Chapter 8
Yu Tai could not see Shu Li’s expression. She could only guess at his emotions from his voice.
But Shu Li merely shook his head with perfect composure and said nothing.
The greatest source of reader complaints about the novel had been the male lead’s excessively saintly nature. Later, once the heroine managed to take human form, the first thing Xia Mo wanted to do was bathe the Qingshan Sword Sect in blood and kill everyone who had ever tormented the male lead, openly or otherwise.
And what did the male lead do?
He persuaded the heroine to release its obsession and avoid the karmic burden brought by slaughter.
To show such magnanimity toward his own enemies had poisoned the hearts of countless readers in a literary market dominated by fast-paced revenge fantasies. Some had even started dedicated threads demanding that the author replace the male lead.
Fine… Yu Tai admitted that she had helped build up one of those threads.
In her eyes, the male lead was a long-suffering fool of a saint, practically radiating holy light.
After meeting Shu Li in person, however, she had begun to think differently.
Something did not fit.
She did not know why, but from their very first conversation, Shu Li had struck her as profoundly incongruous.
A saint should not be like this. The gentleness in his eyes was never pure. A trace of cool detachment would surface from time to time, as though he stood apart from everything around him. Contradictions filled every part of him.
They made Yu Tai want to… peel off his mask one layer at a time and glimpse the truth beneath his flesh and skin.
She wanted to watch him go mad. She wanted to see him become hysterical, cut down his enemies with his own blade, and rise against the injustice of fate.
“You’re so boring,” Yu Tai remarked.
A sinister shadow passed through her eyes, vanishing almost at once.
The cloudship traveled quickly. Within the span of that short conversation, they reached their destination.
The Qingshan Sword Sect was the last sect to arrive.
As the foremost sect in the Middle Realm, it naturally saved its entrance for last.
“Look! The Qingshan Sword Sect is here.”
The moment they appeared, disciples from the other sects turned to watch.
Fitted uniforms patterned with clouds were the signature attire of Qingshan Sword Sect disciples. Every one of them was tall and striking, a dazzling array of handsome men and beautiful women.
The most eye-catching of all, however, was the young woman at the rear. Though surrounded by the others, her exquisite face and peerless bearing could not be concealed.
“Fellow Cultivator Li and the others died for no reason, and her entire aura changed afterward.”
“What? Do you think she killed them too? In my opinion, it’s nothing but jealousy from women like you. A beauty like that looks like a celestial maiden. She’d probably consider killing a demon beast too dirty and need a man to hold her and coax her afterward.”
“A man? I think you’re the one who wants to hold her, Junior Brother! Hahaha!”
All manner of vulgar remarks filled the air. Without warning, Jiang Yibai drew his sword and slashed. The blade carried razor-sharp, unstoppable killing intent, frightening the speakers into summoning their lifebound artifacts.
“My apologies. My hand slipped.” Jiang Yibai smiled.
His ordinary features somehow looked rather handsome at that moment, making more than a few female cultivators blush in secret.
“Senior Brother Jiang’s swordsmanship has grown even more refined lately,” a Qingshan Sword Sect disciple marveled.
“A sword cultivator with a wood spiritual root-Senior Brother Jiang is the first in the entire cultivation world!”
The Qingshan Sword Sect naturally consisted primarily of sword cultivators. Anyone born unsuited to the sword could expect never to distinguish themselves within the sect.
The disciple nearest Yu Tai suddenly let out a quiet sound of surprise.
Everyone else was busy flattering Jiang Yibai. Only Yu Tai heard the disciple’s slow, puzzled murmur.
“Why does that sword qi feel… a little like Senior Brother Shu Li’s did back then?”
Yu Tai narrowed her eyes.
Before losing his Dao foundation, Shu Li had been a sword cultivator famed throughout the world for his unique sword qi.
As the moment approached for the Bishui Secret Realm to open, the elder in charge called for silence and instructed everyone to enter in sect order.
The instant he finished, Yu Tai’s gaze sharpened. She dragged Shu Li rapidly toward the front of the line, looking as though she meant to be the first one in.
Jiang Yibai stared blankly for several seconds. “Junior Sister, we enter last. There’s no need to hurry.”
Yu Tai did not answer and kept moving.
Disciples from the other sects saw her impatience and snorted in contempt.
“Look at her. Anyone would think she was rushing in there to die. What an embarrassment to the Qingshan Sword Sect.”
Yu Tai glanced back at the speaker.
It was a young woman in a peach-pink dress, surrounded by male cultivators like the moon amid a host of stars.
She met Yu Tai’s gaze without flinching and glared back. “What are you looking at?”
That single gesture and sentence perfectly captured her arrogant, overbearing nature.
Yu Tai looked away with indifference.
A dog was barking. Why should a human concern herself with the affairs of an animal?
Yu Tai joined the sect scheduled to enter the Bishui Secret Realm first. It was a small sect specializing in beast taming, and the little group grew uneasy at her approach.
The man who appeared to be their First Senior Brother took the initiative to step forward. He looked cautiously at the beauty renowned throughout the Middle Realm.
“Does Fellow Cultivator wish to enter with us?”
Yu Tai cupped her hands. “Many thanks.”
He waved quickly. “It’s no trouble. No trouble at all.”
Several disciples behind him kept glancing at the person beside Yu Tai.
“Major sects really are different. That’s a demon beast that managed to take human form!”
“Keep your voice down. Don’t let him hear. Discussing someone right in front of them is terribly rude.”
The young woman who had spoken first stuck out her tongue.
When the time came, the elder distributed a jade token to each person.
Yu Tai casually tossed hers into her storage dimension. It was the same tired device found in every cultivation novel-crush it when you encountered danger, and it would teleport you out.
When inactive, the Bishui Secret Realm looked like an ordinary pool. The moment the appointed time arrived, however, the water churned into a violent whirlpool. Gradually, it transformed into a bottomless cavern that exuded wisps of eerie energy.
“Beast-Taming Sect! Enter!”
At the sound of his sect’s name, the man who had spoken with Yu Tai shouted, “Disciples of the Beast-Taming Sect! Follow me into the realm!”
Led by him, the Beast-Taming Sect disciples shot forward and plunged into the cavern.
Yu Tai’s lips curved faintly. She jumped in after them.
Jiang Yibai wanted to follow, but as First Senior Brother, he still had a group of disciples to lead. He could not act on impulse.
He had barely formed the thought when a commotion broke out among the sect that was supposed to enter second.
“What’s happening? Is the Bishui Secret Realm closing!?”
The wide-open black cavern suddenly began to writhe violently, as though something had provoked it.
The elder controlling the Bishui Secret Realm abruptly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“This is bad!”
Jiang Yibai reacted first. “Get inside, now!”
With that, he jumped in. Several disciples under his lead followed, along with a handful of quick-witted cultivators from other sects.
The rest failed to react. They hovered uncertainly, not knowing what to do.
Only when the Bishui Secret Realm was about to close completely did one person lunge forward in panic. Eerie mist rising from the water wrapped around his body and tore him apart before everyone’s eyes.
At that moment, every face went white.