No! This Qin Lingxiao looked somewhat more tender-faced, not at all the mature appearance fixed at twenty or thirty years old from before!

Had Sect Leader Qin practiced some rejuvenation technique, becoming much younger?

Cui Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but widen her eyes, looking at this young Qin Lingxiao before her, her mind racing.

However, she immediately thought of it—Qin Lingxiao was said to be the young pavilion master of Lingyun Pavilion, the number one pavilion under heaven that was destroyed by Wei Jie back then.

He had hidden his name and identity to bow under Wei Jie’s tutelage to avenge his sect’s destruction.

After killing Wei Jie, he changed back to his original name, Qin Lingxiao. But Lingyun Pavilion had been destroyed long ago. Qin Lingxiao simply established another sect, becoming its founding patriarch, which later became the Jiuxuan Sword Sect.

The current Qin Lingxiao should still be the young pavilion master of Lingyun Pavilion, ignorant of the world’s hardships.

His cultivation wasn’t high now, so there was no eight-line lotus brand on his forehead. His face showed youthful inexperience, but he already appeared to be a tall, slender, beautiful youth.

However, his bright moon and clear wind handsomeness became less striking in the presence of Wei Jie’s bewitching masculinity.

Cui Xiaoxiao originally thought Qin Lingxiao shouldn’t recognize her. But after her gaze met with this young Qin Lingxiao, she immediately sensed something was wrong.

Because when Qin Lingxiao saw clearly that the people emerging were Wei Jie and Cui Xiaoxiao, his pupils unconsciously contracted sharply, seeming very shocked.

Moreover, his gaze toward Cui Xiaoxiao didn’t seem like a first meeting.

When he spoke, he addressed Cui Xiaoxiao directly: “How could you appear here?… And you brought him out?”

Originally, when that ancient divine statue absorbed the power of two Demon Pearls, it also drew in Cui Xiaoxiao and Qin Lingxiao, who respectively held the two Demon Pearls.

However, Qin Lingxiao was then in a false form created by his primordial spirit, so when transported back two hundred years, Qin Lingxiao’s primordial spirit had no physical body to attach to and naturally adhered to his younger self.

The current Qin Lingxiao had the shell of a youth on the surface, but inside was the soul of Sect Leader Qin, who had experienced two hundred years of vicissitudes.

Initially, when Qin Lingxiao first returned two hundred years ago, he was also greatly shocked.

But seeing the familiar palace halls of old Lingyun Pavilion and once-familiar relatives, after some consideration, Qin Lingxiao suddenly felt this wasn’t bad at all.

Since becoming famous, he had always been shrouded in Wei Jie’s shadow.

Even after he became the foremost person of the Sword Sect, people still pointed and whispered behind his back, saying that if he hadn’t absorbed Wei Jie’s power initially, he would be a nobody, nothing but a traitor who betrayed his master.

This return to two hundred years ago, though he regretted losing his hundred years of cultivation, walking the path again, he could certainly avoid various regrets and achieve even better, more perfect cultivation through his efforts.

Moreover, this time, he absolutely wouldn’t let Wei Jie gain power and destroy all of Lingyun Pavilion.

Everything developed just like the events of that year—he came to Qilao Mountain in his father’s name, leading his sect’s disciples to intercept Wei Jie.

Back then, because young Qin Lingxiao was playful and didn’t take Wei Jie, such a nobody, seriously, he had gone halfway to Zhenyuan River to catch black dragons, collecting dragon oil for his mother’s pill refining.

As a result, most of the disciples sent to capture the pill thief were injured by Wei Jie. Although Wei Jie was eventually knocked off the cliff, he thus gained a fortuitous encounter and developed unparalleled demonic skills.

When Wei Jie emerged from seclusion, he allied with the Tushan fox clan, continuously growing his power, recruiting troops to establish the Demon Sect. The first thing he did was seek revenge, single-handedly challenging Lingyun Pavilion and destroying the hundred-year cultivation sect in one fell swoop.

Thinking of this, Qin Lingxiao’s teeth itched with hatred. This time starting over, he would fundamentally crush Wei Jie into the dust, never letting him raise his head again!

So this time, Qin Lingxiao didn’t playfully go catch black dragons but personally brought people to Qilao Mountain.

When the other three sects sent disciples to surround and attack Wei Jie, Qin Lingxiao stood at the bottom of the mountain, ordering Lingyun Pavilion disciples to hold their position.

Because he knew clearly that even if everyone went up, they would only end up mutually wounded with Wei Jie.

In this group battle, Lingyun Pavilion would lose its four strongest disciples, leaving the pavilion powerless to continue, resulting in Wei Jie’s bloody massacre thirty years later.

So this time with events repeating, Qin Lingxiao only brought people to guard the mountain base, waiting for the snipe and clam to fight, waiting for Wei Jie to fall off the cliff and be poisoned after mistakenly entering the snake cave. Then he would lead people into the valley and easily finish off Wei Jie with one sword strike while he was struggling against the snake poison.

But all these plans fell apart when he saw Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie emerge from the valley together, safe and sound.

Despite all his calculations, Qin Lingxiao hadn’t calculated that Cui Xiaoxiao would also travel back two hundred years and get mixed up with Wei Jie, apparently disrupting past events and bringing Wei Jie out of the valley safely and early.

What was happening? Could it be that the Po Hun Snake had also disappeared due to Cui Xiaoxiao’s appearance?

So, in extreme shock, Qin Lingxiao shouted out those words.

As soon as he spoke, Cui Xiaoxiao immediately guessed that this young Qin Lingxiao recognized her!

Qin Lingxiao should also be like her, transported back two hundred years by that ancient mysterious statue.

Wei Jie, standing beside Cui Xiaoxiao, looked at Qin Lingxiao. Though he didn’t recognize this youth, judging by his clothing, he should be from Lingyun Pavilion.

Seeing the youth staring directly at Cui Xiaoxiao, it seemed there was quite a history between them…

So Wei Jie’s long eyes narrowed slightly, examining them both with curiosity, asking Xiaoxiao in a low voice, “What? You know people from Lingyun Pavilion?”

Cui Xiaoxiao felt a mixture of emotions, looking at two men waiting for her answer, not knowing how to begin.

But just then, not allowing Xiaoxiao to answer, people from the other three major sects saw Wei Jie and rushed over, shouting, “Thief, where are you running?”

Wei Jie drew his sword to meet them in battle, while Xiaoxiao stepped aside and started running down the mountain.

Qin Lingxiao ignored Wei Jie and directly chased after Cui Xiaoxiao, grabbing her wrist and saying urgently, “What have you done? I’m asking you a question—why won’t you answer?”

Cui Xiaoxiao saw that Wei Jie had no time to pay attention to her side, so she also grabbed Qin Lingxiao’s collar, gritting her teeth, “I should be asking you! If you hadn’t done something fishy, how would I have come to this godforsaken place?”

Qin Lingxiao was caught off guard, his nose almost bumping into hers. Angered until his cheeks flushed slightly, he simply dragged her around the mountain corner. When they were far from the fighting crowd, he said urgently, “Did you steal the statue of Zhu Jiuyin?”

Zhu Jiuyin, also called the Eclipse Dragon, was the mountain god of ancient Zhong Mountain. The Classic of Mountains and Seas recorded it as half-human, half-snake in appearance. When it opened its eyes, it was day; when it closed them, it was night.

This was the ancient god who controlled yin-yang and the darkness of time.

Cui Xiaoxiao immediately thought of the statue she and her fellow disciples had found in the mountain cave… Could it be the Zhu Jiuyin that Qin Lingxiao spoke of?

Seeing that Cui Xiaoxiao didn’t deny it, Qin Lingxiao was certain this was the case.

He glared at Cui Xiaoxiao hatefully, “It’s all your doing—you broke Zhu Jiuyin’s seal! I really shouldn’t have left that statue for Tang Youshu, that mediocrity, to handle… Now with heaven and earth reversed, returning to two hundred years ago, if Wei Jie gains opportunity from this and commits greater slaughter, it will all be the sin you’ve created!”

Faced with this huge blame flying at her, Cui Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes—she couldn’t have done this good deed alone; it required Sect Leader Qin’s excellent cooperation!

She pried off Qin Lingxiao’s hand, examining his much more tender face, “Little brother, speak more politely to your sister! If you hadn’t sent disciples to capture me, how would we have touched that statue’s mechanism and been transported here? Instead of interrogating me, you should think about how to get back quickly!”

Qin Lingxiao hadn’t been teased like this for a long time. Seeing this female rogue call him little brother, the youth’s lips pressed into a line, determined to properly discipline her!

But during their earlier scuffle, Qin Lingxiao had already felt that his current inner breath wasn’t much higher than this dead girl’s.

Damn it, after all, this was two hundred years ago. Qin Lingxiao’s current body had an extremely shallow inner breath. Even though he was well-versed in breath regulation and Golden Core methods, he would need time and opportunity to improve.

However, because of this, he no longer had to endure the backlash of demonic nature. This kind of pressure-free lightness was something Qin Lingxiao hadn’t experienced for a long time.

Qin Lingxiao quickly weighed the pros and cons, still feeling that starting over was better.

And this Cui Xiaoxiao shouldn’t exist in this era—she was an existence that violated heavenly secrets, so naturally, she was eager to return…

With this thought, Qin Lingxiao sneered coldly. He couldn’t let this variable cause chaos. He would first take her back to Lingyun Pavilion and imprison her in the back mountain. If she were sensible, after he killed Wei Jie, he might find an opportunity to send her back. But before then, he absolutely couldn’t let Cui Xiaoxiao reveal heavenly secrets and interfere with his plans.

Qin Lingxiao suddenly reached out to grab, wanting to catch Cui Xiaoxiao’s wrist and then seal her sleep acupoint. If this were the Qin Lingxiao of two hundred years ago, he wouldn’t even need to move his hands—a flick of his finger would send energy needles through acupoints.

But now, when Qin Lingxiao slightly raised his hand, Cui Xiaoxiao detected it.

During these past few days of meditation, she had to contend with the Demon Pearl in her body, rapidly cultivating her dantian energy. Earlier at the valley bottom, because she was poisoned by snake venom, she again used her dantian energy to counter the poison. Now was when her inner power was surging.

Though Qin Lingxiao’s movements were fast, in Xiaoxiao’s eyes, they appeared slightly slowed. After several exchanges, Xiaoxiao also understood—Sect Leader Qin could no longer display his flair of seven energy swords spinning above his head!

She blocked very quickly, straightforwardly lifting her leg to kick toward Qin Lingxiao’s stomach.

Qin Lingxiao dodged with a flash. This time he finally managed to grab Cui Xiaoxiao’s ankle, then gripped her shoulder and said through gritted teeth, “Do you want to go back or not?”

Cui Xiaoxiao looked at Qin Lingxiao’s face, slightly flushed with anger, feeling that though his cultivation wasn’t high now, he had more human spirit, unlike two hundred years later when he had that banished immortal demeanor of having the entire world under his control.

If Qin Lingxiao also wanted to return, then everything could be discussed, so Xiaoxiao asked him to let go first so the two could calmly negotiate.

Qin Lingxiao also knew he couldn’t subdue Xiaoxiao for now, so he stopped fighting and listened to Xiaoxiao briefly describe the various encounters after meeting Wei Jie.

While Cui Xiaoxiao was speaking, Qin Lingxiao also figured it out: since Wei Jie wasn’t injured or bitten by the snake because of Cui Xiaoxiao, that was actually for the best!

In cultivation, both natural talent and immortal fate were indispensable.

This time, Wei Jie missed the opportunity to become a demon, so he couldn’t become the leader of the demonic path, much less could he single-handedly challenge Lingyun Pavilion!

And because he possessed two hundred years of cultivation memories, everything was familiar and easy. He just needed time to proceed step by step and could still ascend to immortal heights through his identity as a young pavilion master of Lingyun Pavilion.

This time, even if he killed Wei Jie, no one would say he was a traitor who killed his master and stepped on Wei Jie to rise to power!