Chapter 35: Ending It Once and for All

The visitor was Lu Changtian.

Li Qingran was absolutely certain.

After spending three years on Chixiao Peak, she was far too familiar with Lu Changtian’s voice. At the same time, she sensed a faint killing intent and a sweeping spiritual probe.

“Li Qingran, you’ve reached the peak of the Qi Refinement Stage? How is that possible?”

Lu Changtian’s voice was filled with shock.

Li Qingran’s dantian had been crippled. In theory, she should have been unable to cultivate normally. Even if she forcefully attempted it, there was no way she could have reached the peak of Qi Refinement in such a short time.

He needed to see for himself and reached out to push the door open.

【Someone is attempting to barge into your virtual girlfriend’s room. Please choose a countermeasure.】

Suppress him with the might of a superior cultivator, forcing him to kneel and learn the meaning of respect.

Let out a cold snort and shatter his eardrums with internal energy, scaring him into fleeing. (Warning: This may cause him to suspect you are a demonic cultivator.)

Chen Huai’an wasn’t satisfied with the game’s choices.

The man outside was none other than one of Li Qingran’s greatest obsessions—Senior Brother Lu Changtian. He had arrived quickly, appearing as a neutral yellow dot on the map, which meant there was no immediate danger alert.

Yellow dots could turn red or green at any moment—red for enemies, green for allies.

“I’ll pay extra—can I just squash him?”

Chen Huai’an’s face darkened.

If this were real life, casually taking a human life would trigger a moral dilemma. But this was just a game—he had no ethical concerns about killing Lu Changtian.

After waiting a moment, no new pay-to-win options appeared. Clearly, Lu Changtian was part of an essential plotline and couldn’t be killed outright.

But Chen Huai’an quickly realized something.

Lu Changtian was a heart demon for Li Qingran. The customer service had mentioned that Li Qingran had to sever her own heart demons—so naturally, she had to deal with Lu Changtian herself. He was curious to see how the story would unfold.

After thinking it over, he chose option 〈2〉. Since Lu Changtian was just a stepping stone for Li Qingran, he wouldn’t interfere.

“This damn door won’t budge?”

Outside the cabin, Lu Changtian was getting anxious. Just as he was about to channel his spiritual energy and punch the door open, an overwhelming pressure suddenly descended upon him, crushing him like a mountain.

“Ugh…”

Crack—!

His blood surged chaotically, his internal organs feeling as if they were being crushed by an iron grip. Unable to hold himself up, his knees slammed into the ground, shattering the stone tiles beneath him. ?á₦ο?ÊS

Panic flooded Lu Changtian’s mind.

In the entire Qingyun Sect, only his master, the sect leader, and a few elders could suppress him purely through their aura. But this pressure… it was even more devastating than what those elders could unleash. He couldn’t muster the slightest resistance.

“Junior of the Qingyun Sect, Lu Changtian of Chixiao Peak—I was unaware that Senior was inside. I have been disrespectful, and I—”

【Shut up!】

A thunderous voice erupted from within the cabin.

A powerful gust of wind slammed the door open, then shut it again with a deafening bang.

Lu Changtian was sent flying backward, landing in a crater left by a previous lightning strike. He felt as though his abdomen had been punched with immense force—his internal organs twisted in pain, and the words he had been about to say died in his throat.

【Qingran, this is someone from your sect. I won’t interfere.】

“Yes… Thank you, Senior.”

…

Did Li Qingran just call that man ‘Senior’?

Their relationship seemed close.

Had this Senior helped Li Qingran recover from her injuries? Was he also the one who killed Song Jiaojiao? Had Li Qingran defected to the demonic sects? But… that earlier pressure had been upright and balanced, with not a hint of demonic energy. This mysterious Senior didn’t seem like a demonic cultivator at all.

Then how had Li Qingran ended up connected to such a powerful figure?

Lu Changtian’s mind was in chaos when the cabin door opened.

Li Qingran stepped out, now clad in fresh robes, her delicate face still tinged with a faint blush.

“Lu Changtian, what do you want?”

Lu Changtian looked up at his former junior sister. Not much time had passed, yet she had changed drastically.

Her aura was now ice-cold, completely devoid of the pitiful weakness she once showed when begging them for mercy. She was like an unsheathed sword, radiating a faint, deadly sharpness.

She was no longer the same person.

Faced with this version of Li Qingran—and knowing that the mysterious Senior was inside—Lu Changtian instinctively abandoned his authoritative demeanor.

Clutching his chest, he stood up and spoke in a calm tone.

“Junior Sister, I came to bring you back to Qingyun Sect. Though you injured Sixth Junior Sister during the Sect Tournament, your crime is not punishable by death. I didn’t know that dog Zhang Hanxiao abandoned you here on Wanqing Mountain to die—if I had known, I would never have allowed it.”

“Not punishable by death…?”

Li Qingran let out a bitter laugh, her icy gaze locking onto Lu Changtian.

“Not punishable by death, so you crippled my dantian? Not punishable by death, so you ripped out my spiritual root? What a joke. Lu Changtian, you should know better than anyone what a dantian and a spiritual root mean to a cultivator. You didn’t kill me outright, but you made me suffer a fate worse than death!”

Lu Changtian frowned at her aggressive tone.

In the past, if he had simply offered to bring her back, she would have been overwhelmed with gratitude. Now, she looked like she would rather die than comply.

Since she could still cultivate, her dantian must have only been damaged, not completely destroyed. With the help of that mysterious Senior, and some elixirs for stabilization, she had recovered.

Lu Changtian pressed his lips together.

“Junior Sister, crippling your dantian was wrong—but you’re still able to cultivate, aren’t you? Master and I can help you restore it further. As for your spiritual root, we can find another one for you.”

“My spiritual root?”

Li Qingran’s voice trembled, her eyes filling with cold fury.

“Your spiritual root…”

Lu Changtian hesitated before finally forcing himself to speak.

“You know that Little Junior Sister has always been frail, with a weak foundation. So… we transplanted your Water Spiritual Root to her. But don’t worry, Junior Sister—I promise, I’ll find you another single-attribute spiritual root, even if I have to spend everything I have at an auction!”

Li Qingran lowered her head, her long bangs casting a shadow over her face.

Her hands clenched into fists, then relaxed, then clenched again. No one knew what she was thinking.

Two teardrops rolled down her cheeks and fell to the ground with soft plops.

Outside the ‘game,’ Chen Huai’an, having witnessed the entire conversation, was both furious and amused.

The people of Chixiao Peak were truly something else.

They had ripped out Li Qingran’s spiritual root and given it to some pathetic excuse of a Junior Sister?

Were they insane?

Even after suffering such cruelty, Li Qingran still held lingering feelings for Qingyun Sect and Chixiao Peak. She was someone who cherished old bonds, remembering Daoist Qingxuan’s teachings and the kindness of her senior brothers.

But now, as her tears fell—

Those old sentiments were finally crumbling away.

“Lu Changtian, I will return to Qingyun Sect.”

Li Qingran lifted her head. Her tear-streaked eyes were devoid of emotion—only an icy void remained.

Under that gaze, Lu Changtian felt no joy—only a bone-chilling dread.

Then, he heard Li Qingran’s cold, deliberate words.

“I will return tomorrow—only to sever my past once and for all.”

Enhance your reading experience by removing ads for as low as $1!