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]
Warmth
The news that an Immortal’s Inheritance had emerged from the South Sea Secret Realm—and that it had been obtained by Yu Wen Nuan—spread across the Jiuzhou Continent in an instant.
Though many were envious and jealous, no one dared to trouble Yu Wen Nuan. After all, she was already a cultivator at the late-stage Mahayana Realm, just one step away from ascending to become a Supreme Immortal Venerable.
Most importantly, people discovered that Wen Nuan was still accompanied by her former disciple from the Demonic Race, Yu Wan Zhao.
On the way back to the Qianyuan Upper Palace, the two received many different kinds of looks from people.
There were looks of suspicion, confusion, astonishment, and shock, as well as those of disdain and loathing…
The emotions of the world were too complex for Wen Nuan to bother with. However, while she didn’t care… there was always someone who would.
Yu Wan Zhao shot a vicious glare at a cultivator who had just been looking at Wen Nuan. The killing intent in her eyes terrified the cultivator, who immediately averted his gaze and fled in a panic.
When Wen Nuan turned around, Yu Wan Zhao instantly reverted to an innocent and gentle little white rabbit. She hugged Wen Nuan’s arm and feigned grievance, saying, “Shizun, it seems the human cultivators don’t welcome me. They all look like they want to kill me. This disciple is afraid.”
Wen Nuan looked at the female lead, who was addicted to playing the part of a delicate white lotus1, and sighed helplessly. She placated her, “Don’t be afraid. With your master here, no one will dare to touch you.”
After all, she thought, judging by the intimidating aura she used to scare that cultivator just now, she doesn’t need my protection at all. The female lead can hold up the sky all by herself.
But the female lead loved to act, so Wen Nuan naturally had to play along. Besides, her blackening value was dropping bit by bit.
Yu Wan Zhao secretly smiled and, pressing her advantage, grasped Wen Nuan’s hand. “Shizun, why don’t you hold my hand? There are so many people here, we could easily get separated.”
After they left the South Sea Secret Realm, Wen Nuan didn’t return to the Qianyuan Upper Palace, but instead came to Ningquan City2.
Yu Wan Zhao didn’t know why her Shizun had come to Ningquan City, but she cherished every extra moment she could spend by her side.
If Shizun returned to the Qianyuan Upper Palace, given Zhong Baixuan’s loathing for her, she feared she wouldn’t be able to take a single step inside, let alone see her Shizun again.
That was why Yu Wan Zhao had been secretly and deliberately slowing their journey. When leaving the secret realm, she feigned dizziness to avoid riding the Baixi Eagle, opting instead for a sea-faring Dragon-Seeking Ship. They drifted on the South Sea for half a month before returning to land. Yu Wan Zhao had planned to delay her Shizun further, but her Shizun herself suggested not returning to Qianyuan Upper Palace and detouring to Ningquan City instead.
Ningquan City.
It was a town on the edge of the South Sea with a unique, exotic atmosphere. After the seal on the Cangshan Blood Sea was broken, it became a popular destination for members of the Demonic Race.
This was because revealing one’s demonic identity here wouldn’t provoke the rage or siege of human cultivators, and in turn, the demons wouldn’t attack the humans. The two sides had reached a remarkably tacit understanding in Ningquan City.
They did not interfere with each other.
And the reason for this situation was an Alchemist3 hidden within Ningquan City, one who had already reached the level of a Grandmaster.
Tan Lin4.
This Alchemist was a man of extraordinary talent, having reached the Grandmaster level before the age of one hundred. Although his cultivation was only at the early-stage Body Integration Realm, his exquisite and unparalleled alchemy skills allowed him to stand second to none in Ningquan City.
Alchemists were the type of cultivator most people dared not offend. They could save you from dire straits, but they could also kill without a trace. All it took was a lift of their hand, a crook of their finger.
Tan Lin lived in the southeast corner of Ningquan City, in an unassuming residence.
The residence was unguarded, with only an Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python, as thick as a tree trunk, coiled on an eave corner. Its golden body was wound tightly as it flicked its scarlet tongue at passersby.
Yu Wan Zhao glanced at the python, and its pair of white, bell-sized vertical pupils met her gaze.
Pythons were by nature cold-blooded, sinister, ruthless, and venomous. Yet, this Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python’s eyes held only gentleness and indifference, like an old man who had weathered the vicissitudes of life.
Wen Nuan looked at the Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python and said calmly, “Visitor, Yu Wen Nuan, here to call upon the great Alchemist Tan.”
The Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python straightened its body and extended its massive head, its white vertical pupils examining Wen Nuan and Yu Wan Zhao. It hissed a few times, then turned and slithered into the residence.
“Shizun, this is…?”
Yu Wan Zhao didn’t know who owned this residence, nor who had raised the Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python. They had come to this remote house immediately after entering Ningquan City.
Before Wen Nuan could answer, the closed main gate seemed to sense something and opened with a BOOM. The Ice-Fire Golden-Leaf Python coiled back onto the eave corner, resuming its bored watch over the passersby.
“Let’s go.” Wen Nuan took Yu Wan Zhao’s hand and stepped into the residence.
The moment they entered, the main gate slammed shut behind them. Yu Wan Zhao glanced at the closed gate, her eyes deep and dark.
The courtyard was filled with many rare and exotic flowers and plants, a vibrant tapestry of crimson and jade. The grass was like a thick, plush carpet, dotted with brilliant blossoms.
Yu Wan Zhao could name a few of the plants, but most were unfamiliar to her. They were beautiful, but their overly vivid colors hinted at an extreme danger.
Just a moment ago, Yu Wan Zhao had seen a plain-looking plant. When a butterfly flew past, the plant’s petals suddenly snapped open, a_nd devoured it whole. The faint sound of chewing reached her ears, sending a chill down her spine despite the scorching sun. It was utterly terrifying.
“What a rare guest. One doesn’t visit a temple for no reason. For Elder Yu of the Qianyuan Upper Palace to suddenly grace my doorstep, what could be the matter?”
The two looked toward the voice and saw a man in red leaning against the entrance to the main hall. He had a slender figure and was toying with a lock of his glossy black hair. Below his brows were a pair of captivating phoenix eyes.
When he saw them looking, he broke into a grin, one that held the frivolous air of a romantic rogue.
Tan Lin glanced at Yu Wan Zhao before letting his gaze fall on Wen Nuan. He chuckled. “People come to me for two reasons: one, for pills, and two, for □□5. Which is it for you this time, Elder Yu?”
Wen Nuan replied flatly, “Pills.”
“Oh? Pills.” Tan Lin’s phoenix eyes arched slightly. “Then you know my rules. If you want a pill, it’s either an exchange of equal value, or….”
He walked up to Wen Nuan, the heat in his eyes blatant. “…you spend a night with me?”
“You’re courting death!”
The moment Yu Wan Zhao heard this, killing intent erupted from her. Demonic energy gathered in her palm as she unleashed a ferocious strike at Tan Lin.
Tan Lin was about to dodge, but his body shuddered from the shock of Yu Wan Zhao’s demonic energy. In that moment of distraction, he was unable to evade her fatal blow.
“Wan Zhao, it’s fine.” Wen Nuan grabbed Yu Wan Zhao’s hand and pulled her behind her.
She looked at the still-shaken Tan Lin and said helplessly, “Still have a smart mouth?”
Tan Lin snapped back to his senses and gasped, looking at Yu Wan Zhao in shock. “She’s actually a dual cultivator of demonic and spiritual energy?”
Yu Wan Zhao narrowed her eyes and said fiercely, “If you dare speak so disrespectfully to my Shizun again, I will grind your bones to dust.”
“…..” Tan Lin scoffed. “My disrespect is still a damn sight better than a demon spawn like you betraying her master and forgetting all gratitude, isn’t it?”
The moment he heard the girl call Wen Nuan her Shizun, he immediately recalled Yu Wen Nuan’s chief disciple from five years ago, who had betrayed the Qianyuan Upper Palace and fled back to the Demonic Domain after her demonic bloodline was exposed.
And now, five years later, Yu Wan Zhao had recovered her strength and returned to the mortal realm, only for her first act to be seeking revenge on her own Shizun at the Qianyuan Upper Palace. Such behavior was so treacherous that even a white-eyed wolf6 would have to call her ‘ancestor.’
Yu Wan Zhao glanced at Wen Nuan, the gloom in her eyes deepening. She glared at Tan Lin, “Say that again!?”
She knew the mistakes she had made, but having them pointed out so bluntly by an outsider threw her into a panic. She worried her Shizun would get angry, resent her, and completely abandon her because of her sins.
Tan Lin sneered, “I said you’re an ungrateful, master-betraying, treacherous, white-eyed wolf that can’t be tamed. What about it? Go on, kill me if you’ve got the guts.”
Killing intent surged from Yu Wan Zhao.
“That’s enough!” Wen Nuan stepped between them, looking at Tan Lin. “Can’t you just give it a rest?”
Tan Lin pouted. “I’m helping you vent your anger, and what do you do? You side with your disciple against me?”
“I came here for business, not for you to vent my anger for me.”
Fortunately, her Primordial Spirit was still inside Yu Wan Zhao’s body, so Wen Nuan could feel the fluctuations of demonic energy within her.
She squeezed Yu Wan Zhao’s hand and sighed softly, “Wan Zhao, be good. Don’t cause trouble.”
Yu Wan Zhao shot Tan Lin a venomous glare before calming the restless demonic energy inside her. She intertwined her fingers with Wen Nuan’s and said plaintively, “…Alright, Shizun. I’ll be good.”
Tan Lin watched her expression change completely. A moment ago, she was as ferocious as a wild beast; now, she was like a harmless little white rabbit, hiding behind Wen Nuan with a look of pure, innocent grievance, as if he had been the one shouting and threatening to kill, not her.
Tan Lin gritted his teeth. “…Such a fake.”
“Alright, let’s talk business.” Wen Nuan blocked their colliding gazes and looked at Tan Lin. “I need a Six-Yang Pill.”
Tan Lin frowned. He immediately grabbed Wen Nuan’s wrist to check her pulse and found no trace of cold energy in her body. “What do you need a Six-Yang Pill for?”
Seeing him touch Wen Nuan, Yu Wan Zhao stepped forward and slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch my Shizun.”
“….” Tan Lin pouted, raised his hands, and provocatively poked Wen Nuan on one side, then the other. “Heh, I’ll touch her if I want. And I’ll touch her again. I won’t just touch her, I’ll grope her. Go on, get mad.”
“Don’t you touch my Shizun—” Seeing Tan Lin repeatedly poking Wen Nuan, Yu Wan Zhao flew into a rage and raised her hand to strike.
Tan Lin dodged while continuing to poke Wen Nuan. “Heh, I’m touching her! I’m not just touching Wen Nuan’s hand, I’m touching her shoulder, I’m touching her hair, and I’m even gonna touch Wen Nuan’s chest…”
Wen Nuan’s eyes narrowed. “You dare try?”
“…..” Tan Lin sullenly withdrew his hand. “Fine, I’m done messing with you two.”
Wen Nuan glanced at Yu Wan Zhao, who immediately stood obediently to the side, no longer bickering with Tan Lin.
“Tan Lin, I need the Six-Yang Pill.” Wen Nuan took out a box of pills from her robes and offered it to him. “I’ll trade a Yuheng Pill7 for it.”
“A Yuheng Pill?!” Tan Lin stared at the jade box in Wen Nuan’s hand, shocked. “Where did you get a Yuheng Pill?”
A pill of that grade was refined from the rarest spiritual herbs in the world.
As for how rare? To refine a Yuheng Pill, one needed the three great divine herbs: the Innate Jade-Fluid Herb, the Green-Sun Star-Chasing Herb, and the Lesser-Yang Ruyi Flower.
Two of those divine herbs had vanished from the Jiuzhou Continent centuries ago. Legend said they could be found in the Immortal Realm, but so few had ever ascended that no one could be certain if they truly existed there.
Wen Nuan replied calmly, “The Futu Pagoda.”
Yu Wan Zhao’s body trembled. A buzzing filled her mind, and her throat tightened as she looked at their intertwined hands.
She suddenly felt so filthy and base. How could she possibly touch someone so wonderful?
Wen Nuan felt her hand go empty. She turned back to look at Yu Wan Zhao and saw the corners of her eyes were red. She was on the verge of tears, looking utterly pitiful.
Her heart softened. Her brow twitched, and just as she was about to ask what was wrong, she heard Tan Lin ask her.
“What do you want this Six-Yang Pill for anyway?” Compared to the Yuheng Pill, the Six-Yang Pill was practically worthless.
Wen Nuan’s brow furrowed, a hint of sorrow on her face. “The cold energy of the Abyssal Ice Sword can only be suppressed by the Six-Yang Pill.”
Yu Wan Zhao’s pupils dilated, and her scalp tingled.
She looked at Wen Nuan in disbelief, her voice trembling. “Shizun…?”
The cold energy of the Abyssal Ice Sword?!
Tan Lin looked at Yu Wan Zhao and understood instantly.
Five years ago, Yu Wen Nuan had intended to clean out her own house, striking Yu Wan Zhao’s heart meridian with the Abyssal Ice Sword.
The Abyssal Ice Sword was a divine weapon from ancient times. The blade itself emitted a piercing cold energy. Once that cold entered the body, the victim would suffer unbearable pain, feeling as though they were in the depths of a harsh winter even on the most scorching summer day.
Wen Nuan saw her tear-filled eyes and gave a helpless, soft smile. “Don’t cry. How about Shizun gives you your ‘warmth’ back, hmm?”
Tears slid silently down her cheeks, striking her heart with pangs of pain.
This, perhaps, was what it meant to be doomed beyond redemption: this ceaseless flutter in her heart, this willing descent into the abyss.
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