Chapter 119: The Demon Race — A Sword Cultivator Carrying a Demonic Crystal Blade

“The Returning Immortal Sect’s first team split up? There’s still an hour before the Sixth Illusion ends. They’re too bold.”

Outside the illusion, an elder of the Crimson Sky Sect spoke.

Xin Wanbai said, “It’s the safest option for now, but…”

She glanced at the image showing the Azure Profound Sect. Their first team had not continued toward the Black Tortoise Mirror.

They had learned midway that the formation team’s disciples were eliminated and, unsure of the details, had stopped moving forward.

Murong Yi listened to wave after wave of news that Azure Profound Sect disciples had been eliminated and chuckled lightly. “Stirring up trouble—she’s the best at it.”

Across from him, the Azure Profound Sect elder fell silent.

Feeling quite smug about it, weren’t they?

“How does your Returning Immortal Sect teach people? Nothing but lies, disgraceful conduct.”

This time it was the Clear Thought Sect that got fooled, offending the Azure Profound Sect and wasting precious time. Naturally, the Clear Thought Sect elder was displeased.

Murong Yi replied, “Oh? So what?”

The elders fell silent—he was too arrogant!

Today, Shang Liu was uncharacteristically quiet. Regarding the Azure Profound Sect’s predicament, he said nothing, leisurely sipping his tea.

Just as the Returning Immortal Sect and Clear Thought Sect elders were locked in a standoff, footsteps came from outside the door. A moment later, someone pushed the door open and entered.

“Everyone, how are things at the moment?”

It was the Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master again. No one had expected him—given his usual temperament, he never concerned himself with the Immortal Sect Grand Competition except for unavoidable formalities, and even then he was hard to invite.

“Sect Master Shen seems quite free today,” Shang Liu finally spoke.

The Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master said, “I was tending to sect matters when I sensed something amiss—someone tampered with my barrier, so I came to see for myself.”

He seated himself squarely in the middle and said, “Who among you tried to forcefully break my barrier?”

His eyes swept over the elders of the four major sects. His faint smile revealed no true emotion.

At his words, the elders’ expressions turned grim—except for those from the Returning Immortal Sect.

They had been here the whole time and naturally saw the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator deliver that strike. If nothing was amiss, she must be a Heavenly Spiritual Root without question.

Right now, the first teams of the four major sects were all in trouble—even the Azure Profound Sect had been dragged into the mess. And now the Returning Immortal Sect suddenly revealed a sword cultivator with the potential of a Heavenly Spiritual Root—a grave threat to the others.

What made it harder to accept was that this Heavenly Spiritual Root sword cultivator was Lian Mu.

—The one in the Returning Immortal Sect who loved to stir up trouble but always succeeded.

According to Murong Yi, this Lian Mu had always believed herself to be a three-spiritual-root cultivator.

She caused so much chaos normally—if she really had a Heavenly Spiritual Root, who could handle her?

The Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master read the room and guessed which sect the person belonged to. He looked a bit surprised. “I recall your sect only recruited one single-spiritual-root sword cultivator. Who knew they had such power?”

Murong Yi said, “Not him. A second-seat cultivator. You’ve seen her—she drew lots on stage.”

The Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master nodded thoughtfully. “So it was her. Even at the lot-drawing, I thought she was unusual. She even dared provoke my most ill-tempered nephew.”

“Shen Wuxie was tricked by her, that’s why he was eliminated,” added a Clear Thought Sect elder, his tone sour. “She spouted nonsense and threw the whole situation into chaos. She did it last round too, but this time, it was clearly deliberate.”

The Sect Master located Lian Mu’s image, studied it briefly, then said, “No need to spell it out for me. Young people’s disputes should be resolved by themselves. This is the Immortal Sect Grand Competition—conflicts between sects are common. Wuxie has been pampered too long; he’s become arrogant and reckless. Let him suffer some losses—it’ll teach him a lesson.”

“Your second-seat is impressive. What’s her name?” he asked, pointing at the image.

Before Murong Yi could answer, Cheng Ling interjected, “That sword cultivator is suspicious. She’s supposedly a three-spiritual-root, yet suddenly displays the power of a Heavenly Spiritual Root. If her root was misjudged, that’s one thing—but if she really is three-spiritual-root, then where does that immense power come from?”

Shang Liu, catching on, said, “If her root wasn’t misjudged, then isn’t it…”

An abnormal surge of power—clearly a trait of the demon race.

He didn’t finish, but everyone older understood.

Shang Liu continued, “Ever since she struck down the mirror guardian beast in one blow, I suspected this. At the time I thought the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat was just hiding her strength—but Murong swears she’s a three-spiritual-root.”

Murong Yi’s face darkened. “Impossible. She’s been under my watch since entering the sect. If something were wrong, how could I not know?”

“It’s not like the Returning Immortal Sect doesn’t have precedent,” the Crimson Sky Sect elder said. “One of your elders, surnamed Yin, died at the hands of a demon race imposter disguised as a disciple. Murong, forgive me for saying this, but be careful not to become the next Yin Shitu.”

Cheng Ling added, “I heard that the Returning Immortal Sect had an incident a few months back—a demon race infiltrator broke into your Spirit Tower… Now, another suspiciously powerful three-spiritual-root sword cultivator suddenly appears? What a coincidence, and of all sects, it’s yours.”

He made his intention to press the matter obvious. Xin Wanbai snapped back, “You’re meddling far too much—spying on our sect’s business from thousands of miles away. Don’t you have your own problems? Have you even recovered the Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda yet? Spare us your concern.”

Shang Liu frowned suddenly. “The Thousand Mechanisms Pagoda is missing?”

Xin Wanbai sneered, “How many years has it been gone? The Crimson Sky Sect knows perfectly well but kept it from everyone. Who knows what they’re plotting.”

Cheng Ling’s expression stiffened. “Bringing this up here is hardly appropriate, don’t you think?”

The Clear Thought Sect’s Sect Master raised a hand. “Enough. She hasn’t come out yet. No point in speculating blindly.”

Though he said that, his brows furrowed—his earlier easy smile gone.

After a moment’s thought, he said, “Before anything is confirmed, no one is to spread this. Once the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat comes out, send her to see me first.”

Murong Yi said, “Sect Master Shen, you’re not our sect master. What right do you have to take her first?”

“Murong, don’t you trust me?” said the Sect Master. “If there’s nothing wrong with her, I won’t touch her. But this is White Tiger West—Clear Thought Sect has guarded this place for ages. We won’t tolerate any variables disturbing its peace.”

“I, on behalf of the Crimson Sky Sect, support Sect Master Shen’s request,” Cheng Ling declared.

Shang Liu added, “If this concerns demon race remnants, the Azure Profound Sect won’t stand idly by either.”

The Clear Thought Sect elder said gravely, “This is a serious matter. If your sect master won’t step up, Sect Master Shen must handle it. Within White Tiger West, we will not allow any demon race presence.”

The Returning Immortal Sect elders fell silent. Xin Wanbai pressed her hand against the hilt at her waist, then slowly let it go.

Xin Wanbai did not believe for a moment that Lian Mu was demon race. She might be chaotic, but she had never done anything truly evil. She was close with the other first-seats—if anything were amiss, they would have noticed long ago.

The previous test had indeed shown Lian Mu was a three-spiritual-root. Why she suddenly displayed Heavenly Spiritual Root power remained unexplained. They could only wait for her to emerge and test her root again.

Xin Wanbai scanned the room. The elders of the other three major sects all wore varied expressions, staring at the Returning Immortal Sect’s image. It was clear they were all waiting to see the sect fall into scandal.

The disciples in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition had already torn off their masks and begun attacking each other. Would they be next?

Xin Wanbai had a gnawing feeling that once this illusion ended, something big was about to hit the Returning Immortal Sect—but whether it was good or bad, no one could say.

Xin Wanbai used the pretext of discussing something to call Murong Yi out alone.

Outside, with just the two of them, they could speak openly.

“She can’t possibly be demon race,” Murong Yi said with certainty. “Once Lian Mu comes out, take her straight back to the Returning Immortal Sect and have the Fragrance-Attracting Peak Master examine her.”

Xin Wanbai recalled the recorded scene and said, “Ji Mingyue seems to know something about Lian Mu. She’s always hated the demon race and has her own way of identifying them… She and Lian Mu often come and go together — she definitely knows whether Lian Mu is demon race or not. Taking her back to the Returning Immortal Sect is fine, but the other sects won’t be easy to deal with.”

Murong Yi said, “Just get her out — leave the rest to me. If she ends up in the other sects’ hands without things being clear, even innocence will be twisted into guilt.”

He didn’t doubt Lian Mu’s identity at all, leaning more toward her spiritual root being misjudged, or that she had always known and simply hidden it from them.

If that was the case, the Returning Immortal Sect would have a new Heavenly Spiritual Root sword cultivator, and their team would stand equal to the Crimson Sky Sect’s.

After they finished discussing, they returned to the quiet room. Thanks to Cheng Ling’s distorted hints, Lian Mu had successfully become the main focus of all the elders’ watchful eyes.

Shang Liu stopped watching his own sect’s projection altogether, staring instead at the one showing the Returning Immortal Sect.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes were locked on the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator — if she revealed even a hint of anything unusual, she’d be spotted immediately.

Xin Wanbai let out a cold laugh, letting them watch while guarding the projection.

Yet as time passed, the elders didn’t spot anything amiss. Instead, they watched helplessly as Lian Mu fooled around with Wen Yun.

Once she teamed up with Wen Yun, she started slacking off completely. Two strong fighters together, yet whenever they encountered magical beasts, she didn’t lift a finger — she just loitered around, letting Wen Yun kill everything while she picked up the corpses.

After a while, an artifact refiner elder from the Azure Profound Sect couldn’t hold back: “Why does a sword cultivator like her carry a demonic crystal blade?”

The elders of the Returning Immortal Sect didn’t know either, but none of them wanted to answer.

Xin Wanbai replied offhandedly, “Mm.”

Murong Yi added perfunctorily, “Yes.”

The artifact refiner elder from the Azure Profound Sect: “…” How was that an answer?

“Perhaps she’s collecting magical beast materials for the chief artifact refiner,” Cheng Ling said.

“But…” the artifact refiner elder continued.

Her harvesting skills were way too precise — the cuts were clean and flawless, not something an ordinary sword cultivator could manage.

He looked around and saw that the other sects’ artifact refiners showed no reaction, clearly believing she was merely running an errand.

He fell silent for a moment, then swallowed his words and pretended he had never spoken.