Chapter 2: An Ugly Demise—I Was Just Picking Herbs!

Gu Changhuai looked at Hua Mei, and Hua Mei looked back at him. All that remained between them was disappointment.

Gu Changhuai stated righteously, “You can’t expect a Shadow Demon who’s on his first mission and has never even left the Demon Realm to obtain a disciple identity from a sect in the Cultivation World.”

Hua Mei sneered coldly, “You’re truly my good fortune.”

His gaze swept around the room before suddenly landing on the token hanging from the waist of the two people at the neighboring table.

He urgently tugged at Gu Changhuai’s sleeve. “Look at the neighboring table. The tokens hanging from their swords are Wuding Pavilion identity plaques. Wuding Pavilion has wide connections. Look at their tokens—they’re not low-status there. They must have some say within Wuding Pavilion. Why not ask them?”

Gu Changhuai smiled shyly. “You know I’ve been introverted since I was young…”

“Better to rely on char siu pork than on you!” Hua Mei flicked his robe aside.

With a twist of his body, he glided over to the neighboring table and smoothly said, “Hey, what a coincidence, brothers from Wuding Pavilion, right? What are your names, big brothers? How old are you? Are you married yet?”

He fired off a string of questions.

The young man who responded to Hua Mei sounded somewhat nervous. “I’m Jin Shuang… Please conduct yourself properly, young master…” He pushed away Hua Mei, who was leaning toward him, stumbling over his words in panic. “No, no, no, I’m not that kind of person…”

Hua Mei propped his chin and smiled at Jin Shuang. “Meeting is fate. I wonder if Brother Jin Shuang could help us with a small favor?”

As he spoke, he winked at Gu Changhuai.

See? This was skill!

Gu Changhuai smoothly shifted over and sat across from the other person. The moment he sat down, he felt an icy gaze directed at him.

He looked up. The person opposite wore a veiled hat, with long curtains draping down to obscure their face and figure. Unlike Jin Shuang’s youthful panic, this one sat steadily without speaking or moving, simply watching quietly. Only the chilling aura emanating from their body indicated that they were not easy to deal with.

Encountering such a low-key figure made Gu Changhuai’s scalp tingle, leaving him restless. But then he remembered they were negotiating a deal with Wuding Pavilion, nothing shady, which eased his mind somewhat.

Meanwhile, Hua Mei had gotten to the point with Jin Shuang.

Jin Shuang said, “Wuding Pavilion welcomes guests from all over the world. As long as we can take the job, we will. Fellow Daoist, feel free to speak.”

“Easy enough.” Hua Mei smiled. “I’ve heard that the Xinnan Immortal Sect only accepts once-in-a-generation talents, gathering the world’s young geniuses. Unfortunately, the two of us want to see the sights within the sect. Can Wuding Pavilion get us two disciple identities?”

“Um…”

Jin Shuang turned his head to look at the other person.

Clearly, the other was the one in charge between them.

Considering Wuding Pavilion’s rule of caring only for money, not people… Gu Changhuai paused, then suddenly pulled a massive Night Luminous Pearl from his storage pouch and placed it on the table. “If Wuding Pavilion has a way, this is our substantial thanks.”

The pearl, larger than a fist, was surrounded by spiritual energy and glowed softly. It was a rare treasure in both the Cultivation World and the Demon Realm.

“…”

Silence followed for a moment.

The person opposite nodded, and a low, clear voice sounded in Gu Changhuai’s ear. “Acceptable.” Then to Jin Shuang, “Take it.”

“Yes…” Jin Shuang responded, then shakily picked up the Night Luminous Pearl. His emotions seemed less like joy and more like profound shock.

Finally coming back to himself, he said to Gu Changhuai in a daze, “Uh… The Hall Master’s meaning is that we’ve taken the job. Rest assured.”

“Is this the reason you gave away a fist-sized Night Luminous Pearl?” Hua Mei’s eyes were shadowed with dark circles, his entire being radiating resentment. “We agreed to share wealth and not forget each other. How long have you been hiding that good stuff?”

A Night Luminous Pearl slightly larger than a fist was worth thousands of high-grade Spirit Stones—a considerable sum, at least for the two of them.

Gu Changhuai said, “Not long. Just a couple of days ago during that duel, after Xue Lao Er twisted his ankle and lost, he said he was sorry and gave me this Night Luminous Pearl, saying it was what I deserved.”

His teeth ground together as he spoke. “I didn’t understand what Xue Lao Er meant at the time, but now I get it.”

Xue Lao Er must have known early on that the Demon Venerable was sending the Shadow Clan’s top assassin to kill the Qing Lian Immortal Lord—a mission with little chance of return. He wanted a scapegoat and knew Gu Changhuai was dirt poor, so he deliberately lost and gifted the pearl.

—As payment for his life.

Tch.

Gu Changhuai’s gaze turned indifferent. He’d remember this grudge for now.

…

Wuding Pavilion was highly efficient.

The day after receiving the Night Luminous Pearl, they delivered two Xinnan Immortal Sect Disciple Tokens and informed them that a training team from the Xinnan Immortal Sect was at Lingtai Slope, a hundred miles away.

The Xinnan Immortal Sect was divided into thirteen branches, which further split into thirty-six routes, overseen by seventy-two elders. Each route distinguished between inner and outer disciples.

This training expedition consisted of five hundred outer disciples led by ten inner disciples, divided into five teams. The outer disciples usually buried themselves in cultivation and rarely met within the sect, so no one knew each other. They just needed to hold the tokens, don the sect robes, and blend in.

Gu Changhuai and Hua Mei decided to act separately.

Lingtai Slope was vast, divided into outer, middle, and inner layers. The deeper one went, the more rare treasures there were, but also the greater the danger. Since this was mostly outer disciples from the Xinnan Immortal Sect, they stuck to the outer layer and the edges of the middle layer, hunting beasts or completing sect tasks.

Gu Changhuai changed into Xinnan Immortal Sect robes, casually plucked a tree branch from the roadside to tie back his long hair, found a training team, and planned to follow them for a bit to gauge the situation.

This team was still in the outer layer of Lingtai Slope. The hundred-plus members moved scattered about, as the outer layer held little danger—mostly gathering herbs.

After observing for a while, Gu Changhuai lowered his head to pretend to pick herbs and slip in. His gaze fell on the Disciple Token at his waist, and he paused.

Huh?

He looked up at the tokens hanging from the disciples nearby, then down at his own, frowning in confusion… Why was his token different from theirs?

The other disciples’ tokens only had “Xinnan Immortal Sect” on the front and “Outer” on the back. His had “Xinnan Immortal Sect” plus a plum blossom in the lower right corner, and on the back, a large “Qing” character.

What did that mean?

Gu Changhuai puzzled over it endlessly.

…Had Wuding Pavilion given him a bootleg?

Just as Gu Changhuai prepared to slip away quietly and confront Wuding Pavilion, a commotion erupted ahead in the crowd.

The instinct to watch the excitement was etched into everyone’s bones.

Gu Changhuai hid behind a tree and peeked out.

From the void, someone arrived on a sword—who or when, he couldn’t tell. The scattered disciples gathered forward.

The arrival streaked like a shooting star. As they drew near, a vast pressure like a mountain accompanied them, like the tip of an iceberg, already terrifying enough.

But the moment they landed, the pressure dissipated, as if withdrawn.

“We’ve seen the Qing Lian Immortal Lord.” The gathered disciples bowed and chorused.

Hearing this, Gu Changhuai jolted.

His eyes instantly fixed unblinkingly on the figure standing ahead of the crowd.

From his position, he could see the newcomer standing tall and graceful, with ink-black hair like satin scattered over a dark-patterned profound azure robe. Even from the side, Gu Changhuai could outline the stunning beauty of the Qing Lian Immortal Lord’s features.

Yet those superior brows and eyes were overshadowed by the Immortal Lord’s own aura of aloof detachment, keeping people at bay. Of course, no one dared look directly.

Even from afar, a bone-chilling cold assaulted him.

This guy is almost cultivated into a sword, he thought. The Demon Venerable’s job… I don’t think I can do it. How could I beat someone who’s practically a sword?

In that instant of unsteady breathing, the Qing Lian Immortal Lord ahead moved his lashes slightly and suddenly turned his gaze toward him, the corner of his eye carrying cold intent.

Terrified of discovery, Gu Changhuai yanked his head back behind the tree. Immediately, a sword wind whistled by with undisguised killing intent, brushing over his head with two rustling sounds.

Gu Changhuai’s heart pounded in fear, not daring to blink. He looked up to see that the tree branch overhead had been neatly sliced off. A black-qi-emitting venomous snake was severed in two like the branch and smashed before him. Blood splattered three feet across the ground—an ugly death.

After a moment, he heard the disciples ahead sigh in relief and say admiringly, “A quarter-hour ago, we sensed demonic qi but didn’t dare act rashly. With one sword, the Immortal Lord detected and eliminated the demon. Truly impressive.”

“…”

Rong Ye lowered his gaze and impassively glanced at the tree, its bark shaved off.

Behind the tree, the thick demonic aura appeared substantively in his eyes, spreading outward, practically announcing to the world, “There’s a demon here—come purge it.” Rong Ye paused in silence, then formed a seal with two fingers under his sleeve and silently flicked out a strand of spiritual power. At the same time, Gu Changhuai’s identity token flashed subtly, and the demonic aura was cleanly masked in an instant.

His gaze lingered for a moment on a small corner of clothing peeking from behind the tree. Rong Ye withdrew his hand impassively, turned back to the disciples before him, and spoke in a deep, cold voice, “Even as outer disciples, you should cultivate diligently and remain vigilant at all times.”

The demonic aura had nearly blanketed a ten-li radius.

…

Taking the snake’s ugly death as a warning, Gu Changhuai felt the urge to retreat. But just as the thought formed, a faint stabbing pain arose in his abdomen, making him grimace.

…The bug the Demon Venerable fed him was still there.

He couldn’t just leave.

He had to steel himself and push on.

Still, Gu Changhuai wanted to slip away for a couple of days before returning. He’d barely taken two steps when the tree that had been sliced by the sword wind suddenly emitted cracking sounds from within.

The teetering tree crashed toward him. “Damn it!” Gu Changhuai leaped up lightly, landing gracefully on another tree. Boom!

The tree smashed to the ground.

Standing on the tree, Gu Changhuai felt lingering fear. Suddenly, everything grew quiet. He silently looked down, where hundreds of gazes converged on him.

The person in the tree wore the sect’s standard white disciple robes, which stood out strikingly on him despite their plainness.

His ink hair was casually tied back with two tree branches, most of it fanning out like raven feathers behind him. His clear, exceptionally beautiful face carried a hint of aftershock as he patted his chest. His sleeve slipped, revealing a section of cold, luminous white forearm—like an immortal descended to earth, exuding aloof detachment.

But when he turned and looked down, a natural smile curved his lips, and his eyes held approachable warmth, suddenly softening his detachment and making him seem accessible.

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere froze.

Moments later, the leading inner disciple bellowed, breaking the silence. “What are you doing here? We’ve been looking for you!”

He flew up, grabbed Gu Changhuai, and said, “I wondered why I couldn’t spot the attendant. The Immortal Lord is here—what were you doing behind a tree?”

“Ah? I…” Gu Changhuai blinked blankly, then had a flash of inspiration and handed over a herb he’d picked to blend in. “I was just picking herbs!”

“The Immortal Lord’s here—why pick herbs? It’s a huge opportunity. You drew the lot to be his attendant—cherish it.” The inner disciple lowered his voice, exasperated. “Drawing attendant duty for the Immortal Lord is your fortune. Stick with him during the training; he won’t let you suffer losses.”

And just like that, Gu Changhuai was dragged before Rong Ye. The inner disciple saluted. “This is your attendant. Knowing the Immortal Lord would pass through Lingtai Slope, we drew lots back at the sect to assign him.”

For Xinnan Immortal Sect outer disciples, showing face before the Qing Lian Immortal Lord was the best opportunity. With the title of the Cultivation World’s number one, everyone knew of him. Rather than scramble, they randomized lots.

Gu Changhuai got it now and realized. No wonder his robe had a plum blossom and his token differed—he’d been assigned as the Immortal Lord’s attendant.

Wuding Pavilion was efficient… maybe too efficient.

Now under immense pressure, Gu Changhuai looked up. His eyes reflected a handsome, stern face with deep brows and eyes expressionless. The downward glance carried a human-like sword intent—clearly not one for smiles.

…Huh?

No one told him the golden finger was this handsome?

Up close, Gu Changhuai felt even more of the Immortal Lord’s subtle Dao rhyme and the hair-raising pressure.

Gu Changhuai: “…”

Was it possible…

That the Demon Realm sending an assassin was just delivering cannon fodder to the Immortal Lord?