Volume 1, Chapter 415 – Departure

After recuperating for two days, Bai Weiyang had recovered most of his vitality.

Throughout those two days, Zhu Xiyang had not spoken a single word, silently restoring the injuries within her body.

“I’m preparing to return to the Vast Land of Shenzhou at once. You… what are your plans after this?”

Looking at Zhu Xiyang’s lowered eyes, Bai Weiyang spoke in a low voice, as though possessed by some unseen impulse:

“How about… you come with me…”

Halfway through the sentence, Bai Weiyang stopped and swallowed the rest of his words.

If she followed him back to the Bai family, the relationship between the two of them would only become more and more tangled. Right now was the best time to make a clean break. Better to cut it off decisively and leave things clean.

“I have my own plans.”

Zhu Xiyang rose to her feet, directly opened the door, and walked out.

Though she had not stepped outside for the past two days, her divine sense had been circulating through the surrounding area the whole time. She had already gained some understanding of her current situation and had a fairly clear idea in her heart.

The loss to her origin was too great. She needed a long period of recuperation and was not suited to more wandering. Moreover, she did not yet know what sort of attitude she ought to take toward Bai Weiyang.

At the very least, for the time being, she did not really want to see him.

What she most needed now was to find where her road ahead lay.

Bai Weiyang stood there in a daze for a long while and did not follow her out. Slowly, he sat back down on the couch and closed his eyes. The somewhat complicated look on his face gradually returned to cold indifference.

…

“I… I wish to request an audience with the Sect Master.”

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Zhu Xiyang stopped a passing disciple and, somewhat unaccustomed to it, softened her tone.

“Please allow me to inform an elder. Please wait a moment.”

The disciple returned the courtesy and turned to deliver the message.

The disciples on this mountain peak had long since been reminded that the two staying here were guests of the Sect Master and were not to be treated carelessly.

Half an hour later, Zhu Xiyang arrived at the main hall on Tianyan Sect’s principal peak and met Shi Lan.

Seated high upon the throne, Shi Lan looked Zhu Xiyang up and down before speaking slowly:

“You wish to remain in Tianyan Sect?”

“I have now been regarded as a traitor by the demon race. I ask only for a place to stay.”

“Humans and demons stand opposed as two races. Even if I were to kill you right now and use you to refine pills, there would be nothing wrong with that.”

Shi Lan’s expression was calm as her jade-like fingertips lightly tapped the throne.

“Give me a reason to keep you.”

Though she said that, Shi Lan had already begun to consider it inwardly. Although Tianyan Sect’s development had already gotten onto the right track, its high-end combat strength was still effectively blank.

A Heaven Demon was not considered weak even in Lingyang Realm and could save her quite a bit of trouble.

The relationship between Bai Weiyang and Zhu Xiyang was also murky and unclear, but Shi Lan had no interest in involving herself in their affairs.

“My true form is Violet-Heart Treasure Bamboo. Has the Sect Master ever heard of it?”

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Shi Lan searched her memory for a moment, and within a few breaths she recalled something.

Violet-Heart Treasure Bamboo was a seventh-grade immortal root. It usually grew beside top-grade spirit springs and was extremely rare. For one to gain sentience and transform into a demon was rarer still, one in ten thousand.

The spiritual liquid contained within its body was of tremendous benefit to great cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm in condensing their Nascent Soul golden bodies.

“The reason I was able to gain sentience and take form is because I was once tempered by Nine Skies Divine Lightning, which caused a mutation within my body. If the spiritual liquid is taken over a long period, it can strengthen one’s resistance to heavenly tribulation. It should be of some use to the Sect Master.”

Zhu Xiyang laid all her cards on the table. In her view, Shi Lan was now in the Nascent Soul Realm and was about to step into the Heaven-Man Realm. She would surely be making preparations well in advance for the heavenly tribulation to come.

Her current situation could be described as extremely dire. Once she left Yunyan Star, no matter whether she encountered a strong expert of the human, devil, or demon race, she would have little hope of escaping death.

Her origin had been heavily damaged. If she forced herself to fight, there would only be death awaiting her. She urgently needed a place to settle down and survive.

“I will assign a spiritual peak to you. No one will go there to disturb you. Recover in peace. As for the matter of the Purple Spirit Liquid, we can discuss it later.”

Shi Lan did not care much about heavenly tribulation, but the Purple Spirit Liquid ought to be of some use to the disciples within the sect.

In truth, compared with that, what interested Shi Lan more was how great the benefit of the Purple Spirit Liquid would be for her Nascent Soul golden body.

The energy her Nascent Soul golden body required was simply too vast. If she relied on cultivating by herself, it would undoubtedly be far slower.

“I will not force you to stay. If one day you wish to leave, you may do so on your own.”

Shi Lan marked out a spiritual peak for Zhu Xiyang within the sect’s territory, then summoned a disciple to lead her away.

…

The following day, Bai Weiyang came to take his leave. He had been away from home for so long without any news that the Bai family was probably on the verge of losing its mind.

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After urging him to stay a few times, Shi Lan arranged a teleportation formation for Bai Weiyang that led straight to the Central Heaven Domain.

From beginning to end, Bai Weiyang never mentioned Zhu Xiyang, as though he had forgotten such a person existed.

A sky-piercing pillar of teleportation light appeared and vanished in an instant.

Bai Weiyang left alone, and in a corner of Tianyan Sect, a sea of purple bamboo quietly appeared.

…

At the center of the Illusory Star Domain, a life-bearing star hung in solitude.

War and flames now raged everywhere, yet not the slightest bit of it reached this star. It was like a land apart from the world.

This star had a diameter of several hundred thousand li and was enormous. Half of it was made up of mountains and land, while the other half was covered by vast oceans and great marshes. The spiritual qi of heaven and earth was extremely dense, hardly inferior to that of the Central Heaven Domain.

Within an unnamed mountain range stood a wooden cabin, with an open space marked out in front of it.

Bang!

A figure flew sideways through the air, crashed to the ground, and sent up a skyful of dust.

A middle-aged man in a black robe stood in place with his hands clasped behind his back. His hair was streaked with white, his gaze deep, his expression calm. He spoke lightly:

“Again.”

From the dust, a long-haired youth slowly rose to his feet. Black and white alternated around his body as if immortal light were coiling around him. His aura was sharp and fully exposed, his chest heaving violently, his expression cold and severe.

He said nothing. Like a young tiger, his eyes held no distractions, clear as crystal, and he lunged forward once more.

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Bang!

In the blink of an eye, he was sent flying back even faster than before.

“That is enough for today.”

Taishi turned and walked toward the wooden cabin, a trace of satisfaction in his eyes.

After remaining by the far shore of the Yellow Springs for several thousand years, the yin energy within Ling Chu’s body had become so heavy that it was almost beyond measure. In addition, Taishi had infused him with yang essence to balance it. With such long accumulation erupting all at once, Ling Chu’s cultivation speed could only be described as advancing a thousand miles in a single day.

In the short time since returning from the underworld, he had already broken through three realms and twenty-one stages in succession, stepped into the Heavenly Astral Realm, opened all thirty-six mortal apertures, and was now on the verge of entering the Myriad Phenomena Realm.

Ling Chu fell silent for a moment, then slowly followed Taishi’s footsteps.

His memories had remained frozen for several thousand years. From Taishi’s account, his parents, relatives, and old friends had all long since exhausted their lifespans and returned to the Nine Netherworlds. When he looked back on the past, nothing remained but emptiness.

Now, the only person he knew was Taishi. Even Taishi had white at his temples and a lifespan nearing its end, far removed from the man in his memories who had seemed like a god descended from heaven.

“When will I be able to leave here?”

“When you step into the Myriad Phenomena Realm, I will take you away.”

“Back to Shenzhou?”

“No.”

Taishi turned back and lifted his eyes toward the heavens above.

“To the world beyond. I’ll take you to see what true peerless prodigies are like.”