Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Who are you? Why are you pretending to be an Autumn Valley disciple?”
The young man glared at Zhou Donghuang. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected someone to pose as a disciple of the Autumn Valley.
Wasn’t he afraid of death?
He had only agreed to bring this young stranger to He Mengxi because he could never have imagined anyone pretending to be an Autumn Valley disciple.
He’d failed to consider that perhaps He Mengxi did not know that the Autumn Valley Lord had already accepted this young man as a disciple. However, this scenario was practically impossible.
He Mengxi was the Autumn Valley Lord’s only daughter!
“Posing as an Autumn Valley disciple?”
He Mengxi frowned a little when she heard what the young man said before finally turning to take a good look at him.
The young man dressed in white met her gaze. She had a weird feeling. It was almost as if he knew her.
Then, a different young man dressed in green took a step forward. Dharma manifested around his body. He Mengxi stopped him before he could harm Zhou Donghuang. “Wait, Senior Brother Huang Long.”
The young man dressed in green was named Huang Long. Although he was not as strong as He Mengxi, he was older than her and had been a part of the Autumn Valley before He Mengxi had even entered the Dharma stage. By these merits, she had to address him as “Senior Brother.”
Huang Long could not defy her. The Dharma disappeared, and he sheathed his sword, still glaring warily at Zhou Donghuang.
“Do you know me?”
He Mengxi looked at Zhou Donghuang. Suspicion swam in her eyes.
“Third Senior Sister.”
Zhou Donghuang finally snapped out of his daze. He worked hard to suppress his emotions, which were threatening to swirl out of control because of his agitation. He took a deep breath, then smiled and greeted He Mengxi.
“Third Senior Sister?”
He Mengxi was taken aback by the title Zhou Donghuang had used to greet her. “Have you mistaken me for someone else?”
“Third Senior Sister, I wish to speak with you alone,” Zhou Donghuang said.
“Listen, punk. It’s bad enough that you’re posing as an Autumn Valley disciple. Now, you’re even trying to make ridiculous requests of Junior Sister He Mengxi!” Huang Long ranted angrily.
He Mengxi’s eyes met Zhou Donghuang’s. After a moment, she turned to look at Huang Long and said, “Senior Brother Huang Long, you have your own business to attend to. I’d like to hear what he has to say. I’ll deal with him appropriately. If he doesn’t have a good explanation for his actions, I’ll chase him out of Autumn Valley and the Lightning Sword Sect.”
Huang Long nodded. Before taking his leave, he glared at Zhou Donghuang and warned, “Don’t pull any tricks, punk!”
It was more or less an empty threat.
He Mengxi was far stronger than him, and he did not think that this Silver Essence adept posed much of a threat to He Mengxi.
After Huang Long left, He Mengxi stared at Zhou Donghuang, who had not moved an inch since his arrival. “Now that it’s just the two of us, what was it you wanted to say?”
“Third Senior Sister.”
Zhou Donghuang stared at He Mengxi. His speech was neither too fast nor too slow. “When you were six, you secretly put a mouse in your father’s boots. You were afraid that he would punish you, so you snuck back to retrieve the mouse.”
“How do you know that?!”
He Mengxi paled immediately. Only she knew about that. Not even her father knew.
As this young man standing in front of her told her about this incident, a chill ran down her spine.
Who was he? How did he know her secret?
Zhou Donghuang did not answer, but pressed on, “You reached the Connate stage on the very first day of the year when you turned 13. You wanted your father to praise you, so you told him that you reached the stage on the last day of your twelfth year.”
He Mengxi’s pupils constricted. Again, this was something only she knew.
“When you were 19…”
“When you were 21…”
Everything Zhou Donghuang recounted were stories that Third Senior Sister had shared with him in his previous life during moments of idle chatter.
She had told him all of these things before, and they were stories no one else knew but her.
“You…Just who are you?”
He Mengxi stared at the young man in front of her, and her face was devoid of any color. She felt that she had no secrets from this person.
“Third Senior Sister,” Zhou Donghuang said with a smile, “there is no reason for you to be afraid. These are the only secrets of your that I know. You may not believe me, but I learned all of this from my dreams.
“During the last year and a half, I had a long, long dream. You were my Third Senior Sister in that dream, and you told me of your origins. You are He Mengxi, a disciple of the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect in Tielao in the Hengliu Stars.
“I’m not a Tielao native. I’m not even from the Hengliu Stars. I come from Ziyun, a planet in the Kaiyuan Galaxy.
“The strongest of the Top 5 Sects in Ziyun is the Donghuang Sect, and I am its current leader. I left Ziyun half a year ago.
“Third Senior Sister, you can verify all of this. I just never thought that it was anything other than a dream!” Zhou Donghuang exclaimed.
While he was telling her all this, he could see suspicion and doubt in her eyes, so he decided to tell her everything. He feared nothing.
“If what I said earlier about your secrets is true and those are things that only you know, how else would I know about them? You don’t think I can read other people’s memories, do you? Besides, I’m a decade younger than you. I wasn’t even born yet when you were sixteen,” Zhou Donghuang continued talking.
The only reason why he was lying through his teeth like this now was that he knew of no other way to explain everything to his Third Senior Sister.
Other than what he had just come up with, he could not think of a better way to go about encouraging her to accept him as a Junior Brother without divulging the fact that he came from the future—one century from now.
He Mengxi’s eyebrows relaxed after listening to what he said. She thought that it made sense.
“So, you’re saying that you came all this way to the Lightning Sword Sect and the Autumn Valley because you wanted to meet me to test the veracity of your dream?” He Mengxi asked.
“It’s not only that,” Zhou Donghuang said with an imposing air. “There was something else in my dream. In the near future, the Lightning Sword Sect will face an existential danger! A disaster will bring about the death of your father, the Autumn Valley Lord. As for you, you will leave Tielao and the Hengliu Stars.
“I met you after this catastrophe occurred. At that time, you were already a Primordial Soul adept. Both of us were in the same sect studying under the same master. The disciples under Master—Big Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister—had already passed before you joined us. Under Master, you ranked third, and I ranked fourth because I joined last. That is why I call you ‘Third Senior Sister.’”
Zhou Donghuang did not continue. Different emotions crossed He Mengxi’s face.
She thought that everything Zhou Donghuang had said was a little absurd. It was undoubtedly a far-fetched tale.
But he had also revealed several of her secrets, secrets that no one should know. Of this, she was a hundred percent certain!
She took everything in. On the whole, she thought it was ridiculous, but a part of her that believed him.
Anxiety was written all over her face as she asked, “Why would the Lightning Sword Sect face such a thread? When exactly will this happen?”
Zhou Donghuang knew from her question that she had bought his tale. “It was mainly brought about by the Summer Valley Lord. As for the specifics, you never told me in my dream. You didn’t mention when exactly it would happen, either.”
He Mengxi frowned, and her brow furrowed. Zhou Donghuang interjected, “At that time, you told me that you had not been at the Dharma stage for long when the sect was wiped out.
“Unless my appearance before you today affects your training, when you step into the Dharma stage, take your father with you and leave the Lightning Sword Sect. You should be able to escape unscathed,” Zhou Donghuang said.
He Mengxi heaved a sigh of relief.
“Third Senior Sister, Ziyun, from where I come, is no longer a suitable place for me to continue training. I wish to stay in Autumn Valley from now on. Can you help me by putting in a good word with your father?” Zhou Donghuang asked He Mengxi.
He Mengxi listened, then looked steadily at him. “You cannot join Autumn Valley before you turn thirty and step into the Dharma stage. How old are you? And what kind of adept are you?” He Mengxi asked.
“I am 24 and became a Golden Essence adept the year before,” Zhou Donghuang responded.
“A Golden Essence adept at 23?”
Her shock was evident. Even she had only become a Golden Essence adept at 24. This young man had become a Golden Essence adept earlier than her?
On top of that, it was clear that the planet he came from was not a more environment suitable for training than here on the Tielao planet, where the Lightning Sword Sect was based.
Within the Autumn Valley, there was a formation used to detect a person’s age using their bones. He Mengxi took Zhou Donghuang to have his age assessed, then observed the golden inner Yuan swirling around his body before she finally believed him.
“The martial abilities you’ve demonstrated are sufficient, for now. I can ask my father to accept you into the Autumn Valley,” He Mengxi said to Zhou Donghuang. “However, if you cannot advance to the Dharma stage before you turn thirty, then you will have to leave the Lightning Sword Sect to join the five halls that are outside this sect, no matter how much you want to stay.”
The ‘five halls outside the Lightning Sword Sect’ referred to the Gold Hall, Wood Hall, Water Hall, Fire Hall, and Earth Hall.
Liu Ping—the disciple who had been on patrol earlier and brought Zhou Donghuang to the Autumn Valley—had declared himself a disciple of the Wood Hall.
“Alright.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded, but he reminded He Mengxi at the same time, “Third Senior Sister, I think it’s best if you refrain from telling your father what I told you just now, just for the time being. It wouldn’t be a big deal if he didn’t believe it, but it could cause a bit of trouble if he did.”
“I know how to deal with this,” He Mengxi said. “You mentioned earlier that you were from Ziyun in the Kaiyuan Galaxy and that you’re the current leader of the Donghuang Sect, the strongest of Ziyun’s Top 5 sects?”
“Yes.”
Zhou Donghuang nodded. His eyes twinkled, and he carried himself with a bit more dignity. “When it comes to martial abilities, not a single person in the whole of Ziyun would dare declare themselves stronger than me. I, Zhou Donghuang, am peerless in the whole of Ziyun!”
