Blessing in Disguise

"Awooo!"

A muffled roar rang through the Daoist temple. In a final, desperate struggle, a Force Servitor unleashed everything it had.

The sound lasted a while.

Only when the storm had spent itself and the Force Servitor's outburst had ended did the door to the temple's main hall quietly open. Daoist Nun You strolled out, her clothes perfectly neat.

In her hand was the Force Servitor, its body riddled with wounds. As a tool, it was plainly beyond repair. Its supposedly impervious body was ruined, without even a trace of the magic that might restore it. Yet its expression remained serene.

There was even a hint of joy.

To have been pushed this far meant Daoist Nun You had liked it very much. As a Force Servitor, its value as a human sacrifice had received the highest possible recognition.

Not far away, Wang Ping watched with his scalp prickling.

He had witnessed the entire battle. The ruined servitor had undoubtedly been the finest of the ten.

Especially its perfected Qi Suppression.

"Impervious to blades and spears..."

Wang Ping was absolutely certain that even old bastard Shouchong's throwing knives, powerful enough to blow apart a rockery, could not have left so much as a scratch on it.

What did that mean?

"A Force Servitor that's only fit for menial labor under Immortal Sect disciples could be invincible across all of Great Shun?"

This was no mere gap.

It was a chasm.

Like heaven and earth, destined never to meet. Simply grasping the difference was enough to drive someone to despair, and Wang Ping grew more restless by the moment.

"If this goes on, I'll end up just like it."

Six days had passed since he had become a Force Servitor. Every day, Daoist Nun You randomly chose one of them to spar with her.

Wang Ping had been chosen once. His quality as a Force Servitor was neither high nor low. Though he was not the worst, he fell far short of the one now ruined. Even giving his all, he could not satisfy Daoist Nun You's needs, so she had sparred with him only that once.

But once had been enough.

The wear it caused had shut him down for three days. He had barely recovered yesterday, and his body remained weak.

"Look on the bright side."

"At least those three days laid up, desperately circulating Qi Suppression to repair the damage, greatly improved my mastery of the spell. A blessing in disguise."

Wang Ping found what comfort he could in his misery and pondered:

"Qi Suppression turns essence, energy, and spirit into True Qi. Its effects, from weakest to strongest, are stopping bleeding and growing flesh, mending bones and reconnecting tendons, then becoming impervious to blades and spears."

"As a Force Servitor, the knowledge of Qi Suppression was carved straight into my instincts when this body was made. Ordinary people have to learn the spell step by step, starting with stopping bleeding and growing flesh. I didn't have to study it at all; I started at the highest level."

That was both good and bad.

The advantage was learning the spell at no cost. The drawback was that it all depended on his Force Servitor body. Without it, he would have nothing.

"Fortunately, that's changed."

"I've worked out the essentials of casting Qi Suppression. Even without this body's help, I'm confident I can cast it again."

Its effects would, of course, be much weaker.

He certainly could not reach the point of shielding himself with True Qi and becoming impervious to blades and spears. But stopping bleeding and growing flesh should still be possible. At least he would have another skill.

"That'll do. Once I'm back in Great Shun, this knack for healing wounds should earn me a reputation as a miracle doctor. I'll never have to worry about food or drink again..."

Just then—

Thud!

Inside the storeroom, Daoist Nun You tossed the battered Force Servitor onto the floor. The light in its eyes slowly faded, its joy lingering to the end.

Daoist Nun You paid it no mind. Her gaze swept over the other Force Servitors with an air of lingering appetite, and she picked another.

At the sight, Wang Ping no longer hesitated.

"...I'm out of time."

He had survived six days because the best Force Servitor had stood in front, bearing the brunt of Daoist Nun You's demands and the risk of death.

Now it was ruined.

"The rest are nowhere near as good. They might not last a day. If this continues, whether I live or die will be entirely down to luck."

She might pick him tomorrow and work him to death, or the day after, or the day after that. Whichever day it was, death was inevitable. The countdown until then was only a cruel torment. Wang Ping forced himself to overcome his fear.

Time ticked by.

The sun sank behind the western hills. Night fell, and the cries echoing through the temple ceased again. Clearly, Daoist Nun You had worn out the Force Servitor she had just taken.

"Now!"

Wang Ping's heart raced. From six days of observation, he knew that after each sparring session, Daoist Nun You fell quiet for a relatively long time.

More importantly—

"It's past midnight. The seventh day is finally over!"

His consciousness slipped into the Morgue. When he saw that Otherworldly Celestial Demon had finally lit up again on the towering book, Wang Ping nearly burst into tears.

"I've got everything I need!"

Without question, this was his best chance to escape.

If he succeeded, he could explore the Immortal Sect's world from another angle. If he failed, he could still return to the Great Shun Dynasty with Qi Suppression and trounce its small fry.

"Sink or swim, I'm leaving tonight!"

With that decision made, Wang Ping focused on his body and reached for his hands and feet. It felt like shaking numbness from his limbs.

"Move...!"

His consciousness drove every part of his body, bypassing the Force Servitor sigil within him. At last, Wang Ping managed to open his eyes and, with difficulty, stretch his limbs.

"It worked!"

A crushing weight pressed down on his whole body, but he had gained the ability to move without triggering the Force Servitor sigil.

What came next was simple.

"Run!"

First he would leave this damned temple. Then he would find somewhere nearby, dig a hole, bury himself, shut down, and lie low for a year or so before emerging.

That was Wang Ping's entire plan: crude, direct, and heavily dependent on luck. But it was the only one he could think of. Staying in the temple meant death anyway, so he might as well try to escape. Full of hope, he stepped toward the storeroom door.

But just then—

"Interesting."

That familiar voice was soft and alluring. As though its owner had been standing behind him all along, it sounded beside his ear like a lover's whisper:

"The Heaven and Earth Pavilion's products really don't meet quality standards."

"How much have those vermin pocketed?"

"They couldn't even properly erase the raw material's memories when making a mere Force Servitor... Excellent. I'll demand a hefty payout from them afterward."

"..."

Wang Ping froze. Slowly, he turned. Beneath the hazy moonlight, Daoist Nun You stood gazing straight at him, her bearing cool and aloof.

"I'm done for!"

Wang Ping did not cry out aloud, but Daoist Nun You seemed to catch his thoughts. She even patted his shoulder gently.

"You can't really be blamed. You had few choices, after all, and escaping was the only workable one. But anything you could think of, I could think of too. So I laid this trap from the beginning. If I still couldn't catch you, I'd have only myself to blame."

At once, Wang Ping understood.

"So that silence after sparring was a smokescreen. Every time she finished, that poisonous woman secretly waited here by the storeroom..."

She had been waiting for a rabbit to run into the stump!

Wang Ping bristled. A disciple of the mighty Immortal Sect had deliberately set a trap for him, a mere tool, a Force Servitor. Was there no justice in heaven?

Who played cat and mouse with a tool?

All hope fled Wang Ping. Strangely, he was no longer afraid. He simply closed his eyes. Daoist Nun You, on the other hand, looked faintly curious.

"Do you... have anything else to say?"

Wang Ping shook his head, his face resolute. "Nothing. Get it over with."

"Very well."

Daoist Nun You formed a hand seal and activated the Force Servitor sigil within Wang Ping, instantly severing his control over his body.

She did not rush to destroy the defective Force Servitor, however. She still needed to demand compensation from the Heaven and Earth Pavilion. Knowing those vermin, they would never pay without solid evidence placed before them. Wang Ping was still useful to her.

"What should I do next?"

With one worry settled, Daoist Nun You was in high spirits. She began considering how to squeeze the most out of the situation. After all, she had finally caught the Heaven and Earth Pavilion red-handed.

"Make a scandal of it!"

"If this is merely a faulty Force Servitor, the Heaven and Earth Pavilion can admit it, take a slap on the wrist, and send me off with a few Dharma Coins."

That would never do.

Daoist Nun You quickly drafted the story in her head:

"Shocking! You Xuexin, a disciple of the Immortal Peak of Ultimate Bliss, recently uncovered a long-planned Brahma Kingdom plot to infiltrate the Immortal Sect!"

"Under the guidance of her esteemed master Mingyou, You Xuexin set an example befitting a True Disciple. With unwavering conviction, absolute loyalty, and keen intuition, she discovered a Brahma Cultivator who had seized a mortal's body and disguised himself as a Force Servitor to infiltrate the Immortal Sect and steal vital secrets."

"Investigations revealed that this Brahma Cultivator's methods were exceptionally cruel."

"He infiltrated by seizing a mortal's body. Yet the Heaven and Earth Pavilion, which made that mortal into a Force Servitor, was negligent in its quality checks and failed to detect him..."

A moment later, Daoist Nun You nodded in satisfaction.

"Much better."

A substandard Force Servitor would earn the pavilion little more than three cups of wine as punishment. Letting a Brahma Cultivator infiltrate the Immortal Sect was another matter entirely. At a minimum, it amounted to serious dereliction of duty.

Ideally, she would stir up public opinion and make the affair sound as grave as possible. The Force Servitor really was defective. With a little guidance, opinion would naturally swing in her favor, putting pressure on the Heaven and Earth Pavilion and forcing it to yield.

Next came fabricating the evidence.

With that in mind, You Xuexin glanced at Wang Ping, now shut down. "Hmm. Simply saying he's a Brahma Cultivator won't be very convincing."

She needed to add something.

The Immortal Sect would certainly send someone to investigate. She had to leave evidence tied to the Brahma Cultivators, or framing the pavilion would be difficult.

After a moment's thought, You Xuexin slipped a hand into her sleeve.

She drew out a scripture shimmering with golden light. Three characters sprawled across its cover like dragons soaring and phoenixes dancing, their colors shifting faintly.

The Heavenly Book of Self-Transformation and Dominion over the Desire Realm!

You Xuexin had obtained the scripture after killing a Brahma Cultivator during the Immortal-Brahma Sword Duel. Though incomplete, it specifically countered her Blissful Immortal Physique.

"Indulgence and pleasure are emptiness? Crooked heresy!"

As a loyal True Disciple of the Immortal Sect, You Xuexin utterly despised its old rival, the Brahma Kingdom, and rejected its teachings.

She had kept the cultivation manual mainly because it touched on dual cultivation and the path of bliss, offering insights useful to her own practice. The scripture itself was also made of fine material; she had planned to melt it down and reforge it when she crafted a Dharma Treasure someday.

"This will do."

You Xuexin formed hand seals and chanted, drawing out the scripture's mysteries. For a moment, serene, distant chants seemed to fill the air.

"Go!"

Then You Xuexin poured the Brahma Kingdom scripture wholesale into Wang Ping's mind, forcing him to memorize it.

That would establish beyond doubt that he was an infiltrating Brahma Cultivator.

You Xuexin was already congratulating herself and considering how to extort the Heaven and Earth Pavilion when Wang Ping suddenly began to convulse in her grasp.

"Hm?" You Xuexin lowered her gaze.

What was happening?

Light burst repeatedly from Wang Ping's body. Dense cracks appeared across his face, and his expression grew increasingly pained.

"Is this... rejection? Impossible. Even if the raw material used to make this Force Servitor retained memories, they should amount to fragments of a personality at most. Rejection means the personality is remarkably complete and independent... What kind of joke is this? Did the Heaven and Earth Pavilion not process the material at all...?"

In a flash, the light blazed brighter.

"...Not good!"

Only then did You Xuexin realize what was happening. Her expression shifted, and she changed her hand seal, trying to draw back the scripture she had just implanted.

It was too late.

The next instant—

Boom!

Wang Ping's body exploded in a blaze of light. Flesh and blood broke apart, then dissolved without a trace, as though he had never existed.

Only You Xuexin remained where he had stood.

The unexpected turn left her lovely face utterly blank. A moment later, understanding dawned, and her features visibly twisted.

"He killed himself?"

"His personality was not only intact, but he was determined to die?"

Her leverage was dead, and her extortion scheme died with it. Her dream of getting rich overnight vanished in an instant. The reversal was more than You Xuexin could bear.

Worse, she discovered that the text of the Heavenly Book of Self-Transformation and Dominion over the Desire Realm, which she had just implanted in Wang Ping's mind, had not returned. It had vanished with him. Even the scripture that had held it lost its mystic power and began crumbling bit by bit.

In other words—

After all that effort, she had gained nothing and lost a Force Servitor and a valuable cultivation scripture besides?

Clang!

A clear sword cry rang through the Daoist temple. Brilliant light soared into the sky, dividing yin from yang and cleaving night from dawn. It lingered between heaven and earth for a long time.