Meanwhile, inside the main hall of the Dadao Sect, Li Qing's expression changed drastically as he watched the Longevity Fruit before him turn from solid to ethereal in an instant, on the verge of vanishing.
Subconsciously, he reached out, trying to seize it, to keep it from slipping away.
Over these past ten years, he had used the terrifying power of the Scripture of Inverse Order to relentlessly corrupt the female cultivators of the Dadao Sect and bend them to his will.
He had also handpicked female disciples of exceptional talent and groomed them in secret.
In the end, eight out of ten elder seats in the Dadao Sect were held by women.
Within the sect, the yin flourished while the yang waned. The female disciples utterly surpassed the male disciples in both quantity and quality.
Although the Longevity cultivators of the sect had eventually sensed that something was amiss, the momentum was already unstoppable. If they truly moved to purge Li Qing's faction, it would no longer be a mere matter of shaking the sect to its foundations—the Dadao Sect would very likely destroy itself in civil strife.
Taking the greater picture into account, several rounds of negotiations had finally produced a compromise between both sides.
Li Qing's past transgressions would be forgiven, and they would not excessively interfere with him going forward. However, he had to ensure that the male cultivators of the Dadao Sect remained at a certain overall ratio, and that newly admitted female disciples remained uncorrupted.
In exchange, a portion of the Longevity Fruits would be allocated to Li Qing's faction.
The Longevity Fruit grew upon the Ruomu.
Jointly governed by the ten sects, a single fruit could enable one to attain Longevity.
Today was finally Li Qing's moment of harvest, the decisive instant when he would receive his Longevity Fruit.
Yet at this crucial juncture, it had vanished right before his eyes!
After racking his brains and scheming painstakingly for ten whole years, how could Li Qing possibly accept this?
"No!"
Li Qing could no longer maintain his composure, letting out a furious roar.
"Why aren't you helping me!"
Yet no matter how impotent his rage was, he could not stop the Longevity Fruit from dispersing.
Li Qing turned around instinctively to shout at his companions gathered in the hall.
And that single glance sent a sudden chill down his spine.
Inside the hall, more than a dozen female Dao Integration cultivators, including his master Huo Jingtong, were all staring at him in unison.
Moreover...
Their gazes were completely different from their past tenderness and affection. They were so alien, so bizarre.
It was as though every single one of their souls had been replaced in an instant.
As the tremors rocking the Dadao Sect grew more violent, Li Qing felt the gazes of every cultivator throughout the entire sect converging upon him.
"This..."
Audacious as Li Qing was, he could not help but swallow hard and take a step back.
The great hall fell deathly silent.
Without a sound, a figure suddenly materialized before Li Qing.
It was Zhao Ruoxi, whom he had not seen in ten years while she was in closed-door cultivation!
Looking at this beauty before him—both familiar and alien—Li Qing was seized by shock and suspicion.
By now, he was already at the peak of Dao Integration, a mere half-step away from the Longevity realm.
Yet before this former Senior Sister Zhao, his spiritual senses wailed frantic warnings in his mind.
"What is happening?"
A wave of dizziness struck his head, and Li Qing felt as though he had forgotten something of paramount importance.
His experiences over these ten years flashed through his mind all at once, only to recede like the tide, growing hazy and indistinct.
Like a dream.
"Very good."
Senior Sister Zhao fixed her eyes on Li Qing. Her very first words were praise.
"I had initially thought of merely giving you a slight punishment to pay for your earlier insolence.
"I never anticipated that under such circumstances, you could actually achieve this much in a mere ten years.
"Of all who have entered me over the years, you are the first.
"A very novel experience."
No joy or anger showed on Senior Sister Zhao's face as she spoke indifferently.
Only then did Li Qing realize with a jolt that the expressions on all the other female cultivators in the hall were completely identical to Senior Sister Zhao's!
"Ugh..."
A sudden, piercing agony throbbed inside Li Qing's skull, and he could not help clutching his head.
The surrounding scenery of the Dadao Sect shook with increasing violence.
At last, it could no longer hold together and shattered inch by inch.
Amidst the crumbling light and shadows, Li Qing saw that the faces of everyone else had transformed into Senior Sister Zhao's countenance!
Boom!
The scene abruptly plunged into total darkness.
When Li Qing regained consciousness, the long-suppressed memories finally surged back into his mind.
"Senior Sister Zhao's illusion is truly formidable..."
"Even though I was on guard from the start, I still sank into it and could not extricate myself."
Li Qing frowned slightly, his divine sense sweeping over his lower body.
"Fortunately, it was merely an empty dream."
Recalling the ecstasies of those ten years within the illusion, and remembering that all of those heroines were in fact avatars of Heavenly Venerable Yixin, Li Qing could not help feeling a bit dazed.
Yet he possessed exceptional resolve, after all, and quickly collected himself.
He focused his attention on that shocking Scripture of Inverse Order.
Unfortunately...
No matter how hard he tried to recall it, the memories concerning the cultivation method remained like flowers in a mirror or the moon on the water—completely out of reach.
A wave of profound regret welled up in Li Qing's heart.
"Such a divine art, yet it cannot be brought out. I wonder if this method truly exists in reality, or if it was merely fabricated by Heavenly Venerable Yixin inside the illusion?"
Countless thoughts raced through his mind before he finally composed himself.
Looking around, the scenery was strikingly familiar.
It was identical to the Dadao Sect within the illusion.
And he was currently standing right at the sect's entrance.
Looking at the familiar stone mountain path ahead, Li Qing hesitated, reluctant to take a step forward.
"Weren't you quite capable just now? Why have you turned into such a coward?"
Just then, a sneering voice drifted down from the mountain path above.
Li Qing looked toward the sound and saw a young male cultivator in the robes of a Dadao Sect outer disciple, holding a broom.
He leaned on his broom, looking down at Li Qing from above.
Li Qing knew that the person before him was also one of Heavenly Venerable Yixin's many bodies, so he dared not be disrespectful.
Cupping his hands, he bowed respectfully.
Then he slowly climbed the stone stairs.
"You know the way; just head up yourself. I still have to sweep, so I won't accompany you." The young outer disciple walked down the stone stairs, brushing past Li Qing.
Without even lifting his head, he simply gave a casual instruction.
At the same time, he meticulously swept the stone steps Li Qing had just walked across.
"Even though they are all the same person, every body seems to retain its original or assigned identity..."
"What would you call this—role-playing?"
Li Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and continued walking into the depths of the Dadao Sect.
Unlike the eerie, deathly quiet scene at the final moment of the illusion, where everyone bore Senior Sister Zhao's face, the Dadao Sect here was bursting with life.
Along the way, Li Qing encountered many cultivators.
They merely glanced at Li Qing before returning to whatever they had been doing.
They chatted, argued, and sparred with one another.
Li Qing even saw several pairs of Dao companions intimately nuzzling each other.
It was bustling and vibrant, as though the Dadao Sect of old had never truly perished.
Yet the more it appeared this way, the higher Li Qing's vigilance grew toward this Heavenly Venerable Yixin.
"It seems that after several thousand years, Senior Sister Zhao has not remained without progress either."
Chapter 924