Chapter Ninety-Three: Return to Weishui Village

At the same time.

Within the Eastern Spirit Sect, atop Star-Gazing Peak.

Inside his cave dwelling, True Person Bai Zhi, who had been cultivating in seclusion, suddenly opened his deep eyes, vast as a boundless star sea, and frowned as he murmured, “Su Ling has run into trouble.”

He had bestowed protective measures upon every direct disciple, safeguards that could preserve their lives in moments of peril. If the spiritual barrier were shattered, he would sense it at once, and through the restraints left upon it, he could infer certain matters.

He raised a hand and made a calculation with his fingers.

But.

He found nothing at all. Every trace of heavenly fate had been utterly erased.

A grave look crossed his face. “The restraints on the spirit-shielding barrier have been wiped away by someone? That person’s cultivation may even surpass mine by a little.”

Since divination yielded nothing, True Person Bai Zhi rose. In the flicker of his form, he left the cave dwelling and headed to the ancestral hall, the central ground of Star-Gazing Peak.

Inside the ancestral hall were enshrined the forebears of Star-Gazing Peak through the generations, along with the soul lamps of the people of Star-Gazing Peak.

Just as he appeared at the hall’s entrance, he met a purple-robed disciple hurrying out. This disciple was an outer-name disciple of Star-Gazing Peak, whose usual duty was to guard the ancestral hall.

Upon seeing True Person Bai Zhi, the disciple stopped at once, cupped his hands respectfully, and said in a grave voice, “True Person, I was just about to report to you. Senior Sister Su Ling’s soul lamp... has gone out.”

Though Bai Zhi had already guessed as much, he still frowned and asked sternly, “Do you know where she went?”

At that, the disciple cupped his hands and said, “Replying to True Person, about half a year ago, Senior Sister Su Ling left her cave dwelling and never returned. No one knows where she went. Perhaps only Senior Brother Chengxu knows her whereabouts.”

Chengxu was the honorary name of Jiang Ziyi’s partner, Zhang Xun.

Hearing this report, True Person Bai Zhi grew solemn inwardly. Half a year without returning to the sect, whereabouts unknown, then something suddenly happened, and even the heavenly secrets were erased. How was one to find her? How was one to seek justice for her?

He pondered for a moment.

Then he could not help but sigh in his heart.

Life and death are fated.

For inner-sect disciples who left the sect to train in the world, accidents were bound to happen to some. Those whose reasons were unknown were hardly few. He had merely never expected that one day, his own disciple would meet such a fate.

“Inform Zhang Chengxu of Longyear Peak and the Jiang family of Feng River about Su Ling’s matter, and tell them I will dispatch disciples to assist them in handling the aftermath.”

True Person Bai Zhi gave the order in a low voice.

“Yes.”

The disciple immediately took his leave to carry out the task.

Watching the disciple depart, True Person Bai Zhi let out a soft sigh.

“Unpredictable storms come from the heavens. What a pity.”

Master and disciple once, after all.

He had done all he could. It was enough to be considered beyond reproach.

...

South Wilderness Ridge.

Jiang Min swiftly dealt with the scene, erasing all traces and auras at the first possible moment before departing for Soul-Burying Gorge.

Standing at the edge of the gorge, Jiang Min waved a hand. A surge of spiritual power wrapped around Jiang Ziyi’s ashes and her cosmos pouch, flinging them into the endless black mist.

From Jiang Ziyi’s memories, Jiang Min knew that a special divine-sense restraint had been left upon the pouch. She did not dare take the risk of opening it. Moreover, considering that Jiang Ziyi had the Feng River Jiang family and Star-Gazing Peak behind her, Jiang Min would rather abandon the abundant wealth inside than invite a world of trouble.

Beneath this Soul-Burying Gorge lay ancient restraints, peril at every turn. It was, however, a perfect place to bury Jiang Ziyi and dispose of her cosmos pouch.

“At last, this hidden danger is gone. Now, to the market town for a flying boat.”

Jiang Min glanced at the thick black mist of the gorge. Then she donned a disguise artifact, changed her appearance, and turned to leave.

She took several winding routes, left South Wilderness Ridge, detoured to a city outside the ridge, entered several pavilions that sold magical treasures, and before long had left the city again.

Reaching an uninhabited outskirt, Jiang Min confirmed that no one was following her, then restored her original face.

She swept a sleeve, and a streak of spiritual light appeared, growing rapidly in the wind into a small white boat that hovered before her.

The white boat was not large, only big enough for two or three people to stand upon. Faint, dim patterns of light flowed across its body, making it impossible to tell what material it was made from, yet it was delicate and exquisite.

This vessel was called the White Emperor Boat, a mid-grade magical treasure.

Its body was forged from the bones of a White Emperor giant eagle and refined together with many spiritual materials. It was expensive, but if driven at full strength, it could travel several times faster than ordinary means of movement.

Jiang Min liked it very much upon seeing it, so she bought it. After all, her fortune had been gathered almost entirely from stripping Qi Yan and the others bare...

Beyond that, she visited several other shops and purchased a few magical treasures with better aura-concealing effects, as well as various implements suited to foundation-building cultivators, so that she would not be left with nothing usable after her breakthrough.

Jiang Min stepped onto the White Emperor Boat.

“The art of controlling a vessel in flight is somewhat like the art of controlling objects, but the method is more refined. Let me try it first.”

She released her divine sense and urged the flying boat to take off.

The White Emperor Boat rose, first wobbling erratically so badly that Jiang Min could hardly keep her balance and nearly fell off. But as she continuously adjusted her divine sense, the flying boat gradually steadied and no longer swayed.

Then it flew toward the sea of forests.

A fierce wind struck her face, tossing her long hair and robes until they snapped and billowed.

“Though I often rode flying boats during my Qi Refinement days, sitting on one controlled by another is entirely different from controlling one myself...”

Facing the gale, Jiang Min’s clothes fluttered wildly as a smile naturally rose to her lips.

Only by controlling a flying boat oneself could one truly feel the freedom of soaring through the skies.

“Ah Ling, hold on tight. I’m going to speed up.”

With a movement of her divine sense, the White Emperor Boat suddenly accelerated and shot toward the clouds.

It rose straight into the heavens, threading through seas of cloud, gazing down upon the undulating mountains and rivers, the winding waterways below. Jiang Min’s brow and eyes softened, filled with a joyful and unrestrained delight. Only then did she finally understand why people said that the long road to immortality was endless, and that foundation building already made one an immortal upon the earth.

“Riding the spirit wind, I go forth to roam between heaven and earth!”

After reciting the poem in a rather mannered tone, she opened her mouth, intending to maintain the dignity of a foundation-building cultivator. Yet she could not restrain the joy in her heart after all. In the end, she placed both hands before her mouth and cried freely to the boundless world.

“Woo-hoo!”

“Woo-hoo!”

Little Grass clung tightly to Jiang Min’s collar, carefully poking out a few grass blades. The instant they emerged, the blades were whipped into a messy flutter by the gale and pressed tightly against Jiang Min’s chest. It was a little afraid of being blown away, yet it was also exceedingly happy.

So this was what it meant to soar through heaven and earth, so carefree, so untrammeled.

It too would cultivate diligently. One day, when its training was complete, it would roam the world between heaven and earth as well~

With the White Emperor Boat’s astonishing speed, the journey that had originally taken about a month was shortened considerably.

Eager to return home, Jiang Min drove the White Emperor Boat at full speed. In only ten days, asking the way as she went, she finally returned to Wei River Village.

Wei River Village lay beside the Wei River.

Shallow banks and fertile fields stretched along both sides, and so a village had taken root here, enduring for hundreds upon hundreds of years. Everyone in the village bore the Jiang surname. Though they often quarreled among themselves in ordinary times, if outsiders bullied them or bandits came, they would unite as one.

The Wei River was not large, merely a small river. In times of drought, it would run dry; in times of flood, it would swell and overflow. Yet in ordinary days, this little river flowed through the village, bringing drinking water and irrigation, sustaining the people of Wei River Village.

Jiang Min controlled the White Emperor Boat down to a secluded place by the riverbank, far from human habitation.

Looking up, she saw that her homeland of old had not changed in the slightest, and childhood memories came rushing back one after another.

“Father, Mother, Grandma, Second Yatou... I’m home.”

Let everyone be at ease. And to reiterate, Jiang Ziyi’s storyline ends here. Later chapters may mention some aftermath, but it has nothing to do with Little Jiang.

Little Jiang now also has the ability, and the awareness, to deal with the cultivators who come after her. From a village child who could not even read, from a small nobody at the lowest rung who knew nothing of the world’s cruelty, she has stepped into the intricate realm of cultivation. She will certainly stumble into many pitfalls. But she is also steadily learning her lessons, steadily improving, and the gaps in her conduct will only grow fewer and fewer, while her power to protect herself will only grow greater and greater.

A new chapter of foundation building begins with coming home~

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