IS Chapter 37
by VolareThe speed of his root bone improvement has slowed, yet he remains separated from Tribulation Transcendence by a mere thread.
It’s normal that he hasn’t broken through, but Wei Sheng Xian’s breakthrough makes him think.
Ye Zhuo awoke from his closed-door cultivation, opening his eyes.
The inner chamber was empty and silent, without another figure, nor the presence of that dragon.
Ye Zhuo’s heart flared with anger.
Waking up from closed-door cultivation to find a dragon naturally coiled in his hall would be displeasing, but waking up and not seeing that dragon only meant one thing.
–Li Yuan had gone out to play again.
In recent days, when he was in closed-door cultivation, Li Yuan wouldn’t always be around.
Often, this dragon would go out to do various things.
Ye Zhuo drew his sword and walked out of Misty Green Peak.
In front of the Micro-Snow Palace’s main hall was an open space with beautiful scenery, often occupied by those who didn’t attend to proper business.
Sure enough, he first heard a burst of playful noises.
“Brother Li Yuan! He hit me in the head with a snowball!” one of the little Daoists shouted, clutching his head.
“Hmm?” Li Yuan didn’t even look over, smiling as he said, “It’s alright, you hit him too.”
The little Daoist immediately grabbed a snowball and smashed it hard on another’s head.
In the end, both of them had sore heads, and they stopped, returning to Li Yuan’s side.
–There were more than just two little Daoists around him; Feng Jiang’s medicinal workers were also there.
Ye Zhuo still couldn’t understand how this dragon had suddenly become so familiar with everyone in the Micro-Snow Palace.
A few days ago, he’d even suddenly told him that when he was playing chess with Brother Wei Sheng, he’d heard Brother Wei Sheng mention the key to his Tribulation Transcendence.
“Brother Wei Sheng said that he suddenly felt the will of heaven was chaotic, that tribulation and opportunity were one, and he understood that his mission was to protect you, me, and others, and then he achieved enlightenment.”
Ye Zhuo understood the principle behind it.
But from when did this “you, me, and others” include this dragon?
Something else moved in his field of vision, two creatures with white and grey fur, who stood up and pounced on Li Yuan.
Ye Zhuo looked closely.
–Now, even the Micro-Snow Palace’s dogs would wag their tails when they saw Li Yuan.
But when did the Micro-Snow Palace get dogs?
Then he remembered that a few days ago, Li Yuan had indeed told him another thing: Fourth Palace Master Feng had gone to the glaciers of the far north to gather medicine and had accidentally picked up two puppies with pointed ears and azure eyes, bringing them back to raise. The two puppies were lively and eccentric, greatly loved by Feng Jiang, who recognized them as his own children.
Ye Zhuo quietly watched them, not a single one cultivating.
Various tools were laid out, amidst laughter and play, they were carving ice.
It seemed they wanted to carve the several-person-high block of ice into an ice carp with graceful fins and tail. It already had a considerable shape.
Before coming here, Ye Zhuo’s worst expectation was that they would be throwing snowballs.
…At least this was a little better than throwing snowballs.
Li Yuan finished carving the ice carp’s eyes.
He stepped back a few paces to observe, finding it exceptionally beautiful, sculpted from ice and snow, possessing quite a bit of that person’s charm.
As he was admiring it, he suddenly noticed a bit of red reflection on the ice.
He abruptly turned his head and saw, in the scattered snowflakes, that man in bright red robes standing beneath the jade trees and jeweled branches, holding his sword with a blank expression as he looked at him.
“You’ve come,” Li Yuan said.
–For some reason, this dragon looked very happy.
Not cultivating, so happy, huh?
While he was scrutinizing him, the dragon had already dropped the carving knife and walked to his side.
Li Yuan gestured for him to look at the ice carp, asking with great interest, “Look, how’s the carving? Want to join in?”
Ye Zhuo didn’t say anything, and he continued, “I drew up blueprints, the inside is hollow. Tomorrow is your mortal world’s Lantern Festival; when the time comes, we’ll light lamps inside the ice, and it will definitely look good at night.”
Logically speaking, cultivators had no family or clan and didn’t celebrate mortal festivals. However, during the New Year, the Micro-Snow Palace still followed the mortal custom and stayed up late in the main hall.
No one from Misty Green Peak participated because the barrier blocked the message from getting through.
So, next was only the Lantern Festival.
“Mortals also eat tangyuan and set off firecrackers, but I don’t think you like to eat them, so forget it.”
After Li Yuan finished speaking, he saw snowflakes falling on Ye Zhuo’s hair and reached out to brush them away.
“Why?” Ye Zhuo suddenly said.
“Hmm?” Li Yuan’s hand paused in his hair.
“While I was cultivating, you were playing,” Ye Zhuo looked at him, earnestly asking, “Why is it that in the end, your cultivation progress is still the same as mine?”
Li Yuan thought for a moment.
He thought he might know the reason why. But he didn’t think Ye Zhuo would understand.
He looked at Ye Zhuo, as if lost in thought, but in the end, he didn’t reveal anything.
Li Yuan: “That’s because I have other methods of cultivation that you don’t.”
His tone sounded very genuine.
Ye Zhuo looked him up and down, and said mildly, “Really? I haven’t seen any Qi flowing within you.”
So intelligent, how could he deceive him?
“You don’t believe me?” Li Yuan said, “Then come and try it out; you’ll know.”
Ye Zhuo: “How to try?”
“It’s very simple. It just so happens that tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, so for that entire day, don’t cultivate and stay with me. Whatever I do, you do too; what do you think?”
A whole day without cultivating, so long. Ye Zhuo had to consider it carefully.
At that moment, there was wind on the mountain peak, and snow accumulated on the distant jeweled branches slid off, making rustling sounds of falling snow.
Li Yuan: “I think that neither of us has any clues about Tribulation Transcendence anyway. Cultivating one day more or one day less doesn’t make much difference, don’t you think?”
Ye Zhuo pondered.
After a while, he finally said, “Acceptable.”
“Then it’s a deal.” Li Yuan happily took his hand. “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere.”
Ye Zhuo: “?”
Not tomorrow?
In front of the main hall, only the north wind howled.
The tail of the ice carp was half-finished, and the tools were scattered on the ground.
The little Daoists, the medicinal workers, and Feng Si Gongzhu’s pair of furry children silently watched the front, watching as Ye Er Gongzhu was dragged away by Brother Li Yuan, disappearing without a trace.
Then they looked at each other.
“Then who’s going to continue carving this? I can’t do it…” Someone pointed at the half-finished ice carp lantern sculpture, listlessly.
“Then… let’s call Daoist Master to clean up…”
The sky was nearing dusk. Ye Zhuo surveyed his surroundings.
Li Yuan had brought him to the highest peak of Green Mountain.
Originally, this mountain had been blasted in half by them some days ago, but it seemed that Wei Sheng Xian had pushed the broken mountain back together, restoring it to its original state.
Many exotic flowers and herbs also grew on the mountain, nourished by fairy dew and spiritual liquid. This was naturally what Li Yuan had given to Wei Sheng Xian; recently, the spiritual plants and medicinal herbs of the entire Green Mountain had grown exceptionally lush. Even Feng Jiang said that the quality of his medicinal materials had improved.
But what was the point of coming here?
Could reaching higher and looking further really help break through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage?
Ye Zhuo looked at Li Yuan.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to have you watch the sunrise here; that would be too ordinary,” Li Yuan said, “It’s just that the place I want to take you is too far, and even traveling by wind would take many days.”
Cultivators could ride the wind or swords, traveling swiftly and without fear of distance.
However, human power was finite, while the heavens and earth were infinite.
Traveling a thousand miles a day was easy, but traveling ten thousand miles would be difficult, and if it were even farther, it would be impossible.
Ye Zhuo looked at Li Yuan, sensing something.
“You–”
Li Yuan interrupted him, “So…”
Above the mountain peak, Qi surged.
Among the overlapping mountains and clouds, the true dragon reappeared.
It wasn’t the fierce, fangs-bared, claws-brandishing appearance of past battles, but instead, a chaotic power surrounded it, though it wasn’t outwardly displayed. The dragon floated silently before him, its body half-hidden in the clouds.
Such a powerful, beautiful creature.
Ye Zhuo looked at those dark golden dragon eyes, where his shadow was reflected.
“So, I can only take you in my original form,” Li Yuan’s voice continued in his sea of consciousness.