Chapter 46 The Fate of the Dead Body

Mu Feng changed the subject, his tone carrying a semblance of concern. "Besides, your realm is advancing far too rapidly. It is indeed time to properly consolidate your foundation, lest you remain unstable and suffer from grave consequences in the future."

Qing Lan felt a deep sense of familial warmth and care, a warm current surging through her heart. She nodded in agreement.

At the dining table, candles flickered gently, casting a soft yet incomplete glow. While their radiance was enough to illuminate most of the space, it also left certain corners veiled in shadow.

A thick cylindrical pillar cast a long, lingering shadow, and Mu Chenxue sat quietly in that gloom, her face half-shrouded in darkness.

It seemed as though an invisible wall separated her from the laughter and warmth of the three people before her, isolating her entirely. Everything touched by the radiance felt out of place and utterly unrelated to her. Though they sat at the same table, they belonged to two different worlds.

She felt a suffocating trace of warmth.

Head of the family Mu Yu noticed her emotional state, walked over, and ladled a bowl of soup for her.

Abruptly, she stood up, violently knocking the bowl aside. The soup splattered in all directions before the vessel shattered on the floor, and she bolted away.

The family head's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

Mu Feng’s look was also less than pleasant, yet he managed a forced smile and said, "Pay her no mind. Your sister has been in a foul mood these past two days."

Looking at her younger sister with lingering worry, Qing Lan nodded in a daze.

......

Two months later, Qing Lan returned to the Mu residence once again after completing a mission. Her steps were exceptionally heavy; this operation had proven rather tricky for her.

The night bears guarding the moon-crested grass possessed thick hides and astonishing defensive capabilities. Several disciples from the martial hall had joined forces with Mu Feng, locked in a protracted stalemate. Instead of making headway, their numbers suffered continuous injuries. As the team’s healer, she had expended far too much spiritual energy today trying to keep everyone alive.

At this moment, her head spun as she dragged her exhausted body back, failing to notice the shadow lurking beneath the eaves.

The very instant she crossed the threshold, that shadow lunged forward. Mu Chenxue shoved Qing Lan fiercely to the ground, beating her with desperate fury while hurling curses: "Mu Qing澜! Why do you have spiritual energy when I have none?!"

"Why must you snatch everything that is mine?!"

"Why won't you just drop dead?!"

Physically and mentally drained, Qing Lan was met with this sudden assault and felt a surge of irritation. Without thinking, she gave a forceful sweep of her arm. Mu Chenxue staggered backward, landing heavily on the ground, her hands grazing against the floor and sustaining shallow scratches.

"Qing Lan! What do you think you are doing?!"

Drawn by the commotion, family head Mu Yu rushed over. His expression was as gloomy as a gathering storm, and he looked at Mu Chenxue's hands with a pang of heartache.

At a loss for a moment, Qing Lan stammered, "Father, I..."

Mu Yu interrupted her sternly, "Do not call me father! Xue'er is merely a mortal, how could you bear to hurt her!"

"As expected, all the kindness you usually showed her was just a facade, an act put on for us to see!"

Veins bulged on Mu Yu's forehead. Though his words trailed off, they laid bare a profound disappointment and condemnation. An indescribable heaviness and oppression hung thick in the air.

With a tearful choke, Mu Chenxue murmured, "Father, it hurts..."

Without waiting for Qing Lan to utter another word, Mu Yu scooped her up and left.

......

For several days, Qing Lan lived in lingering anxiety, filled with remorse and self-blame for shoving her sister. She yearned to apologize to her sister and desperately sought her father's forgiveness.

Yet during this period, she once again sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough. A seventeen-year-old girl on the verge of stepping into the Perception Realm—what did that signify?

Brimming with joy, she made her way to the martial hall. Noticing her upbeat demeanor, Mu Feng asked with a smile, "Ah, it's Qing Lan. Seeing you so cheerful, is there some good news to share?"

"Second Uncle, I have sensed the opportunity to break through to the Perception Realm!"

"I am confident that within a month, I shall become a second-tier cultivator."

Qing Lan eagerly shared her elation, failing to notice that the smile on Mu Feng's face froze for a fraction of a second before he hurriedly pieced together another warm, albeit strained, expression to echo her delight.

After sending Qing Lan off, watching the girl's retreating back, Mu Feng's expression instantly turned glacial.

Standing invisibly to the side, the phantom of Qing Lan missed none of the changes in Mu Feng's gaze. A heavy blockage gripped her chest, and she let out a soft sigh. She knew that the moment had finally arrived.

......

Dusk descended, and rain began to pelt down. A heavy downpour was a rare sight in the Eastern Domain; the last one that left a deep impression had been a thunderstorm originating from the depths of Ming Mountain a century ago, a night of deafening thunderclaps that struck the demons of Ming Mountain into complete silence.

Tonight, another torrential downpour arrived in full force. The foliage of trees and plants near the Mu estate stretched out their emerald leaves, greedily drinking in every precious drop of rainwater.

It was also on this thunderous, rainy night that Qing Lan attempted her breakthrough into the Perception Realm.

The door to her chamber was tightly shut. With her eyes closed, beads of fine sweat beaded on her forehead. She sat in motionless meditation upon a rug, the spiritual root at her Dantian growing faintly warm. Pure spiritual energy coursed outward; as long as that spiritual energy could traverse all the meridians of her body, return to the spiritual root, and complete this minor circulation, she would successfully advance into the Perception Realm.

Throughout this circulation of spiritual energy, Qing Lan's bones, sinews, and flesh underwent a silent metamorphosis. This was the reinforcement and cleansing of her physical body, a necessary preparation to accommodate more of the world's spiritual essence.

At a certain moment, Qing Lan snapped her eyes open. Her gaze was sharp and brimming with spirituality, dancing with a dazzling spiritual light. She was on the immediate verge of a successful breakthrough.

"Bang!"

At that exact moment, the tightly sealed door was violently shoved open. The figures of Mu Feng and Mu Yu materialized instantly. Mu Yu cast a cold glance at this daughter of his, then curled his left hand into a fist. A spiritual torrent far more powerful, boundless, and vastly surpassing Qing Lan's erupted abruptly.

This formidable spiritual pressure weighed down like a million jun, crashing directly onto Qing Lan alone, pressing against her physical form with tangible severity.

Instantly, panic flooded Qing Lan. The spiritual energy within her bolted about like startled wild horses, throwing the flow of spiritual breath into absolute chaos. She stared at her father in sheer disbelief, before her pale face turned ashen, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

For the circulation of spiritual energy to be forcibly severed like this was nothing short of a catastrophic blow to Qing Lan. Her meridians felt as though they were being slashed by countless sword beams, shattering inch by inch, reducing the interior of her body to a ruined wasteland in an instant.

She collapsed to the ground, losing consciousness. Beside her, Mu Feng stepped forward slowly. Expressionless, malice laced his words: "I told you long ago not to force a breakthrough, but you stubbornly refused to listen."

With those words, he picked up the unconscious Qing Lan and carried her out of the room.

Trailing behind Mu Feng and Mu Yu was a petite figure—Mu Chenxue wore a radiant smile as she gazed upon the unconscious Qing Lan, her face brimming with vindictive delight.

The four of them arrived at a gloomy, narrow stone chamber. The interior was dim, and another figure awaited them.

In the center of the stone room stood two crude stone beds. An elderly man wrapped entirely in black robes, his face covered in deep ravines and wrinkles, stood nearby, surrounded by instruments gleaming with a chilling, ominous light.

Qing Lan was unceremoniously dumped onto one of the stone beds. On the opposite stone bed, positioned inversely, lay Mu Chenxue. Her expression was serene, devoid of the slightest trace of tension.

Family head Mu Yu had originally intended to offer some comforting words to Mu Chenxue, but seeing her composure, he clamped his mouth shut.

The black-robed elder ordered both men to leave, his attitude exceptionally abrasive.

When had Mu Feng ever been treated with such insolence? His complexion darkened considerably.

Yet Mu Yu maintained an impassive expression, respectfully leading him away.

The old man first glanced at the unconscious Qing Lan, retrieved a vial of purplish-black medicinal liquid, and poured it over Qing Lan's lower abdomen. The liquid seemed sentient, trickling across her abdomen until it coated her entire body within the blink of an eye. Qing Lan's physical form seemed to freeze, gleaming with an eerie luster as she lost all ability to move.

Turning his gaze to the other side, where Mu Chenxue showed not a flicker of panic, the old man found it rather amusing. "To possess such a disposition despite being born a humble mortal."

With a playful, enigmatic expression, the old man remarked meaningfully, "You aren't even frightened. Not bad. Perhaps you are qualified to become that person's disciple."