Chapter 4: Cultivation Has Never Been Pleasant
Inside and outside the cliff cave, all was silent, save for the faint rustling sound of the miasmic poison steadily eroding the parasol tree. It sounded like tens of thousands of silkworms gnawing on mulberry leaves, sending a slight chill down one’s spine.
Xu Yourong remained silent. The demon who had infiltrated the Zhou Garden was a true enemy, and she had no confidence in defeating this peak Illuminating Realm elder of the Falling Sun Sect. That was why she had been willing to pay a sufficient price earlier to secure his departure. If he feared retaliation from the Holy Maiden Peak afterward, she had even been prepared to swear an oath on her True Phoenix Blood.
Yet, she had not expected that what he wanted was her blood.
Whether in the archives of the Divine Palace or the records of the Holy Maiden Peak, the assessment of this Falling Sun Sect elder by both the northern and southern factions of the state religion was that he was cold-blooded and bloodthirsty. But the term “bloodthirsty” here referred to his temperament; it did not mean he actually delighted in eating human flesh and drinking human blood like some twisted demons. Otherwise, without even needing the Divine Palace or the Holy Maiden Peak to step in, the Li Mountain Sword Sect would have killed him long ago.
She was puzzled, then recalled that the cultivation techniques of the Falling Sun Sect were tied to earthly fire, and she roughly understood something.
If what he wanted was her True Phoenix Blood, then naturally, he would not let her continue living.
“Before I began cultivating, I was a scholar from the south. My original life ambition was to pass the imperial exams, become an official, earn silver, and marry a beautiful woman. But you’ve lived on the Holy Maiden Peak for several years, so you should know that the imperial courts of the south are nothing more than puppets of the various sect mountain gates and noble families. Even if one becomes a prime minister, they’re still just dogs to be ordered around by those cultivators.”
Bai Hai, thinking of events from many years ago, sighed with some emotion. “After drifting through the sea of officialdom for years, I finally understood this truth and wanted to cultivate. Unfortunately, I was already too old to master orthodox Daoist techniques to their fullest. So I took a different path and joined the Falling Sun Sect. As luck would have it, my scholarly knowledge was extremely high, and my Daoist aptitude was also very strong. In just twenty years, I managed to reach the Illuminating Realm.”
The miasmic poison slowly corroded the parasol tree. He and Xu Yourong stood inside and outside the cave, separated by a mere distance yet unable to touch. So he had time to properly review the past, which also served as an explanation to her.
“But that’s as far as I got,” he said with some sorrow. “I could no longer advance. The hundred-plus years of cultivation afterward were all a waste of life. I was deeply unwilling to accept it. I clearly possessed enough wisdom and experience, and in terms of diligence, I was no worse than anyone. So why could I never break through the Illuminating Realm? Was it because my bloodline talent was too ordinary?”
Saying this, he turned his gaze toward Xu Yourong behind the green tree, not hiding the jealousy and anger in his eyes. “But bloodline talent isn’t something one decides for oneself—it’s randomly distributed by heaven. Why should people like you have such wonderful bloodline talent, while people like me, no matter how hard we try, can never catch up? Why are you only fifteen years old and already at the upper level of Illuminating Realm, while I had to spend over a hundred years?”
“Later, I finally found a secret technique manual in the sect that could help me cross the threshold of the Illuminating Realm. But cultivating it was too difficult—it required the purest fire crystal to wash my marrow and exchange my blood anew. However, the sect’s earthly fire crystal from back then had already been forged into the founder’s sword, which vanished along with him. Where was I supposed to find it? Did I have the ability to cross the ocean and search for a red dragon on those southern sea islands? I searched bitterly for over ten years in the world, with no progress at all, until finally, I thought of one possibility.”
Bai Hai turned sideways, looking toward the distant grasslands. “The founder died, and the earthly fire crystal vanished with his sword. With his cultivation back then, nearly reaching the Saintly Realm, who could have killed him? The most likely possibility, of course, was Zhou. So could his sword have been left behind in the Zhou Garden? In that legendary sword pool?”
“That’s why, when the Zhou Garden opened this year, I came in without hesitation. To be honest, I saw the fireworks warning signal from the Azure Radiance Thirteen Divisions. I even saw a human cultivator poisoned to death by a demon. But so what? Nothing was more important than finding the founder’s sword. Except… I found no trace of that sword here. I couldn’t even sense a hint of the earthly fire crystal’s aura. I was in despair.”
He turned back to face Xu Yourong, his aged, slightly clouded eyes gradually revealing a fervent light. “But just as I was despairing, I saw you unfold your fire wings and fly down from the top of Muyu Peak. I knew you were severely injured. I knew this would be my best chance to break through my realm—perhaps even my last chance.”
“What is the essence of earthly fire compared to this? The True Phoenix Blood in your body contains even more violent, more blazing, more pure energy! As long as I can drink your blood, I’m certain I can master that secret technique. I can easily break through the Illuminating Realm, successfully condense fire, and in the future, I might even have a chance to step into the Sacred Domain! Do you know how great a temptation this is for someone like me?”
The more Bai Hai spoke, the more agitated he became, his voice growing hoarser.
Xu Yourong looked at him and said, “I don’t know.”
Bai Hai was stunned for a moment. “What did you say?”
“Breaking through cultivation realms is a very simple thing for me, like eating or drinking water. From the moment I was born, it was destined that I would enter the Sacred Domain in the future. So…”
She looked at him calmly and said, “I cannot understand your feelings.”
When she said this, she was very composed.
So Bai Hai was extremely furious, along with a profound sense of loss.
If Chen Changsheng had been awake at this moment, he might have understood the feelings of this Falling Sun Sect elder. Not because he had experienced such feelings himself, but because he often made others feel the same way, just like Xu Yourong—earnestly stating objective facts while forcing the other party to endure endless humiliation until they were speechless.
Tang Thirty-Six, who had deep experience with this, once commented: “You and Xu Yourong are both people who leave others with nothing to say.”
Bai Hai indeed had nothing to say, so he could only roar in fury: “Bloodline talent? Heaven is unfair! Once I suck your blood dry later, your bloodline talent will be mine! I will change this injustice!”
Xu Yourong had learned the reason, so she no longer paid him any attention. She had no interest in the melodramatic outcry of a cold-blooded cultivator.
She walked over to sit beside Chen Changsheng, crossed her legs, and began to regulate her breathing. In her hand, she had somehow acquired several extremely pure crystals.
Inside the Zhou Garden, she could not connect with the countless stars in the sky. She could not sense her own destiny star. The true essence she had gathered with great difficulty through the crystals last night was now showing signs of dispersing again.
This fact made her somewhat displeased. Just as she did not care about Bai Hai’s insidious cruelty, as the next Southern Holy Maiden, for the sake of humanity’s future, she had spent two days and nights in the Zhou Garden without rest, fighting fiercely with the demon princess, only to be forced into a dead end and potentially die at the hands of a human. That, too, made her feel very displeased.
Through the green leaves of the parasol tree, Bai Hai saw her slightly raised eyebrows and guessed her feelings. He said with a hint of sarcasm, “Do you think it’s unfair?”
Xu Yourong sat cross-legged on the ground, her expression serene. Though she did not answer, it felt as if she were saying, “Does anyone dare to think this is fair?”
“I know you think someone like me is cold, selfish, insidious, and cunning… But have you ever considered that you and I are no different? Do you really think you’re a phoenix? Do you really think you’re as holy and flawless as you imagine? Do you think you represent morality?”
A look of contempt and disdain appeared on Bai Hai’s aged face. Pointing at Chen Changsheng behind her, he said, “I watched you fly down from Muyu last night and followed you quietly all the way. Though I didn’t see how you saved this person, I’m sure it was in front of demon elites. So why were you ready to leave him alone in the reed marsh earlier? I didn’t see what you did in the woods, but I imagine it was just the usual clichéd inner struggle. But why did you struggle? Did it matter if anyone saw? It shows that what you truly care about isn’t morality or righteousness, but how others perceive you!”
These words were undoubtedly extremely piercing.
This Falling Sun Sect elder did not know that not long ago, a little black dragon girl had made the same assessment of Xu Yourong.
Without a doubt, these words were extremely piercing and hard to refute.
Xu Yourong’s expression was calm, as if she hadn’t heard them at all, as if she deemed them unworthy of a response.
This disdain was not a pretense after being left speechless; she genuinely felt nothing from these words.
She had never truly cared about how others saw her. She didn’t care what those demon elites thought, so naturally, she wouldn’t care what this shameless human cultivator thought.
On the contrary, after hearing Bai Hai’s words, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Because these words revealed one piece of information: this man had not seen what she had done earlier when she left the reed marsh and went into the woods by the shore.
Still, being mocked and humiliated like this was ultimately not a pleasant experience.
She looked back at Chen Changsheng behind her and frowned slightly, thinking that if she hadn’t been carrying this person, she could have slipped away lightly last night. Even when she encountered Bai Hai at the cliff earlier, she had at least three ways to avoid him. How could she be trapped in this cave now, about to have her blood drunk by this man?
Ever since her bloodline talent awakened, her status in the human world had been special. Whether it was Her Holiness the Empress or her teacher the Holy Maiden, they had all doted on her. As for her classmates in the Azure Radiance Thirteen Divisions, her fellow disciples on the Holy Maiden Peak, and all the cultivators in the world, when had any of them dared to show her the slightest disrespect? And now someone wanted to drink her blood?
This, naturally, could not be a pleasant experience either.
She could not accept it.
She took out her destiny star disk, her fingers moving rapidly. The intricate lines shifted and transformed, forming even more complex patterns.
“What is this? A destiny disk?” Bai Hai, standing outside the cave, watched this scene with a vague sense of unease.
Xu Yourong ignored him and continued her calculations.
(Next chapter: striving to be out before nine. Today is Monday, please take a moment to cast your recommendation votes.)