Chapter 328: Quiet Night Talk

Deep in the high, steep mountains, the rain and mist were vast at night, and the autumn Qi echoed in the world.

The sound of rain was noisy and also quiet, with no half-noise for a hundred miles.

Suddenly, a bright fluorescent light rose from the wet grass and dark trees, almost reaching the top of the sky. In an instant, the fluorescent light dissipated, and two figures were revealed from it.

The black robe was tattered, and heavy blood water dripped down with the raindrops, forming a pale pink little stream.

Mystic Qi surged around, and several array formations were hit into his own body by him, his aura slowly settling down.

The Playmaster pressed his hand on the slightly cracked play-mask, and with two "clicks," he snapped it off.

Meng Li looked at this scene coldly.

The Playmaster lifted his hood. His white hair had long been moistened by the rain, and a few strands of blood color were spreading in it.

The Playmaster turned a pale, old face and looked at the young man quietly.

"First meeting." The Playmaster's throat was a bit hoarse, not hiding his weakness, "Your master died as he deserved, why be self-pitying and angry."

Meng Li's body was still unable to move, only staring at him with lowered brows, his throat hoarse as if swallowing blood: "I will kill you, running dog, sooner or later."

"What you want to do, what is different from what I do?" The Playmaster wiped the blood stains on the blade edge lightly and looked at the rain with raised eyes, "It's just that you have good luck and better talent."

"Come to think of it," he sighed lightly, like a groan of an old cicada in a deep tree, "Just one generation apart, and you can learn it... it's truly fate making fools of people."

Meng Li only looked at him with a pair of fierce and cold eyes.

So the Playmaster's face also returned to indifferent coldness. The emotion just now seemed to be just an illusion.

"It's a pity that it is me who is keeping your life now. If I die, you will truly not be able to live." He walked toward the depths, and the young man followed behind uncontrollably.

Meng Li sneered: "I knew it, how could a running dog not have a master."

The Playmaster walked in front, his feet stepping on the accumulated, rotten dead leaves: "Looking into the distance from a building, leaning on a tree to enjoy the shade—this is a principle since ancient times. Born in a small sect, looking for no door to enter, facing this thing, if you don't seek outside, what else can you do? —Why are you attached to the Sun-Swallowing Society?"

"I don't act as a dog for people." Meng Li said coldly.

The Playmaster's emotions had no fluctuations: "So I said you have good luck."

They walked toward the depths of the mountain. In the high, hidden distance, the iron building on the steep mountain showed some vast shadows, as if hanging in the sky.

————

The sky was dark, and insects began to chirp on both sides of the road.

Pei Ye stopped his horse and looked at the sky. The gray-blue vastness was dotted with faint stars, the not-so-bright moon hung in a corner of the sky, and the sunset was only a line of orange left.

Pei Ye's spirit looked clearer. He turned his head to look at the woman who was also standing on her horse.

"Miss Ming—" As soon as he opened his mouth, the youth was startled by the hoarse pain in his throat. He coughed twice and still said in a low, hoarse voice, "Miss Ming, the night road is not easy for horses, but there should be a small town twenty miles ahead. Are we stopping here, or going over to rest?"

"As you wish."

Pei Ye looked into the distance. There shouldn't be many travelers in this territory at this time, but the chaos in the inn drilled into his ears inexplicably. The youth lowered his brows and said hoarsely: "I think... it's appropriate to be quiet."

"Then let's stay here."

The two dismounted. Pei Ye picked up firewood and lit a campfire. The woman sat on the ground holding the sword classic of Yellow Jade, and the firelight spread a layer of orange gauze on her.

"Xiangzhou is ahead, and then eighty miles south, you will enter 'Great Kongdong'." Tying the two horses to the side, Pei Ye sat down cross-legged, lowered his head and unfolded a map, "The mountain road is harder to walk after entering... We will bypass Tuoyun Peak, walk through Bird Valley, and in about tomorrow evening or the day after morning, we can reach the Kongdong mountain gate."

Ming Qitian glanced sideways: "Good."

Pei Ye folded the scroll and put it away.

"You have learned this sword to this point, do you not know where to go next?"

"Yes, Miss Ming." Pei Ye said in a low voice, "The inheritance of Jade Essence Mountain is broken. No one can teach this sword now. I actually feel that I should have taken the right path, but I am not very sure."

"Also," the youth said again, "Jade Essence sword theory says that there should be four kinds of extremes in the fourteen swords of the two pulses, all of which are fused by the corresponding sword moves in the two pulses. I have seen one stance, which is 【Breaking the Earth】 and 【Stepping on Water to Pick Scales】 becoming a 【Connecting Xian Xinshi】. The later ones... I haven't seen them yet."

Ming Qitian nodded slowly and was quiet for a while before saying softly: "The sword theory of the entire Jade Essence Chapter is actually very clear. In the "General Introduction", it should belong to..."

The woman handed the scroll on her lap to him and turned her head to look at him.

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment: "Yin-Yang Chapter."

Ming Qitian nodded: "What category is under it?"

"Advance, retreat, movement, stillness?"

"Fullness and Emptiness." The woman smiled clearly, "Distinguish the difference between the sword-using idea and the sword-writing theory. 'Fullness and Emptiness' is a more orthodox sword theory with a higher upper limit. It is precisely through this philosophy that can be delved into that this sword can reach the 【Flying Feather Immortal】 meaning you mentioned."

The woman flipped through the sword classic gently and said to the youth: "This sword has a distinct style and no flaws or shortcomings, which shows that first, the foundation was solid when the sword was created, and second, it has been polished and rounded in the inheritance. This kind of sword can only be seen in orthodox sword sects of more than two hundred years—it can be considered rare—it has three strengths, which are also its sharp edges. Do you know which three?"

"Fast, clever, strong."

"Not bad. Casting such three properties into a sword so roundly is the so-called 'orthodox' meaning. This kind of sword that is thorough but not mediocre can be the town-pulse of a sword sect." Ming Qitian said softly, "And ascending to the 【Flying Feather Immortal】 stage is actually on these three sharp edges. Do you know?"

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, slightly enlightened.

Hanging the feathers on the horse, Ming Qitian handed her sword to him: "Perform the entire set of 《Jade Essence》 for me to see, and then use 【Connecting Xian Xinshi】."

Pei Ye followed suit and stood up, performing the set of swords he knew from beginning to end, and finally added a light sword as fast as a flowing light.

Ming Qitian nodded: "You have made great progress in using the sword now—look, this stance is the extreme of 【Fast】, which is 'Fullness'. For such an orthodox sword, its next step is actually easy to guess. It should be..."

"Emptiness."

"Not bad. Using 'cleverness' as 'emptiness', so for the second step, you have to look for it in the empty stances." Ming Qitian looked at him with bright eyes, "However, I haven't learned this sword, so I can't point it out to you directly."

Pei Ye nodded slowly, already understanding: "It is 【Immovable Dangerous Wind】 and 【Shell Shedding】."

Ming Qitian smiled slightly and said "Hmm."

Looking at him: "Then for the third step, you should also have some clues?"

"'Fullness' sword strength... it should be 【Breaking Leaves Returning Waves】 and 【Clear Sound】."

"Hmm, hmm." Ming Qitian lowered her head to flip through the sword classic again, "Then we already know the end point. 【Old Jade】 is emptiness, 【Plucking the Sun】 is fullness. So the path to learning this sword is actually very clear—after understanding and solving the two pulse swords, hold the theory of fullness and emptiness, and then you can complete the penetration and fusion of the last two stances. And this stance, 【Flying Feather Immortal】, comes precisely from the brilliance exploded from 'emptiness' to 'fullness'."

Pei Ye nodded slowly.

"However, the 'learn this sword first' you mentioned before can be moved backward." The woman closed the scroll gently, "Learning an orthodox sword requires an orthodox path. Take your time. Learn the two pulse swords separately first, and then steadily walk the path of 【Flying Feather Immortal】—I see you have only learned 《Yellow Jade》 to 【Sweeping Fire Piercing Waterfall】, how did you step on the first step of the fullness and emptiness sword first?"

"..." The youth lowered his head, a somewhat helpless smile flashing on his face.

"Then take a look at that 《Earthly Immortal》." The woman smiled the same way and handed the sword classic back to him, "That seems to be a sword that uses your 'spiritual light'. I see—"

"... Let's stop here for now, Miss Ming."

Ming Qitian was slightly stunned: "... Oh."

"《Deeply Hidden Immortal Sword》, I want to look at it tomorrow." Pei Ye's voice was hoarse, "There are some other things, I want to ask Miss Ming."

"That night?"

"Hmm."

Ming Qitian nodded: "You speak."

Pei Ye was silent for a while.

These past few days, his brain had indeed been hanging on that night.

Trying not to look at the tragic blood flower blooming in the young girl's green sleeve, he traced back every action of the black robe in that rainy night over and over again, and finally tied it firmly to the final confrontation between the two.

He looked back at that scene many times, gradually seeing many details he hadn't noticed before, and learned the whole picture.

That was a confrontation that neither of them was prepared for.

Pei Ye and the Playmaster had not expected that there would suddenly be a direct face-to-face confrontation in the heart-spirit realm.

Pei Ye rushed up in a violent rage, but he absolutely did not intentionally use the Edict to attack the enemy. He neither mastered such techniques nor made such a determination.

That moment was when he was invaded by the Edict, and then the purple bamboo forest spread out uncontrollably through his body.

He believed the other side was the same.

The moment the Playmaster was swallowed into the Purple Bamboo Secret Realm, he was absolutely unprepared, and the next moment, he couldn't make any counter-measures.

He was not the owner of that bead. At that moment, they were like the sword of the thing behind them, put on a ring by their mortal enemy.

Both sides didn't seem prepared. Pei Ye knew what the Edict was missing—after getting it, he had never established a connection with the Immortal Lord. But what the bead was missing, Pei Ye didn't know.

However, even so, they still pounced on each other as soon as they met. It was just that this ring became something that could be moved up and down at will, and because of the gap in Pei Ye's state of mind, he was defeated and fell in the first collision.

This duel therefore failed to take place.

Pei Ye wanted to know what it was, wanted to know the name and face under that black robe, and to some extent, this was actually the same question.

At this time, he was silent for a while and told the woman beside him everything he had sorted out in these two days from beginning to end in a low voice.

"... Miss Ming," after speaking, the youth said in a low voice, "Do you know what they are going to do?"

Ming Qitian was quiet for a while and shook her head.

"Sorry, except for the sword, I don't know much about things." She looked at the sky with stars, "And, the elders of the sect said that some secrets about ancient times only revealed some clues in the last few decades."

"Earlier, although Tianshan and the Immortal Platform had been tracing them unremittingly, they actually didn't gain much." The woman said softly, "So, when many things suddenly appear in the world, they are actually appearing for the first time. The person who figures out what it is first often occupies the first opportunity... it doesn't necessarily mean who is stronger, nor does it necessarily mean who has greater power."

"However, for this thing, I think the only ones who most likely know the origin are still Tianshan and the Immortal Platform. Didn't you ask Miss Shi?"

"..." Pei Ye was silent for a while and said hoarsely, "I didn't dare to ask."

"... Hmm."

"Miss Ming, doesn't your Yunlang Mountain fight for these?"

Ming Qitian shook her head.

"There are thousands of roads in the world, and Yunlang Mountain has its own smooth path."

"... Oh." Pei Ye was blank for a moment, came back to his senses, took a deep breath and said, "Many thanks to you, Miss Ming. Everything you tell me is so rare, it's truly very important to me."

The woman shook her head: "I also like chatting with you, it's nothing."

"... Then, I will ask Miss Ming for advice tomorrow."

"Hmm." Ming Qitian nodded casually.

The night was getting deeper and quieter, and it wasn't long before dawn. The black cat was lying on his knees silently, its clear eyes staring at the edge of the night curtain.

Pei Ye indeed had no sleepiness at all. His fingers twisted the page corner of the booklet in his hand unconsciously. He lowered his head, and the pupil in the center of the pendant was still looking at him quietly.

During this waiting time, it didn't show any abnormalities. At this moment, it was like a door to another world, distant and deep, with the fluorescent quality flowing slowly inside like the Milky Way.

The black cat turned its head, the Chi Fire flowed in the pendant again for a week, and nodded at him.

Pei Ye took a light breath, looked at this pupil silently, and looked deeply into it.

In an instant, Pei Ye felt the feeling of a god looking down from the sky with "Spirit Brightness Illuminating the World" again, but this time what he chose was not the vast plain, but a trickling long flow.

Passing through this pupil, his mind descended into a strange space. Under his feet was the milky white, moist quality flowing, which was the jade quality that made up that pupil. And in the bottom of this eye, a gray-white, wide river flowed silently, and countless tiny branches separated from it like a human blood network.

Pei Ye looked at it, and a huge sense of dizziness hit his mind instantly. It was hard to describe this feeling. It was an incredible density of information squeezed into a small square and hitting his eyes. It was not a plane like text or pictures, nor was it a three-dimensional scene like a scene. It also added another axis and countless branches, which was "time" and the "perspective" of many people.

The figures were still flowing, the perspectives were still changing, but on a wider scale of vision, a picture that did not change gradually became clear.

The lake surface like a thousand-acre ice mirror, the white snow paved a flat layer, the frost forest on the shore picked up the thin pine snow, and around it, a high and steep ring cliff surrounded all this, leaving only a narrow mouth. A high and regular good mountain faced this mouth. If the ring cliff was a ring, it was the gemstone embedded on it.

As if no one had set foot on it for thousands of years, it was an icy and quiet secret realm. And among the winding points of high stones and frost trees, one could vaguely see the eaves and hall edges scattered loosely from top to bottom.

No need for anyone to remind him, a noun had already been spat out from Pei Ye's mouth lightly: "Lake... Mountain... Sword... Gate."

Against this silent background, pictures composed of human figures flowed past his eyes. They were not continuous. Pei Ye neither understood what they represented nor could he touch them.

It was like the cover of a story, but Pei Ye couldn't find a way to open them. The gray-white, static pictures flashed past him one by one. Decades seemed to flash by in an instant. Those strange faces flowed past, but he couldn't stop any of them.

"The magic weapon acts through the spiritual mystery of heaven and earth." The black cat finally spoke, "【Illuminating the Deep】 records the things that happened by controlling the changes of spiritual mystery Qi in a specific range, just like turning a picture into text. It records the 'past' as spiritual mystery of a specific shape."

"..."

"Therefore, you come in now, and it puts everything before you for you to choose. Every static picture represents the beginning of a 'branch'. You enter it, and you can see its beginning, end, and full picture."

"But I can't choose any one."

"... This should be the natural limitation of this magic weapon." The black cat said, "After turning 'experience' into spiritual mystery, it cannot turn it back at will, but needs to find a fulcrum from the mind of the weapon owner."

"Fulcrum?"

"I think, or it is a concrete thing that exists in the 'branch' and also exists in your mind, so 【Illuminating the Deep】 can climb along it and present everything to you."

"... That is to say, things I have seen and know?"

"I think so. It is precisely because of that 'strangeness' that you can't grasp those pictures floating past, isn't it."

"Is a person okay?"

"..." The black cat was stunned, its clear eyes looking at the youth.

"Go downstream!"

When this gray-white long river was near the end, Pei Ye finally saw a clear and concrete color.

This picture hadn't come near yet, but Pei Ye had already seen the lively figure in it.

The youth's face was between tender and angular. A shy face, bright and spirited eyes, familiar yet with a bit of strangeness.

Clearly, nothing had happened yet. The youth's shoulders were relaxed at this time, his body didn't have that habitual tension, and he was laughing foolishly, more like a rabbit than a wolf.

"... Yang Yan." Pei Ye murmured softly.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 330 =====

The woman's fingertip suddenly stopped, and she said softly, "Found it. It is 'Zhao' and 'You'."

(End of chapter)