Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
The monk in green robes and the stone beauty were talking about their mysterious past.
Zhang Ruochen listened quietly, sitting beside them.
“Thank you, Senior Sister Luo.”
Zhang Ruochen received the Zizhu Teacup passed from Luo Shuihan, and took a sip.
It was sweet. After the sip, his blood flow sped up and his whole body was refreshed.
It was no ordinary tea.
The exhaustion inside Zhang Ruochen’s body was largely alleviated. And his wounds recovered quickly.
Zhang Ruochen would have gone through at least 3 to 4 days of exhaustion, and his cultivation would have dropped to the bottom. But after he took a sip, Zhang Ruochen believed that he would pass the exhaustion period in one more day.
The old man whose hair was half white and half black stared at Zhang Ruochen, and he sneered, “The Ancient Tea of Saintly Way was taken from the ancient tea tree, which was planted by Ruzu himself. I gave it to Principal Luo as a gift. I didn’t know that you, a young boy, would have the honor to drink it!”
Zhang Ruochen regarded the old man in the scholar robes as an old fogey, who thought too highly of himself and valued his position too much in the hierarchy of generations. Besides, he was obsessed with bragging and showing off.
Was it necessary?
But his words did shock Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen heard about the four ancient tea trees 800 years ago. They were planted by four Elders of Confucianism, who were called Ruzu. They’d lived for more than thousands of years and were extremely old.
But the Catastrophe at the end of the Middle Ages had destroyed the three of them, turning them into dust. Only one survived till today.
And few tea leaves would mature every thousand years.
Only Saints of the Way of Confucius were entitled to share a few leaves.
The old man in scholar robes claimed that he had picked the tea leaves from the tree by himself, which Zhang Ruochen found hard to believe. He thought that he was bragging, trying to present himself as the one with high prestige and universal respect.
The old man in scholar robes shook his head and sighed. “Ancient Tea of Saintly Way could help monks comprehend the Rules of Saintly Way, improve their spiritual power, stabilize their mind states and saint souls, and refine their Saintly Sources. An innocent child takes a sip, he will become a prodigy in just a second. Ancient Tea of Saintly Way works best for monks of Spiritual Power. It’s really a waste to have you drink it…”
Before the old man in scholar robes could finish his words, a snap was heard inside Zhang Ruochen’s body.
Then a strong strand of Spiritual Power gushed out from Zhang Ruochen’s body.
Drinking the Ancient Tea of Saintly Way had helped Zhang Ruochen’s Spiritual Power to get through the bottleneck and reach the 47th level.
Apparently, the old man in scholar robes noticed the strong wave of Spiritual Power. He was static for a moment, surprised to find that a young man who practiced in martial arts should have practiced his Spiritual Power to such a high level.
When he was about Zhang Ruochen’s age, he had just become a Half-Saint of Spiritual Power, far from reaching the 47th level.
But the old man in scholar robes soon recovered from the shock. He pretended to be calm, and said, “Your Spiritual Power is just so so. You can’t compare with my grand-student. He has reached the 49th level, and is about to become a saint.”
“Is he the new Second Place in the Royal Examination?”
“Yes.”
The old man in scholar robes raised his jaw and stroked his beard, looking proud and content.
“He’s not the first,” Zhang Ruochen murmured.
The old man in scholar robes saw that Zhang Ruochen didn’t understand the value of the Second Place, and he rounded his angry eyes and turned back, not wanting to exchange any more words with this disrespectful young man.
A young boy who was about 20 years old, didn’t bow to him respectfully, did not put on a humble look, and even sat together with him. He was enraged.
He reminded Zhang Ruochen constantly that he should show him some respect, but Zhang Ruochen didn’t understand him and remained sitting there haughtily.
The old man in scholar robes thought to himself that he would find a chance to teach the young man with bad manners a lesson, in case he would step on a wrong road and turn evil.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t know that an old man like him would quibble about the details. He was contemplating quietly.
The old man in scholar robes called the monk in green robes “Principal Luo,” which confirmed Zhang Ruochen’s guess.
The monk in green robes must be one of the ten Principals of the Eastern Region Saint Academy, Luo Xu.
He was the best among the talents in the Kunlun’s Field 200 years ago, and had reached the Peak Realm of the Heavenly Realm. Meanwhile, he was the first well-known saint born in the Heavenly Devil Mountain.
As the stone beauty and Luo Xu’s conversation carried on, Zhang Ruochen got to know their story.
It had to trace back to 200 years ago.
The Demonic Sect wanted to expand its influence and enter the Eastern Region in order to contend for interest with the Martial Market Bank, the Black Market and the Imperial Government.
The Demonic Sect had chosen the Qi Family, the famous ancient family, as their first stop in order to establish it in the Eastern Region.
So the Demonic Sect Founder commanded the Saintess at that time, Lin Suxian, to marry the first son of the Head of the Qi Family, Qi Xiangtian.
But Luo Xu and Lin Suxian had already fallen in love with each other.
Luo Xu had intruded in the headquarters of the Demonic Sect to fight against it by himself. He had killed several powerful figures of the Demonic Sect. Blood had flowed in more than 6 kilometers long. And Luo Xu even killed a saint with his cultivation of a Half-Saint.
But Luo Xu was alone and failed to take his lover back. He had witnessed her marry into the Qi Family in the Eastern Region.
By that time, Ling Feiyu, as the First Saintess, was the one who had defeated Luo Xu.
Zhang Ruochen came to the understanding that the woman in palace dressings yesterday must have been the first beauty in the world 200 years ago, Lin Suxian.
But now, Lin Suxian had become the Vice Palace Ruler of the Saintess Palace of the Demonic Sect. She had a high status in the Saintess Palace, coming only next to Ling Feiyu.
Zhang Ruochen sighed. It was hard to tell who was right and who was wrong.
After all, Ling Feiyu had made great efforts and saved Luo Xu’s life during the fight.
If it had been another powerful figure of the Demonic Sect, Luo Xu would have been killed at the headquarters of the Demonic Sect 200 years ago.
From the third person view, Ling Feiyu did nothing wrong. On the contrary, she had shown kindness for Luo Xu and Lin Suxian.
After all, Luo Xu and Lin Suxian by then had no power to oppose the whole Demonic Sect. After Luo Xu had been killed, Lin Suxian would have probably killed herself as well.
The ending was the best for them.
But, as the person involved, Lin Suxian didn’t think so. She unleashed all of her grudge on Ling Feiyu.
She named her daughter “Feiyu.” Wasn’t it the way that she used to remember the grudge?
Ling Feiyu’s cultivation was too high to be beaten by Lin Suxian, so she kept waiting. After Ling Feiyu had been severely hurt from the fight with Blood Emperor Qingtian, Lin Suxian sought her chance to take revenge.
It was not enough to satisfy her by killing Ling Feiyu.
She would torture Ling Feiyu and make her lost forever.
Many grudges in this world were all because of this one word, “love”.
The reason that Luo Xu could forgive Ling Feiyu was partly with the help of time, and part of his own open mind. He didn’t get lost in the hatred and could still tell the right from the wrong.
It seemed that getting Luo Xu’s pardon had recovered Ling Feiyu’s mind state a little. Sharp lights could be seen in her eyes.
Luo Shuihan passed a cup of Ancient Tea of Saintly Way to Ling Feiyu. She accepted it and took a sip.
Luo Xu said, “With the help of the Ancient Tea of Saintly Way and the Seven Lives and Seven Deaths Map, Palace Ruler Ling’s mind state and will may be able to get a full recovery. I just hope Palace Ruler Ling won’t hate her. It’s all my fault. I will make up for everything that she has done wrong.”
The old man in scholar robes looked at the scroll on the table, and rolled it up with a sudden realization. He said, “Luo Xu, Luo Xu, I’ve been fooled by you. You are a liar. You said you wanted to study the Seven Lives and Seven Deaths Map with me, but you want it to save another’s life! Don’t you know that the Seven Lives and Seven Deaths Map is the sect treasure of the Painting Sect? I took a high risk to take it out!”
Luo Xu laughed, “Brother Ju…”
“Don’t call me that! Although I’m one of the Four Saint Gentlemen, ‘Mei Lan Zhu Ju,’ I was fooled by the other three!”
The old man in scholar robes bit his teeth with hatred.
“The old man is the Saint Painter of the four Saint Gentlemen?” Zhang Ruochen was shocked.
There was more than one painter who became a saint because of his paintings and drawings. But there was only one called the Saint Painter.
The man was the Sect Leader of the Painting Sect, Chu Siyuan, who was also called Mr. Ju. Together with the Saint Guqin, a seven-stringed plucked instrument in some ways similar to the zither, the Saint Chess, and the Saint Book, they were called the Four “Mei Lan Zhu Ju” Saint Gentlemen.
Mei, Lan, Zhu, Ju were symbols of noble characters and virtues, which were often used by previous saints and ancient sages of the Way of Confucius to represent themselves.
But Chu Siyuan hadn’t thought it through. He had just found that the Four Gentlemen title served him well, so he had agreed to it.
After he returned to the Painting Sect, he realized that he had picked a funny title.
But it was impossible for him to change his title then.
Luo Xu said gravely, “Brother Chu, Palace Ruler Ling’s fight with the Blood Emperor Qingtian contributed greatly to all human beings. Were it not for her, the Blood Emperor Qingtian would have released the Pluto. And now, Palace Ruler Ling is severely hurt because of that fight, a noble man like you would like to give her a hand, wouldn’t you?”
The old man in scholar robes nodded in agreement. He found the word “noble man” extremely true.
The old man in scholar robes stroked his beard, and said contentedly, “After Palace Ruler Ling enters the Seven Lives and Seven Deaths Map, she must experience seven lives in it. And there must be another person with her, chaperoning her, helping her concentrate on her will, revising her mistakes and guiding her on the path of practicing.”
Luo Xu asked, “What are the requirements of the chaperon?”
“First of all, he must be someone who she trusts. Otherwise, the chaperon might hurt her in the scroll, leaving vital impacts.”
“Second, his spiritual power must have reached the 45th level or above.”
And the old man in scholar robes explained, “They have to experience seven lives in the scroll, encountering all kinds of affairs. If the person had a low spiritual power, once he got out of the scroll world, he would find it hard to store all those memories and have a breakdown.”
“Third, the man must have reached the state of the Human Sword.”
“The main spiritual power of the Palace Ruler Ling is about the Way of the Sword. Only people who are in the high state of Way of the Sword have the ability to guide her to retrieve her Spiritual Power about the Way of the Sword.”
The old man in scholar robes sighed. “Only a person who meets all three requirements is qualified to be her chaperone and guide her through the seven lives.”
Even Luo Xu frowned. It was too hard to find such a person who met the three requirements.
By that time, the sky above the green boat was fully covered by the blood cloud. Dense shadows of the Immortal Vampires were shown from the cloud.
The army of the Immortal Vampires also surrounded the banks of the river. They had formed layers of Battle Formations, in case Zhang Ruochen tried to run away.
People inside the cabin were clear about the situation outside, but they didn’t pay attention to it. They went on thinking about the suitable chaperone.
Zhang Ruochen perceived something, so he lifted his head to stare at Ling Feiyu.
He saw her eyes.
Did Ling Feiyu regard him as a reliable person?
Zhang Ruochen found it hard to believe. After all, he hadn’t known her for a long time. And Ling Feiyu should trust him?
Before he could think more, a thick voice sounded outside the cabin. “Zhang Ruochen, I’m here to take the Taotian Sword, as commanded by the Blood Emperor. Come out and show yourself!”
The terribly cold Qi landed from the sky as the cold voice was heard. And it had frozen the whole wide old river.
