Chapter 40
Shu Li nodded. “As the second most powerful sect in the Middle Realm, the Chengtian Sect was annihilated by demonic cultivators. The cultivators of the Upper Realm won’t stand by and do nothing.”
“And with the Martial Tournament coming up, any contestant who achieves an outstanding result is certain to attract offers from Upper Realm cultivators.”
The Martial Tournament was a competition held in the Middle Realm specifically for the young disciples of its major sects.
For outer disciples seeking promotion to inner disciple status, it was an opportunity. The rewards for taking first place were also exceedingly generous.
But none of that was the real attraction.
What everyone truly yearned for was to catch the eye of the Upper Realm cultivators who came in search of promising talent, then soar into the heavens in a single step and become a disciple of an Upper Realm sect.
It had been a long time since anyone from the Middle Realm had been chosen to go to the Upper Realm.
And the last person whose overwhelming strength had driven every Upper Realm sect into a vicious struggle over him was sitting right in front of her.
Watching Shu Li pick the bones out of a fish before feeding it to the panda beside him, Yu Tai pondered for a moment. “How outstanding would I have to be?”
The man across from her set down his chopsticks and curled his lips. “Far surpass the Shu Li of those days.”
Well… that would be a little difficult.
Back then, taking first place at the Martial Tournament had not been Shu Li’s only accomplishment. He had also done something else-something that made the major sects, already interested in recruiting him, demand that the Qingshan Sword Sect hand him over without the slightest hesitation.
He had killed a demonic cultivator who had been hiding in an Upper Realm sect for decades.
That demonic cultivator had been quite capable. He had climbed all the way to the position of inner disciple without anyone discovering his true identity.
Yet after a single trip to the Middle Realm, his identity had been exposed by a mere brat he had never taken seriously, and he had even lost his life.
The incident caused an uproar throughout the Three Realms at the time. Even an ordinary mortal plucked at random from the Lower Realm would have heard of it.
Ever since then, sects had subjected prospective disciples to rigorous inspections to prevent demonic cultivators from disguising themselves as ordinary disciples and slipping inside.
The original Yu Tai had managed to infiltrate the sect only because of her extraordinary beauty and the fact that the Demon-Concealing Pearl had been genuinely effective back then. When she later learned that all those inexplicable selection requirements were intended to identify demonic cultivators, her still-young self had broken out in a cold sweat.
She had probably begun to fear Shu Li and harbor murderous intent toward him from that moment on. That was why, even when better targets for her scheme became available, she had still taken the risk and chosen to frame Shu Li without hesitation.
“How did you recognize that man as a demonic cultivator back then?” Yu Tai asked.
If he could see through a demonic cultivator who had hidden in an Upper Realm sect for hundreds of years, there was no reason he should have failed to recognize what Yu Tai was when she was merely a little girl.
Shu Li did not answer the question directly. He only said, “It was a coincidence.”
But the answer did not seem important anymore.
After all, the man before her already knew perfectly well that Yu Tai was a demonic cultivator.
If her performance at the Martial Tournament had to be even more spectacular than Shu Li’s had been, Yu Tai truly could not think of anything she could do on such short notice.
Surely another luckless demonic cultivator would not conveniently appear just so she could kill them.
What kind of joke was that? It was not as though demonic cultivators grew on trees.
In the Upper Realm, at the Jade Sect.
A man with a youthful face and snow-white hair stood atop a mountain with his hands clasped behind his back, his solemn expression steeped in contemplation.
The young attendant behind him regarded him with deep respect.
Elder He was a stern man who disciplined his disciples with uncompromising rigor. Everyone unanimously agreed that he was the best candidate to become the next sect leader.
Although he wore an icy, grave expression and insisted that he was unworthy of the position, everyone knew that no one else was better suited to it.
Elder He never spoke of all he had contributed to the Jade Sect, but everyone had seen it with their own eyes.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the young attendant’s face. In the next instant, an inexplicable drowsiness flooded over his mind like a tide.
Sensing something, the man immediately spun around. “Who’s there?”
A strange mass of Black Mist had appeared soundlessly behind him.
The moment the man saw it, his formerly vigilant expression changed entirely.
“M-My Lord.”
Had the young attendant still been awake, he would have been utterly astonished.
That was because Elder He, a man whose face seemed permanently fixed in the same expression, had actually started weeping in front of a mass of Black Mist.
“Have you come to take me away? Boohoo… I really can’t spend another second in this godforsaken place. Please take me with you! Boohoo…” He collapsed to his knees and sobbed his heart out.
He was a murderous demonic cultivator who had spent centuries diligently pretending to be a righteous cultivator. At first, he had planned to make a halfhearted show of it and muddle his way through.
But damn it, he had accidentally outlived every cultivator of his generation and somehow blundered his way into becoming an elder.
Only heaven knew what he had endured along the way.
To suppress his urge to kill, he would not even eat meat, terrified that the faintest scent of blood and flesh might set him off.
“My Lord… if you hadn’t come, they were going to elect me sect leader!”
“I’m a demonic cultivator! How could I become the leader of a righteous sect? How could that possibly sound appropriate to anyone?!”
“He Tianba, stop making such a racket,” a voice said from within the Black Mist.
The voice was gentle and carried no trace of oppressive power, yet those few words instantly silenced the sobbing He Tianba. He even made a motion of sealing his lips.
“You will personally attend the Martial Tournament in the Middle Realm.”
At these words, tears of joy streamed down He Tianba’s face. “This is wonderful… After hundreds of years, I can finally die.”
At last, he could escape this prison of a world.
By the time he came back to his senses, the Black Mist had vanished. The young attendant who had fainted earlier also woke up and stared in confusion at He Tianba, who was still kneeling nearby.
“Elder?”
He Tianba froze at the sound of the boy’s voice. Remaining in the same position, he began stroking the rock beneath his hand and arranged his grave face into an expression of approval. “Not bad.”
Understanding instantly dawned on the young attendant.
This rock had stood here ever since the Jade Sect was founded, absorbing the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon. It was no longer an ordinary rock.
But what cultivator would ever care about a mere stone?
Only the elder. He had noticed this rock, overlooked by others for so many years, and had even praised it.
Had the rock not struggled to grow for a thousand, perhaps even ten thousand years, simply to await a single word of acknowledgment?
Moved to tears, the young attendant began to cry.
Seeing this, He Tianba rose, patted him on the head, and said meaningfully, “As long as you understand.”
*Heaven only knew what nonsense the boy had imagined this time.*
The young attendant nodded vigorously. “I shall remember your teaching, Elder.”
…
Two days before the Martial Tournament officially began, Li Shijie sent Yu Tai a voice transmission, inviting her to go down the mountain and shop for supplies together.
After Yu Tai had left the Bishui Secret Realm and Mo Zhen’s whip had left her unable to move, Li Shijie had been the first to rush toward her. Although she had been trembling all over with fear, she had still held Yu Tai and refused to let go.
Then, while recuperating, Yu Tai had resolved to bury herself in books and learn more about the cultivation world after Shu Li fooled her over the demon beast she had failed to recognize. Since her injuries made it inconvenient to move around, she had asked Li Shijie to bring her books from the library.
After several days of coming and going, the two had grown much closer.
Yu Tai glanced at Shu Li, who was trimming Xia Mo’s overgrown fur, and asked whether there was anything he wanted her to bring back.
Shu Li paused, lowered his eyes in thought, then shook his head and said softly, “Come back early.”