"Then why not start a newspaper in the Cloud Radiance Sect? It could cover the matters the disciples care about most, with disciples from the Law Enforcement Hall writing up the truth of what happened."
"If there's a lot to report, you could print it daily. If there isn't, you could publish it every seven days or once a fortnight.
"Sect Master Lu could review it, or you could choose an elder. That way, the disciples would learn the truth right away, instead of spreading distorted rumors."
Zheng Ziheng listened intently and slowly nodded. "That could certainly work. Once the first newspaper is printed, I'll bring you a copy to look over, Junior Brother."
"Great!"
"It's getting late. You should head back and rest, Junior Brother—Qingli, you should return to the Spirit Perch Pavilion too."
Shen Leyan nodded and shook Qingli awake from where Qingli had been dozing beside him on the roof.
The sword at Zheng Ziheng's waist slid out of its sheath, grew several times larger, and hovered steadily in midair. "I'll take you back to your quarters first."
Shen Leyan took a long step onto the blade and waved to Qingli. "I'll invite you over for a meal next time."
Qingli waved back. "Make sure you remember—"
Standing on the blade, Shen Leyan curiously felt the wind brushing his cheeks and looked down at countless lights winding through the landscape like rivers.
Before transmigrating to this world, he had never been on a plane. For one thing, his family had been ordinary people who had to budget carefully just to cover their daily necessities. His parents had hardly ever had time to take him on a flight somewhere for a vacation.
For another, he had later entered an orphanage and attended university in a nearby city. Working his way through school had been difficult enough; how could he have had spare money for plane tickets that easily cost over a thousand?
"Some disciples get frightened on their first Sword Flight. You don't seem nervous, Junior Brother."
"Those disciples might be afraid of heights—it means they get dizzy and weak in the knees when they're somewhere high up."
Over a distant mountain peak, chains of silver light poured down from the stars overhead, surrounding the mountain like a cascading waterfall.
Shen Leyan could not help marveling inwardly.
[As though the Milky Way were falling from the highest heavens.]
"Senior Brother Zheng, what's on that mountain?"
Perhaps Senior Brother Zheng was concentrating on Sword Flight, for it took him a while to answer. "That's the Nine Stars Pavilion, where Elder Xuanji divines the Heavenly Secrets. Prying into the Heavenly Secrets can easily cause a backlash that harms the body, so Elder Xuanji rarely performs divinations... I wonder what happened today."
Judging by that radiance, like the Milky Way falling from the highest heavens, the matter being divined must have been significant.
But only his master was ever privy to the prophecies from the Nine Stars Pavilion. It was not his place to ask.
He had never expected his junior brother, who seemed so indifferent to his studies, to casually compose a line like "As though the Milky Way were falling from the highest heavens." What a shame there was only half a verse.
Had Shen Leyan known what Zheng Ziheng was thinking, he would have immediately clarified that he had not written the verse at all. It was the work of a great poet from a dynasty in a parallel world, and in his world, everyone knew it and could recite it.
Shen Leyan sneezed and muttered, "Am I coming down with a cold...?"
The Nine Stars Pavilion.
A massive Fallen Star stood in the center of the open-air hall. The small patch of sky above it shifted constantly; within half an hour, it had cycled through clear skies, torrential rain, snowfall, and other weather from all four seasons, with occasional bolts of scarlet lightning striking down.
As silver radiance poured from the heavens, the stars surrounding that patch of sky seemed to dim considerably.
Two lines of words slowly appeared on the Fallen Star, as though someone were writing them with a brush.
At the same moment, Elder Xuanji, who stood beneath the Fallen Star in a Daoist robe bearing a yin-yang symbol and the eight trigrams, his hair and beard white, staggered back several steps and spat out a mouthful of blood. His aura weakened at once.
After the strange celestial phenomena disappeared, the writing on the Fallen Star faded in an instant as well.
Elder Xuanji steadied the Spiritual Power churning inside his body, his eyes filled with deep worry and unease.
"Sect Master Lu, the Immortal-Demon War will bring devastation to all living beings... Your fate star is flickering as well. I fear this is no auspicious omen."
Lu Yuanyi withdrew the Spiritual Power he had been channeling into Elder Xuanji. His phoenix eyes gazed at the dark night sky, now restored to normal, his cool features stern.
"The Immortal-Demon War..."
When Zheng Ziheng had returned from the village yesterday, he had mentioned that the disciple with the wind spiritual root had referred to the "Immortal-Demon War" several times in his thoughts.
And just now, in that disciple's courtyard, Lu Yuanyi had also heard his own future fate: falling from immortality into madness, then dying in the flames of Karma Fire.
"Elder Xuanji, has anyone in the major sects previously foretold the Immortal-Demon War?"
"I have heard of no such thing... This prophecy exacted an enormous toll. I fear I will need several decades of secluded cultivation to recover the cultivation I have lost."
"Could a disciple with no cultivation divine the Heavenly Secrets?"
Elder Xuanji froze. "...N-no cultivation? Even if he had an unusual fate and a natural affinity for Divination, I'm afraid he would die from prying into the Heavenly Secrets as soon as he finished this divination."
Lu Yuanyi raised an eyebrow.
Though the disciple with the Wind Spiritual Root had a weak constitution, he was lively and could eat and drink perfectly well. He hardly looked like someone about to drop dead.
"While you're in seclusion, Elder Xuanji, be sure to cultivate diligently."
Elder Xuanji cupped his hands in assent, cold sweat covering his forehead as alarm stirred within him.
Could Sect Master Lu know all about how I usually slack off while on duty?!
Why else would he leave me with that particular reminder?
Zheng Ziheng was highly efficient. Within just three days, Shen Leyan heard that Sect Master Lu had approved his plan to open a restaurant in the Cloud Radiance Sect.
As for the newspaper, the Law Enforcement Hall had already selected several disciples who had passed the county-level scholarly examinations before becoming cultivators. They were working through the night to write articles for printing.
With definite approval secured, Shen Leyan grew busy too. During the day, he instructed the smithy on making copper Hot Pots for them, went to the market near the sect to purchase ingredients, and personally tested which exotic beasts had the tastiest meat.
Some demonic beasts with considerable cultivation were large and yielded plenty of meat, but it was rank and tough, refusing to soften even after two hours of stewing. No matter how nourishing it was, there was no way he could sell something like that in his restaurant.
At night, he also had to study the basic Spiritual Power circulation method Qingli had written for him, meditating in the courtyard to cultivate Spiritual Power and cleanse his meridians.
Fortunately, after gaining his Wind Spiritual Root, his health seemed to have improved considerably. Meditation restored his stamina much like sleep did. He did not tire too quickly; instead, his days were so full that he felt as though he were back at university during the week before final exams.
The restaurant site lay along the route the Outer Sect disciples had to take after class, nestled beside a mountain and a stream amid beautiful scenery.
However, the little two-story bamboo building had been abandoned for a long time. It needed a thorough renovation and new furniture.
With nothing else to do, Qingli volunteered to supervise the work for him.
Every day, Qingli enthusiastically directed the Outer Sect disciples as they moved tables and chairs and scrubbed the floors, thoroughly enjoying the task.
Sometimes, Shen Leyan would rope Senior Brother Zheng in as he passed by and have him help taste-test Hot Pot made with Demonic Beast meat.
Whenever he tasted something awful, he worked hard to maintain his smile and tease Senior Brother Zheng.
"It's delicious! Senior Brother Zheng, Senior Brother Zheng, hurry and try it! It's so delicious!
"Urgh—"
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