Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The war between the two realms ended just like that, after Fatty messed around for the umpteenth time. Shen Ying, Fatty and the others spent two days adjusting themselves at the Southern Land before they officially left it and headed for Hao Ran Court. Rabbit cried non-stop and clung on to Fatty, not bearing to let him go.
“Brother Fatty, you will be back to see me, won’t you?” Once it finished, it shoved several bags of carrots to Fatty behind Lonemoon’s back. “When you’re hungry, eat this. Finish it, then come back and look for me when you’re done. That’s right, don’t forget – don’t let Great Immortal see this.”
“Don’t worry, Rabbit. You are my best friend. Once I can, I will come back to see you.” Fatty looked like he could not bear to leave either. Once he finished speaking, he picked the bags of carrots up and patted his chest. “I promise!”
Lonemoon, who had seen the entire process: “…”
Why don’t the both of you just get together already!
“It’s getting late. Let’s set off!” Chan Ji said as he looked at the skies.
“Alright.” Lonemoon nodded. Once he thought about Fatty’s weight, he realized there was no way they were going to sword-ride. Instead, Lonemoon took something out of his storage back and tossed it outward. It turned into a huge spirit boat that was pure white in color. Spirit Qi engulfed it. Under the sun, it looked multi-colored. It was absolutely beautiful. The designs on the ark of the boat were even more exquisite. It was obvious that the entire boat had cost a bomb.
Chan Ji silently put back the Lotus Stage that he had begun to draw out of his storage bag.
“Let’s set off!” Lonemoon led the group of them up the boat and turned back to Chan Ji. “Court Lord Chan Ji, please lead the way.”
“But of course.” Chan Ji nodded and stepped forward to give Lonemoon some brief instructions. While Lonemoon set the direction of the boat, he took the chance to chat with Chan Ji. At the same time, he tried to find out what the situation at Hao Ran Court was like.
Coincidentally, the so-called Hao Ran Court was located at the east of the Southern Land, atop the Uncrooked Sea. It was much faster to go there from the Southern Land than it was to try to enter from the outside. The Uncrooked Sea experienced strong winds all year round. It was also filled with rich yin Qi, so few cultivators made their way there, if any at all.
But the Hao Ran Court was a Buddhist cultivating sect. The Buddhist techniques worked well against Yin and evil creatures. That was why they were the only surviving sect atop the Uncrooked Sea. In fact, they have probably been living there, away from civilization, for a long time. Buddhist cultivators used merits to cultivate, so the disciples in that sect had a wealth of experience and were all very well-trained. Although their battling skills were not as good as sword cultivators, cultivators who trained with merit were different from other cultivators. The Heavenly Dao was extremely stingy with giving merit. In fact, even if other realms tried, they might not even be able to accumulate much merit.
One would know just by taking a look at Yun Heng. He saved the world several times and saved tens of thousands of living creatures while he was at it. That was the only reason he managed to accumulate so much merit. What’s more, after he saved Song Ren’s life, he lost everything. It was obvious that accumulating merit was no easy feat.
Naturally, then, there were great benefits that came with accumulating merit. The Heavenly Dao was biased toward people who had merit. In terms of luck, they did far better than others. Having merit in your body also allowed you to keep evil at bay. As time goes by, the chances of getting a golden body would also increase. Another subtle benefit came from the fact that merit could only be accumulated if the beneficiary felt genuinely thankful for something that one did. It was like having a good review. Once someone else attacks a person with merit, he would accumulate bad karma. That would in turn harm his or her cultivation. So demons and immortals alike tended to stay away from Buddhist cultivators.
But according to Chan Ji, it seemed that Hao Ran Court was quite different from other Buddhist cultivators. They were… busybodies! That was different from other Buddhist cultivators, who normally did not ask too much about worldly things, or who went too deep into the mortal world to try to accumulate merit. The people of Hao Ran Court concerned themselves even with matters involving the immortal realm!
But there was bound to be some form of injustice in all of this. They could fight. They were Buddhist cultivators, but their disciples were strong. In fact, there were more Soul Formation cultivators in that sect than any other level of cultivator. Lonemoon also heard of an elder in the sect who had already become a True Immortal with a golden body. He only decided not to ascend to immortality for the sake of his sect. From all of this, it was clear that Hao Ran Court had character.
People who did not believe in bad karma used to try to attack people of the sect. After failing a couple of times, however, nobody tried to attack the sect again. It did not help that word spread that people of Hao Ran Court fought fair. As time went by, it became one of the renowned arbitration institutions of the Sacred Arrival Realm.
Hao Ran Court was not called Hao Ran Court at first – it was called the Buddhist Heart Sect. However, because they were busybodies, everybody began to look for them to have their disputes resolved. That was why they renamed themselves Hao Ran Court – it was a place where people could seek justice.
It was understandable therefore that they were being hated on by Divine Imperial Sect for helping to stand up for Fatty.
However…
Lonemoon lowered his gaze. If they wanted to find out whether Hao Ran Court’s anger at them was justified, they could only do so by making a trip down.
“Master…” In the boat, Chef hesitantly spoke up. Yet, he did not stop placing plates full of pastries on the table in front of Shen Ying.
“Yes?” Shen Ying turned to look at him.
Chef looked outside at Lonemoon and Chan Ji, who were still chatting. “That thing on that man’s body, is that…
Shen Ying nodded. “Yes.”
Chef frowned even more deeply. A moment later, as if thinking of something, he placed the remaining plates in his hands aside and said seriously, “Master, there is something I wanted to ask you.”
Shen Ying picked up a pastry and stuffed it in her mouth. “What is it?”
“Ever since the last time, when Master woke up from the coma…” Chef paused, then shook his head. “No, I should say Elder Shen… After Older Sister knocked that invader out, my powers felt different. I don’t know if I’m mistaken, but I feel like… I feel like…”
“You’re not wrong!” Shen Ying said. “You are!”
“What!” Chef jumped up in shock.
Shen Ying pondered for a moment, then continued, “This is rather complicated. I should say that it was the plane’s plan all along. It’s only going back to its plan now.”
“Then Kai Tian and the rest-”
“That’s why my older sister said they did everything for no reason.”
“If that’s the case, what’s your plan then, Master?” Something came to Yi Qing’s mind and his face drained of color. He grabbed Shen Ying and scanned her from head to toe. “Will you turn into what you were like before because of me?”
The pastry in Shen Ying’s hand slipped out because of the force Yi Qing used. Er… What a waste!
“Master!” Seeing that Shen Ying had nothing to say in response, Yi Qing became more anxious.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry!” Shen Ying waved her hand and assured him. “I’m alright. Nothing will happen to me.”
“But…”
“Even if you’re different, you’re still my assistant. That won’t change. Do you understand?”
“…” He did not.
“In other words, you have to work for me forever.” Shen Ying tilted her head and pondered. “I have to look again to be sure of the real reason, but your change will not affect me a single bit. It will not cause me to enter a coma once again.”
Yi Qing stared at her very seriously for a couple of seconds to confirm that she was telling the truth. Then, he let out a huge sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good… Should we tell Father Niu about this? It’s good-”
“I don’t think so.” Shen Ying shook her head almost immediately. “It’s not time yet. Anyway, we have a huge problem to settle now…” Shen Ying thought of something she narrowed her eyes. They had not even started. If Father Niu wanted to rage, he could do so later on. After all, he should be used to it by now.
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