Shushan.
This place was not all that different from the immortal realm Luo Bei had once imagined in his mind. After the young man in azure fitted clothes exclaimed in admiration, he said no more. With a casual sweep of his hand, he and the middle-aged man in blue robes raised sword lights and carried Luo Bei toward a mountain peak. Whether these two did not know Yuan Tianyi's spell that could envelop Luo Bei's entire body, or simply had not bothered to use it, the fierce winds at high altitude blew so hard that Luo Bei could not even open his eyes, much less breathe. Yet after landing, Luo Bei found himself before a hall whose main color was vermilion. Massive crimson pillars supported black glazed-tile eaves, while the floor and surrounding railings were all white marble. The hall itself was not particularly large, no bigger than a pavilion in an ordinary wealthy household, but it stood between two steep ravines. Set against the sheer cliffs on either side, it was like a pearl within an oyster shell. A slender waterfall spilled down from one of the mountain walls, lending the hall even more nimble grace.
"Master, Martial Uncle," the young man in azure and the middle-aged man in blue called out respectfully before the half-closed doors.
"Come in." A warm, gentle voice sounded. The doors swung open. Like the entrance hall of an ordinary wealthy home, it displayed a pale ink-wash landscape painting and held eight rosewood chairs. Six or seven people dressed in distinctly different garments stood within, though only two were seated. One wore a purple Daoist robe, his hair casually tied behind his back with a dark ribbon. At a glance, Luo Bei felt that this man resembled Yuan Tianyi somewhat—equally spotless and free of even a trace of worldly dust. Yet Yuan Tianyi was proud and cold, like a white lotus growing alone upon a lofty cliff, while the young man in purple robes possessed an exceedingly gentle expression that made one feel as though bathed in spring breeze at first sight. The other seated man wore a long black robe and had a gloomy complexion. His narrow face carried an indescribably sharp air; one look was enough to tell that he was no ordinary figure.
As Luo Bei studied these people with curious eyes, Yu Ruochen smiled faintly. Like Yuan Tianyi, time had left few marks upon this genius hailed as Shushan's second-most gifted talent in five hundred years, who had acted as Shushan's sect leader ever since Tian Xiyue entered seclusion thirty years ago.
The gloomy man in the long black robe seated beside him was his Junior Brother, Yan Jingxie, known as the Asura in the cultivation world and master of Shushan's Geli Peaks. At this moment, Yu Ruochen glanced at Yan Jingxie beside him, then asked Qin Feng, who stood respectfully at Yan Jingxie's side in a gentle voice, "When you arrived at Purple Micro Daoist Temple, this child was the only living person left?"
"Yes, Martial Uncle." Qin Feng, who looked honest and carried a broad-hilted sword on his back, appeared far older than Yu Ruochen, yet he nodded to him with utmost respect.
"You have not a trace of Dao power in your body. You are not a disciple of Purple Micro Daoist Temple?" Yan Jingxie suddenly asked Luo Bei, his face gloomy.
Luo Bei nodded. "True Master Qingxu had only just accepted me as a disciple. I had not received any teachings."
"He had only just accepted you as his disciple?"
"Yes."
Under Yan Jingxie's questioning, Luo Bei carefully recounted how True Master Qingxu had saved him from vicious dogs, led him into the secret chamber, and shown him the Purple River Rebirth Pill. As for himself, Luo Bei naturally said the same thing he had told True Master Qingxu—that he was merely a child from the nearby mountains.
"So there was no mistake. Qingxu must have secretly refined the Purple River Rebirth Pill. Seeing that this child possessed extraordinary talent, he intended to use this child's body. Who would have thought he would be discovered by an expert and end up with both body and soul destroyed? I never expected Qingxu to be so vicious. He had brought this upon himself! What a pity about Qingxuan. He must have opposed Qingxu's actions and been imprisoned until death!" A cold gleam flashed through Yan Jingxie's gloomy eyes. It seemed as if lightning flashed through the entire room, and Luo Bei involuntarily froze.
"Master, then why did True Master Qingxu kill the disciples in his own temple and use their blood and living souls to refine the Purple River Rebirth Pill?" Ao Huang, the young man in azure who had brought Luo Bei here and Yan Jingxie's sixth disciple, could not help asking.
Yan Jingxie sneered. "The blood and living souls of cultivators naturally produce better results in alchemy. If he feared being discovered, a madman so heartless and insane would naturally have no choice but to slaughter his own disciples."
Ao Huang nodded, still looking shaken. "I only wonder who that expert was. The lingering aura alone was enough to make one's heart tremble."
"Other than Yuan Tianyi, sect leader of the Luofu Sect, who else could casually unleash the Glazed Golden Light Annihilation with power to slaughter gods and extinguish immortals?" Yu Ruochen said calmly.
"Yuan Tianyi, sect leader of the Luofu Sect? It was him?!"
Other than Yan Jingxie, everyone else could not help drawing in a sharp breath upon hearing Yu Ruochen's words.
Master was the one who saved me? Luo Bei's heart jolted, and he could not help looking toward Yu Ruochen. But Luo Bei saw that Yu Ruochen was merely gazing through the window at the sky, blue as though freshly washed, seemingly lost in thought.
"Yuan Tianyi acts entirely according to his own likes and dislikes, but he is proud and refined. Since he made a move this time, the news certainly would not spread from his mouth." After a moment, Yu Ruochen turned back. "Though Purple Micro Daoist Temple was merely attached to Shushan, it refined the Purple River Rebirth Pill within a hundred li of Shushan without our knowledge. We cannot escape blame either. From now on, regarding such sects, we should have our disciples pay attention to their usual conduct. Such a thing must not happen again."
Yan Jingxie and the others nodded one after another. Yu Ruochen's gentle gaze settled upon Luo Bei again. "Do you have a name?"
Luo Bei nodded. "My name is Luo Bei."
"Luo Bei. A fine name." Yu Ruochen looked at Luo Bei. "Purple Micro Daoist Temple can be considered an outer branch of Shushan. As a disciple of Purple Micro Daoist Temple, although Qingxu committed a monstrous crime, you may also be considered a disciple of Shushan. Now that you are already in Shushan, are you willing to become a disciple of Shushan?"
All under heaven's flying swords came from Shushan!
Thinking of the sword light he had seen at Mass Grave Hill, slicing through the sky, and recalling Yuan Tianyi's words that he could only return to Luofu after cultivating his Natal Sword Essence, Luo Bei did not hesitate. He immediately nodded. "I am willing."
Yu Ruochen smiled and turned to Yan Jingxie. "Since Luo Bei was discovered by your disciple, he shall be under your instruction."
"Good." Yan Jingxie nodded. To everyone's surprise, a flicker of excitement passed through his cold eyes, while Ao Huang and the others around him also showed delight.
Anyone could see that Luo Bei possessed exceptional natural talent. Having such a Junior Brother might well bring them no small measure of glory in the future.
With Yan Jingxie's nod, Luo Bei officially became a disciple of Shushan!
Yuzhao had originally been a quiet fishing town by the sea, but beneath the midday sun that day, it was extraordinarily lively.
More than three hundred villagers from the surrounding area wore their finest clothes. Beating gongs and drums, dancing with qilin, and carrying offerings such as roasted pigs, they proceeded in a mighty procession toward the Mazu Temple by the sea.
This was Yuzhao's grand annual temple fair.
On this day, all the villagers from the surrounding area gathered before the Sea God Temple to burn incense and offer worship, praying for favorable winds and rains, safety at sea, and abundant harvests.
The Mazu they worshipped was a goddess statue much like Guanyin.
According to legends along this stretch of coast, the Mazu in their hearts possessed a broad and compassionate heart, as well as the noble virtue of saving those in suffering and distress. Nearly every fishing boat also carried her statue.
These fishermen were filled with devotion, for life was hard. Should they meet disaster at sea, or should the year be poor and the harvest meager, they would find it difficult to survive. The more they sought from the gods, the more reverently they worshipped them. Thus, this temple had been built in magnificent splendor, while the benevolent-faced statue, seeming able to see all the suffering beneath heaven, gleamed with golden light.
After the most respected elder in the nearby region lit the first incense, all three hundred villagers prostrated themselves before the temple, burning incense and praying for blessings. Yet no one expected that at this very moment, a sharp crack suddenly sounded from the golden statue over three zhang tall in the center of the main hall.
Hearing the sound, the hundreds of villagers raised their eyes, only to see an enormous, deep crack over a zhang long running across the golden statue's chest!
So that sound had been the golden statue splitting across its chest!
How could a perfectly fine golden statue crack for no reason? Could it be an ill omen? Had the statue gained awareness and foreseen that something terrible... was about to happen in the world?!
The faces of all the villagers changed.
At that moment, every villager suddenly felt a dazzling golden light, so bright that even the noonday sun dimmed in comparison.
A vast mass of dazzling golden radiance tore westward through the sky like golden lightning. Its speed seemed to grow ever faster, its golden brilliance ever brighter—so bright it scorched the eyes! Even the waters of the distant sea seemed to have been forced apart by the might of this radiance, forming a deep ravine.
Wave after wave of nameless pressure poured down from the heavens, making every villager collapse to the ground and tremble from head to toe!
That nameless pressure alone made the villagers feel the heaven-destroying, earth-shattering power within that golden radiance!
Was this a coincidence?
Or had the statue truly gained awareness and, before that heaven-destroying, earth-shattering power, been frightened until its "heart and spirit shattered"!
"Who is that?!"
Cultivators were as numerous as the hairs on an ox across the Divine Land. On an island in the sea less than a hundred li from this fishing town, there were also cultivators. They had been gathered around a pill furnace, jointly driving their Dao power to refine a batch of pills, but beneath the pressure of that golden radiance, their hearts and spirits also shattered. Unable to control the flames, they caused the entire pill furnace to explode with a boom, blasting it to pieces.
Looking up at the sky, these people, whose bodies still burned with flames, saw that the golden radiance came from someone flying through the air. And the direction in which that person, rippling with a heaven-shaking aura, was heading was the hidden location of Kunlun!
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