Dark robes and long hair hanging to his waist… Cang Yeli floated in front of the bed like a female ghost.
In a flash, Xia Yunzhao understood everything. Of course! If its owner had not been present, why would the Heaven-and-Earth Secret Realm have been so easy to restore?!
Xia Yunzhao said, “You were hiding inside the Heaven-and-Earth Secret Realm all along, and I didn’t notice…”
Cang Yeli looked at him approvingly. “You’re very perceptive.” Then he turned to Shang Shuangze. “Those wooden sword cultivators of Baiyujing actually managed to raise someone as deeply affectionate as you?”
Shang Shuangze ignored him and carefully straightened Xia Yunzhao’s clothes.
“Senior.” Xia Yunzhao looked at him. “May I ask you a question?”
Cang Yeli smiled at the two youngsters. “Ask.”
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Why did Wentian Sect launch the battle at Wangjin Sea back then?”
Cang Yeli raised an eyebrow. “That’s what you want to ask?”
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Can’t you tell us?”
Cang Yeli replied, “It isn’t that I can’t. I’m only afraid it might disturb your Dao hearts.” Then he suddenly asked, “Has anyone ascended in the last couple of years?”
That… really was a blind spot for Xia Yunzhao. He looked at Shang Shuangze. Shang Shuangze thought for a moment. “According to my master, the last person to ascend did so four thousand years ago.”
Xia Yunzhao was shocked. Four thousand years? The battle at Wangjin Sea had happened eight thousand years ago. Four thousand years after that, no one had ascended ever again?
Cang Yeli suddenly laughed. “Looks like their plan failed.”
Xia Yunzhao hurriedly asked, “Was the battle at Wangjin Sea connected to ascension?”
Cang Yeli nodded outright. “Heart cultivators used their own bodies to dissolve the polluted power between heaven and earth, becoming demonic cultivators in the process. Afterward, cultivators throughout the world suddenly discovered that once a demonic cultivator ascended first, spirit cultivators could no longer ascend. And once a spirit cultivator ascended, demonic cultivators would be unable to ascend for a long period. An old Daoist from the Star Pavilion exhausted his entire cultivation to divine the heavens and earth. The divination showed that spirit and demon stood opposed. Only when one side overwhelmed the other could vitality return.”
Xia Yunzhao drew in a sharp breath. No wonder. No wonder! Which cultivator who stepped onto the path of immortality was not aiming for ascension? Cutting off the road to ascension was a hatred deeper than killing someone’s parents! No wonder Wentian Sect only had to raise its arm and call out for the others to follow instantly!
“But you didn’t seem to think that way?” Xia Yunzhao asked again. “You didn’t believe it?”
Cang Yeli nodded slightly. “Spirit cultivators trust absolutely in the Heavenly Dao they perceive. We heart cultivators obey only our own hearts. Once one’s heart is clear, not even the Heavenly Dao can shake it.”
Xia Yunzhao silently shut his mouth. Heart cultivators were stubborn… truly stubborn.
Shang Shuangze said, “So Wentian Sect acted suddenly before you were prepared, and that led to the battle at Wangjin Sea?”
Both of them remembered something Fang Qingye had said on the Wangjin Sea battlefield: “Do you truly believe what you are doing now is right?”
Killing every heart cultivator under heaven for the sake of ascension, was that right?
Clearly, it was terribly wrong!
After that battle, the number of successful ascensions continued to decrease. Four thousand years later, no one had ascended at all!
Xia Yunzhao suddenly asked, “Could there be something wrong with that Star Pavilion?!”
Shang Shuangze shook his head helplessly. “The Star Pavilion no longer exists.”
Xia Yunzhao was startled. “The entire sect is gone?”
Shang Shuangze nodded. “The exact reason is unknown, but the Star Pavilion no longer exists today.”
Xia Yunzhao fell silent for a moment, then turned back to Cang Yeli and found him still smiling. “…You don’t seem to mind at all.”
Cang Yeli continued smiling at Xia Yunzhao as though he liked him quite a lot. “Mind what?”
“Well… haven’t you heard that story?” Xia Yunzhao quietly shifted closer to his Dao companion. “There was a monster imprisoned somewhere. After a hundred years, it thought that whoever released it would receive wealth and honor. After two hundred years, it thought that whoever released it would receive every treasure in the world. After three hundred years, it thought that whoever released it would be granted three wishes…”
Elio’s Notes: This riffs on The Fisherman and the Jinni from One Thousand and One Nights: after centuries imprisoned in a sealed vessel, the jinni’s promised rewards for whoever frees him eventually turn into a vow to kill his rescuer.
Cang Yeli listened with interest. “And after four hundred years?”
Xia Yunzhao glanced at him. “After another few hundred years, it decided that whoever released it would be killed immediately.”
Cang Yeli raised his brows in surprise. “Is that so?”
Xia Yunzhao said, “You were imprisoned for eight thousand years, and when you came out, Qianyuan Sect even schemed against you. Don’t you feel any resentment at all?”
“Of course I feel resentment.” Cang Yeli nodded readily. “But it has nothing to do with you, does it?”
Xia Yunzhao was surprised. He had not expected this man to be so reasonable.
Cloudwater Ferry rocked slightly. They had finally left the shallow-sea waters near Duxu City and entered the deep sea, where the wind and waves grew stronger.
Cang Yeli’s form became transparent. “I still have things to do, so I’ll leave first. Thank you for bringing me out. You can keep that Heaven-and-Earth Secret Realm.”
Xia Yunzhao felt an itch beneath his chin. Cang Yeli pinched the soft flesh there and vanished with a smile.
The Heaven-and-Earth Secret Realm transformed into a transparent sphere of light, circled Xia three times, then landed in his palm. He felt a special aura appear in his sea of consciousness, connecting him to the secret realm.
So this is what it actually means for a secret realm to acknowledge a master. It turned out he had been fooled before.
He closed his eyes. The vast secret realm unfolded before him. Every spirit item, mineral deposit, magical treasure, living creature… everything inside lay within his grasp. Within this secret realm, he was practically a god.
Xia Yunzhao opened his eyes and stared blankly at Shang Shuangze.
“What is it?” Shang Shuangze looked a little anxious. “Is there something wrong with the secret realm?”
“No…” Xia Yunzhao swallowed. “Shang Shuangze, I think we’re rich!”
* * *
The return journey was faster than the trip out. Three months later, everyone finally arrived back at the familiar Liancui Mountain Range.
Perhaps it was only psychological, but the moment they entered Qingxi City’s territory, even the air seemed fresher.
“City Lord, how much longer until we reach Qingxi City?” Su Meng asked for the tenth time.
Xia Yunzhao was even more excited than he was. “Soon! Another hour!”
Everyone else was equally eager to return home and looked down. “Has the urban area expanded a little?”
“Yes, and there’s more farmland outside the city too.”
“Wait, that looks like…”
Whoosh! An arc of light flared. Qingxi City now had an aerial-restriction formation over it!
Naturally, a formation like that could not stop Cloudwater Ferry. Xia Yunzhao was just about to form a hand seal to control it when the formation merely flashed faintly and let them pass.
Two figures flew up not far away. When they saw the familiar white treasure ship, they waved excitedly. “City Lord! You’re finally back!”
There was no need to look. Everyone knew that voice. It was Ying Yanyu.
The male cultivator beside Ying Yanyu was unfamiliar. The two rode a bamboo-leaf-shaped flying magical artifact toward them.
Xia Yunzhao nodded. “Are you on duty today?”
Ying Yanyu smiled. “Yes! Senior Brother Xing said that based on the timing, you should be back soon. The formation already has your aura recorded, but we were still afraid something might go wrong, so for the past few days only people who know you have been assigned to duty. Oh, and the Guard has grown again. We have more than six hundred people now!”
The male cultivator beside her bowed to everyone as well. His name was Li Xiu, and he had only recently joined the Guard.
Xia Yunzhao simply invited both of them aboard and flew back together.
When they reached the skies above Qingxi City, Cloudwater Ferry shrank inch by inch and landed in front of the City Lord’s Residence.
Xia Yunzhao jumped off the ship in one step and charged inside, shouting at the top of his lungs, “Brother Xing! Brother Xing! Brother Xing! I’m back!”
He happened to collide with Xing Wenyu, who was striding outside. Xing Wenyu caught him by the shoulders and looked him up and down. “You’re finally back! Well? Did you find the cultivation method? Was the road dangerous? Were you injured? Is Shang Shuangze with you?”
Xia Yunzhao cackled. “Brother Xing, you asked so many questions at once. Which one am I supposed to answer first?”
Xing Wenyu hesitated, then chose the most important one. “Were you injured?”
“No.” Xia Yunzhao waved behind his back, telling Shang Shuangze to hurry over and join him for the interrogation. “Everything went smoothly on the road…” He lowered his voice. “We found the cultivation method too, and got a whole lot of other things!”
They had been gone for half a year. Xing Wenyu did not care about any other gains. Having them return safely was the best thing already. But children still needed praise, so he patted Xia Yunzhao’s shoulder. “Very good! Today we’ll have the chef from Zhao Family Restaurant cook you some food!”
Xia Yunzhao glanced at him. “Brother Xing, has it been that long since you last ate? You’re even calling dinner ‘food’ now? Let me look… Huh? Brother Xing, you’re already at Golden Core? After we left, did you move into the time formation?”
Good. Now it was Xing Wenyu’s turn to be interrogated.
The two walked inside side by side. Xia Yunzhao’s mouth never stopped as he recounted every detail of the trip. The entire way was filled with his own chattering voice.
Shang Shuangze followed behind them with a relaxed expression. The others also smiled as they stepped back into the home they had been away from for half a year. Jiang Hanchuan still had not awakened, so Xia Yunzhao arranged a room for him inside the City Lord’s Residence.
Xiang Moyue was the only unfamiliar face among them, but he did not seem uncomfortable in the slightest. No one knew what he said, but before long he had already blended in with the people of the City Lord’s Residence.
The residence quickly became lively. Any members of the Guard without assignments rushed over as soon as they heard the City Lord had returned. Those who had only joined recently came along too, wanting to see why this legendary Qingxi City Lord had such extraordinary charisma that everyone admired him so much.
Even ordinary residents came to join the excitement. Before long, the City Lord’s Residence was surrounded three layers deep, inside and out. Xia Yunzhao had no choice but to come out and calm them down.
The people of Qingxi City were simple and sincere. Their way of showing concern was to send food. Before long, the open space in front of the City Lord’s Residence was piled with cured meat, preserved fruit, homemade rice wine… Anyone who did not know better might think someone had opened a grocery stall there.
Xia Yunzhao did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not dare refuse them to their faces, so he quietly instructed the Guard to remember who had brought what and secretly return everything that night.
The residents clung to him and would not let him leave, asking the exact same questions as Xing Wenyu: Had he eaten well? Slept well? Had anyone bullied him? Had he been hurt?
Even the old woman blind in one eye had come again. Compared with before he left, she looked considerably healthier. She pushed through the crowd by herself, reached Xia Yunzhao, and secretly stuffed two five-spice eggs into his arms.
Xia Yunzhao smiled and deliberately moved his gaze elsewhere.
The old woman thought he had not noticed. Smiling with pursed lips, she slipped back through the crowd and excitedly told her children how she had stuffed the eggs into the little City Lord’s arms, completely unaware that two spirit pills had also appeared in her own pocket.
Only when the sky was nearly dark did Ying Yanyu come out to smooth things over, saying the City Lord had only just returned and was tired and needed to rest early that night. Only then did the residents reluctantly disperse.
That evening, the City Lord’s Residence really did invite the chef from Zhao Family Restaurant to prepare a huge banquet. Su Meng and Su Ying were not idle either. The chef prepared ordinary dishes, while the brothers added several dishes containing spiritual energy.
At first, the two brothers were unconvinced. The City Lord had eaten their cooking the whole journey. Could they really be worse than a restaurant chef?
But once the chef showed off a few moves, both immediately admitted defeat. The man was Zhao Family Restaurant’s signature chef for a reason. His food contained no spiritual energy, but the taste truly was exceptional.
The two were still young, and after traveling with Xia Yunzhao for so long, the barrier in their hearts between mortals and cultivators had long disappeared. They obediently helped the chef with the prep work.
The City Lord’s Residence’s newly joined guards were astonished too.
Before dinner, Xia Yunzhao deliberately gathered them all together, learned everyone’s name, chatted with each of them briefly, then rewarded or punished them according to their performance during this period.
During the months of the return journey, Xia Yunzhao had done almost nothing except refine pills, all for this moment. The accumulated pills nearly burst his and Shang Shuangze’s Hundred-Compartment Pouches. There was no fear that people would not work hard. Pills were abundant!
In truth, the new guards had been somewhat confused at first because the Qingxi City Guard had too many rules. Every rule was written clearly and was not difficult to follow, but cultivators who were used to freedom still found them hard to accept.
Now, holding the still-warm pills in their hands, they wanted to write the character for convinced across their faces. They were truly convinced. No wonder Qingxi City was different from other cities. No wonder the City Lord held such prestige here. The simple fact that rewards and punishments were clear made them want to jump up and cheer!
Why did so many unaffiliated cultivators prefer to cultivate alone rather than casually join a power? Because far too many powers treated people like disposable materials. One casual order from above and you had to risk your life. Even if you survived, injuries were common. What? You wanted compensation in resources? How about I compensate you with my fist?
Li Xiu received two pills as well. Excitement was hard to hide on his usually wooden face. If the Qingxi City Lord truly was as approachable as he appeared, perhaps the pill Li Xiu wanted to request really had a chance!
After Xia Yunzhao distributed all the pills that needed distributing, he handed the remainder to Xiao Li. These would be Qingming Pavilion’s next batch of stock.
Yes, since this was his employer’s welcome-home banquet, of course Xiao Li was present too. After this period of training, he no longer felt uneasy among cultivators. Only steadiness remained, and he was fully capable of holding the room.
For the next three days, Xia Yunzhao stayed in Qingxi City. He did little else. Every day after waking, he wandered around the streets, bought some food, and let the city’s residents get their fill of seeing their City Lord.
Three days later, once it felt as though everyone had mostly released their pent-up longing, the two finally prepared to return to the little valley and enter seclusion.
The little valley was protected by formations. Although no one had lived there for half a year, it looked exactly as it had when they left.
When Shang Shuangze was about to open the formation and walk in, Xia Yunzhao grabbed him. “Wait!”
Shang Shuangze gave him a questioning look.
“Spirit beasts!” Xia Yunzhao whispered. “The last two times we came home after a long trip, another spirit beast appeared at home. Do you think there’ll be one this time too?”
At the words spirit beast, Xianchan, Xianbao, and the Crimson-Cloud Brocadefish all poked out from his robes, curious. Really?
Reality proved that even if your name was Xia Yunzhao, good fortune did not necessarily fall from the sky every single time.
The little valley showed no unusual phenomenon. No new spirit beast had delivered itself to their door.
Xia Yunzhao sighed regretfully. “Fine.”
He waved a hand. The spirit vein they had obtained from Baoyu City flew from his sleeve, twisted through the sky like a tiny silver-white dragon, and tried to fly away.
The formation bound the little dragon, preventing it from leaving the valley. It turned its head and searched around, eventually choosing one corner. It descended and hid itself inside the mountain wall.
A layer of spiritual mist instantly spread through the valley, and the spiritual energy became much denser.
Xia Yunzhao narrowed his eyes comfortably. “Such dense spiritual energy!” In this environment, there was no need to cultivate deliberately. Merely breathing drew great quantities of spiritual energy into the meridians.
Shang Shuangze released the spirit-herb field and Yun Yi. There was nothing else to worry about. Yun Yi would take care of everything.
At last, the two were free. They returned to their own cave dwelling and slept soundly for three whole days.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, a lazy Xia Yunzhao was finally carried by Shang Shuangze into the meditation chamber.
Xia Yunzhao yawned. Shang Shuangze smiled and asked, “Are you doing pulls today, or do you want to sleep a little longer?”
“No more sleeping. We said we’d feed Xiao Qing spirit stones today. If we delay any longer, it’ll start making a fuss again.” That was what he said, but he still leaned against Shang Shuangze and did not want to move.
Perhaps because it had been too long, Shang Shuangze had gone a little crazy these past three days… Xiao Xia cleared his throat. Next time, they absolutely could not fool around for that long! A sword cultivator and a pill cultivator simply did not have the same stamina…
He tapped a fingertip, and Xiao Qing floated out. It, at least, had slept very well. Refreshed, it bounced twice, clearly asking: Is it time to eat?
Xia Yunzhao laughed. “Yes. Today we’re having a feast!”
He beckoned again. The formation opened a gap, and the Crimson-Cloud Brocadefish flew in.
With a lucky koi at his side, surely this time he would draw plenty of good things?