“You sure are confident.”

Shui Die Lan gave him a quick once-over, then blinked in surprise. “You’ve been looking quite good lately. Better than I expected. Have you taken some kind of miracle drug again or something?”

Li Xun gave a wry smile. “Wasn’t one pill enough already?” Still, her reaction told him that his change in mindset really had made him different from before.

But he had no intention of letting Shui Die Lan steer the conversation away, not now. What really caught his attention was the hint buried in something else she’d just said.

So he chimed in casually, “It’s not that everyone knows, it’s just that I happen to know a bit more than most. But that hardly counts as leverage, does it? You can’t really expect Jade Wanderer to admit he’s been involved with Tianzhi. Even if he did, nobody would… uh, did I say something wrong?”

Seeing the surprise, and that blend of amusement and disbelief on Shui Die Lan’s face again, Li Xun realized he might have misread the situation.

But judging from Mistress Tianzhi’s reaction, it clearly had something to do with Jade Wanderer… didn’t it?

From everything Li Xun had seen, anything connected to Jade Wanderer had that same shady reputation.

“You’re saying Tianzhi and Jade Wanderer are… involved?”

Shui Die Lan let out a couple of muffled chuckles, but soon burst out laughing, just like Tianzhi had earlier. “Heavens, what on earth goes on in that head of yours? Involved? Even if Jade Wanderer wanted to, Tianzhi would never let him get away with it!”

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“Because…” Shui Die Lan finally managed to stop laughing and looked at him. “Not unless she wants to lose centuries of cultivation in a single night.”

That was no small claim.

Li Xun’s expression grew serious, and his voice dropped without him realizing it. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you think Tianzhi’s rate of progress in cultivation is… a little off?”

“Rate of progress?”

In that instant, every bit of information Li Xun had ever gathered about Mistress Tianzhi flashed through his mind.

“Problem? Seems perfectly normal to me. They say she reached the Realm of True Person about two hundred years ago, after cultivating for roughly four centuries…”

He did some quick math in his head. Setting himself aside, an exception among exceptions, the average cultivator in this world needed around seven hundred years to reach the True Person stage. Those with exceptional talent could cut that time in half, or even more.

The best example was Zhong Yin back in the day. He hadn’t cultivated for even two hundred years before he beat Jade Wanderer so badly the man was sent flying, coughing blood. And if Zhong Yin was too much of an “exception,” there was always Ming Ji to consider.

“The Lingxi Art is already incredibly difficult to master, yet Mingji reached theTrue Person realm in less than four hundred years…”

“Don’t use the standards of the Mingxin Sword Sect to judge the Nightless City,” Shui Die Lan said. “Remember, the Lingxi Art comes from the orthodox Xuan Sect; it emphasizes the path of subtle uniqueness. But the Nightless City’s Aurora Thousand Transformations technique is completely different. A thousand transformations means endless variation, cycles of creation and destruction refined to the subtlest detail. Naturally, its cultivation process is far more complicated.”

Shui Die Lan, showing the wisdom of her demonic lineage, spoke confidently and at length.

“In the early stages, that path demands more effort and mental strength than almost any other technique in existence. It’s common for disciples to spend over a hundred years without even opening their first spiritual aperture. You could ask any cultivator from the Nightless City how long it took them to get started, and then compare that to how long it took Tianzhi.”

Li Xun thought for a moment. “Tianzhi must’ve progressed faster than the others…”

“Wrong. There was no difference at all,” Shui Die Lan said, wagging a finger. “For the first two hundred years of her cultivation, Tianzhi didn’t show any sign of surpassing her peers. But in the following two centuries, her progress shot up to more than three times the normal rate. Now why do you think that is?”

Li Xun unconsciously held his breath.

Shui Die Lan didn’t disappoint him. With a half-smile, she revealed her trump card. “While Tianzhi was cultivating her sect’s main technique, she was also refining her inner demon.”

“Inner demon?” Li Xun paused. “Which kind?”

“Which kind do you think?” Shui Die Lan gave him a sidelong look. “Tempering obsession into a blade’s edge, binding the seven emotions into a solid hilt... only then can you wield the Heaven-breaking Edge. You’ve practiced the Blood God Child, haven’t you? Don’t tell me you don’t even know this most basic principle.”

Li Xun’s throat went dry, and for a moment he couldn’t get a word out. How could he not know?

A “heart demon” is nothing more than an obsession. Generally speaking, when a person’s heart demon flares up, it’s a sign they’re about to lose control. A dangerous omen for anyone cultivating the Dao. It brings no benefit whatsoever, whether one walks a righteous or demonic path. Everyone must suppress or dispel their heart demons; the only difference lies in how they do it.

Yet in the Tongxuan Realm, there are certain cultivation methods that deliberately sharpen the heart demon as a way to grow stronger, forcing cultivators to advance through torment and inner chaos.

The progress they make is astonishing, but since their path is rooted in the heart demon itself, it’s like walking a tightrope in the sky. One misstep, and there’s no coming back. There is never a road to return on.

The Blood God Child is a perfect example of such a practice.

Before this, Li Xun’s training in the “Unmoving Evil Heart” focused only on the physical body and didn’t yet involve the cultivation of heart demons. But before him, there were two clear examples.

One was Blood Wanderer , who, in the middle stages of his cultivation, fell under his heart demon’s influence and became bloodthirsty and battle-hungry — the most fearsome killer under heaven.

The other was his first master, Lin Ge.

Over the years, Li Xun’s insight had deepened, and many things that once puzzled him now made sense.

Back then, when Lin Ge said, “No path to the heavens, no door to the earth,” it had sounded like he’d reached a dead end. But in truth, he was cultivating a method of advancing through his heart demon.

Only by doing that could he gain, in the shortest possible time, the power to rival the Demon Phoenix.

Still, Lin Ge never truly grasped the subtleties of cultivating through one’s heart demon. He reached only halfway before his progress stalled, and in the end, he died miserably at the hands of the Demon Phoenix.

Even so, for a second-generation disciple, managing to wound her at all was already something to take pride in.

Just then, he heard Shui Die Lan’s voice drifting softly to his ears:

“She was quite something herself. Back then she was just a newcomer, barely worth mentioning. I’ve no idea how she managed to catch Jade Wanderer’s attention, but she resisted all his advances with everything she had. She used her own cultivation, her reputation, even the risks to her future, to temper her heart demon. And somehow, she actually succeeded. Of all the ruthless people I’ve seen over the years, she’s definitely one of them.”

Li Xun immediately thought of what Tianzhi had once told him about the “Sightseeing in Yemo Heaven,” but he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

“A heart demon cultivation method? That path was hardly orthodox. She was a disciple of a prestigious sect, blessed with talent and a smooth journey in her cultivation. How could someone like her harbor such a deep obsession? What could she possibly be obsessed with?”

“Who knows?”

Shui Die Lan clearly didn’t know the full story either. She brushed past the question, then chuckled. “Still, it’s rare to see him became a whetstone for once. The look on Gu Zhixuan’s face was priceless!”

“A whetstone?”

“That’s what he called himself!”

Shui Die Lan grinned. “Back during the Gathering of Lotus on the Northern Sea, I thought my trip had been a waste. Then I happened to see Tianzhi talking with Gu Zhixuan across the water. I got curious and listened in for a bit. That’s when I heard him say it... I’ve spent my life tempering my mind through all living beings… yet I never thought the day would come when I would become someone else’s whetstone.”

Li Xun murmured the words to himself. At first, he found them a little funny. But the more he thought about them, the colder he felt inside, the chill deepening with each passing moment.

Especially when he pictured those two smiling and chatting casually, yet saying things like that... That's when it really hit him; the gap between him and those top-tier players. And it started with their mindset.

“But... Jade Wanderer is really willing to be just a whetstone for someone else?”

“Of course not! If you ask me, Gu Zhixuan’s probably itching inside too. But he’s proud. Too proud. Tianzhi came at him all open and straightforward, and he’d never stoop to forcing her. Instead, he’d do everything he could to frustrate her spirit, to let her own inner demon turn against her. Ironically, that’s exactly what Tianzhi wanted.”

Shui Die Lan was one of the greatest masters alive, same as Jade Wanderer. Her read on the situation was likely the closest to the truth, so Li Xun decided to take her word for it.

Still, he wanted more details. “What about the timing? When did this happen?”

“About two hundred years ago, give or take. Tianzhi had just stepped into the True Person realm when Gu Zhixuan caught on to her plans. Ha ha, that was quite the scene. You don’t often see Gu Zhixuan looking that torn between laughing and crying. Tianzhi really was something else.”

“And then?”

“And then? Of course they found me!”

Shui Die Lan showed not the slightest hint of embarrassment. “If Gu Zhixuan actually cared about it, that might’ve been trouble. But unfortunately for them, he didn’t. Even if Tianzhi did care, there wasn’t a thing she could do to me. So naturally, I ended up holding this little piece of leverage.”

Li Xun gave her a glance and suddenly felt a pang of sympathy.

Being caught in Shui Die Lan’s grasp... that was no small misery. He couldn’t help but wonder if there was anyone in the world capable of silencing Shui Die Lan for good.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a jolt ran through him. Tianzhi… she’s incredible.

Though Li Xun hadn’t yet cultivated any techniques involving the heart demon, he knew well how dangerous that path was.

He thought of Lin Ge. Simply from the “pressure” of that demon phoenix, his centuries of cultivation had ground to a dead end. And the backlash even crippled his body.

But Tianzhi, the leader of her sect, faced pressure ten times greater than his.

Crossing paths with Jade Wanderer alone was already dangerous enough. On top of that, there was also Shui Die Lan. An unpredictable threat that could explode at any moment. The humiliation of total ruin wasn’t much lighter than death itself.

Under that kind of double pressure, the fact that she’d managed to hold out until now was nothing short of incredible.

Li Xun found himself picturing what Jade Wanderer must have looked like back then.

He gave a half-smile, but it quickly faded into a sigh. He couldn’t help wondering whether that woman, who’d devoted herself completely to Gu Zhixuan, had ever managed to leave him feeling caught between laughter and tears.

Without realizing it, he looked up toward the line where light met darkness and murmured softly, “Those who respect themselves are always respected by others…”

“What did you say?”

Shui Die Lan perked up her ears, clearly interested.

Seeing her use Zhuang Chu’s face to make such an expression, Li Xun couldn’t help but smile again. And just then, he remembered something more pressing, so he smoothly changed the subject. “By the way, what did you mean by what you said earlier?”

Shui Die Lan widened her eyes, pretending innocence. “Which part?”