Your Master Is Not as Good as You

Li Yingling looked at Li Xingtian’s expression, as if wondering how anyone could possibly be so wronged by the world, and couldn’t help letting the corners of her lips curl upward. She reached out and patted her second junior brother, who had indeed rendered great service, then comforted him:

“That title sounds very impressive. I’m positively envious, Senior Sister. Anyone who hears it will think you’re brilliant beyond compare—a scheming old demon.”

“You should know, Junior Brother, that these days it’s better to be mistaken for a scheming old demon than for an innocent cultivator with a deficient intellect.”

Li Xingtian let out a forlorn sigh.

“I always thought ‘innocent’ was actually a compliment.”

“That depends on who’s saying it.” Li Yingling’s gaze seemed to pierce through the clouds below as she continued softly, “If Master or I say it, then it probably doesn’t count as a compliment. But if San Dong or you say it, then it should be a good word.”

“Senior Sister, aren’t you being a little too obvious with the insult?”

“Oh? Is that so? Then your ‘innocent’ isn’t a compliment either.”

Li Xingtian was rendered speechless for a moment. In the end, he said helplessly, “That sounds like an insult too.”

Li Yingling refused to let him off and continued, “Oh? Junior Brother, you’re actually perceptive enough to notice that? Then I suppose saying ‘innocent’ does count as insulting someone.”

At last, Li Xingtian could take no more. He turned to Li Yingling and said solemnly, “Senior Sister, you’re truly innocent.”

The words had barely left his mouth when—

A blinding white light shot up through the clouds below, followed by an overwhelmingly powerful Dao aura.

The clouds drifting beneath the mountain peaks were instantly swept into motion by that aura, revealing the landscape they had concealed.

Several streaks of azure light flashed through the mountains at astonishing speed. Even Li Xingtian could only barely keep up with them visually.

Then one of the side peaks was cleanly severed in half by a streak of azure light.

Before the mountain had even completely collapsed, the azure radiance had already arrived in front of the two of them.

As the light faded, they saw Bai Xuanling holding up an object with spiritual energy. It was a reddish-black thing resembling a stone. Upon closer inspection, however, the stone seemed to be faintly pulsing like a heart.

Bai Xuanling looked at the two senior and junior disciples before her.

“Well, look at you two. You certainly seem to have plenty of time for jokes and idle chatter.”

“Bai, of course your actions are guaranteed to succeed!” Li Yingling first offered a flattering remark, then turned her attention to the strange object in Bai Xuanling’s hand. “Is this the thing called ‘Two Realms’ after the code was deciphered?”

Spiritual energy circulated through Bai Xuanling’s hand. With a slight lift of her fingers, she embedded several sealing techniques into the object. She then took out several magical treasures that were clearly extremely valuable and, after a series of maneuvers, used them to lock down the item in her grasp as well.

Once she had finished, Bai Xuanling raised her hand and tossed the object to Li Yingling.

“I searched several times. If your intelligence is accurate, this should be it.”

Li Yingling caught it with spiritual energy but had not yet examined it closely when countless rainbow-colored streaks of light began darting down from all directions.

They landed and swiftly searched every inch of the area, either eliminating the villains who had begun fleeing or capturing them alive.

Bai Xuanling’s task had been to secure the key object as quickly as possible, lest the enemy choose to destroy the Two Realms and die together with them.

Now that this was done, the disciples of the Tianyan Sect would naturally handle the final cleanup.

Li Yingling held the Two Realms aloft with spiritual energy. Although she knew it might be a crucial object belonging to the Heavenly Demons, its appearance was horrifyingly ugly. Merely looking at it caused a faint physical revulsion.

Disgust was plainly visible on her face, but she still examined it carefully and even calculated the frequency of its pulsations.

Meanwhile, explosions of spiritual energy erupted below, followed closely by the sound of collapsing mountains.

The cultivators on both sides had already clashed. As divine abilities were unleashed, waves of oppressive aftershock rolled toward them.

Bai Xuanling raised a hand and spread out a barrier to block the aftershocks. Her gaze also fell upon the Two Realms in Li Yingling’s hand.

“This thing is extraordinary. Three enhanced demons at the Great Ascension Realm were guarding it. When I suddenly took it, they clearly recognized me, yet they still chased after me without the slightest fear. It seems this object is more important to them than their own lives.”

“It can devour spiritual energy, and the amount it consumes is enormous. Each pulse seems to transform the spiritual energy it swallows into some kind of strange force.”

“It doesn’t seem particularly powerful. All the spiritual energy it absorbs is converted into something extremely strange… something similar to a Dao aura. Its penetrating ability is very strong.”

“If its only function is related to its name, ‘Two Realms,’ then could these Heavenly Demons be using it to communicate with the Heavenly Demon Realm?”

“Still, the name is far too obvious, almost as if someone deliberately chose it to give us a hint.”

“I’ve only just encountered it, so its exact function remains unclear.”

After finishing her examination, Li Yingling handed the Two Realms to Li Xingtian with an expression of undisguised distaste.

“Regardless, it’s still a worthwhile gain. And since it was a code, if we hadn’t known the code, this thing would have been called Dao Huang Xuanmiao San He Jin Tu.”

Even Bai Xuanling nodded in agreement at that. She looked at Li Yingling with an unusually strange expression.

“That’s true. Your master has been rushing all over the Five Continents and Ten Thousand Lands, being led around by the nose by those Heavenly Demons. In terms of actual gains, he hasn’t obtained nearly as much as you have from casually wandering around and stumbling upon such a hidden Heavenly Demon lair.”

“Your master worries about this and that, making guesses here and there. He isn’t like you—you simply kicked the door down.”

Li Yingling looked rather pleased. Her tone carried a hint of pride.

“Master is always doing things the old-fashioned way. Does he even understand that opportunities have to be seized? Some matters demand a decisive, proactive strike.”

Bai Xuanling applauded repeatedly.

“That is exactly the sort of wisdom I approve of. I’ll be sure to pass your insights on to your master when we return.”

Li Yingling was not foolish. She suspected Bai Xuanling might be setting a trap to make her condemn herself, so she immediately restrained her expression.

“I was just saying that. It was only a bit of luck. Compared with Master’s farsighted planning, I’m nowhere near his level.”

Seeing that Li Yingling had immediately backed away the moment she spotted the bait, Bai Xuanling looked rather dissatisfied.

“You have none of the youthful spirit that dares to take the lead.”

Li Yingling did not continue the exchange. Instead, she asked about the matter at hand.

“Should we send this to Master first so he can examine it?”

Bai Xuanling glanced at Li Yingling. She could genuinely sense that Li Yingling had grown considerably. Unlike in the past, she was no longer someone who could be easily deceived with a few words.

Now that the conversation had returned to business, Bai Xuanling looked at the Two Realms in Li Xingtian’s hands and said quite naturally:

“Examine it? What good would that do? Does your master even have the eyesight for this? If you send it to him, the only thing he’ll say is, ‘Why did you bring me such an ugly thing?’”

“Send it directly to the Xuanqing Heavenly Sect. Let those people who’ve seen all kinds of bizarre objects study it.”

“Just send your master a message. If he’s truly curious, he can go take a look himself.”

Li Yingling nodded, then looked down toward the scene below once more.

The forms of the three demons at the Great Ascension Realm were gradually changing. It seemed they were about to transform into enormous beasts the size of half a mountain.

Their dreadful pressure shook the heavens, sending trees flying and stones scattering.

Bai Xuanling also glanced down.

The next moment—

Qingming was drawn from its sheath.

The aura of the Azure Heaven Dao seemed to descend from the sky.

A huge, grotesque head came tumbling down the mountain.