The Sect Master’s Peculiar Progeny

Zhang Xiaocha snatched the nearby quilt, pulling it over herself as she curled into a ball. Her small backside poked high in the air as her voice trembled. “S-Senior Sister… I… I was wrong… I shouldn’t have called your name, please don’t kill me…”

Hearing this, Luo Bingning paused, her eyes growing slightly dim. A hint of sorrow, one she hadn’t even noticed herself, flickered within them.

Watching her junior sister tremble with fear beneath the covers, Luo Bingning’s red lips parted slightly. She wanted to speak, yet the words remained trapped on her tongue, unable to escape.

Time passed, though for how long, Zhang Xiaocha couldn’t say. The enticing aroma of meat stew seeped through a gap in her quilt, tickling her nose. Her nostrils flared slightly, and she instinctively poked her head out from under the covers.

Her eyes lit up as she gazed at the steaming bowl and chopsticks on a nearby table. “It’s my favorite mutton stew!”

She pulled the quilt aside, preparing to climb out, when a paper letter slipped from the bedding and landed on her head.

Picking up the paper, her voice was filled with confusion. “Hmm? This is… Senior Sister’s handwriting…”

The letter explained that Luo Bingning wouldn’t harm her, but due to her transgression, they would need to stay there for a period. She had also left ample beast cores for her cultivation and had set up a restriction at the cave entrance to prevent her from leaving.

Zhang Xiaocha’s brows furrowed slightly. “That’s strange…”

“Why would Senior Sister leave a letter for me? She could have just said it directly…”

“Could it be because I was too scared at the time?”

A hint of confusion clouded her eyes, and she unconsciously placed her index finger in her mouth, gently chewing on it. “But doesn’t she dislike me intensely?”

“In the past, let alone leaving a letter, she barely acknowledged me even when I spoke to her first. What’s gotten into her today?”

Casually, she picked up the storage ring nearby and sent a wisp of her spiritual sense inside. Hundreds of blood-stained demon cores were neatly arranged within.

In a daze, she inexplicably recalled the bloodstains on Senior Sister’s body.

“Did she get those injuries while hunting demon cores for me?”

Zhang Xiaocha sat on the edge of the stone bed, her hands clasped uneasily in front of her. Her two index fingers nervously touched back and forth as a sad expression crossed her face. “Oh…”

“I think I might have done something wrong…”

Her voice was filled with dejection.

She slowly sat down at the stone table, her head hanging low. Even her favorite mutton stew, usually so delicious, seemed to have lost its flavor now.

After a long while, she finally raised her head again and took a small sip of the mutton stew before her.

[Hmm…]

[For the next few days, I should probably avoid making Senior Sister angry…]

[I will give her the best healing pill. Once her injuries are healed, I can go back to grinding.]

[Anyway, her Disgust Value is almost full… and I am super fast at grinding Disgust Value, so a day or two won’t matter!]

[Besides, given her impression of me, would she even guess I’m giving her a healing pill?]

[Hehehe~ She’ll definitely think it’s some kind of poison! Maybe the Disgust Value will even go up a bit more then!]

[Yep… that’s the plan!]

[Hehe… this stew is really delicious…]

Outside the cave dwelling, Luo Bingning’s lips curved into an unconscious smile as she listened to the soft, sweet self-reassurance in her sea of consciousness. Then, her figure vanished from the spot.

After finishing her mutton stew, Zhang Xiaocha lay on the stone bed, patting her round, bulging belly. Her face was alight with contentment. “Ah…”

“It’s almost been twelve years since I came to this other world. This is a good chance to finally get some proper rest.”

“I am truly amazing; I’ve been working for almost twelve years straight!”

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed at the cave ceiling, revealing a pair of adorable little canine teeth.

“Hmm~”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t appeared in the sect for almost a day now. I wonder if the Senior Sisters miss me?”

“After all, I go to supervise their cultivation every day. And I wonder if Little Ba, the gate-guarding beast, is taking good care of its children?”

“You know, it’s really hard for an Eight-Headed Hellhound to have children…”

“Back then, I had to expend a lot of effort to exchange for a ‘Guaranteed Pregnancy Pill’ from the System to give to it.”

“If the Sect Master comes out of seclusion, she’ll definitely praise me, right? After all, the piggy is so cute, hehe~”

Her voice was soft, sweet, and imbued with childlike innocence.

Jade Maiden Sect.

The Nine-Layered Demon Pagoda was where the Jade Maiden Sect imprisoned demonic beasts, extracting their demon core power for the cultivation of disciples and elders. The pagoda had nine layers, each ascending one proving more arduous than the last. At its apex resided a legendary Nascent Soul great demon, reserved for the Sect Master’s personal cultivation.

Unlike their usual diligent cultivation, the female disciples were now gathered outside the cultivation chambers.

“Strange… why didn’t that little lunatic come banging her gong and drum today?”

“If I’m not mistaken, this seems to be her only absence in the past twelve years…”

“Heh! Who knows? Maybe she cultivated herself to death, went mad! It’s just… this sudden quiet, I’m still not used to it…”

“It’s a pity that gong and drum probably aren’t low-grade, otherwise, their noise wouldn’t have pierced through the sound-insulating array to reach our ears.”

Listening to the numerous female disciples cursing Zhang Xiaocha, the coldness in Luo Bingning’s eyes almost solidified.

A suppressive aura, indicative of a Foundation Establishment Stage Three cultivator, erupted from her. It swiftly pressed down upon the disciples, who were still in the Qi Condensation Realm, rendering them unable to stand.

“Enough!”

Her voice was exceptionally cold.

Instantly, the entire area fell silent.

Only after Luo Bingning departed did the disciples exchange bewildered glances. “Strange…”

“Doesn’t Senior Sister Luo usually detest Zhang Xiaocha? What’s going on today?”

“Did you notice? Senior Sister Luo seems to have broken through in cultivation again! She’s actually reached Foundation Establishment Stage Three! At her age, even an Imperial Daughter would only just be entering Foundation Establishment!”

“As expected of the legendary Ice Phoenix Divine Body! If only I could cultivate together with Senior Sister, my aptitude would probably improve significantly!”

“Sigh… let’s not even dream about it. Only Mu Xi will probably have that fortune…”

Listening to the envy in the voices around her directed at Mu Xi, Ye Wanrou felt a surge of jealousy. Her gaze, filled with resentment, lingered on the direction Luo Bingning had departed.

Suddenly, the Demon Pagoda shook violently.

“This is… is the Sect Master coming out of seclusion?”

“If the Sect Master can break through to the Soul Transformation stage this time, our Jade Maiden Sect will surely become the foremost sect in the world! We’ll restore our ancient glory!”

Ninth Layer of the Demon Pagoda.

In the scorching fire domain, a woman knelt in the center. She wore an ice-blue gown, white stockings, and two silver anklets that gleamed with a chilling luster. Her face was serene and cold, her skin as fair as snow, and her long, dark hair cascaded smoothly down her back.

Just then, her eyes snapped open, and the aura around her surged rapidly.

Outside, above the sky, winds and clouds churned. The previously clear sky was instantly blanketed by thunderclouds, and an invisible pressure permeated the heavens and earth.

With breakthrough imminent, countless shackles containing the laws of heaven and earth suddenly appeared around the woman in the fire domain. They tightly coiled around her, binding her body.

At once, countless resonant cries of the Great Dao boomed within her sea of consciousness.

“Pfft—”

Blood gushed from her chest, and the aura around her rapidly diminished. Outside, the thunderclouds also quickly dispersed.

Shangguan Zhi’s expression was one of unwillingness. “Heaven and Earth’s Shackles…”

“Damn it! It’s like this again…”

“It seems the ancient records were true; the current world no longer permits cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage…”

“To break through to Soul Transformation, I’m afraid I’ll have to find another method!”

Sect Master Peak, Jade Maiden Hall.

Inside the hall, a resplendent display of gold and jade, Shangguan Zhi sat regally on the Sect Master’s throne. Her brows furrowed slightly as she watched Qi Qianqian, the Peak Master of the Nurturing Peak, who was weeping profusely below, cradling a spotted pig in her arms.

“Ah Zhi, you’ve finally come out of seclusion…”

“The Eight-Headed Hellhound… she… she gave birth!”

Hearing this, Shangguan Zhi’s face lit up with joy.

She hadn’t expected that after ten years in seclusion, even Little Ba had given birth to offspring. Their species had always found it difficult to reproduce; to bear young, they absolutely needed to “co-conceive” with another of their kind!

However, Eight-Headed Hellhounds were now almost extinct, so it was no wonder Qianqian was weeping so profusely…

She wondered what its offspring would look like. Surely, it would be as tall and mighty as its mother! Its entire body exuding scorching flames, and especially those eyes, sparkling like brilliant blue sapphires…

“This is great news! Qianqian, why didn’t you bring one of Little Ba’s babies out for me to see? Clearly, our bond has weakened! Hmm… I was only in seclusion for ten years, and you already don’t love me anymore~” Shangguan Zhi feigned anger, her rosy lips pouting slightly, the end of her sentence rising in a playful tone.

“Ah… no, Ah Zhi, I didn’t…” Qi Qianqian hastily waved her hands, her ample bosom trembling violently. She glanced at the spotted pig in her arms, then hesitated, wanting to speak but unable to.

‘Why does Qianqian keep looking at that ordinary spotted pig? Could it be… this spotted pig is Little Ba’s offspring? How is that possible? As an Eight-Headed Hellhound, Little Ba’s offspring could only be another Eight-Headed Hellhound. How could it be a pig?’

Shangguan Zhi shook her head.

“Alright, Qianqian~ I’m not angry. Come, let’s go see Little Ba’s babies!”

Qi Qianqian’s eyes darted away, and she stammered, glancing at the spotted pig in her arms, unsure how to begin. How could she possibly say that a dog, after consuming ‘Mother-Child River Water,’ became pregnant and gave birth to a pig?

‘And an utterly unremarkable spotted pig at that…’

Seeing this, Shangguan Zhi’s brows furrowed slightly. “Qianqian, what’s wrong with you? Why do you keep looking at that spotted pig in your arms? Could it be… it’s Little Ba’s child?”

At these words, Qi Qianqian adjusted the still-trembling ‘mountain’ on her chest, let out a sigh of relief, and gave Shangguan Zhi a thumbs-up. “Heh! Ah Zhi, you’re so clever!”

Shangguan Zhi: ‘!?’

Meanwhile, Luo Bingning’s figure reappeared before the stone cave.