Qingyi Comes to Be His Master

After leaving Qinghe City, Jiang Qingyi and the others flew toward the Zhou Kingdom's capital.

For the Myriad Sword Sect's sect master, a cultivator in the Ascension Realm, the trip to the Zhou Kingdom's capital would take no more than three days if she wanted to make it.

But she did not do so.

It was not because Huang Wei and Qiu Ye were only in the Nascent Soul Realm.

It was simply because the sect master felt a hint of trepidation in her heart.

Three thousand years.

She had been searching for three thousand years.

Countless times, she had received news about him.

But every time, when she thought she was about to find him, the person she saw wasn't him.

Time and again, hope had been followed by disappointment, until her heart had gradually grown numb.

This time, it was the Heavenly Secrets City's lord who had divined his whereabouts.

The lord of Heavenly Secrets City was the greatest diviner in the world.

But a "divination" was still only a "divination."

No matter how skilled someone was at divining, there was always a chance of being wrong.

Just as the Myriad Sword Sect's sect master was lost in a tangle of thoughts, she saw a cluster of mountains embracing one another to the left.

The sect master's expression stilled for a moment. Then she flew toward the mountains.

As she reached the sky above them, a sea of flowers came into view.

The sect master's eyes flickered, and she slowly descended.

Huang Wei and Qiu Ye exchanged a glance. They had no idea what was wrong with the sect master, so they could only follow her down.

The Myriad Sword Sect's sect master arrived at the sea of flowers.

She walked forward, one step at a time.

Mountains surrounded the area on all sides, enclosing a basin in their midst.

At the heart of the sea of flowers lay a clear blue lake.

At last, the sect master stopped in front of it.

A stone stood beside the lake.

Words had been carved into it.

But the passage of time had blurred them until they were barely legible, and the stone itself had weathered away almost beyond recognition.

"Sect Master, is there something special about this stone tablet?"

Qiu Ye stepped in front of her and asked curiously.

"Do you know what this place is called?" The sect master raised her eyes. The clear lake was reflected in them.

Qiu Ye glanced at Elder Huang. He shook his head, his look seeming to say, "Don't ask me. I don't know what this place is called either."

"This place is called the Flower Cloud Sea," the sect master told her Sword Attendant.

"Flower Cloud Sea..." Qiu Ye murmured. "What a lovely name. Did you come up with it, Sect Master?"

The sect master shook her head. "A man did."

"A man?" Qiu Ye asked, puzzled.

What kind of man could hold such a place in the sect master's heart?

"A man I must kill with my own hands!"

The sect master's pale fingers gently traced the carved marks on the stone.

Qiu Ye studied them again and again. Through the blurred marks, she seemed to make out the character "Xiao."

"Master, it's so beautiful here. It really is..."

The girl cried out happily, her voice echoing through the valley.

In the sea of flowers, Jiang Qingyi flitted about like a butterfly.

She had been traveling for a year, and this was the first time she had seen such a beautiful place.

"Master, come quickly!" Jiang Qingyi called to her master behind her.

"Coming." Xiao Mo walked over one step at a time, following his disciple.

"Wow, the water is so blue!"

Jiang Qingyi walked to the lakeshore. It was as if this weren't a lake at all, but a piece of the azure sky that some Immortal had torn down and spread among the flowers.

"It really is quite blue." Xiao Mo nodded at the beautiful sight.

"Master, what do you think about us living in seclusion here?" Jiang Qingyi turned around with her hands behind her back and gazed sweetly at her master. "Mountains surround this place on all sides, and there isn't even a path leading outside. The Blood Butterfly Pavilion will never find us."

"Silly girl." Xiao Mo reached out and gently tapped Jiang Qingyi on the head.

"Ow!" Jiang Qingyi clutched her head with both hands. "Master, that hurts. And I'm not silly!"

"You said there's no path leading outside? Then let me ask you: how did we get in?"

"Of course we flew in~" Jiang Qingyi replied cheerfully.

Since Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi were being hunted, and the carriage was too slow, they had given it up half a month ago, after the Blood Butterfly Pavilion first discovered them.

"You know we flew in," Xiao Mo said with a smile. "So don't you think the Blood Butterfly Pavilion's cultivators can fly, too?"

"..." Jiang Qingyi pouted. "Honestly, that accursed Blood Butterfly Pavilion clings to us like a dog-skin plaster. I still wanted to live in seclusion with you, Master."

"All right. We'll look around a little longer, then we have to leave. Those people from the Blood Butterfly Pavilion are probably about to catch up."

"Wait, Master. Let's give this place a name," Jiang Qingyi said brightly.

"What's the point of naming it?"

"Come on, let's name it. You pick one, Master. This place is so beautiful."

"Fine, fine." Xiao Mo thought for a moment and came up with a name at random. "Then let's call it the Flower Cloud Sea."

"The Flower Cloud Sea! Yes! Let's call it the Flower Cloud Sea~"

As she spoke, Jiang Qingyi drew the Xuan Shuang Long Sword and carved several large characters into the stone by the lake:

[The Flower Cloud Sea—Master Xiao Mo and disciple Jiang Qingyi were here.]

When she finished, Jiang Qingyi dusted off her hands. "Master, from today on, this place is our secret hideout~ Only the two of us know about it.

"I heard that when people die, they're reincarnated.

"After reincarnation, they forget everything.

"If one day I'm reincarnated, or you are, and we come to a place like this, we have to remember each other, okay?

"Then I'll still be your disciple."

"Let's not," Xiao Mo said, shaking his head.

"Huh?" Jiang Qingyi grabbed her master's arm. "Why not, Master? Don't you want to remember Qingyi?"

"It's not that. I just think being your master is a little tiring." Xiao Mo flicked Jiang Qingyi on the forehead. "Next life, I want to take it easy."

"Oh, I see~ That's all right~"

Jiang Qingyi clung to Xiao Mo's arm, resting her head against his shoulder.

"If that day comes, you don't have to be the master. Qingyi will be your master."

"Sure." Xiao Mo rubbed her head. "Then in our next life, Master, you'll have to look after me. Don't let the other senior brothers bully me."

"You won't have any other senior brothers, Master."

"Why not?"

"Because in this life, I'm your only disciple."

Jiang Qingyi's eyes curved into crescents.

"So in the next life, Qingyi will only have you, too."