3180-chapter-34
Chapter 34
The five peaks of Kunwu, except for the highly unusual Qianya peak, are each dominated by a young disciple. Taiqing Peak is led by Yu Si, who had already astonished everyone in the past and now, having achieved the Golden Core stage, is renowned throughout the land.
Aside from Taiqing Peak, Ziyuan Peak is represented by Shen Ye, Xuecan Peak by Chi Nan, and Liuguang Peak by Senior Sister Jiang Zhongli—each the first among their respective peaks to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. If the bell had tolled for any other disciple, people might not be so shocked. But the one in trouble is Senior Brother Shen Ye from Ziyuan Peak.
The new generation of disciples, although young, often complete demon-exorcising tasks, earning numerous decorations on their robes. Despite sometimes suffering minor to serious injuries, a few pills typically restore their vigor.
Although the elders often recount the fierce and even brutal battles between cultivators and demons in the past, and despite the strict orders to memorize the comprehensive demon compendium in their studies, the disciples, having not experienced such battles firsthand, remain largely unfazed.
Until now.
All the peaks buzzed with discussions.
“Senior Brother Shen Ye…? Is it really Senior Brother Shen Ye from Ziyuan Peak? Oh no! Is he alright?”
“Isn’t Senior Brother already in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage… How could even he…!”
“I’ve never seen anyone use a distress talisman before. Whenever I go on missions, I never touch the distress talisman. Aren’t demons easy to kill? How could even Senior Brother Shen Ye be unable to handle it? If even he struggles, then, then wouldn’t that mean…”
…
No one dared to continue that thought, but all eyes subtly shifted to Yu Si, who had just formed his Golden Core.
The leaders of the Five Sects and Three Paths hadn’t yet left, and they heard both the bell and the announcement. True immortal Huaiwei frowned, thinking it could have waited a few hours until the guests had departed. Wouldn’t the other sects now think Kunwu couldn’t handle even minor demons?
The sect leaders and elders didn’t seem to share Huaiwei’s concern. They exchanged a subtle, grave look, especially upon hearing that the disciple on the mission was already mid-Foundation Establishment.
The reporting disciple, breath unsteady, recounted the events in the main hall of Taiqing Peak: “This mission to Tianjiu Town on the edge of the Kongti Desert near Yuebei City involved Senior Brother Shen Ye from Ziyuan Peak, Zheng Chengxu, and Ning Shuangsi. Senior Brother Shen Ye is at mid-Foundation Establishment , while the other two are at the late Qi Refining stage. The local outer sect disciples reported that the mission involved a snake demon and Gu insects, which were marked as extremely dangerous. That’s why Senior Brother Shen Ye decided to go personally, but who could have expected…”
Master Han Yichun of Ziyuan Peak arrived on his sword. The reporting disciple, seeing his peak master, almost cried out, “Master Han, please save Senior Brother Shen Ye!”
Almost simultaneously, someone couldn’t help but voice, “Senior Brother has already formed his Golden Core. If he goes, he will surely save Senior Brother Shen Ye!”
Many shared this sentiment, and the hall buzzed with voices.
Xia Yiyao, standing beside Yu Si, gracefully saluted him, “Senior Brother, it seems that only you can rescue Senior Brother Shen Ye now!”
“Nonsense!” another female voice exclaimed sharply. A young girl with a veiled face pushed through the crowd and stood in front of Yu Si. Feng Wanxing, almost in tears, adamantly confronted everyone in the hall, “Senior Brother Yu has just formed his Golden Core and needs to rest! Otherwise, his core could become unstable, which would harm his future cultivation. Senior brother, you are not allowed to go! How can you all force him to go—!”
…
The echo of the bell had yet to fade, and the snow on Qianya Peak’s branches fell gently. Xie Junzhi seemed indifferent to this; after unleashing that sword strike, he ascended the mountain peak with his hands behind his back, holding a book he had been reading recently. However, Yi Zui and the others looked slightly uneasy.
The old man’s fragmented soul had recently been uninterested in anything, clearly feeling that this place did not allow him to fully display his abilities. Nonetheless, being connected to Cheng Luocen’s soul, he didn’t hold back when it came to guidance. Upon hearing the bell, the old man wasn’t particularly surprised: “It’s the sound of the Destiny Soul Bell; someone has indeed encountered trouble.”
“Why do you say ‘indeed’?” Cheng Luocen asked.
“The war between the demon realm and the human world cycles every sixty years. After the war, everything withered and needed to be rebuilt. The withering of everything is literal. Destruction affects both realms equally,” the old man’s fragmented soul said leisurely.
“Do you know why there are no grandmasters in the cultivation world right now? The demon emperor of the demon realm has fallen, and now even demon kings and lesser demon kings are rare. This is because both realms have withered and weakened.”
Cheng Luocen’s expression changed slightly, as if he had thought of something: “So, Senior Brother Yu forming his Golden Core now…”
“Exactly,” the old man’s fragmented soul, with his vast knowledge, continued, “His Golden Core formation signifies the beginning of a new cycle for the cultivation world. Simultaneously, the demon realm will also begin to flourish. Previously, there were no powerful demons or truly strong cultivators, but from now on…”
The old man chuckled lightly, but the implications of his words were clear.
The peaceful yet weak days of the cultivation world were likely over. All disciples would soon understand what real blood and fire meant. They would awaken from their dreams through the constant loss of their peers, leaving their comfort zones, shedding their innocence, becoming cold and ruthless, and decapitating enemies without hesitation.
Seeing Cheng Luocen visibly shaken by these revelations, the old man smiled even more deeply and pressed his advantage: “It looks like the Kunwu Sect will send reinforcements. Why don’t you join the team and quietly leave midway? I’ll take you to a nearby secret realm for training, preparing you for the storms ahead.”
The old man had made such suggestions countless times, all coldly rejected by Cheng Luocen. Unexpectedly, this time, the young man, watching a girl fly up from the foot of the mountain on her sword, seemed to make a decision and replied, “Alright.”
Yu Xizhi flew swiftly on her sword, having just received a strike from Xie Junzhi, leaving her slightly breathless. Yet she couldn’t afford to rest: “I need to go to the main hall of Taiqing Peak. Does anyone want to come with me?”
Yi Zui, awakened from meditation by the bell, still groggy, finally grasped the situation upon hearing Yu Xizhi’s words: “Did something happen?”
Of course, something had happened.
She finally remembered that Yu Si, despite just forming his Golden Core and having an unstable mind, had led eighteen disciples of the Kunwu Sect to pursue a snake demon in Yuebei City overnight. Out of the nineteen, only nine returned alive.
Although Yu Si is the senior disciple of Kunwu, he is still just a teenager. Remarkably, through battle, he managed to push from the early to the late Golden Core stage in one fight, slaughtering all in the Kongti Desert. However, witnessing the deaths of so many fellow disciples almost led him to a heart demon, resulting in an unstable dao heart and a slightly cracked Golden Core. Although he later advanced to the Nascent Soul and Soul Accumulation stages, he never achieved the true complete stage.
Of course, Yu Xizhi couldn’t explain this to Yi Zui. She only said, “The Destiny Soul Bell ringing means something has happened. It seems some of our fellow disciples are in trouble and have requested help from the sect. I vaguely heard the name Shen Ye, so I want to go and check it out.”
She didn’t elaborate, but everyone understood. The “want to go and check” naturally meant going to the scene, not just Taiqing Peak.
Given Shen Ye’s cultivation level, if even he is in trouble, only Jiang Zhongli from Liuguang Peak and Chi Nan from Xuecan Peak have higher cultivation levels. However, Chi Nan is a pill cultivator, not skilled in combat, and although Jiang Zhongli is proficient with talismans, there is a better candidate: Yu Si.
No one at Qianya Peak had asked Yu Xizhi about her cultivation level, but no one believed she was truly at the early Qi Refining stage. Now that she wanted to go, they wanted to go with her.
Yi Zui grabbed his sword case, Huang Li wiped the dirt off his hoe, and Cheng Luocen silently stood up. They all looked toward their little junior uncle, who was reading under the eaves of the wooden house.
Xie Junzhi raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why are you looking at me?”
Yi Zui then remembered that their little junior uncle was supposed to guard the mountain. If he left, the chaotic sword intent in the Sword tomb might cause significant casualties in Kunwu Sect within half a day. Scratching his head awkwardly, he asked, “Can we go?”
“Go if you want,” Xie Junzhi replied with the same casual tone as when he said, “Come if you want,” not even lifting his eyes.
Yu Xizhi turned to leave but then thought about how Xie Junzhi, from extreme liveliness to extreme quietness, might feel lonely on such a snowy night, even if he didn’t mind.
So Yu Xizhi jumped off her sword, waved to the others, and took out several palm-sized paper talismans. She infused them with spiritual energy and dotted their eyes, bringing to life little paper figures of herself, Yi Zui, Huang Li, and Cheng Luocen.
“We’ll be back soon,” Yu Xizhi said, watching the little paper figure of herself run off to tease the orange cat, causing it to lazily open its eyes and swipe a paw, only for the figure to nimbly dodge. She couldn’t help but smile.
Xie Junzhi, surprised by her creativity, was silent for a moment before also taking a paper talisman and infusing it with his spiritual energy.
The white paper talisman turned vivid and lifelike, transforming into a miniature black-haired, white-robed Xie Junzhi. In comparison, Yu Xizhi’s figures looked like running paper dolls, while Xie Junzhi’s was like a shrunken, living replica of himself.
The little Xie Junzhi avoided being touched, jumped lightly onto Yu Xizhi’s shoulder, and sat properly, even pulling out a miniature book from his sleeve and beginning to read.
“I’ve divided a wisp of my consciousness into it. Talking to him is like talking to me,” Xie Junzhi said plainly and directly.
“Go quickly and come back safely. Don’t die.”
Thus, the mist swirled upwards as Yi Zui followed closely with his sword. Although Huang Li was only at the Qi Refining stage, he had somehow taught himself to ride his hoe. Without asking Cheng Luocen, he pulled the taciturn boy up onto the hoe, and the four of them set off grandly towards the main hall of Taiqing Peak.
The four paper figures resembled their personalities. Little Zhizhi tried to swing on Orange Mimi’s whiskers; Little Yi Zui clapped and cheered; Little Huang Li laughed foolishly; and Little Cheng Luocen, even as a paper figure, looked like a stone.
Xie Junzhi lowered his gaze and watched for a moment before suddenly chuckling.
He stood up, his white robes blending almost seamlessly with the distant snow-covered mountains. In the next moment, he had already thrown Little Cheng Luocen, Little Huang Li, and Little Yi Zui into the crackling fire with a flick of his wrist. When he reached for Little Zhizhi, the orange cat suddenly became alert, lifting its eyelids and slowly arching its back.
“What’s wrong, Ju Er? Do you really like the cat food she makes, or have you truly started to believe you’re a cat?” Xie Junzhi tilted his head, looking at the orange cat. His long hair, a stark contrast of black and white, cascaded down. He raised his hand, ignoring the cat’s retreat and its aggressive hiss, and took Little Zhizhi’s paper figure.
The orange cat almost thought Little Zhizhi would meet the same fate as the other paper figures. However, the white-robed boy infused spiritual energy into the paper figure, making it lively and animated and transforming it into a small, vibrant version of Yu Xizhi.
Instead of returning it to the cat he called Ju Er, he placed Little Zhizhi on his own shoulder, coughed lightly a few times, and sat back down to continue reading.
Little Zhizhi sat on his shoulder, blinking curiously. She looked up at his hanging hair, hesitated, and then couldn’t resist grabbing his silky black locks and sliding down to his lapel. Climbing up his collar, she finally found a comfortable spot on his chest, held his hair, and fell asleep.
The fire crackled, winter night was approaching, and the swirling snow soon covered the peak.
Amid the snowy landscape, Yu Xizhi broke through the wind and snow, riding her sword straight into the main hall of Taiqing Peak.