Back to Apricot Forest (II)

 January 4, 2022January 2, 2022By koffeam

“…” Ji Wujiong reluctantly followed, “Meng Qi, you…” He looked at the blue-robed young girl, who had regained her usual calmness. He suddenly chuckled and asked: “Up to you, then. But who is that Lin Yan?”

“Senior Lin Yan, she…” Meng Qi narrowed her eyes slightly. Her emotion, which had just barely calmed down, stirred up again.

“I have only read about her in books.” Meng Qi said as she walked: “She was a famous figure who lived more than tens of thousands of years ago. Not only was she extremely talented in medical skills, but she was also talented in cultivation. She was one of the great healers who reached the Profound realm of medical cultivation.”

“Great healer? How funny. Isn’t it just a Profound realm?” Ji Wujiong commented. “Then?”

Meng Qi glared at him, but she still continued: “Senior Lin Yan is a genius who reached the Profound realm of medical cultivation as a Comprehending Perfection stage cultivator. Not only that, she soon broke through into the Great Ascension stage. According to the legend, she is the most likely candidate to become a Heaven realm medical cultivator.”

“Heaven realm…” Hearing this, even Ji Wujiong’s expression became solemn. Every cultivation branch, whether medical, sword, spell, or array, was divided into nine ranks and three realms of Profound, Earth, and Heaven. Breaking through the ninth rank and entering the Profound realm was already a very remarkable genius. To break through even further was as difficult as ascending. Even in ancient times when geniuses could be found everywhere, those who could enter the Profound realm of their cultivation branch were still far and between, and they were respected everywhere they went.

And this Lin Yan was talented enough to be expected to reach the Heaven realm.

“In the year when Senior Lin Yan broke through the Great Ascension stage, Devil Cultivators invaded, filling Three Thousand Worlds with devil aura. Six cities and eight towns in the Southern Realm were enveloped by devil aura, which attracted countless poisonous devil beasts and devil insects. Countless civilians were killed and injured.” Meng Qi sighed. She had only read descriptions in books, but she couldn’t even bear to imagine how terrible was the situation back then. “Later, the devil cultivators were repelled by Three Thousand Worlds’ cultivators, but the six cities and eight towns were still under siege. For a while, the place was a living hell. Medical cultivators came to aid, but there were too many casualties. Moreover, the devil aura was not yet dissipated. Let alone ordinary people with no cultivation base, even low-level cultivators like me couldn’t last a few days.”

“I see.” Ji Wujiong seemed to be taken aback and then responded with a low voice.

“Senior Lin Yan had just entered the Great Ascension stage, but for the sake of the people poisoned by the devil aura, she hastily scattered her cultivation base.” Meng Qi said again. In fact, there were not many details in the books, so she just explained in a few simple sentences. However, as a medical cultivator, Meng Qi could imagine the dire situation at that time.

“What then?” Ji Wujiong was silent for a moment before asking again. Even someone with such a poisonous tongue as his couldn’t say anything to demean Lin Yan.

“In the three realms, a Great Ascension cultivator is already at the pinnacle of strength. Senior Lin Yan’s spiritual aura was as deep as the ocean itself. Coupled with her Profound realm medical cultivation level, her scattered cultivation base was equivalent to the effect of hundreds of years worth of Qingfeng spell usage. Thanks to her sacrifice, the disaster in the six cities and eight towns were finally resolved.” Meng Qi paused again. “But Senior Lin Yan’s cultivation base fell greatly from the Great Ascension stage to the Void Comprehending stage, and it would be difficult for her to advance ever again.”

Meng Qi and Ji Wujiong walked side by side. Both of them were silent. After a while, Ji Wujiong finally spoke again: “Cultivation is an act against heaven itself. The road of cultivation is naturally followed by countless hurdles and dangers. She was about to reach the pinnacle and had the potential to reach the true highest realm of cultivation. But for the people who were total strangers to her, she forcefully went against heaven and paid the heavy price herself…” Ji Wujiong sighed deeply: “This is the true greatness of the ancients, far beyond my reach!”

Meng Qi couldn’t help but glance at Ji Wujiong. It was really not easy to make this guy give such a high evaluation.

Feeling Meng Qi’s gaze, Ji Wujiong snorted again: “If those old farts could copy even a little demeanor of those great ancient powers, you medical cultivators won’t be reduced to such a state.”

Just now, he was still feeling annoyed and thus deliberately asked Meng Qi, wanting to see her regretful look again. Unexpectedly, he became impressed by this senior named Lin Yan.

This was the normal Ji Wujiong, and Meng Qi didn’t bother to pay attention to him. “Huh?” She suddenly looked in one direction. “Over there, isn’t that…”

“Apricot Forest!” Ji Wujiong exclaimed.

“Let’s go.” Meng Qi hastened her pace.

They walked very fast and arrived in no time. When Meng Qi approached the forest, she could see that it was not the Apricot Forest where her friends were waiting for her. In fact, it was not an actual forest, as the place consisted of just four huge apricot trees. The trees should have been tens of thousands of years old. Their branches covered the sky and blocked the sunlight, lush enough to be mistaken as a forest from a distance. Countless green apricots hung densely on the trees. Although the apricots were unripe, they looked very bright and appetizing, making it obvious that they were not normal fruits.

Ji Wujiong narrowed his eyes slightly. His attention was not on the green apricots, but on the ground between the roots of the four trees.

Could it be…

Not only Ji Wujiong, but the little white tiger Yun Qingyan also raised his head. A bright light flashed in his azure blue eyes.

—This place was the eye of the array that formed the entire barrier.

Yun Qingyan glanced coldly at the black-robed man outside. It seemed that he had figured it out too. In Yun Qingyan’s eyes, Ji Wujiong was nothing remarkable. Although this guy might know some fancy arrays, it was nothing. The only thing worth mentioning was the trump card he exposed in the sea of devil aura, which was a bit interesting. Others might not know it, but Yun Qingyan knew that the bird Ji Wujiong summoned was a celestial demon phoenix.