Chapter 67: Du Xian Sect 25 Part 2

A pale glow enveloped Lu Yun Ting’s palm. Xun Ji staunched the blood for him and stuffed an elixir into his mouth.

“You don’t even treat your own injuries.” Xun Ji grumbled irritably. “If I hadn’t come, were you planning to just keep bleeding like this?”

Lu Yun Ting’s dark pupils remained somewhat scattered, yet he stared fixedly at him. “I stabbed Master with a sword. Master won’t blame me? Won’t punish me?”

“That sword wasn’t your intent—don’t mention it again,” Xun Ji said. “Forget that for now. This backlash seems especially severe.”

“Not my intent…” Lu Yun Ting repeated. “If it wasn’t my intent, does that make it okay to hurt Master?”

His gaze sharpened abruptly for an instant. He seized Xun Ji’s wrist and dragged him down from the bamboo couch.

“Master, run quickly! Du Xian Sect will execute you in a month—you can’t stay here!”

“Wait, wait,” Xun Ji hurriedly said. “I have something to do tonight. I can escape after that’s done.”

Lu Yun Ting’s brows knitted tightly. “What could be more important than Master’s life?! With the Puppet Technique, the body left in the dungeon will soon be discovered. It’ll be too late to run then!”

Xun Ji blinked, looking at him with novel curiosity.

“What did you just say?”

“You won’t make it if you don’t run now.” Lu Yun Ting struggled to suppress the backlash in his body, his voice laced uncontrollably with pained gasps. “Master, don’t think Du Xian Sect will let you live—they won’t…”

“You said there’s something more important than Master’s life.” Xun Ji leaned closer, staring into his feverishly red eyes. “Lu Yun Ting, what do you mean by that?”

Lu Yun Ting fell silent, his mind clouding further, unsure what answer he wanted.

In the Fan Tian Secret Realm, when Xun Ji had disguised himself as Su Yanran, he once asked Lu Yun Ting—

“Senior Brother Lu, how important is the sect’s command to you?”

Lu Yun Ting had answered without hesitation—

“More important than anything.”

Yet now, he defied the sect’s order to execute Xun Ji, urging him to flee. He even said there was something more important than his master’s life.

His body had even acted before his controlled mind, blocking harm for him.

The worries and frustrations from the Immortal Alliance Conference seemed swept away in this moment. The hidden joy upon learning in Gazing Past Dust that Lu Yun Ting was Lu Zhou refilled Xun Ji’s chest.

He said earnestly, “Lu Yun Ting, do you still remember what is good and what is evil in your heart?”

“What benefits the sect is good; what harms the sect is evil.” Lu Yun Ting propped his head with one hand, blurting it out.

“But I have a notorious reputation and harm Du Xian Sect.” Xun Ji pulled down his hand, clasping it in his own. “Do you want to get rid of me?”

“No!” Lu Yun Ting jerked his head up urgently. “No!”

“Good,” Xun Ji nodded and said to him, “Lu Yun Ting, look at me.”

The Pure Heart Talisman’s effect fully faded, leaving Lu Yun Ting’s consciousness all but burned away. He lifted his head dazedly, gazing at him. Drawn by the light in his eyes, he inched closer involuntarily until their foreheads touched.

“Lu Yun Ting, forget the good and evil in your heart.” Xun Ji spoke word by word, his voice gentle. “From now on, there is no good or evil—only me.”

“Only you…” Lu Yun Ting murmured in repetition.

Xun Ji’s eyes gleamed. As if rewarding his obedience, he wrapped an arm around his waist and pressed their lips together.

“I am your principle. I am your good and evil.”

*

“Yulan Zhenren, how much longer can this Passing Immortal Bridge hold? Give us a straight answer!” Perfected Guan Yu’s face showed anxiety.

On the lustrous white stone bridge amid vast cloud waterfalls, the sect leaders of the Eight Great Sects gathered, excluding Tian Yan Sect.

“You’re anxious now? Earlier, when I asked for treasures to stabilize the bridge, you all acted deaf,” Yulan Zhenren sneered coldly.

Perfected Guan Yu exchanged glances with the other sect leaders, their faces awkward. “We didn’t realize the Passing Immortal Bridge’s condition was this dire. Now that we’re all here, Yulan Zhenren, just tell us what to do.”

“The bridge issue is beyond your help.” Yulan Zhenren had no patience for their nonsense. “Qi Xia Fairy and I have our own plans.”

At that, everyone’s gazes turned to the Biluo Sect sect leader, Qi Xia Fairy.

“What does the Passing Immortal Bridge’s state have to do with you all? If it collapses, will you give up this opportunity?” Qi Xia Fairy, clad in azure robes, spoke indifferently.

Perfected Guan Yu frowned. “Qi Xia Fairy, what are you saying? The Passing Immortal Bridge is the foundation of the Cultivation World. Naturally, we would…”

“Are you giving up, Perfected Guan Yu?” Qi Xia Fairy interrupted sarcastically.

Perfected Guan Yu choked and fell silent.

“Qiong Jin Zhenren, are you giving up?” she asked Heguang Sect’s sect leader next.

The richly dressed middle-aged man averted his eyes.

“Or is Baochan Temple’s Grandmaster Zhan Xu giving up?”

The monk Zhan Xu pressed his palms together, intoned a Buddha’s name, but said no more.

Qi Xia Fairy swept a cold gaze over everyone and smiled. “Since no one is giving up, stop wasting time. Don’t keep her waiting.”

Her gaze fell on a girl lying on the ground. The girl’s eyes were tightly shut, her features delicate, clad in purple—it was none other than Wei Qianqian!

“Qi Xia Fairy is right.” Yulan Zhenren’s expression grew more solemn as he produced the Black Wooden Box. “Let’s begin.”

Countless snow-white cloud waterfalls plummeted from the heavens into the bridge’s depths. Thick cloud masses roiled silently, stirring vast crystalline mists that enveloped the bridge surface.

The Eight Great Sects’ sect leaders sat cross-legged around the motionless Wei Qianqian, focusing their energy with grave faces.

Yulan Zhenren pointed a finger of golden light, unsealing the Black Wooden Box. A mass of crimson erupted forth!

Eight spells shot out together, trapping the crimson mass and dragging it to Wei Qianqian’s side. The thing pulsed like a living creature, struggling fiercely against its bonds.

“To think its power remains so strong after all these trials,” Qiong Jin Zhenren sighed involuntarily.

“Isn’t strong power good?” Qi Xia Fairy said coldly. “If it weren’t strong enough, how could it satisfy us all?”

“Enough! Don’t delay!” Yulan Zhenren snapped, his eyes flashing sternly.

“Go—cut open her heart.”