The Xuantian Sect—the greatest sect in the Yuntai Realm. Wenren Ying had spent eighty years there, first becoming Daoist Cloudchaser, and then returning once more to being Wenren Ying.
His days in the Xuantian Sect… could not exactly be called pleasant, but neither could they be called unbearable. More than two hundred years later, when Wenren Ying looked back on the past, most of those people and events had already faded from his memory. The one thing he could still recall clearly was browsing ancient texts in the sect’s library…
Well, that was not to say Wenren Ying was particularly fond of reading. The main reason was simply that… he had found records concerning soul fire in those ancient texts.
Soul fire had vanished a thousand years ago. In this era, hardly anyone had even heard of it, much less seen it. Ancient texts recording such arcane techniques were mostly kept in the hidden paradises of sects and aristocratic clans, locked away on lofty shelves. Without the proper connections, no amount of money could get one access to them.
And soul fire… soul fire had even required Sword Lord Taibai to stake his life on suppressing it.
A wicked cultivation technique like that was probably recorded only in the Xuantian Sect’s collection.
And as it turned out, Wenren Ying’s guess had been correct.
He asked Master Chongxu to take him to the library in the Cuiyun Grotto-Heaven. After searching for half a day, however, he found not the slightest bit of useful information.
Could it be… that he would have to find a way to seek out his master?
Wenren Ying sighed silently, rose, and took his leave. After leaving the Cuiyun Grotto-Heaven, he returned to the inn.
The moment he stepped through the inn’s entrance, he saw Bai Yunsheng’s eminently punchable face.
Bai Yunsheng was lamenting the fact that he had missed a good show.
After all, he had been the one who kept egging Wu Guanyue on to find a man to make Wenren Ying jealous. He knew perfectly well that, given his own abilities, he would never make Wenren Ying suffer a setback in this lifetime. He could only approach the matter through Wu Guanyue…
As it turned out, he really had witnessed quite a spectacle. That day, in front of Suwen Pond, Wenren Ying had slapped the Pretty Gentleman straight to the ground. Bai Yunsheng had been left staring in stunned disbelief.
What a… what a hothead!
Who would have thought Wenren Ying was such a fiery man…
At the time, Bai Yunsheng had been frightened into shivering. As he watched the Pretty Gentleman lie there, barely breathing and swollen like a pig’s head, Bai Yunsheng had instinctively touched his own handsome, dashing face.
At the time, perhaps it had only been his imagination, but Bai Yunsheng had felt that Wenren Ying the Hothead had glanced, intentionally or otherwise, toward his hiding place twice.
Bai Yunsheng: “…”
Bai Yunsheng had been so frightened that he did not dare show his face for ten days, afraid that he would be the next person to receive one of those broad, fan-like slaps!
Of course, he did not have the slightest interest in Wu Guanyue. But Wenren Ying the Hothead’s palm did not know friend from foe… If he took a hit, would that not be a truly undeserved tragedy?
In short, Bai Yunsheng had retreated.
But after disappearing for only ten days, he could not resist coming back.
There was no other reason… he was simply too bored.
Bai Yunsheng’s position was actually an extremely awkward one. He came from the top-tier immortal sect of the Yunmeng Bai clan, yet he had been sent to the Xuantian Sect as a disciple. That meant he was little more than a dispensable person within the Yunmeng Bai clan. And in the Xuantian Sect… naturally, he could not expect to be welcomed there either. In the Cuiyun Grotto-Heaven, he was even more of an outsider. Master Chongxu could needle him without the slightest courtesy, and She Wenjie could scheme against him without a second thought by egging him on to deal with Wu Guanyue.
He really could not succeed at anything. He had not even managed to watch the entire spectacle of one lunatic man and one lunatic woman…
Honestly, this was just…
Bai Yunsheng was terribly melancholy. He was sighing heavily in front of Wu Guanyue when, before he had even finished a few sighs, Wenren Ying the Hothead strode across the threshold and entered.
Wu Guanyue immediately cried, “Brother Ying~~~”
Wenren Ying immediately replied, “Little Yue…”
Bai Yunsheng immediately: “…………?”
Why had they suddenly entered a meaningless cycle of calling each other’s names…?
“Brother Ying~~ I missed you so much~~~ Did you miss me?”
That was Wu Guanyue’s bizarre voice, enough to raise gooseflesh all over a person’s body.
“Thud~~~!”
That was the terrifying sound of Wu Guanyue’s head crashing into Wenren Ying’s chest—a blunt-force attack straight to the heart.
“Hiss… Little Yue… Of course I missed Little Yue too…”
That was Wenren Ying’s nauseatingly strange voice.
“Brother Ying~~~”
“Little Yue…”
“Brother Ying~~~~”
“Little Yue…”
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Bai Yunsheng: “………………”
A long, long, long, long string of ellipses appeared above Bai Yunsheng’s head…
But in truth, he was used to it. After all, this pair of lunatic man and lunatic woman had toyed with him long ago…
Bai Yunsheng maintained his composure. With a flourish, he opened his fan and began waving it lazily, observing the scene with cold detachment…
Wenren Ying: “…………”
What an eyesore…
Could he not tell that he was not welcome here?
Wenren Ying shot him a cold look and asked stiffly, “What do you want?”
Before Bai Yunsheng could answer, Wu Guanyue said solemnly, “He is a defeated dog, lamenting his failure… Because we are together now, he is terribly heartbroken and upset…”
Wenren Ying: “…………”
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Wenren Ying: “…………?”
Bai Yunsheng… terribly heartbroken and upset…?
Could it be that Bai Yunsheng had developed some unusual feelings for Little Yue…?
Wenren Ying was not the sort of man who flew into a jealous rage over every little thing. At the end of the day, anyone who became jealous simply because another man liked their lover was fundamentally insecure. Although Wenren Ying did not think himself the only man under heaven, there was certainly no need to feel insecure over a coward like Bai Yunsheng…
He merely found the situation rather subtle…
The first time Bai Yunsheng had met Little Yue, it seemed Little Yue’s… pickpocketing abilities had stripped him down into a naked chicken. And after all that, he could still develop unusual feelings for her? He really was a rare sort of eccentric…
Wenren Ying could not help glancing at Bai Yunsheng.
Bai Yunsheng immediately let out an “Aah!” and sprang to his feet, extremely agitated. “Hey! What are you talking about?! Wenren Ying, why are you looking at me? Who would feel like a failure just because Wu Guanyue got together with you?! Because she’s stupid? Because she throws shit?!”
Afraid of being slapped, Bai Yunsheng desperately began slandering Wu Guanyue!
Wenren Ying: “…………”
This time, Wenren Ying’s expression truly turned unpleasant. “What did you just say about Little Yue?”
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Bai Yunsheng silently shut his mouth and began regretting why he had been so foolish as to come to Wu Guanyue’s inn today.
Wu Guanyue, nestled in Wenren Ying’s arms, raised the corners of her mouth in a thoroughly wicked smile…
Bai Yunsheng: “…………”
Had that woman deliberately phrased everything to invite misunderstanding just now…?
Bai Yunsheng did not feel like saying another word.
Fortunately, Wenren Ying was not completely unreasonable, nor was he the sort of bastard who went around looking for excuses to punch people. Thus, Bai Yunsheng was still able to sit comfortably in the inn, eat a bowl of spicy chicken noodles, and chat with Wu Guanyue about this and that.
“So, your family head’s birthday is coming up, and you’re worried because you have no idea what birthday gift to give her?”
That was what Wu Guanyue said.
Bai Yunsheng let out a long sigh. “Yes… Primordial Lord Qingming has seen just about everything there is to see… I’m afraid only a truly peerless divine weapon could impress her…”
But how could someone like Bai Yunsheng ever get his hands on something like that?
Wu Guanyue fell into deep thought.
After a while, she solemnly pulled… two packets of spicy turkey noodles from her sleeve and offered them to him in consolation. “But you have turkey noodles!”
Bai Yunsheng: “…”
Bai Yunsheng: “……”
Somehow, that only made things feel even more tragic.
Bai Yunsheng let out another long sigh. “Child, go play somewhere else. And stop talking.”
Wu Guanyue: “…”
Wu Guanyue narrowed her eyes, thoroughly displeased… How foolish did Bai Yunsheng have to be to dare look down on her intelligence?
Wu Guanyue reminded him, “Isn’t your clan on very bad terms with the Profound Heaven Sect? You’ve been staying in the Profound Heaven Sect for years. Haven’t you managed to dig up any dirt that your family head might be interested in…?”
And yet, upon hearing this, Bai Yunsheng looked as though he had been struck by lightning—as if this was the first time he had ever thought of it!
Wu Guanyue: “…”
A long string of ellipses appeared above Wu Guanyue’s head.
Now she finally understood why this fellow had been kicked out of the Yunmeng Bai Clan… He really was as stupid as a pig! How could anyone be this useless as a spy? Had he spent all these years doing nothing but making a fool of himself in front of Chu Yingfeng…?
Wenren Ying: “…”
A long string of ellipses appeared above Wenren Ying’s head as well.
Just how insecure did a man have to be to get jealous of everyone in sight? And if the person he was jealous of happened to be Bai Yunsheng, an empty-headed fool like him, wouldn’t that be downright embarrassing?
Bai Yunsheng paid no attention to the contempt these two lunatics held for him. Instead, he sank into thought.
“Dirt… Dirt… The Profound Heaven Sect’s dirt… Damn it, the Profound Heaven Sect is too deep. I can’t see through it!
“But Perfected Renhua has recently emerged from seclusion and is about to resume traveling throughout the Nine Provinces… He sent me a letter yesterday, saying that he plans to visit Mount Mei… That doesn’t seem like much, but why has Master been in seclusion all these years…?”
He looked every bit like a filial disciple eagerly preparing to sacrifice his own master!
Wu Guanyue: “…”
And wasn’t his master Brother Ying’s master too…? If Brother Ying beat him up today, it would really be entirely his own fault!
Yet Wenren Ying neither said nor did anything. He merely gave Bai Yunsheng a long, meaningful look.
He thought to himself: Master is coming to Mount Mei?
Perhaps he could use this opportunity to visit his master and ask him to let him enter the Profound Heaven Sect’s Library Pavilion one more time…
As for Bai Yunsheng… Since he was so hopelessly useless, his thoughts were actually rather amusing…
Wenren Ying couldn’t be bothered to pay him any attention.
But this time, Bai Yunsheng had unwittingly brought up a crucial question.
Why, exactly, had Perfected Renhua remained in seclusion all this time? Could there be some secret hidden beneath it all?
At that very moment, deep among the mountains, within a secluded and tranquil pocket realm on Mount Huiming, Perfected Renhua sat quietly in meditation.
This was the very same pocket realm where Daoist Master Songfeng had once cultivated.
Perfected Renhua sat cross-legged atop a meditation cushion, his five vital points facing the heavens. His entire being had entered a state both profound and mysterious, wondrous beyond words.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his chest. The energy in all his meridians began to flow backward, and he felt a sweetness rise in his throat before he spat out a mouthful of blood!
Perfected Renhua clutched his chest and panted in agony…
It was no use… His body was already on the verge of collapse… Before it completely failed, he had to initiate his tribulation and cross the lightning tribulation to ascend to the Upper Realm. Otherwise… otherwise, the only thing awaiting him was death.
