Dongjing City's Transformation

After Ganlong Venerable saw with his own eyes the gleaming swords hidden in the luxurious silks of the Qianhua Pavilion, she had no reason to refuse to cooperate with Qianhua Venerable.

At first, she thought she had only invited a Void Glimpse Venerable, but the energy brought by Qianhua Venerable far exceeded her expectations. In short, she gave far too much.

Just as Qianhua Venerable was smugly thinking that the woman would eagerly say "deal" next, Ganlong Venerable suddenly straightened his face and said seriously:

"Smuggling swords violates the laws of the sacred mountain. However, considering your merit in protecting the city, the fine will be halved. You may pay it on another day."

Qianhua Venerable was furious upon hearing this, but he had no choice but to accept it.

She had intended to persuade the two to rest in Fei City for the night so that she could sneak in under the cover of night, but the woman firmly refused, saying that blocking the Sea Well was of utmost urgency.

She tried her best to dissuade him, pointing out that blocking the Sea Well had nothing to do with You Su, and that it would be better to let him recuperate in Fei City until the Sovereign Lord was finished with his business, and then they could all reunite. But this woman was completely unmoved, making it clear that she would never take You Su away from her.

Qianhua Venerable was, after all, just a Venerable. Even if he was unsatisfied, he couldn't possibly lose his composure just to keep a young boy. In the end, he could only helplessly watch as the woman took the boy away.

She stroked the various 'instruments of torture' she had carefully prepared in the warm chamber, like a kitten whose owner had been stolen. So this shrewd woman secretly vowed that You Su owed her this time, she would definitely make her pay back even more severely next time.

"I won't tell your senior sister about this."

The woman stared intently into You Su's eyes.

The cold wind whipped her black hair wildly, and her face, as white and deep as a sacred snow mountain, looked almost unreal.

"Well... thank you."

You Su withdrew his gaze, casually thanked him, and with a swift movement, his sword fell, killing a ferocious evil spirit.

Of course, he wouldn't tell her that his senior sister was actually present when he first disciplined Little Dog Qianhua. Moreover, the fact that she was the first person to ask for her help meant she must have known that her junior brother had a close relationship with that bad woman, a fact that Little Dog Qianhua himself could confirm.

He and Ganlong Venerable were on their way to Dongjing City —the location of the third Sea Well. Although it was called a road, the snow here was much thicker than the You Su had traveled before. It was unclear whether this was due to the greater amount of snow or the fact that it was a remote place.

Feeling that You Su's performance was still somewhat perfunctory, Ganlong Venerable felt a sense of unease and finally asked the question he most wanted to ask:

"You're not blaming me for ruining your plans, are you?"

"I only resent that you almost killed me." You Su casually pinched a handful of snow and wiped the dirt off the sword.

The resentment in his tone was genuine, but it certainly wasn't just because of the misunderstanding between them. After all, no man wouldn't be upset if his spellcasting was interrupted, but there were more important things to do right now.

Upon receiving a negative answer, Ganlong Venerable felt a strange sense of relief, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and a feeling of satisfaction that said, "I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

However, she couldn't explain her past hostile experiences, so she chose not to.

"A woman like her is shrewd, selfish, and cunning. To her, manipulating a young boy is no different than throwing away a handkerchief. If she truly believes in 'dying under the Peony Flower, even as a ghost, one will be romantic,' she will probably only realize on her deathbed that she cannot be a peony, but a poisonous cherry blossom, and a ruthless black widow."

"Hmm." You Su's reply was brief; he certainly knew what was going on.

However, this approach still seemed perfunctory to the woman, and not wanting You Su to go astray, she couldn't help but give him another lecture:

"Don't think she genuinely appreciates you, likes you, or is even secretly proud of you. These are just poisoned sweet words. This kind of woman probably says the same thing to every prey who falls into her trap."

You Su found it amusing and said lightly, "You Su thanks Your Sovereign Lord for saving me from the spider web."

Ganlong Venerable immediately raised his beautiful eyebrows, even straightening his slender figure, but he didn't seem to think the young man's perfunctory thanks were just that—perfunctory.

"I'm the one who brought you out of here, so I can't just watch you fall into the clutches of evil."

You Su chuckled inwardly, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and casually exorcised the evil spirit that had appeared out of nowhere.

They were supposed to fly directly to Dongjing City, but the area was shrouded in white, and flying too fast would easily cause them to miss their destination. According to her, Dongjing City was a small city, and she might not have been there for many years. So they landed in the approximate location and chose to search on foot following the direction from which the evil spirits had emerged.

Perhaps because walking in the snow was too tedious, or perhaps because she felt closer to You Su, Ganlong Venerable, who had always been used to keeping to herself while traveling, was somewhat displeased with the silence between her and You Su.

She wasn't an arrogant or aloof person; she just didn't like talking to unimportant people. Only a few people knew that she was actually a chatterbox. Bai Ze knew this all too well. Since they each occupied a different body, the only way they could communicate was through letters.

Whenever the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace's personality awakens, she feels immense pressure looking at the several pages of her diary. She worries that she's only been asleep for half a day, so how come there are so many things to explain? But after reading through the whole thing, she realizes that much of it is just the ambitious 'self' rambling on and on.

"I heard... you have two dao companion?"

The old women in the village are generally more gossipy than young girls.

"I guess so," You Su gave an ambiguous answer.

Although he has many beautiful women, he only has his junior sister and senior sister as his nominal dao companion. As for Miss Xue Ruo, she would probably unilaterally deny this status, so she should be counted as half a partner.

"Is it true that you and your Demon Race junior sister are together?" Ganlong Venerable was still somewhat surprised.

"What do you find inappropriate, Your Sovereign Lord?" You Su countered.

"If the feelings are mutual, there is naturally nothing wrong with it." Ganlong Venerable's attitude toward the Demon Race was not extreme, perhaps because Dongying Bei'ao was a marginalized region of the Five Continents, and he felt more sympathetic to their plight than others.

"I've been lonely since I was little, and it was my junior sister who saved me. It must have been mutual affection."

You Su recalled that quirky and clever girl, a sweet feeling would still rise in his heart. However, Bei Ao and Dong Ying were far apart, and he didn't know when they would meet again, which made him sigh with regret.

Ganlong Venerable had never seen the Demon Race girl, but he could sense You Su's deep affection for her. "With your greed, your master must be both angry and pleased with you, right?"

What annoyed him was that he had taken two outstanding disciples into his fold, but what pleased him was that the benefits hadn't gone to outsiders.

"Fate has woven us into a web, and I am reluctant to pull myself out." You Su was still somewhat embarrassed to admit her greed.

"I have no right to accuse you of greed. They are all good women. Treat them well." Ganlong Venerable was used to the phenomenon of resources being controlled by one person, and beauty was also a resource, regardless of gender. "Do you know why mortals call them wives and concubines, while cultivators dao companion?"

You Su shook her head.

"It is precisely because of this concept of 'the Way' that the ideal dao companion should be someone who shares the same aspirations and beliefs. Even if they do not necessarily share the same Way, they should be able to support each other in their pursuit of the Way, so that they can accompany each other through the long years of cultivation."

She taught with great eloquence, but the woman knew better than anyone how difficult it was to find a true like-minded person.

However, just as he finished speaking, the figure of a young man in black clothes and carrying a black sword appeared in those eyes that reflected the white snow.

"It seems the Sovereign Lord is still reminding this blind man not to be seduced by beauty," You Su helplessly.

"When we met again, your left eye was already shining brightly. You're not blind anymore, are you? People always try to make up for what they lacked in the past, but in the end, they inevitably go to extremes."

Since regaining sight in his left eye, You Su had never thought of hiding or concealing it, but he also wouldn't tell everyone he wasn't blind. With Ganlong Venerable eyesight, it would have been easy for him to see that You Su wasn't blind.

"Your Sovereign Lord is overthinking it. I have never sought dao companion based on beauty or ugliness. Or rather, after being blind for eighteen years, even after regaining my sight, I still cannot distinguish between beauty and ugliness. Even if Your Excellency, the top-ranked Heavenly Immortal Ranking Sovereign Lord, were to stand before me, I would still ask you why."

"What you like is beautiful, what you hate is ugly, why bother with those stupid lists people make?"

Ganlong Venerable disliked her title intensely, believing that excessive fame hindered her achievements. She was not kind-hearted because of her beauty; in fact, her face was her most useless asset, given her dedication to saving the people.

"I've learned a lot." You Su nodded slightly. He wanted to say that the list wasn't just randomly compiled, but he didn't feel comfortable saying it.

Before long, the outline of Dongjing City, hidden in the heavy snow, finally began to emerge.

The north wind swept across the dilapidated city walls of Dongjing City, and withered grass stems, wrapped in snowflakes, trembled in the cracked brickwork.

As You Su stepped through the broken tiles and entered the city gate, he felt as if he had walked into the skeleton of a giant, desiccated beast—the rotten wooden beams in the streets and alleys were like ribs, the collapsed houses were covered with rusted ironware, and even the stone mortar by the well was covered with spiderweb-like cracks.

This was even more desolate and dilapidated than any city ravaged by evil spirits that You Su had ever seen, because it was not caused by evil spirits at all, but by the accumulation of time.

"Dongjing City was one of the earliest cities built in the Northern Ao Continent, and it was the only city within a hundred miles. It has been around for four hundred and forty years. The people of Bei'ao at that time had a very superficial concept of cities, and few towns could survive to this day. It was abandoned at that time. In addition, the terrain around Dongjing City is much higher than other places, so it has basically become wasteland."

"Then why choose this location to build the city?"

"Because there is a natural giant well here." Ganlong Venerable ran his fingertips along the mottled brick marks on the wall. "Dongjing City got its name from this well. Before the city was built, this well supported many people."

Historically, places with wells have rarely been in dire straits. Therefore, the reason why Dongjing City has become like this must be because the well has dried up.

"The frozen soil of Beiao is thousands of feet deep, making it impossible to dig a well for water. But there is a vein of Spirit Stone stones at the bottom of this natural well. The water, nourished by the Mystic Qi, will not melt and there are even live fish. But later the well dried up and the place became deserted. I set up the Sea Well here, firstly for the convenience of this natural well, and secondly because I wanted to start changing things from the most barren place."

Before he finished speaking, starlight suddenly fell from the sky. Venerable Chengliang arrived gracefully, stepping on bronze counting rods. His withered face appeared bluish-gray in the snowy light.

"The well has dried up, and so have people's hearts," the old man said with a smile, stroking his beard. His deeply lined eyes bore the marks of time. "My Sovereign Lord, how have you been?"

You Su instantly gripped the hilt of the Ink Pine Sword. Facing a formidable foe, Ganlong Venerable did not seem as solemn as he was.

"I knew Venerable Chengliang would come." She said coldly, showing no surprise at having blocked the first obstacle she encountered on her journey to Sea Well.

"After all, it was I who strongly recommended that Your Sovereign Lord establish the Sea Well here. This place—" the old man fiddled with the strings of abacus beads in his hand, "Is my hometown..."

You Su frowned, wondering why the old man wanted evil spirits to ravage his already desolate hometown.

"Go back, Sovereign Lord, return to the mountain. We can still build a better North Ao together." The old man's voice was low and mournful, still trying to persuade him.

However, ice lotuses bloomed beneath Ganlong Venerable's feet, Mystic Ice Chi Armor reappeared on his wrists. "Those who walk different paths cannot make plans together!"

The abacus beads suddenly stopped.

The old man gazed at the swirling snowflakes at the horizon, reminiscing about the past. "When Sovereign Lord first came to the mountain, I knew you were different from them. They only had themselves in their eyes, but Sovereign Lord saw others. As I predicted, you later became Sovereign Lord, and I felt as if I had met a wise sage. Over the past few hundred years, under your leadership, Bei'ao has become better and better, and I have never opposed any of Sovereign Lord instructions. But there is one thing you didn't do right: you couldn't have saved so many people of Bei'ao."

"Whether he can be saved or not is not for you to say!" Ganlong Venerable's voice was icy, and the phantom of the dragon behind him roared as if about to burst forth.

Venerable Chengliang shook his head as if he had expected this, and his smile faded, indicating that he would not try to persuade him to stay any longer.

"In that case, I will not allow you to destroy my hometown."

"You're the one who destroyed Dongjing City."

"No!" the old man suddenly roared, shaking the snow on the eaves into a flurry of snowflakes. "It's you!"

"Before I was even as tall as a chair, there was no Dongjing City in this world! There was only a small tribe called Dongjing! We lived around a well, not rich, but content with our lot. It was the immortals from the sacred mountain who told us that a city would be built here. I asked them what a city was, and they said it was high walls, houses made of mud bricks, where people from several tribes could gather together, no longer having to endure the cold wind blowing into their mud tents!"

"We believed him! That's how Dongjing City came to be... But what happened afterward? Caravans, refugees, monks... a huge crowd thronged around the well. This well simply couldn't support so many people! We were content and happy, so who destroyed Dongjing?"

The old man suddenly burst into manic laughter, his withered hair whipping wildly in the gale. "My Sovereign Lord," he cried, "our Northern Ao Continent is like this well; it can only support a limited number of people! How can fertile soil possibly cover the entire Northern Ao? Instead of indulging in this pipe dream, let's concentrate it in a limited area! Cultivators and wealthy merchants can all live within it, creating a new Northern Ao—"

"It will become even more prosperous than Southern Yang Continent!"