Hateful woman, disturbing my mind

Xiao Menglan once again appeared in the room without any greeting, and Cao Xueyan was already used to it.

“You’re rather strange. Recently I’ve only seen you studying rune arts, not really cultivating, yet your cultivation still rises so steadily—why is that?” Xiao Menglan finally voiced the doubt that had been troubling her for some time.

Cao Xueyan gave an awkward laugh. “I’ve always been cultivating, very diligently. Otherwise, where would all this cultivation of mine come from?”

“Oh?” Xiao Menglan walked forward suspiciously and began touching various spots on Cao Xueyan’s body.

This time she wasn’t thinking of taking advantage; the places she checked were all the body’s main meridians.

“No problems with the meridians…” Xiao Menglan muttered, then pressed a hand against Cao Xueyan’s lower abdomen, three inches below the navel—where the dantian was.

The spiritual power within Cao Xueyan’s dantian was balanced and steady, perfectly matching the Qingyun Sword Sect’s techniques. There wasn’t the slightest instability. Anyone who saw it would assume this was the result of painstaking cultivation—leaving no room for doubt.

Yet precisely because of this, it was even more suspicious. Xiao Menglan frowned slightly but finally relaxed.

“Well, everyone has their own secrets. Since you aren’t practicing any evil or harmful methods, I have no reason to interfere,” she said calmly, withdrawing her hand.

Cao Xueyan finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to look up and meet Xiao Menglan’s thoughtful gaze.

“You are a disciple of the sect, and you’ve committed no wrongs. The sect generally doesn’t pry into personal secrets, so you can rest assured,” Xiao Menglan said. “If you truly are this gifted—able to pursue rune arts without letting your cultivation fall behind—the sect would be glad for you. In the future, inheriting the position of Peak Master wouldn’t be out of the question.”

Cao Xueyan put on a face of “I have learned my lesson.”

Xiao Menglan continued: “Now, the righteous path wanes while the demonic path grows rampant. We cultivators must not abandon our conscience and join the evil. But the problem is that no one has emerged who can lead us, otherwise how could demonic calamities run unchecked?”

“Doesn’t our Sword Sect have any extraordinary geniuses?” Cao Xueyan asked curiously.

She had only been an outer disciple before, knowing little of the sect. Even now as an inner disciple, she still understood only fragments.

At this, even Xiao Menglan sighed. “In recent years, talents have withered. Not even I or the other Peak Masters have taken a single personal disciple. The main peak, Sword Peak, has seen no disciple step foot within it for hundreds of years. The position of true successor is vacant, the Sect Leader has no heir. In a hundred years, how will we face the wave of demonic cultivators pressing down on us? Ah, it is difficult.”

Cao Xueyan thought to herself: Why wait a hundred years? In just twenty, demonic flames will engulf Qingyun Sword Sect. At that time, even slightly talented disciples will be assassinated by that hateful killer. Later, the sect’s mountain-guarding formation will be breached, demonic cultivators will march in unhindered, and the sect will be annihilated overnight.

Seeing Cao Xueyan’s worried face, Xiao Menglan found it amusing and unconsciously reached out to pat her head.

Cao Xueyan did not resist, wearing an innocent expression—but in truth, she was watching the simulator’s panel.

The simulation count hadn’t gone up. It seemed the “closeness” wasn’t enough.

Damn it! In the simulations you’re always so hungry after just a few years. Don’t tell me in reality you really have no thoughts at all!

Cao Xueyan gritted her teeth. Why does this woman act so high and mighty before her?

“You don’t need to think too much. Even if the sky falls, the Sect Leader is there to hold it up.”

That’s not comforting at all!

After so many simulations, how could Cao Xueyan not know? The Sect Leader—the only one in the sect strong enough to fight—was too busy indulging herself everywhere, despite her great power. In the end, she played around so much that when the sect faced extermination, she was nowhere to be found.

“Is the Sect Leader’s cultivation very high?” Cao Xueyan asked.

At the mention of her senior martial sister, Xiao Menglan smiled. “If I had to describe it in one phrase—it would be ‘unparalleled in history.’ She is the one with the greatest hope in a thousand years of breaking the Core and forming a Nascent Soul, becoming a Dao Sovereign.”

So powerful?

Hearing this for the first time, Cao Xueyan was stunned.

In the current world, a Nascent Soul cultivator was the highest existence. Once such a person emerged, they could unify both righteous and demonic paths, bringing peace to the world.

If such a figure appeared at the moment of the sect’s destruction, could the outcome be changed?

What was the truth hidden behind the words of the simulations?

Cao Xueyan was full of doubts, but there was no one to answer her. She could only keep simulating to search for a path forward.

With this in mind, she glanced at the empty simulation counter and made up her mind.

“Teacher, do you have any sect affairs to handle today?” Cao Xueyan asked, eyes misty as she gazed at Xiao Menglan.

Being stared at by those eyes, Xiao Menglan couldn’t help but swallow secretly. Though she hadn’t activated her techniques, a nameless fire rose in her belly.

This little enchantress! Using a face so similar to Ruoyu’s to make such an expression—how hateful! Back then, even at the height of passion, Ruoyu would never have shown such a look!

It was all Cao Xueyan’s fault, stirring up endless fantasies in her mind. This unruly student needed to be properly disciplined!

Though such thoughts churned in her heart, Xiao Menglan’s face remained calm.

“These days sect affairs are not heavy. I am free, so you are in luck. Whether it’s cultivation or rune arts, whatever confuses you, just ask.”

Cao Xueyan looked at Xiao Menglan’s righteous demeanor. Though she felt disdain, the words suited her purpose perfectly.

Both of them knew exactly what they wanted.

Xiao Menglan wanted her substitute games.

Cao Xueyan wanted to farm simulation counts.

This kind of pretense had nothing of true righteousness in it.

Indeed, those novels describing great sect figures as hypocrites weren’t entirely wrong.

So be it—just mutual benefit.

Having steeled herself, Cao Xueyan leaned in first. Xiao Menglan cooperated readily, even using telekinesis to bring over a thick stack of talisman papers, clearly intending to “guide” this rebellious disciple properly.

To use one’s teacher as a tool to farm simulation points—what else was that but rebellion?

The room soon echoed with Xiao Menglan’s earnest teaching.

Cao Xueyan listened with focus, learning seriously.

And quietly farming simulation counts.

Ah… wait, did the simulator secretly adjust its data?

Xiao Menglan, this detestable woman, had groped her so many times already, and it only gave her a few measly simulations!

I swear, I’ll file a complaint against you! Unforgivable!

Xiao Menglan’s towering chest was right before her eyes, and Cao Xueyan was heartbroken. She absolutely could not fall into temptation because of this.

She was destined to become an immortal.

And once she was immortal, wouldn’t there be countless beautiful female cultivators?

So don’t disturb my Dao heart at this crucial moment!