Transmigrating as the Heart Demon of the Ruthless Sword Venerable – Chapter 48

Marriage News (Part 2)

Cultivation Plundering

Xuanjiu returned to her room. She didn’t have to wait long before a knock came at the door.

            

The voice of her long-missing little disciple carried a distinctly guilty edge: “Shizun, I, I’m back.”

Xuanjiu waved a hand. The door swung open. Tang Wenchun stood at the entrance, flashing her a dry, plastered-on smile. Not far off, her Eldest Senior Sister’s gaze drifted toward the two of them, looking faintly worried.

As if worry helped. If she was worried, where had she been earlier?

            

A coil of pink smoke ringed Tang Wenchun’s wrist and yanked her into the room. The door slammed shut. Tang Wenchun scrambled to look behind her, blurting out on reflex: “Yu Zhaoming!”

“Yu Zhaoming, Yu Zhaoming. What good is calling her? When you were in trouble, why wasn’t she by your side?” Xuanjiu poked Tang Wenchun’s forehead, resenting iron for not becoming steel¹.

Her forehead stung a little, and felt warm to the touch — Xuanjiu was genuinely angry. Tang Wenchun quickly turned back and offered Shizun a timid smile. “Shizun, don’t blame Eldest Senior Sister. See? I’m perfectly fine.”

            

“Perfectly fine.” Xuanjiu snorted. If Yu Zhaoming truly hadn’t done anything to Tang Wenchun, given her personality, she would have denied it outright. Though Xuanjiu didn’t know exactly what Yu Zhaoming had done, seeing her little disciple safe and sound still loosened the knot in her chest. She pulled Tang Wenchun closer and examined her carefully — then her brow furrowed.

“You’ve reached Nascent Soul too?”

“Mm… lucky, just lucky.” Tang Wenchun rubbed the back of her head. She couldn’t exactly say she’d hitched a ride on Yu Zhaoming’s coattails, could she?

            

Xuanjiu’s brow tightened. Nascent Soul came with lightning tribulation, yet everyone knew only Yu Zhaoming had undergone one this time. Could the two of them have weathered it simultaneously…? Xuanjiu gripped Tang Wenchun’s wrist and sent spiritual energy probing inward, circulating for a moment.

Tang Wenchun behaved herself, standing still and letting Shizun examine her. Xuanjiu gave her another look and sighed inwardly. This little disciple of hers might be full of wild ideas and no shortage of schemes to trip people up, but at her core, she was genuinely kind-hearted.

Such a good child… why did she have to fall for that Emotionless Dao practitioner, her Eldest Senior Sister?

            

Xuanjiu withdrew her spiritual energy and looked at Tang Wenchun. She hesitated for a long while before saying, “Yu Zhaoming, she…”

Tang Wenchun looked up obediently, puzzlement on her face. She watched her usually glamorous Shizun show a rare flash of anger, a vein pulsing at her temple — clearly furious to the extreme.

“Shizun?”

            

“Good disciple, did Yu Zhaoming…” Xuanjiu struggled with the words for a long time before forcing out, “did she practice cultivation plundering on you?”

Tang Wenchun’s eyes went wide. “Huh?”

Cultivation plundering was something orthodox disciples despised. But this world operated on the law of the jungle — people would do anything for cultivation. Cultivation plundering was no exception. It meant draining another’s cultivation to nourish oneself. Because it demanded compatible root bones and spiritual roots between both parties, and carried high cultivation requirements, few practiced such dark arts.

            

But her two disciples happened to share identical spiritual roots and physical constitutions. For dual cultivation, that meant twice the result with half the effort. For cultivation plundering, naturally, the same efficiency applied.

“Scoundrel!!” Seeing Tang Wenchun’s eyes full of bewilderment, Xuanjiu concluded that Yu Zhaoming must have coaxed and deceived her. Furious and heartsick, she was about to storm out and teach Yu Zhaoming a proper lesson.

Tang Wenchun didn’t know why Xuanjiu would think such a thing, but her instincts told her Shizun had misunderstood something. She lunged forward and seized her master’s sleeve. “Shizun! This has nothing to do with Eldest Senior Sister. I did it willingly!”

            

“…Do you know what cultivation plundering means?”

Tang Wenchun saw Xuanjiu turn to look at her and offered a bitter smile. Of course she knew what it meant — but that was still better than admitting she was a heart demon. Besides… Tang Wenchun felt confused. How did she even give the impression of having been plundered?

“I… I just need to rest and recover, and I’ll be fine…” Tang Wenchun said, braving Xuanjiu’s stare.

            

“…This isn’t something you can just rest and recover from. Excessive plundering will damage your spiritual roots and cultivation.” Xuanjiu sighed. After a moment’s thought, she said, “Since the two of you already have this kind of relationship, then swear a Heavenly Dao oath and become Dao companions. That way, when she plunders your cultivation, you plunder hers back — nobody loses out.”

Tang Wenchun: “Ah…? That, that’s just dual cultivation, isn’t it?”

“Call it whatever you want — it’s mutual plundering either way.” Clearly still seething, Xuanjiu glanced at the still-bewildered Tang Wenchun and let out another long sigh.

            

“Zhaoming practices the Emotionless Dao — I know that. But she treats you differently, and with this relationship between you, plus your heart being entirely set on her, perhaps you could persuade her to change her path. Once you’ve sworn a Heavenly Dao oath, if she ever wrongs you, she’ll suffer karmic backlash… And the protective items I gave you — you didn’t use a single one! A Heavenly Dao oath would at least put my mind at ease.”

This romance-brained little disciple of hers was going to turn her hair white with worry.

Xuanjiu sighed to herself. Both her disciples were top-tier talents — so why did one have to seal her heart and sever all love, while the other threw herself headlong into love, and they absolutely had to entangle themselves with each other?

            

Being a Shizun was so hard!

Tang Wenchun: “…Huh…?”

Xuanjiu placed a hand on Tang Wenchun’s shoulder, her tone heavy with meaning. “Zhaoming used to smile when she was young. She’s different now. The Emotionless Dao doesn’t suit her.”

            

Tang Wenchun froze. She thought of Yu Zhaoming’s icy face, the way she’d looked at her with guilt when she asked: “How do you know I don’t want to?”

She had spent five years at Yu Zhaoming’s side, day and night. Yu Zhaoming was devoted to their fellow disciples and responsive to Tang Wenchun’s every request. But when it came to advancing her cultivation, she carried an almost obsessive fixation. Tang Wenchun had wondered why, yet never dared ask. Now, hearing Xuanjiu’s words, she suddenly realized the opportunity had arrived.

“Yu… why did Eldest Senior Sister choose the Emotionless Dao?”

            

Xuanjiu gave a wretched smile. “That matter… is actually our fault…” She paused, a flash of sorrow crossing her face. After a moment, she continued, “Do you know what the Emotionless Dao is?”

Tang Wenchun shook her head.

Xuanjiu smiled faintly. “The Great Dao is emotionless, and only thus can the sun and moon endure eternally. With love and hatred comes partiality. The ancestors of the Sword Sect believed that in this world, since the Heavenly Dao endures, the closer one approaches the Great Dao, the more one can harness its rules and become the Heavenly Dao’s representative in this realm.”

            

Tang Wenchun frowned. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Xuanjiu nodded. “Of course it’s good. The Emotionless Dao aligns with the natural order, and cultivation advances extremely fast. But precisely because it draws close to this world’s Heavenly Dao, it forever cuts off the possibility of shattering the void and leaving this realm.”

Tang Wenchun let out a soft “Ah.”

            

“To be alive is to love and hate, to cry and laugh. But the rules of the Heavenly Dao do none of that. Under the Heavenly Dao, there are good people and wicked people, spirit cultivators and evil cultivators — just as where there is light from the sun, moon, and lamps, there is also darkness. Whatever you are, under the Heavenly Dao, all are equal.”

“Even Tianji Pavilion, which most wants to study the future of the Heavenly Dao, ultimately works to curb evil cultivators for the sake of spirit cultivators’ future. They don’t choose to practice the Emotionless Dao.”

Xuanjiu spoke slowly: “As long as we live in this world for even a day, we have a stance. But the Emotionless Dao has none.” She looked at Tang Wenchun. “Isn’t that a paradox?”

            

If one is truly without emotion or love, then one has no drive to ascend. If one has the drive to ascend, then one cannot truly achieve greatness in the Emotionless Dao.

To have nothing at all is to be forever barred from the Great Dao.

“So…”

            

Tang Wenchun snapped back to attention. “So Yu Zhaoming doesn’t want some grand mastery. She just wants to rapidly raise her cultivation to accomplish whatever she needs to accomplish.”

At this, Xuanjiu smiled gently. She stroked her little disciple’s hair, her eyes soft. “Wenchun is a very clever child. But I can’t say more than that. Those are Zhaoming’s private affairs. Perhaps one day, she’ll be willing to tell you herself. I can only tell you the dangers of the Emotionless Dao.”

Whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that such a tender child had crossed paths with Zhaoming, she truly didn’t know.

            

Tang Wenchun nodded, still dazed.

Xuanjiu nodded with satisfaction. “In that case, once the Grand Sect Competition concludes, I’ll arrange your wedding.”

“Ah…? Wait!! No, no, no.” Tang Wenchun blurted hastily. “We, we don’t, n-no…”

            

Xuanjiu shook her head. “You’re a good child, but if you want something, you have to fight for it yourself.”

Tang Wenchun said urgently, “B-but I don’t like Yu Zhaoming.”

Xuanjiu’s gaze settled on Tang Wenchun, carrying the helpless frustration of watching someone fail to live up to their potential.

            

She pointed at Tang Wenchun’s heart. “Wenchun, a person can fool everyone — but how can you fool yourself? You and Zhaoming both, why are you like this? If you didn’t like her, how would you help her to such an extent, even at the cost of harming yourself?”

“That, that’s…”

Tang Wenchun tried to explain further, but Xuanjiu gave her a gentle push. The door flew open, and an invisible force propelled her forward. By the time she turned her head, the door slammed shut with a bang.

            

“Shizun, Shizun!” Tang Wenchun knocked on the door.

From inside came Xuanjiu’s weary voice: “If there’s more to say, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

Tang Wenchun clawed at the door, her heart in such a panic she didn’t know what to do. Weren’t they just talking about the Emotionless Dao? How did it suddenly turn into marrying Yu Zhaoming? And Shizun even said she liked Yu Zhaoming.

            

Her? Like Yu Zhaoming? How could that be?

“You don’t look so good?” A voice drifted by her ear, tinged with a question.

Tang Wenchun said glumly, “You’re about to get married — would you feel great?”

            

“You’re getting married?” The temperature behind those words plummeted. Tang Wenchun startled and snapped her head up, meeting Yu Zhaoming’s disapproving gaze. “To whom?”

Tang Wenchun: “You… I…”

Yu Zhaoming frowned. “Me?” She paused. “I’m getting married? To whom?”

            

Tang Wenchun glanced around furtively and lowered her voice. “Me.”

Yu Zhaoming: “…You and me?”

Tang Wenchun nodded silently, staring down at her toes, not daring to speak. Yu Zhaoming fell silent too, a hint of bewilderment in her expression. She looked at the whorl of hair on the crown of Tang Wenchun’s head. The heart demon before her looked so docile and well-behaved — nothing like the demonic fiends of evil paths.

            

Marriage…

Yu Zhaoming thought she certainly wouldn’t agree. Yet for some reason, her mind surfaced the memory of their brief contact — Tang Wenchun’s soft body in her arms, the look in her eyes shifting from the initial deliberate seduction to compete with her, all the way to that final moment when she collapsed in her arms, smiling at her.

A dense, fine-grained pain crept up around her heart.

            

Tang Wenchun stole a glance at Yu Zhaoming. Seeing her furrowed brow, she thought to herself that Shizun Xuanjiu was truly an unreliable master — no wonder the original novel never mentioned her. What nonsense she’d spouted. Yu Zhaoming’s revulsion was so intense it had made her whole being uncomfortable.

And herself — she was just guilty, that was all. It wasn’t anything like what Shizun had said.

“Oh? You’re getting married? Congratulations!”

            

A burst of laughter rang out, dripping with sarcastic spite.

Tang Wenchun flinched. Her eyes went wide as she watched Yunzhongjun materialize ahead of them. Yunzhongjun clucked her tongue a few times, wearing a not-at-all-apologetic smile. “So sorry — couldn’t help overhearing your little matter.”

“Truly, congratulations!”

            

Being found out by anyone else would have been bad enough. But of all people, it had to be Yunzhongjun — a fellow heart demon. Tang Wenchun felt her entire being crumble.

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The author has something to say:

Xuanjiu: I’ve worried myself sick over these two disciples of mine.

            

Tang Wenchun: Shizun, it’s a misunderstanding! I don’t want to get married!

Yu Zhaoming: Then who do you want to marry?

Tang Wenchun: …

            

Yunzhongjun (holding melon seeds): This show is fantastic. Live long enough and you’ll see anything — who’d have thought I’d witness a heart demon marrying her host.

This chapter’s title, Wedding News, has nothing to do with Yu Zhaoming and Tang Wenchun.

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