Chapter 3: As Long as You Confess, You Can Ascend to Immortality

“When I was traveling across Shenzhou, I came across many Heavenly Dao trials related to love. And the biggest loophole in these kinds of trials is actually this… as long as both cultivators express their love for each other and are nominally considered Dao partners, the trial is considered complete. There’s no need to worry about what happens afterward.”

Mingqiu intertwined her fingers to demonstrate, then separated them as she spoke to her master.

“So just expressing mutual love is enough, and nothing else matters afterward?”

This time, it was Jiang Qinglian who didn’t quite understand. She asked with some hesitation.

“But my trial includes a condition of ‘not breaking up.’ Doesn’t that mean the Heavenly Dao is demanding that I… that I stay with that ordinary man for life?”

“Master… ‘not breaking up’ doesn’t mean you have to spend a lifetime together. As long as that Ning Qing fellow confesses his feelings to you, and you say you’re willing to accept them, the Heavenly Dao will recognize that the two of you are in a ‘romantic relationship’…whether you’re officially Dao partners or not doesn’t matter!”

“After that, your Heavenly Dao trial will be considered complete. You can do whatever you want afterward, like ascending to immortality. It won’t be affected at all.”

Mingqiu, along with many idle, powerful cultivators over the ages, had spent their long lifespans researching how to exploit loopholes in the Heavenly Dao’s trials.

And through their efforts, they really had discovered quite a few little tricks like this. In Mingqiu’s eyes, the “no breaking up” restriction in this Heavenly Dao trial basically didn’t exist.

“Then what if I ignore him for too long afterward, and he becomes lonely… or resentful, and wants to break up with me? What then?” Jiang Qinglian voiced the concern weighing on her heart.

“Just don’t listen to him.”

Mingqiu’s words instantly opened up Jiang Qinglian’s mind.

“Master, you’re the head of the Qingxuan Sword Sect. In the eyes of a mere mortal, you’re like an immortal goddess they’d be lucky to even catch a glimpse of once in their entire life. If that Ning Qing fellow ever wanted to break up with you, but he never even gets to see you again, who’s he supposed to break up with? The Heavenly Dao that issued this ridiculous trial?”

“…That does make sense.”

Jiang Qinglian carefully pondered the logic her sword spirit had laid out for her, and the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to hold true.

Since forming a romantic relationship required mutual consent to complete the trial, wouldn’t refusing to agree to a breakup be enough to fulfill the “not breaking up” condition?

And if that wasn’t enough, she could just make sure never to see him again for the rest of her life…

In the end, when she ascended to immortality, even if he wanted to complain to his never-before-seen Dao partner about breaking up, he certainly couldn’t follow her all the way to the immortal realm, could he?

It’s feasible! Absolutely feasible!

“So all you need to do, Master, is get this Ning Qing fellow to develop feelings for you and confess his love. That alone would count as completing the Heavenly Dao trial,” Mingqiu said.

“Then there’s no time to lose!”

Jiang Qinglian could no longer hold back the urgency surging within her.

Of course, what she was impatient for wasn’t about winning over a man, but about completing this final Heavenly Dao trial that had shackled her for a lifetime. So that she could finally break free of its restraints and transcend the mortal world.

The one thing every cultivator yearns for most in their life was ascending to immortality and becoming a god. And that was now within reach. All it would take was a single, ordinary line from a mere servant disciple: “I like you.”

At that thought, Jiang Qinglian could no longer care that she was still heavily injured. She grabbed her World Severing Sword, her face full of killing intent, and prepared to head down the mountain.

“Master, please wait!”

Seeing the look on Jiang Qinglian’s face as if she were marching off to slaughter a city…Mingqiu quickly jumped in front of her and asked anxiously,

“Where exactly do you think you’re going, looking like that?”

“To make him fall in love,” Jiang Qinglian replied coolly.

Fall in love?

With that face and that sword in hand, if you told me you were heading out to execute the poor soul assigned to you by the Heavenly Dao, I’d believe you!

“…Master, you’re not planning to use your authority as Sect Master to force that Ning Qing fellow to confess to you, are you?” Mingqiu asked quietly.

“What’s wrong with that? For the Sect Master herself to personally visit a lowly servant disciple and allow him the honor of falling in love with her…he should consider it a blessing!” Jiang Qinglian said with utter seriousness.

“Then if he refuses… are you planning to press your sword to his neck and threaten his life to force a confession?” Mingqiu asked, guessing at the absurd possibility her master might actually consider.

“Perhaps,” Jiang Qinglian replied, expression calm and detached.

Perhaps?!

You absolutely would do it!

“If that Ning Qing fellow still chooses death over submission, are you planning to use a Love-Binding Curse or a Life-Linking Talisman…. those kinds of spells to forcibly twist his will so he falls for you?” Mingqiu continued her line of speculation.

“Love-Binding Curses and Life-Linking Talismans are considered demonic arts. I would only consider using them in the worst-case scenario,” Jiang Qinglian replied after a moment of thought.

So “considering” means you would use them, huh?!

If that poor young disciple really turns out to be a chaste and unyielding soul, then Jiang Qinglian, you damn demon lord, you’d absolutely resort to those vile spells, wouldn’t you? After all, ascending to immortality is more important than anything else!

“Ah…”

After fully grasping her master’s idea of “falling in love” Mingqiu let out a long, heavy sigh filled with deep exasperation.

“Is there something wrong with that?”

It was the first time Jiang Qinglian had ever seen her sword spirit look so disgusted with her.

“There’s plenty wrong with it, Master! Back when you were cultivating the World Severing Sword Heart, I told you not to sever your emotions and desires so completely! At least leave a sliver behind! But now look….sure, your Sword Heart is flawless, but you’ve cultivated yourself into a complete fool!”

Mingqiu criticized the current state of her Sect Master bluntly.

To put it nicely, she’s transcended the mundane, fully mastered the Dao, and become a true immortal walking the earth.

To put it not-so-nicely, she’s cultivated herself into someone who’s completely inhuman. She became an emotional fool whose total lack of emotional intelligence was driving Mingqiu insane.

“So, Qiu’er, how do you think I should respond?”

Jiang Qinglian was quite displeased with the look of disdain on her sword spirit’s face, but she had to admit that over the long years of cultivation, this sword spirit had served as her adviser with remarkable competence.

The Qingxuan Sword Sect now maintained extremely harmonious relations with the Great Li Dynasty and the various renowned orthodox sects.

And its flourishing reputation and abundant incense offerings in the mortal world were entirely thanks to this sword spirit’s efforts, because their esteemed Sect Master of the Qingxuan Sword Sect truly did not understand the concept of “getting along well with others.”

“First of all, although the Heavenly Dao has many loopholes that can be exploited, if you force someone to cooperate with you to complete a Heavenly Dao trial, the Heavenly Dao will absolutely not acknowledge it. You should be very clear about this, Master. Threats, soul-binding curses, things like that. The Heavenly Dao does not recognize any of them.”

Mingqiu raised her winged hands and made a big X in front of her chest.

“Second, if you approach that servant disciple in your position as Sect Master, it is indeed possible that he might feel some admiration or fondness for you out of gratitude!”

“But whether that tiny bit of admiration and reverence would be judged by the Heavenly Dao as ‘love’ is another matter altogether. And you might also end up with a rather negative reputation for preying on the young. I doubt you’d want your good name ruined in your later years, Master, would you?”

“…..”

Jiang Qinglian had been about to say that after ascending she would no longer care about mortal reputation, but after thinking it over, she realized she did care a little.

“Besides, Master, aren’t you planning to recuperate from your injuries recently by using the ‘mortal transformation’ method?”

Mingqiu was well aware of the severity of Jiang Qinglian’s injuries.

If they were repaired while maintaining her Great Ascension immortal body, it would take at least a hundred years to recover to her peak state, not to mention the unknown amount of precious heavenly materials and earthly treasures that would be consumed.

Thus, a group of great cultivation powers came to master a far more dangerous yet far more efficient method of recovery, namely “mortal transformation.”

Through various divine abilities or secret arts, they would temporarily regress their cultivation back to the Foundation Establishment or Qi Refining stage, repairing their injuries by returning to a mortal body.

The Qingxuan Sword Sect’s mortal transformation method was among the very best of its kind in the world. Once the mortal transformation period was safely passed, one’s cultivation could even advance significantly.

However, this method had one enormous flaw: during the mortal transformation period, if one’s enemies were to learn of it, they would certainly come knocking, seizing the opportunity to kill them.

“Yes. And in the upcoming spirit vein battle, I also plan to take the field in a mortalized body. After all, this will be the final thing I do for the sect before my ascension.”

Jiang Qinglian also informed Mingqiu of her plans going forward.

The spirit vein battle… The Heavenly Dao’s trials in this world were not limited to individual cultivators but also included trials directed at sects and even a nation’s fate.

At present, multiple sects within the Great Li realm were facing a spirit vein battle trial.

The victor would earn the right to control the allocation and flow of spirit veins and spiritual energy throughout the Great Li Divine Continent.

If the Great Li realm were filled only with orthodox sects, then no matter who won, matters could still be negotiated. But the problem was that within the Great Li Divine Continent lurked many powerful demonic sects.

This was also the reason Jiang Qinglian had recently been so eager to eradicate demons.

If those demonic sects were to win the spirit vein battle, it would spell utter disaster for all living beings in the Great Li realm.

On a more selfish note, Jiang Qinglian’s ascension also required massive amounts of spiritual energy and spirit vein support. If those were seized by outsiders, then ascension would truly be out of reach for the foreseeable future.

Yet the rules the Heavenly Dao set for this spirit vein battle were precisely: “Only disciples at seventh stage Foundation Establishment or below are permitted to participate!”

This single requirement instantly left all the immortals, True Lords, and Demon Lords who had long been making preparations staring in stunned disbelief.

But after their initial shock, they gave it some thought. “We can mortalize ourselves. It’s risky and we might be hunted down by enemies, but with our sects protecting us, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

So Mingqiu did not even need to think about it. Although this spirit vein battle would still leave some room for talented junior disciples, it would, in all likelihood, turn into a massive free-for-all between a group of mortalized cultivation powerhouses.

“So, Master, why don’t you just take advantage of the mortalization period and pretend to be an outer sect disciple or even a servant disciple… and go meet that young friend Ning Qing a few times?”

Mingqiu floated behind Jiang Qinglian and began massaging her shoulders as she spoke.

“With Qiu’er around, I guarantee that within three days, that young friend Ning Qing will fall for you Master, and within a month he’ll definitely confess his love to you!”

“Look at how happy you are.”

Jiang Qinglian could tell that Mingqiu was being so enthusiastic purely because she found it amusing to watch her blockheaded master being forced into a romance.

“Very well. During my mortalization period, I’ll leave things to you, Qiu’er. Just don’t take it too far.”

“Qiu’er promises she won’t disappoint you, Master!”

Watching her sword spirit cheer with such excitement, Jiang Qinglian revealed a helpless smile.

Yet what struck her as even more ironic was this…

A romance without breaking up?

The trial demanded by the Heavenly Dao was precisely this, yet from the very moment the two sides confessed their feelings to each other, they would never meet again.

That really did count as a romance without a breakup.

Jiang Qinglian only found the Heavenly Dao ridiculous. As for the pitiful man being toyed with by both the Heavenly Dao and Mingqiu?

At this moment, Jiang Qinglian had only one thought in mind. She was someone destined to ascend to immortality. Men were nothing but a hindrance.