I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World

Wenn Miao waved her sleeve, and in the next instant brought Lu Nanzhi with her, appearing on the seashore.

The night was silent, the sea vast and empty, with a half-moon hanging high.

The ocean was boundless, vast but also fraught with hidden dangers.

Wenn Miao looked at Lu Nanzhi, opened her mouth to scold, but swallowed the words, seeing her looking dejected and lifeless, a hint of heartache welled up in her eyes.

Lu Nanzhi was a good child she watched grow up, mature and introspective, though stubborn, she was always rational, had her own opinions, and carried the demeanor of a senior disciple sister.

Compared to Jiang Yuebai, that troublesome and worrisome girl, she always felt at ease with Lu Nanzhi.

But it was this very child she felt most assured about, whose problem once it arose, became an irreparable one, and also became the one she worried about the most.

"Did you really choose this willingly? She didn’t use any means to force you? You can just tell me the truth!" Wenn Miao said.

Lu Nanzhi looked at Wenn Miao and said seriously, "I approached her myself. Every detail of this whole affair, the possible consequences, the responsibilities I have to bear, and the benefits Feiyan Pavilion and the Xie Family would gain, she informed me of it all before I made my decision."

Wenn Miao frowned, "And you truly have no regrets?"

Lu Nanzhi slowly nodded, "No regrets, the hatred in my heart towards the Fang Family and Lu Family, is not something I can let go just by reading more Daoist Scriptures to console myself. The Fang Family hasn’t given me the opportunity and time to let go. If I continue like this, it will only give birth to a heart demon and drag down my cultivation."

"Even the Pavilion Master is like this, enduring for hundreds of years and still unwilling to give up the position of Fang Clan Leader. She practices the Demon Dao, not fearing heart demons, but her desires and obsessions grow uncontrollable as her cultivation improves. Unsatisfied with herself, she cannot surpass the Divinity Transformation Barrier."

"I don’t want to suffer for hundreds of years like the Pavilion Master, so I want to resolve this hatred early, to free my heart of obsessions, and henceforth, not be hindered by the past, able to cultivate with a focused mind. Haven’t you also said, ’To overcome difficulties with others, not to conflict with oneself, is the way to a clear mind?’"

Wenn Miao snorted with a laugh, "A focused mind? A clear mind? You think too highly of it! This is not the Upper Realm where many paths coexist, vast without boundaries. Here, the Demon Dao is not allowed, and your path of cultivation will only face more obstacles."

"To kill is to be killed, you have killed so many innocent people, they too have family and friends. In the future, they will surely seek revenge against you. If you are strong, you live; if you are weak, you die. This is a path of no return. Can you maintain a clear mind amidst endless grievances and hatred?"

"Practicing the Demon Dao is easy, but guarding one’s heart is difficult. Even if you can maintain your true heart and not be eroded and fallen by demonic intent, you still have the karma of killing and the judgment of heavenly tribulations to bear. Your Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation would be even more terrifying than a Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, can you withstand it all?"

"I can!"

Lu Nanzhi looked into Wenn Miao’s eyes, fearless.

Wenn Miao opened her mouth, but all her words turned into a sigh.

"You always have your own ideas, hitting the wall and not turning back when you’ve decided on something, still carrying the temperament of a Sword Cultivator in your bones. At this point, I have nothing more to say. It’s none of my business, and I don’t feel like standing on the moral high ground to judge you."

"Since you’ve decided to abandon your past, you should henceforth sever ties with the Heavenly Interence Sect, and with your former mentors and friends. Even if in the future Heavenly Interence Sect disciples kill you to uphold their Dao, you should accept it, without blaming the heavens and others."

Lu Nanzhi nodded without speaking, she had long thought this through and made up her mind.

Wenn Miao took a deep breath, softening her tone slightly, "I still say this: hold onto your bottom line, keep your true heart, the Demon Dao is also a Dao. In ancient times, the three paths of Human, Demon, and Devil coexisted, with no distinctions of good or evil, all striving to seize heaven’s secrets and defy destiny, to live long."

"Ultimately, it was my own wavering due to Heavenly Interence Sect’s reasons that I didn’t take timely action to help you. Consider it a debt I owe you."

Lu Nanzhi shook her head; Wenn Miao didn’t let her speak, instead handed her a palm-sized jade sword.

"When you reach the middle to late stage of Core Formation, if your physique is strong enough, I can escort you across the Boundary River to the Upper Realm. There are three thousand worlds there, with many demon cultivators, it will be easier than here. Before then, you must fend for yourself."

Lu Nanzhi tightly held the object in her hand, her nose feeling sour, and immediately bowed deeply.

In fact, Fang Ruyan had already told her that she would wait for her to reach the late-stage Core Formation and then transform, taking her to the Upper Realm together then.

After a while, all was silent in front of her, Lu Nanzhi rose, and Wenn Miao had already left.

From that moment, a parting of a thousand miles from the clouded mountains, the world alone.

*

In the inconspicuous small courtyard, the night wind rolled by, and the wine pot on the stone table disappeared without a trace.

Fang Ruyan chuckled and said, "Sister Wenn is still willing to drink my wine, huh?"

Wenn Miao sat at the edge of the eaves, swinging the leg without a shoe, and said peevishly, "The wine hasn’t offended me. I stayed in this realm for my elder sister. This lousy place is too lacking in spiritual energy for me to mess around. Whenever I make a move, it costs me my essence."

"So, I always just mind that little plot of land of Heavenly Interence Sect, demon-slaying and upholding the way, I’m too lazy to bother with the rest! Speaking of which, are you planning to emulate the Witch Clan and build a female-dominated Fang Family?"

Fang Ruyan waved a finger at Wenn Miao, "No, I’m not that overbearing. Where there is oppression, there must be resistance. In the past, the likes of the Fang and Kong Families oppressed women, which led to my resistance."

"Baishui Domain doesn’t have the foundation of the Witch Clan, and cannot form a female-dominated concept in a short time. If I were to oppress men indiscriminately, it would inevitably bring about a more intense resistance."

"What I want is just a truly fair law. I abided by the clan rules of the Fang Family back then, competed with them, and ultimately lost to the injustice of the clan rules. I’ve thought a lot over the years, and I hope this world doesn’t differentiate between intimacy and estrangement, nobility and lowliness, doesn’t differentiate between gender and race, and judges everything by law."

Wenn Miao shook her head, "Wishful thinking! The Heavenly Interence Sect has been passed down for nearly a hundred thousand years, and even it cannot achieve fairness through law, are you not planning to transcend and go to the Upper Realm?"

Fang Ruyan said, "Whether it’s wishful thinking or not, I have to try to know. The concepts of the Fang Family have been formed over these generations, and only by uprooting them completely and starting anew with the new generation, instilling the law, is there a chance for fairness."

"So after you transform, you plan to cultivate the way of Dharma?" Wenn Miao asked.

Fang Ruyan lowered her eyes, "The Fang Family will be the first place for me to propagate the Dao."

"Don’t say I didn’t warn you, there is already a Tribulation Crossing Venerable of the Dharma in the Upper Realm. In the realm he governs, his thought becomes the law. If he decrees that walking must start with the right foot, then no one can start with the left. If your cultivation of this way has no effect, fine, but if it does, be careful not to have your Dao stolen by him, making a wedding dress for others instead."

Fang Ruyan rose and bowed gracefully, "Thank you for the warning, Sister Wenn. I’m not ready to explore further in the Earth Spiritual Realm just yet~ The matter of Dao stealing won’t occur until the Harmonization Stage, it’s still early, and by then, who knows who will steal whose Dao~"

Wenn Miao finished the wine in the pot in one gulp and casually tossed the pot back to Fang Ruyan.

"Take care of Lu Nanzhi. Don’t extend your hand into Heavenly Interence Sect, as for the rest, do as you please. The wine’s finished, I’m leaving."

Without waiting for Fang Ruyan to persuade her to stay, Wenn Miao had already drifted away with the wind.

Fang Ruyan retracted her gaze and glanced at Lu Nanzhi who had just returned from outside.

"If you have anything to deal with, do it quickly within these two days. Two days later, I will personally escort you across the Netherworld Sea. The Asura Domain is an inexhaustible place for the Corpse Ghost Evil Demon, which is the best place for your cultivation."

"Mm."

Lu Nanzhi nodded in agreement, looking towards the direction of Kongfang City. This trip to the Asura Domain meant she wouldn’t be able to return in a short time, and she still needed to write two letters, one to assure Little Bai of her safety, and one to apologize to her master Ling Guanghan.