CH 15

Hearing Yan Jiuge’s words, Chu Qi sized him up carefully. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about him. Perhaps he was tired from using too much spiritual power with his spiritual tool.

After thinking about it, Chu Qi raised his hand and cast a spell on Yan Jiuge to restore his spiritual power.

The white brilliance of the technique brushed over Yan Jiuge’s brows, causing him to lower his eyes subconsciously. The defensive restrictions on his body reacted spontaneously, but there was a trace of gentle spiritual power in his meridians, nourishing the lingtai point.

Yan Jiuge came to his senses and removed all of the defensive restrictions to allow Chu Qi’s spiritual technique to fall on him.

It was like a drizzle of rain in early spring, nourishing the earth after a long winter, banishing the cold and leaving behind vitality and joy.

After the technique finished, Yan Jiuge lifted his eyes.

In front of him, Chu Qi in his dark green medical cultivator’s robes, was looking at him with earnest eyes, “Do you feel better?”

“It’s much better.” Yan Jiuge nodded. Even if he wasn’t physically tired, he could still feel the strength of Chu Qi’s spiritual art.

Hearing that the technique was effective, Chu Qi’s expression showed a bit of joy, “I’m too low-level now, so these are the strongest techniques I can use right now. When I advance to a higher stage in the future, the effect will be even better.”

“Okay. I’ll wait for Ah-Qi to become stronger.” Yan Jiuge was also in a good mood.

—

With the help of Yan Jiuge’s spiritual tool and Chu Qi’s healing technique, the twenty mu of medicinal fields were quickly reclaimed.

Afterwards, the sword cultivators each received a bottle of Spiritual Rejuvenation pills produced by Zhongling Peak, which made them feel a little flattered.

After spending so many years in Tianxuan Sect, this was the first time that any of them had received medicine refined by their sect’s medical cultivators.

“Thank you, Elder, for giving me this medicine. Now that the fields have been reclaimed, I will take these juniors back to Zaohua Peak.” Liu Weiming bowed to Elder Qingyue as he said goodbye. He would tell the Sect Head about today’s tasks later.

“En, you may go.” Elder Qingyue nodded.

When Liu Weiming and the others left, Yan Jiuge naturally had to follow them back to Zaohua Peak.

Chu Qi watched their figures disappear off into the distance and didn’t look away until they were out of sight. When Chu Qi turned around, he met his shifu’s serious gaze.

“Shifu.” Chu Qi called out.

“Have you collected yourself? It’s not that shifu won’t let you play with other disciples, but when it’s time for practice, you must practice seriously.”

Elder Qingyue warned Chu Qi earnestly, “Your cultivation talent is very good. Don’t waste it.”

“This disciple knows. I will follow shifu’s instructions.” Chu Qi responded obediently. It was indeed time for him to start training. The medicinal fields have been reclaimed, and all that was left was to plant the spiritual plants.

What’s more, Yan Jiuge had already reached Foundation Establishment, yet he was still wasting time in early Qi Refining. This really wouldn’t do.

Thinking about the spiritual recovery technique he performed on Yan Jiuge earlier, Chu Qi felt that his experience was too shallow. Right now, the best he could do was alleviate fatigue. If, in the future, he encountered danger or needed to heal an injury, his current spiritual power wouldn’t be enough at all!

He had to hurry up and practice!

Chu Qi secretly reminded himself in his heart.

—

More than half a month passed in a flash.

Chu Qi’s cultivation had progressed from the early stage of Qi Refining to the late stage. He lived a very fulfilling and peaceful daily life.

Elder Qingyue suggested that Chu Qi should find a time to enter seclusion and break through to Foundation Building in one go.

Chu Qi was a little moved, so he told Yan Jiuge about it after the morning lecture on Wenjian Peak.

“Enter seclusion? For how long?” Yan Jiuge asked carefully.

“I’m not too sure, but it shouldn’t be more than a month, right?” Chu Qi replied.

“That’ll be good.” Yan Jiuge turned his face to the side, looking at the undulating mountains ahead. Towards that direction, he remembered, were the Tianxuan Sect gates.

“What’s good?” Chu Qi didn’t understand.

“I’ve been in Foundation Building for some time now, and I can take on some missions to go out to gain experience. When you go into seclusion, I’ll do some missions.” Yan Jiuge explained.

Tianxuan Sect had many different kinds of missions; catching spiritual beasts, finding spiritual plants, or patroling through the sect’s territory. In addition to the Tianxuan Sect’s grounds, there were many towns and small sects that depended on them for survival. Sometimes, if something happened to them, they would ask Tianxuan Sect for help.

Since Yan Jiuge had only built his foundation, he wouldn’t be involved in any of the patrols. Most likely, he will just have to go into the mountains within the sect grounds to catch some spiritual beasts. This kind of task was relatively simple.

Chu Qi thought for a while, then took out some medicine he had recently refined from his qiankun bag and handed them to Yan Jiuge, “Take these with you when you go out.”

Some of the medicine refined by Chu Qi could restore spiritual power, while some could heal wounds. The effects were simple, but very practical.

“Okay.” Yan Jiuge didn’t refuse, and put away all of the medicine.

Therefore, on the day that Chu Qi went into seclusion, Yan Jiuge took an assignment from Tianxuan Sect and left through the mountain gate.

—

If Yunhua Realm was to be described as a small world, then Yunyin Realm was a big one.

The cultivation base of the great powers in Yunyin could reach the Mahayana stage at the highest level, and there were many examples of seniors who ascended to immortality. Cultivation methods and spiritual power were much higher than those in Yunhua Realm.

However, due to spatial restrictions, cultivators from Yunhua Realm and Yunyin Realm didn’t cross over frequently. There were very few people who could freely travel between the two realms, and the Yan family in Yunyin Realm was one of them.

The Yan family’s guards dressed in gray robes were stationed at the border, emotionlessly watching over everything around them.

In front of the guards, there was a space teleportation formation. It was this formation that connected Yunhua Realm and Yunyin Realm, becoming the only entrance and exit for the two.

A wave of spiritual power was transmitted from the teleportation array, causing the guards that were stationed nearby to move closer once they felt it.

Afterwards, a boy in black and gold robes stepped out of the formation. He had handsome eyebrows, but his expression was very cold. The dark red spiritual pattern on his forehead was shaped like a cluster of flames, but set against the pair of dark golden eyes, there was no emotion at all.

“This subordinate greets the Young Master. Welcoming the Young Master back.”

The guards relaxed and saluted the boy respectfully.

The person who came was Yan Jiuge, the heir of the Yan family in Yunyin Realm.

The Yan family was in charge of discipline, their duty was to maintain the stability of the cultivation world. Therefore, the spatial restrictions, the spatial teleportation array, and even the Ascending Immortal Terrace were all under the management of this family.

The Yan family lived in seclusion and acted mysteriously. They did not show up unless things were important. Otherwise, they would have the whole Yunyin Realm in the palms of their hands.

Leaping over the guards standing in front of the spatial formation, Yan Jiuge flew towards the main house of the Yan family on his sword.

The main residence of the Yan family was not far from the border, and Yan Jiuge arrived within a quarter of an hour of flying.

As the deadline approached, the entire Yan family was more heavily guarded than usual. All the ancient formations were opened and layers of restrictions like layers of a cocoon were protecting the main house inside.

At the main entrance of the Yan house, apart from the guards in gray, there was also a black figure standing at the gate, looking like they were waiting for something.

Yan Jiuge flew down from the air on his sword. The ancient formations did nothing to stop him. Sensing his aura, the guards at the main entrance bowed their heads in salute.

Only the stern-looking man in the ink-colored robes saw the boy who had just come back reprimanded him, “Every time you have to come back, you’re almost late. Yan Jiuge, you really should reflect on yourself.”

Yan Jiuge glanced at him and didn’t say anything. Yan Jiuge had grown tired of these words long ago. Hearing them again was no different than listening to a fart.

When the four eyes met, Yan Jiuge’s dark golden eyes forced the man to be silent for a moment. He eased his tone and continued to say, “You’re getting more and more rebellious. If the seal weakens, it will cause a lot of trouble. You shouldn’t delay coming back.”

“Stop bullshitting.” Yan Jiuge frowned in disgust, “My bad temper and the instability of the seal, whose fault is that exactly?”

“…”

“Yan Mingchao, if you have time to talk nonsense here, it’d be better to just open the altar earlier.” Yan Jiuge said indifferently, “I’m in a hurry.”

“Follow me.”

Yan Mingchao withdrew his gaze from him, and his tone was light. Perhaps he was feeling a little disappointed.

The rest of the guards who witnessed this quarrel remained motionless. They were long used to the interactions between the Patriarch and the Young Master.

The Yan family had too many things to guard, but Yan Jiuge only had one.

This layer of restrictions on the Yan house was so heavy that it was difficult to breathe.

Inside the ancient building, in the center of the Yan family’s main house, was a huge altar.

Unlike other altars dedicated to gods, this altar was covered in many restrictions and was used to suppress things beneath it.

There was a Spirit Gathering array over the entire main house. Everyone wore dignified looks on their faces with formation runes under their feet.

If there was insufficient spiritual power at that time, the Spirit Gathering array would extract up to nine levels of spiritual power from them and supply it to the person at the center of the formation.

“Let’s begin.” Yan Mingchao said in a deep voice.

Om! With a soft sound, the originally blocked altar gradually released the outermost layer of restrictions, and the ground paved with black jade sunk downwards, revealing a bottomless black abyss.

Wisps of evil qi overflowed from the gap in the altar, like a gaping maw with its fangs exposed, unceremoniously pouring out malicious intent.

“Yan….”

Before Yan Mingchao could speak, the boy standing beside him had already walked towards the center of the altar. He was alone, carrying the burden of the thousands of people of Yunyin Realm behind him.

As the light and shadow completely disappeared from Yan Jiuge’s body, his figure was swallowed up by the black abyss.

Yan Mingchao’s expression was dignified, and he raised his hands to mobilize his spiritual power and form a seal, “Consolidate the formation, together—!”

The brilliance of the Spirit Gathering array emerged in the Yan family’s main house, one rune after another was lit up. Forbearance and pain appeared on the faces of the people standing on the runes. It wasn’t a good feeling to have your spiritual power forcibly taken away by the formation.

But if they didn’t do this, Yan Jiuge, who was in the center of it all, would receive backlash from the evil qi.

The evil qi had accumulated there for tens of millions of years and was more than enough to destroy life as they knew it in Yunyin Realm.

The reason why the Yan family bore such a responsibility was because they were born with a mass of immortal qi in their bodies that was enough to seal the evil qi.

It’s just that, after exposure to so much evil qi, people with immortal qi would eventually lose it. This was how Yan Mingchao’s immortal qi disappeared.

But after Yan Jiuge was born, the fate of the Yan family was reversed.

—Because Yan Jiuge was born with immortal bones.

With his immortal bones, the evil qi could be sealed forever.

—

Under the altar, in the black abyss.

Without any light, even time seemed stagnant. Silent and dark.

The evil qi silently surged towards Yan Jiuge, gradually eroding his body. The immortal bones were a huge attraction for them.

For these evil spirits without any intelligence, the danger of being sealed was less important than this instinctive reaction.

The spiritual power of the Spirit Gathering array also converged on Yan Jiuge’s body in the eye of the formation, turning his body into a battlefield where the two forces fought.

Pain was inevitable, and sobriety came and went.

Yan Jiuge was no stranger to this kind of torment. He lowered his eyes, closed his fingers and squeezed them unconsciously.

To Yan Jiuge’s surprise, there was an extra white jade bottle in his hand. He didn’t know when he had taken it out of the qiankun bag.

Before Yan Jiuge could think about it, the pain of his bones being eroded overtook his mind again.

Clang—!

The jade bottle fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces. The Spiritual Rejuvenation pills contained inside spilled out, and wisps of medicinal fragrance permeated the dark abyss where even the sun couldn’t reach.

“…”

Those dark golden eyes regained some clarity.

Yan Jiuge took out all the jade bottles from his qiankun bag, popped the corks, and let the fragrance of the medicine surround him.

Such low-level medicines were of little use to Yan Jiuge now, but he was still reluctant to throw it away. He kept them in his qiankun bag all this time and brought it with him to Yunyin Realm.

In the end, the only thing by his side during this ordeal were those familiar medicinal scents.

“Ah-Qi…”

Yan Jiuge could hear his own hoarse whispering, and fell into a trance as he remembered those events from a long time ago.

—

Yan Jiuge understood from a young age that his future was already determined for him.

Except for meeting Chu Qi.

The first time he met Chu Qi was when Yan Jiuge was nine years old.

At that time, Yan Jiuge had just finished sealing the evil qi, and because of his age and low cultivation, he couldn’t restrain the backlash of the evil qi. As a result, he had a violent temper and would often go crazy.

Yan Mingchao had no other option but to use the clan’s restriction techniques to put another seal on Yan Jiuge.

Afterwards, he was left with a dark red spiritual pattern on his forehead and his cultivation was suppressed to Qi Refinement. He was sent to Yunhua Realm to recuperate.

Yan Jiuge didn’t care at all. Ever since he had been born, he hadn’t been able to live according to his own wishes; even when he died it wouldn’t be on his own terms.

To live was to be burdened with suppressing the evil qi, and it was extremely boring.

Until the evening of that day, a child broke into the courtyard where Yan Jiuge lived.

The child was holding a bunch of tanghulu in one hand, while gripping the top of the wall with the other. Stepping on the tree branches from outside the wall, he was struggling to climb in from the other side.

After a while, there was a loud bang, and the child came in from the other side of the wall.

Yan Jiuge noticed the movement, but because he was too tired to move, he only sat on the stone chair in the courtyard and looked at him sideways.

Four eyes met.

The smile on the child’s face froze for a moment.

He had a snow-white face with skin like jade and seemed to like looking at people. He stared blankly at Yan Jiuge for a while, then turned his head to look at the eight-chi-high wall. He looked back and forth twice, and finally spoke to Yan Jiuge with some embarrassment.

“I went to the wrong yard. I’m sorry to disturb you.”

The child’s voice was soft, and when he apologized, he was sincere and well-behaved, making it difficult to be too harsh on him.

Yan Jiuge watched this child quietly. He had never met a person like this. His appearance was harmless, and had not an ounce of cultivation, but he still climbed over the wall with his own ability.

Seeing that Yan Jiuge’s expression did not ease, the child hesitated, and handed over the tanghulu in his hand, “I’ll give you these tanghulu as compensation. I spent a lot of effort to buy these secretly behind Uncle Lin’s back. They’re very rare.”

Tanghulu were even more rare in Yan Jiuge’s eyes.

A bunch of bright red things on a stick, coated in a light golden sugar shell. Even the air smelled of the sugary sweetness.

At that time, for some unknown reason, Yan Jiuge stretched out his hand and took the tanghulu from the child.

It was a pity that before he could get a closer look at what these things were, the evil qi that remained on his body surged out of his fingertips.

Yan Jiuge’s fingers trembled.

Clatter. Suddenly, the bunch of tanghulu in his hand fell to the ground.

The child’s eyes widened, and they were soon covered with mist. Feeling wronged, he accused, “You can just tell me if you don’t like it! I won’t give it to you then! Why did you have to throw it on the ground?”

Yan Jiuge looked at the child’s expression, and for the first time, tried to explain, “I’m not sure.”

“You’re someone older than me, why can’t you even hold tanghulu properly?”

“Then why did you go to the wrong house?”

“These are two different things! I’m talking about tanghulu!”

“They are the same. There is a cause and then an effect. If you didn’t go to the wrong house, I wouldn’t have dropped the tanghulu.”

“No! I just went to the wrong house and lost my tanghulu. I’m the unluckiest.”

“…”

The sound of their bickering attracted the attention of the people living in the courtyards next to them.

The child was taken away by his Uncle Lin.

And Yan Jiuge, under the extremely shocked eyes of his attendants, bent down to pick up the remnants of the tanghulu on the ground.

“Y-young Master…” The attendant was so shocked that he couldn’t speak properly.

“What is this? Is it precious?” Yan Jiuge asked him.

“This is a snack eaten by children in Yunhua Realm. They’re called tanghulu. For children, this should be something very precious.”

The attendant finished explaining to Yan Jiuge with some difficulty, and then cautiously reminded him, “But this bunch of tanghulu is dirty, so we’ll have to throw it away.”

“That child just now…”

“He is the child of our next-door neighbor. His name is Chu Qi.”

“Chu Qi.” Yan Jiuge repeated it.

After the words fell, Yan Jiuge looked away from the tanghulu and glanced in the direction of the wall.

It was rare for the sun to reach his eyes and add a speck of light.