The Star Lord Chang Sheng of the Palace of Trials - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: The Sili Palace Is a Place That Breeds Resentment and Hatred
After dinner, Star Lord Changsheng invited Xiao Fan to his room to speak privately.
Star Lord Changsheng asked, “You knew Wuyi was a woman all along, didn’t you?”
Xiao Fan scoffed disdainfully and replied, “It would be stranger if I didn’t know!”
Star Lord Changsheng then asked, “The Drought-Fire Lingzhi… from the moment you brought it up, you had already intended to use Jufang as a bargaining chip to trade for it, didn’t you?”
Hearing this, Xiao Fan cast aside his usual playful and cynical demeanor, his expression turning serious.
“When I remembered that the Qilin possessed the Drought-Fire Lingzhi, and that Kongqi just happened to be a Qilin, I thought it was fate. We had nothing in our hands—only Jufang. And Jufang, to anyone else, is utterly worthless; even selling her by the pound would be considered too scrawny. Yet to Kongqi, she happens to be an priceless treasure. In all my years overseeing the mortal realm, I have never seen such a coincidence. To say this wasn’t heaven’s way of saving you, not even a ghost would believe it.”
Star Lord Changsheng said angrily, “Jufang isn’t an apple or a banana! How could you be so utterly insane as to use a person as a bargaining chip?!”
Refusing to back down, Xiao Fan retorted, “I’m insane? You’re the one who’s lost your mind! What’s wrong with me handing Jufang over to him? At worst, they fall in love and fly off together—does that mistreat Jufang or ruin Kongqi? What about you? Without the Drought-Fire Lingzhi, you’re destined to lose your life!”
Star Lord Changsheng barked, “That is my affair! It has nothing to do with Jufang!”
Xiao Fan burst out laughing. “Nothing to do with her? Did you trip and fall into the Snow Lotus Pond all on your own, then? How long do you plan to deceive yourself and others? I know you want to hide Jufang so Kongqi won’t find her, but without the Drought-Fire Lingzhi to save your life, when you kick the bucket in ten years, they will meet all the same!”
Star Lord Changsheng snapped, “I am not trying to hide her! I just don’t want to hand her over to someone else as a condition!”
Xiao Fan let out a cold laugh and asked, “Is it that you don’t want her used as a condition, or that you don’t want to hand her over to someone else?”
Felt a slight pang of guilt, Star Lord Changsheng said, “What nonsense are you talking about!”
Xiao Fan pressed on, “Ask yourself in good conscience: why did you walk into the Snow Lotus Pond in the first place?”
Of course, it was for love. Star Lord Changsheng would risk his very life for Jufang, yet he could not keep her by his side—because the Sili Palace was a place that bred resentment and hatred. Today Zhuyue could force her into the Snow Lotus Pond; tomorrow someone else could force her to have her bones scraped and her heart gouged out.
But Kongqi had the entire Qilin clan behind him. No one in the Heavenly Palace would dare touch his woman. Perhaps this was the best choice for Jufang.
So, could he bear to part with her? Star Lord Changsheng asked himself. Having never possessed her, how could there be anything to part with?
Seeing Star Lord Changsheng fall silent, Xiao Fan said, “Like I said, if you want to hold a grudge, hold it against me! Trading her to save your life is worth it! Even if I hadn’t done it, Niyan would have done the same! Right?”
Standing to the side, Niyan looked even more solemn than usual. Only upon hearing his name did he snap out of it, saying, “How is Wuyi a woman? Since coming to Luoyun Mountain, we’ve been sharing a room, and I’ve been stripping down to change and bathe right in front of her every day… A few nights ago she complained the floor was too hard to sleep on, so I even told her to come sleep on the bed with me! I… I am practically a rogue!!”
It seemed Niyan was also deep in his own little mental drama.
—
Star Lord Changsheng’s leave ended prematurely after all. On this day, five heavenly soldiers arrived at Luoyun Mountain bearing an edict from the Jade Emperor. Such grand fanfare meant a deity must have committed a grave offense.
As it turned out, after High God Lianyue completed his mortal trial, he was granted permission to spend three lifetimes with that mortal woman. It was only during the third lifetime that news reached Shujing, the goddess who was originally betrothed to him.
Shujing had a fierce and unyielding nature; how could she tolerate Lianyue slapping her in the face like this? From a young age, because her father was a High God and she was breathtakingly beautiful, everyone treated her with utmost affection and doting care. Thousands of years ago, by chance, she read a poem Lianyue wrote during the Mid-Autumn Festival and was deeply moved by his talent, falling in love with him.
Of course, Shujing’s status was a perfect match. A union of equal standing, handsome man and beautiful woman—it was considered a charming match at the time. After the Jade Emperor bestowed the marriage, though Lianyue acted somewhat distant toward her, he at least treated her with proper respect. Dazzled by love, Shujing thought feelings could be cultivated after marriage. Deities lived for tens of thousands of years; even an iron bar could be ground into a sewing needle, let alone a slightly cold heart.
Who could have known that right after the marriage was decreed, Lianyue was dispatched to subdue demons, and after that, her betrothal was actually broken off?
In a fit of impulse, Shujing snuck down to the mortal realm and threw a massive rampage. She even used the Glass Needle—a weapon capable of causing mortals to vanish into ash and smoke—and stabbed that mortal woman to death on the spot, condemning her to never be reborn. Thus, Lianyue could never relive that third lifetime again.
For a deity to kill was a crime, but using the Glass Needle to shatter someone’s soul completely was a heinous atrocity. Furthermore, the Glass Needle was a treasure of the Heavenly Palace, so stealing it was likewise a major crime. These two crimes combined resulted in Shujing being sentenced to suffer through three lifetimes of hardship, after which she was banished to Mount Piaomiao.
Receiving the imperial decree, Star Lord Changsheng sighed, “What a tragedy! Once High God Lianyue finished his three lifetimes, Immortal Shujing would have had plenty of time to make him change his mind. Why couldn’t she think things through?”
This time, Jufang absolutely could not be allowed to descend to the mortal realm to arrange the trial.
Meanwhile, upon hearing the news, Jufang immediately ran off to find High God Lianyue, wanting to check on him.
Normally in the upper realm, High God Lianyue lived beside a waterfall in Longrun Valley. The moment Jufang arrived, she saw Lianyue unkempt, disheveled, and raving madly, appearing to have suffered a devastating blow.
Standing nearby, Zhuyue said worriedly, “Brother! Don’t be like this! Zhuyue is scared watching you!”
Lianyue wore a half-smile and muttered to himself, “Overturning mountains and draining seas just to be with you? Even if I, Lianyue, possess the power to move mountains and seas, so what?! I can’t even protect the person I love!! What’s the point of living ten thousand years? Without you, I don’t want to live even a single extra day!”
Jufang had known for a long time that Lianyue was deeply in love with that mortal woman; otherwise, he wouldn’t have willingly undergone a trial. But no one could have anticipated things turning out like this.
Jufang called out, “High God Lianyue! Please do not act on impulse!”
Although Zhuyue disliked Jufang for making Lianyue suffer, business was business. This matter truly had nothing to do with Jufang, so she said, “What are you doing here? Although this isn’t your fault, our previous score hasn’t been settled yet!”
Lianyue’s reaction upon seeing Jufang caught Zhuyue completely off guard. He dropped to both knees and actually burst into loud, uncontrollable sobs, choking out through his tears: “Lianyue has failed your painstaking efforts, Immortal! Lianyue is sorry to you, Immortal!”
Zhuyue hurriedly stepped forward to pull Lianyue up, asking, “What’s going on? Brother, why are you thanking her?”
Lianyue explained, “If this Immortal hadn’t found a way to spare me several decades of trial suffering, I wouldn’t have been able to return from the trial so soon and stay with Xiao Lan for three lifetimes… Yet I have failed your good intentions!”
Hearing this, Zhuyue realized she had misunderstood her brother’s benefactor from the very beginning. Overcome with shame, she also fell to her knees, slapped herself across the face, and said, “Zhuyue was blind! I wrongly accused our benefactor before and truly have no face to look at you. Whether you want to slash or punish me, Zhuyue will not utter a single word of complaint!”
Although this little girl Zhuyue was domineering and spoiled, she was not bad at heart. While she could be relentless when she thought she was in the right, whenever she realized she was wrong, she never denied it, and her stubborn nature meant she would take her punishment without begging for mercy. This was something Jufang didn’t dislike at all.
Jufang stepped forward and helped the brother and sister up, saying, “Now is not the time to argue over right and wrong! The condition for your three lifetimes was to suffer from a love trial in the mortal realm, and since I was in charge of your trial back then, I will absolutely make sure you get to live out the three lifetimes the Jade Emperor promised you! Is there really no other way for your mortal woman to come back to life? Think carefully!”
However, what way could there possibly be to think of?
Mortals experience birth, old age, sickness, death, and reincarnation through their three souls and seven po. If a deity were injured by the Glass Needle, there were many magic treasures capable of gathering soul fragments. At worst, as long as a single soul or po remained, they could use the Tianshan Snow Lotus to be reborn. But that woman was a mortal. In this world, there was no magic treasure designed to gather mortal souls.
All the treasures in the heavenly realm were created, grown, or refined because some deity once needed that specific function. When mortals vanished into ash and smoke, no deity had ever cared, so no ancient god had ever created a treasure capable of gathering mortal souls. If Lianyue hadn’t turned out to be such a devoted lover, probably no god would have ever contemplated this issue.
Zhuyue said sorrowfully, “Where in this world is there anything that can gather a mortal’s soul? Even if someone knew forbidden arts of resurrection, without even a fraction of a soul, it still wouldn’t be possible.”
At that moment, Lianyue seemed to remember something and said, “Forbidden arts?! There are still forbidden arts! Wait for me here, I’ll be back shortly!”
—
In less than half a day, Lianyue returned carrying a white jade treasure box. Opening it, inside lay an earthy-yellow jade thumb ring.
Jufang glanced at Zhuyue, trying to see if she knew anything, but Zhuyue shook her head, equally bewildered.
Lianyue’s expression turned solemn as he said, “What I am about to tell you two is a supreme taboo in the heavenly realm. No matter what happens in the future, you must never speak of it to anyone. Understood?”
Jufang and Zhuyue nodded one after the other.
Lianyue continued, “This is called the Jiutao Jade Ring. It is a secret of our Jade Clan; even the Jade Emperor does not know about this treasure. Among our clan, only a few elders know of its existence. The reason it must be kept so secret is because it involves the Three Great Taboos of the Heavenly Realm.”
The Three Great Taboos of the Heavenly Realm: bringing the dead back to life, creating life out of nothing, and turning back time. Now they already knew bringing the dead back to life didn’t work, and creating life out of nothing didn’t seem like it could solve the problem at hand, so could it be…
“Turning back time!” Jufang gasped.
Lianyue nodded.
She had long known the Jade Clan possessed countless treasures, but she never imagined they would have something that defied the heavens to such an extent. It was truly hard for Jufang to believe.
As the story went, back when the divine beast Hundun died, its blood splashed onto a pebble. Years later, Lianyue’s ancestor happened to pick it up. Shortly after, the ancestor discovered this earthy-yellow pebble possessed an extraordinary power—it allowed the wearer to easily travel back and forth through time. He named it Jiutao, crafted it into a thumb ring, and wore it at all times.
In the days that followed, this ancestor used the power of Jiutao to travel back and forth across tens of thousands of years. Having witnessed the beginnings and ends of everything in heaven and on earth, he came to a realization:
Whether human, ghost, god, or demon, as long as one lived for a day, one would be bound by karma. This was an eternal truth since Pangu split open the heavens and earth. Human karma was reflected in reincarnation, while gods and demons were within creation. Those who foresaw the future stepped outside of karma; they could see the effect first and then create the cause, acting against the will of heaven.
At that time, having seen through all of past and future, the ancestor possessed boundless magic power. He expended all his power to alter the world. From that moment on, whether human, ghost, god, or demon, whenever someone sought to foresee the future, they had to pay a corresponding price to balance karma. Thus, diviners would lose their lifespan, while gods and demons would suffer heavenly retribution.
The ancestor believed this would be enough, only to realize on his deathbed that when the power of foresight was no longer commonplace, “regret” would be born. And regret would make people want to return to the past—yet returning to the past infinitely yielded the exact same result as predicting the future.
However, by then, the ancestor was too old and lacked the strength to alter the world once more. Originally, he intended to destroy the Jiutao Jade with a single strike, but he suddenly realized: wasn’t this also a form of “regret”? Even after seeing tens of thousands of years into the future and witnessing tens of thousands of possibilities, when death arrived, he still felt regret—he still could not escape karma.
With that thought, he made his peace, smiled, and decided to leave his descendants a chance to change their fate.
Using the last of his remaining strength, the ancestor sealed away the power of Jiutao. To break this seal, there had to be a person willing to sacrifice themselves, drink the world’s most lethal Gou Snake poison, and stain the Jiutao Jade with blood carrying the poison. The person wearing the thumb ring could then travel back to the past and rewrite history.
In other words, to return to the past, one had to exchange their life for it. Deities of the past really loved pulling this move at every turn.
However, the Gou Snake was an ancient venomous beast that had long since vanished. Lianyue’s clan only had three bottles of Gou Snake poison handed down from ancient times. That meant there were only three chances left in this world to rewrite history.
Returning to the past could prevent a tragedy from happening, but who was going to give up their life?
With a look of serene acceptance, Lianyue said to Jufang, “At this point, I am no longer obsessed with three lifetimes. I only hope Xiao Lan can live well. If it weren’t for my obsession, Shujing wouldn’t have dealt her such a lethal blow.”
Lianyue pulled out a gourd bottle and said to Zhuyue with a smile, “Don’t be so willful in the future. Think carefully before you do anything. In the future, your brother won’t be able to take care of you anymore.”
At these words, Zhuyue’s tears fell like rain as she sobbed, “Brother, no! There must be another way! Why should you pay with your life for the disaster Shujing caused?! Zhuyue has no ability and no cultivation, so Zhuyue will give her life!” With that, she actually reached out to snatch the bottle of Gou Snake poison, but how could Zhuyue overpower a High God?
Seeing that Lianyue was about to forcibly swallow the poison, Jufang hurriedly yelled, “Wait! I have a way!”
She exposed her wrist and channeled her spiritual energy, revealing eight glowing lines.
“A life for a life, but I have eight lives left! I’ll drink it! Lianyue, step back!”
Lianyue was startled at first, then said, “This Gou Snake poison is the most lethal poison under heaven. How could one trick it like this? I have never heard of any god or demon in this world being struck by Gou Snake poison and surviving. Nine-lived cats are not that rare either—if such a workaround existed, how could we not know about it?”
Jufang retorted, “How do you know if you haven’t tried? I’ll ask you just one question: do you want to save your own woman yourself or not? In terms of cultivation and background, I’m inferior to both of you. Even if something really goes wrong, I have no father and no mother; at most Wuyi will be sad for two days. Besides, I’ve grown up with amazingly great luck; I’m really not scared at all!”
Hearing this, Zhuyue fell to her knees with a thud, kowtowing as she said, “I never knew Immortal was so noble and upright! Zhuyue was truly blind before!”
Jufang snatched the gourd bottle from Lianyue’s hand, asked clearly about the method of use, and said, “You better save your beauty properly! If it really doesn’t work, we can always try twice more. If all eight of my lives can’t block this snake poison or whatever, please help me take good care of Wuyi. She’s timid and easily frightened, so she needs someone to look out for her, but she can endure hardship and is a good kid. Don’t let the people at the Sili Palace bully her!”
Lianyue still felt it was improper, but Jufang said, “Stop hesitating! Among the three of us right now, I’m the only one most likely not to die. If you don’t gamble right now, when are you going to wait for?”
Hearing this, Lianyue and Zhuyue fell to their knees once more and kowtowed, saying in unison, “For Immortal’s grand grace and virtue, we will certainly repay you with all we have in the future!”
Jufang tilted her head back and drank the Gou Snake poison in one gulp. Then, she sliced her finger open with her fingernail and pressed her blood onto the Jiutao Jade Ring.
The jade thumb ring instantly turned a brilliant shade of crimson. Jufang thought, Looks like it worked! But a surge of agonizing pain tore through her entire body, and blood began pouring from her seven orifices.
Zhuyue hurriedly rushed forward to support her, crying out, “Thank you, Jufang! I owe you a life!”
Before Jufang could hear the end of that sentence, she lost consciousness and perished in Longrun Valley.
