CH 086 Ask The Sword And The Heart, Without The Sword There’s No Heart

Although minor issues kept occurring, the journey of the flying peaks proceeded without any delays. Soon, they flew past the thousands of miles of Qingqiu and arrived over an expansive forest. 

It was autumn here, and the dense forest was a riot of colors, with long rivers like a web dividing it into countless pieces. Flocks of birds flew out from the trees, circled the sky, and then disappeared back into the forest. 

Unlike the small hills and mounds of Qingqiu, this region was extremely flat, with hardly any visible undulations. The clouds in the sky carried a faint purple hue in the glow of the setting sun, creating a dazzling scene.

The flying peaks moved northward, against the path of the migrating birds. Some bored disciples on the flying peaks stood by the railings, gazing out at the distance and chatting softly.

Yan Ling was one of them.

He looked at the boundless forest, his expression complex. 

Things had seemed off ever since two years ago.

As a current disciple of Ziyun Dao, one of the three great sects of Central Continent, his soul had merged with this body after his unexpected death, allowing him to be reborn. During the time his soul was adrift, he accidentally acquired an ancient cultivation method that allowed him to consume the flesh and blood essence of others to enhance his cultivation.

After his rebirth, under the nurturing of Bai Liu, the Peak Master of Qingdi Peak, his cultivation advanced rapidly. Just as he was about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage, Bai Liu suddenly fell victim to heart demons. Although the Kun-Lai Sect Leader forcibly removed the heart demons, restoring Bai Liu's sanity, his soul and spirit was severely damaged, leaving him on the brink of death.

At that moment, Yan Ling had intended to devour Bai Liu to achieve his breakthrough, but the latter, being a powerful Synthesis cultivator, only allowed him a drop of demonic bane blood before he scattered into ashes.

It was then that Yan Ling realized that without Bai Liu, he couldn't afford the expensive pills and spiritual herbs sold by Kun-Lai. Qingdi Peak also came under the control of Yimeng Qingnu—a figure so powerful that Yan Ling decided to avoid her and leave Qingdi Peak altogether. He tried to quietly consume a few spirit demons, but he slipped up and was nearly caught by the Mountain Patrol guards. In desperation, he joined the Kun-Lai expedition, hoping to find an opportunity on the way.

But instead, he was caught by a group of fox demon spirits, who almost drained him of his yang essence through various temptations… reducing his cultivation from the late phase of Nascent Soul down to the mid-phase! 

Had it not been for the impending departure of the flying peaks, those foxes might have continued to cling to him—an absolute nightmare.

Upon returning to the peak, penniless, he had no choice but to borrow a few spiritual stones from a kind and accommodating unaffiliated cultivator named Zhou. He then secluded himself in one of the retreat rooms on the flying peak for nearly a month, barely managing to stabilize his cultivation base and prevent further decline.

After emerging from seclusion, he learned that the flying peak was approaching the Ziyun Region within the Hundred Realms of Yuntian.

The Ziyun Region—he had only heard about it from his family's patriarch during his time in Ziyun Dao. Never did he imagine that he would set foot there one day.

Born into a prominent family within the Ziyun Dao sect, Yan Ling had heard since childhood about how, ten thousand years ago, the four great sects of the Central Continent formed a formidable alliance, each balancing and checking the other. However, one of these sects had a disciple who specialized in the study of fortune but was dismissed as heretical by the rest of the sect. In anger, he left the sect and wandered the world. Before his life span ended, he passed on his knowledge of fortune to a young man.

This young man went on to establish the Great Xuan Immortal Dynasty, which prospered immensely. Eventually, he amassed all the human world's fortune within himself, becoming the founding emperor.

Over the next millennium, Great Xuan recruited unaffiliated cultivators from all over the world and began to wage war against various sects. The four great sects repeatedly attempted to predict the outcome but found that Great Xuan was favored by the heavens and was unwilling to engage in direct conflict. Reluctantly, they abandoned their ancestral lands and prepared to migrate to the Outlands.

However, the Outlands were already dominated by powerful spirit demons, and after years of searching, they found that the fox clan of Qingqiu was the weakest among them. They initially planned to migrate to Qingqiu but realized that its proximity to Great Xuan made it unsafe, so they sought another prosperous location.

At this point, Great Xuan learned of their plans and launched an attack on one of the sects, the one that the cultivator who had originally taught the emperor the way of cultivating fortune belonged to before leaving.

This sect was annihilated by Great Xuan, its legacy destroyed, while the other three sects took the opportunity to flee. One of these sects was Ziyun Dao, where Yan Ling was born.

And the place where Ziyun Dao migrated to was the endless plains beneath the flying peaks right now.

They named the place Yuntian Ziyun Region.

Should he return to his sect?

Thinking about the hardships of being an unaffiliated cultivator, he made up his mind almost immediately.

Yes, he would return! He couldn't join the Kun-Lai Sect officially, so returning to Ziyun Dao was his only option. Ziyun Dao was not some nouveau riche like Kun-Lai; it was one of the three great sects with a legacy spanning hundreds of thousands of years!

Yan Ling hesitated. In the past two years, he had focused solely on his cultivation in Kun-Lai, failing to gather any significant intelligence. It would be better to secretly contact his sect and look for opportunities. 

If he could accomplish something great, he would return as a hero of Ziyun Dao, showing these Kun-Lai hicks what true Central Continent elegance was.

As he watched the flying peaks gradually approach a massive city, bustling and prosperous with a population of hundreds of thousands, his heart swelled with emotion at the sight of the grand "Ziyun City" characters inscribed above the city gate.

Back then, Ziyun Dao had migrated tens of thousands of people to such a remote outer region, taking three full years to reach their destination, bringing along the elderly and the young!

They spent the next ten thousand years thriving here, creating the only human stronghold in this outer region.

Looking at this city, its prosperity rivaling that of major cities in the Central Continent, Yan Ling thought, this is what a true immortal sect should be like. Kun-Lai is nothing more than a bunch of upstarts with money!

***

Feng Qingxiu looked at the massive city, carefully guiding the flying peak to land in the forest outside the city, alongside nearly a hundred other flying peaks.

"Can such a small human settlement really have what we're looking for?" This was the first time You Jia had come here. He shrugged, looking at the distant city with mild disdain. "It's not even as big as the northern corner of Haijing's mainland city, let alone comparable to Sea City."

"Sea City?" Feng Qingxiu asked curiously. He hadn't heard of that place before.

"Haijing City has both a mainland city and a seafloor city. You probably visited the mainland city, but Sea City is underwater. I'll take you there next time," You Jia said proudly. "The underwater city spans tens of thousands of miles, with half of the Western Sea's aquatic clans living there."

Feng Qingxiu nodded in agreement, thinking that his master would surely love to visit such an intriguing place.

The talisman seals at the base of the flying peak shifted, and soon the peak landed smoothly. Almost simultaneously, hundreds of flying swords shot out from the city, slicing through the air with purple energy trailing behind them like clouds reaching toward the heavens, and charged right toward them.

Feng Qingxiu was puzzled, wondering if this was an attack or something else. Then he saw the purple swords crash into the protective barrier of the flying peaks.

The previously invisible barrier rippled, and then countless bolts of lightning flashed out, instantly striking the sword-wielding cultivators, who fell to the ground like dumplings into a pot.

"One hundred years ago, when I came to Yuntian Domain, the flying peaks still had a visible yellow protective shield. Those cultivators rushed up like this, suddenly stopped, and then Senior Brother Yang from Taiyi Peak just smiled. The wards struck with lightning and electrocuted them all," Huang Wei said with a suppressed laugh. "Later, Senior Brother Yang improved the wards, citing that the shield affected the view. Now it's much more concealed and consumes far less energy."

"And these people are?" Feng Qingxiu glanced at the name on the city wall and had already guessed the answer.

"People from Ziyun Dao. This sect migrated here from the Central Continent a thousand years ago and returned after the fall of the Great Xuan Dynasty, though they left a branch here. These are the native disciples of Ziyun Dao, and they look quite young and impetuous," Huang Wei said slowly. "Don't worry. Senior Brother Yang is always measured in his actions; they won't die."

Feng Qingxiu nodded, gave some instructions, and began the transactions. Lately, things had been rather calm, which made him feel uneasy. It's always best to stay vigilant.

***

Yan Ling hadn't walked far after descending from the flying peak when he saw Bai Liu's daughter, Bai Yue.

"I won't go! I don't want to see my mother! Senior Brother Yang, please let me go, for my father's sake, don't take me to see her," Bai Yue cried pitifully, trailing behind a black-robed cultivator.

Thinking of how much Bai Liu cherished Bai Yue, Yan Ling, who was already penniless, felt a surge of resolve. He stepped forward, blocking the cultivator's path, "Who are you? Let go of Yue'er."

"Senior Brother Yan!" As if finding her savior, Bai Yue immediately grabbed Yan Ling's sleeve, almost burying her head in his chest, trembling like a fledgling bird seeking its parents.

"Bai Yue." The handsome cultivator said calmly, "Let's go. Peak Master An has been waiting for you for a long time. If she finds out you've been dragging your feet, you know her temper."

"Peak Master An?" Yan Ling was moved and asked in a low voice.

"Yes, she is my mother, the Peak Master of Wenjian Peak, An Xian," Bai Yue said with grievance.

"She isn't kind to you?" Yan Ling comforted her out of habit, "Don't be afraid, take your time and tell me."

Bai Yue gradually calmed down and sobbed, "Mother... Mother is very strict. She can't stand weakness or incompetence. I'm always afraid of her."

"Don't worry, a mother won't hurt her child, and I'll be with you." Bai Yue's mother was actually a peak master; Yan Ling felt a surge of excitement. Thinking of the benefits he'd gained from Bai Liu, and considering that getting close to a peak master was his best shot at returning to Ziyun Dao in glory, he couldn't help but feel more eager.

"No, you don't understand, my mother..." Bai Yue anxiously said, "My mother is very strict. She will be strict with you too."

How strict could she be? As long as I can control you, won't she have to accommodate us both?

Yan Ling chuckled softly, "Don't worry. As long as I'm by your side, if she wants to hurt you, she'll have to step over my dead body first!"

"Senior Brother Yan..." Bai Yue was deeply moved and cried in his arms, "Thank you."

"There's no need for thanks between us," Yan Ling comforted, stroking her long hair with a slight roguish smile at the corner of his lips.

"Alright." Bai Yue nodded, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. "Senior Brother Yang, please, take me to see my mother."

"Okay." Yang Fuyin nodded and turned to lead the way.

A soft chuckle echoed in Yang Fuyin's right eye, which was a thought from Qiu Yuansheng: Senior Brother Yang deliberately waited for Yan Ling to appear. You intend to take him with you, don't you?

Yang Fuyin responded indifferently: Of course. He drank Bai Liu's blood, so naturally, An Xian will return the favor tenfold.

Qiu Yuansheng chuckled twice: It's been a long time since I've seen Peak Master An's Heaven-Turning Sword. I miss it... I've heard that Peak Master An has been investigating the events of a hundred years ago in Yuntian Domain, trying to uncover what really happened back then... But it might be hard to find answers in Ziyun Dao's territory, right?

Yang Fuyin nodded: Whatever you say, then it's the case.

Qiu Yuansheng fell silent, lost in thought about another matter while still in captivity.

If I'm not around, will this plan involve the High Priest himself making a move this time?