Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Jiang Huan had no idea that his master was mocking him as unfit to be a mole.

Had he known, Jiang Huan would've hightailed it out of the demonic sect in an instant—let whoever wanted to take on the undercover role have it.

After all, every piece of information he had relayed was paid for with his life.

At the moment, Jiang Huan stood with his head lowered beside Lu Xiao, both of them being made to stand in the Demon Sect's grand hall.

Well, not exactly punishment—just too terrified to move.

The reason was simple: before them stood the formidable demon Wen Jue, who held the power to decide their lives and deaths.

The Sect Master's chair? Wen Jue had just plopped himself down in it.

He slouched comfortably, legs crossed, idly toying with the pendant at his waist. The last person who had dared to act so brazenly in the demonic sect… was Wen Jue himself.

"Nothing to say to me?" Wen Jue only spared them a sidelong glance—or more accurately, a side-eye at his 'dear' nephew.

To think Lu Xiao had dared to shadow him spiritually to the mortal realm.

Was there anything Lu Xiao wouldn’t do?

With no one else around, Lu Xiao didn’t need to keep up his Sovereign act. Besides, he was standing below the steps while his uncle occupied the Sect Master’s seat.

"Uncle Wen hasn't shown his face in the demonic sect for years, and the first thing he does upon returning is trade a fifth-tier elixir for spirit stones. Naturally, your nephew couldn't help but wonder. With my old man gone, it falls to me to care for Uncle Wen."

Such high-sounding excuses.

Wen Jue turned his gaze toward him, eyes brimming with danger. "Then I suppose I should thank you for your concern."

Jiang Huan thought: '...'

So Lu Xiao had been telling the truth. When Wen Jue turned hostile, his only recourse was to play the victim card with his father.

Jiang Huan inexplicably grew a little more nervous.

Over the years in the demonic sect, he had heard rumors of Lu Xiao’s strength. Though he had never witnessed Lu Xiao take action firsthand, the fact that Lu Xiao could hold onto his seat as Sect Master amidst the pack of wolves spoke volumes about his unquestionable power.

Yet even someone like Lu Xiao had to grovel before Wen Jue?

Just how strong was Wen Jue, then?

"For your father’s sake, I ought to knock some sense into you." Wen Jue snorted coldly.

"Have mercy, Uncle Wen!" Lu Xiao pleaded hastily.

"What exactly did you see that day?" Wen Jue’s tone carried a hint of discomfort before he barked, "Whatever it was, you’d better scrub it from your brains!"

Thinking back to that day’s events, Wen Jue truly wished he could steal a few of those so-called amnesia elixirs from Qin Zhou and force-feed them to Lu Xiao.

He dreaded to think how hard that bastard Lu Qi would laugh if word got out that someone had dared to touch his face.

He really wanted to kill them to keep them quiet.

Picking up on the tension, Lu Xiao quickly declared, "Uncle Wen, you don’t trust me? I’m your flesh and blood! We didn’t see a thing. What happened that day will stay locked away in our hearts—we won’t breathe a word of it!"

"Right, Jiang Huan?"

The spy who’d already sent the letter back to the Sword Sect: "..."

"Yes, please rest assured, Senior Wen." Jiang Huan lowered his head in agreement.

Wen Jue scoffed. "Swear a Heavenly Oath."

Jiang Huan's heart turned cold.

It’s over.

What kind of Heavenly Oath could he swear? If he dared to swear, divine lightning would smite him immediately.

He actually hadn’t told anyone about that day’s events—he had only written a letter back, spreading the word that Wen Jue had a lover.

He couldn’t even imagine how many lightning bolts would come crashing down on him if he made that oath.

Jiang Huan fixed his gaze on his shoes, his mind in chaos.

He was dead. This time, he was really dead.

"You don’t trust me?" Lu Xiao beside him spoke up at the right moment. "I’m your own blood!"

Wen Jue sneered. "Figures you’d chicken out. What, planning to wait until your father returns so he can get a kick out of it?"

Lu Xiao: "I..."

"If you won’t swear, then you’ll spar with me instead."

Lu Xiao: "..."

That wasn’t any better.

After hesitating for a second, Lu Xiao glanced at the bowed head of Jiang Huan beside him, then turned back to Wen Jue. "So... sparring it is?"

"You’ve got guts."

Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped past Jiang Huan’s ear. He looked up, stunned.

Lu Xiao was hauled out of the Demon Sect’s main hall by Wen Jue, who held him by the collar, and soon disappeared from sight.

This was gonna be ugly.

But... he’d made it out alive.

*Hang in there, Sovereign.*

...

Not like Wen Jue could actually hurt Lu Xiao, right?

This was Lu Qi’s kid.

His own blood.

Fifteen minutes later, a battered Lu Xiao lay on the ground, playing dead. Wen Jue said coldly, "This beating served a purpose. Do you know what kind of messages your little spy has been sending to the Sword Sect?"

Lu Xiao lifted his eyelids slightly from the ground, still smiling. "He reported that Uncle Wen has a weakness—that you’re about to take a romantic partner."

"Bullshit!"

Lu Xiao chuckled. "If Uncle Wen says it’s bullshit, then it is."

Wen Jue’s expression turned flustered.

"Anyway, Lu Xiao, if anything happens to Qin Zhou, I’ll pin it on your little spy," Wen Jue narrowed his eyes in warning.

Lu Xiao replied innocently, "With Uncle Wen’s strength, who could possibly harm Mr. Qin? Even if the Sword Sect believed the news, they wouldn’t dare touch him."

Unless, of course, the Sword Sect truly didn’t fear throwing the cultivation world into chaos.

The righteous and demonic paths had governed themselves separately, their millennia-long conflict persisting for thousands of years. If someone truly tore open this fragile peace... the consequences would be beyond containment.

Wen Jue snorted in disdain, though it was unclear whether he agreed or scoffed at the idea.

Only after Wen Jue stormed off did Lu Xiao slowly sit up, clutching his chest as he coughed up blood.

No wonder he’s top of the Celestial Ranking.

Only after the spar did Lu Xiao realize that he, the Sect Master of the Demon Sect, couldn’t even withstand ten moves—and that was with Uncle Wen holding back in his spiritual form.

That little spy Jiang Huan...

"This is really going to be the death of me," Lu Xiao muttered to the sky, smiling helplessly.

To think he’d send such a letter to the Sword Sect.

But...

What truly baffled Lu Xiao was that Uncle Wen had actually come looking for him over this.

"Father, if you don’t return soon, the world is going to descend into chaos," Lu Xiao mused, stroking his chin. How was he supposed to explain to his father that Uncle Wen had fallen for an ordinary man at the second-level Qi Refining?

...

The ordinary man, Qin Zhou, was swamped.

After Fourteen returned, he discovered that summoning actually had a delay between summons, likely tied to the level of his small mountain village.

So his original plan—to summon each villager one by one for a real-world reunion—was put on hold.

Even without summoning villagers, he still had to work the spirit fields, keeping him occupied.

After activating the spirit spring well, Qin Zhou channeled its water to irrigate the fields. With the spirit spring’s nourishment, the Spiritheart Fruits grew even faster.

Of course, the harvest wouldn’t come soon.

Meanwhile, after all agreeing in the Qin family, they decided to accept Qin Zhou’s earlier proposal to expand their elixir business to the provincial capital.

For this trip, Qin Zhou would accompany Qin Haishan.

It's worth mentioning that after undergoing Bone Marrow Cleansing, Chen San's talent level had already reached the standard required to enter an immortal sect.

So, Qin Zhou decided to bring Chen San along.

"Me...?" Chen San's face was also quite pale at the moment. The reason was simple—after taking several Bone Marrow Cleansing pills, he had been one step away from death's door.

Having barely recovered yesterday, he was now told he would accompany the young master to the provincial capital, which naturally came as a surprise.

"Wouldn't you like to take the talent test in the provincial capital?" Qin Zhou asked.

"Young master, this year’s talent test has already passed. Even if I register now, I’d have to wait a few years," Chen San reminded softly.

"You can use connections. The Medicine Moon Sect should be happy to help."

"Then... if the young master wants me to go, I’ll go." Chen San didn’t object either. Having experienced the torment of the Bone Marrow Cleansing pills, he could feel his body had undergone a complete metamorphosis compared to before.

If the young master said to take the test, then he would.

"I just hope the results won’t disappoint the young master..."

Qin Zhou nodded. "Don’t worry, they won’t."

In truth, Qin Zhou could access Chen San’s status panel. Likely due to the activation of the small village’s system, he could clearly view the panels of anyone connected to him.

Chen San’s talent growth had been boosted to 3.2.

When Qin Zhou first saw it, he was quite surprised. He had used over a dozen Bone Marrow Cleansing pills to raise himself to 4.0, yet Chen San had only taken five pills and already reached 3.2. What did this imply?

Chen San’s innate talent was higher than Young Master Qin’s.

Qin Zhou wasn’t shocked. Frankly, a body with an initial talent of 0.1 like Young Master Qin’s might be considered a ‘curiosity’ in the entire World of cultivation.

Nevertheless, even after seeing Chen San’s panel, Qin Zhou still wanted him to take the talent test.

It would be best if he could successfully enter a sect.

Chen San needed growth—not just in cultivation.

Even the former villagers were often sent out by Qin Zhou to undergo training.

As an expert in cultivation simulation games, no one understood better than Qin Zhou how to nurture a cultivator.

"Son, that distinguished... guest—isn’t he coming with you to the provincial capital?"

On the day of their departure from Pingcheng, Qin Haishan looked around but saw no one behind Qin Zhou, so he couldn’t resist asking.

It took Qin Zhou a couple of seconds to realize his father was referring to Wen Jue.

"He... has other matters," Qin Zhou replied as he stepped into the carriage.

Qin Haishan: "I’ve already spoken to your mother about this."

Qin Zhou: ?

Qin Haishan coughed lightly. "About the Immortal staying in your room."

"That incident is behind us, but you should still introduce him to your parents. Your father and I aren’t traditionalists. Keeping him secret isn’t proper," Qin Haishan pressed gently.

What exactly was the relationship between Qin Zhou and that Immortal? Qin Zhou had never explained, so Qin Haishan couldn’t help but be curious.

Even Qin Zhou, dense as he was, understood what his father meant.

"His name is Wen Jue," Qin Zhou said. "He's my good luck charm of sorts."

"And beyond that?"

His fingers twitched slightly. "I don't know."

Qin Haishan broke into a chuckle, speaking with the tone of someone who'd seen it all before. "Well, when you do find out, don’t forget to tell your mother and me. No matter how many years you live, your father and mother want to meet your future partner."

His words held not the slightest reservation about the gender of that future partner.

You'd expect the Cultivators who had lived for centuries to be open-minded about same-sex partners, not the mortal parents of Qin Zhou.

In his past life, he had spent half his lifetime without winning so much as a shred of understanding from his father.

The truth was, whether there was love or not—it really could be seen at a glance.

A pity that back then, he hadn’t been clear-headed, trapped in the vicious cycle of family ties.

Now, even though he wasn't the original Qin Zhou,

it didn’t stop him from letting Qin Haishan’s words sink in.

Qin Zhou lifted his gaze to the window, as the scenery slid slowly past.

After a long while, he finally replied—

"...Alright. When I know, I’ll introduce them to you both."