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Join the ServerThe light around the window tea seats was soft, with four people sitting opposite one another, their teacups resting lightly on the table.
“Shengqing had been completely out of contact for days, yet yesterday he suddenly sent a location message to the Sect Master of the Qingyun Sect. Something must have happened,” Wei Nianqin, clad in red, spoke in a low voice. “I’m afraid it is related to his direct disciple.”
“Junior Brother Mu An has always been honest and kind. There is no way he would harm the Wanghua Immortal Lord,” Yunnan You furrowed his brow tightly, turning to look at the white-haired elder dressed in yellow sitting beside him. “Before parting ways with Junior Brother, he even entrusted me to find the Valley Master and ask for an antidote to the poison.”
The Valley Master of Medicine God Valley gently stroked his white beard, “That poison is truly overbearing and specifically targets cultivators with profound spiritual energy. I fear it was formulated precisely to target the Wanghua Immortal Lord.”
“That disciple might have been coerced by external forces, or perhaps he knows some insider information. Once we find him, we will naturally be able to find Shen Shengqing,” Yunnan You’s master, Yi Chen, lifted her teacup and said in a calm, steady voice.
Wei Nianqin nodded, looking down at the compass in her hand, “At present, Mutian Cliff is the only place in the entire Muyan City that has not been investigated.”
The moment she finished speaking, Wei Nianqin’s fingers paused.
The compass on the table suddenly began to shake violently, and she abruptly looked out the door, “There’s a demon!”
On the other side, Mu An was using almost every ounce of his strength to flee toward the outskirts of the city, the Earth-rank magical item on his feet operating at top speed as it carried him along.
Wei Nianqin and the others possessed cultivation levels far deeper than Mu An’s.
Even though he channeled all of his spiritual energy and utilized his Earth-rank magical item, he still could not widen the gap between them.
Wei Nianqin did not recognize Mu An, but a demon appearing in this location was highly likely to be connected to Shen Shengqing’s disappearance.
She could not let the opportunity to repay her debt of gratitude—which she had awaited for years—slip away.
With a slight turn of her palm, Wei Nianqin sent a blast of fiery-red spiritual energy shooting toward Mu An.
Boom!
A silver barrier blocked the fiery-red attack as a silver shield abruptly rose around Mu An’s body.
Wei Nianqin’s expression froze, and her footsteps faltered.
That was a protective magical item she had forged for Shen Shengqing in their earlier years.
Yunnan You also recognized the movement technique Mu An was using to escape, “It’s Mu An! It’s Junior Brother Mu An.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he instantly halted his steps, his eyes filled with complete bewilderment.
He stared at the figure ahead, which was radiating demonic energy from head to toe, and his entire soul trembled.
How could it be Mu An?
How could Junior Brother Mu An truly be a demon?
Hearing his voice, Wei Nianqin recovered her senses; if it was Mu An, then there was no mistake.
She leapt up into a tree.
With a slight flick of her fingers, her lifebound weapon, the Soul-Chasing Bow, materialized in her palm, and a sharp arrow was notched onto the bowstring.
The figure below was running incredibly fast.
Wei Nianqin’s eyes narrowed slightly, and with a release of her fingers, the arrow shot out like a flash of lightning.
Mu An suddenly felt a violent impact and was thrown forward more than ten meters by the force of the arrow, but thanks to the protective magical item, he was not injured.
“Mu An! Yield and surrender! For the sake of you being Shengqing’s disciple, we will spare your life!” Wei Nianqin shouted.
Mu An’s footsteps faltered slightly, but without the slightest hesitation, he picked himself up and bolted toward Mutian Cliff.
“Mu An!” Yunnan You called out anxiously, chasing after him at top speed.
Mu An did not dare to stop for even a second.
Once he entered the dense forest of Mutian Cliff, he would be safe!
The forest was riddled with swamps and thick, baffling mist, and with flight magic restricted, everyone was forced to travel on foot.
Knowing the correct path, Mu An quickly left everyone far behind.
As Yi Chen gave chase, she began to sense that something was amiss, “Is he deliberately trying to lead us somewhere?”
Upon hearing this, the others froze slightly in realization.
After arriving at Mutian Cliff, Mu An looked back.
Seeing no sign of his pursuers, he didn’t suspect anything and quickly slid down toward the cave.
He knew that the female lead and her companions would soon arrive here to rescue his master, whom he had hidden away.
“Shizun! Shizun!” Mu An called out Shen Shengqing’s name in a frantic rush.
A figure in pale blue and white slowly stepped out from behind the screen.
When he saw Mu An’s wretched state, Shen Shengqing’s pupils contracted.
The youth’s hair was cluttered with fallen leaves, his clothes were in disarray, and his black attire was coated in dust.
He took a few steps forward, only to be suddenly lunged at by Mu An, who wrapped him in a tight embrace, “Shizun, in the future, you must live a good life.”
Shen Shengqing’s heart sank, his fingertips trembling with unease.
Forcing himself to remain calm, he wanted to ask Mu An what had happened.
However, a soft, effeminate laugh suddenly echoed throughout the cave dwelling.
“What deep affection between master and disciple~”
Mu An’s soul shook.
He threw himself in front of his master to shield him, looking up at the newcomer.
The uninvited guest leapt onto the platform from the rope, his red garments fluttering.
As he lifted his head, that familiar white mask entered Mu An’s field of vision.
Mu An was shocked, “Qing Ya!”
He called out anxiously to the system in his mind, ‘System! Why is Qing Ya here? This plot isn’t right!’
According to the original plot outline, after the female lead killed Mu An, she was supposed to take Shen Shengqing to Medicine God Valley.
Along the way, they would encounter Qing Ya, and the female lead would be killed by Qing Ya in her attempt to protect Shen Shengqing.
Protected by the female lead, Shen Shengqing would escape with his life.
Once he regained his spiritual energy, he would seek revenge, kill Qing Ya, and begin his quest to resurrect her.
[Host, upon retrieval, the medicinal pill used to unlock your seal was laced with a tracking-gu poison. After you consumed it, the resonance of the gu insect allowed him to pinpoint your location.]
‘Are you crazy? In the original plot, he didn’t track me at all!’ Mu An was practically driven mad.
[It’s probably because you aren’t as pathologically obsessed as in the original plot, and he was afraid you’d go soft on your master, so he specifically came to cut weeds by the roots.]
“You sure know how to hide, An’an!” Qing Ya smiled maliciously. “It’s taken me quite a bit of searching these past few days.”
“What do you want!” Mu An firmly shielded Shen Shengqing behind him, demonic power swirling around his entire body.
Shen Shengqing’s brow furrowed tightly. It seemed the person who had given Mu An the poison back then was indeed this demon; no wonder Mu An had gotten into a fight with him in the back mountain.
His fingertips tightened as a drop of his essence blood fell onto his storage ring.
“What do I want? Why so tense, An’an~ I’m not going to lay a hand on you.”
Qing Ya smiled, his gaze locking onto Shen Shengqing like a vulture fixing its prey.
“But Shen Shengqing—must die!”
Before Qing Ya finished speaking, his ten fingers turned suddenly as dark as ink, whistling with a sharp, space-ripping sound as he lunged fiercely toward Shen Shengqing.
Mu An’s pupils dilated, and he shoved Shen Shengqing aside, raising his hands to block the blow dead-on.
Boom—
Mu An was slammed heavily against the stone wall like a kite with a broken string. Shrapnel and crushed rocks burst outward, dust flew everywhere, and the carefully decorated cave dwelling was instantly left in ruins.
Shen Shengqing’s pupils shook violently as he hurled a magical artifact from his storage ring; yet without spiritual energy to reinforce it, the artifact was easily dodged by Qing Ya.
Mu An half-propped himself up against the rock wall and stood. The magical artifact Shizun had given him could ward off five attacks below the Spiritual Transformation stage, and two charges remained.
“Shizun, hide properly.” Mu An tore off the protective magical artifact and forcibly placed it onto Shen Shengqing.
Before Shen Shengqing could refuse, Qing Ya’s demonic claws arrived once more. Mu An violently shoved Shen Shengqing flying out of the way, and his twin lifebound swords burst from their scabbards, their cold light slashing toward the demonic claws.
“Even if Shizun dies, he can only die by my hands!”
Blood seeped from Mu An’s fingertips as he followed the system’s prompts to burn his own essence blood, forcibly elevating his cultivation realm.
In an instant, demonic power churned violently across his body, and fierce red markings faintly materialized between his brows.
Qing Ya’s expression shifted drastically. His original intention was to finish things quickly, never expecting Mu An to be so troublesome, willing to burn away his own lifespan just to fight him to the death.
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