Estranged

Yun Weisi hadn’t slept for a really long period of time.

For a cultivator, sleeping meant cultivating in meditation.

Life is too short, and those pursuing the path to immortality could not rest at all.

But this time, not only did he fall asleep, he even had a dream.

Perhaps, it happened because he was obsessed earlier; or, maybe, he was influenced by the person sleeping by his side.

The dream was bizzare and inconsistent, leaping through time.

He was in a world of ice and snow, with whiteness stretching to the horizon, not a single other color in sight.

Yun Weisi was standing under a frozen waterfall in a light garment.

The waterfall was hovering above his head in threads, ready to turn into sharp ice hammers and fall down, piercing his skull.

His teeth were rattling because of the cold, and his body was shaking against his will. The frost enveloped him, reaching his inner organs, and even his bones were almost frozen.

Someone was approaching him from a distance.

This person was getting closer, but the snow was still covering his figure, and he could not be seen clearly.

Yun Weisi watched the person get near him.

“Still haven’t finished?” Shizun asked.

He nodded with difficulty. But his neck was frozen stiff, and he was not sure whether he actually nodded.

“Then continue.”

Shizun said. He looked at Yun Weisi for a short time, turned around again and left without looking back.

Yun Weisi stood like this for three days and three nights.

It was not a punishment, but cultivation.

His cultivation was advancing slowly, and people from the Yuhuang Temple thought it would be hard for him to become a real cultivator.

Even if no one denied his tenaciousness and decisiveness, being stubborn would occasionally cause harm to people, and those who had no talent did not reach success in the end.

It was the ruthless truth.

Harsh circumstances could unveil his hidden potential.

Yun Weisi came here to cultivate of his own accord, and his shizun had no objections.

Shizun was always strict, and liked seeing Yun Weisi’s tough cultivation methods.

He never gave Yun Weisi spiritual pills and medicine, and never let him take shortcuts. Even if Yun Weisi reached a bottleneck, his shizun would only say a few words stingily.

On the third day, or maybe later, he vaguely got the overall concept.

His mind was blank, and only his dantian had some spiritual powers, weak and trembling, like a candle in the wind.

By the time the snowfall went down, his eyes were no longer blurred.

He blinked, and frost fell down from his eyelashes.

A person was sitting on a stone far away.

His head and shoulders were covered with snow. He must have been sitting there for a long time.

That was Shizun.

With his cultivation base, there was no need for him to cultivate in a harsh way like this at all. But he was still sitting there, far apart from Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi smiled, forgetting that his face was frozen, and this smile almost made it crack.

But a smile flourished in his heart slowly, just like early spring touching a frozen lake.

After that, as much time as Yun Weisi spent there, so did his shizun.

Up until the moment he learned how to control his spiritual powers, and filled his body with it.

Some people don’t like to express their thoughts in words, but their thoughts can be seen through their behavior.

Yun Weisi considered his shizun a very gentle person, who did not know how to express it, and did not think that showing his feelings was needed.

If you can understand something, it is fate. Shizun would not regret what he missed because of his harshness.

He fell asleep on the ice-cold ground, but it seemed that someone picked him up. When he woke up after a long time, he could still feel it.

After his family was exterminated, he thought that he was left all alone in the world.

If it was not for his shizun, he would have achieved nothing.

“Don’t follow me.”

The scenery changed, and he heard this line.

His shizun repeated it once again.

“We broke all ties a long time ago, so don’t follow me anymore. That would only burden you.”

Yun Weisi saw that the other party wanted to go away, so he took two steps forward, gripped his arm, and embraced him tightly.

“Shizun!”

It was a childish act, and normally he would have been reprimanded for this, but not now.

This time, his shizun was silent for a long time, and then sighed.

“Why are you still behaving like a child? You cultivate the Heartless Dao, is that how you should act?”

“It’s better if I go in your place.”

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know whether the situation will turn out good or bad. There is no use for the both of us to go. Others think that we’ve fallen out with each other. If I don’t find the one who is controlling this whole thing from behind the scenes soon, they will definitely target you.”

Sad emotions were stirring in Yun Weisi’s heart, as if he had foreseen that Shizun was about to go to an appointment of no return.

Only if this warmth of their skins touching could last a bit longer.

His shizun was so powerful, the best one in the world, revered and famous. His enemies never dared face him, and even the most arrogant people bowed their haughty heads in his presence.

But being powerful does not mean being unrivaled. People’s hearts are like water, and water cannot be still; those who scheme to satisfy their greed will never disappear.

Shizun had realized that an invisible hand was turning clouds and raising winds around the Liuhe Zhutian Formation behind his back. The enemy was in the dark, while he was in the light; he expected something to go wrong with this formation.

Turning clouds and raising winds: constantly playing tricks

But in the end, he agreed to Ren Haishan’s request, and became one of the Liuhe Zhutian Formation’s supporters.

After that, Yun Weisi had thought countless times: what if he did his best to stop him that year? Would he have managed to stop his shizun from going away?

It was impossible.

He always knew the answer.

If Shizun made a decision, no one could change his mind.

This person, Jiufang Changming, seemed to act recklessly, based on his whims, making people bristle with anger. If he said he wanted to leave a sect, he left it; if he said he wanted to switch to a new school of cultivation, so he did. He never considered other people’s opinions, and was very harsh on his disciples, so harsh that some of them could not bear it and rebelled against him.

But Yun Weisi knew that Shizun’s heart was soft.

Only those who were willing to understand him could see these contrasting sides to him.

“Then I will wait for you.”

As if he was drifting outside of his own body and yet still staying inside, Yun Weisi heard his own words.

“If you don’t come back, I will come and find you.”

A hand patted his head.

Just like years ago, soft but strong.

He agreed wordlessly, and they understood each other without saying anything.

In a flash, that warm hand disappeared, and Yun Weisi fell into a boundless fog of utter chaos instead.

A shrill shriek pierced his ears, and a huge creature stretched its nails, almost slicing off a part of his body.

From afar, this thing looked like a small hill. It had a hard dark-green shell and scales, reflecting light. Its blood-colored eyes were rotating slowly and menacingly.

It was originally a regular tiger, but it had been contaminated by demonic qi, so its appearance altered to be this way.

When the Nine Layers of the Abyss had just appeared, it was full of monsters like this.

Saliva was dripping down from the fangs in its open mouth. The demonic beast backed off only to take a stand, ready to pounce on him.

In a flash, it attacked!

Yun Weisi could not remember how many beasts like this one had been killed by him.

Some of them used to be common wild animals from the Human World, but had deviated because of demonic qi; some were fish slipping through the net, and came from the Abyss.

And some were powerful cultivating demons no weaker than the masters of the Human World.

If he wanted to stand firmly in the Nine Layers of the Abyss, he had to get rid of all these obstacles.

The Chunzhao Sword sliced his enemy’s belly, and the latter fell to the ground heavily. But it still refused to give up without putting up a final fight, and struggled to lash back at him in the desperate situation.

The sword pierced its vital point on the neck, and the violently trembling beast finally stopped moving.

The blood and demonic qi it had emitted before its death sprayed on Yun Weisi.

He did not mind it. Wiping the blood from his face, Yun Weisi cut it open with a stony expression, taking out its inner core.

Since he had been staying in the Nine Layers of the Abyss for so long, things like this often happened to him, and he had already lost count of the occasions when demonic qi had reached his body. The threads of this qi permeated him, entering through his skin and hair. Many little drops make an ocean, so, in order to resist this contamination, he cultivated the Heartless Dao day after day, and chose to leave behind all mundane matters, including his own memories; if he could not throw everything away, he could at least seal them away.

Seal them away in a place no one would find, so that no one would be able to use his weakness.

If he wanted to find that person, he first needed to to guarantee his own survival, otherwise he would only be a burden.

But white dew follows the bright moon, and in a blink, hundreds of generations had passed by.

White dew follows the bright moon: time flows quickly. A line from 别赋  by 江淹 of the Southern Dynasties. Hundreds of generations is, obviously, a hyperbole

Would he still remember his original intention, remember that person?

He could not know.

Yun Weisi opened his eyes slowly.

He had not fallen asleep for so long, and this dream was too convoluted and volatile.

The man who was next to him had disappeared. Voices were coming from the outside.

The sky was bright, and the door was half-closed.

Yun Weisi got up and pushed it open.

“What do you think, are these Xiangyang Pills useful?” Xu Jingxian was delighted to offer borrowed flowers to the Buddha.

Offer borrowed flowers to the Buddha: to win favor by giving others’ belongings

Fang Suihan was sitting on a wheelchair, too lazy to say half a sentence.

“Useful,” Changming looked down on ordinary pills and medicine, but he praised these Xiangyang Pills highly.

“Stove flames turn cyan in the hands of the one who is able to refine such pills. His proficiency is that of a grandmaster.”

Stove flames turn cyan: of a high alchemy level: when all impurities disappear, the flames are said to turn blue; also fig. bring skills to perfection

Xu Jingxian was as happy as if it was her who was being praised.

“Then use these for now. If it’s not enough, Peak Master Fang will refine some more, he loves alchemy so!”

Fang Suihan: …

His lips were trembling, he wanted to say many things, but was almost helpless now, so he could only speak out carefully: “One Xiangyang Pill of decent quality takes three years of painstaking care to be created, and a high-quality one needs thirty years more. If you finish these, there will be no more!”

Xu Jingxian laughed: “Peak Master Fang, do you refine pills one by one? Why not a whole furnace at once? I don’t know anything about alchemy, but Clan Master’s Shifu does, don’t try to fool him!”

Fang Suihan’s patience was reaching its end.

Expressions like “temptress”, “fox exploiting a tiger’s might” and “selling your elder’s cultivated lands without feeling sorry” flashed through his mind.

Fox exploiting a tiger’s might: intimidate people by powerful connections

Selling an elder’s cultivated lands without feeling sorry: using other’s work without considering the efforts made to finish it

Toleration turns into gold, I will endure! Fang Suihan opened his twitching mouth: “Your usual pills cannot be compared with the Xiangyang Pills…”

Xu Jingxian was quite satisfied to see him humiliated and choking in fury silently, and even her suppressed resentments flew away overnight.

“Enough,” Changming said, “I will go to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple.”

Xu Jingxian recalled that skull’s words: “Will the clan master actually be there?”

Changming: “I don’t know, so I have to go.”

Xu Jingxian: “I have a teleportation tool, but I’ve never been to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, that domain of bald donkeys. The closest I’ve visited is the capital of Luo. I can get you there.”

Changming decided to go to the Luo Capital first.

According to their calculations, another one of the six positions for the Liuhe Zhutian Formation using the world as the chessboard was precisely the capital city of Luo.

“Are you coming as well?”

Xu Jingxian forced a smile: “I shouldn’t go, that killing-everyone environment isn’t good for a timid girl like myself.”

Fang Suihan rolled his eyes.

A rain red must be falling on the land, since even a temptress of demonic cultivation calls herself a timid girl!

The rain is red: pigs are flying

Changming summed up: “This place seems inauspicious, and we can’t say whether they’ve left someone else here. Even if you are not going to Luo Capital, you have to leave the Jianxue Clan as fast as possible. All right, Fang Suihan has difficulty walking now, so you should take him and go.”

Xu Jingxian’s eyes widened. She didn’t understand why she suddenly got this burden called Fang Suihan.

It was indeed not safe to remain in the Jianxue Clan, but wandering destitute alone, only with this half-waste burden, was not any safer. The Jianxue Clan had countless enemies who would attack them simultaneously when they heard about the fall of the sect, and they would become tigers bullied by dogs after going down their mountains. Moreover, they were involved in many uncertain cases, and Xu Jingxian could easily imagine their end after the persons standing behind the scenes stumbled upon the two escaped fish, not to mention they were in the light while their enemy was in the dark.

A tiger bullied by dogs after going down its mountain: a person subjected to humiliation after losing their power

Apparently, it seemed as if staying by the clan master’s shifu’s side was safer. If they saved the clan master in passing, she would even get the Donghai muslin soon.

Before, when she entered the Nine Layers of the Abyss, she regretted everything. But in the end she was even lucky enough to stumble upon some Yangzhen Grass.

The imaginary scales in her heart finally tipped towards one side.

“I thought this through,” she seemed sincere, and her tone was genuine. “If the two seniors go into boiling water or walk into fire alone, I won’t be able to relax. I will accompany you.”

Go into boiling water and walk on fire: make sacrifices for the sake of others

Fang Suihan sneered at her.

Without looking back and hesitating, Xu Jingxian kicked his injured leg, quickly and accurately.

Ah!!!

A shriek pierced the sky, welcoming the new day.

…

The country of Luo, the Luo Capital.

When the last emperor of the Hong Dynasty left power, the united Empire disintegrated.

While Changming was wandering through the Yellow Springs, the world had become divided into three parts.

The Zhaoyue Dynasty and the two countries, Luo and You.

Mundane politics had no relation to cultivators, but many cultivators mingled in there, raising winds and clouds in hopes of obtaining more profits.

After all, as the wealthiest people of the Human World, the imperial family had always been able to gather many resources, which could also benefit cultivators.

While You had the Wanlian Buddhist Temple dictate the official religion, and honored Buddhism deeply, Luo was a country of many schools.

Although the Qingyun School was distinguished by their monarch, and welcomed them at the court at all times, there was also a place for Daoism and Confucianism, and even some Demonic cultivators mixed in there. After decades had passed, the Luo Capital turned into the most prosperous place in the world. Festivals never came to an end here, and no night curfew was declared. From nightfall to dawn, the lights in the city never went down completely, so this city was also known as the “Capital of Fire”, which meant that even at night, it was glowing as bright as during the day.

Xu Jingxian loved such places, bustling with activity, so she had already visited the Luo Capital to have some fun. But it did not happen often. First of all, she was a demonic cultivator, so she could easily be targeted. Secondly, dragons and snakes had mingled in this place, and bald donkeys she felt reluctant to even see meandering about in this city as there were many Buddhist sects.

Dragons and snakes mingled: all kinds of people, good or bad

“I almost forgot, today is the Washing Autumn Festival!”

Streams of people were busily coming and going through the streets, and many had pinwheels of colored paper with flowers depicted on them.

Fathers were holding their children in their hands, and vendors were trying to sell petals with fresh dewdrops. Sometimes, a carriage of a nobleman passed by, but it would be blocked by the crowd, so the people had to get out of their carriages and walk.

“What’s a Washing Autumn Festival?” Changming didn’t remember such a festival.

Xu Jingxian said: “Luo was founded in autumn, and their emperor named the day Washing Autumn. Everyone, from the people of the imperial court’s yamens to the common folks, celebrates it on a large scale. But there is no curfew in the Luo Capital, so every day the streets are not much more deserted than today. It’s just that today there are more people.”

Compared to Changming, who just didn’t know the festivals of the dynasty, everything was a complete novelty to Yun Weisi.

The Nine Layers of the Abyss was ever-changing, but there was no bustling atmosphere of the Human World.

He had gone to the past with Changming, and even met his biological parents, but that was still different compared to what he saw now.

It was a real scene of boisterous celebration, just within his reach.

“What is it?”

It was rare for Yun Weisi to get curious about something, even though he still remained expressionless on the surface.

“ ‘Getting higher each step’.”

Changming reached his hand and piled up several colorful balls of different sizes. These balls were small and not perfectly round, flattened from two opposite sides. Children piled them up, and the highest pile won, hence this game was called ‘getting higher each step’.

He placed four or five of them skillfully, and heard Yun Weisi’s voice: “Have you ever bought them for me?”

Changming was slightly stunned. Due to his carelessness, the balls rolled down from his hand, wasting his previous efforts.

“You remember it?”

The author has something to say:

Sweet, right?

Yun Weisi hadn’t slept for a really long period of time.

For a cultivator, sleeping meant cultivating in meditation.

Life is too short, and those pursuing the path to immortality could not rest at all.

But this time, not only did he fall asleep, he even had a dream.

Perhaps, it happened because he was obsessed earlier; or, maybe, he was influenced by the person sleeping by his side.

The dream was bizzare and inconsistent, leaping through time.

He was in a world of ice and snow, with whiteness stretching to the horizon, not a single other color in sight.

Yun Weisi was standing under a frozen waterfall in a light garment.

The waterfall was hovering above his head in threads, ready to turn into sharp ice hammers and fall down, piercing his skull.

His teeth were rattling because of the cold, and his body was shaking against his will. The frost enveloped him, reaching his inner organs, and even his bones were almost frozen.

Someone was approaching him from a distance.

This person was getting closer, but the snow was still covering his figure, and he could not be seen clearly.

Yun Weisi watched the person get near him.

“Still haven’t finished?” Shizun asked.

He nodded with difficulty. But his neck was frozen stiff, and he was not sure whether he actually nodded.

“Then continue.”

Shizun said. He looked at Yun Weisi for a short time, turned around again and left without looking back.

Yun Weisi stood like this for three days and three nights.

It was not a punishment, but cultivation.

His cultivation was advancing slowly, and people from the Yuhuang Temple thought it would be hard for him to become a real cultivator.

Even if no one denied his tenaciousness and decisiveness, being stubborn would occasionally cause harm to people, and those who had no talent did not reach success in the end.

It was the ruthless truth.

Harsh circumstances could unveil his hidden potential.

Yun Weisi came here to cultivate of his own accord, and his shizun had no objections.

Shizun was always strict, and liked seeing Yun Weisi’s tough cultivation methods.

He never gave Yun Weisi spiritual pills and medicine, and never let him take shortcuts. Even if Yun Weisi reached a bottleneck, his shizun would only say a few words stingily.

On the third day, or maybe later, he vaguely got the overall concept.

His mind was blank, and only his dantian had some spiritual powers, weak and trembling, like a candle in the wind.

By the time the snowfall went down, his eyes were no longer blurred.

He blinked, and frost fell down from his eyelashes.

A person was sitting on a stone far away.

His head and shoulders were covered with snow. He must have been sitting there for a long time.

That was Shizun.

With his cultivation base, there was no need for him to cultivate in a harsh way like this at all. But he was still sitting there, far apart from Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi smiled, forgetting that his face was frozen, and this smile almost made it crack.

But a smile flourished in his heart slowly, just like early spring touching a frozen lake.

After that, as much time as Yun Weisi spent there, so did his shizun.

Up until the moment he learned how to control his spiritual powers, and filled his body with it.

Some people don’t like to express their thoughts in words, but their thoughts can be seen through their behavior.

Yun Weisi considered his shizun a very gentle person, who did not know how to express it, and did not think that showing his feelings was needed.

If you can understand something, it is fate. Shizun would not regret what he missed because of his harshness.

He fell asleep on the ice-cold ground, but it seemed that someone picked him up. When he woke up after a long time, he could still feel it.

After his family was exterminated, he thought that he was left all alone in the world.

If it was not for his shizun, he would have achieved nothing.

“Don’t follow me.”

The scenery changed, and he heard this line.

His shizun repeated it once again.

“We broke all ties a long time ago, so don’t follow me anymore. That would only burden you.”

Yun Weisi saw that the other party wanted to go away, so he took two steps forward, gripped his arm, and embraced him tightly.

“Shizun!”

It was a childish act, and normally he would have been reprimanded for this, but not now.

This time, his shizun was silent for a long time, and then sighed.

“Why are you still behaving like a child? You cultivate the Heartless Dao, is that how you should act?”

“It’s better if I go in your place.”

“I’ve already told you, I don’t know whether the situation will turn out good or bad. There is no use for the both of us to go. Others think that we’ve fallen out with each other. If I don’t find the one who is controlling this whole thing from behind the scenes soon, they will definitely target you.”

Sad emotions were stirring in Yun Weisi’s heart, as if he had foreseen that Shizun was about to go to an appointment of no return.

Only if this warmth of their skins touching could last a bit longer.

His shizun was so powerful, the best one in the world, revered and famous. His enemies never dared face him, and even the most arrogant people bowed their haughty heads in his presence.

But being powerful does not mean being unrivaled. People’s hearts are like water, and water cannot be still; those who scheme to satisfy their greed will never disappear.

Shizun had realized that an invisible hand was turning clouds and raising winds around the Liuhe Zhutian Formation behind his back. The enemy was in the dark, while he was in the light; he expected something to go wrong with this formation.

Turning clouds and raising winds: constantly playing tricks

But in the end, he agreed to Ren Haishan’s request, and became one of the Liuhe Zhutian Formation’s supporters.

After that, Yun Weisi had thought countless times: what if he did his best to stop him that year? Would he have managed to stop his shizun from going away?

It was impossible.

He always knew the answer.

If Shizun made a decision, no one could change his mind.

This person, Jiufang Changming, seemed to act recklessly, based on his whims, making people bristle with anger. If he said he wanted to leave a sect, he left it; if he said he wanted to switch to a new school of cultivation, so he did. He never considered other people’s opinions, and was very harsh on his disciples, so harsh that some of them could not bear it and rebelled against him.

But Yun Weisi knew that Shizun’s heart was soft.

Only those who were willing to understand him could see these contrasting sides to him.

“Then I will wait for you.”

As if he was drifting outside of his own body and yet still staying inside, Yun Weisi heard his own words.

“If you don’t come back, I will come and find you.”

A hand patted his head.

Just like years ago, soft but strong.

He agreed wordlessly, and they understood each other without saying anything.

In a flash, that warm hand disappeared, and Yun Weisi fell into a boundless fog of utter chaos instead.

A shrill shriek pierced his ears, and a huge creature stretched its nails, almost slicing off a part of his body.

From afar, this thing looked like a small hill. It had a hard dark-green shell and scales, reflecting light. Its blood-colored eyes were rotating slowly and menacingly.

It was originally a regular tiger, but it had been contaminated by demonic qi, so its appearance altered to be this way.

When the Nine Layers of the Abyss had just appeared, it was full of monsters like this.

Saliva was dripping down from the fangs in its open mouth. The demonic beast backed off only to take a stand, ready to pounce on him.

In a flash, it attacked!

Yun Weisi could not remember how many beasts like this one had been killed by him.

Some of them used to be common wild animals from the Human World, but had deviated because of demonic qi; some were fish slipping through the net, and came from the Abyss.

And some were powerful cultivating demons no weaker than the masters of the Human World.

If he wanted to stand firmly in the Nine Layers of the Abyss, he had to get rid of all these obstacles.

The Chunzhao Sword sliced his enemy’s belly, and the latter fell to the ground heavily. But it still refused to give up without putting up a final fight, and struggled to lash back at him in the desperate situation.

The sword pierced its vital point on the neck, and the violently trembling beast finally stopped moving.

The blood and demonic qi it had emitted before its death sprayed on Yun Weisi.

He did not mind it. Wiping the blood from his face, Yun Weisi cut it open with a stony expression, taking out its inner core.

Since he had been staying in the Nine Layers of the Abyss for so long, things like this often happened to him, and he had already lost count of the occasions when demonic qi had reached his body. The threads of this qi permeated him, entering through his skin and hair. Many little drops make an ocean, so, in order to resist this contamination, he cultivated the Heartless Dao day after day, and chose to leave behind all mundane matters, including his own memories; if he could not throw everything away, he could at least seal them away.

Seal them away in a place no one would find, so that no one would be able to use his weakness.

If he wanted to find that person, he first needed to to guarantee his own survival, otherwise he would only be a burden.

But white dew follows the bright moon, and in a blink, hundreds of generations had passed by.

White dew follows the bright moon: time flows quickly. A line from 别赋  by 江淹 of the Southern Dynasties. Hundreds of generations is, obviously, a hyperbole

Would he still remember his original intention, remember that person?

He could not know.

Yun Weisi opened his eyes slowly.

He had not fallen asleep for so long, and this dream was too convoluted and volatile.

The man who was next to him had disappeared. Voices were coming from the outside.

The sky was bright, and the door was half-closed.

Yun Weisi got up and pushed it open.

“What do you think, are these Xiangyang Pills useful?” Xu Jingxian was delighted to offer borrowed flowers to the Buddha.

Offer borrowed flowers to the Buddha: to win favor by giving others’ belongings

Fang Suihan was sitting on a wheelchair, too lazy to say half a sentence.

“Useful,” Changming looked down on ordinary pills and medicine, but he praised these Xiangyang Pills highly.

“Stove flames turn cyan in the hands of the one who is able to refine such pills. His proficiency is that of a grandmaster.”

Stove flames turn cyan: of a high alchemy level: when all impurities disappear, the flames are said to turn blue; also fig. bring skills to perfection

Xu Jingxian was as happy as if it was her who was being praised.

“Then use these for now. If it’s not enough, Peak Master Fang will refine some more, he loves alchemy so!”

Fang Suihan: …

His lips were trembling, he wanted to say many things, but was almost helpless now, so he could only speak out carefully: “One Xiangyang Pill of decent quality takes three years of painstaking care to be created, and a high-quality one needs thirty years more. If you finish these, there will be no more!”

Xu Jingxian laughed: “Peak Master Fang, do you refine pills one by one? Why not a whole furnace at once? I don’t know anything about alchemy, but Clan Master’s Shifu does, don’t try to fool him!”

Fang Suihan’s patience was reaching its end.

Expressions like “temptress”, “fox exploiting a tiger’s might” and “selling your elder’s cultivated lands without feeling sorry” flashed through his mind.

Fox exploiting a tiger’s might: intimidate people by powerful connections

Selling an elder’s cultivated lands without feeling sorry: using other’s work without considering the efforts made to finish it

Toleration turns into gold, I will endure! Fang Suihan opened his twitching mouth: “Your usual pills cannot be compared with the Xiangyang Pills…”

Xu Jingxian was quite satisfied to see him humiliated and choking in fury silently, and even her suppressed resentments flew away overnight.

“Enough,” Changming said, “I will go to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple.”

Xu Jingxian recalled that skull’s words: “Will the clan master actually be there?”

Changming: “I don’t know, so I have to go.”

Xu Jingxian: “I have a teleportation tool, but I’ve never been to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, that domain of bald donkeys. The closest I’ve visited is the capital of Luo. I can get you there.”

Changming decided to go to the Luo Capital first.

According to their calculations, another one of the six positions for the Liuhe Zhutian Formation using the world as the chessboard was precisely the capital city of Luo.

“Are you coming as well?”

Xu Jingxian forced a smile: “I shouldn’t go, that killing-everyone environment isn’t good for a timid girl like myself.”

Fang Suihan rolled his eyes.

A rain red must be falling on the land, since even a temptress of demonic cultivation calls herself a timid girl!

The rain is red: pigs are flying

Changming summed up: “This place seems inauspicious, and we can’t say whether they’ve left someone else here. Even if you are not going to Luo Capital, you have to leave the Jianxue Clan as fast as possible. All right, Fang Suihan has difficulty walking now, so you should take him and go.”

Xu Jingxian’s eyes widened. She didn’t understand why she suddenly got this burden called Fang Suihan.

It was indeed not safe to remain in the Jianxue Clan, but wandering destitute alone, only with this half-waste burden, was not any safer. The Jianxue Clan had countless enemies who would attack them simultaneously when they heard about the fall of the sect, and they would become tigers bullied by dogs after going down their mountains. Moreover, they were involved in many uncertain cases, and Xu Jingxian could easily imagine their end after the persons standing behind the scenes stumbled upon the two escaped fish, not to mention they were in the light while their enemy was in the dark.

A tiger bullied by dogs after going down its mountain: a person subjected to humiliation after losing their power

Apparently, it seemed as if staying by the clan master’s shifu’s side was safer. If they saved the clan master in passing, she would even get the Donghai muslin soon.

Before, when she entered the Nine Layers of the Abyss, she regretted everything. But in the end she was even lucky enough to stumble upon some Yangzhen Grass.

The imaginary scales in her heart finally tipped towards one side.

“I thought this through,” she seemed sincere, and her tone was genuine. “If the two seniors go into boiling water or walk into fire alone, I won’t be able to relax. I will accompany you.”

Go into boiling water and walk on fire: make sacrifices for the sake of others

Fang Suihan sneered at her.

Without looking back and hesitating, Xu Jingxian kicked his injured leg, quickly and accurately.

Ah!!!

A shriek pierced the sky, welcoming the new day.

…

The country of Luo, the Luo Capital.

When the last emperor of the Hong Dynasty left power, the united Empire disintegrated.

While Changming was wandering through the Yellow Springs, the world had become divided into three parts.

The Zhaoyue Dynasty and the two countries, Luo and You.

Mundane politics had no relation to cultivators, but many cultivators mingled in there, raising winds and clouds in hopes of obtaining more profits.

After all, as the wealthiest people of the Human World, the imperial family had always been able to gather many resources, which could also benefit cultivators.

While You had the Wanlian Buddhist Temple dictate the official religion, and honored Buddhism deeply, Luo was a country of many schools.

Although the Qingyun School was distinguished by their monarch, and welcomed them at the court at all times, there was also a place for Daoism and Confucianism, and even some Demonic cultivators mixed in there. After decades had passed, the Luo Capital turned into the most prosperous place in the world. Festivals never came to an end here, and no night curfew was declared. From nightfall to dawn, the lights in the city never went down completely, so this city was also known as the “Capital of Fire”, which meant that even at night, it was glowing as bright as during the day.

Xu Jingxian loved such places, bustling with activity, so she had already visited the Luo Capital to have some fun. But it did not happen often. First of all, she was a demonic cultivator, so she could easily be targeted. Secondly, dragons and snakes had mingled in this place, and bald donkeys she felt reluctant to even see meandering about in this city as there were many Buddhist sects.

Dragons and snakes mingled: all kinds of people, good or bad

“I almost forgot, today is the Washing Autumn Festival!”

Streams of people were busily coming and going through the streets, and many had pinwheels of colored paper with flowers depicted on them.

Fathers were holding their children in their hands, and vendors were trying to sell petals with fresh dewdrops. Sometimes, a carriage of a nobleman passed by, but it would be blocked by the crowd, so the people had to get out of their carriages and walk.

“What’s a Washing Autumn Festival?” Changming didn’t remember such a festival.

Xu Jingxian said: “Luo was founded in autumn, and their emperor named the day Washing Autumn. Everyone, from the people of the imperial court’s yamens to the common folks, celebrates it on a large scale. But there is no curfew in the Luo Capital, so every day the streets are not much more deserted than today. It’s just that today there are more people.”

Compared to Changming, who just didn’t know the festivals of the dynasty, everything was a complete novelty to Yun Weisi.

The Nine Layers of the Abyss was ever-changing, but there was no bustling atmosphere of the Human World.

He had gone to the past with Changming, and even met his biological parents, but that was still different compared to what he saw now.

It was a real scene of boisterous celebration, just within his reach.

“What is it?”

It was rare for Yun Weisi to get curious about something, even though he still remained expressionless on the surface.

“ ‘Getting higher each step’.”

Changming reached his hand and piled up several colorful balls of different sizes. These balls were small and not perfectly round, flattened from two opposite sides. Children piled them up, and the highest pile won, hence this game was called ‘getting higher each step’.

He placed four or five of them skillfully, and heard Yun Weisi’s voice: “Have you ever bought them for me?”

Changming was slightly stunned. Due to his carelessness, the balls rolled down from his hand, wasting his previous efforts.

“You remember it?”

The author has something to say:

Sweet, right?