Qiu Congxue's cultivation was suppressed by the seal on Nine Cauldrons Mountain, and her strength was currently roughly equal to Baili Qingmiao's.
Baili Qingmiao forced back Qiu Congxue's hand and rolled out from underneath her, getting out of her range.
She seemed about to say something, then suddenly her face flushed and she ran off. In a moment, she came back with a black robe in her arms, which she threw onto Qiu Congxue. She turned her face away and said, "Senior... please put something on."
"Huh?" Qiu Congxue looked down at her body which was as full and curvaceous as Shu Yanyan's, and didn't see anything wrong with it.
She had gotten used to walking here and there as a skeleton, and long since forgotten what it was like to have a flesh body.
She was still fuming, but when Baili Qingmiao backed off, she calmed down a bit and realized her cultivation was being suppressed. Without spiritual energy, she stopped lashing out at her savior and coldly watched as Baili Qingmiao blushed and ran off for clothes.
Qiu Congxue slowly put on the robe. She squinted at Baili Qingmiao and suddenly said, "You're Baili Qingmiao?"
"I am." Baili Qingmiao only turned fully around after seeing that Qiu Congxue was dressed properly. "Did senior hear me muttering to myself while you were unconscious?"
She hadn't heard it, but that passage like a excerpt of text or someone reading a story by her ear had told her this girl was called Baili Qingmiao.
Speaking of which, that name Baili Qingmiao seemed kind of familiar.
Qiu Congxue wasn't like Shu Yanyan, constantly full of wicked ideas and acting behind people's backs. Altar Master Qiu never used her mouth if she could use her fists. Well, mouths were involved, but it was the mouths of her hungry ghosts.
Though she was lying in wait to kill Wenren È, Shu Yanyan was a dedicated Sect Protector, helping Wenren È sort out the sect's business, keeping the smaller sects under Xuanyuan Sect firmly in line, while not forgetting to pick a few good-looking men from them to take home with her. She made every move to build Wenren È's trust, while only wanting to indulge herself and steal the life force of a Mahayana cultivator.
Too bad that Wenren È was blind and really treated beautiful women like dirt. Every time Shu Yanyan showed a hint of seductive power, she'd be thoroughly dealt with, and so had settled down a lot after a few decades.
On the other hand, Qiu Congxue also wanted to overthrow Wenren È, but never concealed her hostility and had an agreement to duel him every ten years. At the present time, she had already had all the bones in her body smashed five times by Wenren È.
Shu Yanyan often said Qiu Congxue's brain had been eaten by a hungry ghost, and that was pretty much the truth. A thousand year old ghost lived in her skull and served as her hidden ace, which she didn't bring out lightly.
Baili Qingmiao... Qiu Congxue thought for a long time, and finally remembered that Shu Yanyan had mentioned her eleven years ago. She was the talented disciple who Wenren È favored, the one he wanted to steal from Shangqing Sect and have practice the Path of Indifference.
"You're a Core Formation disciple of Shangqing Sect?" Qiu Congxue asked.
"I am. Have we met before, senior?"
Core Formation at eighteen was certainly unprecedented, but Baili Qingmiao was now twenty-nine and still at Core Formation, so that was a bit less special.
"Stick out your hand," Qiu Congxue commanded. She typically commanded hordes of ghosts and was used to ordering others around. Fortunately, Baili Qingmiao was obedient and respected her as a Mahayana cultivator, so stuck out her hand without hesitation.
Qiu Congxue probed Baili Qingmiao's meridians and her eyes widened. "Ninth level of Core Formation?"
The first level and the last level of Core Formation were completely different. The ninth level of Core Formation put Baili Qingmiao on the threshold of Nascent Soul, only needing the manual and to pass her inner demon trial.
Nascent Soul before the age of thirty certainly was exceptional talent. Even the cold-hearted Qiu Congxue felt some appreciation for her.
No wonder the Lord of Demons wanted her as a disciple. If Baili Qingmiao cultivated for a hundred years, there was a possibility she could surpass Wenren È.
"If I can't beat Wenren È, maybe I can steal his disciple?" Qiu Congxue scrutinized Baili Qingmiao head to toe.
Baili Qingmiao was intimidated and worried over whether this senior had had a qi deviation. None of her behavior after waking up made sense. She tugged carefully on Qiu Congxue's robe and said, "Senior, I've already been away from the sect for too long. Now that you're healed, why don't we part ways here?"
She didn't bring up a word of the other's debt to her. Just saving a life was enough for Baili Qingmiao.
"Hold on!" Qiu Congxue grabbed Baili Qingmiao's collar. "We're heading down together."
Qiu Congxue was over a thousand years old, but still appeared as a young woman, with smooth pale skin and jet-black hair, fine brows, and elegant eyes. They were tender yet heartless, making her a cold, distant beauty.
Just that she was far too casual, lifting up her robes and spreading her legs multiple times as she descended the mountain, acting like she was still a skeleton.
Baili Qingmiao felt like facepalming several times, but she didn't want to put pressure on Qiu Congxue, so managed to bear with it.
At the bottom of the mountain, she finally spoke. "Senior, I have a gown. It's not of the best quality, but... but it can at least cover you up."
She took out a light green gown, something that Wenren È had previously given to her. She had been determined to refuse at first, but Wenren È left her with no other choice.
Qiu Congxue put it on. The gown suited her very well. With her tall stature and slender waist, she seemed like a thin willow. Baili Qingmiao looked at her for a moment, then took out an ordinary jade hairpin she had bought and helped pin up Qiu Congxue's hair.
"Senior is so beautiful," she said with a small sigh.
"What's the point?" Now that Qiu Congxue was off the mountain, her power was no longer being suppressed. She investigated her condition and was so irritated she almost rolled her eyes at Baili Qingmiao.
Her realm really had been restored and her powers had grown, but the ghost qi she had spent so much effort cultivating was gone, and her body was filled with immortal qi instead. She had become a wandering immortal.
Qiu Congxue tried summoning some nearby spirits, but not a single one came.
She clenched her fists. How was she supposed to use this body to vie for the leadership of Xuanyuan Sect with Wenren È? How was she supposed to keep Shu Yanyan in her place?
Fortunately, Altar Master Qiu was a determined person. She could offer her body to hungry ghosts in order to cultivate the Asura Path, so now she could switch to cultivating as an immortal!
Baili Qingmiao felt much more at ease after taking care of Qiu Congxue and bid farewell to her so she could return to her sect, only for Qiu Congxue to grab her hair.
"Ow ow ow!" Baili Qingmiao clutched her hair and said lightly, "Senior, do you need anything?"
"I recall that your righteous— er, your Shangqing Sect has a regulation that you can accept a wandering immortal as a guest, as long as they stay and help Shangqing Sect. According to how much they contribute, they can study techniques passed down from other wandering immortals in the sect library."
Wandering immortals were exceptional existences in the cultivation world. They were more powerful than Mahayana cultivators, and the strongest among them could go toe to toe with immortals from the upper realm. Any sect would highly welcome an unaffiliated wandering immortal. The sect's core techniques obviously couldn't be passed on to outsiders, but there was nothing wrong with letting them study some other techniques left behind by predecessors. The wandering immortal would also have to leave behind their own knowledge, so Shangqing Sect had collected many secret techniques over the years. This was what Qiu Congxue was after.
The Shangqing Sect had sustained heavy losses in the Great Sect War and needed the support of powerful experts. Qiu Congxue's body was full of immortal essence after eating the Flesh Mushroom and no one could tell she was a demonic cultivator, so she was confident she'd be accepted by Shangqing Sect. She decided to become the respected elder of a righteous sect, and after gaining influence at Shangqing Sect, fight her way back into Xuanyuan Sect and keep challenging Wenren È.
"Huh?" Baili Qingmiao said, dumbfounded. Why did this senior want to follow her back to her sect now?
"Let's go. I'll take you back to Shangqing Sect."
Qiu Congxue was a resolute woman and her actions always followed her words. Since Baili Qingmiao flew too slow, she picked her up and flew toward Shangqing Sect in a streak of light.
By the time they arrived, Wenren È had finished purging the violent qi from Yin Hanjiang's body. Yin Hanjiang opened his eyes slowly and immediately caught sight of Wenren È.
"Venerable!" Yin Hanjiang instantly went to stand, but was held down by Wenren È and sat back down.
"Your body was badly damaged by the violent qi of the Burning Sky Drum," Wenren È said lightly. "This Venerable has already cleared it out, and there are some medicinal elixirs here you can take on your own."
"Many thanks to the Venerable!" Yin Hanjiang took the medicine. Turning his senses to his dantian, he found the energy of the Burning Sky Drum completely gone and his wounds healing easily.
After circulating qi through his body thirty-six times, he had completely recovered from his wounds. The only problem was that he had lost some spiritual essence, but he could slowly cultivate it back. After healing, he went looking for Wenren È and found him standing at the cave entrance, watching the waterfall outside.
"Awake now?" Wenren È said.
"This subordinate is useless," Yin Hanjiang said, kneeling. He hadn't been able to help the Venerable with his injuries, and forced the Venerable to help him. He was far too incompetent.
Wenren È said nothing. He flew out of the cave, with Yin Hanjiang following close behind him.
Wenren È had been busy treating his and Yin Hanjiang's injuries the past few days and hadn't noticed where they were. He had only sensed the wards he himself had put up and known it was safe. After exiting the cave, he looked around and saw it was indeed the mountains behind the small sect he used to lead, where Yin Hanjiang had grown up.
"This was where you practiced the sword," Wenren È said, looking at the waterfall.
"The Venerable still remembers?" Yin Hanjiang said.
A full moon happened to be out tonight, bathing the two in gentle moonlight. Yin Hanjiang's face seemed to be shrouded in a silver glow.
Wenren È looked away from him and said, "This Venerable remembers. After we obtained Xuanyuan Sect, I gave this place to you. Have you given this place a name?"
"Yes." Yin Hanjiang walked to the pool before the waterfall and scooped up a handful of water. "This subordinate has named this area the Moon-Fishing Pool."
"Moon-Fishing?"
Yin Hanjiang's brows softened, as if thinking of a happy memory. With a faint smile, he said, "This subordinate used to practice the sword here, until I was too exhausted to move, and laid beside the waterfall looking at the sky. Sometimes the moon was curved, and sometimes it was round and reflected in the pool. Back then, I thought you could scoop up the moonlight, and fished at the water again and again."
There was faint amusement in his words. He held his handful of water out to Wenren È. "Eventually, when my hands steadied, I could scoop up the moonlight."
Wenren È looked down and saw the moon reflected in that handful of water which Yin Hanjiang held up with his spiritual energy. He was presenting a tiny image of the moon in his hands.
This had been Yin Hanjiang's favorite game in his short, lonely childhood.
Wenren È gazed at the Moon-Fishing Pool and seemed to see a little child, picking up handfuls of water again and again under the full moon, trying to catch the ever-elusive moonlight.
He reached out a hand and kept the water together using his spiritual energy. From his sleeve, he produced a glazed glass vase and poured the water inside.
"This Venerable accepts your moonlight."
Yin Hanjiang stared, dumbfounded, as he watched Wenren È use a treasure which could hold an entire river to store his little handful of water, then replace it in his sleeve. The night wind blew across Yin Hanjiang's face with a faint coolness, and only then did he realize that his face was burning hot, and even his ears had turned bright red.
"Venerable, it was nothing," Yin Hanjiang mumbled, bowing his head.
Wenren È clasped his hands behind his back. "This Venerable can't remember many old things. I just remember that in my childhood, I grew up in a border town where my father and elder brother were garrisoned year-round, leaving behind me and my mother. She personally taught me to fight with a halberd, but I complained that a halberd was not as elegant and good-looking as a sword.
"My mother told me that length lends power and protection. The weapons on a battlefield are indiscriminate, and she wanted me to have a better chance of survival, so she taught me the halberd.
"Before my sixteenth birthday, I woke with the dawn each morning and studied combat and literature, in order to follow in my father and brother's footsteps and become a learned general who could protect the town I lived in. But I didn't know how to be a child, how to play and enjoy myself. After I took you in, I only thought about teaching you to cultivate, and not to have fun."
Yin Hanjiang opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He only stared wide-eyed at this completely unknown version of his Venerable and committed the sight to memory.
"Thinking about it now, this Venerable never really had any childish impulses. This handful of moonlight is the childhood that Protector Yin has given to this Venerable." Wenren È smiled faintly. "Since you've given this Venerable something so precious, I should give you some reward. Is there anything you want?"
"No..."
Yin Hanjiang wanted to say, no need, but seeing Wenren È's slight smile, he felt that he would ruin this rare good mood his Venerable was in if he refused.
"This subordinate does have a wish," he said quietly. "This subordinate has always wanted to go back and visit the border town where he grew up."
"That's no big deal at all," Wenren È said. "Since you want to go, why don't you take this Venerable on your sword? Then I won't have to wait for you there."
Yin Hanjiang called out Chiming. Seeing the patterns that had appeared across the blade, he felt some concern and wanted to ask, but at Wenren È's encouragement, just mounted the sword and flew off with Wenren È, until they reached the little border town.
The sun had risen by the time they arrived. The two hid themselves from sight and landed within the town. "What's this?" Yin Hanjiang said in shock.
The sparsely populated town he remembered had become a fort with walls strong as steel and a bustling marketplace within. The citizens looked prosperous and happy, and merchants peddled their wares enthusiastically from their stalls.
"The Great Sect War allowed the mortal world to rejuvenate for ten years," Wenren È said. "With abundant spiritual energy, there have been few disasters. Since the plains haven't suffered storms or frost, the nomads have been living well, and don't need to plunder bordering towns for grain each winter. Spiritual veins reinforce ley lines, so that more capable officials are born in the capital. They've opened up trade, and the commerce has brought prosperity to the residents here. Ten years is more than enough time for a small town to become a fortress."
Yin Hanjiang walked to the memorial shrines and found a temple dedicated to a general. He bought incense to offer to the general and bowed to him deeply.
Wenren È didn't know what to say. After Yin Hanjiang left, he asked, "This is what you wanted? This Venerable is right here. Why are you paying respects to my old mortal identity?"
Looking at the statue people had carved for Wenren È, Yin Hanjiang said solemnly, "It's not the same."