158: How did the second apprentice become a little devil?

The small interlude in Yunhe City was merely a few raindrops hitting the window before a storm.

A true storm never bothers with reason, it just rips off the roof directly.

The flowing sunset cloud brocade was very fast.

That way of traveling, folding space like paper, made the Daochu Sect's mountain gate appear in their sight in the blink of an eye.

The flying boat landed.

There was no joyous welcoming ceremony.

Because at the entrance of the main hall, stood a person.

Gu Qiuyue.

Today, she wasn't wearing her usual flamboyant purple-gold brocade dress, but had changed into a plain, practical outfit for ease of movement.

Her usual 'harmony brings wealth, everything is negotiable' smile was also gone.

Her seriousness was etched on her forehead, proclaiming 'something big has happened'.

She wasn't holding tea or an abacus; instead, she was clutching a still-hot Jade Slip for communication.

Seeing Su Lin disembark from the flying boat, she didn't even bother to look at the two Senior Sisters beside him, who had clearly just finished a 'beauty contest', and directly rushed forward to greet him.

"Revered Master."

No bowing, no small talk.

Su Lin glanced at her; Gu Qiuyue's cultivation had already reached the Peak Soul Transformation Stage.

She thrust the Jade Slip directly into Su Lin's hand, her movement so hasty it was as if she was throwing a hot potato.

"Something happened at the border."

Su Lin took the Jade Slip, and his Divine Sense swept over it, his brows instantly furrowing.

Gu Qiuyue stood to the side, took a deep breath, and spoke rapidly but clearly.

"Just ten days ago, at the same time you caused a stir in the Myriad Tribulation Ruins, the spatial barrier at Juejian Pass on the Western Desert border shattered."

She raised her hand and conjured a spiritual energy light screen in the air, displaying a map that was continuously turning red.

"This isn't an ordinary sneak attack."

Gu Qiuyue pointed at the hideous crack on the map.

"Those foreign races seem to have been eyeing that place for a long time.

This time, they prepared for a long while and directly tore open the realm wall, not just a seam, but a full three-hundred-li gap."

Three hundred li.

Hearing this number, even Luo Ximei beside him raised an eyebrow.

This wasn't an invasion; this was tearing down the main gate.

"The defensive Formation there didn't even last a breath."

Gu Qiuyue's voice was a little cold.

"Because the ground where the Formation core was located was directly swallowed by the Void Realm turbulence.

Millions of foreign races poured in, and the twelve Cultivator Sects on the front lines were instantly overwhelmed.

At this rate, they'll break through the border in less than three days."

Chu Weiwei covered her mouth: "This is too fast... weren't there Old Ancestors guarding those Sects?"

"There were."

Gu Qiuyue's face was grim, "There were three Body Integration Stage Old Ancestors, but it was useless.

The enemy came prepared this time.

The intelligence says that the leaders are King-level commanders of the foreign races, equivalent to our Mahayana Stage Cultivators.

And... there's more than one; currently, three have arrived."

The air in the main hall instantly froze.

Mahayana Stage.

In an era where Mahayana Cultivators almost all lived in seclusion, the sudden appearance of several Mahayana Stage monsters who lived for slaughter was a disaster.

Chu Weiwei gasped: "Three Mahayana Stage Cultivators? In a spirit-deprived land? Isn't that... unsolvable?"

"It was originally unsolvable."

Gu Qiuyue's tone suddenly shifted; she looked at Su Lin, her eyes becoming extremely strange, a confusion born of a shattered worldview.

"But just as Juejian Pass was about to fall completely, and hundreds of millions of foreign race troops were about to march straight in... one person stood there."

"Who?" Luo Ximei asked, "Which reclusive old fossil?"

"I don't know them."

Gu Qiuyue shook her head, her expression growing even stranger, "This is also the most perplexing part for our intelligence network.

It was a... very short young girl."

She lightly tapped her finger, and a highly valuable, high-level recorded image, transmitted by a dying scout, unfolded in the main hall.

The image was no longer blurry and shaky as before, but had been forcibly stabilized by a powerful Divine Sense.

The background was a shattered sky, with countless pitch-black Void Realm chains descending like tentacles, sealing off the entire world.

Before that despair-inducing darkness, a highly incongruous figure floated.

Short, immature.

She wore an ill-fitting red and white short outfit, with wide sleeves fluttering in the Void Realm storm.

Her two slender calves were wrapped in white silk, and she wore a pair of thick-soled red boots, making her look like a Young Miss who had run away from home after secretly wearing adult clothes.

And in her hand, she held a massive black iron heavy sword, disproportionately large for her body, like a door panel.

The sword had no edge, was completely black, as if it could swallow light.

"That's her?" Chu Weiwei's eyes widened, "Such a little girl? Is she there to deliver snacks?"

"Keep watching." Su Lin's voice was calm.

In the image.

Three thousand-zhang-tall Void Realm Thrones descended.

They had no physical form, but were composed of countless twisted Law lines.

One of the Thrones let out a deafening roar, a Law attack that directly affected the Divine Soul—[Soul Stripping].

Gray Law ripples instantly spread out, and wherever they passed, even space itself wailed.

If it were an ordinary Body Integration Stage Cultivator, their Divine Soul would be instantly extracted by this roar, leaving behind an empty shell.

However.

The little girl in red just lazily raised a hand, stuck her pinky finger into her ear, and wiggled it.

"So noisy."

Although no sound could be heard through the screen, everyone could read her impatience from her lip movements.

The next moment, she moved.

She didn't use any spiritual energy—nor could she in the spirit-deprived land.

She simply gripped the enormous black sword with both hands, and then, very simply, made a downwardhack motion.

This sword strike looked unremarkable.

But in the eyes of people like Su Lin and Luo Ximei, they saw a completely different, terrifying sight.

As the sword fell, no Sword Qi flew out.

Instead, everything in front of the little girl—space, time, and the roaring Law ripples—

All collapsed.

That was the pure, ultimate Law of Weight.

One sword strike, and all things bowed.

She wasn't cutting people; she was using the weight of this sword to forcibly modify the rules of this area.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound came from the image, the sound of a Law breaking.

That thousand-zhang-tall Void Realm Throne, composed of Laws, along with ten thousand li of space around it, was instantly flattened into a two-dimensional plane as thin as a cicada's wing by this sword strike!

It was like a three-dimensional painting, stomped flat by someone's foot.

Instant kill.

A Mahayana Stage combatant, flattened by a single sword strike.

"This..."

Luo Ximei suddenly straightened her body, her platinum-gold right eye filled with disbelief,

"What Dao is this? It's not spiritual energy, not Demonic Qi... is this the Dao of Strength cultivated to its extreme?!"

"Who exactly is this little girl?"

Gu Qiuyue was also covered in cold sweat, "The Master-Seeking Alliance's archives have never had such a person!

Even the Body Cultivator Grand Elders from ten thousand years ago weren't this outrageous!"

Su Lin said nothing.

His gaze was fixed on the black sword.

On the sword's body, two ancient inscriptions were faintly visible—[no edge].

That was the Foundation Establishment gift he had given to his Second Disciple back then.

Only at that time, this sword weighed only a hundred catties.

But the weight it carried now was probably that of a star.

The image continued.

The remaining two Void Realm Thrones were clearly frightened; they tried to join forces to construct a [Void Realm Labyrinth], intending to banish this terrifying little monster into the cracks of space-time.

The red-clothed girl pouted.

She didn't even look at the complex spatial folds.

She simply hoisted the giant sword onto her shoulder, then transformed into a red meteor and directly crashed into them with her body.

What spatial labyrinths, what temporal closed loops.

Under her impact, which carried the Law of Absolute Weight, they shattered like glass hitting a hammer.

She charged in front of the second Throne, swung her giant sword, and swept it horizontally like a baseball bat.

"Bang!"

That Throne was directly exploded into fireworks.

The third Throne tried to escape, tearing open space to drill back into the Void Realm.

The girl threw the giant sword in her hand like a javelin.

A black light flashed.

The giant sword pierced through the spatial tunnel, firmly pinning that Throne to the Void Realm barrier.

The battle ended.

From beginning to end, less than ten breaths.

Three Mahayana Stage powerhouses, annihilated.

The image finally froze.

Above the ravaged ruins, the little girl in red stood on the hilt of the giant sword, which was stuck in the Void Realm barrier.

She seemed to have sensed something, and also seemed to have sensed that Su Lin on this side would see her.

She turned her head, her wild and malevolent red eyes piercing straight into everyone's hearts through the light screen.

The next second, she made a jaw-dropping move.

She stuck out her pink tongue at the camera, made an extremely mocking grimace, and then raised her middle finger.

A slightly distorted but still perfectly clear voice, amplified by a Spell, came through.

"Hey! You old man hiding behind, too scared to come out! Had enough watching?!"

The voice was the crisp, delicate sound unique to a young girl, but her tone was utterly obnoxious.

"If you've watched enough, then scram out here for this Young Miss!"

"You self-destructed and left, didn't you? Abandoned me for a hundred years?"

"I'll give you ten days!"

On her childish and adorable little face, a twisted, almost broken, sinister smile appeared.

"If, within ten days, this Young Miss doesn't see your annoying face..."

She pointed a finger at the huge crack behind her, from which Void Realm creatures were still continuously pouring out.

"This Young Miss willpierce this Void Realm! And then kill my way to your old nest."

"Trash Revered Master~"

"Sizzle—"

The light screen went completely black.

Inside the main hall, there was a deathly silence.

Gu Qiuyue stiffly turned her head, looking at Su Lin, her expression as if she had seen a ghost.

"Ma-Revered Master... this... could this be...?"

Luo Ximei covered her mouth, her shoulders trembling violently, clearly struggling to suppress her laughter.

Chu Weiwei, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded; she looked at Su Lin's young and handsome face, her mind struggling to process it.

Su Lin sat on the main seat, expressionless.

Only the white jade teacup in his hand silently turned into a pile of fine powder, slipping like sand through his fingers.

Good.

Very good.

Extremely good.

A hundred years later, his Second Disciple, Su Hongling, who used to only follow him around, silently practicing with her heavy sword, aloof but at least obedient.

Not only had she transformed the Supreme Emotionless Sword Canon into the Supreme Violent Heavy Sword Bashing Art.

She had even devolved into this kind of foul-mouthed brat?

"It's her."

Su Lin's voice was frighteningly calm.

"That... crazy girl who uses a door panel as a sword and spouts rhyming insults... is your Second Senior Sister, Su Hongling."

"Puhahaha!"

Luo Ximei finally couldn't hold back, laughing so hard she bent over, completely abandoning her Demon Venerable image.

"What happened to Second Senior Sister? Rejuvenation? Or did she get her brain caught in a door?

How did she turn into such an... uh... interesting little thing?"

Chu Weiwei also had a complicated expression: "Second Senior Sister used to be... wasn't she very tall and cold?

How is it now... she's not even as tall as me?"

She gestured to the height of the red-clothed girl, who was probably only up to her chest.

Su Lin stood up and clapped the powder from his hands.

"She's undergoing a Breakthrough."

He pointed out the core of the problem incisively.

"The Mahayana Stage is a leap in life essence.

She cultivates the extreme of the sword.

Now it seems she's embarked on the path of the heavy sword, proving the Dao through strength.

This kind of Dao is the most rigid, and also the easiest to break.

Looking at her current state, it seems that her Dao Heart went awry during the Breakthrough, or her Physical Body was backlashed by some extreme obsession."

"So..." Gu Qiuyue asked cautiously, "Is Second Senior Sister currently in Qi Deviation?"

"No."

Su Lin shook his head.

"If it were Qi Deviation, she would have long become a monster that only knew how to kill.

Her current state... is more like she's released her truest nature, suppressed for a hundred years deep within her heart."

Her truest nature?

The three disciple exchanged glances.

So, the aloof Sword Immortal Second Senior Sister from before was all an act?

This foul-mouthed, violently inclined brat is her true self?

The air in the main hall solidified somewhat.

"Prepare the boat."

Su Lin waved his hand, his tone carrying a hint of gritted teeth, clearly provoked by the phrase "Trash Revered Master."

"To Juejian Pass."

"This Revered Master wants to see if this Rebellious Disciple, who wants to poke a hole in the heavens, still dares to be so arrogant when we meet."

"And..."

He narrowed his eyes, looking at Luo Ximei and Chu Weiwei.

"You two come along. When we get there, if she dares to make a move..."

Su Lin sneered.

"Hold her down and beat her."

"Yes!"

Luo Ximei and Chu Weiwei answered in unison.

But, beat Second Senior Sister?

She's clearly a top-tier Mahayana Stage Cultivator, we can't beat her!

However, just as everyone was rubbing their fists, ready to depart, Gu Qiuyue, who had been staring at the map, suddenly spoke, pouring a bucket of cold water on their enthusiasm.

"Revered Master, I'm afraid... flying directly there won't be fast enough."

"Hmm?" Su Lin paused, turning to look at Gu Qiuyue, "What do you mean?"

Gu Qiuyue drew a long red line on the spiritual energy map with her finger, her brows tightly furrowed.

"Juejian Pass in the Western Desert is located deep within the Silent Sand Sea, at the westernmost end of the continent.

It spans the entire Central Continent and half of the Southern Border from Daochu Sect, a full ninety million li."

She quickly manipulated the golden abacus in her hand, the clattering sounds echoing in the main hall.

"Even if the Golden Jade Full House travels at full speed, burning out its power core, it would still take at least fifteen days."

Fifteen days.

Su Lin glanced at the now black light screen.

That crazy girl had said ten days.

And with Su Hongling's fiery temper, one that always followed through on her words, once ten days were up, she would really blow up that Void Realm, and probably herself along with it.

"Is there no other way?" Su Lin asked.

"There is."

Gu Qiuyue put away her abacus, pointing her finger at a red dot on the map.

That red dot was located at a node between Daochu Sect and the Western Desert.

"The only way is to borrow a path."

"Here, there is an ancient ultra-long-distance teleportation Formation called [Ten Thousand Li Trachoma Array].

If activated, we can reach the edge of the Western Desert within half a day."

Su Lin followed her finger.

Above that red dot, three golden, glistening characters, exuding an air of pedantry, were prominently marked.

[Tianyan Sect]