Chapter 78.2 Heartless Dao

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News of Hengyang Sect’s most precious little immortal coming out of seclusion almost caused a sensation throughout the sect.

Ling ¹ 凌 (líng) – surname Yao ² 尧 (Yáo) – a surname; a legendary sage king had long been waiting at the foot of the mountain, and congealed a water mirror to fix his attire.

The senior and junior brothers beside him teased, “Martial Uncle Ling, stop fixing it, you’ve already done that eighty-three times.”

“Yes, if Little Su Su sees you, she’ll certainly run away again.”

“What’s this in Martial Uncle Ling’s hands? Yo, isn’t this Martial Granduncle’s Thousand-Faceted ³ 万象 (wànxiàng) – all manifestations of nature Lotus? You picked it for Little Su Su, aren’t you afraid of being chased to death by Martial Granduncle?”

The handsome man in the middle of the crowd smiled brightly, not caring about the ridicule of his fellow disciples at all. Instead, he corrected them, “What Little Su Su? In terms of seniority, she’s your Martial Uncle ⁴ Clarification: Martial Uncle is commonly used despite gender, so I didn’t mess up the pronoun. !”

If it weren’t for the fact that Sect Leader Qu Xuanzi hadn’t allowed him to disturb Su Su’s cultivation in Changze, he would’ve already gone up by sword.

When Su Su came down on her sword, she saw such a scene.

A group of fellow disciples in disciples’ uniforms waved happily at her, “Su Su!”

“Little Yu ⁵ 毓 (yù) – nurture; bring up; educate; give birth to Ling ⁶ 灵 (líng) – spirit; soul; quick; alert !”

When Su Su was born, she was bestowed the Daoist name Yu Ling, which meant, “Beautiful Spirit of the Bell ⁷ 钟灵毓秀 (zhōnglíng-yùxiù) – (of a place) endowed with a natural beauty that nurtures people of talent (idiom); (of a place) very beautiful and breeds talent; To be honest, if author uses this idiom for its figurative meaning, it’s not suitable to use it to describe a person as this idiom is used to describe a place ”.

A female disciple also said excitedly, “You’ve come out of seclusion, come and see what gift Senior Sister has prepared for you.”

Su Su put away her immortal sword and everyone instantly surrounded her.

She lowered her head, her arms stuffed with treasures like before.

“Little Su Su, this is the pearl I brought back from my last trip to Penglai to celebrate your progress in cultivation.”

“This is the tanghulu ⁸ sugar-coated haws I promised you. Little Su Su hasn’t been to the mortal realm, right? Have a try.”

“Junior Sister, have a look at the tail of the Dream-Making Beast! It can be used for self-defense.”

Even a blooming Thousand-Faceted Flower was stuffed into her arms.

A Thousand-Faceted Flower could be used to block the tribulation thunder three times, which was a rare treasure Martial Uncle Qing Wu had grown for two hundred years.

Su Su raised her eyes and looked at her fellow disciples in front of her. Most of them…… would’ve already died at the hands of the demons that had come along with the birth of the Devil God this year, but now, everyone was still alive.

She’d returned to five hundred years in the future, the time when she’d left. However, because of the changes she brought, they were still here.

Su Su looked at the showy ⁹ 骚包 (sāobāo) – (slang) alluring; flashy and enticing person Ling Yao and couldn’t help but laugh.

For the first time, she didn’t fearfully avoid this overly enthusiastic person and softly called, “Senior Brother Ling.”

I’m not Ye Xi Wu…… I’m Li Su Su.

Although she didn’t know why she’d come back to life, she felt warmth and happiness that she’d never known before.

People crowded around her and told her about the recent gossip in Hengyang.

Floating in the air were towering immortal mountains and countless pavilions ¹⁰ 亭台楼阁 (tíngtáilóugé) – all kinds of buildings; Actually, it should be pavilions and kiosks, but they are used almost alternatively, so the difference is just the size.

Something like this, but they are in the air: .

It turned out that Hengyang, when it wasn’t suppressed by demons and devils, was so powerful and beautiful.

Su Su turned her head and saw the place where she’d learned to travel by sword, the main hall where she’d first learned spells, and the field where the disciples had their morning lessons and sword practice.

Su Su paused in her steps and stepped onto the Ten Thousand Step Heart Cultivating Stairs.

Gongye Jiwu gently spoke, “Junior Sister, the Heart Cultivating Stairs are for people who’ve returned from the mortal realm to walk on. You don’t need to……”

The young girl looked back, and her lips pursed into a faint smile.

The dot of cinnabar between her eyebrows was fiery red. The moment she stepped onto the Heart Cultivating Stairs, they faintly rippled like water, and transparent flowers bloomed under her feet.

Gongye Jiwu looked at her and went silent.

What’s changed in Junior Sister’s heart? It seems like she quietly grew up in a place where we couldn’t see.

Yue Fuya hugged his sword and watched the young girl’s back disappear behind the Heart Cultivating Stairs. He opened his mouth, but remembering Gongye Jiwu’s advice, he remained silent.

After all these years, I’m the one who’s unwilling to give up.

Senior Sister Li and that person, they just share the same name.

How can a little girl of the immortal realm who’d just come of age be related to that person from five hundred years ago?

The Ten Thousand Steps Heart Cultivating Stairs washed away the panic and anxiety in her heart.

Step by step, Su Su finally felt like the past five hundred years ago was far away from her, and at the end of the stairs, a green-robed Immortal Senior turned around.

“Dad!” She ran over.

Qu Xuanzi stroked her hair. He lowered his gaze, and seeing her teary eyes, he let out a deep sigh.

“It’s just seclusion. Why are you so sad? Who bullied Su Su again?”

Su Su was choked with sobs.

She wasn’t even this vulnerable when her soul was scattered ¹¹ 魂飞魄散 (húnfēi-pòsàn) – lit. the soul flies away and scatters (idiom) . People are so strange. When the people around you don’t dote on you, you can put on the toughest battle armor, but when you meet people who love you dearly, your battle armor will be slowly peeled away.

Just like a small beast returning home with a body full of wounds, it finally had someone to talk to about all its sadness.

“Let Dad have a look at your cultivation progress,” Qu Xuanzi said.

He motioned for Su Su to put her hand on the Spirit-Appraising Stone.

Su Su hesitated for a moment. She woke up in her own body, but wasn’t sure what her current cultivation level was.

Facing Qu Xuanzi, she’d unexpectedly felt torn after returning home ¹² 近乡情怯 (Jìn xiāngqíng qiè) – Looking forward to home with emotional holdbacks; Returning to the unfamiliar environment that was once one’s home; Returning home with complicated feelings; Someone who leaves their hometown for a long time without leaving any message. Once they return, the closer they get to their hometown, the more unsettling they feel, fearing that something unfortunate has happened there. .

After a long while, Su Su placed her hand on it. The Spirit-Appraising Stone flashed, and a green light appeared.

Qu Xuanzi frowned.

Cultivation is divided into seven levels, namely, Qi Condensing ¹³ 炼气 (liànqì) , Foundation Establishment ¹⁴ 筑基 (zhùjī) , Golden Core ¹⁵ 金丹 (jīndān) , Nascent Soul ¹⁶ 元婴 (yuányīng) , Immortalization ¹⁷ 化神 (huàshén) , Ascension ¹⁸ 渡劫 (dùjié) , and Great Vehicle ¹⁹ 大乘 (dàchéng) – Mahayana; Buddhism based on the Mayahana sutras, as spread to Central Asia, China and beyond . Above that, is becoming a god ²⁰ 成神 (chéngshén) – also known as God Ascension .

Each level is further divided into three small stages- early, middle, and late.

A light green light indicates the middle stage of Foundation Establishment level.

“I……” She opened her mouth, but didn’t know where to start. Su Su remembered that before she went back to the past, she was already in the middle stage of Gold Core. But now, she was only in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and even showed faint signs of regressing back to the early stage of it.

How could this happen?

Qu Xuanzi didn’t look disappointed. Instead, his finger lightly tapped the spot in between her eyebrows, and a moment later, he opened his eyes with a complicated expression.

“Su Su, you…… went through nirvana ²¹ 涅槃 (nièpán) – rebirth (Buddhism) ?”

Su Su raised her eyes to look at Qu Xuanzi, who didn’t look surprised.

“Dad?”

Qu Xuanzi said, “Don’t be afraid. When you were born, I knew that this day would come. Dad doesn’t know where you’ve been, and what you’ve experienced.”

He patted the cushion ²² 蒲团 (pútuán)

Might look something like this: beside him and motioned for Su Su to sit.

Su Su sat beside him.

Qu Xuanzi’s gaze was gentle, “Dad rarely tells you about your mother, she…… didn’t really want me to mention her in front of you, but she also hoped for you to be an ordinary and happy little girl. But, your bloodline was still awakened.”

Su Su actually had a hunch, “Is it phoenix?”

Qu Xuanzi nodded.

Among the bloodlines of the ancient gods, only this lineage could be reborn in the karmic fire. Su Su lowered her eyes. It turned out that Curved Jade had long known about this, so it had always been so stingy with expending its spiritual power only because of the thought that one day, it would use all its spiritual power to send her home.

It had succeeded, but it had also disappeared from this world forever.

A gentle hand patted her shoulder.

“Once your bloodline is awakened, your Great Dao will be a thoroughfare in the future,” Qu Xuanzi said, although in his heart, he held regrets and preferred for Su Su to never grow up.

“Su Su, look at your spiritual core.”

At his reminder, Su Su noticed that there was an extra white water droplet-like thing on her spiritual core.

It was only the size of a fingernail, looking weak and tiny, resting gently on her spiritual core.

“What’s this?” Su Su asked.

“Ancient Heartless Dao,” Qu Xuanzi said.

Edited by: Gaze

Translator’s Note: F in the comment section for our fallen Curved Jade 🥀🥀🥀