Chapter 22
Mu Baishuang was taken aback by the words, but she forced a look of sorrow and anger onto her face. “What did you say? Why would you send Song Jiaojiao to kill Li Qingran? Song Jiaojiao is my good friend, and Li Qingran is my senior sister. Are you out of your mind?”
“I-I’m doing this for you!” Yang Botao stammered, his face pale and his voice trembling. “Baishuang, that wretched Li Qingran dared to hurt you, and she humiliated me before. I’ve never liked her! Didn’t you tell Song Jiaojiao how much you’ve suffered at Li Qingran’s hands? I’m just trying to help you!”
“Call me Mu Baishuang! We’re not that close! What I discuss with Song Jiaojiao is between sisters, and it has nothing to do with you! Do I need your help to get back at her?”
“I…”
Mu Baishuang’s face was cold, but her heart was in turmoil.
Her original plan was to deliberately complain to Song Jiaojiao, then use the fact that Song Jiaojiao and Yang Botao shared everything to provoke Yang Botao’s anger. This way, if Song Jiaojiao killed Li Qingran, it would be Yang Botao’s doing, not hers.
Moreover, it was her fourth senior brother, Zhang Hanxiao, who brought Song Jiaojiao to the inner sect.
In this way, she could perfectly extricate herself from the situation.
Her only concern was getting Zhang Hanxiao to bring Song Jiaojiao to the inner sect, but that was hardly a problem. According to the sect’s rules, only Zhang Hanxiao would be dealt with, especially since he was a senior brother and should take the blame for her.
Song Jiaojiao was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, while Li Qingran was just a waste with her dantian destroyed and spiritual roots gone.
Killing Li Qingran would be as easy as squashing an ant, and Song Jiaojiao could do it without leaving a trace, ensuring everyone’s safety.
But she never expected that Li Qingran would survive, while Song Jiaojiao was dead!
Something must have happened in between.
The strange recovery of Li Qingran’s injuries had already raised her suspicions, but she hadn’t paid it any mind.
“Baishuang, I’m doing all this to make you happy!”
Yang Botao was panicking. Since Li Qingran had been expelled from the sect, she was no longer associated with Qingyun Sect. Moreover, with her dantian and spiritual roots destroyed, she was just an ordinary person. But Qingyun Sect was a righteous sect; if a cultivator harmed an innocent person, wouldn’t other sects laugh at them?
To save face, he would surely face severe punishment, and Song Jiaojiao’s death would also be counted against him.
“No, I’m not happy at all. Yang Botao, just wait for the sect’s punishment!”
Mu Baishuang’s words shifted all the blame onto Yang Botao.
Just then, the senior brother of Chixiao Peak, Lu Changtian, walked in.
Mu Baishuang naturally hid behind Lu Changtian.
“Yang Botao, this is Chixiao Peak, not your Xuanling Peak. What are you doing here?”
“Brother Changtian!” Mu Baishuang feigned sorrow, her eyes glistening with tears as she clung to Lu Changtian’s arm and cried, “Yang Botao ordered Song Jiaojiao to assassinate Li Qingran and even caused her death! How could he do this? One is my good friend, and the other is my senior sister! Wuwuwu…”
“No, it’s not like that! Lu, please let me explain…”
Yang Botao tried to say more, but as soon as he saw the little junior sister crying, Lu Changtian had already kicked him to the ground.
“Yang Botao, you really have some nerve! Even if Li Qingran has left Qingyun Sect, she was once part of Chixiao Peak. When did our family matters become yours to meddle in? Do you think killing Li Qingran will earn you our respect? You had Song Jiaojiao kill her, which has already violated sect rules. Now come with me to the Law Enforcement Hall to face punishment!”
Lu Changtian pointed his sword-like finger at the pale-faced Yang Botao, reaching out to grab him.
Beside them, Mu Baishuang tugged at Lu Changtian’s sleeve and whispered, “Brother Changtian… Senior Sister Qingran isn’t dead; it was Song Jiaojiao who died…”
Lu Changtian’s outstretched hand froze, his face filled with shock. It took him a moment to process her words.
“What did you say?!”
---
**Chapter 23: The Activation of the Phase War Order**
Song Jiaojiao was dead, but Li Qingran was alive.
After clarifying this cause-and-effect relationship, Lu Changtian found it even harder to believe.
What kind of strength did Li Qingran possess? With her body nurtured by spiritual energy for years, she was just a slightly stronger martial artist.
And Song Jiaojiao? If he remembered correctly, she was at the ninth level of Qi Refinement.
With that level of power, killing Li Qingran would be as easy as squashing an ant.
Yet the outcome was that Song Jiaojiao was dead?!
“Song Jiaojiao was killed by Li Qingran?” Lu Changtian glared at Yang Botao.
“I don’t know,” Yang Botao stammered, clearly frightened. “I just told her to kill Li Qingran. At first, she didn’t want to, but I promised her a Foundation Establishment Pill, and then she went. Later, I went to get spirit stones to buy the pill, and when I returned to the cave, I found Song Jiaojiao’s soul lamp shattered.”
When a person dies, their lamp goes out.
At least for cultivators below the Nascent Soul stage, this was an ironclad rule.
The soul lamp housed a fragment of the cultivator’s soul and a drop of their blood essence.
When the main soul dies, the remaining soul, like a rootless weed, naturally separates from that drop of blood essence and dissipates into the world.
“Brother Changtian, this matter is suspicious. I heard that the demonic sect has started to act in the Cangyun Realm again. Could it be that Senior Sister was possessed by someone from the demonic sect?” Mu Baishuang feigned fear. “Even though Senior Sister Qingran is no longer part of our Qingyun Sect, I still don’t want her to be harmed by the demonic sect.”
Lu Changtian’s expression darkened as he pondered.
Yang Botao would definitely be punished; there was no escaping that.
The situation with Li Qingran was indeed strange. He didn’t care about her life or death, but she absolutely could not become a hidden danger for Qingyun Sect. Whether her ability to kill Song Jiaojiao was a coincidence or had another reason behind it had to be clarified.
Just then, he overheard Mu Baishuang say, “Brother Changtian, Senior Sister Qingran was once part of our Chixiao Peak. We can’t just leave her be; otherwise, how will the other peaks view us? Regardless of whether it was Senior Sister Qingran’s doing, we should bring her back, even if it’s just to make her a servant. It’s better than leaving her to die in Wanquanshan.”
She pretended to just realize Li Qingran’s whereabouts, her eyes filled with compassion.
“Little junior sister has a kind heart. Even after Li Qingran hurt you so badly, you can still speak for her. Zhang Hanxiao should have dealt with her directly back then!”
Lu Changtian gritted his teeth, but he took Mu Baishuang’s words to heart.
If Song Jiaojiao died by accident, then they should send Li Qingran far away from Wanquanshan and Qingyun Sect.
If Song Jiaojiao was indeed killed by Li Qingran, regardless of whether Li Qingran had gained some opportunity or was possessed by the demonic sect, she would be a ticking time bomb. It was better to keep such a bomb close at hand, lest it explode one day without warning.
However, he felt that the former possibility was more likely. Aside from being possessed by the demonic sect or defecting to them, he couldn’t think of any other way for a waste without spiritual roots or a dantian to kill a ninth-level Qi Refinement cultivator.
His master had said that only the Hunyuan Butian Pill could restore a dantian.
That was an ancient divine medicine; surely Li Qingran couldn’t have obtained such a pill?
“Junior sister, don’t worry. I will report this matter to Master. No matter what, I will give you a satisfactory answer.” Lu Changtian gently patted Mu Baishuang’s head, revealing a warm smile. “Song Jiaojiao cannot die in vain. If Li Qingran isn’t the one who killed her, then what’s wrong with bringing her back to Chixiao Peak? We can still support an ordinary person.”
“Mm, Brother Changtian, you’re the best~”
Mu Baishuang’s eyes sparkled with cunning as she smiled sweetly.
…
Lu Changtian reported Song Jiaojiao’s mysterious death and his suspicions about Li Qingran to the sect.
Sect Master Wu Duantian took this matter very seriously. First, he punished Yang Botao with six months of solitary confinement at Thunderclap Cliff and stripped him of all resource quotas for a month. Then, he appointed Lu Changtian as the leader, sending a team of Law Enforcement Hall disciples to investigate the situation in Wanquanshan.
Before they set off, everyone gathered at the Law Enforcement Hall, and Sect Master Wu Duantian repeatedly reminded them, “If you encounter anyone from the demonic sect, do not act rashly. Demonic cultivators are cunning, and the strength they display may only be what they want you to see. Lu Changtian, your most important task is to report back to the sect using the communication jade slip!”
“Rest assured, Sect Master. I will not act recklessly,” Lu Changtian bowed respectfully to Wu Duantian and then turned to consult with the Chixiao Peak master, Qing Xuan Daoist.
Qing Xuan Daoist stroked his beard and squinted. “You’ve always been steady in your actions, so I won’t say much. Just go.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Changtian drew his flying sword from his waist, executing a graceful motion that left many female disciples swooning.
As he and the Law Enforcement Hall disciples prepared to fly on their swords, a sudden thunderclap echoed through the air.
Boom—!
The sky over the entire Cangyun Realm changed dramatically.
Table of Contents
