Chapter 137: Mental Demon

Qiu Shuang had a high status in Splendid Cloud Sect. Almost no one would object to anything she agreed to. Jin Yue knew this. Qiu Shuang knew this. Jin Yue understood Qiu Shuang's intentions when she said this.

Jin Yue seemed to understand slightly why Splendid Cloud Sect's relationships were so harmonious.

The seemingly muddle-headed group did clear-minded things.

##

In the darkness Huan Zhong slowly opened his eyes. If spirit energy was tangible, Kong Hou would be an enormous whirlpool at this moment. She pulled all the surrounding spirit energy to her body. The spirit energy was both condensed and wild. If an ordinary person received so much spirit energy at once, they would explode. But Kong Hou had a good complexion, her face white but slightly pink. She was in a comfortable state.

She and the spirit energy were combined into an integral whole. The spirit energy was like a docile pet surrounding her that repeatedly washed her meridians.

Even so, half of the spirit energy that circulated through her body would wrap around him and enter his spirit platform. The spirit energy coming from Kong Hou was even gentler. It slowly nurtured his spirit platform and repaired his tattered meridians.

Huan Zhong showed a worried expression when he opened his hand and gripped the spirit energy. This worry had formed when Spirit Master Hong Yan opened the star mansion door, even though it cost her death, and severely wounded the evil lord.

He did not know much about the grievances of the elders in the past. But Hong Yan fell here in Radiance Sect. Sect Master Wang Su did not even ask one question. He could not help but think.

Ever since he entered Radiance Sect, he heard many praises of him. Genius, natural-born sword, the chance for the cultivation world to ascend. The elders of different sects looked at him with anticipation. All the disciples revered him. He became the peak master of Sword Cry Peak in his hundredth year and none in the sect objected.

He did not know if he could become the hope of the cultivation world. He just practised the sword every day and became a fitting genius in the eyes of others.

Everyone said that people had mental demons because of their emotions. He had mental demons because of the lack of emotions.

 Why did he practice the sword? Who did he raise his sword for? He repeated the same actions day after day. He would not change until he ascended. This kind of life—what difference did it make whether it was long or short?

His fellow disciples would unconsciously lower their voices and take care with every word when facing him. They worried that if they were not appropriate, it would affect his mental state.

Everyone said they could not disturb his cultivation, disturb his mental state, disturb him from ascending.

Ascending, ascending.

Was ascension so interesting that so many people hoped for it? Countless cultivators from the orthodox sects died for even a trace of a chance. The evil cultivators killed many innocent people for this opportunity. What wrong did those people have who could not ascend that they became the sacrifices in this battle?

He might have been unwilling and puzzled. When the mental demon formed, he was unable to fight. He did not understand love, or even how to interact and talk with others. He was a person, but he was a sword in other people's eyes. He was the weak but determined hope in the eyes of the cultivators.

What if he wasn't?

If the one with opportunity was someone else, who was that person?

Huan Zhong looked dazedly at Kong Hou. He felt a pain in his chest. Spirit energy rolled through his body and almost broke through the meridians connected to his spirit platform. Suddenly, spirit energy came off Kong Hou's body and wrapped around this spirit platform. These spirit energy threads were like the strongest of protectors, slowly connecting his disconnected meridians, burrowing into his cracked spirit platform to repair those seemingly bottomless crevices.

Kong Hou did not wake up from her meditative trance, but her spirit energy was already instinctively protecting him.

Pressing against his no-longer aching chest, Huan Zhong looked silently at Kong Hou and laughed out loud.

He had already received a gift from the heavenly path in this lifetime. This gift was precious and nothing in the world could rival it. Everyone felt he was powerful and unrivalled. Only she would still have thoughts of protecting him even when she was in a trance.

 When she ascended, he could only stay in Lingyou World. No one but his sword would keep him company.

Separation…

They were going to separate in the end.

##

As Jin Yue and Qiu Shuang finished speaking and Qiu Shuang stood to leave, she stopped and looked at the green leaves falling off the trees by the doorway. Jin Yue turned to look at Sword Cry Peak, his expression odd. "Spirit energy is entering Sword Cry Peak."

The fast-spinning spirit energy would cause discomfort in the spirit plants. The leaves would fall off.

He looked worriedly at Qiu Shuang. The news of Celestial Kong Hou's Mind Manifestation could be concealed, but if she reached Projection Stage in a short month, what excuse could they use to cover this up?

"Not Kong Hou." Qiu Shuang shook her head with certainty. The sky was blue and cloudless. This did not look like someone was having an ordeal, but like a storm of spirit energy created when a powerful person's meridians were in chaos.

The two changed expression and thought of a person at the same time. They flew towards Sword Cry Peak without even thinking.

Pebbles spun and tiles flew all over the place on Sword Cry Peak. The disciples of Splendid Cloud Sect grabbed onto the pillars of the buildings, but still remembered to keep their eyes open to see what was happening.

 Lin Hu quickly pulled all the disciples together and made a boundary in the hall, so the spirit energy and winds could not harm the people on Sword Cry Peak.

"Elder Lin, what is happening?" Xiao Dong, who had come with things from his master, looked with worry and shock at the crystal tiles being blown away by the wind.

"I do not know yet. Stay in the boundary and do not leave." Lin Hu summoned his lifebond sword. "I am going to see."

After Lin Hu left, the disciples of Splendid Cloud Sect and Radiance Sect looked at each other. The disciples of Radiance Sect mostly did not like to talk. The Splendid Cloud Sect disciples had lived for a while in Sword Cry Peak, but for the face of their sect, they had been restrained. They appeared calm and cold except for when they ate.

The wind howled outside, and all of their hair was dusty and messed up. They were all disheveled.

Wu Chuan used a few cleaning spells on himself. Seeing the Radiance Sect disciples standing straight with dust and dry leaves on their bodies, he couldn't help but ask, "You will not clean up?" If they did not act, he wanted to pull the leaves off for them.

Xiao Dong and the other disciples forced a smile and copied Wu Chuan in using a few cleaning spells on themselves. They, as apprentices of Radiance Sect, had sword attendants or servants. They usually did not have to do things like cleaning.

Cultivators like them with high cultivation but low living ability seemed clumsy when they took care of these minor matters. A disciple who recently reached Base Building even made a hole in his robe when he used a cleaning spell.

Woo~

Woo~

The sound of the wind grew colder. The mood inside the boundary became more awkward.

Sand and rocks flew outside the closed cave residence. Qiu Shuang and Jin Yue stood gravely outside the cave. The flying rock fell to the ground before they were able to go near them.

Seeing Jin Yue wanting to destroy the cave entrance and enter, Qiu Shuang waved her fan to stop him. "Wait. If you forcibly enter, I fear you will be adding oil to the fire."

Jin Yue took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "Then what should we do now?"

 "Wait." Qiu Shuang looked at the seals unique to Radiance Sect on the stone doors to the residence. Her expression was solemn. "If any of us goes close, we may make the matter worse."

Jin Yue grimaced. "Spirit Master Qiu Shuang is correct."

"Celestial Kong Hou is still inside." A gold light flashed and Lin Hu appeared in front of the pair. "Master is in deep love with celestial Kong Hou. With her present, an accident should not occur."

The worst thing about going mad was not the decrease in cultivation, but the madness.

Actually when that White Evil Sage Wu Ku attacked and caused Miss Kong Hou to fall into the pond, Lin Hu found that Master showed signs of going mad. But after that day, Master had not shown any abnormalities. When he cultivated with Celestial Kong Hou, his spirit platform had been nurtured. His cultivation had recovered gradually and his spirit platform showed signs of stability. As a result, he only thought that Master had been in such a state because he had been too worried for celestial Kong Hou.

 Had that "Charm Allurement" which made people have mental demons affected Master?

Jin Yue felt slightly bitter inside. He only had one student, Zhong Xi, in his life. If he had known all this before, he shouldn't have been so strict.

"Sect Master Jin, your mind is in chaos." Qiu Shuang saw Jin Yue like this and had to remind, "If you cannot calm down at this moment, who else can protect him?"

"Spirit Master, thank you for your reminder. This one was scatterbrained." Jin Yue suddenly realized and bowed deeply to Qiu Shuang.

Qiu Shuang ignored him and stared silently at the gates of the cave residence.

##

Kong Hou was woken up by the wind. She opened her eyes sleepily and found everything in the cave residence flying around. Her hair was twisted up in knots. She had a bad feeling. She turned to look at Huan Zhong. She found his spirit energy was going in opposite directions in his body, his eyes were red, and he showed signs of going mad.

"Huan Zhong." Kong Hou stood up. Before she could take a step toward Huan Zhong, she was smashed onto the jade wall by an enormous wave of spirit energy and almost vomited blood.

What happened? She had just been in a meditative trance for a few days. Why was her man going mad?

She cast a spell and formed a boundary around herself. Kong Hou managed to walk forward. Only now did she understand the great disparity between Mind Dividing Stage and Mind Manifestation Stage.

 Just a bit more and she could grab the corner of Huan Zhong's robe.

Just a bit more…

She caught it!

Kong Hou gritted her teeth and reached to wrap her arm around Huan Zhong's neck. Huan Zhong looked at her with red eyes, not hugging her back but not pushing her away.

But Kong Hou was slightly unhappy. He usually treated her like a treasure. Now that he was mad, he didn't recognize her? Look at the male protagonists of those novels. Even if they lost their memories or went mad, they would still put their female protagonists first!

Slap!

Slapping Huan Zhong's handsome face, Kong Hou gritted out, "Huan Zhong, if you cannot clear your mind, I will return to Splendid Cloud Sect with my Grand Shishu!"

"You cannot go!" Eyes red, Huan Zhong suddenly reacted. He gripped Kong Hou tightly with both hands. "Kong Hou cannot go, not anywhere. Stay… stay with me."

"Good, I won't go." Kong Hou saw him holding her as he trembled all over. She seemed to be the most precious thing in his life. Her heart softened and she could not bear to slap him again. Rubbing the red patch on his face due to her slap, Kong Hou reached around his waist and put her chin over his shoulder. At the same time, she took down the boundary around her and only added a few more layers to protect around her face.

The powerful spirit energy scratched at her clothes, messed up her hair, and even her arms received shallow marks of blood.

"Huan Zhong, you are so good, I do not bear to go." Tightening her arms around his waist, Kong Hou said in a trembling voice, "But if you go mad, we cannot perform paired cultivation, we cannot become path companions. Maybe you will forget me, and I will have a sad life like Spirit Master Hong Yan. No one will know if I am bullied when I travel, no one will visit the mountains and oceans with me. Maybe I will forget you and fall in love with other male cultivators…"

The red in Huan Zhong's eyes grew deeper. Then the red condensed together to hide deep in his dark black eyes. His gaze grew clear again.

"In this lifetime, you will not find a male cultivator stronger and better-looking than me."