Cultivation: Starting from a Mortal Bone

”Master.”

After refining the medicinal ingredients, Qin Yu looked somewhat nervous as he glanced at the Sect Leader.

Su Xihe quickly snapped back to her senses, merely giving him a flat glance before parting her red lips, ”It’s... just average.”

”Average?!”

Qin Yu immediately wanted to prove himself.

How could a man be called ’average’?!

Still, he could hear a faint note of satisfaction in the Sect Leader’s tone.

It seemed, at the very least, that his master-disciple relationship was safe!

Never mind whether it was truly average—being able to see the Sect Leader every day was satisfaction enough for him.

”Practice a few more times; don’t rush to refine, but try to understand its essence.”

Once she finished speaking, Su Xihe turned her head away, as if afraid this disciple might notice something amiss.

”Yes, Master!”

Qin Yu responded, his voice tinged with respect, then threw himself once more into alchemy.

While he was refining, Su Xihe kept watch nearby, offering timely guidance and correcting each of his smallest errors.

After just a single day, Qin Yu had already taken the alchemy techniques and methods Su Xihe had taught him and put them into systematic use.

Not to mention the loss of medicinal essence.

In terms of the time taken to refine a batch of ingredients, it had already been cut in half from before!

It showed how important a master’s guidance could be.

This is why so many talented cultivators go to great lengths to seek out a famous teacher.

And so, within the room, medicinal fragrance curled in the air as the two—master and disciple—taught and learned, until night fell before they knew it.

”That’s enough for today.”

After Qin Yu finished refining the final batch, Su Xihe spoke up, and as Qin Yu stood to bow and was about to leave, she added another reminder:

”Remember to come early tomorrow!”

”Yes!”

Qin Yu was of course delighted.

To see the Sect Leader every day—what an honor, what a privilege.

Once Qin Yu left, Su Xihe allowed her stern expression to relax. Rising, she muttered, ”Passing on knowledge... doesn’t seem so hard after all.”

All she had really done was share her own methods and insights.

Though she’d never taught a disciple before, Qin Yu’s speed of comprehension nonetheless moved her.

At this rate, Qin Yu would master the techniques easily before long; when the apprenticeship banquet came, he’d certainly shine.

By then, let’s see what those old fogeys have to say!

As she stepped into the front yard, she thought for a moment, then left her cave residence and went to see Su Xiyue.

...

Back in his own cave residence, Qin Yu first coaxed Lin Shuishui to sleep, then immediately pulled the beautiful Mistress into his arms.

”Wait—I haven’t bathed yet!”

Yin Qinghe was stunned—usually this disobedient disciple started with Lin Qianqian and Zhao Mengli first.

After all, he doted on his little wife.

Not that Qin Yu didn’t care for her, of course.

Yin Qinghe could feel, too, that Qin Yu treated her a bit differently. Lately, she’d noticed her own differences from Lin Qianqian and Zhao Mengli.

Obviously, as the Mistress, she was the most shameful of all.

Though they’d grown close, at the moment of providing Emotion Points...

It still made her feel unspeakably ashamed.

Qin Yu leaned in close to the beautiful Mistress’s ear and asked, ”Mistress, do you know what it means to pester someone with soft or hard tactics?”

”What?”

Yin Qinghe clearly didn’t get it, but after Qin Yu gave a brief explanation, her almond eyes immediately widened, ”Absolutely not!”

”Heh!”

Qin Yu could sense her body tense. He scooped her up and carried her into the room.

Deep into the night.

For some reason, Yin Qinghe always felt that sometimes Qin Yu called it wrong.

Clearly she was his Mistress—why did he now and then call her... Master?

So strange.

...

Demon Sect.

Name aside, ’Demon Sect’ might sound sinister, but in truth it was not so.

There was no overwhelming demonic qi rampaging inside the sect; it was simply that their path of cultivation was unique, specializing in the Artifact Control Technique, dramatically different from the common ways of the world.

Just this one difference became the source of disaster.

Originally, Cyan Mountain Sect and Hundred Sword Sect used this as a pretext to begin long years of suppression and ostracism against the Demon Sect, and dubbed it... Demon Sect.

Over time, the sect’s old Immortal Sect name was forgotten, and the world only knew it as the Demon Sect.

This injustice was like a brand, deeply etched into the hearts of everyone in the Demon Sect.

Thus, whether toward Cyan Mountain Sect or Hundred Sword Sect, everyone in Demon Sect bore not a little resentment—this was also the reason Leng Ruyu had once looked on coldly.

Sect Leader Peak.

Leng Feng, the Sect Leader of the Demon Sect, wore a worried expression, the entirety of his being more haggard than ever.

The reason was none other than his beloved daughter Leng Ruyu’s injuries.

Ever since returning alive from the Ruins Rift, Leng Ruyu’s wounds had been tainted by some unknown black qi.

At first, Leng Feng hadn’t thought much of it.

The black qi was so feeble it seemed a light pinch would extinguish it; but, thanks to Nether Bone Elder’s warning, he dared not act without caution and instead responded with extreme prudence.

The result:

So much time had passed. He had tried countless methods, but not only could he not dispel the black qi, he couldn’t even contain it.

It was like a ravenous beast, constantly eroding Leng Ruyu’s flesh and spiritual qi, and only grew stronger as a result.

As things stood, Leng Ruyu’s wounds only worsened, her cultivation reduced to less than a tenth of what it once was.

Leaving cultivation aside,

The most crucial thing was, if they didn’t remove this black qi in time, the consequences would be unimaginable!

There was even a possibility of death.

”Yu’Er, you know the future of the Demon Sect rests entirely on your shoulders... Your father hopes you can pull yourself together!”

Looking at his dazed daughter, Leng Feng felt as if his heart were being cut by knives.

In the past, his daughter was his pride: with a top grade Spirit Bone, unremarkable to those outside, but at such a young age she had tamed the Purple Fire for her own use. In his eyes as Sect Leader of the Demon Sect, even Su Xiyue—praised as the First Fairy—was far inferior to his own daughter... by a long way!

But, ever since Su Xiyue broke through to Golden Core, Leng Ruyu lost her usual sparkle, her mood became gloomy, and she neglected even her injuries.

”Whether you’re the first or not doesn’t matter. She, like you, possesses a top grade Spirit Bone; she only stepped into Golden Core before you, that’s all.”

In times like these, Leng Feng certainly wouldn’t mention the rumors outside.

Su Xiyue is a Dao Bone?

He didn’t believe it, but if she wasn’t, how could she have reached Golden Core at eighteen?

He didn’t dwell on it much, but if Su Xiyue truly was a Dao Bone, then not just the Demon Sect—even the Hundred Sword Sect, ascendant as it was, would be unable to stop her rise!

Now, the priority was still to encourage his daughter and help her recover.

Yet Leng Ruyu remained unmoved.

”Father has heard that Su Xiyue was trapped and used a forbidden technique at the time, and was also contaminated with black qi. Is this true?”

The battle at the Ruins Rift had been witnessed by too many cultivators; with little effort, the Demon Sect could find out the details.

”Hm?”

Leng Ruyu’s attention wavered a bit.

She had chased after Su Xiyue back then and had clearly seen the black qi tainting her, knew of her wounds, too.