Chapter 36: The Approaching Storm
Wuliang Sect had some matters that needed to be settled.
When the mysterious palace appeared in the field practice exam island, many of the formation masters banded together to examine it and concluded that it was not a natural phenomenon. Rather, after the destruction of the Universe Array Eyes, it appeared in the Heavenly Sea.
The things inside the mysterious palace were very strange. If an item was taken from it, no matter what kind of treasure it was or even if it recognized a master, it will vanish within three days after it was taken away and return to the palace.
The item could then be seen inside the palace again, looking unchanged, as if it had never been touched.
Everyone was puzzled and finally pointed to Wuliang Sect, who first discovered the palace. Did they have any special benefits? What weird things in this palace were related to Wuliang Sect? Or rather, related to the destruction of the Wuguang Sect’s Universe Array Eyes?
At that time there was only one person there who was at the Nascent Soul Stage – Lou Yanshan. The others were all new disciples who were participating in the field practice exam. Therefore, Lou Yanshan was currently under the greatest pressure. Recently, he was struggling to deal with high-ranking cultivators from all the major sects and had no energy to go to the mysterious palace to search for treasure. In the end, he had no choice but to stay inside the Wuliang Sect, not daring to put a foot outside. He was forced to choke back to frustration and had a belly full of fire.
He was not a disciple of the Array Hall. He's not good at arrays. How could he have destroyed the array? How could he prove to the people who didn't believe him and asked him about it every day?
This was a terrible misfortune!
……
On account of this matter, the other orthodox sects from the were to making insinuations about Wuliang Sect while at the same time trying to worm information out of them. In addition, the sect also had to guard against demonic cultivators so the sect had a very difficult time of it lately. When so many disciples were poisoned and they couldn't buy enough medicine to provide for everyone, it was a wake-up call for the sect.
Everywhere in the sect, people were extremely nervous. This sort of atmosphere even spread to the Heaven Firmament Peak. Occasionally, there were cultivators who took advantage of the fact that Spiritual Master Lingwu was away. Since the Great Elder was in closed-door training, they would run to the Heaven Firmament Peak to call on the Spiritual Master's 11 disciples. Du Xizhi and Yin Li were bored to death, but they also wanted to know the news about the field practice exam island so they could only endure and keep their temper to exchange information with those people.
Su Tingyun didn't pay much attention to these things until she heard that the other sects suspected them of destroying the Array Eyes.1 That attracted her attention.
Her pill flame was obtained from the field practice exam island but why would this pill fire be worthy of causing both the orthodox and unorthodox sects to dispatch their troops to turn-out in full force? The powerful Wuliang Sect, a major faction of the cultivation world, was hard-pressed…2
The innocent Su Tingyun understood that she was just an ordinary person who got into trouble on account of a cherished item.3 Besides, she also knew that the pill fire can be stripped off one's primordial spirit. Liu Feizhou's pill fire was originally owned by Gu Hao, which means that it can be taken away.
Thus, she no longer dared to use the pill fire. Whenever she made medicine, she used spirit firewood. Therefore, the quality of the pills she made were much lower than before. Lin Xinmei took the Meridian Moistening Pill every day when she cultivated. Naturally, she could tell the difference but she knew that the situation was dangerous and the secret must be kept so she made no excessive demands for pills.
However, she had become used to the high-quality Meridian Moistening Pills from before. When she took the lower quality pills, the pain she felt when cultivating seemed to have increased thousands of times more. This time, she hadn't yet finished one complete rotation of the spiritual energy in her body when she felt as though her meridians were tearing inch by inch. It was as though ten thousand ants were biting her. An avalanche of pain overwhelmed her, smashing her willpower, forcing her clenched teeth to loosen and unleash a sad and miserable howl.
Ning Xuzi has always felt sorry for Li Xinmei. She had such great talent but because of her body's injury, it was impossible for her to advance. Most people would have given up a long time ago but she still insisted on cultivating. This teenage girl was stronger than most people.
If he knew who had hurt her, he would have broken that man to pieces!
Perhaps Li Xinmei’s persistence moved him, so even if he knew that she wouldn't be able to advance in the future, Ning Xuzi still treated her well and he had always been concerned about her.
That's why when he heard Li Xinmei's screams, Ning Xuzi quickly rushed over. Seeing her state, the eyes of the chubby elder became wet. He knew that she endured a lot of pain while cultivating but he didn't know that this little girl had been in such agony.
She was covered in blood and bloody beads were streaming from the surface of her skin. She looked extremely miserable.
This kind of injury can’t be cured by ordinary medicine. Ning Xuzi had to bring her to Heaven Firmament Peak. Sending her to the medicine master would be impossible but she can be sent to her close friend, the alchemist Wei Yun, to see if she can help Li Xinmei recuperate.
Normally he wouldn't send his disciple to another hall, but Li Xinmei had a good relationship with a cultivator from the Heaven Firmament Peak. They probably wouldn't refuse to help …
Ning Xuzi was unsure but he was still going to send her to Heaven Firmament Peak. However, just as he was about to do so, he found that the Sect Leader had sent some people over. They wanted to meet the new disciples who had gone to the field practice exam island to ask them some questions. There were only four disciples who had been to the island and they swiftly arrived. Li Xinmei was in a coma so Ning Xuzi put her down on a flying artifact in front of several people.
"This is them?" Jiang Feiyun, the head of the team, looked at these four disciples. He looked sideways at a man in black clothes who was beside him. His said in an impatient tone: "The Array Hall sent these four disciples. However, they are only at the Qi Condensation stage. How could they have broken open the illusion array?"
The black-robed man did not answer and his eyes swept over the four disciples. They felt as though they had been stripped naked as they stood there. They shivered involuntarily and even their spiritual consciousness was shaken.
The expression on Jiang Feiyun's showed even more displeasure. He was confident of his own ability and had already searched the dimensional bags of these four people. However, the other person's status was extremely high and he also represented a major faction. Jiang Feiyun was unhappy at losing face because of these new disciples.
The black-robed man turned to look at the injured young girl in front of Ning Xuzi and said, "I heard that there was a female cultivator in the temple who had acquired the lineage of the Universe Array Eyes."
Ning Xuzi's scalp tightened. Only then did he see that there was a crescent moon embroidered on a corner of the other party's black robe. His heart was full of awe and reverence. Could it be that this black-robed person was Bright Moon Sect's great Lord Liao Chengjun who normally kept himself secluded from the world?4
No wonder even the Sect Leader was so polite to him. Ning Xuzi respectfully said: "It's just a rumor. Xiao Mei has an illness and it's almost impossible for her to cultivate. How could she receive this inheritance?" He sighed. "The power of a single thread of the ancestor's inheritance would be enough to crush her."
Liao Chengjun still looked closely at the unconscious Li Xinmei. He was also an alchemy master. Naturally, he knew that this young girl had a dark illness in her body and she was able to cultivate only because of her persistence. He had just searched her using his spiritual consciousness. There was nothing special about her.
The expression on Jiang Feiyun's face was not good. Ning Xuzi was respectful but from time to time he glanced at the girl on the flying artifact, seemingly a little worried. Liao Chengjun didn't want to offend Wuliang Sect too much, so he raised his hand and green vines sprang out from his fingertips and wrapped up Li Xinmei’s body.
"Ah, new life comes upon a withered tree!"5
There was a steady stream of vitality coming from the ivy. There were also some blue clouds of mist that enshrouded Li Xinmei. In the next moment, Liao Chengjun withdrew his hand. "I stopped her injuries from getting worse. Her internal injuries will require a long period of care and her meridians are almost crippled. In the future, she should not cultivate by force."
"Thank you." Ning Xuzi thanked him then took Li Xinmei to the Heaven Firmament Peak. The other three new disciples were very shocked. It had never occurred to them that Li Xinmei, whom they had always been jealous of, had injured her meridians and was now a cripple.
Fang Dingyuan gave the now distant Li Xinmei a shocked look. His feelings were quite complicated. He obviously wanted to beat her fairly so that the master would see that he was better but now that she was like this …
Henceforth, the person named Li Xinmei was no longer his rival.
……
At Heaven Firmament Peak, Su Tingyun heard a horrible howling, and she immediately flew out, hoping to see what was going on with the Orchid Tongue Grass. She saw two leaves drooping down to the ground weakly. It looked like a scallop that had been completely broken open. The plant's center had a little red stamen that looked like a small tongue and that tongue was shaking. Its terrible howling was enough to make people feel chilled, like the screaming of a ghost in a horror film. The howling went on and the Orchid Tongue Grass' voice broke.
"What happened to you?"
The orchid tongue grass kept on crying but wouldn't talk. Su Tingyun’s eyelids couldn't stop twitching. She felt that something bad had happened. As she tried to comfort the orchid tongue grass over and over again, she suddenly heard Yan Li exclaim, "Grannie, Grannie. Mei Jiejie was injured."
That voice was loud and high-pitched and the sound came from a distance. As it echoed, the Orchid Tongue Grass immediately stopped shouting. Its two leaves slammed together then its stood there quietly like a wallflower.
Su Tingyun went to where the sound had come from and saw Spiritual Master Lingwu's senior disciple leading the way. Xiao Mei was lying on the flying artifact in front of Ning Xuzi. Yin Li was with Xiao Mei, and his face was filled with anxiety.
Su Tingyun immediately welcomed them when they landed. She saw that Xiao Mei’s clothes were bloody. However, when she used her spiritual consciousness to examine her body, she found that she had no wounds on her body. Suddenly, she realized what had happened to Xiao Mei. It must be because she forced herself to cultivate and finally her meridians could no longer withstand it.
"Li Xinmei cultivated with all of her might." Now that Li Xinmei was no longer in danger, Ning Xuzi was not in a hurry. He sighed: "I sent her to you because you are her family. Please wait for her to wake up and advise her well."
Su Tingyun nodded and thanked them for their efforts. She put Xiao Mei to bed and looked at her. Even in a coma, her brows were still twisted in a frown. She stayed behind Li Xinmei’s bed and never left. After about half an hour, Li Xinmei finally woke up.
Translator’s Notes:
I tried my hand at a chapter of this because I really like this story. Please leave a comment if you can, I LOVE comments. Thanks for reading.