Ye Chenyan’s pupils contracted slightly.
“She...”
He had never had much of a good impression of the Esoteric Sect. If anything, he had gradually come to regard them as enemies. Being told this out of nowhere left him momentarily at a loss for how to react.
His expression turned strange, his gaze wavering.
“She... she supported using the Heaven-Mending Art too?”
The old Pill King gently shook his head. “It was far too long ago. I wasn’t part of the Esoteric Sect’s direct lineage, so I don’t know the details.”
“But originally, the person chosen to open the furnace was Tianxuan Nü.”
Yu Qingtang snuck a glance at Ye Chenyan.
“But isn’t the Esoteric Sect supposed to cultivate the Dao of Emotionlessness? Then how did she...”
The old Pill King’s eyes curved with amusement. This subject seemed to lighten his mood instead.
“Exactly.”
“The holy maiden of the Esoteric Sect got swept away by a bad boy from the demon race. Thinking back on it now, that must have been earth-shaking news at the time.”
Scholar Xiao looked positively wistful. “I wonder if any seniors from their sect recorded the whole affair.”
“The demon race did not support the idea of mending heaven.” The old Pill King shook his head. “When Tianxuan Nü left the Esoteric Sect with the Demonic Sovereign, she was most likely reviled by everyone. They would have accused her of deserting in the face of battle and abandoning her duty.”
“After all, she too possessed an innate Dao fetus. She was an ideal candidate to merge with the Dao using her own body.”
“But after the Heaven-Mending Furnace shattered, heavenly fire descended upon the world, and the Esoteric Sect was left with no other solution, she and the Demonic Sovereign appeared once again.”
“In the end, they still took up the burden of mending heaven.”
“And it was then that Sage-Hearing Academy and the Demonic Soil vanished overnight.”
“No one knows what method they used the second time. Some speculate that the first furnace simply lacked a measure of demonic energy. Others say the two of them sacrificed themselves directly to the Heavenly Dao...”
Ye Chenyan’s brows were tightly furrowed. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Yu Qingtang stole another glance at his expression, hesitated, then gently tugged his sleeve.
Ye Chenyan came back to himself. His expression softened slightly, and a faint smile appeared.
“I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry.” Yu Qingtang glanced furtively at the sky and quickly leaked a tiny bit of privileged information. “Your parents definitely weren’t bad people.”
Ye Chenyan couldn’t help laughing.
“Mm.”
The old Pill King stroked his beard and glanced at Ye Chenyan.
“If you want to know the specifics, aside from asking someone from the Esoteric Sect, you could perhaps ask your master.”
He paused, then pointed at Scholar Xiao.
“Oh, and yours.”
“With how curious he is, he definitely found some way to investigate it in secret.”
“He may be curious, but he’s just as tight-lipped.” Scholar Xiao looked regretful. “I doubt I’d get anything out of him.”
The old Pill King shook his head in amusement.
“There should still be some records of those old events in Fire Cauldron Sect’s treasury. Nothing that points directly at the central secrets, of course, but there should be enough to satisfy some of your curiosity.”
“I’ll have my disciple take you to see them later.”
Scholar Xiao’s eyes lit up.
“Thank you!”
“Ah.” The old Pill King sighed with some emotion. “So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. It seems the Esoteric Sect has gradually recovered fragments of the Heaven-Mending Furnace from the various provinces and restored the immortal artifact.”
“The attempt to mend heaven back then was rushed. It has barely held for all these years, but the fissure in the Heavenly Dao never completely healed.”
“The Esoteric Sect has always observed the Heavenly Dao. If they are beginning to act now, perhaps it is a sign that the catastrophe is about to descend once more.”
He raised his head slightly.
“Only this time, there is no Tianxuan Nü.”
“And no Nine Nether Demonic Sovereign.”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. “If those two are gone, there will always be others.”
“I heard they found a new innate Dao fetus.” Scholar Xiao looked thoughtful as he turned toward Ye Chenyan. “And as it happens, you’ve become the new Demonic Sovereign.”
“Hiss...”
Scholar Xiao muttered, “Coincidences beneath the Heavenly Dao are not something to underestimate.”
Yu Qingtang nodded solemnly along with him.
“Mm...”
If I hadn’t come crashing in from outside this world like a stray meteor, you two really would have inherited Tianxuan Nü and the Nine Nether Demonic Sovereign’s roles.
He cast Ye Chenyan a guilty glance—and met the other man’s eyes directly.
“W-what?”
Yu Qingtang blinked.
“Nothing.” Ye Chenyan laughed. “I was just thinking that, however you look at it, none of this has anything to do with you.”
He put away the nine Harmonizing Pills.
“We have the pills now, and Fire Cauldron Sect clearly still has a mountain of things to deal with. We won’t impose any longer. We’ll be heading out first.”
“Well...” Scholar Xiao looked conflicted. “I...”
“If you want to stay, stay a little longer.” Ye Chenyan waved. “We exchanged transmission stones. We’ll meet again sooner or later.”
Scholar Xiao closed his eyes in anguish.
“All right.”
Then he suddenly stepped forward, pulled Yu Qingtang aside, and carefully instructed him, “Brother Yu, if anything interesting happens on your travels, you absolutely must remember to tell me the next time we meet!”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
He looked down at Scholar Xiao’s hand gripping his own.
Judging by the situation, he probably wasn’t getting out of here today unless he agreed.
Yu Qingtang reluctantly nodded.
“Fine. I’ll pick out the parts I can tell you.”
“Of course, of course.” Scholar Xiao’s eyes curved into crescents.
He was just about to add a few more words when Ye Chenyan grabbed Yu Qingtang and hauled him a step backward, shooting Scholar Xiao a sidelong look.
“Done?”
“Why are you only telling him? You can ask me too.”
Scholar Xiao smiled pleasantly.
“I’ll ask both of you. Both.”
“We’re leaving.” Ye Chenyan laughed and pulled Yu Qingtang toward the gates of Fire Cauldron Sect.
Behind them, Scholar Xiao called after them with great concern.
“Brother Ye, don’t rush things too much!”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow and pretended not to hear him.
Still worried, Scholar Xiao called again.
“Brother Yu, you could stand to hurry up a little!”
Yu Qingtang looked back.
“Huh?”
Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh and nodded in agreement.
“That one you should listen to.”
Yu Qingtang: “...”
...
After descending the mountain, the two found a restaurant nearby and relaxed over a meal.
Now that the Harmonizing Pills were finally in hand and one major problem had been resolved, Yu Qingtang felt as though even the food tasted better.
Though, to be fair, he had never exactly thought food tasted bad.
Once Yu Qingtang was about eighty percent full, he exercised extraordinary self-control and deliberately slowed down.
He kept glancing at Ye Chenyan, clearly wanting to say something.
“What?” Ye Chenyan looked up at him, amused, then waved over a waiter. “Another bowl.”
“...I wasn’t asking for more rice.”
Yu Qingtang rubbed his nose.
That did not stop him from accepting the bowl that was placed beside him.
He cleared his throat.
“I wanted to ask—now that you have the pills, where are you going next?”
According to the original novel, after Ye Chenyan advanced to Out-of-Body, an opportunity would lead him to a mysterious immortal abode that had just emerged into the world.
And this one really was connected to immortals.
The Esoteric Sect would send people as well.
Ji Ruxue herself would come.
But the plot had already advanced quite a bit ahead of schedule. Going by the original timeline, there should still be some time before the immortal abode appeared.
They could probably steal a little leisure while they had the chance.
“Hmm...” Ye Chenyan propped his chin on one hand. “Well, I’m definitely not going back to Nanzhou.”
“They only said I had to stay confined until Out-of-Body. I’m already just one step away now. All I need is the right opportunity, so there’s no point going back.”
Without changing his expression, he glanced behind himself.
“I wonder if a certain Senior could pass that message back for me.”
“And maybe give us a little space while she’s at it.”
The Girl in the Bamboo’s voice came from the roof.
“No.”
The meat nearly fell out of Yu Qingtang’s mouth.
“You’re still here?”
He fished a tangerine out of the fruit platter.
“Want one?”
A light breeze swept past.
The tangerine vanished from his hand.
Yu Qingtang: “...”
Ye Chenyan rubbed between his brows and clicked his tongue softly.
Then he looked at Yu Qingtang.
“Is there anywhere you want to go?”
Yu Qingtang looked at him, picked up his stool, moved closer, and stared at him with anticipation written all over his face.
“Actually, there is.”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.
“Where?”
“We’re already in Yunzhou.” Yu Qingtang gazed at him eagerly. “And Jinzhou is right next door.”
The smile on Ye Chenyan’s face slowly disappeared.
Yu Qingtang edged a little closer.
“I want to go back to Jinzhou.”
“To Biehe Sect.”
Ye Chenyan: “...”
He abruptly looked away and took a large gulp of tea.
“I just remembered I still have some things to take care of. Maybe we should go back to Nanzhou after all. Right, I should tell Master what happened at Fire Cauldron Sect, and there’s the Esoteric Sect too...”
Yu Qingtang narrowed his eyes.
“Excuses.”
He reached out and poked Ye Chenyan in the cheek.
“You don’t want me going back, do you?”
Ye Chenyan looked away and said nothing.
Yu Qingtang rested his chin on his hand and stared at him.
“You can’t keep dragging me around forever just to stop me from going back to Biehe Sect.”
“But...” Ye Chenyan glanced at him. “If you go back, are you still going to leave with me afterward?”
“Well...”
Yu Qingtang swayed from side to side, deliberately keeping him in suspense.
“Depends on your performance.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Then we’re not going.” Ye Chenyan collapsed onto the table. “I suddenly don’t feel very well. I’m in no condition to travel.”
“That works too.”
To Ye Chenyan’s surprise, Yu Qingtang actually nodded.
He put on a show of seriously considering the matter.
“To be fair, I left the sect making all kinds of bold declarations. If I bring you back with me now, it might be hard to explain things to my fellow disciples.”
“And when I think about it carefully, I’m already at Nascent Soul now. I’m about to catch up with my master’s cultivation.”
“I may not be able to strut around without a care in the world, but if I’m cautious, I probably won’t run into any real danger.”
“So why don’t you stay here in Yunzhou, and I’ll head back by myself—”
“You!”
Ye Chenyan knew perfectly well that Yu Qingtang was saying it deliberately, but he still shot upright.
“No. You can’t go back alone.”
Yu Qingtang dragged his stool closer with a series of little thumps.
“I never said I wouldn’t leave with you after I went back.”
“But I really do need to make the trip.”
“There’s something I have to do.”
Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.
“Something important?”
Yu Qingtang nodded firmly.
“Very important.”
Ye Chenyan hesitated.
“What’s with that?” Yu Qingtang pointed accusingly at him. “You trust me that little?”
“Of course I do.” Ye Chenyan gave him a sidelong look. “What part of you inspires confidence?”
He muttered under his breath.
“One, you’ve never said you like me. Two, you’ve never kissed me first. Three—”
“Hey, hey, hey!”
Yu Qingtang hurriedly slapped a hand over his mouth before he could keep counting, terrified someone else might hear.
“I’m just...”
He mumbled something indistinctly.
Ye Chenyan didn’t catch it.
“Anyway! You!”
Putting on a fierce front, Yu Qingtang grabbed his collar and gave it a tug.
“You’re coming back to Biehe Sect with me! No refusing!”
Ye Chenyan gave him a long,幽幽 look before turning away.
“Fine. I’ll go.”
“...I happen to have something to do there too.”
A few days later, Ye Chenyan and Yu Qingtang stood together on Shanyuan Peak, before the gates of Biehe Sect.
After seeing the grand, lavish entrances of sect after sect, Biehe Sect’s shabby little mountain gate looked even more unimpressive than Yu Qingtang remembered.
If the people inside didn’t at least know a few spells, even the gate of some mortal bandit stronghold would probably have looked more respectable.
Ye Chenyan slowly turned his head toward Yu Qingtang.
“That very important thing you had to do...”
“Was bringing them pork hocks?”
“Yep.”
Yu Qingtang nodded with complete confidence, then swept one hand out with heroic grandeur.
“I’m rich now. I bought one for everybody!”
“Fifth Senior Brother is so frugal. Even if he bought some before, there’s no way he bought many. Knowing him, he probably gave his own away to the other junior disciples instead of eating it himself...”
He drew in a deep breath and threw his arms wide.
His smile was radiant.
Like a delighted little fish flicking its tail as it leaped from a cramped fishbowl into a vast lake, he shouted at the top of his lungs—
“Master—! Senior Sister—! Senior Brothers—!”
“I missed you all so much!”
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