Food Immortal Master

She rubbed her temple. After spending so long with Zhu Gaoyang, she always felt a little ashamed whenever that third line of thought arose.

The crux of the problem lay in three unknowns: whether the one threatening the Immortal Lord was truly Ming Qitian, whether he had already locked onto his target, and what level his strength had now reached.

A yes or no to any of these questions would lead to entirely different outcomes. Xing Zhi had long known that success or failure in making decisions often had little to do with the decision-maker's wisdom. Even the cleverest cook could not make a meal without rice.

She rose and headed toward the rear courtyard.

If she could not find grounds for a decision on the enemy's side, she could still start with her own. The Bright Sword Master was not, after all, a puppet for others to arrange as they pleased.

When she reached the rear courtyard, she found that, amid all this anxiety and crushing pressure, its prevailing atmosphere was actually gentle and tranquil.

The old pear tree leaned quietly beside the wall. The air was cool and clear, and the clerks crossing the courtyard walked softly and spoke in steady voices.

The white-robed woman sat by the window, seemingly having shut out every worldly distraction. She held a book and read attentively, her lips murmuring softly, though the Black Cat was no longer beside her.

She was clearly the pillar anchoring this tranquility in the courtyard.

The book's spine faced Xing Zhi. She glanced at it: the Zen Master's Sword Teaching Record.

Something this obscure... Xing Zhi thought, somewhat helplessly.

She knew that everyone had their own path. Someone as peerlessly gifted as Ming Qitian should not have even a second of cultivation interrupted by mundane affairs.

She also knew that this world-renowned young woman was only twenty-one, and had spent nearly twenty of those years on the mountain, with scarcely any involvement in the mortal world.

But after days of being buried in countless duties, Xing Zhi-who had always been synonymous with competence and decisiveness in others' eyes-still could not help feeling a little irritated and resentful at the sight of this tranquil, detached tableau.

Had she been protected too well?

A terrifying enemy could descend at any moment. Whether you stayed or left, how you would confront the enemy, what sort of cooperation you needed... which of these matters did not need to be coordinated one by one?

This involved more than considerations of combat strength. There was also Ming Qitian's exalted status: a precious heir did not sit beneath an unstable roof. Unless you explicitly agreed, who would dare assign you to fight a formidable enemy?

Yet she could sit here reading this ancient book without a care, as she had since early this morning, like a young lady accustomed to having others worry about every trifling matter.

But no one here could guarantee your safety.

Could that book possibly contain a secret method for slaying the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord?

Xing Zhi knew it did not. Once, when Zhu Gaoyang's master ordered him to cram sword theory, he had considered using this book to bluff his way through, because he thought his master probably had not read it. But halfway through, he found it too abstruse and dull, and switched to something more commonplace.

Thinking of that bright, handsome face calmed Xing Zhi a little.

She knew this was merely a small lapse in composure under the weight of endless duties, not any genuine grievance against the Bright Sword Master. Was her willingness to remain here even now not the best answer?

Since she could offer little help in battle, it was only right that she put more effort into the miscellaneous affairs.

Xing Zhi gently pushed the door open and smiled. "Bright Sword Master?"

Ming Qitian raised her luminous face and turned a tranquil gaze toward her.

At the sight of that face, the agitation in Xing Zhi's heart was completely soothed. She said gently, "The enemy may be far too dangerous, and perhaps he is coming for you. We would like you to take temporary refuge in the prefectural capital. What do you think?"

"There is no need." The young woman's answer was unexpectedly decisive. Her voice was calm, her clear eyes seeming to see straight into Xing Zhi's heart. "Thank you for your concern. You need not think so much on my behalf. Whoever I encounter, I fight. That is all."

"But..." Xing Zhi suspected she still had not grasped the danger. "The Immortal Lord's current strength is impossible to predict. Perhaps..."

Xing Zhi hesitated, then said quietly, "Even the Sky Tower Realm is not out of the question."

"Mm."

Xing Zhi froze for a moment, hope suddenly rising in her heart. "You have a way to deal with someone in the Sky Tower Realm?"

"No, Mistress Xing." Once again, Ming Qitian spoke calmly and earnestly. "I do not think that far ahead. Whoever I encounter, I fight. That is all."

"But what if you cannot win?"

Ming Qitian merely smiled faintly.

"..."

Xing Zhi understood what those words meant.

If she could not win, she would naturally bear the consequences of defeat. If she lost, she lost. If she died, she died. That was all.

Only then did Xing Zhi recall the gift that had first brought the woman before her to the world's attention. Later halos-the successor to the Sword Treatise, third on the Crane List, the Glaze Sword Master-had eclipsed it, until people had almost forgotten.

It was the lucid state of mind that had allowed Ming Qitian to gain the allegiance of [Heart-Slaying Glaze], likened to a "bright mirror, ice reflection."

It was also the trait that made her immune to the Immortal Lord's mind control through Quail Head.

Xing Zhi realized that she had profoundly misunderstood this young Sword Master.

She was not an ignorant young woman accustomed to having everything arranged for her. Rather, she understood everything with perfect clarity, but simply did not let it trouble her.

For an ordinary person, facing an unfathomable enemy would inevitably bring anxiety and fear, and searching for a solution within a limited time would surely leave them frantic and restless. If they decided to flee alone, shame would be unavoidable; if they chose to stay and share life and death, their heroic spirit would surely pierce the clouds, their blood boiling.

But for Ming Qitian, these circumstances and decisions did not affect her state of mind. She naturally chose to stay and face the formidable enemy.

And since there was nothing to do while waiting for the enemy to arrive, she simply continued reading.

Just as she had rushed a thousand miles to save Pei Ye with all her strength because of a single Sword Talisman, it was not because she felt any great affection for a boy she had never met. And after risking her life to save him, she would not feel that she had bestowed some tremendous favor upon him.

She did what she wanted to do, unfettered by fear, worry, gain, or loss, never hesitating, never agonizing. This was her innate "bright mirror, ice reflection."

Xing Zhi stood dazed for a while, then nodded and moved to close the door and take her leave.

At that moment, a hoarse voice from inside startled her. Only then did she notice that there was also an old man in a wheelchair in the room.

Ming Qitian had not been talking to herself earlier; she had been conversing with the old man.

The hoarse voice said, "Zen Master Zhaokong had already become somewhat trapped in an obsession at the time. The disciple who wrote this book concealed his master's failings out of respect, altering much of this conversation from his later years. That is why it seems so much emptier and shallower than the earlier sections. In fact, a predecessor of yours on Cloud Lang Mountain attained the 'Buddha Regards Me' state he sought long ago."

Ming Qitian's eyes widened slightly. "Senior, you mean..."

"Indeed. I can teach you," the old man said hoarsely.

As Xing Zhi wondered in astonishment about the origins of this elder of Pei Ye's, she suddenly saw Ming Qitian turn solemnly toward the outside, her hand closing around her sword hilt.

Only then did Xing Zhi feel a fierce wind bearing down from behind.

Thank you all for your tips, thank you to our generous supporter wyl0103, and thank you to every reader for following the story and supporting it with your votes!

Chapter 74: Gaoyang

Xing Zhi's heart clenched. It was not an instinctive response to imminent danger, but because she could still think, and her mind had reached its first conclusion: He was here!

That bastard Xu Weizhou hadn't given a single warning!

Xing Zhi formed a hand seal and turned, sending [Water Autumn Lotus] behind her to bind the attacker. At the same time, several faint white ribbons appeared in the courtyard, thin as gauze and sharp as ice.

This, too, came from the Autumn Water Chapter of the Autumn Water Jade Dragon Scripture: [Cold Mist on Rippling Waters].

One spell restrained and the other attacked. Their exquisite coordination and compatibility went without saying; the crucial point was that the caster could release both effortlessly at once, even in the shock of a sudden fright.

Had anyone witnessed this scene, no one in the Immortal Platform would have scoffed again at the claim that "though Mistress Xing is burdened with miscellaneous duties, she will still enter the Profound Gate before thirty."

Yet although [Water Autumn Lotus] was as tough as spider silk, what it faced now was not an insect of comparable size, but a hawk.

Countless strands were smashed through without the slightest resistance. By the time Xing Zhi turned her head, that towering, hideous body already filled her vision.

She drew the short sword at her waist, but a white figure met it before she could.

Like a white rainbow shooting out of the doorway, she sent the door slamming against the wall with a crash.

Xing Zhi saw only a blur. In an instant, a surge of white swept away that enormous, oppressive black shadow. The reverberating Sword Qi cleared everything away, including the autumn lotuses and cold mist.

When Xing Zhi's gaze caught up with the two again, Ming Qitian was standing in the courtyard, looking down. At her feet, a humanoid monster had been pinned to the ground by Heart-Slaying Glaze. True Qi like scattered feathers and wisps of cloud slowly dissipated through the courtyard.

Only then did Xing Zhi's sleeves and hair, tossed wildly by the gale, begin to settle.

So... so strong!

Last night in the forest, Xing Zhi had watched from far away. Only now had she seen Ming Qitian draw her sword for the first time.

To Xing Zhi, cultivation had always been a tool. She had never treated even spellcraft as her lifelong pursuit, much less felt any passion for martial arts. Yet at this moment, she truly regretted turning too slowly to witness that sword strike in its entirety.

But when her gaze shifted to the dragon-transformed human body, a thought surfaced.

But why would the Immortal Lord be so weak?

She walked over and lowered her head to inspect it.

It was not the Immortal Lord.

The Immortal Lord was currently controlling Qiongqi's body. Even if he could alter his appearance, this creature before her was merely a powerful Frost Wraith... though it was rather too powerful.

Was this one of the "scouts" he had scattered through the city? A fish that had slipped through the net of Black Chi's search? But why hadn't Black Chi...

A possibility rose unbidden from her heart and slammed into Xing Zhi's mind. She suddenly felt as though lightning had struck her.

Her entire body stiffened and began to tremble. She stared blankly at the monster struggling and roaring on the ground, and tears suddenly flooded her eyes.

No wonder it was so powerful.

Ming Qitian moved slightly. Xing Zhi's heart lurched into emptiness, and she screamed, "No!!"

Ming Qitian had not intended to kill him. She looked down at her tightly gripped wrist and asked softly, "Is he... Zhu Gaoyang?"

That name shattered Xing Zhi's last layer of defense. The strength that had kept her working all day beneath the weight of this terrible news collapsed at the first touch of such a tangible blow.

Only when "Zhu Gaoyang is dead" was no longer a weightless sentence spoken by someone else, but this brutally cruel sight, did she realize that she was not as strong as she had imagined.

Xing Zhi felt the strength leave her legs. She reached out and caught a branch of the pear tree beside her to hold herself up. "Could... could you not kill him yet? Perhaps..."

Xing Zhi choked on her words. She had never imagined that her own voice might one day sound so weak.

There was no "perhaps."

After years of dealing with magical artifacts, she knew enough to understand clearly that damage of this severity and extent had no chance of being repaired.

Because that would not be "restoration," but recreation-or even a reversal of time.

And corrosion of the brain was the most hopeless case of all.

When people deeply corroded by magical artifacts had come to her for help, she had coldly told those deathly pale faces to "give up" many times. Now that it was her turn, she could not bring herself to say it.

There was no hope. Keeping him here would only cause trouble for everyone.

"Perhaps you should..." she said with difficulty.

"All right." She heard Ming Qitian's cool, calm voice and turned in astonishment.

"I never intended to kill him anyway," Ming Qitian said. "Glaze says his Mindscape Realm still exists."

Xing Zhi's eyes widened in disbelief.