Suddenly, Esteemed Lan Yue’s spiritual platform flashed, and he seemed to have a thorough enlightenment. His mind was slightly agitated, and he slightly nodded, saying: “You are right. In the dark, there is fate. Xuanzhi, it seemed that it was not only your cultivation base, but even your state of mind has greatly improved a lot.”
Well, in the final analysis, the reason why Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t wait to go to the Tomb of Youshan was that he had been instructed by Esteemed Lan Yue.
When the seal of the Five Continents was broken, although people related to Lin Xuanzhi had almost forgotten his existence, Esteemed Lan Yue, being the most outstanding disciple of the prophet family, quickly discovered that something was wrong and used his clairvoyant eyes to look at the secrets of Heaven and read the past. When Esteemed Lan Yue found Lin Xuanzhi, he asked him what was going on, and Lin Xuanzhi also told him.
Although to the outside world, the two met in the same generation as equals, privately, they were still master and apprentice, and Esteemed Lan Yue helped Lin Xuanzhi enter the Myriad Dao Academy. In private, he always tried to find ways to clear the clouds and make Lin Xuanzhi’s fate star image clearer. Three years ago, when Esteemed Lan Yue was spying on Lin Xuanzhi’s fate, he discovered that he had a great opportunity and connection with the Tomb of Youshan. Then, after careful consideration, he informed Lin Xuanzhi.
“But Master, do you still remember that when you told me to go to the Tomb of Youshan, I asked you to do a divination for Ah Hen.” Lin Xuanzhi frowned slightly. “I originally thought that if he had some fate with that place, I would take him with me. If he had nothing to do with it, I would consider going alone and not expose Ah Hen to danger with me.”
Esteemed Lan Yue nodded and said, “Naturally I remember. When I was doing divination for Ah Hen, I discovered that his involvement with that place was even deeper than yours, so I just wanted to ask you, did Ah Hen encounter a big opportunity at the Tomb of Youshan?”
“He did have a fortuitous encounter. His current cultivation base has reached Earth Realm’s Small Perfection Stage. If this is placed outside, I am afraid that there will never be such a fortunate encounter, but…”
After a pause, Lin Xuanzhi continued, “I always feel that things are not that simple. Youshan Capital and I have a great chance because of my past life’s identity and memories. But Master also said before that Ah Hen has a deeper connection with that place. How can he just get a higher cultivation?”
This was exactly what Lin Xuanzhi had been thinking about and couldn’t understand. However, Ah Hen had not changed in other aspects except that he was now more mature. Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t figure out what his connection with the Tomb of Youshan was.
Esteemed Lan Yue pinched his fingers and closed his eyes. After a moment’s divination, he frowned and opened his eyes, looked at Lin Xuanzhi and said, “Now, I can’t figure out the connection between Ah Hen and the Tomb of Youshan anymore. What I see is a mess that can’t be solved.”
Lin Xuanzhi was stunned. “How can this be?”
Esteemed Lan Yue shook his head. “When it comes to fate and opportunity, it is unpredictable. I can only see the effect, but not the cause. Sometimes I can’t even see the effect. Xuanzhi, if you can’t figure it out, you might as well go and ask him that question yourself. However, you should know something about what Ah Hen has experienced in the Tomb of Youshan.”
“Speaking of it, it was also my fault, which made him suffer a lot.” Next, in a tone of remorse, Lin Xuanzhi told Lan Yue all that they had experienced after they entered the Tomb of Youshan, including meeting Venerable Lian Hua, seeing the Jianmu tree, and the Wood Keeper with a human face and a snake body. “What makes me sad, in the end, was that Ah Hen was seriously injured when I didn’t know about it. He dragged his broken body to run for his life in the Tomb of Youshan to escape. What makes me even more uncomfortable was that he concealed it from the beginning to end and never mentioned it. When I think about it, I feel as if I have a knife in my heart and can’t sleep.” Although Lin Xuanzhi told it plainly, the pain spreading from the bottom of his heart could be clearly felt from his words.
Esteemed Lan Yue couldn’t help but sigh, “Although Ah Hen usually seems delicate, he is actually the strongest and most sensible, and he is the least willing to make others worry about him. With such a temper, he will easily suffer losses.”
Lin Xuanzhi was somewhat helpless but also proud of Ah Hen. After a while, he slowly replied, “Maybe the connection between Ah Hen and the Tomb of Youshan is just a great improvement in his cultivation.”
“It’s also possible.” Esteemed Lan Yue smiled faintly, and took a little bit of pampering to his disciple, and said: “This child is too playful, and he has been cultivating for three days and playing for two days. You and You Ming also love him deeply. No matter what, neither of you can be strict with him and teach him to cultivate assiduously. So forcing him to concentrate on cultivating in such an isolated place just happened to place him on the rightful path again, but I’m afraid if you force him too hard, it will make you feel distressed.”
Lin Xuanzhi sighed.
Esteemed Lan Yue knew his reluctance in forcing Ah Hen to cultivate. “Ah Hen is a blessed person, and you don’t have to worry too much. Sometimes, it’s not a bad thing to suffer a little.”
Although he understood the truth, it still hurt when the reasoning was used on Ah Hen.
Yan Tianhen’s connection with the Tomb of Youshan was indeed much deeper than Lin Xuanzhi. After all, that place used to be his burial ground and the place of his rebirth, but Yan Tianhen was absolutely utterly sure to never mention his true identity, so Lin Xuanzhi probably could never guess that he was Youshan Lingyu. However, if he couldn’t guess, Lin Xuanzhi wouldn’t do useless work for the time being.
Esteemed Lan Yue said, “Huarong, you probably also have a good understanding of evil Qi cultivators, you might as well talk to me.”
Since the astrology platform and the evil Qi cultivators were the reasons why he came here immediately, he naturally wouldn’t let go of any useful information.
Lin Xuanzhi picked and chose, and briefly and concisely talked about the origins and danger of evil Qi cultivators, but when he talked about how to eliminate evil Qi cultivators, Lin Xuanzhi’s face was slightly dark. “It is not easy to cultivate evil Qi, you need to open up the evil Qi meridians and acupoints. You will suffer from the pain of the evil Qi entering the body. After surviving your inner demon, you can enter the path of evil Qi cultivation. But as for how to cultivate specifically, in fact, for so many years, I have never figured it out.”
If he could figure it out and understand, maybe he would’ve been able to pull Youshan Lingyu back to the right path.
“So as for how to eliminate evil Qi cultivators, I have never figured it out either.” Lin Xuanzhi’s thoughts returned to the night when the flames pierced the sky, and were even brighter than the stars. That night was their last battle.
Before this battle, when Chang Sheng failed to persuade him to return to the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect and left Youshan Lingyu’s camp, he met with the Jianmu tree Xi He.
Back then, Cang Rong asked him if there was any hope. Chang Sheng shook his head and said slowly, “There is no cure.”
Xi He didn’t have any unexpected reactions, but his expression was a little regretful. After a while, he said, “Until now, we have never really found a way to completely obliterate evil Qi cultivators. Youshan Lingyu is also a dual cultivator of evil Qi and demonic Qi. I am afraid that when the time comes, even if we risk our lives, we still won’t be able to stop him. We can only take the trump card.”
“The array from Hidden Spirit Holy Sect to Youshan, which has taken a hundred years to build, has already been activated.” Chang Sheng looked at Xi He. His tone was light, but there was a kind of calm before he sacrificed himself. “If someone sacrifices themselves to the array, they can drag all those who enter the array to die. Tomorrow, I will sacrifice myself to the array. You will stop Youshan Lingyu and his three major demon generals, and kill them all.”
But Xi He merely raised his eyebrows and smiled, looking distinguished. “If you talk about sacrificing to the array, naturally I should go personally. After all, the core of the array is in Jade Ocean Jasper Heaven, where my true form has rooted and sprouted. Sacrificing myself to the Array will have the best effect. And you, Shixiong, your swordsmanship has reached its peak, and you’re almost unstoppable in the world. You are the one who should slaughter the demons.”
How happy is life, and how bitter is death?
Before leaving, Chang Sheng and Xi He drank a jar of wine, which was made during the first year of Lingyu’s ascent to the mountain. When Chang Sheng buried the wine under the peach blossom tree, he filled the pit with soil to cover the tightly sealed wine jar, and at the same time, he laughed at the little boy standing beside him, holding the corner of his clothes with one hand and nibbling his finger between his teeth with the other.
Chang Sheng said gently, “Lingyu, when you were in the demon realm, you didn’t see the sun and were not happy. You can forget about those times. Today you entered Spirit Sect; it’s the first year of your rebirth. This wine is also made by Shixiong this year. In the future, this wine will be the same age as you. When you get married, you can take it out and drink it freely. When you drink it, you will find that life is full of bitterness and endless aftertaste.”
This wine was aged wine. When making wine, the materials used were naturally of the highest quality. The amber red liquid had a delicate fragrance and sweetness. It tasted soft but had endless aftertaste.
This wine was brewed for the sake of Youshan Lingyu.
But Youshan Lingyu, no matter what, could not drink it anymore.
Chang Sheng poured out a glass of wine, poured it under the old peach tree in full bloom, and said, “I made this wine for you in the past. After drinking today, your Shixiong will personally send you on the road tomorrow.”
“It’s very difficult to kill evil Qi cultivators.” Lin Xuanzhi said. “In the last battle, Xi He activated the Spirit Sect Demon Sealing Array. The spiritual power stretched for thousands of miles, causing the whole Spirit Sect to collapse and sink in an instant. The demons and monsters in the array were all killed. Even if they didn’t die at that time, they were locked by the seal and their paths of retreat were cut off. All except the Demon Emperor Youshan Lingyu.”
A faint light flashed in Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes, his fingers gently rubbed the hilt of the Zhige sword in his hand, and said, “Anyone knew that there were three generals under the Demon Emperor. They were all evil Qi cultivators. I was ready for a fierce battle, but when the matter came, I only saw Youshan Lingyu — before Youshan Lingyu left the demon realm, the other three generals actually had their cultivation sucked dry by Youshan Lingyu and were thrown into the dark prison with no intact corpse left.”
This was what Youshan Lingyu personally said.
And his cultivation base had indeed reached the peak.
The grand array activated. The sky and the earth were colorless, the dark clouds were heavy, and the sun was covered up. Lingyu looked at the mountain of corpses under his feet. Dressed in a blood-red battle robe, and holding a crimson sword stained with too much blood, he looked up to the sky and laughed with arrogance and indulgence, “Chang Sheng Sword Venerable, Shixiong, you weren’t a match for me before, and now you’re even less of a match for me. Long before I came here, I killed my three most powerful generals, absorbed their cultivation base, squeezed out their souls, and threw their bodies into the black abyss. Do you think that you can kill me with your strength? Hahahaha — it’s really the world’s greatest joke.”
From beginning to end, he treated it as a joke. How can he possibly lose?
He was an evil Qi and demonic Qi dual cultivator, and he also absorbed all the evil Qi from the other three evil Qi cultivators who had already reached Earth Realm’s Grandmaster Stage. If Youshan Lingyu dared to call himself the second in the world, no one dared to claim to be first!
“What he said was quite right. If he was already invincible at that time, how could you kill him?” Esteemed Lan Yue frowned slightly, seemingly puzzled.
———
Zaki~ I’m really getting nervous, Ah Hen’s previous self seemed so bad from Xuanzhi’s recollection, what’s going to happen when Xuanzhi finds out Ah Hen is Lingyu? *bites nails*
