Chapter 35: A Discussion

In the Eastern Capital, one ascends the jade and becomes divine. Crowned by an immortal’s touch, one receives incense and gains eternal life.

These were the echoes Wan Shanyou had heard countless times while leaning down from the Ninth Heaven to listen to the Mortal Realm.

Back then, he had still been a young child. He wore a white Daoist robe whose hem dragged along the ground, with immortal silk wound around his wrists. He was so short that the fabric would trip him whenever he failed to pay attention.

All he could do was maintain a dignified posture and follow closely behind his elders. They passed through towering immortal palaces that rose like a forest of steel, crossed expanses of snow-white jade so bright they blurred the eye, and finally arrived above a mirrorlike emerald lake.

“This is the only interface connecting the Mortal Realm to the Ninth Heaven.”

His mother, wearing an iron face, pushed him forward.

“You will receive the mortals’ incense today. Go.”

His robes were too long. Caught off guard by the shove, Wan Shanyou nearly fell. The little boy used all his strength to steady himself, then turned back in confusion to look at his mother.

Yet she merely lowered her head with her eyes closed, paying him no attention.

Wan Shanyou gathered his courage and looked up.

The first thing he saw was the moonlit night and the sea of stars, their brilliance surging like a tide.

At the center of heaven and earth, an enormous circular machine revolved in midair. Several intersecting rings surrounded it, and although the formations covering its surface appeared chaotic, each operated in perfect order.

It resembled the mechanical sun of some ancient legend.

It was immense, magnificent, and exquisitely constructed. Suspended alone between the layers of heaven and earth, its interlocking gears seemed to possess a mesmerizing power.

Wan Shanyou stared, entranced. Without realizing it, he took a step forward, sending boundless ripples across the lake beneath his feet.

Before he could see more clearly, an Immortal Envoy slammed a hand down on his head.

“You must not look directly upon Heaven’s countenance.”

The solemn voice descended from above. The force made Wan Shanyou stumble, and he fell to his knees on a raised jade platform.

The rough grit on its surface scraped bloody marks across his palms. Pain surged through him, making his nose sting with tears.

Wan Shanyou held them back and did not dare make a sound. Unsteadily, he climbed to his feet, walked to the center of the platform, and looked down.

Then he heard a sound he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Layer upon layer, distant and vast.

It was like the murmuring of all living beings.

Like the whispered prayers of countless believers.

An immense mental pressure crashed into Wan Shanyou’s mind. He was still only a child. His limbs immediately went weak with terror, and his sea of consciousness convulsed violently.

He tried to retreat, but hands seized his arms and legs, while another clamped down on the back of his head.

“Immortal Envoy.”

The High Immortal restraining him ignored his fear and struggles. His voice was no different from an emotionless machine.

“Listen to all living beings.”

“No… No, it hurts—”

It felt as though tens of thousands of needles had been driven into Wan Shanyou’s skull.

“It hurts! It hurts! Mother… Mother, save me! Mother—please save me!”

He screamed himself hoarse and tried to twist toward his mother for help, like a young crane struggling at the edge of death.

Yet even after exhausting all his strength, all he met was an iron face and a pair of black, lifeless eyes.

His voice vanished.

His pupils trembled violently as he looked around at every High Immortal surrounding him.

Silver-white faces.

Pitch-black eyes.

Plain white mourning robes.

Closed eyes and lowered heads.

Which one of them was his mother?

With a crack, his head was forcibly twisted forward, making him look down upon the Mortal Realm.

The jade platform was hollow at its center. Through the opening, one could gaze across ten thousand li and peer into the human world below.

Tears fell from Wan Shanyou’s lashes.

Through the rolling clouds, he saw a mortal semi-immortal kneeling with a sword in hand.

She knelt upon a jade platform identical to the one beneath his feet. The difference was that hers had been dyed red with blood, and her entire body was covered in wounds.

Around her, tens of thousands of mortals knelt in worship. They offered incense to the gods and prayed that the divine beings would open heaven and earth, accepting new immortals into the Ninth Heaven.

Amid those countless prayers, the blood-soaked semi-immortal rose shakily to her feet and raised her face.

They were separated by ten thousand li, yet Wan Shanyou felt as though their gazes met.

His breath caught. He had just begun to say something when a formation appeared across his throat.

The Immortal Envoy restraining him had taken control of his voice.

“You have reached the summit and ascended to immortality. What is it that you seek?”

Wan Shanyou’s voice rang out in a manner utterly unlike his own—lofty, ethereal, and distant.

“What do I seek…”

The person below spoke in the mature, weathered voice of a woman.

Wan Shanyou stared blankly as she raised her head, curled her lips into a grin, and pointed her sword toward the Nine Heavens.

“What could I possibly seek?”

She gave an answer no one had anticipated.

The prayers abruptly fell silent, making her voice thunderously clear. Wild, unrestrained laughter spilled from her lips along with blood.

“I want the Nine Heavens to descend into the Mortal Realm! I want heaven and earth overturned! I want the countless mortals of this world to stand openly and proudly upon the lands of the Three Realms!”

Thunder exploded across heaven and earth.

Enormous storm clouds gathered over the arrogant semi-immortal’s head, as though embodying the gods’ fury.

The mortals below the jade platform descended into chaos. Some lost their minds and surged forward, while others fled backward in terror. As the two crowds collided, countless people were knocked to the ground, their sobs and screams rising without end.

Those treasonous words shattered all faith and tranquility in an instant.

What had been a reverent congregation devoted to the gods became a horrifying disaster.

Wan Shanyou trembled merely from watching.

The mortals below seized the semi-immortal by the ankles and tore at her body, yet there was no fear on her face. Instead, her eyes shone brighter and brighter, and her laughter grew increasingly exhilarated.

“Today, I spill my blood upon the Ascension Platform and raise it as my banner!”

She casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, as though she could not feel the believers tearing flesh from her body.

“Just wait for the day to come—my successors will slaughter the Ninth Heaven!”

“Impudent!”

Thunder fell like a deluge.

Bolt after bolt flashed across Wan Shanyou’s eyes.

That was the day that changed his life forever.

Later, without the slightest hesitation, he leapt from the Ninth Heaven into the Mortal Realm.

As he fell through the clouds, he turned his head.

He saw the mechanical sun hanging over the moonlit emerald lake. Silver light blanketed the Ninth Heaven, while the Immortal Envoys pursuing him stood at the distant edge of his vision, their iron faces utterly indifferent.

All living beings bustled and clamored below.

Countless spirits bowed in devotion, gazing upward toward the Ninth Heaven.

But Wan Shanyou had only one thought.

Even if he died, he never wanted to return to the Ninth Heaven.

“Semi-Immortal.”

Cold sweat soaked Wan Shanyou’s back. His heartbeat pounded so violently that it seemed capable of shattering his eardrums.

Under Lou Xun’s indifferent gaze, he lowered his head once more and looked at the teleportation formation disc beneath his feet.

He knew the flowing destination runes all too well.

The Eastern Capital’s Ascension Platform.

The place where everything had begun for him.

“W-what will it take for you to spare me?” Wan Shanyou asked, raising his head with a rigid smile.

“I ask. You answer,” Lou Xun said.

Lou Xun had seized him by his most vulnerable point.

Wan Shanyou was too young and had fled home too early. Aside from his spiritual root, he possessed almost nothing. There was no point in someone like him struggling against a battle-hardened and ruthless semi-immortal like Lou Xun.

Or rather, for someone who had nothing but a spiritual root, there was nowhere else to go except to follow Lou Xun and the others.

Death awaited him in every direction.

He could only compromise.

Wan Shanyou lowered his head.

“Ask.”

“Why did you leave the Ninth Heaven?” Lou Xun said.

“…”

How was he supposed to answer that?

Could he say that he had descended into the Mortal Realm because of a mortal semi-immortal he had seen several years ago?

Would such an answer not sound unbearably hypocritical coming from a High Immortal of the Ninth Heaven?

Before Wan Shanyou could come up with anything convincing, Lou Xun began pouring spiritual power into the formation disc without a hint of mercy.

“I’ll give you three counts. Three.”

“W-what?!”

“Two.”

“Wait! Semi-Immortal, I—”

“One.”

“Because I couldn’t bear my family obligations!”

“Family obligations?”

Lou Xun withdrew his spiritual power. As the golden light dispersed, he immediately seized upon the important phrase.

“You are a direct descendant of one of the Ninth Heaven’s aristocratic families?”

Wan Shanyou choked.

He had probably said too much, but trying to change his answer now would be absurd. He could only grit his teeth and tell the truth.

“Yes. I am a legitimate descendant of an aristocratic family in the Ninth Heaven… the second son of the main line.”

Lou Xun’s gaze abruptly changed.

The indifference in his eyes melted away and sank into their depths, stirring flecks of dark red. The color was uncanny and dangerous.

“How much do you know about the aristocratic families of the Ninth Heaven? Have you ever seen… a python used as a family crest?”

His voice deepened inexplicably.

The instant it reached Wan Shanyou’s ears, a chill crawled over his entire body.

Killing intent.

Lou Xun wanted to kill him.

Why?

What had he said wrong?

Someone, please save him…

“No, Semi-Immortal.” Wan Shanyou was on the verge of tears and did not dare look directly at Lou Xun. “The aristocratic families of the Ninth Heaven have ancient histories and prize orthodox purity. None would ever use an evil creature such as a python as their family crest.”

“…”

Lou Xun lowered his eyes.

“You’re certain?”

“C-certain.”

Wan Shanyou nodded so vigorously that his head nearly blurred.

“What else do you know?”

“Um… Semi-Immortal, I was confined within the family estate from childhood and made to study. My elder brother handled all external affairs…”

Lou Xun gave him an icy glance.

“B-but I did fairly well in aristocratic history! I know a little…”

“Then tell me.”

Where was he supposed to begin?

Wan Shanyou frantically searched through everything he had once learned, only to find that he could not remember any of it.

One truly regretted not studying enough only when knowledge was needed!

Lou Xun’s gaze grew increasingly impatient. Sweat gathered in Wan Shanyou’s palms as he hesitantly began reciting the historical passage he had heard countless times since childhood.

“Um… when heaven and earth first emerged from primordial chaos, the First Immortal Emperor, Xuanzhe, created the realms…”

“He shaped the Divine Realm from the sun, moon, lakes, and seas. He commanded the twelve constellations to transform into immortals, bestowed surnames upon them as aristocratic families, and charged them with jointly protecting all immortal spirits.

“Afterward, he used earth and white clouds to create the Mortal Realm and fashioned tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of living beings… And then… and then…”

What came after that?

Wan Shanyou’s mind went blank.

He could not remember the next line at all.

It was over.

Was he really going to die here today?

Wan Shanyou closed his eyes and prayed that Lin Kongqing’s medical skills were good enough to piece him back together after Lou Banxian finished with him.

He waited in despair for his sentence.

Yet the instant his eyes closed, he sensed a barrier erupt outward from the upper floor.

Purple boundary scars passed straight through his body.

Wan Shanyou immediately opened his eyes.

There was an explosive bang.

Lin Kongqing crashed through the shattered ceiling with her arms wrapped around her head.

Broken stone and scraps of paper floated around the damaged opening, rapidly moving back into place to repair it. Bamboo ribs from a paper umbrella drifted through the air, while an enormous and terrifying pressure filled the barrier without the slightest restraint.

Lin Kongqing braced one hand against the floor. Sprawled there, she wiped the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

There was not the slightest trace of fear on her face.

She even had the leisure to glance toward the horrified Wan Shanyou.

Lou Xun frowned faintly and turned toward the stairs.

Xiao Changxuan descended at an unhurried pace, one hand resting on the banister. Deep violet light swirled through his eyes.

Standing above them, he looked down at Lin Kongqing.

His smiling face was extraordinarily handsome, yet for some reason, the sight of it made one’s skin crawl.

“You win,” Xiao Changxuan said.

“I won’t try to kill you again.”

The Demon Lord smiled brightly.

“But don’t get too pleased with yourself. This venerable one still doesn’t like you.”

Lin Kongqing rose to her feet, her expression stubborn.

“The feeling is mutual.”