Chapter 51- Nighttime Conversation

Yin Biyue knew, his current hair color, in a different script, might make him a young, non-mainstream chuuni¹ or an extremely pretentious fashion trendsetter.

But for the cultivators of this world, any problems with the body was a big issue.

Especially something like this where the cause couldn’t be found and it was unknown whether this had any hidden symptoms affecting cultivation. Or even if it was curable.

He hadn’t minded in the beginning, but Eldest Shixiong and Second Shijie’s attitudes were both very cautious; otherwise they wouldn’t have thought of letting him participate in the Flower Picking Festival like this.

Yin Biyue didn’t want to make Luo Mingchuan worry and originally wanted to say, “No need to treat it, it’s really not a problem.”

But perhaps it was because the moonlight tonight was too pleasing, or maybe it was that the light of the lake and the colors of the mountain were too beautiful, or maybe it was Luo Mingchuan’s expression that was too earnest and irrefutable.

Yin Biyue opened his mouth, and the words changed into, “Alright.”

Luo Mingchuan smiled as if relieved from a great pressure.

Shidi had chosen to trust him, just like at the foot of Xi Hua Peak, where he had proposed journeying together.

There was nothing better than this.

Yin Biyue thought it over, sensing that if he said he wouldn’t go, it would just make Shixiong more anxious.

Then let’s go to Xing Shan Temple.

The world is so vast; let’s go together to take a look.

At the same time, in Yunyang City thousands of miles away, under the bright light of the same moon, another conversation was occurring.

It was just that the moonlight there was no longer gentle, rather it was piercingly cold and cruel.

The two people talking also didn’t have the slightest bit of consideration for the other.

But similarly, the decisions reached by these two conversations, directly or indirectly, will determine the direction that the future is headed towards.

The exchange still had not arrived at a consensus. In the face of the Academy Director’s question, the Sword Saint only looked at the night sky and replied, “This world’s future, in the end, must be given over to the hands of the young people.”

This sentence wasn’t really answering the question, but the Academy Director understood what he meant.

Therefore he didn’t pursue this topic again, and rather he walked a few steps closer.

One meter could be a polite distance, and it could also be a guarded distance between enemies. But right now, there was someone who closed this distance.

Merely getting a few steps closer, the atmosphere between the two became remarkably eased.

The Academy Director walked in front of the stone table, tidied up the smashed array disk, swapped it for a half worn tea set, and made an inviting gesture at tonight’s visitor.

Wei Jingfeng sat down without a hint of unfamiliarity.

They began to drink tea. JunShan YunWu tea² of the highest quality.

Just like many years ago, when they were still young.

“Let the other matters rest. First stay and recuperate.”

The Sword Saint’s strength tonight was just as it had been in the past, with absolutely no indication that he was wounded. But the Academy Director said this, and he did not deny it at all.

“What does this Old Man³ have to fear?”

The Director laughed, “Eventually it will become a problem.”

Yes, the Sword Saint feared nothing. Even if he was injured, if he wanted to kill that person on HengDuan Mountain, it was only a matter of a wave of his sword.

But if the news was spread, a lot of people would be tempted, would overestimate their own capabilities, and would advance wave after wave like moths to a flame. The great powers across the lands would be in disorder, and the Sword Saint would again draw his sword to kill people.

Wei Jingfeng was not afraid of killing people. Nor did he care about his reputation.

He killed people without regard to the proper dao, killing based only on his emotions.

But he feared inconvenience. The situation right now was extremely inconvenient.

The Fallen Star Abyss was still expanding; the demons at the bottom could not be completely exterminated. They sensed that that soul was still alive, so they converged beneath the star Yin Sha and propagated. For millions of years, they continued to grow with no end.

If the root couldn’t be destroyed, these demons would emerge sooner or later from that lightless abyss to devour all living flesh.

Demons were not demonic cultivators. They had no sense of pain, and they didn’t need to cultivate. They could simply rely on eating to get stronger.

Wei Jingfeng was the single Saint after the End of Dharma Era. He was also the only Saint in the world at the present.

The cultivation world looked upon the Fallen Star Abyss as a forbidden area. Only he had entered before. And he had done so more than once.

From the first time he entered five hundred years ago, the Academy Director began to deduce. He eventually calculated a devastating calamity.

The Sword Saint had not returned to Cang Ya for so many years, and the Academy Director had entirely exhausted all his thoughts for so many years. Both had done many things.

They did not consider how grand or how deserving of people’s praises the things they had done were.

But when the sky falls, there must always be someone taller to bear it.

They thought themselves above other people. Therefore they ought to do this.

They were in disagreement, but neither of them were wrong. It was just that the methods they had chosen were different.

But in the end, they still walked onto paths heading in opposing directions, drawing further apart.

*************

When Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan descended the mountain, through the breeze at dawn and under the falling moon, the sea of clouds in the east were dyed pure gold by the radiance of the rising sun. The morning wind brought the freshness of the vegetation’s moisture and mist, making one feel refreshed.

They returned to Ye City, where the entire city was still soaked in the sweetly intoxicating land of dreams.

The empty streets and tottering wine shops, the clear and crisp birdsong and rooster crowing from within long alleyways.

The shopkeeper along the path yawned as he opened the doors for business. An old couple pushed a wooden cart, setting up a breakfast stall as white steam poured through the gaps in the steamer baskets.

Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan passed through Ye City, neither of them saying anything.

Just like those times after battles on the platforms at midday and dusk, they walked together towards Lake Qiu. Indescribably, Yin Biyue felt at ease.

It was as if they were going home together.

When the two people got to the banks of Lake Qiu, they suddenly felt that something was amiss.

Duan Chongxuan wasn’t at the lakeside, and neither was he in the courtyard.

This early in the morning, when the teahouses weren’t even open yet, where would he go?

Yin Biyue knitted his brows, as Luo Mingchuan said, “First don’t panic. There probably isn’t an issue.”

The two were about to go searching when they saw a youth wearing a robe of ink-splashed mountains and lakes coming over, his slightly oversized robe making his figure seem even younger. This was Cheng Tianyu.

Cheng Tianyu saw the two’s expressions and hastily said, “Don’t be worried, Duan-shixiong was in secluded cultivation at Wutong Park breaking through… My shixiong said you should have returned now and asked me to come say something.”

Yin Biyue relaxed, “Many thanks.”

Luo Mingchuan sincerely said, “Many thanks for your trouble.”

Cheng Tianyu felt a little embarrassed and bashfully said, “No need to thank me. Shixiong invites you to come take a look.”

In fact, Duan Chongxuan originally wanted to suppress it and wait until they returned to Xi Hua Peak to go into seclusion and breakthrough. But after ascending the mountain his mind was smooth and unhindered, with signs of a breakthrough; his breath was unstable, and the pressure was exposed. Qing Lu Sword Sect this time too had two people who climbed the mountain to pick leaves. Song Tang’s party of three were also waiting below the mountain, happened to see Duan Chongxuan descending the mountain, and therefore invited him to go to Wutong Park for seclusion.

Going into seclusion was a huge matter. Duan Chongxuan wasn’t the type to trust other people easily, but this time he chose to trust the other party.

Qing Lu Sword Sect was this Flower Picking Festival’s host and had the most powerful seniors watching over Ye City. Song Tang and the others were staying in Wutong Park, undoubtedly the most secure location. Especially since it was still unknown whether or not Bao Pu Zong’s Zheng Wei had left Ye City.

Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan followed Cheng Tianyu to Wutong Park in the northern part of the city and gave their thanks to Song Tang and Zhong Shan.

Song Tang was very surprised that Luo Mingchuan had broken through to mid-Lesser Vessel Stage in just one night, but congratulated him without asking any further.

They stood in the middle of the courtyard exchanging a few words, with Yin Biyue watching that closed-off door. He could vaguely feel the breath of the person inside rising little by little, the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth all around them coming together and dispersing. He happily thought, there are three Lesser Vessel Stages here that could do battle if Zheng Wei showed up; Chatterbox being secluded here was really the most secure.

Duan Chongxuan would need at least four days to break through. Even though the Flower Picking Festival had concluded, Qing Lu Sword Sect still had a lot of work to do to wrap things up. They wouldn’t leave for a while.

Luo Mingchuan and Yin Biyue also decided not to leave in two days’ time with the other Cang Ya Mountain people, and instead they would wait for Duan Chongxuan to break through and emerge for them to go back together.

When they left the mountain, only Luo Mingchuan was at the Breakthrough Stage. Yin Biyue and Duan Chongxuan were both Soul Condensing Stages. But now, they would quickly become two Breakthrough Stages and one Lesser Vessel Stage.

At this kind of cultivation speed, to describe it as advancing by leaps and bounds was putting it mildly, Yin Biyue thought. No wonder so many cultivators were fond of traveling the world.

But as for Shifu, Shifu was away traveling for that many years; was there a place in the world where he had not yet been to?

The Flower Picking Festival was over. Small sects began to set out to leave Ye City one after another, and the Cang Ya Mountain disciples were also beginning their preparations for departure.

For cultivators, there was really nothing that needed to be packed. The main thing was saying their farewells. The Flower Picking Festival was not only for battle to see who was stronger; it was also for meeting other sects’ disciples. Once they parted ways here, the future road of cultivation was uncertain, and it was uncertain whether or not they would get a chance to meet again.

Qu Duiyan that day came to eat glutinous rice with chicken wrapped in lotus leaves, so tonight she originally wanted to invite He Yanyun and Ruan Xiaolian to Taihe Pavilion for a feast.

But she was unanimously overruled by the two, “Still not as tasty as the city’s night market!”

Thus the three girls sat at a wonton stand along a busy street, holding worn porcelain bowls and fishing up wontons.

It was a pity Qu Duiyan’s face was put there: eating at a vendor’s stand by the road she was still better-looking than the surrounding people, causing the young man at the neighborhood table to spill soup down his chest.

The three of them ate their fill the entire way down the street and finally laid down on the roof of the house by Lake Qiu, relaxing and watching the moon.

He Yanyun said, “I think, the biggest priority is first to marry you off.”

Qu Duiyan refused, “For what reason? I’m only sixteen. My mother isn’t even in a hurry!”

He Yanyun rubbed her stomach, “Think about it: adding in your dao companion, four people together is enough to play mahjong. With only three of us together the only thing we can do is eat…”

Ruan Xiaolian was soaking in the sad mood of parting ways, but when she heard her say this, she immediately began to laugh.

In this world there does not exist a never-ending feast. The moon climbed to the center of the sky, casting clear light in scatters on the rooftop.

Qu Duiyan stood up, sleeves fluttering, facial features enveloped in a faint radiance, just like a fairy descending to earth from the Palace of the Moon.

She said, “Remember to write me letters—sending jade messages is okay too. As long as it reaches Lian Jian Sect, I can receive it.”

The rims of Ruan Xiaolian’s eyes were slightly red, “Definitely.”

He Yanyun’s mouth kept going on, “Who’s that idle!” As she stood up, she too felt like her nose was aching.

At dawn the next day, everyone from Lian Jian Sect set off to return to the Central Continent. By noon, the Cang Ya Mountain disciples also bid farewell to Luo Mingchuan and Yin Biyue, leaving Ye City.

At dusk, besides the Bao Pu Sect and Qing Lu Sword Sect that hadn’t left yet, the other few large sects had all set off to return to their peaks.

There were few foreign cultivators remaining, and it was like Ye City had returned to the way it was when Yin Biyue and the others had just entered the city.

During the entire duration of the Flower Picking Festival, the city’s security was especially tight; the black-armored guards that were incessantly rushing about patrolling every day could now finally also heave a sigh of relief.

It was on this day that Duan Chongxuan emerged from seclusion.

Yin Biyue and Luo Mingchuan had arrived first thing in the morning at Wutong Park. Five people stood in the courtyard attentively staring at the door.

At last, they waited until the air in the room calmed. Duan Chongxuan pushed open the door and emerged, his entire person in glowing with high spirits, almost like a brand new person.

He faced the five people in front of him and bowed, showing his gratitude for them keeping watch.

This couple of people saw he had smoothly broken through and laughed as if relieved of a heavy weight. Cheng Tianyu happily congratulated him. Even the consistently expressionless Zhong Shan’s face softened a bit.

Duan Chongxuan found that Luo Mingchuan had also broken through. Thus there was a moment of joy in Wutong Park, like the warm radiance of spring.

At this time they still didn’t know the clouds of gloom looming over Ye City, filling the air with depression and panic like omens carried in the wind.

Because someone had died in the city.

The deceased was last night’s watchman. In Shiyang Alley on South Street, there was no corpse—the only thing that could be used to pass judgement was the residual blood stain in the cracks between the stones. And the demonic energy that had cleaved open the flagstones.

If it was at the Eastern Continent where demonic cultivation was rampant, these sorts of events would happen every day.

But here, something that could hide from those powerful seniors and even the Ye City Lord’s eyes and ears—

This was an exceedingly terrifying matter.

The entirety of the Southern Continent had seen no trace of demonic cultivation for almost a century.

1) I would assume that everyone knows what it is, but chuuni refers to chuunibyou, a syndrome often (allegedly) afflicting second year middle school students where they’re convinced of their own specialness and dreams of grandiose futures.

2) 君山云雾茶 – a combination of two teas that exist irl, if you’re interested in how the tea they’re drinking might taste. First is Junshan tea, a white tea from “Gentleman’s Mountain”, and the other is Yunwu tea (Cloud/mist tea).

3) 老夫 is a way for men to refer to themselves, essentially “I” with flavour.