Volume 1, Chapter 23 – The Double-Pupiled Girl

Not long after Gu Han left with the three newly subdued demon kings.

Several dozen li away from the edge of the Illusory Flower Sea, inside a hidden cave concealed by both vines and an illusion formation.

A girl in a plain white dress, her face pale, was leaning against the cold stone wall, panting softly.

She looked to be around twenty, with picturesque brows and eyes, and a temperament as cold and pure as snow.

Only now, deep within her eyes, there lingered an exhaustion and bleakness that would not fade.

The strangest thing was that within the depths of her pupils, faint overlapping images seemed to appear, flowing with a soft halo of light.

This was precisely the legendary gift that could perceive all things and foresee fortune and disaster: Innate Double Pupils.

Her name was Gu Luoli.

Once, she had been the holy maiden of Qingyun Sacred Land, a top power of the Southern Region, and a proud daughter of heaven who drew countless gazes.

At only twenty-three, she had broken through to the Golden Core stage. Her talent was so outstanding that she had been praised as the greatest figure the Sacred Land had seen in a thousand years.

However, an outside training expedition three years ago became the turning point of her fate.

To protect her fellow disciples, she stayed behind alone to cover their retreat, only to be surrounded and attacked by several powerful enemies.

Although she had luckily managed to retrieve her life, her Dao foundation had been heavily damaged.

Her cultivation plummeted to the early stage of Foundation Establishment, and she was left with a Dao injury that had seeped deep into her bones and was nearly impossible to cure.

After returning to the Sacred Land, she experienced the fickleness of the world in its fullest.

Her position as holy maiden was stripped away. Her resources were cut. The flattery and adoration of the past became cold looks and mockery.

Even her former Master, the Sacred Lord of Qingyun Sacred Land, became increasingly cold toward her and regarded her as an abandoned pawn.

Disheartened, Gu Luoli ultimately chose to leave the Sacred Land and venture outside alone.

Half a year ago, she accidentally entered an ancient cave dwelling.

Deep within the cave dwelling, on a rotten jade table, there lay an unremarkable, ancient-looking ring.

The instant her fingertip touched the ring, a weak yet incomparably pure fluctuation of soul power came from it.

Inside the ring slept a remnant soul that called herself “Yun Miaoyi.”

What shocked Gu Luoli even more was that, before her death, she had actually been an eighth-grade alchemist at the Mahayana stage!

Thus, a bargain born of despair was struck.

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Yun Miaoyi promised that if Gu Luoli could find spiritual herbs that nourished the soul for her and helped stabilize her soul body,

then after Yun Miaoyi recovered a portion of her abilities, she would be able to seek out a slim chance of survival for Gu Luoli’s Dao injury.

This was a desperate gamble, and it was also the final lifeline Gu Luoli could grasp.

That was why she had not hesitated to take the risk and venture deep into this Wanjue Mountain Range, a place that made people turn pale at the mere mention of it.

Just now, Gu Han had subdued that demon king. Especially that method of smoothing out the entire Illusory Flower Sea’s illusion formation with a single step.

All of it had been seen by Luoli as she watched from the shadows.

The shock in her heart was beyond description.

What realm was that?

Mahayana? Tribulation Transcendence? Or… even higher?

Just as Luoli’s mind was shaken, and she remained unable to calm herself for a long time because of what she had just witnessed,

the black ring on her finger suddenly grew slightly warm and flashed with a thread of dim light.

Immediately afterward, a somewhat illusory female figure drifted out from the ring and hovered before Luoli.

This woman looked around thirty. Her appearance was extremely beautiful, carrying an elegance and wisdom settled by the passage of time.

Only, her figure was transparent. Clearly, she was not a physical entity, but a remnant soul. She was Yun Miaoyi.

“Luoli.”

Yun Miaoyi spoke, her voice gentle yet solemn.

“You saw it just now too, didn’t you?”

Gu Luoli came back to herself from her shock and looked at the remnant soul before her, her respect carrying a sense of reliance.

“Senior Yun, I saw it… That senior just now was too powerful.”

Yun Miaoyi nodded softly, lingering fear also remaining in her eyes.

“More than just powerful!”

“Even the few Tribulation Transcendence cultivators I once knew were far, far inferior to her!”

“And as for the two people following her just now,”

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Yun Miaoyi continued, her tone certain,

“if my perception was not mistaken, the black-clothed man among them should have a black jiao as his true body, and his cultivation is at the late stage of Mahayana!”

“As for the other one, he is the Mountain-Covering Ape King, also at the late stage of Mahayana!”

Yun Miaoyi looked at Gu Luoli with a complicated gaze.

“Luoli, do you know what this means?”

Hearing this, Gu Luoli shook her head blankly.

“It means that the strength of this Palace Master of Yaochi Immortal Palace is at least at the late stage of Tribulation Transcendence… perhaps even Immortal Ascension.”

Yun Miaoyi spoke each word clearly, every one of them striking heavily against Luoli’s heart.

Immortal Ascension!

Those were legendary figures standing at the peak of this continent!

Luoli drew in a cold breath and felt that even breathing had become somewhat difficult.

“Moreover,”

Yun Miaoyi looked sharply in the direction where Gu Han had left.

“she definitely discovered us just now.”

“What?!”

Luoli was startled, and she instinctively tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.

“There is no need to be nervous,” Yun Miaoyi comforted her.

“If she bore us ill will, our bodies and souls would have long since been annihilated by now.”

“The reason she ignored us may be because we are too weak to interest her.”

“Or… because she felt there was no need.”

Hearing this, Gu Luoli secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Yun Miaoyi pondered for a moment, then looked at Gu Luoli, a trace of resolve flashing through her eyes.

“Luoli, this is an opportunity for you!”

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“An opportunity that may change your fate!”

Luoli froze. “Senior Yun, you mean…”

“Go to Yaochi Immortal Palace!” Yun Miaoyi said firmly.

“Go find that Palace Master Gu Han and think of a way to enter her tutelage!”

“Me?”

A bitter smile appeared at the corners of Luoli’s lips.

“Senior Yun, my foundation is damaged, my cultivation has fallen, and I am only a cripple now.”

“And what kind of figure is that senior? How could she possibly take notice of me…”

“No! You are not a cripple!”

Yun Miaoyi interrupted her, her tone resolute.

“You possess Innate Double Pupils. This is a supreme divine gift!”

“It is only that those people of Qingyun Sacred Land failed to recognize its worth. They made you cultivate a mismatched cultivation method and buried your talent!”

“Although your foundation is damaged now, the origin of your Double Pupils has not been lost!”

Yun Miaoyi stared closely into Luoli’s eyes.

“If someone can help you repair your foundation and stimulate the power of your Double Pupils, your future will be limitless!”

“And that Palace Master Gu Han has heaven-reaching cultivation.”

“She may… have a way to heal you, or even bring out the true potential of your Double Pupils!”

A faint flame of hope was stirred in Luoli’s heart by these words, but it was soon extinguished by reality.

“But where is Yaochi Immortal Palace? And how can I find it?”

“Even if I find it, why would that existence accept me?”

Yun Miaoyi sighed softly and looked into the distance, her voice firm.

“We will search slowly. We will find it eventually. As for why she would accept you…”

Yun Miaoyi looked at Luoli, her tone solemn.

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“Before an existence like that, sincerity is the only way. Tell her frankly about what happened to you.”

“As for the result… leave it to fate. No matter what, at least we will have tried!”

Luoli remained silent for a long time.

Outside the cave, the moonlight was cold and clear.

She slowly raised her hand and looked at the dim spiritual power in her palm, then thought again of that peerless figure from just now.

The cold looks she had endured in Qingyun Sacred Land, her Master’s indifference, the mockery of her fellow disciples…

Scene after scene flashed through her mind.

If things continued like this, she might truly exhaust her life in obscurity, dying with regret and unwillingness.

No!

A stubbornness and pride hidden deep in her bones were completely ignited!

She, Gu Luoli, possessed Innate Double Pupils!

She should not sink into ruin like this!

Even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, she had to try!

Luoli suddenly raised her head. In those Double Pupils of hers, the dim golden light lit up once more. Though faint, it was incomparably firm.

“Senior Yun, I will listen to you!”

Her voice was no longer weak. It carried the determination of one who had burned the boats behind her.

“I will go find Yaochi Immortal Palace!”

A gratified smile appeared on Yun Miaoyi’s face. She nodded, then transformed back into a stream of light and entered the ring.

“Good child… I will do everything in my power to help you.”

“Let’s go. First, leave this place and find a nearby city to look for clues related to Yaochi Immortal Palace.”

Luoli took a deep breath, straightened her plain white dress, and wiped away the dust and exhaustion from her face.

She took one final look in the direction where Gu Han had disappeared, then turned resolutely and walked toward the outer edge of the mountain range.

Beneath the moonlight, the girl’s thin yet upright silhouette gradually merged into the vast mountain forest.