Falling into Demonic Cultivation

"First Soul Skill—Prison Suppressor!" A golden staff appeared in her hand, and the air around them changed in an instant.

With a splat, Dugu Yan dropped from the sky and was pinned to the grass, along with the poison needles.

A breeze swept through the flowers and plants around the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, making them sway, but Dugu Yan felt as if a thousand catties weighed on her back. She couldn't move.

"Bastard! I'll kill you!" she struggled fiercely, murder in her eyes.

This was where her master lay in eternal rest. How could she let anyone run wild here?

"Kill me?" Qingxi planted the Universe Staff in the ground, then took off her hat, revealing a delicate, youthful face.

"After all these years, you're showing signs of falling into demonic cultivation? Who did this to you?" She frowned slightly, dispelled her divine power, and studied the dense demonic energy between the girl's brows.

Demonic energy was the negative emotion born of cultivation. If it accumulated over time, it could form a heart demon.

In the endless history of immortal cultivation, countless cultivators had eventually fallen into demonic cultivation after heart demons took root. Others found their cultivation stalled and ultimately perished.

Heart demons and demonic cultivators were what immortal cultivators feared most.

"Mas..." Dugu Yan stared at the dainty girl before her, and tears suddenly filled her eyes. She threw herself at her.

"Master!"

"What are you doing?" Qingxi staggered back two steps from the impact, then had her face shoved into two soft mounds.

"L-Let go!" Her face flushed crimson as she struggled to push Dugu Yan away.

"Master..." Dugu Yan sobbed, tears blurring her eyes, and tried to come closer again.

"Let's talk this out." The Universe Staff dropped between them. Qingxi cleared her throat, a suspicious blush on her face.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Dugu Yan...

Then lowered her head and looked at herself...

She'd seen plenty of people on this continent develop at eight or nine. Why was she... so out of place?

The two fell silent.

After a long while, Dugu Yan broke the silence. "It's okay, Master. You're still young. You'll develop in a few years..."

A deathly silence fell.

"Back in my day..." Qingxi began, her voice tinged with nostalgia. "I received quite a few love letters..."

"From men or women?" Dugu Yan asked curiously.

After all, unless you looked closely, her master resembled a pretty young man more than anything.

Silence fell again.

"Let's talk about you first! What happened? Why are you showing signs of falling into demonic cultivation? Haven't I told you that it's the greatest taboo for a cultivator?" Qingxi snapped.

"So it's true? A woman really did write you a love letter, Master?" Dugu Yan murmured.

"Pah! Are you looking for a fight?"

"Is that staff your Martial Soul, Master? Did you awaken a Martial Soul too?" Dugu Yan reached out to touch the Universe Staff, but the little staff immediately slipped back into Qingxi's body.

"Oh? It's got a bit of a temper."

Seeing Qingxi's expression grow colder and more stern, Dugu Yan rubbed her fingers together. "Well... I thought you were dead, Master... I was so sad..." That was how she'd nearly fallen into demonic cultivation.

"But where have you been all these years, Master? Grandpa said there was a massive heavenly tribulation in the Star Dou Great Forest six years ago. You haven't spoken to me since then."

The girl sounded a little aggrieved.

She'd always thought her master was dead. She'd kept watch over her master's true body, waiting desperately for them to meet again.

Qingxi's expression softened. She rose onto her toes and patted Dugu Yan's head. "I traveled around the world. I left in a hurry, but I thought I'd left you a letter."

"..." Dugu Yan fell silent. She really hadn't seen the letter her master mentioned.

"Could the wind have blown it away?"

The two fell silent again.

What rotten luck.

"Never mind that. Let's get rid of your demonic energy first."

"How?"

"What realm have you reached?"

"Mid-stage Foundation Establishment."

"What else?"

"Hm? Soul Power level forty-nine."

Qingxi nodded slightly. Considering the two different cultivation systems, that was a decent level of cultivation.

Still, to develop demonic energy over such a small matter... She was young and needed more tempering.

Qingxi had meant to use her second Soul Skill to remove the demonic energy from Dugu Yan directly, but then thought better of it.

She gestured toward the Ice and Fire Spirit Pool nearby. "Jump in."

A spirit pool this extreme was more than enough to purge the demonic energy she had now.

Dugu Yan shook her head frantically. The extreme yin and yang would kill her.

"You've already reached Foundation Establishment. Don't worry, you can handle it. Besides, this spirit pool is a treasure. The spiritual energy gathered here, and all these flowers bloom because of it."

Looking at the hesitant girl, Qingxi sighed and stepped toward her.

"Master, what are you doing?" Dugu Yan turned to run, only for Qingxi to grab her by the nape of her collar.

"Don't worry, I'm here!" Qingxi caught the back of Dugu Yan's clothes and tossed her straight into the pool.

"Help!" Dugu Yan cried. She felt freezing cold, as if her blood had frozen solid, then in the next instant she felt she was about to burn to death.

Qingxi raised a hand, sending a warm current of power into Dugu Yan's body.

"Don't worry. Just absorb it properly." She took off her black robe and peeled away her outer garments one by one, then stepped into the pool.

Dugu Yan also sensed the spirit pool's wondrous effects. She slowly closed her eyes and circulated her cultivation art, as the spiritual energy in her dantian grew denser.

Qingxi enjoyed a comfortable soak.

She'd wandered around the medicine garden and picked quite a few Immortal Herbs needed for alchemy. She'd planted them in flowerpots made specially from spirit stones and stored them in her Universe Bag.

As evening approached, her little disciple was still cultivating. Qingxi got dressed, went out, caught a few Soft Bone Rabbits, and roasted them.

After an unknown length of time, Dugu Yan slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was exceptionally clear. Her cultivation had reached late-stage Foundation Establishment, and her Soul Power was level fifty.

Once she absorbed her fifth Soul Ring, she would rise to become a Soul King.

She hadn't expected the Ice and Fire Spirit Pool to have such effects, though she'd only get such a breakthrough the first time.

She flew out of the pool and saw someone roasting rabbits by a campfire. Qingxi was having a grand old time, with a whole row of Soft Bone Rabbits sizzling and dripping with oil.

"Here! Try your master's cooking." Qingxi handed Dugu Yan a roasted rabbit.

"Thank you, Master." Dugu Yan sat beside her, smiling as she took it and bit into it. Then her smile froze on her face.

For a moment, she didn't know whether to swallow or spit it out.

"Master?"

"What?" Qingxi smiled brightly.

"Um... how about we go eat at a restaurant?"

"I'm broke." She was poor. After six years of wandering here and there, she'd run out of money long ago.

"Then how about we go to the Star Dou Great Forest to find a Soul Ring? There's a restaurant on the way, and they make delicious roast rabbit. I'll treat you?" The moment she finished speaking, someone grabbed her by the collar, and she was soaring through the air.

An hour later, the two of them stood in front of a restaurant.

"Stop flying! This is the place." Dugu Yan clung to a nearby pillar and kept vomiting, her mind a complete jumble.

If she hadn't stopped her, they'd probably have flown all the way into the Star Dou Great Forest by now.

Her master flew without a care for whether she lived or died. All she'd seen along the way was the scenery changing again and again.

"Boss, a pot of plum wine. One of everything on the house-special menu, plus ten roast rabbits—cumin flavor, extra spicy!" Once Qingxi saw that Dugu Yan had mostly finished throwing up, she strode into the shop and ordered with a grand wave of her hand.

"Of course, honored guest. Please wait a moment." The server in the shop beamed. What a big order!

Dugu Yan's mouth twitched. "Can we really eat that much?"

Why did she get the feeling her master was so happy because she'd offered to pay?

"I thought you'd ask if it was enough." Qingxi blinked her dark eyes, looking utterly innocent.

"You'll gain weight."

"No, I won't." Any extra food would automatically turn into energy and be stored.

"I still need to find a Soul Ring." One meal like this would waste a lot of time.

"I'll help you find one later. I'm already a Soul Grandmaster." Qingxi kept blinking at her, looking pitiful.

The two stared at each other in silence.

"...A Soul Master?" Dugu Yan slowly spoke, unable to believe her master's cultivation realm.

"That's right! A Soul Grandmaster." Qingxi scratched her head, looking a little embarrassed.

Mainly because she'd spent the last six years roughing it on the road and hadn't cultivated at all.

When she'd awakened her Martial Soul, the appearance of Universe in Palm had surprised her.

The divine artifact that had accompanied her all her life in her previous life had come to her side in this life as a soul artifact.

Weighing one hundred and eight thousand catties, it commanded three thousand seven hundred and eighty-two transformations. Forged by her master over eighty-one days, this supreme divine artifact was no less precious than the Golden Cudgel.

And... and Soul Masters even got a stipend...

"Master, after we eat, want to spar? Soul Power only." Dugu Yan felt like she had her confidence back.

Although her cultivation might not match her master's, she was now a level-fifty-one Soul King, a twenty-year-old Soul King. With such talent, she was among the finest young prospects on the entire continent.

In just six years, her Soul Power had risen by sixteen levels. Even Grandpa had been astonished.

Over those six years, Grandpa's Soul Power had even reached level ninety-four, a full four-level increase.

The further you advanced, the more talent mattered, and the harder it became to raise your Soul Power.

Back when he was at level ninety, Grandpa had gone ten whole years without a breakthrough. It wasn't until six years ago, when Master gave her that bottle of spirit liquid, that he benefited from a complete transformation—even though it had only contained a tiny drop.

That was why Dugu Yan held her master, who looked so much younger than she was, in such high regard.