"Demon?"
Mu Siyue smiled bitterly and shook her head. "The world says it's the opposite of immortal, but what is immortal? Is it to disregard mortal lives, to enjoy mortal worship, or to be indifferent to everything mortal?"
"You ascended from mortality, you should know what I mean."
"Of course, not all demons are good people!"
"Most of their cultivation techniques are related to slaughter, greed, and life and death, but can we say that what they do is wrong based on this alone?"
"What if the people they killed all deserved to die? Can you, Yunze, guarantee that everyone you've killed in this life was a scoundrel?"
"You can't guarantee it, nor can other cultivators. Moreover, so-called right and wrong are merely judgments from different perspectives."
"If that's the case, then what's the difference between demons and immortals?"
Mu Siyue's eyes lowered, as if recalling something. "They are merely two titles."
Yunze frowned and remained silent.
In fact, before he embarked on the path of immortality, he had a poor, even disgusted, opinion of immortals.
It was only after meeting Brother Xiao that Yunze understood that there were good and bad among immortals.
Later, he met Brother Yu, who completely changed his view of immortals.
Originally, Brother Yu had patted his chest and guaranteed that Brother Xiao was definitely not a demonic cultivator, but now, in the information he had given him, it was stated that Brother Xiao was suspected of being a demonic cultivator.
Yunze detested demonic cultivators from the bottom of his heart!
His own parents had been refined into some kind of demonic artifacts because of demonic cultivation techniques!
But now, hearing Mu Siyue's words, it seemed that there was no essential difference between demons and immortals, and his perception was only due to the people he interacted with.
Mu Siyue remained silent. She knew how much impact her words had on Yunze. After a pause, she smiled.
"...There's still plenty of time, you can take a good look."
As soon as she finished speaking, she turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared before Yunze's eyes, leaving him alone in the meditation room to ponder.
Although she hadn't directly answered Yunze's question, her reaction had already provided an answer.
Demons? Immortals?
The figures of Xiao Hanshi and Yu Xian couldn't help but appear in Yunze's mind. These two were the ones he had interacted with the most on his immortal path.
Both Yu Xian and Xiao Hanshi fit his imagination of immortals.
Carefree, unrestrained, at ease, just like the legends told by storytellers, but now... forget it, no more thinking!
Yunze thought this, but he couldn't calm his mind during his cultivation, constantly pondering Mu Siyue's words.
Were demons and immortals truly no different?
...
The next day at noon.
Yunze left the meditation room about two hours earlier than scheduled.
This was the first time he had been so extravagant, leaving the meditation room before his allotted time was up.
He hadn't even cultivated during the latter half of the night after Mu Siyue left, but had sat in the meditation room, contemplating their previous conversation.
When the time was almost up, seeing that he couldn't calm his mind, he simply got up and walked out of the meditation room towards Wei Lanshu's cave dwelling.
As Yunze approached the entrance of the meditation room, he saw Li Po respectfully waiting by the door, head bowed motionlessly, as if waiting for something.
He looked around, but there wasn't a soul in sight, not even a trace of any living creature.
"Li Po?"
Yunze stepped forward and had only uttered two words when Li Po looked up and glared at him, cutting off whatever he was about to say.
Li Po glanced at the sky, and only when she was sure no one was around did she breathe a sigh of relief, turning to glare at Yunze.
"Stand aside and wait!"
Yunze was speechless. He rolled his eyes and walked to the stone table to sit down!
Wait?
I'm not a servant of your Wei family, why should I put on a welcoming posture?
You are a loyal servant of the Wei family, you welcome them. Me sitting here waiting has already given Xiao Shu enough face.
Li Po merely glanced at Yunze upon seeing this and said no more.
Good advice is wasted on deaf ears.
She had originally wanted to help this kid make a good impression, but since he didn't appreciate it, it was no longer her concern!
Buzz!
Soon, a tremor echoed through the lone peak again!
The mountain imp at Yunze's waist trembled slightly, causing the sword energy within him to stir restlessly!
He looked up and saw that the Sect Master had already taken to the air on his sword, hovering at the summit of the lone peak and gazing into the distance!
That direction was precisely where Li Po was bowing!
But Yunze strained his eyes, yet he couldn't see anyone in that direction.
Clang!
A clear sound exploded from the horizon, as if in response to the sword's hum.
In an instant, a streak of crimson appeared in the sky!
That crimson slowly approached, spreading from the horizon towards the front, as if igniting the entire sky!
Yunze narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the crimson streak, and finally managed to see clearly.
It looked like... a bird!
A bird engulfed in crimson flames!?
This was the first time Yunze had seen such a strange beast.
After just one glance, he shifted his gaze back to the black sword at Zu Changdao's feet.
He saw this sword again!
Yunze glanced back at Li Po and found that she had already knelt on the ground and was too preoccupied to pay attention to him. He took out another piece of seemingly useless immortal jade.
The immortal jade immediately began to vibrate and fly upwards, as if something in the air was attracting it!
Yunze dared not take the risk. He quickly put the immortal jade back into his Sumeru ring, collected his thoughts, and stopped looking at the black sword, instead focusing his gaze on the firebird opposite Zu Changdao!
There was a figure standing on the firebird. Because it was too far away, Yunze couldn't see if the person was male or female, let alone their attire.
However, he figured that someone who could warrant the Sect Master's personal reception must be a person of great importance.
The two chatted in the air for a while. Yunze couldn't hear what they were saying, only that after a short while, the firebird began to dive towards the lone peak, and the Sect Master followed closely behind!
The target was where he was!
Yunze instinctively wanted to stand up, but a wave of pressure descended, preventing him from doing so. He could only remain seated.
Huh?
What's going on?
Yunze looked up at the sky and saw that as the firebird got closer, the surrounding temperature was also rising!
Fine sweat had already soaked his clothes, and in the next moment... he finally saw the being on the firebird!
It was a woman wearing a crimson robe and a cape of red feathers.
She looked very much like Wei Lanshu, but with less childishness in her eyes and more authority, as if she could become the center of everyone's worship just by standing there.
This was a temperament cultivated by those who had held high positions for a long time.
Just as Yunze was lost in thought, the firebird landed.
The firebird, which had previously obscured the sky, transformed into a parrot-sized bird upon landing and perched on the woman's shoulder. Its gaze swept over Yunze, with a hint of disgust in its eyes.
The woman's gaze also swept over Yunze, her eyes devoid of any emotion, as if she had merely glanced at him.
"Servant Li, greets the Family Head!"
Li Po's voice rang out as she bowed towards the woman!
The woman turned her gaze towards Li Po, her expression still calm, and simply replied, "Rise."
"Thank you, Family Head!"
After Li Po kowtowed her thanks, she stood up, her hands clasped in front of her like a quail, awaiting orders.
At this moment, Zu Changdao also descended from the air. He naturally saw Yunze sitting by the stone table and quickly signaled him with his eyes to stand up and greet them.
The other party was a guest. Even the Sect Master was standing, and you, an outer disciple, dared to sit? Have you no manners?
Yunze looked helpless.
He wanted to stand up, but he just couldn't!
Just as he was about to ask the Sect Master for help, the woman spoke.
"You are that Yunze?"
Why does everyone like to ask that!
"Reporting to senior, it is I."
Yunze replied respectfully, realizing he still couldn't stand up. He could only smile wryly and cup his hands while still seated, "Junior greets... Senior! What are you doing!"
Before Yunze could finish speaking, the woman turned around, bent down, and bowed towards Yunze!
This bow stunned both Li Po and himself, and even Zu Changdao beside them was taken aback!
"Wei Huang, on behalf of my daughter, thanks you for saving her life."
Yunze now understood why he couldn't stand up.
So this was what she was waiting for!
It seemed that this person was not unreasonable, not as demonized as Li Po described.
Just as Yunze was about to respond politely and mention their sibling relationship, Wei Huang's voice rang out again.
"The thanks have been given. When will you return my daughter's belongings?"
Huh!?
Yunze looked confused. So the purpose was still that drop of blood...
But it didn't matter. This was originally someone else's possession. If Xiao Shu wanted it, he would return it to Xiao Shu.
However, it would be best to finish consuming the sword energy first.
After all, only when this drop of blood was in his sea of qi could it quickly consume sword energy.
If he wanted to consume the sword energy within Xiao Shu within three months, the divine object had to remain in his sea of qi for a while longer.
Yunze found that the pressure on him had disappeared, but he didn't intend to stand up. He said from his seated position, "It can be returned, it is Xiao Shu's thing, but..."
Wei Huang said nothing, her eyes narrowed.
Others might not know, but Li Po did. Whenever the Family Head had this expression, it meant she wanted to kill someone!
Wei Huang said coldly, "But what?"
"We need to wait until the sword energy is consumed."
Yunze didn't know that she was already thinking of killing him. He simply said what he thought: "Only when that object is in my sea of qi can it quickly consume sword energy. If you want to consume the sword energy within Xiao Shu within three months, then the divine object must stay in my sea of qi for a longer period."
"...In that case, that's fine."
Wei Huang seemed somewhat surprised by this answer.
She turned to Li Po, "Where is the young lady?"
"In the cave dwelling. I'll call her out now."
Li Po hurried into the cave dwelling. Only Yunze, Wei Huang, and Zu Changdao remained outside.
The air fell into silence.
Yunze's gaze unconsciously fell on the black sword.
"Cough, cough."
Zu Changdao coughed twice, breaking the silence, and turned to Yunze, asking, "Yunze, I remember you. As one of the only two people from my Guiwu Sword Sect to reach the Heavenly Rankings, you've been in the sect for a month. Are there any aspects you're not adapting to? If so, please mention them, and I will do my best to satisfy you."
"Really!?"
Yunze's eyes lit up immediately!
"My word is my bond!"
"Then, Sect Master... can I touch your sword?"
"Hmm!?"