Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 8 – Violet Spirit Pavilion Master

Wenren È watched the roiling magma beneath his feet. The Seven Killing Halberd in his hand swung lightly to point to the blue-robed woman, making it clear he had no intention of letting her off easily.

“Wait a minute!” the woman said. “We have no grudge with each other and you’ve obtained the Snow Flame, so why don’t you let it go now?”

Seeing she couldn’t win, she was trying to escape.

“I can let you off,” Wenren È said. “Protector Yin, you’ve followed me for many years. Under what circumstances will I let my opponents go?”

Yin Hanjiang appeared behind Wenren È, clutching his missing hand. “The Venerable is magnanimous, and rarely insists on killing opponents he sees potential in.”

Though he practiced the Path of Slaughter, Wenren È very rarely killed people himself. Back when he attacked Xuanyuan Sect, most of the killings were done by Yin Hanjiang, and Wenren È only killed the old Sect Master. As for the remaining high-ranking people like Shu Yanyan, Wenren È left them completely untouched.

Yin Hanjiang explained to the blue-robed woman, “The Venerable will very rarely take action against those weaker than him. They are not worth his attention. As for those with potential, the Venerable will give them a way out, and wait to battle them again after they’ve raised their strength.”

The Path of Slaughter consisted of struggling for survival against impossible odds. Without an opponent who could push oneself to one’s limits, without an even match, without winning from a disadvantage, there was no way to advance. After Wenren È had first stepped onto this one-way road with no going back, every step was taken on thin ice, yet he had quite enjoyed the journey.

“Can you increase your strength? Do you have any worth for this Venerable to spare you?” Wenren È asked.

The blue-robed woman gritted her teeth. She pointed a finger at Baili Qingmiao. “My reason was her.”

Wenren È raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”

Baili Qingmiao sat in the midst of striking lightning, which filled the air around her for hundreds of meters with silver flashes. It looked impressive, but to these three people, a mere lightning tribulation at the Core Formation stage was nothing.

“Speaking of, why did you give her the Snow Flame?” Wenren È asked.

In the original plot, Baili Qingmiao spent five days treating Hè Wenzhao after obtaining the Snow Flame, but hadn’t encountered any wandering immortal.

“I didn’t give her the Snow Flame. It was drawn to her.” The blue-robed woman knew it was meaningless to lie to Wenren È. “I’ve been cultivating underneath these Ice Plains for eight hundred years, in order to obtain the flames of true yang underneath the ice. But after all these years, I’ve not obtained a single wisp of yang energy, while she found it after just arriving. Naturally, I wanted to see just what was with this little girl.”

Yin Hanjiang thought about what Wenren È had said, that the Snow Flame was Baili Qingmiao’s destiny and could not be obtained by anyone else. Indeed the Venerable had spoken a truth of heaven. All the time this wandering immortal had waited couldn’t match up to five months for Baili Qingmiao.

“I have the essence of an immortal, so I can see things that ordinary cultivators cannot. As she was on the brink of death, between her brows, there was a ray of divine light protecting her, which attracted the Snow Flame to her. I think she may have a connection to the remnants of some old divinity, so I placed a mark on her in order to keep an eye on her in the future.”

“That’s all?” Wenren È looked the woman over. “The mark of a wandering immortal shouldn’t require you to show up.”

“Isn’t that because I discovered your presence?” said the blue-robed woman. “I was worried you’d also figured out there was something special in that little girl and were after that trace of divinity. I didn’t want to hand it over to you, so I was planning on unmasking your identities as demonic cultivators in front of Baili Qingmiao and then doing away with you to gain her trust. Then in the future I could find a way to follow her, awaiting an opportunity to steal her destiny.”

All quite reasonable; this was how a cultivator ought to act. Wenren È nodded his head slightly in approval. But how come this woman was never named in the original story? She never made her appearance to harm Baili Qingmiao right up to the end.

“If we weren’t here, would you have contacted Baili Qingmiao?” Wenren È asked.

The blue-robed woman was silent, seemingly not wanting to answer.

Wenren È raised an eyebrow and the Seven Killing Halberd shone with dark gold light. An immense force fell upon the blue-robed woman, as Wenren È pressed her head toward the lava below. This wasn’t ordinary lava, but the flames of true yang which were sealed under the Ice Plains. Touching it would damage the soul as well.

While Wenren È was fighting that snow woman, he realized it wasn’t her true body, but was just an avatar unleashing great power using the energy of the Ice Plains. If they couldn’t find the real body, there was no meaning in defeating the false one.

So he had brought out his bonded weapon, the Seven Killing Halberd. The gold patterns on the halberd and Wenren È’s robes linked together to form an array, invoking the power of the sixth star of the Southern Dipper[1]. With his body as the foundation and the harsh energy of many winters as the focus, he could draw upon the power of the star for his own use, breaking apart the millennia-old Ice Plains and uncovering her true body hidden in the ice sheets.

Sadly, despite having sealed herself in the ice for eight hundred years, she had never realized that not a hundred meters below her was the fire of true yang.

The blue-robed woman was beautiful, but she had a haughty and aloof aura, quite different from Shu Yanyan’s charming manner. She highly valued her looks, and with Wenren È pressing her down like this, the injury to her face would never fully heal until she could ascend to the immortal realm and recreate an immortal body for herself.

“Stop!” she cried. Admitting defeat, she said, “I’m the supreme elder of Violet Spirit Pavilion. Wandering immortals are not restricted to a flesh body. I have an agreement with the master of Violet Spirit Pavilion, whose body I can use in order to carry out affairs. I saw that the little girl cultivated Shangqing Sect’s methods, so if you guys hadn’t been here, I would’ve gone to Violet Spirit Pavilion to make my plans.”

The Violet Spirit Pavilion Master? Wasn’t that the woman Hè Wenzhao had married in order to support his sect? And afterward, when she discovered Hè Wenzhao loved another woman, she went after Baili Qingmiao’s life like mad, taking the role of a very powerful female villain.

In the original plot, Baili Qingmiao had dragged Hè Wenzhao to the Ice Plains. With how cunning this wandering immortal was, she would’ve instantly seen that Hè Wenzhao was Baili Qingmiao’s weak point. So that’s why she cared about him—in order to get Baili Qingmiao’s divinity.

This made perfect sense then. Wenren È not only didn’t get why Baili Qingmiao was so attached to Hè Wenzhao in the book, but also why all the other female characters were so possessive over him. Why were they so cutthroat over this indecisive man, that they were even willing to kill each other? Wenren È never thought people could become so crazed over love, but if it was for power or prestige, then he understood perfectly.

The power of an old god was worth going wild over for any cultivator. Too bad this wandering immortal never realized that Baili Qingmiao didn’t have a connection to a divine remnant, but she herself was an old god, and her divinity was something no other person could take.

Unless Baili Qingmiao chose of her own will to give it to them.

From what Wenren È remembered about the Violet Spirit Pavilion Master, she spent most of her time sucking up to Hè Wenzhao or plotting against Baili Qingmiao, and her power had not grown very much. There wasn’t any use in letting her go.

Thinking this, Wenren È’s expression didn’t change, and he kept pushing her head toward the roiling lava.

The blue-robed woman struggled like mad, resisting with the full strength of a wandering immortal. But she was held fast by the Seven Killing Halberd, only managing to slow down Wenren È slightly.

However, at this moment, Baili Qingmiao finished her heavenly tribulation, entering the first level of Core Formation. She awoke within the flashes of lightning, opening her eyes.

She first blinked her eyes in confusion, then examined her dantian. Seeing that she had successfully formed a golden core, she jumped up excitedly. “I’ve finally reached Core Formation! When I get to Nascent Soul next, I can be together with shixiong!”

Wenren È: ?

He released the blue-robed woman and moved to Baili Qingmiao in a flash. Yin Hanjiang followed, standing behind Wenren È, warily watching the woman in case she held a grudge and attacked when their backs were turned.

With Yin Hanjiang there, Wenren È never had to fear attacks from behind.

“What did you just say?” Wenren È said with a cold look.

“Be together with my shixiong…” Baili Qingmiao flushed and stamped a foot. “Oh my god, senior, don’t talk about it!”

Wenren È grabbed her wrist and checked her spiritual essence. With a strained look on his face, he said, “What happened to your Path of Indifference?”

She had just formed her golden core by enlightening to the Path of Indifference, not using the Shangqing Sect methods at all. But after undergoing the tribulation, she no longer had the methods of the Path of Indifference inside her, and the way she circulated energy throughout her body was the same as Hè Wenzhao, the method of the Shangqing Sect.

“Path of Indifference?” Baili Qingmiao said, like she had no memory. “What’s the Path of Indifference?”

She seemed to have forgotten the guidance Wenren È had previously given.

“It seems your brain really was struck by lightning,” Wenren È sneered.

Or how would she completely forget the Path of Indifference after undergoing the tribulation, and only be thinking of Hè Wenzhao?

“Take her out of the Ice Plains.” Wenren È one-handedly picked up Baili Qingmiao and tossed her at Yin Hanjiang.

Yin Hanjiang caught her. He didn’t ask why, just slung Baili Qingmiao up with one hand like Wenren È and flew off. In the book Wenren È handled the female lead like a treasure that he feared would shatter, treating her with every care, so Yin Hanjiang would also take care of her like the Venerable’s own life. Now that Wenren È treated Baili Qingmiao as a weed, Yin Hanjiang also didn’t care about her.

After they left, Wenren È walked up to the blue-robed woman. He thought of how Shu Yanyan smiled when she was coaxing her subordinates and tried to smile at her.

The Supreme Elder of Violet Spirit Pavilion was so terrified that she knelt down in midair. “W—w—what do you want?” she said in a trembling voice.

What’s with her? I’m smiling warmly and everything. Wenren È was puzzled. He stopped smiling and said with a stony face, “I’m interested in the divine remnant you spoke of. If you find a way to obtain it, I won’t expose your true aim to Baili Qingmiao.”

The blue-robed woman looked suspiciously at Wenren È. He clearly wasn’t interested earlier!

“If you don’t believe this Venerable, I won’t force you. This Venerable will come find you a hundred years later, in the hopes that by that time, your strength is worth fighting.”

“What kind of monster are you?” the woman said, trembling. “How could a Mahayana cultivator have the power to stand against an immortal?”

“Wenren È of Xuanyuan Sect.” With those last words, Wenren È left the Ice Plains.

Baili Qingmiao had been undergoing her tribulation while they were talking and hadn’t heard what they said. She didn’t realize the blue-robed woman wished her harm and thought she was another well-intentioned senior.

She didn’t know Wenren È was the master of Xuanyuan Sect either, so obediently waited for him with Yin Hanjiang at the Ice Plains’ entrance.

She was even worried for the blue-robed woman, and paced at Yin Hanjiang’s side. “Is senior going to be okay? Is the senior from the Ice Plains going to be okay? They should stop fighting. They’re clearly both good people, so why do they need to fight? It was all my fault.”

Yin Hanjiang acted as if deaf and showed no reaction to anything Baili Qingmiao said.

Wenren È, who had arrived just in time to hear these words, let out a sigh. Was her brain beyond help?

“Senior!” Baili Qingmiao’s eyes brightened when she saw Wenren È return unharmed, and she rushed forward. On seeing his impassive expression, she felt anxious again. “The senior from the Ice Plains…”

“Not dead,” Wenren È said casually.

Baili Qingmiao calmed down at that and bowed to Wenren È. “Many thanks to senior for the assistance. If you hadn’t sent me to the Thousand Mile Ice Plains, and also taken away the Flame Feather Cloak, I would not have awakened to the Dao while facing death and cultivated a golden core.”

On hearing this, even the cold-hearted Wenren È wanted to say, no, this Venerable was planning for you to die.

“Mm.” He nodded. “You’ve been gone for long, and I need to treat him, so you can go now.”

Baili Qingmiao formally bid him farewell and set off happily, seeming full of enthusiasm even from the back.

Wenren È placed a hand on Yin Hanjiang’s severed wrist and said in displeasure, “The point of coming here was to heal you, but it led to your injury instead.”

“This subordinate was too weak,” Yin Hanjiang said, head lowered.

“Return to the sect. This Venerable will treat you.”

Saying this, Wenren È wrapped an arm around Yin Hanjiang’s waist. He enveloped him in his light flash, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived back at Xuanyuan Sect’s main hall. As for the wrecked Thousand Mile Ice Plains, Wenren È couldn’t care less. The Ice Plains had a special environment anyway, filled with cold energy, so it would probably restore itself in a hundred years’ time.

They came to the spiritual spring in the back mountains and Wenren È had Yin Hanjiang enter. Yin Hanjiang immediately took a few steps back. “This is the Venerable’s cultivation grounds, this subordinate cannot.”

“Yin Hanjiang, don’t make this Venerable repeat himself over and over.” Wenren È grabbed Yin Hanjiang’s chin. “If you refuse one more time, this Venerable will cut off your tongue.”

Warm fingertips brushed against Yin Hanjiang’s skin, and his face burned. He daringly looked at Wenren È for a long moment, then closed his eyes, removing his robes and entering the spring.

Most cultivator clothes were protective magic items, like Wenren È’s robe which had been personally created by him to serve as an offensive and defensive tool. If everyone wore ordinary clothes, forget about defense; the weak materials would be blasted into dust by one’s own spiritual energy, which would be in bad form.

Because clothes served a protective use, they would block most external spiritual energy, so for things like cultivating in this spiritual spring or healing, they would need to change into normal clothes. Yin Hanjiang wore a thin inner robe, which stuck to his skin after it got wet.

Wenren È also took his robe off and entered the spring. He placed a palm against Yin Hanjiang’s back and helped him separate from the demonic sword.

After being forced to leave Yin Hanjiang’s body, the blood-red sword spun unhappily in midair. Wenren È called out his halberd, which resonated with a humming sound, and the demonic sword obediently returned to its sheath.

“You need to refine your own bonded weapon,” Wenren È said. “The demonic sword can forcefully increase your power, but there’s no way for you to develop it further, and you cannot control it as you will. The lava underneath the Thousand Mile Ice Plains is a good place to forge a weapon, but there are no suitable materials.”

Yin Hanjiang felt drained after the demon sword left his body and couldn’t speak. He closed his eyes and started to absorb spiritual energy with Wenren È’s help.

Wenren È guided him a little and seeing that Yin Hanjiang had successfully entered a meditative state, exited the spring. He set up an energy gathering array and waited for Yin Hanjiang to slowly refine the Snow Flame.

He retrieved a jar of spiritual wine from his sleeve and sat against a rock near the spring, simultaneously watching Yin Hanjiang cultivate and considering his future plans.

In this trip, he’d had extensive contact with Baili Qingmiao, met the Violet Spirit Pavilion Master, and through Shu Yanyan, made contact with the male lead Hè Wenzhao. Through these interactions, he’d realized things weren’t as he’d imagined.

He took out the book and looked through it again, finding many details that shocked him. He had originally thought it was filled with inconsistencies, but now it seemed methodically thought out.

For example, the Violet Spirit Master. Wenren È had taken her as a pathetic woman who had been won over by Hè Wenzhao’s flowery words and blinded by love, doing many irrational things with her mind overtaken by jealousy, using every method under the sun to torment a poor girl.

But after meeting the blue-robed woman today, he’d realized that everything the Violet Spirit Master had done was reasonably motivated. Without the remnants of an ancient god as bait, how was Hè Wenzhao qualified to have a woman love him to such an extent?

Since this character turned out to be sensible, the Lord of Demons in the book giving his life for Baili Qingmiao must also have something deeper behind it. Could what he had thought was a trashy book actually turn out to contain profound knowledge?

Wenren È flipped though it while drinking, memorizing each illogical detail to investigate in the future.

He didn’t necessarily need to care about this. Wenren È didn’t have any interest in fixing plot holes as the first page had instructed him to do. But he had to repay his debt to Baili Qingmiao. And if things would play out like the book from beginning to end, then was his death and Yin Hanjiang’s madness predetermined?

He had already been swept up in the midst of things, so there was no reason to try and escape now. Wenren È wasn’t predisposed to avoiding trouble anyway. If things were thus destined, then he would reject the heavens and rewrite destiny!

Spiritual wine still had some effect on cultivators. Wenren È’s thoughts wandered and, half-closing his eyes, he dozed lightly against the rock.

Yin Hanjiang stirred in the spiritual spring, having completely absorbed the Snow Flame. His hand had been restored, the corpse energy inside his body had been entirely cleared out, and his level had risen from the first level of Body Unity to the ninth, with the Void Boundary stage within sight.

Yin Hanjiang saw that his Venerable had apparently fallen asleep. He climbed out of the spring, watching Wenren È’s sleeping face. He stared intently for a while, then picked up the outer robe that Wenren È had tossed onto the floor and, after holding it to his chest for a moment, draped it over Wenren È.

He then looked at the half dish of wine Wenren È had left and stood like a statue, unmoving.

Wenren È had woken when Yin Hanjiang draped the robe around him, but kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep. He wanted to see what Yin Hanjiang was like when he thought he wasn’t looking.

Being accustomed to the usual deferential Yin Hanjiang, then thinking of his madness later in the book, Wenren È thought that a person couldn’t instantly change in such a drastic way—there had to be signs that he just hadn’t noticed before.

Yin Hanjiang stayed frozen for a long time. After seeing that Wenren È wasn’t going to wake, he slowly reached out a hand and picked up the wine dish which had already cooled. He stuck out a tongue and sampled it a bit, before putting it back.

He didn’t even drink it, just tasted a drop. If Wenren È hadn’t seen it just now, he never would’ve noticed.

Yin Hanjiang’s heart was pounding, his breathing stifled, when he heard Wenren È behind him say, “Protector Yin, do you want to drink?”

Yin Hanjiang turned pale, not daring to look up. He said in a shaky voice, “Venerable, this subordinate…”

“You always have such self-restraint that you won’t cause any problems even if you drink. There’s no need to repress yourself to such an extent.” Wenren È got up, and with a gesture, his robe replaced itself on his body. 

He picked up the wine jar and dish and pushed them onto Yin Hanjiang. “When idle, this Venerable permits you to drink.”

Yin Hanjiang: …