The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

A terrible suspicion began to grow wildly in her mind.

She whirled around, looking at the three elders who had followed her, her voice hoarse: "Tell me, how much longer can forced Foundation Establishment extend one's lifespan?"

The three elders exchanged glances, and finally, Zuo Xiuxian steeled himself and whispered, "According to our clan ancestors... according to the records, forcibly helping someone establish their foundation through external force is the lowest method. The foundation is weak, the path to enlightenment is severed, and the increase in lifespan is limited, usually... no more than sixty years. If the recipient is too old or in poor health when establishing their foundation, it might... might only last forty or fifty years, or even less..."

"A cycle of sixty years...forty or fifty years..." Zuo Qingqiu murmured repeatedly, as if his heart was being squeezed and crushed by an icy hand.

When my younger sister reached the Foundation Establishment stage, she was already over a hundred years old, and her body had long been eroded and hollowed out by the slow cultivation of her Grade E aptitude and the passage of time.

Forcing her to establish her foundation would probably take her less than sixty years.

Fifty years.

It has been exactly fifty years since I left her.

It turned out to be like this...

It turns out that he had been immersed in self-pity and false hope that he had "saved his sister", arrogantly believing that he could defy fate with the power of the Purple Mansion. He did not even bother to carefully consult the classics or ask the seniors of the sect for advice.

Then, he wasted these precious decades of his sister's life on his own cultivation and planning for the so-called "future"!

He never went back to be with her even once!

She was left alone in the old house, spending those stolen, short decades in solitude!

"Heh...hehe..." Zuo Qingqiu suddenly chuckled softly, the laughter shrill and piercing, like the wailing of a night owl, sounding particularly jarring and terrifying in the solemn mourning hall.

"Our ancestor..." Zuo Xiuxian and the others were shocked.

Zuo Qingqiu stopped laughing, slowly turned her head, and looked at her sister's peaceful sleeping face in the coffin.

So that's how it is...

It turns out that what I called "salvation" was nothing more than a ridiculous self-satisfaction, another form of "abandonment".

It's even more cruel than abandoning her back then.

Because back then, at least there was still the illusion of a "promising future".

This time, he himself gave her hope, only to crush it to pieces after fifty years of lonely waiting.

"I...I'm so stupid..."

She spoke softly, tears welling up silently, sliding down her pale cheeks and dripping onto the cold coffin.

"I'm really... the dumbest sister in the world..."

Grief, like a monstrous wave, instantly engulfed her.

It wasn't just the grief of losing her sister that caused her grief, but also endless regret, self-blame, and guilt, which gnawed at her heart like venomous snakes.

Her last direct blood relative and last concern in this world vanished completely because of her arrogance and ignorance.

From then on, she was truly all alone.

Alone, living on this long and cold path of cultivation.

-

The Zuo family held an extremely grand funeral for Zuo Lengqiu, mobilizing almost all available resources to the utmost in mourning. At the funeral, Zuo Qingqiu, dressed in mourning clothes, remained expressionless and silent throughout, simply watching the coffin being lowered into the ground and the yellow earth gradually covering it.

No matter how grand the funeral, it cannot bring back a living person.

After the funeral, Zuo Qingqiu did not stay at the Zuo family home for even a moment longer, nor did she even glance at the old house that held so many memories and pain.

She went straight back to Taihua Gate.

From then on, she lived a secluded life, almost no longer paying attention to any sect affairs, and devoted all her energy to cultivation.

It seems that only by constantly becoming stronger and climbing to higher levels can one temporarily numb the bone-deep regret and emptiness.

Only then can I... fulfill my promise to my sister.

Take her share with you, and go see the scenery she has never seen before.

Ten years after his younger sister's death, at the age of 160, Zuo Qingqiu broke through to the Great Perfection of the Purple Mansion realm.

Seventy years after her sister's death, at the age of over two hundred and twenty, she successfully attained the Golden Elixir and became the True Lord of the Nine Heavens Taihua Purple Void Responding Thunder Ancestor.

She saw the scenery above the Purple Mansion and the vastness of the Golden Elixir Path.

She's now the only one left to enjoy the scenery.

-

"Sister? Sister!"

"Sister, what's wrong? Don't scare me!"

The childish and panicked voice, one after another, seemed to come from the distant underwater depths, growing clearer and clearer until it finally pierced through the heavy curtain of memories, pulling her back to reality.

Zuo Qingqiu jolted, her unfocused gaze refocusing.

Before me was no longer the peaceful face of my younger sister from my memory, but a delicate little face, like that of a porcelain doll, filled with worry and fear.

Little White had somehow escaped from the spirit beast bracelet and was standing in front of her, gripping her arms tightly and shaking them violently. Its big eyes were brimming with tears, and it called out to her again and again in a sobbing voice.

"Sister! Say something! What's wrong? I called you so many times and you didn't respond, your eyes were empty, it was so scary..." Seeing that she finally responded, Xiaobai's tears fell in a steady stream. "I thought... I thought you..."

Zuo Qingqiu stared blankly at Xiaobai.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, falling on Xiaobai's silvery-white hair, giving it a soft glow.

Her anxious and worried expression, and her tearful cries of "Sister," seemed to overlap with a certain figure in her memory at a certain moment.

However, the little girl who always followed behind her calling "sister" has long since turned into a cold memorial tablet on the altar.

And the little white dragon in front of her was the one she hatched from a dragon egg, raised by her own hands, and regarded as her own sister.

She has passed away.

All that remains is longing.

Zuo Qingqiu slowly raised her hand and stiffly patted Xiaobai's head.

The touch is soft, cool, silvery-white hair.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice a little hoarse but already back to its usual cool tone. "It's just... I remembered some things from the past."

Feeling the warmth of her hand and hearing her calm tone, Xiaobai felt a little relieved, but still sobbed, "Are you really okay? You looked so scary just now... like you were about to break..."

"It's really nothing." Zuo Qingqiu gently wiped away the tears from her face. "Did I scare you?"

"Mmm..." Xiaobai nodded vigorously, then threw herself into her arms, hugging her waist tightly, burying her face in her clothes, and said in a muffled voice, "Sister, don't do that again... Xiaobai is scared..."

Zuo Qingqiu's body stiffened slightly, then slowly relaxed, gently hugging the small, trembling body in her arms.

"Okay, it won't happen again."

She whispered her promise, unsure whether it was to Xiaobai or to the long-gone soul in her memory.

The moonlight flowed silently, falling on the three cold memorial tablets on the offering table, and on the two figures, one big and one small, embracing each other.

The incense in the censer had long since burned out, leaving only a small clump of grayish-white ash and a faint, fading aftertaste in the air.

The night is still long.