Chapter 49 - 46: Who Am I?
By the time the first rays of dawn touched the horizon, the Dao discussion between the two palaces had already begun.
Hanyi Master quickly scaled a precipice. The Miao Yu Palace was nestled among a range of mountains, and between two of them lay this very chasm.
Looking down from the peak, the first things to enter her sight were two enormous iron chains. They glinted with a piercingly cold light as they descended into an unseen abyss.
This place was like one of those fated cliffs from a storybook—the kind where the hero and heroine fall, only to obtain a supreme cultivation technique and have their power soar.
But that was not the case here.
If anyone were to truly fall from this cliff, not even their bones would be left.
These two iron chains were part of the Mountain Defense Array, their purpose to continuously siphon power from the Celestial Purity Dao Lotus below in order to stabilize the Grand Array.
Because of this Celestial Purity Dao Lotus, the environment below had become a terrifying abyss of frigid energy. Anyone who fell in would be turned into an ice sculpture.
Xian Qingqiu produced an object shaped like a six-pointed star, though it emanated a pitch-black Demonic Qi. "The Corpse Puppet Sect’s Eight Sorrows Corpse Refining Array," she said, "refined from tens of thousands of vengeful souls."
She tossed the hexagon into the air. The small, six-pointed star swelled in the wind and then unfurled. Black gas shot toward the heavens before riding the cold wind down into the Cold Prison below.
Xian Qingqiu smiled. "By using this array to obstruct the Celestial Purity Dao Lotus, we can temporarily sever its connection to the Miao Yu Array."
"Shut up!" Hanyi Master’s face was like ice.
But Xian Qingqiu kept talking. "Hanyi Master, did you know? That Xia Lianxue, the one left behind by the Han Shui Master you despise so much, seems to have returned to the Dao Realm. I was planning on killing her on the side when I went to the Corpse Puppet Sect for this array. But what a pity. Judging by her aura, she’s already at the Fifth Realm, so I had to drop the idea."
The day Lu Changyuan and Xia Lianxue ran into Xian Qingqiu while tracking the Corpse Puppet Sect had been no accident. And there was certainly no truth to the story of her hunting down the Sect.
Xian Qingqiu had only shown herself to Lu Changyuan and Xia Lianxue to cover the escape of that Fifth Realm Elder from the Corpse Puppet Sect.
"That Xia Lianxue has probably already started climbing the mountain to get her revenge on you."
Hanyi Master said coldly, "After today, she will die, one way or another."
The Moonlight rose behind her. Hanyi Master produced a shattered sword and swung it at one of the iron chains.
KABENG!
The iron chain sent ripples through the air.
The shattered sword and one of the chains snapped in unison.
Hanyi Master grunted, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but her expression remained unchanged. "Both these chains must be destroyed to sever the bonds of the Celestial Purity Dao Lotus. This ’key’ of mine can only break one."
She intended to destroy the very foundation of Miao Yu, plunging the palace into chaos.
A flash of hatred crossed Hanyi Master’s eyes.
Five years. She had spent a full five years using the Moonlight Method to forge this shattered ’key’, then combined it with the Miao Yu Heart Method and the power of the Sixth Realm just to break a single chain.
Even so, the backlash from the Mountain Defense Array linked to the chain had still rattled her severely.
A muffled clap of thunder echoed in broad daylight. The Mountain Defense Array flickered, threatening to collapse like the very heavens.
Ignoring her injuries, Hanyi Master took to the sky once more, transforming into a shooting star. She soon arrived at the spot where she had spoken with Hunting Deer Master the night before.
This was the Grand Array’s weakest point.
The Moonlight rose again. A cold moon appeared behind Hanyi and slammed violently against this weak point.
BANG!
A gap was brutally smashed into the once-impenetrable Grand Array.
Hanyi Master coughed up another mouthful of blood. She had absorbed the full backlash from both severing the chain and striking the Grand Array.
"You’ve done well, Fellow Daoist Hanyi."
A wisp of bloody qi slowly seeped through the gap, eventually coalescing into four figures.
Cyan Blood Master of the Blood Demon Palace, a Sixth Realm Kai Yang cultivator!
Among the others was a man with only one arm and one leg—the Town Elder. The other two were also at the Fifth Realm Jade Balance.
"Enough with the pleasantries. Where are the others?"
"Such impatience, Fellow Daoist Hanyi."
A dry, raspy, ancient voice drifted out as another person stepped through the rift. He was shaped like a withered tree, thin as a skeleton.
Withered Corpse Master of the Corpse Puppet Sect, another Sixth Realm Kai Yang cultivator!
Withered Corpse Master’s face was completely bloodless, his ancient skin cracked open to reveal a horrifying smile. "Cyan Blood, Hunting Deer, and I. That makes it three versus three."
A coffin abruptly appeared in his hand. In the blink of an eye, it expanded, split in two, and two more Fifth Realm Elders from the Corpse Puppet Sect stepped out.
Hanyi Master’s voice was icy. "Don’t count me among them."
"All the better," Withered Corpse Master said. "Three against two. When the Eating Buddha Sect’s gates were breached a few years ago, we of the Demon Dao lost face. Now, we finally have a chance to get it back."
The Daoist Sects had allied with three other sects to shatter the gates of the Eating Buddha Sect, and the Demon Dao had fallen silent for several years afterward. Now that an opportunity had presented itself, the Demon Dao naturally intended to retaliate.
"Then let’s stick to the original plan. The Canglan Sect takes the territory, my Corpse Puppet Sect takes the Celestial Purity Dao Lotus, and your Blood Demon Palace takes the Miao Yu treasury."
A smile touched Cyan Blood Master’s lips. "Excellent," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s time to climb the mountain, Fairy."
Xia Lianxue groggily opened her eyes and found Lu Changyuan already sitting nearby, drinking tea.
Last night... she’d had a nice dream. She’d learned some rather nice things.
She slept very well with Lu Changyuan nearby. In fact, it had always been this way. When she was near him, she seemed to be able to forget all her troubles.
The Young Master had a way of making everything feel peaceful.
"Young Master?"
"I’m here."
"Who am I?"
Lu Changyuan squinted slightly, then said, "You are Xia Lianxue."
Xia Lianxue seemed to awaken as if from a dream. "Right, I am Xia Lianxue. Young Master, we should start climbing."
"Still groggy from sleep? You couldn’t even remember your own name."
The Fairy shook her head, her features softening. She looked as beautiful and delicate as a narcissus beaded with morning dew.
"I was just wondering... after I get my revenge on Hanyi Master, will you leave, Young Master?"
Lu Changyuan turned his back to her and opened the window, letting the morning breeze blow away the night’s stagnant air.
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
Xia Lianxue watched his back, but her vision suddenly seemed to double, as if she were seeing him in a different set of white robes.
"You’ve always been helping me, Young Master, but I have nothing I can give you in return."
Lu Changyuan chuckled. "When your Cultivation becomes formidable, I’ll be able to ride your coattails."
"I will." Xia Lianxue patted her cheeks and got out of bed. "Let’s go, Young Master. It’s time to climb the mountain."
Lu Changyuan still hadn’t answered her question about whether he would leave after their business at the Miao Yu Palace was finished.
But not answering was often an answer in itself.
Xia Lianxue said with a semblance of a smile, "Young Master, we’ll have to walk back to the palace. My Disciple Token is useless now. If we approach rashly, the Grand Array will attack us."
"Then let’s walk," he said.
A disciple of the Miao Yu Palace only had to hold their token upon entering the mountains to be teleported by the Mountain Defense Array directly to the entrance of the Immortal Palace. But Xia Lianxue’s True Inheritance Token was now useless, so the two of them could only walk up.
In other words, they had to take the mortal path.
First crossing a thousand peaks, then ascending ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine steps.
Lu Changyuan paused. "Was the Miao Yu Mountain Defense Array always this overbearing?"
"It wasn’t before, Young Master. But it’s said that many years ago, someone shattered the Grand Array with brute force, so the Sect upgraded its power."