Now that he knew they were old acquaintances, Xu Ziqing’s expression softened. He smiled. “Ladies, do you remember Xu Ziqing of the Loose Cultivators’ Alliance?”
He had liked the sisters when he first met them. Their characters were firm, their spirits resilient. Despite unspeakable hardships, they had risen from the ashes and killed their enemies. Their later methods were fierce but not fundamentally treacherous. When Xu Ziqing was ambushed by petty villains, they had intervened, helping save his life.
He had accepted and thanked them for that kindness, though it fell somewhat short of a life-saving debt. Now that he had rescued them, it seemed their reunion was a matter of fate.
At his question, the sisters exchanged startled looks.
They studied the green-robed senior carefully, searched their memories, and finally remembered.
More than a hundred years earlier, their emotional wounds still unhealed, the sisters had caused trouble in the Haotian Small World, tormenting despicable men. During a mission, they met a young man whose words moved them. When he was ambushed afterward, they had taken pity on him and come to his aid.
Was that gentle young man they barely remembered not named Xu Ziqing? His features were exactly the same, but his aura had changed so dramatically that they had failed to recognize him.
Having recognized him now, their gratitude remained, but some of their apprehension faded.
If he was that young man, even after becoming a powerful senior he would never deliberately make things difficult for others.
The sisters relaxed, surprised and delighted. “Senior Xu, are you really the young man from back then…?”
Xu Ziqing smiled. “I am. I have never forgotten how you helped me that year.”
The Ghost Yin-Yang Sisters hurriedly replied, “You jest, Senior. You gave us thousand-year Greenfrost Grass, more than enough to repay that small favor. Now you’ve saved our lives, and the debt is ours.”
Xu Ziqing merely smiled and did not argue further about who owed whom.
Since they had met again, they might as well reminisce. He swept his sleeve, and plants moved in from both sides, swiftly forming green tables and chairs. With another gesture, fruit and delicious dishes appeared upon the table, so fragrant they made one’s mouth water.
Xu Ziqing sat first. “Please sit and eat something, both of you.”
The sisters were not overly ceremonious. They bowed and took their seats.
Then the three began to talk.
Xu Ziqing asked, “Have you two changed your names?”
The sisters sighed. “Yes. Now we are called Chen Ni and Chen Shang.”
Xu Ziqing nodded. “It’s been many years. How did you come to the Qianyuan Great World?”
The Haotian Small World was only one of the countless small worlds surrounding the Qingyun Great World and was not particularly powerful. Reaching Qingyun was difficult enough, let alone arriving in a great world of the Upper Three Thousand. They must have endured many twists and turns.
As he observed them, the Ghost Yin-Yang Sisters were now at early Essence Transformation. Each had three spiritual roots, one thick and two thin. Their water spiritual root was strongest, and the rippling, oscillating energy of their arts suggested they cultivated a water-attributed method.
Their faces had been restored, and the true essence in their bodies was pure. They were far better off than the women once consumed by resentment and malice.
Most likely, they had found enlightenment. As he had thought back then, once they released the burdens of their past, they would accomplish something.
Chen Ni and Chen Shang looked moved and wistful before recounting what had happened.
Naturally, their account began when they parted from Xu Ziqing.
After obtaining the thousand-year Greenfrost Grass, the sisters stopped struggling through dangerous travels. They returned to their own hideout, cultivated diligently, and refined their spiritual energy.
Hard work brought rewards. They possessed Heavenly Yin constitutions and middling aptitude. After refining their spiritual power, the cultivation that had remained stagnant for years finally advanced. They achieved successive breakthroughs, reaching the ninth level of Qi Refinement.
Afterward, however, the medicinal power of the thousand-year Greenfrost Grass was exhausted, and they could advance no farther.
So the sisters emerged from seclusion.
Having met Xu Ziqing, they no longer hated every man in the world so fiercely. After years of wandering, some of the resentment in their hearts gradually faded.
As they opened their hearts, they befriended several people, both men and women, whose cultivation was similar to their own.
After years of friendship, the Dragon Ascension Gate opened again. Some companions had reached Foundation Establishment and qualified to enter the great world. The sisters’ aptitude was poorer, their constitutions damaged in their youth, and they had only just reached the tenth level of Qi Refinement. But their friends did not abandon them. Since each qualified traveler could bring one person, they each brought along a sister. Supporting one another, everyone reached the Qingyun Great World safely.
Xu Ziqing was delighted to hear this.
With good companions and broadened minds, the sisters had indeed been able to dissolve their hatred rather than be troubled by inner demons.
They had been very fortunate.
As they talked about those days, the sisters’ expressions grew tender, clearly showing how fondly they remembered their friends.
Next they spoke of the Qingyun Great World.
When they first arrived, they saw many sects, just as Xu Ziqing had in earlier years.
Without a place to belong, they inspected the sects one by one, hoping to find one to join and masters to study under.
By coincidence, the Ghost Yin-Yang Sisters were noticed almost immediately.
The woman who took an interest in them was Chen Cailian, a Golden Core Perfected One.
The sisters were overwhelmed by the attention. Chen Cailian was very gentle with them and even accepted the sisters’ other companions as well.
Chen Cailian belonged to a fourth-grade sect and held a respectable position. Her water-attributed arts were extraordinarily profound. She was a dashing, admirable woman whose courage and skill surpassed those of many men.
Since their companions had already reached Foundation Establishment, Chen Cailian introduced them to several Perfected Ones, who accepted them as disciples. The Ghost Yin-Yang Sisters, however, remained beside Chen Cailian.
Only then did they learn why Chen Cailian favored them. She possessed a Heavenly Yin constitution herself.
Chen Cailian, however, had two spiritual roots and excellent aptitude, far surpassing theirs.
She had therefore recognized their previous suffering at a glance and, feeling compassion, wished to take them in.
The sisters were delighted. An even stranger coincidence emerged when Chen Cailian asked about their ancestry: they were actually related.
Chen Cailian belonged to the Chen clan of the Qingyun Great World. Her ancestors had migrated from the Haotian Small World. The sisters’ original family was a distant branch of that same Chen clan, one that had not moved alongside the principal line.
After examining the genealogy carefully, they found that all three women belonged to the same generation.
That made a formal master-disciple relationship unsuitable. Since Chen Cailian cared for the sisters, she accepted them as sworn younger sisters and personally instructed them. They lost none of the benefits they might have gained as her disciples.
The Ghost Yin-Yang Sisters resumed their birth names, Chen Ni and Chen Shang. The generational character “Cai” was unavailable to their branch, which had been separated from the main clan for too long.
Xu Ziqing understood.
After years of bitterness, they had finally found happiness.
With a woman as open-minded as Chen Cailian to guide them, it was unsurprising that they had made such progress.
As Chen Ni and Chen Shang continued, however, their expressions changed from reverence and affection for Chen Cailian to anger.
After a hundred years, they were calm of mind and had advanced to late Foundation Establishment, one step short of Essence Transformation. This was excellent progress for cultivators with three spiritual roots, a testament to their tremendous effort, both for their own sake and to avoid disgracing their eldest sister.
Perhaps their luck finally ran out. Chen Cailian once took them to a dangerous region to seek treasures needed for Essence Transformation. They had just found what they needed and were about to return when space split behind them! An immensely powerful figure emerged, his surging force dragging the three into the rift and rendering them unconscious. Although he injured them by accident, he did not spare them a glance, simply waving his hand to close the fissure again.
Chen Cailian reacted swiftly, releasing a protective magical treasure before losing consciousness. The three drifted through the spatial fissure for an unknown time before being violently thrown out.
When they awakened, they found themselves in an unfamiliar land. Inquiries revealed they had reached the Qianyuan Great World.
The hardships that followed scarcely needed recounting. Chen Cailian was only a Golden Core cultivator with no local foundation, responsible for protecting two women who had not reached Essence Transformation. They suffered endlessly.
Eventually, Chen Cailian discovered ruins deep beneath the sea and obtained several treasures. These made their lives somewhat easier but drew the attention of a wolf in human skin, who ultimately cost their eldest sister her life.
The sisters’ hatred flared again as they described the middle-aged man.
He had pretended to be a gentleman who met them by chance, helped them, and killed a vicious beast. Gradually he won their trust.
Over several years he courted Chen Cailian devotedly, indulging her wishes and treating her tenderly. Alone in this great world and responsible for her two sisters, she had a vulnerable side. He exploited it, and she agreed to marry him.
Who could have imagined anyone harboring such vile intentions and doing something so dreadful…?
Xu Ziqing was moved by their account and deeply saddened for Chen Cailian.
According to the sisters, after the ambush Chen Cailian had nearly detonated her Golden Core, badly wounding the villain and preventing him from immediately pursuing them. She found the sisters, urged them to flee, and only then died. Her loving concern was entirely for their safety. Handing them the treasure may also have been intended to protect them, since the villain’s vicious nature meant he would never allow witnesses to survive and would certainly try to eliminate both younger sisters.
To think that such a woman had died at a villain’s hands.
Her Golden Core had exploded, and so much time had passed that not even Flesh Upon Bones could bring her back…
As they spoke, tears streamed down Chen Ni’s and Chen Shang’s cheeks, and they wept bitterly once more.
After a long while, they wiped their tears, exchanged a look, and placed an object on the table.
Chen Ni said, “That man only knew that a certain sword formation was immensely powerful. He never realized the true treasure was this.”
Chen Shang added, “It’s called the Sword God Token, the most valuable item in the ruins, protected by many mechanisms. But the ruins were so old that information had been lost. We only know it is connected to the Sword Spirit Tower…” She paused and continued, “My sister and I fled toward Luchuan City hoping to use it to persuade an honorable sword cultivator to kill that villain for us. Now that Senior Xu has saved us, please accept it as our thanks.”
Elio’s Note: The original Chinese says 炼器九层 (literally, “ninth level of artifact refining”) when recounting the sisters’ cultivation. The surrounding chronology explicitly gives their subsequent level as 炼气十层 (tenth level of Qi Refinement). The translation uses “ninth level of Qi Refinement” in context and preserves the source discrepancy here.