Chapter 80#
Those with immortal bones can enter the path to cultivate as immortals. When a cultivator enters the path, if their foundation is clear and can be detected, their elders in the sect or family will choose a path for them based on that foundation. If the foundation is not clear, the decision is based on the person’s personality or the sect’s tradition.
For instance, in the story An Wuxue had told Qin Wei about the man in North Abyss who broke his Way of Floating Life to turn to the Way of Heartless—that was because he hadn’t known his foundation as a child and had followed the wrong path.
Conversely, the Qu clan’s array genius, Qu Jizhi, was born with a clear foundation for the Way of Floating Life. Consequently, the Qu clan was reluctant to let him enter the Way of Heartless, which led to the ill-fated connection between Pei Qian and Qu Jizhi.
Xie Zhefeng’s personality was naturally suited to the Way of Heartless, and An Wuxue had never doubted the path Immortal Venerable Nan He had chosen for him—after all, the man had ascended through the Way of Heartless. Who would have thought that Immortal Venerable Chu Han had actually ascended through the Way of Heartless despite having a foundation for the Way of Floating Life?
An Wuxue hadn’t expected it either.
His hand remained on Xie Zhefeng’s wrist, and he was unable to regain his composure for a long time.
He couldn’t understand it, and since Nan He had been dead for over a thousand years, he couldn’t get the answer himself.
Such a clear foundation for the Way of Floating Life would be considered extraordinary in any sect. What would have happened if his junior brother had cultivated the Way of Floating Life?
Why did Master cast the Heartless Curse on his junior brother, hide the fact of his Floating Life foundation, and have him follow the Way of Heartless?
And this Heartless Curse…
The previous head of the Qu family and Immortal Venerable Nan He were contemporaries, and since Nan He was originally from North Abyss, they treated each other as peers.
Since this curse had been sealed by the previous head of the Qu family, could the person who used it before it was sealed have been his Master?
He couldn’t help but wonder: if the Qu clan had never distributed this curse, was it a curse they already possessed that they allowed Nan He to use, or was it created specifically because Nan He needed it?
The previous head of the Qu family was unwilling to let the Heartless Curse circulate, yet didn’t dare destroy it, only sealing it within the Qu estate. Could it be because he knew Immortal Venerable Chu Han still bore the Heartless Curse and feared the consequences, thus leaving a sliver of hope?
An Wuxue’s gaze shifted, looking at the man who was still unconscious and knew nothing of this.
The chains still bound Xie Zhefeng. Because he had struggled so hard, his clothes were in disarray and he was covered in wounds. His eyes were tightly closed, but his eyelashes wouldn’t stop trembling, as if he were still trapped in some nightmare he couldn’t wake up from.
“Whine!”
He looked back to see that the sleeping spell on Kun Kun had expired and dissipated.
Kun Kun slowly crawled up, flew out of the barrier, and crashed into his arms.
He instinctively raised his hands to catch it.
“Whine?” Kun Kun poked its head out to look at the bed, its round eyes full of concern.
“He’s fine,” An Wuxue said. “Just superficial wounds.”
As he spoke, he flicked his fingers, and the chains on Xie Zhefeng vanished. His superficial wounds also healed completely, leaving only the bloodstains on the bedding and his white robes.
His junior brother lay there quietly, still knowing nothing of the Heartless Curse.
“To think he still doesn’t know even now…” An Wuxue’s myriad questions eventually turned into a sense of loss. He buried his face in Kun Kun’s fluffy white fur and whispered, “If the Heartless Curse had already taken root in his soul since his youth, then… did he forget anything from before under its influence?”
Kun Kun licked his wrist.
He turned back to look at Xie Zhefeng again.
Outside the window, clouds rolled by, and the light flickered between bright and dim.
Within the past illusion, the North Abyss First City of five hundred years ago was prosperous and peaceful. At this time, An Wuxue was dead and Xie Zhefeng was in seclusion, yet all things in the world continued calmly through several centuries.
He remained there, sitting by the bed in a daze, holding Kun Kun, silent and still.
After a long time.
In another guest room.
Pei Qian was led into the room by Qu Jizhi. The other man’s hand was wrapped around his wrist; it wasn’t hot, yet it made him feel as if he were burning, and he desperately wanted to shake it off.
Having thought that, he did exactly that.
Qu Jizhi, whose hand was shaken off, turned back and gave him a look. He wasn’t angry, but instead smiled: “Your temper hasn’t changed.”
Pei Qian thought, Tsk.
The illusion was set five hundred years ago. At that time, Qu Jizhi had only been away from him for a few days; it was only natural that his temper hadn’t changed.
But he hadn’t forgotten that his task was to stall the Qu Jizhi of five hundred years ago. He said, “I will not join with you. If you try to take me back, I…”
Qu Jizhi continued to look at him with a smile: “What will you do? I’m all ears.”
Pei Qian: “…”
So annoying!
This fellow really was the same regardless of his age. His temper was clearly much worse than Pei Qian’s, yet he always wore a smiling face!
He truly couldn’t think of anything that would threaten this madman, so he could only say, “I’ll just take dozens of cultivation furnaces after the union and let them live in the same room as you, calling you ‘Big Brother’!”
Qu Jizhi’s eye twitched, and his smile finally vanished. He said coldly, “If you dare take them, I will dare kill them.”
The man walked slowly to the bed and sat down, then beckoned to him, his warm, peach-blossom smile returning: “Come here.”
Naturally, Pei Qian didn’t want to go.
“You have no spiritual power now, and you’re being disobedient. Do you want to try some other tricks with me?”
Pei Qian: “…”
He ended up walking to Qu Jizhi.
The man took an inch and wanted a yard, pointing at his own lap: “Sit here.”
“You’re sick.”
“Yes.”
Pei Qian: “…………”
North Abyss affairs are important. I’ll endure!
Reluctantly, he sat on Qu Jizhi’s lap.
Qu Jizhi immediately embraced him. His aura surrounded him, and while the man’s hands were only resting lightly on his shoulders, they seemed to possess extraordinary strength, making it impossible for Pei Qian to move.
As if that wasn’t enough, he held him like that and leaned in close to his ear, his warm breath coming and going.
“Do you want to stir my desire?” Pei Qian said crossly. “The Dao is in the heart, not the body. Even if you engage in dual cultivation with me right now, it won’t change anything!”
After Qu Jizhi had imprisoned him in the Guan Ye Array, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t engaged in dual cultivation with him.
Qu Jizhi began to toy with the ends of his hair again—he always loved to do this, as if it made Pei Qian his.
The man said, “I’m naturally aware. You coaxed me into dual cultivation back then only to cast the curse.”
…What?
Cast the curse?
Pei Qian was stunned—hadn’t the Qu Jizhi of five hundred years ago not yet imprisoned him in the Guan Ye Array!?
In his daze, Qu Jizhi whispered in his ear, “You’re being so obedient this time because of those three Tribulation-Transcending cultivators who entered the Guan Ye Array? It’s been hundreds of years; where did you make such friends?”
Pei Qian’s eyes widened. “You—you you!!”
This wasn’t the Qu Jizhi of five hundred years ago, but the real Qu Jizhi!!!!
This fellow was actually in the same illusion and had disguised himself as the Qu Jizhi of five hundred years ago to find him!
He had wondered how the five-hundred-year-old Qu Jizhi could have found him so quickly. He thought it was his own negligence, but it was this fellow’s trickery!
He hurriedly struggled, trying to escape the man’s embrace.
But Qu Jizhi held him firmly, not letting him leave, and continued to whisper in his ear, “How bold of you, actually daring to trick me into dual cultivation to place a Heartless Curse on me. It took me over three hundred years to break free. Have you enjoyed your freedom these past few centuries?”
Pei Qian gritted his teeth. “Where is the you from the illusion?”
“Don’t worry, I haven’t affected the movements of the you and me from five hundred years ago. The me from five hundred years ago is still elsewhere looking for the you from five hundred years ago. But if you’re not obedient, I’m not sure if I’ll do something to trigger the killing intent of the Death Gate.”
“Then what are you doing now?”
“I originally wanted to take you away directly, but the cultivation of the three people with you is too high, and I wasn’t certain of the outcome. So I had to pretend to be my five-hundred-year-old self to lure you into my arms.”
As he spoke, taking advantage of Pei Qian’s distraction, he suddenly bit his earlobe gently.
Pei Qian: “!!!”
His ears immediately turned red.
“You’re truly sick!” he accused.
“I already knew that.”
Since he couldn’t break free, Pei Qian could only try to break the seal.
But the person who had sealed his spiritual power wasn’t the five-hundred-year-old Qu Jizhi, but the real one before him, whose cultivation seemed to be slightly higher than his own.
He couldn’t break the seal at all.
He asked, “Is the Guan Ye Array covering the North Abyss First City related to you?”
Qu Jizhi’s brow twitched slightly, and he let out a low laugh. “What do you think?”
Pei Qian went silent for a moment, then said solemnly, “This array has already trapped countless souls and affected the lives and deaths of many cultivators. You are not that kind of person.”
“Ah,” Qu Jizhi said with some disappointment, “you trust me so much that I can’t find a reason to bully you.”
“You are truly sick!!! Sick!!!!”
Suddenly.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock came at the door.
The person knocking hadn’t destroyed the barrier, but had instead used spiritual power to pierce through it and send the sound in.
“Fellow Daoist Pei? Is it convenient for you and the young Immortal Master Qu right now? I have something I want to ask you.”
It was An Wuxue.
Pei Qian was about to speak, but Qu Jizhi covered his mouth.
The fellow said unpleasantly, “It’s been hundreds of years; I haven’t settled the matter of the curse with you yet.”
Pei Qian slapped Qu Jizhi’s hand away and whispered, “If you want to be crazy, don’t do it now. An… Su Xue’s cultivation is profound, and his realm is not as simple as it appears. You are no match for him; don’t seek death.”
Qu Jizhi’s eyes darkened, but he didn’t let go.
Outside the room, An Wuxue seemed to have sensed something was wrong. “—Pei Qian?”
Pei Qian said hurriedly to Qu Jizhi, “You’ve already sealed my spiritual power; can’t I just say a few words to him? I’m trying to save your life, don’t you know that?”
Qu Jizhi gave him a long look, and with a flick of his fingers, a thread made of spiritual energy bound Pei Qian’s wrist.
The other end of the thread was tied to Qu Jizhi’s own wrist.
Pei Qian: “…”
Fine, it’s not the time to argue.
He had no choice but to stand up from Qu Jizhi’s lap with the thread attached and walked quickly to open the door.
An Wuxue stood outside, holding the Chun Hua sword in both hands. His expression was dazed and his eyes were dim.
Seeing Pei Qian, his eyes regained some focus.
Noticing that there was no one beside Pei Qian and that Qu Jizhi remained inside, he was slightly surprised. “The one inside… you’ve handled him?”
Pei Qian didn’t dare say that the person inside wasn’t the five-hundred-year-old Qu Jizhi. He raised his hand and shook the spiritual rope on his wrist.
An Wuxue: “…”
“What does the First Seat need? Has City Lord Shangguan appeared?”
An Wuxue shook his head. “I have Jiang Qing watching the Qu estate. There’s no movement from him yet, so Shangguan Liaoliao likely hasn’t appeared. But I have something else I want to ask you. Come with me.”
He led Pei Qian back to the guest room where Xie Zhefeng was.
Before the door could even close, Pei Qian caught sight of the blood on the bed. His expression shifted, and he hurried to back away. “I still want to live!”
With a wave of his hand, An Wuxue closed the door, blocking Pei Qian’s retreat. He said helplessly, “In my past life and this one combined, I’ve only ever killed someone to silence them once. What are you afraid of? Besides, this is not something shameful.”
Pei Qian said with an expression of horror, “You’ve cast the curse on the Immortal Venerable?”
“I did, and yet I didn’t.”
“Huh?”
An Wuxue walked to the bed.
He had performed the investigation an unknown number of times already, and forming the seal again was a practiced motion. In the blink of an eye, the Heartless Curse seal was complete, and he sent it into Xie Zhefeng’s brow without hesitation.
“First Seat—!”
In the next instant, Pei Qian saw the Heartless Curse being repelled.
“You see that?” An Wuxue said. “He already has a Heartless Curse on him, which repelled the one I tried to cast. That’s what I want to ask you about—don’t worry about how I know, but I’m certain he has borne this curse for over a thousand years, and it still hasn’t been broken. And yet…”
An Wuxue didn’t finish, but Pei Qian already knew what he was going to ask.
From all of Immortal Venerable Chu Han’s actions lately, where was there any sign of him being under a curse?
Pei Qian had seen the curse take effect on Qu Jizhi, and Xie Zhefeng’s actions showed no sign of forgotten feelings.
An Wuxue’s brow was tightly knit as he asked, “I haven’t studied curses deeply and don’t understand the mechanics. Have you ever heard of someone being under a curse yet showing no signs of its effect?”
Pei Qian was slightly stunned. “There are… but…”
“Tell me.”
“Curses and array paths share similarities. To put it simply, a curse is just an array applied to a person. It’s like…”
Pei Qian thought carefully and finally found an analogy. “It’s like a curse for transcendence. If a place is filled with intense resentment, even if a transcendence curse is cast, the resentment won’t dissipate. Over time, the resentment will only grow stronger. While the transcendence curse is still there, it has no effect.”
“If someone is under the Heartless Curse, but their feelings are indestructible, then naturally they can rely purely on their own steadfast will to resist the curse’s effect, even while the curse remains unbroken.”