Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
This elderly man appeared as frail as ever. His skin was heavily tanned and the surface of his skin was rough, although his build seemed tough. He seemed like he regularly participated in activities that required heavy labor and exercise.
He knelt down before Zhu Yi and said respectfully, “Master.”
Zhu Yi gazed at the elderly man before him and said, “One hundred years has passed, Yunsheng, and it’s time for you to return.”
The elderly man was still facing the ground as he replied softly, “Yes, master.”
Zhu Yi no longer took in any disciples personally, and the second generation of successive disciples from the Heavenly Temple had grown up and they were all successful as they became the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ cornerstones.
If they were here at this moment, nobody would believe that this elderly man that seemed like he had no mastery at all was one of the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ most outstanding disciples in the second generation from the Heavenly Temple, Xu Yunsheng!
Once upon a time before the Spiritual Conference of the Kunlun Mountains, Xu Yunsheng and Ying Luozha were considered the legendary prodigies of the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ second generation of successive disciples. Besides Dao Yuting, whose situation was a little special, they only had each other as rivals.
Xu Yunsheng had always had the upper hand during their intense rivalry.
This was just a contest of abilities. In terms of social activity and influence, Xu Yunsheng was far superior to Ying Luozha. Xu Yunsheng had been touted back then to be a general-like figure for the younger generation of disciples, while he had a bright future ahead of him. Every disciples inside the Heavenly Temple looked up to him and saw him as a role model.
However, in the most recent twenty-five years inside the Greater World, Xu Yunsheng suddenly disappeared from the sect after forming his aurous core and was never heard from ever since.
Lin Feng and Zhu Yi had been secretive about his whereabouts and never revealed anything to anybody else. They only told the others that Xu Yunsheng was training and gaining experience in the outside world, and he was fine. However, Xu Yunsheng seemed to vanish into thin air and never communicated with anybody else ever since then – and that even included his sister, Xu Miaoying.
Yet, this elderly man in front of Zhu Yi right now was the legendary figure from all those years ago. He was Zhu Yi’s prized student, Xu Yunsheng.
Time inside the Celestial Wonders World moved four times faster than the Greater World. Twenty-five years passed by inside the Greater World, and that meant a hundred years went by inside the Celestial Wonders World.
What people didn’t know was that Xu Yunsheng’s mastery had been arrested over these hundred years, and his identity had also been hidden while he was sent for manual labor inside the Celestial Wonders World’s mines.
After the first fifty years, he experienced his first “death from a ripe old age” as per Zhu Yi’s arrangement before he switched locations. He recovered his youth and started over for subsequent fifty years.
He experienced the efforts and toils of a normal man and all the rites of human mortality during these two phases of his life as one hundred years passed by.
Today was the official end of a hundred years. It wasn’t a single day early and neither was it a single day late, and Zhu Yi personally brought him back from the Celestial Wonders World and back onto Mount Yujing.
Zhu Yi watched Xu Yunsheng and a thought chimed in his head, and Xu Yunsheng suddenly felt as light as a feather.
His sealed aurous core started to radiate with vitality once more, and streak after streak of mana and spiritual energy infused back into his infirm and elderly frame.
Xu Yunsheng was still kneeling on the ground. However, his wrinkles, and his rough and dry skin became red and supple once more. His head of white hair became black and shiny and full of life.
His slightly hunched back gradually straightened and his dull eyes became clear and sharp once more. Even though he was still wearing a tattered rag, Xu Yunsheng’s entire demeanor and disposition seemed entirely different from the inside to the outside.
He became the aurous core stage cultivator that he had been all those years ago, and he transformed into the handsome and dignified youth, as if a hundred years left no mark on him at all.
The only thing different was his eyes – they were much deeper and calm, as if nothing could cause him to waver.
The Xu Yunsheng of old was polite to outsiders and friendly towards his friends. However, hidden beneath his calm and cool mannerism, there was a deep-seated sense of arrogance and low self-esteem.
He was like an eagle with broken wings who stubbornly tried his best to fly as high as he could, yet he was constantly worried that he could plummet at any time.
This was different from Ying Luozha’s unmasked unyieldingness and arrogance. Xu Yunsheng seemed humble on the outside, but he was actually equally arrogant and proud.
However, his eyes were as calm as water and his sense of pride gradually became indifference, while his self-pity and low self-esteem disappeared entirely.
Xu Yunsheng bowed at Zhu Yi and said, “I am back, Master.”
This was the life that he had yearned for all those years, and the bright and wonderful world that he used to be in. He was finally out of the Celestial Wonders World’s dark mines, and he had finally returned.
The Great Zhou Empire was no shadowing him and manipulating him, and he no longer had to be afraid of others discovering his identity. He no longer had to be tortured by the thought of betraying and doing something bad against his sect, and he no longer had to be worried that the radiant world and the beautiful life that he was having would one day leave him for good.
From now on, there was only his shadow behind him when he stood in the sun – the evil spirits were all gone.
Even though he spent a hundred years doing manual labor inside the Celestial Wonders World and spent two lifetimes as a normal mortal, he did everything and submitted to his face without hesitation.
Zhu Yi looked at Xu Yunsheng before him and said, “You are back inside the sect, Yunsheng. Everything is a new beginning for you, and you will come to realize that the hundred years you spend inside Celestial Wonders World hasn’t been completely for naught. However, the truth is that you are a hundred years behind everyone else.”
“A hundred years inside the Celestial Wonders World is equivalent to twenty-five years inside the Greater World. Many things have changed, and everything is no longer what you recognize them to be.”
Xu Yunsheng smiled faintly and replied, “I understand, master. I am ready.”
Even if Zhu Yi didn’t make it clear, there were many things that Xu Yunsheng had already thought about. He had considered these things even before entering the Celestial Wonders World.
Twenty-five years inside the Greater World wasn’t that long to the human world of cultivation, even when the Celestial Sect of Wonders’ Heavenly Cosmic Ray World and their Disciple’s Abode’s effects of speeding up time were considered. Some people spent even longer periods of time in closed-door cultivation.
However, this was enough time for many things to happen for disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Xu Yunsheng himself was a disciple from the Celestial Sect of Wonders. How could he not know or expect the rate of growth and improvement of his senior brothers and sisters, and of the younger generation of disciples that came after him?
He was still in the aurous core beginning stage at this moment. The second generation of successive disciples back in the day were far stronger than he was, by leaps and bounds.
In the ten years after the conclusion of the War of the Two Worlds, many more immortal soul stage cultivators appeared in the second generation of successive disciples, with the exception of Dao Yuting. The number of nascent soul stage and aurous core stage cultivators within the Celestial Sect of Wonders were almost uncountable, and this number grew to a point where it shook the entire world.
Some of the third generation of successive disciples had already reached the nascent soul stage.
The people from the same generation as Xu Yunsheng, and even his juniors had caught up and they had already left him in the dust.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders pushed back the date of taking in their fourth generation of disciples. If not, Xu Yunsheng would face the awkward situation of his grand juniors becoming stronger than he was.
The truth was that this situation wasn’t that rare within sects that had been around for a long time. Seniors sometimes procrastinated or stagnated at their current levels, and the youngsters of the next generation would eventually catchup or even surpass them.
It was a true test of his determination and the strength of his mind or him not to waver in such a circumstance.
In the end, he wasn’t just a typical second-generation disciple back in the day. He was one of the most outstanding individuals during his time, and that was even after the Celestial Sect of Wonders accepted all those prodigies under their wing, Xu Yunsheng could still be ranked amongst the top ten disciples even with people like Tang Jun, Zhou Yuncong, Han Yang and the others under normal circumstances.
It wasn’t because he intentionally wanted to waste his years inside the Celestial Wonders World, and neither was it because he was already satisfied with his life or that he didn’t want to work hard. His mind was just a complete blank, and there was no way he could put in effort even if he wanted to.
Xu Yunsheng’s expression was calm and smooth as he said, “Even aurous core stage cultivators can live to a thousand years. Even though my mind has been blank for a thousand years, working hard now still isn’t too late.”
“Everyone’s lives will continue on to forever after they reach the immortal soul stage. It will take a much longer time to advance once they reach that stage, and I may yet still catch up to my senior and junior brothers and sisters if I keep at it.”
His tone was plain and composed. He didn’t sound arrogant and neither did he sound flustered – instead, he was brimming with self-confidence.
His hundred years inside the Celestial Wonders World truly wasn’t entirely wasted. If he was still like he was all those years ago, he would probably experience all sorts of mental and psychological barriers under such circumstances. However, his mindset was now stable and nothing could cause ripples or cause him to waver.
He grinded his temperament and his willpower over the years, and it was enough to sustain him across his entire lifetime. He would only compare with himself and not with others, and his path of cultivation in the future would become a lot smoother and easier than before.
The only thing was that others wouldn’t remain stagnant while he continued to improve. There was no denying that he had lost a hundred years compared to everyone else.
Xu Yunsheng never fantasized about his grand return to the Greater World and back onto his path of cultivation. He never envisioned that he would grow immensely powerful overnight, that he would form the nascent soul in the blink of an eye and he would reach the immortal soul stage the following day.
If cultivation had been so easy, then all the aurous core stage cultivators in the world would have sealed their own masteries and everyone would disappear for a hundred years of hard labor, while there would be uncountable immortal soul stage cultivators would be all over the world.
The things that he had gained were real, but so was the price that he paid. What he had to do now was to focus on cultivation, convert the things that he had taken away into actual gains, and apply them into his own cultivations. He would have to give everything he had to make up for lost time.
He would meet his old acquaintances once more, and he would meet many younger disciples that he had never met before, and perhaps things would get a little awkward.
In comparison to within his own sect, he would face even more finger-pointing and gossip from the outside world when he roamed beyond the sect’s boundaries by himself. Perhaps, outsiders would even mock him and laugh at him, and some people would even use him to mock the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Xu Yunsheng had considered everything even before he entered the Celestial Wonders World, and he was mentally prepared for it. At this point, nothing could cause his mentality to waver.
There were some things that could possibly sway him a little were the people that he had to face once more.
Even though he didn’t communicate with anyone inside the Celestial Wonders World, Zhu Yi didn’t cut him off completely. He would convey to Xu Yunsheng simple news regarding his sister, Xu Miaoying, so that he would have peace. Xu Yunsheng was aware that his sister joined under Yang Tie’s wing, and she was a nascent soul stage cultivator at this point and was known as the Yuan Lin Master.
There was someone else that Xu Yunsheng didn’t hear anything about. He consistently warned himself to forget and to let it go, but this had always been drifting around at the bottom of his heart.
