The afterglow of the sun filtered through the window lattice, casting a dim yellow hue over a common residence in Xianling City.
Three men and one woman sat around a table, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
The three male cultivators lowered their voices as they spoke, occasionally glancing toward the woman by the window, their eyes carrying a hint of imperceptible contempt and scrutiny.
The woman, dressed in simple white robes, was Ji Yunshu. She did not join the conversation, merely sitting sideways, gazing out the window with a distant look.
The countless lamps of Xianling City flickered to life one by one, outlining the magnificent silhouette of the great city, a scene of bustling human warmth. Yet this liveliness and comfort seemed to be separated from her by an invisible barrier.
Years of stagnant cultivation had long since eroded the lofty ambitions that had once driven her to seek the pinnacle.
And the cold assessment from the Wuqing Dao Sect—that they "don't take trash"—had utterly shattered her last shred of pride.
Now, though she possessed the cultivation realm of a peak Heavenly Being, her Dao heart was clouded, and her spiritual platform was dim. Her actual combat prowess was likely inferior to even some mid-stage Heavenly Being cultivators.
It was precisely for this reason that she felt utterly bewildered and uneasy about the sudden assignment from the upper realms to participate in the Tian Alliance Grand Competition.
She couldn't fathom why the powers above would value someone like her, someone who was nearly broken.
The three male cultivators who had come with her had clearly heard of her "glorious achievement" of "betraying her childhood sweetheart," and had not spared their private remarks.
Though they sat in the same room now, they naturally excluded her from their conversation, occasionally casting glances filled with distance and suspicion. They seemed to be speculating whether she had used some shady means to secure this assignment.
After all, the promise from above was too tempting—a direct reward of a Saint Realm cultivation for winning the competition! This was irresistible to any cultivator stuck at the peak of the Heavenly Being realm.
And the upper realm cultivators generally held a sense of superiority toward the lower realms. That they would make such a big move this time showed how significant this matter was.
Ji Yunshu paid no attention to their whispered discussions. The lights outside the window reflected in her vacant eyes, but could not kindle a single spark of spirit.
Suddenly, a gentle face buried deep in her memory, almost blurred by time, surfaced in her heart without warning.
Her slender fingers unconsciously curled, her heart turning cold and bewildered, she murmured to herself:
"Jiang Che... did I really do wrong..."
She had lost count of how many times she had chewed on this bitterness alone.
Fragments of memory surged like cold waves against her heart.
She remembered that she had never actually intended to betray Jiang Che.
In the very beginning, everything was so simple.
She just felt that Jiang Che was so brilliantly talented, his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, leaving his peers far behind. He was so strong, so what was wrong with letting the junior brother, who had lower cultivation and needed resources more, have a little?
It was just friendship and support among fellow disciples.
So, time and again, in resource distribution, in front of their master's attention, even in occasional training opportunities, she subconsciously and habitually favored that seemingly weak junior brother who needed more care.
She even carried a small, self-righteous sense of "fairness," feeling that she was helping the sect balance its forces, considering the bigger picture.
She never carefully observed Jiang Che's gradually silencing eyes, never deeply pondered the exhaustion and disappointment he occasionally revealed. She was immersed in her self-constructed fantasy of "kindness" and "fairness."
Until that day, she learned that Jiang Che was preparing for seclusion to break through to the elusive Saint Realm barrier! If he succeeded, he would have the qualifications to leave the sect and enter a broader world.
She was completely panicked.
She had never thought about leaving Jiang Che, never imagined he would truly go far away. The fear of being left behind instantly seized her.
Just when she was in chaos and didn't know what to do, the junior brother she had always protected and favored appeared at the opportune moment.
With a worried expression, he presented a seemingly perfect yet full-of-holes plan—only to "dissuade" his senior brother, only to "keep" him, and absolutely no real harm would come to him... it only required a little "small" cooperation from her.
Her mind was a mess then, the fear of losing Jiang Che overwhelming all reason, and she muddled her way into... agreeing.
The result...
The result was that at the critical moment of Jiang Che's seclusion, his vital essence was severely damaged and his Dao foundation was impaired due to her "cooperation." And that junior brother she had always trusted and protected then revealed his ferocious fangs, delivering a fatal blow without hesitation!
Blood stained her vision, and thoroughly awakened her foolish dream.
From the moment Jiang Che fell, she lost all her value to that junior brother who had succeeded. The former gentle words turned into cold disgust, the former reliance and trust transformed into naked abandonment.
Only then did she see that she had, from beginning to end, merely been a knife in someone else's hand, used to harm the person she loved most.
And now?
That junior brother who had murdered his senior brother and usurped his position must have long since achieved the Saint Realm as he wished, becoming a revered Saint of a realm, right?
And Jiang Che?
With such dazzling talent and such a resilient will, if he hadn't encountered that betrayal, hadn't been cut short midway... what heights would he have reached by now? Would he have long since surpassed the Saint Realm and seen scenery she could never imagine?
This thought was like a cold poison thorn, deeply piercing her heart, tormenting her day and night.
Ji Yunshu's fingers unconsciously curled, the cold sensation spreading from her fingertips to her heart.
The brilliant lights outside the window reflected not a trace of warmth in her vacant eyes, instead seeming like countless needles piercing her sunken past.
That person's words once again cast a stone into her dead heart, creating bitter ripples.
When she was inexplicably chosen and given this task, seemingly important but which left her terrified, she had mustered the last of her courage to look up and ask the entity that had sent her to the lower realm.
Her voice was dry, tinged with deep confusion and self-mockery.
"The upper realms... are filled with heaven's favored sons, with peerless talents emerging one after another. Why... me? A waste whose Dao heart is clouded and cultivation has stagnated?"
She was even prepared to be ridiculed or ignored.
Yet, the voice of that entity was unnaturally calm, as if merely stating a trivial matter, yet carrying a meaning she couldn't comprehend.
The being did not look at her, its gaze seemingly fixed on a more distant void, as it said indifferently:
"Go. Perhaps, in the chaotic lands of the lower realm, you can instead break free from the shackles of your heart demon and find... what you have always been trying to seek."
The words were few, yet like a vague prophecy.
Something to seek?
What could she possibly seek?
A shattered Dao heart? A lost love? Or... the original self, even she had long blurred?
These words were less an answer and more a riddle, a mystery she was powerless to unravel.
Now, sitting in this unfamiliar lower city, listening to her companions' undisguised suspicions, feeling her own weakness that stood at odds with this grand competition, those words seemed even more like a vague comfort, even... a cruel joke.
Break free from heart demons? Find what she seeks?
She looked at her slightly trembling hands, the corner of her mouth curling into an extremely faint, yet profoundly bitter arc.
How difficult, how... hopeless.
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