The Demon Sect, Sword Listening Pavilion!
This is the dwelling place of Ye Qinghong, the Godly Swordsman and favorite disciple of the Demon Lord.
The night is waning.
She dons a simple cyan martial outfit and has her hair tied back in a ponytail.
Sitting cross-legged amidst the bamboo grove in the courtyard.
The Qingying sword behind her is humming.
Exuding an aura mysterious beyond words.
At this moment, she is using the Glazed Sword Heart to hone her own Sword Dao.
Cultivation is divided into the realms of Third Rank, Second Rank, First Rank, Grandmaster, and Great Grandmaster.
A Grandmaster can project Gang Qi externally, while a Great Grandmaster has achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.
And now, she is at the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Top.
Moreover, she has reached the pinnacle of it.
Above her head, three petals are constantly revolving.
Each petal is cyan.
It is her favorite color.
Usually, she can maintain such a state for an entire night of cultivation.
But today, she feels somewhat restless.
Or rather, ever since she returned to the Demon Sect this time, this emotion has become increasingly intense.
This is unprecedented for her.
"What exactly is the problem?"
She murmurs, feeling that something is amiss.
The very next moment...
Hum, hum, hum!
An odd sensation ripples through her heart.
As if something is echoing within her body.
The Glazed Sword Heart was almost shattered.
She grunts, her face flushed red.
Her skin trembling slightly.
Immediately after, she feels a picture forming in her mind—etched directly into her brain.
Crystal clear, making it impossible for her to ignore.
The image is dim.
But it's not difficult to make out that this is a young lady's boudoir, with laundry poles holding various personal garments of women.
The styles are novel and bold—shocking to the eye, especially the sizes.
Much larger than any she was accustomed to seeing, startling indeed.
She can't help but be slightly amazed.
The room is tidy and cleverly arranged.
The wind chimes on the windowsill, the orchids in the corner.
And...
Her master, Shifu, in a black robe, embracing a woman!
Wait!
Shifu?!
Ye Qinghong's eyes snap open, surprise flickering across her cool demeanor.
Indeed, the person in the image is her Shifu!
The tall stature, the cold Evil Qi.
And that hint of a smile on his face.
All etched deeply into her memory.
Possibly never to be forgotten in this lifetime.
But why is she seeing her Shifu and this notorious villain, ruthless and cruel, in her mind?
What on earth is going on?
Is it an illusion or a Heart Demon?
If it's an illusion, why is it so vivid?
But if it is a Heart Demon,
Why...would it be like this?
She was born with a Glazed Sword Heart.
Her innermost being is untainted by even a speck of dust and is undisturbed by the mundane world.
Devoted to the sword in life, intoxicated by the sword.
If she truly had a Heart Demon, it should be related to the Sword Dao; carnal desires would be the last thing to trouble her.
And critically,
Although the Demon Lord is fabled to be fierce on the outside, few know that her Shifu has a psychological impediment that prevents him from engaging in worldly desires.
Otherwise, the five of them, his disciples, would have likely fallen victim to his predations long ago.
Her Heart Demon.
How could it manifest her Shifu, who is incapable of worldly desires, embracing a woman?
And this woman, she even knows her—having met once before—none other than Han Lingxuan, the number one beauty on Korea's Rouge List, the queen of the Prince of Zhen-Nan's mansion.
Who has been living in the Demon Sect's back courtyard these past three years!
Her Shifu had captured her but did not kill her outright as he had done before.
But for some reason she didn't know, she had let the other stay.
What happened?
Why did she have such a Heart Demon? Such a nightmare?
They say that a Heart Demon is the deepest obsession in one's heart.
Why was hers this?
Or was there... another deeper meaning?
Ye Qinghong's eyebrows were tightly knit together.
Ripples started to form in her cool, detached eyes.
She stared intently at the images in her mind, her face emotionless, like a pool of icy water.
Neither joyous at events nor sorrowful for herself, she merely watched in silence.
She wanted to see what exactly was going on.
Would there be further developments with this Heart Demon?
Then, she saw the Demon Lord and the Queen of the Southern Kingdom embraced, apparently joking and laughing together, their attitudes intimate.
They were getting closer and closer.
It seemed like they were doing some strange action.
Following that, the lights went out.
The two silhouettes merged into one.
Ye Qinghong merely watched silently, witnessing this absurd scene as her Lustrous Sword Heart automatically started to function.
She was a swordsman!
A born Swordsman!
If she were to be disturbed by something like this, wouldn't that be a huge joke?
Just like that, after a moment...
The buzzing Qingying Sword behind her dimmed.
This indicated that she had exited the Lustrous Sword Heart, and moreover, she had been forced out.
"Unexpectedly, it's normal for the Lustrous Sword Heart to occasionally fail,"
Ye Qinghong murmured.
With a flick of her finger,
the Qingying Sword began to tremble.
It didn't take long before,
the Qingying Sword dimmed once more.
"It doesn't matter, it's not good to fail once or twice, but not thrice. This time, there will definitely be no more mistakes."
This time, the Lustrous Sword Heart lasted only two or three breaths before it shut down again.
"..."
Ye Qinghong made no sound, biting her lip.
Stubbornly initiating the Lustrous Sword Heart.
In that manner, igniting, extinguishing, igniting, extinguishing...
It was repetitive and endless.
And what was most critical was that with each ignition, the time was getting shorter and shorter.
Until finally...
No matter how much she tried to activate the Lustrous Sword Heart, the sword heart would not operate anymore, which proved her mind was in chaos.
So chaotic that she couldn't maintain a calm demeanor.
Like a lake.
Even if the lake is ever so quiet, just a single pebble thrown into it can stir up layers of ripples.
Not easy to calm those ripples.
"My cultivation is still not sufficient,"
Ye Qinghong let out a sigh.
Without the aid of the Lustrous Sword Heart, she could no longer maintain that scrutinizing stance.
As the images in her mind became more intense and preposterous,
she clenched her fists tightly, her cool eyes as though glossed by a layer of mist, full of condensation, chaos.
Even her breathing turned ragged.
She grunted softly, drew her sword, and stood up.
Under the veil of night, she began to practice sword techniques.
Swooping like a startled swan, gliding like a meandering dragon.
Leaves in the bamboo forest danced in the air,
yet her swordsmanship started to become chaotic,
emanating bursts of killing intent.
Irrepressible, inescapable, no matter how she tried to divert her attention,
those images were engraved in her mind, impossible to cast away.
The most crucial thing was, the people in those images were too persistent.
They didn't stop for even a moment.
Even for her, breathing became more and more disordered, her gaze more and more blurred.
In the end, she didn't even have the capacity to wield a sword anymore.
Not until the break of dawn.
Only then did that ludicrous scene gradually shatter.
And without any hesitation, she flew directly to the hot springs in the back mountain.