Chapter 79: Cannot Die

She didn't address her as "Sect Leader" again; she knew the Sect Leader's difficulties.

Turi Qi bent her back and struck her forehead against the ground, the soft sound echoing clearly through the Great Hall. Ling Zhihuan’s brow furrowed tightly, her hands clenching her palms inside her sleeves.

She had only ever seen this child kneel twice.

Once was to bow before the grave of the nanny who had sent her to the sect, and once was to take Wanghua-jun as her master.

She understood Turi Qi’s plight all too well. For some reason, Turi Qi always seemed to find herself isolated. Around her, aside from Wanghua-jun, there were seemingly no like-minded individuals who truly drew close to her. Even the junior sisters and brothers who revered her only admired her from afar, never thinking to form a deep bond.

Ling Zhihuan herself was busy all day, rushing to resolve one crisis after another, constantly searching for ways to patch up the mess.

Why?

Turi Qi was soft-hearted and lacked ruthlessness, which was why Ling Zhihuan had excluded her as a successor—she feared that the moment the girl took office, the Immortals would devour her until not even a scrap remained.

If the System were here, it would surely reply: [Because she’s the heroine of a tragic master-disciple novel!]

But at this moment, the Immortals shut their mouths, and after a heartbeat, spoke with feigned sincerity: "It's not that I don't want to help you, Ruiqi. You know the importance of the Bright Mirror Sea..."

Turi Qi: "I believe that for the Bright Mirror Sea, the Sword Sovereign alone is sufficient."

"Presumptuous! How can you so comfortably heap the entire responsibility onto the Sword Sovereign alone!" an Immortal barked.

"Stand up, child. It truly isn't that we won't help..."

Turi Qi pressed her lips thin. Even while kneeling to beg, her expression held its own. She looked calm and determined—the same expression she always wore as the Chief. It made people believe she could shoulder great burdens, and that her heart was steady.

Ling Zhihuan walked down the steps and helped her up, whispering into her ear: "Go find their masters."

Turi Qi froze slightly, then nodded.

As she stepped out of the Hall of Chasing Immortals, she was immediately surrounded by a group of junior disciples who had heard the news.

"Senior Sister Turi, has something happened?"

"We can help you! We'd risk life and limb for you!"

"We can't interfere with the Drunken Lu Bay matter anyway, so you are more important, Senior Sister."

Within the sect, Turi Qi was indeed greatly beloved by her juniors. The tightness in her brow loosened slightly, and she smiled. "It's nothing. Go back, everyone."

Cultivators who couldn't participate in the Drunken Lu Bay affair were destined to be unable to confront Golden Core stage cultivators or higher. Not only would they fail to rescue the others, but they would also lose their lives for nothing. Turi Qi would not let them take that risk.

"Alright... if you need anything, find me, Senior Sister."

"I will. Thank you."

The group saw she was in a hurry and dispersed when they realized they truly couldn't help. Turi Qi watched them go, her eyes curving slightly.

...This was why she still loved the sect. She loved its every tree and blade of grass, her fellow disciples—she loved most of the people. Only those Immortals, their cliques, and the bastards found everywhere were the parasites of the sect. She loved the sect, so she would never betray it; she only wanted to purge the parasites, just like Ling Zhihuan.

Turi Qi went first to Jin Chuyang’s hall, but found it empty.

"The Immortal left for Drunken Lu Bay long ago, Senior Sister Turi," said a disciple sweeping the floor. Having been helped by Turi Qi before, he was instinctively close to her and whispered, "The Immortal loathes demonic cultivators to the bone. He rushed there the moment he heard the news."

Turi Qi paused. "Did he never think that Junior Brother Vane had disappeared?"

The disciple shook his head. "He never mentioned it. Perhaps the Immortal is used to it... Don't tell anyone, Senior Sister, but the Immortal and Junior Brother Vane aren't very close. It's understandable for Junior Brother to be shy when he first arrived, or maybe he’s just naturally distant, but for some reason, the Immortal simply let it be and never tried to mend the relationship."

A missed connection stayed a missed connection.

Turi Qi offered her thanks and headed to the Falling Rock Forest.

"Immortal Zhou, Junior Sister Zora and the others are trapped in Tao County..."

The woman drinking in the tree burst into a loud laugh upon hearing the news.

"That girl is too unlucky, hahahaha! No, wait—perhaps this is a necessary trial for a cultivator's opportunity."

She sat up straight, hooking her finger through the wine flask, looking down at Turi Qi with a smile. "You want me to save her? Of course. I don't care about the others, I only care about my disciple. Well... I can save her 'accessory' too. Without him to entertain her, Zora would surely come and pester me all day."

Turi Qi shook her head and said solemnly: "To help Junior Sister Zora, you must kill the demonic cultivators, which means saving everyone else. Immortal Zhou may have no intention of saving people, yet they will find life because of you."

"You certainly have a way with words."

Zhou Shijin jumped down from the tree and said casually, "Let's go then." Her lips curled into a smile. "You should know, my sword hasn't seen blood or left its sheath for over a decade."

Seeing her move so quickly, Turi Qi was stunned. "Immortal Zhou... don't you need to notify the others about the Drunken Lu Bay matter?"

"What's there to fear? Is that brat Wanghua-jun weak? Or has his realm finally regressed?"

"No."

"Then what is there to worry about? He’s someone who once fought me to a draw. I trust my past self. Besides," Zhou Shijin poured the remaining wine into the soil and put away the flask, her voice flat, "those people think I'm over the hill and about to fade away, so they've stopped paying me any mind. I don't care; being free of duties is easier. Since the responsibility no longer exists, I have no compassion for the lives of strangers."

"That's not true," Turi Qi said seriously. "By fulfilling your proper duties, you have already done your best, Immortal Zhou. This isn't about disregarding life. Cultivators don't cultivate for others, but for themselves. Your mindset is merely the most honest one; the other Immortals can't even fulfill their basic duties."

"..." After spending so long with her disciple Zora, Zhou Shijin found this socially adept answer refreshing. She patted Turi Qi on the shoulder and lamented again: "You really can talk. No wonder you're Zora's good friend."

They set off on their journey. Turi Qi’s expression grew dark as she flew. "No... I didn't have the strength to save her myself..."

She looked at Zhou Shijin flying on her sword and suddenly blurted out: "...If only

you

were the Sword Sovereign."

The Sect Leader wouldn't be so restricted, and those Immortals wouldn't be so arrogant.

Zhou Shijin: "Nay, nay. That title 'Sword Sovereign' has already been taken by him. If I hadn't been backstabbed, I would certainly be stronger than him. I'd have been a 'Sword Immortal' at the very least."

Despite no longer being at the peak of her glory—with her cultivation likely regressed and her lifespan shortened—the woman remained radiant and confident. It was as if nothing could knock her down, and no setback could dim her sharp, free-spirited nature.

Turi Qi smiled. "Yes."

Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes, and she hurried to wipe them away. Having just begged everyone for help, she wasn't as steady as she appeared. Just as one might feel aggrieved but hold it together while alone, the moment someone shows care, they can't help but cry. But Turi Qi had been tempered by the sect and quickly returned to her normal self.

Zora stepped out of the secret realm. Yiling Ke suggested notifying the sect, but they found that letters could not be sent out; the area was already sealed off to birds and beasts.

"...But the transmission talisman worked just now." Song Zhihuai tried the talisman again—no sound came through.

"A boundary," Vane said, staring up. The boundary seemed to be under attack from the outside, showing ripples that allowed him to "see" it. "It's a boundary."

The puppet commoners all around suddenly stopped. Their jaws dropped to their necks, snapping shut and popping open at high speed, creating a piercing

clack-clack

sound. Together, it was a cacophony of chaotic noise.

The event was sudden. Vane’s eyes grew sharp as he stepped in front of Zora to shield her. Song Zhihuai raised his sword. Yiling Ke, very alert, stood back-to-back with Zora. She scanned the area. In the silence, there was only the piercing sound of the puppets.

Then, the puppets lunged at them like a tidal wave. One puppet climbed onto another, with more "people" reaching out and crawling over them. The wave grew taller, crushing their nerves like a swarming mass of insects, overlapping densely. Some limbs were entangled, yet the puppets were oblivious, continuing forward until arms were torn clean off. These were puppet bodies filled with flesh; there was no blood, only the raw cross-sections of muscle and meat.

Yiling Ke: "Array, open!"

A golden array bloomed from beneath their feet. The front row of puppets vanished, teleported to the corners of Tao County. But the array had a limited range; the puppets in the corners soon rushed back. Yiling Ke frantically threw out explosive arrays, blowing meat chunks everywhere.

Zora drew her sword and swung. A line of light formed a straight path, slicing a string of puppets in half at the waist. She then threw herself into the fray like a leaping beam of white light, efficiently harvesting "lives." Everywhere she went, it was a one-hit kill.

Vane flicked his spear, ripping a puppet's head clean from its neck. He frowned. "Too many puppets." Then he relaxed.

Whatever, just 'kill' them all.

What he needed to watch for was the coming demonic cultivator.

The four of them finished off the thousands of puppets. Tao County was covered in flesh—bright red, bloody chunks clung to the ground and eaves, pulsing slightly like living things.

Zora looked up. Dense demonic Qi was gathering, and a man in white robes appeared in mid-air. He looked like a refined gentleman, with none of the typical aura of a demonic cultivator. The man said with a smile: "The seal is about to break. Consider yourselves the appetizer."

The battle began in an instant. Aside from Yiling Ke, the three clashing with the demon in the air became a blur of shadows.

The gap between them and the demon's cultivation was like a chasm. Song Zhihuai, the highest-ranking of the five, was targeted first. He was beaten until he had no strength to fight back. His sword flew from his hand, and he was knocked into a tiled house, a whip wound across his chest. Demonic Qi spread, and he fell unconscious in the ruins.

Yiling Ke was pinned to the ground by newly arrived puppets. She looked anxiously toward Song Zhihuai's position but could not break free, forced to continue destroying the puppets.

The demonic cultivator blocked Zora's strike. Looking into the girl's bright amber eyes, he smiled and critiqued the difference between her and Song Zhihuai: "Oh? Your cultivation is clearly weaker than that cultivator just now, yet your movement is so troublesome. You're actually a bit stronger than him."

Then, he freed a hand. Without looking back, he struck Vane’s chest with a whip. Blood spilled from the youth’s lips as he was sent flying like a meteor, crashing into a hillside and carving a deep hole, disappearing from sight.

The demon quickly neutralized Zora's swordplay. He grabbed her forehead and dived rapidly, slamming her head against the ground. The momentum of the charge was immense; the ground behind Zora's head cracked into countless fissures, forming a crater.

She couldn't move. Blood flowed from her temple as her amber eyes stared intently at him.

"You're quite young, yet your swordplay has reached such a level—tell me, do you have a Sword Bone?" he laughed.

The demon yanked her head up and slammed her back down onto the hard stone.

In a daze, Zora felt as if she had returned to her previous life. That person had done the same, smashing her head against the ground until her skull fractured and caved in, leading to her death. She felt the rumble of the stones shattering; the pain at the back of her head was sharp and blinding.

—

She was still alive.

A cultivator's body was more resilient; it didn't cave in so easily.

She was still alive.

A great wave of sorrow suddenly welled up in Zora's heart. It was a sorrow she had never felt before, as if all the resentment and fear from her death in her previous life was attacking her all at once.

She was just very slow. She was like a block of wood, but in the end, she wasn't actually wood.

Just as the demon was about to continue, the shadow of the Jiangxue Sword arrived. He was forced to let her go and back away, taking a kick to the abdomen from her in the process. The sword returned to the girl's hand. She stood up slowly. Sticky blood flowed into her eye, but she didn't blink, letting the bright red stain her vision.

On the other side.

Vane clutched his chest, gritting his teeth. He used a jagged stone to stir the wound in his abdomen, using the pain to jolt his mind and keep himself from losing consciousness.

Zora was still out there.

He absolutely could not pass out.

And he absolutely could not die.

His leg was pinned by a giant boulder and he couldn't move. His spiritual power was exhausted; he was at the end of his rope. The youth swallowed pill after pill mixed with his own blood—an entire bottle of healing medicine was gone in an instant.

His dark eyes were filled with baleful aura, a primal beastliness lurking within. He didn't know that the demonic seed within him was stirring, spurred by his intense love and nourished by his immense hatred.

The youth simply, mechanically, ate pill after pill. His palms were a bloody mess. The pills he swallowed tasted of nothing but blood, as if he were eating his own flesh and gore.

Cannot die.

Cannot die.

There was still the Master-Servant Oath. At the very least, that was the only way to know if she was alive or dead.

The corners of his eyes were stained crimson. He suddenly coughed violently, jarring his pinned leg—a pain so intense it made one long to pass out. But he was oblivious, wiping away the blood he had coughed up and continuing to swallow the pills.

If she died, he had to be the one dragged down to death by the Master-Servant Oath.

Any other way of dying was absolutely unacceptable.