Chapter 414: Pulled Apart Jiutian Xuannü

Gu Qing’s pie was perfectly round.

Xuan Xiao fell silent for a moment—he had no real choice. After uttering “I’d rather become a demon,” he had been rejected by the Divine Realm, leaving him only the path of demonhood before him.

Gu Qing had brought him the Demon Lord, effectively paving the way.

“Demon Lord…”

Xuan Xiao addressed Chong Lou.

Chong Lou gave a slight nod.

What Xuan Xiao did not know was that when the Qionghua Sect ascended, when Jiutian Xuannü descended to the mortal realm, and when his obsession had driven him to demonhood, Chong Lou had already taken notice—this Demon Lord had cast a single glance toward Xuan Xiao back then, and now, upon meeting again, fate had brought them together.

“To reach this point with the body of an ant—truly not easy.”

Chong Lou spoke simply, yet with immense power.

The cultivation systems of the Six Realms place gods and demons at the top, followed by immortals, demons, humans, and ghosts. As the strongest being in the Six Realms, Chong Lou had long observed them from above, seeing all beings as ants. For him to speak words of praise to Xuan Xiao was already rare.

Gu Qing had arranged a place for Xuan Xiao, and now turned to the Qionghua Sect disciples and their sect leader, Su Yao.

“What about you? Will you come out with me?”

The Qionghua disciples had been imprisoned so long that most had gone mad; hearing this, they stared blankly, unable to say yes or no.

“Lady Jiutian Xuannü commanded us to reflect in the depths of the Eastern Sea. When our karmic retribution is complete, we shall have our chance to emerge.”

After regaining partial clarity, Su Yao gritted her teeth: “Our karmic retribution is not yet fulfilled. We are not of your kind.”

This sect leader, Su Yao, had mediocre talent and became Qionghua’s head by sheer luck. During her tenure, she envied and suppressed capable disciples, refusing to let them rise. After being slapped by Jiutian Xuannü, she seemed to have finally woken up.

“Heh…”

Gu Qing couldn’t help laughing. “Your sentence isn’t over yet—but your death is near.”

Su Yao closed her eyes.

Gu Qing reached out and scattered something across the seabed. Instantly, the dark, gloomy depths cleared, revealing to Xuan Xiao and Su Yao the fire veins beneath.

In Sword and Fairy III, the Eastern Sea’s fire veins were about to erupt. The demon Xi Feng and the divine Shui Bi, a pair of lovers, sacrificed their lives to save the thousands of humans along the coast by quelling the fire veins.

In Sword and Fairy IV, the Qionghua Sect used the Xihe Sword and Wangshu Sword to bind the Huanming Realm and siphon its power, lifting the entire sect to ascend—only to be cast down into the depths of the Eastern Sea by Jiutian Xuannü.

In Sword and Fairy VII, it was revealed that the place where Xuan Xiao and the Qionghua disciples were imprisoned lay directly beneath Xi Feng and Shui Bi’s underwater city.

At first glance, it seems like pure crossover fantasy—but upon closer thought, questions arise.

Xi Feng and Shui Bi had lived together on the mortal realm for a thousand years, deeply content. When they sensed trouble with the fire veins, moved by compassion, they chose to quell them. Was Jiutian Xuannü aware they would make this choice?

She wasn’t.

After all, the divine are not merciful. Shui Bi herself said that lingering among mortals would only invite divine punishment upon them.

So the truth emerges: Jiutian Xuannü imprisoned the entire Qionghua Sect right where the fire veins were about to erupt—not out of mercy, but with sinister intent. This so-called “punishment” was in fact a death sentence for the entire sect.

After the disaster, Jiutian Xuannü could simply say: “The fire killed them—not I.”

“Hahahaha…”

Xuan Xiao stared at the erupting fire veins and laughed aloud: “Heaven and earth have no mercy—they treat all things as straw dogs!”

Su Yao’s face turned ashen.

She had believed that five hundred years of suffering would bring a cycle of redemption—but now she realized those five centuries had been nothing but a lie. How cruel her ancestors were!

Zi Xuan stood aside. She had known of Qionghua’s past, and Jiutian Xuannü’s judgment had once seemed just. But seeing the fire veins beneath the sea, she shook her head gently… justice was clear enough, but such hidden machinations made her resentful.

At once, Zi Xuan formed a seal, releasing Nüwa’s power. The dazed Qionghua disciples felt their spirits healed, opening their eyes to see the vast, endless seabed and the boundless fire veins.

“We’ll become demons too!”

One Qionghua disciple clenched his fists, furious.

“Slap!”

Gu Qing struck him across the face, sending him sprawling. “Do you think the Demon Realm takes in any trash?”

This remark struck Chong Lou’s heart.

“We’ll rebel against Jiutian Xuannü!”

With one disciple down, dozens rose to their feet. Their ancestor had betrayed them—they would not accept it.

“Can you even rebel?”

Gu Qing knocked them all down again.

“We’re filled with rage.”

Su Yao stepped before Gu Qing, bowed deeply, voice trembling: “Su Yao has always been short-sighted, never made the right choices. In this situation, Qionghua has no retreat left—rebel and die, don’t rebel and still die. Please, show us a path to survival!”

Hearing this, Gu Qing finally nodded with satisfaction. When they needed something, they came to him. A request, a response—good karma would follow.

“Very well. I’ll give you a path to survival.”

Gu Qing opened his mouth to speak, then walked to Zi Xuan’s side and whispered: “Zi Xuan, you don’t want the people along the coast to suffer, do you?”

Zi Xuan heard this familiar phrase and rolled her eyes. Then, with lips parting slightly, she murmured: “Please…”

Chong Lou turned away, unable to bear the sight.

That’s more like it.

Gu Qing smiled, gripping the Xihe Sword, channeling his technique to redirect the flow of the fire veins. Symbols appeared upon the veins, floating in the water. The seabed’s currents, earth veins, and fire veins were drawn together, naturally forming the “Earth Inferno Array.”

This was one of the Ten Absolute Arrays from the Investiture of the Gods. Gu Qing, having befriended the Jie Sect in the Baolian Lamp world, obtained its methods.

Xuan Xiao stepped forward, gently touching the earth veins, sensing their flow.

“An immortal is a god on the path to heaven.”

Chong Lou spoke softly: “He has gone farther than you.”

Chong Lou had observed Gu Qing for a long time, yet still could not fathom his origins.

Xuan Xiao rose, standing at Chong Lou’s side, watching the Qionghua disciples enter the Earth Inferno Array. Once a prison, it was now their refuge beneath the sea.

Su Yao and the other Qionghua disciples stepped forward to bow and thank him.

Gu Qing held himself aloft, giving a slight nod. These Qionghua disciples were key to his and Liu Mengli’s next conversation…

Jiutian Xuannü used them and planned to discard them. So did Gu Qing.

Jiutian Xuannü may be a beast. So is Gu Qing.

(End of Chapter)