Yu Qinglin (5)

A wind of decay carried the unconscious Yu Qinglin into the thirty-thousand-li Spirit-Withered Pine Forest. His body had been torn bloody by the wind Gang, leaving him a gruesome sight.

Inside Yu Qinglin's storage ring, a cold jade token floated in the air.

A soul form drifted out, holding a scripture in its hands and chanting under its breath.

"When spring comes and carries all across, all things are born anew... plants flourish and wither, life and death stand apart, and yin and yang give rise to each other."

He watched Yu Qinglin silently. After a long while, a sigh carried away the last trace of his reluctance.

Moments later, devotion, longing, and even fear flashed across True Person Qingyu's face in turn.

At last came a carefree resolve.

The withering and flourishing of the plants of heaven and earth: withering in death, flourishing in life.

The thirty-thousand-li Spirit-Withered Pine Forest moved at his will, rustling as the wind whispered through it.

Vitality so dense it had turned liquid poured into Yu Qinglin. His wounds healed rapidly, his delicate features took on a weathered look, and strands of crystalline white appeared in his black hair.

A vast force poured into Yu Qinglin's body. His skin and bones gave off vitality, then cracked.

It nearly made him burst.

His cultivation also rose rapidly from the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to the late stage, then the peak.

At his Dantian, a wisp of azure bathed in heavenly light and began to take the nascent form of a Divine Ability.

[Azure Bathed in Yang]

Yu Qinglin lay unconscious, a faint smile curving his lips.

He seemed to feel safe and warm.

The soil of the Zhao clan's spirit garden was always planted with many rare spirit materials, but for as long as Yu Qinglin could remember, it had always been a verdant blue-green streaked with blood, giving off a strange, delicate fragrance and the vitality of plants.

What never faded was the sorrow, the pain, and the hatred.

This was where the Yu Clan's people came to rest.

Over four hundred years, generation after generation of clansmen had their marrow drained, their blood seeping into the soil, their bodies buried here, until at last they nourished this spirit garden.

In the damp, dilapidated Yu Household ancestral hall, Father dug at the soil with his fingertips until he touched a cold jade token engraved with the ancient character for Yu.

He hid it away as though he had found a priceless treasure. That day, for the first time, something unrestrained appeared in Father's humble, numb eyes.

But not long afterward...

It was the last time they saw each other.

Yu Qinglin was eight then, the foremost genius of the Yu Household. His clansmen were very fond of him, and the Zhao clan also paid him special attention.

He was given priority for countless resources, and whatever he needed was provided first.

His clansmen would even rather give up cultivating themselves than not save their resources for him.

Yet their eyes held satisfaction, the relief of surviving a calamity, greed, and even a trace of pity.

Yu Qinglin particularly disliked it.

Not long afterward, Father, who was about to "die of illness," lay facedown on his bed, a hideous wound on his back and pain and fear in his eyes. Even his blood was still warm, but his immortal foundation was shattered and his spiritual power was leaking away.

The room was filled with azure radiance, mingled with the fresh Qi of plants.

He secretly slipped a jade token into Yu Qinglin's hand and held it tight until he breathed his last.

He turned into azure light and green wood that filled the sky, giving off abundant vitality.

Yu Qinglin remembered how Father's lips had moved before he died, his words muffled by blood.

He seemed to say,

"Live on..."

After that, almost every year,

Footsteps came from beyond the spirit garden. The Zhao Clan's people had arrived.

After Yu Qinglin finished cultivating, he would hear news that some of his clansmen had "died of illness."

Three years ago, Yu Qinglin was seventeen.

He learned everything.

The Zhao Household's second young lady, Zhao Qiwei, took him with her and let him hear for himself the sickening, ingratiating laughter he knew so well: "Rest assured, Lord Anlan. This Yu Qinglin is the finest of the lot, with the greatest talent. Give him a few more months."

"When the time comes, the Qingyu Spirit Marrow Wine brewed from him will surely satisfy the lord in charge... when we present a gift to the main family, even if it takes every resource Qingyu has, we must win their favor."

After that,

Zhao Qiwei, who wore a pale yellow dress, never appeared again.

Zhao Qiyu brought him a map.

One night, Yu Qinglin held the jade token tight and pressed it against the map in his robes.

He knew only that he had to flee.

When night fell, he crawled out of the Zhao clan's spirit garden and looked back one last time. Suddenly, an aged sigh sounded in his ears, as though its owner had waited far too long:

"Child... you've finally come."

A transparent, elderly man in azure robes, visible only to him, floated in midair, his eyes full of kindness and pity.

He reached out and gently stroked Yu Qinglin, pouring Divine Abilities, knowledge, and insights into his soul.

"I am Qingyu..."

"From now on, you need never be afraid again."

At that moment, seventeen-year-old Yu Qinglin could not hold back his tears.

He thought he had seen the light.

The old ancestor treated me very well. His presence made up for all my suffering.

In three months, I had grown powerful enough and forged the immortal foundation [Azure Yang Reflects Wood]. Then I killed that disgusting Zhao clan steward.

I still remember how he knelt at my feet and wept, how he looked when I drew out his marrow, and how he looked when I buried him in the spirit garden...

How exhilarating that moment was! Full of vigor and ambition, only then was I worthy of the name of the Yu Household's foremost genius.

The vacant eyes of the clansmen in the spirit garden.

The Zhao Household's cold, greedy, fawning faces as they extracted marrow.

And... Zhao Qiwei, Zhao Qiling.

That figure in blue-green who used to slip him medicine for his injuries, the girl who would listen to him tell the clan's history and say, her eyes shining, "Brother Qinglin, you're amazing."

Later, the Zhao Household head was refined by the old ancestor into a [Withered Yin Puppet], and the Zhao Clan fell almost entirely under my control.

I knew that if I continued to follow the old ancestor's plans,

Soon, the Qingyu Ruins Realm would never be enslaved again.

The old ancestor said he had a plan, and if it succeeded, we could break free of the Ye clan's control.

And return Qingyu to the Yu clan's hands.

The Yu clan would be great again.

But...

The dream ended.

The thirty-thousand-li Withered Spirit Pine Forest bloomed with azure light, as though bathed in an azure sun.

Withering and flourishing revolved. The whispering, mournful wind blew through the pine forest, decaying its trees and leaving all things desolate.

All that remained was to await spring's passage, and through it all things would flourish, all things would live.

Heaven and earth resonated. From deep within the Ruin Realm, streams of light, mingled with the most primal power, converged on the pine forest.

The vast power wrapped Yu Qinglin's body in a cocoon of light.

Yu Qinglin could feel an ancient consciousness stirring within his body.

It was like a parasitic ancient vine, afflicted by a long-standing, grave illness.

"Old ancestor... I'm not afraid..." Yu Qinglin murmured for the last time in his sea of consciousness.

Qingyu froze for a moment at his words and seemed to feel some guilt. "Little Qinglin, do you have any unfulfilled wishes? Your old ancestor will help you with them all..."

"Old ancestor... Qinglin isn't afraid... I only wish my Yu Clan's people... would no longer be used as medicine... and could live on... and them too... I'm sorry, Qinglin broke his promise..."

In the last moment of his life, Yu Qinglin laughed freely in his sea of consciousness. His laughter was as free, unrestrained, and exhilarated as it had been when he killed the Zhao clan steward.

He truly knew everything, but he also had the vigor and ambition unique to youth, a disregard for the heights of heaven and the depths of earth, and the first ray of redeeming light in his life.

"Old ancestor, during those days in the spirit garden, what difference was there between living and being dead?"

"I am Qingyu... from now on, you need never be afraid again..."

Qingyu was somewhat dazed, but only for an instant. The light radiating from the scripture in his hands brought him back to himself.

"When spring comes and carries all across, all things are born anew. Withered yin lives, withered yang dies, withering and flourishing cycle, the mournful wind is undying..."

"I must succeed. I will succeed. I promised my lord..."

True Person Qingyu's soul gradually solidified. Coming back to his senses, he slipped into Yu Qinglin's body.

He spoke softly, though it was unclear whom he was speaking to, or whether he had simply made up his mind.

"In this world, if we people of the Ruin Realm want to live, if we want to climb higher, we must stake ourselves in the game. He said that the path of withering and flourishing has always been a cycle of life and death. Only when spring comes and carries all across can all things be born."

"My lord... Qingyu will succeed..."

He opened his eyes. That trace of complicated emotion had vanished, leaving only cold resolve.

Withering and flourishing revolved, and the dead returned to life.

Outside the thirty-thousand-li Spirit-Withered Pine Forest.

Four Qingyu Dappled Horses drew a carriage slowly toward it.

"Young master, this is the place."

Xu Feng respectfully lifted the carriage curtain and spoke softly.

Ye Jinyu looked into the forest without a word, gazing at the thirty-thousand-li Spirit-Withered Pine Forest, which had passed through Azure Bathed in Yang, Wind of a Thousand Decays, and Withering and Flourishing Cycle.

Who would come from the arrangements in the heavens?

Ye Guyi and more than twenty Ye clan Foundation Establishment cultivators followed behind, ready for battle.

Among them, Ye Anlan was deeply absorbed in the sight and gained an insight.

Withering and flourishing, withering and flourishing.

Withering in death, flourishing in life; yin living, yang dying. Between life and death lay great terror and a great fortuitous opportunity.

Cloud Haze Azure Firmament, a desolate clear autumn.

Autumn Waters and Boundless Sky were one color, while a mournful wind swept through the Nine Heavens Azure Nether.

A wondrous sight appeared: spring brought forth grass across heaven and earth, the wood element flourished, heaven and earth brimmed with vigor, vitality surged, and all things sprang forth in a riot of growth.

A vast azure Jianmu tree grew strong and tall, propping up Yunlan and splitting the vault of heaven.

Great Peace Temple... [Heaven of Withering, Flourishing, Life and Extinction]