Chapter 19#
Chapter 19#
The moonlight was like water. Before long, the patrolling disciples had walked far away, and the world returned to tranquility.
After tossing and turning all night, the kitten was exhausted and unconsciously curled its tail, falling into a deep sleep on the windowsill.
Xue Jingci, however, could not sleep, holding the amber and repeatedly thinking about the news Xu Wang had brought back.
The demonic cultivators were looking for someone…
The last time he saw Pei Huang, he had sensed the scent of a demonic cultivator. Could it be that the little thief had gotten into some trouble?
Xue Jingci looked closely at the amber, as if trying to discern something from it.
After an unknown amount of time, the icicles on the eaves melted. Seeing them about to fall on the kitten’s head, Xue Jingci reached out to catch them, a light ticking sound echoing in his palm.
The kitten was completely unaware, letting out a comfortable purr.
Xue Jingci came to his senses and saw a faint bluish light appearing on the horizon, realizing he had been sitting by the window all night.
He reached out to pick up the kitten and casually picked up the peach blossoms from the floor, placing them in a vase in the room.
Temporarily without any sleepiness, Xue Jingci simply stood up and headed to the bamboo forest behind the house to watch Xiao Xun practice his sword.
During this period, Xiao Xun had indeed, as he had promised, put in far more effort than others to practice, leaving the house every day before dawn.
The sound of sword qi came from a distance. Xue Jingci hid to the side and remained silent.
He had no intention of revealing himself, but he saw the sword in Xiao Xun’s hand suddenly roar and vibrate, and several cracks abruptly appeared on the blade.
Xue Jingci flicked his sleeve, his figure elegantly landing in front of Xiao Xun, dispersing the wildly wandering sword qi on the blade.
“Master.”
Xiao Xun said in surprise: “Why have you come?”
Xue Jingci did not speak, only focusing his gaze on Xiao Xun’s sword.
The blade was now covered in crisscrossing cracks, clearly caused by its inability to carry the user’s spiritual energy.
But Xiao Xun had only just entered the sect, and his cultivation was not high. This sword was also forged from profound iron…
Seeing Xue Jingci staring fixedly at his sword, Xiao Xun’s eyes flickered, appearing somewhat nervous.
He lowered his eyes and gripped the sword, the corners of his eyes turning a bit red. He sighed: “When this sword was forged, I was being chased. I couldn’t quench it with cold spring water in time, and ultimately wasted a good sword.”
If a Dharma sword is not quenched in time, its toughness will decrease significantly.
Xue Jingci took the sword, examined it for a while, and suggested: “This sword can still be salvaged. If you trust me, I can reforge it for you.”
Xiao Xun was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.
Xue Jingci stared at Xiao Xun’s empty palm. Seeing he had no weapon, he turned and said: “Follow me.”
The two entered the house, and Xue Jingci began rummaging through chests and cupboards for something. The kitten followed along, digging through things foolishly.
Xiao Xun felt like laughing as he watched.
Although Master was cold and detached, he occasionally couldn’t help but show a bit of cuteness. Perhaps he was originally attracted by this bit of foolishness, as if he had glimpsed the Xue Jingci that only he could see.
To him, this was a form of partiality, though Xue Jingci himself was unaware.
After a long search, Xue Jingci finally pulled out several sword boxes from the very bottom and spread them out on the table.
“These are things I’ve obtained from missions over the years. I have no use for them, and their quality isn’t the best. You’ll have to make do for now. Pick one you like.”
He seriously opened the sword boxes one by one, unaware of the gloom in Xiao Xun’s eyes.
Xiao Xun stared fixedly at the peach blossom branch in the vase and the amber on the table, knowing in his heart that the mysterious person had appeared again.
He had always known that Xue Jingci frequently contacted a mysterious person, but he had never seen that person’s true face.
Whenever that person came, they would always snap off a branch of peach blossoms to give him. Presumably, they were someone who loved flowers.
And when he first met Xue Jingci in his previous life, he saw that he always wore a piece of amber.
—Inside was sealed a magnificent and beautiful peony, its origin unknown.
For Xue Jingci to wear it close to his body, its meaning must be extraordinary.
Now that the amber and peach blossoms had appeared simultaneously, they must have been given by that person.
So that mysterious person had appeared this early.
It wasn’t Xie Zheng. Who was it?
The hand Xiao Xun had tucked in his sleeve clenched tightly, yet a shallow smile appeared on his face. He asked: “Master, this amber is truly beautiful. Where did it come from?”
Xue Jingci, for some reason, had a rare and faint smile on his lips. He said: “A little friend gave it to me.”
Xiao Xun reached out and picked up the amber to examine it closely, stroking it lovingly. He sighed: “This amber is lustrous and translucent, and the sealed peony is lifelike. It’s truly rare. Although peonies are the ’national fragrance and celestial color,’ this one is different.”
Xue Jingci, who usually had no interest in anything other than food, actually looked over curiously and asked with some expectation: “How is it different?”
Xiao Xun lowered his eyes and said: “This flower is called ‘Luoyang Brocade.’ Two colors appear on the same stem, embracing and interlocking, living and dying together…”
His voice trailed off, then he looked up with a graceful smile: “This little friend of Master’s was truly thoughtful.”
Last night was dim, so Xue Jingci hadn’t really looked that closely. Now placing it in the sunlight, it was indeed as Xiao Xun said. The flower was like a yin-yang taiji, the two colors blending and inseparable. It was an extremely rare variety, with lush and magnificent petals, presumably worth a fortune.
Xue Jingci reached out to take the amber. The more he looked, the more he liked it, thinking it would be very pretty to drill a hole and wear it on his person.
Xiao Xun, seeing his smile deepen and his gaze lingering lovingly on it, felt a surge of hostility in his heart. Yet it didn’t show on his face, and he praised in a light tone: “I once made amber too, but it wasn’t as exquisite as this.”
Xue Jingci rarely saw Xiao Xun show such a state, so he said: “If you like amber, I’ll buy one for you next time I see one.”
Xiao Xun withdrew his gaze and said meaningfully: “What amber seals is sincerity. How can that be bought with money?”
These words made Xue Jingci slightly stunned.
Xiao Xun stopped mentioning the amber and instead picked up a sword from the table, asking: “Master, can I choose this one?”
Xue Jingci nodded.
He always acted decisively. Without much delay, he picked up the System to reforge the Dharma sword for Xiao Xun. When he returned, it was already two days later.
The moment he entered the house, he saw Xiao Xun kneeling on the floor, struggling to pick up fragments of amber.
Fragments were scattered everywhere on the floor, and the peony sealed inside was also in pieces. The ‘Luoyang Brocade’ that was originally meant to have its colors inseparable for eternity was now scattered and rolling in the dust.
The System clung to Xue Jingci’s arm and poked its head out to look. At one glance, it meowed: “How did the amber that brat gave break!”
Xue Jingci stared at the fragments on the floor, his mood instantly plummeting. It felt as if something was blocking his heart, a stuffy and uncomfortable feeling.
Hearing movement, Xiao Xun looked up in panic while holding the fragments.
The edges of the fragments were extremely sharp, cutting through the lines of his palm and leaving countless small bloody gasps.
Xiao Xun was completely unaware, letting the blood roll down from between his fingers. He said in terror: “I’m sorry, Master. Please punish me.”
“It’s my fault. While organizing the books, I saw this exquisite amber and was curious, so I picked it up to study it, wanting to see how it was made. I never expected to lose my grip and break this unique piece.”
His body was trembling, and he kept admitting his fault while kneeling on the floor: “I know the sentiment sealed in this amber is irreplaceable by anything. This disciple deserves ten thousand deaths. Master, please punish me.”
Xue Jingci remained silent. He bent over to pick up a fragment and looked at it for a long time before saying: “Forget it. You should get up.”
Xiao Xun wanted to apologize further, but Xue Jingci handed him the reforged sword.
“Go practice your sword.”
Xiao Xun had no choice but to withdraw.
Only then did Xue Jingci let out a sigh, holding the amber fragments in his palm and looking at them repeatedly. He couldn’t help but whisper: “What a pity.”
The kitten rubbed against him, swiping its tail across his hand.
In the blink of an eye, a year passed, and the Upper Realm finally welcomed the decennial Immortal Sect Assembly.
The assembly was co-hosted by the sects of the Upper Realm. Each sect sent ten disciples into a secret realm for experience, ranking them based on their performance and allocating cultivation resources accordingly.
This year’s site for experience was set at an ancient battlefield.
That battlefield was located in the mortal realm. It was once a place of a great war between ancient cultivators and the demon race, leaving behind a large number of vengeful spirits with foul auras that were difficult to transcend and could only be trapped in place with barriers.
Every so often, the Upper Realm would send people in to cull them, preventing the foul aura of the vengeful spirits from becoming too heavy and breaking the barrier.
It was extremely dangerous inside, but many spiritual treasures of ancient cultivators were also left behind, making it very suitable for disciples to go in for experience.
Over this past year, Xue Jingci’s mission progress had grown extremely fast. Unfortunately, he was not yet an elder and could not truly take Xiao Xun as his disciple.
Fortunately, a few days ago, the System had issued a new mission, telling him to take Xiao Xun to an ancient secret realm.
After entering the secret realm, he could use contribution points to exchange for tokens. Handing them over to the sect would be enough for him to be promoted to the position of elder.
“Master!”
Xiao Xun ran in from outside, smiling as he placed a piece of paper on the table. It was the list of disciples from the Lingxu Sect who were going to the Immortal Sect Assembly for experience.
“This will be my first time descending to the mortal realm. After the trial ends, can we take a walk through the cities of the lower realm?”
Xiao Xun stared intently at Xue Jingci, his expression nervous and expectant.
Xue Jingci thought of all kinds of delicacies and nodded in agreement.
The Upper Realm was sun-drenched, while it was currently the plum rain season in the lower realm.
The sound of muffled thunder came from the horizon. Lightning tore through the dark clouds, drawing a long line in the dark sky. Rain extinguished the rolling yellow sand.
The great desert was uninhabited, except for one inn that still had a lamp lit.
Inside was dim. Lamp oil was a rarity in the desert. Pei Huang sat crookedly on the counter, staring at the door, seemingly waiting for someone to arrive.
Anyone who saw this would find it absurd—who would come to this desert?
Yet under the pouring rain, that door actually opened.
A wild wind swirled into the room, making the candle flame on the table flicker, barely allowing the blood-soaked pages on the counter to be seen.
The newcomer was completely covered in black cloth, revealing only a pair of eyes.
Pei Huang finally sat up straight, reached out to tap the pages in front of him, and looked up at the black-robed person.
“You want me to go to this secret realm?”
He was not old, yet this glance held sharp insight, as if he could see through all the hidden secrets in others’ hearts.
The black-robed person shook off the rain from his body and spoke: “Words are weightless, seeing is believing. What you want is within this secret realm. But our people cannot enter; you can only go see for yourself.”
He seemed to want to move closer. Pei Huang’s expression changed slightly, and the thin youth who had been sitting quietly nearby suddenly acted, flashing out in the blink of an eye.
Before the black-robed person could see clearly, a layer of skin on his neck had already been cut.
A cold blade was pressed against his neck. Should he take even one more step forward, his entire head would be sliced off.
“If you’re talking, just talk. Why get so close?”
Pei Huang remained in his original spot, playing with a dagger in his hand. He curved his lips and said: “My brother’s temper isn’t very good. My apologies.”
The black-robed person’s Adam’s apple rolled as he forcefully suppressed his anger and took a step back.
Pei Huang looked down at the pages on the table. That person was right; the answer he wanted might be hidden inside. He could only verify it for himself.
“This secret realm is indeed dangerous, but…”
The black-robed person paused. His withered fingers pulled a scroll from his robes and tossed it toward Pei Huang.
“That person will also be going in this time. Whether to go or not, please consider it yourself.”
Pei Huang reached up to catch the scroll. Upon opening it, he saw a dense list of names. When his gaze swept over the three characters ‘Xue Jingci,’ his expression instantly turned serious, and he looked at the black-robed person with sharp eyes.
After a long time, his expression relaxed, and he tucked the scroll into his robes.
“You can go back and report.”