"Is this the little one you brought this time?"
Jian Dan asked with a smile.
"Yes. Zūnshàng, do you still remember when we left the Heavenly Demon Palace last time? You helped my Junior Brother Mo Yi eliminate the insect-race cultivator who'd already been possessed. Mo Yi led a team to Huanle City to retrieve Bi Shu and was ambushed on the way."
As Mo Su finished speaking, Mo Yi stepped forward, bowed solemnly, and said in a clear voice, "Many thanks to Jian Lu Zhēnzūn for your aid back then. We parted in such a hurry that I never thanked you in person. I'm ashamed. I deliberately came with Senior Brother this time to express my gratitude face to face."
Jian Dan found Mo Yi's stiff propriety a little amusing, though she kept her expression composed, maintaining the bearing of a Unity Zūnshàng. Her tone was calm.
"I accept your thanks. I believe if disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect ran into the same peril, you'd lend a hand too."
"Of course."
Jian Dan waved a hand and tossed out a flying vessel. "Let's leave this place first."
Once everyone vaulted aboard, Jian Dan had Jian Feng take the helm and make for the Heavenly Sword Sect at full speed.
After bowing, the Black Robe Guards took positions on deck as escorts, while Jian Dan and the three from the Heavenly Demon Palace headed straight into the cabin.
"They didn't succeed, did they?"
Jian Dan asked Mo Su bluntly.
Mo Su watched Jian Feng depart with the controls, then turned back to Jian Dan, understanding what she was really asking. He nodded and brushed his sleeve before answering. "They did not. Rest assured, Zūnshàng, the flying shuttle they seized contained Bi Shu's surrogate puppet. They shouldn't discover it for a while. That's enough time for us to return to Heavenly Sword Sect territory."
"Your preparations were thorough." Jian Dan's smile didn't fade as she offered a word of praise.
"Zūnshàng overpraises. The matter is like this." Mo Su succinctly explained the Heavenly Demon Palace's response to the new strain of "blood insects."
Since they were the first to discover the blood insects, and considering the likelihood that this new strain had already spread, they'd decided to use Bi Shu to investigate the movements of the transformed insect race.
"This time, news brought back by Hao Meng of the Jiu Sha Hall confirmed that the blood insects have infiltrated the cultivation world. That's why we released Bi Shu, hoping to draw out her counterparts."
Mo Yi picked up the thread. He was the one who had carried out the operation.
"Later we learned a blood insect had appeared in Tianquan City, so we planned to take Bi Shu there to see if she could sense a possessed cultivator. But Zūnshàng struck first and captured the target."
"So I contacted Chen Feng and brought Bi Shu here directly, to see if she can communicate with this blood insect. We might gain something useful." Mo Su wrapped up the account.
"Mm. I understand your intent. Even a ten percent chance is worth a try." Jian Dan added her own observation. "The Unity cultivators who fought me just now weren't possessed by the insect race. First point. Second, their true strength wasn't as formidable as their cultivation realm suggested."
Mo Qi's eyes flashed thoughtfully. "Zūnshàng means they used some method to forcibly raise their realm, but their combat power didn't match it?"
Jian Dan nodded with a smile. Mo Qi's mind was quick. With the slightest hint, she'd reached a sound conclusion.
"Even if their realm and strength don't match, they're still Unity cultivators. It only proves Zūnshàng's power is overwhelming. If a high-stage expert hadn't intervened, those two would've been kept," Mo Yi said, offering a neat compliment.
"I did intend to keep them. Soul searching would have yielded results. A pity." Jian Dan shook her head.
While this group was extricating themselves, the cultivators left behind from the Battle Hall had already reported in. Nine captains assembled at once, informed Jian Li, the Hall Master, then departed the sect to welcome Jian Lu Zūnshàng.
"Zhengrong, contact Jian Feng. Ask what happened. Why did he go on his own without taking anyone along?" Jian Li's deep voice echoed as he instructed Wei Zhengrong.
"Yes. I'll investigate." Wei Zhengrong had just stepped out of the Law Enforcement Hall's main doors when Jian Li's hall master token buzzed with a message from Jian Dan.
Jian Li read it, relaxed slightly, and told Qi Hua, "Notify Sect Master Jian Chong. Tell him the Heavenly Demon Palace is visiting and they brought someone who might open a breach in the case of the new insect race. Have Sect Master arrange for them to stay in the Guest Hall on Tianyue Peak."
"Understood. I'll go at once." Qi Hua took the order and headed straight for the Heavenly Sword Peak's main hall.
Elsewhere, the two Unity cultivators who'd been rescued were reporting before a water mirror.
"You have the gall to explain? Two mid-Unity cultivators couldn't kill a single early-Unity opponent?"
A hoarse, heavy voice rolled out of the mirror and wrapped around their ears.
The two men lowered their heads even further and dared not offer excuses.
"Did you capture the insect race that has perfectly merged with a human?"
"Zhēnzūn, she hid inside a flying shuttle and activated defenses. Our spirit beasts brought the shuttle back intact."
"Good. My intervention to pull you out wasn't wasted. Bring her to me at once."
"Yes."
The water mirror vanished, and only then did the pair exhale in relief.
"Move. Deliver the shuttle and the person immediately. Don't invite trouble by delaying."
"Right."
They flashed out of the cave abode, summoned their spirit beasts, and carried the shuttle to the place specified by the Zhēnzūn. Before departing, they checked one more time. Bi Shu's fearful little face lifted their spirits. At least their efforts weren't in vain.
Three days later, Jian Dan's flying vessel set down before her sect's gates. Wei Zhengrong, Qi Hua, Jin Liuli, and a squad of guards from the Heavenly Sword Peak's main hall had been waiting for some time. As soon as the vessel descended, they moved to greet it.
"Zūnshàng, you've worked hard."
The three from the Law Enforcement Hall saluted Jian Dan first, while the cultivators from the Sect Master's hall saluted Mo Su's group and led them toward the main hall.
In a low voice, Wei Zhengrong briefed Jian Dan on the arrangements for the Heavenly Demon Palace's party to lodge on Tianyue Peak.
Jian Dan's lips twitched. Senior Brother Jian Li made use of every resource. Knowing she was familiar with them, he had simply settled the guests right under her nose. If anything happened, she would certainly be the one to step in.
"All right, I understand. We'll do as Senior Brother Jian Li said. I'll head back and make some arrangements. I won't accompany them to the Sect Master this time."
Then she turned to Jian Feng, who had been standing quietly. "You know the details. Go with Zhengrong to the Law Enforcement Hall and report everything to Hall Master Jian Li."
"Yes, Zūnshàng."
Thus the group split into three parties for the time being.
Mo Su bowed to Jian Dan once more, then glanced at Jian Feng before heading to Heavenly Sword Peak.
Watching that look, Jian Dan rubbed her jaw. She felt like she'd just been fed a mouthful of dog food for no reason. She lifted on a streak of light and returned directly to her cave abode.
"Greetings, Master."
This time, waiting for her were Lü Se, Xue Ru, and the little Yue Liang perched on Xue Ru's shoulder.
In the next instant, Yue Liang flickered onto Jian Dan's shoulder, nuzzling her cheek as her fluffy tail coiled around Jian Dan's neck.
Smiling, Jian Dan nodded to Xue Ru, then sat beneath the banyan tree at the cave's entrance and moved Yue Liang from her shoulder into her arms.
"Yue Liang, you've come out of seclusion? Looks like your realm is steady."
Yue Liang touched her little ears, narrowed her black-bean eyes, and replied, "Zūnshàng, Yue Liang is already at late sixth rank now."
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After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor has officially gone through the book vetting process and is now available on my profile! So far, I've translated 100 chapters, and my impression? This novel is pretty solid.
The beginning is packed with schemes, like layers being built up and peeled away one after another. It's more about scheming than fighting at first. Then from chapter 100 onward, the scheming runs really deep. You can't just set it aside and only look at the fight scenes. The level of intrigue is almost on par with Gōngdòu (宫斗), the "Palace Fight." That kind of scheme-driven tension and pacing is super rare in xianxia, which makes this novel feel really fresh. Of course, the fight scenes are also well written.
I think it's good overall, though the author's writing in the early chapters can feel a little stiff or awkward at times, mostly because it focuses on Yun Qingyue's intelligence and intricate intrigues. I get what the author wanted to convey, and I polished it a bit so it's easier to digest. At least I think it's better now—though I'm curious what you'll think!
The later chapters with fighting are really well done. I even found myself laughing and speechless in some moments, lol. There's that saying, "you will find happiness watching others' misfortune." She's definitely not a saint—she's ruthless, and I'd say she's somewhat similar to Song Wanníng.
The author has a very distinctive style—I got this unique feeling while reading and translating it, something I haven't experienced in other novels I've worked on.
Anyway, I personally think you should give this one a shot!
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Yun Qingyue never expected her grand wedding to end in divine execution. All because a manipulative little junior sister with a hidden "system" and a talent for tears convinced their entire sect to force Yun Qingyue aside. When she unleashed her full power to crush the traitors, it wasn't her enemies who finished her—it was the Nine Heavens' Thunder Tribulation, a punishment she never deserved.
She thought it was the end. But a shred of her soul survived, now trapped in a mortal body so weak it's practically a prison. Her spirit root is gone, her meridians are feeble, and her immortal path is sealed shut.
But Yun Qingyue has finally seen the truth: her "pure" junior sister is a system-wielding thief, her sect are all pawns, and the very Heavens are blind. So if the heavens call her a villainess, she'll become the demon they fear. If the path of immortality is closed, she'll open the road to the Demonic Path.
Her new philosophy is simple: sever all karma and dominate everything in her path. This time as Xie Zhaolin, she's not just climbing to the top; she's burning the entire mountain down on her way up.