CH 093 Seeing May Be Believing, Trick Of The Eye

As the voice spoke, a figure slowly emerged from the void—white-haired and clad in dark robes, cold and aloof, as if a god walking down from the distant celestial river in the skies. You could see him, but there was an immeasurable distance between them, a gap that neither mortal hearts nor minds could bridge.

The expression of the young man in green opposite him seemed to darken for a moment. His demeanor was warm and gentle, like green mountains and flowing waters, ever-present. Even under the luminescence of the high, solitary moon, his charm remained undiminished. The two of them, together, seemed to harmonize like the bright moon illuminating pine and spring, without a hint of earthly smoke.

He seemed to want to speak, but after a long while, he lightly sighed and said, "It’s not that I’m unwilling, but now, what is there left for us to say?"

The meaning behind those words was too profound, too much for Ji Yunlai to contemplate.

Before meeting him, Ji Yunlai had already sensed his own attitude toward this person. He must have seen him somewhere before or even crossed paths with him because he felt a deep and resolute imprint on his soul. He could even deduce what he had said to this person the last time they met.

Thus, he naturally expressed his thoughts and raised his hand, saying, “I’ve said before, if we meet again, I will kill you.”

As he raised his hand, a formless, almost invisible sword energy appeared at his fingertips. Yet, even this faint hint of energy caused the surrounding illusory space to begin trembling uneasily, as if paper feared a cutting blade and wax feared fire.

“If you return the Three Lives Stone to me, there would be no need to kill me,” the other sighed softly. “If the Nine Abyss is not opened, our entanglement will only cause more casualties.”

Ji Yunlai listened silently, feeling an intense anger and a chilling coldness in his heart, so he did not respond.

He only extended his hand and drew a sword.

No answer was needed; his sword was his answer.

The young man closed his eyes, and the surrounding chaotic void suddenly became clear—trees, forests, green mountains, flowing water, even the white clouds in the sky, and the flowers and birds—all were visible, all were clear.

The sword energy, which was usually so fiercely lethal, seemed to be dispelled by this vibrant life, turning harmless, becoming a gentle breeze in the void.

Ji Yunlai’s invincible sword energy encountered such an obstacle for the first time.

The young man then slowly said, “Even so, I still want to speak with you. The events of the past, though partly my fault, were largely the will of heaven. Your resentment is misplaced.”

Ji Yunlai’s expression remained cold, and then he raised his hand again.

The young man’s smile was slightly bitter.

Because this time, the sword energy was no longer the small trace from just now.

Instead, it filled the entire sky, so numerous that even he could not count them all at once.

The surrounding mountains and waters, once like a dream, were now shattered and broken, precisely the most troublesome scenario for him.

Even though he had served as a high priest for thousands of years in the Great Xuan Dynasty, later orchestrating the chaos among princes and collecting countless cultivation methods from the world, he could only remain helpless in the face of Ji Yunlai.

To him, the Xing Dao Master was not impressive in the art of utilizing spiritual techniques.

Yet, this was how it was—no matter how many marvelous methods and techniques one had in their arsenal, Ji Yunlai would still break through with a single sword in hand.

It was true then, and it remains true now.

The Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are all insignificant, the young man smiled bitterly for a moment, then dissipated into a bubble of illusion.

He had come as a split divine consciousness, carrying just enough power to build a small mirage world. Now, with Ji Yunlai’s destruction, the divine consciousness vanished as well.

As the gentle breeze passed, the illusion receded. The long street was lively with people coming and going. Yang Fuyin, before he could even call out to the Sect Leader with joy, saw the other had already disappeared.

***

Master still doesn’t want to see me, Yang Fuyin lowered his head in disappointment.

On the other side.

After Ji Yunlai returned to Zhuiyun Peak, he transformed into a piece of paper and fell back onto Xiao Qing.

He needed to take a rest.

This piece of paper was made from a special jade paper he had personally made, but it still could not bear his immense power. If he did not transform back quickly, it would turn to ashes like before.

Then he would have to throw out another talisman and find a particularly fast beast to deliver it to Xiao Qing.

But the distance was so great that it would take another month of flight.

As for what Yang Fuyin wanted to say to him, Xiao Qing could relay the message.

He had a premonition that the matters of the Yuntian Domain were not over yet, and he could not let this fragment of his divine consciousness return to its main body so soon.

Today, that person was quite impressive, with the five elements perpetually sustaining each other and the aura of Heaven and Earth supporting him. This did not align with the cultivation principles of the other three major sects, so it must be the legendary Great Xuan High Priest.

And what are the Three Lives Stone and Nine Abyss? What are those?

Moreover, the aura was very familiar, and the tone was very familiar—thinking about the day he became the Sect Leader, the backup memories of that disdainful remark, "How deep does blood even run?"

...Ji Yunlai had a very unpleasant guess.

If his suspicion were true, how unlucky had his past self been a thousand years ago?

High Priest, if I were to beg you, please don’t be my uncle Luo Qingxiao, would it be too late now?

At least let me keep a shred of hope for my old life.

Ji Yunlai pressed his chest and did not feel much pain, as if it had been thoroughly cleared out.

But he could imagine how much of a blow this would have been to him at that time.

At the age of five, when he awakened in this new young body, the first person he saw was not his mother but his uncle Luo Qingxiao—his parents had long passed away. Although he never lacked for food in the clan, the person who cared for him the most and guided him onto the path of cultivation was this uncle.

Later, preparing to venture into the path of cultivation, it was also thanks to his uncle’s guidance and education.

So... this feels very ominous.

Suddenly, he felt a weight on him, but it was the sleeping Xiao Qing instinctively clutching his chest.

The emptiness and strange emotions within Ji Yunlai gradually receded, calming down. He had another flash of heavenly insight and began to deduce the previous events, including Yang Fuyin and Qiu Yuansheng who was imprisoned in his eye.

***

Yang Fuyin returned to the flying peak and recounted the recent events to the two elders.

"You said the Sect Leader appeared to save you," Bai Shuixian said, already aware that Yang Fuyin wouldn’t lie about such things. She felt something was off and shook her head, "Earlier, during the Dragon-Phoenix Selection, the master of the flying peak mentioned that the Sect Leader had once appeared beside Feng Qingxiu, so is he now again following his apprentice?"

"Back then, I didn't see him so attentive towards Li Xianjing," Yan Zhao said with slight jealousy, "Who exactly did the Sect Leader repel? One of the three Human Immortals or the Great Xuan High Priest?"

Among the human race, only these four could spar with the Sect Leader on equal footing.

Yang Fuyin lightly pressed his right eye, and Qiu Yuansheng appeared in the main hall, looking at him with a speechless expression.

"Junior Brother Qiu, are you going to tell us who that was?" Yang Fuyin asked mildly, "You know, we could ask the Sect Leader the same question."

"Alright, that was the Great Xuan High Priest," Qiu Yuansheng admitted with a nod, "But I did not follow his orders."

Yan Zhao’s demeanor turned cold instantly, and Bai Shuixian watched him silently.

"How about this. The Mountain Patrol Bureau has plenty of mind-reading techniques, which you can use to check my memories and see if there’s anything," Qiu Yuansheng said calmly, "Anyone can have a look."

The mind-reading technique is a method of probing memories, and a slight mistake can lead to the destruction of one’s sea of consciousness, with lighter cases leading to madness and heavier ones to idiocy.

"I’ll do it," Yang Fuyin said coldly.

Qiu Yuansheng made a gesture of invitation.

Yang Fuyin extended a finger and delved into his forehead where his sea of consciousness was located, penetrating into his spiritual soul.

Countless bubbles surrounded him, and in an instant, he saw the most profound scenes.

A tall, elegant, godlike youth picked him up from the grass and sighed softly, "You’ve been hungry for two days, yet you can still call me to save you. Heaven envies such that it does not want you to be alive in this world; saving you is going against Heaven."

Various scenes flashed by, quickly showing the baby’s memories over the years. He was learning, and in another scene, he read books that others found obscure with ease. The godlike youth praised him, "Even in the ten thousand years of the Great Xuan, few are as extraordinary as Ah Sheng."

In the blink of an eye, he saw the child asking the youth for cultivation books, but the youth smiled and said, "My techniques are outdated. It’s better to go to Kun-Lai for learning; it won’t waste your talent." The child slyly asked, "Priest, are you asking me to go to Kun-Lai to be your spy?" The youth laughed, "No, Kun-Lai is where you can showcase your talents. After ten years, when you attend the Mountain Ascension Ceremony, it won’t be too late to choose."

The child grew up into a handsome youth, made a great impression on the sect, and later said to a spirit demon, "You want to go to Kun-Lai? It’s difficult. I also think Kun-Lai is quite good and don’t want to go back."

Then came scenes of him drawing various alchemical pill formulas and casually handing them out. Following that was his time at Qingdi Peak, where he did not waste his talent and learned exceptionally well.

Then the scene changed to the upheaval at Qingdi Peak. He was sent with fellow disciples to seek help, but along the way, Ziyun Dao pursued them relentlessly. To save him, his companions sacrificed themselves, leaving him the only survivor, severely injured and delayed, until he was eventually rescued by the later Sect Leader’s reinforcements.

Later, he returned to the sect and ascended a mountain...

Yang Fuyin was puzzled, wondering why no signs from a hundred years ago were detected.

As he was about to look further, he suddenly felt his strength waning and was bounced back from the other's sea of consciousness.

He had been watching for too long, and their sea of consciousness was out of sync. As it was about to go wrong, it was interrupted by Bai Shuixian.

Qiu Yuansheng, sweating profusely, weakly asked, "How is it?"

"Although I haven’t found any problems for now, you should understand that it’s related to the High Priest. You will no longer be able to control the Pill Peak," Yang Fuyin also suffered significant damage. He was tempted to deal with him directly, but recalling Master’s teachings, he ultimately repeated what he had seen in the other’s memories, "And when you recover, I will review the parts I haven’t seen yet!"

"Do as you wish." Qiu Yuansheng snorted coldly, "This matter will be decided by the Sect Leader when we return. To avoid suspicion, I won’t return to the Pill Peak for now and will stay here with the elders."

Lest he ended up being locked up again, he thought.

He only made a small push to let the High Priest come to Kun-Lai back then, leaving no trace himself.

However, he and the High Priest had a tacit understanding; some things didn’t even need to be spoken.

Of course you definitely wouldn’t see anything from a hundred years ago.

Should've looked from the end to the beginning~

Qiu Yuansheng's lips curled into a slight smile.

Yang Fuyin turned and left, realizing that his impatience after meeting Second Master led him to try to resolve everything at once, which ended up not directly convicting him. However, he had already committed the previous memories to his mind and could certainly deduce the clues, making sure he wouldn’t get another chance!

Yan Zhao reached out to restrain Qiu Yuansheng’s meridians, ordering his capture. No matter what, the suspicion of colluding with outside factions still remained.

Bai Shuixian’s expression was gloomy, and she did not speak.

At that moment, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from within Ziyun Dao City, and a sword light appeared in the sky, almost covering half the sky like a peacock spreading its feathers.

Then, a world-shattering light tore through the peacock screen, forcefully smashing the enemy into the ground and creating a giant pit.

Simultaneously, countless sword lights appeared, as if Ziyun Dao had brought their entire force.

"The Yanque Sword Technique—only Ziyun Dao Elder Yan Hui can match An Xian in a single move," Bai Shuixian recognized at a glance. "What’s happening now?"

"Ziyun Dao…" Yan Zhao nodded, "In that case, let’s start the battle. I’ve wanted to deal with them for a long time."