Chapter 163

"And He likely already guessed it was your doing, Brother Dao."

"Mm." Xu Xing understood this point too, "I never intended to hide it from Him."

Just as Gu had not concealed his act of severing the righteous alliance's morale, Xu Xing also made no great effort to obscure his own intentions.

Ideally, I wanted Him to intervene and disrupt it—but now He hasn't acted…

This alone proves He no longer needs to continue severing the righteous alliance's morale.

"Have you figured out His purpose yet?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it's likely tied to those few allies of the righteous alliance who are about to knock on the Immortal Gate, but the specifics still require observation."

In the span of a few sentences, the two had already reached a broad, level highway.

Moonlight flowed like silk, stars glittered brilliantly.

Sparse vehicle traffic resembled drifting fireflies, leaving brief trails of light on the dark road before vanishing into the distance.

Today was far quieter than usual.

The two walked slowly, chatting as they went, taking nearly two hours to return to their lodging.

There, they found Yuan waiting.

"Good evening, Elder Xiang Xiang Yuanjun, fellow countryman."

"Good evening."

Xiang Xiang Yuanjun gave a slight nod, then turned to Xu Xing: "Then until tomorrow, Brother Dao."

Clearly, she had something else to discuss—he wouldn't intrude.

I shouldn't have just sent him to pick a few Mo Lin flowers before.

"Until tomorrow."

Watching Xiang Xiang Yuanjun until she vanished from sight, Xu Xing turned to Yuan and asked, "Did you finish handling your side?"

"Handled. It wasn't much of a hassle to begin with."

After all, this was a force he had founded and led.

Aside from the final group gathered before the hall—their fervent reactions surprised him—everyone else's responses were largely within his expectations.

"Come inside and talk." Xu Xing opened the door.

After today's events with Gu, Yuan surely had many questions to ask.

"Mm."

Yuan followed Xu Xing inside.

……

……

Minutes later, the two sat on opposite sofas, and Xu Xing brewed himself a cup of tea.

The pale amber tea broth seemed to carry the crisp chill of mountain streams; its fragrance was distant and refined, like orchids, its steam curling upward in slow spirals, weaving images of dragons and phoenixes dancing in auspicious patterns.

Honestly, the tea leaves provided by the righteous alliance were quite excellent.

As for why he didn't offer Yuan a cup…

A spirit-body—just look at it. Why drink tea?

Yuan paid no mind to such trivialities: "You and Elder Xiang Xiang Yuanjun… seem very close."

"Mm," this was obvious, and Xu Xing made no attempt to deny it, "It's not just her—I get along well with all those allies."

Even Hu, whom he had beaten up, now shares good relations with him.

"But my bond with Xiang Xiang Yuanjun is indeed closer."

…… After a brief silence, Yuan spoke with serious tone, "Does Elder Xiang Xiang Yuanjun know your origins?"

"I never told her outright, but she likely knows."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"Yes." Xu Xing admitted directly, "I told my senior sister."

The fellow countryman's senior sister…

The Sword Sovereign?

Since Yuan had never met the Sword Sovereign, he did not know what kind of person she was.

Some elders within the alliance had mentioned she was cold and aloof, disliking outsiders…

"Looks like neither of us is a very competent transmigrator," Yuan chuckled, shaking his head.

For a transmigrator, their most vital secret is their true identity, so most keep it hidden.

"Indeed." Xu Xing gave a slight nod. On this point, neither of them could be called a competent transmigrator.

"The longer I stay in this world, the more ties I find hard to sever. To leave without a word—or with lies—I feel I'd be betraying them."

When he first arrived in this world, Yuan had always believed himself to be a carefree person.

But when the moment to leave truly came, he realized he wasn't as carefree as he'd imagined.

Faced with Wan Zhu and Mingyu, who had walked beside him through life and death for centuries, he simply couldn't bring himself to walk away without a word.

"Though I can now perceive all phenomena of the cosmos, my emotions still stir, the seven passions hard to control, the six desires hard to still." Yuan looked at Xu Xing. "Fellow countryman, shouldn't cultivators grow more detached the higher their realm?"

Xu Xing: "…"

Are you studying for a degree? "You just said the higher one cultivates, the more detached one becomes—that's a god."

"A god?"

"To sever worldly thoughts, observe heaven and earth, remain unmoved through the rise and fall of oceans and fields—that is 'divine nature,' the Dao followed by the Ancestors of the Cang Clan—'Heaven.'"

Who can't quote a few lines like that?

"Then what of immortals?" Yuan asked.

His curiosity was completely piqued.

From what the fellow villager meant, "immortal" and this seem different.

"When you reach the highest point, your true heart remains unmoved; observing the changes of the world while your true self stays unchanged—that is 'immortal.'" After a pause, Xu Xing added.

"An immortal is free and unbound; if one has no seven emotions and six desires, how could they be called 'free and unbound'?"

"At the very least, the true immortals of the Xuan Realm are like this."

"You can think of the 'immortal' of the Xuan Realm as someone who stands a little higher."

emm…

You didn't need to say that last line.

"Who exactly is this 'Heaven' you just mentioned? How many Ancestors does the Cang Clan have?"

First there was Gu, and now this 'Heaven'—something I've never heard of before.

How many Ancestors does the Cang Clan have? "In ancient times, the Cang Clan had four Ancestors: Tian, Xuan, Tai, and Gu," Xu Xing explained.

Yuan held his breath, utterly still.

"Gu, after the Cang Clan's defeat, merged with the past, taking control of the domain of the past at the root level—his survival ability is extremely strong, and he is the only Cang Clan member still on the Central Continent."

He is also the Cang Clan Ancestor with whom the human race now interacts the most.

"Xuan, the strongest of the Cang Clan Ancestors, led the remaining clan members to flee beyond the stars after their defeat; the frontlines of the starry battlefield are where we fought him and the remaining Cang Clan."

"Tian, observes the way of Heaven, executes Heaven's will—he is the embodiment of Hun Tian Yi, and the reason the Cang Clan received Heaven's favor."

"But since the Cang Clan's defeat, after we extracted and sealed Hun Tian Yi of the Xuan Realm, he has fallen into silence and has not returned to this day."

Yuan nodded, then suddenly paused.

Wait!

Something feels off!

"As for 'Tai,' you—or all living beings of the Xuan Realm—are very familiar with him."

Xu Xing looked out the window: the silver moon hung high, stars glittering brilliantly.

"He has utterly perished, his essence reversed heaven and earth, merging with the shattered fragments of the Central Continent from that war to become the boundless star sea—the Four Star Realms."

Although the old Xuan Realm had starry skies, they were far from as vast as today's.

"Wait, wait a minute!" Yuan quickly stopped him. "This information is too much—let me sort it out first."

The information he had just received was simply too overwhelming.

He needed to think carefully…

"There were four Cang Clan Ancestors at the same level as the immortal: Tian, Xuan, Tai, and Gu."

"Yes."

"Tai is dead—completely dead—and became the four star realms: East, West, South, and North."

"Yes."

The two exchanged questions and answers like they had done with poetry earlier.

Second update, requesting subscriptions—another update coming later.

(End of chapter)