Demoness's Art of Vengeance

“…Establish a new sect?” These words somehow wormed their way into Jun Xiaomo’s heart, and her heart skipped a beat.

“That’s right. Establish a new sect.” Rong Ruihan nodded. He could see Jun Xiaomo’s slightly widened eyes, and he thought that Jun Xiaomo found his suggestion rather unacceptable. Therefore, he began to break down his rationale to her –

“It seems that there’s no longer a place for the Heavenly Peak in the Dawn Sect under He Zhang’s leadership. He Zhang is an ambitious man. If he fails once, he will persist in making a second attempt, and then a third, and it will go on and on. He will undoubtedly succeed at least once if you give him a thousand tries. On the other hand, it’s only going to get increasingly more difficult for you to thwart each and every attempt of his. They’re engaging you in guerilla warfare, while you are exposed in the open. It’s practically impossible to keep defending like this. Thus, rather than staying within the sect and acting like a pincushion, why not leave the Dawn Sect behind and establish a new sect? This might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Heavenly Peak’s development. At the very least, you won’t be used by others anymore.”

After skipping another beat, Jun Xiaomo’s heart began to thump with excitement, and it beat faster, and faster…

That’s right! Why didn’t I think of this before?!

Ever since she had been reborn, she had only been thinking of how to take up countermeasures against He Zhang’s schemes and ploys, but she had never thought about actively changing the rules of their engagement. Furthermore, the only reason why she had not thoroughly stripped off all pretenses and ceased feigning civility entirely was because the Heavenly Peak was still considered to be part of the Dawn Sect.

But in reality, Jun Xiaomo had no longer considered herself a part of the Dawn Sect.

If the Heavenly Peak found another location to establish their own Sect, He Zhang might not be able to stretch his scheming hands all the way across the physical chasm and reach into the Dawn Sect’s pockets any longer.

And even if He Zhang continued to plot against them at that time, she could openly hack away at his arms whenever he sought to reach into their pockets. They would no longer need to be as restrained as they were right now.

Jun Xiaomo’s eyes glistened brilliantly, and the weakness in her body accompanying her chaotic, clashing true energy was completely swept away to the back of her mind.

“Brother Rong, you couldn’t be more spot on! There’s no reason for us to remain so passive in this matter! My approach has been all wrong…” Jun Xiaomo sighed as her attention to other issues, “But that said, establishing a new sect isn’t easy as well. We need resources, manpower, spirit stones, territory…and we even need some massive formation arrays for our own protection. Sigh. It’s not going to be easy when you think about it.”

“When there’s a will, there’s a way, is it not? As long as you have a goal, then no matter how difficult that goal and how arduous the journey, you just need to keep forging ahead to that goal and you’ll eventually reach it.” A trace of joy and praise for Jun Xiaomo flashed across the depths of Rong Ruihan’s eyes, before he patted Jun Xiaomo’s head, “I didn’t think that such a little brat like you would have thought of all these little details. At least you’re not dazed by my suggestion at all.”

Jun Xiaomo found herself slightly speechless by the way Rong Ruihan was treating her. If one counted the age of her soul, could she really be called a “little brat”? Perhaps the title of an “old monster” might be far more suitable for her.

Rong Ruihan’s expression looked almost like that of a teacher that was speaking to his students. Thus, when Jun Xiaomo thought about the vast difference in the age of their souls, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Rong Ruihan furrowed his brows curiously, “Did I say anything funny?”

“Cough…cough cough…” Jun Xiaomo coughed dryly as she attempted to adjust her expressions, “No you didn’t. It’s just that brother Rong is completely right. We have to continue forging ahead to that goal of ours, and not be overly bothered or distracted about the little intricacies.”

Despite her contrived explanation, Rong Ruihan knew that Jun Xiaomo was still suppressing her laughter within. Jun Xiaomo’s lips were still slightly curled at its ends, while her eyes were glistening with traces of tears as a result of stifling her laughter.

Rong Ruihan suddenly had the urge to stretch his hand out and wipe away the tears from the corner of Jun Xiaomo’s eyes and then lightly kiss each of those bright, sparkling eyes of hers.

But he could not. At least, not now. He wanted more than anything to carefully preserve the precious friendship between them.

Forget it. It’s such a rare sight to see her laughing so carefreely. Let’s not think about these upsetting thoughts either. Rong Ruihan thought to himself as his eyes darkened momentarily.

“If there’s anything else that troubles you, don’t bottle it up within your heart. You can always tell brother Rong, alright? You’re not fighting this war alone. You’ve got your parents; you’ve got your martial brothers and sisters from Heavenly Peak; and even old man Chi and your little packrat would be happy to extend a helping hand if you requested their aid.” Rong Ruihan rubbed Jun Xiaomo’s hair gently.

A sense of warmth swept across Jun Xiaomo’s heart.

“Mm, alright. Thanks, brother Rong.” Jun Xiaomo’s eyes curled up into a squinch, and her face was filled with a blissful expression.

Thus, the idea of establishing a new sect took root in Jun Xiaomo’s heart.

However, she could never have expected that the first person to obstruct such an idea would be her very own father, Jun Linxuan.

“Establishing another sect? Don’t be absurd!” Jun Linxuan slammed on the table and barked with furrowed brows.

He had just returned with his wife Liu Qingmei after a quick meal in the inn, and they discovered that their daughter was now awake. Just as they sighed with relief, their daughter suddenly broached a ridiculous suggestion, thereby inciting a swathe of rage in their hearts –

“Xiaomo, when will you mature and grow up, huh?! You always make your parents worry for you. Is establishing another sect something you can speak of so trivially? How do you think they will treat the Heavenly Peak if others within the sect overhears these suggestions?!”

“They’re already targeting and bullying the Heavenly Peak even though they haven’t heard anything in this regard…” Jun Xiaomo bit down on her lower lips as she said with an aggrieved expression in her eyes.

“This is just a small dispute within the Sect, and it hasn’t escalated to the point of no return.” Jun Linxuan chided her, “Xiaomo, you have to understand that establishing another sect isn’t something you can casually speak of like that. Otherwise, the Sect will begin to treat us as though we have an ulterior motive, and they will think of a way of casting us aside.”

“I understand all these! That’s why I’m suggesting this matter only to the two of you.” The rims of Jun Xiaomo’s eyes began to redden as she retorted.

“Mo-Mo, you still don’t understand what your father is saying.” Liu Qingmei sighed as she supplemented, “Even though the environment within the Sect doesn’t seem too great right now, this is still something that can happen within any sect. The clash of opinion and personalities is something that will dilute over time and resolve themselves naturally. Conversely, actively choosing to establish a sect of our own is tantamount to expressly going against the Sect. Once that happens, there will no longer be any hope of mending relationships within the Sect, and we might even find ourselves isolated and surrounded by enemies without any help. Silly child, do you understand now?”

“Resolve themselves naturally?” Ye Xiuwen’s silhouette surfaced in Jun Xiaomo’s mind once more, and a drop of tear fell from her eyes, “Father, mother, do you think there’s any hope of resolving this enmity and hostility with the rest of the Sect? Have you already forgotten how these people had treated martial brother Ye and I while we were on the travels? You harp on the importance of sect fraternity; but what about them? Do you think that these are the kinds of people who would simply look past your differences and amend relations willingly?!”

No! There was no chance of that! She knew because she had already experienced it all in her last life. That was a nightmare – a horrific nightmare that had forever etched itself in the depths of her memories.

If Jun Linxuan and Liu Qingmei could not steel their resolve and wholeheartedly pit themselves against the Dawn Sect, then it was only going to be a matter of time before they fall prey to He Zhang’s schemes once and for all.

And there was still the matter with Ye Xiuwen. If not for the fact that Qin Lingyu and the other disciples had time and again lured the Grand Vizier to their location, they might never have been forced to the site where the Death’s Gorge was located.

In her previous life, her martial brother Ye had clearly returned back to the Sect safely…

Jun Xiaomo hugged her knees and buried her head into her arms. Tears burst out of her eyes like a broken dam, and she choked and sputtered as she bawled incessantly, unable to speak another word with coherence.

The atmosphere in the room grew thick and sullen.

Jun Linxuan knitted his eyebrows, and his lips twitched, as though he was about to rebuke her. However, his wife caught him and restrained him.

“Enough, Linxuan. Let Mo-Mo be alone for a while. We can discuss this matter in greater detail later. She’s just come to her senses, and it’s not good to let her emotions run wild like that.” Liu Qingmei persuaded.

She knew that her daughter was extremely close to Ye Xiuwen. Thus, her emotions would explode out of control every time Ye Xiuwen’s disappearance was mentioned.

How could Liu Qingmei not feel for her daughter when she saw her acting like that?

Sigh, forget it. She’s not a daft kid anyway. She’ll come to her senses and see things from our perspective eventually. Saying too much all at once might be counterproductive instead. Liu Qingmei concluded in her heart. In the end, she dragged her husband and left the room without saying more to her daughter, leaving Jun Xiaomo to her own thoughts in her room.

The door opened, and then it shut again. Jun Xiaomo was completely immersed in her own thoughts and emotions, and she did not notice her parents leave her room at all.

Thus, when she finally noticed the aura of a person beside her, she thought that it was Jun Linxuan or Liu Qingmei.

“Father? Mother?” Jun Xiaomo had managed to collect and suppress most of her roiling emotions, and she lifted her head and opened her tear-stained eyes once more.

In the dimly illuminated room and with her hazy, tear-stained eyes, she noticed a vague silhouette of Rong Ruihan’s tall and burly body.

Jun Xiaomo hurriedly lowered her head again and wiped off the tears in her eyes. Then, she looked up again and forced a smile to her face as she remarked bashfully, “I’ve made a fool of myself in front of brother Rong.”

Rong Ruihan patted her head and replied genially, “I take it that senior Jun and his wife didn’t take the suggestion of establishing a new sect very well?”

Jun Xiaomo’s eyes darkened once more, “That’s right. They think that I’m being ridiculous…perhaps I’m really always making people worry, aren’t I? My willfulness means that I’m always doing something that worries them…”

She revealed a bitter smile on her face.

“Compared with some of the other cultivators around, I think that Xiaomo is already extremely independent. It’s just that faced with the same problem, you’ve got your own way of dealing with it, while they also have their own ways of dealing with it as well. When both perspectives of the problem and solution are not aligned, you’ll naturally experience a clash of opinions. This has nothing to do with your willfulness.” Rong Ruihan patted her shoulders and consoled her.

“How is it that brother Rong is always so good at consoling someone?” The smile on Jun Xiaomo’s face was far less agonized than before.

“What I’m saying is the truth. Xiaomo, you’re not the same person as your parents, and there’s no need to convince them of your perspective all the time. As long as you’re convicted that your way is the best way forward, then forge ahead and pursue it. Of course, this will have to be to the exclusion of anything that endangers your own life. Just like how you forced the issue with this competition despite being on the brink of a breakthrough – this is something that I wouldn’t agree with either.” Rong Ruihan explicated with seriousness.

Jun Xiaomo chuckled, “Then I won’t be as reckless next time then.”

“Let’s leave the that aside for now. As for establishing a new sect…” Rong Ruihan thought for a moment, “Actually, Xiaomo, you don’t have to be so anxious about getting your parents to see eye to eye with you for now.”

Jun Xiaomo was stunned, “What do you mean?”

Rong Ruihan explained his enigmatic observation, “You’re also aware of the fact that your parents were also disciples of the Dawn Sect when they were younger. Even though there’s an irreconcilable difference between your parents and the Dawn Sect’s Sect Leader and Sect Elders, they still very much treat Dawn Sect at their home. Deep in their hearts, they’re hoping that this conflict is only something small that time will heal. At the very least, they don’t see this as a life-threatening conflict. Therefore, it’s not going to be easy to make them want to leave this ‘home’ of theirs.”

Jun Xiaomo responded with some measure of exasperation, “That’s right. I’m afraid that this is the main reason why father was extremely resistant to my earlier suggestion. He’s a cultivation fanatic through and through, and he rarely thinks about the intricacies and nuances of politics, and schemes and plots alike. Even though I find that He Zhang’s intentions against the Heavenly Peak are already incredibly obvious, I’m pretty sure father still sees this as nothing more than a minor internal strife within the Sect. But if this were truly only a minor internal strife, then why would He Zhang force us Heavenly Peak disciples to a corner, and even to the point of death?”

Rong Ruihan patted Jun Xiaomo’s shoulder reassuringly as he further explicated, “That’s right. Besides, setting up the Sect is no simple matter. You’ll need manpower, resources, territories, etc. Someone will have to undertake this groundwork no matter what. Rather than spend your time and energy trying to convince your parents of your perspective, wouldn’t you say that your time would be more well spent laying this groundwork in the dark? This way, you’ll most certainly be able to conceal all of this from He Zhang and the rest, and they won’t be able to thwart your efforts in this regard as well.

Jun Xiaomo’s eyes brightened, “Brother Rong makes sense.”

Seeing that Jun Xiaomo’s eyes was once again filled with spirit, Rong Ruihan curled his lips into a smile as he added, “As for such groundwork preparations, there’s no need to even let your parents know about these things, much less seek their approval in that regard. In fact, keeping the groundwork hidden from your parents might translate to less clues for He Zhang to pick up on. This might not necessarily be a bad thing.”

“That’s true as well.” Jun Xiaomo sighed, “Father wears his heart on his sleeves after all. If he really intends to leave Dawn Sect and establish another sect of his own, He Zhang might very quickly learn of it and instigate the entire Sect to oppress his efforts. But on the other hand, would I really be able to commence with the groundwork without my parents’ participation?”

After all, establishing another sect was a big thing. How could a measly cultivator at the Qi Mastery stage of cultivation achieve something as grand as that?

“Don’t you still have me, the little packrat and his clan?” Rong Ruihan flicked Jun Xiaomo’s forehead, “And there’s still my master. As the clan head of a Hidden Sect, he can’t be completely uninformed about such things, right? Do you think that you won’t be able to do anything, even with his help, hmm?”

Jun Xiaomo rubbed her forehead as she smiled sheepishly, “Seems like I’ll have to trouble brother Rong again, then…”

“It’s fine. I’m happy to help.” Rong Ruihan tousled Jun Xiaomo’s hair again.

Jun Xiaomo looked back up at Rong Ruihan and smiled at him. Her heart was now much more at ease.

“That’s right, the first round of competition for the Lower Category battles are ending soon. Xiaomo might very soon have to participate in the second round of battles. Don’t brood over these things in the few days. You should take the time to focus on stabilizing your cultivation instead.”

Jun Xiaomo had technically already broken through to the sixth level of Qi Mastery ever since her last battle, and the imperative thing to do was to stabilize her cultivation level. Otherwise, the true energy might run wild and chaotic during her next battle again.

Jun Xiaomo nodded her head as she responded, “Mm, I’ve got it. I’ll definitely work hard at it.”

If things were truly as Liang Yulong had suggested, then Dai Yue would have bribed a referee and ensured that her next battle would be against Dai Yue. This was not necessarily a bad thing.

At the very least, she did not intend to lose to Dai Yue no matter what!