Xu Qing quietly descended the mountain. He chose not to fly, but instead walked through the moonlight back toward Seven Blood Eyes. He felt very strange inside after everything that had just happened. Given how much he had grown up in the past few years, it wasn’t often that he felt so deeply shaken in this way. It was uncomfortable, and he wasn’t used to it.
As he walked, he started mentally reviewing his old medicinal codex. As the names and information of various medicinal plants passed through his mind, he slowly calmed down. His expression was the same as ever as he started walking faster and faster.
Eventually he reached his berth, where he stood on the shore and looked back in the direction of the Dark Serenity Sect. He felt both suspicious and vigilant. Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s flirty behavior wasn’t what he was focused on; he wasn’t the ignorant child he had once been. He just refused to believe that someone with a cultivation base as high as hers would be so banal. There had to be more to her actions. After all… in this world, people didn’t just blindly fall in love at first sight. There were always reasons behind everything.
Unfortunately, he just couldn’t fathom what was really going on. Waving his hand, he produced his dharmaskiff, stepped aboard and into the cabin, and settled down cross-legged. Eventually the sky was bright, yet Xu Qing still didn’t have any good ideas. Burying the matter in his heart, he started to work on some meditation.
It had been a long time since he had needed to attend to his work at the Special Security Division. The Captain had been using the discount jade slip for the immortal hot spring on a daily basis, and thus handled matters for him.
According to the information Xu Qing’s informant had sent him, the Captain actually brought Wu Jianwu with him to the hot spring almost every day. The two of them furtively chatted with each other constantly, and the informant suggested that the Captain seemed to be trying to convince Wu Jianwu to do something. Wu Jianwu, meanwhile, seemed to be getting more and more excited.
Xu Qing was curious about that, but not curious enough to dig into the matter. Instead, he focused on assimilating all of the blood from the ravagemist bird.
A few days passed.
One morning when the blazing sun overtook the darkness of night, sunlight shone onto the featureless face that was the figurehead of Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff. That was when Xu Qing’s transmission jade slip received a message.
“Pack your things, child. I’m taking you on a little trip.”
When Xu Qing saw the message, he thought about it for a short time, then sent a message to Master Seventh, explaining the situation and asking if he should agree.
Master Seventh didn’t respond immediately. And when he did, he asked a question.
“Fourth Sib, is this your first time going on a date?”
“Date?” Xu Qing replied, surprised. ．
When Master Seventh got that reaction from Xu Qing, he laughed, then said that there was no need to worry and that he should keep his chin up when accompanying her.
Xu Qing stewed in suspicion for a short time until he heard the magnetic yet gentle voice of Arch-Immortal Plumdark coming from outside.
“It’s time to head out, child.”
He quietly walked out and saw Arch-Immortal Plumdark sitting on the railing of his dharmaskiff, sipping from a flagon of alcohol, her long hair dancing in the sea breeze. [1]
She wore the white robes of a scholar that didn’t have even a single speck of dust on it, and her beautiful face was as exquisite as a pear blossom. She was like a gorgeous image from a painting, her eyes as deep as autumn waters and her skin fairer than the faintest breeze. [2]
Sensing Xu Qing’s presence, she lowered the flagon and turned to look at him. Right at that moment, a shaft of sunlight passed through her hair, refracting into a seven-colored halo that made her even more beautiful. Especially noteworthy was the profound charm and grace in her pupils as her gaze fell on Xu Qing. Her lips curled up into a faint smile. It was different from the way she had smiled in the past, which to Xu Qing had seemed like the grin of a predator hunting prey. Instead, it was soft and tender.
If anyone had been present to see this scene, they would be taken aback. There were two people on the skiff: one was a woman as beautiful as a gemstone, the other was a man as dazzling as a shining star. They were so eye-catching that even the sunlight seemed to rush to accompany them.
Xu Qing stopped in place.
There was something different about Arch-Immortal Plumdark. She seemed less seductive and more heroic. Less domineering and more tender. It almost seemed contradictory, and in the end, it only made her more beautiful. Her style had changed, and it prompted Xu Qing to take a closer look at her.
“Do you like it?” she said, blinking a few times.
Xu Qing nodded.
She seemed pleased with his response, as she laughed softly. Then she tapped the railing and said, “You have a nice ship, child. Why don’t we use it on our trip? I really want to go see that Dark Serenity Sect you found.”
She turned, took a deep breath of the bright, morning air, and then took another sip of alcohol.
As Xu Qing looked at her sitting on the railing, he hesitated. He had laced his dharmaskiff with a lot of poison. At the very least, there were about two hundred varieties scattered about. That included the deck, the railings, and just about every other inch of the ship. That said, considering the level of Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s cultivation base, he doubted his poisons were much to worry about. His hands flashed in an incantation gesture, and a tremor passed through the ship. Rising out of the water, it turned and started moving in the direction of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River.
In the first rays of dawn, the dharmaskiff’s billowing sails seemed incredibly majestic. Xu Qing piloted the dharmaskiff from a position at the very front, his violet daoist robe flapping in the wind.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark remained on the railing, her legs swaying as she looked off into the distance, sipped from the flagon of alcohol, and enjoyed the breeze. Her hair swayed with the same rhythm as Xu Qing’s robe. If someone could paint a picture of the scene, it would be beautiful beyond words.
Meanwhile, down in the harbor, the Captain stuck his head from around a random corner and used a jade slip to record what was happening.
I absolutely have to have some pictures of little Ah Qing’s first date. They might be worth a lot of money one day. He seemed very pleased with himself.
Little did he know that, not far away from where he was, Master Seventh stood in a building watching the ship leave. Master Seventh sighed.
Is that really the same Immortal Fairy Plumdark who captivated countless elite cultivators all those years ago? Fourth Sib really is dashing…. He’s almost on par with me, back in the day.
Under the eyes of both his Master and a fellow apprentice, Xu Qing’s dharmaskiff left Seven Blood Eyes and started speeding up the tributary of the Everlasting Immortal Profundity River.
The sunny blue sky didn’t have a single cloud in it, creating a carefree and relaxed atmosphere. At the prow, Xu Qing kept his eyes straight ahead as he piloted the ship. Truth be told, he was very nervous being alone with Arch-Immortal Plumdark. Not only did she have a terrifying cultivation base, but also, his previous interactions with her left him feeling very unsettled. The only thing he could think to do was stay completely focused on operating the dharmaskiff.
The day passed.
Although Xu Qing still felt nervous, he was finally starting to relax slightly. Arch-Immortal Plumdark hadn’t said a single thing the entire day. Apparently, she just enjoyed sitting on the railing, drinking, and looking off into the distance as she enjoyed the breeze.
Perhaps because of how clear the sky was, as night fell, there were more stars out than usual. And somehow, the starlight seemed to gather around Arch-Immortal Plumdark. Before, she had seemed beautiful. But being wreathed in starlight made her seem flawlessly charming, and at the same time, gorgeously pure. She was like an immortal fairy from the moon, strolling through the human world.
Except, this immortal fairy suddenly seemed to lack any sort of charm or warmth. In fact, she seemed as cold as ice as she looked in the direction of the Supreme Arbiter Salvation Mountains.
Xu Qing noticed that, and followed her gaze. There was a sect off in the distance, not too far away, but far enough that he couldn’t make out details about it. However, he did hear the faint sound of screaming on the breeze.
“Let’s go see what’s happening,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said.
This was Xu Qing’s first time seeing her with such a cold demeanor. And he had never heard her speak in such an icy tone. Heart thumping, he turned the dharmaskiff in the direction of the mountains.
As they got closer, Xu Qing realized that what he had seen earlier wasn’t a sect, but rather, a mountain stockade. There were about a hundred rogue cultivators there, including both humans and nonhumans. All were vicious and emanated the stench of blood. In fact, the stockade itself was splattered with gore, and in the middle of it was a spell formation. Corpses were piled on the formation, apparently as sacrificial offerings. And there was some sort of evil ritual being carried out. As the ritual went on, an indescribably vile aura spread out from the formation. It was accompanied by disgusting chewing sounds. Meanwhile, looks of ecstasy covered the faces of the sinister cultivators who prostrated themselves to the formation.
Xu Qing’s pupils constricted at the sight of it, and his heart pounded. But what caused his heart to pound wasn’t the cultivators. These cultivators counted for little, as even the strongest among them was only a Gold Core cultivator with a single heavenly palace. No, his heart pounded because of that evil aura.
“The swordsages have outlawed sacrificing living beings to evil spirits,” said Arch-Immortal Plumdark, her voice calm but powerful as it echoed through the night. “The Eight Sect Coalition has similar laws. You people have a lot of gall.”
The evil aura suddenly pulsed fearfully, and it began to retract as if trying to escape. The cultivators were visibly shocked. Yet before any of them saw the dharmaskiff or raised their voices in alarm, Arch-Immortal Plumdark waved her hand.
The movement of her hand carried a divine resonance that Xu Qing couldn’t clearly perceive. However, he could sense that it corresponded to natural laws governing the operation of heaven and earth. There was no divine ability at play. No magical technique. However….
The cultivators in the stockade began to shrink. The spell formation also shrank, as did the evil aura. In fact, the entire mountain shrank. In the blink of an eye, everything in front of Xu Qing disappeared.
To Xu Qing’s utter shock, a grain of sand then flew up and landed between Arch-Immortal Plumdark’s thumb and forefinger. When he looked closely, he realized that the grain of sand was actually shaped like a mountain. It was none other than the mountain from moments ago. The cultivators and the formation were there, in the same proportion as before, just shrunk down by many times over. All of the cultivators were overwhelmed with terror and despair.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark squeezed her fingers together. A cracking sound rang out as the grain of sand collapsed into nothing. She sat on the railing, looking at Xu Qing with a smile. “What are you gaping at, child? Let’s move on. Stick to the mountains. I want to enjoy the scenery.”
Her smile could melt even the coldest ice, and contained a divine resonance that surpassed the moonlight.
1. The Chinese term I’m translating as “flagon” can be used to cover a variety of drinking containers. This term comes up all the time in wuxia/xianxia, and I usually translate it as either jug, flagon, gourd, or pot, depending on the circumstances. I created an image gallery of a variety of styles of drinking vessels. The type Arch-Immortal Plumdark is using could be any of them, but in my imagination it’s the type listed last in the photo gallery, which is a bit fancier. 👈
2. In Ancient China, women usually couldn’t be scholars, and even in xianxia I think it’s rare for women to wear scholar clothing. That said, scholars would generally wear utilitarian robes that weren’t fancy and decadent. And definitely not revealing. When I asked Madam Deathblade about this part, she confirmed that Arch-Immortal Plumdark is obviously not “dressing up” for this date, but rather, “dressing down.” As for why she’s doing that… you can come to your own conclusion. In searching for “female scholar outfit” on Baidu, I found this image which seems like a good reference. As you can see, there is no jewelry, fancy embellishments or revealing aspects. 👈