Chapter Three Hundred and Forty Four – Yi Zheng
Mu Xi observed the troop of xiuzhe in the distance and could not disguise the shock in her eyes. It wasn’t just her, even Yan Feng who usually looked down on everyone had uncertain and shocked expressions.
The formation of this xiuzhe troop was not organized, they appeared interlocked together which gave Mu Xi the impression of teeth. The murderous intent was like an undercurrent. The continued fights between the two forces had left a deep impression of this troop.
These xiuzhe were not powerful, and were of equal strength to her subordinates, but she had not won any advantage from this troop in their successive battles.
Her eyes landed on the white-clothed youth at the very center. She suddenly had a feeling that this person may be her archrival.
In their successive encounters, this young xiuzhe was cautious in command, slow and unhurried with the mannerism of a great battle general. She admired him. This person definitely was a core disciple of a large sect and had been well-taught. It was possible to see hints of this from the xiuzhe around him. In order to protect him, they did not care for their lives.
Mu Xi’s eyes glittered. She suddenly floated out of the ranks and loudly said, “This one is Mu Xi. We will bid farewell today and meet on another battlefield. Sire, take care!”
The enemy ranks separated, and the white-clothed youth came forward. He said with a slightly smile, “No wonder. As expected of the Palace Lake Wood Clan! Lin Qian is honored!”
Mu Xi was shocked and did not disguise the shock on her face. “Brother Lin actually knows of the Palace Lake Wood Clan, you have vast knowledge, this little female is full of admiration!”
Wood Clan was one of the five largest clans of the yao world, and was the clan with the most branches. Even in the yao world, not every person would recognize her origins. It was a testament to how powerful Lin Qian’s background was to know her origins, especially since he was a xiuzhe.
Lin Qian saw Mu Xi was straightforward and honest and was not putting on a performance. He couldn’t help but show hints of admiration in his eyes. “Miss, take care!”
Mu Xi smiled brightly and gracefully bowed. “Have a good trip, Brother Lin!”
Seeing the people disappear, Yan Feng said with slightly anger, “We are just letting them escape like this?”
Mu Xi glanced at him. “Can we stop them?”
Yan Feng stopped. He argued, “If we can slow them down, when the other daren rush over and surround … …”
“Then we won’t have completed our task,” Mu Xi interrupted him. She said faintly, “Don’t forget what we came to do!”
Yan Feng was speechless.
“This person will become a great enemy of Daren!” the middle-aged person beside Mu Xi said worriedly with a grave face.
Mu Xi combed her hair, and said with a smile, “There are so many daren in the military, when would it ever be my turn to worry about this?”
“Daren is too modest!” the middle-aged person said smilingly. He deeply believed that Mu Xi had a bright future. Off to the side, Yan Feng dismissively twisted his mouth but did not say any words that would provoke public fury.
Lin Qian’s procession quickly travelled away. After fighting multiple times with this yao military troop, they had sustained fatalities and injuries on both dies. Lin Qian’s expression was as clear as water, calm and steady. No hint of hurry was shown. The xiuzhe that accompanied him were well trained and disciplined. No one spoke extraneously.
———
Xuan Kong Realm
The sound of bells echoed among the mountain range. A nondescript little temple was settled amongst the peaks. The yellow temple walls were covered in creeping vines, and were topped with grey-green terracotta shingles. There were many stone statues of life-like buddhas placed inside the temples. A small rainstorm had just passed, and the air was filled with the sweet scent of green grass. The rain remaining on the shingles flowed following the eaves like pearls off a broken string. As they hit the puddles on the stones, ding ding dong dong, the sound was very pleasing to hear.
Two dhyana xiu were sitting in the main hall of the little temple.
“Shixiong, I’m afraid I will have difficulty getting time to come visit Shixiong during this trip!” The young dhyana xiu was reluctant to leave. He was wearing blue monk robes. His features were handsome, untouched by mortal matters. A faint layer of light glistened over the pair of eyes. He looked to be about twenty years old, a kind of stillness within his handsomeness. Kneeling on the meditation mat, one could still feel his high spirits.
The older dhyana xiu smiled warmly and said, “It’s good for you to go, you will return in the end.”
The faint yellow monk robe that he wore had been washed for innumerable times. The colour was already faded and patchwork mending could be seen to dot the robe. There were no signs of ling power anywhere on his body. He was not any different than a normal person.
“En, I’ve already ordered the people below to deliver each month’s allowance on schedule!” the young dhyana xiu said in a light voice. “I’ll return very soon.”
Shixiong waved his hand and smiled lightly. He said, “You know that I do not need these material items.”
“That is not alright!” The spine of the young dhyana xiu straightened and he said seriously, “Shixiong needs to promise me to take care of yourself. Only then can I feel safe leaving. There are still some more ling grasses needed for the Nine Song Dan. I can go and thoroughly search when I leave this time. When the Nine Song Dan is made, Shixiong’s cultivation will recover. Hmph, let’s see who dares to harass Shixiong then!”
When he got to the end, a thread of violence flashed through his eyes.
“Shidi, you have to avoid corruption,” the yellow-robed dhyana xiu said lightly.
”Shixiong is right to lecture me.” The young dhyana xiu lowered his head and hurried to admit his wrongs.
“Even if you are out, do not slack in training your Samadhi.”
“Yes.”
Yi Zheng looked back at the little temple at the back of the mountain, leapt up and disappeared into the sky. He hadn’t flown for a long time before he encountered some people. When he saw the people clearly, Yi Zheng’s brows couldn’t help but slightly furrow.
The others quickly noticed Yi Zheng as well, and slowed down their flight speed.
“I heard that Shidi is going on a long trip, congratulations, congratulations!” The person coming smiled as he bowed with folded hands.
Yi Zheng calmly returned the greeting, “It is due to the protection and love from all the shixiong.”
The two sides chatted a bit more, and then left after detecting that the other had no intentions of talking more.
Yi Zheng’s mood hadn’t been good to start with, and his mood now was even worse. This group of people were the disciples of Cui Shishu’s branch. The sect was prosperous right now. The number of disciples had increased, and the number of conflicts and inner struggles had grown.
Yi Zheng’s master had left on a mission and never returned. Shixiong had raised him alone. Shixiong was very talented, and ranked within the top ten of this generation. All the elders of the sect thought he had a good future. Unexpectedly, Shixiong was heavily wounded during a mission. Even though his life had been saved, but his cultivation became non-existent.
Starting from that point on their branch declined even further. Shixiong came to Little Stone Buddha Temple to recuperate. Yi Zheng had been thirteen then, and had worked even harder after that. Fortunately, while Shixiong’s cultivation had disappeared, he could still guide Yi Zheng’s cultivation. In the last dhyana exam, he had claimed the fifteenth rank and re-entered the eyes of the sect elders to take on this mission.
The rule of the sect was that each disciple had a monthly allowance, but this allowance was just enough for daily cultivation needs. The other disciples received gifts from their masters but Yi Zheng could only rely on other avenues such as teaching lower disciples on cultivation. That was his primary source of income. The sect was still generous to its disciples, and the payment of every mission was very generous. However, there were many geniuses in the sect, and the competition for missions was the fiercest. In the past, he did not have the power to compete.
Until now.
After some preparations, he decided to leave the mountain.
He had already memorized the contents of the mission. During his flight, he started to think. The mission this time was not complex. One of the smaller subordinate sects found a very deep and strange hole. Bloody light roiled in the deep hole. None of the people that went in had come out. What he needed to do was to investigate and see what the situation inside was like. Then he would have to report back to the sect.
After flying for more than ten days, he finally arrived at the sect of the incident, One Light Sect.
———
Ma Fan still had not regained consciousness when Zuo Mo was pulled back into Vast Water Clear Skies by Pu Yao.
“Pu, what connection does that Wisteria Clan of the South Sky have with you?” Zuo Mo asked. He could see that Pu Yao cared for Nan Yue. With this guy’s frugal personality, having him proactively passing on yao arts was akin to the sun rising from the west.
Zuo Mo also saw that Pu Yao didn’t just intend to pass [South Sky Arrow Art] to Nan Yue.
“The descendants of old friends,” Pu Yao said faintly.
Pu Yao’s answer provided the speculation Zuo Mo had. He then asked curiously, “What yao art is [South Sky Arrow Art]? A yao art using arrows?”
“A very strong yao art.”
Pu Yao’s answer seemed to avoid the point but Zuo Mo pondered it. A yao art that Pu Yao called strong, then it really was powerful!
Just as Zuo Mo’s gossiping soul was stirred by Pu Yao’s scarce words and he was preparing to delve into this mystery, Nan Yue came.
———
Nan Yue respectfully bowed to Zuo Mo. “Daren!”
She had shone in the spotlight in the last house exam and shocked all members of the house. Her status in the house had rocketed, and several teachers had come over requesting to take her as a student. However, she had refused all of them respectfully. She had not learned any profound yao arts, but Daren’s teachings had opened a completely new world to her.
She believed that even if there really was no [South Sky Arrow Art], she would still find a path.
It was the understandings she had gained during this past while that had caused her to become even more respectful towards Zuo Mo. Daren’s strength was even more profound! In her eyes, there was a large chasm between the teachers of the house compared to Daren.
“Oh, you’re here,” Zuo Mo pretentiously responded and then asked, “Do you have any questions? If you have them, then ask.”
Nan Yue suppressed the excitement inside, and raised up all the problems she had encountered and thought about in the recent days.
Because they were all about little yao arts, Zuo Mo did not slack off and tried to answer them by himself rather than throw the questions to Pu Yao. Zuo Mo had been with Pu Yao for a long time, and through listening and watching, the yao art theory that he had come into contact with was much more profound than Nan Yue. Due to this, the perspective from which he approached at the questions was a few fractions deeper than Nan Yue. Nan Yue’s eyes lit up upon hearing the explanations and continuously nodded her head.
For Zuo Mo, this was also a significant test. There were two questions that Nan Yue raised which he had not thought about, and greatly affected him.
After all the questions were resolved, Nan Yue smiled happily. Zuo Mo’s head was covered with sweat as he released a breath.
If he hadn’t been able to answer a question, then it really was embarrassing!
And to be embarrassed in front of a yao … …[i]
Just as this nonsensical thought came into Zuo Mo’s head, he suddenly heard someone shout, “Nan Yue! Nan Yue!”
Zuo Mo raised his head, and saw a group of people, no, a group of yao wave their hands at Nan Yue as they excitedly ran over.
[i] Embarrassing here is 丢人, or lost person. So this is also “lost person” in front of a yao which has another meaning since Zuo Mo is a human and not a yao.
Translator Ramblings: POV switching galore. Lin Qian and Mu Xi make an appearance, and so does a new character. Mu Xi is holding on hard to her mission which means that she won’t overstep. She is a very prudent person who isn’t risking herself to make achievements and no one can say her actions were incorrect because she stayed true to the words of her mission, even though her actions have already caused the true objective of her mission to slip away.
Xuan Kong is the second realm we are introduced to. It is the Xuan Kong Temple or the Mystical Void/Space Temple and so Xuan Kong Sect is the strongest sect hence its name is put on the realm’s name just like Kun Lun Sect and Kun Lun realm. I’m actually uncertain if the dhyana xiu are monks and nuns. I can’t remember if Zong Ru has shaved his head so he actually looks like a monk. There also hasn’t been any mention of nuns.