What could the three sect masters say? They had nothing to say.
Everyone had their own reasons for being miserable, but if they were to compare their contributions, how could they compare to Wangshu Pavilion?
Protecting the Zhenhe Cauldron and capturing and killing the five-thousand-year-old yao were all meritorious deeds that saved the world.
“Two young friends, you are not old, but what is your cultivation level? How did you manage to make such great contributions?” Sect Master Wang sized up Jiu Hui and Zhi You.
Was this doubting that she was exaggerating?
Jiu Hui looked at Sect Master Wang carefully and smiled as she cupped her hands in greeting. “Thank you for your concern, Sect Master Wang. My junior brother and I have only just reached the Nascent Soul realm. If our cultivation wasn’t so low, we wouldn’t have been so badly injured while trying to subdue the demonic cultivator and evil yao. We apologize for making you laugh at us.”
Sect Master Wang: “…“carpreads.pages.dev
He stretched out his trembling hand to touch his gray beard, unable to speak for a long time. He had cultivated bitterly year after year, and by now, he had only reached the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul realm.
He regretted it now, deeply regretted it. He shouldn’t have asked that question, it was simply self-humiliating. Yet the other party was polite in every sentence, self-effacing in every word. And with his seniority, he didn’t even have a reason to get angry.
“You two are so young, yet you have such cultivation. You are truly gifted. I am impressed.” The other two sect masters saw Sect Master Wang’s old face turn red as he tried to force a smile. They immediately praised Jiu Hui.
How could they not boast? They didn’t want to humiliate themselves.
Nan Feng had already received news of Jiu Hui and Zhi You advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, but hearing it from Jiu Hui’s own mouth still left him somewhat shocked.
If they had joined their Jiutian Sect back then, how wonderful would it have been with such talent?
“Sect Masters, you flatter us,” Jiu Hui said modestly. “If we hadn’t been so unskilled, we wouldn’t have been so badly injured, forcing the sect to search high and low for money to heal us.”
Thousands of words could be summed up in one sentence: I’m broke, send money!
The three sect masters fell silent again. They turned their heads to look at Nan Feng, who was sitting at the head of the table. The Jiutian Sect was a large and powerful sect. Even if they gave the Wangshu Pavilion spirit stones, it did not mean that they would not give spirit stones to them.
“I have heard the difficulties of the three sect masters.” Nan Feng held up his teacup. “You have come a long way. Return to the guest house and rest for a day. I will discuss the relevant matters with the sect’s steward.”
“Please, Immortal Nan Feng, do take care.” The three sect masters knew that saying more would only anger Nan Feng, so they politely stood up and took their leave.
Before leaving, they secretly looked back and saw Immortal Nan Feng greeting Zhi You and Jiu Hui to sit down, with a very gentle attitude.
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, what happened to your hand?” When Nan Feng lifted his teacup, Jiu Hui noticed many irregular scars on his arm, likely caused by a wound that had repeatedly reopened over time.
“It’s nothing.” Nan Feng put down his teacup and pulled his sleeve down to cover his wrist. “Sword practice requires hard work, and injuries are common.”
Seeing that he intended to hide it, Jiu Hui smiled and said, “Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, your Dao heart is pure, and you will definitely achieve the Great Dao.”
“Many thanks, Daoist friend Jiu Hui.” Nan Feng glanced at Zhi You. “Congratulations to both of you on advancing to the Nascent Soul realm. I have been cultivating on Sword Peak recently and was unable to personally visit your sect to offer my congratulations. Please forgive me.”
“It’s not a big deal, Daoist friend Nan Feng, you don’t have to be so polite.” Zhi You took a sip of tea and glanced at Nan Feng’s wrist. “However, cultivation requires a balance between relaxation and discipline. Being too eager may not be a good thing.”
Nan Feng understood Zhi You’s meaning, but now that Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua was now a half step away from true immortality, if it weren’t for the change in the secrets of heaven, Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua would have already ascended to become an immortal. Looking at the entire cultivation world, who didn’t know about the grudge between Immortal Venerable Qiu Hua and his master? He didn’t want his master to be looked at differently by others, so as the sect’s head disciple, he had to be stronger than the sect’s head disciple of the Qinglan School.
After the incident with the Zhenhe Cauldron and the leech yao, he increasingly felt how arrogant and ridiculous he had been in the past. The respect others showed him did not belong to him, but to the Jiutian Sect.
If he lost his status as a core disciple of the Jiutian Sect, what would he be?
“There’s a common saying among the common folk: ‘haste can ruin everything’” Jiu Hui peeled the spirit orange on the table and slowly tore the veins off. “Fellow Daoist, you’re so young, yet you’ve already reached the Void Refining realm. How many cultivators in the world die without ever reaching this realm? Even among your peers, no one can surpass you. If you keep pushing yourself so hard, how are others supposed to live?”
“Just think about it. Disciples from other sects who want to go out and have fun for two days get scolded by their masters. All they do is play and play. Look at Nan Feng from the Jiutian Sect. He’s not even 200 years old, and he’s already at the Void Refinement realm. And you still have the nerve to play?” Jiu Hui clicked her tongue. “Just thinking about it makes me hate you.”
“Your sect’s Daoist Master Yin Ji is a Body Integration cultivator, and you’re only one realm below him. He’s over 300 years old, and you’re over 100. When you’re over 300, you might already be a Great Ascension cultivator.” Jiu Hui sighed, “Cultivators who are around the same age as you are so pitiful. They’re so suppressed by you that they can’t even lift their heads.”
“Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui, although the Void Refinement realm and the Body Integration realm are only one level apart, it is extremely difficult to make the leap.” Nan Feng shook his head helplessly, but his mood was inexplicably relaxed. Perhaps it was because Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui’s tone was so matter-of-fact that it made him feel like he could easily accomplish it.
“Whether it’s difficult or not isn’t something you, at a hundred and eighty years old, should be thinking about. That’s something your two or three hundred-year-old self should worry about. If you think about it now, aren’t you just making things easier for your two or three hundred-year-old self?” Jiu Hui finished eating the spirit orange and stood up. “It’s still early. The current you should consider accompanying the guests for a walk and showing them around.”
Nan Feng smiled in a daze, suddenly understanding. “It was my fault for being rude. Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui, Fellow Daoist Zhi You, please.”
The last time they came to Jiutian Sect was to celebrate the advancement of Daoist Master Yin Ji. The sect then was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and the atmosphere was lively. This time, they truly experienced the solemnity and strictness of the number one sword sect in the world.
These disciples all had serious expressions, and not a single lazy or playful disciple could be seen. They simply stood there like a meticulously polished sharp swords, their bodies exuding a cold aura.
The core disciples, inner disciples, and outer disciples were strictly ranked, and everyone abided by the rules. Even the elderly stewards respectfully bowed to Nan Feng, the sect’s head disciple, when they saw him.
As she passed by the martial arts training ground, Jiu Hui saw the outer sect disciples practicing swordsmanship in neat rows. They wore identical disciple uniforms, and even their expressions were largely the same.
“It’s so late at night, and your sect’s disciples are still practicing swordsmanship?” Jiu Hui sighed. “As expected of disciples from a major sect.”
Fortunately, she hadn’t joined a major sect in the beginning. She wouldn’t have been able to endure such a difficult life for even a single day.
“What does Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui usually do at this time?” Nan Feng didn’t understand. If it wasn’t a good time to cultivate, what else could one do?
“Brewing wine, fishing, moon-gazing, and dining with my fellow disciples…” Jiu Hui quickened her pace as she left the martial arts training ground, adding with a dry cough, “Our sect is poor, so we have to pick flowers to brew wine and sell fish for money. Sometimes, we return after selling the fish when it’s already dark, so we can only eat at this hour.”
“Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui,” Nan Feng sighed helplessly. “I wonder how many more spirit stones your esteemed sect requires?”
Jiu Hui blinked. “We need quite a lot, but your sect can give us whatever you think is appropriate. How could someone seeking help disdain the kindness of those who offer it? We at Wangshu Pavilion are not that kind of people.”
“One hundred thousand spirit stones.” Nan Feng said, “Last year, our humble sect gave fifty thousand.”
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng, the demonic cultivator, the leech yao…”
“One hundred and fifty thousand.”
“We and Daoist Friend Nan Feng have been through hardships together, and we’ve hidden together in a turtle shell. We can be considered good friends.” Jiu Hui raised her sleeves and shook the patches. “Good friends are different from others.”
Nan Feng took a deep breath and pressed down on Jiu Hui’s swaying sleeves. “Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui, two hundred thousand, I really can’t offer more.”
“Oh, I knew that Fellow Daoist Nan Feng was a generous and open-minded person.” Jiu Hui smiled and cupped her hands in greeting. “Thank you, Fellow Daoist.”
Nan Feng rubbed his throbbing forehead. The four words “generous and open-minded” cost 50,000 each. It was truly too expensive.
However…
He glanced at Jiu Hui and Zhi You, so they regarded him as… a good friend?
As they approached Zhenyao Prison, Jiu Hui stopped in her tracks and asked curiously, “What happened to that ten-thousand-year-old yao?”
Nan Feng shook his head. “I don’t know. Without Master’s orders, no one else is allowed to enter the Zhenyao Prison barrier.”
“Then let’s go check outside the barrier.” Jiu Hui didn’t mind. “I was the one who came up with the idea, so I’m especially curious about the result.”
“Follow me.” Nan Feng hesitated for a moment before leading Jiu Hui and Zhi You towards Zhenyao Prison. The closer they got to Zhenyao Prison, the darker it became. Layers upon layers of leaves blocked out the sky, not even allowing moonlight to penetrate.
“Be careful on the steps.” Nan Feng took out a lantern from his storage ring and lit it up to lead the way.
Moss had grown on the stone steps, and unknown weeds and wildflowers sprouted from the cracks, growing wildly.
“The disciples usually don’t come near here, so this path is rarely used,” Nan Feng explained. “It rained a few days ago, so it’s even more slippery now.”
“Will bringing us here cause you trouble?” Jiu Hui stopped walking. “Forget it. I’ll come back here after Zhi You and I pay our respects to Immortal Venerable Bu tomorrow.”
Nan Feng shook his head slowly. “This place isn’t a forbidden ground of the sect. It’s just that one can’t enter the enchantment at will. Fellow Daoist Jiu Hui, you don’t have to worry. In the Jiutian Sect, I can still make the call on such a small matter.”
The copper bell hanging above the Zhenyao Prison rang out a muffled sound in the wind. Zhi You said, “There’s someone ahead.”
Upon hearing this, Nan Feng quickened his pace through the woods and saw Bu Ting standing in the formation of the Zhenyao Prison.
He hung the lantern on the treetop and bowed to Bu Ting as a disciple. “Disciple pays respect to Master.”
“Nan Feng?” Bu Ting turned around to face Nan Feng, his gaze finally landing on Jiu Hui: “Miss Jiu Hui?”
“Junior pays respect to Immortal Venerable Bu.” Jiu Hui bowed. “Junior came to disturb you without permission. Please forgive me, Immortal Venerable.”
Zhi You cupped his hands in greeting without saying a word.
“This place is cold and gloomy. Why did Nan Feng bring the two young friends here?” Bu Ting nodded slightly at Jiu Hui and turned to scold Nan Feng, “Have you forgotten even the courtesy of hospitality?”
“Master, I…”
“Immortal Venerable, it was I who asked Fellow Daoist Nan Feng to bring us here. It is not his fault.” Jiu Hui took two steps forward and stood beside Nan Feng. “After several months, I wanted to see how this evil yao was doing.”
Bu Ting was silent for a moment. “This yao is very afraid of the Qi of Extreme Evil, and has recently become much weaker. However, it is unruly and good at provoking people’s hearts. You are still young and should not enter the enchantment to be affected by it.”
“This junior understands.” Jiu Hui smiled brilliantly. “It’s wonderful that such a ferocious great yao has something it fears.”
Bu Ting walked out of the barrier and said, “It’s getting late. You two should go back and rest early. I’ll host a banquet tomorrow to entertain you both.”
“Thank you, Immortal Venerable.” Jiu Hui tugged on Zhi You’s sleeve. “Zhi You, let’s go back.”
“Mm.” Zhi You allowed Jiu Hui to pull him up the steps by his sleeve. He looked up and met Bu Ting’s gaze, nodding indifferently.
In his eyes, the Immortal Venerable seemed no different from the weeds and wildflowers nearby.
After Nan Feng sent Jiu Hui and Zhi You back, he went to see Bu Ting.
“Master.” Nan Feng noticed that the tea beside Bu Ting was cold, so he changed it for a cup of hot tea. “Fellow Daoists Jiu Hui and Zhi You came on behalf of Pavilion Master Yu to collect the support money. They arrived at the sect after noon.”
“How much did you promise them?” Bu Ting tapped his index finger lightly on the table.
“Two hundred thousand spirit stones.” Nan Feng explained, “Jiu Hui and Zhi You have made contributions in the Zhenhe Cauldron and the leech yao incidents…”
“You did the right thing.” Bu Ting interrupted his explanation, picked up his teacup, and gently scraped the tea foam on the surface of the water with the tea lid. “Jiu Hui and Zhi You are young and have already broken through the Nascent Soul realm. It doesn’t hurt to be generous to them.”
A few hundred thousand spirit stones were nothing more than a drop in the bucket for the Jiutian Sect.
“Wangshu Pavilion is small and weak, I’m afraid it won’t be able to nurture such an amazingly talented disciple.” Bu Ting took a sip of tea. “We at Jiutian Sect treat those with talent equally, even if they are not disciples of Jiutian Sect.”
Nan Feng lowered his head and said nothing.
He had no intention of using Jiu Hui and Zhi You.
“In the face of a catastrophe, no one can escape unscathed.” Bu Ting set down his teacup. “Once you become the Sect Master of the Jiutian Sect, everyone you meet could potentially become your ally.”
“Master!” Nan Feng’s face was pale. “Your disciple had no such intention.”
“Five hundred years ago, when I inherited the Jiutian Sect, I had just turned two hundred years old.” Bu Ting looked at Nan Feng. “Your teacher believes that you will not disappoint.”
“Master…” Nan Feng looked at Bu Ting in a daze, not daring to think about the deeper meaning in his words.
He knelt before Bu Ting, his forehead touching the ground. “Disciple only hopes that after the catastrophe, Master will attain the Dao and ascend.”
“Get up. The ground is cold.”
Bu Ting let out a light laugh, a laugh that was desolate and mocking.
How could someone like him ever ascend?
-—–
Late at night, the sky was pitch-black.
The barrier outside the Zhenyao Prison flickered with flowing light, rippling in waves.
“Who?” Chi Quan detected the movement of the barrier and asked in a weak voice, “Who came in?”
The barrier was empty. It thought that it had been affected by the Qi of Extreme Evil, lost its normal judgment, and worsening at great speed.
After the barrier at the entrance to the Zhenyao Prison flickered, footsteps echoed in the stairwell.
Tick, tick, tick.
All the yaos imprisoned in the Zhenyao Prison seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, without the slightest movement. Chi Quan sat up from the ground and stared at the stairs: “Who is it?”
Tick.
Footsteps stopped at the entrance of the stairs. Chi Quan, who was covered in blood, could already be sure that there was someone standing there, but the other party did not know what means they had used to hide their figure.
“Which junior dares to hide in the shadows like a coward?!” Chi Quan let out a cruel laugh. “Without the mechanisms sealing this tower, someone actually dares to come here seeking death?”
Drip, drip.
The newcomer took a few more steps closer.
Chi Quan opened his gaping mouth, and suddenly countless blood-red evil spirits filled the entire house: “You’re seeking death!”
Even if he was affected by the Qi of Extreme Evil and didn’t have his full cultivation, there was still no one in the world who could be his match.
A green light flashed, and the red evil energy disappeared completely. In the empty room, a woman’s complaint could be heard: “It stinks so bad. Such a big yao and so unhygienic.”
Chi Quan opened his eyes in disbelief. Even Bu Ting was afraid of his Blood Spring Evil Qi, so how could someone be completely unaffected by it?
“Human? Yao? Demon?” It retreated again and again, the restrictive magic weapon on its body rattling as it was dragged along. It only stopped warily when its back was against the wall. “What exactly are you?”
“I heard that 500 years ago, Senior Chi Quan was tricked into this tower by Bu Ting and was never able to get out.” The female voice spoke again. “I wonder what kind of treasure it is that could make such a powerful yao like Senior fall into a human’s trap?”
“Are you a yao?” Hearing the newcomer call himself a senior and refer to other cultivators as “humans,” Chi Quan lowered his guard. “Have you ever heard the legend of the Immortal Tree?”
“Of course.”
“Back then, that hypocrite Bu Ting used the Gan tree as bait to lure me into the tower.” Mentioning this matter, Chi Quan was filled with hatred.
“He said that the Gan tree’s cultivation was profound, and that my blood could restrain her. As long as I was willing to help him, after the deed was done, he would take the Gan tree’s fruit, and I would get the Gan tree’s inner core. Who would have thought that he actually wanted to imprison me and have the Gan tree get rid of me, her natural enemy.”
“A single person actually dared to help a yao.” Chi Quan hated him so much that his eyes dripped blood. “If the people of the world knew that he actually colluded with a yao, he would definitely be ridiculed by the people of the world and his reputation would be ruined.”
“It’s a pity that humans and yaos are ultimately different.” It laughed heartily. “In the end, he sacrificed her for the sake of humanity. So humans are humans, and yaos are yaos. Yaos should never expect humans to treat them with sincerity.”
“You and I are both from the yao clan. If you can enter the tower without being discovered by Bu Ting, you must have a way to rescue me.” Chi Quan’s entire body was blood-red. Affected by the Qi of Extreme Evil, the flesh and blood on his body had already rotted. “As long as you let me out, I am willing to support you to become the yao king.”
“I once heard a legend that when Chi Quan turns fifteen thousand years old, if he worships the full moon three times, his cultivation will increase greatly. After devouring all the living beings within a thousand miles, he will ascend to immortality.” The woman’s voice sounded like a curious little girl: “It is said outside that senior is already ten thousand years old. I wonder how old senior really is?”
Chi Quan laughed, “Naturally, there are still many years before I reach fifteen thousand years old.”
“I understand now.” The woman smiled, her tone innocent and naive. “So the legend is true.”
“Tomorrow is the third full moon of the year. Senior must be looking forward to tomorrow night?” The woman’s footsteps drew nearer. “Fortunately, the Qi of Extreme Evil has drained a lot of your cultivation, or else I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to you.”
“Lying isn’t a good habit.” A green blade sliced through the air, piercing Chi Quan’s inner core. “Senior, you were clearly born on New Year’s Eve 15,000 years ago. How can you say you’re still many years away from 15,000?”
Chi Quan looked down at the sharp blade that had been thrust into his chest. How could this be a sharp blade? It was clearly a… a bright green garlic chive leaf.
It couldn’t believe that it had been pierced through its inner core by a garlic chive leaf. It roared and tried to struggle to its feet, but its inner core was ruthlessly crushed by the garlic chive leaf. As its inner core shattered, its cultivation base rapidly dissipated, and it could barely maintain its human form.
“You… you…” Chi Quan spat out mouthfuls of blood. It stretched out its arm, trying to grab the person hiding in the house. “What kind of monster are you? What’s your identity?”
“What a pity, the clouds are too thick tonight to see the moon.” The woman seemed to have sat down in the room. “Otherwise, I could have let you die watching the moon.”
“As a member of the yaos, why are you helping humans?” Chi Quan couldn’t believe he was going to die at the hands of an unknown person. “What good will killing me do for you? The yaos are already weak, and humans are always bullying us. Are you really going to betray your own kind?”
“Within a thousand miles, there are countless living beings, not only humans but also yaos. If you were allowed to survive your 15,000-year calamity, would the three realms of humans, yaos, and demons ever have peace? Chi Quan is bloodthirsty. Would you spare his life just because he’s a yao?” The woman’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “So for the sake of all living beings, please be a martyr.”
Chi Quan was so angry that he vomited a few more mouthfuls of blood. She wanted him to die, but she also wanted him to be generous?
When did the yao clan give birth to such a bastard thing?!
There was a commotion outside the formation. The woman sighed. “I wanted to chat with you a little longer, but it seems someone has arrived.”
Chi Quan knew that she would not spare his life, so before he died, he let out an unwilling roar: “Who are you?!”
“Why don’t you try to guess, Senior?” The woman said with a smile. “You met me not long ago.”
“You……”
Boom!
Chi Quan collapsed to the ground, turning into a pool of blood. Countless living souls that it had devoured flew out of the blood. The faint soul lights lingered in the room, but they could not find a way out.
Chi Quan used immortality as bait to lure living beings close to him, feeding on all living beings under heaven. After fifteen thousand years, he would have consumed all flesh and blood within a thousand li radius, and after three bows to the full moon, he would ascend to the heavens, becoming a yao immortal.
Born with the bait of longevity and immortality, he eventually died under the bait of others. Was it considered the cycle of cause and effect, retribution that never fail?
A garlic chive leaf squeezed open the window crack, and a soul flew out of the tower through the crack, transforming into a beautiful stream of light in the darkness.
Clang, clang, clang.
With the sound of a bell, the last remaining Chi Quan yao in the world dissipated into the void.
There was a loud rumble.
-—–
The spring thunder roared, and the lightning illuminated Bu Ting’s pale face. He stepped into Zhenyao Prison, and the night wind rolled up his robe. He heard the sound of bells in the thunder.
Realizing something was wrong, he quickly arrived at the top floor of Zhenyao Prison and saw blood all over the floor.
Perhaps it shouldn’t be called blood water; this was the original form of Chi Quan’s dead body.
Chi Quan… was dead.
He chased out of the tower, the night wind rustling the branches. The lightning illuminated the entire Jiutian Sect. He looked at the rolling thunderclouds. Was the heavens furious over the death of the evil Chi Quan?
What was it angry about?
Shouldn’t Chi Quan die?!
But who else in the world could eliminate Chi Quan besides him and Qiu Hua? Bu Ting took out the sect master’s order and sent a message in the lightning.
-—–
“What a fierce bolt of lightning.” Jiu Hui put away her mermaid yarn dress into her storage ring and opened the window to peek outside. A bolt of lightning struck straight at her hand, so she quickly retracted her hand, locked the window tightly, and patted her chest, saying, “It’s getting fiercer and fiercer.”
“Jiu Hui.” A knock echoed from outside the door.
Jiu Hui opened the door and pulled Zhi You, who was standing at the door, into the house. “Why did you come out in such a big storm?”
“The thunder… it’s too loud.” As the lightning flashed, Zhi You’s face flickered, “It doesn’t sound right.”
“Maybe that old fart Bu Ting did something to piss off the heavens, that’s why the thunder is so loud.” Jiu Hui grabbed Zhi You’s sleeve and patted the back of his hand. “Don’t be afraid, it’s just thunder. I’m here with you.”
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“It’s fine. I used to often hear thunder when I was a child, so I’m not that scared.”