A Gold Core cultivator actually failed to defeat someone at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment. Ye Yizhou looked utterly dejected. “I lost again! I truly am one who fights, loses, fights, and loses again. My cultivation has not made much progress, but I have certainly tempered an indomitable will.”
“Junior Martial Uncle, I must trouble you to go to Piaomiao Peak yourself to retrieve my master-disciple jade token from the Sect Leader. I will head down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning; I will not shame Master any longer!”
Zhong Wuxi hurriedly offered comfort. “You are the Sect Leader’s most prized personal disciple who managed to form a Gold Core before twenty-three. How could you be a shame to anyone?”
“That still cannot compare to Junior Martial Uncle’s peerless talent. At seventeen, you are already at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment. Perhaps before long, you will form your Gold Core and become the youngest Gold Core cultivator in the Qingyuan Realm!”
Liu Wan looked on with a blank expression. “You both—one with a single Water Spirit Root and the other with a supreme mutated Light Spirit Root—have you ever considered how those of us with dual spirit roots feel?”
Ye Yizhou quickly consoled her. “Junior Martial Sister Liu, do not be disheartened. The Liu clan of Xianzhou are all artifact cultivators. While forging artifacts, an artifact cultivator’s soul is also tempered using the spirit as a guide and the artifact as the vessel.”
After a long-winded explanation, Ye Yizhou summarized, “In short, anyone accepted by the elders as a personal disciple is a peerless talent of great fortune and wisdom, learned in both ancient and modern knowledge, and possessing extraordinary gifts!”
Zhong Wuxi turned his head and stared at Ye Yizhou in silence. Liu Wan was also speechless. “Are you boasting about me, or about yourself?”
Ye Yizhou wiped away a tear of sorrow. “After forming the Gold Core, one’s appearance is fixed. I am stuck with this youthful face, so my juniors are neither afraid of me nor listen to my commands. Sigh.”
Zhong Wuxi had been accepted into the Xuanqing Sect at age three, at which time Ye Yizhou was already a young man. Now that Zhong Wuxi was seventeen, Ye Yizhou was over thirty, yet due to the fixed appearance brought by forming a Gold Core, he still looked like a young man.
Not wanting to listen to Ye Yizhou’s sighs, Liu Wan changed the subject. “Why is it, Senior Brother Ye, that you are at the Gold Core stage yet consistently lose to our Junior Martial Uncle, who is still at the great perfection of Foundation Establishment?”
Ye Yizhou looked up at the deep blue sky. “Those who awaken a mutated Light Spirit Root can convert the light of the sun, moon, stars, and even candles into an inexhaustible stream of spiritual power. Junior Martial Uncle only needs to use his own body as a conduit to absorb this power, making him practically invincible.”
Liu Wan covered her mouth in shock. “A mutated Light Spirit Root is that terrifying?”
“That is why Junior Martial Uncle’s awakening of the Light Spirit Root is the highest secret of the Xuanqing Sect and must not be leaked to anyone.”
Liu Wan nodded. “I know this. After the entrance ceremony, Wuchen and I found that many people had lost a section of their memory. Later, Master told me that Junior Martial Uncle’s awakening was a top-secret matter, known only to the elders and personal disciples.”
Zhong Wuxi suddenly understood. “No wonder we had to have our match inside a secret realm.”
“The immortal sects are currently facing both internal and external troubles,” Ye Yizhou sighed. “A tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind; keeping one’s sharpness hidden is the way of the world.”
Noticing the confusion on Zhong Wuxi’s face, he explained, “One thousand years ago, the Guixu Sword Sovereign, before ascending to immortality, slew the Demon Lord and sealed one hundred thousand demons within the Abyss of Emptiness. However, the barrier began to loosen one hundred years ago, and in recent years, the demons have appeared with increasing frequency.”
“I heard from Master the other day that a great battle is inevitable within the next century.”
Zhong Wuxi rested his chin on his hand. “If the barrier he set himself is loosening, does the Guixu Sword Sovereign not sense it? Or does he simply ignore mortal affairs after ascending?”
Ye Yizhou lunged to cover his Junior Martial Uncle’s mouth, but Zhong Wuxi deftly dodged. “Fine, I will say no more.”
A moment later, he asked, “The external trouble is the demons, but what about the internal trouble?”
“I know this,” Liu Wan said, standing up. “Whether in the martial arts world or the imperial court, where there are people, there is conflict. The Qingyuan Realm has countless immortal clans and sects, with three major sects, four gates, and seven schools comprising the top-tier powers.”
“Even among the top-tier powers, there is a hierarchy. The three major sects come first, the four gates second, and the seven schools last. As the head of the three sects, our Xuanqing Sect not only possesses unique cultivation resources but also the full support of the Xiling Dynasty. Who would not be jealous?”
“Aside from us, the other sects have constant minor friction. I heard that half a year ago, the Xiaoyao Sect and the Guiyi Gate fought over the ownership of a spiritual lake.”
Zhong Wuxi realized, “So that is the case. I thought there was no conflict in the cultivation world.”
He had been trapped on Jimo Peak for five years by his Master’s Yin-Yang Barrier, and since reaching Foundation Establishment, he had been in seclusion. Having only come out a month ago, he had no idea the outside world was like this.
Ye Yizhou desperately wanted to pat his Junior Martial Uncle’s head, but given their difference in seniority, he had to restrain his itching hand.
“Cultivation requires resources. Heavenly materials, rare spirit beasts, profound manuals, and medicinal pills must be fought for, snatched, and seized.”
Liu Wan leaned in. “Junior Martial Uncle, I heard from Master that your spirit beast is extremely rare. Could you let me have a look?”
“Of course.”
Zhong Wuxi untied the white silk ribbon from his wrist. “Snow Cloud Ribbon.”
The ribbon transformed into a beam of white light, flowing toward the horizon.
Ye Yizhou was silent. “I do not understand.”
Liu Wan was equally silent. “I do not understand either.”
Zhong Wuxi took out a dagger and sliced his fingertip. A flash of red light flooded into the secret realm, transforming into a deep crimson ribbon embroidered with the character “Zhong.”
He performed a hand seal. Inside the secret realm, the red light intensified. The Snow Cloud Ribbon floated in the air, and a crimson mist descended. When the mist finally dispersed, Ye Yizhou stared hard: the ribbon was still red, but it now emitted a faint, jade-like luster.
Zhong Wuxi beckoned to the ribbon, and it transformed into a crimson cloud, lifting him into the air.
Liu Wan crossed her arms. “Why is it getting colder? Senior Brother, it is dark!”
The scene became ghastly, filled with ghosts and twilight. In the darkness, only a cold, desolate full moon hung in the sky, illuminating ghost fire, flickering fox lights, and piles of white bones.
Ye Yizhou looked up. Zhong Wuxi’s long silver hair draped over his shoulders, swaying in the night wind. The moonlight illuminated a face drenched in water; through the swirling mist, he looked like a richly painted ink-wash landscape.
The Snow Cloud Ribbon transformed into a sword in the air.
“Execute.”
Ye Yizhou hurriedly channeled all his spiritual power to defend, and Liu Wan also summoned her various protective artifacts. The blood-colored demonic sword swung down.
All sound vanished. Everything was annihilated by the wind, leaving only the warmth of the sun and white clouds drifting leisurely in the sky.
Half an hour had passed, but Liu Wan still had not recovered. “Did I not die? My very bones were scattered.”
As a Gold Core cultivator, Ye Yizhou patted his chest to calm his soul, which had nearly left his body. “So everything just now was an illusion?”
“Of course!” Zhong Wuxi nodded. “If I killed my cute, sensible, and filial junior nephew, who would help me steal fish?”
Ye Yizhou straightened his face. “I do not steal fish anymore.”
“It was an illusion, yet also real,” Zongzheng Lan said, looking at Zhong Wuxi.
When he had entered the secret realm, he happened to see this person suspended in mid-air, his Daoist robes dyed red, his hem swaying in the wind like smoke.
Ye Yizhou turned his head. “Junior Brother, how were you not affected?”
Zongzheng Lan snorted. “The True Phoenix bloodline can see through all illusions in this world.”
“I always forget your identity,” Ye Yizhou said, slapping his forehead. “By the way, Junior Martial Uncle, such a powerful artifact must be hard to control, right?”
Zhong Wuxi wrapped the Snow Cloud Ribbon back around his wrist. “The Snow Cloud Ribbon uses spirit as its guide and blood as its drive. If I wanted to deal with a Nascent Soul cultivator like Senior Sister Xuan Ling, I would have to drain every drop of blood from my body.”
“If dealing with a Foundation Establishment cultivator, it is much easier.”
“Also, the Snow Cloud Ribbon is a spirit beast, not an artifact.”
Liu Wan had just recovered, but hearing this, she began to doubt her own eyes and ears. “It really is a spirit beast!”
Ye Yizhou circled the little snow ball. “I have never seen such a spirit beast. Junior Martial Uncle, what is its name?”
Zhong Wuxi turned his head and stared at him in silence.
Zongzheng Lan gave a cold snort. “The Snow Cloud Ribbon is obviously called a Snow Cloud Ribbon.”
Ye Yizhou remained silent, wondering if he had been frightened senseless by the illusion.
Liu Wan stared at the little snow ball with envy. “I want a Snow Cloud Ribbon too, but are such spirit beasts not very hard to tame? With my father’s cultivation level…”
Ye Yizhou asked curiously, “Is your father’s cultivation level low?”
“Mid-stage Nascent Soul.”
“That is not low. Although Senior Sister Xuan Ling always says Nascent Soul cultivators are nothing special, aside from the four great Spirit Transformation masters, Nascent Soul cultivators are the most powerful in the Qingyuan Realm.”
Liu Wan shook her head. “Compared to this spirit beast, my father’s cultivation is not high at all.”
“Junior Martial Sister Liu is correct; this spirit beast’s cultivation is extremely high,” Zongzheng Lan said, glancing at the Snow Cloud Ribbon in Zhong Wuxi’s arms. “Yin and Yang, blood covering the snow.”
Ye Yizhou interrupted him. “You do not treat your own senior brother, who shares the same master, like this. Why are you so gentle when you meet girls?”
Liu Wan remained speechless. “This is called upbringing—the unique upbringing of a little prince of the Xiling Dynasty.”
“I am leaving; let us spar again tomorrow,” Zhong Wuxi said, leaving the secret realm in a hurry and flying back to Jimo Peak.
The immortal in white robes and ink-black hair was standing under a pear tree.
Zhong Wuxi ran over. “Master, I am back!”