Chapter 41

◎ First Young Master, he jumped into the Soul Transformation Abyss. ◎

“Young Sect Leader, why exactly did you call me?” Jing Luoyun stood up, rubbing his butt.

Facing Chi Lu’s wide-eyed stare, he saw the girl’s mouth twitch and helplessly spread his hands.

The sketchbook beside Chi Lu had been completely destroyed by Jing Shuxing, leaving her unable to inquire about the contents of the drawings.

“Are you okay?” She showed a worried expression.

Jing Luoyun glared at her, “If you care about me, just say a few nice words when you break the formation for my father.”

Then he added with lingering fear, “Just a few nice words will do, but don’t say anything over the top. There is no destined relationship between the Young Sect Leader and me; forcing it will lead to nothing.”

Chi Lu held her forehead, momentarily speechless.

Suddenly, an idea struck her, realizing this was a perfect opportunity. She immediately started, “Why? Because of Yun Pianpian?”

“Of course. Pianpian and I grew up together and secretly pledged ourselves long ago. If not for my mother’s strong opposition, she wouldn’t still need to be a maid,” Jing Luoyun said indignantly.

“So, Young Sect Leader, you have no chance.”

Chi Lu looked at Jing Luoyun in a daze, watching him animatedly narrate.

The Yun Pianpian he spoke of matched Chi Lu’s impression of her and the descriptions in the book: gentle, wise, not one to compete.

But reality seemed different.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but doubt if the girl smiling faintly among the fiendish ghosts during the escape of the baleful aura was truly her. The book given by the system had a mix of truth and falsehoods, making it hard for her to fully believe or completely deny.

Upon arriving at the Nine-tiered Tower, Chi Lu remembered Jiang Yumu’s ordeal. Using her spiritual power, she examined Lady Ning, finding no trace of the love parasite inside her.

Lady Ning finally got to stand with Jing Yi, extremely excited but maintaining a facade of calm in front of Chi Lu, and greeted her haughtily, “Young Sect Leader, please.”

She was met with a nearly pitying look from Chi Lu.

Lady Ning, like a cat whose fur had been ruffled, became furious but dared not act out. She gritted her teeth as she followed at the back of the group into the Nine-tiered Tower.

Jing Luoyun, however, did not go inside.

At the back of the crowd, a petite girl with tear-filled eyes clung to Jing Luoyun’s hand, crying her heart out.

“Luoyun, let’s leave the mountain and the city. You have no idea how terrifying it was just now.”

Yun Pianpian, trembling and using her tears as a weapon, softened Jing Luoyun’s heart completely.

Chi Lu knew nothing of what was happening outside the tower as she focused on removing the restriction on Jiang Yumu.

Entering the tower, Chi Lu was startled by the drastically different environment compared to before.

After the onslaught of the baleful aura, most of Fengyue City’s main city had become a ruin with rubble and fallen trees everywhere. Under the crossbars, cultivators with low cultivation levels were trapped, crying out in pain.

Inside the tower, the changes were even more grotesque. The entire tower was pitch black, with a towering central pillar running through the nine levels, covered in densely packed inscriptions, many of which were faded, serving as the only source of light in the Nine-tiered Tower.

This time, Jing Yi directly took Chi Lu to the basement.

Compared to the first floor, the spells laid in the basement were even more overwhelming. Besides the pillar, the walls and floor were also covered in dense inscriptions.

As soon as Chi Lu stepped onto the ground, she was overwhelmed by a strong sense of suffocation. The baleful aura in the basement was so thick that it made it hard for her to breathe, and the surrounding cultivators also showed signs of discomfort.

The corridor ahead was filled with countless dark paths, all covered in inscriptions, except for one leading to the end.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but think that if assassins were ambushed in these dark paths, the success rate would be extremely high.

Jing Yi, with a frown, strode ahead, pulling Chi Lu to the formation’s eye.

“Within one day, break the formation eye,” he said.

He tried to maintain a calm tone, but Chi Lu clearly sensed the urgency in his words.

…and fear.

What was he afraid of?

If it were just the baleful aura, even if a hundred baleful ghosts attacked Jing Yi simultaneously, he could easily handle them. Jing Yi was invincible in the cultivation world, so what was he so terrified of?

Chi Lu observed in silence, bending down to touch the massive Soul Transformation Formation.

She was amazed by the ingenious design, the grand layout, and the meticulous details of the formation. The Soul Transformation Formation was a blend of good and evil, and in Jiang Yumu’s hands, it exuded an aura of unattainable majesty.

Clearly a genius among geniuses, yet tormented by Jing Yi to the point of falling.

“One day isn’t enough. Perhaps by noon tomorrow, I can lift the restriction,” Chi Lu said, withdrawing her spiritual sense after spending a long time diving deep into the formation.

Jing Yi asked, “Is there any way to speed up the process?”

Chi Lu was finally certain: he was anxious, truly anxious.

Now, she held the upper hand. She switched tactics, smiling at Jing Yi, “If I could get Senior Jiang’s formation diagram, perhaps I could follow it and speed up the process.”

“It could roughly cut the time in half. If the diagram is detailed, four hours would suffice.”

Jing Yi’s eyes glowed with a strange light. He asked the people behind him, “I know you have been searching for the formation diagram since Jiang Yumu’s death. Hand it over, and I will overlook all previous matters.”

“Otherwise, you will all die here.”

Chi Lu then noticed that the elders who had welcomed her upon her arrival at Fengyue City, the backbone of the city, were all present in the basement, anxiously waiting for her to unlock the great formation.

At Jing Yi’s command, they trembled like leaves and said in unison, “City Lord, we know nothing about it.”

Lady Ning stepped forward, beaming, and said to Jing Yi, “Yi Lang, they truly don’t know because the formation diagram has always been with Jing Shuxing. Initially, they feared Jing Shuxing’s power and didn’t dare to take it. After you crippled Jing Shuxing, they didn’t know where he hid it.”

“So, being merciful and sparing him was a mistake,” Lady Ning muttered quietly.

Jing Yi smiled approvingly, “You are somewhat useful after all. Since the diagram is with Jing Shuxing, go with the Young Sect Leader and retrieve it.”

“Young Sect Leader, you know my son. A cripple with a shattered spiritual platform poses no threat to you. Please rest assured.”

Chi Lu looked at Jing Yi, then at the excited Lady Ning, and sighed, biting her lip, “Alright.”

Casting a love spell on someone who doesn’t love him, belittling those who love him to madness, treating his own children like dirt—how has Jing Yi not been struck by lightning yet?

As she left the dark, narrow tunnel with Lady Ning, Chi Lu cursed Jing Yi’s ancestors for eighteen generations.

Fortunately, from her current interactions, it seemed Jing Shuxing hadn’t inherited Jing Yi’s vile habits.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but smile in relief.

She wondered where Jing Shuxing was now, hoping he was obediently in prison and not getting bullied.

Jing Shuxing was in the courtyard where he used to stay, going mad.

His long hands moved as if holding something invisible, his ten fingers plucking the air as if playing strings out of thin air. The cultivators in the courtyard watched, almost believing he had been so heavily stimulated that he was close to madness.

Jing Shuxing focused intently, using his spiritual power to mold a transparent cane that was identical in shape to the gift Chi Lu had given him.

After finishing, he gently and meticulously stroked it. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and snapped the cane in half with a “crack,” his face darkening.

Disrespect.

His thoughts were truly disrespectful.

Ever since Chi Lu began avoiding him, since she smiled at Jing Luoyun, since she pushed his body away, his feelings for her had undergone a complete transformation.

The thoughts Jing Shuxing desperately tried to suppress sprouted like mushrooms after rain, growing wildly from the depths of his heart and spreading through his entire being.

Shameful, vulgar, filthy.

Whether inside the curse mark formation or outside it, whenever he saw Chi Lu, these uncontrollable thoughts emerged.

Thoughts he shouldn’t have, thoughts he couldn’t have.

Jing Shuxing held the broken cane, lightly running it over his wrist, repeatedly attempting to press it deeper. Only when his flesh tore and blood flowed did he feel the desires would diminish.

When Chi Lu arrived in the courtyard with Lady Ning, she saw Jing Shuxing caressing the broken cane and sighed silently.

That cane was nearly identical to the one she had previously given him.

Chi Lu couldn’t help but wonder.

If he liked it so much, why did he return it? She had a mission now and couldn’t pretend nothing had happened and give Jing Shuxing another one.

Lady Ning entered first, pointing at Jing Shuxing and cursing, “You little beast, hand over your wretched mother’s formation diagram.”

Jing Shuxing lifted his gaze, his eyes growing colder and colder.

He raised his hand to his neck and pulled out a space bag, gleaming in the light. “It’s right here. Find it, and it’s yours.”

Lady Ning was furious, stomping her feet and shouting, “Search!” leading her people into the house.

Only Chi Lu remained still, her gaze fixed blankly on the space bag around Jing Shuxing’s neck.

Such a large space bag, how could they not see it?

Jing Shuxing’s dark pupils turned towards Chi Lu, lingering eerily.

Chi Lu saw Jing Shuxing extend his hand, the space bag on his neck swaying dramatically.

“I almost forgot, the Young Sect Leader can see it.”

Chi Lu, belatedly trying to look away, realized it was too late. Jing Shuxing had already heard her mention this before.

Jing Shuxing used the half cane to lift the space bag, and showed a faint smile. “Do you want it?”

Why was he still smiling at her? Chi Lu frowned. Shouldn’t he be glaring at her, gritting his teeth, or at the very least, deliberately ignoring her?

Before she could reply, Lady Ning’s exasperated voice came from behind, “Bastard, confess honestly, where did you hide the formation diagram?”

She hurried out of the room and, before reaching Chi Lu, seemed to hit an invisible barrier and fell to the ground with a “thud.” The attendant cultivators behind her quickly scattered to avoid being implicated by Lady Ning.

“Young Sect Leader, what are you doing?” Lady Ning, thinking it was Chi Lu’s doing, stared in disbelief.

Chi Lu said, “It wasn’t me…”

Before she could finish, she saw from the corner of her eye Jing Shuxing playing with the space bag, swinging it in front of her, knowing that others couldn’t see it.

His smile was cold and indifferent, completely different from his usual demeanor.

Chi Lu suddenly realized—

He hates me.

She had misunderstood Jing Shuxing. He wasn’t being kind to her; he despised her and didn’t want to hand over the space bag, and created trouble for her instead.

Determined, Chi Lu resolved to maintain Jing Shuxing’s dislike for her.

She didn’t know where Jing Shuxing got the ability to create a barrier out of thin air. She only knew that he was deliberately creating chaos to make her panic and prove her innocence, and she wouldn’t let him have his way.

Chi Lu gripped the Red Soul Whip, folded her arms, and said, “Yes, it was me.”

Jing Shuxing’s thin lips tightened.

Chi Lu calmly sat opposite Jing Shuxing, took out a small table from her space bag, and placed it between them, spreading her small hands. “Hand over the diagram, and I’ll draw the spiritual formation to unlock it.”

Jing Shuxing was stunned.

Wouldn’t it be better if Chi Lu tried to provoke a conflict between them, emphasizing their bad relationship?

Jing Shuxing’s dark eyelashes trembled slightly as he suppressed his emotions and tapped his knuckles lightly. “I can’t draw it.”

Chi Lu almost lost her breath but then heard him say, “Jiang Yumu’s spiritual lock is intricate and complex. My spiritual power is too weak to draw the formation.”

“I thought it was something serious; turns out it’s this simple,” Chi Lu sighed in relief. She was worried that Jing Shuxing wouldn’t be able to open the space bag at all, making her trip here a waste of time.

She leaned forward, roughly pulling Jing Shuxing’s left hand towards her. To increase his dislike for her, Chi Lu’s actions were deliberately rough, almost yanking his hand towards her.

Using all her strength, if not for the small table between them, Chi Lu might have pulled Jing Shuxing into her arms.

Jing Shuxing lowered his head, staring intently at their intertwined hands, almost drilling a hole into the back of his own hand with his gaze.

The next moment, a thin, golden talisman paper appeared before him. Chi Lu maintained a frosty expression, “I’ll transfer spiritual power to you, and you draw the unlocking talisman.”

She shook Jing Shuxing’s hand forcefully.

She thought her tone was sufficiently rude and unreasonable, but when she looked up, the person in front of her was still sitting properly, with his face flushed red.

…?

Forcing a cultivator to channel spiritual power through infusion is not a pleasant experience. Especially for someone with a damaged spiritual platform, it was as painful as a broken bone.

She didn’t understand why Jing Shuxing had such an expression.

Not bothering to figure it out, Chi Lu’s palm glowed with spiritual light, and without warning, she poured her spiritual power into Jing Shuxing’s meridians, like water through a pipe.

Similar to the initial process of infusing spiritual power to examine Jing Shuxing’s spiritual body, the only difference was Chi Lu’s rough movements.

This time, she wasn’t gentle at all, gripping Jing Shuxing’s wrist tightly and forcefully guiding him to draw the talisman.

As Jing Shuxing gritted his teeth, enduring the heaviness of spiritual power filling his body, he drew the symbols on the golden paper, and Chi Lu quickly retracted her spiritual power.

The rapid influx and withdrawal of a large amount of spiritual power drained Jing Shuxing’s face of all color. His breathing became erratic, and his hand holding the brush trembled uncontrollably.

Chi Lu, seeing a drop of ink about to stain the golden paper, quickly pulled the talisman away from under the brush.

“I advise you to be careful, or I’ll force you to do it a few more times,” she said with a cold smile.

Jing Shuxing licked his pale lips, and his expression returned to normal within a few breaths. He smiled, “Young Sect Leader, you have quite the skills.”

Chi Lu used a spiritual talisman and indeed extracted the formation diagram. After a quick glance, she discovered that it indeed contained records of the curse mark formation, causing her eyes to light up with excitement.

Lady Ning was still pounding on the barrier, “Young Sect Leader? Young Sect Leader, let me out!”

Chi Lu looked at Jing Shuxing. His attempt to frame her had failed, so why was he still keeping Lady Ning confined?

Jing Shuxing’s face was pale, and his dark eyes turned towards Lady Ning’s direction, silent, and seemingly contemplating something.

Chi Lu suddenly recalled a plot point from the book, gasping in shock, her face flashing with fear as she instinctively closed her eyes.

Could he be planning to kill Lady Ning on the spot?

She hastily averted her gaze, missing the look Jing Shuxing gave her.

After a long wait, she heard Lady Ning’s cursing voice, “Finally letting us out? Young Sect Leader, don’t get attached to this little beast. Once you help Yi Lang lift the restriction, there will be plenty of time to discipline him.”

“Young Sect Leader, why are you looking at me like that?” Lady Ning asked, confused by Chi Lu’s shocked expression.

Of course, she was amazed at Lady Ning’s good fortune, Chi Lu thought.

Having despised Jing Shuxing for years and being the mastermind behind his torment after his fall, Chi Lu almost believed that Lady Ning and the others would become brilliant fireworks in Jing Shuxing’s eyes.

Yet they emerged from the barrier unscathed.

She remembered the description of Jing Shuxing’s city massacre in the book, thinking of the unaware citizens beneath the main city. Given her current position, she couldn’t test Jing Shuxing.

If he chose to massacre the city, she could only rush back to Fengyue City as quickly as possible after escaping the Soul Transformation Abyss and evacuate as many citizens as she could.

From forcing Jing Shuxing to draw the talisman to leaving, even knowing the pain of rapidly withdrawing spiritual power, Chi Lu never looked back at Jing Shuxing.

As Chi Lu left, Jing Shuxing collapsed weakly onto the small table. He trembled uncontrollably, breathing heavily, his throat convulsing until he couldn’t hold back and vomited blood.

His back was soaked in cold sweat. Almost lying on the table, and he barely avoided falling to the ground.

Grasping his palm, Jing Shuxing closed his eyes in pain. When he reopened them, there was a hint of regret.

He had long anticipated Chi Lu coming back for the formation diagram and understood her intentions. But it was too fast and too rushed; he hadn’t even had time to savor it before it was over.

The Young Sect Leader was so resolute now, not willing to give him even a shred of tenderness.

“Jing Shuxing always had the formation diagram. Didn’t Jing Yi ever think about forcibly taking it?” On the way back to the Nine-tiered Xuan You Tower, Chi Lu couldn’t help but ask Lady Ning.

Lady Ning looked proud, “Yi Lang has his reasons for everything he does.”

After speaking, she felt a bit aggrieved, “But Yi Lang spoils him too much. With something like the spiritual lock, if we had subjected him to the eighteen kinds of torture, he would have naturally confessed.”

Chi Lu smiled. If that had been the case, they would probably never have learned the whereabouts of the formation diagram.

Judging by Jiang Yumu’s demeanor, she wouldn’t have intentionally left the formation diagram to Jing Shuxing. It must have ended up in Jing Shuxing’s hands because he realized Jing Yi’s obsession with it and used various means, whether by stealing or fighting, to keep it for himself.

Jing Yi did care about the formation diagram left by Jiang Yumu. To ensure Jing Shuxing grew up peacefully for ten years, he only completely crippled his cultivation when he realized Jing Shuxing was slipping out of his control.

Back at the Nine-tiered Tower to break the formation, what Chi Lu saw confirmed her thoughts.

Guided by spiritual power, she witnessed Jiang Yumu’s experiences before her death.

Countless cultivators stormed into a wrecked courtyard, dragging a disheveled Jiang Yumu away amid exclamations.

“Yi Lang, you can’t kill me! I love you, I am the only one who can break the formation for you. I have many other uses,” Jiang Yumu cried, crawling at Jing Yi’s feet.

As the hourglass neared its end and the full moon hung high outside the tower, Jing Yi listened coldly to the cultivators’ reports.

“Still no sign of Jing Shuxing.”

He looked at Jiang Yumu with a gaze as if she were trash, “So be it. The formation caster as a live sacrifice will also last ten years. Send her to add to the numbers.”

As Jiang Yumu screamed and was torn to pieces, Chi Lu couldn’t bear to watch and closed her eyes.

Suddenly thinking of Jiang Yumu’s resurrection formation, she forced herself to open her eyes.

She saw Jiang Yumu’s vitality ebbing away, then suddenly, mechanically, she raised her hand and meticulously drew.

A faint, greenish glow exploded, forming a small, softly glowing formation that floated upwards.

It was likely at this moment that the young boy was captured and brought back to Fengyue City. He guessed that his mother had become his substitute and, driven by the desire to survive, stole the formation diagram.

The formation diagram was filled with intricate formations at the front. After the Soul Transformation Formation, it was suddenly interspersed with numerous notes about love, indicating that Jiang Yumu had started researching love parasite to win back Jing Yi.

Chi Lu felt a mix of emotions.

After a while, she pointed to the ground and softly said, “Unlock.”

Spiritual power surged, tearing through the layers of restrictions set by Jiang Yumu. The ominous black aura surrounding the Soul Transformation Formation appeared in the void, spanning the entire end of the underground passage.

The Soul Transformation Formation unfolded from the top down, revealing the full view of the underground layer to Chi Lu.

Chi Lu realized that the bottomless pit was the so-called Soul Transformation Abyss. Within it, thousands of ghosts wailed, countless baleful auras swirled above, and many ghostly figures had already grown limbs. Some clung to the cliff edges, while others trampled over their kind, continuously climbing upwards.

Chi Lu’s toes were almost grabbed by a black hand, causing her to retreat several steps involuntarily, nearly falling to the ground.

She exhaled slowly, touching her bracelet lightly, “System, what is the specific process of the final task? How will Jing Shuxing throw me into the Soul Transformation Abyss?“

At the same time, Lady Ning’s screams echoed behind her. Apart from her, no one else showed any discomfort. The cultivators of Fengyue City gazed eagerly into the abyss, as if it were not a gathering place for ghosts but a source of burgeoning vitality.

Jing Yi’s breathing quickened, his voice tinged with urgency, “Midnight has passed, bring Jing Shuxing over.”

Simultaneously, the system’s light flashed, displaying a screen:

【Chi Lu opens the Soul Transformation Abyss, looked maliciously at Jing Shuxing and mocked, “First Young Master, jump.”

Noticing his unflinching demeanor and lack of fear, she becomes angrier, grabs the Red Soul Whip, and wraps it around his waist, intending to throw him into the abyss.

Unexpectedly, Jing Shuxing grabs the whip, turns the tables, and throws her into the abyss instead. The Young Sect Leader meets her end, becoming an example of retribution.】

It mechanically narrated the finale like an emotionless device.

Chi Lu, taking in the system’s instructions, prepared herself for the upcoming events.

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Tl’s Note:

Nine-layered Tower => Nine-Tiered Tower

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