Chapter 72: The Unveiling of Treachery

Shock and disbelief were etched across Gu Chang’an’s face.

She never could have imagined that the Heavenly Derivation Pavilion, an organization that prided itself on ‘obeying heaven’s will and upholding the righteous path,’ would stoop to such despicable depths, secretly sabotaging the Demonic Venerable’s tribulation.

If word of this were to spread, the entire Three Pure Dao Alliance would suffer irreparable damage to its reputation.

Shen Zhaoqing, too, was utterly bewildered.

She glanced at the ashen-faced Ling Shuangjue beside her, then recalled the sinister starlight from moments ago. A shiver of ice shot from her soles straight to the crown of her head.

‘Good heavens, so this was the truth all along.’

‘What heavenly dao collapse? What severed path to ascension?’

‘Someone was clearly pulling strings from behind the scenes!’

‘The Heavenly Derivation Pavilion, those old fogies.’

****

“Truly magnificent,” Ling Shuangjue uttered, her eyes swirling with bloodlust, filled with an endless killing intent and madness.

She stared at the now tranquil black stone, her body trembling violently from extreme fury. A trickle of crimson blood slowly dripped from the corner of her lips.

She had always believed she had been defeated by the heavenly dao.

Yet, in the end, she discovered she had merely fallen victim to the machinations of a group of ants hiding in the shadows.

“Heav…enly…De…ri…va…tion…Pa…vil…ion…” The words seemed to be squeezed from between her clenched teeth, each syllable carrying a chill potent enough to freeze the soul.

Boom—!!!

A surge of uncontrollable, utterly rampant Demonic Energy erupted from her body.

****

The entire cave trembled violently under the impact of this demonic energy, causing countless fragments of rock to rain down.

Her demonic heart had been breached. With her dao heart shattered and her emotions fluctuating wildly, the hidden injuries sustained from her failed tribulation now fully erupted.

Pfft—!

Ling Shuangjue could no longer suppress it. She violently spat out a large mouthful of black blood, staggering back before collapsing onto one knee. The Abyssal Slaughter Sword in her hand let out a mournful wail.

Overwhelming killing intent, like a tangible tide, swept in all directions.

“No good!” Gu Chang’an’s expression shifted. Without a moment’s thought, she shielded Shen Zhaoqing behind her.

The Frostbright Sword was held horizontally before her chest, struggling to ward off the Demonic Energy that threatened to tear their divine souls asunder.

Yet, Shen Zhaoqing actively pushed Gu Chang’an’s hand away. Amidst the raging storm of killing intent, she moved against the current, step by step, until she stood before Ling Shuangjue.

“Are you insane?!” Gu Chang’an exclaimed urgently.

Shen Zhaoqing gazed at the woman kneeling before her, her white robes stained with blood, emanating an aura of destruction, yet appearing as fragile as a lost child. Something within Shen Zhaoqing was inexplicably stirred.

Without a second thought.

She didn’t know why she was doing it. Perhaps it was out of sympathy for a powerful being, perhaps in gratitude for the life-saving grace shown earlier, or perhaps she simply felt that this was not how Ling Shuangjue should be.

The next second, Shen Zhaoqing reached out and seized Ling Shuangjue’s chin, forcefully lifting her face, which was contorted in pain.

Then, under Gu Chang’an’s utterly astonished gaze, she pried open those tightly clenched, blood-stained thin lips and placed the Gui Niang Hu from her waist against them.

The last drop in the gourd, the most potent innate spiritual brew, condensed from all the vital essence of her Dao Source Body, flowed through the opening into the mouth of the once-indomitable Demonic Venerable.

That was not merely wine. That drop of liquid was less wine and more a solidified essence of life.

The moment it entered her mouth, there was no pungency, but an extremely gentle warmth, like the early spring sunlight melting ten thousand years of glaciers.

Ling Shuangjue’s demonic body, on the verge of collapse from her shattered dao heart, felt as if an invisible hand had gently smoothed away all its frenzied cracks.

The Demonic Energy that was about to spiral out of control was forcibly suppressed by this rich vitality, transforming back into a trickling stream within her depleted meridians.

Her blood-red eyes, once unfocused from pain, now refocused. The first thing they saw was a clear, delicate face, close enough to discern a hint of disdain and helplessness in its expression.

Shen Zhaoqing was still pinching her chin, her brows furrowed as if wondering if she had administered the wrong medicine.

Ling Shuangjue’s mind went blank for a moment.

Humiliation, betrayal, towering hatred… these emotions, potent enough to plunge her into an abyss of inner demons from which there was no return, were now diluted by a stranger, more peculiar sensation.

This person… had saved her again.

“You can move, and you look a little better.”

Seeing that Ling Shuangjue’s eyes had cleared somewhat, Shen Zhaoqing immediately released her grip, not forgetting to wipe her fingers on Ling Shuangjue’s expensive white robe. She then shook the now-empty wine gourd with a pained expression. “I’m telling you, I gave you the very last drop in this gourd. You owe me big time.”

“Don’t be so dramatic about wanting to die all the time. It’s all in the past, all fake, all fake. I’m running a small street stall business here; I can’t handle you acting up like this.”

Gu Chang’an’s eyes twitched as she watched from the side, the Frostbright Sword in her hand creaking with her tight grip.

She wanted to pull Shen Zhaoqing back, but she feared disturbing Ling Shuangjue’s recovery. What angered her even more was Shen Zhaoqing’s reckless behavior.

That was the Demonic Venerable! Did she think she was feeding a cat from her backyard?! Even daring to pinch her chin?!!!

However, before this peculiar atmosphere could fully develop, a deafening roar interrupted everyone’s thoughts.

Rumble—!!!

The entire cave—no, the very core of the Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Mountain—began to shake violently.

The fragment of the Three Lives Stone, which had displayed the past, exhausted its last trace of energy. Its surface light completely dimmed, then with a *crack*, it shattered into countless pieces, turning into a pile of rubble.

As the core of the secret realm, its destruction instantly caused the entire spatial structure to collapse.

“The secret realm is collapsing!” Gu Chang’an’s face paled. Forgetting her jealousy, she grabbed Shen Zhaoqing’s wrist. “Let’s go!”

Boulders the size of millstones rained down like dumplings. The ground split open into bottomless chasms, and scorching magma erupted from the fissures, transforming this crude lair into a veritable active volcano.

“Oh, hell.”

Shen Zhaoqing was scared senseless by the apocalyptic scene. Having forcibly maintained her composure to save someone earlier, now that she relaxed, coupled with the after-effects of her innate soul being depleted, she felt her vision blur and her body devoid of strength.

She had become a complete burden.

“Don’t just stand there!” Gu Chang’an snapped, pulling Shen Zhaoqing into her embrace. With her other hand, she hoisted the unconscious Yuange from the ground, then, with wind beneath her feet, transformed into a streak of azure light, desperately sprinting towards the cave entrance they had come from.

Ling Shuangjue also rose. She took a deep breath; the rich warmth of the wine still coursed through her body. Though not fully healed, it had restored seven or eight tenths of her combat prowess.

She glanced at Shen Zhaoqing, who was protected in Gu Chang’an’s arms. A complex, inscrutable emotion flashed in her blood-red eyes. Then, her figure flickered, and the Abyssal Slaughter Sword in her hand sliced out a bloody rainbow, directly cleaving a massive boulder blocking their path into dust, clearing the way for the three of them!

Immortal dao sword light and demonic dao blood-red arcs, within the collapsing mountain, formed a strange synergy. One protected, one cleared the path, their efficiency incredibly high.

Shen Zhaoqing, tucked under Gu Chang’an’s armpit, was shaken to her core. She watched the Demonic Venerable’s back as she rampaged ahead, felt her senior sister’s cool yet powerful heartbeat beside her, and glanced at Yuange, who was slung over Gu Chang’an’s other arm.

The light from the cave entrance grew closer, the hope of survival almost within reach.

However, just as they were about to burst out of the entrance, the rock wall above groaned under the immense pressure. A monstrous boulder, the size of a small mountain, plummeted down with crushing force.

The colossal rock sealed off all escape routes. The earth-attribute spiritual power it contained was incredibly heavy, even causing space to slightly distort.

“This is bad!”