Got Caught

“How could Martial Aunt say such a thing?”

Lu Qiancha offered a genuine smile, an expression she rarely showed to anyone other than her master and junior sister. “Master has always poured all her effort into teaching my junior sister and me. To us, she is like a parent.”

“Speaking of which, what’s the deal with your cultivation? Only peak-Nascent Soul after all these years? You can’t even comprehend the Spirit Transformation stage?”

Xuan Mo turned and glared at Lu Qiancha. “This Martial Aunt heard that Tianquan Peak had its luck ruined right when I joined the sect. Looking at you now, it seems to be true.”

“Give me your hand. Let this Martial Aunt check your aptitude… I remember your talent was quite good when you first joined, wasn’t it? Don’t let your muddle-headed master make you truly muddled.”

“This…” Lu Qiancha frowned slightly.

While Martial Aunt Xuan’s intentions were undoubtedly good, but…

‘If she makes physical contact to investigate, can the Myriad Phantoms Mirage Art really block the probe of a Celestial Immortal expert?’

The answer was obvious.

Of course not.

She had only practiced it for a few days and had barely scratched the surface.

Even without using spiritual sense, Lu Qiancha felt that through mere skin contact, she could at best deceive a cultivator at the late-Spirit Transformation stage.

Thus, Lu Qiancha subconsciously scooted back a bit and chuckled sheepishly. “Martial Aunt, it is improper for men and women to have physical contact. I’m afraid this is not appropriate.”

“Improper for men and women to have physical contact?”

Xuan Mo’s face was full of disdain. “We cultivators seek to be unrestrained and free. Why do you care about those messy secular rules? Quick, stick out your hand.”

With a wave of her hand, Xuan Mo looked as if she was about to grab him from a distance, nearly scaring the soul out of Lu Qiancha.

“Martial Aunt’s lesson is correct. It is this disciple who was being obstinate. However, cultivation also emphasizes cultivating the mind and virtue. If one were to completely abandon all restraint, what difference would there be from those demonic heretics who seek power by any means necessary? This disciple… this disciple will now reflect in silence.”

Lu Qiancha instantly shot to his feet.

His steps turned, his feet seeming to tread on clouds and water.

His figure, as swift and light as a teleportation, instantly appeared behind Shangguan Yunzhu.

“Cloud Sea Dragon Step… Tsk, you rascal even managed to learn such a difficult movement technique?”

Xuan Mo’s expression was a little strange. “In over sixty years of cultivation, don’t tell me you’ve spent it all on this.”

“This disciple has always cultivated diligently and has never slacked off for a moment…”

Before she could finish, Lu Qiancha suddenly felt a warm touch.

‘Huh?’

She looked down at the slender, pale finger gently poking her hand, and several dark lines instantly appeared on her forehead.

Following the delicate finger up, she saw a smooth, fair arm, as if exquisitely carved from the finest white jade.

Further up was a pretty face, tilted slightly, with a hint of curiosity.

Shangguan Yunzhu!

‘Wait, sis, what are you doing?!’

‘What about your ice queen persona? It’s crumbling, hey!’

Lu Qiancha’s body stiffened, her breath catching for a half-second.

And in that instant, Xuan Mo flashed over and grabbed Lu Qiancha.

“If you haven’t been slacking, what are you hiding for? Honestly, I’m not going to eat you. I’ll have to have a word with your master later…”

Xuan Mo’s voice suddenly stopped, and the way she looked at Lu Qiancha changed.

The next second!

Lu Qiancha felt the space around her freeze for an instant, followed by a sense of absolute weightlessness and spatial distortion.

The world spun, and the scenery before her eyes twisted and rotated wildly like an overturned bucket of paint.

The boat, the people, the howling chaotic energy streams were instantly stretched into dazzling ribbons of light, then swallowed by pure, boundless white!

When everything became “clear” again, she found herself in a place of absolute silence.

Beneath her feet were thick, soft layers of pure white clouds, flowing slowly like a river, stretching to the ends of her vision.

Wisps of pure white spiritual mist, rich with immortal energy, drifted around her.

The light was soft and even, its source indiscernible.

The entire space was vast and empty, with only her presence within it.

It was like a corner of the purest immortal realm.

But what startled her even more was that her spiritual energy was completely sealed, and the operation of the Myriad Phantoms Mirage Art had been halted…

The moment the illusion failed…

“Ngh!” Almost instinctively, with a hint of panic, Lu Qiancha violently raised her hands!

What met her eyes were a pair of small paws, covered in soft, fine, aquamarine fur!

From the tips of her digits extended small, sharp claws, as translucent as ice crystals!

“…”

Dead silence.

An indescribable chill shot up from her furry little tailbone to the equally furry top of her head!

Stiffly, bit by bit, she raised her head.

High in the sky, Xuan Mo’s figure hovered silently in the center of the pure white firmament, like a goddess in control of this space!

No violent pressure emanated from her, but the scrutiny and coldness in her deep, star-like eyes were enough to freeze the soul.

She looked down from on high, coldly observing the small, bewildered, aquamarine furball that had suddenly appeared on the clouds.

“A demon…”

Xuan Mo floated in the air, looking coldly at Lu Qiancha. “Where is the real Lu Qiancha? And what is your purpose in disguising yourself as him?”

To be able to deceive the naked eye of a Celestial Immortal—Xuan Mo refused to believe that someone with such a masterful illusion technique was just out for fun.

“I… if I said I am Lu Qiancha… would you believe me…” Lu Qiancha swallowed hard.

Her tender, crisp, child-like voice trembled uncontrollably.

She timidly raised her small, furry head, her large aquamarine eyes shimmering as she looked up at the “great sun” in the high heavens, which radiated a judgmental light.

“…Huh?”

Xuan Mo was momentarily confused, because her domain’s feedback on that statement was—This is the truth.

In other words, the little wolf cub before her was indeed Lu Qiancha, the disciple of her Martial Sister Xuan Ya from sixty years ago.

‘But… that’s impossible. I was the one in charge of aptitude monitoring and all the tests back then. How could I not have seen through her identity?’

‘And in these sixty-plus years, Martial Sister Xuan Ya has been with this disciple day and night. It’s impossible for her not to have noticed.’

Xuan Mo took a deep breath and slowly descended from the sky.

She walked over to the trembling little wolf cub. Instead of looking down, she bent slightly and squatted, bringing her gaze level with the pair of aquamarine eyes filled with fear and helplessness.

She asked slowly, “So what exactly is going on with you?”

“Well…”

Lu Qiancha shifted her weight to one paw, tapping the other on the ground, her little head tilted to the side.

Her eyes darted about, unable to meet Xuan Mo’s gaze, which seemed to see through to the very essence of things.

Her guilty little expression was just like that of a child caught red-handed by an adult.

Xuan Mo’s brow furrowed even tighter.

The scrutiny and sharpness that had just begun to fade from her eyes reconverged, now tinged with a cold impatience.

She said nothing, merely narrowing her eyes slightly.

Boom!

A biting killing intent, not wild but incredibly pure and aimed at the very source of life and death, pierced the tranquility of the cloud realm like the tip of an ice-cold needle, precisely enveloping Lu Qiancha’s small body!

“I’ll talk, I’ll talk!”

Every hair on Lu Qiancha’s body stood on end, a chill seeping into her very bones.

The instinct for survival overrode everything else.

Her soft voice, now laced with a sob, hastily spilled out the whole story: how she had been on a mission, was gravely injured by the Yin Soul Sect who had also shown up, and at the last second, obtained a drop of a demon king’s essence blood which repaired her meridians and soul, but also turned her into this.

However, she did not mention the demonic sword, Can Xin.

After all, demonic artifacts were a sensitive topic.

Mentioning it would likely stir up more trouble.

“Your experience… is truly a rare sight.”

Xuan Mo’s voice faltered.

She had lived for nearly a thousand years and considered herself well-versed in the world, having seen all sorts of demons, ghosts, and strange phenomena, but this was a first.

It was too bizarre, so bizarre that not even the most fantastical storybooks she had ever read would dare to fabricate such a plot.