Chapter 87

Upon sighting them, Shui Keng resembled a motherless child that had just found her family again. Completely disregarding the two armies facing off, she hopped down without giving any explanation. “Most senior brother!”

She was wearing bright red, and when she dropped from the sky, the hems of her clothes and tips of her hair appeared to glow with light, as if a ball of eye-cauterizing fire was falling from the Heavens. Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the two that had suddenly come out of nowhere.

The excuse Cheng Qian had been wanting to speak out was successfully stifled.

Han Yuan was sitting high up, cross-legged. He’d had his eyes shut in recuperation without a care. Opening them at the sound, he then sinisterly swept them over the few surrounding demonic cultivators that were looking at Shui Keng covetously. They were scared into piping down out of fear, after which he took back his line of sight, and came into contact with Yan Zhengming’s gaze.

The look in the latter’s eyes was a little complicated. He had always felt complicated towards Han Yuan, forever finding difficulty in dispelling his grudges, but he had also never truly given up on him.

He was, after all… their least prosperous junior brother.

Shui Keng babbled into his ear. “On the day the Array was broken, you two were swept into a crevice. The rest of these annoying people then crawled out of the Demon Extermination Array and started to fight each other for a bit, each of them getting hurt by half. They had to separate into their own areas to catch their breaths, after which there were four… well, the demonic dragon’s qi attracted a lot of demonic cultivators into gathering up here, as well as that prettyboy sword cultivator. I don’t know who he complained to, but a big group of cultivators came from Tai Xing the very next day. They’ve been facing off for several days now, and the fighting is about to start up really soon.”

She loquaciously gabbed out a huge pile of words, tone cheery, watching the excitement with no intention of getting involved in it. Once done, she scouted out Yan Zhengming’s sides, then saw Cheng Qian. “Where did you two go off to, senior brother?”

Before he could answer, Yan Zhengming reached out and pulled her away. “Don’t speak to him. Let him reflect upon himself for a while.”

Hearing as much, Shui Keng sighed flightily, shooting Cheng Qian a look. How did you irritate him again?

He could only smile bitterly and shake his head. I’m ashamed.

Yan Zhengming motioned at Li Yun, and, not looking at either side of the warfront, found a spot apart from the crowd to sit down on.

One person from the Divination Bureau immediately climbed out of the congregation: Wu Changtian. The instant he caught sight of Yan Zhengming, he couldn’t sit still, stepping forth to speak with You Liang.

Unwillingly, the latter stood up and walked towards Yan Zhengming. His injuries still weren’t healed, and he wasn’t moving that fast, having the pitiful appearance of a stray dog.

Standing steady before Yan Zhengming, he hesitated a bit before speaking in a hushed voice. “This junior will be so bold as to invite you to sit on our side, Senior. All of you will be left high positions.”

Yan Zhengming looked at him, and You Liang’s back stiffened automatically. Had he met with Sect Leader Yan before this, he would have gone after him in a mind for a fight, but right now, he was inexplicably starting to become fearful of him.

“No need. It’s peaceful here,” Yan Zhengming answered, indifferent.

Since Nian Mingming had arrived as well, Li Yun had sent Nian Dada off to this father’s side. He himself now came down from the sky, then came forth to take over the topic of discussion, smiling at You Liang. “Of us that are present, which one is not restricted by the tremendous power of the Bureau’s Demon Elimination Seal? Please pass on a message to Sir Wu, Sir You: there’s really no need to be this cautious.”

He had concealed a needle within silk. You Liang heard the mockery both inside and out of his words, but he had no way to vie with him, and stood there, stock-still and with no objection, for a good while. He was forced to silently cup his fist, then turn to go.

“Wait,” Yan Zhengming suddenly called out.

You Liang stopped in his tracks.

Yan Zhengming did not raise his head. His eyes were glued to the wooden sword he held, as if he was seeing it as a flower. “The path of the sword cultivator has always been harder to walk than others’,” he said, taking his time, “but since it’s chosen you, that illustrates that you’ll at least have that gift when you enter it. You’ll always be walking down that road once you’re in its door. Walk it well, and you’ll be an unmatched sword. Walk it poorly, and you’ll be a blade of slaughter. Conduct yourself well; don’t allow another to grasp your hilt.”

The other was shocked, face paling, but after he took it all in, he bowed his head from afar. “Understood. Thank you, Senior.”

Li Yun waited for him to leave, then took the Stone Seed out of his pocket. This time, it wasn’t as showy-looking as it had been back at Vermilion Bird Tower; a small shack that shaded and shielded from the wind was constructed on the spot, encircled by blocking curtains with charms upon them. The inside could see and hear the outside, but the outside could not glimpse into the inside.

“What’s the situation?” Yan Zhengming asked.

Li Yun very boldly sat beside Cheng Qian. “Wu Changtian is up to his same old crap, and came back to the commoner’s world again. He plans to set up a competition here.”

“What competition?” Cheng Qian questioned.

Li Yun signaled with his eyes. “Look at that side. There’s people from White Tiger Estate, Black Tortoise Hall, Mulan Mountain, the Western Palace… tsk, tsk. Ever since their ancient Palace Master died, there really hasn’t been anyone that can act as their backbone. To be brief, in addition to those two sages that have already ‘come apart from the five elements’, pretty much everyone that’s able to fight has come here. Now, look at the demonic side — do you see those people that are flocking around Han Yuan like stars around a moon? There’s three women and six men, who are known as the ‘Nine Sages’ of the Nightmare Travelers. They’re just demonic cultivators, though, which you’ve seen many of before. Them cooperating with each other at the onset, then sticking knives into each other after a minute passes, is totally normal. They might not be here to root for Han Yuan, but to stir up the water, just like us.”

“Who is stirring up the water?” Yan Zhangming chided, not even turning his head.

Li Yun snickered, supporting his arm on Cheng Qian’s shoulder. “These two sides were fighting fervently, no one winning over anyone else, but then, Wu Changtian ran over from Tai Xing and suggested this competition. He’s having several array experts from each side lay down a ‘Ten-Party Array’ here, and after that, they’re going to send in ten people, respectively. Heaven’s Will decides who gets matched up with who, and the two will go head to head, disregarding life and death. If the Bureau wins, Han Yuan will come with them, and the Travelers will draw back to Nanjiang, barred from entering the Central Plains for the rest of their lives. If the demonic cultivators win, the Bureau’s people will righteously proclaim that in order to bear the sins of the world, they’ll abolish their own cultivation base, and allow the demons to punish them.”

Upon hearing this, Cheng Qian sensed something amiss. “We’re all being constrained by the Demon Elimination Seal, while those demonic cultivators have no loyalty to each other. If the Bureau bribes a couple of them with promises of gains so that they lose on purpose, what fight will they be able to put up?”

“Han Yuan isn’t stupid. There ought to be blood oaths made on the demonic side… plus, it won’t be one-on-one only. He wasn’t afraid to sweep across the Plains by himself, and he never counted on anyone else to help him with that. He might be thinking to get rid of ten opponents by himself in there.”

“What are we waiting for now, then?”

“The array probably isn’t done yet. Aside from that, they seem to be waiting for a fair judge.”

Cheng Qian furrowed his brow.

Li Yun pat him on the shoulder. “Don’t frown. Neither you nor our eldest are going anywhere, but at a time like this, I feel like my own cultivation base’s mediocrity is pretty good.”

“There’s a lot of people watching, and the blood oaths of many are involved. I’m thinking that it’s going to be hard to bring Han Yuan away from this.”

Their few fell quiet for a moment. Right then, Yan Zhengming took out a fan from who-knew-where, and after rapping it absent-mindedly against his own chest, he unconsciously turned his head to witness Li Yun’s improper posture. Thus, he decisively used his fan to smack the other’s arm off. “Sit properly. Have some human decency.”

Thwarted by the bump, Li Yun cackled. Just when he was about to rib him back, he inclined his head to abruptly catch sight of Cheng Qian smiling.

The latter didn’t typically put on many airs, so him smiling wasn’t anything weird. During this smile, though, his eyes were constantly on Yan Zhengming, as if he was the only one left in his sights. The corners of his eyes were slightly upturned, and shallow, scattered light looked to be within them, giving them an unprecedented warmth.

“…”

Li Yun looked at Cheng Qian, then at Yan Zhengming. Following a round of fine examination, he believed that if he kept watching them any further, he might just grow sties on his eyes. He shakily sat up straight, thinking to himself, The Heavens and the Earth switched places around me after just one nap! Fuck!

Li Yun going silent all of a sudden seemed to make it slightly awkwardly silent. With an inadvertent turn of her head, Shui Keng caught something with her sharp eyes. “Eldest brother, did you switch out your fan? That one’s pretty broken. It’s not as nice to look at as the one you had before.”

Once she mentioned this, everyone noticed that Yan Zhengming had a bamboo-boned fan in hand. Over its many years, its outer skin had turned an auburn color, and there were little cracks at its corners. It wasn’t refined at all.

Yet, Li Yun took the old fan with both of his hands, then carefully spread it out. There were scant brushstrokes to be seen on the back side, which outlined the shape of a distant mountain. The front side was a white expanse that only had one seal stamped onto the corner, in the very likely characters for ‘Fuyao’.

With just one look at that name, one would know that the stamp had come from the Sect Leader Seal.

Li Yun exhaled. “This… this is a relic of the sect. I say, junior sister, you’re a big girl, and should really be studying seriously. Your heart doesn’t have a drop of ink on it, and all you know to do from morning ’til night is spread chicken feathers everywhere as you fly around at random… ah, you really worry me to death. Where did you get this from, most senior brother? Try dripping blood on it later. It might have developed a spirit.”

Yan Zhengming explained in simple, downplayed terms the inheritance he and Cheng Qian had encountered behind the Tower of No Regrets, then proceeded to take out a small box and ancient book from his Bag of Hoarding.

He handed the wooden box to Shui Keng. “This is a yao pill from some generation’s Yao King, who had lived for three-thousand, six-hundred years before dying of age. The pill is pure, and can pass on power. When it comes to yao cultivators, they have non-stop internal struggles, so Kings living to old age are rare. The Fuyao sect’s successive generations were only able to obtain this one pill; keep it, and don’t secretly eat it for yourself. There’s over three thousand years of Daoist practice inside it. Your bones are not fully grown, you might not be able to endure it.”

Shui Keng looked like she could not orient herself, eyes soon about to open to eyebrow-line. Resembling a stingy, destitute soul that had caught sight of a house full of gold, she held up her worshipping hands in a begging posture, as if she was holding up her dream of turning into a great yao. She stuttered for a good while, then incoherently babbled out some boot-lickery. “S-Senior brother… I have seen the greatness of Mount Tai, yet failed to recognize it! That fan is r-really beautiful… so beautiful, I’m drunk on it!”

“Quit it. You’re an embarrassment to look at.” With that, Yan Zhengming tossed the book into Li Yun’s hands. “This is yours.”

The other accepted it merrily, then saw the words ‘Ninth Chain’ written on its cover. He flipped it open. After skimming only a few pages, his entire body was trembling out of excitement. “This… this is…”

“I questioned that Senior,” Yan Zhengming said. “He said that in the ancestral line of our sect, there was indeed one individual that was particularly unsuccessful. They could not perform alchemy, craftsmanship, the sword, or martial arts, instead specially delving into all sorts of bizarre skillsets. This pedigree of cultivators is very rarely seen, and are known as the ‘Ninth Chain’. We’ve had no Master these years, no one to guide you onto this road, so you’ve been groping about blind by yourself. Now that you have this, you’ll be able to get twice the results with half the effort.”

“I’m going to devote my life to you, brother,” Li Yun said, hot tears filling his eyes.

Sect Leader Yan glanced at him with his peach blossom eyes — which could talk to no one, only scold — in a clear conveyance of his contempt. I wouldn’t even want your money.

Cheng Qian kind of didn’t know how to react. He had been worried that that elder had given Yan Zhengming a hard time, not expecting that he would have actually been given pointers to get out of a conundrum, and material things… Sect Leaders really did get special treatment.

Li Yun stroked the old book he held lovingly. “Did that Senior say anything else?” he asked, inquisitive.

Had he said anything else?

“The origin of the sword in your inner sanctum is quite intriguing. In order to attach a swordwill to its surface, someone has cut its primordial spirit to act as a vector, which happened to allow you to turn your poor fortune into good fortune, walk ‘into the scabbard’ in one go, then truly rise into the ‘Sword Spirit Realm’ afterwards. However, as I see it, even though that humanized sword is amenable to lowering itself and is very cunning, your attainments in the wooden sword are not high. If you want to take a further step, you must refine your swordwill properly.”

Once he remembered this, Yan Zhengming’s hands faintly trembled. He glared malevolently at Cheng Qian.

“Quell your anger, senior brother,” the latter whispered, gathering in close.

Yan Zhengming flung his hand off, not making a peep.

Cheng Qian was only able to wound people with his sharp mouth and teeth, not coax them with smooth words and a silver tongue. After watching him helplessly for a spell, he cautiously held Yan Zhengming’s hand.

It got flung off again.

Just as unflinching as he claimed himself to be, Cheng Qian chiseled away at his goal by grasping the back of his hand once more.

Shui Keng didn’t know to avoid taboo. Following a minute of staring fixedly at them from nearby, she got the overall feeling that something was wrong.

Li Yun lowered his head, putting them out of sight, out of mind. All of a sudden, he discovered something stuffed between the pages of Ninth Chain, and when he gently opened it up, he saw that there was a piece of paper. The ink marks on it were fresh, and in Yan Zhengming’s handwriting. It said: “Make this thing up, then give me a portion of it.”

The page the note was on happened to be in the pill volume. The section for a ‘heart-purging pill’ hit Li Yun in the eyes.

Its annotation read: “By ingesting this pill, one’s heart and essence will be purged, the seven emotions cut away from and six desires cleaned away. From then on, there will be no love, nor hatred, nor any concern about the mortal realm. Cultivation will come before all.”

Li Yun’s heart jumped fiercely. With a chest full of doubts, he raised his head to look Yan Zhengming, who was wrangling with Cheng Qian.

Right at that time, a sudden burst of furor came from within the crowd. A flock of Bureau people was seen to stand up in succession, immediately after which a carriage with flying horses came down from the sky. A familiar person lifted the vehicle’s curtain and jumped down — Liu Lang.

After disembarking, he bent at the waist with his hands making a step in front of him, respectfully allowing the one still inside to step on them. Said person was not a surprise — Tang Zhen.

Tang Zhen ought to have already switched bodies. His complexion looked a lot better, and his originally slightly-grayed hair was entirely black.

Upon getting off, his gaze swept around his surroundings, at Wu Changtian’s group cupping their hands, then at the looks in the eyes of Mulan Mountain’s group being pretty unnatural. Meanwhile, Black Tortoise Hall’s people were standing uniformly at the clear other end; evidently, they still remembered that the others once had an altercation with them at the Immortal Binding Platform. Others — such as the large group of wandering cultivators or those from smaller sects, like Nian Mingming — stepped forth to greet him one after the other, some calling him ‘Brother Tang’, some ‘Senior’.

Quickly after that, he turned towards the demonic cultivators. Strangely, of the Nine Sages therein, three of them cupped their hands, greeting him from afar.

The man hadn’t had much contact with those famed sects, but the wide range of connections he had amidst the smaller ones could make one gasp in astonishment. No wonder he knew a little of everything.

A whistle came from the distance, which was the Bureau’s signal. After hearing it, Wu Changtian stepped forward to speak. “All my fellow Daoists have been invited, and the Array has now been completed. Please verify it, Mr. Tang.”

Tang Zhen sent his spiritual consciousness out to cover the place. Following a short moment, he opened his eyes and nodded, giving no sort of comment.

Wu Changtian glanced at Han Yuan. “Pardon me, Mr. Tang. Can you bring out the blood-oath plate?”

Liu Lang quickly drew out a plate from a small bundle, took two paces forward, and wordlessly released it. It stayed there, suspended in midair.

Tang Zhen looked down, sighing. “Must this be so? Ah, well. Make your oaths, you two.”

Wu Changtian was delighted. Four fingers put together, his hand pointed up at the sky, expression dull. “Today, my Bureau bears the Demon Elimination Seal, uniting our fellow Daoists from all directions in a battle against the Nightmare Travelers and demonic dragon. If our group loses, everyone in the Bureau will destroy our own cultivation bases, allow them to punish us, and never enter the door of immortality!”

With that, he forced out a cluster of blood drops from his fingertip, letting them fall onto the plate.

Shui Keng silently morphed into a bird, then flew into the sky to scout out what was going on. She saw a diagram of the Supreme Ultimate pictured in the middle of the plate, Wu Changtian’s blood seamlessly dying half of it red.

Wu Changtian shook out his sleeve. “It’s your turn, Daoist Han.”

Without even lifting his eyelids, Han Yuan reached out, then made a motion with his hand. The plate came directly flying over to be right in front of him. “If we lose, I’ll go with you, and they’ll beat it back to Nanjiang, shrinking back into their shells for a lifetime.”

Saying so, he lowered his head, ruthlessly bit his own finger open, and forcefully pressed the bloodied digit upon the Supreme Ultimate plate. A hissing sound was heard as it appeared to suck in his blood, instantly sucking out a concave area onto his finger. The other half of the Supreme Ultimate was immediately crammed full of dense, black blood.

The plate began to spin at rapid speed. Just from watching it, Shui Keng felt a little dizzy, so she had to shift her sights away.

The next moment, numerous diagrams of the Supreme Ultimate, suffused with the color of blood, broke away from the plate. A mark was left behind on each of the wrists of the people in the Bureau, Han Yuan, and the Nine Sages. With the oath completed, its violators would indubitably be met with backlash.

Han Yuan looked at the mark indifferently, put his still-bleeding finger into his mouth, and licked the bloodstains off of it. “It’ll be these nine, plus me.”

Wu Changtian waved his hand. A few young Bureau workers stepped out from behind him, carrying scrolls. He selected one of them himself, and the others dispersed into the crowd, going towards those they had selected.

One of the scroll-holders was heading right for where the Fuyao Sect was. Grabbing Cheng Qian’s elbow, Yan Zhengming whispered, “Go get that.”

This was not some stranger that was bringing a scroll, but Zhe Shi, who had infiltrated the Bureau.

Knowing that Zhe Shi had to be sending information back, Cheng Qian immediately understood, then moved aside the Stone Seed’s curtain to welcome him.

The instant he left, Li Yun quickly gathered in close to Yan Zhengming and pulled at his ear while he shot question after question at him. “What do you mean by this? What’s going on with you and Xiao Qian? What do you want a heart-purging pill for? Did you take the wrong meds? What are you doing this time?!”

Yan Zhengming caressed the wooden sword he held with both hands. “Do you know that he damaged his own primordial spirit for this sword?” he asked, hushed.

Li Yun went mute for a moment. “Ah… that seems like something he would do. So, your reciprocation for that is to be a fickle ingrate?” he questioned dryly.

“No… it’s just in case. I mean, it’s just in case this all hinders his cultivation practice one day. If he has regrets, I’ll give the pill to him. I can’t be something that gets in his way.”

Aside from a cold laugh, Li Yun simply had nothing to respond to him with. “Most senior brother, I always used to think that you were a fop. I never noticed that you were actually a Sage of Love.”

“Be less sarcastic.” Yan Zhengming smacked him away, irascible. “Don’t tell him about this. The novelty he feels hasn’t passed yet, and he’s far from being fed up with me. I’m afraid that he won’t be happy if he finds out.”

“By my estimate, he won’t just be unhappy when he knows,” Li Yun said. “He’ll also make you go eat shit. Do you not trust him, senior brother?”