Yuan Kong turned around unhurriedly, facing him.
"It isn't that difficult."
Mu Jialing was stunned. "This is simple?"
"No. It's that they fundamentally cannot achieve it." Yuan Kong slowly voiced the thought in his heart.
Mu Jialing and the disciples beside him fell into collective silence.
The host's words could never be taken at face value.
…
Eastern Wilderness, Gu Ling Mountain.
"What? The immortal artifact was refined by you??"
Xiao Rong's shocked voice resounded across the entire peak.
Yao Ranyan covered her ears. "You little tree, why is your voice so loud?"
"Fairy Ranyan can refine immortal artifacts?"
Tang Xiangyin walked out from the Daoist temple, her eyes widening like lanterns.
Yao Ranyan once again felt her eardrums assaulted by sharp cries. She helplessly nodded. "Yes, I'm just a refiner who can make immortal artifacts. Why are you all so surprised?"
"Im… immortal artifact!"
Meng Xiangxiang's hands trembled so much that even her teacup nearly slipped.
The phoenix circled above the temple before landing on the ground. Gazing at Yao Ranyan's figure, its eyes shone with reverence. So this was the master it had chosen? Truly remarkable.
Yao Ranyan twitched the corner of her lips. "Are your eyes all about to stick onto my face?"
Wasn't this reaction a little too exaggerated?
Xiao Rong hugged her arm in worship. "Boss, Boss, refine an immortal artifact for me too! Before we left, I packed away all the spiritual fruits from Qingshui County. As many spirit stones as you want, I'll give them to you!"
Tang Xiangyin swallowed hard. She wanted one as well, but she didn't have even a single spirit stone to her name. She almost wanted to fly straight to the city and sell her flesh by the pound.
Yao Ranyan felt their burning, fervent gazes and rubbed her nose. "We're all friends. How could I take spirit stones from you?"
"If you really want an immortal artifact, I can refine one for you for free."
She spoke with a bright smile. Unexpectedly, Xiao Rong, Tang Xiangyin, Meng Xiangxiang, and even the phoenix shuddered. Their backs chilled, and they stepped back in unison.
"You're definitely not my Boss!"
Xiao Rong's eyes went wide. His finger trembled violently as he pointed at Yao Ranyan's hand.
Tang Xiangyin watched her with wariness. "Fairy Ranyan would never give away treasures for free. Who are you really?"
Meng Xiangxiang's pupils contracted. "Could it be that she's possessed by a vengeful ghost?"
"Cluck cluck cluck!" The phoenix thought their reasoning was sound.
Yao Ranyan's mouth twitched. "If I were possessed by a ghost, would you even still be alive?"
She truly couldn't understand what they were afraid of. Clearly they were so weak, yet they tried to guard against her.
The scene turned oddly comical.
Xiao Rong awkwardly withdrew his hand, scratching his head. "Now that I think about it, that makes sense. At most, Boss could go mad from qi deviation, but I don't believe she'd ever be possessed."
"…I'll take that as a good thing you just said." Yao Ranyan muttered.
"Then why does Fairy want to give us immortal artifacts? Doesn't it cost materials to refine them?" Tang Xiangyin asked in confusion.
Meng Xiangxiang both longed for an artifact and felt Yao Ranyan was acting strange. There couldn't possibly be such a cheap bargain in this world.
Yao Ranyan clapped her hands and laughed. "Of course refining immortal artifacts requires plenty of materials. The reason I want to give them to you for free is simply…"
"What is it?" Xiao Rong blinked curiously.
What he received was a heavy sigh.
"Do you three humans and one bird really have no self-awareness?"
Yao Ranyan gazed at them intently.
Tang Xiangyin was still at a loss. "What awareness? What's wrong with us?"
Meng Xiangxiang, Xiao Rong, and the phoenix exchanged glances. Understanding seemed to dawn on them. They clamped their mouths shut and remained silent.
Yao Ranyan nodded in relief. "It seems you understand. As the Eastern Wilderness Xiānzhǔ, I still have other matters to attend to. I won't keep chatting."
"What is it, what's the reason?" Tang Xiangyin pressed anxiously.
She turned to Xiao Rong and Meng Xiangxiang, but the two remained silent for a long time.
Finally, Xiao Rong broke down. "Xiao Tang, don't you remember? When we went to the Central Domain, we were almost killed by people from Wuxiang Sect!"
"Yes. I think Fairy is willing to give us an artifact each because we're simply too weak…" Meng Xiangxiang drooped his head helplessly.
Tang Xiangyin froze. "I… is that really the reason?"
"Wuwuwu, I need to cultivate right now. I'm not talking to you anymore!"
Xiao Rong wiped his tears with both hands and ran into his room crying.
Meng Xiangxiang hurriedly followed. "Me too. I can't waste time!"
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
The phoenix flapped its wings and rushed back to its nest to train.
In an instant, only Tang Xiangyin was left in front of the Daoist temple.
She stared at the fallen leaves swirling in the air for a heartbeat, then her face hardened.
"No. I can't let them surpass me. I'm the Chi Lingzhi spirit!"
That night, Gu Ling Mountain was unusually silent.
…
Central Domain.
Lüquan City.
Inside a dimly lit side hall of the City Lord's Manor, a man in black robes pulled down his hood, revealing a stern face.
"Qingshui County has produced an antidote? There actually exists a divine pill that can cure miasma?"
"That's impossible. The poison of miasma seeps into the very bones. They could never resolve it."
From a corner of the hall, a woman in white robes knelt with both knees to the floor. As she spoke, she raised her head, revealing a cold and beautiful face.
The black-robed man sneered. "Bai Qingwu, how can you be so sure it's false?"
Bai Qingwu straightened a little and respectfully answered, "Senior, the qi flowing within your body is the true miasma of the Spirit Realm. Those ignorant mortals merely touched a trace of it and already lost their connection with the world's spiritual qi. How could they possibly devise a way to fully dispel it?"
The black-robed man gave a chilling laugh. "As my fallen brother once said, you know the deepest secrets of our Spirit Realm!"
"Qingwu wouldn't dare boast. I only know a fragment of truth, nothing as impressive as Senior thinks."
Bai Qingwu instinctively lowered her hands to kowtow. In the dim light, her exposed skin was mottled with patches of violet bruises. Beneath the bruises, tiny worms writhed faintly under her skin. Bai Qingwu clenched her teeth hard. Sweat drenched her back, but she still made no extra sound.
The black-robed man raised an arm. A nearly transparent thread emerged from his fingertip and pierced into the center of Bai Qingwu's brow.
"My foolish brother died only because he trusted your words!"
"Ah! Spare me, Senior, spare me!" Bai Qingwu screamed in agony, her body shriveling like withered wood.
The black-robed man snorted. "Relax. I won't kill you. Your little life is still very useful to me… and to the Spirit Realm."
"Ah!"
All the worms buried within her body writhed at once. Black lines bulged and crawled across her pale face. From her sunken eyes, two miserable streams of tears slid down.
Why hadn't she died at Yao Ranyan's hands back then?
===
Just a quick personal note about After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor (✧ω✧)
I've translated all the chapters so far, and honestly? I'm really impressed. This novel is not your typical xianxia—schemes and plots are at the heart of the story. From the early chapters, you'll see layers upon layers of intrigue, and even beyond chapter 100, the scheming stays intense. You can't just skip to the fight scenes—the story lives in the tension, the planning, the clever maneuvers. It's almost like Gōngdòu (宫斗) but in a xianxia world, which is super rare and exciting to see.
Yun Qingyue, the protagonist, is sharp, ruthless, and not a saint. Watching her navigate the schemes, outwit her enemies, and crush anyone in her way is strangely satisfying. And when the fights do happen? They're well-written and complement the intrigue rather than overshadow it.
Personally, I also really enjoy the author's distinctive style. Translating it gave me this unique feeling that I haven't experienced in other novels—it's clever, tense, and full of character.
So yeah… if you want a xianxia that's more than just cultivation and fights, one that's full of clever schemes, morally gray characters, and surprises, I'd definitely recommend giving this a shot. It's one of those novels that keeps you thinking and entertained at the same time (≧▽≦)