Chapter 806: Apprenticed at Lingxu Cave

Beizhou, Lingxu Cave.

On the half-cliff, Yunmiao True Person paced restlessly, wishing he could slap himself hard.

Like all other cultivators in Beizhou, he had been watching the events in Kaiyuan Mansion, even considering whether to swallow his pride and ask Sister Youyao for this land.

But when dawn came, the news struck like a thunderclap, leaving Yunmiao True Person frozen in place.

He had personally witnessed the array Youyao deployed—let alone if the one stationed in Kaiyuan Mansion were that insect-demon disciple, even if it were himself, he would struggle to handle it.

Yet the calmness of Kaiyuan Mansion was utterly genuine.

“How is this possible…”

Yunmiao True Person turned around, his body stiffening as he saw the new figure before him: “Master!”

His rage stemmed precisely from the words he’d spoken earlier to his master—blaming all responsibility for Lusu’s death squarely on the Nanzhou cultivator. Now it was clear he had dug his own grave.

He couldn’t possibly have sworn to avenge his sister just yesterday, then immediately backtrack now that things looked bad.

If he did, he’d never regain his master’s favor in this lifetime.

At this moment, Yunmiao True Person felt his throat parched; under Lingxu Zi’s impassive gaze, he gritted his teeth and forced out: “Master, that boy is truly a deceitful scoundrel! When he first sought to join our lineage, he concealed his face and only revealed a qi level barely at Third Rank, fooling all of us!”

“Now it seems Sister’s death may have other causes.”

“But please, Master, rest assured—I will not let this murderer escape. I will punish him severely!”

“…“

Lingxu Zi listened to his disciple’s hollow words, turned his head aside, and a faint, almost imperceptible sneer curled his lips: “Is that so? How exactly do you plan to punish him? Tell me.”

“I—”

Yunmiao True Person lifted his head; his earlier righteous posture now stiffened into awkward silence.

To satisfy his master, he should now descend the mountain and capture that insect-demon disciple immediately.

But after last night’s events, the situation was still unclear, and he knew nothing of the boy’s true nature—it would be far too reckless.

He licked his dry lips, unable to utter a single word for a long while.

Finally, he stammered: “Let me prepare first. I won’t let that insect-demon disciple escape unscathed.”

Hearing this, Lingxu Zi finally turned his back completely, his face etched with disappointment.

With a disciple like this, how could Lingxu Cave ever avoid decline? Whether before or after the tribulation, Lingxu Cave would have no place at all—and even he, Lingxu Zi, would never dare raise his head before the Sect Master.

Thinking of this, the white-haired old man sighed deeply, and instead of scolding Yunmiao further, he merely said calmly: “If I hear you call him ‘insect-demon disciple’ again, you may leave the mountain yourself.”

With a flick of his sleeve, Lingxu Zi vanished from the spot.

“…“

Yunmiao True Person, ever perceptive, could not miss his master’s attitude. He opened his mouth, then after a long silence, stamped his foot hard: “Damn it!”

Everything had been going well—until that damn Taixu Zhenjun fled here and turned everything upside down.

From my sister to my master, everyone now looks down on me.

“Why didn’t you just die in those monks’ hands!”

Yunmiao True Person spat bitterly, then suddenly remembered his master’s final words—his face twisted strangely.

His eyelids twitched violently as he muttered to himself: “No way…”

…

Kaiyuan Mansion, Tian Ta Mountain.

When Youyao returned to this place, though her expression remained unchanged, her entire demeanor was utterly different from last time.

Normally, among fellow sect disciples, a single clash over a cultivation ground would suffice.

The victor sends disciples to take over; the loser rarely returns, unless he wants to humiliate himself further.

Though Shen Yi wasn’t truly a disciple of the Three Immortals Sect, the principle still applied.

If you’re outmatched, what’s there to say?

Yet Youyao didn’t just come—she insisted on maintaining her haughty posture.

But when she saw the figure sitting calmly by the cliff, her taut face twitched involuntarily.

Youyao stared intently at Shen Yi’s profile, her gaze falling on the spot where her Clear Light had once cut him—the faint scar had long since healed.

She thought she had seen through everything—that he had been forced to reveal his true cultivation level under her Clear Light Sword Array. But she hadn’t realized even that scar had been deliberately shown to her.

Youyao could easily imagine how smug this Taixu Zhenjun must have felt, watching her walk away, convinced she had uncovered all.

Each time she thought of it, her slender body beneath the black robe trembled with rage.

Yes, Youyao refused to admit defeat precisely because this Nanzhou cultivator used dishonorable tactics.

A true cultivator with the strength to compete would stand openly against all challengers—not hide like a venomous snake, waiting to strike from the shadows.

Such underhanded tricks were unfit for the halls of the immortals.

Not even the most renowned great immortals, let alone the Heavenly Sovereign, attained their status through such means.

One glance, and others would see through it.

But the problem was—this one time happened to land squarely on her.

“Huh.”

Youyao True Person steadied her emotions and walked slowly toward him.

Her hands behind her back clenched and unclenched.

Yet she could never bring herself to cleanly unleash the Clear Light sword qi from her fingertips.

She had indeed considered attacking outright—that was why she had informed her master of Shuyu’s death.

But after calming down slightly, Youyao hesitated.

She could almost guess that all of Beizhou was speculating about what had happened. If she attacked now, it would confirm she was outmatched—and enraged by defeat.

Even if she barely maintained her current position, she would end up last among the three, forever barred from the Immortal Emperor's throne.

“You hid your cultivation.” She slowly uncurled her fingers.

“Didn’t you already know that?” Shen Yi glanced at her casually.

The youth’s calm, as if nothing had happened, reignited the anger she had barely suppressed. She bit her teeth and whispered: “What I saw before was still a lie.”

“So what? Blame me?” Shen Yi suddenly smiled.

In the Ten Thousand Demons Palace, the Southern Emperor and Shenxu Laozu exchanged glances, both seeing the same awe in each other’s eyes—this master of theirs truly understood how to provoke others’ rage.

And with different people, he wore two entirely different faces.

With Lusu True Person before, Shen Yi had wanted her to act—yet the two had exchanged not a single word, silent and restrained, yet precisely stepping on her trigger.

Now, facing Youyao, the eldest disciple of Clear Light Cave, he perfectly played the role of a cunning victor.

Indeed, Youyao’s red lips pressed tighter, her eyes filling with fury.

After a long silence, she slowly extended her hand: “Not your fault. Mine—for being blind. I accept defeat this time. Return the deer demon to me. I want nothing else. Name your price.”

“…“

A flicker of surprise passed through Shen Yi’s eyes.

Even under these circumstances, this woman had forcibly suppressed the urge to attack.

It gave him a slightly better impression of Beizhou cultivators.

Shen Yi truly had no confidence he could defeat her—despite having perfected both paths, he had not yet been accepted under a Golden Immortal’s tutelage, lacking treasures and techniques. Who knew what power her spiritual treasures could unleash?

But even if he couldn’t kill Youyao, defending himself was no problem.

If she didn’t attack today, how would he enter the Three Immortals Sect?

A cultivator who could match Youyao in battle—surely he’d be a prized catch.

“No need to name a price. I’m new here and don’t understand the rules. Just give me what you think is fair.”

Shen Yi rose slowly, flicked his sleeve, and a massive deer head crashed to the ground—the face twisted in the agony of strangulation, the scarred visage even more grotesque, its hollow eyes fixed unblinkingly on the woman before it.

“…“

Youyao froze completely.

Given the methods this Nanzhou cultivator had used to handle the demon crisis—without stirring even a ripple—he was clearly far superior to the deer demon. The expression on the head confirmed it.

Meaning, there was no desperate, bloody victory here.

This demon had no need to kill the deer demon—he possessed the power to subdue it outright.

Killing the demon served no benefit—it was done for one reason only… to provoke her!

“If you wanted to anger me, you succeeded.”

All emotion vanished from Youyao’s face. She lifted her chin slightly, replaced by icy indifference.

Her outstretched hand slowly clenched into a fist; threads of Clear Light split the sky like a chessboard, covering the entire heavens above Kaiyuan Mansion.

“The price is your life.”

Kaiyuan Mansion had drawn the attention of many cultivators, some still lingering nearby—such a massive disturbance could not escape their notice.

They all turned toward the surge of calamity energy.

Among them was Li Shan, who happened to be there.

“Senior Brother…” his disciples murmured. If earlier Beizhou disciples had still doubted, and others thought Youyao had merely been merciful, now the verdict was clear.

The Beizhou prodigy had truly failed to control the Nanzhou cultivator.

“Looks like he’s desperate now.”

Li Shan had wanted to watch the spectacle, but hadn’t expected it to escalate this far.

An immortal killing another in front of commoners—this was unprecedented, even across both sects.

“A pity.”

Li Shan turned away. The young man who had just begun to rise had been decisively crushed by Youyao—sacrificing her final chance at the throne to silence him.

He did not expect much from this duel.

The people of Nanzhou are brave and cunning, but lack background and depth; if they waited for elders to take notice and took time to mature, perhaps there would be some hope.

They were still too eager.

Moreover, You Yao’s behavior in this matter seemed peculiar; based on Li Shan’s understanding of her, this woman should not be so easily rattled.

If Qi Xian knew of this, he would surely have burst out laughing.

Just as the crowd was buzzing with discussion.

You Yao True Person clenched her five fingers with ruthless force; the chessboard in the sky instantly sank, and the countless beams of pure light tightened like a celestial net, filling the air with suffocating pressure—far faster than the last time, by more than a hundredfold.

Last time was merely a probe; this time, she meant to kill.

“...”

Shen Yi looked up, and even without considering a spiritual treasure, just by this technique alone, You Yao was incomparable to last night’s deer demon.

Is this truly the method passed down by a true Golden Immortal?

His body tensed slightly; he no longer gazed at the pure-light chessboard, but turned his eyes toward the woman before him.

His dark eyes slowly glowed with malice.

Shen Yi took a light step forward; black clouds surged from his sleeves, obscuring the faint golden glow on his skin, and his five fingers curled into a fist.

At that moment, he suddenly glanced toward the distance.

The next instant, Shen Yi quietly lowered his hand, and the malice in his eyes vanished completely.

A dust whisk swept through the air, instantly scattering the countless beams of pure light.

“Puh.”

Caught off guard, You Yao spat out a mouthful of essence blood, her face pale as death.

She suddenly looked upward.

Her gaze met directly that of the old man with white hair and beard, looking down upon her.

“Uncle Lingxu!” she roared like a lioness: “Why do you stop me?”

Lingxu Zi hovered in the sky, casually retracting his dust whisk. “Can I not stop you when you attack your own sect sibling?”

The most outstanding prodigy among the young disciples, unleashing a killing technique in fury, was no more than dust before a Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal—merely a flick of the finger.

“Where is my sect sibling? I see none,” You Yao bit down hard on her blood-stained white teeth, defiantly stating: “If I recall correctly, Yunmiao Junior Brother himself said this True Person of Grand Void has no connection to Lingxu Cave.”

“Is Yunmiao the master of Lingxu Cave?”

Lingxu Zi, facing the girl’s fury, remained calm and composed, his eyes filled with the indulgent gaze of an elder watching a childish tantrum: “He received your master’s decree, suffered the destruction of his home, and came all the way to Beizhou to seek refuge in my Lingxu Cave.”

“I took him in, to repay your master’s debt.”

“Your coldness toward your own junior brother harms the harmony of our immortal sect. Return at once, and go to your master to accept your punishment.”

“...”

In just a few words, You Yao’s face turned ashen.

This uncle had spoken so definitively, leaving no room for negotiation.

She recalled her master’s words before departure, and only now understood why he had said her time was running out.

Lingxu Zi intends to use this youth to draw his own lineage into the tribulation!

Had she not hesitated just now, the situation would be vastly different.

You Yao took several deep breaths, a wave of helplessness washing over her—she had already lost the great demon, and now her dignity as well; today, she had lost everything.

She finally accepted her fate, swept her sleeve to gather the deer demon’s head and prepare to depart.

Almost simultaneously, Shen Yi casually stepped on the head, and despite the turbulent tribulation force she summoned, the demon’s head remained utterly unmoved.

He raised an eyebrow: “You haven’t made an offer yet?”

You Yao’s eyes were bloodshot as she glared at the youth; but since her earlier attack had failed to break him, how much less could she now, merely by staring? Eyes alone cannot kill.

She fiercely wiped the blood from her lips with her sleeve, then turned and fled into the distance.

Lingxu Zi watched this scene in silence, his eyes now filled with thoughtful contemplation.

He finally descended, standing behind the youth, and spoke slowly: “I am Lingxu Zi.”

Shen Yi tucked away the deer’s head, turned, and bowed: “Disciple pays respects to Master.”

Hearing this, Lingxu Zi finally smiled.

He possesses sufficient courage and ambition, yet also knows propriety, understands the bigger picture, and acts with proper timing.

With such a disciple to fight for Lingxu Cave, he could hardly do worse than Yunmiao.

(End of Chapter)