Dual Cultivation System: The Villainous Servant’s Rise

Chapter 285: This, My Disciple, is the Heartlessness of a Demonic Cultivator!

A flicker of carefully concealed displeasure crossed Leng Ye’s eyes.

She knew it. Xiao Yuruo still hadn’t forgotten that boy from the demonic sect.

Fortunately, she had anticipated this and prepared accordingly.

Ever since the day Xiao Yuruo had threatened to leave the sect, Leng Ye had understood her disciple’s nature. The girl was stubborn, responding only to a gentle hand, never to force. Pushing her too hard was out of the question; otherwise, Xiao Yuruo might very well abandon the sect and return to her family in a heartbeat.

Unlike the Heavenly Void Sect or the Sun Moon Sect, the Myriad Sword Pavilion depended on the influence of Xiao Yuruo’s family to expand its own power and prestige. Therefore, Leng Ye had to make concessions, carefully avoiding any action that would put the Myriad Sword Pavilion at a disadvantage.

“I was just about to speak with you about that,” Leng Ye said, her voice softening as a kind smile graced her lips. From her Storage Ring, she produced an unopened envelope. “The reply arrived some time ago. I have been keeping it safe for you.”

Xiao Yuruo took the envelope, her eyes quickly confirming the seal was unbroken. A smile she couldn’t suppress bloomed on her lips, a radiant arc of pure happiness. She clutched the letter to her chest. “Thank you, Master.”

Leng Ye waved a dismissive hand, chuckling lightly. “To celebrate your triumph in the Life and Death Gate, I have decided to hold a seven-day festival in your honor. It will begin in one week’s time.”

She continued, “You will be expected to give a speech. Do not worry, I will prepare the words for you.”

“Yes, Master,” Xiao Yuruo nodded, her mind already elsewhere.

“You have just returned and must be exhausted. I will not keep you. Go, rest well for the next few days and recover your strength.”

Xiao Yuruo bowed her head slightly, offered a respectful salute, and withdrew from the Sword Heart Hall, her steps light with anticipation.

Back in the solitude of her personal quarters, she took a moment to wipe away the dust that had settled in her long absence before finally retrieving the precious envelope.

Han Lie’s name was written on the front.

Her heart thrumming with a mixture of joy and nervous excitement, Xiao Yuruo broke the seal.

[To the Young Pavilion Master of the Myriad Sword Pavilion, Xiao Yuruo:

I never held much hope that a shining prodigy like yourself would truly entangle her fate with a mere Servant Disciple from the Heavenly Void Sect. Your failure to appear today has not only confirmed my suspicions but has also obliterated the final shred of hope I foolishly held for you.

Our acquaintance, and our destiny, ends here. The next time we meet, we will be enemies. When that day comes, I will show neither mercy nor hesitation. Consider this my highest form of respect.]

The words were concise, the meaning brutally clear. The letter trembled in Xiao Yuruo’s hands.

Each character was a silver needle, plunging deep into her heart.

“…”

She sat in silence, utterly still. But in her mind, the sky was falling, the world itself crumbling around her. Tears welled, blurring her vision.

She had written to him. She had explained everything, apologized for her absence. How could this be his response?

Unless… was he just using this as an excuse to cast her aside?

No!

The thought was a betrayal, and she instantly rejected it. If Han Lie had truly found her a nuisance, he would never have accepted her gestures of goodwill in the first place.

And yet, the letter in her hands was a testament to a cold, merciless heart. It left her no room to explain, no path to reconciliation.

Xiao Yuruo sat in her room for the entire night, her mind a maelstrom of confusion, unable to comprehend where things had gone so wrong.

The next morning, as the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room, her Master entered.

Leng Ye walked to her side and gently, almost tenderly, took the letter from her numb fingers. After a cursory glance, she began to console her disciple in a soft, soothing voice. “Silly girl. Now you see, don’t you? This is the nature of demonic cultivators—heartless and treacherous. This world is filled with men far superior to Han Lie. Why would you hang your future on a single, rotten tree?”

“He was the one who was cruel first, so you have no need to debase yourself or wallow in misery.”

“With your beauty, your status, your talent… you are worthy of a prodigy a hundred, even a thousand times greater than him.”

“But Master…” Xiao Yuruo’s voice broke with a sob. “He’s different!”

A knot of fury tightened in Leng Ye’s chest, and it took all her willpower not to lash out. She took a deep, calming breath. “How is he different? Is he not just a man?”

“My dear disciple, listen to your Master’s wisdom. The greatest poison for a cultivator is the inability to let go. An obsession, left to fester, will breed an Inner Demon. In the end, it will only destroy you.”

Leng Ye’s voice was a hypnotic murmur. “And when you have fallen, will that Han Lie not still be living his carefree life in the Heavenly Void Sect? I have lived a long life; I understand these feelings. But you must always leave a part of yourself in reserve, even for one you love. If you give everything, you will be the only one who bleeds when it ends.”

“When that day comes, will you be able to accept it?”

Silence descended upon the room, thick and suffocating.

After a long, agonizing moment, Xiao Yuruo collapsed into her Master’s arms, her body wracked with quiet, helpless sobs.

Leng Ye’s words were just words. In Xiao Yuruo’s heart, she knew her Master could never understand what Han Lie meant to her.

He was the first man she had ever loved. The first bloom of affection is always the most difficult to uproot, the hardest to forget. A few disparaging remarks from her Master couldn’t simply erase him.

“There, there, my dear. It is not worth shedding tears over such scum.”

Leng Ye gently patted Xiao Yuruo’s back. For a fleeting instant, a glint of cunning, almost impossible to detect, flashed in her eyes. “Calm yourself and pull yourself from this despair. The celebration is only a few days away, and we cannot let this delay important matters.”

“If you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. I have walked this path before you and know how to guide you through it.”

With that, Leng Ye departed, leaving Xiao Yuruo to her solitude.

She had said enough. Any more might prove counterproductive.

Sigh… I hope the girl can see reason. After all, everything I do is for her own good, Leng Ye thought to herself as she gently closed the door.

From her perspective, the plan was already a success. Han Lie had been dealt with. As for Xiao Yuruo, it was only a matter of days before her infatuation died completely.

While Xiao Yuruo sat alone in her room, preparations for the grand celebration at the Myriad Sword Pavilion moved forward at a feverish pace.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Xiao Yuruo, who had sat unmoving for five days and five nights, finally lifted her head.

Her beautiful eyes, once clouded with grief, now burned with the sharp, predatory light of an eagle. A flicker of defiant unwillingness ignited within them.

“I don’t believe it,” she whispered, her voice raw but firm. “And even if it’s true… I will hear you say it to my face!”