Chapter 12: The Disciple Goes Into Seclusion, I Miss Him

Inside the cave—

Feng Xixing sat quietly in meditation. The surrounding spirit energy was slowly drawn into his body.

Unbeknownst to him, devil marks had begun to surface on his previously fair face, nearly covering it entirely. This devil qi seemed to possess a consciousness of its own, spreading across his face, attempting to completely devour Feng Xixing, only to be forced back by his spirit energy.

The devil qi retreated slowly, unable to find an opportunity to counterattack. Just as it was about to be suppressed into the corner of Feng Xixing’s eye, it suddenly surged. Simultaneously, the spirit energy that had been suppressing it inexplicably lost control.

Fortunately, just as the devil qi was about to burst forth, the Ice Void Robe on Feng Xixing’s body shimmered. Sensing its master in danger, the robe autonomously suppressed the devil qi.

…

Feng Xixing stood in a gray space, looking around with an expressionless face.

He knew this was an illusion conjured by the devil qi.

Feng Xixing had not expected that his devil qi from his past life would follow his soul into his current body. Unlike in his past life, however, this devil qi had yet to taint his soul.

But if he failed to suppress it, he would once again fall and become a devil.

Lin Chuyun…

Feng Xixing silently recited the name in his heart, yet the obsessive need for a blood debt was gone. Instead, his fingertips curled slightly, a faint longing rising for that fluffy sensation and the tail that occasionally patted the back of his hand.

He wondered if his Shizun would be worried, having been gone for so long.

The devil qi lurking around him could only watch as this human cultivator, while surrounded by it, smiled gently. The surrounding mist churned instantly. Feeling underestimated, the devil qi roared and charged at this insolent human cultivator.

Feng Xixing gathered his focus. With a flick of his wrist, an ice sword formed from spirit energy blocked his front, scattering the devil qi.

The devil qi quickly coalesced again but dared not act rashly. It circled Feng Xixing a few times, and the surrounding scenery began to shift.

Feng Xixing frowned, cautiously assessing his surroundings. Soon, the mist cleared, and the scene slowly materialized. Feng Xixing narrowed his eyes slightly, finding himself on Spirit Cloud Peak, inside his bamboo hut.

Someone knocked on the door outside.

Feng Xixing watched his own body stand up and open the door. As expected, Lin Chuyun stood outside. Lin Chuyun looked at him expressionlessly, holding a cup—the very cup of poisoned tea.

“Shizun.” Feng Xixing heard his own voice speak.

Indeed, this was a memory from his first life.

Feng Xixing hadn’t expected the devil qi to dig up this memory. But thinking about it, however difficult his life in the Devil Realm later became, this moment was always what he resented most in his heart.

But very quickly, Feng Xixing’s attention was drawn to something else.

The Lin Chuyun before him… felt very different. Despite looking exactly the same, as Feng Xixing looked at this person, there was nothing in his heart but disgust and boundless killing intent.

“I heard you’re about to undergo Core Formation?” Lin Chuyun said casually after entering. “This spirit tea is brewed from the Thousand-Year Ice Inducing Flower. It will greatly benefit your cultivation. As your Teacher, I bestow it upon you.”

Did Lin Chuyun say it like that back then? Feng Xixing couldn’t quite remember. He watched Lin Chuyun guardedly, trying to find something familiar in him, but aside from his killing intent growing increasingly uncontrollable, he found nothing.

“Thank you, Shizun.” Feng Xixing heard himself reply. Looking down, he saw the cup of tea drawing closer and closer.

Then, just as he was about to drink the tea, time stopped.

A hoarse voice appeared beside Feng Xixing, whispering seductively, “Think about it. The agony after drinking the poisoned tea, the fury of being betrayed by the Shizun you trusted…”

Even without drinking the tea, Feng Xixing felt a searing pain slowly spreading from within. It was as if a ghost flame was burning his very soul—which was why, after capturing Lin Chuyun, he had thrown him into the Nether Ghost Flame to let him feel that same torment.

In the midst of that intense pain, that voice fell on his ears without hindrance.

“It was this person before you who ruined your immortal destiny, caused you to fall and become a devil, made you suffer the agony of devil qi entanglement day after day.”

“Without him, you would surely have become the most powerful cultivator in the Cultivation World in a hundred years…”

“He destroyed you, destroyed your life, destroyed everything…”

Feng Xixing slowly raised his head. His eyes had turned blood-red at some point. The Lin Chuyun standing before him looked at him with terrified eyes, as if realizing what was happening, but unable to move.

“See, he’s nothing but trash himself. As long as you wish, you can kill him and change your destiny.” The voice grew more agitated. Following this, Feng Xixing’s hand began to slowly rise.

A spirit sword appeared in his palm. With a simple thrust forward, he could kill this enemy.

“Yes, yes, yes, kill him, kill him!!!” The voice suddenly became frenzied.

Feng Xixing’s sword swept fiercely, stabbing into the gray mist beside him. An inhuman, shrieking cry rang out. The entire illusion shuddered violently and shattered into pieces in an instant, returning to the gray space.

“Impossible!!!”

Feng Xixing looked coldly at the devil qi. The blood-red had long since faded from his eyes, replaced by utter contempt. “This Venerable endured the erosion of devil qi for a full five hundred years. Even at the very end, it was This Venerable who chose to give up. What made you think you could control This Venerable?”

The mist in the space churned madly, like a cornered beast making a last-ditch struggle. But it could only be pierced by Feng Xixing’s single sword strike, screeching as it dissipated.

Feng Xixing opened his eyes again, back in the cave.

The devil marks on his face had disappeared, suppressed into the tear mole at the corner of his eye. His current spirit power was still too weak; he could only temporarily seal the devil qi. He would need to reach at least the Nascent Soul stage before he could completely resolve it.

Feng Xixing gazed deeply at the cave entrance. The images from the illusion replayed involuntarily in his mind. He knew what the devil qi showed him wasn’t necessarily real, yet Feng Xixing still had an inexplicable feeling—that was the Lin Chuyun from his memories.

Treacherous, merciless, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals.

Therefore…

Feng Xixing took a deep breath, suppressed his tangled thoughts, and closed his eyes. The spirit energy within the cave rushed into his body jubilantly. The spirit power in his Qi Sea accumulated bit by bit, waiting only for the moment it could no longer contain it, to shatter and form into a Core.

Outside the cave—

In recent days, the wild beasts in the mountains had discovered that the original evil beast on the mountain had been killed by someone unknown. Just as they were rejoicing, another evil beast suddenly appeared.

They called any beast possessing strange, malevolent power an “evil beast.”

However, this evil beast was simply too small; even the smallest snake could swallow it in one gulp. The bird sent to scout stared at the little evil beast drinking water by the riverbank, unable to perceive any danger whatsoever.

Lin Chuyun looked at the blurry reflection of the little black cat in the stream and sighed deeply.

He had just learned for the first time that wild beasts could be so gossipy.

Although these mountain beasts hadn’t been awakened, they were still a bit smarter than beasts from the Outside World due to the long-term influence of spirit energy.

And that “bit smarter” manifested precisely in their gossip.

Since yesterday, all sorts of wild beasts had been following him, as if curious about him, or perhaps wanting to try hunting him.

Although Lin Chuyun was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, he was now just an ordinary little black cat without a shred of spirit power. His only Spirit Orb needed to be conserved… Thinking of this, Lin Chuyun felt he was living a truly miserable life.

He silently turned around, his emerald green pupils fixed on the bird in the air. As if startled, the bird flapped away in panic, leaving only a few feathers drifting in the air.

Sigh. He wondered how much longer his little disciple would be inside.

Thinking of his little disciple in seclusion, Lin Chuyun felt even more dejected.

Ever since Feng Xixing had entered seclusion, Lin Chuyun had felt very out of sorts. After all, from the moment he had crossed into this book, he had been with Feng Xixing constantly, never once separated. The silence around him was unsettlingly stark. Even with sunlight shining on him, Lin Chuyun still felt the forest breeze was cold.

It was at this moment that Lin Chuyun truly realized how well his little disciple had taken care of him.

His always-clean paw pads were starting to get dusty without spirit power to protect them. But there was no one to look at him helplessly while gently wiping his paws clean.

Lin Chuyun hesitated for a long time over his dirty paw pads, unable to bring himself to lick them. He could only silently go to the stream, enduring the icy water and his instinctive dislike for it, and earnestly washed his paws.

And then—within a few minutes, his paws were dirty again.

Lin Chuyun persisted three times before finally giving up. He was truly unwilling to waste the spirit power Feng Xixing had given him on such trivial matters, so he could only hypnotize himself into not seeing the dirt.

After that, Lin Chuyun became extremely, extremely insecure.

Before, whenever he slept, it was either inside his little disciple’s robes or in his little disciple’s palm.

Knowing Feng Xixing would protect him, Lin Chuyun slept incredibly deeply. Even if someone poked his belly, he would just roll over and continue sleeping. But now… without Feng Xixing by his side, Lin Chuyun didn’t dare to sleep soundly, afraid he might wake up inside someone’s stomach.

Having lacked good sleep for days, Lin Chuyun felt like he was floating when he walked.

He missed his little disciple.

The little black cat, looking utterly pitiful, cleaned himself up and turned to jump onto a nearby tree. Lin Chuyun’s mobility was improving daily. He found the nearest, cleanest path and returned to the large rock in front of the cave.

The entrance to the cave was still tightly sealed, and there had been no movement from inside. If Lin Chuyun hadn’t seen Feng Xixing enter with his own eyes, he would have doubted whether he’d found the right cave.

The spirit energy around the cave was also very calm, showing none of the pre-Core Formation disturbances.

It had already been three days. Why was there still no sign from his little disciple? Lin Chuyun scratched anxiously at the giant rock beneath his paws, having already left several claw marks on it.

Unfortunately, no matter how anxious he was, he couldn’t undergo Core Formation in Feng Xixing’s place, especially since he himself was a half-baked cultivator. The little black cat spun in circles on the rock three times before silently lying down, biting his tail tip and starting to daydream.

It was the third day of his disciple’s seclusion. He missed him.