Chapter 31: Disguise
Mo Shoucheng’s eyes emanated a strange light.
He was the wisest old person in Changling. He knew that Forefather Zhou did not have the strength to destroy the formation like this.
So this change was unexpected.
The mist quickly dissipated, the moisture moving upwards and outwards, and even into the ground below. As the damp vapours faded, with formation now destroyed, the solar true fire accumulated in the mountains started to discharge.
All the trees and bushes started to burn fiercely.
The entire mountain valley was wrapped in a golden flame that bloomed like sunflowers.
A blue structure appeared at the center of the burning mountain valley.
The king of Chu’s brows furrowed even deeper.
He had entered this formation before Forefather Zhou ever had, and been into the blue structure. Compared to Mo Shoucheng and Pan Ruoye, the beauty in palace attire, he had a better understanding.
Why would a cage like this be destroyed?
He did not even care about the flesh bodhi, and pondered over this conundrum.
In the span of a few breaths, the golden flames disappeared, what remained within the mountain valley was ash. The foundation of the blue structure had been burnt red. As steam rose, the cool mountain wind in the surroundings flooded in. A strong wind formed in the mountain valley, and the ashes were blown into the sky.
With the rapid rush of cold, from the top to the bottom, the blue structure gave off cracking sounds. The cracks stretched from the bottom upwards, like vines. The entire structure appeared as though it would collapse completely. At this time, two figures that appeared extremely thin and small compared to the blue structure helped each other out of one of the arches.
Pan Ruoye’s eyes immediately lit up.
She should be rejoicing, but for some reason, she felt no joy. Perhaps, it was because she knew all too well, that the two, under normal circumstances, should have died.
A faint smile made its way to the corners of Mo Shoucheng’s lips.
“This is destiny.”
He turned and looked at the king of Chu, saying sincerely and emotionally, “We have won the present and the future.”
The king of Chu showed no anger in his eyes. He focused on Ding Ning and Fu Su, like stars were flashing in his gaze.
He sensed Ding Ning and Fu Su’s presence. He thought back to all the memories related to the blue structure. A strange expression appeared at the corner of his mouth. “This is an impossibility.”
He seemed to respond to Mo Shoucheng, but also spoke to himself as he shook his head gently.
“Yet, this impossibility has become possible.”
He then continued, and smiled. “When an absolute impossibility becomes possible, there definitely is a possibility within.”
“I thought of a possibility.”
He smiled and turned to look at Mo Shoucheng, saying, “Victory is not determined at one moment.”
Mo Shoucheng frowned slightly.
He did not understand the king of Chu’s riddle-like words. But the other did not appear very sad or disappointed at his scheme and waiting of decades turning to naught. He could not understand this, and felt slightly anxious.
“Where is Forefather Zhou?”
The king of Chu asked Ding Ning and Fu Su, moving his gaze away to focus on Ding Ning and Fu Su.
He was one of the longest ruling monarchs in the world. So, while he was speaking calmly, he carried an unimaginable authority.
Ding Ning coughed softly.
His injuries were considerable. He was discomforted by the mountain wind that blew over him, the hot ground, and the thick ash filling his nose … but all of these discomforts paled before the discomfort caused by the trinity standing before him.
He knew all of them, the king of Chu who had ruled the longest, the teacher of the Qin monarch Mo Shoucheng, and Pan Ruoye, the master of Endless Palace, a sect that the empress had nurtured.
The change in the king of Chu’s gaze caused coldness to rise within him.
“You do not have to answer.”
Mou Shoucheng spoke at this time.
His eyes had absolute confidence. While he could not kill the king of Chu or stop him from leaving here, he was certain he and Pan Ruoye would be able to take Ding Ning and Fu Su away.
Ding Ning lowered his head slightly and maintained his silence.
The king of Chu’s expression calmed. He said nothing else and walked out, his hands behind his back.
Pan Ruoye immediately became nervous.
The king of Chu was walking towards Ding Ning and Fu Su.
“Do monarchs joke?” Knowing what she was nervous about, the king of Chu said disdainfully as he walked.
He seemed to be walking slowly, but in a breath, he had walked past Ding Ning and Fu Su towards the ruins of the blue structure.
Mo Shoucheng’s eyebrows rose slightly. High above him in the sky, many silver dots of light appeared.
The king of Chu slowly released a faint but powerful presence. He did not look back and continued to advance. A faint layer of purple light appeared in the air around him.
The silver lights in the sky grew brighter, as if there were dozens of silver stars floating there.
But the king of Chu’s expression was still unusually calm.
When he walked to the center of the ruins to where the flesh bodhi had originally been, a crimson Buddhist bead appeared in his palm; his brow furrowed slightly as though he was in slight pain.
The crimson Buddhist bead suddenly disappeared from his hand. At the same time, a terrifying presence spread from his palm.The faint purple light around him suddenly grew bright and an enormous purple lotus platform appeared before everybody’s sight.
Without a sound, the pieces of the blue structure instantly turned to powder and scattered.
The enormous blue wave was dozens of meters tall, like a tide that spread over the entire mountain valley.
Pan Ruoye, the beauty in palace attire, gave a furious shout. A small white sword flew in front of her, landing between the dust wave and Ding Ning and Fu Su. However, her face turned pale as these waves were not very powerful.
When the enormous waves of dust touched the sword light coming off the small sword, they exploded to the side.
“No need to worry. The king of Chu has already left.”
Mou Shoucheng turned around and whispered to her. At the same time, his body seemed to produce invisible threads as the light of the stars above him quickly disappeared.
Pan Ruoye remained silent. The snowy white sword spun around Ding Ning and Fu Su, flying back to her and melting away.
The sharp sword energy formed a vortex that absorbed all the dust around Ding Ning and Fu Su.
Ding Ning took a deep breath.
The clean air around him finally made his breathing easier, but the feeling of discomfort within did not abate, instead grew stronger.
He turned around, and looked towards the center of the expanding wave of dust.
When the king of Chu left, the power that had destroyed the ruins had been astounding. The dust had spread outwards from the center, so right now, the center was the clearest part.
Ding Ning narrowed his eyes. All of the traces he had seen had disappeared. The place where the blue structure had originally been, had sunken down into a crater.
Mo Shoucheng calmly watched the dust spread. He thought for a long time. Then, looking at Ding Ning and Fu Su, he asked the same question as the king of Chu, “Where is Forefather Zhou?”
Fu Su was amazed at the scene in front of him, but also felt joy at escaping the disaster. But even more, he was dazed.
He instinctively shook his head and looked at Ding Ning.
“Killed by the blind dragon.” Ding Ning slowly answered. “There was a blind dragon inside.”
Mo Shoucheng looked at him and continued to ask, “Other than the blind dragon?”
“There was the flesh bodhi,” Fu Su answered first.
“Forefather Zhou refined the flesh bodhi but was still killed by the blind dragon.” Ding Ning continued to speak.
Mo Shoucheng looked warmly at him and said, “The blind dragon was able to kill Forefather Zhou. Why did it not kill you? How was the formation here destroyed?”
“That blind dragon was very hungry.”
Ding Ning’s feeling of discomfort grew, causing his body to tremble but he still spoke in a calm tone. “This structure was a giant cage to it. I told it I might be able to help it obtain freedom.”
Hearing the words, Mo Shoucheng frowned. Even Pan Ruoye couldn’t help but voice her disbelief. “How is that possible? Why would a starving blind dragon listen to you?”
“Because I comprehended some secrets of the formation, and touched some of the seal scripts.” Ding Ning coughed softly and said, “It chose to believe me.”
Mo Shoucheng focused on him and asked, “I want to know the details of Forefather Zhou’s death.”
Ding Ning took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Then he shook his head and said, “I do not know. Before Forefather Zhou was killed, Gongzi Su and I were rendered unconscious by his power.”
“So the fight between him and the blind dragon caused the destruction of this formation?” Mo Shoucheng turned around to look at the enormous crater. “You are only speculating and haven’t witnessed the death of Forefather Zhou with your eyes. Then, what is the king of Chu concealing by destroying everything here?”
Ding Ning grew silent.
He did not answer.
He did not know how to answer. Given the circumstances here, anyone would harbour suspicions much less the wisest old person in Changling.
“Eat this medicinal pill.”
Pan Ruoye’s hand moved slightly. Two milky white pills floated in front of Ding Ning and Fu Su.
“Perhaps, he did not want us to see any of the seal scripts in the remains, and hid the tracks of the blind dragon’s escape,” she said, with a frosty expression.
Mo Shoucheng nodded. “Perhaps.”
Translator Ramblings: The Warring States Period occurred between ~475BC and ~221BC which is a pretty long time. If the author had more time to expand on history, I would love to know how the cultivator-kings, with their long lives, affected the state of the continent since the story starts pretty much with the Spring and Autumn period occurring exactly as they seemed to have in history.
