Chapter 40: with translation of chapter title

Strange fragrance fills the room, fragrant clouds coil around the beams; the originally quiet hall instantly seems to have turned into a sacred, solemn Mahavira Hall, and just moments ago one could hear the breathing and footsteps of the servants inside Lady Ting's quarters, but now they all seem to have vanished in an instant—the hall's space stretches out endlessly, and Zhou Shuo feels as if he and the sister flowers have been isolated from the world.

"A single thought creates worlds; a four-tribulation ghost immortal." Yaoyue Ting, her double pupils scanning the surroundings, felt the room's transformation, and between the opening and closing of her red lips she uttered a sentence that made Zhou Shuo widen his eyes in disbelief—a ghost immortal who has survived four heavenly tribulations can create a minor thousand-world with a mere thought; just who is this!

"Qinghui's daughter, you're quite clever!" the speaker's voice seemed to carry fragrance, and the smoke and clouds swirled all around.

"Senior, please show yourself." Zhou Shuo listened to the speaker's words, frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, sniffed the rich fragrance, and a flash of insight struck him—it's her!

"Little brat, you seem to have guessed who I am?" the speaker accurately seized the flash of inspiration that flickered through Zhou Shuo's thoughts.

"I once heard that during the Great Zhou dynasty there was a sect called Fragrance, which established its doctrine with three volumes of immortal scriptures, and it once made countless martial saints to ghost immortals bow in submission." Zhou Shuo already knew who the visitor was, but could not say it outright; instead he hinted at some aspects, and hearing his words, Yaoyue Ting and Yaoyue Ru's double-pupil eyes flashed in succession.

"You little brat are quite well-read; my Fragrance Sect hasn't walked the world for over two hundred years, and I never expected you to have heard of me. If it weren't for the two little girls' connection to you, I would have used some means to make you a guardian of my Fragrance Sect. Hmm, it's not too late even now—I just don't know, little brat, are you willing or not?" The voice carried a smile, and the fragrant clouds in the room suddenly condensed, forming a white-clad woman with her black hair coiled atop her head, a white veil over her face, and a pair of affectionate, lovely eyes scrutinizing Zhou Shuo.

"Senior, you're joking; you're a true ghost immortal—if you can't handle something, my going would be pointless." Zhou Shuo looked at the manifested white-clad woman, and involuntarily thought of someone: "Damn, this cult's holy maiden always has the same demeanor, constantly trying to subjugate others to be her guardian."

"Although what you say is not wrong, there are always some travel-related labors; having you stir up some trouble for me wouldn't be bad, and there are benefits, oh!" The white-clad woman spoke with a smile, the corner of her mouth beneath the veil slightly curling; even though they were several steps apart, Zhou Shuo felt as if he could smell the orchid-like breath beneath her veil.

"Senior, you're a true ghost immortal, long unseen in the world; whatever you aim for upon emerging must be great, and my life, little brat, is probably not enough to fill it." Zhou Shuo wore a wooden expression, thinking how unlucky he was—he had just finished off Ji Wuye, and now he directly encountered a four-tribulation ghost immortal capable of creating a world with a thought.

"You have quite a personality, but never mind; since you're unwilling, then forget it." Seeing Zhou Shuo's wooden face, the white-clad woman smiled even more beneath her veil, said no more, and instead turned her lovely eyes toward the Yao family sister flowers.

"You two little girls, really—you said you were just coming out for training, but you ran off to this overseas place, causing me to endure wind and dew along the way."

"Thank you for your trouble, senior, but senior, that golden-thread nanmu core..." Yaoyue Ting wore a wooden expression; if it weren't out of respect for this woman being a four-tribulation ghost immortal, and moreover someone her mother had summoned, she would almost want to lash out—even though she's a senior, you can't just do that.

Facing the wooden-faced Yaoyue Ting, the woman in white clothes did not get angry; with a flip of her hand she tore open space, taking out a fist-thick wooden stake emitting a pungent odor, which was indeed the stolen golden-thread nanmu core, and besides this core, the woman's hand also held an additional black book.

"Speaking of which, taking something from you juniors is really embarrassing; I owe you a favor." The woman shook her hand, tossing the golden-thread nanmu core and the black book toward Yaoyue Ting, while uttering a passage.

"Many thanks, senior, but I haven't yet asked for your esteemed name." Yaoyue Ting reached out to take the black book and the golden-thread nanmu core, didn't even have time to look, and shoved them into Zhou Shuo's hands, meanwhile softening her expression and paying respects as a junior; even though taken without permission, the other party is a four-tribulation ghost immortal and moreover a senior summoned by her mother, returning the items and acknowledging the favor is already good; if they had snatched the things and left, she would have no recourse to pursue them.

Aunt Yun, also known as Xiangxiang, the Fragrance Saintess—she says, "My surname is Yun, my courtesy name is Xiangxiang; you can call me Aunt Yun."

"Of course not; there's a restriction inside this golden-thread nanmu core—if it weren't for Aunt Yunxiang, we might never know in this lifetime what is hidden within." Yaoyue Ru showed a somewhat ingratiating smile.

"Right, Aunt Yunxiang, please have a seat; we haven't yet entertained you!" Yaoyue Ting likewise showed a gentle smile, as if she were a junior before an elder.

"You two little rascals, but your luck is indeed not bad—you've managed to come across the Present Tathagata Sutra of the Great Chan Temple; even though it's only half a volume, it's still a tremendous fortune, and even Auntie gets some reflected glory." Yunxiang Xiang, hearing Yaoyue Ting's words, understood and dispelled the spatial restraint, meanwhile giving Zhou Shuo a glance that was there and not there, then immediately withdrew her gaze.

"Present Tathagata Sutra!" Upon hearing Yunxiang Xiang's words, the sister flowers' expressions froze slightly, then a gleam flashed in their double pupils; the first thought that arose was whether they had misheard.

"I'll go call Fu Bo to serve tea." Zhou Shuo had been standing aside observing the sister flowers interacting with the Fragrance Sect's holy maiden; upon hearing Yunxiang Xiang's words, he immediately passed the black book in his hand over, then went to summon someone.

The black book that landed in the sisters' hands is thin and soft, woven from dark-gold silk like a dark-gold kasaya, but without a cover; opening it reveals a page depicting a human figure, with a red dot on the head and silver-thread tiny characters below, explaining the measurement and cultivation of the body's apertures; this human-figure diagram totals one hundred and eight pages, describing the one hundred and eight apertures of the entire body—a supreme secret manual for human immortals.

Among the countless Daoist sects under heaven, only six can be called holy lands: the Essence Origin Divine Shrine, the Peach God Dao, the Profound Heaven Pavilion, the Grand Supreme Dao, the True Void Gate, and the Great Chan Temple; the standard for judging whether a sect is a holy land lies in whether it possesses a method for cultivating human immortals—if the secret manual for marrow refinement is a nation's wealth, then the secret manual for human immortals is a heaven-reaching treasure.

After verifying the authenticity of the Present Tathagata Sutra, the sister flowers no longer harbored their previous displeasure, turning instead to feel gratitude and reverence toward Yunxiang Xiang, completely setting aside their earlier dissatisfaction; even though Yunxiang Xiang took the item without asking, they also did not know that such a thing was hidden inside the Buddha statue, and that Yunxiang Xiang could return such a precious item and even bestow a favor left them no choice but to feel grateful.

Zhou Shuo had the servants serve the five-colored cloud-mist tea, merely acting as a spectator throughout; he already knew that the Buddha statue housed the Present Tathagata Sutra, and he had come for that very thing, but the process of obtaining it was truly tortuous; however, at this moment his attention is not on that half-volume of the sutra—he originally thought it was one-third, but it turned out to be half, likely because he was inattentive while reading.

Zhou Shuo's attention was not on the half-volume of the Present Tathagata Sutra, but on Yunxiang Xiang herself—this holy maiden of the Fragrance Sect, whose past life was the lover of the present Qian Emperor Yang Pan, and the birth mother of the army's first-place champion candidate; from her, Zhou Shuo sensed a certain elegance, the grace and vigor of those once-famous figures of the Zha Zha era.

Three women chattered away together, Zhou Shuo couldn't get a word in edgewise, but after just a moment, the sister flowers' mood shifted from displeasure to respect and gratitude; in less than a moment they had wholly taken her as a confidante-like senior, and Yunxiang Xiang this woman truly is all-around and versatile—no wonder she's lived for several hundred years.

"You two little girls, saying you left home for training, but ended up suddenly running off to this sea, and it's because you were tempted by your lovers." Yunxiang Xiang said this and that, then suddenly turned her gaze toward Zhou Shuo, and the sister flowers' faces instantly flushed red.

"Um, Aunt Yunxiang, greetings." Zhou Shuo looked at Yunxiang Xiang's sudden gaze, feeling a bit at a loss, as if being seen by a female elder's family, but this is precisely a manifestation of Yunxiang Xiang's ability.

"Hmm, the two girls' gazes are quite good; your talent, though perhaps not matching that of today's younger generation's leading figures, is not far off! Moreover, obtaining the Present Tathagata Sutra this time likely also contains some of your fortune; may I boldly ask, what is your lineage?" Yunxiang Xiang sized up Zhou Shuo from head to toe, wanting to see through him, but what she got was merely a haze.

"I was born in the Non-Birth Dao and True Void Dao; my master surnamed He is called He Wusheng, and her other identity is an elder of the Grand Supreme Dao." Zhou Shuo looked at Yunxiang Xiang, and inwardly couldn't help a faint smile; although Yunxiang Xiang is all-around capable, she cannot see through him either, because she doesn't know that from his cultivation to now he has used less than three years' time, becoming a martial saint in under three years—well, compared to that Yi Zi he's far behind, but it's still enough to be proud of.

"Grand Supreme Dao elder." Yaoyue Ting and Yaoyue Ru instantly widened their double pupils; this news was the first time they had heard it.

"Most of my martial arts were learned from He Wusheng, but that also offended her." Zhou Shuo looked at the two astonished women, calmly laying out the matter; aside from the final layer of his transmigrator identity, he truly had clean sleeves, upright and unafraid of crooked shadows.

"Interesting, the elder of the Supreme Dao is the Holy Maiden in the No Birth Dao and the Void Dao, and behind the No Birth Dao and Void Dao stands Prince Yang Yuan of the Great Qian; this world‑wide chess game will surely have a place for you too, Zhou Shuo." Yun Xiangxiang's mind instantly turned through countless bends, then she looked at Zhou Shuo and confirmed her thought: the opportunity of the Tathagata Sutra is not the Yao sisters'; they are merely extras, the true protagonist is this guy.