Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It took a long time before a voice rang out in the distance, “What’s the matter?” It was an awe-inspiring but not absolutely relentless sound.
The Immortal Bai didn’t dare raise her head to look at the patch of illusionary sky. Though there was no tangible figure in the patch of illusionary sky, the Immortal Bai said in a low voice, “I, one of your descendants, beg the Ancestor to come back.”
The voice sounded more distant and eerie, as if it shouldn’t have been heard in the human world, “Why?”
The Immortal Bai said, “Lian Sanyue is dead, and Cao Yuan is severely wounded. If the Ancestor comes back, you can kill all of them easily and prevent Jing Yang from ascending again.”
The voice paused for a while before it rang out again.
“I have two more fairy books left behind, a main one and an accessory one. Who will inherit them this time?”
The speaker was the last practitioner in Chaotian who had succeeded in ascending, the Fairy Lady Bai Ren.
It was unclear what kind of secret magic method the Center Sect used to communicate with the fairy lady in the upper world.
The most puzzling part was that the Fairy Lady Bai Ren seemed to be somewhere near Chaotian so that she could respond to the call of the Center Sect.
The Fairy Lady Bai Ren had left three main fairy books and three accessory books for the Center Sect. Under urgent circumstances, a replica of herself could come back to Chaotian by means of splitting her fairy awareness. Yet, it was very difficult to do so, and it required a suitable body to receive the split fairy awareness.
Last time when the Fairy Lady Bai Ren came back to Chaotian as a replica of her fairy awareness, Bai Zao spent many years tempering the fairy book at the expense of her own soul and spirit being jeopardized.
Bai Zao was still in a deep sleep, and the Water-Moon Nunnery and the Green Mountain Sect had been watching over the Three-Thousand Nunnery the entire time. And she had already accumulated a large amount of fairy energy in her body. If Bai Ren came back again, Bai Zao would explode instantly, which might cause the total destruction of Dayuan City.
The Immortal Bai was naturally the most suitable candidate for receiving the fairy awareness, but she was reluctant to pay such a steep price. “Please…come back for real,” she said calmly.
The voice rang out after a long moment of silence, sounding rather desolate.
“Do you know what your request means?”
The fairy men who had successfully ascended wouldn’t have another chance of ascending again if they opted to come back to Chaotian.
“Ancestor, you’re always concerned about the human world and don’t want to stay too far from us. And there is no difference between guarding in the outside world and guarding in the human world.”
The Immortal Bai continued calmly, “That disgraced fairy man came back to the Disgraced Island because he was scared of facing the unknown. But your coming back is for guarding the land and the human race. If you don’t come back this time, nobody will be able to suppress the Green Mountain Sect. Those sword practitioners will procure the energy of heaven and earth as much as they can for their own use. They have even encouraged the deviant sects to occupy the spiritual source of the Kunlun Sect…If Jing Jiu succeeded in ascending by bringing a great amount of energy of heaven and earth with him, what would be left for this world?”
…
…
The “spring rain” happened more than one hundred years ago, and the Immortal Liu Ci had left this world a long time ago.
According to his Will, Jing Jiu inherited the mantle sect master of Green Mountain. Yet, nobody expected that Fang Jingtian would suddenly reach the Heavenly Arrival State and the Drifter glided up the stone steps during the inaugurating ceremony of the sect master.
As a result, Jing Jiu was forced by the Immortal Taiping to leave Green Mountain.
It wasn’t until one hundred years later that Jing Jiu broke through the Heavenly Arrival State in Zhaoge City and left Fang Jingtian in the hermit peaks after defeating him. The postponed ceremony of the sect master would finally take place now.
The Green Mountain Sect was undoubtedly the leader of the Cultivation world, so the ceremony would be the most significant event for the Cultivation practitioners. All the Cultivation sects would send their representatives to participate in the event at that time.
It turned out that Liu Shisui was the first one to arrive on Green Mountain; it was a bit unexpected, but it was also understandable.
He had arrived really too early, because the preparations for the ceremony were not done yet.
Given his relationship with Jing Jiu, he was not really considered by Green Mountain a guest from another sect.
Liu Shisui went to Tianguang Peak and met Guo Nanshan, Gu Han and Zhuo Rusui, engaging in small chitchat about what had happened over the years.
Guo Nanshan and the others were glad to see him; but they felt baffled, wondering if he should go to Shenmo Peak to greet the Immortal Sect Master first instead of coming to Tianguang Peak.
They understood why he did it after they saw him go to the front of the former manor cave of the Elder Bai Rujing and cut down some old bamboos as they walked him out. They couldn’t help but laugh out inwardly and shake their heads.
Zhuo Rusui brought him to Shenmo Peak by riding their swords.
When Liu Shisui arrived on the top of Shenmo Peak, he bowed to Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue. Afterwards, he took Gu Qing’s place and started boiling tea.
After drinking tea and exchanging some chitchat, Liu Shisui began to chop the bamboos and repair the bamboo chair that had many parts broken.
He was an important figure at the One-Cottage House, but he started doing all sorts of chores as soon as he came back to Green Mountain, and he was doing them so naturally. It would be a ridiculous scene when an outsider witnessed it.
Even though Zhuo Rusui had stayed with Liu Shisui for a long time in the royal palace of the Chu State inside the illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror, he was still not used to this sort of thing. He came before Gu Qing and exchanged some words, seemingly discussing hotpot
The bamboo chair was being repaired, so Jing Jiu couldn’t lie on it. He walked to the edge of the cliff and sat down, his feet several feet away from the ocean of clouds. He was bathing under the sun of early spring with his eyes closed, as if he were about to fall asleep.
It was unclear exactly when Ada returned to Shenmo Peak. He climbed up and crouched steadily on Jing Jiu’s shoulder undetected. The cat narrowed his eyes, as if he was falling asleep.
Zhao Layue stood at another spot by the edge of the cliff with her hands folded behind her back, reflecting on something.
Yuan Qü was busy preparing for the inaugurating ceremony of the sect master in the Daoist Hall.
Ping Yongjia and the Drifter had seen Liu Shisui only a few times, so they were curious about this rumored Big Brother. Squatting by his side, the two of them kept on asking him about the events in the past.
Liu Shisui answered their questions with a smile while repairing the bamboo chair.
Everybody was on the peak that day.
It felt quite warm on Shenmo Peak under the spring sun.
…
…
It was fitting to eat hotpot on such a warm day.
And so were those cold days, happy days and sad days.
All sorts of delicious food and ingredients were placed on the table. The red and white soups faced each other in the hotpot, warm steam rising up from it.
Zhao Layue sat at the head of the table with straightened back, the long chopsticks lying quietly in front of her. She had no intention of eating before everybody else, the expression in her eyes appearing rather relaxed and serene.
On the other hand, Zhuo Rusui, Yuan Qü, Ping Yongjia and the Drifter had a grave expression on their faces, as if they were the hungry tigers ready to pounce on preys.
Gu Qing brought a water soup to the edge of the cliff.
Jing Jiu lay on the newly repaired bamboo chair and turned around twice. He uttered a contented “hmm”, took the hot water soup and drank all in one gulp, feeling more content.
Liu Shisui was not sitting by the table. He was cutting the meats and vegetables with a small sword.
The Lone Sword was indeed the second sharpest sword in the world. By using it, Liu Shisui had no need to employ the secret magic of the Bloody Demon Church to thaw frozen beef and mutton of excellent quality, and he could slice them into the desired strips, cubes, or bits with ease. After he put them in the soups for the hotpot, they tasted exceptionally delicious.
The intestines were sliced into all sorts of flower like shapes, and all sorts of vegetables were placed to resemble a large flower, blooming around the hotpot.
Zhao Layue raised her chopsticks, picked a piece of meat and brought it her mouth; she uttered a contented “hmm”.
The other chopsticks came down as swiftly as the wind and as frequently as the raindrops; but they looked more like wielded swords.
As the sword lights flashed in the air, the meats in the hotpot were all gone.
“Shiyue Peak has sent over plenty of meat; why are you guys eating so fast?”
Liu Shisui made the remark as he brought over a large plate full of newly sliced meats. Seeing the empty hotpot, he couldn’t help but flash a grin, showing a content expression.
