Since that day when Gu Qingxue gravely injured all the peak masters, ten of them—being the main pillars of the sect—were forced into seclusion, and all the disciples of Second Peak were recuperating as well. As a result, the entire Qingling Sect entered a state of closed-off seclusion.
On Qingzhu Peak, inside the residence of Master Yuehua, Ye Kai brought over a cup of spirit tea. “Master, this is the spirit tea I brewed for you,” he said, gently placing it on the dark red wooden table. Glancing at Master Yuehua—who was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, recuperating through cultivation—Ye Kai turned to leave. In recent days, he had been delivering tea to her regularly, naturally hoping to get closer to Master Yuehua through these gestures.
“Kai’er,” came a voice. Slightly opening her eyes, Master Yuehua called out to him. “Master, I’m here,” Ye Kai replied, stopping in his tracks and looking toward her. “You’ve worked hard these past few days,” she said.
Ever since she learned that Lin Mo had chosen the path of demonic cultivation, she had been unable to sleep peacefully. She didn’t even care that someone had slashed her twice—it was Lin Mo that occupied her thoughts. She simply couldn’t understand why he would turn to the demonic path. If one were to pinpoint the change, it all seemed to start after Ye Kai entered the sect. From that point on, her disciple grew more distant from her. She recalled his words: “You’re always favoring Ye Kai time and again.” Could that truly be the reason Lin Mo fell to demonic cultivation?
“If a child goes astray, it’s the father’s fault.” If the disciple had problems, then as his master, she certainly bore responsibility too. Still, Master Yuehua’s dao heart was resolute. Her path was to slay demons. No matter the reason, she had to personally kill the demonized Lin Mo—even if it meant slaying all the demons in the world. That was her dao.
At that moment, Ye Kai quickly put on a solemn act. “You are my master. Everything I’ve done is just part of my duty. And with how kind you are to me, it’s only right that I show you my filial respect.”
Seeing his face full of gratitude, Master Yuehua relaxed and said warmly, “Ye Kai, being able to take you as my disciple is my good fortune.”
“To have a master like you is my fortune,” Ye Kai replied, bowing respectfully.
Master Yuehua had been recovering for a long time and was unaware of Qingzhu Peak’s current state. She asked, “How has Qingzhu Peak been during this time?”
Ye Kai’s face turned sorrowful. “Qingzhu Peak has been left unmanaged. Our senior and junior brothers have either left or scattered. Fewer than forty percent remain.”
“I truly wanted to help manage things,” he added, “but in their eyes, my qualifications are too shallow. They don’t respect or trust me.”
“Ye Kai, it’s enough that you have the heart for it,” Master Yuehua reassured him.
Knowing she still needed a long time to recover and Qingzhu Peak couldn’t remain leaderless, she took out a jade token. “This jade token allows you to act on my behalf. Take it. From today on, you are the Senior Brother of Qingzhu Peak.”
“This doesn’t seem appropriate,” Ye Kai feigned hesitation. “There are many senior brothers and sisters who joined the sect before me.”
“But the one I trust the most is you,” Master Yuehua said firmly.
“I understand,” Ye Kai said, bowing again. “As your disciple, I will definitely manage Qingzhu Peak well.” He respectfully accepted the jade token.
Once he left her residence, the corners of Ye Kai’s mouth curled into a victorious smile. Everything he showed in front of Master Yuehua had been an act. Now that he had this jade token, his affairs would become far easier to handle.
Ever since Lin Mo had once again destroyed his cultivation foundation, Ye Kai had been wandering outside the sect in search of prey. At first, everything went smoothly. But as the corpses of female cultivators began to surface, cultivators within a thousand li of Qingling Sect grew increasingly cautious. It became harder for him to strike.
But now…
Ye Kai intended to take full advantage of the time while Master Yuehua was still recuperating, making his move from within Qingzhu Peak. It wouldn’t be long—once he completely restored his cultivation foundation, his plan would be realized.
In just half a month, Ye Kai, using his position as the newly appointed Senior Brother of Qingzhu Peak, easily lured over thirty disciples and used them as nourishment to restore his foundation. He then hid their corpses in a back mountain cave that Wanwan had previously opened for him, a place sealed with a barrier formation.
That day, like usual, Ye Kai brought a tray of spirit tea to Master Yuehua. With Wanwan’s secret medicine mixed in, Master Yuehua didn’t bother checking for anything suspicious. Besides, she had no reason to be on guard against Ye Kai. After drinking the tea, she immediately felt her vision blur and darken, then collapsed unconscious.
“Finally… finally got you.” Ye Kai could no longer contain his expression as he stared at her unconscious body on the ground, laughing maniacally.
Darkness—absolute darkness. When Master Yuehua next regained consciousness, she found herself surrounded by endless black, like undiluted ink with no visible edges. “Where is this place?” she muttered, her breath unstable and voice extremely faint. The drug was still affecting her mind, leaving her groggy. As she tried to move and lifted her hand slightly, the harsh clanking of iron chains scraping against the floor rang out.
That’s when she finally realized—she had been imprisoned. All her limbs were shackled with black iron, and her spiritual energy had been sealed by an unknown drug. Her head slowly cleared, and the stench in the air—pungent and unbearable—caused her to frown in disgust. The last memory she could recall was drinking the tea Ye Kai had given her.
And now, she realized the truth—but she still didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to accept that Ye Kai had done this.
Time passed slowly. The constant inhalation of that vile stench made her nauseous. Faced with fear of the unknown, it was impossible not to feel afraid.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching. They grew louder until they stopped right in front of her. Yuehua could sense someone standing before her, staring at her. “Who are you? Why have you imprisoned me here?” she asked, trying to stay calm, though her voice carried a hint of coldness.
The person said nothing, only reached toward her forehead and slowly pulled her veil away.
Seeing her face clearly, the figure let out a crazed, excited laugh. Yuehua’s pupils contracted. She finally recognized the voice—it was Ye Kai.
“Kai’er, don’t joke around like this with your master. If you keep it up, your master is going to get angry,” she warned.
But Ye Kai only snapped his fingers.
Flames lit up along the stone walls of the cave’s central platform, illuminating a breathtakingly beautiful face—hers—reflected in Ye Kai’s gaze.
Master Yuehua also saw Ye Kai’s twisted, distorted smile.
She frowned and asked, “Kai’er, you imprisoned me… just because you wanted to look at your master’s face?”
“Look at your face?” Ye Kai sneered with a chuckle. “It’s true, I really didn’t expect it—under your veil, Master, your face would be this stunningly beautiful.” But in truth, he had always known. His father’s personal notebook had recorded descriptions of Master Yuehua’s appearance, calling her a fairy, claiming that even celestial beings might not compare.
Master Yuehua’s frown deepened. Ye Kai’s tone when calling her a “fairy” filled her with disgust. “Kai’er, if you continue this farce and don’t put an end to it, I will have no choice but to punish you,” she warned.
“Master, it seems you still haven’t realized your own situation,” Ye Kai said. He didn’t want to pretend anymore—living behind a mask had been exhausting. Nothing felt better than letting go and being true to himself. “Just look at yourself—your limbs are bound in black iron, your spiritual power sealed by poison. What can you possibly use to punish me now?”
Yuehua looked at this completely unfamiliar version of Ye Kai and asked, confused, “So, what exactly are you trying to do?”
“What am I trying to do?” Ye Kai’s voice dropped low and sinister. “Master, have you ever heard of things like demonic seeds… or demonic fruit?”
Upon hearing those words, Yuehua grew agitated and raised her voice. “Where did you learn about those things?”
“Not only do I know about them, I know that one of them is inside your body, Master,” he said, growing visibly more excited. Yuehua felt sickened by the look on his face. “Kai’er, don’t go down this deviant path,” she warned. “You can’t restore your foundation by relying on my cultivation.”
“I think you’ve misunderstood something,” Ye Kai replied calmly. A surge of spiritual energy coursed through his body. “If I waited for you to restore my foundation, I’d have died of old age. Do you really think I still need to restore my foundation?”
Yuehua’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Kai’er, how did your foundation get restored?”
For some reason, a sense of foreboding crept into her heart.
“Of course, I relied on the senior brothers of Qingzhu Peak,” he said, pointing to a corner of the cave. Yuehua followed his finger and saw a pile of corpses. Ye Kai laughed wildly, and black demonic energy began to ooze from his body.
She recognized those faces—they really were the disciples of Qingzhu Peak. Seeing the demonic energy surrounding him, hearing his words, and realizing what he had done, Yuehua felt as if the sky had collapsed.
“Ye Kai, you’re cultivating demonic arts too?”
“What’s so bad about it?” he said with a smile, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “Cultivating demonic arts restored my foundation, lets me do whatever I want, makes me rich overnight… and allows me to absorb all of your cultivation, Master.”
To Yuehua, his words were a clear sign—Ye Kai had willingly and wholeheartedly embraced the demonic path.
She couldn’t understand it. Why had both of her beloved disciples chosen to enter the demonic path? Why did they both turn against her?
Looking at the corpses of her disciples, a thought struck her. Her tone turned cold. “Ye Kai, those sect members who were recently slain by demonic cultivators… was that also you?”
“Yes, that’s right. It was me,” he said with a pleased expression. “Master, it seems you’re not completely stupid.”
Upon hearing this, Yuehua’s heart was consumed by rage—yet at the same time, she was even more confused.
She let out a deep breath and asked, “Then why did Lin Mo insist on killing you? And what made him fall into the demonic path?”
“Master, do you not even understand such a simple truth?” Ye Kai replied. “I framed him and harmed his fellow disciples. Of course he wanted to kill me. As for whether he truly fell into demonic cultivation—only he himself would know.”
Ye Kai clearly remembered that Lin Mo cultivated both righteous and demonic paths. Although he didn’t fully grasp what it truly meant, it sounded to him like Lin Mo had the choice to embrace or reject the demonic path.
Every word Ye Kai spoke pierced Yuehua’s heart. If she truly thought about it… Lin Mo had absolutely no reason to turn to the demonic path.
And then she remembered what Lin Mo had once said:
“Master, no matter what I say, it’s useless. You still wouldn’t believe me. You only know how to unconditionally side with Ye Kai.”
No wonder Mo’er had risked his life just to kill Ye Kai. He hadn’t said a word—not because he had no reason—but because he believed his master wouldn’t believe him.
And he had been right.
In that moment, even if Lin Mo had declared that Ye Kai was the true demon, would she have believed him?
No… she wouldn’t have.
As a master… she had truly, utterly failed.