“Awake?” Yu Jing said to her several unwilling-to-open-their-eyes nephews and nieces. “If you’re awake, then hurry up and get up.”
The six disciples of Wangshu Pavilion scrambled to their feet, while the three disciples of Shenji School silently got up and stood behind the six with their heads lowered.
If the disciples of the Jiutian Sect were merely somewhat afraid, then they were too terrified to make a sound. Not long ago, Immortal Venerable Qiu had beaten their sect master so badly that he couldn’t get out of bed, and their sect had also offended the Wangshu Pavilion. Now that the Pavilion Master of the Wangshu Pavilion was here, they didn’t even dare to breathe too hard.
“Were you also captured by the evil yao?” Yu Jing did not ignore the three of them.
Yuan Wo nodded honestly, his face swollen and bruised. He even cupped his hands in a salute to Yu Jing. “Junior has met Pavilion Master Yu.”
Yu Jing gave a meaningful laugh. She didn’t have the habit of making things difficult for juniors, but this Shenji School’s head disciple’s appearance seemed to have become much more upright. She wondered what kind of experiences he had recently.
“Your sect is quite far from here, so your sect elders probably won’t be able to make it here in time.” She took out half a bottle of Essence-Recovering pills and smiled gently. “Take these to heal your wounds.”
“Thank you, Pavilion Master Yu.” Yuan Wo took the medicine, deeply moved. He never expected that not only did Pavilion Master Yu not hold a grudge against them for that day, but she also treated them with such tolerance and kindness.
He shook the bottle vigorously, but only three Essence-Recovering pills fell out. When he saw the pained yet concerned expression on Pavilion Master Yu’s face, he immediately understood. Wangshu Pavilion was so poor that these three Essence-Recovering pills were probably the only ones Pavilion Master Yu had left.
Thinking of this, he was even more moved and bowed deeply to Yu Jing. “Thank you, Pavilion Master.”
“I’m so glad you’re all right.” Yu Jing’s smile grew even gentler. “Otherwise, it would have broken my heart as an elder to see you like this.”
Yuan Wo swallowed the Essence-Recovering pill with great care, his eyes filling with tears. He had been a real piece of work in the past.
“The evil yao didn’t leave many traces of its existence here, and the corpses it buried are all very fresh, so it probably didn’t move here long ago.” Qiu Hua observed the surroundings of the ruined temple and removed all the formation runes that could harm mortals before returning to the temple. “The deceased may be nearby residents. The two cities adjacent to this place are Qiyue City and Langgan City. Nan Feng, send a message to the city lords of these two cities and ask them if there have been any incidents of missing residents.”
“Immortal Venerable Qiu, I’m afraid it will be difficult to investigate,” Yu Jing sighed. “This yao’s cultivation is profound. It can travel thousands of li in a few breaths. We can’t even determine whether this is the corpse of an immortal cultivator or a mortal.”
In the world, there were countless beings. Major sects stood tall in the cultivation world, and there were also immortal cultivators who had not yet joined a sect. It was all too easy to make some people disappear without a trace.
Qiu Hua couldn’t hide her disgust for the leech yao. She said to the leech yao who was wailing in pain in the cage, “Your baleful aura is so strong. How many people have you harmed?”
Whether it was the yao or the demon realm, they had been frequently causing trouble in the mortal realm lately, and she had a vague sense of foreboding.
When all the bad things were happening frequently, it was not a coincidence, but…
The great calamity had already descended.
She turned around and looked at the young disciples behind her. Their faces were still young and they were full of hope for the future.
Once again, Qiu Hua drew out the Heaven-Destroying Sword, preparing to kill this evil yao.
“Ding!”carpreads.pages.dev
The Cosmos Sword came out of nowhere and blocked her attack.
“Jiufang Bu Ting, what do you intend to do?” Qiu Hua turned around, her sword pointed at the man who had just walked into the temple. “When your juniors needed help, you were nowhere to be found. Now that the dust has settled and I’m about to kill this monster, you suddenly appear.”
She thrust her sword without holding back, and Bu Ting quickly summoned the Cosmos Sword to block Qiu Hua’s attack.
“Can you be more rational……”
“Calm down, my ass!” Qiu Hua attacked again and again. “I can only calm down after you’re dead.”
The two of them fought from inside the temple to outside. Everywhere they passed, rocks and sand flew, and trees and grass were broken. Two Shenji School disciples with relatively low cultivation bases only glanced at the sword moves they made, and they were forced to vomit blood by the endless sword intent.
Yuan Wo supported his two junior brothers and hid behind the statue in the ruined temple. He turned his head and saw Jiu Hui leading the people from Wangshu Pavilion to hide under the turtle shell protective formation.
When it was at the Jiutian Sect, this turtle shell could only support a protective barrier of seven or eight feet. Now, the barrier it could support was two or three times larger than before.
“You want to come in?” Noticing Yuan Wo’s gaze, Jiu Hui held up a finger. “For the sake of our old friendship, I’ll only charge you a thousand spirit stones.”
Yuan Wo: “…”
He couldn’t give a single one.
He turned his head away with backbone. He did not believe that the two Immortal Venerables would really disregard the others and let them die under the sword energies.
“You have quite the backbone. No wonder you only begged for mercy after getting beaten up.”
“Jiu Hui, don’t be silly.” Yu Jing said with a smile, “Why don’t you let the three of them in?”
“Yes, Master.” Jiu Hui pointed with two fingers and used her spiritual power to drag the three of them into the barrier.
Yuan Wo glanced at Jiu Hui. Pavilion Master Yu was so gentle and considerate, how did she raise an apprentice like Jiu Hui?
Boom.
The roof of the ruined temple flew off.
Shua.
The pillars of the ruined temple were gone.
Boom boom.
Now even the statue had turned into dust.
Jiu Hui and the others sat on the open ground, holding their chins and watching the two Immortal Venerables fight, causing the heavens and earth to change color, with lightning and thunder.
“As expected of Immortal Venerable Bu, this move, Sword Breaking the Nine Heavens, is like a heavenly thunder descending to the world, containing boundless sword intent.”
“Immortal Venerable Qiu’s move, Severing Snow and Quelling Wind, was even more exquisite. As soon as she made his move, even the wind paused.”
The disciples of the Shenji School…
No way, you guys are talking so confidently, did you steal someone’s sword manual?
“Junior Sister Jiu Hui, do you want to pull in those three disciples from the Jiutian Sect?” Luo Yan poked Jiu Hui’s shoulder, then pointed to Nan Feng and the others not far away: “I think the three of them are struggling quite a bit.”
Jiu Hui shook her head and said with understanding, “Their sect master is outside discussing the Dao with other sect masters. Wouldn’t it be inappropriate for them to hide inside the protective barrier?”
Discussing the Dao?
Yuan Wo raised his eyebrows, Jiu Hui’s choice of words was quite considerate. The two Immortal Venerables were already fighting so hard but she didn’t say that they were fighting, but that they were discussing the Dao.
Who in the world would discuss the Dao by demolishing a temple to the point where not even its foundation remained?
Three hours later, most of the disciples of Wangshu Pavilion had fallen asleep in the barrier, and the two disciples of Shenji School were also so sleepy that they could barely keep their eyes open. Jiu Hui took out a bag of pine nuts from her storage ring and gave a handful to Zhi You and Yuan Wo each. “Have a bite to eat and perk up.”
Since there were outsiders present, her master had to maintain the image of a senior and she didn’t give her any pine nuts.
Yuan Wo yawned, feeling a little down. Several hours had passed, and his master still hadn’t come to find them. The weak and insignificant Wangshu Pavilion was willing to run around for its disciples, even going so far as to swallow their pride and ask for help from a major sect…
“Don’t think too much about it.” Jiu Hui knew what Yuan Wo was thinking when she saw his expression. “Is it possible that your master has already arrived, but hid after seeing Immortal Venerable Qiu and Immortal Venerable Bu?”
“You don’t have to comfort me.” Yuan Wo smiled bitterly. “Regardless, this time, I’m very grateful that Pavilion Master Yu brought Immortal Venerable Qiu to save our lives.”
“I’m not trying to comfort you. Do you see the grass patch over there that’s been shaking?” Jiu Hui pressed Yuan Wo’s head and twisted it to the left. “Come on, take a closer look.”
Yuan Wo focused his gaze and discovered a small patch of purple cloth at the edge of the grass.
Thinking of how his master always liked to wear a purple robe, Yuan Wo：“……”
Although it was embarrassing, his mood unexpectedly improved. Yuan Wo awkwardly thanked Jiu Hui, “Thank you.”
“If you really want to thank me…”
“Don’t even think about it!” Yuan Wo’s face was full of pain. “Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui, I really don’t have any money this time.”
In the past, during festivals, he would receive tributes from minor sects and various city lords. Now that he has turned over a new leaf, not only did he not accept tributes, but he also gave money to help the poor people who were struggling to make ends meet.
In order to save money, he couldn’t even bear to buy snacks, relying entirely on bigu pills.
For the first time in his life, he had to live such a hard life.
“Excuse me.” Zhi You suddenly got up, took a cushion, and sat down between Yuan Wo and Jiu Hui.
Yuan Wo shifted to the side, not understanding why Zhi You had suddenly squeezed over.
“Want some?” Zhi You opened his palm, revealing peeled pine nuts.
“Yes.” Jiu Hui nodded and reached out to take the peeled pine nuts. “The two Immortal Venerables won’t fight until dawn, will they?”
Zhi You kept his palm open and slowly shook his head. “If you’re sleepy, lean on me and rest.”
“It’s better to keep an eye on them. At least when they’re almost done fighting, we can try to break it up,” Jiu Hui sighed as she watched them fight without holding back. “We can’t just stand here and watch one of them die.”
“It’s fine,” Zhi You said seriously. “If you’re asleep, it doesn’t count as watching with your own eyes.”
“No, brother, these are the two Immortal Venerables with the highest cultivation in our immortal cultivation world. If one of them dies, the demons and the yaos will invade, and we’ll be in danger.” Yuan Wo sighed. “No, we still have to persuade them.”
“You’re going?” Zhi You lifted his eyelids, his expression extremely indifferent.
Yuan Wo lowered his head in silence, as if he had never spoken.
“In an hour, the sky will be bright.” Jiu Hui finished the pine nuts, drank a bottle of dew, stood up, patted the pine nut shells off her body, and walked out of the barrier.
Without a second thought, Zhi You followed after her.
“Hey, you guys be careful!” Yuan Wo didn’t expect the two to actually go to persuade people, so he anxiously said to Yu Jing, who was closing her eyes and resting, “Pavilion Master Yu, quickly call the two of them back.”
“Don’t worry, Immortal Venerable Qiu and Immortal Venerable Bu are highly respected and won’t hurt them.” Yu Jing smiled to comfort Yuan Wo’s emotions. “Don’t worry.”
Yuan Wo: “…”
So, the emperor was not in a hurry, but the eunuch was?
Seeing that Yu Jing had closed her eyes again, Yuan Wo stood up and took a step outside the barrier, but fearfully retracted his foot. After repeating this several times, he gritted his teeth and rushed out.
He had barely run a few steps when a sword energy swept over, and Yuan Wo was knocked back into the barrier. His neck twisted, and he fainted.
Yu Jing reached out and probed his spiritual platform. Seeing that he had only been knocked unconscious and was not seriously injured, she retracted her hand with relief.
However, the grass in the distance shook violently a few times, and an old man in purple robes rushed out. But this old man was not very lucky. As soon as he emerged from the grass, he was bounced back by the spiritual power of the two Immortal Venerables.
Yu Jing: “…”
“Immortal Venerable Qiu, Immortal Venerable Bu.” Jiu Hui held up a defensive magic weapon umbrella, squeezing under it with Zhi You. From a distance, she waved at the two who were fighting fiercely, “Stop fighting, or you’ll miss the Yuanshuo tangyuan*.”
TN: Tangyuan
“What are the Yuanshuo tangyuan?” Qiu Hua split Bu Ting’s attack with a sword, turned her head to look at Jiu Hui who was hiding under the defensive magic weapon, and her eyes softened a lot.
“The first day of the new year is called Yuanshuo. On the morning of Yuanshuo every year, mortals will eat a bowl of sweet tangyuan which means that the whole family will sweetly reunite this year.” Jiu Hui said: “It’s not a good sign to fight and kill on the first day of the new year.”
“If you kill someone and see blood, doesn’t that mean this year will be full of bloodshed?” Qiu Hua coldly glanced at Bu Ting. Although she didn’t put away her sword, she didn’t continue to attack.
“Pingling Qiu Hua,” Bu Ting put away his Cosmos Sword. “What do you want?”
“What do I want?” Qiu Hua seemed to have heard the greatest joke in the world. “What can I want? I want her to come back to life. I want her to live a good life. I want her to see all the beautiful scenery in the world and taste all the delicious food in the world. Can you do that?”
“I can’t do it, and neither can you.” Bu Ting’s head was covered in snow, and his tone was indifferent. “Her soul has long since scattered, and there is no chance of her being reborn, not even a chance of reincarnation.”
“You killed her.” Qiu Hua pointed her sword at Bu Ting. “Your Jiutian Sect killed her!”
Bu Ting looked at her without saying anything.
“No…” Qiu Hua staggered a step. “It was the ten major sects and all the living beings in the world who forced her to death.”
“Actually, that’s not entirely true.” Jiu Hui softly retorted, “The world’s living beings have been kept in the dark from the very beginning, so it’s not right to blame them.”
“Yes, you’re right. The living beings in the world are innocent.” Qiu Hua’s face was pale as she whispered, “In the end, it’s you and me who are at fault.”
If Mu Qi hadn’t saved her back then, and she hadn’t brought Mu Qi out of the mountains, then none of this would have happened.
She brought Mu Qi into the bustling world, but failed to protect her. This was her sin.
Bu Ting exposed Mu Qi’s secret, making her flesh and blood the key to curing the great plague in the world, and her bones and soul the materials for the Ten Great Immortal Cauldrons. This was his evil.
The wicked should live a life of regret, never getting what they want, and never finding release.
“They… stopped fighting?” Zhi You’s tone carried a hint of regret.
“Keep your voice down, the two Immortal Venerables can hear you.” Jiu Hui tugged on his sleeve and whispered, “This is a battle of the state of mind between experts. We shouldn’t disturb them.”
“I thought you wanted to hear a story.” Zhi You put away his umbrella. “According to the story development rules of Senior Brother Chang He, they should have another fight.”
Jiu Hui: “…”
You know how to stir up trouble.
“Ahem!” Jiu Hui placed her hand on the umbrella. “May I ask if the two Immortal Venerables will continue to fight?”
If they were going to continue fighting, they would tell her in advance so that she could activate her defensive magic weapon and avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
Despite the sorrowful atmosphere and mood, the conversation between Jiu Hui and Zhi You seemed… awkward and abrupt.
These two kids didn’t seem like they came to mediate the fight. They were more like people standing on the sidelines, shouting and watching the excitement.
What puzzled Qiu Hua even more was that she couldn’t bring herself to be angry with either of them. She only felt helpless.
She put away her sword, and her expression gradually calmed down. “Don’t worry, with you guys here, we can’t fight anymore.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Immortal Venerable Qiu.” Jiu Hui smiled and said, “It’s what we juniors should do.”
“That’s not a compliment.” Qiu Hua waved her hand. “Since you’re all fine now, I should go back.”
“That leech yao…” Jiu Hui pointed at the leech yao that was cowering in the cage on the open ground. “If you want to kill it, this junior is willing to do it for the Immortal Venerable.”
“That’s it, I leave everything to you.” Qiu Hua was somewhat dispirited. She suddenly felt that all the hatred and love had lost their meaning. Perhaps all her happiness and memories were buried with Mu Qi’s passing.
“From this day forward, I will reside permanently at Qinglan School and will not leave the mountain unless there is a major event.” Qiu Hua looked at Bu Ting. “The heavenly tribulation has arrived. I hope Sect Master Bu will take care of himself.”
Qiu Hua walked up to Jiu Hui and reached out to brush the snow off her head. “When I first saw you, I thought your eyes bore some resemblance to hers. But now I realize that you two are nothing alike.”
“That’s good too.” Qiu Hua smiled faintly, her gaze towards Jiu Hui was incomparably gentle. Jiu Hui knew that Qiu Hua was not looking at her, but through her at another person.
“Mu Qi had just arrived in the mortal world when she encountered a terrible person and a terrible event. You are different from her, and you must always be different from her.” Qiu Hua removed a hairpin from her hair and placed it in Jiu Hui’s hand. “This hairpin is a top-grade defensive magic weapon. I hope it will protect you from all harm and keep you safe and sound.”
“Immortal Venerable Qiu…”
“No need to be modest.” Qiu Hua dried Jiu Hui’s hair thoroughly. “If you come to the Qinglan School in the future, I will definitely welcome you with open arms.”
“My young friends, the green hills will not change, and the green waters will flow forever. Take care.” Qiu Hua laughed out loud and turned to leave.
“Immortal Venerable Qiu.” Jiu Hui chased after her for two steps, grabbed her sleeve, and whispered in her ear, “When I was young, I heard that if a Gan tree harbors resentment, anyone who eats its fruit will bleed from all seven orifices and die.”
Qiu Hua stared at her in a daze.
“I think she may have never resented you, nor hated anyone in the world.” Jiu Hui took a step back. “Perhaps the great calamity that was supposed to happen five hundred years ago was for all living beings to die from eating the resentment fruit.”
Qiu Hua looked at Jiu Hui in a daze, and she asked in a daze, “You really… never resented me?”
Jiu Hui realized that she had mistaken her for Mu Qi, so she took a step back and bowed. “Immortal Venerable Qiu, please take care.”
Qiu Hua regained her senses. She looked at Jiu Hui in front of her, wanting to say something more, but she didn’t know where to start.
“Take care.” She looked at Jiu Hui carefully, from head to toe. “Jiu Hui, you must take good care of yourself.”
She finally realized that Mu Qi was gone from the world and would never return.
That moonlit night was her eternal farewell to Mu Qi.
Qiu Hua turned and walked into the snowstorm, quickly disappearing from sight. She never looked back.
“The snow is getting heavier.” Zhi You opened the umbrella again, shielding Jiu Hui from the snow above her head. He turned to look at Bu Ting, who had been standing still on the spot, “Immortal Venerable Bu, how do you plan to deal with this leech yao?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Bu Ting’s Cosmos Sword flew out of its scabbard, sending the leech yao’s head tumbling to the ground.
Jiu Hui: “…”
A few hours ago, Immortal Venerable Qiu wanted to kill this yao, but he refused to let her. Now that Immortal Venerable Qiu was not paying attention, he had killed this yao with one strike.
The old fart’s thoughts were truly perplexing.
“Nan Feng.” Bu Ting glanced at Jiu Hui and called out to the three people in the corner, “Let’s return to the sect.”
“Yes, Master.” Nan Feng gave Jiu Hui a look, saying, my great auntie, please don’t say anything, just let us leave quietly.
Seeing that Immortal Venerable Qiu had already been persuaded to let go of everything, he was afraid that his master would also be persuaded to have problems.
Jiu Hui opened her mouth, and Nan Feng’s eyes widened in horror.
Fellow Daoist, you shut up now.
“Immortal Venerable Bu, please take care. Farewell, fellow Daoists.” Jiu Hui smiled innocently and, right in front of Nan Feng, put the hairpin that Immortal Venerable Qiu had given her into her own hair.
As soon as the people from the Jiutian Sect left, Sect Master Pao, who had been hiding in the grass for a long time, crawled out and rushed towards Yuan Wo, crying out, “Apprentice, how are you?”
“Wait…” Before Jiu Hui could finish her sentence, Sect Master Pao crashed into the turtle shell barrier and was thrown back two zhang.
She sighed silently. Were the brains of the people in the Shenji School not working properly?
When Yuan Wo woke up, he saw his master, who also had a bruise on his forehead. He said in shame, “Master, your disciple is incompetent and has worried you.”
“You’re not very capable. I have to come and take you back.” The strong-willed Sect Master Pao put his hands behind his back, summoned a flying boat, and looked at Pavilion Master Yu arrogantly. “Pavilion Master Yu, do you need me to give you a ride?”
“Many thanks, Sect Master Pao. In that case, we’ll do as you say.” Yu Jing led a group of eight juniors onto the flying boat. “As expected of the Shenji School, this flying boat is both beautiful and impressive.”
“That’s for sure.” Sect Master Pao raised his chin. “You don’t have to be envious, because even if you are, you can’t possibly have it.”
“Wait.” Jiu Hui jumped off the flying boat, looked at the leech yao’s decapitated body, and summoned countless Raging Fire talismans, wrapping the leech yao up: “Raging Fire!”
“Ahhhhh!!!” The leech yao opened its eyes and let out a final, unwilling wail.
After watching the leech yao burn to ashes from the Raging Fire, and the ashes being blown away by the cold wind, Jiu Hui patted the non-existent dust on her hands with satisfaction. “The book didn’t lie to me. It turns out that leeches really don’t die immediately after their heads are cut off.”
Watching this scene, Yuan Wo’s knees went a little weak. He really should thank Jiu Hui for not killing him that day.
Jiu Hui returned to the flying boat, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Sect Master Pao. “Sect Master Pao, this flying boat is so powerful. It will definitely get us to Taolin City within an hour, right?”
“Of, of course it can.” The vain and prideful Sect Master Pao immediately straightened his back. “Let alone an hour, half an hour will suffice.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.” Jiu Hui clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling even brighter. “Thank you, Sect Master Pao, for helping us eat hot tangyuan in half an hour.”
“No need…” Sect Master Pao was stunned. When did he ever say he would send them to Taolin City within half an hour?
But facing Jiu Hui’s admiring gaze, he gritted his teeth and said, “It’s a small matter.”
It was just a matter of spending some spirit stones, and he didn’t feel sorry for it at all.
Not at all!
In order for the people of Wangshu Pavilion to arrive at Taolin City in half an hour, Sect Master Pao threw two large bags of spirit stones into the flying boat formation. Although he was smiling strongly on the surface, his heart was already bleeding in pain.
“Thank you, Sect Master Pao.” Jiu Hui jumped off the flying boat and bowed to Sect Master Pao. “Junior would like to invite you to the city to eat tangyuans…”
“No need, farewell.” Sect Master Pao turned the flying boat around and left without even looking back.
“Sect Master Pao, please take care. I’ll see you next time.” Jiu Hui waved happily at the flying boat.
The Shenji School’s flying boat left even faster.
Sect Master Pao: “…”
Better to never meet again.
Author’s Note:
Sect Master Pao: I have been strong-willed all my life…
Yuan Wo: Thank you, Daoist Friend Jiu Hui, for sparing my life. I kneel before you in gratitude.
Carp: the chapters are getting looooonger, averaging 6000 characters now, they were roughly just 3000 characters in the beginning 𖦹 ´ ᯅ ` 𖦹