Chapter 15: A Revelation in Moonlight and the Path of the Underworld Art

Ye Qingfeng was utterly lost at this point.

She was momentarily unsure if the person who had walked beside her was truly Liang Tong.

Having been ambushed, she’d had no chance whatsoever to retaliate against Liang Tong, so it was inconceivable that he would have exited the secret realm in such a near-fatal state.

Could it be that he had encountered a powerful enemy after that?

If Liang Tong had been the type of arrogant or despicable person universally disliked within the sect, Ye Qingfeng would have undoubtedly dismissed his condition as a mere ruse.

However, the truth was that Liang Tong’s reputation within the sect was so stellar that everyone spoke highly of him; any negative appraisals stemmed solely from his overly strict and impartial enforcement of sect rules, which had bred resentment among a few narrow-minded disciples.

If all of this were merely Liang Tong’s pretense, then wouldn’t he have been excessively cruel to himself, maintaining the act for so many years?

According to the message from Du Yu, had the elders not intervened in time, Liang Tong would have perished; even after being saved, he had lost the vast majority of his cultivation.

It was crucial to remember that Liang Tong was soon to compete for the position of the Grand Elder’s personal disciple.

Even with his extraordinary talent, and even if he managed to recover his strength before the competition, how could someone who had just regained their power possibly contend with the other two contenders who had been steadily accumulating their energies?

Could it be that some demonic fiend, skilled in disguise, had impersonated Liang Tong and then attacked both of them separately, each believing the other was the attacker?

The hunter, having lost everything, yearned only for vengeance against the prey that had stolen it all.

Yet now, someone was telling her that this prey might not be her true enemy, and the fierce obsession and hatred in her heart dissolved into a bewildering fog.

Though her body felt no fatigue, her breathing grew incredibly heavy.

The previously unnoticed chirping of insects swelled into an irritating cacophony, unsettling her mind.

The cold glint in Ye Qingfeng’s eyes transformed into boundless killing intent, and a sword of ice slowly materialized in her hand, sweeping outwards in sync with her turbulent emotions.

Wherever the sword light passed, flowers, trees, birdsong, and insect chirps were all engulfed by a chilling frost.

No one knew how long this cathartic outburst lasted, only that the once-dense forest now, within a hundred-meter radius centered on Ye Qingfeng, was utterly devoid of life.

Every living creature had been turned into frost, eventually settling upon the ground, dyeing the formerly dark green earth a pristine, sacred white.

The moonlight, now unobstructed, poured onto the frost, its emitted brilliance, if viewed from the sky, would have made it seem as though a second moon had blossomed on the earth.

Meanwhile, Ye Qingfeng lay alone at the center of this earthly moon, gasping for breath.

This time, she was truly exhausted; even a defenseless mortal could now easily claim her life.

For her, who had always been cautious and cherished her life, this was simply unbelievable.

‘Indeed, truly unbelievable.’

“Haha, hahaha, hahahaha!”

Bathed in moonlight, Ye Qingfeng laughed unrestrainedly, like a Valkyrie returning victorious from battle, her clear and melodious voice expressing her delight.

The Book Spirit, which had been accompanying Ye Qingfeng, emerged, speaking with profound sorrow and regret: “Such a perfectly sane person, how could she have gone mad? By the way, before you completely lose your mind, could you perhaps put me up for auction? I think it would be a rather good place for me. We could split the spirit stones from the auction, how about that? You’d also have the funds to find a good doctor. Wah!”

The next second, the Xuan Yin Book Spirit’s main body was smacked to the ground by Ye Qingfeng.

“It’s all mine! Half-and-half? Dream on!”

The Xuan Yin Book Spirit asked, astonished: “Is that really the main point?!”

“Of course that’s the main point. What else could it be? Is selling you to an auction house

—an inevitable outcome

—the main point?”

Ye Qingfeng propped herself up with her right leg bent against the ground, her slender, fair hands clasped around her long thigh, her delicate chin resting on her knees as the pure moonlight cascaded upon her exquisite, jade-like countenance, making it shimmer.

Though utterly devoid of warmth, Ye Qingfeng comfortably narrowed her eyes, as if basking in the moon’s caress.

Time continued its relentless flow, yet this particular moment and place seemed to have frozen, as if the slightest movement would shatter the pristine tableau of a beauty beneath the moonlit frost.

However, no one was fortunate enough to witness this picturesque scene firsthand; the only thing stirring nearby was a Book Spirit, entirely devoid of human aesthetic appreciation.

It floated wobblingly before Ye Qingfeng, asking the seemingly slumbering beauty: “Asleep?”

“Not yet.”

Ye Qingfeng didn’t even bother opening her eyes.

“Then where do we go next?”

“Where to go, you ask?”

This question prompted Ye Qingfeng to open her eyes once more, though they now held no trace of confusion, and she spoke with a rather profound, Zen-like air: “To the place we should go, to do the things we should do.”

The Book Spirit looked utterly bewildered, inquiring perplexedly: “Where is this ‘place we should go’? And what are these ‘things we should do’?”

“The place we should go is simply the place we should go. As for what we should do…”

A wicked smile played on Ye Qingfeng’s lips as she declared: “Naturally, we shall widely propagate the Xuan Yin Underworld Nether Art! We’ll work together to refine the cultivation method, elevating it to a level where it no longer requires Pure Yang Qi or Xuan Yin Qi for practice. Then, we’ll make hundreds, even thousands of copies, distributing them widely to our Fellow Daoists across Hengyu (TL Note: Hengyu is the name of this world, similar to ‘Earth’), allowing them to experience the greatness and profundity of the Xuan Yin Underworld Nether Art! How does that sound?!”

The Xuan Yin Book Spirit was utterly shocked, then so moved that its voice trembled.

“Master, with such a magnificent aspiration, how could the immortal path not be achieved, or our Dao not flourish! Hahahaha! Let us usher in an era where everyone cultivates the Xuan Yin Underworld Nether Art!”

“Oh!”

Seeing the Xuan Yin Book Spirit’s exhilarated expression, Ye Qingfeng enthusiastically joined in with a morale-boosting cheer.

Whether Liang Tong was truly her enemy or not no longer mattered; what truly mattered was that she would absolutely exact her revenge upon that enemy.

****

Time once again advanced, a year passing before Ye Qingfeng packed up her stall and returned to her dwelling.

Although she was a cultivator, as a rogue cultivator with a low cultivation realm, she was clearly not qualified to possess a cave dwelling.

Furthermore, even if she had one, she wouldn’t be able to protect it, for outside there were many bandits lacking any particular skill, relying on ‘fortuitous encounters’ to seize others’ spirit stones.

Therefore, Ye Qingfeng chose to reside in a mortal inn, a place steeped in the ‘red dust’ (TL Note: A Buddhist term referring to the mundane world and its desires), which most cultivators paid little mind to.

The exchange rate between spirit stones and mortal currency was quite favorable, allowing Ye Qingfeng to comfortably live in the most luxurious single room.

Moreover, despite being a mortal inn, it was located within a major city and protected by legitimate sect cultivators, meaning ordinary rogue cultivators were disinclined to stir up trouble there.

Dust-laden from her journey, she arrived at the elegant room on the inn’s uppermost floor, gently closing the sandalwood door.

The worldly scent of ‘red dust’ and human activity significantly faded as the sounds of people were shut out.

The interior was sumptuously decorated and aesthetically pleasing; various pieces of furniture crafted from fine redwood were arranged neatly and artfully in every corner of the room, imparting a sense of classic elegance and nobility.

A faint, refreshing fragrance wafted from a multi-colored glazed incense burner, filling every inch of the room.

Exquisitely shaped tea sets with magnificent patterns lay neatly arranged on the tabletop, patiently awaiting the room’s occupant to indulge in the refined pleasure of tea.

Regrettably, the room’s occupant was no renowned scholar or refined guest; for her, the most alluring feature of the entire room was the soft redwood bed situated on the west side, adorned with a mattress woven from soft silk and bedding that felt like pure silk.

Casually tossing her storage pouch filled with spirit stones onto the bedside, Ye Qingfeng leaped into the air, executed an aerial flip, and landed securely on the bed, cushioned by the wonderfully soft and springy mattress and covers.

Leisurely, she used her slender, fair fingers to take out the spirit stones one by one, inspecting their quality.

Each time she confirmed one was satisfactory, the faint smile that graced her lips was as enchanting as an Epiphyllum blooming in the night.

“Hehe, not bad, very good. Guess how much I earned this time?”

The room was empty save for her, and the response to her words came from a book that floated out from beneath the spirit stones, its cover emblazoned with the title ‘Intimate Secrets of the Boudoir’.