CH 37

Yun Yuan sat inside the peach blossom forest, drinking. He didn’t seem surprised at all to see Ji Ning appear out of nowhere. Instead, he showed a handsome smile and beckoned Ji Ning forward, “Come and sit.”

His expression was gentle and his beautiful peach blossom eyes were smiling but Ji Ning couldn’t relax. Even though he knew this was just a sliver of Yun Yuan’s consciousness, he still felt a little uncomfortable, or more accurately, guilty. 

He couldn’t sense what cultivation level Yun Yuan had reached, but it was definitely high. Before he left the cultivation world, his own cultivation base had been impressive. If Yun Yuan had cultivated to a level that he could no longer sense, then he might have even reached the Mahayana level.

With that level of cultivation, one could even deduce the secrets of heaven and look into the past or future. Although his deepest secrets were protected by the system, under the gaze of those eyes, Ji Ning still felt as though Yun Yuan was looking into his soul.

What the hell did he know…

Ji Ning had to fight the urge to turn around and leave, but he had come here to speak with Yun Yuan’s consciousness. He moved to sit down at the table, across from Yun Yuan, who continued to stare at him. 

“Long time no see…”

He tried to keep calm and smiled at Yun Yuan.

“It has been a long time indeed.”

Yun Yuan smiled, holding back his wide sleeve with one hand, while he used the other to pour a glass of peach blossom wine for Ji Ning. He lowered his eyes.

“Do you know how many years have passed in this world since you and I separated?”

Ji Ning accepted the wine glass and shook his head silently, not knowing how to respond. This Yun Yuan was different to the boy he remembered, he couldn’t read his face at all.

He felt a similar sense of fear to when Huo Wuling had wanted to kill him. Although he was sure Yun Yuan didn’t want him dead, Ji Ning’s heart was still not very relaxed.

“It has been more than two thousand years.” 

Yun Yuan placed down the jug and stared straight at Ji Ning, his smile fading.

“I knew that you weren’t dead. I’ve been looking for you for fifteen hundred years.”

Ji Ning’s heart skipped a beat, feeling a burst of surprise and astonishment in his chest. Although he had vaguely sensed that time had passed in the cultivation world due to the changes in Yun Yuan’s cultivation, he couldn’t have imagined that it had been over two thousand years.

And in all that time, Yun Yuan had never forgotten him and had spent over a thousand years searching for him… 

Ji Ning had a sudden bad premonition. He tried to take a step backwards but found there was an invisible pressure across his whole body, preventing him from moving. Yun Yuan continued to sip his wine and spoke slowly.

“I searched across this entire world but I couldn’t find you. I entered the three thousand spirit worlds and the underworld of the Stygian river but your spirit wasn’t there.”

“Hundreds of years later, after I cultivated to Mahayana, I was able to glimpse the heavenly secrets. It was then that I realised that you were not originally from the Great Thousand worlds. The fate between you and this world had been severed, while your body was shrouded in heavenly secrets, thus I was unable to calculate where you had gone.”

“I once cultivated towards immortality for my own peace, there was nothing else I had to ask for. But after I met you, you became my world. To this day, everything I have done was just to see you again.” 

The faint smile that remained on Yun Yuan’s face vanished, his eyes cold as a dead star. He suddenly reached forward and grabbed Ji Ning’s hand. He spoke each word carefully, his voice ice cold.

“Tbe jgf mifjgis cba vfjv jcv fnfc tjnf rbwfbcf tfiqlcu sbe ab ogffis agjnfi jmgbrr kbgivr. Vb kts vlvc’a sbe mbwf ab rff wf? Tbe bcmf rjlv atja sbe ibnfv wf, yea ktja rlcmfglas tjnf sbe rtbkc?”

Al Rlcu kjr rb bnfgktfiwfv ys tlr jegj atja tf mbeivc’a wjlcajlc tlr bglulcji rlaalcu qbrlalbc. Lf alqqfv obgkjgv, abkjgvr atf ugbecv, yea kjr lwwfvljafis mjeuta ys j ufcaif obgmf. Tec Tejc gfjmtfv bea, kgjqqfv jc jgw jgbecv tlr kjlra, qlcmtfv tlr mtlc, jcv rajgfv lcab tlr fsfr mbivis.

“I thought that only by obtaining the great Dao and shattering the void could I hear the heaven’s secrets and find a trace of you. I never expected that through the fate of your own world I would be able to find you here.” 

“But my real body is inside the void, awaiting tribulations. As I couldn’t come personally, I sent Qiyue to wait for you to appear.”

“You’ve escaped for two thousand years. Where do you want to run to this time, Ji Ning?”

He had already entered a tribulation period…

Ji Ning was stunned, he hadn’t expected Yun Yuan’s cultivation base to be so high. 

When he passed this tribulation, he would only be one step away from attaining the Tao. If he waited until Yun Yuan broke through the void, then even if the planes were fixed, it was likely that Yun Yuan could find where he was and continue chasing him into the next world.

Facing Yun Yuan, he was so stressed he couldn’t help but turn his head away. Yun Yuan held his chin, forcibly turning his face back.

Yun Yuan’s eyes scanned his face a few times, then he smiled suddenly, picked up the abandoned wine glass from the table and said softly, “It’s a good wine. It would be a pity if you didn’t drink it, come try it.”

He drank from the wine glass, then lowered his head to kiss Ji Ning’s lips. The scent and sweetness of the wine filled Ji Ning’s mouth from where their lips touched. 

When the kiss ended, a pure aura of spiritual qi spread between them. But when this qi came into contact with Ji Ning, it immediately made his body tremble, his face flushing pink.

Yun Yuan did this on purpose…

Ji Ning’s body shivered lightly, feeling the ocean of energy surging into his body. A thin layer of sweat dripped from his forehead, his breathing unsteady as he sank into Yun Yuan’s arms.

Inside the world of the cultivation novel, his identity was the son of the sect master of the demonic Qingzong sect. This sect cultivated the Dao using the seven emotions and six desires, and their most advanced methods used various dual cultivation styles. 

Although he had never used those particular exercises, he had practised them superficially. Yun Yuan had deliberately used his spiritual qi to stimulate Ji Ning and in an instant caused his qi to surge violently, making him unable to control himself.

“Don’t…”

He clutched at Yun Yuan’s shirt with flushed cheeks and watery eyes as he pleaded with him.

Yun Yuan was unmoved. It wasn’t until Ji Ning was close to fainting that he finally withdrew from Ji Ning’s qi. 

“What else do you have to say?” Yu Yuan asked.

“…” Ji Ning crumpled next to the low table. He panted for a while before whispering, “…I have something to ask you.”

He had not forgotten that his reason for coming to Yun Yuan was to undo the cursed formation on Ying Qianqiu. The only person who could break the power seal was Yun Yuan himself.

Although Yun Yuan was inside the void, his cultivation had reached the point where breaking the cursed formation could be done with a single thought. There was no need for him to even be there in person. 

He knew that Yun Yuan would be furious to hear him beg for him to save another man, but he had no other choice. It was his fault the Dongyou demon lord was attacking Ying Qianqiu. He couldn’t just stand by and let Ying Qianqiu suffer.

“Is it about the cursed formation?” Yun Yuan asked.

“That’s right.” Ji Ning slowly nodded, “My friend was plotted against by someone and his qi was sealed by the cursed formation. You’re the only one who can unseal it, so…”

“A friend…just a friend?” 

Yun Yuan gave him a meaningful look, smiled lightly and poured himself another glass of wine. “But why should I help you?”

Ji Ning opened his mouth, but he really didn’t know how to answer him. Yun Yuan had looked for him for over a thousand years, but he had never once tried to get back to him. Now that they had only just reunited, Ji Ning was asking him for a favour. If he was in Yun Yuan’s position, he would definitely be resentful, so why would he help?

“If you promise me,” said Yun Yuan suddenly, “That you will never leave my side again, I will break the formation for you.”

Ji Ning shook his head and refused to agree to Yun Yuan, because inside the cultivation world, promises were all linked to fate and shouldn’t be responded to lightly. 

Although he had told Yun Yuan many lies in the past, that was when Yun Yuan’s cultivation base was still shallow. After he left that world, the karma was nullified so he wasn’t affected. But now Yun Yuan was close to the eleventh stage of cultivation. Who knows what the consequences could be if he agreed? If the system was unable to handle it, he would be in big trouble.

“Never mind.”

Yun Yuan smiled and flicked his sleeves, sending Ji Ning out of the sword’s space.

“If you change your mind, come find me again.” 

Ji Ning opened his eyes and found his consciousness had returned to his body. The night had passed and the sun was bright in the sky. Qin Ruwang sat quietly by his bed. When he saw Ji Ning had woken up, he helped him wash up and get dressed.

Yun Yuan hadn’t agreed to break the cursed formation, what should he do…

Ji Ning couldn’t help but feel worried. If it were possible, he would have liked to try and break the formation by himself, but based on the difference in cultivation between him and Yun Yuan, it could take him thousands of years to break it.

The Dongyou demon lord and the three aristocratic families were terrified of Ying Qianqiu’s power, therefore they didn’t hesitate to use a powerful item in order to seal it. Now that his qi was blocked, they were likely to attack Cangshan at any time. If this problem couldn’t be solved before then… 

Ji Ning considered several options. For example, he could separate his consciousness again to assassinate the demon lord Dongyou. However, the power systems of the two works operated differently and the demon lord and his conspirators were high level powerhouses. They were by no means easy to kill, and there were a variety of mysterious life saving methods which would be difficult to guard against.

What’s more, that method would only help Ying Qianqiu in the short term. If Ying Qianqiu’s qi still wasn’t restored when the world’s planes were separated in the future and Ji Ning was no longer there, he would be in an extremely vulnerable position as a demon lord.

Ji Ning felt lost and unsure, but in the end he still felt that Yun Yuan was his only option. He was beginning to consider seducing him again, when there was a knock on his door. He opened it to see Yun Dao outside.

“Xue Tuan, have you been bored up in the mountains lately? Shall we go down the mountain and play for a few days?” 

Seriously, at a time like this?

Ji Ning was taken aback, but just as he was about to reject the girl, he noticed the distress hidden in her eyes.

Immediately, he understood that this wasn’t a naive proposal, but a ruse to protect him. Cangshan would soon go to war with the demon lord Dongyou and Ying Qianqiu had lost his strength. It would be extremely dangerous to stay on the mountain when the situation was becoming so severe, so Ying Qianqiu wanted to send him and Yun Dao away.

“I’m sorry sister Yun Dao, but I don’t want to leave…” 

Ji Ning felt overwhelmed with emotion and suddenly ran out of his room and rushed over to Ying Qianqiu’s palace. Pushing the door open, he saw Ying Qianqiu alone inside.

The silver haired man stood by the window, admiring the view outside.

His palace was built on the edge of the mountain’s cliff. When he opened the window, all he could see was the abyss. Most people would be terrified to see such a scene, but Ying Qianqiu, who was powerless, stood in front of the window with an indifferent expression. It was only when Ji Ning entered the room that a ripple of light shone in his eyes.

“Ying Xue.” 

He whispered, and when the boy walked in front of him, he raised his hand and stroked the top of his hair, his eyes softening slightly.

“Qianqiu,” Ji Ning looked up at him and asked, “Are you going to send me and sister Yun Dao away? I don’t want to leave, and neither does my sister.”

Ying Qianqiu lifted his hand and responded, “The war is imminent. I don’t know if I can protect the both of you, so it would be safer to leave.”

“Then let us protect you!” 

The younth grabbed his sleeve and said seriously, “We can’t leave Qianqiu and run away by ourselves.”

“…”

Ying Qianqiu fell silent. His quiet black pupils stared at Ji Ning for a long time before he pulled him into a tight hug. He spoke quietly, trying to suppress the emotion in his voice.

“Be good, I’ll see you later.” 

“Qian-”

Ji Ning tried to speak again but Ying Qianqiu suddenly stretched out his hand and removed the mask on his face. He leaned over slightly and placed a light kiss on his forehead.

I really think that Ying Qianqiu is one of Ji Ning’s favourites, because he’s the only one that Ningning refused to reveal his identity to because he didn’t want to hurt him.

For people that like seductive Ji Ning, you’re really going to enjoy the next chapter~ 

…It’s one of my favourites!!