After Qi Yu helped the Xuan Yue Sect defeat the invading ghost tribe, instead of receiving praise, she was thrown into a dungeon.
All because she was not human.
...
Xuan Yue Sect.
Qi Yu, shackled, was paraded before the crowd.
Her fair skin bore several cracks resembling shattered glass.
Many Xuan Yue Sect disciples pelted her with fruit peels, cursing:
"I thought some great immortal had arrived, but it turns out to be a mirror spirit!"
"How did a spirit manage to enter our Xuan Yue Sect?"
"Criple her and cast her out!"
"Spirits are all bad. Those who are not human should disappear."
Qi Yu dodged the fruit peels thrown at her, blood tears streaming down her face, and repeatedly explained to the Suo Dao Zun before her:
"Suo Dao Zun, I am truly not an evil spirit. Although I, I don't know what I am, I have lived in the Xuan Yue Sect since I gained sentience. I never intended to harm anyone, and everything I did was for good..."
"Master, don't listen to this demon's sophistry." Shen Yun Wen, the second disciple of Xuan Yue Sect, pointed at Qi Yu with a stick and looked at Suo Dao Zun behind her: "She is just a mirror that has gained sentience, trying to steal the spiritual energy of our fellow disciples!"
"Yes, exactly!" The other Xuan Yue Sect disciples chimed in.
"Precisely. Your true form has long been exposed. Stop quibbling." Suo Dao Zun looked at Qi Yu, his voice icy cold: "You, a mere demon, instead of staying in the demon realm or the devil realm, you ran to my Xuan Yue Sect. Your intentions are clearly impure. Who sent you?!"
"..." Qi Yu lowered her gaze and slowly closed her eyes.
What she said was the truth.
She was once just a piece of jade. After enduring wind and rain, it gradually became smooth, transforming into a mirror like a disc.
So she didn't know if she was considered a stone or a mirror. She only knew that when she appeared on this mountain, there was no Xuan Yue Sect yet.
Later, when the Xuan Yue Sect was established, because she loved humans and loved this world, she didn't blame them for plundering her home. She remained as before, situated on the peak, guarding this mountain, and incidentally guarding the Xuan Yue Sect, nourishing the immortal herbs planted by the Xuan Yue Sect with her spiritual energy.
Five years ago, the Xuan Yue Sect's mountain protection barrier was damaged, resulting in many Xuan Yue Sect disciples dead or injured. Seeing the corpses strewn across the mountain and the bloodstains, she couldn't bear it. She sacrificed half of her primordial spirit to repair the barrier and cultivate more immortal herbs, hoping everyone would recover quickly.
Two years ago, Suo Dao Zun's danfu was injured. The Xuan Yue Sect disciples prayed to gods and Buddhas, searching for medicinal herbs. In the end, it was she who refined the Nine Revolutions Restoration Pill with most of her divine power.
This time, when the ghost tribe attacked, she risked her own demise, revealed her true form, and devoured thousands of evil spirits, saving all the disciples of the Xuan Yue Sect.
Who would have thought...
The evil spirits didn't cause her demise, but rather the people of Xuan Yue Sect, who shattered her mirror body with blow after blow.
She had underestimated the malice of these people from Xuan Yue Sect.
"Master, this mirror demon seems to have nothing more to say." Shen Yun Wen tugged at Suo Dao Zun's sleeve: "Let's take action."
Suo Dao Zun grunted, his gaze cold as he looked at Qi Yu, his words cutting like knives:
"I don't care what good deeds you've done, nor how many Xuan Yue Sect disciples you saved this time. In short, a demon is a demon. You low-class beings, who lack humanity, cannot distinguish right from wrong, and are full of evil, deserve to be executed."
With that, he struck Qi Yu directly with his palm.
Qi Yu's body was bound, and her divine power had been completely depleted during the rescue. Thus, she could only face the attack with a despondent expression.
Immediately, Qi Yu's human form began to slowly dissipate, transforming into a shattered mirror, falling to the ground.
Suo Dao Zun watched coldly, then flicked his long sleeve and casually ordered a few disciples at the gate: "Sweep this trash up and throw it to the back of the mountain."
"Yes," the disciples cupped their fists in response, bent down, picked up the mirror fragments on the ground, tossed them outside the mountain gate, patted their sleeves, and turned to leave.
...
An unknown amount of time passed.
Qi Yu felt something touching her mirror surface.
Her entire body ached. She slowly extended her divine sense.
What came into view was a man with silver hair, glazed eyes, wearing a crimson-purple stand-collar, wide-sleeved, triple-layered robe. He had a cold and noble appearance, and was holding a Jade Restoration Paste, meticulously applying it to her shattered mirror body.