Chapter 75: The Feeling of Heartache

Hongzhi also cast a puzzled gaze toward Wei Yuning. The news he had received from Yunyan was only that "an immortal envoy would arrive the day after tomorrow"—there had been no further specifics.

"Absolutely true. Uncle-Master Yunyan of the Azure Luan Sect sent me a message by bird, saying that the day after tomorrow, an immortal realm strongman will ride the Seven-Deer Immortal Palanquin from the Divine Martial Gate to the sect. barring any surprises, they will reach Cloud Concealment Sect before noon!" Wei Yuning said in a clear voice.

As soon as these words came out, the group immediately erupted into a clamor of competing voices.

Among them, a few actually intended to compromise.

Fortunately, the majority still insisted on keeping the original plan unchanged.

Wei Yuning silently praised Qiuhu's foresight—she had anticipated this situation early on.

What she hadn't expected, however, was that Cloud Concealment Sect and the immortal realm had a considerable entanglement between them. Though some wavered, the final consensus reached was still to bring the arriving immortal envoy under control.

Wei Yuning listened from the side with his heart pounding—how could he have known that Cloud Concealment Sect would be so audacious? But what amazed him even more was the hidden strength of Cloud Concealment Sect.

These people did not hide their discussion from him, and in no time at all, he understood the identities of this group. Aside from Yongnian, a guest elder of the sect at the Body Integration stage, the other several were all Earth Immortals and above in cultivation, and Xuanfengzi was unexpectedly also a great expert at the Body Integration stage.

These people cultivated year-round in the sect's secret grounds and, unless absolutely necessary, rarely came to the outside world.

As for the immortal envoy, they did not regard him as worth their attention at all—their only concern was accidentally triggering an alarm immortal talisman.

Once opinions were unified, the plan was quickly drawn up.

After the meeting dispersed, Wei Yuning returned to Wind Lotus Courtyard.

Ye Ying was nowhere to be seen; in her place, Qiuhu sat in the pavilion with a vacant stare.

"Haha, my lady, I don't have to run away anymore!" Wei Yuning announced the good news at the first opportunity.

Qiuhu looked at Wei Yuning, her eyes bright: "You just came from Lotus Flower Peak—did you encounter anything unusual?"

"Unusual? No!"

"Any unusual people?"

"Unusual people? Do experts count? I met many of the sect's experts, all of them Nascent Soul stage and above!" Wei Yuning said with a face full of admiration.

"Then there's no mistake! I thought I'd have to stay in the Spirit Beast World for at least several decades—I never expected the target to be right before my eyes!" Qiuhu twitched the corner of her mouth, revealing a very strange expression.

"What do you mean?" Wei Yuning suddenly had a bad feeling.

"My task is complete. I'm going back to Eternal Immortal City," Qiuhu said, looking at Wei Yuning with a relaxed expression and a smile.

"What exactly is your task? Can you tell me?" Wei Yuning asked. He had a vague guess in his heart, but didn't dare confirm it.

Qiuhu fell silent for a long while, then shook her head.

"Even if you don't say it, I can guess!" Wei Yuning said.

Qiuhu shook her head again and said, "I don't believe you!"

"Believe it or not, you have to. Cloud Concealment Sect has an enormous hidden space, and your investigation task must be connected to this!" Wei Yuning said with certainty.

Qiuhu's expression changed, and the look she directed at Wei Yuning was entirely different from before, as though she were seeing this person anew.

"You come from Eternal Immortal City, so the task you accepted certainly isn't an ordinary one, and any task that can attract Eternal Immortal City's attention certainly isn't a simple rare treasure. The meditation object for Cloud Concealment Sect's entry-level disciples is the spirit butterfly, a creature related to space. All signs point to the sect's greatest secret also being spatial arts. Spatial secret arts involve realms. I think if that doesn't count as a major secret, I can't imagine what else in there would be more worthy of Eternal Immortal City's attention!"

From the day he learned that high-grade spirit butterflies were realm butterflies, Wei Yuning had harbored suspicions about Cloud Concealment Sect's secret. Coupled with Elder Taichong's self-contained bonsai and the 'pseudo-realm butterfly' meditation object he had completed, everything pointed to the sect's spatial secret arts.

However, from what Taichong implied, the sect's spatial secret arts seemed not yet perfected. But regardless, any art involving space was an extraordinary thing.

"Husband, your lady truly underestimated you!" Qiuhu smiled.

"My lady, it's not that you underestimated me, but that you never regarded cultivators as equals in the first place. And I can't blame you for that—take Cloud Concealment Sect, for instance: tens of thousands of cultivators, with hundreds or thousands of outstanding talents, yet over thousands of years, how many have truly succeeded in transcending their tribulation and ascending? Heh, it seems not a single one!" By the end, Wei Yuning laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Cultivators' strength is not weak. I'm just a minor Spirit Immortal—what right do I have to look down on the experts of the cultivation world? You're overthinking it!" Qiuhu said.

"But they cannot achieve immortality. Becoming an Earth Immortal, while one's divine consciousness may be imperishable, the physical body has at most twelve thousand years of lifespan—most only three to five thousand. When the time comes, if one cannot ascend, one must either undergo corporeal dissolution, severing the path of ascension forever; or possess another's body, with the divine soul gradually weakening; or reincarnate and cultivate anew, very likely experiencing another round of the agony of hopeless ascension! Even if one lingers on for hundreds of thousands of years, one still cannot escape the fate of body-death and dao-dissipation. Without entering the Great Vehicle, one can never escape the sea of suffering!" Wei Yuning said.

While learning this knowledge, Wei Yuning hadn't felt much—wouldn't living for a few hundred, a few thousand, or a few tens of thousands of years be wonderful? But in this moment and situation, he suddenly felt the helplessness of cultivators.

"Perhaps this is fate. Though cultivators of the lower realms struggle to advance, whether in the immortal cities or the Heavenly Palace, those who hold high positions with outstanding cultivation are almost all from the lower realms. So, there are gains and there are losses," Qiuhu said quietly.

What Qiuhu said was indeed true. Wei Yuning thought it over and felt much more at ease, recovering from his earlier strange mood.

"Are you really planning to complete the task? If..." Wei Yuning lowered his voice: "If so, I'm afraid Cloud Concealment Sect will never know peace again, will it?"

"Young Master Yuning, I am not a person of this world, and naturally I do not concern myself with the fate of this world's people. Besides, I don't want to deceive you either—the truth is, I have never liked you, and we never had the chance to become Dao companions," Qiuhu said with a calm expression.

Wei Yuning's face twitched, then he smiled bitterly: "I know. From the day I learned you were a Spirit Immortal, I never intended to keep liking you! I'm a lazy person, and I cultivate as fate wills. My future accomplishments probably won't amount to much, let alone advancing to the Nascent Soul stage. My only regret is that I can never return to my homeland. To get there, one must first reach the Gate of Ten Thousand Realms in the Primordial World, and to reach the Primordial World, one must become a true immortal... heh heh heh..." By the end, Wei Yuning burst into loud laughter.

Qiuhu said nothing, and only after Wei Yuning stopped did she continue calmly: "However, although I never liked you, I, Qin Fei, have regarded you as a friend. After coming to the Spirit Beast World, the time I spent with you has been the most leisurely period of my life. I once said it before, and I'll say it again now: if you ever have the chance to go to Eternal Immortal City in the future, I will introduce you into the immortal city. I will hold this spot for five hundred years."

"Forget it, you'd better save it for someone else!" Wei Yuning said with a hint of sarcasm.

He had still held a sliver of hope in his heart, and Qiuhu's blunt refusal gave Wei Yuning an impulse to smash what was already broken.

"Young Master Yuning, do you still understand what I mean? No matter what happens to Cloud Concealment Sect, you have a return immortal talisman, so preserving your life shouldn't be a problem. As a friend, I've already done everything I possibly could, so stop throwing a childish tantrum. If you're worried about the danger, you can come with me right now. There are many places that exist in dependence on Eternal Immortal City, and the place your return talisman will take you is one of them! Though it's also very dangerous there, and your cultivation..."

"No, I don't want to leave right now! But I have one request, if you truly consider me a friend," Wei Yuning interrupted.

"Go ahead!"

"I understand how important this task is to you, but I want to ask you to delay submitting the task just a little," Wei Yuning said.

"Alright, I'll give you twenty years at most." This time Qiuhu fell silent for a long while.

However, her gaze turned from calm to cold, as though the 'feelings' between them had ended completely with this transaction—if they had ever had 'feelings' at all.

Between the two of them, there was nothing more to say.

Wei Yuning stood silently for a moment, then said: "Take care!"

He turned and left.

Qiuhu did not respond, but Wei Yuning once again caught the faint, distinctive fragrance on her body.

Wei Yuning left Wind Lotus Courtyard.

He felt his heart hollow and empty, with a feeling of heartache.