The clouds were thin like smoke, the water flew smoothly, and the summer flowers bloomed.
Shen Lian was still in the mountains, and Ruoxi was not next to him. She was waiting at some distance away.
A stream that came from the crack of the mountain oozed out, and it formed into a waterfall. The water droplets that came from the splash were like pearls in the sky. The stream ended up flowing into the clear pond in front of Shen Lian, and flowed away gently from the side of the pond.
The flying stream and the clear pond formed a juxtaposition, the contrast of dynamic and static was illustrated beautifully by the scene.
There were sunset clouds in the sky, and the night was about to fall.
Underneath this backdrop, Zhao Xiaoyu appeared in white amidst the smoke-like clouds.
Shen Lian had been standing here for quite some time now. He was not surprised by Zhao Xiaoyu’s appearance. The saintess of the Nine Lotus Secret Order was the biggest opponent of the Empress in this chess game of Shendu.
Zhao Xiaoyu plucked a pale yellow wildflower from the side of the stream. She smelled it with her perfectly-shaped nose; her beauty was something that could move any man in the world, it could make them forget about everything else and to think of nothing but her.
Her features were impeccable, and even the most skilled artist could not perfectly replicate her beauty, no painter could ever catch the soul in her smile as she picked the flower.
It was as though she was above the masses, which was why she was so perfect.
Of course, no one was perfect in this world, and that included Zhao Xiaoyu. However, to give off this kind of vibe even for a second, that in itself was impressive.
No cultivator sailed smoothly in the process of cultivation. More often than not, the others could only see the glorious appearances of those who stood on the pinnacle, and they ended up not noticing the difficulties that they faced.
“You look very beautiful when you are picking the flower,” Shen Lian whispered. His compliment was sincere; if he were not blind, he has got to face Zhao Xiaoyu’s beauty.
“Seemed like you are in a good mood today, and the Empress was not unreasonable with you,” Zhao Xiaoyu threw away the wildflower that she held and sniffed. Her casualness in disposing of something that she once loved, this showcased the kind of coldness and emotionless exhibited by deities.
“Nature is not benevolent and partial, it treats all things on the earth the same and fairly. To nature, everything was one and equal.”
To Zhao Xiaoyu, what she loved and hated did not have any difference.
This was what was so different about her, and also what was so scary about her.
“I guess you want to know what I think about you and the Empress. To be honest, I’m the only one who is qualified to pass any remark on this affair in the whole Shendu City,” Shen Lian spoke with confidence.
“Every time I see you, I feel something different. The impartialness from that night, the pride today, they have all left a strong impression on me. It is true that I do not like the men from the mortal world to judge me, but you are definitely an exception. I want to know what you think,” Zhao Xiaoyu spoke with a gentle voice akin to the clouds and catkins; it was as though she was speaking from an illusory mist.
“This is something that I have heard before. A person who can create an organization is a hero; A person who can create a kingdom is a King; A person who can create a religion is a Saint. Xiaoyu, what kind of person do you think you are?” Shen Lian did not offer his view immediately; instead, he mentioned the passage – to catch a whale by throwing out a minnow.
Zhao Xiaoyu laughed, “The Nine Lotus Order was not founded by me, and I do not plan to build another order. It would seem that I can never be a Saint. I do not plan to build a country, and an organization is something for the mortals to fight for glory and wealth. I am not interested in all that. It seems that I am neither of those three,” she replied.
“You don’t want to be any of them because you have no desire to be a human. In the beginning, there was God, God is always with Dao. Both will last for an eternity, and they will stand against the rise and fall of civilizations. I admire your ambition,” Shen Lian sighed.
Underneath Zhao Xiaoyu’s silent eyes, an undercurrent was sparked and suppressed. Shen Lian was a very special person, and very scary too.
Someone like him should see eye to eye with her, but she clearly knew that Shen Lian could not let go of his emotions to chase after something intangible like the laws of heaven.
This was why Shen Lian was still bringing Ruoxi around. To an outsider, no matter how intelligent Ruoxi was, she was nothing but a burden to Shen Lian.
She could feel a scary power that was dormant within Shen Lian. The feeling that she got from the power seemed to be what she had been looking for, cold and ancient. This was why she was so attracted to Shen Lian, she felt that Shen Lian was flawed. She could not suppress the power; while he could not be as emotionless as Dao was.
The law of heaven would always remain in existence; it did not exist for anyone, and it would not cease existing because of anyone.
She believed that Shen Lian knew about this. Why then would he still hold onto the useless and ridiculous emotions cherished by humans?
Her Senior Apprentice-Sister was someone like that too.
She had an indescribable feeling when faced with someone like that.
As Zhao Xiaoyu pondered on these, Shen Lian’s gaze pierced through the Qi that shielded her, and he faced her directly. Zhao Xiaoyu saw herself in his eyes.
The clear pond portrayed both of their reflections.
“However, the Empress was different from you,” Shen Lian continued.
Zhao Xiaoyu replied with an “Oh”, and she hid away her thoughts. Her wavering heart of Dao was calmed and steadied once again.
“What is the difference?”
“The first time I set eyes on her, I knew that she is not someone who cares about winning and losing. She did what others could not, not because she was trying to prove her abilities, but simply because she wanted to do it.” If the Empress were to hear what Shen Lian said, she would definitely feel that she had found someone who understood her. It was a shame that he did not say this in front of the Empress.
Zhao Xiaoyu was “impartiality”, which was why she managed to attain the final “true emptiness” of the Luoism. Where one was naturally empty without self-nature, of course, there would not be a need to find one’s true self.
The Empress was “partiality”; from the fact that she had changed the Dynasty into hers and turned herself into an Empress, one could tell that she was someone who broke through conventions.
However, she was not satisfied with all of these. To her, the meaning of life lies in endless exploration, and that was how she kept herself from being bored by life.
Shen Lian could understand the both of them; naturally, he had some form of similarity to the both of them.
He was at ease and did not care much about a lot of things. He could let go, and yet he was not afraid of any difficulties. From when he chose the Taixu Strategy, one would know that the spirit to persevere through any challenges and the spirit of risk-taking was innate in him.
It was not to say that he had both of the strengths of Zhao Xiaoyu and the Empress. This was the paradox of his life.
Back when Zhang Ruoxu told Gu Caiwei to pass him the words, that “the difficulty that he is facing came from within”, it was not false at all.
The time he spent previously and the contact he had with the both of them had allowed him to realize this, and corresponded with the chief’s words.