub-talisman, and she had not obtained the inheritance.
By now, Shao Heng was certain Ling Jiang and Jiang Yun Jiang were bound together in countless ways.
[Back then, the Divine Voice turned on me. At first it tempted me with honeyed words, trying to lure me back into the past for profit. But after I refused, two overlapping voices suddenly appeared and offered their blessing. That was how I gained the Gray Cocoon and the Divine Fetus Art.]
[This time, I heard that same Divine Voice again in the inheritance ground—the Inheritance Spirit. From the illusion realm onward, it was filled with malice toward me, trying step by step to shake my will and shatter my Dao Heart. It felt almost identical to that first Divine Voice… only even more hateful.]
And that Divine Voice had compared everything to Jiang Yun Jiang—top-tier talent, innate divine abilities, shocking luck—as if it knew her inside and out.
The doubt had been planted long ago.
After the third trial, Shao Heng became convinced the Inheritance Spirit could read the same memories as that earlier Divine Voice. If so… did it know Jiang Yun Jiang as well?
Shao Heng’s talent far surpassed Jiang Yun Jiang’s, yet the Inheritance Spirit had called her unworthy.
Then the inheritance must have been reserved for someone from the start.
If so, she would destroy it.
Now, Shao Heng watched Jiang Yun Jiang in silence, and the curve of her mouth held the faintest smile.
Jiang Yun Jiang had seen her spoiled and fierce, seen her proud and smug, and remembered every face Shao Heng had ever worn.
But Shao Heng’s smile now was gentle as water.
Jiang Yun Jiang’s heart froze. The rage that had been burning her a moment ago thinned, as if doused in ice. Reason, long smothered, crawled back into place. She stared at Shao Heng for a long time before forcing her gaze away.
As they fell, Jiang Yun Jiang gathered her power and drifted closer to the Ji siblings and the other One Yuan Sect disciples, making sure she did not get separated.
[So precise.]
Shao Heng sighed to herself.
Jiang Yun Jiang understood her too well. As long as Shao Heng still intended to remain in the One Yuan Sect, she would not dare violate sect rules in front of everyone and kill a fellow disciple openly.
But unless Jiang Yun Jiang hid in her cave dwelling and cultivated in seclusion for the rest of her life, she would die by Shao Heng’s hand sooner or later.
A long shuttle streaked through the air. A young woman in colorful robes flew over and slowed beside Shao Heng.
Ji Xuan Yin glanced at her and formed a seal with her right hand. The shuttle expanded several times over, steady as a platform, and carried Shao Heng along.
Curiosity was written all over Ji Xuan Yin’s face, but she knew cultivators did not casually ask about fortunes. She swallowed the questions.
With Ji Xuan Yin arriving, Ji Fei Guang also approached, standing on a flying scroll as he brought Meng Ling Zhi and the others over.
No one spoke at first. Then Feng Shao Hu’s jealousy finally spilled out.
“Junior Sister Shao Heng, you’re truly impressive. Your cultivation improved, and just now…” He recalled that stunning glimpse beneath the bright moon; heat crept up his face. “That ancient Ling Jiang inheritance—you took it, didn’t you?”
Shao Heng looked at him and laughed, cold and sharp. “If I’d obtained the inheritance of an ancient Seventh Realm cultivator and only gained a little spiritual power, wouldn’t that be an insult to the Seventh Realm… and to my talent?”
“All I did was force my way through all 72 levels of the Ling Long Illusion Realm alone, temper my Dao Heart, and seize an epiphany in the third trial. My immortal arts advanced, and my spiritual sense surged.”
“As for why your cultivation didn’t improve?” Her eyes slid over him. “Because you couldn’t clear the Ling Long Illusion Realm.”
“Or what—did you simply not feel like it?”
Feng Shao Hu’s face went scarlet. Meng Ling Zhi’s expression darkened as well.
After all, those two had held the group back. That was why Ji Fei Guang and Ji Xuan Yin had moved so slowly through the illusions; when they reached the sixty-eighth level, the sudden upheaval had already come.
Ji Xuan Yin and Jiang Yun Jiang stood aside and watched without speaking. Ji Fei Guang lifted a hand, his tone gentle, almost pleading. “Junior Sister Shao Heng truly is remarkable, clearing the Ling Long Illusion Realm alone. Junior Brother Feng speaks without thinking. Junior Sister, you won’t take it to heart, will you?”
Shao Heng turned to him with a sweet smile that did not touch her eyes. “How rare. Are you Feng Shao Hu’s mouth given human form, Senior Brother Ji? He ‘speaks without thinking,’ yet he can’t even apologize himself—he needs you to do it for him?”
“We all entered the secret realm for Ling Jiang’s inheritance. Now it’s obvious the inheritance ground and the Tai Yin star fragment are shattered and gone, yet he opens his mouth and claims I took the inheritance.” Shao Heng’s voice stayed calm, each word clear as a blade. “He wants to paint a target on my back and turn everyone’s arrows on me—and you call that ‘not thinking’?”
“If one day I kill him on the spot, will that also be me ‘not thinking,’ and everyone can just smooth it over with a few words?”
“If you don’t know how to speak, Senior Brother Ji, then stay quiet. No one is going to mistake you for a mute.”
She had a bit of friendship with Ji Xuan Yin. Ji Fei Guang truly thought that meant Shao Heng would yield?
In his dreams.
Ji Fei Guang’s lips parted, but Shao Heng cut him off before he could form a sentence.
“Oh, and I’m guessing you don’t even know what happened in the inheritance ground.” She tilted her head. “When I entered the third trial with Senior Sister Xuan Yun An of the Star-Inquiry Sect, she said we were the first two to arrive. At that time, you were still trapped in the illusions, weren’t you? I wonder what level you’d reached.”
Ji Fei Guang pressed his lips together and said nothing.
Shao Heng did not spare him another glance.
It was obvious what had happened. Ji Fei Guang had not spoken up for Feng Shao Hu out of kindness.
Feng Shao Hu had been testing the waters for Ji Fei Guang.
Ji Fei Guang had set his sights on that inheritance. Now that Shao Heng looked like she had gained something, how could he remain calm?
Ji Xuan Yin’s fingers tightened against the edge of her sleeve. How could she not understand what her brother wanted? But Shao Heng would not yield an inch, and Ji Xuan Yin could only remain silent.
Jiang Yun Jiang was quieter still, standing on the flying scroll and watching as if she were merely a shadow.
Shao Heng’s gaze slid to her.
“And you, Junior Sister Jiang.” Her tone stayed light. “During the third trial, when the inheritance ground was breaking apart, I vaguely saw the Inheritance Spirit choose you. But weren’t you on the same team as Senior Sister Ji and the others? They don’t seem to know.”