VAP - Chapter 91
Chapter 91: Flawless Cold Bone, The Peerless Sword Venerable (15)
Before coming to Wushuang Peak, the six of them hadn’t actually been very close.
They came from different masters and usually cultivated on their own, with few opportunities to interact. Their relationship was limited to exchanging a few pleasantries when they met.
But now, after studying together for several months, they had grown much closer. They chatted as they walked, the atmosphere harmonious. They could now be called good friends.
“I’m still not sure about this,” a young-looking female disciple said nervously. “Will the Wushuang Venerable really not be displeased if we give her these little trinkets?”
The steady young man behind her replied, “We don’t have any better options. These small items are just a temporary expression of our gratitude. Once our cultivation reaches great heights in the future, we will naturally find resources worthy of the Wushuang Venerable to present to her.”
“Of course!”
“Senior Brother Su is right.”
The daily life of a sword cultivator consisted of practicing the sword, cultivating, and entering seclusion. This was especially true for the talented ones, who basically had nothing to worry about except cultivation.
For this very reason.
Although these disciples were several decades old, when it came to worldly wisdom, they were perhaps less savvy than a ten-year-old from the mortal realm.
It could be said that this was the first time they had ever racked their brains to figure out how to express their thanks and gratitude, so it was inevitable that they felt apprehensive.
Now that they had talked it out, the disciples felt a weight lifted from their minds and began to happily share what gifts they had brought.
One brought a few boxes of the most popular camel milk cheese from Sword Gate City, another a beautifully tanned animal pelt—after all, they had spent all these days watching the two Venerables dote on each other, so they gave things they could actually use. The gifts were quite suitable.
Someone asked Mu Xingluo, “Junior Sister Mu, what did you give?”
Mu Xingluo turned her head. “That… well, I just gave some medicinal pills.”
She didn’t specify what kind of pills, and the others didn’t ask. Soon, they moved on to another topic.
Once they were outside the bounds of Wushuang Peak, the group bid each other farewell. Just as they were about to summon their flying swords to return to their respective residences, they saw a group of ordinary disciples gathered ahead.
They were speaking with worried expressions, and fragments of their conversation could be heard: “Ji Changqing,” “demonic sects,” “truly hateful.”
Mu Xingluo frowned subconsciously.
Ji Changqing?
An observant disciple spotted the prodigies and came over to pay his respects. “Greetings to the Martial Seniors.”
“There’s no need for formalities,” Mu Xingluo said.
She paused, then asked, “What are you all talking about?”
The ordinary disciples exchanged glances before speaking one after another:
“It’s nothing major.”
“Just a couple of days ago, didn’t that Ji Changqing fall to the demonic path? Mingxiao Pavilion tried to suppress the news, but it eventually got out—”
“The demonic path has been so arrogant. Not only did they provoke Mingxiao Pavilion, but they also came to bother us! Yesterday, when Senior Brother Li went out for training, he was taunted by some demon cultivators. It’s truly hateful!”
The six elite disciples were speechless.
Who fell to the demonic path? Ji Changqing??
They had been on Wushuang Peak all this time and hadn’t heard any news. Hearing it so suddenly now felt a bit unbelievable.
…But on second thought, considering the person in question was Ji Changqing, it suddenly didn’t seem so strange.
Mu Xingluo was also stunned.
She recalled how Ji Changqing had looked when he fought her during the grand competition. For a moment, she couldn’t describe her feelings; they were a complicated mix.
“Xingluo, what’s wrong? It’s time to go back.”
Mu Xingluo snapped back to her senses, shook her head, and forced a smile.
“It’s nothing. Let’s go, Senior Sister.”
In the end, it had nothing to do with her.
Perhaps she just felt a little regretful.
As far as Yue Du was concerned, she had long known that the male lead, Ji Changqing, would fall to the demonic path, but she hadn’t paid it much mind.
This development didn’t deviate from the plot and had little to do with Yun Yijiu’s affairs, so why should she pay any attention to it?
With Yun Yijiu still in seclusion, Yue Du devoted part of her attention to investigating the matter of Situ Chu, while her physical self continued to cultivate.
A few days later, Yun Tianwen paid a visit.
He hadn’t dared to come before, but now that Ah Jiu was in seclusion, he showed up. Yue Du didn’t believe for a second that he hadn’t specifically chosen this time.
“What business does the Wuqiu Dao Venerable have with me?”
Yun Tianwen’s mood was much calmer than during his last visit. Perhaps he had prepared his words in advance. He spoke slowly, “Yue Zhuo, this Venerable knows you are unhappy, but I hope you will listen to what I have to say.”
Yue Du withdrew her observant gaze and replied perfunctorily, “Go on, old sir.”
There was no strange ring on Yun Tianwen, nor any other abnormality. Coupled with the fact that he was a descendant of the Yun clan, he shouldn’t have anything to do with Ah Jiu’s matter.
In that case, there was nothing to be concerned about.
Unaware of her thoughts, Yun Tianwen continued his long-winded speech. “This Venerable heard from the Sect Master that the Wushuang Venerable insists on forming a bond with you. If this is true, then as a member of the Yun clan, I can only obey.”
“But you must understand, the Wushuang Venerable’s willingness to bond with you is her own affair. As a junior, you should be upholding the Venerable’s reputation…”
Yue Du listened quietly and more or less understood what Yun Tianwen was trying to say.
It was probably that he felt Yue Zhuo was, in the end, a member of the Yun clan. Even if she had been expelled, it couldn’t change the fact that she “once was.”
A romance between an ancestor and a descendant several generations removed was not something to be proud of. If they were to hold a bonding ceremony, who knew how outsiders would gossip!
Yue Du said, “Forgive my bluntness, but no one in the outside world knows the Duyue Demon Venerable’s background, do they?”
Yun Tianwen retorted, “How could no one know! It’s true that the demonic path is unclear, but among the elders of the righteous sects, how many of them don’t know about this!”
“Oh,” Yue Du said coolly.
“Yun Yue Zhuo!” Yun Tianwen roared in anger.
“Please remove the ‘Yun,’ thank you. My surname is not Yun,” Yue Du shot back without mercy.
With her own personality, she would rarely be so blunt and unforgiving, but occasionally speaking her mind like Yue Zhuo didn’t feel too bad.
Yun Tianwen felt that he hadn’t suffered as much frustration in the past thousand years as he had in this one year.
Previously, he would have long since flicked his sleeves and left, but he couldn’t this time.
Yun Tianwen silently recited a heart-calming mantra. Feeling a bit more composed, he said gravely, “Yue Zhuo, this Venerable originally thought you were at least a reasonable person.”
“The Wushuang Venerable has lived her entire life without a single stain on her name—nine thousand years! Now, she is about to… about to reach the end of her lifespan. How can you bear to let the Venerable’s reputation be tarnished in this final millennium?”
Yue Du tilted her head. “Do you really think so?”
“Naturally!” Yun Tianwen said.
Yue Du could see that he wasn’t lying.
And for that very reason, she fell silent.
It was true that Yun Tianwen was rigid and stubborn, and it was true that he was unreasonable, but he also genuinely revered the Wushuang Sword Venerable, regarding Yun Yijiu with the awe a descendant would have for a deity.
Or perhaps he valued the Yun clan so much that he couldn’t tolerate a stain on the family’s ancestor… who knew.
Yue Du lowered her eyes.
After a long moment, she finally said, “A bond is a matter between two Dao Companions.”
“But—”
“Whether it’s criticism or slander, I will bear it together with Ah Jiu,” Yue Du said calmly.
Yun Tianwen opened his mouth but found he had nothing to say.
What else could be said?
Hadn’t he always known that this daughter of his had a mind of her own? When she had resolutely entered the demonic path all those years ago, had she not looked at him with the same calm and determined eyes?
He couldn’t remember anymore.
In the end, Yun Tianwen couldn’t say anything more and left in a hurry.
Yue Du frowned, watching his back disappear before extending her divine sense into her storage space.
…Not Yue Du’s system space, but the Duyue Demon Venerable’s own storage artifact.
Aside from the items she used to understand Yue Zhuo’s personality and methods, Yue Du hadn’t touched anything else in the space, and they had remained inert.
But just now, as Yue Du was speaking with Yun Tianwen, a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy had emanated from the space, from within a pile of randomly stacked miscellaneous items.
…What was going on?
Yue Du carefully rummaged for a moment and pulled out a jade pendant—the fluctuation had come from this very pendant.
It was covered in dust and seemed quite ordinary, but she could see that there were words carved on it.
Wiping it clean, she saw, hmm, the character for “Yun.”
Yue Du guessed it was a token representing one’s status as a Yun family member. Because its owner clearly despised it, it had been tossed into a pile of junk to gather dust.
Why would this thing emit a spiritual energy fluctuation?
Yue Du thought for a moment and activated the observation function of the Silent Watcher.
In her vision, the jade pendant was surrounded by countless peculiar elemental light particles.
If it were just that, it wouldn’t be anything special. After all, the cultivation world was full of strange and wondrous things, and objects covered in elemental particles were common.
But a jade pendant with a human-shaped silhouette inside was not common at all!
Three days later, Yun Yijiu emerged from her seclusion.
She was greeted by a Yue Du with a complicated expression.
“Ah Jiu, I have something to tell you.” Yue Du held the jade pendant in her hands, her tone exceptionally solemn. “Can you see a person in here?”
Yun Yijiu: “…?”
The human figure inside the pendant was a miniature version of Yue Du—or to be precise, a miniature version of the Duyue Demon Venerable.
She was curled up quietly in the center of the pendant in a fetal position, her eyes closed as if in a deep sleep.
Although it involved matters beyond this small world, which could easily get her silenced, Yue Du still managed to make Yun Yijiu understand what was going on.
“You’re saying this is the original Yue Zhuo,” Yun Yijiu said, her expression placid.
“Yes, it should be her spiritual body. I don’t know why it’s here.”
The Duyue Demon Venerable had died from poison.
Theoretically, any cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage or above could have their primordial spirit escape its shell on the verge of death, abandoning the physical body. Afterward, whether they chose to possess another body or be reborn through a secret technique depended on their individual fate.
However, if the primordial spirit was damaged, it couldn’t leave the body, and even if it did, there was no guarantee it would survive.
Yue Du had previously assumed that the Duyue Demon Venerable’s body and soul had been destroyed, or that she had reincarnated. After all, a poison capable of killing a Tribulation Transcendence Stage cultivator would inevitably damage the primordial spirit.
Otherwise, Yue Zhuo wouldn’t have died so easily, without even having time to call for her attendants.
But now it seemed… she had been mistaken.
Yue Zhuo had not died completely, nor had she successfully escaped. Her primordial spirit was sealed within this small jade pendant, deep in slumber.
Yun Yijiu examined it closely. “This is an identity token for a direct disciple of the Yun family.”
As expected.
Yue Du pondered, “Is there some kind of spell on the Yun family tokens that can protect a primordial spirit?”
“Not to my knowledge, no,” Yun Yijiu said.
That was very strange.
The observation function could see the form of the primordial spirit within the pendant, but it couldn’t analyze whether there were any other arrangements on the pendant itself.
Yun Yijiu took out an ordinary token; as the Yun family ancestor, she had such things.
Comparing the two, she couldn’t see any difference.
Yue Du put the jade pendant away.
Yun Yijiu asked, “What do you plan to do?”
“I’ve taken her identity, so I should compensate her for it. In the words of a cultivator, I must repay the karmic debt,” Yue Du said. “I want to help revive her, but I don’t know if rashly removing the primordial spirit will cause harm. It’s better to wait.”
Yun Yijiu nodded. “I will help you.”
Yue Du was taken aback. “You know what to do?”
Yun Yijiu was quite calm. “I don’t, but I will eventually.”
Yue Du was speechless.
Excellent. That was the kind of confidence she needed.
Yue Du recounted all the events that had occurred over the past few days to Yun Yijiu.
When she mentioned the departure of the disciples, she took out all the “thank-you gifts” they had sent—all except for the ultra-luxurious demon beast-drawn carriage, which was simply too large.
“Take a look. They’re all from the juniors, a token of their appreciation.”
Yun Yijiu paused.
She had held a high position for a long time and had received all sorts of valuable and rare gifts, but she had never received such simple, personal trinkets.
Yue Du suppressed a smile. “The gift is modest, but the sentiment is deep.”
“Mm,” Yun Yijiu acknowledged.
She picked up a bottle of medicinal pills, opened the stopper, and a strange light flashed in her eyes.
“Do you know what kind of pills these are?”
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