Chapter 1302: Chapter 1296: What Price... Must I Pay
Chapter 1302: Chapter 1296: What Price… Must I Pay
Floating beneath the cosmic galaxy, the Nine-Leaf Clover bore nine leaves filled with mysterious patterns on its slender stem. It was mysterious and elegant.
“Hum.”
A soft resonance emerged from thin air; it was this Nine-Leaf Clover, exuding the origin power of life, swaying gently.
Ripples undulated outward, emitting an ancient aura that felt as if it had weathered countless eons.
A translucent figure gradually materialized before it.
A woman floated in a curled-up posture before the Nine-Leaf Clover, her slender hands clasped around her jade-like calves.
A pair of pristine, jade-like feet peeked out from beneath her hollowed-out green skirt.
Her flawlessly sculpted, exquisitely beautiful face was tranquil yet brimming with an elegant, regal grace. Her long hair cascaded down her shoulders like a galaxy.
Red threads pierced through the void and entered this tranquil world, bringing along two uninvited guests.
Seemingly disturbing her peace, her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as she opened her flawless eyes, which seemed to contain an entire galaxy within them.
“…”
As the woman before the Nine-Leaf Clover opened her eyes, the old man and the young woman who had just entered fell into a prolonged, unanimous silence.
A trace of apprehension flashed across Ancestor Lan’s kindly face.
He had spent his entire life inheriting the responsibilities of the previous Dao Ancestor, evading the world’s pursuit.
To all the living beings of the world, he contained more than half of the Great Daos within him, making him the ultimate treasure.
He had seen immortals and heard tales of them; most of the immortals nowadays were relatively docile.
The previous Dao Ancestor had told him that when the immortals initiated their restoration, the duty of the Dao Ancestor would come to an end.
At first, he scoffed at this. His formidable strength made him arrogant; every time he acquired a Dao, his strength advanced a step further.
He was certain he had nothing to fear even from a Great Emperor. But later, after encountering other heaven-defying individuals, he learned to stay humble.
He was not the only special existence in the world.
He had fled for many years. Even when the immortals revealed themselves, he had still scoffed at the idea.
There were heaven-defying figures in the world; perhaps they alone could deal with the immortals.
He might not have to sacrifice himself; he could still struggle to survive. After all, a miserable life was better than a glorious death.
After all, dealing with trash like the Red Dust Immortal and the watchdog was something that could be done in passing.
With the entire Southern Frontier united, defeating the Blood Moon wasn’t entirely impossible.
But now…
He found it incredibly difficult to imagine what the ancients had endured, or how they had ever managed to defeat these things!
If there were many more entities like the one before his eyes, the people of the current era would face a hopelessly bleak future!
“Miss Wen.”
Ancestor Lan’s entire body went stiff.
Feeling the vitality here that seemed capable of controlling all living beings, he stared gravely at the awakened immortal and said to Li Yaowen, “Your second sister is in massive trouble.”
“I know.”
Li Yaowen stared intently at the immortal. Approaching this entity, for the first time, she felt the physical existence of her own body again.
She met the immortal’s gaze.
The immortal’s thin lips parted slightly. Her gentle voice, much like the life-giving vitality she inadvertently exuded to nourish the world, echoed throughout the void.
“I have seen you. Your name is Li Yaowen. You were the little girl who studied in the village.
Yaoqing wanted to refine medicine for you; she said you were frail and sickly, and among all her siblings, she worried about you the most… even until now.”
Li Yaowen looked dazed.
Ancestor Lan gently stroked his beard. No wonder the Li family girl had brought him along. Yet, even facing such an entity, he still felt it would be best to eradicate It as early as possible.
Especially in this current situation, he, an old relic constantly schemed against by everyone in the world…had clearly been ignored.
“Ignoring an old man like me is not very polite.”
Ancestor Lan rubbed his fingers together inside his sleeves.
…
Lu Niang stared curiously at Li Yaowen before her.
This name, ‘Lu Niang’, had been given by Li Yaoqing.
Having experienced the dawn of creation, the era when immortals fed on the world, and the eventual fall of the immortals, she had slumbered in the darkness.
Immortals always had their methods of awakening.
Fortunately, after countless eons and generations of people stumbling upon the Thousand Herbs Classic by chance, a little girl had finally planted the seed of the Nine-Leaf Clover in her dantian.
She had lived inside Li Yaoqing’s body ever since, watching the generations of the Li family grow, observing the pain, confusion, and struggles of humanity…
She had silently spied upon an entire human life.
Humanity’s process of acquiring power was always accompanied by joy.
Lu Niang had always assumed that Li Yaoqing would attribute this extraordinary advancement to her own hard work. Yet, she had not.
Li Yaoqing often believed that with her own meager abilities, she should have been the most fragile herb in the medicinal garden; she never could have reached where she was today on her own.
And that was indeed the truth. Lu Niang knew Li Yaoqing’s fragility.
Li Yaoqing worried about many people. Beneath her exterior as an older sister and elder lay a person who embodied profound compassion for all living beings.
She often did things that made even Lu Niang frown.
Like that year she ventured alone into the Demon Cave, completely forsaking her own vitality and pushing herself into a corner just to nurture three descendants, or how she desperately refined pills as if her life depended on it…
Between heaven and earth, such beings rarely enjoyed long lives.
But now, as Li Yaowen—the child she had worried about the most—appeared before her, Lu Niang finally understood why Li Yaoqing had been able to live for so long.
“What price must I pay for you to leave my second sister’s body?” Li Yaowen spoke, her voice trembling.
Lu Niang froze.
In the fleeting years she had spent inside Li Yaoqing’s body, this was her first time hearing this ‘fragile’ girl’s words filled with such pleading.
Lu Niang pondered for a moment. “Have you ever considered that your second sister chose me, and not the other way around?”
Li Yaowen shuddered, the words catching in her throat like a fishbone.
No one had ever thought that such a heaven-defying cultivation method required a price.
Their entire family had believed it was a karmic opportunity bestowed by heaven, until the gift became a curse.
“You are the same.”
Lu Niang looked deeply into Li Yaowen’s eyes, letting out a gentle, drawn-out sigh.
“The acquisition of all power has long been secretly marked with its corresponding price.
Humanity often struggles against heaven, earth, and destiny to seize power they are not meant to have. The one you should be considering is yourself, not your second sister.”
Li Yaowen remained silent for a long time.
She asked once more, her voice turning icy, “What price… must I pay?”
Inside the Eternal Immortal Sect.
These numerous disciples with the strongest aptitudes, sought out by the Immortal Sect, were striving to cultivate the array formation passed down by the Red Dust Immortal.
The array formation from ancient times allowed the Immortal Sect disciples to grasp the means to contend with immortals.
Li Yunlin was cultivating in the rear mountain, accompanied by Fairy Hongxiu.
The white-robed Daoist and the red-robed fairy leaned against each other, sitting upon the green tiles of the roof, gazing at the scene of ethereal spiritual qi drifting through the Immortal Sect.
Li Yunlin naturally wouldn’t come to the Immortal Sect on his own; he came to accompany Fairy Hongxiu.
A beautiful union of several centuries as Dao Companions; even with an abundance of miscellaneous chores, the two remained just as they were back in the Skyveil Hall.
Beside them, an old cat lay asleep. Catching a glimpse of the two acting so lovey-dovey, it rolled its eyes endlessly, cursing inwardly that it shouldn’t have eaten Li Kuanghua’s fish back in the day.
That had caused it to let its guard down, and now it had to suffer this kind of torture.
Suddenly, the two people and the cat looked up at the sky in shock.
“Fourth Aunt?”
Li Yunlin was momentarily stunned. His fourth aunt hadn’t returned home for many years, constantly rushing about outside.
Now, suddenly sensing his fourth aunt’s aura only for it to instantly vanish, Li Yunlin furrowed his brows.
Before he could figure out where his fourth aunt had gone, he saw someone falling from the cloudy sky, their face deathly pale.
Li Yunlin’s expression darkened.
It was Ancestor Lan falling from the sky.
Initially, while in mid-air, he was clearly panicked. Once he reached the territory of the Immortal Sect, he immediately steadied his posture.
Then, he rummaged through his bundle, pulled out a golden pill, and swallowed it.
With a casual wave of his hand, he reassumed his transcendent, immortal bearing and unfathomable appearance.
“How could anyone make Senior look so wretched? My fourth aunt was just here…”
Li Yunlin and Fairy Hongxiu stood up. Seeing the worried look on Fairy Hongxiu’s face, he cast her a reassuring glance.
“You came to ask Ancestor Lan about the Dao. Since he has already appeared, let’s just go ask him.”
“Mhm.” Fairy Hongxiu nodded repeatedly, tranquil and obedient.
When the fairy first arrived at the Li family, she was quite afraid.
After all, her age was enough to make her the elder of everyone in the Li Clan. Becoming Dao Companions with Li Yunlin felt like she had stolen a child from the old Li family.
Later on, however, the elders of the Li family were incredibly fond of Fairy Hongxiu, completely disregarding her age.
Xu Cuihua said that age wasn’t an issue; Fairy Hongxiu lived in deep seclusion and was more innocent than the vast majority of women in the world.
Otherwise, how could a fool like Yunlin have managed to trick her into his hands?
Over the past few centuries, cultivating, cultivating together with Li Yunlin, and running errands alongside Li Yunlin—Fairy Hongxiu’s world was just that simple.
This girl, whose age ranked in the top three within the family, would even blush when addressed as an elder by the younger generation.
Not long after, the two arrived in front of Ancestor Lan.
Having just met Lu Niang with Li Yaowen, Ancestor Lan hadn’t even had the time to curse before running into members of the Li family again. His facial muscles twitched violently.
“Senior, my wife cultivates the Method of the Red Spider Lily. Does the Dao path of the Red Spider Lily lie with you?” Li Yunlin asked with a furrowed brow, always straightforward.
The fact that Ancestor Lan had captured the Red Dust Immortal earned him a bit more respect.
The Old Ancestor had told him not to look down on Ancestor Lan anymore, clearly reminding him of this fact.
He had pondered at the Cliff of Reflection for a year.
Ultimately, his cultivation realm was lacking, and he couldn’t figure out why Ancestor Lan constantly thought about running away, leaving behind a mess.
“The Dao path of the Red Spider Lily?”
Ancestor Lan furrowed his brows. “You sure are blunt, kid. Who told you the Dao path of the Red Spider Lily lies with this old man?”
“The Old Ancestor said so,” Li Yunlin replied without hesitation.
“Senior Ancestor Lan.”
Seeing her husband at odds with Ancestor Lan, Fairy Hongxiu hurriedly said,
“We wouldn’t dare act presumptuously before you. It’s just that the Blood Moon is approaching, and this junior’s cultivation has hit a bottleneck.
Therefore, we came to seek your guidance. If I can comprehend the rules of the Red Spider Lily and break through to the mid-stage of the Void Refinement realm, that would be wonderful.”
“I see.” Hearing that this wasn’t a job where he’d get beaten up, Ancestor Lan sighed in relief.
He glared at Li Yunlin. “Look at your Dao Companion, and then look at your impolite temper. I don’t even want to scold you.”
“…” Having a favor to ask, Li Yunlin didn’t dare to speak even as he was being berated to his face.
However, he felt that Ancestor Lan was acting a bit strange, which was likely related to his fourth aunt’s recent visit.
Seeing Li Yunlin speechless, Ancestor Lan felt a secret thrill. But suddenly recalling the immortal figure he had seen with Li Yaowen, he let out a long sigh.
“Since you want to learn, kid, you should make a trip.
Tell all the Divinity Transformation and Void Refinement cultivators in the Three Prefectures who have a hope of breaking through to the Body Integration realm to come to this old man’s place.”
“Senior?”
“This old man is going to open an altar to preach the Dao, imparting everything I have cultivated in my entire life.”
Ancestor Lan raised his head, gazing at the drifting clouds above the Immortal Sect.
Watching the old man before him letting the clear breeze brush against his face, Li Yunlin’s heart sank.
“This old man… is old.”
—
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