The early morning was cold with fog and mist rising from the lake.
Formless sobered and got up from the grass, hurriedly placing his palms together: “Amitabha.”
“Help me with something.” Feiyun has been in the same spot since last night.
“What is it?”
“Follow me!”
Two hours later.
A shrine was erected from nothing on top of a peak. Formless has finally finished putting the last pillar in place. He also polished a rectangular plaque and inscribed animated characters on it, dancing just like the dragons.
Feiyun accepted the plaque and also added words to the front.
“Goddess of Jin River.” Formless asked: “Who is she?”
Feiyun didn’t answer and leaped up to put the plaque in place. The two of them went inside.
The place was empty with the exception of a female statue and a Buddhist lamp.
The statue was carved from divine poplar wood that was as tough as steel, basked with an eternal glow.
Feiyun personally carved it. The thing looked beautiful and spirited as if it has its own life force.
“That’s her.” He said.
Formless seemed to have realized something. He slightly bowed his head and started chanting. A pure yet vast Buddhist affinity permeated the shrine. These strands of power converged on the statue.
The thing originally made from wood suddenly became a golden avatar; its glow becoming Buddhist in nature.
Feiyun glanced at him and said: “You aren’t that annoying, monk. Thank you for helping me build this shrine, I’ll invite you out for a drink again.”
Formless’ expression changed after drinking was brought up. His alcohol tolerance was indeed pathetic; just one gulp is all it takes to get drunk. He smiled and said: “I’ll outdrink you one day.”
Feiyun turned to descend while laughing boisterously as if making fun of Formless for overestimating himself.
“Where are you going?” Formless asked, looking quite stately; his robe as white as snow.
“I will bring the statue of the goddess to every corner of this world.” Feiyun’s laughter still echoed across the hill.
***
Skyhigh Peak.
The camp master, Tan Qingsu, happily handed a jade box to him: “This is the antidote for your centipede from Senior Aunt.”
“That old nun? How is she?” He accepted it and placed it in his spatial pouch without checking.
“She has passed away.” She calmly responded.
Death was a part of life; it was only a matter of time.
Trees looked like dragons coiling around the vast expanse of clouds. One had a great view looking down on everything while being on Skyhigh.
She released the seal on his body and said: “More than half of the malefic force and evil affinity are suppressed, so there is no need to perform the ninth cleansing. Looks like something good has happened recently for you.”
Feiyun smirked and raised both hands, releasing a blinding light. Lightning currents surged through him; one could hear the roars of ten thousand beasts echoing through the mountains.
He has been here for more than a year. Though his cultivation was sealed, each purification attempt actually increased his power. Tan Qingsu clearly used her own cultivation to suppress his evil affinities.
Feiyun kept this kindness in mind. He always kept a fair score of enemies and friends.
She continued: “There are many problems looming in your body that can only be dealt with after you become an Enlightened Being. Before then, you need to avoid killing and do kind deeds. If you turn into a devil for a second time, I will personally leave the mountain to eliminate you.”
He smiled: “Thank you, Camp Master. If your sect needs my help in the future, just let me know. I will return right away no matter how far away I am.”
She nodded and left with Rhino.
“Wait, Camp Master.” He called her back and hesitated. In the end, he still gave her a letter: “Give this to Nalan for me.”
She gave him the side-eye but still accepted it: “Why don’t you give it to her yourself?”
“I’m sure you will be able to give her a good explanation since you can’t bear to watch her eyes swollen from crying.” Feiyun pondered for a moment before leaping into the clouds, disappearing from sight.
Qingsu held the letter in a daze as if it was a hot potato. It was too late to give it back to Feiyun so she could only sigh.
Feiyun left Beastmaster Camp without any reluctance. Along the dangerous path along the ridges, he saw a monk in white with a basket on his back. The guy seemed to be waiting for him.
He was surprised and said: “Monk Formless, you aren’t staying here longer?”
Formless smiled: “Beastmaster Camp is the number one Buddhist holy ground in Jin, but in my mind, the real number one holy ground is in one’s heart.”
The two of them descended from the ridge and left Beastmaster, perhaps to never return.
After leaving Calmwind Pass, there were two paths - one west and one east.
Formless asked at the crossroad: “What’s your plan?”
Feiyun had a bitter feeling, not knowing what he should do.
Go home? But he had no loyalty to the current Feng Clan.
He felt lost after Hongyan’s death. Prior to this, he wanted to cultivate to reach the peak so that he could have revenge against Shui Yueting. However, after recent events, he started to think about the point of it all. So what if he could kill Yueting? Would he be satisfied with that?
Avenging Nangong Hongyan didn’t do anything. He still felt the same pain as before.
Perhaps what he should focus on was the present and those around him.
“I’m going east, what about you?” Formless knew about his confusion but didn’t offer a piece of advice.
He knew that this was only temporary. Someone with Feiyun’s mental fortitude would become better soon enough.
Some could wallow in misery forever, but a selected few could find a new goal.
“West for me.” Feiyun said.
“We’ll meet again when I’m better at drinking. I’ll take you down then.” Formless laughed and left right away. Just one step took him several miles into the horizon.
Feiyun watched him leave before speaking: “You’ve been following us the entire time, show your face right now.”
The wilderness didn’t answer back. Only a few birds were scared by his cold voice.
“Boom!” Feiyun’s expression became colder. He slightly moved his body and activated Swift Samsara. He punched an iron tree with a diameter of three meters, penetrating it completely and knocking away a slender figure hiding behind it.
He was surprised after seeing the person on the ground: “It’s you?”
Bai Ruxue didn’t expect Feiyun to be so strong, a hundred times stronger than several years ago.
She was very careful yet was still spotted by him.
“Feiyun, are you surprised that I’m still alive?” She wasn’t afraid of him. Her eyes bright and teeth white. She floated up from the ground like a blossoming petal of a flower. Her hair was long again and as white as snow.
Feiyun naturally didn’t forget about this demoness from the fourth hall. However, he clearly buried her so why was she a student of Beastmaster right now.
He took out his heavenly weapon essence and pointed it at her neck: “I’ll give you a chance to speak.”
His essence was extremely cool, virtually freezing her in place.
She told him the truth from start to finish without hiding anything. After all, Nangong Hongyan was dead.
“So everything was planned by Hongyan… the blood bracelet!” He turned towards her wrist and sure enough. There was a black bracelet with three indentations filled with blood. There were nine formations engraved on the special material, extremely hard to destroy.
The bracelet wasn’t the thing that shocked him but rather the drop of blood belonging to Nangong Hongyan.
She was its master. Taking off the bracelet required a drop of her blood. Of course, this bracelet right now also had one drop. Just this drop alone was considered priceless by Feiyun.
“You can’t be the only one under her control with this bracelet. I know several more demonesses from Senluo have them too! Haha!” Feiyun resembled a blind man that has just regained his sight. The fog has been dispelled so he felt quite good.
He knew exactly what to do right now.