105: Chapter 105 Give Me Back My Brother
Blood Fiend Sect.
Spiritual Vein node, deep underground.
A massive, dark space where the surrounding stone walls seeped with a faint blood-red luminescence—a unique phenomenon of a Spiritual Vein tainted by Devilish Qi.
The light was weak, barely illuminating the center of the platform.
Four stone pillars.
Each was as thick as three people could embrace, their surfaces covered in dense Seal runes.
Four thick chains extended from the tops of the pillars, their other ends deeply embedded in a woman's limbs.
Jiang Hongyuan's true body.
She lay prone on the cold stone platform, her red clothes spread out, her long hair hanging down.
Her exposed skin was covered in dense red cracks, like a piece of porcelain that had been shattered and then barely pieced back together.
On her forehead, a single black horn protruded at an angle.
Her breathing was very slow.
After a long time, she opened her eyes.
Those red pupils were still beautiful, but at this moment they were much dimmer, as if covered by a layer of dust.
She raised her head and looked toward the Void Realm.
Murmuring to herself:
"...Is it me you want?"
Her voice was as light as self-pity.
"But even I am afraid of the current me."
Her current cultivation was only one step away from the Ascension Realm; if she went out now, she could immediately promote to the Ascension Realm.
But then her spirituality would be scattered by devilish thoughts, and she would become a peerless monster of the Ascension Realm.
She didn't care if becoming a monster would cause any harm to the world.
She only knew that if that happened, she would forget Dao Xun.
So she used the Three Corpses to refine a Clone, and thereafter, her consciousness was attached to the Clone most of the time.
Thinking of what Dao Xun had just said.
A certain emotion in her heart grew stronger.
Jiang Hongyuan touched her face, the cracks on her body glowing with an intense red light.
"If you leave me again, even if I turn into an Evil Demon, I will not hesitate."
...Xuanxiao Immortal Sect.
Jade Void Grotto-Heaven.
Zhuo Shen brought Jiang Wanxing through the Cloud Barrier and landed on a Dojo.
Jiang Wanxing was no longer that little girl who followed behind Jiang Xun.
She was now tall and graceful, developing very quickly.
Only, her eyes always carried a hint of melancholy.
She now had the cultivation of the Golden Core Early Stage, her Spiritual Resonance thick and pure, with a faint radiance flowing when it circulated.
But if one looked closely, deep within that clear spiritual light, one could catch a trace of an extremely faint, almost imperceptible black Discordant Resonance.
That was the seed of a Heart Demon.
The seed was still small and could still be suppressed.
But as her cultivation deepened, this Discordant Resonance would grow larger and larger.
Zhuo Shen saw this and was anxious in his heart.
"Go in." He pointed to a Prayer Mat deep in the Dojo, "Your Junior Martial Uncle will be here in a moment."
Jiang Wanxing nodded and sat cross-legged.
She was a bit nervous.
Lowering her head, her fingers twirled in her sleeves, but she tried her best to maintain a calm expression.
Not long after.
A cold, elegant figure stepped through the mist.
Yan Qingning.
Today she was dressed in plain white, her hair coiled high, her gait composed.
After her ascension, her Spiritual Resonance had reached the Transcendent stage, and her every movement lacked any hint of worldly air.
She glanced at Jiang Wanxing, her voice gentle and calm:
"Her spirituality is pure and flawless; she is a good prospect, but her Heart-Nature still has some distracting thoughts."
Zhuo Shen cupped his hands: "Greetings, Senior Sister."
Yan Qingning nodded: "Junior Brother, does this disciple of yours have something weighing on her mind?"
Zhuo Shen was silent for a moment.
After hesitating for a while, he finally let out a sigh:
"This disciple of mine is good in every way. It's just that she has a Stubborn Ailment in her heart that hasn't healed for a long time. I brought her here today hoping Senior Sister could provide some guidance."
Yan Qingning glanced at him.
"Matters of Heart-Nature depend entirely on oneself. Guidance from others is, in the end, an external path."
"Yes."
Zhuo Shen lowered his head, "I only ask that Senior Sister can sever my disciple's Obsession."
Yan Qingning was puzzled, "How can I sever someone else's Obsession?"
Zhuo Shen didn't explain much; he understood in his heart that when Senior Sister was Undergoing Tribulation to ascend, that boy Jiang Xun must have intervened significantly.
Otherwise, why would she only forget him?
If it weren't for his disciple Jiang Wanxing, he would never have brought her to disturb Senior Sister's quiet cultivation.
Zhuo Shen said: "Senior Sister, you only need to say a few words as you see fit. I will come back later to pick up my disciple."
Having said that, he turned and left.
The Cloud Barrier closed again, obscuring his back.
Only Yan Qingning and Jiang Wanxing remained on the Dojo.
Yan Qingning sat cross-legged in the air, three feet off the ground. Her hem hung down like a still cloud.
She looked at Jiang Wanxing.
"If there is anything you do not understand regarding the cultivation of your Mind-Cultivation Technique, you may ask me."
Jiang Wanxing did not move.
She knelt on the Prayer Mat, her head lowered, her shoulders trembling slightly.
Then she leaned forward.
Her forehead struck the Bluestone floor heavily.
"Thud."
The dull sound was exceptionally clear in the silent Dojo.
"I beg you, Junior Martial Uncle..."
Jiang Wanxing's voice trembled, every word carrying a humble plea:
"Give me back my brother."
Yan Qingning looked down at her.
On that cold and otherworldly face, a very faint, indescribable confusion appeared.
"Your brother?"
"Who is he?"
Jiang Wanxing's body trembled; she raised her head, a small patch of red on her forehead, her eyes brimming with tears.
Her tone was urgent:
"My brother is your disciple, Junior Martial Uncle! Do you not remember!?"
Yan Qingning's brow furrowed, "I took a disciple before Undergoing Tribulation?"
She lowered her eyes as if reminiscing.
"That's right, my brother entered the Xuanxiao Immortal Sect two years ago." Jiang Wanxing looked at Yan Qingning expectantly, hoping she would remember something.
Yan Qingning closed her eyes, the sea of memory surging past her.
Thousands of years of memories materialized at this moment into a ceaselessly rushing river.
Her original intention was not to delve into the past.
But a major event like taking a disciple forced her to take it seriously.
For someone to be actively taken under her wing, they would have to have a great Karma connection with her; otherwise, it would be impossible.
Recalling the strange sensations in her throat and neck over the past few days, she suspected that this brother of Jiang Wanxing's was the culprit.