Watching the Mountain

During a lull in their meal, Yue Qingyu noticed something was off with Xu Ran’s mood and asked him with concern what had happened.

Xu Ran told her all about Ye Xingchen and Wang Xingye.

After listening to Xu Ran’s story, Yue Qingyu was silent for a long time before letting out a soft sigh.

"A person truly dies only when they are forgotten by everyone. That’s why so many people seek fame—not just for self-satisfaction, but also to delay their own death."

Hearing this, Xu Ran was slightly taken aback. After pondering for a moment, he said, "I always thought that a person only truly dies when all traces of them have been erased, when nothing of them remains in the world. If their traces still exist, shouldn’t that mean they haven’t completely died?"

Upon hearing his words, Yue Qingyu smiled faintly. She didn’t speak, but instead set down her wooden bowl and chopsticks, then rose and walked over to a wall.

She then gently closed her eyes. After standing still for a long while, a mystical aura rose from within her. Countless strands of Dao Rhyme materialized and flowed toward the wall.

A moment later, the character for "Yue" appeared on the wall.

After she was done, she slowly opened her eyes, sat down opposite Xu Ran, and said softly, "This is the trace I’ve left behind. Junior Brother, when you see this character in the future, what will you think of?"

"I’ll think of you, Senior Sister," Xu Ran replied subconsciously.

Yue Qingyu nodded slightly. "Then, if other people see this character, will they be able to think of me?"

Xu Ran froze.

Seeing his reaction, Yue Qingyu chuckled and said:

"The traces I leave in this world might indeed remain, but if there’s no one left in the world who remembers me, then all these traces lose their owner and become ownerless things."

"I’ve said before that I couldn’t change the fact that Xiaoque’Er had to leave. But I will always remember her, and I will remember everyone I meet on my path of cultivation. So that there will still be someone in this world who remembers them, my only choice is to cultivate diligently. I must go higher and farther, and perhaps even achieve eternity."

"That way, they will never be forgotten, and they will never have truly died."

"This..." After hearing Yue Qingyu’s words, Xu Ran was stunned, a strange feeling blooming within him.

’My Senior Sister’s Dao and my own are so similar. The only difference is that she pursues the effect, while I pursue the cause.’

Yue Qingyu finished speaking, then looked at Xu Ran and said very seriously:

"Junior Brother, whenever someone close to you leaves, you must work that much harder. As long as you become strong enough and live long enough, the traces of their existence in this world can last for one moment more."

"Perhaps, one day in the future, I might need you to prolong the traces of my existence, too."

Hearing this, Xu Ran’s heart skipped a beat. ’To Senior Sister, these are just words of encouragement meant to stop me from wallowing in grief over Ye Xingchen’s departure and to get me to pull myself together.’

’But... there are some things that only I know...’

’I... really can live forever.’

He was silent for a long time, then forced a smile and replied, "I believe that you, Senior Sister, can definitely attain the Great Dao and achieve eternity."

Yue Qingyu just smiled faintly at his words and said nothing.

Every Cultivator, when they first embark on their path, hopes to one day attain the Great Dao and become free and unfettered.

But, to this day, no one has ever been heard of to succeed.

Attaining the Dao was her pursuit, but it wasn’t something she felt she absolutely had to achieve. For her, the process of seeking the Dao was more enjoyable. Every new insight she gained brought her immense joy.

*

*

*

Ye Xingchen’s departure had exposed a truth that Xu Ran had always been deliberately avoiding.

Not everyone in the world was a genius, and not everyone could have an endless lifespan like him. For them, if they could not advance further on the path of cultivation, what awaited them was their departure from this world.

In the past, the people around him had all progressed smoothly in their cultivation, so he had deliberately avoided thinking about this problem. He always held onto a sliver of wishful thinking, believing they could keep breaking through and go much further.

Or rather, whenever he started to ponder this issue, he would think, ’No need to rush. When the time comes, there will be a solution.’

The reality, however, was that there was no solution. When the time came, he could only watch as everyone left his side, one by one.

Previously, when discussing Shen Wuchen’s breakthrough to Divinity Transformation with the Sect Leader and Supreme Elder Zi Yun, he had asked the Supreme Elder: with so much time left, wasn’t it possible for someone else in the Sect to reach the Divinity Transformation Stage before Shen Wuchen?

However, the reply he received was that currently, the only ones in the entire Sect with the most hope of breaking through to the Divinity Transformation Stage were Shen Wuchen and Yue Qingyu.

Besides them, basically none of the other Nascent Soul True Monarchs in the Sect had any hope.

Even the Sect Leader, known as the Daoist Fool, only had a slim, almost negligible, chance.

That’s right. Wuchen True Monarch, who was seen by all as the shame of the Nascent Soul stage, was considered by the upper echelons of the Profound Pure Sect to be a prodigy on the same level as Yue Qingyu, with a high probability of breaking through to the Divinity Transformation Stage.

As for the others, even the Evergreen Sword Saint Zhang Zhentian, whom Shen Wuchen regarded as his goal, was considered by the Sect’s upper echelons to have a minuscule chance of breaking through to Divinity Transformation—far, far less than Shen Wuchen, the "weakest" Nascent Soul.