Chapter 236: What I, Yue Qianchi, Have Said

A quarter of an hour ago, within the small secret realm.

“In the end, Song Chiyue, you crippled my junior brothers. They don’t even know it was your Holy Land’s doing, so why not let them live?”

Inside the prison deep within the sect’s ruins.

Yue Qianchi gazed at the three junior brothers Song Chiyue had just released, his face full of sorrow.

What Song Chiyue wanted was her Innate Five-Spirit Constitution. This physique, when paired with the five single spiritual roots of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, could evolve into the Innate Five-Absolute Constitution. If those five single spiritual roots were mutated ones, then the result would be an even stronger Innate Primal Saint Constitution.

Master Yuyao needed this physique to ensure she could ascend to immortality—rather than ending up like the old monsters trapped in the Abyss, struggling to survive.

Thus, by threatening to self-destruct, Yue Qianchi was able to meet her three junior brothers.

Xu An, Zhen He, and Duan Feng—all had their spiritual roots extracted, their dantians crippled, and had been tortured beyond recognition.

No one knew what secret technique Yaoxi Holy Land had used, but these three once-brilliant prodigies had been reduced to mere mortals. Even their Dao Bodies had been stolen.

Yun Suxin had suffered the same fate.

However, she was merely unconscious—her talents had yet to be extracted.

“So this was your goal all along? To eradicate all the sects' genius disciples, steal their talents, and let your three Holy Lands reign supreme?” Yue Qianchi gritted his teeth.

“A sect is just a sect—like a frog at the bottom of a well, unable to see the bigger picture.” Song Chiyue casually played with her fingers and said indifferently, “Our pursuit has never been about dominating Cangyun Realm, but about knocking on the Gates of Heaven and stepping onto the path of immortality!”

“If your Holy Land has so many geniuses, and Master Yuyao is already at the Grand Ascension Stage, why can’t you just ascend? Why must you persecute the sect disciples?”

“Heh…” Song Chiyue chuckled. “Yue Qianchi, do you have any idea how long it’s been since anyone from Cangyun Realm has become an immortal?”

“Five thousand years! It has been five thousand years since a cultivator has successfully ascended!”

Yue Qianchi was stunned. “That’s impossible. Wasn’t there an ascension from Yaoxi just last year…?”

“That was fake. That person failed the Tribulation of Ascension and was struck dead. They just told the outside world it was a success. Otherwise, how else could they fool you pathetic fools who are so desperate to squeeze into the Holy Lands?”

Song Chiyue’s eyes were filled with madness and disdain, but only she knew that this disdain was born from her own fear—fear of the future, fear of the tribulation.

No one could ascend.

No matter how much preparation was made, they would always fall before the Heavenly Tribulation.

Regardless of how powerful one’s dantian, Dao Body, or mutated spiritual roots were, regardless of how many powerful artifacts one prepared—it was all meaningless before the Heavenly Lightning Tribulation.

The tribulation would always scale in intensity with the cultivator’s strength.

Like a threshold that constantly adjusted itself, its only purpose was to prevent all beings from attaining immortality.

Those with poor luck would be struck into dust, their souls completely annihilated.

Those with good luck would become rogue immortals, lingering on the edge of death.

As for Grand Ascension cultivators who were nearing the end of their lifespans but wished to survive longer, they had only one choice—to hide within the Abyss to escape the tribulation.

The Abyss was a special place within Cangyun Realm. Once inside, the Heavenly Tribulation could no longer sense them.

Sitting atop a stone stool before Yue Qianchi, Song Chiyue rested her face in her hands. A strange, unreadable smile surfaced on her delicate face.

“When Master Yuyao had only a few hundred years left of her lifespan, she was already on the brink of madness.

“She refused to cower in the Abyss like those weaklings, waiting for the right moment to sneak out.

“She also refused to die under the tribulation just like that.

“So, she conspired with Reverend Burn Karma of Burning Purity Holy Land, who was also nearing the end of his lifespan. The two hit it off immediately.

“At first, they didn’t know how to proceed.

“Until one day, within a great secret realm, they stumbled upon an ancient scripture—‘The Supreme Profound Hidden Sutra.’

“This scripture treated the body as a tool, advocating the refinement of oneself into a Dao Artifact.

“And since Dao Artifacts could be forged and refined, why not add materials into oneself as well?

“Thus, from this principle, an offshoot of the scripture emerged—a forbidden fragment containing a technique to extract the talents of other cultivators.

“No matter if it was spiritual roots, dantians, or Dao Bodies—all could be refined into a pill.

“Whoever consumed this pill would inherit the talents of the one it was made from.”

She lifted her sleeve, revealing pale skin covered in twisted, centipede-like blood scars.

“I am not Song Chiyue. I am Master Yuqing, the Grand Elder of Yaoxi Holy Land. Song Chiyue was my personal disciple. Even though I have possessed her body for over a hundred years, the scars left from the soul takeover have yet to fully fade. Once they do, I will have completely mastered this body.”

Yue Qianchi had already suspected as much, but it was still difficult to believe.

This plan was insane—so twisted that it wasn’t just demonic cultivation anymore. They were treating all cultivators like livestock, keeping them for slaughter.

Demonic cultivators could massacre entire towns, drown cities in blood.

But Master Yuyao and Reverend Burn Purity had a plan to annihilate the entire Cangyun Realm.

If this forbidden technique were exposed, Yue Qianchi could already foresee cultivators turning against each other, slaughtering their own for the sake of seizing talents.

She couldn’t suppress the chill that ran down her spine.

“I’m telling you the secrets of Yaoxi not because I think you’ll escape. You won’t survive.”

Song Chiyue lifted Yue Qianchi’s chin playfully, admiring her delicate face as she giggled.

“So beautiful… and so talented. If I had been born with your gifts, I wouldn’t have needed to steal someone else’s body… Be good and come back with me to Yaoxi. You’ll be implanted with five mutated single spiritual roots, and until Master Yuyao needs your body, you’ll be well-fed and taken care of.

“By then, you will be the new Holy Maiden of Yaoxi.”

Yue Qianchi stared at Song Chiyue.

The moment she realized Song Chiyue was actually Master Yuqing, she knew Song Chiyue’s injuries were fake.

Even a Supreme-Grade Thunderfire Talisman wouldn’t be enough to kill Song Chiyue. Anyone who had reached the level of Master would at least be at late-stage Soul Fusion.

Although Master Yuqing couldn't use her full Soul Fusion strength while inhabiting Song Chiyue’s body, that didn’t mean she had no means to fight at that level.

“If I’m going to be Master Yuyao’s future vessel, then I must be very important to you, right?” Yue Qianchi smiled.

She glanced at her three junior brothers huddled in the corner, a flicker of guilt and sorrow flashing through her eyes before she turned back to Master Yuqing.

“How about we make a deal?”

“I’ll go with you obediently.

“In exchange, they leave this secret realm alive.

“I also won’t harm myself.

“I guarantee that Master Yuyao will get a perfectly healthy and well-endowed Dao Vessel.”

Master Yuqing’s eyes briefly flicked toward Yue Qianchi’s chest before curling her lips in disdain.

Shameless.

But she had to admit—this was purely natural, something no amount of stolen spiritual roots, dantians, or Dao Bodies could ever provide.

It could only be obtained through soul takeover.

“How touching—such deep bonds between sectmates.”

Master Yuqing sighed and shook her head.

Those three disciples had already been implanted with tracking parasites—they could be found at any time.

But she still pretended to be moved.

“Well, what can I say? I’m a generous person. This goes against the rules, but since you’re so attached to your Sword Pavilion disciples, I suppose I can make an exception.

“How do you want me to do this?”

“I want to personally set up the Teleportation Array, and I will send them to a place only I know.”

Master Yuqing frowned. “I’m not supplying you with the materials for a Teleportation Array.”

“I have my own.” Yue Qianchi squeezed the Supreme-Grade Thunderfire Talisman between her fingers.

As long as she embedded a miniature energy conversion formation into the Teleportation Array, the massive energy from the talisman would be converted into its energy core.

Once the small secret realm reopened, her three junior brothers would be safely teleported away.

By then, the Grandmaster would only need to make a simple deduction to find their location.

Yue Qianchi stood in front of the Teleportation Array Master Yuqing had prepared for her, her gaze lingering on her three junior brothers.

The moment the secret realm opened, she would be sent to Yaoxi Holy Land with no chance of escape.

In return, her three junior brothers would be sent somewhere safe.

But that wasn’t enough.

She clenched the Secret Transmission Talisman in her palm.

Buzz—!

The gate of the secret realm opened, and both Teleportation Arrays activated at the same time, bursting into radiant light.

She fixed her gaze on her junior brothers.

Her eyes were slightly red, and as the formation spun faster, the wild energy currents sent her ribbon fluttering in the wind.

At the last moment, as the final rune lit up, she suddenly closed her eyes and turned her head away.

Her long, delicate eyelashes cast butterfly-wing shadows across her cheeks.

The next second—

The world spun.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself inside a dungeon brimming with spiritual energy.

The cold stone walls pressed against her back, and the stench of blood filled the air.

She staggered forward, steadying herself against the wall.

In the corner, a figure lay curled up—Cloudheart Valley’s Young Mistress, Yun Suxin.

Her disheveled hair barely concealed her pale, bloodstained face.

She was covered in scabbed-over wounds.

Yue Qianchi swept her gaze across the room.

The dungeon was filled with captured sect disciples, many of whom she recognized.

She knew immediately—

She had arrived at Yaoxi Holy Land.

The Secret Transmission Talisman burned hotter and hotter in her palm.

Yue Qianchi bit down on her tongue to steady her voice.

【Kill Song Chiyue. Now!】

Despite her best efforts, her voice still trembled slightly at the end.

As soon as the message was sent, the talisman crumbled into dust, slipping through her fingers.

“I told you…”

A faint smile curled Yue Qianchi’s lips as she gently brushed her thumb across her waist, where her jade token was inscribed with the words "Sword Pavilion."

The moonlight filtered through the dungeon’s ceiling, casting a glow over half her body.

Her eyes shimmered, reflecting the glistening trail of an unwiped tear.

“As long as I, Yue Qianchi, am here…

“No one will harm my Sword Pavilion’s disciples!!”