Chapter 228: Chapter 20: Schemes and Seeing Through
 

Returning to her room, Jiang Liyan took out the medicine from the elixir bottle and carefully applied it to her face, quickly removing the bright red handprint.

Gazing at the pretty face in the bronze mirror, she slowly revealed an incredibly charming, seductive, and enticing sweet smile.

Her beauty remained unchanged.

Unlike the foolish Miss Shi, Jiang the Witch had a profound understanding of her own beauty and temperament.

To describe her as a “rose watered with poison,” not an exaggeration at all.

However, why didn’t he fall for it?

Thinking about the carefully plotted scheme she had in mind for a long time, Jiang Liyan couldn’t help but feel a wave of discouragement.

Senior Sister Ai Zhenzhi had a violent temper and would not tolerate any form of insubordination. Hence, the junior sisters had to act humbly in her presence to avoid her punishment and revenge.

Jiang the Witch’s understanding was even more profound; she knew that all the brutality displayed by the senior sister actually stemmed from a deep-seated fear within her.

Like a house dog barking wildly at a black bear, fierce on the surface but meek at heart.

As for the source of the fear… like the other sisters, it originated from their shared, “kind and affable” master.

Fairy Cai’e, among the elders of the Heavenly Demon Path, was the most capricious one.

Whenever she took on disciples, she would choose young and cute girls;

Whenever she summoned a Demon Head, she almost always used her disciples as the sacrifice.

As for the criteria for selecting sacrifices, those sisters who have survived until now have almost deciphered the master’s habits:

Those who are foolish, weak, and displeasing to the eye.

Since Heavenly Demons are considered disposable, especially in battles against formidable enemies (as seen when Ai Zhenzhi faced Wei Dongliu and had to detonate three Demon Heads to escape), cultivating under Fairy Cai’e meant one couldn’t be too conspicuous nor too inconspicuous.

Being too conspicuous would attract Fairy Cai’e’s attention, and then one day, if she was in a bad mood and found you unpleasant, she’d directly grab you as a Heavenly Demon Sacrifice.

Being too inconspicuous would cause Fairy Cai’e to look down upon and ignore you, and then one day, if she was in a good mood and doing a headcount of disciples, she would pick you last as a Heavenly Demon Sacrifice.

The balance here is extremely difficult to master, and many sisters have fallen due to this, vanishing like fragrance and jade, dying with grudges.

But Jiang Liyan had survived until now, and she had essentially grasped Fairy Cai’e’s character—her arbitrary treatment of disciples as if they were livestock stemmed from her belief that only disciples who had formed a Golden Core truly qualified as a cultivator of the Heavenly Demon Path.

Those who hadn’t formed a core, regardless of whether they were in Qi Refinement, Marrow Cleansing, or Refining Mansion, were no different from mortals in her eyes.

And to the Demon Cult, mortals were merely materials for casting spells.

Now, under Fairy Cai’e, Jiang Liyan had become the youngest in seniority and the weakest in strength. Those junior sisters who had joined after her had mostly been taken and killed by the master.

Until new disciples were taken in, if the master decided to refine a new Demon Head at any time, she was highly likely to be chosen.

Fortunately, more than a decade ago, after the master lost a magical competition to a Shushan Sword Immortal and returned in embarrassment, she conveniently took the second senior sister as a sacrifice. She is now in seclusion at the main branch of the Heavenly Demon Path in the Hundred Thousand Mountains of Yangzhou, refining Demon Heads, and has yet to emerge successfully.

Before the master comes out of seclusion, Jiang Liyan must eliminate a few more sisters.

By doing so, by the time the master emerges, finding so few disciples at the Foundation Establishment Realm, she will go out to recruit a new batch of disciples, removing Jiang Liyan from the position of weakest among them!

As for why she targeted Ai Zhenzhi, the reason was actually very simple: she was just too competent.

Having been stationed at the Biyun Palace branch on Shiping Mountain for many years, she had managed many affairs in an orderly fashion, which made the master feel that she could do the work of several people, thus diminishing her urgency to take in new disciples.

Ever since Ai Zhenzhi became the eldest apprentice sister, the frequency of Master taking in disciples had greatly decreased, to the point where there were now absolutely no disciples of the Marrow Cleansing or Qi Refining Rank, and Li An of the Refining Mansion stage had become the “little apprentice sister.” This was a clear testament to the harm that this eldest apprentice sister had inflicted.

Jiang the Witch had long been scheming:

As long as Ai Zhenzhi died, the position of the eldest apprentice sister would become vacant, and the other sisters would immediately start infighting.

When Master emerged from seclusion, he would find not only that Ai Zhenzhi had long perished, but also that a significant number of the Refining Mansion stage disciples had died.

In such a case, recruiting new disciples would become an urgent matter, as one couldn’t possibly expect Golden Core disciples to do the work meant for Foundation Establishment disciples, after all.

Getting rid of the high-risk title of “little apprentice sister” was the first step in the plan;

The second was to eliminate the remaining apprentice sisters, seize the position of the eldest apprentice sister, and then display a stronger work capability than Ai Zhenzhi, ensuring Master felt comfortable and reassured in using her.

Only then would she have at least some assurance of surviving until Core Formation!

Li An supported her cheeks with her hands and looked into the copper mirror at the beautiful reflection that emerged. She revealed an innocent and sweet smile, yet it contained a hint of poison.

She had the brains, the wrist, and a ruthless and decisive character, with only the background lacking.

Although the old thief Wei was deeply reserved and hid his strength well, causing her repeated setbacks, she was not intimidated or fearful.

On the contrary, she actually hoped that the old thief Wei’s strength was as formidable as possible.

After all, compared to the other sisters, the cards in her hand were far too few—if she did nothing, her future would almost certainly be doomed.

Ai Zhenzhi had already been angered by her, and had developed a great deal of animosity towards Wei Dongliu. Next, she would surely look for every possible way to find out his background.

Since Wei Dongliu was ostensibly “invited by the Eastern Emperor Path,” Ai Zhenzhi would certainly seek out cultivators familiar with the Eastern Emperor Path to inquire.

All she needed to do was to use Long Xiaoqi’s mouth to pass on the information she wanted the eldest apprentice sister to know to her ears, just right.

After going over the plan in her mind once more, Li An gracefully stood up, ready to go out and join the others.

Upon reaching the door, she smiled briefly and then rubbed her face with her hands, turning into a somewhat frail and haggard smile before reaching out to open the door.

Outside on the corridor, everyone had already gathered by the railing and were chatting casually.

Gu Lie was telling Wen Yang some bawdy jokes, and Wen Yang was laughing heartily, his rough and husky male voice completely ruining his otherwise feminine and exquisite appearance.

Long Xiaoqi was grasping the railing with both hands, eyes unblinking as she looked outside, as though she might fall asleep at any moment.

Wei Dongliu stood with his hands behind his back, listening quietly at the side. Upon seeing Li An emerge from her guest room, he nodded at her in greeting.

After the five of them had gathered, they planned to head out to the external market of the Eastern Emperor Path to purchase supplies needed for their deep expedition into the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

“Jiang Dao friend, you seem unwell?” Wen Yang suddenly spoke up as they walked.

“It’s nothing, just a minor mishap during practice,” Li An shook her head and managed a smile.

Such a wan, numb smile would elicit pity and tenderness from any man who saw it, and Wei Dongliu was no exception.

However, he refrained from expressing concern for Li An, because a voice inside his head had been incessantly speaking ill of her since earlier.

“Hmph! Look at that acting; it’s so blatantly ‘I’m suffering, but I won’t say.’ Such an affectation, do they really think people will fall for it?”

“Ah Jing, tone down the acidity,” Wei Dongliu said with a frown, “Even if she was pretending earlier, at least the slap she received was real… It’s normal for her face to be haggard.”

“No way, you can’t be serious! You’re not actually falling for it, are you?” the Kunlun Mirror exclaimed in disbelief, “A cultivator taking a slap can’t get hurt! And especially not this Demon Head!”