Yueqing (End)
White-Haired Immortal Mo Qixuan stared at Yueqing in surprise. "Second Miss, why are you here?"
Yueqing smiled. "Why can't I be here? With my elder sister having abandoned Northern Que and my father dead, aren't I the most rightful heir?
"You should know that the sect leader you worship, Ye Dingzhi, only came to Beyond the Heavens because of my schemes. Now that Beyond the Heavens has grown to such a scale, can you say I deserve no credit?
"Now that Ye Dingzhi is dead, who but me should take the position of sect leader of Beyond the Heavens?"
Purple-Robed Marquis Zi Yuji looked down on Yueqing more than anyone. He said disdainfully, "Even if the sect leader is dead, it still isn't your turn to take his position, Second Miss. Qixuan and I will naturally guard Beyond the Heavens and await the young sect leader's return."
Yueqing paid their attitude no mind and simply continued, "So, you're saying you won't support me?"
The only answer Yueqing received was Mo Qixuan's silence and a soft snort from Zi Yuji.
Yueqing sneered. Before her laughter had faded, she was already beside them. Mo Qixuan and Zi Yuji were startled out of their wits. When had the Second Miss become so skilled?
Before they could react, Yueqing struck each of them with a palm, crippling their martial arts in a single move.
Looking at the two collapsed on the ground, she said, "Since you have such backbone, go enjoy yourselves in the dungeon. As the former left and right protectors of Beyond the Heavens, you naturally ought to share my hardships with me."
Yueqing waved her hand, and guards emerged to take the two away.
Yueqing looked at the others, who had fallen as silent as cicadas in winter after she crippled Mo Qixuan and Zi Yuji. "Does anyone else refuse to submit to me?"
After a while, the people of Beyond the Heavens, whose spirits had long been broken by the failed eastern campaign, were cowed by Yueqing's thunderous methods and all knelt to show their submission.
Yueqing had no intention of sparing them just because they had been quick to kneel. She fed every last one of them poison to control them.
Over the next two years, Yueqing brought the forces of the Outer Realm back under her control one by one. She became the second sect leader after Ye Dingzhi to unite the Outer Realm.
Yueqing was no longer merely the sect leader of Beyond the Heavens, but the leader of the Demonic Sect, formed by all the forces of the Outer Realm.
Even after becoming the leader of the Demonic Sect, life in the Outer Realm was not particularly comfortable. Yueqing increasingly missed the carefree life she had led as Yi Wenjun.
Thinking of Yi Wenjun, Yueqing thought of another thing she could use to control Emperor Mingde: the Dragon Seal Scroll.
Having a guide naturally made things much more convenient. Yueqing was in no hurry and continued cultivating the Heavenly Devil Instruction in seclusion.
Although the Outer Realm was desolate, its Spiritual Qi was abundant. After another three years, Yueqing officially broke through to the Mystic Spirit Wandering Realm.
After her breakthrough, Yueqing once again used her martial might to intimidate the members of the Demonic Sect, then hurried straight to the imperial mausoleum in Tianqi. Without alerting anyone, she killed Zhuoqing and took the Dragon Seal Scroll.
After that, she did what she had done once before: she used the scroll and the threat of force to intimidate Emperor Mingde and reached an agreement with him on trade with the Demonic Sect.
Yueqing then used the same threat of force to "amicably" sign trade agreements with Nanjue and the Northern Barbarians.
Afterward, Yueqing led the Demonic Sect's members in a sweep of all the mounted bandits and brigands along Northern Li's borders, amassing a huge sum of capital by robbing criminals.
Yueqing had no desire to devote all her efforts to developing the Demonic Sect. She had only done so much because she wanted a better life. If she had to take care of everything herself, the gains would not be worth the losses.
So Yueqing thought of Su Changhe and Su Muyu, the most useful beasts of burden under her when she had been Yi Wenjun. Their goal seemed always to have been to cast off their identities in the shadows and step into the light.
Wasn't that a coincidence? The Outer Realm was precisely a place that cared least about a person's identity and revered only the strong.
So, drawing on Yi Wenjun's memories from her previous life, Yueqing quickly found Dark River's home base, killed a group of disobedient old fellows, and took the rest back to Beyond the Heavens.
With that, the Demonic Sect had its left and right protectors.
Su Changhe looked at the trade agreements with the other countries that Yueqing had tossed him, as well as the capital taken by robbing criminals. He was a little surprised by her trust, but when he thought of her realm, he understood and began his life as a beast of burden once more.
By the time Prince Langya Xiao Ruofeng was executed on charges of treason, the Outer Realm Demonic Sect had become a renowned commercial hub. Trade among Northern Li, Nanjue, and the Northern Barbarians all passed through the Outer Realm.
The Beyond the Heavens Escort Agency was also trusted by merchants.
Ever since finding her beasts of burden, Yueqing had left everything alone and focused solely on cultivation. The exception came when she heard of Xiao Ruofeng's death and instructed Su Changhe to go to Northern Li and find some people of ambition who had grown disillusioned with the emperor, and bring them to the Outer Realm to serve as his beasts of burden.
In her spare time between cultivation, Yueqing could not help sighing that no matter how things changed in the world, only an emperor's suspicion would never change.
Emperor Mingde knew perfectly well that the Dragon Seal Scroll was in Yueqing's hands, yet he had still struck the killing blow because he feared Xiao Ruofeng. He spoke of a threat to imperial power, but in truth he merely felt that Xiao Ruofeng's achievements had grown so great that they overshadowed the throne.
This same old act would never change, no matter how many years passed.
Just when Yueqing thought she could spend this life at such leisure, an unexpected visitor came looking for the Outer Realm Demonic Sect.
Yueqing looked expressionlessly at Yue Yao, whose eyes glistened with tears, and at Baili Dongjun beside her, who kept trying to comfort her. "What is it?" she asked impatiently.
Since Yue Yao had ultimately died for Yueqing in the previous life, she, who had taken over Yueqing's body, agreed to see Yue Yao.
That was the one bad thing about having someone else's body. Even after the original owner's soul had dispersed, she was still affected by the original owner's intense emotions.
Yue Yao could only keep shedding tears. Looking at the unfamiliar Yueqing before her, she did not know what to say.
While Yueqing had been imprisoned, Yue Yao had accompanied Dongjun to Penglai Immortal Island, and she had not returned when Yueqing became sect leader either. Now Northern Que was prospering, and she did not know why, but she had wanted to come back and see her younger sister.
Sadly, one look was all it took for her to know she had already lost her.
In the end, the two remained silent and indifferent. As Yue Yao and Baili Dongjun prepared to leave, Yueqing called out to him, "Baili Dongjun, when the twelve-year term is up, tell Ye Anshi that he is no longer one of us at Beyond the Heavens. The world is vast; he may roam it as he pleases."
Baili Dongjun thought of Brother Yun and merely nodded. If Yue Yao did not know what she could say to Yueqing, Baili Dongjun simply did not want to speak to her.
After all, Yueqing had been one of those who pushed Brother Yun to that point, and he could not forgive her.
Yueqing watched the two figures recede into the distance. After a moment's silence, she put them out of her mind again. "Su Changhe, hurry and find me a few new storytellers. The old ones aren't interesting anymore."