Estranged - Chapter 103

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Jiufang Changming had visited every major sect in the world—after all, he had first left Daoism for Buddhism, before joining up with Demonic sects, and had converted to Confucianism later on, even engaging with the affairs of secular society. He had read ancient records of hundreds of schools of thought. Thus, after all this time, there were few people who were more knowledgeable than him when it came to this matter.

He thought that while every sect had certain good points, every sect was also limited in their knowledge of other things. Only if he learned widely from their strengths would he be able to eventually synthesize the essence of all their teachings. And when the foundation was laid, the rest would follow, and he would catch a glimpse of the truth behind nature’s mysteries.

Although he had not managed to complete this endeavor fifty years ago, by ending up on the Sacred Mountain Wan, all in all, he had become the strongest person in the world. This title had been acknowledged by several grandmasters, which meant he had, at one point, actually stood at the top of the world, looking down at everything beneath his feet from the height. It was at that point in time when he had been the closest he had ever been to approaching the Heavenly Dao.

But he had only approached it.

He distinctly remembered standing on the threshold in front of the mysteries of the Dao. He had been so near this new, peerlessly marvelous realm that it had seemed like one step would have been enough to reach the legendary realm of the Dao heart, to probe the profound secrets of nature and ascend to the Heavens. But, as if there was an invisible barrier blocking his way, he could never take this step and reach it. This was what cultivators called stopping at a bottleneck.

Jiufang Changming’s bottleneck prevented him from turning into an immortal by breaking through to the next realm.

Back then, he had pondered it hundreds of times and still failed to understand the reason, before finally deciding that it was his mistake and he had simply come up short. This was why he had traveled around to visit thousands of mountains and myriad waters, eventually visiting every single sect. He had hoped to unravel the profound mystery of the Dao.

But what if there was originally no such thing as this profound mystery?

What if Chunchi’s words were true, and the tales of gods of this world were all lies? Could it be that the ascensions of the ancient deities and every ascended cultivator, including Immortal Luomei of the Wanjian Immortal Clan, were lies?

Changming had never seen Immortal Luomei. By the time he had started cultivating at the Yuhuang Temple, the master of the Wanjian Immortal Clan was already Jiang Li.

The legend of Immortal Luomei’s ascension had been passed down by word of mouth, which deified the image of the Wanjian Immortal Clan.

But Changming clearly remembered that demon who had taken control over Princess Linglong’s body in the Luo Capital to raise a foul wind and bloody rain in the Imperial Palace. If it had not been for him and Yun Weisi, the ruling dynasty of Luo would have probably been overturned by today.

He had fought against Princess Linglong once.

He had asked whether Jiang Li had been possessed, but Princess Linglong had denied this assumption. When he had asked her why she was so sure Jiang Li would not betray his alliance with demons despite being a human, Princess Linglong had given a very vague answer.

She had told him she could not answer this question, so Jiufang Changming should look for an answer himself.

By their nature, demons were averse to lying, so, by relying on his experience, Changming could also say that Princess Linglong was telling him the truth. As such, this answer seemed very important, by having a hidden meaning.

Moreover, Princess Linglong had deliberately mentioned Jiang Li’s shifu, the previous clan master, Immortal Luomei, when saying that Jiang Li was far worse than Luomei.

Which obviously meant that Princess Linglong had been acquainted with Immortal Luomei.

Changming could not help but get an eerie idea.

What if Immortal Luomei had not died?

Chunchi had been ruling over the Wanlian Buddhist Temple for many years, and would not allow others to order him about easily. Since he firmly believed that the notion of becoming an immortal was false, he must have seen solid proof of this theory. For instance, what if one of those who was rumored to have become an immortal or a Buddha had appeared in front of him and verified that it was indeed impossible?

Chunchi was not familiar with such people from very distant generations, so he would not have believed them. There was only Immortal Luomei.

If Immortal Luomei had not ascended, hiding behind Jiang Li’s back for a long time and ruling over the Wanjian Immortal Clan for all these years, it would not be unreasonable for him to collude with demons. After all, he had been painstakingly cultivating for a long time, yet realized that the path to becoming an immortal came to a deadend. It would definitely arouse resentment in his heart, and he would turn to another method.

Small details Changming had always dismissed kept recurring in his mind, silently uncovering the horrific truth.

That princess of the Zhaoyue dynasty, the one whose souls had mingled with the emperor of the country of You, mentioned that she was controlled by a person called Han Yin. He was sly, seizing the chance, he had forced her to be obedient. She could only do as he said, and had eventually gone to Luo Country to serve as a chess piece that had almost overturned the whole country.

Han Yin—concealed in the cold; Luomei—fallen plum blossoms.

When cold winter recedes, spring is about to arrive; isn’t it time for plum blossoms to fall?

His vague initial guesses were getting clearer, and he was almost sure of it now.

They had thought that Jiang Li lacked the motivation to set a formation of this scale. However, if he was backed by Immortal Luomei, or was Immortal Luomei himself, the answer to this question would be decided.

Could Yun Weisi fool Luomei’s discerning eye?

Once Luomei realized Yun Weisi had not turned into a demon completely, would he not kill Yun Weisi immediately?

If Yun Weisi had to confront Jiang Li together with Luomei, would he be able to secure a definite victory?

Changming could not stop Yun Weisi from going up the mountain or warn him, at the very least.

He could only control the Chunzhao Sword now.

But the Chunzhao Sword could not talk.

The sound of Yun Weisi’s steps became lighter.

He heard some people talking.

They were two disciples of the Wanjian Immortal Clan.

“Shixiong, why are there so few people in our sect right now? It’s so deserted here that I don’t even see shadows after walking here for half a day. It’s so weird!”

“Everyone was sent out to do something. Several days ago I was looking for Elder Liu, but it turned out that he had also been sent away.”

“Shixiong, recently, I’ve felt kind of strange. You know that I have been interested in astrology from childhood. Although I haven’t passed the main hall to enter the inner chamber, I still have some superficial knowledge of astrology. Recently, all astronomical phenomena are in total disorder. No matter how I look at it, I have come to the conclusion that they symbolize upcoming troubled times. It is not just omens, but strange visions appear from the direction of the Sacred Mountain Wan all the time. Isn’t the world about to plunge into a great war? Is it Luo Country attacking You, or You attacking Luo? My family is still in Luo Country!”

Passed the main hall to enter the inner chamber: reach a higher level of proficiency

“A war would be a trivial matter. I heard that the whole Wanlian Buddhist Temple is gone!”

“What?!”

“Be quiet!” The elder disciple covered his shidi’s mouth with his hand in a hurry and lowered his voice as much as he could. “This is very fresh news. The clan master called for our shifu, and shifu told this to our dashixiong upon returning. I happened to overhear their conversation.”

“Hmm… I understand. Now, let go, you almost suffocated me! What on earth happened in the Wanlian Buddhist Temple?”

“I don’t know either. I heard that two days ago, during the puja of the fifteenth, a myriad ghosts appeared out of nowhere in the You Capital and started to massacre everyone in sight. The Wanlian Buddhist Temple was annihilated, and even the emperor did not survive. You Country is in chaos now, like dragons without a leader. There’s a chance that the Luo Capital will use this chance to move armies to the south. Also, shifu said that strange things are happening on the Sacred Mountain Wan, and something terrible might happen there. It’s unknown whether we’ll be affected.”

“It can’t be! The Sacred Mountain Wan is far away from here! After all, even if the sky falls, there will be someone powerful to support it!”

“Fine, fine, stop talking nonsense. We can’t rest until we’ve finished standing guard at our post tonight!”

As they chatted, the two of them gradually moved further and further away from Yun Weisi. Soon, they disappeared between the trees.

They were only disciples with low cultivation and had not yet learned any advanced skills. Yun Weisi did not even need to bother hiding, since the two of them would not notice his aura regardless.

Yun Weisi stopped.

He flinched, and, in response, the Chunzhao Sword suddenly moved against his will, appearing in front of him without his commanding it to as if to block his way, all the while faintly glowing.

Yun Weisi recited a sword technique, yet the sword refused to move as if it did not hear him.

At this moment, another voice emerged.

“Daoyou Yun, you came.”

Ethereal and transcendental, the voice sounded right inside Yun Weisi’s soul.

It was not just Yun Weisi, but even Changming had heard it.

The Chunzhao Sword even trembled slightly because of this.

This person’s cultivation was not below his or Yun Weisi’s.

“We have been separated for many years, and this Jiang has missed you a lot. Daoyou Yun, please, come up here, and let us reminisce about our former friendship.”

The tone of his speech was calm and composed as if he was actually delighted to meet Yun Weisi after a long time.

Changming even heard a trace of the self-confidence of a person holding the pearl of wisdom in this voice.

Holding the pearl of wisdom: endowed with innate intelligence and talent

He suddenly had conflicting feelings as he felt that the truth was close at hand, and he could easily unveil it, yet for some reason, he hesitated.

It was likely that Yun Weisi had sensed the danger hidden under this person’s calm facade as well.

However, since their opponent had already begun to speak, Yun Weisi could not retreat now.

He had to move forward.