The greatest hope and pride of his life had all been destroyed!
He stood rooted to the spot as though he had lost his soul, unable to utter a single word.
Inside the secret realm, Qiaoqiao led Yue Tingxi to a path down the cliff. The two descended along the steep trail. White mist shrouded the bottom, leaving them unable to tell one direction from another.
She remembered that Yue Tingxi's fortuitous opportunity lay inside a cave, but with mist this thick, who knew where the cave was?
She patted Yue Tingxi. "Look, there's so much mist ahead, and we don't know what dangers might be lurking, so-"
"So?" Yue Tingxi looked into her lovely almond-shaped eyes, not understanding what she meant.
"So you'll scout ahead, and if there's danger, you'll face it first," Qiaoqiao said as though it went without saying.
[As a righteous good person, this is all I can do for you!]
[Go find that cave!]
Yue Tingxi pressed his lips together and walked ahead without a word. Before long, the hazy outline of a cave indeed appeared in front of them. Before he could think further, Qiaoqiao gave him a gentle shove from behind, pushing him into the cave.
"Hmm? Someone has ventured to the bottom of the cliff?"
"Let this old man take a look... ohohoho, Five Spirit Roots! Excellent!" the voice inside the cave said. "Young man, are you willing to learn the Innate Primordial Five Elements Technique from me, Xiaoyaozi?"
Yue Tingxi hung his head and asked dejectedly, "Aren't Five Spirit Roots the most useless aptitude?"
"Ah," the voice said. "There are countless Great Daos. So long as they find the right Dao, who cannot become an immortal? Young man, don't let fools lead you astray and delay your immortal destiny!"
Before the water mirror, an elder exclaimed, "Xiaoyaozi? Isn't he the mighty figure renowned throughout the cultivation world a thousand years ago?"
"What's inside the cave seems to be a fragment of his soul... To think this young man would have such a fortuitous opportunity! Given time, he's certain to accomplish great things!"
The others could not help looking toward Peak Master Yue. His already tottering figure had grown even more unsteady. The daughter he had painstakingly raised was ruined, while the son he had driven out of his home had gained an immense fortuitous opportunity. How ironic!
Ning Shuang said, "Senior Xiaoyaozi is right. Fools ruin other people's immortal destinies. A lofty peak master will soon become the sect's laughingstock. How truly pitiable!"
Peak Master Yue's face flushed scarlet, as though someone had slapped him ten times. His lips trembled, and with a retch, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed completely onto the ground.
That useless son of his... had actually lived to see his fortunes turn!
His gaze flickered. Was it still possible to acknowledge his son now?
Inside the cave, Yue Tingxi received Xiaoyaozi's legacy. Suddenly, he thought of how Qiaoqiao had seemed to deliberately make him walk ahead. Could she have known beforehand that there was a fortuitous opportunity here and wanted to yield it to her?
He turned around with a complicated expression, about to speak, only to freeze-where was Qiaoqiao?
How had she vanished?
At that moment, Qiaoqiao was equally bewildered. While Yue Tingxi was receiving his fortuitous opportunity, her legs had grown sore, so she had found somewhere to squat down. Who knew that squatting down would send her falling into a hole inside the cave? This cave actually had two levels!
Having fallen into the cave within the cave, Qiaoqiao took out a luminous pearl for light. Pillars of varying heights stood all around her. This seemed to be an abandoned altar.
At the center of the altar, the base of a broken pillar carved with strange patterns stood at an angle, its surface covered in moss.
For some reason, the sight of that pillar made Qiaoqiao's heart inexplicably flutter.
It was as though it were calling to her, resonating with her through some unseen connection.
"Is... is that the remains of a Divine Pillar?" an elder asked in a trembling voice.
Legend had it that when heaven and earth first separated, the realms were unstable. Only with four Divine Pillars supporting heaven and earth had the three realms of humans, demons, and devils been established. Over countless millennia, three Divine Pillars had collapsed one after another, leaving only the Western Divine Pillar standing between heaven and earth.
Rumor held that if the final Divine Pillar collapsed, heaven and earth would topple, and a terrifying calamity would descend upon the world.
What lay within their Flowing Cloud Sect should be the remains of the Eastern Divine Pillar.
Mu Liuyun nodded. "When the Divine Pillar collapsed all those years ago, it released vast amounts of Spiritual Qi. The Flowing Cloud Sect was founded because of it."
Later, the Divine Pillar's remains had vanished without a trace. As it turned out, they had disappeared into the sect's trial secret realm.
This young disciple had actually managed to find the remains. It should have been a coincidence, right?
But the Divine Pillar had already collapsed. Even finding its remains would be of little use...
As everyone sighed over the Divine Pillar, no one noticed Immortal Venerable Wanghan's expression. He gazed at his young disciple in the water mirror, his deep, cold eyes trembling faintly, as though suppressing some surging emotion.
The hand hidden inside his sleeve slowly clenched.
[Oh, there's a door here.]
Qiaoqiao went around the stone pillar and pushed open the heavy stone door behind the altar.
As the door opened, a fragrant scent greeted her.
Amid a profusion of flowers, a woman dressed in crimson lay among the blossoms, surrounded by a dozen or so handsome men massaging her. The scene could only be described as sensual.
Qiaoqiao stared, dumbstruck.
[Who is this gorgeous beauty?]
[I wonder if the Golden Tower has this many handsome men too?]
The beauty burst into a giggle, raised her hand, and snapped her fingers. The handsome men turned into flower petals and vanished. With a graceful figure, she walked up to Qiaoqiao and pinched her cheeks, so tender they seemed ready to yield water. "Little girl, would you like to learn the sword from me?"
"Senior, who are you?"
"Me?" The woman smiled sweetly. As she raised her hand, Sword Qi drifted ethereally around her. "Sword Immortal Liuyun."
Outside the water mirror, the elders dropped to their knees in a great rush.
This-this was their founding ancestor!
Though she was only a lingering wisp of Divine Sense, she looked exactly like the portrait enshrined in the ancestral hall. She was the founding ancestor of the Flowing Cloud Sect, Sword Immortal Liuyun, who had once commanded the winds and clouds and had long since ascended!
[So it's Senior Sword Immortal!]
[I really am the righteous emissary chosen by the Heavenly Dao. Even Senior has come to teach me swordsmanship. Doesn't that mean I'll become even stronger than Master someday?]
"Hahaha!" The Sword Immortal laughed so hard she could not straighten up.
This little girl's inner voice was truly amusing. She had never expected that, so many years after her ascension, the sect would still have such an adorable young disciple.
Who said sword cultivators had to wear icy expressions? She liked lively little girls like this.
"Senior, I'm Qiaoqiao, a disciple of Ethereal Peak."
"What a coincidence. I was once the master of Ethereal Peak myself." The Sword Immortal stroked her chin as she studied her. "Qiaoqiao, have you learned Slay the Star River?"