Cultivators of Great Ascension level could ride thousands of miles once they stepped onto a sword.
The group from Desireless Sect chose to ride a cloudship, but that was only in order to cater to Yan Qing, this ordinary mortal of Qi Refining level.
When Yan Qing walked onto the cloudship, swinging Trouble, that boor of a bird stared around with red eyes. “Fuck, any little thing you sweep toff this ship could fetch a few hundred spiritual stones.”
Yan Qing pointed them out for him. “Don’t limit yourself. Do you see those pearls? A single one is worth ten thousand spiritual stones.”
Trouble composed himself and asked, “Can I let nature take its course and take a few things?”
“Not bad, you know how to use idioms now.” Though he used it wrong. Yan Qing said, “You can try.”
Trouble couldn’t bear the itch inside him. He stuck his little head off of Yan Qing’s shoulder, looking around. But when he happened to meet the cold, heartless gaze of a Cultivation Alliance disciple, he was scared into shriveling back. He buried his head in his wings and said weakly, “Forget it, I’ll go to sleep instead.”
The cloudship was huge. Yan Qing wanted to find Xie Shiyi, but he didn’t expect to run into Elder Tianshu.
On this happy occasion, Tianshu was in a pleasant mood. His entire face seemed to be giving off a red glow. When he saw Yan Qing, he called out to him in an affable voice. “Young Master Yan.”
Yan Qing smiled. “Elder Tianshu.”
Tianshu hesitated for a moment, then said, “We’re about to go to Desireless Sect. Young Master, how about having a conversation with us?”
Yan Qing could guess what he wanted to say. “Sure.”
Tianshu brought Yan Qing to the deck of the flying ship.
The cloudship flowed through the dawn clouds.
Once they truly entered the sky, the lush mountains, rivers, houses and palaces of below all turned into tiny shadows of themselves. Only now could they truly see the vastness of the sky and earth.
Springturn Sect was located in a remote corner of the upper realm. The mountains had no grandeur, and the water no clarity. Even that valley full of peach blossoms was only a faint tinge of pink from their high altitude.
Tianshu stroked his beard and got to the main topic. “Young Master, you should know that the Bluecloud Conference is about to arrive. Right now, thousands of people are rushing toward Southluster.”
Yan Qing had no knowledge of the Southluster continent. The only name he was familiar with was: “The Bluecloud Conference?”
Tianshu smiled and said, “Yes, the Bluecloud Conference is a grand occasion in the cultivation world that takes place once every century. After the conference, the nine great sects will recruit new disciples. For lone cultivators from all over the realm, this is the only opportunity to become a disciple of the nine great sects.”
Yan Qing nodded.
Tianshu said, “The Bluecloud Conference will take up a month. In the first stage, lone cultivators and the disciples of other sects will have one competition arena, while the disciples of the nine great sects will have their own arena. This year, the competition arena for the disciples of the nine great sects is located at Driftflower Sect.”
Yan Qing murmured, “Driftflower Sect?” He didn’t know much about all the rest, but he had a clear memory of Driftflower Sect.
After all, after walking through Zixiao’s Void Comprehension secret realm, there was no way these two words wouldn’t leave a deep impression.
Thinking of this, Yan Qing directly asked, “Is the current leader of Driftflower Sect named Jing Ruyu?”
The hand Tianshu was stroking his beard with stiffened. His face was filled with question marks. Who? Jing Ruyu? Once he realized what Yan Qing meant, Tianshu fell into a daze, silent as a wooden chicken. “......”
Was this what they meant when they said newborn calves had no fear of tigers? A sect leader of Soul Formation cultivation, and this little boy dared to call her out by name.
Struck dumb, Tianshu lifted his sleeve to wipe away his sweat. “...Yes, the leader of Driftflower Sect does go by that name. But Young Master, when you speak in the future, don’t be so careless with your words.”
Yan Qing continued asking, “Did she have a twin sister named Jing Ruchen?”
Tianshu: “......” Tianshu had wanted to tell him a little about the general state of Desireless Sect. He hadn’t expected that as soon as Yan Qing met him, he’d strike him dumb with his questions.
Why would Yan Qing ask questions like these?! What’s more, how did he know about all this?!
Jing Ruchen and Jing Ruyu were once the twin beauties of Driftflower Sect, famous throughout the realm. But now, they had almost become a taboo to mention in Southluster.
All the events of the past had burned to ashes in the fire of Alioth Palace all those years ago. The blood, tears and truths of the past were buried under the ruins, faded with time.
Tianshu was in a cold sweat. “Yes, she did have a sister. Young Master Yan, when you come to Southluster, you can’t speak freely like this.”
Yan Qing asked again, “Is Jing Ruyu that terrifying?”
Tianshu: “......”
What kind of damn questions were these?
Terrifying.
Could she not be terrifying?
Of her status, power and cultivation, which one wasn’t terrifying?!
Tianshu’s expression grew grave, and he solemnly warned him, “Yan Qing! The leader of Driftflower Sect isn’t someone we can carelessly comment on.”
“Alright.” Yan Qing smiled and obediently agreed.
Thinking of his current situation, Tianshu’s tone was complicated. “Young Master Yan, you may not want to hear this, but I have to remind you that Duwei may only have agreed to this marriage on a whim. He has a cold personality and never lets anyone near him. Once we return to Desireless Sect…if Duwei ignores you, there’s nothing we can do about that. But don’t be afraid, we’ll settle you in properly.”
After his burst of happiness, Tianshu calmed down. In his consideration, Xie Ying wasn’t serious about this marriage. For the sake of Yan Qing’s future safety, he could only grit his teeth now and speak harshly.
Tianshu said, “I also advise you not to call yourself Duwei’s cultivation partner when you go out. A famous reputation brings danger with it. What’s more, Duwei may not save you. Just with the last few questions you asked me, I don’t know how many times you’d have died in Southluster already.
Yan Qing felt interested, blinking his eyes. “Elder Tianshu, aren’t you under orders in Southluster to avoid the slaughter of innocents?”
Tianshu: “...Even so, you have to look at who you’ve offended.”
If it was Jing Ruyu, she could easily turn the “innocent” person she had slaughtered into someone guilty.
In fact, Jing Ruyu herself didn’t even need to make a move.
Xie Ying would never acknowledge this cultivation partner. Without this status, how was Yan Qing worthy of making Jing Ruyu lift a finger?
He thought Yan Qing was a dim-witted cultivator with mediocre talent from a remote area, and that he would only feel admiration, fear and hope for Southluster. He thought that once they arrived, Yan Qing would be careful of speech and action, and even feel inferior.
He hadn’t expected that Yan Qing would ask about the Driftflower Sect Leader so offhandedly as soon as he met him!
He was truly broadening the limits of Tianshu’s knowledge.
As they spoke on, Yan Qing’s inquiries led Tianshu’s thoughts astray. “How do you know about Driftflower Sect?”
Yan Qing replied honestly, “I saw a few things in Venerable Zixiao’s Void Comprehension secret realm.”
Tianshu sighed. “I advise you to forget everything you saw.”
Yan Qing: “Why?”
Tianshu sighed again. “Every sect has matters that can’t be carelessly discussed. As long as it has nothing to do with phantasms, it isn’t the end of the world. As an outsider, you should keep quiet and express no curiosity.”
Yan Qing said slowly, “Oh.”
It seemed like there was something strange about the fire at Alioth Palace in Driftflower Sect.
He pretty much understood why Jing Ruyu had left behind the records of her in the Void Comprehension secret realm, even knowing that Zixiao had fallen, and hadn’t gone to destroy them.
Because there was nothing they could use against her.
Recalling it carefully, of all the things Jing Ruyu had done in front of Zixiao, was there a single one that was wrong?
She was only dissatisfied with her mother’s favoritism, so she vented her grievances.
Even the people she had Zixiao kill were all criminals who deserved it.
When she mentioned the fire of Alioth Palace, her expression was dark and her emotions were mournful. She sighed in grief over the disaster her sister had encountered, but she also had joy and hope for her new role as sect leader.
Her emotions perfectly matched her circumstances.
They spoke with each other outside the cave in the grove of green maples. Zixiao had known her for so long, and he said she harbored evil in her heart, but before his death, he never said what she had done wrong.
She had fooled countless people with her perfect disguise. Perhaps in this world, only Jing Ruyu herself knew how much innocent blood stained her hands, and what happened during the great fire of Alioth Palace.
Oh, no, one other person knew as well.
Yan Qing asked, “Is Jing Ruchen still alive?”
Tianshu: “......”
Tianshu was about to faint from how stubborn this boy was.
Could you talk about something normal?! Even if you’re not afraid of death, I’m afraid!
“She’s alive, she’s alive.” Tianshu was growing to fear him. He waved and said, “Forget it, don’t ask anything more. I’ll tell you about Desireless Sect.”
He had originally intended to put on an act and tell Yan Qing, “If there’s anything you want to know about Southluster, you can ask me,” but now…forget it.
Tianshu cleared his throat and said, “Desireless Sect is divided into inner and outer peaks. There are three hundred outer peaks, but only ten inner peaks…”
“Elder Tianshu.”
Suddenly, a cold voice interrupted him.
The moment Tianshu heard this voice, his spine stiffened as if he’d been frozen in place.
He stiffly turned and saw Xie Shiyi walk onto the deck, his inky hair like silk and his snowy robes spotlessly white. Probably for the sake of returning to the sect, he had bound his hair with a jade crown, softening his penetrating coldness by a few degrees. A white cloth covered Xie Shiyi’s eyes, but even with his eyes covered, he felt no more amiable.
“Duwei, how come you’re here?” Tianshu smiled awkwardly, but he soon found that something was wrong. His voice heightened as he said in shock, “Duwei, what’s wrong with your eyes?!”
Xie Shiyi said mildly, “A quack doctor blinded me.”
The quack doctor: “......”
Tianshu: “Ah?!”
A quack doctor blinded him?! Tianshu was so shocked his soul was about to fly out of him and into the heavens.
Xie Shiyi ignored him and spoke. “Come here. I’ll tell you about Southluster.”
He was addressing Yan Qing.
Yan Qing was expressionless. “How could that be? How could I be qualified to disturb you, Venerable Immortal?”
Xie Shiyi turned and left. “It’s no trouble.”
Yan Qing gritted his teeth silently and followed with a darkened face.
Tianshu was left standing there, slowly eroding in the wind.
Xie Ying had a unique status, and his personality was hard to judge. So he always had the preconception that even if Xie Ying agreed to this marriage, he wouldn’t care about it.
It was already a huge stroke of luck that he could explain this to the sect. He had never expected that Xie Ying would have feelings for this random cultivator from Springturn Sect.
But no matter whether it was letting that man close to him, agreeing to this marriage or giving out a blood-jade bead, every act overturned the knowledge he had of Xie Ying.
It was as if that distant, unreachable figure on the altar had walked down step by step.
Tianshu felt dizzy. He looked in the direction the two men were leaving in.
Asking Xie Ying about the situation of Southluster…you really would find answers for everything.
“Xie Shiyi, are you blind or not?” Yan Qing kept looking out at Xie Shiyi from behind him.
Xie Shiyi calmly replied, “What do you think?”
Yan Qing: “......I feel like you’re not blind.”
Xie Shiyi smiled. “You can extend your thread into your own eyes and try it.”
His words were just as clear and calm as his tone was derisive and teasing.
Yan Qing: “......” He was far too familiar with Xie Shiyi’s temper. He couldn’t resist rolling his eyes.
Xie Shiyi was a Soul Formation cultivator, so his spiritual awareness and five senses had long since reached perfection. But when Yan Qing used his soul thread, the demonic god’s artifact, no one knew whether it had the side effect of restricting one’s spiritual awareness.
Yan Qing gave up. He could only bear the disaster he had caused. So he chattered behind Xie Shiyi, his tone peculiar.
“Venerable Immortal, now that you’re blind, can you see the path?”
“Venerable Immortal, do you know where to go?”
“Venerable Immortal, can you tell left from right?”
“Venerable Immortal, do you want to eat dinner and go to sleep?” After he spoke, he said scornfully, “Oh, Venerable Immortal, you’ve already begun to abstain from food. Your cultivation is high, so you have no need for sleep.”
“Then Venerable Immortal, do you want to take a bath?”
“Venerable Immortal, do you want someone to help you with your bath?”
He spoke as he walked, without the slightest misgivings.
The Cultivation Alliance disciples on the cloudship: “......”
Venerable Duwei had a vast spiritual awareness. Even with eyes injured by the soul thread, he could still recognize people and directions. He couldn’t see fine details, but aside from that, he was no different from before. After all, Xie Shiyi didn’t need to eat or sleep. Aside from Yan Qing, there was no one who dared to come close to him.
Yan Qing spoke until his mouth went dry. Finding that Xie Shiyi was treating him like the air, he was quite startled. “Xie Shiyi, your temper’s improved. If this were before, you’d have set a silencing curse on me ages ago.”
Xie Shiyi pushed open a door with his jade-like fingers and said indifferently, “With your current cultivation, if I did that to you now, I wouldn’t end up silencing you but turning you into a mute.”
Yan Qing: “......” Oh!!! He vowed he had to quickly recover his cultivation, so he wouldn’t have to suffer this kind of humiliation anymore.
Yan Qing followed him inside and said indifferently, “That’s fine, when the time comes, we’ll be a blind and mute pair.”
The cloudship was set up in a simple manner inside, with only a table and a bed, but refinement and luxury could be seen in every detail.
White clouds floated past the flawless horizon.
Xie Shiyi carelessly asked, “You’re very interested in Driftflower Sect?”
Yan Qing said, “No, Tianshu mentioned them, so I simply asked more about them.”
Xie Shiyi nodded.
Yan Qing asked, “He told me about the Bluecloud Conference as well. I’m rather interested in that. Taking such great pains to set this thing up, is there a prize for first place? What did you win before?”
Xie Shiyi said coolly, “I forgot.”
Yan Qing was incredulous. “You forgot?”
Xie Shiyi: “Yeah.”
Yan Qing was unbearably curious. He urged him, “Hurry and remember.”
Xie Shiyi was silent for a moment, then spoke. “I forgot what happened a century ago, but the prize for the current Bluecloud ranking number-one place is the pearlbeam zither.”
Yan Qing murmured this name. “The pearlbeam zither?”
Why did it seem so familiar? Yan Qing soon realized what it was. “......It’s a black-level phantasm-detection spiritual artifact.”
Xie Shiyi didn’t care much. “Yes.”
This time, Yan Qing was the one who fell silent.
Xie Shiyi was free to ignore it. He had the thousand-light lamp in his hands. It didn’t matter that outsiders would be hard-pressed to obtain a pearlbeam zither even with thousands of pieces of gold. For Xie Shiyi, it wasn’t worth a mention.
But Yan Qing couldn’t overlook it.
After all, the first thing he had done after being reborn was to take great pains to find a sagecloud mirror, in order…to look at himself.
He didn’t believe the demon god that had existed in his mind in his last life was a phantasm.
That wasn’t a curse left behind by the demon god, but the god themself.
The demon god rarely spoke to him, but when they appeared, it was bound to be at a time when he was in an unstable state of mind. As a great demon of ancient times, they were neither male nor female. Both sexes were combined in one body, and their voice was strange and terrifying.
At times, their voice was coy and feminine as a patterned viper; at times, they had the rough voice of an old man. They would gently and patiently guide Yan Qing as he used the soul thread to slaughter and drench the places he had been with blood.
The last sentence the demon god left Yan Qing with tore this amiable appearance part, carrying a trace of sharpness.
Yan Qing, you can’t escape me.”
“Each person carries a phantasm in their heart, like a shadow that never leaves the body.”
“We’ll see each other again.”
Yan Qing hid the malice in his eyes. When he looked up again, he was very curt. “Xie Shiyi, I want to attend the Bluecloud Conference.”
Xie Shiyi was unmoved. He calmly asked, “Why?”
Yan Qing was matter-of-fact. “For the sake of having some fun. I just happened to come to Southluster in time for the Bluecloud Conference. Isn’t this God telling me to go out there and shine?”
Xie Shiyi’s eyes were bound in white cloth, but from his slightly-creased brows and his tightly-pursed mouth, Yan Qing could still sense his cold rejection and disapproval.
Xie Shiyi said, “You can’t attend with your current cultivation.”
Yan Qing: “......”
Yan Qing: “Then does your sect have any peaks rich in spiritual energy? I’ll work hard on cultivation.”
Xie Shiyi’s fingers landed on the table, his tone mild. “Yes. Come with me to Jadeclear Peak.”
Yan Qing: “Sure.” Then he said, “You’re right, I should have rested last night. I’m dying of sleepiness right now.”
This Qi Refining body really was troublesome.
Before Yan Qing lay down and went to sleep, he caught sight of the red thread on his wrist. It was crimson, dark as congealed blood, turning his wrist bone-white in contrast.
After a moment of silence, Yan Qing looked up and asked his last question, his voice soft.
“Xie Shiyi, what do you think phantasms are?”
In all of the upper realm, he was probably the first person to ever dare to ask Xie Shiyi this question.
What were phantasms?
They were the curse of the demon god.
They were the iniquitous creatures that everyone hunted down.
Xie Shiyi’s tone was as light as smoke as he said, “Evil.”
***
cela's notes: 1:57 hours
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