Chapter 32 (Part 1)

This was Song Yuanruo and Ling Wushuang’s first time working together, but both of them cultivated the heartless path and were also extremely familiar with the Joyous Union Flower, so the entire process of refining the pollen did not meet with much obstruction.

“Fellow Daoist Ling, the Joyous Union Flower is about to fully bloom. This is when the lust demon’s remnant soul will struggle the most fiercely, and I must focus on dealing with it. My elder brother—Junior Brother Song… I’ll leave him to you.”

With an outsider present, Song Yuanruo did not want to expose his identity, but calling his own elder brother Junior Brother Song made him feel awkward.

Ling Wushuang’s attention was entirely on the Joyous Union Flower, and she did not notice the issue with the form of address at all. Hearing him, she agreed readily.

“Don’t worry, Fellow Daoist. Leave Junior Brother Song to me.”

Before she had even finished speaking, Ling Wushuang lifted her long sword and directly used her own blood essence as the guide, beginning to draw a talisman array.

Song Yuanxi listened as she chanted a complicated, ancient incantation. His heartbeat grew faster and faster, and his body instinctively backed away, trying to escape.

Ling Wushuang’s eyes snapped open. The long sword in her hand seemed to have grown eyes as it shot straight toward Song Yuanxi.

“Junior Brother Song, prepare to absorb the Joyous Union Powder!”

One split into two, two split into four. Four long swords carrying sword qi firmly locked him in place. Song Yuanxi’s mood instantly collapsed. Even though he knew the Joyous Union seed had to be drawn out, actively absorbing something like Joyous Union Powder…

“Senior Sister Ling, I’m scared, seriously! I can’t make myself actively inhale that stuff!” Song Yuanxi was practically about to cry.

Ling Wushuang looked disgusted. “As a cultivator, if you can’t even endure this little bit of pain, how will you attain the Great Dao?”

Song Yuanxi said, “I never planned to attain the Great Dao. My lifelong wish is only Foundation Establishment.”

“…”

That was an answer she had never imagined.

After “slacker” and “second lunatic,” Ling Wushuang stuck a second label on him: “great lazybones.”

Time waited for no one. The Joyous Union Flower finally bloomed completely. No matter how Song Yuanxi tried to drag things out, he was still forced to “actively” absorb the Joyous Union Powder. Ling Wushuang personally controlled the operation, wasting none of the Joyous Union Powder that scattered in all directions. Every last grain of pollen was absorbed cleanly by Song Yuanxi.

Once it was done, Ling Wushuang withdrew her long sword and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. She was somewhat drained.

Song Yuanruo was deeply grateful and tossed her a bottle of Return Origin Pills. “Many thanks for your help, Fellow Daoist. I will certainly repay you in the future.”

If it had been only him, saving his elder brother would inevitably have required paying an even greater price. Perhaps the two brothers might even have been seriously injured. Now, however, they had made it through a scare without danger. Ling Wushuang’s favor was one he would remember in his heart.

After taking a Return Origin Pill, Ling Wushuang adjusted her breathing and quickly recovered.

She looked at the flower stem that was about to wither and said directly, “I’m a straightforward person. If I have a grudge, I settle it on the spot. If I owe a favor, I return it on the spot too. I don’t believe in this future repayment of yours. Why not give me a thank-you gift now?”

Song Yuanruo lifted his eyes and looked over. Ling Wushuang smiled and pointed at the Joyous Union Flower.

“A ten-thousand-year Joyous Union Flower nourished by a lust demon will only have stronger medicinal effects. You and I both cultivate the heartless path. I assume you know that the main spiritual herb for refining the Heart-Severing Pill is the Joyous Union Flower.”

The daos under heaven were divided into the Sentient Dao and the heartless path. The vast majority of cultivators cultivated the Sentient Dao, and the various cultivation methods known in the Canglan Realm were also written according to the Sentient Dao. From this, one could see just how rare the heartless path was.

The reason was the special nature of the heartless path itself. It required those who cultivated it to sever emotion and love. If they became entangled during cultivation, the lighter consequence would be backlash and a regression in cultivation. The more serious consequence would be damage to their Dao heart, reducing them to a cripple.

This was especially true in the early stages, when cultivating the heartless path was full of difficulties. But as long as one endured until Nascent Soul and achieved minor success in the Dao method, one’s cultivation speed would leave others far behind. The achievements gained afterward would also exceed those of the Sentient Dao by several times.

One could put it this way: when cultivating the heartless path, one either succeeded or died trying.

Song Yuanruo and Ling Wushuang both considered themselves firm-minded people. Without hesitation, they had chosen this cultivation path of high risk and high reward. However, in the early stages, they still needed to take Heart-Severing Pills as support.

Song Yuanruo nodded in agreement. “Fine. We split the Joyous Union Flower half each.”

Even half of a ten-thousand-year Joyous Union Flower would be enough to refine Heart-Severing Pills that could last them until the Golden Core stage. As for after Golden Core, they would think of another way then.

Just like that, they finished discussing how to divide up a ten-thousand-year spiritual herb. Song Yuanruo continued pouring in his blood essence, while Ling Wushuang, in the spirit of being a cooperative partner, stood beside him and diligently protected him.

Neither of them paid special attention to Song Yuanxi. They thought there was no one here he could “harass,” and with the Mind-Clearing Pills stabilizing his Dao heart, he would be able to endure it and get through.

No one expected that matters would develop in another unpredictable direction, and that once the situation got out of hand, it would be like a wild horse freed from the reins.

Song Yuanruo was the first to notice something was wrong. Even though he was concentrating on dealing with the lust demon, he was still worried about his elder brother, and every now and then, he would sense the situation inside the formation.

Who would have thought that this one check would make him notice that Song Yuanxi’s aura was growing more and more restless?

“Junior Brother Song’s aura is wrong.” Song Yuanruo’s brows drew together, his expression worried.

Ling Wushuang split off part of her attention and looked out, only to find that Song Yuanxi, who had originally hidden himself away out of embarrassment, had appeared before them again at some unknown point. His complexion was rosy and glossy, and he looked no different from an ordinary person. Only his reddened eyes showed that his condition was not too good.

“How is that possible?” Ling Wushuang was astonished. “The top-grade Mind-Clearing Pills of my Tianyi Sect, as long as a cultivator’s heart is toward the Dao, should be impossible to—”

“His heart is the purest and kindest!” Before Ling Wushuang could finish speaking, Song Yuanruo shouted, his eyes turning icy in an instant. “Junior Brother Song absolutely has no wicked thoughts!”

In the end, it was a pill she had given him. Ling Wushuang stood and went forward to inspect Song Yuanxi’s condition. She had only just touched him when he suddenly grabbed her arm.

Ling Wushuang immediately circulated the heartless path cultivation method, her eyes clear as she said, “Junior Brother Song, if you act foolishly, I don’t mind letting you see some blood.”

Song Yuanxi stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly flashed Ling Wushuang a dazzling smile. While she was wholly unprepared, the two of them began spinning in circles hand in hand.

“On this fine day, beneath flowers and moonlight, this humble scholar pays his respects!”

“Oh my, oh my, what a pretty young lady! Why don’t you listen to me sing a song?”

Before Ling Wushuang could move, Song Yuanxi forcefully pressed her down onto a large rock nearby. Then he stepped back a few paces, his expression turning shy and bashful.

After that, he began singing in a strange and bizarre tune.

He launched into a modern pop song, all lilting provocation and exaggerated delight.

Ling Wushuang’s brows knitted tighter as she listened, but what hurt her eyes even more was Song Yuanxi’s enchanting, willowy posture. She truly found it hard to imagine that a bright and upright youth when serious could become so terrifying once he let himself go.

“Junior Brother Song…”

“I’m not singing that anymore!”

Song Yuanxi suddenly stopped. The smile on his face vanished, and he began brewing up his emotions again. In the next second, tears fell from his eyes, his expression full of rage.

“Heavens! Earth! I must rise!”

Another stretch of bizarre singing began.

He changed to a rousing modern song about breaking fate’s chains and living more brilliantly after being looked down upon.

“Junior Brother Song?” Ling Wushuang could not help interrupting.

“Don’t talk! Listen to me sing!” Song Yuanxi glared fiercely. He cleared his throat, bowed deeply toward the lake surface, and raised his expression with great spirit.

This time, he sang a dramatic modern song about exaggeration, insecurity, and performing wildly so as not to be forgotten.

…

Song Yuanruo finally completed the final step. The stem of the Joyous Union Flower withered completely. Hearing the lust demon’s scream as it was annihilated, he placed the Joyous Union Flower into a jade box and rose, walking toward the lakeside.

At last, he saw his elder brother who had gone mad after inhaling the Joyous Union Powder. Yet Song Yuanruo’s heart trembled.

“Elder Brother…”

“The effect of Junior Brother Song’s Joyous Union Powder is rapidly volatilizing. He cannot be disturbed right now. Only after he exhausts himself can he be treated.” Ling Wushuang walked over, analyzed the situation, and stopped Song Yuanruo from going forward to help.

Song Yuanruo clenched his hand into a fist, his heart pained.

The two of them stood together, both with rather poor expressions. Yet in Song Yuanxi’s eyes, this scene became an extremely harmonious and beautiful picture. A so-called plot segment suddenly surged out from his sea of consciousness, and he cheerfully ran toward the two of them.

Then he grabbed one in each hand and shouted excitedly, “You two! I hereby announce you are the destined pair! At this moment, allow me to sing a song!”

He began belting out a modern love song about loving with reckless intensity even to the end.

At the highest point of the song, a tender yellow ball of fluff suddenly jumped out from Song Yuanxi’s robes. With its sleepy little black sesame eyes, it looked around in quick circles, then chirped.

Song Yuanxi’s singing stopped abruptly. With lightning speed, he caught the little yellow chick and said with a solemn expression, “Unfilial son! How many times have I told you? You have to follow your instincts. It’s not chirp-chirp, it’s woof-woof.”

“Chirp chirp… Daddy.”

Smack.

Song Yuanxi slapped it. “Say woof!”

“Chirp chirp? Chirp chirp!”

Smack.

Song Yuanxi was furious. “Rebellious son!”

“Chir… Woof! Woof woof?” Seeing that the slap was about to fall, the little yellow chick trembled.

Song Yuanxi was satisfied. Holding up the fluffy creature, he planted a loud kiss on it.

“Daddy’s good big son. That’s right. Woof woof… woof woof woof…”

The little yellow chick was kissed until it grew dizzy, then happily followed along. “Woof… chirp-woof… chirp-woof chirp-woof… woof woof woof…”

Song Yuanruo was directly dumbfounded. What on earth had happened to his elder brother? How had he become…

Ling Wushuang was also very curious and could not help asking, “Junior Brother Song, does he usually live in particular frustration in your Xuantian Sect? Are his cultivation resources often stolen? Do outer sect disciples often bully him?”

“Probably… impossible…” Song Yuanruo shook his head in a daze.

At the same time, at the entrance to the Spirit Herb Garden in the secret realm, there was a similar lake. The surface of the lake clearly reflected Song Yuanxi’s figure. Not only was there his graceful and varied dance performance, there was also his singing, at times lingering and at times sonorous.

The language of the cultivation world differed from the modern world. The songs Song Yuanxi sang were all in modern vernacular, so the cultivators standing by the lake and watching could barely understand them. That was not to mention the English and Cantonese songs Song Yuanxi later burst into, with even the occasional Italian little tune mixed in.

However, the Qi Refining disciples found it extremely novel. While watching the fun, they discussed it wildly.

“Who is that? He seems to be a disciple of Xuantian Sect. Is he chanting an ancient incantation?”

“When did Junior Brother Song become proficient in the art of talismans? Wasn’t he studying artifact refining at Wanhai Peak?”

“Junior Brother Song is worthy of being a Body Cultivation practitioner. His body really is flexible. If he keeps cultivating, he’ll definitely be able to bend his entire head off.”

“The talisman dao of Xuantian Sect is complex and profound. After leaving the secret realm, I must tell the elders that our Huayang Sect absolutely refuses to admit defeat!”

“His spiritual pet is so cute, but its grade is too low. A first-tier Yellow Brocade Chicken might get slaughtered if one isn’t careful…”

Listening to the various discussions around him, Yin Shang’s expression froze. Song Yuanxi’s situation seemed not quite right.

He looked around and found Du Tianyu in the crowd, then walked straight over. When he returned, his face looked even worse.

“How is it?” Ji Wuyi asked when he saw his friend come back.

Yin Shang said quietly, “It should be Joyous Union Powder.”

Ji Wuyi looked toward the lake surface. Song Yuanxi’s singing finally ended, and immediately after, the image disappeared. Everything returned to calm.

Next Chapter >