IVYSCP - Chapter 89

Chapter 89

"To enter the Dao through the Six Desires without sinking into obsession is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Desires are endless: the desire for sight, the desire for sound, the desire for scent, the desire for taste, the desire for touch, the desire for thought. Trapped by any single one of them, escape is nearly impossible."

"In a thousand years, only Hua Chuxue has cultivated the Six Desires Path within her own body. After her Ascension, most who cultivate the Six Desires Path find a way to cultivate one desire, then seek the other five from elsewhere, from other people, to aid their own cultivation."

"Lian Yange cultivates the desires for sight and sound herself. The desires for scent, taste, and touch she draws from the thousands of disciples in the Liuyun Immortal Sect. And those ensnared in these three desires will not, on their own, develop an overly strong desire for thought."

Ling Qingyue's eyes widened slightly. "You're saying Lian Yange secretly and deliberately suppresses and humiliates Shi Du. Shi Du endures it, wanting to keep growing stronger, and just when she's about to seize it, Lian Yange strikes her down hard again, all to provoke her desire for thought."

Pei Yin nodded. "The Liuyun Immortal Sect is highly sought after in the Mortal Realm. The imperial nobles it attracts carry in their bones a pride unwilling to bow to others. When that pride is constantly crushed and pressed down, the desire for thought arises on its own. As for how far that desire grows, it depends on how much the person can endure."

"So that's it!"

Ling Qingyue clenched her teeth in secret. She knew every immortal sect had its unclean corners, but a method like Lian Yange's, paving her own road at the expense of the entire Liuyun Immortal Sect's disciples, was something she had truly never seen before.

No wonder the later Liuyun Immortal Sect insisted on building with gold bricks and jade tiles. It was blatantly displaying desire right before those disciples, trapping them deep in obsession with no escape.

Such a vicious method. Like an invisible spiderweb, holding the Liuyun Immortal Sect tightly trapped within it, while Lian Yange controlled the entire web.

And after Shi Du saw Lian Yange strike down and exterminate the demons, her gaze toward the Ten-Thousand Names Stele, toward Lian Yange, burned even hotter.

Anyone could see it. She wanted her name on the Ten-Thousand Names Stele. She wanted to take Lian Yange as her master.

Even though Shi Du had proven herself through strength, the scornful and mocking looks within the Liuyun Immortal Sect still did not lessen.

Shi Du only focused on cultivation, keeping to herself, treating those gazes as if she did not see them. Those people did not dare flaunt it in front of her anymore; they could no longer defeat Shi Du.

For five years, Shi Du never once left the Liuyun Immortal Sect, but she maintained correspondence with Shi Yanchun the entire time.

She learned that her younger sister governed Yuelou Country well, that the mother sovereign and the ministers were all very satisfied with her sister as ruler. Only when reading the letters would her gaze soften, the flat line of her lips lifting involuntarily.

This scene fell into Lian Yange's eyes and made her narrow them.

What she wanted was unsatisfied desire.

Shi Du was dispatched to guard the Heavenly Gate. The Heavenly Gate was the boundary between the Immortal and Mortal Realms.

The cultivators guarding the Heavenly Gate rotated every seven days, handled by the top ten of the Seventy-Two Sects. The Liuyun Immortal Sect was among them.

What happened after she went to the Heavenly Gate, Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin could not see. What the Ten-Thousand Names Stele recorded was confined to within the Liuyun Immortal Sect.

Seven days passed in a flash. Shi Du returned, covered in blood and filth, yet it was not her own blood. Her expression was numb. Her whole person seemed like a walking corpse.

Ling Qingyue pressed her lips together. She could more or less guess what had happened.

Yuelou Country had fallen.

Lian Yange found Shi Du at this moment. After a few words of insincere concern, she learned from Shi Du's mouth that her Yuelou Country had been destroyed by the Demon Race. Lian Yange saw the hatred hidden deep in Shi Du's eyes that could not be concealed. A smile at the edge of her lips vanished in an instant.

Lian Yange made an exception and took Shi Du as her disciple.

Lian Yange found Shi Du a high mountain and poured all her overwhelming hatred onto the summit of that mountain.

The Demon Race. The Formless Demon Lord.

Shi Du began cultivating day and night without rest, but her cultivation remained stagnant. Her meridians and Core Formation were like a bottomless pit. No matter how much Spiritual Qi was poured in, there was no response.

With the emergence of the Formless Demon Lord, the Demon Race grew even more arrogant and unrestrained. The Hundred Immortal Sects convened to discuss resisting the Demon Race together, and the Liuyun Immortal Sect was naturally among them.

Whenever there was a mission to eliminate demons, Shi Du always charged to the very front. Even when she was covered in wounds and drenched in blood from the slaughter, she did not stop.

Ling Qingyue and Pei Yin did not see how Shi Du killed demons, but they could hear the Liuyun Immortal Sect's gossip about her, mixed with a few words about the Shangtianqiong Sect's young sect leader, Wang Changming.

"Wang Changming is the Shangtianqiong young sect leader, what is Shi Du in comparison? She insists on imitating others, just because she's the sect leader's disciple she thinks she's the young sect leader of Liuyun Immortal Sect too? What a joke! The sect leader has dozens of disciples. Young sect leader would never fall to someone who came up from the Mortal Realm."

"So what if the sect leader took her as a disciple? Her name still isn't on the Ten-Thousand Names Stele."

"Have you all seen how she looks now? Colder than the demon heads outside. I heard Ming Yuan was killed by her."

"Is that true? Ming Yuan was truly good to her as a junior sister back then. She even argued with fellow disciples to avenge her."

"Although Ming Yuan had ulterior motives, back when Shi Du first came to the Liuyun Immortal Sect, coming from some insignificant little country, she couldn't even produce thirty gold, let alone three thousand. Ming Yuan gave her a place to stay and guided her in cultivation. That was a great kindness. Even if Ming Yuan wanted to use her to raise her own cultivation, Shi Du should have willingly offered herself up. Who'd have thought she'd be so ungrateful and kill her outright."

"Forget Shi Du. I did hear something about the Shangtianqiong young sect leader. A few days ago, a Blood Demon sought out Young Sect Leader Wang. It said it had her beloved in its grasp, and to save her, she had to sever one of her own arms."

"Where did you hear that? Young Sect Leader Wang cultivates the Emotionless Path. Where would she get any beloved?"

…

Ling Qingyue listened from the side. A whole table of people shut their mouths the moment they saw Shi Du approach. Ling Qingyue could not help but sneer coldly. "Talk. Why aren't you talking? Don't you all have mouths?"

Though the Liuyun Immortal Sect's corrupt ethos was half Lian Yange's responsibility, these people were rotten in heart and virtue to begin with. Even without Lian Yange's enticement, they would never have amounted to anything.

Pei Yin watched her bristling like a cat, not doubting for a moment that if Ling Qingyue had actually been present to hear this back then, she would have beaten these people until they were spitting teeth all over the ground.

Ling Qingyue was that kind of person. She distinguished right from wrong, black from white. She would not condone or shield Lou Wudu just because she was her senior sister, nor would she kick Lou Wudu when she was down for past suffering just because Lou Wudu later committed evil deeds.

The moment Ling Qingyue turned her head, she saw Pei Yin gazing at her with eyes full of tenderness. Instantly, the tips of her ears burned hot.

All the spines on her body retracted. Ling Qingyue shifted over next to Pei Yin, gently nestling against her.

A faint smile tugged at Pei Yin's lips as she took Ling Qingyue's hand.

Time flew past. Not long after, word spread that the Shangtianqiong young sect leader had severed her own arm and been gravely wounded by the Demon Race. The demons grew rampant, launching continuous attacks on the immortal sects. The Liuyun Immortal Sect did not escape.

With Lian Yange stationed there, and since their opponent was not the Formless Demon Lord, after a great battle, it ended with Lian Yange gravely wounded.

And precisely because Lian Yange was gravely wounded and needed the Six Desires as replenishment, she required more desire. But the Liuyun Immortal Sect had been raising so many good-for-nothing wastrels. After one great battle, they were so terrified they dared not even step outside. Where was there any desire left?

Shi Du's repeated visits to see her planted an idea in Lian Yange's mind. She wanted to see just how much her disciple could truly endure.

When Shi Du delivered medicine and stood respectfully to the side, Lian Yange suddenly produced a portrait.

The person in the portrait wore Yuelou attire, a long sword in hand. The lift of the brows carried the full spirit of youthful ambition, dazzling and unrestrained. The portrait bore an inscription. In the lower left corner was a signature.

At dawn I would chase beyond the azure clouds; today in springtime light I test the splendor of the sword.

—Shi Yanchun.

Shi Du stared blankly at this portrait.

It was Yanchun's handwriting. But, but why did the painting depict the Shangtianqiong young sect leader? Why was she still wearing Yuelou clothing?

"Master!?" Ling Qingyue was shocked as well.

Shi Du looked at Lian Yange as though clutching a piece of driftwood in the water, her eyes splitting with fury as she stared at Lian Yange. "Master, this is…?"

Lian Yange looked at her and curled her lips. "Don't you recognize her? I recall you two once eliminated evil spirits together."

Shi Du fixed her deathly stare on the signature on the painting. "Master, where did this portrait come from?"

Lian Yange gave a careless "Oh," and said flatly, "This portrait was probably painted by the young sect leader's beloved. Otherwise, the demons wouldn't have captured her to threaten the young sect leader into severing her own arm."

Shi Du stumbled a step. Disregarding all decorum, she rushed forward and snatched the portrait away. She stroked the three characters of "Shi Yanchun," laughing and crying at once. "Yanchun… Yanchun, wonderful, you didn't…"

"Such a pity." Lian Yange brushed her sleeves. "Young Sect Leader Wang did not manage to save her beloved. She watched her beloved's soul scatter and disperse. But Young Sect Leader Wang cultivates the Emotionless Path. Who knows whether this was true feeling or an attempt to validate her Dao through emotion."

A mouthful of blood sprayed from Shi Du, splashing across the figure on the painting. She collapsed straight to the ground.

Lian Yange lowered her eyes to look at Shi Du on the floor. Her gaze was ice-cold. She pulled her lips into a sneer. "Can't bear to hear it already."

When Shi Du awoke again, she was in the Liuyun Immortal Sect's Water Prison, her hands and feet bound. The Spiritual Energy within her meridians was alarmingly drained.

Lian Yange stood outside the Water Prison.

Shi Du struggled twice and raised her head to look at Lian Yange. "Master! What did I do wrong? Why are you imprisoning me?"

Looking closer, Shi Du realized Lian Yange's injuries had already fully healed.

Lian Yange curved her lips into a smile. "My good disciple, thanks to you, your master was able to recover so quickly."

"Why…" Shi Du's eyes were bloodshot as she shouted at her. "Why do this to me!?"

Ming Yuan was like this. Lian Yange was also like this. All of it was exploitation. All of them wanted to step on her to raise their cultivation!

"Why?" Lian Yange seemed to have heard a joke. "Because you are incompetent. If you were strong enough, who could do this to you? This is how the Immortal Realm is. The strong bully the weak. The weak are meat and the strong eat."

"Oh, right. Shi Yanchun is your younger sister. You, as the elder sister, perfected my Six Desires Path. Your younger sister perfected Young Sect Leader Wang's Emotionless Path." Lian Yange let out a low laugh. "Put to good use, all of it."

Shi Du convulsed from head to toe. At the moment heartfire surged, a sharp pain stabbed her chest, forcing more blood to spill. A haze passed before her eyes.

Faintly, she heard Lian Yange say, "Yuelou Country was truly difficult to find. Your master spent quite a lot of effort."

Shi Du lost consciousness completely.

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