Chapter 240: Li Sushang Succumbs to Mara
"Wake up. Sushang and Master are gone."
Rovel crouched down, his fingers pinching Cheng Lingshuang's soft cheek and giving it a firm tug to pull her from her stupor.
"Eh? Senior Brother?" Cheng Lingshuang blinked, her groggy eyes slowly focusing on his face. "Why are you here? Wait, then what am I holding..."
She looked down in utter confusion, only to realize her arms were tightly wrapped around a massive, jagged boulder. Rather than showing any signs of embarrassment, the Sword God merely blinked, released her stony companion, and calmly stood up. She dusted the dirt from her robes with practiced indifference.
"You really have absolutely zero resistance to Sword Intent, do you?" Rovel's mouth twitched.
A dignified, peerless Sword God had stumbled twice in a row against the exact same trick. First, it was Qin Suyi—whose actual combat strength was vastly inferior to hers—manipulating her into owing a massive favor. Now, it was Ma Feima, who had somehow convinced her to affectionately embrace and gnaw on a random rock. The most ridiculous part was that Ma Feima's Mirage illusion had actually flickered and broken for a brief moment earlier, yet she remained completely oblivious.
"Where did Sushang and Master go?" Cheng Lingshuang asked, smoothly changing the subject without missing a beat.
"I don't know." Rovel shook his head, scanning the misty surroundings. "They likely got separated from us when the illusion took hold. Let's head further up the peak and take a look."
Nearby, Otto finally stirred, breaking free from the lingering effects of the Mirage. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a rare look of genuine surprise crossing his features. He hadn't even registered the exact moment his consciousness was pulled into the illusion.
Gathering their bearings, the trio resumed their trek toward the summit of Tianqiong Peak.
Meanwhile, in a secluded clearing elsewhere on Tianqiong Peak, Red Kite stood silently. Her gaze rested on the figure of Lin Chaoyu standing a few paces away. A complex, unreadable emotion swirled in the immortal's eyes. Out of all her disciples, Lin Chaoyu had stayed by her side the longest. She had been the most loyal, the most dedicated. Red Kite truly could not fathom what had driven this woman to draw her sword against her master.
"Master..." Lin Chaoyu murmured, her voice tight. Her expression mirrored the turmoil in Red Kite's eyes, caught between deep reverence and an agonizing sorrow.
"Chaoyu, why?" Red Kite asked, her voice barely above a whisper, yet carrying a heavy weight.
This was the very first time she had ever asked for a reason. When facing Su Mei's betrayal, she had remained silent. When facing Cheng Lingshuang's apathy, she had asked nothing. When confronting the Jiang sisters, she had accepted their blades without a single question. Only here, facing Lin Chaoyu, did the stoic immortal finally show a crack in her armor. Bewilderment bled into her tone, and for the first time in centuries, a faint spark of genuine anger flickered within her.
"Hoo..." Lin Chaoyu let out a long, trembling breath. "Master, we all truly admired you. We loved you. However, the longer we stayed by your side, the more the cold reality settled into our hearts. In your eyes, we are nothing more than passing guests. Ephemeral mortals destined to turn to dust after a mere hundred years. We are just chess pieces to be discarded the moment our usefulness ends."
She gripped her sword tighter, her knuckles turning white. "You are exactly that kind of person. People are drawn to your divine light at first, but the longer they bask in it, the more the freezing cold drives them away."
Lin Chaoyu closed her eyes. Silver tears slipped from her lashes, tracing silent paths down her pale cheeks. "Master, I have been with you for thirty years. Thirty whole years..."
"Yes, Senior Sister, you know it too. Thirty years. Thirty whole years, yet you still haven't realized just how incredibly special you are in Red Kite's heart."
Rovel's voice suddenly cut through the heavy atmosphere, his sudden arrival mercilessly shattering her melancholic monologue.
"Junior Brother..." Lin Chaoyu's eyes snapped open, her gaze locking onto the approaching figure.
Although Ma Feima had informed her of Rovel's miraculous resurrection, seeing him standing there, breathing and whole, sent a violent shockwave through her chest., Rovel's unobstructed arrival at this clearing meant that Ma Feima had already...
"Senior Sister Chaoyu, I have reminded you countless times," Rovel continued, his tone sharp and unyielding. "You are not just a passing guest to Red Kite. You have left an indelible mark on her impossibly long life. But you have always turned a blind eye to it. You constantly belittle yourself, convincing your own heart that Red Kite is some untouchable banished immortal. You placed her on a high, mighty pedestal, believing she could only be observed from a distance, and that no amount of desperate effort would ever allow you to step even half an inch closer."
He took a step forward, closing the distance. "Is Red Kite truly as cold as ice, or is it simply that you refuse to accept the truth? Lin Chaoyu, what exactly are you so afraid of? Now, Master is standing right here. You are standing right in front of her. Speak up! Ask her loudly! Ask her if she has ever cared about you at all! Ask her if she truly treats you as a mere chess piece! It has been thirty years! Have you ever actually asked her?!"
Rovel dragged every hidden insecurity into the blinding light, his words acting as a heavy hammer fiercely striking the fragile protective shell Lin Chaoyu had built around her heart.
Lin Chaoyu's face turned a sickly pale. Her lips trembled violently for several long seconds, but her throat constricted. She could not force a single word out.
"When Su Mei joined the sect, Master saw the hidden disappointment in your eyes," Rovel pressed on, refusing to let her retreat. "She immediately went back and retroactively registered you as the Eldest Disciple to secure your position. Every single year, Master would personally escort you to the South Blue to pay respects to your parents. She never missed a single year. Have you ever seen or heard of her taking anyone else down the mountain to pay respects to their mortal families? You think it was just because you were nostalgic? Don't be ridiculous. Ask any of the others! Which one of them didn't desperately want to see their own parents?"
He pointed a finger at her, his voice echoing through the clearing. "It was because of you that Master didn't immediately execute Jiang Wanru when she succumbed to mara. And it was because of you, because she was looking at your face in that split second of hesitation, that she was dazed long enough for Su Mei's sword to pierce her skull!"
Rovel ruthlessly peeled back Lin Chaoyu's oldest, deepest scars, layer by agonizing layer.
"You claim you followed Master for thirty years, yet you never truly understood her. You never understood the quiet gentleness hidden in her heart, nor did you ever realize your own irreplaceable position within it. If you don't believe me, go find Su Mei and ask her yourself! Ask her if there is even a single false word in what I've just said!"
"Stop." Red Kite's voice cut through the tense air, finally halting Rovel's verbal onslaught.
Lin Chaoyu's body swayed violently. She staggered two steps backward, her legs losing their strength as she nearly collapsed into the dirt.
Rovel watched her for a moment before letting out a soft, heavy sigh. "...Forget it. I'm going to find Sushang. Master, come up to the peak once you've finished things here. Oh, and take this. It's Ma Yanqing's sword."
He stepped forward and offered the gleaming Xuanyuan Sword to Red Kite. Perhaps, by leaving them alone to have a genuine, unfiltered conversation, they could finally bridge the chasm between them.
Red Kite nodded in solemn silence. Her slender fingers wrapped around the hilt of the Xuanyuan Sword, but her gaze never once left Lin Chaoyu's trembling form.
With his piece said, Rovel turned away. He and Cheng Lingshuang walked straight past the completely dazed Eldest Disciple, continuing their ascent toward the summit.
High atop Tianqiong Peak, the remnants of the Mirage had completely shattered.
When Li Sushang jolted awake with a sharp gasp, she immediately realized her wrists and ankles were bound tight by thick, unyielding ropes. Worse still, her meridians felt completely locked. No matter how hard she pushed, she was entirely unable to circulate her true qi.
A tight circle of figures stood looming over her. Judging by the distinct cut and color of their robes, the vast majority of them were disciples of the Taixu Sword Sect.
"Hello there, little Sushang." A smooth, melodic voice drifted down from above. Su Mei stepped out from the ring of disciples, a faint, dangerous smile playing on her lips.
"...You must be Senior Aunt Su Mei, right?" Li Sushang asked, her voice tight. Beneath her calm exterior, she frantically recited the Sword Heart Mantra, forcing her racing pulse to steady.
"So smart!" Su Mei clapped her hands together lightly. "Since this is our very first meeting, your Senior Aunt has prepared a special welcoming gift just for you."
She reached into her robes and retrieved a perfectly round, blood-red pill. It pulsed with an eerie, unnatural luster. Li Sushang blinked, a cold knot of dread forming in her stomach as she stared at the object, completely unsure of what the woman intended to do.
"Little Sushang should have seen something like this before. This little treasure is called the Divine Elixir." Su Mei rolled the crimson pill between her fingertips, admiring its sheen. "This is truly wonderful stuff. Not only can it grant you eternal youth and preserve your beauty forever, but it will also make your skin absolutely flawless. And this particular one... is my own specially enhanced version."
Without warning, Su Mei's hand shot forward, her fingers clamping down on Li Sushang's jaw with crushing force. Stripped of her true qi, the young swordswoman possessed absolutely no physical strength to resist the older martial artist. She could only thrash helplessly as Su Mei forced her mouth open and shoved the Divine Elixir down her throat.
"!!!" Li Sushang's eyes widened in sheer terror, her body bucking in violent resistance.
The horrific memory of the Wu Sect's leader flashed through her mind—the grotesque, twisted monstrosity he had become after consuming a similar pill. She gagged, desperately trying to spit the vile thing out, but it was too late. The moment the Divine Elixir touched her tongue, it dissolved, transforming into a scalding surge of foreign energy that violently flooded into her limbs and bones.
She waited for the agonizing mutation, her breath hitching. Yet, after several seconds passed...
'It seems... nothing happened?' Li Sushang thought, her brow furrowing in confusion. Her body didn't feel as though it had undergone any monstrous changes.
But in the very next second, a terrifying sensation washed over her. It felt as if every single pore on her body had been violently wrenched open. Her sealed Taixu Sword Qi suddenly shattered its restraints, circulating automatically at a breakneck pace. It transformed into a ravenous, greedy vortex, frantically absorbing all the ambient true qi in the surrounding air.
It wasn't enough. After plundering the atmosphere dry, her body screamed with an insatiable hunger. The vortex expanded, directly latching onto the living humans standing around her, forcefully extracting the true qi straight from their meridians.
The surrounding Taixu disciples didn't even have time to scream. One after another, they were reduced to mere nourishment. In the blink of an eye, dozens of martial artists had their life force and true qi completely drained, their bodies collapsing to the dirt as dried, shriveled husks.
Li Sushang could only watch in muted horror as her own skin gradually turned a sickly, deathly pale. A heavy, suffocating darkness dragged her consciousness down into the abyss.
The signs were obvious. Li Sushang's body had officially begun to succumb to mara.
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