Chapter 38 The Scheming Disciple and the Charming Master 38

Chapter 38: The Cunning Disciple and His Charming Master 38

After Shen Qiuyue's assessment, the tea indeed contained a deadly ingredient.

If ingested, even a cultivator at the Golden Core stage would die within a day. Without the antidote, they'd be dead for sure.

There was no such harmful poison at Xuantian Peak, and even Qin Du wouldn't resort to something like that.

Which meant only one thing: these people had slipped the poison into the cup.

It was obvious who it was meant for.

So basically, these people had tried to poison Qin Du, but he discovered it, which was why he killed Old Five.

Either way, these were just his guesses, and they probably wouldn't change a thing.

It was just a way to comfort himself.

"Ding! Congratulations, host! The villain's corruption level is at 99%, and the current world progress is at 75%. Keep going!"

The system's sudden notification snapped him out of his thoughts.

He hadn't expected Qin Du's corruption level to max out the moment he got back to the demon realm.

With the corruption level maxed out, the world progress shot up a big chunk. Otherwise, it would've stayed stuck.

So that was what was holding it back.

So the villain was doomed to go dark?

With that thought, he felt a little less guilty.

Spring went, autumn came on Xuantian Peak; before he knew it, years had slipped by.

During this time, even though the cultivation world was on high alert for a demon realm invasion, the truth was, on the surface, the demon realm showed no signs of life at all.

It was even quieter than when the seal was still fully intact.

During this time, Mu Yunting also managed to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, becoming the youngest Nascent Soul powerhouse in Xuantian Sect, and the entire cultivation world at that.

After Mu Yunting's breakthrough, Lin Huaiqing had just about nothing left to teach him.

Still, Mu Yunting would dutifully call him "Master," and even with outsiders around, he'd wait on him hand and foot.

Everyone praised him for being a great teacher. Yet no one ever brought up his first disciple in front of him again.

Back then, no one knew who'd spread the news that Qin Du had turned to demonic cultivation and defected from Xuantian Sect to the demon race.

Though everyone gossiped behind his back, no one dared to say it to his face.

Life was as calm as still water, and Lin Huaiqing relished the quiet.

But the peace didn't last—the demon realm finally made its move.

Xuantian Sect's main peak.

"Sect Master Chu! As the foremost among all sect masters, you've got to lead the charge! In this battle against the demon realm, we'll follow your orders."

"Don't worry, everyone! The Demon Lord has finally lost his patience. Tomorrow, the cultivation world will surely win!"

The hall was buzzing with energy, and morale was sky-high. But then a sour voice cut through.

"Sect Master Chu, I, Yuan, hear that the current Demon Lord isn't that aged Old Demon Lord anymore. Do you have any idea who the new Demon Lord is?"

"Sect Master Yuan, I'm not sure what you're getting at. Could the new Demon Lord have some ties to you?"

Chu Xiuyuan could tell Yuan Tianba was hinting at something.

"Hahaha, Sect Master Chu, you're joking. The new Demon Lord has no ties to me, but he's thick as thieves with your junior brother!"

At the mention of Lin Huaiqing, Chu Xiuyuan's fake smile finally cracked.

"Yuan Tianba, don't push your luck. My junior brother is above reproach—how could he possibly be tied to the Demon Lord? Cut the crap!"

"Sect Master Chu, what makes you so sure I'm talking nonsense? Our Baqi Sect's spies in the demon realm report that the new Demon Lord is none other than that disciple who defected from your Xuantian Sect—Qin Du."

At that, the whole hall was stunned.

The cultivation world didn't forget easily. Back then, the matter had caused quite a stir—everyone knew that the demonic cultivator disciple from Xuantian Sect had not only killed the Disciplinary Law Elder but also fled to the demon realm.

What truly surprised everyone was that this disciple who defected from Xuantian Sect had become the Demon Lord that the cultivation world now feared most.

Every Demon Lord not only possessed formidable strength, but crucially, the Demon Lord's body had to contain pure demonic blood.

Could it be that this disciple wasn't a demonic cultivator at all, but a pure-blooded demon?!

He had even lurked within Xuantian Sect for years, likely having thoroughly studied every corner of the sect—that was the most chilling thought of all.

As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

The demon race had indeed studied them thoroughly, but they knew nothing about the demon race.

"In that case, Xuantian Sect cannot lead the charge! Otherwise, this battle is doomed to fail!"

"Elder Zhang is right! That Demon Lord must have thoroughly mastered Xuantian Sect's secret arts! If necessary, let Baqi Sect take the vanguard!"

Seeing these people switching sides at the last moment, seemingly ready to flock to Baqi Sect, a disciple behind Chu Xiuyuan stepped forward and said:

"How can you change commanders on the eve of battle? That demon only stayed in our Xuantian Sect for less than ten years—what secret arts could he have learned? In plain terms, you're all just cowards!"

"Pingyu! Show respect to the sect masters!"

"Exactly, who gave you the right to speak? Baqi Sect and Xuantian Sect are both among the top sects in the immortal path."

"Since Qin Du was a disciple of your Xuantian Sect, there's no telling whether your sect has colluded with the demon race."

"The immortal-demon war is a grave matter. Though our sects are small, we cannot stake our lives on the conscience of Xuantian Sect."

The speaker was merely the leader of a small sect, having grown entirely under Baqi Sect's patronage.

His words and actions were completely aligned with Baqi Sect, which was understandable.

But what he said happened to echo the inner thoughts of the other sect masters.

They simply dared not openly accuse Xuantian Sect due to its power.

Chu Xiuyuan's expression turned grim. Seeing that no one else stepped forward to defend Xuantian Sect, he was deeply disappointed.

"Since you all have no trust in our Xuantian Sect, then in this battle, Xuantian Sect will stand by and serve as the reserve force."

As he left, he couldn't resist adding one more line:

"I don't need to know the strategic deployment either. You decide among yourselves, so we don't get accused of colluding with the demons and wiping you all out in one go."

With that, he stormed off, all dramatic and full of himself.

Half a month later.

The war on the cultivation side took a nosedive.

The demon-suppressing army had barely crossed into the border between the immortal and demon realms before the demons crushed them.

The vanguard—led by the Baqi Sect, Xuanyuan Pavilion, and Xiaoyao Sect—got torn apart by the demon army.

Word has it even Yuan Tianba, the battle commander, took a palm strike from the Demon Lord and lost half a realm of cultivation on the spot.

The other Sect Masters weren't doing any better—some were dead, some were hurt.

In just half a month, the demon-suppressing army had fallen back east of the Qin River, and the demons had already taken over a quarter of the cultivation world.

By now, Chu Xiuyuan couldn't sit still anymore, so he headed to Lingxiao Peak to have tea with Lin Huaiqing.

"Report! Reporting to the Sect Master! The front lines are in bad shape. The demon-suppressing army has withdrawn from the Qin River and is retreating toward Huaiguan."

"Got it. Go scout again and report back!"

"Yes!"

Chu Xiuyuan scratched his head, all worked up, and shook it in frustration:

"These useless idiots! How long has it even been, and they're already getting their asses kicked by the demons? And Yuan Tianba—what a useless sack! How many ambushes has he fallen for? Is his head just a block of muscle?!"

Lin Huaiqing was sipping his tea nice and easy, but at Chu Xiuyuan's rant, he nearly spat it out.

"Senior brother, if you hire someone, trust them; if you don't trust them, don't hire them. Since they don't trust us, no point in us worrying for them. Let's just keep our Xuantian Sect safe."

Anyway, the demons were bound to invade the cultivation world sooner or later—this was just the start, and there were plenty more losses ahead.

Unless those stubborn, useless old geezers got wiped out for good, how else was the protagonist supposed to swoop in and save the day?