I pretended not to hear anything. The chatter outside the door went on endlessly until a familiar voice suddenly cut it off.

“Is Queenie someone you have the right to gossip about? You’re here spreading rumors instead of doing your work. Run a hundred laps along the mountain path, and don’t stop until you’re done!”

The junior disciples apologized and left.

Julian pushed the door open. When he saw me sitting on the bed reading, he immediately put on a stern expression.

“These disciples are getting more and more unruly. I’ve already punished them. Don’t take it to heart.”

Of course, I would not take the words of the dead to heart.

As for the matter of my going astray and ruining my cultivation, no one knew except him and my father. As for who had spread the rumor, it was not hard to guess.

He took my hand, looking at me with sincerity. “Once Wendy’s succession ceremony is over, I’ll take you to live in seclusion in the far mountains. Haven’t you always wanted a peaceful life? From now on, I’ll take care of you, all right?”

Before he even finished speaking, the door was pushed open again.

Wendy walked in, dressed in a dignified and elegant ceremonial gown. She spun once in place in front of us, then asked sweetly, “Julian, this is the dress I’ll wear at the ceremony. What do you think? Does it look good?”

I immediately recognized that the jade pendant at her waist belonged to Julian.

It was his mother’s pendant. He had once said he would give it to me as a token of our love on our wedding day, but now, it hung off another woman’s waist.

Julian’s attention was immediately drawn to Wendy. He let go of my hand and circled her, studying her for quite a while before curling his lips into a smile and nodding. “You’re beautiful. You’d look good in anything.”

This was what it looked like when someone truly loved another. Julian’s face displayed unhidden delight, genuine and effortless.

Compared to that, everything about how he treated me now felt deliberately staged.

Wendy came over to me with a bright smile and took my hand. “Sister, you look much better today. Can you get out of bed and walk a bit?”

Julian smiled and said, “Queenie is still very weak. She even needs me to help her eat.”

Wendy’s large, lively eyes flickered as she turned to Julian. “Julian, I’ve recently learned a new healing technique. It might be helpful to my sister.”

Julian’s face lit up with delight. “Really? Wendy, you’re really getting better.”

“Alright, now it’s time for just the two of us sisters. You can wait outside,” she said, pushing him toward the door.

Once she locked the door behind him, her expression changed instantly, replaced by smug satisfaction.

“What a pathetic sight, my dear sister.

“Since your cultivation is gone, you should’ve just died quietly. Why stay alive and burden Julian? He lost an arm because of you. I’ll never forgive you for that.”

I smirked.

“My apologies. I’m just too hard to kill. I didn’t die in the hands of those vengeful spirits as you hoped.”

Wendy let out a disdainful snort. “All you can do now is mock me. Didn’t you see how attentive Julian was to me? He even gave me your token of love. Don’t you understand who he truly loves?

“He schemed to make you go astray because of me. He even took out your golden core and gave it to me. Did you really think he’d go into seclusion with you? Don’t be ridiculous. The only person he has ever loved is me.

“Queenie, Father has given you everything all these years. The position of Sect Leader was yours, and so was Julian. You’ve had your turn. Now, it’s my time to shine.

I sneered deep down.

Wendy was introduced to everyone as my younger sister, but I knew she was nothing more than my father’s illegitimate child by a fox demon.

Before I could respond, Wendy spoke again, “Oh, right. Didn’t I mention I learned a bit of healing magic? Don’t you want to see it for yourself?”

As soon as Wendy finished speaking, a surge of spiritual energy burst from around her, surrounding me.

I could feel it tearing at my meridians, trying to cripple me.

However, the demonic energy within me was far beyond anything Wendy could control.

Sure enough, after only a moment, blood seeped from the corner of her lips. A powerful force hurled her backward, sending her crashing to the ground.

She stared at me in disbelief. “Impossible! Didn’t you lose all your cultivation? What is this energy?”

I scoffed, crouched in front of her, and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet my eyes.

“I’ll repay everything you’ve done to me and then some!”

Overwhelmed by my aura, Wendy froze on the spot.

Hearing the commotion, Julian rushed into the room and saw the scene before him.

Fury flashed across his face. He shoved me aside and hurried to pick Wendy up.

“Wendy, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Eyes reddened, she threw herself into his arms, looking utterly aggrieved. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I just wanted to heal my sister, but I didn’t expect…

“I know I have a disgraceful background and that I’m not worthy of becoming Sect Leader, but… but…”

Hearing her cries, my father rushed in as well. Seeing Wendy weeping pitifully in Julian’s arms, he did not even bother asking what had happened before lashing out at me.

“Queenie! Do you think Wendy wanted this position? She only stepped in because you were incapable of inheriting it! Instead of being grateful, you attacked her!

“What’s the point of you cultivating for years?”

The look Julian gave me as he comforted Wendy was filled with resentment.

“Queenie, you didn’t use to be like this. When did you become so cruel? You won’t even spare your own sister?”

I sneered. “Cruel? No matter how cruel I am, I could never be as ruthless as the two of you.”

I turned to my father. “Even a tiger wouldn’t eat his own cubs. How are you going to answer my mother when you meet her in the afterlife?”

“I’m so disappointed in you!” My father’s face flushed with anger. Leaving those words behind, he flicked his sleeve and stormed off.

Julian did not spare me another glance. Carrying the injured Wendy, he left my chambers.

The demonic energy inside me churned violently. I closed my eyes and forcibly suppressed it.

Not yet. It was not time yet.

Three days. In three more days at most, I would reduce this place to ruins.

It was almost time for the succession ceremony.

Sect after sect came in to wish Wendy.

Dressed in a black robe, I slipped quietly into the crowd.

Suddenly, someone yanked off my hood from behind.

“Well, well. Isn’t this our former heir to the Sect Leader position?”

He deliberately emphasized the word ‘former’, his eyes full of mockery.

He was nothing more than a lowly disciple. In the past, he would not have even dared meet my gaze.

However, now that my cultivation was gone and I had become useless, they had all grown bold enough to provoke me openly.

“Today is Wendy’s succession ceremony. What are you doing here? Get out of here already! Don’t show yourself in front of Wendy.”

The others chimed in, belittling me until I was worth nothing.

To me, they were already no different from the dead.

My pupils, corroded by demonic energy, turned a vivid crimson.

The suppressed demonic energy within me exploded outward in an instant, a terrifying force shooting straight into the sky.

Blood dyed the entire mountain red before everyone around me could realize what had happened.

As the ceremony began, I appeared before the Gate to Heaven, staring coldly at the lively scene above.

Step by step, I ascended the mountain peak. The stone stairs beneath my feet crumbled into dust with each step I took.