Yunxi sat in the main seat, her fingers lightly brushing the runes on her sleeve that suppressed her cultivation. Her expression was calm as she spoke:
"Wei Yunqing, has this Lord been too lenient with you? You actually have the gall to come flaunting your strength in the Wei family. Wei Lingyue is this Lord's father, isn't he also yours? What I choose to do is none of your concern."
Wei Yunqing was crushed under the suppression, unable to move. She wanted to resist, but no matter how she circulated her techniques, she could not break through the restraint. In the end, she could only lift her head slightly, staring resentfully at the woman seated above.
She had spent twenty years stabilizing her cultivation, finally securing herself in the early Divine Transformation stage. Yet the woman before her still looked as youthful as ever, the only difference being the immense pressure she exuded and the disdain in her eyes, as though she were beneath notice.
"Wei Yunxi, I am your elder sister. You can't treat me like this."
She forced the words through gritted teeth.
Yunxi's lips curved in a faint smile. "And what makes you worthy to call yourself my sister? You're nothing more than proof of Wei Lingyue's betrayal of my mother. When he was alive, this Lord kept silent to preserve what little dignity he had left. Do you know why he never managed to break through the Golden Core stage?"
Wei Yunqing's heart lurched. She blurted out instinctively, "It was you! You harmed—"
Before she could finish, Yunxi cut her off sharply.
"This Lord cherishes her own reputation. I would never commit such a foolish act as killing my father. Even with the Golden Core pill I gave him, he failed to advance because he was plagued by heart demons. After all, it was his actions that killed my mother.
The laughable thing is, his motives weren't because of Du Ruolan, nor even because of you. It was his pride that drove him.
In the Wei family, though he was the eldest, his conduct and contributions to the clan fell short of Second Uncle, and his cultivation talent was no match for Third Uncle. The only path he saw was to secure an advantageous marriage to strengthen the family's standing in Kunyu City.
But after the marriage, he felt like a discarded pawn. His heart grew restless, and his cultivation stagnated. To rid himself of his heart demons, he reached for my mother.
He did succeed. He even got his wish and made Du Ruolan his official Dao partner. He openly favored you, suppressing me at every turn. But what was the result? I was the one who outshone him all, entering Haoran Sect as a personal disciple of a Divine Transformation Zūnzhě despite my three-spirit-root aptitude, leaving you far behind.
And you? The favored daughter. What have you achieved? Your cultivation lags behind mine, your master—whom you bartered for—fell to the path of a evil cultivator. Even if you reached Divine Transformation, Haoran Sect would never value you.
Do you think Wei Lingyue could ever rid himself of his heart demons after witnessing that stark contrast? He was consumed by them. That is all."
Wei Yunqing bit her lip hard. She had no rebuttal. Every word Yunxi spoke was truth.
Yunxi smiled faintly and continued. "Wei Yunqing, you are already following Wei Lingyue's footsteps. Haven't you realized it yet?"
Wei Yunqing's head jerked up. She glared at the woman in the seat above, instinctively denying, "I am not!"
"You are."
"I'm not!"
A soft, mocking laugh escaped Yunxi. "Isn't your heart demon me? You will never surpass this Lord. You will never stand at the summit of Weiyu Realm."
Her cold voice reverberated in Wei Yunqing's ears, striking at the truth she most dreaded to admit.
Taking advantage of Wei Yunqing's moment of distraction, Yunxi flicked her sleeve, sweeping her out of the Wei family estate.
When Wei Yunqing came back to her senses, she found herself in an unfamiliar mountain range. Once she figured out where she was, her teeth clenched audibly in frustration, but there was nothing she could do but seethe.
Yunxi had sent her to the Qinghua Mountain Range in the Southern Region, the very place where the Shanhe Scroll had vanished without a trace. Yunxi intended to use her as bait, hoping to lure out the demon cultivators hiding in the shadows.
After the righteous-evil war in the Central Region concluded, power across the realm had been reshuffled. Some sects and families fell, while new powers rose, but there was no trace of the demon cultivators.
Perhaps because of the presence of Yunxi and her three allies, the surviving evil cultivators had tucked their tails and hidden, causing no further trouble. The entire Weiyu Realm had fallen into an eerie calm, as if the Central Region war had been nothing more than a misunderstanding.
But Yunxi and her companions knew the truth. The evil cultivators were waiting, biding their time until the four of them ascended. Once they left this realm, the evil cultivators would be free of restraint, and that would be their time to strike.
Yunxi had no intention of letting their plans succeed. The war had only just ended, and the realm needed time to recover. She also needed time to refine the soul lightning in her divine soul, so she had stayed in the sect, outwardly inactive.
But inactivity did not mean ignorance. The Hive regularly delivered the latest intelligence to her hands.
Xiao He, who had infiltrated the evil cultivators' ranks, had risen to a respectable position. His reports confirmed that the evil cultivators were lying low, waiting for the opportune moment.
As for what that moment was, even Xiao He did not know. He only relayed the orders he received.
Yunxi had told him to focus on any information regarding the Shanhe Scroll, and Xiao He sent back an unexpected message: the scroll had indeed been retrieved by a Divine Transformation evil cultivator, but Long Ya, who was supposed to be sealed within it, had gone missing.
Yunxi's first thought was that Long Ya had broken free from the scroll and escaped. But since even the demon cultivators couldn't find him, they had no advantage for now. Without a guide to the location of the Evil God's sealed body, all they could do was bide their time.
Of course, they would search for Long Ya in secret, all while evading the righteous cultivators' pursuit. Their lives would not be easy, and this gave the righteous faction time to recover.
Thus, a fragile balance had been maintained. But Wei Yunqing had emerged from seclusion, and her Divine Transformation tribulation had been tainted by a false Heavenly Dao. That alone could tip the scales. So when Yunxi received the warning from Little Flying Mist Butterfly, she shadowed Wei Yunqing and struck decisively the moment she tried to oppress others with her cultivation.
This time, she had sent Fei Xia, now a fourth-rank beast, along with Wei Yunqing to the Qinghua Mountain Range. Fei Xia would watch her every move, leaving her no chance to cause chaos.
Back in the Wei family estate, after Wei Yunqing was unceremoniously expelled, Wei Lingtao rose and cupped his hands respectfully.
"Ran Xi Zūnzhě, we appreciate your efforts."
As the Wei family head, he was deeply troubled. The clan's two most talented juniors were both his elder brother's daughters, yet the two were at odds. If they had been united, the Wei family would have flourished even more.
Yunxi let out a quiet sigh. "Patriarch, do you resent this Lord for letting your brother die, for standing by and watching him fall?"
Wei Lingtao was at a loss for words. If blame were to be placed, it would fall on Wei Lingyue himself. He had perished under his own heart demons; no one else was at fault.
"Ran Xi, there was your mother's life between you and your father. Doing nothing was already an act of mercy toward him."
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The term "本尊" (běn zūn) is a first-person pronoun, but it is far more specific and loaded with meaning than a simple "I" or "me."
本 (běn): Literally means "origin," "root," or "this." Here, it signifies "this one" or "the one who is speaking."
尊 (zūn): Means "venerable," "honorable," "respected."
Together, 本尊 translates to something like "This Venerable One." It is a majestic, arrogant, and supremely self-important way for a very powerful individual to refer to themselves.
However, for the sake of consistency within this translation and to avoid any potential misconception with the title 尊者 (Zūnzhě), the term 本尊 will be rendered as "This Lord."
This choice serves two purposes:
It uses the same root word for both 尊 in 本尊 and in the title 尊者, creating a clear and coherent system of honorifics for the reader.
It prevents you from potentially confusing "This Venerable One" as in 本尊 (Běnzūn) with the title "Venerable One" as in 尊者 (Zūnzhě), which, while related, are used differently (one is a self-reference, the other is a form of address).