IVYSCP - Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Ling Qingyue didn't see Pei Si's expression, but the oppressive aura at her back and the furious spiritual energy crashing down on Cui Heng's head left no doubt about the anger and killing intent Pei Si was radiating in that moment.

Pei Si truly wanted to kill Cui Heng.

Cui Heng was nearly forced straight to her knees. She held on through sheer defiance and spat viciously, "Kill me and Shangtianqiong Sect will never let you go! The Sword Venerable will never let you go!"

Pei Si's eyes were cold and unmoved. "If the Sword Venerable wishes to hold anyone accountable, she can come to Cangshan."

"Cangshan" struck Cui Heng's heart like a heavy blow. She stared at Pei Si in shock, utterly incredulous.

The crushing pressure bore down like a mountain. As the spiritual energy poured in, Cui Heng felt as if her internal organs were about to be pulverized.

With a resounding crash, she dropped hard to one knee, eyes bloodshot. Her long sword slipped from her grasp. A giant sword projection loomed over Cui Heng, slowly pushing back against the formation and giving her a moment to breathe.

Ling Qingyue recognized that sword.

Shangbieli.

Her senior sister's lifebound sword, the current Sword Venerable of Shangtianqiong Sect.

Her senior sister had granted Cui Heng a protective sword aura.

The Shangbieli sword aura was immense and heavy. The giant sword projection collided with the formation, unleashing a surge of spiritual energy like overturned seas and rivers. Piaomiao Sect, protected by its grand formation, remained completely unharmed, while the Immortal Alliance cultivators could not defend in time. All were caught in the blast, half of them falling in an instant.

Ling Qingyue heard the breath behind her falter for a single moment.

Pei Si's seven gates and three acupoints were completely sealed. Spiritual energy only flowed out, never in, and she had just deployed Piaomiao Sect's entire grand formation in such a short span of time...

Ling Qingyue turned her head at once to look and indeed saw that Pei Si's face was now deathly pale.

"Pei Si..." Ling Qingyue was worried.

Pei Si did not look at her. Her gaze was fixed on Cui Heng, who was staggering back to her feet. "If you still insist on using the Sun-Chasing Crossbow to break the formation, you should also consider whether there is a second Sword Venerable sword aura to protect you, and the thousands of Immortal Alliance cultivators behind you. If they lose their lives here today because of you and the various immortal sects come demanding answers, even the Sword Venerable will not be able to protect you."

Cui Heng pressed her lips together, the taste of blood at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes held some wariness when she looked at Pei Si.

Pei Si noticed Cui Heng's gaze shifting again toward the Sun-Chasing Crossbow projection within the barrier and said coldly, "With the Qiankun Mirror integrated into the formation, whatever attack you launch at it, it can replicate and return. You are welcome to try if you doubt it."

Cui Heng suppressed her fury and raised a hand to recall the Sun-Chasing Crossbow.

"Leave."

With that, she took off directly on her sword. The remaining Immortal Alliance cultivators did not linger either and followed her away one after another.

Inside Piaomiao Sect, the cultivators who had been braced for battle let their tense bodies relax the moment they saw them go. They had already steeled themselves to fight these people to the death.

Oblivious to what was happening around her, Pei Si, face dark, pulled Ling Qingyue all the way back to the West Courtyard of the Water Cloud Dwelling.

Ling Qingyue was still worried about her condition. "Pei Si, Pei Si, are you alright?"

Pei Si drew a deep breath and turned to look at her. Gone was every trace of the usual tenderness. She stared at Ling Qingyue, a fire seeming to burn in the depths of her eyes.

Ling Qingyue froze for a moment, suddenly at a loss.

This Pei Si was a stranger to her.

Pei Si's blazing anger scattered by more than half the moment she saw the worry and flustered alarm in Ling Qingyue's eyes.

Ling Qingyue would never know how terrified she had just been, terrified that if she had arrived one step later, she would have lost Ling Qingyue all over again.

"Ling Qingyue."

Pei Si's voice was a little hoarse. It was not so cold anymore.

Ling Qingyue looked up to see that cool, aloof person slowly reddening around the eyes, those pale amber pupils growing misty.

Ling Qingyue was stunned.

Pei Si... was crying?

A single clear tear traced down her cheek and clung to her chin. Ling Qingyue hurriedly raised a hand to wipe it away, but Pei Si reached out and pulled her into an embrace, arms tightening around her waist, carefully avoiding the wounds on her back, and lowered her head to bury her face against Ling Qingyue's neck.

An embrace of profound dependence.

Ling Qingyue felt the damp warmth against her neck and pressed her palm to the woman's back, stroking gently.

Pei Si was normally so even-tempered. This was the first time Ling Qingyue had seen her somewhat unraveled, not so gentle, even a little fierce.

Ling Qingyue understood why she was like this. It was because Cui Heng had suddenly recovered her cultivation and tried to kill her. Pei Si's anger had flared, and killing intent had risen. The way she had just looked at her so fiercely was also because she had been worried about her.

A little sweetness bloomed in Ling Qingyue's heart. She was about to say something to comfort her when the person in her arms suddenly clutched her clothes tightly, then turned her head aside and coughed up a mouthful of blood, her body going limp. It was as if she had been holding it in for a long time and, afraid of getting it on Ling Qingyue, had forced herself to turn away just before her consciousness faded.

"Pei Si!"

Ling Qingyue held Pei Si and pressed her fingers to the side of her neck. She had meant to check her meridians but instead touched a spot of burning heat. Pei Si's skin was icy cold; only that one place was shockingly hot.

Ling Qingyue looked down and brushed aside the concealing strands of hair to see a vivid red mole. It was that mole that was radiating heat.

Unable to concern herself with whatever was going on with the mole, Ling Qingyue anxiously sent word to Nie Wenxiao.

Nie Wenxiao had been handling the aftermath. Upon receiving the message, she came to the Water Cloud Dwelling at once and brought the two of them to Medicine Peak.

Gu Huai had no fondness for these two, but with the Sect Leader personally escorting them over, she had no choice but to treat the injuries with a dark expression.

"How is she?"

Before Gu Huai's hand had even made contact, Ling Qingyue asked impatiently.

"Tch."

Gu Huai glanced at her, deep disdain in her eyes.

All Ling Qingyue cared about right now was Pei Si's condition. Everything else could be ignored.

Gu Huai withdrew her hand and Ling Qingyue asked again, "How is she?"

Nie Wenxiao, standing nearby, could not help but marvel inwardly. The Immortal Venerable and her Dao companion truly shared the deepest of bonds.

Gu Huai said flatly, "She won't die."

Ling Qingyue was thoroughly displeased with this answer. "What kind of response is that? Of course she won't die. I'm asking how serious her injuries are."

Gu Huai looked at her and smiled inexplicably. "How do you know she won't die?"

Ling Qingyue's heart lurched. "What do you mean by that?"

Nie Wenxiao also looked over in alarm.

Gu Huai blinked her dark-ringed eyes. "Right now her spiritual energy only flows out, never in, and just now she went all out with such large-scale techniques. Even with her high cultivation, if she does that a few more times, if she doesn't die, she'll be crippled. At this moment, the spiritual energy inside her is in chaos. If this persists, it will damage her foundation and cause a major loss of cultivation."

"Does that mean the technique needs to be dissolved as soon as possible and the gates and acupoints opened?" Ling Qingyue recalled the Emotion Transference secret technique Pei Si had mentioned earlier.

"Yes. Dissolve the technique and go into secluded cultivation for a period, and she'll recover naturally without issue." Gu Huai's tone suddenly shifted. "But if she is unwilling to dissolve it, then she can only keep wasting away like this."

Unwilling to dissolve it...

Ling Qingyue fell into deep thought. She had asked Pei Si this question before, but Pei Si had only said that it would be soon, an ambiguous answer at best.

Given Pei Si's nature, if she wanted to dissolve the Emotion Transference technique, she would have made all the necessary arrangements. Had she perhaps still not decided to dissolve it?

Ling Qingyue felt a knot of unease inside again. She wondered what matter or what person could have become Pei Si's obsession, driving her to resolve to forget through the Emotion Transference technique, yet hesitate at the very moment of forgetting.

"These injuries are beyond my ability to treat. Take her back. Don't be a nuisance here." Gu Huai waved a hand and began shooing them away.

Due to the unstable clash of spiritual energy, even in unconsciousness, a faint trace of pain lingered between Pei Si's brows.

Ling Qingyue's heart ached for her. She asked Gu Huai, "Is there any way to make her less uncomfortable right now?"

Gu Huai smiled, then gave her a strange look. "There is."

The look made Ling Qingyue's skin prickle. "What is it?"

"I heard you two already married in the Mortal Realm, which is no different from Dao Bonding. Since you are Dao companions, the most suitable and effective method is dual cultivation."

"Think about it. Dual cultivation requires your souls to merge and your spiritual energies to coexist, you in me and I in you. When your spiritual energy can integrate into her body, won't that help her circulate her own spiritual energy, bringing it from chaos to order? This method can not only aid her recovery and cultivation, but also help you advance your own cultivation. It truly serves two purposes at once. A method that couldn't be better."

Gu Huai laid it out with reason and evidence. Ling Qingyue rubbed her burning ears, barely able to listen any longer.

Nie Wenxiao had already left. A private matter like dual cultivation was not suitable for her to hear, especially the Immortal Venerable's private matters. She did not quite dare to listen either.

Gu Huai glanced at the restless figure fidgeting in place and was somewhat surprised. "Don't tell me you don't know how?"

That shouldn't be.

Ling Qingyue blanked for a second. Don't know what?

Belatedly realizing she meant dual cultivation, her face flushed all the way down her neck. "N-no, no, no..."

Seeing she couldn't get the "no" out, Gu Huai tossed a book at her.

Ling Qingyue looked down, and heat surged upward.

A dual cultivation manual.

"It's not that I don't know how!" Ling Qingyue clenched her teeth and nearly shouted.

It was that she was completely unsuitable right now! She was practically half a demon. What if...

Ling Qingyue glanced at Gu Huai. Dual cultivation involved the deepest of intertwining. She was afraid Pei Si would be affected just as Gu Huai had been.

"You won't affect her."

Ling Qingyue jumped in fright. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Gu Huai, taking an involuntary step back.

This person! How did this person know what she was thinking?!

Gu Huai's lips curled in a cold smile. "Did you think all those years I was entangled with a demon were for nothing, that I wouldn't be able to tell?"

"You know?" Ling Qingyue asked tentatively.

"I know. That's why I said the other day that your situation is far more serious than hers." Gu Huai shot her a sidelong look. "Though keeping it hidden is only right. After all, getting entangled with a demon never ends well. If the Sword Venerable of Shangtianqiong Sect found out, you'd either be dispatched with a single sword strike or thrown into the Great Wilderness."

So she had seen through it that day.

Ling Qingyue's shock deepened, and a flicker of belated fear rose in her. If Gu Huai had publicized her identity after seeing through it, then Cui Heng showing up today with the Sun-Chasing Crossbow would truly have been an act of eradicating evil.

But judging by how things stood, Gu Huai had told no one.

"I will separate from this physical body," Ling Qingyue said. She had no wish to be associated with a demon either.

Gu Huai clapped her hands and sat down, saying lazily, "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, then."

Ling Qingyue frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

Gu Huai countered, "Have you ever seen a demon that possesses a soul?"

When a cultivator died, their soul could persist, and there was still a chance to reshape the body. Demons were different. When the body died, it was annihilation, erased from the world.

Ling Qingyue's breath caught. She murmured, "But this body is half-human, half-demon. I have a soul."

Her soul was nurtured within her spiritual platform. Pei Si had even seen it.

"It's the same." Gu Huai propped her chin on her hand, her eyes curving slightly. "You've tried it, haven't you? Leaving the body with your soul."

"Did it work?"

The color drained from Ling Qingyue's face for an instant.

No.

"And what does your soul look like?"

A strange dark red, utterly unlike an ordinary person's.

A chill spread through Ling Qingyue's entire body. In a heavy voice, she said, "I don't believe it."

She walked to the bedside, scooped Pei Si up in her arms, and moved to leave. At the doorway she stopped and tilted her head. "Since you know, why did you say I wouldn't affect her?"

Would it really have no effect?

Gu Huai raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the one who doesn't believe it?"

After a beat of silence, Gu Huai spoke again. "That question, you can ask her."

---

Back at the Water Cloud Dwelling with Pei Si, Ling Qingyue had not even tended to herself before she stayed by the bedside wiping Pei Si's sweat.

Pei Si's brows were furrowed, as if she had fallen into a nightmare.

Ling Qingyue leaned in and caught her fevered murmur.

"Ling Qingyue, Ling Qingyue..."

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