Chapter 30: Futai (6)

The Sun ancestor’s eyes widened, filled with both shock and fear, as he furiously roared, “Xie Ying, you’re suspicious that I’m a demonseed!?” He sprung up from the black stone slab and pointed at his eyes, nearly on the verge of derangement. He spat out word by word, “How could I be a demonseed!? What a joke, how could I possibly be a demonseed!? —You can use the Qiandeng Lantern¹ in your hands to test me and see for yourself!”

Yan Qing was hit with a realization; he suddenly remembered Tian Shu had once said that even the Qiandeng Lantern could only test for phantasms in the consciousness of at most a Great Ascension cultivator. Yet the Sun ancestor’s cultivation was at the apex of Great Ascension, just a half-step away from Void Comprehension.

Yan Qing subconsciously glanced at Xie Shiyi.

Xie Shiyi ignored his raving with eyes as calm as a lake. He casually smiled and said, “Elder Sun, as long as I deem you a demonseed, the Qiandeng Lantern is unnecessary.”

As soon as this sentence was spoken, all the fiery rage of the Great Elder of Fuhua Sect seemed to be doused by a torrent of freezing water. He froze, staring intensely at Xie Shiyi.

The Mist Illusion Mirror fluctuated, reflecting the violent heaves of its owner’s chest.

The chill from his palm injury circulated, freezing his arteries and veins. The familiar coldness seemed to bring him back to Xiaoyu Palace, to that night when blood splattered across those steps.

“Xie Ying…” The Sun ancestor’s eyes were bloodshot as he tremblingly said, “Are you truly going to be this ruthless?”

Xie Shiyi replied, “What are you afraid of?”

If the Sun ancestor had known that Qingle City’s insignificant matter would involve Xie Ying, he wouldn’t have dared show his face even if the entire Sun family had been slaughtered.

What was he afraid of?

He was scared of this lunatic, this lunatic that didn’t even need any reason to kill people!

The Sun ancestor’s teeth chattered as he tried to think of what to say.

Unexpectedly, a bright, touching voice, pleasing to the ears, emerged from behind him. “Immortal Duwei.”

The sound was sweet and gentle, like a warm breeze brushing against the face.

The chaotic Mist Illusion Mirror instantly stabilized, and its facade became flawlessly pristine. The brilliant splendor of the main pavilion hall of Fuhua Sect’s Qingcang Peak illuminated the white pearl blossoms adorning the hair of the approaching person. Although her voice was far away in Nanze Province, it sounded like it clung to one’s ears, affectionate and soothing, between a smile and a sigh. “Long time no see. It appears that the very first thing you choose to do after exiting seclusion is to commit murder?”

The Sun ancestor stilled. His eyes widened as he turned to look behind him, immediately dropping to a kneel to greet her. “Sect Master.”

The Sect Master of Fuhua Sect.

Jing Ruyu.

She was the same as in Zixiao’s memories, unchanging in age or appearance. She wore a long blue skirt with white trim, a low bun of raven-black hair, and a red-lipped smile. Her cultivation was at the Soul Formation stage, and she possessed the ability to manipulate the fabric of space.

The moment she appeared, the mirror became clearer, but a heavy, thick fog appeared in the front courtyard of the Sun Manor.

Besides Yan Qing and Xie Shiyi.

Everyone else became lost in the fog, unable to see a thing.

Jing Ruyu’s nails were always painted with a blazing scarlet, yet her entire demeanor was limpid. Her complexion was fair, her hair was as glossy as satin, and her water-like skirt was elegant beyond compare. Her eyes curved with unbounded tenderness.

“Immortal Duwei, I trust you have been well since we last met.”

Xie Shiyi gazed back at her just as he had in Qingfeng Forest—cold, scrutinizing.

Jing Ruyu was long used to crossing swords with Xie Shiyi in this manner. She avoided his gaze and set hers upon Yan Qing with a soft smile. “This little Daoist is a bit unfamiliar to me.” She was quite intrigued. “For a hundred years, I have never seen someone appear at Duwei’s side.”

Yan Qing had yet to open his mouth.

But Xie Shiyi already gave a low laugh, his tone like crystallized ice. “Jing Ruyu, don’t ask questions you shouldn’t ask. I suggest you shut up.”

Jing Ruyu’s smile stiffened for a second, and a shadow of malevolent hatred flashed across her eyes. But with a raised sleeve covering her lips, it vanished, replaced once again with her delicate, refined laughter. She gracefully said, “Alright, we won’t chat about this little Daoist. Then let’s talk about Cangqing².”

Cangqing was the Sun ancestor’s Daoist title³.

Jing Ruyu said, “Duwei believes that Canqing is a demonseed?” She was several hundred years older than Xie Shiyi; thus, whenever she called “Duwei,” there would always be a sense of genial humility.

Xie Shiyi said nothing.

Jing Ruyu calmly said, “The Nine Sects take it upon themselves to slay demons and vanquish evil, and if Cangqing were a demonseed, I would absolutely not turn a blind eye. But he is the Great Elder of my sect and possesses utmost seniority, overseeing countless disciples. Moreover, your judgment from across a Mist Illusion mirror might not be entirely accurate. Why not pay my Fuhua Sect a visit sometime and see for yourself in person?” She said, “If you come to Fuhua Sect, see him with your own eyes, and still believe he’s a demonseed, then no need for the Immortal Alliance to take action, I will personally cleanse the sect myself.”

“How about it?”

Xie Shiyi finished listening and indifferently said, “Jing Ruyu, if you truly want to see me, you should just go to Xiaoyu palace.”

Jing Ruyu’s impeccable appearance cracked, and her smile froze.

“Yin Lie must’ve told you something, right?” Xie Shiyi had no desire to continue speaking with her in Yan Qing’s presence. He hooked his lips into an almost smile, and a layer of frost appeared in the depths of his eyes as he spoke in an almost whisper, “Feel free to take a guess as to what I was up to during my hundred years of seclusion.”

His tone was light, yet his words carried a heavy sense of mockery.

Jing Ruyu’s expression was wooden as she stood before the Mist Illusion Mirror. Her pearl hairpin gleamed with an icy chill, and her blue dress swayed despite the absence of wind.

Xie Shiyi only descended the mountain this time to observe Yan Qing’s Nascent Soul formation. Because of the time wasted by the Sun family’s antics, he had exhausted the last of his patience. Now, he didn’t even want to acknowledge Jing Ruyu and the Sun ancestor.

The last words he left Jing Ruyu were clear and unbothered.

“Guess carefully.”

Xie Shiyi turned and cast his gaze upon Yan Qing. His hand reached out from inside his sleeve to grab Yan Qing’s wrist. Yan Qing had just used this hand to extract Sun Yaoguang’s blood from his forehead, and the Spirit Silk’s tail was still moist.

“Have you seen enough?” Xie Shiyi asked.

Yan Qing’s gaze still lingered on the mole on the tip of Jing Ruyu’s nose. Hearing Xie Shiyi speak, he quickly snapped out of it, looking back up at him and brightly replying, “Yup.”

Xie Shiyi looked down at him. “Then return with me.”

Yan Qing: “Eh?”

Xie Shiyi indifferently said, “Do you even know what condition your Dantian is in?”

Yan Qing: “…” What?

The trapping array set by the Sun ancestor couldn’t withstand a single strike from Xie Shiyi. The tragedy unleashed upon the world by demonseeds was also nothing but a farce in his eyes.

Perhaps from the moment he decided to step in, he merely wanted to wrap up this training experience a bit faster.

Xie Shiyi did not remain long in the Sun family’s front courtyard. Yan Qing was already at the Golden Core stage and could endure the traveling array of a Soul Formation cultivator.

A cold sword beam split open the dense layers of fog, and the instant the array took shape, the two disappeared on the spot.

“Sect, Sect Master…”

Elder Cangqing only now came to his senses, roused from the nightmare. He was overflowing with cold sweat, and his voice was hoarse.

Jing Ruyu was silent for a long while. The smile she had worn on her face was now nowhere to be found.

She calmly looked at the place where Yan Qing had left.

The traveling array set up by Xie Ying was layered with countless restrictions, and even now, she still couldn’t see through it.

She couldn’t see through Xie Ying’s current cultivation level or his cultivation path.

His Path of Heartlessness was shattered, and his cultivation was utterly destroyed. Yet, within a hundred years…he had already returned to the apex of Soul Formation?

As expected of Xie Ying.

Jing Ruyu raised her neck. She felt that something inside her blood was shrieking, whipping her soul into a frenzy. Reversed blood surged to her heart, but slowly, bit by bit, she swallowed it down.

Jing Ruyu released a strange peal of laughter, then suddenly walked forward. The Mist Illusion Mirror gradually dispersed until it unexpectedly became a passageway.

The peerlessly respected Fuhua Sect Master descended gracefully onto the land, her robes settling lightly. With her arrival, the dense fog dissipated entirely. The Sun Manor’s front courtyard lay in utter ruin.

Green bamboo leaves were strewn across the ground, muddied with flesh, tears, blood, eyeballs. Accompanying them was a group of people either standing around foolishly, crawling, or kneeling. Chaos reigned.

“Sect Master!”

Sun Junhao muddleheadedly kneeled.

The Wangqing Sect disciples were at a complete loss, their minds still drawing a total blank at the events that had just occurred earlier.

The mortals who still had their wits about them trembled in fear before this woman.

Jing Ruyu’s steps were light and airy. Ignoring all others, her gaze fell upon Zhang Mushi.

Zhang Mushi’s grudge was extinguished along with Sun Yaoguang’s life, and the last root of her desire to live that tethered her to this world was ripped out. Her eyes glistened with tears of gratification, of liberation, of relief at seeing the last glimpse of life’s radiance.

She kneeled on the ground with her disheveled hair pooled around her.

Her bridal robes were dyed with the blood of both herself and her husband. The golden winds and jade dews of her best years had been ground down into this wretched state. She would not live to see tomorrow—yet at last, she could die with no regrets.

Jing Ruyu lowered her eyes and looked at her for a while. Suddenly, a lustrous white gleam concentrated around her fingertips and poured into Zhang Mushi’s temple. A Soul Formation cultivator could extract a mortal’s memories. However, this technique came at the cost of the person whose memories were extracted, and they would die immediately afterward.

But Jing Ruyu always did as she wished. Zhang Mushi’s life or death was inconsequential to her.

In an instant. Every memory from Zhang Mushi’s life flashed before her eyes, like viewing a field of flowers atop a galloping horse.

The death of their mother⁴, leaving her and her little sister to rely upon one another for survival.

The Zhang Manor’s rear court⁵, rife with disgusting schemes and despicable conspiracies of every sort.

The flowing of time, the infant in the swaddle suddenly growing up.

The temple surrounded by peach blossoms, the young girl leading her by the hand, reciting poems with a grin.

The night bathed in blood, the insanity, the hatred, the clamor of gongs and drums within the bridal sedan as her hand clutched the scissors!

The final tremble of her fingers in front of Jiangjin Temple, one by one, carefully arranging the bones of her dearest kin.

—A life exchanged to avenge her kin.

“Was it worth it?” Jing Ruyu asked.

She stooped over.

Jing Ruyu’s eyes were large and round, her pupils dark. A smile suddenly rippled across her face. “Your name is Zhang Mushi?”

The moment this woman approached her, Zhang Mushi choked up with terror, an instinctive reaction to impending danger.

Jing Ruyu said, “The bond between siblings is truly deep.”

After her soft-spoken words, she paused. Then, abruptly, she laughed and said, “I also have an older sister. She’s just like you, extremely considerate of others.”

“If someone murdered me, then she likely would have avenged my death at any cost as well.”

A bamboo leaf landed in Jing Ruyu’s palm.

Jing Ruyu seemed to think of something. Using a voice only two people could hear, she softly began recounting. “We were twins with the same appearance, the same family. Our entire lives, everything between us was exactly the same. Perhaps this was why it was so easy to compare us.”

“She was born just a moment before me, yet that single moment was enough to make all the difference in the world.”

“We were actually very close as children. But in Fuhua Sect, being twins itself was a sin.”

Jing Ruyu held the bamboo leaf in her hand as she looked at Zhang Mushi. Her lips hooked in a smile.

“On this earth, there was nobody more suitable to compare me with than her.”

“On this earth, there was nobody who wouldn’t compare me with her.”

Jing Ruyu said, “And so our relationship got worse and worse, worse and worse…”

The green bamboo leaf lay in crumbles by the hem of her skirt. Jing Ruyu seemed to be lost in thought. Her gaze flickered for a second, but she regained control of her emotions. She said with a smile, “But. Unfortunately, and fortunately, Xuanji⁶ Palace suffered a great fire…it seemed to burn the misunderstandings between us into nothing.”

Fuhua Sect’s Xuanji fire.

The world avoided speaking of this incident shrouded in secrecy and surrounded by speculation.

Everyone thought the fire was inextricably linked to her.

Everyone was too scared to accuse her of it openly.

But actually, they were all wrong.

In her entire life, woven with deception, bloodshed, and calculation, only this one fire was truly innocent.

Jing Ruyu asked, “Zhang Mushi, do you still hate?”

Zhang Mushi couldn’t speak.

Jing Ruyu smiled. “I’ll help you take revenge.”

The scarlet Soul Formation stage spiritual energy surged beneath her feet, blistering and scalding, forcing cries out of everyone around her.

The maids and servants of the Sun Manor fled in all directions. Sun Junhao and the Wangqing Sect disciples froze for a moment, then quickly realized that they couldn’t stay there. Without sparing time for shock, they swiftly escaped.

The only ones left were Madam Sun, who was dazedly hugging her son’s corpse, the unconscious Old Lady Sun, and Master Sun, who was petrified by the unforeseen events that rapidly escalated one after the other. They had all known the truth for many years yet had thoroughly concealed the secret.

The tens of thousands of lanterns from the Floating Lantern Festival were stirred by the scorching spiritual energy and slowly began to rise, soaring towards the Sun Family. Colorful paper and firecrackers from the tops of the streets to the bottoms of the alleys were also blown into the sky, suffused with joy and jubilation, as if it was still the day of the wedding. Every resident of Qingle City shut their windows tightly, watching through the cracks in fear as the countless lanterns became an ocean surging toward the Sun family.

The instant the blaze ignited the Sun family.

With a resounding “boom,” all the lanterns plunged into the sea of fire! The roaring flames devoured everything in their path, unstoppable and all-consuming.

The fire’s tongues licked at Zhang Mushi’s bridal robes, illuminating her face in a crimson glow like the final radiance of a setting sun.

Zhang Mushi silently looked at the woman before her.

Jing Ruyu looked back at her and said with a smile, “I helped you take revenge. No longer do you need to hate. Actually, even if I don’t kill you, you’re close to going mad anyway, right?”

Zhang Mushi didn’t speak. Her body shuddered. She wasn’t sure if the tormenting pain she felt was from hunger or the flames.

Jing Ruyu stood amidst the fire. She raised her head to look at the lintel of the Sun Manor.

She watched the tiles carrying sparks as they fell with a crackle.

She watched the roof beams carrying plaques as they collapsed with an irresistible force.

The flames were too big, the heat was too hot, the lanterns were too scarlet. It gave her the illusion of being transported back inside the Xuanji Palace. Beside her, the Scarlet Spirit Fire was inescapable. It hid the sky and covered the earth, leaving nowhere to retreat.

Jing Ruchen was looking for her.

Inside the thick, rolling smoke, she screamed her name until she became hoarse.

It was too embarrassing to admit, but she hated Jing Ruchen to death, and was so jealous of her she almost went insane. But Jing Ruchen had indeed always been very good to her little sister. The sweet-tempered, kindhearted future Sect Master of Fuhua Sect truly lived up to her reputation.

“Jie-jie⁷…” But at the time, she really was scared.

The Scarlet Sprit Fire was an ancient mystical flame that could truly burn her alive and kill her. She crouched in a corner with her arms wraped around herself, terrified out of her mind. All her schemes, her jealousy, her ambitions—gone. Her face was deathly pale, her eyes flooded with nothing but frightened tears.

The mystical flame suppressed her, and she couldn’t muster up any spells, any spiritual energy.

She was merely a small, weak young girl. Yet, just when she was about to abandon all hope, from the ashes appeared a white-robed figure, staggeringly running towards her. It was as if she saw the light of salvation.

“Ruyu! Grab onto me!” Jing Ruchen’s hair was a mess, her face was filled with worry, and her eyes were bloodshot as she stretched her hand out to her among the sea of flames.

Her tears instantly rushed out of her eyes as she threw herself toward her. “Jie-jie!”

Jing Ruchen was at Void Comprehension stage at the time and had a bit more spiritual ability than her. Grasping her hand, step-by-step, they made their way out. The flames of Xuanji Palace’s Scarlet Spirit Fire were towering and torrential. Others had no chance of making it.

In the middle of the sea of fire, they held hands. They only had each other.

Spirit fire rained down from every direction. It was a scorching hell.

It was as if the years of estrangement between them completely disappeared, and she returned to the primal ignorance of the womb, clinging to that first, fragile dependence.

Luckily, she was more scared than hurt. Although they had suffered a few minor injuries, they safely made it to Xuanji Palace’s main entrance.

Xuanji Palace was the main pavilion hall of Fuhua Sect’s main peak, and it was ornately adorned with the world’s most priceless luxuries. Colored crystal⁸ tiles, jasper embellishments. Even now, she remembered the white jade plaque above the entrance, inlaid with a glass pearl. Its shine was resplendent, like the stars in the sky, like her sister’s eyes.

Then, Jing Ruchen excitedly turned back to say to her, “Ruyu, we’re saved!”

Bang—

The Sun family was torched to ashes by the fire.

Jing Ruyu roused herself from her memories, her expression unclear, and she turned and left.

*

When Yan Qing returned to Yuqing Peak, he finally understood the meaning of Xie Shiyi’s words.

After inspecting his Dantian, he discovered that the spiritual energy inside was already so dense that it was nearly overflowing.

Abundant and rich, it circled around his Golden Core. He could now form his Nascent Soul.

It’s probably because he used the spirit silk? Although, he didn’t use the spirit silk’s most basic function. But after extracting blood from Sun Yaoguang’s forehead, he was contaminated by the essence of a phantasm and was still stimulated.

In the cultivation world, the Nascent Soul stage was a defining threshold.

After Nacent Soul, every step toward ascension was as vast as a celestial chasm, as arduous as climbing to the heavens. Merely advancing from the early to the mid-stage of Nascent Soul could take even the most celebrated geniuses centuries of painstaking effort.

But to Yan Qing, ascending to Nascent Soul really was as easy as drinking water.

“Xie Shiyi, what’s going to happen after I form my Nascent Soul?”

Yan Qing batted his lashes curiously.

It was no wonder he was curious. Compared to re-cultivating to the Soul Formation stage, nobody would care about something as minor as forming a Nascent Soul.

Xie Shiyi said nothing. The moment he stepped onto Yuqing Peak, a heavy array fell, sending the plum blossoms rolling and the fallen snow billowing. He led Yan Qing all the way up to the cold spring in the heart of the plum grove.

Xie Shiyi said, “Take off your clothes and get in.”

TN: I stand with my cancelled wife Jing Ruyu!!

1. 千灯盏, I forget how/if this was previously translated, but literally it’s just Thousand Lanterns ↩

2. I can’t tell if this is supposed to be Qingcang like the peak name or the author actually wanted it to be reversed lol ↩

3. Like Duwei for Xie Shiyi ↩

4. 嫡母, literally father’s wife, a term used by the children of a concubine ↩

5. I.e. the harem ↩

6. 璇玑, Alioth ↩

7. Older sister lmao but I feel like it’s kinda awk ↩

8. Liuli ↩