Tang Jie casually said, “There’s no benefit to learning these harmful teachings. Just burn it.”
“These aren’t all completely harmful to others,” Xu Miaoran said as she flipped through the small book. “There are some spell arts here that don’t require sacrificing human lives to practice. Like this Ghost Control spell that lets you command ghost soldiers. All you need is to catch a ghost…”
Tang Jie countered, “To get a ghost essence, you only need to catch ghosts that have ghost essences, but what did the Ghost Raising Sect do?”
Xu Miaoran froze.
Tang Jie smiled. “Moreover, while the Ghost Control spell might not harm others, it’s still a secret spell of the Ghost Sect. If you learn this spell, you’ve essentially branded yourself with the Ghost Sect’s insignia, making yourself an enemy of the rest of the world. Even if you don’t feel you’ve done anything wrong, are you going to explain yourself to the entire world?”
Xu Miaoran nodded. “I suppose that makes sense, so…”
She tossed the Ghost Classic into Tang Jie’s hand. “You can deal with it.”
With the book in hand, Tang Jie was just about to burn it when he took a glance and immediately realized that the Ghost Raising Dao recorded within it was rather profound. This was a rather valuable secret text of the Ghost Sect, something that couldn’t be found wherever one looked. Thus, he began to hesitate, muttering, “But this Ghost Classic is rather valuable. Burning it would be somewhat of a waste.”
Xu Miaoran pursed her lips, pointed at Tang Jie, and laughed. “Look at you! What did you say just now?”
“I didn’t say anything about learning it. I just think keeping it around might be useful,” Tang Jie said, putting the Ghost Classic away in his Mustard Seed Bag. He then gave the pile of spirit coins and medicines to Xu Miaoran. “Oh, don’t say that I’m taking everything for myself. This is all for you.”
Xu Miaoran was helpless as to what to do with him. She took the spirit coins while cutely rolling her eyes. “I didn’t think that a student of the mighty Basking Moon would have such a shameless side.”
“I also didn’t think that a fiend woman of Horizon Ocean Pavilion would be so naive and charming,” Tang Jie replied.
Xu Miaoran was flabbergasted. “Eh? You know who I am?”
In saying this, she had essentially admitted who she was.
Horizon Ocean Pavilion!
Tang Jie casually said, “The Diamond Bracelet and the Aquacloud Silk, coupling strength with gentleness. If I wasn’t able to guess the truth, there would be something wrong with my head.”
Xu Miaoran pouted. “So you guessed a long time ago. And here I was tiring myself out with all that acting.”
The girl wasn’t afraid that Tang Jie had exposed her. Grinning, she said, “Hey, if you knew that I was a fiend woman from Horizon Ocean Pavilion, why didn’t you raise a fuss and try to fight me?”
“Is that necessary?” Tang Jie smiled as well. “I just found out the truth, but that’s no reason to treat you like a monster. In the end, that’s just slander from your enemies.”
“But that enemy of mine is a very good friend of your Basking Moon Sect!” Xu Miaoran giggled.
“The Thousand Passions Sect is the Thousand Passions Sect, the Basking Moon Sect is the Basking Moon Sect, and Tang Jie is Tang Jie,” Tang Jie replied.
Rosecloud was home to six major sects, and they had varying relationships with each other. Some were friends and some were enemies.
Of these six, the Thousand Passions Sect and Horizon Ocean Pavilion were enemy sects that had been at loggerheads for a thousand years.
Some people said that this was because the sect masters of these two sects from a thousand years ago loved the same man, and so they turned hostile against each other and began a feud that had now lasted for one thousand years.
There were also others who said that it was because the guiding principles of the two sects were poles apart. The Thousand Passions Sect sought illusive emotions, seeking the Dao through sentiment. Meanwhile, Horizon Ocean Pavilion sought the truth that pointed at the original Dao. Their arts and mantras were totally different, as were their attitudes, and as the saying went, people who walked different paths could not make plans together.
There were also those who said that outstanding women were naturally opponents. Horizon Ocean Pavilion and the Thousand Passions Sect were both primarily female sects, and so it was in their nature to dislike each other.
There were all kinds of theories, and no one could decide which one was right, which one was true, or even if multiple were true. But there was no doubt that the two sects did not get along. Horizon Ocean Pavilion criticized the Thousand Passions Sect for false affections and called them “demon women”. The Thousand Passions Sect said that Horizon Ocean Pavilion’s women were completely without restraint and called them “fiend women”.
The two sects had been criticizing each other and accusing each other of various crimes for one thousand years now.
The Basking Moon Sect was best friends with the Thousand Passions Sect, so in the end, it was obligated to speak up for the Thousand Passions Sect. Thus, it also often called the people of Horizon Ocean Pavilion “fiend women”. Fortunately, the squabble remained restricted to the common people, like with Godhead Palace. It wasn’t so bad that they would start fighting as soon as they met. When necessary, they would even work together.
In normal circumstances, the Basking Moon Sect had its own mortal foe—not Godhead Palace, but the Beast Refining Gate. Meanwhile, Godhead Palace’s real foe was the Seven Absolutions Sect. When it came to these three pairs of mortal foes, even if there wasn’t a war, they would never cooperate with each other.
Xu Miaoran clapped her hands and laughed. “Good words! I didn’t think that Basking Moon Academy also had people that weren’t so inflexible.”
“You talk as if all the Basking Moon students are inflexible,” Tang Jie chuckled. “Right, what is a student from Horizon Ocean Academy doing in my Sageheart Kingdom?”
“I’m seeing the sights, of course.”
Tang Jie was dizzied by her answer. “Seeing the sights?”
“Yes!” Xu Miaoran boldly affirmed. “What else would I be doing?”
“Don’t you need to cultivate?” Tang Jie asked.
All of the Basking Moon students put forth their best effort upon entering the academy. Even the young masters from various esteemed clans would seriously cultivate, and they rarely left the school.
In this year since they had entered the academy, the only day they had really been able to relax was that day after the exam, and even this had felt rather extravagant.
But Xu Miaoran had come over to the Sageheart Kingdom to see the sights?
For students, this was absolutely absurd.
Xu Miaoran replied, “Of course I’m cultivating, but cultivating every day might not achieve the best results. My Horizon Ocean Pavilion seeks to move with the Heavenly Dao, to understand the truth in nature, and to do as the heart desires. If we feel like going out to play, then we do so. There is no need to suppress our natures and bitterly cultivate. On the contrary, that is completely contrary to the style of the sect.”
Tang Jie was shocked by what he was hearing. It seemed that in Horizon Ocean Pavilion, it was totally fine if one wanted to play every day rather than cultivate. Of course, he didn’t say this out loud.
“I’m starting to envy Horizon Ocean Pavilion,” he said with a laugh.
“Just because we can go out and play?”
“Precisely!”
The two glanced at each other and laughed.
Once they were done laughing, Xu Miaoran asked, “Then if the heavens gave you one chance, would you choose Horizon Ocean Pavilion or the Basking Moon Sect?”
After some thought, Tang Jie shook his head. “I would still choose the Basking Moon Sect.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Xu Miaoran asked in surprise. She had received an unexpected answer to her casual question.
Tang Jie nonchalantly replied, “Because for me, truth in nature and doing as my heart desires… is a kind of luxury.”
Xu Miaoran was stunned.
She suddenly sensed that this youth was seemingly carrying an extremely heavy burden.
After chatting a little more, Tang Jie and Xu Miaoran went back to their rooms to rest.
Yiyi was soundly asleep. The sounds of fighting had failed to wake her up.
Sitting down next to Yiyi, Tang Jie closed his eyes, but when he tried to cultivate, the image of Xu Miaoran appeared in his mind. Unable to dispel this image, he failed to circulate even one Major Circuit Heaven.
He felt rather bewildered.
He felt that he wasn’t someone who was tempted by beautiful people, and it wasn’t as though Basking Moon Academy lacked for them. Liu Hongyan and Ping Jingyue were gorgeous, and An Rumeng was even more a woman who did not lose out to Xu Miaoran in terms of appearance. But he had felt nothing from these people, so why did the smiling face of this Xu Miaoran, whom he had only gotten to know today, constantly appear in his mind, her melodious voice in his ear?
Was it because Gu Changqing was dead and his plan had succeeded, and with the danger resolved, he now had time to think about romance?
Or was he just at that age where biological urges were gradually beginning to affect his mental state?
Perhaps it was because he had been too wary and paranoid in school, which rendered him unable to develop an interest in anyone, and it was only this chance encounter that made him open up?
Or was it her sincere smile and words that had moved him?
For a moment, Tang Jie himself didn’t know the answer.
In the end, he decided that he was overthinking things, that perhaps he had been dazzled by her charm. He decided to just not cultivate and went to sleep.
What he did not know was that Xu Miaoran had also restlessly tossed and turned in her bed, unable to sleep.
The next morning, Yiyi was still sound asleep.
Tang Jie left his room and saw Xu Miaoran sitting in a corner of the monastery’s main hall, sipping on some tea.
The tea had a thick aroma, and there was little chance that it was the low-quality tea of the monastery. She had probably brought it herself.
Xu Miaoran sweetly smiled when she saw Tang Jie. “Good morning!”
“Good morning.” Tang Jie walked over and sat across from Xu Miaoran. He sniffed the tea and asked, “Iceflower tea?”
“It’s jade turquoise,” Xu Miaoran replied. She took out a small spice bag, and from it, a tea cube that looked like a little stone. She placed it in a cup, poured in boiling water, and then placed the cup in front of Tang Jie. The little stone bloomed in the water and began to release a faint aroma.
“Thank you,” Tang Jie said as he took the cup.
The two of them very naturally began to hold a conversation.
After fighting alongside each other last night, they had gone from strangers to acquaintances, and they gradually grew more and more talkative.
One was from Endsea and the other was from Sageheart. Two people from distant countries had been brought together, so they naturally began to talk about their local customs and entertaining cultivation stories. They both had something to contribute, and there was no fear about a lack of topics.
Without the pressure of the Hawk Hall, Tang Jie appeared much more relaxed, and he showed quite a lot of humor and wit as they chatted, even bursting into laughter on occasion.
“…Just like that, I became a servant student of the Wei Clan, and then I joined my young master in coming to Basking Moon Academy.”
“It truly wasn’t easy. What about after that?”
“After that… I realized my great aspiration. For the sake of a free and unrestrained life, I stood up and walked the dangerous path…”
Tang Jie didn’t hide the story from her as he recounted what had happened. Of course, the version he used was the one where he deceived the Basking Moon Sect.
“No wonder I found your name to be so familiar. So you’re the one that has all of Sageheart in an uproar, that student who caused Godhead Palace and the Basking Moon Sect to become openly hostile to each other.”
Tang Jie sighed. “I didn’t expect myself to become the subject of tales.”
Xu Miaoran found his words rather amusing, and loudly laughed.
She cared little for the fact that women shouldn’t show their teeth when they smiled. She laughed freely, her mouth wide open, and this made her seem all the more enchanting.
Once she was done laughing, Xu Miaoran asked, “Then are you the person Godhead Palace is after or not?”
After some thought, Tang Jie asked, “If I was, what would you do?”
Xu Miaoran was taken aback, and she was unable to give a swift reply.