Chapter 6#
Chapter 6#
The Heaven’s Gate Array divided the world into two, and in the Upper Realm, only the peaks of various mountain ranges from the mortal world existed.
The higher the mountain, the slower the snow melted. Even if it managed to melt a bit during the day, after a night of cold wind, it would freeze again.
The Mao hour was approaching, and the celestial light had not yet dawned.
Xue Jingci returned from the deep mountains, casually placed his basket in a corner of the tavern, and picked up a broom to sweep the snow.
This mountain was home to a famous large market in the Upper Realm, with many shops along the road, decorated with lanterns and colored banners everywhere. At a glance, it was a riot of colors, forming a sharp contrast with the pale sea of clouds.
Only this tavern was grey and drab, with no decorations on its structure. Even the plaque was carved from broken wood, swaying precariously in the wind.
Unknowingly, Xue Jingci had lived on this mountain for four months. After successfully passing his tribulation that day, he had been randomly teleported by the Heaven’s Gate Array to this mountain where loose cultivators gathered.
Newly arrived, he had found a tavern that was hiring to temporarily settle down and secretly gather information.
It was winter when he left the mortal realm; now, only snow remained on the peak, so the mortal realm must be filled with the light of spring.
Xue Jingci’s nose twitched, and his sweeping movements grew slower and slower. Finally, his gaze drifted past the mountain through his veiled hat (muli), staring blankly at the rolling sea of clouds.
The System had originally rolled a snowball to show Xue Jingci, but its paw was only halfway raised when it saw the white gauze of the muli being blown up by the cold wind, revealing a face as cool as jade.
It certainly wasn’t the first time it had been hit by the full force of such beauty, but the System’s mind simply went blank. It felt that the host’s temperament had changed, and after thinking seriously, it realized this was the “sense of brokenness” most needed in the Crematorium Plane.
The System stared closely into Xue Jingci’s eyes.
How to describe that look? It was like a mixture of nostalgia and loneliness, making one feel pained just by looking at it.
No scumbag gong could walk away alive from such a gaze!
The System hadn’t expected the emotionally detached host to suddenly have an epiphany, and its confidence in completing the Crematorium mission grew.
“Host, are you thinking about Xie Zheng?”
The System asked softly. Over these months, they had inquired about Xie Zheng’s news from many sources, but all had yielded nothing.
Xue Jingci’s throat moved, and he shook his head: “I’m thinking about the river fish from Yucheng.”
System: “…”
The ice on the rivers would be breaking, and the fish would be plump and delicious after a winter. Whether steamed or grilled, they would be excellent.
Unfortunately, there were no rivers in the Upper Realm, let alone seas. Aside from the high and low mountain peaks, there was only the tens of thousands of miles of continuous, danger-filled sea of clouds.
This spring, he was destined not to be able to eat them.
Xue Jingci withdrew his thoughts and continued sweeping snow. Suddenly, he saw a few melon seed shells on the ground. He looked up and found that Hu Sanniang had arrived.
This Hu Sanniang was a tyrant of the street with unfathomable cultivation. Usually, she would casually set up her stall in front of popular shops, and no one dared to provoke her.
When she suddenly disappeared some time ago, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had gone into secluded cultivation.
Who knew why she had set up in front of this tavern today.
“The owner of this tavern is black-hearted; he only provides food and lodging when hiring and never gives wages. Are you still working so diligently?” Hu Sanniang said while cracking melon seeds, striking up a conversation with Xue Jingci.
Xue Jingci shook his head: “Having food and lodging is enough for someone newly arrived.”
Having said that, he continued to sweep the snow silently. Once he finished a circle, the sun finally tore through the sky. Golden-red light swept across diagonally, light and shadow dancing in the sea of clouds, magnificent and vast.
Most of the time, the Upper Realm was a vast expanse of white; now, it finally possessed a moment of color.
Xue Jingci turned and went into the house, bringing out the new plaque he had just finished carving last night.
Hu Sanniang couldn’t help but stare at the three characters “Chuci Gui” (This Place is Home/Returning Here) on the plaque. She hadn’t expected that Xue Jingci, who looked so thin, would write characters that were so vigorous and powerful.
After sunrise, the mountain peak seemed to wake up. Along the mountain road, shops on both sides opened their doors to welcome guests, and countless loose cultivators flew through the mountains on their swords, making it very lively.
Other shops were bustling, but “Chuci Gui” remained cold and deserted. Occasionally, a loose cultivator would be attracted by the plaque and want to come in and look, but they would immediately be stopped by a passerby: “The wine in this tavern is famous for being bland and tasteless. You’d better go elsewhere.”
Xue Jingci was well aware of this. On his first day at the tavern, he had tasted that the wine here was made by diluting ready-made wine with water.
The owner probably didn’t know how to brew wine at all.
Xue Jingci turned and went into the room. Although he was indoors, he did not take off his veiled hat.
Most loose cultivators who had just ascended from the mortal realm after their tribulation could not adapt to the piercing light of the Upper Realm and would only feel better after staying for about a year.
As he manipulated the abacus, he calculated the money needed for living in the Upper Realm. When he sold medicinal herbs earlier, he had specifically asked about the prices of pills, and they were actually quite a bit cheaper than in the lower realm—a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills only cost three low-grade spirit stones.
But the food and drinks in taverns were dozens of times more expensive! A simple plate of braised pork with spiritual rice cost sixty low-grade spirit stones.
At this moment, Xue Jingci truly thought of Xie Zheng.
When he picked up Xie Zheng, he was just a poor loose cultivator. Originally, he could go to a tavern once a week to eat pork trotters, but after taking in a disciple, there were expenses everywhere, so he rarely went again.
It was also his first time being a master, so he worked hard to learn from other masters, buying Dharma robes and talismans for Xie Zheng… the most expensive part was forging a Dharma sword.
Xue Jingci couldn’t remember how many demon beasts he had killed or how long he had saved money. In short, he successfully forged a unique Dharma sword for Xie Zheng right before he reached the Foundation Building stage.
On the day he went to collect the sword, Xue Jingci passed by the tavern again. Smelling the aroma of pork trotters, he found that he didn’t seem to want to eat them as much.
Who knew that in the middle of the night, he would belatedly crave them and sit up in bed, feeling distressed.
Then, he unexpectedly found that Xie Zheng wasn’t asleep either.
Xue Jingci walked to the side room and saw his usually mature and steady disciple carefully wiping the sword over and over again, his eyes red.
Hearing footsteps, Xie Zheng looked up in a panic and then said with determination, “Master, in the future, I… I will definitely not let you work so hard again.”
Xue Zheng was once a Zhuangyuan and carried the unique reserve and restraint of a literatus. Most of the time, he would only do things silently and rarely say anything.
But that night, Xie Zheng unexpectedly said a lot to Xue Jingci. The master and disciple had a heart-to-heart talk, and that was when they truly bonded.
Later, Xie Zheng taught himself alchemy, determined to study the Dao of Alchemy as a secondary path.
Because pills sold for the highest prices, he could earn a lot of money, and in the future, his master could buy whatever he wanted to eat.
Xue Jingci couldn’t help but lament the irony of fate.
Who would have thought that the most profitable trade in the Upper Realm was not alchemy, but being a chef.
Things are valued when they are scarce.
After all, a loose cultivator who could ascend must have a Golden Core cultivation, and their numbers were as rare as phoenix feathers. Taverns didn’t lack ingredients, but they lacked people.
Moreover, there had never been anyone in the world who entered the Dao through cooking. Making a dish occasionally was fine, but being accompanied by pots and pans every day would likely delay one’s cultivation.
He wondered what Xie Zheng had felt when he first arrived in the Upper Realm.
The sound of footsteps came, and Xue Jingci withdrew his thoughts. He thought a guest had arrived, but when he looked up, he found it was the owner.
Xue Jingci stood up, poured two cups of the wine he had brewed with wild mountain peaches, and handed one over, saying, “Care to taste?”
The owner took a sip and felt that the wine was mellow and strong, with a faint honey fragrance. Only then did he remember that Xue Jingci often ran to the mountains with a basket on his back; it turned out he was picking peaches to figure out how to brew wine.
He praised, “Good wine.”
Before he finished speaking, someone entered the tavern. First, he cupped his hands and bowed to the owner, saying “Harmony brings wealth.” Then, he unceremoniously reached out to take the other cup of wine.
“What wine? Let me taste it too…”
Xue Jingci snatched back his wine cup. The man only smelled a faint peach scent.
“Smelling this scent, it seems I truly have a fate with you, Daoist friend.” Even though he didn’t get to drink the wine, the man still spoke with a smile.
After saying that, the white gauze hanging from Xue Jingci’s veiled hat was suddenly lifted by a peach blossom branch.
He squinted his eyes, stung by the light, and his dense eyelashes lowered, softening the coldness on his face.
Xue Jingci didn’t speak, but the man holding the peach branch laughed: “Beauty paired with peach blossoms—I picked it early this morning. Do you like it?”
“Xu Wang, you said the same thing when you gave a Shao Orchid to Daoist Zhou the day before yesterday.”
The owner couldn’t help but pull the rug out from under him. Having said that, he finally got up lazily and went into the house.
Xu Wang wasn’t annoyed either. He waited to the side, placed the peach blossom branch in Xue Jingci’s arms, and said seriously, “Daoist Xue, I’ve come to see you today for serious business.”
This man was familiar with the owner and often sat in the shop. Xue Jingci had long known of his frivolous behavior; every time he saw him, he would call him “beauty.”
Xu Wang grabbed a stool and sat on the counter, lowering his voice and asking, “Haven’t you been inquiring about Xie Zheng?”
Xue Jingci suddenly looked up, his eyes focusing bit by bit in the strong light. For the first time, he finally saw clearly the appearance of the person in front of him.
Xu Wang wore green clothes, with a few peacock feathers adorning his shoulders. His appearance was upright and handsome, but his leg was draped over the stool, giving him a bit of a shiftless air.
“Do you have news of him?” Xue Jingci asked.
Xu Wang said triumphantly, “Previously you said Xie Zheng was the disciple you took in the mortal realm and that you wanted to find him. Yet no one believed you. Do you know why?”
Xue Jingci remembered how he had been given the cold shoulder several times when looking for work and asked curiously, “Why?”
Xu Wang rested his chin on his right hand and looked at Xue Jingci affectionately, saying, “Want to know? Give me a smile.”
Xue Jingci gazed at him for a moment and then gave a serious smile: “Tell me.”
Xu Wang was dazed by the smile and pushed his luck by trying to touch Xue Jingci’s hand, saying hypocritically, “Daoist friend, please keep holding my wrist while I speak.”
“As you know, news comes from the mouth and is often hard to distinguish as true or false. But when someone lies, their heartbeat always speeds up.”
“By holding my pulse, you’ll know if I’m lying.”
As they were both men, holding hands wasn’t much of an issue. Xue Jingci was about to move when he heard a cold laugh from behind him. The owner came out of the room and threw a black object at Xu Wang, aimed straight at his face.
“Xu Wang, I don’t remember you needing to hold hands when you sell information.”
Xu Wang raised his hand and caught it. Seeing Xue Jingci looking at him expectantly, he sat up straight and began his story.
Xue Jingci listened intently.
When he arrived in the Upper Realm, he had inquired about Xie Zheng everywhere. But as soon as Xie Zheng’s name was mentioned, many loose cultivators would immediately fall silent, their expressions full of wariness, and some even showed looks of ill will.
It wasn’t until Xu Wang told him the truth today that he understood why.
What Xu Wang told first was an incident from three years ago.
Three years ago, Xie Zheng, as the lead disciple of the Lingxu Sect, led many disciples to participate in the Immortal Alliance Dharma Assembly. During the competition, an outer disciple of the Lingxu Sect was plotted against by a disciple of the Wuyin Sect and died from reversed blood flow.
The opponent was a personal disciple of the sect master with a very high status. He didn’t show his face from beginning to end, only letting the elder of the Sect Disciplinary Hall negotiate with Xie Zheng.
The Disciplinary Hall elder said that the personal disciple had already been imprisoned and that after a thorough interrogation, they would surely give an explanation for the tragic death of that disciple.
Soon, the results of the interrogation came out.
The Wuyin Sect dissected the disciple’s body without permission and said they found poison residue in his stomach, presumably used to temporarily increase his cultivation to win the competition.
Thus, the reversed blood flow was his own doing.
But everyone understood that this was a forced argument.
Xie Zheng said nothing; he just seriously took care of the disciple’s body and turned to leave.
Everyone thought the matter was settled, but unexpectedly, that very night, he fought his way into the Wuyin Sect alone, dragged that personal disciple under the sect’s white wall, and swung his blade to sever his head.
Not content with that, he released his spirit beast, a white tiger, to eat the man’s heart.
By the time the people of the Wuyin Sect noticed, Xie Zheng didn’t avoid or dodge. Instead, he took a brush from his robes, dipped it in the foul blood from the man’s heart, and wrote out the list of that person’s murderous crimes on the white wall outside the sect.
While Xie Zheng was writing the list of crimes, he was surrounded and attacked. However, facing the interrogation, he only released the white tiger for defense and said coldly, “Since the Wuyin Sect will not judge such an evil person, I will be the one to judge him.”
The white tiger was skilled in battle, and the elders of the Wuyin Sect present were all forced back. Xie Zheng killed and wrote in plain sight, then washed his brush in the Wuyin Sect’s ‘Heart-Asking Pond’ before stepping onto the tiger’s back and flying away.
When Xu Wang told this story, a bit of admiration showed in his eyes: “From then on, Xie Zheng became famous in one battle. Others didn’t dare call him by his name, instead calling him the ‘Blood-Drinking Judge’.”
Xue Jingci murmured, “That is indeed like his character.”
He hadn’t expected that in just a few years since his disciple came to the Upper Realm, he would have made such a terrifying name as the “Blood-Drinking Judge.” In his memory, although Xie Zheng was upright, he wasn’t this crazy.
However, the most rigid are the easiest to break. Xue Jingci couldn’t help but feel worried; with a personality like that, he would inevitably have enemies.
Xu Wang had thought that by saying all this, Xue Jingci would be scared off and wouldn’t dare go around bluffing with Xie Zheng’s name.
To his surprise, in his words, Xue Jingci still treated Xie Zheng as his disciple.
Even Xu Wang, with his silver tongue, was momentarily speechless. Had he not made it clear enough?
The more Xue Jingci thought about it, the more worried he became.
Xie Zheng’s foundation in the Upper Realm was still too shallow; acting like this might invite resentment.
Xue Jingci looked at Xu Wang and asked, “What happened later? He must have offended many people this way. Did anyone hurt him?”
Xu Wang looked at Xue Jingci, gave up on euphemisms, and said directly, “He did indeed offend many people, but no one dares to hurt him.”
“Because his master is Li Xuanfeng, the Peak Master of the Blade Peak of the Lingxu Sect. That man’s cultivation is close to the Soul Transformation stage; he is a powerful figure with high status and authority.”
“Xie Zheng is not only his personal disciple but also the Young Peak Master he personally appointed, who will inherit the Blade Peak in the future.”
“So you must never again say such big talk as being his master. Even if he doesn’t mind, his master is domineering and will absolutely not tolerate such rumors.”
Xue Jingci was completely stunned.