Transmigrating as the Heart Demon of the Ruthless Sword Venerable – Chapter 15

Heart Demon Manifested — Back?

Yu Zhaoming: Uh… welcome?

What does it feel like to have a body?

            

In the past, Tang Wenchun would have thought it was a tremendous hassle. Why did people have to eat? Why did people have to study? Sleeping was clearly so wonderful—why stay awake? Life was monotonous, the kind of boredom you could see through at a glance. The only things that brought joy were novels and games—those magnificent worlds woven from imagination, things you could never obtain in real life.

But now, Tang Wenchun pinched her own arm and touched her face. Even when touching herself, the sensation didn’t actually change all that much.

But it was still different.

            

Tang Wenchun’s fingers brushed across the tabletop, curiously experiencing all the different textures.

Suddenly, she looked up, her gaze burning toward the window.

Without the artificial lights of modern society competing with the sun and moon, the moon’s radiance came to the fore, set against the deep blue sky. Stars scattered in the distance like diamond chips studded across velvet. The night breeze picked up, and the bamboo grove outside rustled with a whisper. Chirping insects wove together like a concerto.

            

Tang Wenchun suddenly felt a stirring.

She had always been a homebody. When she was little, her parents had to work and worried she’d run around, so they’d lock her inside the house. So she’d always been good at amusing herself—which was also why she could stay in Yu Zhaoming’s Sea of Consciousness without feeling bored at all.

But right now, she looked out the window, walked slowly toward it, and turned her head to glance at Yu Zhaoming.

            

Yu Zhaoming was fast asleep. After Foundation Establishment¹, a cultivator’s need for sleep steadily decreased. By the Golden Core stage, one could give up sleep entirely. Immortal Path Hard to Find had mentioned this once—Tang Wenchun even remembered the female lead using fake sleep to trick a little fox.

But Yu Zhaoming… she had only recently reached Golden Core. Perhaps she still retained her old habits from the Foundation Establishment days?

Don’t be ridiculous. Did you still not know what kind of cultivation fanatic Yu Zhaoming was?

            

A voice in her head said so.

But, but… Tang Wenchun thought, what if? Humans always clung to that sliver of hope, always willing to let their guard down for the slightest chance, and even more willing to take impulsive risks for it.

Tang Wenchun’s hands pressed against the windowsill. She looked back at Yu Zhaoming one last time. Her current body didn’t seem much different from her heart demon form—she even had cultivation. Thanks to that cultivation, Tang Wenchun could see clearly what Yu Zhaoming looked like on the bed.

            

Yu Zhaoming’s breathing was long and even. Her face wasn’t as taut as usual, her brows and eyes relaxed, revealing the fresh liveliness and ease that a young girl her age ought to have.

This was a look Yu Zhaoming would absolutely never show normally.

Tang Wenchun let out a breath of relief. She was asleep, all right. Tang Wenchun immediately turned to look into the distance. Her fingers came together, and in an instant, the phantom of Cangfeng appeared beneath her feet. Tang Wenchun raised her brows in surprise. She had only meant to try—she hadn’t expected to actually summon this pseudo-Cangfeng.

            

What principle was behind this?

But Tang Wenchun had no time to puzzle it out. Freedom was right before her eyes—she could already feel her heart pounding with excitement.

Tang Wenchun didn’t look back. She tapped her fingertip, and Cangfeng carried her whooshing out.

            

In the darkness, Yu Zhaoming slowly opened her eyes. She gazed at the empty window, then crossed her legs and resumed her cultivation.

Sword-riding was an entirely different sensation from being in the Sea of Consciousness. Tang Wenchun flew with great care. She could sense that something seemed to be enveloping the area—if it had been any other sect, there would have been a large contingent of disciples standing guard.

But the Sword Sect was simply too poor. Too few disciples, too few elders. A perfectly good spatial artifact, and they couldn’t even fill all the rooms—the desolation was plain to see.

            

Suddenly, every hair on Tang Wenchun’s body stood on end. She felt something profoundly dangerous lock its gaze onto her. Tang Wenchun immediately flattened herself against the rooftop, not daring to lift her head. Of course—the mighty Sword Sect, no matter how far it had fallen, wouldn’t have zero defenses.

In this moment, without Yu Zhaoming beside her and no longer in the relatively safe confines of the Sea of Consciousness, Tang Wenchun felt for the first time with crystal clarity that this cultivation world was dangerous.

Tang Wenchun didn’t dare breathe too loudly. Thankfully, she hadn’t taken Yu Zhaoming’s beatings in the Sea of Consciousness for nothing—she’d been through life-and-death situations before. She focused her mind and quieted her breathing, until she became like an inconspicuous stone on the rooftop.

            

After who knows how long, Tang Wenchun finally sensed the watching gaze shift away. She carefully wiped the sweat from her brow and fled headlong into the distance without looking back.

Elder Xuanjiu exhaled a long plume of smoke. She narrowed her eyes and glanced up at the rooftop. In a flash, the rooftop appeared to be completely empty. Xuanjiu gave a soft snort. “A mere Golden Core little thief. To think…” She paused, taking a slow, leisurely drag from her pipe. “To think they’d be so poor they’d come to steal from the Sword Sect… My.”

Xuanjiu suddenly froze. The Sword Sect was famous throughout the entire cultivation world for being broke. Even the poorest thief wouldn’t bother coming here. So if an outsider had suddenly appeared… could it be the demon her disciple had imprisoned?

            

The moment this thought struck, Xuanjiu couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. But then again, she thought, her disciple was still willing to listen to her—hadn’t she let the person go?

It was just…

Recalling how Yu Zhaoming had said the word “demon,” Xuanjiu couldn’t resist applying a bit of pressure. But the other party’s Turtle Breathing Method² was remarkably practiced—it had nearly fooled even her Spiritual Consciousness.

            

“How interesting.”

Xuanjiu couldn’t help but chuckle. She had no idea what this child had done to offend her disciple to make Yu Zhaoming call her a demon. But the girl had neither bloodlust nor murderous intent—so it was most likely just a clash of temperaments.

With that, Xuanjiu silently sighed, “Oh well, oh well.” If the other party had run out, she might even bring her elders back to demand an explanation. Xuanjiu rubbed her forehead. She might as well do the girl a small favor.

            

With that thought, Xuanjiu lifted a finger, and the invisible barrier enveloping the Sword Sect vanished.

“Shimei³? Has something happened?”

The moment Xuanjiu moved, a transmitted voice came through. Xuanjiu replied in a languid tone, “A little friend wanted to go out. I just lent her a helping hand.”

            

The other party fell silent for a long while before saying, “Shimei, this… is against the rules.”

Xuanjiu snorted softly. “Our Sword Sect is this poor—what are you worried about losing?”

No one sent another transmission. It was unclear whether they’d tacitly accepted Xuanjiu’s reasoning or something else entirely.

            

Tang Wenchun rushed to the barrier. She sensed it flicker once and disappear. Her heart leapt with joy—she really did have incredible luck—and she dashed straight through. She remembered there was a trading street not far away. She could finally see the real cultivation world with her own eyes!!

Tang Wenchun glanced back at the Sword Sect’s entrance. Two Sword Sect disciples stood lazily holding their swords. When they saw Tang Wenchun, they eyed her warily, seeming somewhat concerned. But Tang Wenchun quickly turned her face away.

This Sword Sect, though different from what she’d imagined, wasn’t off-putting.

            

But now that she’d broken free of her cage, she had no interest in visiting the Sword Sect. She hummed a tune as she walked onward. What came next, Tang Wenchun hadn’t yet decided—but the world was vast, and where couldn’t she go?

Thinking of the original plot from the novel, Tang Wenchun figured she could lay low until the female lead eventually opened the Path to Heaven⁴, and then figure out how to get home.

Of course, to one day go home, the most important thing right now was to get as far from Yu Zhaoming as possible—which meant getting as far from the Sword Sect as possible.

            

With that thought, Tang Wenchun turned and left without a backward glance.

The late-night street, though quieter than when Yu Zhaoming had visited earlier, was still lively. The cultivation world’s spells were diverse—colorful lights rose and fell in the distance. Tang Wenchun even spotted something resembling a modern-world shop sign, bearing a large gold ingot emblem.

That must be the Treasure Gathering Pavilion from the original novel. It made sense—only cultivators who devoted themselves to commerce as their path of cultivation would put such effort into this.

            

Tang Wenchun couldn’t help but smile.

She walked forward happily, passing by a stone bridge. The bridge wasn’t crowded—only a woman in white clothes, holding a black umbrella, stood gazing up at the moon. The black umbrella obscured the woman’s face, but on such a fine, star-bright night, the strange act of carrying a black umbrella piqued Tang Wenchun’s curiosity.

She cast a curious glance at the woman, but the hawking calls ahead drew her gaze more strongly. She quickly turned away, never looking at the woman again.

            

Dazzling lights, a sea of voices—a new world. She’d arrived!

The moment her foot stepped onto the bridge’s end, Tang Wenchun suddenly felt an irresistible pulling force. The pull was so intense that she couldn’t resist at all.

“No…”

            

Tang Wenchun’s voice had barely begun when her figure turned illusory like foam, then dissolved away, leaving not a single trace behind.

Tang Wenchun opened her eyes again. She looked up at the familiar, unchanging blue sky, at the quiet pond in the distance and the gently swaying but illusory grass, and at Yu Zhaoming, who had turned to look at her with what seemed like surprise.

“I… I’m back again?”

            

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The author has something to say:

Tang Wenchun: …So I went out for nothing?

Yu Zhaoming: Back again… sigh…

            

Tang Wenchun: Why are you sighing?

Yu Zhaoming: …

Author: Welcome back! Come on, let’s move to the next scene!

            

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