Chapter 80

Upon hearing the voice, Qu Panyan abruptly turned around, revealing her deep crimson, blood-like eyes.

Su Lingyu’s steps paused, and a sense of alertness filled her heart.

For a moment, the blood-red eyes reminded her of The Heavenly Fire—the one who vowed that he would kill them, the one seeking tranquility by severing worldly entanglements.

However, it was just an instance, Qu Panyan’s blood-red eyes were swallowed by a deep black ink and returned to their usual dark and bright appearance. Yet, at this moment, her eyes were filled with panic.

She opened her mouth and called out, “Sister Lingyu…” Then, in a fluster, she ran towards Su Lingyu, urgently seeking solace as she threw herself into her embrace.

Her cultivation today had still been smooth. With the assistance of Heavenly Fire, breaking through her own limitations had become easier. In less than a day, she had already dispersed the thin mist shrouding the spiritual sea, allowing the Spirit Awareness Flower to fully bloom within her spiritual sea. Even though the flower bud had only slightly opened, she believed that in no time, it would welcome its full bloom and the tribulation of crossing into the God Realm.

However, accompanying her cultivation was not a relaxed and comfortable mood, but rather restlessness and irritability.

Her spiritual consciousness was clear, her mind free of distractions, and she had no inner heart demons. Yet, inexplicably, a ball of anger accumulated in her chest. The smoother her cultivation progressed and the closer she got to the God Realm, the more this anger would burn, as if it wanted to destroy all her rationality and let her unleash this fury recklessly—to let her go on a killing spree!

She felt that her current self… was truly terrifying.

Qu Panyan nestled more dependently into Su Lingyu’s embrace and trembled as she said, “Sister Lingyu, please help me.”

Su Lingyu could confirm that the person in her arms was not the Heavenly Fire but her beloved Yan’er. She hugged her back, witnessing her anxious and fearful appearance for the first time. Worried, she asked, “What’s wrong, Yan’er?”

Wrapped in the familiar fragrance, Qu Panyan’s restless and uneasy emotions gradually calmed. She looked up, her brows slightly furrowed, and her eyes reflected the moonlight with a white shimmer, looking quite pitiful. “I don’t know why, but I feel inexplicably restless, and I… I want to kill someone.”

Hearing this, Su Lingyu felt slightly surprised and unconsciously held her tighter. How could she become more irritable as she continued her cultivation? Could it be that she had developed inner heart demons?!

She then heard Qu Panyan weakly saying, “But when I saw Sister Lingyu just now, I didn’t feel that way anymore.”

When she saw Su Lingyu earlier, her irritable emotions seemed to be suppressed, as if she were afraid—afraid of being seen in such a dreadful state by someone she loved.

Su Lingyu gently stroked her dark hair and softened her tone. “Yan’er, don’t be afraid. Sister Lingyu will be by your side. Tell Sister Lingyu, do you think you have developed inner heart demons?”

Qu Panyan shook her head. “No, it just came suddenly, for no reason.”

If it were inner heart demons, at least there would be a cause and a remedy. 

What terrified her the most was the fact that she felt irritable and had the urge to kill without any apparent reason.

Su Lingyu continued asking again, “Did something happen during your cultivation?”

Qu Panyan still shook her head. “Cultivation has been smooth, and I’ll soon break through to the God Realm.”

Seeing the exchanged glances between Ba Tu and Wu Yi behind her, Su Lingyu understood. Wu Yi slowly spoke, “Please rest assured, Your Highness. This is normal. As long as you successfully pass the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation, your irritability and the desire to kill will dissipate.”

Ba Tu added at the right time, “All previous heirs have experienced the same state before facing their tribulation. Please don’t worry.”

Qu Panyan: “…”

Well, I am worried! I feel like killing someone here, and that’s pretty damn terrible!

Su Lingyu and Qu Panyan turned to look at the two guardians, and Qu Panyan asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Wu Yi explained, “In response to the Saintess, this reaction occurs because the Saintess nurtures the Heavenly Fire within your body. Heavenly Fire is a naturally born divine entity that should exist in the clouds and not be entangled with mortal dust. Now, it has to undergo two Heavenly Thunder Tribulations, the Entry Tribulation and the Breaking Tribulation, to transform into divine beings again. Naturally, the Heavenly Fire is feeling angry and discontent.”

Qu Panyan: “…”

This disobedient child not only caused a lot of troubles but also had a huge temper!

Qu Panyan raised a soulful question, “If that’s the case, why didn’t the Heavenly Fire just choose a celestial being as the Holy Child from the beginning?”

If it doesn’t like being mortal and dislikes going through tribulations, why not simply find a deity to merge with right from the start?

Ba Tu replied, “Gods cannot merge with other gods.”

Thousands of years ago, some gods developed malicious intentions. They sought to devour the spiritual power of other celestial beings to make themselves stronger, severely disrupting the balance in the heavens. The Three Primordial Gods thus established a curse: when gods attempt to merge with each other, their divine souls will dissipate. Those gods attempting to merge with others would forever fall into the unforgiving hell and never find liberation.

The Primordial Gods infused this curse into the gods’ bloodlines and commanded them to abide by it forever, thus maintaining the balance in the heavens. Heavenly Fire belongs to the category of divine entities, and it naturally adheres to this rule.

Qu Panyan understood; her current irritability was merely the inept roar of this unfilial child, the Heavenly Fire. Being a mother to it is really not easy, as she has to raise it and also bear the brunt of its tantrums.

Why should she endure this!

Just thinking about it makes her angry!

She quickly hugged Su Lingyu tightly and silently recited the Calming Mantra from her previous world: Don’t get angry; life is like a drama, getting angry only brings illness, and there’s no one to take care of you…

Wu Yi saw the momentary surge of blood-red in her eyes again and respectfully said, “Please bear with it a little longer.”

Su Lingyu also looked at her, not asking if she was angry, but gazing at her with gentle eyes full of love, and that look alone managed to dispel any lingering anger within her.

Qu Panyan sighed contentedly in her heart: Sect Master Su’s charm is indeed powerful; just her face alone could make people forget their anger.

She calmed down and asked again, “Do I have to finish the tribulations to feel better?”

Wu Yi nodded affirmatively.

After some contemplation, she turned to Su Lingyu and said, “Sister Lingyu, how about I accelerate my cultivation and strive to reach the next stage sooner?”

Su Lingyu silently assessed her for a moment and saw a trace of urgency in her eyes. She shook her head and said, “Not now; your current state of mind is unstable.”

Cultivation emphasizes patience and calmness, and Qu Panyan’s current temperament, which flares up at the slightest provocation, is not suitable for further cultivation. It could lead to backlashes and falling into demonic paths. Su Lingyu could only wait and see if Qu Panyan’s mind would calm down after this night.

Qu Panyan admitted that she was indeed in a hurry. She wanted to advance quickly, even though she was afraid of the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation.

She can endure the Heavenly Thunder Tribulation; and if worse comes to worst, Su Lingyu can assist her. However, with her current explosive temperament, she couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t harm or even kill someone.

Acknowledging her unsuitable mental state of cultivation, she had no choice but to heed Su Lingyu’s advice and wait until tomorrow.

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The next day, with the first light of dawn, as the thin morning mist dispersed, Qu Panyan and Su Lingyu had already arrived in the stone forest.

Just like the previous day, Su Lingyu set up the formation for her, but unlike yesterday, she didn’t leave this time. Instead, she stayed with Ba Tu and Wu Yi to watch over Qu Panyan’s cultivation.

Only she can suppress Qu Panyan’s anger, so she had no intention of leaving her side.

Today’s morning class was led by Kang Congshuang. The disciples sat on meditation cushions with crossed legs, meditating with clear minds and focused spirits, entering the vast sea of consciousness to seek, search, shape, and establish their identity in the vast and boundless Dao.

The surrounding was silent, and the disciples felt their bodies becoming as light as the wind, even their breathing unconsciously softened.

Suddenly, the heavens and earth trembled. Kang Congshuang abruptly opened her eyes and felt several scorching white waves passing through her body, igniting a burning and scalding pain on her skin.

The fire-attributed disciples in the courtyard instantly fell to the ground, wailing continuously, and various spiritual energies floated out from their bodies, all converging into the white waves and surging in all directions.

Kang Congshuang didn’t have time to think much; she swiftly got up and raised her hand to form a defensive formation, trying her best to resist this inexplicably strong white heat wave. She quickly instructed the wood-attributed disciples in the courtyard to intensify their efforts to infuse spiritual power into the fire-attributed disciples to help them recover. Other attribute disciples saw the situation and also hurriedly got up to form a formation with her to seek vitality for their fellow disciples.

While Kang Congshuang was puzzled about the source of this heat wave, the tiny dragon, Ling’er, who was usually hiding in her long sleeve, was also awakened by the wave of heat. She carefully poked her head out and looked up at the white waves continuously impacting the defensive barrier. Suddenly, she remembered the white Heavenly Fire she had seen the other day and said, “It’s the Ancestor of Fire.”

Kang Congshuang was momentarily stunned, and Ling’er turned her head to look at her, asking innocently, “Is she in trouble?”

As soon as she finished speaking, the white heat wave also stopped, and everything returned to its initial calm, as if nothing had happened.

Ling’er blinked her eyes in even greater bewilderment, “Is the Ancestor of Fire okay?”

Qu Panyan was far from okay; her blood-red pupils were filled with chilling murderous intent. Dust was flying around, and shattered stones littered the ground at her feet, accompanied by a pervasive coldness along with her favorite fragrance in the air.

Su Lingyu tightly embraced her, her expression solemn as she repeatedly shouted out, “Yan’er, calm down!”

Just a moment ago, Qu Panyan was peacefully cultivating, but for some unknown reason, she suddenly erupted in rage. Her spiritual energy surged, and one powerful heatwave after another radiated from her, shattering the defensive barrier she had set up. The intense aura swept in all directions, even causing Ba Tu and Wu Yi, the two guardians, to kneel on the ground, unable to withstand the force, pleading with Qu Panyan to calm down.

In the end, it was Su Lingyu who intervened and subdued her.

Su Lingyu furrowed deeply and said, “Yan’er, calm down.”

Sensing the gradually calming emotions of the person in her arms, Su Lingyu gently continued, “Good girl, Sister Lingyu is here. Don’t be afraid.”

Qu Panyan gripped her clothes tightly, burying her head in the crook of Su Lingyu’s neck. She slowly closed her blood-red eyes and then opened them again, now with inky-black pupils.

She softly called out, “Sister Lingyu…”

Su Lingyu responded with a gentle voice, “Hmm, I’m here.”

Qu Panyan took a deep breath and said with sadness and frustration, “I can’t progress any further; my cultivation is stuck…”

As if the heavens were playing a prank on her, they knew she urgently needed to advance, so they deliberately hindered her progress.

Why did the damned heavens choose this moment to obstruct her?!!

Let me through!!!

Her frustration grew, and her temper instantly exploded beyond control, venting outward uncontrollably, even affecting the people around her, and many others she was not aware of.

Su Lingyu comforted her, “Be good, Yan’er, cultivation won’t always be smooth sailing; it’s normal to encounter obstacles. Don’t worry.”

Qu Panyan lowered her gaze, her face showing displeasure. What angered her even more was another matter—

She looked up at Su Lingyu with a lingering fear in her eyes, her gaze flickering, and tears almost welling up, looking pitiful and helpless. “I just now…”

“I actually wanted to kill Sister Lingyu.”

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Translator: Glariosa
Editor: iToon

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