Chapter 108: Plum Snow Wondrous Realm

"I don't know either. My ancestor once said that if the Numerology Sphere cannot calculate, it means it has encountered something beyond comprehension!" said Mei Xuan.

"Is it completely destroyed? Why can I still see plum blossom seedlings inside?"

"The Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere contains the principles of earth; where there is death, there is naturally life. It isn't truly destroyed—it will recover to its original state after some time!" Mei Xuan explained.

"What a miraculous thing!" Wei Yuning marveled.

"Of course. According to my ancestor, the Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere was a gift from a great power. It originated from the 'Heart of All Things.' Though the two are worlds apart, it is still an extraordinary thing!" After Wei Yuning had tested it, Mei Xuan's attitude toward him had improved somewhat, and she was willing to exchange a few more words with him.

"What is this 'Heart of All Things'?" Wei Yuning asked.

"You don't know?" Mei Xuan looked at Wei Yuning in puzzlement. Seeing that he was not joking, she continued to explain: "The 'Heart of All Things' is the core of the entire Primordial World. Because of its existence, the Primordial World exists. Otherwise, the Primordial World would become a void world where all things are extinguished."

"Oh, so that's how it is!" Wei Yuning's expression was one of shock. He hadn't expected the sphere before him to have such an extraordinary origin.

Seeing the amazement on Wei Yuning's face, Mei Xuan smiled and continued: "Do you know who that great power was that gifted the Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere?"

"Who?"

"He was the one who set up the Wind, Flower, Autumn, and Three Moons in the outer world above Bixi Island! Come to think of it, the formation of this blessed land at Nine Clouds Peak was all thanks to him!" said Mei Xuan.

"Since the Numerology Sphere is destroyed, do we count as people of destiny or not?" Though the question was somewhat inappropriate at a time like this, it concerned Senior Xu Yan's life, so Wei Yuning still had to ask.

This question stumped Mei Xuan completely. She was stunned for a moment, then said: "I think I'll stay here for now! Whether or not you're a person of destiny, we'll only know after spending time together!"

Guest Arrival Peak already had inns and taverns serving visitors. As long as one could afford the price, lodging was not a problem.

"Then... the wood spirit..." Wei Yuning looked at Mei Xuan, his meaning could not be more obvious.

"It's still too early for that. We'll talk after I've gotten to know you," said Mei Xuan. Actually, in her heart, there was one more thing she hadn't said: though the Numerology Sphere had not produced a result, the final color it displayed was pure white, which meant Wei Yuning was a good person. So, she had already begun to trust him.

"Let me tell you about that dog thief Nie Ziqing!" Mei Xuan put away her Frost Snow Armor and began chatting with Wei Yuning.

Mei Xuan's ancestor had an extraordinary background—at the very least, he was a figure at the Earth Immortal level. However, he was a philanderer by nature and left descendants everywhere. The first-generation founder of Crimson Plum Manor was a seed he had inadvertently left behind.

Now, the ancestor's whereabouts were unknown; he had very likely already left the Spirit Beast World.

According to records left by their forebears, Mei Xuan's ancestor had a deep connection with the great power who had created the three moons in the sky above Bixi Island. That great power had even forcibly injected a strange bloodline power into the ancestor.

For generations, the Mei family—whether in marriage or taking a spouse—always selected candidates through a combination of the Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere and their ancestral Heart Hexagram. The Heart Hexagram chose the time and direction; the Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere matched a person of destiny. Neither could be dispensed with.

Recently, Mei Xuan had on a whim cast a hexagram and learned that her future good match would appear, in the direction of the Cloud Concealment Sect. And the barbarian bull had happened to come to their door—that was what led to her coming to meet Wei Yuning.

Who would have thought that a situation would arise where the Plum Blossom Numerology Sphere could not calculate. Being unable to calculate meant there was no answer. Perhaps yes, perhaps no—there was still a half chance. This was also the reason she was firmly determined to stay.

Thanks to their deep heritage, Crimson Plum Manor had cultivators in every generation and held some renown in the surrounding scattered cultivator world spanning several thousand li. As the family branched out, they engaged in all sorts of trades. As the main lineage, Mei Xuan held a special status. The inheritance of Crimson Plum Manor did not distinguish between men and women; it only chose the eldest son or eldest daughter. The next heir would also be selected from the eldest child of that eldest son or eldest daughter's family, and the surname had to be Mei.

Mei Xuan's father, Mei Jiugen, was not a law-abiding man either. His talent was excellent; after entering the Opening Light Stage at age fifty, he went to the Sea King Gang and became its gang leader. The Sea King Gang was originally a bandit den, but Mei Jiugen successfully whitewashed it and began a transport business. He had a sworn brother, Nie Ziqing. Nie Ziqing was the youngest son of the previous Sea King Gang leader, and his father was the one Mei Jiugen had forcibly driven from the gang leader's position.

Because he was only seven or eight years old at the time, the former Gang Leader Nie did not take him along when he left.

Nie Ziqing had been clever and articulate since childhood. Mei Jiugen quite liked him, so he took him as a disciple and personally taught him Daoist methods. He had grown up in Crimson Plum Manor from his teens and knew many of the manor's affairs like the back of his hand.

As he grew older and his cultivation deepened, Nie Ziqing's true nature began to show—he became a lecherous scoundrel.

Mei Jiugen initially turned a blind eye, but Nie Ziqing actually set his sights on Mei Xuan, who was nearly twenty years old.

Mei Xuan had inherited the bloodline constitution of her philandering ancestor and could cast a range-type environmental spell, somewhat similar to Wei Yuning's plant domain. However, her bloodline secret art was even more peculiar—it could transform the surrounding environment.

This spell environment had a name passed down through the generations, called "Plum Snow Wondrous Realm." Plum blossom trees, black soil, snow, and a cold climate were its main features.

Crimson Plum Manor was itself a transformed environment, which was why its climate was so incompatible with the surroundings and particularly cold. Within this environment, her strength would receive the greatest possible boost. When the difference in strength was not too great, she was practically the king inside it.

In addition, this environment had an even more peculiar aspect: it would randomly give birth to rare materials, natural treasures, and enhanced armor and weapons and the like. However, the probability was exceedingly low—perhaps not even one item in several centuries.

The Frost Snow Armor she wore was one of them, practically a miniature version of the "Plum Snow Wondrous Realm."

Women with this kind of constitution had a fatal attraction to male cultivators, because she could help male cultivators accelerate their cultivation. Mei Jiugen treasured his daughter like a jewel, so of course he could not possibly hand her over to an old lecherous scoundrel more than twice her age.

Nie Ziqing had actually always remembered his father being driven away. Since Mei Jiugen was unwilling to marry off his daughter, Nie Ziqing simply went all out. He colluded with a vice gang leader of the Sea King Gang and joined forces with outsiders to surround and kill Mei Jiugen, who had drunk poisoned wine—and the poison was placed by his own hand.

Mei Jiugen fled into the sea, his fate unknown. The Sea King Gang changed its gang leader.

Mei Xuan learned of this matter from her father's old subordinates in the Sea King Gang. She completely forbade Nie Ziqing from setting foot in Crimson Plum Manor again and simultaneously resolved to wait for an opportunity to avenge her father.

From then on, Nie Ziqing also began to work against Crimson Plum Manor and had never given up his covetous desire for Mei Xuan.

This time, he told Wei Yuning that Crimson Plum Manor had a wood spirit, hoping that through pressure from the Cloud Concealment Sect, he could leave Mei Xuan with no way out and find an opening to exploit.

After hearing Mei Xuan's account, if it had been in the past, since the matter did not concern him, he might have ignored it.

But today his state of mind had changed. He suddenly understood that even the Great Dao had its distinction between righteous and evil. Good was good, evil was evil—it had nothing to do with oneself. No wonder the Dao Oath of the Primordial Realm was "Immortals and Demons cannot coexist." Punishing evil and promoting good was inherently the Great Dao of cultivators.

"This Nie Ziqing—I'm going to kill him!" Wei Yuning said through gritted teeth.