Chapter 87.1
Editor: Sahloknir
In his last life, Rong Jue defected to the demon realm, making the entire cultivation world his enemy.
As someone who was once an immortal cultivator, he knew their weaknesses all too well.
Cultivators had to take in energy from their surroundings and circulate it through their dantian. Their spiritual energy was one of their most important resources.
It had to remain untainted. The slightest bit of demonic energy mixing in was enough to cause weakness and extreme pain at best and qi deviation if they were unlucky. Worst of all, their cultivation could be ruined, rendering them no better than a mortal.
And now, in his weakened state, Shi Qing had his heart meridian invaded by Rong Jue.
His demonic energy would always hide there, just like how Shi Qing’s spiritual energy was occupying his dantian. With a thought, Rong Jue could mobilize his demonic energy and cause Shi Qing great pain.
In other words, Shi Qing’s life was now in Rong Jue’s hands.
The demon lord could have just dropped the charade and taken his revenge, or he could have directly asked why Shi Qing took such a risk to save his life after destroying his spiritual root.
But there was only one thought running through Rong Jue’s head as he held the weakly panting supreme elder in his arms.
He wanted to press this high and mighty hypocrite that acted so virtuous while mistreating him down on the bed and let him experience what it’s like to be at the mercy of others.
Rong Jue quickly strode into the house.
This was the first time, in this life and the last, that he had set foot in Shi Qing’s residence.
As soon as he entered the door, the fragrance of phoenix wood rushed to greet him.
Rong Jue slightly furrowed his brows, but he still headed straight for the bed.
Shi Qing’s bedding was a special type, cloud bedding.
Cloud bedding was a priceless luxury item like phoenix wood incense. As the name implied, lying on it felt like sleeping on a cloud.
But most cultivators didn’t care so much about their living conditions, so cloud bedding was mostly sold to some young masters of the cultivation world who couldn’t cultivate for whatever reason.
Rong Jue wasn’t surprised that Shi Qing had cloud bedding. Shi Qing must have been spoiled rotten by the former supreme elder growing up, otherwise he wouldn’t have stooped to unscrupulously tormenting his disciples.
“Wu…”
The person in his arms could only open his eyes a crack due to the pain. His forehead was beading with sweat, and his breathing was laboured.
The demon lord easily put the other person on the cloud bedding. He was about to let go when the person, who had squeezed his eyes shut due to the pain, suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
The slender fingers were trying so hard to hold on that they were turning white, but their grip was so weak that Rong Jue could easily dislodge them.
Since his prey was firmly ensnared in his trap, there was no need for the demon lord to continue this charade. Rong Jue’s usually sunny and valiant features suddenly distorted, revealing a faint smile and dark eyes.
Rong Jue bent down until he was face to face with Shi Qing. They were dangerously close.
From this angle, he could clearly see how Shi Qing’s eyebrows were scrunched up and his red lips were pursed due to the pain.
“He’s indeed a great beauty.” The demon lord thought. He lifted a hand and gently brushed aside the supreme elder’s bangs, just like Shi Qing had done for him.
When Rong Jue spoke, his voice was filled not with worry, but ambition.
“Shizun?”
Rong Jue wasn’t worried that Shi Qing would find out what was wrong with him.
So what if he did? What could he possibly do?
Shi Qing’s life was now in his hands, and this residence was filled with restriction formations. No one in Chi Yun Sect would be able to find out what he was doing to Shi Qing here.
The trapped supreme elder didn’t seem to notice the danger he was in. Shi Qing was too busy struggling to breath on the bed to even open his eyes.
The supreme elder gasped for breath. A greenhouse flower like him who grew up with tender care couldn’t bear this agony. His voice was shaking as he spoke.
“Don’t…don’t go to the west side.”
The west side?
Rong Jue turned to look at the place Shi Qing had mentioned. With his currently rapidly rising demonic cultivation, he was able to clearly see the formation placed there. What seemed like a bare wall actually had all kinds of treasures hanging from it.
His smile gradually cooled. He regarded the thin white hand grasping his sleeve with indifference and even ridicule.
As expected of Supreme Elder Shi Qing.
He was still trying to guard his treasures in this state.
His ‘wonderful’ Shizun probably thought Rong Jue was the kind of wayward disciple who would steal from him.
If that was the case, then a wayward disciple like him should do something wicked and live up to his reputation.
The little bit of pity that the demon lord felt upon seeing Shi Qing’s beauty quickly evaporated. He lost all his patience and reached for the supreme elder’s belt.
The belt made of cloud satin slid off easily when he pulled on it. The wide blue robes beneath quickly fell to either side as well, pooling around Shi Qing.
Very soon, the ink-haired beauty was left only in his inner robes.
The demon lord took in the sight before him and smiled. He leaned down with eyes darker than the water in the demon realm’s heavenly demon pond.
His voice was slightly hoa.r.s.e and ended on a higher note due to joy. “Shizun, are you feeling hot? This disciple will help you cool down.”
The supreme elder didn’t seem to react to his words. He moaned and whimpered brokenly as waves of pain a.s.saulted his being.
Rong Jue took his vocalizations as tacit acknowledgment. He felt elated, like he was unwrapping a present, as he reached for the other’s hair.
The supreme elder’s hair rose and fell as Shi Qing panted, which interfered a little with the demon lord’s actions.
Rong Jue could have just gone in for the kill, but he abstained.
He savoured the sensation of slowly lifting the other man’s hair and letting the strands slip through his fingers. Especially when Shi Qing seemed to unconsciously sense his intent, struggling to move away and calling out his name with a trembling voice.
“Rong Jue…”
The demon lord took hold of the hand grasping his sleeve. Then he firmly grabbed the thin wrist that looked like it might snap with the slightest pressure.
He maliciously tightened his grip and watched his Shizun, who was becoming delirious due to the pain, struggle powerlessly.
“Shizun, this disciple is here.”
“D-don’t go to the west side…” The man on the bed weakly whispered.
He’s still thinking about those treasures…
The look in Rong Jue’s eyes became even more mocking. He didn’t delay any longer and slowly brushed Shi Qing’s hair aside, fully revealing the jade-like face beneath.
The demon lord looked at that beautiful, slender, long neck… He had the urge to snap it.
The owner of the neck was still speaking quietly.
“I…I placed a formation there. Now, now that your cultivation is gone, the formation might kill you outright if you touch it.”
The demon lord’s hand paused.
Complicated emotions welled up within him as he stared at the palid supreme elder whose eyes were closed tightly, and whose face was covered with perspiration from the pain.
The pain robbed Shi Qing of his customary aloofness. The person before him seemed as weak and pitiful as a mortal at this moment.
Shi Qing’s other hand was pressed to his chest. A glistening tear threatened to fall from his eyes. He was helplessly sprawled on the cloud bedding, curling up in an attempt to alleviate the pain, like a white swan that was caught in a trap.
He seemed close to pa.s.sing out.
No one knew better than Rong Jue how painful it was to have your heart meridian invaded by demonic energy.
He was an immortal cultivator that became a demonic cultivator. Even though he was half an invalid then, there were still traces of spiritual energy present in his body.
The process of becoming a demonic cultivator was like tiny knives sc.r.a.ping the insides of his body, forcefully expelling his remaining spiritual energy so that demonic energy could take its place.
When this process reached his heart meridian, it was like someone had tossed his heart into a frying pan and sauteed it repeatedly.
It took an entire month for Rong Jue to change his cultivation pathway.
He spent that time in unspeakable agony.
During that month, there were several times when he fainted from the pain, only to wake up again, still suffering. He couldn’t hear anything, nor could he open his mouth. He didn’t even have the strength to end himself.
At that time, he vowed in his heart that he would live, that he would survive.
He would survive so that one day he could take his revenge.
He had to make Shi Qing suffer like he did. He would not rest until that person paid his debt in blood!
But now…
Shi Qing was suffering like he did, but he fought through the pain to warn Rong Jue about the formation.
Rong Jue looked at the man lying weakly on the cloud bedding with an indecipherable expression.
In the end, he withdrew the hand that was reaching for Shi Qing.
The demonic energy carefully probing the veins of Shi Qing’s heart immediately concealed itself and entered hibernation after the demon lord changed his mind.
Colour returned to Shi Qing’s jade-like face at a visible rate as the demonic energy settled down. He was still trying to catch his breath, but his tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed.
After the pain pa.s.sed, he drifted off to sleep.
Rong Jue continued to sit on the edge of the bed. His dark eyes never left Shi Qing for a single moment.
Hmph.
The demon lord sneered. His large, slender hands gently brushed against the soft and faintly flushed cheeks of the supreme elder.
Now that Rong Jue was starting anew, he could avoid many of the pitfalls that plagued him in his last life. He might as well just stay in Chi Yun Sect.
His cultivation in his last life surpa.s.sed even Chi Yun Sect’s Sect Master by a great margin. It would be child’s play for him to hide his true strength and pretend to be an invalid.
Plus, staying here would make it easier to figure out what exactly his ‘wonderful’ Shizun was up to.