Chapter 485: Xuanheng’s Message
Su Ming's voice was steady, neither humble nor arrogant: "Disciple opened a small spiritual field behind Gazing Star Cliff, planted with a few Silver-Spotted Heart-Clearing Orchids. Yesterday and today, the Sect Leader's white crane brought a Colorful Plumed White Crane from Spirit Beast Peak, barged into my spiritual field, pecked at the spirit herbs, and trampled the medicinal fields. Now that spiritual field has been wrecked into a complete mess, nearly entirely destroyed."
As his voice faded, the great hall fell silent for a moment.
Yun Miao Zhenren was visibly stunned.
"My white crane?"
"Indeed."
"And it brought that one from Spirit Beast Peak?"
"Yes."
Yun Miao Zhenren looked at Su Ming, as if confirming whether he was joking. But Su Ming's expression was calm and earnest, and that little black bird on his shoulder was glaring with its golden eyes, looking like a victim's entourage. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't seem like a joke.
The next moment—
"HAHAHAHA!"
Yun Miao Zhenren actually burst out laughing.
His laughter echoed through the empty hall, even causing the incense burner on the desk to tremble slightly.
"That wretched beast!"
Yun Miao Zhenren shook his head, laughing with a fair bit of helplessness. "Last time it stole that Seven-Colored Ganoderma from Pill Cauldron Peak, I punished it by not feeding it for three days. I thought it would learn its lesson. I never imagined it would turn around and go wreak havoc on your spiritual herbs, and even know to bring an accomplice..."
As he spoke, it seemed he recalled something, and his laughter deepened.
"No wonder I saw it come back this morning with a round belly, even walking slower than usual. Turns out it was stuffed full from eating at your place."
Su Ming stood in place, still maintaining his bowing posture.
Yun Miao Zhenren laughed for a while before finally calming down. He raised a hand to press his temple, his tone still carrying a hint of suppressed amusement.
"This is its fault. Don't worry, I'll severely reprimand it later."
He glanced at Su Ming again and said, "How much did your spiritual field lose? Report a number later, and I'll deduct it from my monthly allowance to compensate you in spirit stones."
Hearing this, Su Ming quickly waved his hand: "Sect Leader, you flatter me. Disciple dare not ask for compensation."
Yun Miao Zhenren's smile turned somewhat teasing: "What, afraid I can't afford to pay?"
"Disciple doesn't mean that," Su Ming said. "It's just that the Silver-Spotted Heart-Clearing Orchid isn't an ordinary spirit herb sold in the market. It's a mutant variety I induced using star force—impossible to buy outside. If I simply convert it to spirit stones, it would be hard to calculate properly. Disciple came today not to seek compensation, but because I'm pained over those few spirit herbs, and I'm worried those two white cranes might come again in the future."
These words were spoken extremely steadily.
He neither embarrassed the Sect Leader nor made his own appeal unclear.
Yun Miao Zhenren listened and nodded.
"I see."
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over Shadow on Su Ming's shoulder. Seeing that the little thing was puffing out its chest and lifting its head, acting like it was following its master to file a complaint, he couldn't help but laugh again.
"So this little Profound Shadow Crow of yours is the one they bullied, isn't it?"
Shadow immediately chirped, full of spirit.
As if to say: That's them.
"Alright, I understand."
Yun Miao Zhenren thought for a moment, then made a decision: "How about this: from today onward, that wretched beast is not allowed to step foot off Sect Leader's Peak for three months. I'll watch it personally—consider it under house arrest. As for that one on Spirit Beast Peak, I'll send a message to Qin Yi to keep the crane under tighter watch too."
Three months not allowed off Sect Leader's Peak.
This punishment wasn't harsh, but it was clear enough.
At least for these three months, those two feathered ancestors wouldn't be coming around.
Su Ming felt a wave of relief inside and immediately bowed: "Thank you, Sect Leader."
In his Consciousness Sea, Lin Yu muttered discontentedly: "Three months of house arrest? Too light. In my opinion, they should be punished by not eating for at least a year—"
Su Ming barely suppressed a laugh.
His lips twitched, but he quickly lowered his head to cover it, making another bow to barely push that hint of amusement back down.
Yun Miao Zhenren noticed that brief moment of strangeness and assumed he was finally relaxing. He waved his hand with a smile.
"Alright, consider this my failure to discipline properly. Go on back. If your spiritual field needs repair, you can go to the Administration Hall to draw some spiritual soil and root-nourishing fluid under Formation Peak's name, and put it on my tab."
Su Ming bowed again: "Disciple takes note."
"Go on."
After taking his leave, Su Ming slowly retreated out of the great hall.
It wasn't until he stepped out of the hall door, with the mountain wind blowing in his face, that he fully exhaled the breath in his chest.
Shadow stood on his shoulder, its tail feathers sticking up higher than when they'd arrived. It opened its beak and let out a crisp "chirp."
That call carried an unmistakable note of triumph.
Su Ming reached up and lightly flicked its forehead.
"Don't get cocky."
Shadow protested with another chirp.
Lin Yu snorted from the ring: "What's there to be cocky about? It got batted around like a shuttlecock twice, yet acts like it won a victory. Well, whatever. At least for these three months, those two feathered bastards won't dare come sneaking around to steal food. Let's hurry into the secret realm and let them stare at nothing out there."
Su Ming grunted in acknowledgment and walked down the stone steps.
The Sect Leader's Peak was thick with clouds and mist, its mountain paths winding. Just as he reached the halfway point, a faint purple spiritual light suddenly shot through the fog ahead, moving incredibly fast, but stopping steadily right in front of Su Ming.
It was a communication talisman.
The talisman paper hovered in midair, with fine formation lines flowing along its edges. One look was enough to tell it came from Formation Peak's handiwork.
Su Ming raised a hand to take it and probed it with his divine sense.
The next moment, Xuanheng Zhenren's low, steady voice slowly echoed in his Consciousness Sea.
"Come to Star Pivot Hall. It's time I briefed you on the secret realm."
Su Ming's footsteps paused slightly.
The secret realm.
Although he already had the passage token in hand, Xuanheng had never gone into detail about Formation Peak's secret realm. He'd only said to wait until Su Ming was ready before entering.
Now, finally, the time had come.
The mountain wind blew up from the end of the stone steps, making his sleeves rustle. Su Ming looked up toward Formation Peak in the distance, his gaze sharpening.
After the brief relief, the string inside him tightened once more.
He turned and headed toward Formation Peak along another mountain path.
Formation Peak's paths were different from Sect Leader's Peak's.
Sect Leader's Peak was tall and open, with clouds and mist draping over its body like a thin veil. But Formation Peak was more subdued—stone walls, ancient trees, winding corridors, cliff platforms—all scattered in harmony. When the mountain wind blew, it always carried the faint hum of formation lines from somewhere, like a massive mechanical mountain constantly humming softly.
Su Ming walked up the familiar stone steps.
When he'd lodged his complaint on Sect Leader's Peak earlier, the subtle, absurd emotions that had arisen had mostly dissipated with the mountain wind. But that sentence in the communication talisman lingered heavily in his heart.
"It's time I briefed you on the secret realm."
Those words sounded calm, but the calmer they were, the more they weighed on him.
Xuanheng never liked wasting words. Since he'd specially summoned him, it meant this trip was definitely more than just "going into seclusion for half a year."
Shadow stood on Su Ming's shoulder. Whether it sensed his emotional shift or not, it was uncharacteristically well-behaved. It didn't move around, only occasionally turning its neck to look at the stone lamps with flowing formation lines along the path, then at the silent pavilions higher up.
"Scared?"
Lin Yu's voice slowly rang out in the Consciousness Sea.
"Not scared, exactly," Su Ming said without looking sideways. "It's just that the more solemn Master is, the more I feel this secret realm probably isn't just a place to polish cultivation."
"It never was," Lin Yu said. "On Formation Peak, if it were just a secluded pocket dimension with denser spiritual energy, Xuanheng wouldn't have dragged his feet until today to tell you. The most troublesome thing about formation cultivators is that many things aren't necessarily dangerous, but they're more torturous than danger."
Su Ming was silent for a moment before asking, "Master, have you seen a similar secret realm before?"
"I've seen some remnants, but never one this orthodox." Lin Yu paused, then added, "But don't overthink it. The road is walked one step at a time, not thought out while standing outside the door."
Su Ming nodded lightly.