Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 21 – Wood carving practice

Sensing that Wenren È had left the room, Qiu Congxue opened the barrier with perfect timing. Wenren È said to the fuming Baili Qingmiao, “You can have him back. Continue crying if you want.”

He then transmitted to Qiu Congxue, “Bring Baili Qingmiao to meet me at the Golden Coast Cliffs. Keep an eye on her, don’t let her offer herself to Hè Wenzhao.”

In the book, Hè Wenzhao and Baili Qingmiao hadn’t gone all the way in their relationship even at the end. It was likely that Hè Wenzhao had genuine feelings for her and didn’t want to take her spiritual root. But they couldn’t let their guards down because of that. The story had already shown itself to change. They had to keep a careful eye on Baili Qingmiao, and prevent her from falling to any deceptions.

Wenren È considered the situation over and concluded that kidnapping Zhongli Qian would be a necessary action. Even if Baili Qingmiao wouldn’t necessarily fall in love with him, he could at least act as an obstacle.

Whenever a new love interest showed up in the book, Hè Wenzhao wouldn’t appear for a while, or get into a fight with the love interest. Sometimes, Baili Qingmiao would be woken up by the new love interest’s words, right up until the male lead talked her back over.

Now that the plotlines involving Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang were impossible, Wenren È decided to give love interest number two and number four’s roles all to Zhongli Qian, and let him distract the female lead for a bit.

Now that he had made his decision, Wenren È went to the administration hall and wrote down that Liu Xinye had lost a hairpin while on patrol and would be right back after finding it.

After descending the mountain, he left Liu Xinye’s body. Liu Xinye woke up in the small town at the foot of the mountain with a hairpin in her hand and no idea why she was there. She thought hard but just couldn’t remember what she had been doing for this period of time. She shook her head and turned around to return to the mountain. She still had to see her shixiong!

Wenren È, after watching Liu Xinye leave from afar, found a deserted place to reform his body and headed to the meeting point he’d decided with Yin Hanjiang.

He had left Yin Hanjiang in an empty alleyway. When Wenren È used a thread of spiritual cognition to find him, he discovered him holding his sword, leaning against a wall, waiting in the exact same pose as when Wenren È left.

It seemed like if Wenren È never returned, Yin Hanjiang would wait until the end of the world.

Yet the Yin Hanjiang in the book would never see his master return no matter how long he waited.

Wenren È materialized before Yin Hanjiang with a frown and said with some displeasure, “When this Venerable is not around, you can do something of your own preference.”

Protector Shu was particularly talented at finding amusement for herself; she could put on an entire performance on her own. If Wenren È had told Shu Yanyan to wait for him, she probably would’ve found at least three men in that time.

“Venerable!” Yin Hanjiang’s eyes brightened in an instant upon seeing Wenren È. Life returned to his entire form, and he no longer seemed like a discarded puppet.

Seeing his joy, Wenren È’s annoyance faded some. He couldn’t help asking, “When this Venerable is in seclusion, do you usually stand guard like this too?”

“When the Venerable is in seclusion is when his subordinate must be most vigilant,” Yin Hanjiang responded.

Which was to say he was usually even more like a puppet. Back at the border town, there was still some life in him.

Wenren È didn’t say anything, and let Yin Hanjiang bring him on his sword to the Golden Coast Cliffs. Baili Qingmiao was merely at Nascent Soul Stage, and even with Qiu Congxue to carry her their speed would be very limited. Wenren È wasn’t in any rush.

When they arrived at the cliffs, Baili Qingmiao had, as expected, not yet arrived.

Wenren È took a glance at the silent Yin Hanjiang and told him to practice his sword by the ocean. After seeing Yin Hanjiang wordlessly obey and go practice, Wenren È found a centuries-old tree growing on the cliff face, cut off its thickest branch, whittled it down to its core, then took out a small knife and began to carve from memory.

When he was young, Wenren È would practice whittling when he was bored, mainly to steady his hand for archery in future battles. After his family was exterminated, in his grief, he would take his knife and carve their likenesses. Within that decade, he carved innumerable wooden figurines, and in the end buried them all with his family. While he was cultivating in the mortal world, he would also carve some horses or swords when idle, and give them to children living at the border as toys.

After that, it had been many decades since he last picked up his carving knife.

As Wenren È thought back to their trip to the border town, he swiftly carved a figure from the wood. He only detailed its body and clothes, and left its face blank.

The figurine was just the size of his palm. Wenren È approached the shore and tossed it over to Yin Hanjiang.

Hearing an object fly toward him, Yin Hanjiang turned and caught it. He saw in his hand a small wooden figurine, its build, clothes, and armor the perfect likenesses of the statue of General Wenren back at the memorial shrine, the only difference being the missing facial features.

“This Venerable also doesn’t know how to occupy himself in his spare time,” Wenren È said. “When I was young, I passed the time like that. You can keep the figurine and carve a face onto it for practice if you like. If you don’t want it, just throw it into the sea. I just made it to amuse myself.”

Yin Hanjiang shook his head furiously and put the figurine away in a rush, like he was afraid Wenren È would grab and toss it. “Any gift from the Venerable is infinitely precious to this subordinate,” he said. “Your subordinate will finish this carving to the best of his ability.”

“After you’ve gotten some practice, you can carve your childhood town,” Wenren È said. “This Venerable would like to see what it looked like in your memories.”

Yin Hanjiang’s eyes dimmed and he said in a low voice, “This subordinate doesn’t remember clearly anymore.”

“Then carve what you do remember,” Wenren È said. “It doesn’t need to be your childhood home. Carve everything you can think of or imagine. You are currently at the Void Boundary stage. If you want to reach Mahayana, you need to train your mind. You will be unable to face off against a true expert if you have Mahayana level power but not the mental fortitude to control it.”

Yin Hanjiang had always fought by risking his life, relying on his tenacity and the demon sword to unleash explosive strength far beyond his own realm. But one only had one life, and if he constantly whittled away at it, eventually it would run out.

“This Venerable has learned the blood arts and will not die easily. In the future, there’s no need for you to risk your life for this Venerable,” Wenren È said.

Hearing his words, Yin Hanjiang’s expression went blank. If the Venerable didn’t need his life, then what did he have to give?

A chill ran through Yin Hanjiang’s heart. Though a warm sea breeze was blowing past his face, his whole body felt cold. What was a Yin Hanjiang who was not needed by his master? What was the vanguard without his general? What was Alkaid without Polis?

As Yin Hanjiang was on the brink of despair, he heard Wenren È say, “In the future, this Venerable needs you to treasure your life.”

“Treasure my life?” Yin Hanjiang instinctively replied.

“In the future, this Venerable must enter the Blood Hell. If you do not value your life and enlighten to your own Dao, how will you be able to follow this Venerable through heaven and hell?” Wenren È looked at Yin Hanjiang, a faint smile showing on his face.

Warmth slowly spread through Yin Hanjiang’s body at those words. He clutched the figurine in his hand and declared quietly, “This subordinate will not be a burden. This subordinate will follow the Venerable forever, whether to the divine realm or the underworld!”

“Good,” Wenren È said. “To gain the state of mind of a Mahayana cultivator requires you to know the ways of heaven and defy them. You’re stubborn by nature, and your understanding of the ways of heaven is lacking. Reflecting on the past will help you focus and clear your mind. This Venerable has high expectations of you.”

“Understood!” Yin Hanjiang responded. He bowed his head and stared for long at the figurine, and couldn’t help remarking, “The Venerable is talented at wood carving. Even the details of the armor are clearly visible.”

“After cultivating my mind for long, I’ve developed a good memory, is all. It’s nothing impressive.” Wenren È waved Yin Hanjiang off, leaving him to work on it on his own.

Yin Hanjiang didn’t have a carving knife. He made motions toward the small figurine with his sword for a while, but didn’t dare to do anything. He frowned down at it with a look of extreme apprehension, as if it were an insurmountable problem.

Wenren È twirled his knife in his fingers. He’d purposefully not given it to Yin Hanjiang, wanting him to ask for it on his own.

Yin Hanjiang didn’t ask to borrow it though, and instead used the Chiming blade to sever another tree branch and cut it into a small block. He couldn’t bear to do anything to the figurine Wenren È had given him, so created another few wood blocks in order to practice on, so he could gain some skill before returning to the tiny carving.

Wenren È thought Yin Hanjiang would take his sword and painstakingly poke at the wood, but instead he used a hand seal to control the sword, and with an incantation it split into many small blades. They arranged themselves around the block of wood, unleashing sword aura on it.

Countless streaks of crimson light shot toward it. Wenren È looked on with interest, wanting to see how the wood block on the sand would turn out. But when the light faded, all that was left was a few wood chips. The tiny block had been reduced to sawdust under the power of the Chiming blade, already vanishing into the sea and sand.

“Hahahaha!” The deathly serious way Yin Hanjiang had faced the piece of wood had such a childish air, and now, looking at the outcome, Wenren È couldn’t help bursting into laughter.

Hearing the Venerable laugh at him, Yin Hanjiang forced himself to not look over. Stony-faced and wordless, he manipulated Chiming to attack the next piece of wood.

He was as grim-faced as always, with only his burning red ears revealing his current embarrassment.

Baili Qingmiao and Qiu Congxue arrived at the coast two days later. In that time, Yin Hanjiang had butchered an entire cliff face’s worth of trees. He had gained insight into many new sword techniques, and the precision with which could control his sword also increased. Now, instead of causing utter destruction with one strike, he could gouge out a tiny sliver of wood.

Even though his mental state had not made any advancements over these two days, the will of his sword had become more flexible and he could control it like an extension of himself.

Wenren È was originally going to give him the knife after amusing himself for a bit, but Yin Hanjiang proved to be exceedingly stubborn, making attempt after attempt, and really did make advancements. Seeing his carvings look more and more proper, Wenren È quietly put away the carving knife, letting Yin Hanjiang refine his swordplay.

Baili Qingmiao first descended at the shoreline, and seeing the sand around her littered with palm-sized figurines, all oddly shaped, was frightened into backing up several steps. Pressing against Qiu Congxue’s side, she brought out the Moonlit Frost Silk, saying with vigilance, “Elder Qingxue, I suspect these are curse charms placed here as the focus of some wicked spell!”

Before she had finished speaking, a sword flew over the sand and its aura smashed all the figurines at once. After the dust settled, a black-robed youth was revealed standing with sword in hand before Baili Qingmiao, looking down at her coldly. “It’s just a technique to practice the sword.”

Baili Qingmiao still remembered Yin Hanjiang and relaxed instantly upon seeing a familiar face. She cupped a fist toward him. “Senior!”

Wenren È also walked out of the cloud of sand, standing by Yin Hanjiang’s side. 

He paid no attention to Baili Qingmiao. He held a small object in his hand and transmitted to Yin Hanjiang, “This one looked the best. I thought it’d be a shame to destroy it, so I rescued it as a souvenir.”

Yin Hanjiang looked at the carving that resembled a grade schooler’s work, and when hearing that the Venerable wanted to keep it, frantically reached for it, but his hand closed around empty air. He saw Wenren È holding the figurine high, transmitting to him, “Don’t try to take this Venerable’s possessions, now.”

Yin Hanjiang’s face flushed in anxiety, finally seeming properly alive. Wenren È casually tossed the figurine inside his sleeve and, turning his back on Yin Hanjiang, went to face Baili Qingmiao. “I requested Elder Qingxue bring you to this place,” he said.

Even now, Baili Qingmiao was blissfully innocent that Wenren È was a demonic cultivator, and still thought of him as a good-intentioned senior. She certainly didn’t make the connection between him and the “Liu Xinye” of a few days ago, and bowed to him with utmost courtesy, the image of a polite and proper young girl.

Elder Qingxue was pleased and said with a slight smile, “It seems the problem with your eyes has gone away.”

“Huh?” said Baili Qingmiao. “What was wrong with my eyes?”

Qiu Congxue didn’t explain, leaving Baili Qingmiao to doubt herself. Wenren È pointed toward the cliffs and said, “It’s said that a spiritual realm is hidden at the bottom of these cliffs. Have you heard of that before?”

“I have,” Baili Qingmiao said, nodding. “I have once read a record of spiritual realms in the sect library. It said that spiritual realms were small worlds in the immortal realm, filled with treasures unknown to the mortal world. The one I remember best is the Shattered Mountain Meteorite, and I don’t know the names of any of the others.”

“I am indeed here to retrieve the Shattered Mountain Meteorite,” Wenren È said, paying particular attention to Baili Qingmiao’s expression. Seeing that she had no reaction, he was puzzled.

In the book, Baili Qingmiao had retrieved the Shattered Mountain Meteorite in order to save Hè Wenzhao. How come she had no reaction to hearing its name?

After thinking things over, Wenren È realized it. Hè Wenzhao’s Nascent Soul had been damaged in the book, but it was nothing like the current situation, where it was stolen by Shu Yanyan. Originally, after Shu Yanyan had sucked away Hè Wenzhao’s essence, he had been able to cultivate a Nascent Soul using the Snow Flame. Thus, it had no relation to Shu Yanyan, and she couldn’t entirely steal it. Now, Hè Wenzhao’s Nascent Soul had been cultivated with Shu Yanyan’s help, and she could simply reach out and take it with ease. The injury Hè Wenzhao had sustained had been too severe, and he couldn’t recover just by getting a new bonded weapon. Thus, Baili Qingmiao didn’t have high expectations for the Shattered Mountain Meteorite.

In that case, didn’t that mean that Liu Xinye’s golden core also wouldn’t be enough to restore him?

Who knew how the blood demon planned to heal Hè Wenzhao this time?

“If senior has a request, Baili won’t hesitate,” Baili Qingmiao said. “But…”

She fiddled with her fingers and said awkwardly, “My shixiong sustained heavy wounds during the Great Sect War. If we were to find an elixir which can restore a Nascent Soul, can I have some to take back? Just a little?”

She extended her pinky finger and indicated the size of its nail to demonstrate how little she wanted.

Wenren È nodded. “Fine.” By the time Baili Qingmiao got back, Hè Wenzhao would’ve probably recovered for the most part anyway.

The four arrived at the top of the cliffs. “Senior,” Baili Qingmiao asked, “It’s said the spiritual realm at the Golden Coast Cliffs has never been encountered by anyone except the elder who recorded it in ancient times. How will we find it?”

“That’s where you’re necessary,” said Wenren È, looking pleasantly at her.

“Me?” Baili Qingmiao pointed at her chest. With her innocent expression and her yellow robes flapping around her in the breeze, she looked like a flower growing at the cliff’s edge.

“Exactly.” Wenren È said, smiling, then with a single palm blow, pushed her off the cliff.

“Wha—? Ahhhhhh!” Baili Qingmiao had been caught entirely off-guard by her trusted senior pushing her, and started screaming.

A cultivator’s power would be suppressed at the Golden Coast Cliffs, and more severely the higher their level. Unlike Wenren È and Yin Hanjiang, who couldn’t use any spiritual energy, Baili Qingmiao managed to use light step[1] to grab onto a vine on the cliff face. She called up to Qiu Congxue in a panic, “Master Qingxue, my cultivation has been suppressed to only the Qi Refining Stage, please help me!”

Qiu Congxue looked down emotionlessly from the top of the cliff as her disciple struggled. “If this master were to go down there, I would be suppressed to only the Qi Gathering Stage. You’re stronger than I would be, so persevere on your own.”

Baili Qingmiao: …

On the brink of despair, she heard Wenren È’s voice. “Encountering the spiritual realm is in your fate. Only you can summon it into being. We’re all depending on you.”

So it wasn’t that her senior was trying to harm her, but that he had no other way. Baili Qingmiao felt a bit of relief. As long as they weren’t trying to kill her, she would gladly lend her abilities to her seniors.

Having been convinced by one sentence from Wenren È, Baili Qingmiao started feeling her way along the cliff face with difficulty. Above, a Void Boundary cultivator, a Mahayana cultivator, and a wandering immortal all watched her struggles indifferently. Mystified, Qiu Congxue asked, “Will she really be able to find it?”

“If she cannot, no one will be able to,” Wenren È said.

Yin Hanjiang knew that Wenren È had used his foreknowledge of heavenly secrets to come here and search for the sake of making him a new spiritual weapon, and felt troubled. “Venerable, this subordinate…”

Wenren È knew what he was about to say and raised a hand to stop him. “This Venerable has made his decision.”

Yin Hanjiang pressed his lips together and said nothing more. When Qiu Congxue realized that the treasure was for forging a sword for Yin Hanjiang, vicious thoughts surfaced in her heart. Wenren È was already enough of a problem, and Yin Hanjiang was his trusted lieutenant. If he got stronger, she might not have any possibility of defeating Wenren È in the future.

She had to take action, but aside from fighting head-on, what else could she do? Qiu Congxue thumped her head a few times, but felt like it was filled with the sound of the sea, and she couldn’t think of anything.

She ought to join forces with Shu Yanyan. She could come up with the plans, and Qiu Congxue would carry them out. That would simplify matters.

As for finally learning how to use her brain, Qiu Congxue gave no consideration to it.

The three of them each considered their own problems, while only Baili Qingmiao dutifully searched the cliffs. She would sprain an ankle or scrape her arms from time to time, and suffered every injury that was described in the book, only this time without Wenren È to tenderly care for her. 

Wenren È counted all the times she was injured until she finally got to the blood bats. He watched from afar as a swarm of blood bats dove at Baili Qingmiao. After a single scream, Baili Qingmiao fainted from the bats’ poisonous bite, dangling off a vine on the cliff face.

“Is she dead?” Qiu Congxue said with some concern. “I need to refine her soul before the emissaries of the underworld come to take it.”

Wenren È knocked Qiu Congxue several li away with a palm strike, then focused his attention on what was happening below. Just as he expected, soon after Baili Qingmiao lost consciousness, a thick aura of immortals shrouded the entire cliff face.