Chapter 24 - 24 The Changes in the Pure Land of Red Dust
Lately, Elder Xuan Ai seems to be feeling anxious without reason, particularly when she hears of Jiang, the Human Emperor, visiting Red Dust Sanctuary. It amplifies her nervousness, fearing that the Human Emperor might discover what lies above.
“No, no, the disciples in the sect have minimal interaction with the Emperor. Only the Saintess and the sect leader will host him, and neither are infested by insects.”
“If the Emperor scans the disciples with his Divine Sense, how should they react? Absolutely not, Jiang, being upright, to scan disciples is akin to seeing them naked, this isn’t his style.”
“But what if the Human Emperor behaves unexpectedly? Who can guarantee he won’t give in to sudden impulse?”
Hidden in a secret place in Red Dust Sanctuary, Elder Xuan Ai shivers uncontrollably, her teeth chattering. Continuously comforting herself, but also stressing herself constantly.
The fear is real. If the Saintess and sect leader were to find out about her plan, she’s confident that she can adapt or even flee. But facing the present Human Emperor, she would be too scared to even run. It’s better to commit suicide directly, reincarnating in the Underworld would be better than becoming a lost soul at the hands of the Human Emperor.
“Why does such a terrifying person exist in this world?”
As a resident of the Nine Provinces, who hasn’t heard of Jiang Li’s legends? He’s the ruthless man who slayed the Nascent Soul with a Golden Core, and killed the Transcendance Tribulation Stage practitioner with Body Integration. Despite the powerful might of each Human Emperor, none were as outlandish as him.
Moreover, he is now at the Mahayana Realm that rivals an Earth Immortal, he could probably even kill a Heavenly Immortal.
Such a person would be an overlord even in the Immortal Realm, let alone in the Nine Provinces.
Elder Xuan Ai, who grew up in the dynasty, has witnessed numerous power struggles, and also experienced absolute martial power rendering all tactics illusory. Hence, she strongly believes in the supremacy and freedom of the strong.
Later on, she joined one of the six major sects, the Red Dust Sanctuary. Through hard work, she became the Body Integration Realm, a rarely seen elder in the sect. This rank is honored everywhere.
But this wasn’t enough. The elder does not have absolute control, she wants to be the sect leader.
But no one chose her.
Joking right, others weren’t blind. Letting Elder Xuan Ai become the sect leader, the first thing would be to recruit disciples to rule the world and indulge in extreme pleasure, which contradicts the principles of Red Dust Sanctuary.
Red Dust Sanctuary, the name itself reveals the sect’s purpose. A peaceful rest stop amidst red dust.
Elder Xuan Ai only had red dust in her heart, no sanctuary, and naturally was opposed by the the sect’s other elders.
Seeing that she couldn’t be the sect leader, Elder Xuan Ai chose to dominate and manipulate within the disciples, supporters thrive while opposers perish, enjoying the thrill of wielding power.
Soon, she was reported by the disciples and Elder Qing Yu summoned a meeting to expel this elder from the sect.
After leaving the Sect, Elder Xuan Ai wandered around, and accidentally found the hidden place of the Insect Clan.
For the Insect Clan that only reached the Nascent Soul Stage, she, a Body Integration character, roamed freely, learning the Insect techniques and taking any Insect she wanted.
In the end, she secretly mastered the art of Insect techniques, and hatched her plan, making a return to Red Dust Sanctuary.
She was supremely confident. The Red Dust Sanctuary hadn’t seen the bloody violence of the world, they were a flock of lambs. With her tactics and insect techniques, taking control of the Red Dust Sanctuary shouldn’t be a problem.
If she wants to use bugs in Spirit Rice, she has to take action at the source. Placing the bugs within the Red Dust Sanctuary would undoubtedly be discovered by the elders.
Her original plan was to kill a town’s population and control them using corpse bugs, but unexpectedly, Yuan Ling had killed two small towns’ population before she arrived and controlled their corpses with inferior corpse bugs.
In her excitement, Elder Xuan Ai killed Yuan Ling, controlled these corpses with her own corpse bugs, letting Yuan Ling and Du Xin’er use bugs every harvest season while she hid in the sect’s secret area, observing the latest developments and adjusting her plan at any time.
She secretly used the bugs, successfully controlling several Divinity Transformation Stage disciples.
After using the bugs for fifty years, all disciples in the Nascent Soul Stage were under her control, even several in the Divinity Transformation Stage, and two of them even advanced to the Body Integration Realm.
She originally planned to wait another fifty years, waiting for more people under her control to reach the Body Integration Realm before she made her move.
But an unexpected change made her decide to act in advance.
She heard that Master Hongchen had revived.
Elder Xuan Ai had only heard about the legend of Master Hongchen, and hasn’t seen the portrait. She thought it was Red Dust Sanctuary tooting their own horns to raise their worth, but curiosity made her want to see if Master Hongchen truly made even gods bow before her as the legends said.
Elder Qing Yu couldn’t meet Master Hongchen herself and was worried that no one would be at her side when the master woke up so she sent a descendant of the master to guard, however, she didn’t know that this descendant had already been infected with controlling bugs.
Elder Xuan Ai called this descendant over and ordered her to draw the Immortal face of Master HongChen.
As she stared at the portrait, she was as if struck by lightning, even her breath quickening.
Who would think this world would have someone so charming that transcends gender, is this portrait truly something I, a mere mortal, worthy of seeing, submitting to the mighty and my goddess…
Elder Xuan Ai was lost in thought, thinking about odds and ends, but her thoughts eventually consolidated into one:
Possess her, possess her, possess her!
Elder Xuan Ai instantly made the decision to seize power!
She wants to stay by the master’s side for eternity!
“Xuan Ai, why are you here?” Elder Qing Yu was horrified to see Elder Xuan Ai appear in front of her, especially seeing her lead a group of squawking disciples, even with two at the Body Integration Realm. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
The other elders were equally shocked, failing to grasp what happened.
Even though they were in the Body Integration Realm, their minds were innocent and couldn’t at all be compared to Elder Xuan Ail s.
Usurping power?
Isn’t that something found only in fiction, could it really happen in the Red Dust Sanctuary?
“Aren’t you going to call me sister anymore? I’m so hurt, Qing Yu,” Elder Xuan Ai giving a victorious smile to Qing Yu, in complete control of the situation.
“I regret my previous soft-heartedness, I should have killed you with a single strike!”
Elder Qing Yu was furious, but not afraid of Elder Xuan Ai. She believed that she could best her in 30 moves or less.
Elder Xuan Ai’s lifestyle didn’t match the sect’s Cultivation Technique, making her the weakest among those at the same realm. The other elders believed they could handle her.
Five elders and one sect leader, total of six people at the Body Integration Realm, on the other side with Qing Yu, there were only three at the Body Integration Realm. The power gap was huge.
“Elder Qing Yu, such grandeur. In a fight, I would definitely admit defeat. However, these disciples are under my mind control bugs. Their lives hang by a thread, my thread. If you dare touch me, I will make one of them commit suicide!”
Elder Xuan Ai casually mentioned this, stopping Elder Qing Yu who was about to make a move and the elders, who also hesitated to take action.
Seeing them still hesitating, Elder Xuan Ai continued, “Don’t believe it? Let me show you.”
One disciple from the group at the back stepped forward, undid the passive form of the Mind Control bugs without hesitation, and instantly killed herself!
“Xuan Ai!” Elder Qing Yu was enraged to the extreme, her eyes full of anger, blood streaming from them. Her anger rose straight to the sky, thunder roared above her head as the Heavenly might threatened her to step into the Transcendance Tribulation Stage!
She regretted her previous soft-heartedness, she regretted not noticing the mind control bugs, and she regretted not being as powerful as Jiang Li.
She was filled with regret!