Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 22 – Spiritual realm

Most cultivators, when encountering a spiritual realm, would treat it as the great fortune of a lifetime and rush in as quickly as they could, in case the entrance closed.

Qiu Congxue was the same, and when she felt the immortal aura, she rushed back over and was about to charge in, when Yin Hanjiang blocked her way.

“The Venerable has not yet entered,” Yin Hanjiang said. Sword in one hand, he stood behind Wenren È, preventing Qiu Congxue from taking another step. 

Qiu Congxue’s current strength was far above Yin Hanjiang’s, but she still remembered how Yin Hanjiang had taken on the experts of Xuanyuan Sect years ago at only Body Unity stage.

To tell the truth, at the time the high-ranking members of Xuanyuan Sect were at odds with each other, and no one wanted to reveal the full extent of their strength lest someone else used it against them. But it was impossible to deny that Yin Hanjiang’s full strength was truly terrifying. Back then, Qiu Congxue was at Void Boundary stage, and hadn’t worked up the resolution to enter the hungry ghost path. After all, she would be cultivating into an Asura in the end. Back then, Qiu Congxue had her brain and her flesh, and was in no way willing to feed herself to hungry ghosts.

Then she had met Yin Hanjiang, and after knocking a mouthful of teeth out of Shu Yanyan, he stuck Qiu Congxue right through the temples with his sword and left her heavily injured for some time. 

After the battle ended and before Wenren È had the chance to sort out the members of Xuanyuan Sect, Qiu Congxue pitched herself into the hungry ghost path. After twenty years, she had risen to Mahayana stage, and brought a swarm of vengeful spirits to challenge Yin Hanjiang. Wenren È, who had been idle at the time, left her picking up her bones all over the floor, and so Shu Yanyan made fun of her for quite a while afterward.

So even though Yin Hanjiang was only Void Boundary stage, Qiu Congxue didn’t dare take him lightly. She restrained her greed for the spiritual realm and waited for Wenren È’s command.

Wenren È crouched at the cliff edge, seeing that the entrance to the spiritual realm had not only opened but was lightly sucking Baili Qingmiao inside. He didn’t hurry to enter, and instead yanked Baili Qingmiao back from the entrance. He cut off one of Qiu Congxue’s arms and refined the essence of the Flesh Mushroom from within her body, then fed it to Baili Qingmiao to cure the bats’ poison.

Qiu Congxue, now missing an arm: …

In the book, when Wenren È took the mushroom, he had a flesh body and the essence was completely absorbed by him. But all of Qiu Congxue’s flesh had been created by the Flesh Mushroom. Before it was completely absorbed by her, the essence could still be used for medicine.

The Flesh Mushroom worked quickly and Baili Qingmiao soon woke with a soft cry. The moment she opened her eyes, the spiritual realm vanished.

“Senior?” Baili Qingmiao saw Wenren È standing coldly beside her. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Senior, this one is far too incompetent. I couldn’t even deal with a few blood bats and needed senior to save me.”

“I didn’t save you.” Wenren È shifted to one side and revealed Qiu Congxue standing there without an arm.

“Master Qingxue!” Baili Qingmiao hopped to her feet and ran to her master’s side, looking over her arm with concern. Tears started flowing down her cheeks. “You sacrificed your own body in order to save me. I… this disciple has no way to repay you. I can only dedicate the rest of my life to you, master.”

Qiu Congxue, clutching her arm, said stiffly, “It’ll grow back with enough spiritual energy. And I wasn’t the one who cut it off, so you don’t need to thank me.”

The situation was really a mess. It was Wenren È who had acted, but it wasn’t his own flesh he cut off, and Qiu Congxue hadn’t been willing either. Neither of them had had any sincerity, and neither felt they deserved Baili Qingmiao’s thanks.

Wenren È spoke to Baili Qingmiao, who was hugging Qiu Congxue. “Don’t relax too early. I was just experimenting a little. In order to find the spiritual realm’s entrance, I’m afraid you’ll have to sustain more injuries.”

After saying that, he took Baili Qingmiao’s Moonlit Frost Silk, and after tying it around her waist, knocked her out again with a blow to the back of her neck.

Using the Moonlit Frost Silk as a fishing line, he dangled Baili Qingmiao’s limp body over the edge of the cliff.

This time, Wenren È dared to veer off the book’s path and do something different. After treating Baili Qingmiao’s injury, he let the entrance vanish, then knocked her out again and let her dangle by the cliff face.

It was completely different from the book’s events, yet the spiritual realm once again materialized.

Even Yin Hanjiang, who rarely thought on his own, asked in confusion, “Venerable, what is going on?”

A spiritual realm ought to be an opportunity one encountered once in a thousand years, and it was already incredible for them to witness one opening. How could it be that after Wenren È passed it up, it now opened again?

“Let’s talk after we’re in.” Wenren È didn’t explain, instead wrapping the silk ribbon in his hands around himself and Yin Hanjiang, and jumping in after Baili Qingmiao.

Qiu Congxue wasn’t about to be left behind and, disregarding her missing arm, jumped down the cliff. However, after the spiritual realm sucked in the other three, it paid her no mind and abruptly vanished. Qiu Congxue’s spiritual powers were suppressed, leaving her unable to fly, and, failing to grab onto a vine in time, she fell into the sea with a plop.

Inside the spiritual realm, Wenren È tied the unconscious Baili Qingmiao into a bundle which he slung over his shoulder. He looked at the entrance now closed behind them and said, “As I expected, Qiu Congxue wasn’t able to enter.”

“She was right behind us, but the entrance completely passed her over,” Yin Hanjiang said, mystified.

“The spiritual realm only wanted to accept one person, Baili Qingmiao,” Wenren È said, indicating the bundle on his back. “If we weren’t tied to her bonded weapon, we wouldn’t have been able to enter either.”

In the book, Wenren È had been clutching Baili Qingmiao in his arms, so they couldn’t have been separated. This time, Wenren È purposefully left behind Qiu Congxue to test if the spiritual realm had indeed been targeting Baili Qingmiao.

It seemed all the treasures of the world were attracted to the protagonist. Maybe they favored her as a primordial goddess, or maybe they wanted to absorb her power.

This spiritual realm was part of a palace in the immortal realm. The only areas open to them were a hall shrouded in immortal essence and a scenic courtyard outside. Beyond the courtyard was a wall of white mist and a powerful array that prevented them from leaving.

A crimson bird with one leg dozed in the courtyard, perched on a tree covered with scarlet fruits. In a small stream below, an azure carp swallowed fallen fruits from time to time, its tail splashing happily. On a rock formation by the stream sat a yellow turtle, and a white cat came over, flipped the turtle over, and started sharpening its claws on its shell.

The two watched this scene from a window overlooking the courtyard, not willing to carelessly leave the room. Yin Hanjiang considered the animals for a while, then asked hesitantly, “The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Vermillion Bird are the four sacred beasts. Though they reside in the immortal realm, they are the guardians of the four directions and should be protecting the heavenly pillars. Why would they all appear in this small courtyard?”

Wenren È brought out Abusive Romance and flipped through it. “The stranger part is that this doesn’t fit the book’s description of the spiritual realm.”

What they should’ve entered was a pitch black cavern, guarded by many monsters and beasts. Baili Qingmiao had still been bleeding from the bite the blood bat had given her, and the scent drew many of the beasts forward. Protecting the female lead, Wenren È risked his life in order to slay them. The two of them stumbled through the darkness and finally came across the Shattered Mountain Meteorite. 

The meteorite glowed with light, preventing them from approaching. Only after Wenren È used the killing intent of the Seven Killing Halberd to suppress it could he claim it. Afterward, Baili Qingmiao found detoxifying herbs to put on her bite. The moment the bleeding stopped, the exit appeared, and Wenren È carried her through.

After reading through the section again, Wenren È said, “There are two divergences. One, Baili Qingmiao is currently unconscious, and two, she isn’t injured or poisoned.”

These two different conditions led to entirely different spiritual realms.

“Is this place the same location as the book, just in a different form, or a completely different location?” Yin Hanjiang wondered. From a table in the hall, he picked up a small metal box.

Wenren È smiled and took it from him. “The Shattered Mountain Meteorite.”

The Shattered Mountain Meteorite that he originally faced a thousand dangers to reach was now sitting peacefully on a table for anyone to take.

He had already left the unconscious Baili Qingmiao on a bed. Wenren È glanced at her, wondering if their surroundings would change when she woke up.

When she was bitten by the blood bats earlier, Wenren È hadn’t noticed anything strange about her blood, but that didn’t mean nothing else could’ve. He used his spiritual energy to make a cut on her arm. Her blood flowed freely, yet nothing changed about their surroundings.

After some consideration, Wenren È waved a hand and dissipated the blood qi that he had left inside her body. Baili Qingmiao immediately woke up, rubbing her eyes, and cried out in shock. “Where am I? Why is it so dark?”

In the instant her eyes opened, the spiritual realm had transformed into a pitch-black cavern.