Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 20 – Blood Demon Elder

Baili Qingmiao hugged Qiu Congxue’s arm and shot a look at Liu Xinye. Though she was being subtle, her provocative intent was clear to see.

Wenren È: …

If anyone dared to look at him that way in Xuanyuan Sect, they would probably never be able to look at anything for the rest of their life. Wenren È would’ve dug out those eyes and hung them in Xuanyuan Sect’s main hall so they could stare at him all they wanted.

Baili Qingmiao was blatant enough that even Qiu Congxue noticed. She instinctively gauged Wenren È’s reaction and, seeing that he looked displeased, immediately reached a hand for Baili Qingmiao’s eyes.

Completely oblivious to the danger she was in, Baili Qingmiao lowered her head and dove toward Qiu Congxue’s chest. “Master Qingxue, I really really miss shixiong, please?” she begged.

“You can go see him. Seeing as you won’t have a chance in the future, right?” Qiu Congxue said pleasantly, pulling her back and looking at her large, sparkling eyes.

That last question was directed at Wenren È, probably asking him for mercy on behalf of Baili Qingmiao, to let her see the one who was most important to her before she was blinded forever. It could also be considered one last favor from master to disciple.

Wenren È looked at Qiu Congxue coldly and said, “There’s no need.”

Though she had been spared, Baili Qingmiao was still unaware of having been in any danger. She hid behind Qiu Congxue’s back again and said, “Liu-shijie, Elder Qingxue has given me permission to go see shixiong! You don’t have the authority to stop me!”

Yet this Venerable has the authority to stop Qiu Congxue gouging your eyes out, Wenren È thought.

After hearing Wenren È’s words, Qiu Congxue pleasantly patted Baili Qingmiao’s cheeks and said with a warm smile, “That’s true. There’s not much difference in you having those eyes or not.”

“Huh?” Baili Qingmiao rubbed at her eyes and gave her master an odd look. Her eyes were fine.

Qiu Congxue had inadvertently agreed to Baili Qingmiao’s request. As “Liu Xinye” was just a Core Formation disciple, she couldn’t refuse her elder’s decisions. She silently followed them as Qiu Congxue opened the barrier array. Baili Qingmiao shot her rival another smug look before boarding the flying boat. 

After she climbed on, she felt an odd sensation behind her and turned around to see Elder Qingxue and Liu Xinye both silently following her.

“Why are you coming?” Baili Qingmiao snapped at Liu Xinye.

Hearing her tone, Qiu Congxue took out a small knife and began twirling it at her fingertips, thinking if Baili Qingmiao didn’t want her tongue she could cut it out for her; it wasn’t necessary for cultivation anyway.

“This— I also need to depart Frost Peak,” Liu Xinye said, while reaching out to push down Qiu Congxue’s hand with the knife. Qiu Congxue, seeing the Venerable didn’t need her help, put away the knife.

Baili Qingmiao, unaware that she had narrowly avoided two disasters, grumbled to herself as she steered the boat. She’d never liked Liu-shijie. Liu-shijie bullied her back when she was an outer disciple and always stole her contribution points, so that she couldn’t earn manuals or Foundation Establishment elixirs at the administration hall. If it weren’t for her shixiong’s consideration, she might still be an ordinary Qi Gathering disciple.

But now that she had Elder Qingxue on her side, Liu-shijie wouldn’t dare do anything to her. It was also only with the backing of Elder Qingxue that Baili Qingmiao dared show her resentment to Liu Xinye.

As Baili Qingmiao steered the ship, Wenren È sent a voice transmission to Qiu Congxue behind her, asking, “How did she pass the inner demon tribulation for the Nascent Soul stage?”

Baili Qingmiao’s Core Formation stage lightning tribulation had caused her newly gained awareness of the Path of Indifference to vanish, and Wenren È guessed that her Nascent Soul stage tribulation would be similar.

Qiu Congxue answered, “After forming her Nascent Soul, she saw Hè Wenzhao with Protector Shu, this body the Venerable is currently using, and countless other women, some with blurred faces, all having relations. At the time she was weeping and sobbing, nearly failed to form her Nascent Soul, and even her golden core almost dissipated.”

“How did she overcome her inner demons?” Wenren È asked.

Qiu Congxue pulled a face. “When she was on the brink of qi deviation, she suddenly calmed down, completed the formation of her Nascent Soul, and the illusion completely vanished. When I asked her afterward, she told me that in the illusion, her shixiong smiled gently at her and said that he loved her most in the world, and everyone else was just distractions. At that, she instantly calmed down, as all that mattered was shixiong loving her.”

Wenren È: …

He had a growing suspicion that some sort of hidden power was interfering with Baili Qingmiao’s tribulations.

When in the original plot, she gave up the divine essence, acting like she’d been possessed and thinking “shixiong wanted her to protect mortal lives”, had something forced that thought into her head?

Qiu Congxue saw the grave expression on Wenren È’s face and said considerately, “Venerable, I may be a wandering immortal now, but I still know some ghost cultivation tricks. Why don’t I call a few spirits in, scoop out her brains, and stuff a vengeful ghost who hates men in there?”

Wenren È glanced at his “considerate” subordinate trying to “ease his burdens” and replied, “Altar Master Qiu, now that you’ve grown a brain again, you should see Protector Shu sometime and learn how to use it. Don’t let it go to waste.”

“Understood, Venerable,” Qiu Congxue said obediently.

While they were communicating, Baili Qingmiao had flown the boat to the main peak. After the Sect Master and his personal disciple were both injured, they were both housed in the Sect Master’s quarters.

“Liu-shijie, we’re at the main peak,” Baili Qingmiao said rudely. “You can leave now.”

Wenren È was already used to Baili Qingmiao’s attitude toward Liu Xinye and paid her no mind as he followed her in silence.

“Why are you following me?” Baili Qingmiao said, furious. If Liu Xinye tailed her the whole way, how was she supposed to say her farewells to her shixiong?

“I’m also going to meet Hè Wenzhao,” Wenren È said. 

He wanted to personally see how Hè Wenzhao planned to balance two women’s demands and reassure both Baili Qingmiao and Liu Xinye.

On the main peak, Baili Qingmiao couldn’t deck Liu Xinye to prevent her from visiting her shixiong, so she could only reluctantly take her two tails, Elder Qingxue and Liu Xinye, to the place Hè Wenzhao was recuperating.

Upon entering the door and seeing Hè Wenzhao lying weakly on the bed, Baili Qingmiao’s tears started flowing. “Shixiong…” she sobbed.

“Shimei…” Hè Wenzhao opened his eyes and gazed emotionally at Baili Qingmiao… as well as “Liu Xinye” standing behind him. “And Liu-shimei.”

Baili Qingmiao didn’t care about Liu Xinye and threw herself at Hè Wenzhao. “Shixiong, has the medicinal hall elder told you how your injuries are yet?”

Hè Wenzhao smiled bitterly and shook his head, reaching out to stroke Baili Qingmiao’s hair. “Shimei, you’ve already reached Nascent Soul? You’ve formed your Nascent Soul several years sooner than me. I can rest assured and leave the future of the sect to you.”

With difficulty, he wiped away Baili Qingmiao’s tears, saying softly, “Don’t cry, shimei. As a Nascent Soul stage core disciple and a future pillar of Shangqing Sect, you need to be strong and act as an example to your juniors.”

Hè Wenzhao’s words made Baili Qingmiao cry harder. The pillar of the sect was supposed to be Hè Wenzhao. Was shixiong saying this because he had already given up and wanted to pass his duties onto her?

“Master Qingxue!” Baili Qingmiao lifted her head and looked toward Qiu Congxue, tears staining her face. “You told me that after I reached Nascent Soul, there would be a way for me to save shixiong. How do I?”

Qiu Congxue said, “Well, like this. After Nascent Soul stage, there is a secret technique you can learn, which will put a mark on a person’s soul and allow you to find them after they reincarnate. After I teach you this technique, you can use it on Hè Wenzhao, kill him, and then find his reincarnation and raise him until he grows up. For a cultivator, eighteen years is the blink of an eye.”

Baili Qingmiao: …

Hè Wenzhao: …

Even Wenren È wanted to applaud Qiu Congxue. Xuanyuan Sect was certainly overflowing with talent these days.

Baili Qingmiao was speechless for a moment, then hugged Hè Wenzhao and started bawling. “Shixiong!”

Hè Wenzhao embraced Baili Qingmiao, but his eyes fell on “Liu Xinye”. He really was good-looking by nature, and his tender eyes seemed to be able to speak to you. His warm gaze told “Liu Xinye”, “Shimei, I’m no longer even worth your love, so you don’t need to come visit me again.”

The real Liu Xinye probably would’ve offered her body on the spot. But Wenren È just looked at him coldly, and after watching him for some time, furrowed his brows slightly.

While exchanging gazes with Liu Xinye, Hè Wenzhao suddenly acted like he was listening to a voice, then abruptly paled, looking at Wenren È with alarm. He opened his mouth, about to yell.

Wenren È strode forward in a step and covered his mouth with one hand. He pulled Baili Qingmiao off and said, “You step away.”

“Liu Xinye!” Seeing that “Liu Xinye” had the audacity to physically pull her and shixiong apart, Baili Qingmiao was fuming, but got dragged off by Elder Qingxue.

“Master!” Baili Qingmiao cried in a mixture of fury and anxiety as she watched Elder Qingxue seal the door with a wave of her sleeve.

Elder Qingxue grabbed her by the head and held her down. “Shut up.”

The Venerable’s expression just now had said he was facing a dangerous enemy. Something was wrong with Hè Wenzhao! Qiu Congxue set up a barrier around the room, preventing anyone outside from listening to the two’s conversation.

Inside the room, Wenren È noticed Qiu Congxue had taken the care to put up a barrier, and so released Hè Wenzhao’s mouth, and unleashed his spiritual awareness to thoroughly examine him.

Hè Wenzhao retreated to the opposite wall, his magic weapon in one hand and a transmission talisman in the other. If he snapped the jade tally, the experts of Shangqing Sect would immediately arrive to help him, and activate the mountain’s array to banish what was possessing Liu Xinye.

Wenren È glanced at the talisman and said, “You can call in backup, but this Venerable won’t help you hide your own identity.”

Without learning the blood arts, Wenren È would’ve never been able to notice that there were currently two souls inside Hè Wenzhao’s body. A wisp of blood qi hid inside him, the same blood art as Wenren È.

Ten thousand years ago, the only blood cultivator in the realms deviated and became a demon, and was eliminated by the righteous and demonic sects joining forces. But a blood cultivator was the most difficult being to truly get rid of, as if a single drop of their blood still existed, they could slowly recover their strength.

“Who are you?” Hè Wenzhao demanded. “Liu-shimei wasn’t possessed when I saw her seven days ago. What did you do to her?”

“You aren’t worthy for this Venerable to speak to,” Wenren È said coldly. “Swap with the person inside you.”

Hè Wenzhao’s expression was unwilling, as his eyes flicked back and forth wildly and he seemed to be conversing with someone. In a moment, his expression shifted dramatically, from that of a sentimental and indecisive righteous disciple to a cruel and merciless blood cultivator.

The blood demon spoke with Hè Wenzhao’s body, “Heheh, over these ten thousand years of recuperating, this Venerable never thought another blood cultivator would appear in the cultivation world. This Venerable must commend you for withstanding the Blood Severing Technique.”

The words “This Venerable” rather grated on Wenren È’s ears. He replied in the same haughty manner, “This Venerable has never met another person worthy of calling themselves Venerable.”

“Is that so? You have no idea how strong this Venerable was in the past, and how much stronger cultivators were ten thousand years ago. The cultivators of this age are not even worth a mention!” “Hè Wenzhao” sneered.

Wenren È didn’t want to continue arguing with the blood demon. There wasn’t a point in seeing who could make comebacks quicker. Cultivators certainly were stronger ten thousand years ago, but ten thousand years ago the world was filled with suffering, natural disasters were never-ending, and humans made sacrifices to the gods, but they cared not for humanity. If things continued down that path, the heavens would cleanse the human realm and eliminate all life, so that the earth could slowly recuperate, and give rise to new sentient beings.

Fortunately, one blood cultivator drew the focus of the entire cultivation world, and in the conflict that followed, countless cultivators died and allowed the human realm some time of recovery. This had been the great calamity of the cultivation world ten thousand years ago.

“You’ve possessed Hè Wenzhao but haven’t taken over his body. What’s your goal? Does he know you’re a blood cultivator?” Wenren È questioned.

He knew that if the blood demon didn’t want Hè Wenzhao to hear their conversation, Hè Wenzhao would naturally not hear a word.

“Heheh, why do you think? This Venerable advises you not touch Hè Wenzhao. Otherwise, if the sect’s array is activated, we’ll be like fish in a net, and neither of us will get out alive.” The blood demon spoke unconcernedly, knowing Wenren È wouldn’t expose his identity.

“When did you possess him? After the Great Sect War?” 

By Wenren È’s calculations, the calamity of ten thousand years ago should not appear within the same ten-thousand-year period. It must’ve been the Great Sect War which awoke him from his slumber. And if the blood demon had been possessing Hè Wenzhao while he was dual cultivating with Shu Yanyan, she probably wouldn’t have got off unscathed. Since Shu Yanyan was perfectly fine and also managed to snatch Hè Wenzhao’s Nascent Soul, he must have encountered the blood demon after his Nascent Soul was stolen.

Wenren È was puzzled by something in the book. Liu Xinye gave herself to a righteous disciple, so why did she lose her golden core? The explanation given in the book was that Hè Wenzhao was in qi deviation and wasn’t in control of his actions. After recovering, he got over his inner demons and the Shangqing Sect elders confirmed that he had returned to normal. It was awkward for them to investigate what Hè Wenzhao did while unaware, so they just viewed it as Liu Xinye having brought trouble upon herself.

Plus, Hè Wenzhao showed every consideration to Liu Xinye afterward, searching day and night for a way to restore her golden core. After reaching Body Unity stage, he even dual cultivated with Liu Xinye, helping her regain her power and break through to Nascent Soul.

Baili Qingmiao and Hè Wenzhao had many fights over this. He married the Violet Spirit Master because he had to save the Sect Master’s life, and only the Violet Spirit Pavilion had the cure. But what was the excuse for dual cultivating with Liu Xinye so many times? Was dual cultivating the only way to restore her power?

Wenren È had no interest in reading the male lead make excuses for himself. Baili Qingmiao would always give in by the end anyway.

The last time he met Hè Wenzhao, he didn’t have any good impression of him. He saw just a man who was irresolute about his feelings and lusting after Shu Yanyan. But the Hè Wenzhao in the book, after losing his Nascent Soul, suddenly became much more shrewd, even managing to take a wandering immortal like the Violet Spirit Master into his harem.

After meeting this blood demon possessing many thousands of years of experience, Wenren È felt that several illogical points in the book had now been explained.

Had the Hè Wenzhao in the latter parts of the book already been replaced by the blood demon? After thinking it over, Wenren È decided he couldn’t have been. Just that with the blood demon in his head, helping him plan his every step, Hè Wenzhao was slowly brainwashed and manipulated from a righteous disciple to someone who would use any means to achieve his goals.

As a fellow blood cultivator, Wenren È guessed that the blood demon had probably taken an interest in the divine nature inside Hè Wenzhao, and wanted to wait until after he had cultivated into a god, so that he could take Hè Wenzhao’s body and divinity in one action and become a demonic god. The plot of Abusive Romance only went up to the main couple ascending together to the immortal realm and didn’t get to their ascension to godhood. So Hè Wenzhao was still himself at the conclusion, but who knew how he fared afterward?

Yet another of his doubts were now cleared. It turned out that Hè Wenzhao would’ve regained his Nascent Soul no matter what. Even if it hadn’t been Liu Xinye, it would’ve been someone else. The blood demon cared not whether his victim was male or female. As long as they had spiritual power, he could absorb it and transform it into Hè Wenzhao’s own power.

“This Venerable won’t lie to you,” said the cultivator who had once been called the Blood Demon Elder. “This brat fell into the place of this Venerable’s seclusion during the Great Sect War. I saw his aptitudes were quite good and felt like taking a disciple, heheh.”

“Raising him in order to steal his body later?”

The Blood Demon Elder didn’t reply but instead burst into laughter. There was a vicious glint in his eyes, as if he wished he could kill Wenren È on the spot. 

Wenren È was pleased at his maliciousness. They exchanged a smile, and Wenren È said in a carefree tone, “After the Great Sect War, this Venerable rose to the peak of Mahayana, merely one step away from ascension. However, after learning the Blood Art, there are hardly any opponents left in the world to challenge this Venerable. Without entering the Blood Hell, there are few ways for this Venerable to advance further.”

If Wenren È entered the Blood Hell, Yin Hanjiang would have to follow, and a Void Boundary cultivator like Yin Hanjiang had no possibility of surviving the Blood Hell.

A blood cultivator’s path had no bottlenecks, and one could gain power at breakneck speed by endlessly absorbing the qi of the cosmos and the spiritual essences of others. But the Path of Slaughter was different. Without an opponent to match him, his mental state would not be able to keep up with his power. It would be like giving a three-year-old child a legendary magic weapon. Even if they had it, they couldn’t wield it.

With power but insufficient mental fortitude, sooner or later he would suffer deviation. The Blood Demon Elder right before his eyes was an example of just that.

Though Wenren È was now on the path of blood cultivation, he didn’t want to become a madman with no self-control. He would continue to hone his mind and carve out a new path for himself through impossible odds.

For that, he needed a worthy opponent.

Thus he said, “You can relax, this Venerable will not hurt Hè Wenzhao. Raise him well in the meantime. The day you take his body and become a god is the day this Venerable will kill you.”

“Kill me? Hahahaha!” The Blood Demon Elder seemed to have heard some incredible joke. “A mere Mahayana stage blood cultivator imagines he can kill this Venerable? Such arrogance! Fine, this Venerable would like to see just how you live up to such wild boasts!”

Wenren È could sense the fighting intent that charged the air between them, allowing him to have a small breakthrough in his mental state.

After they had made their agreement, the blood demon returned to his slumber. Hè Wenzhao, regaining consciousness and seeing Liu Xinye smiling eerily at him, cried, “Release Liu-shimei!”

“Don’t worry, this Venerable has no interest in her, nor any interest in you,” Wenren È said, then turned and walked out of the room.