Volume Four: Those Years When I Was a Master
[Rough and not set in stone: Foundation Establishment → Enlightenment → Integration → Temptation → Golden Core → Nascent Soul → Soul Division → Body Integration → Void Glimpse → Mahayana → Void Shattering → Tribulation Transcendence → Supreme Immortal]
Willing and Content
The South Sea Weiyang Mystic Realm, legend held, contained the inheritance of an immortal. However, countless cultivators had turned this mystic realm upside down without finding anything, and the matter was eventually dropped.
But there were still those who refused to believe it and continued to venture to the South Sea Weiyang Mystic Realm, determined to prove that they were the fated one who would obtain the immortal’s inheritance.
The South Sea Weiyang Mystic Realm was discovered on a deserted island. To reach it, one needed to ride a Baixi Eagle1, fly across the vast South Sea, and enter the Weiyang Mystic Realm.
The Baixi Eagle landed on a white sandy beach. Yu Wan Zhao helped Wen Nuan down. Without lingering, the Baixi Eagle flapped its enormous wings, soared into the clouds, and vanished.
“Shizun2, we have arrived.” Yu Wan Zhao adjusted the bamboo hat on Wen Nuan’s head, its cyan gauze veil fluttering messily in the sea breeze.
Her exquisite face was visible through the cyan gauze, but her peach blossom eyes, which should have been clear and bright, were as desolate as withered, fallen flowers.
Wen Nuan did not respond to her, not even a flicker in her gaze.
Yu Wan Zhao’s expression dimmed. She tightened Wen Nuan’s veil, interlocked her fingers with hers, and led her deeper into the mystic realm.
The mountain ranges rose and fell in an endless, lush, and verdant expanse.
Venturing deeper, they were met with the sight of a wide lake that seemed to connect with the South Sea itself, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The lake’s surface was as smooth as a mirror and as clear as jade. A light, smoke-like mist drifted over it, instantly creating a vast expanse of hazy waves and curling clouds.
They had already walked into the Inner Place of Seclusion3. If they were to venture further, they would enter the Place of Final Rest.
An immortal’s resting place would reject those of the Demon Race. Even if Yu Wan Zhao suppressed her demonic power and walked the mortal realm using spiritual power, she would still be discovered upon entering the Place of Final Rest.
At best, she would be suppressed by the mystic realm’s pressure; at worst, she would be struck down by lightning punishment.
Yu Wan Zhao stared into the distance, her eyes stained by the black of night.
This Place of Final Rest… I have to get in, even if I die trying.
The night was as cool as water. Yu Wan Zhao found some dry branches and started a fire for light.
The bonfire4 flourished, its light reflecting on Wen Nuan’s delicate profile, blurring her elegant, smooth contours and making her seem even more ethereal.
Yu Wan Zhao sat by the fire, only a palm’s breadth away from Wen Nuan. With her arms resting on her knees and her chin on her arms, she gazed at Wen Nuan.
“Shizun, let’s rest tonight. We can enter the Place of Final Rest tomorrow.”
No one answered her, but she continued speaking.
“Sect Master Zhong gave me a luopan5, said it could detect barriers. But the Void Barrier is different from others, so even Sect Master Zhong couldn’t guarantee this luopan would find it.”
“Still, something is better than nothing. We’ll find it eventually.”
She had a premonition that the Void Barrier was within the Place of Final Rest.
“Shizun, if we find the immortal’s inheritance and can repair your shattered Primordial Spirit, will you… be angry and drive me away when you wake up?”
She was, after all, a member of the Demon Race. The mortal realm still rejected her. Even Sect Master Zhong wished he could kill her to vent his hatred. And now, she had dragged Wen Nuan into such a miserable state.
Moreover, she had developed other kinds of feelings for Wen Nuan—filthy feelings that, if spoken aloud, would probably get her devoured alive by her master.
Especially since she had taken advantage of her madness at the ancient battlefield ruins to take liberties with Wen Nuan, insulting her wantonly. For that alone, if Wen Nuan were to regain her senses, the Abyssal Ice Sword would probably pierce her heart meridians directly.
“I won’t.”
“Is that so?” Yu Wan Zhao replied casually, then a second later, she froze, realizing someone seemed to have just spoken to her.
Yu Wan Zhao whipped her head around to scan her surroundings, her gaze alert, demonic and spiritual power already gathering in her palm.
“Who’s there!?” Yu Wan Zhao’s face was stern as she stared into the depths of the lake and jungle.
“No one. Don’t be afraid.”
That voice?!
Yu Wan Zhao spun around abruptly. She saw Wen Nuan’s eyes, clear and cold, with a hint of a smile at their corners that made her flawless face appear all the more charming and passionate.
She exclaimed in shock, “Shizun?”
She stared at the smiling Wen Nuan before her, hardly daring to believe her own eyes.
“Shizun, is it really you?” Yu Wan Zhao asked again, uncertain.
Wen Nuan knew of the fear and anxiety in Yu Wan Zhao’s heart. She raised a hand toward her and said in a gentle voice, “Wan Zhao, it is this Master.”
Yu Wan Zhao knelt on the ground, her hands trembling as they hovered in mid-air, not daring to touch her, afraid that this was all just a dream that would instantly turn to nothingness if touched.
“Shizun?” she sobbed softly, her tone filled with grievance and guilt. “Wan Zhao… knows I was wrong. I really know I was wrong?”
“It’s alright,” Wen Nuan grasped her cold hand, holding it in her own palm and rubbing it for warmth.
She sighed softly. “This Master has never blamed you.”
The warm touch, the almost tangible voice.
If this is a dream, it’s far too real.
Yu Wan Zhao’s pupils trembled slightly, her hands shaking as she asked in a hoarse voice, “Shizun, you… have you recovered your Primordial Spirit? Have you?”
“No. This is merely a contingency this Master left for myself. I can only remain lucid for one shichen6 each day. Once the time is up, I will return to my previous state.”
“Only one shichen?” Yu Wan Zhao’s eyes grew moist with tears. She recalled Zhong Baixuan’s abrupt change in attitude yesterday.
She sniffled and said with a choke, “Shizun, this method of the immortal’s inheritance, did you tell Sect Master Zhong about it yesterday?”
Wen Nuan nodded. “En, did he not tell you that I would be lucid for one shichen every day?”
“….” Yu Wan Zhao’s lip trembled, and tears streamed down her face.
She said pitifully, “I suppose Sect Master Zhong detests this disciple too much, so he didn’t reveal much to this disciple.”
Wen Nuan: “…..”
To think that Zhong Baixuan is such a grudge-holding fellow.
“He is still angry. You shouldn’t mind it too much.” Wen Nuan saw Yu Wan Zhao’s little face droop, her eyebrows knitting together grievously.
She raised her hand to pat Wan Zhao’s head and said softly, “Don’t be upset.”
Feeling the touch on her head, Yu Wan Zhao was ecstatic and thrilled, yet she didn’t dare show a hint of happiness on her face. She could only nod in trepidation and say, “This disciple is not upset. How could this disciple dare to be upset with Sect Master Zhong? For Sect Master Zhong to allow this disciple to save Shizun, this disciple is already eternally grateful.”
Wen Nuan said with relief, “You have always been so thoughtful and obedient.”
The former Yu Wan Zhao was like a considerate and warm little padded jacket—beautiful, obedient, sensible, exceptionally intelligent, and with outstanding aptitude. Most importantly, she was a sweet-talker, practically becoming the treasured pearl of Qianyuan Upper Palace. There was no one who didn’t praise Elder Yu for taking in such a good disciple.
Unfortunately, this little padded jacket had been poked full of holes by her, letting the wind blow through from every direction.
A draft through the heart, leaving it utterly cold.
In the silent night, the only sound was the crackling of branches bursting in the fire.
【While you’re lucid, I need to tell you about the blackening value,】 the system had wanted to bring it up last time, but seeing Wen Nuan busy discussing matters with Zhong Baixuan, it hadn’t had the chance to elaborate.
【The female lead’s blackening value has decreased. It is now at 2.3.】
Hearing this index, Wen Nuan was surprised. “Cleaving my Primordial Spirit can lower the female lead’s blackening value so quickly?”
But, on second thought, it made sense. An act as risky as cleaving her Primordial Spirit was equivalent to her saving the female lead with her own life.
A life-saving grace should be repaid with a gushing spring.
It was only right for the female lead to lower her blackening value so much.
【Cleaving your Primordial Spirit is part of it. The other part is that Zhong Baixuan told the female lead the truth about what happened back then, so her blackening value dropped very quickly.】 The system hadn’t expected Zhong Baixuan to tell the female lead the truth, causing her blackening value to plummet.
But it remembered Wen Nuan had once said that there was no rush to reveal the truth; it needed a specific opportune moment.
Now that Zhong Baixuan had told the female lead the truth ahead of schedule, it didn’t know what Wen Nuan would choose to do.
A corner of Wen Nuan’s lips curled up. “Well, that’s great.”
【Didn’t you say you needed a specific moment to tell the female lead?】 The system saw that she wasn’t the least bit troubled. 【Will Zhong Baixuan telling her in advance affect your plans?】
“It has no effect,” Wen Nuan’s smile was full of smugness. “On the contrary, this was my plan.”
The system was puzzled: 【What do you mean?】
“From the very beginning, I never intended to be the one to speak the truth of that year. Having Zhong Baixuan be the one to say it voluntarily makes the effect much more significant.”
After all, she was at the center of the incident back then. If she had taken the initiative to explain things to the female lead, the female lead would surely have been half-believing, half-doubting, or perhaps wouldn’t have believed her at all, thinking she was just spouting lies and would make up any nonsense to save her own skin.
But when the storyteller became someone outside the center of the incident, the credibility would increase significantly, especially after she had shattered her Primordial Spirit to save the female lead.
This action, coupled with Zhong Baixuan spilling the whole truth in a fit of anger, was bound to leave the female lead utterly shocked.
【So, you planned all along for Zhong Baixuan to be the one to reveal the truth of this matter?】 the system asked in astonishment.
Wen Nuan raised an eyebrow and smiled casually. “You could say that. Zhong Baixuan was an important piece on the board.”
It was actually quite a coincidence. Back then, to silence the gossiping masses and for fear that the group of mortal cultivators would really hunt the male and female leads into the demon domain, Wen Nuan had endured the Law Whip and the Bone-Piercing Nails. To fully convince everyone, she had also made a trip to the Futu Pagoda, torturing herself until she was neither human nor ghost.
As for why the numerous cultivators of the mortal realm couldn’t break the seal together?
It was because when Wen Nuan resealed the rift, she embedded a part of her own spiritual consciousness into it. If anyone tried to forcibly break the seal, her spiritual consciousness would be destroyed, and Wen Nuan would suffer a backlash as a result.
Moreover, at that time, Wen Nuan was already at the early Mahayana stage. The spiritual consciousness seal she set was nearly impossible for anyone to break. And since Wen Nuan had already paid such a heavy price for Yu Wan Zhao, the masses let the matter rest and never brought it up again.
As for why the female lead could break the seal so easily, it was because after Wen Nuan left this mission world, the original body died in the seclusion of the forbidden chamber. The spiritual consciousness on the seal gradually weakened over time, allowing the female lead to break it with ease.
It was precisely because of everything Wen Nuan did five years ago that the female lead’s blackening value had dropped so much today. Looking at it now, it was all a cycle of cause and effect.
The system sighed: 【You really left yourself a way out. Otherwise, the blackened female lead of this world would have been truly difficult to deal with.】
The female lead of this world harbored immense hatred for Wen Nuan. She would rather perish together with Wen Nuan than let go of what Wen Nuan did to her back then.
Wen Nuan let out a soft sigh and said no more.
Hearing Wen Nuan sigh, Yu Wan Zhao saw through the bright flames that her brow was furrowed.
She bit her lip. “Shizun, are you worried?”
Wen Nuan returned to her senses. “What?”
“About this immortal’s inheritance. Are you worried about whether we can find it?”
If the immortal’s inheritance was truly inside a Void Barrier, this trip was likely to be fraught with difficulties.
Wen Nuan looked toward the depths of the forest and said faintly, “After entering the Place of Final Rest, head south.”
“What?” Yu Wan Zhao was stunned for a moment. “Will heading south lead us to the Void Barrier?”
Wen Nuan nodded. “It will.”
It’s not for nothing that I have the whole plotline in my hands. It would be a waste not to use it properly.
Seeing her so certain, Yu Wan Zhao felt a sense of relief in her heart. She trusted her Shizun.
But—
She looked into Wen Nuan’s clear eyes. They were limpid and bright, reflecting only her own figure and the firelight that colored her features.
“Shizun, Sect Master Zhong told me some things about what happened back then.”
The change in topic was so sudden that Wen Nuan’s brow furrowed slightly. She couldn’t compose her expression in time, and her panic was so obvious that Yu Wan Zhao noticed it at a glance.
“Shizun, those things… why… why didn’t you tell this disciple sooner?” She tried her best to keep her tone calm, even though she desperately wanted to scream it out.
Wen Nuan lowered her gaze. Her long, curled eyelashes seemed to be set ablaze by the firelight, and the shadow on her eyelids gave her features a touch of loneliness.
Seeing her like this, Yu Wan Zhao regretted asking.
Why did I have to ask?
Why did I have to force Shizun into such a state?
Awkward and embarrassed, troubled and confused.
Yu Wan Zhao bit her lip. Just as she was about to say never mind, she heard Wen Nuan speak. Her voice was faint, yet the moment it reached Yu Wan Zhao’s ears, it felt so heavy it seemed to shatter her heart.
“Because, this Master was thinking,” Wen Nuan’s eyes, as deep as a cold pond, gradually brightened.
She smiled sweetly. “As long as I could see you again, I would be willing, even if it meant dying by your hand.”
Yu Wan Zhao was struck dizzy, her heart stopping for a beat.
For a moment, she would rather die at Wen Nuan’s hands, just to be locked in a final, desperate embrace with her.
The author has something to say:
Yu Wan Zhao: Oh no, my heart is fluttering.
Wen Nuan: Oh no, my time is almost up.
(You won’t be able to see the next chapter, so I won’t say anything else. You all know what’s up.)
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