Chapter 21 The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 21

Chapter 21: The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 21

"Immortal Venerable Huaiqing has arrived, please have a seat."

The Xianyue Sect was in complete chaos yesterday, and by the time things finally settled down, Yin Shuangyue hadn't slept in two days.

Dark circles under her eyes made her look pretty worn out.

"Immortal Venerable Shuangyue, did you catch that Golden Core stage cultivator?"

Lin Huaiqing came today specifically to see if the black-clad cultivator had left any clues.

"Not yet..."

The five Xianyue Sect disciples who'd personally seen the black-clad cultivator all lost their memories of the secret realm after leaving it.

Yu'er, though, had gotten out in time and luckily dodged that fate. With no solid witnesses or evidence, finding that black-clad cultivator was like trying to climb to the heavens.

"This is infuriating! Those bastards actually had the nerve to steal from our Xianyue Sect!" Yin Shuangyue slammed the table in anger.

"I'm so frazzled I've lost my head. Yu'er! Hurry up and pour Immortal Venerable Huaiqing some tea!"

"Yes!"

At the familiar name, Lin Huaiqing clearly panicked for a split second, but he covered it up fast.

Yu'er had seen everything that went down yesterday—he couldn't help wondering if she'd figured out who he was.

Yu'er set a steaming cup of Biluochun tea on the table beside Lin Huaiqing, just lowering her eyes with a faint smile.

"Immortal Venerable Huaiqing, please have some tea."

Before leaving, she deliberately shot a glance at Mu Yunting, who stood behind Lin Huaiqing, giving him a coquettish glare.

But that look was a mix of resentment and deep affection—more like a subtle come-on.

She was still pissed at Mu Yunting for ditching her yesterday.

Mu Yunting had no choice but to silently give Yu'er a peer's salute as a way of apologizing.

Watching the two of them flirt, Yin Shuangyue suddenly caught on.

Her beloved disciple had reached the age for finding a dao companion.

"Immortal Venerable Huaiqing, since you're here anyway, why not stay at Xianyue Sect a few more days? That way, if there's any news on the Golden Core cultivator, you'll hear it first."

And in the meantime, the two juniors could get to know each other better.

"Well..." Lin Huaiqing was about to decline when a Xuantian Sect disciple came rushing in, panting.

"Why the rush? Take a breath and speak slowly..."

"Reporting to the Immortal Venerable, it's... it's bad news. The Demon Realm's barrier is about to break! The Sect Master says you need to come back right away."

Lin Huaiqing: "What?!"

Yin Shuangyue: "How's that possible? Didn't we already patch it with the spirit-suppressing stone? How could it break?"

Years ago, the barrier sealing the Demon Realm had already started showing cracks. It was the only line of defense between the cultivation world and the demon realm.

If the barrier fully broke, the demons sealed inside would launch a massive invasion, throwing the cultivation world into endless chaos.

Luckily, Lin Huaiqing had found the spirit-suppressing stone in time to patch up the damaged barrier. It cost him his eyesight, but it bought the cultivation world a temporary peace.

But just a few short years later, the barrier cracked again.

And this time, there was no second spirit-suppressing stone for them to use.

As a sect master herself, Yin Shuangyue naturally understood how serious this was.

As long as the demons weren't wiped out, the cultivation world would never know peace.

As the saying goes, blocking is the lesser strategy; channeling is the better one. Instead of desperately patching the barrier, it'd be better to formally declare war on the demons.

The moment he got back to the Xuantian Sect, Chu Xiuyuan summoned Lin Huaiqing to the main hall.

Since it was a high-level Xuantian Sect meeting, Qin Du and Mu Yunting weren't allowed to attend and could only head back to Lingxiao Peak for now.

With just the two of them on Lingxiao Peak, they could speak openly.

After a moment of silence, Mu Yunting cut straight to it: "Demon Lord, the barrier's damaged and the demon realm's in chaos—surely this isn't your doing, is it?"

Truth be told, Qin Du had long expected Mu Yunting to ask this.

But this really had nothing to do with him.

Sure, he'd been the Demon Lord in his past life, but in this one, aside from having half demon blood in his veins, he had no ties to the demon race.

Besides, he knew damn well the barrier had been resealed at the cost of Lin Huaiqing's sacrifice—how could he possibly go and wreck it on purpose?

"This has nothing to do with me. You've got the wrong guy."

With that, he turned and left.

Mu Yunting hadn't been a hundred percent sure Qin Du was behind it, of course.

But the Demon Lord who'd done every evil thing imaginable in his past life—could he really turn over a new leaf after being reborn?

He didn't believe it.

The meeting dragged on till evening without reaching any conclusion.

In five days, the Xuantian Sect would host the Immortal Sects Conference to deal with the demon threat. Sect masters from every faction would gather there.

As an Immortal Venerable who'd long dropped out of the top twenty in the cultivation world's combat rankings, Lin Huaiqing had zero interest in joining talks about wiping out the demons.

Sitting there tired and sleepy, he couldn't see the sneaky moves going on around him—he could only hear them grandly shouting slogans.

Did they really think that if the hundred immortal sects got together and blew hot air, the demons would just die off on their own? If that were the case, what would the protagonist even be for?

Besides, at the end of the story, Mu Yunting never fully wiped out the demons. After Qin Du died, a small remnant of demon forces escaped back to the Demon Realm, hiding in their territories to breed and thrive.

Several hundred years later, long after Mu Yunting had ascended to Supreme Immortal, the cultivation world would erupt in another immortal-demon war. And this time, it would end in a crushing defeat for the cultivation world.

As the saying goes, fortunes change like rivers shift and mountains move. When one side runs out of steam, the other thrives—it's a cycle that never ends.

His job was to properly teach Mu Yunting and Qin Du, doing everything he could to help Mu Yunting wipe out the demons invading the cultivation world.

And to protect Qin Du, guiding him to become a righteous cultivator—far from the demon race, and free from the fate of being killed by Mu Yunting.

Before returning to Lingxiao Peak, he went out of his way to stop by the Scripture Library and had a disciple there pick out a few inner cultivation manuals for him.

"Yunting, these are for you. The Qingyu Sword has already recognized you as its master. Spend these days at Lingxiao Peak really focusing on studying the sword techniques."

Mu Yunting took the thick stack of books, his face lighting up with anticipation.

These books were chosen by his master, so they had to be the most suitable sword techniques for him.

Although he had memorized all the sword techniques in his previous life, he would read them again just so he wouldn't let his master down!

"Xiaodu, these are for you. After you finish each book, come and share your thoughts with me."

Qin Du had come rushing over all excited to get his books, but as soon as he received them, his expression soured immediately.

It wasn't his fault he was let down—who the heck had been bad-mouthing him to the master? Why had Lin Huaiqing chosen books on character and conduct for him?

There was even a copy of *The Analects* in there.

He wasn't having it! He was about to throw a tantrum!

"Master! Why did you give Junior Brother sword techniques but hand me *The Analects*?!"

Faced with Qin Du's accusation, Lin Huaiqing patiently explained:

"Cultivation begins with self-cultivation. Du'er, you have a quick temper, so books that help you cultivate your mind and character suit you best. Once you finish reading them, you'll see they do you a lot of good."

"I don't want them! I want to get stronger too! Please, Master, give me a sword manual."

Qin Du didn't buy a word of it, and Lin Huaiqing found himself at a loss.

"But you don't yet have a life-bound spirit artifact. Recklessly practicing high-level sword techniques could cause you to lose your way."

All along, all he had was a plain, ordinary cast-iron sword—nothing special.