Chapter 1368: Extra Chapter Two: Flowers Bloom, Old Friends Return

Extra Chapter Two: Flowers Bloom, Old Friends Return

Extra Chapter Two: Flowers Bloom, Old Friends Return

The third year after Xu Qing left.

Purple soil, herb garden.

Here a seed is planted, not yet broken through the soil, yet it faintly exudes immortal grace, forming radiant light that spreads in all directions.

With the wind, it renders the girl sitting in the herb garden.

But the girl's gaze is not on the herb garden; she stares blankly at the sky.

Wind rises, clouds unfold, a speck of ink color seeps into the vast sky, cloud layers pile and blend, outlining streaks of crimson lightning, accompanied by rumbling thunder.

Yet in the center of the heavens swallowed by dark clouds, a glint of brilliant light pierces through……that is the direction Xu Qing departed.

"The teacher has left, the junior martial brother has also left……"

The girl murmurs, letting rain fall on her scallion-white fingertips, unmoved.

Even the steady footsteps behind her go unnoticed.

Until the umbrella canopy shelters her.

Tingyu turns her head to look behind.

A splendid long robe, a jade pendant emitting soft light, and a remarkably handsome face, along with that complex gaze—it is……Chen Feiyuan.

Gazing at the girl before him in her elegant medicinal attire, graceful and poised, Chen Feiyuan sighs softly.

Since the junior martial brother departed, Tingyu has become melancholy and withdrawn, sentimental and sensitive—this is already who knows how many times she has worried for the junior martial brother.

"Senior sister, do you still remember what the teacher often said back then?"

Chen Feiyuan speaks softly.

"Heaven and earth are the inn for all things and beings; time is the traveler of ages past and present……"

Listening to Chen Feiyuan's words, Tingyu's eyes grow gentle.

"As long as one does not die, reunion will eventually come."

She softly echoes, withdrawing her gaze.

Outside the swirling hair ends, rain falls wildly.

……

And that seed planted in the soil, at this moment, slowly breaks through.

A peerless flower is now in full bloom!

Accompanied by brilliant light, rich floral fragrance fills heaven and earth.

Making this herb garden seem like a fairyland.

Violent rain and fierce wind, untouched by even a trace.

"This is……"

Chen Feiyuan immediately looks.

That is the seed Xu Qing gave them before leaving, saying that as long as it is planted in soil, on the day the flower blooms, no matter where one is, they can return to the teacher's side guided by its fragrance.

Long ago, the two of them buried the seed together in the earth; now the seed has finally sprouted, grown branches, and the flowers bloom freely.

Beside her, Tingyu is also stunned for a moment, then her face lights up with unprecedented joy, she pulls at Chen Feiyuan's sleeve, pointing to the exquisite flower breaking through the soil, jumping and laughing.

That joyful appearance seems to return her to many years ago.

Back then, she laughed just like this.

Thus, in this laughter, in this gaze, within that flower fragrance that purifies the soul, misty and entwined, there are white cranes bearing medicine, jade trees with peaches of immortality.

The heavenly gate opens, immortal clouds entwine.

A silver river flies straight down, piercing the rain curtain, drawn by the flower fragrance, transforming into a stellar path and cloud bridge, landing beside the two.

"Feiyuan, we……"

Tingyu suddenly feels a little nervous, looking at Chen Feiyuan, clearly about to meet the teacher she has longed for day and night, yet her heart pounds nonstop.

Chen Feiyuan takes a deep breath, falls silent for a moment, then takes Tingyu's hand.

"We go together."

One step onto the cloud bridge.

Instantly, a gentle force lifts the two, following the Milky Way's trajectory, straight up to the heavens.

Sudden rain reverses flow, long night gains light.

The world beneath their feet becomes minuscule.

Purple soil……

Southern Phoenix……

Eastern Wanggu……

Star Ring……

Ascending in broad daylight, nothing more than this.

"Huh……"

"Huh——"

Guided by the flower fragrance, as if a thousand years have passed, or merely a moment.

When the sensation of heaven spinning and earth turning ends, Chen Feiyuan tightens his grip on Tingyu's warm, soft hand, only then realizing they have already landed on the ground.

The starry sky is vast and boundless, the earth stretches ten thousand miles.

This place seems to be a colossal teleportation array, magnificent and expansive, seizing the creation of heaven and earth, standing between the star seas.

"Feiyuan, have we arrived?"

Tingyu looked around nervously and expectantly.

She saw that this world was vast and boundless, yet there was no familiar place anywhere.

She and Chen Feiyuan seemed to be the only two people on the earth beneath their feet.

Chen Feiyuan gazed into the distance and spoke softly.

"We should have arrived; this place must be the Fifth Star Ring that my junior brother mentioned."

"Master..." Tingyu's nervousness grew stronger.

She recalled that her junior brother had once said the master was in the distant Fifth Star Ring, ranked among the Twelve Immortal Lords.

She did not know what an Immortal Lord was, but she could guess it must be a great and noble existence, and for someone like her, an ordinary person, it was surely beyond reach.

Suddenly, she felt a little afraid, afraid that the master was no longer the familiar figure from her memory.

"Don't worry, Master will surely come."

As if seeing what Tingyu was thinking, Chen Feiyuan gripped her hand tightly and stared fixedly at the distant star river.

After a long while, vaguely, a sensation arose, became a touch, and floated in her heart.

"He's here..."

Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan hurriedly straightened up and walked out of the teleportation array they were in.

At the moment they stood in the outside world, the stars flowed, and a clear radiance descended from beyond the heavens; wherever it passed, nebulae rippled like water.

The jade flask's light turned, and between heaven and earth, it seemed as if a scroll of ink-and-wash painting had unfurled.

Wafts of faint grass and wood fragrance drifted out, accompanied by the rustling sound of grass and wood sprouting, and within the ink-and-wash painting, a figure emerged in blurred tones.

He seemed to have walked out of the painting.

Ever clearer.

It was an old man.

His bone structure was slender and clear, his brows and eyes kind.

He wore a moon-white long robe, its sleeves embroidered with subtle grass and wood patterns, and a medicine cauldron was tied at his waist.

At this moment, he smiled, gazing at his two beloved disciples whom he had not seen for many years.

"You have grown up."

His voice was clear and bright like spring water striking jade; when he spoke, starlight flowed and fell into their hearts, becoming ripples that stirred boundless memories.

Causing one scene after another from the past to continually surface.

"Master..."

Tingyu's apricot eyes widened, her eye sockets instantly reddened, tears dripped and flowed, and she had already burst into tears.

Chen Feiyuan, however, stood frozen in place, his body trembling; the old man he had personally buried now stood alive before him, and his years of experience as family head told him that when facing things beyond control, one must first doubt, then carefully observe... yet when he opened his mouth, only one sentence remained:

"Master..."

These two simple words contained memories and emotions, causing the gaze of Master Bai, who had descended upon this star, to grow even gentler.

He looked at Tingyu and spoke gently.

"I smelled the scent of foreign matter and Bai Dan; you've been tirelessly refining pills and practicing medicine, haven't you?"

Tingyu's tears glistened as she clenched her hands tightly onto her shirt collar and shook her head firmly.

"Not tired at all... healing and saving lives is not tiring in the slightest."

Master Bai gently stroked Tingyu's head, then looked at Chen Feiyuan, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Feiyuan, the magic artifact entering your body caused excruciating pain; is the burden of the Purple Earth heavy?"

Under the gaze of those kind yet profound eyes, the current head of the Purple Earth Chen family, known for his cold face and iron-blooded reputation, suddenly reverted to the clumsy yet determined youth he had been many years ago.

"Not heavy... after all, you once said, your disciple is naturally endowed with the appearance of a family head..."

Chen Feiyuan spoke with a choked voice, but who would have thought that before his emotions had fully settled, Tingyu's clear and crisp complaint suddenly came from beside his ear.

"Nonsense, you're dazed; where do you look like a family head?"

"Tingyu, why are you arguing with me at a time like this, hey hey—don't pull my ears..."

"Hahaha..."

Seeing his beloved disciples bickering in harmony, Master Bai suddenly laughed, raised his hand, and stroked the heads of Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan.

The affection between master and disciples, separated for many years, seemed to return entirely in this single exchange of question and answer.

"Walk with me."

Master Bai spoke softly, raised his hand to guide, and starlight fell, forming a star path before him.

Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan took a deep breath, carrying the respect in their hearts, stepped onto the star path, came to Master Bai's side, and walked toward the starry sky together with him.

They vanished from this transmission star, appearing in the boundless universe.

"Tell me, what happened after I left."

Master Bai spoke gently.

Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan nodded lightly, and the past unfolded from their memories.

"After you left, I opened a small medicine shop in Purple Earth..."

Tingyu's voice wove into an illusory image, and as it echoed, it reflected in Master Bai's eyes.

It included people taking revenge for Master Bai, Tingyu inheriting his legacy and treating scavengers for only a trifling fee...

And Chen Feiyuan merging with the family's magic artifact, becoming the head of the Chen family... as well as the many disciples Tingyu had taken in.

Moreover, after Xu Qing returned, the three of them accompanied each other to sweep Master Bai's tomb...

But the girl had her own little thoughts, secretly hiding her day-and-night weeping and longing.

In the starry sky, Master Bai led the way, with Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan following on his left and right, half a step behind.

This scene, it was as if I had returned to the scavenger camp of those days.

At that time, Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan sat in the tent, swaying their heads as they recited the Herbal Classic, while Master Bai on the stage wore a solemn expression as he studied the pill formula; Tingyu zoned out and saw the clumsy figure outside the tent, eavesdropping on herbal knowledge...

He was called Little Boy, and in order to save someone, he was desperately searching for the Heaven's Mandate Flower...

Now, as one star after another streaked across the horizon, this scene seemed to reappear.

Until time passed, I do not know how long, Tingyu finished telling Master Bai and Chen Feiyuan all of their experiences in Eastern Wanggu.

"These years, you have suffered; come home with me, Master." Master Bai's eyes were kind as he looked at his beloved disciple.

With a raise of his hand, a jade pendant carved like a star flew toward Chen Feiyuan.

"The treasures of Violet Soil are too harmful to the body, and the Mystic Vial Star is too vast and empty; as Master's armament envoy, I have always kept this for you."

In the midst of his words, another jade slip, seemingly entwined with the fragrance of the Three Thousand Herbal Classics, fell before Tingyu.

"And Tingyu, you have always been researching the way of herbs and trees, very good.

This is the essence of my life's cultivation, I impart it to you; from now on, just as in those days, follow me and continue practicing medicine..."

Having said this, Master Bai looked satisfied at the two as they received the gifts, waiting for their reply.

Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan's gazes met; seeing Chen Feiyuan nod, Tingyu finally made up her mind, looked toward Master Bai, and spoke solemnly.

"Master, Tingyu's journey this time was only to see you, to see that you are still healthy and strong, and that brings me contentment; Eastern Wanggu still has my medicine shop and my students, and Tingyu must return there."

"You... still want to go back?"

"Did Xu Qing not tell you that I, as Master, am now one of the Twelve Immortal Lords of the Fifth Star Ring?

The era belonging to me is about to arrive, but as Master, I am unlike other Immortal Lords, always alone; would you be willing to stay in this Fifth Star Ring and assist me in governing the next Immortal Lord's era..."

Master Bai gazed at Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan.

Tingyu fell silent, and after a long while, she spoke softly.

"Master, I want to go back."

Upon hearing this, Master Bai ceased his persuasion, like a world-weary hermit who has seen through the red dust.

Only, the wrinkles on his face seemed to have deepened somewhat.

These wrinkles were not the gullies of time, but the patterns of mountains and rivers; each crease seemed to hold the vicissitudes of a thousand years.

Seeing this, Tingyu seemed to recall something, the corner of her mouth lifting in a faint smile, and she could not help but murmur.

"My teacher, Master Bai, even if I cannot cultivate, a mere mortal, I also aspire to traverse Violet Soil, saving the common folk beneath the alien with each and every Bai Dan."

"Now that I have cultivation, I can go to even farther places, I can save even more people."

"Fulfilling the vow Master once made is Tingyu's dream for this life; I beg Master to grant it."

Having said this, she bowed deeply.

Master Bai fell into a rare silence.

He looked at Tingyu, as if seeing his former self.

Perseverance, keeping one's vow, practicing medicine...

One scene after another, one moment after another, one Bai Dan after another...

All returned to his gaze.

The deep grooves of wrinkles on Master Bai's face suddenly unfurled thread by thread, and in his profound eyes burst forth a piercing brilliance.

"Good."

Master Bai nodded slightly, gazing at her determined eyes, and the smile on his face grew ever more radiant.

"Good!"

"Go ahead, tread across Eastern Wanggu, wander the star rings, for thousands and tens of thousands of years, as Master I will guard the Dao for you!"

Before parting, at Master Bai's invitation, Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan accompanied him as he traversed the vast expanse of the Fifth Star Ring, seeing the paths Xu Qing once adventured upon, and also seeing the Mystic Vial Star that Master Bai had often mentioned.

It was a lone star, a home built by an old man waiting for his disciples to return, crafted with his own hands.

The environment was serene, the dwellings simple.

Every path he had walked, every flower he had planted.

All of this lay clearly before their eyes.

Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan finally understood, originally the master had always been keeping them in mind.

Until the day of parting arrived.

Before the transmission star.

"Master, just send us here." Tingyu looked toward Master Bai, speaking earnestly.

Gazing at the two disciples who had now become accomplished, Master Bai was about to speak his farewell, but then seemed to suddenly recall something, his expression instantly turning stern.

"Chen Feiyuan, tell me about the herb Night Corpse Pulling Cow."

"Ah?" Hearing Master Bai's question, Chen Feiyuan jumped up, stunned.

Having ascended to the high court in his early years, this time returning, upon seeing his teacher again, he felt as if he were a youth once more.

"Night Corpse Pulling Cow, also known as poison... poison..."

Chen Feiyuan struggled to answer, stammering a few words before falling silent, like a deflated cowhide drum.

"Unlearned and unskilled, Tingyu, you answer."

Master Bai's lips twitched slightly, his voice yet very stern, as he pointedly called out the girl lost in recollection beside him.

The girl likewise had not reacted in time, and instinctively replied:

"Night Corpse Pulling Cow, also known as Toxic Mountain Root Dove Chrysanthemum, belonging to the Asteraceae family..."

These years of practicing medicine and prescribing drugs, Tingyu had already mastered all the content of the Herbal Classic to perfection.

But looking at Chen Feiyuan's pleading gaze for help, and at Master Bai's stern expression, exactly as in her memory, she suddenly froze in place.

The camp, the tents, the drawing back—memories surged like a tide.

It seemed she had guessed what Master Bai wanted to say next, so she interrupted his answer and repeated those words from that time once again.

"Teacher, I... I forgot."

As the girl spoke to this point, her eyes had already blurred.

The surroundings fell silent at once, and Master Bai lifted his head, gazing behind the two, his voice carrying an undisguised feigned anger as it echoed outward.

"Child, you answer!"

As the words fell, Tingyu and Chen Feiyuan's hearts trembled, and they abruptly turned to look.

(End)

Everyone, long time no see

During this time, I have been adjusting my body, and only recently began writing the side story.

Among them, the Sword-Wielding Great Emperor and the Human Emperor Li Xia, I wanted to express in a more innovative way, so I wrote two song lyrics and composed songs.

For the subsequent songs here, there are still the Moon Sacrifice section and other arrangements, which will be presented continuously.

The textual side stories of the characters will also be continuously created and released.

Moreover, I have seen everyone's different opinions on the ending, and afterward I will adjust my state and write Xu Qing's ultimate path.