The situation with Si Wanning quickly drew the attention of others on Heavenly Sword Peak.
Lin Ya was the second to arrive, followed soon after by Yue Zhao and Yu Songnian. Before long, everyone had gathered outside Si Wanning's door.
Lin Ya's expression was grave. Based on what he could tell, he deduced, "Wanning has most likely encountered a Heart Demon."
Everyone fell silent.
The Heart Demon was, apart from the Heavenly Tribulation during the Tribulation Crossing Stage, the most terrifying ordeal on the path of cultivation. One that made every cultivator tremble at the mere mention of it.
Usually, the more unstable one's convictions, the easier it was for the Heart Demon to emerge. The Heart Demon often manifested the scenes that a cultivator feared most. The moment a cultivator relaxed their vigilance, the Heart Demon would invade their soul. If they couldn't overcome it in time, at best, they would lose their cultivation; at worst, they would fall into the demonic path, or their soul would scatter entirely.
And the most dreadful part is this ordeal could only be overcome through one's own willpower. No one else, no matter how anxious, could help.
"Second Junior Sister's soul realm isn't low, nor is she the type to waver in her heart. She hasn't experienced any great setbacks recently, so how could a Heart Demon suddenly appear?" Yue Zhao clenched his jaw.
Lin Ya furrowed his brow deeply, "The emergence of a Heart Demon has no fixed pattern. Sometimes, it's simply fate."
Lin Ya thought of the time, a hundred years ago, when he had faced his own Heart Demon.
At the time.
If it wasn't for his relatively firm willpower, he would've long since perished with his soul dispersed.
Si Wanning's current ordeal…
Was no less perilous.
Yun Jin knew that Si Wanning's current state was due to soul fusion, and wasn't because of a Heart Demon that everyone else had assumed.
But she didn't say it aloud. Regardless of the cause, this tribulation could only be faced by Si Wanning herself.
After exchanging a few brief words, the group fell into silence again. None of them had the heart to talk any further. All they could do was wait, brows furrowed and hearts heavy.
The air grew tense.
Inside the room.
Si Wanning was experiencing the greatest nightmare of her life.
She had a dream.
A dream filled with strange, shifting colors, yet unbearably real.
In the dream.
Little Junior Sister never appeared. Eldest Senior Brother wasn't the person he was now.
Master had also never regained his cultivation.
After Master was severely injured, the three of them hid on Heavenly Sword Peak, barely daring to step outside.
Eldest Senior Brother was timid. The constant fear and tension made him so anxious that he eventually lost control of his cultivation altogether.
Third Junior Brother was still quiet and withdrawn, but his expression carried far more heaviness.
She tried her best to act indifferent, but in truth, she spent countless nights sitting awake, dazed and sleepless.
No matter how afraid they were, the Grand Sect Tournament eventually came.
Before the conference, Master had wanted to use a forbidden technique to forcibly increase his strength. But after so many years of overexertion for their sake, even if he wanted to use the forbidden technique now, it's impossible. In the end, he could only face Luo Yi with his strength at Soul Transformation Stage, and the result was obvious. Master was defeated. The position of Heavenly Sword Peak's Peak Master was handed over to Luo Yi.
The three of them failed to achieve any decent ranking in the disciple competition. That year, Heavenly Sword Peak ranked dead last. They were total failures at every angle.
Afterward, the three of them, along with their Master, were expelled from Heavenly Sword Peak and assigned to live on a small mountain.
They had also wanted to leave.
But Zhao Wuji's men watched them closely, not allowing them to step beyond the sect's borders.
The three Supreme Elders wanted to intervene, but Zhao Wuji brought in Li Heng, who sealed the three Elders inside their caves, preventing them from leaving.
Eldest Senior Brother, tormented by fear day and night, eventually died from a spiritual energy backlash.
Later, in order to protect Si Wanning and Third Junior Brother, Master kneeled before Zhao Wuji and kowtowed, surrendering all his possessions and declaring that he's already a cripple.
Zhao Wuji laughed heartily and said in a slow, mocking tone, "Where has that proud Lin Ya gone? Lin Ya, live like the dog you are for the rest of your days."
Perhaps out of disdain, Zhao Wuji didn't kill them. Instead, he gave a strict order forbidding them from leaving the sect. He wanted to watch as Lin Ya and his disciples rotted away in fear and despair.
In the dream.
Master looked far older than in reality. His hair had turned white, and he clutched Si Wanning and Third Junior Brother's hands tightly, his face filled with helplessness and despair. Though it was only a dream, Si Wanning could actually feel everything.
After that, she and Third Junior Brother tried to keep a low profile, not drawing anyone's attention.
But one day.
She accidentally saw Ye Danxia with a strange man.
That man wore black robes, his smile devilishly charming, but he treated Ye Danxia with the utmost gentleness.
The two of them stood close together under the moonlight, whispering affectionately.
Si Wanning didn't dare move for fear of being discovered, holding her breath and suppressing her aura entirely.
Yet!
She overheard something that shocked her to the core.
That night, Ye Danxia said, "How's your cultivation's recovery?"
The man replied, "Only twenty percent restored."
Ye Danxia's voice was soft and sweet, "Don't worry. Once I gather more elixirs and pills, I'll definitely help you recover as soon as possible."
Up to that point, Si Wanning only thought Ye Danxia was secretly meeting her lover.
But what they said next made her blood run cold.
"When I recover, I'll return to unify the Demon Realm. You will be my Demon Lord's Consort." The man's tone was commanding.
Si Wanning's pupils contracted violently.
Demon Lord?
Demon Lord's Consort?
The man before her, was a demon?
Shocked, she accidentally revealed her presence.
The man's eyes immediately turned cold and sharp, fixing on her instantly.
She dared not stay any longer. She fled in panic.
Since this was within the sect, the Demon Lord hesitated to act recklessly and did not pursue.
But soon after, he confirmed her identity that night through other means.
Ye Danxia then began to torment and frame her through countless tricks. During that time, Si Wanning also realized that the Demon Lord was none other than the child who followed Ye Danxia everywhere.
Unable to bear Ye Danxia's harassment any longer, she finally exposed the boy's true identity in front of everyone.
As a result.
No one believed her.
Zhao Wuji led the accusation, declaring that she was slandering a sect disciple and must be punished.
She was imprisoned, and one day, she quietly died from a cup of poisoned wine.
She never knew who had prepared that cup.
But by then, she had already been tortured to the point of not wanting to live.
She drank it without hesitation, ending her life.
The dream was so real that she could completely feel the pain and suffering of the Si Wanning in the dream, as though she had actually experienced this kind of life.
Si Wanning's forehead was covered in sweat, she could no longer tell whether this was a dream or reality.
Could it be.
That the dream was reality instead?
Could it be that Little Junior Sister was only a dream?
If not for Little Junior Sister, everything in the dream would've been the original outcome, right?
So, was Little Junior Sister merely something she had imagined?
The dream began replaying from the start.
Si Wanning was trapped within, enduring the torment again and again. She wanted to break free, but couldn't.
Just as despair consumed her.
In her memory, she suddenly noticed a figure she hadn't before.
That day, she had gone to visit Master and saw a woman giving him a jug of wine.
Master accepted it with a smile, and the woman turned to leave.
Si Wanning hadn't seen her face, only a vague, hidden profile.
But at this moment.
A powerful intuition struck her.
In the dream, Si Wanning ran after the woman.
And then.
She saw her clearly.
It was her Little Junior Sister.
It was Yun Jin.
Xiao Jin… Xiao Jin was in the dream too.
The dream had a fixed trajectory. Seeing Yun Jin's face was already a massive change, but she couldn't alter anything else.
She still went through the same cycles of torment, again and again.
Yet somehow.
Just knowing Yun Jin was there.
Suddenly gave Si Wanning endless courage.
Little Junior Sister wasn't an illusion. Little Junior Sister actually existed.
But unlike the Little Junior Sister in the dream, she had chosen a new path.
If Little Junior Sister could do it.
Then why couldn't she!