IS Chapter 19
by VolareThe Yulan Magnolia tree on Misty Green Peak still shed its light, feathery petals.
Ye Zhuo stood beneath the tree, accepting a crystal-clear jade cup from the Fourth Palace Master, Feng Jiang. He lifted the lid and took a shallow sip.
“Osmanthus honey dew, buried last year, how is it?”
Besides concocting poisons and medicines, the Fourth Palace Master occasionally researched other things.
Palace Master Wei Sheng Xian sat at the stone table under the tree, smiling as he put down the jade cup in his hand. “It’s wonderful, thank you, Ah Jiang.”
“What does Ah Zhou think?”
Ye Zhuo: “.”
——Judging by his reaction, it was clear he found it too sweet. Feng Jiang expressionlessly took the jade cup from his hand. “If you don’t like it, I’ll drink it.”
Ye Zhuo returned to his posture of embracing his sword.
The thing was indeed too sweet.
Thinking of something, Ye Zhuo tossed several storage rings onto the table. “They dropped these.”
Wei Sheng Xian picked them up one by one, examining them. “Good stuff. I’ll erase their spiritual imprints, examine them, and then put them in the vault.”
How much wealth the Martial Sect members possessed was debatable, but the two Dao Sect Supreme Elders, Tai Hao and Tai Zi, were bound to have rare treasures on them.
Feng Jiang propped his chin up, scrutinizing the rings. After a moment, he gave a cold, snorting laugh.
The Fourth Palace Master usually only kept his hair three inches past his shoulders, loosely tied into a scorpion tail at the back of his head, as he needed to concoct pills and poisons. Today, he wore a bright red, tight-sleeved robe, embroidered with large white silk scorpion patterns. His eyes and eyebrows were already somewhat upturned, and this laugh only accentuated his eccentric gloom.
“The White Crane and Black Crane certainly made a grand gesture. I thought they would wait a few more years, until the spiritual veins were truly exhausted, before plotting against the Green Mountains. I didn’t expect them to reveal their true colors so quickly.”
“Speaking of which, the last time the Dao Sect saw Wei Sheng, his foundation was greatly damaged, and he had fallen to the Nascent Soul stage,” Feng Jiang said thoughtfully, fiddling with the rings. “Once they kill Ah Zhou at Silver Moon Slope, Wei Sheng’s diminished cultivation won’t be a threat, and since he’s often traveling, they can find an opportunity to take him out too. The others are traveling and won’t be back so soon—”
At this point, he widened his eyes, pointing at himself. “Wouldn’t the Micro-Snow Palace only have me, a single Nascent Soul cultivator?”
Wei Sheng Xian readily agreed. “If that were the case, we would naturally be at their mercy, handing over the spiritual veins.”
Feng Jiang murmured, “Be careful I don’t poison them all to death.”
“They might not necessarily be so ruthless towards you.” Wei Sheng Xian smiled. “Your medical and poison skills are rare; they’ll probably try to win you over to the Pill Sect.”
Feng Jiang: “That’s true. At that time, I’ll take the spiritual veins and defect to the Upper Purity Mountain, then find a chance to poison the Dao Sect from top to bottom, to comfort your souls in heaven.”
Wei Sheng Xian: “That would be excellent.”
Then he offered a friendly reminder: “However, two Tribulation Transcension cultivators don’t seem enough to make Ah Zhou a spirit in heaven. This Daoist’s cultivation has returned, his Dao heart is complete, and I won’t be riding a crane to the west anytime soon.”
Feng Jiang seemed disappointed that his plan couldn’t be implemented.
Wei Sheng Xian: “But I would have thought that with the two Real Men, Tai Hao and Tai Zi, making a move, Ah Zhou would win, but also suffer some damage. Since he’s perfectly unharmed, has he perhaps made a breakthrough in his cultivation?”
“No breakthrough,” Ye Zhuo replied, “Another encounter.”
“I see,” Wei Sheng Xian said with a start, “No wonder I’ve seen your recent fortune soaring, like a dragon ascending, with the aspect of becoming stronger when faced with the strong and turning misfortune into good fortune.”
Ye Zhuo: “Have I ever told you to stop looking at my fortune?”
Wei Sheng Xian shut his mouth.
“Don’t look at mine either,” Feng Jiang said, “I don’t want everything I do to be seen.”
“I’ve already seen it.” Wei Sheng Xian said softly, “Ah Jiang, you may be expecting children in a few days.”
“Is someone talking?” Feng Jiang didn’t even look at Wei Sheng Xian. “I think it’s best to poison him mute first. I imagine the Upper Purity Mountain would be very happy to hear about our internal strife.”
Wei Sheng Xian sighed deeply.
“So, it’s still peaceful in the mountains.” Wei Sheng Xian tapped the stone table with his knuckles. “Now that the storm is brewing, luring the snakes out of their holes is certainly good, but look—it just so happened that I was in Death Meditation, it just so happened that everyone was traveling, it just so happened that Lou Ke, with his inner demons, came to the Green Mountains to ask for a map—”
“And it just so happened that Dragon Scent—” Feng Jiang swallowed the rest of his words.
Wei Sheng Xian: “—And it just so happened that the Lou family parents, with their fiery tempers, acted as the first birds. Such a series of clever plans, if they come again, I’m afraid you won’t be able to handle it.”
“This time, they went without return, without even getting a glimpse of Ah Zhou’s true strength. It will be a while before they make another move.” Wei Sheng Xian looked at Ye Zhuo. “With me watching over the Micro-Snow Palace, they can’t set foot here. Will Ah Zhou still be going out recently?”
“My sword is complete; I won’t be going out.” Ye Zhuo said, “I want to enter seclusion.”
His Integration Realm had reached perfection. Although he still had some lingering doubts, he needed to start exploring the Tribulation Transcension Realm.
Feng Jiang suddenly laughed. “Ah Zhou can defeat two Tribulation Transcension cultivators in the Integration stage. If he breaks through again, will he be going to kill Immortals?”
“I don’t know what will happen to me if an Immortal makes a move, but you will definitely be killed.” Ye Zhuo looked at Feng Jiang. “Remember to cultivate.”
Feng Jiang: “…”
Limited by his talent and poor constitution, what could he do, trapped in the Nascent Soul stage?
Did he have to cultivate day and night forever like a Sword Cultivator?
He could see clearly that the one who was alive and talking to them now was at most half of Ye Zhuo. The other half was still meditating!
“I’m relieved that you’re all staying in the Green Mountains to cultivate.” Wei Sheng Xian smiled. “Before, this Daoist was in Death Meditation, originally hoping to comprehend the path to Tribulation Transcension, but I failed. It seems my opportunity still needs to be sought.”
“There’s one more thing,” Feng Jiang said lazily, “I don’t know anything about this Xiao Zhenzong. He helped the Dao Sect set up the scheme, what do you two say?”
Ye Zhuo: “The Wen Hai Sect’s spiritual veins are exhausted; he was coerced by the Dao Sect.”
Wei Sheng Xian sighed. “The world is like this. When it comes to the rise and fall of a sect, I don’t blame Clan Master Xiao. But I’m afraid we can’t associate with him anymore.”
Feng Jiang understood. “Then I won’t poison him for now.”
“Oh, right, Ah Zhou, I used the Ice Lotus Spirit Soul you gave me in medicine, and made some incense chips with the rest, I’ll give them to you.” Feng Jiang said, handing Ye Zhuo a carved, silver-inlaid incense ball. “That thing is originally pure and cool, and I’ve added some ingredients to blend it, it can calm the mind and spirit.”
Ye Zhuo accepted it. “Thank you.”
Wei Sheng Xian chuckled softly. “You’re giving him something to calm his mind, isn’t that redundant? You might as well give it to me.”
“I’ll remember you next time I have scraps.”
“Alright. Ah Jiang, I’ll send you back to the medicine hut first, and then I’ll go back to Quiet Grass Cliff.” Wei Sheng Xian stood up. “If I stay any longer, someone might want to kick me out.”
Ye Zhuo: “Then I won’t see you off.”
He indeed wanted to kick them out; he needed to cultivate.
Moreover, recently his meridians had a faint abnormality, and he hadn’t found the cause yet.
The voices gradually faded, and the bright moon hung in the sky, reflecting shimmering light in the cold pool.
Beside the cold pool was a stone trestle set up by the water, connecting heaven and earth, empty and desolate, Ye Zhuo’s usual place of cultivation.
At this moment, he was circulating his cultivation technique to absorb spiritual energy, restoring his cultivation, deducing the Yin-Yang Domain in his sea of consciousness, dimly comprehending something.
At the same time, he was examining the extremely subtle parts of his meridians one by one.
The next moment, Ye Zhuo suddenly opened his eyes.
The sound of the cold pool lapping against the shore.
Ye Zhuo: “Dragon Li Yuan, come out.”
It was the result of a compromise between “Ink Dragon” and “Li Yuan.”
With a splash, from the shimmering waves of the cold pool, the Ink Dragon’s upper body emerged from the water.
A pair of dark golden vertical pupils coldly watched Ye Zhuo, as if dissatisfied.
Li Yuan’s voice suddenly echoed in Ye Zhuo’s sea of consciousness.
——”Why do you call me ‘Dragon Li Yuan’?”
This dragon didn’t even need to knock on the barrier of his sea of consciousness before transmitting his voice?
Was it also because of the Life-Bound Sword?
Ye Zhuo transmitted back to him: “You don’t have a surname; it sounds strange.”
The transmission process was unobstructed; it turned out he didn’t need to knock when transmitting to Li Yuan either.
——”Wouldn’t calling me that be even stranger? I wouldn’t call you ‘Human Ye Zhuo’,” Li Yuan said, “Besides, I do have a surname. ‘Yuan’ is my clan name.”
The customs of the dragon race were truly strange.
Ye Zhuo skipped over this topic. “What are you here for?”
A somewhat familiar sword box appeared out of thin air in front of Ye Zhuo.
When opened, it was the Pocket Sword he had used when he was young.
Ye Zhuo was puzzled. “Why are you giving this to me?”
“Returning it to you.” The Ink Dragon said, “I went to a place called Illusion Cloud Cliff, and it was very sad there.”
Ye Zhuo had no reaction, pushing the sword box back to Li Yuan. “I have other swords now.”
The Ink Dragon’s tail slapped the surface of the water in dissatisfaction.
He kindly wanted Ye Zhuo to see if he needed to care for his former sword, but he received such a response!
Li Yuan: “You don’t care?”
“I don’t care.” Ye Zhuo said, “The Pocket Sword isn’t my Life-Bound Sword. I only borrowed it when I didn’t have a sword.”
After saying that, he continued to close his eyes and cultivate.
——So cold and ruthless!
The sound of water echoed again.
Ye Zhuo couldn’t bear it any longer and opened his eyes again, seeing that the dragon’s head was already close to him, two gloomy vertical pupils staring at him.
In terms of size, it was indeed larger than when they first met at the East Sea.
“I’m cultivating,” Ye Zhuo said, “Anything else?”
“I heard a story at Illusion Cloud Cliff.” Li Yuan said.
“There’s a Sword Cultivating sect that everyone said was the source of disaster, and then it was destroyed. That sect was called Illusion Sword Villa. I saw their immortal palace, and I think their swords must have been very good.——Do you know about them?”
“I don’t know.” Ye Zhuo said, “Human stories are told in many different ways. You can just listen and forget about it.”
After a pause, he added, “Don’t be so kind.”
“Really?” Li Yuan was a little incredulous, moving closer to examine Ye Zhuo.
But he didn’t see anything unusual.
He even felt that this person’s complexion was much better than when he had just woken up. Viewed under the moonlight, he was gorgeous and dazzling.
Did his parents predict this person’s future appearance when they named him? That would be truly prescient.
Being stared at like this, Ye Zhuo really wanted to slap the dragon’s head away.
“Is there anything else?” Ye Zhuo said, “I need to cultivate.”
The Ink Dragon paused, a trace of unnatural stiffness appearing in his dragon body.
After a long while, he suddenly transformed back into human form and sat down opposite Ye Zhuo.
Looking at him, he seemed to want to say something but hesitated.
Ye Zhuo: “If you want to exchange silver, go find Wei Sheng Xian.”
Li Yuan: “?”
How could this person think of that?
Was a few pieces of gold worth remembering until now?
“I already know how to exchange silver in the mortal world.” Li Yuan said, “I wanted to ask you, are you really human? Do you have… any special physique?”
The circulation of Ye Zhuo’s celestial circuit finally stopped.
“I am naturally human. Why do you ask?”
Li Yuan frowned. “But recently, when I cultivate, I feel like my meridians and bones seem to have… slightly improved. I haven’t done anything else recently, so I thought about it and came to ask you.”
He was an Ink Dragon of the Hidden Abyss, his clan’s bloodline was already extremely strong, and his talent was rare even in the dragon realm. From the beginning of his cultivation, he could beat his fellow dragons until they curled up on the pillars and cried. Logically speaking, his bloodline talent couldn’t be improved any further.
That’s why this matter seemed so strange and bothered him so much.
Ye Zhuo stared at Li Yuan.
So that was it.
That explained everything.
“Actually, you don’t have to be so subtle.” Under the moonlight, Ye Zhuo’s eyes slowly closed and then opened again, still clear and cold.
Indeed, immortal cultivation talent was predestined, and even if there was a way to change it, it would at most raise inferior talent to middle or low grade. If it were his meridians and physique, wanting to improve further would be defying the heavens. How could it happen for no reason?
And between him and Li Yuan, the only unusual thing was one thing.
He said, “I am the same.”
Li Yuan’s brain seemed to stop working for a moment. “You too…?”
Ye Zhuo really didn’t want to say anything about this.
——When did things start to evolve in this direction? He didn’t understand.
“But,” he said, “I still need to cultivate tonight.”
His Yin-Yang Domain really wasn’t fully deduced yet.
“What are you cultivating? I’ll help you.” Li Yuan said softly, “But the matter of the meridians, I think we need to discuss it further.”