Chapter 35 (Part 1)

One month later, Liao Xilin ended his seclusion.

Song Yuanxi went forward with an anxious heart and greeted him. “Uncle-Master Liao, how is your body?”

“It’s no longer serious. At most, I’ll need to recuperate for a few more months until new skin grows back.” Liao Xilin only said a few words about his own condition. He was more concerned with Song Yuanxi’s situation, especially with the concern of an old father, asking this and that.

Song Yuanxi immediately could not take it. He rushed forward, latched onto the other man’s arm, and said, “Uncle-Master Liao, I’ve wronged you!”

“What is this?”

“You told me to protect the snake egg, but I messed everything up. That snake egg, the snake egg… was eaten by my son. Ah, no, it was eaten by the little yellow chicken.”

“The little yellow chicken?” Liao Xilin sounded puzzled again.

Song Yuanxi worked hard to dig through his spirit beast pouch, preparing to drag out the culprit and let Liao Xilin pass judgment on it. What he had in mind was to admit fault proactively, confess honestly for leniency, and fight for the greatest protection for the little yellow chicken and himself.

Unfortunately, the chick refused to cooperate at all. It had even used some unknown secret method to seal the opening of the spirit beast pouch completely shut.

After digging for a long time, he only dug up loneliness. Song Yuanxi felt even more panicked. “Uncle-Master Liao, I really do have a little yellow chicken.”

Ji Wuyi walked out at some unknown point, bowed to Liao Xilin, then said, “Uncle-Master Liao, Junior Brother Song is not lying.”

Song Yuanxi was instantly moved to tears of gratitude. Senior Brother Ji’s appearance was truly too timely. He nodded fiercely at once. “Yes, it’s a contracted beast I had back at the sect, a chick. It’s usually always slacking off and playing tricks. I wish I could educate and criticize it every day. Now that it has committed such a grave mistake…”

After Liao Xilin understood the whole story, he only said casually, “If it ate it, then it ate it. The snake egg was originally kept for you. That snake egg had half snow-flood-dragon bloodline. I thought it would be rather good as your contracted beast.”

However, for Song Yuanxi’s contracted beast to be able to swallow the snake egg whole, its bloodline was likely more noble than the snow flood dragon’s.

Although Liao Xilin was curious about the other party’s contracted beast, especially since Song Yuanxi kept insisting that it was only a little yellow chicken, he would not force others against their will. He would eventually see its true appearance one day.

The stone that had been hanging in Song Yuanxi’s heart for more than half a month finally dropped. While relieved, he was also deeply touched. Uncle-Master Liao had actually been thinking of him like this!

“Uncle-Master Liao, I didn’t help much at all.” Song Yuanxi felt very embarrassed. “It was all Senior Brother Ji’s credit.”

Liao Xilin nodded, took out the snake demon’s inner core and the complete snakeskin, and handed them to Ji Wuyi along with a storage pouch. “Many thanks to Martial Nephew Ji for saving me. You contributed greatly to killing the snake demon, so keep this item well. In addition, this storage pouch is my thanks.”

Ji Wuyi only accepted the snake demon’s inner core and said, “If Uncle-Master Liao’s final, strongest sword qi had not pierced through the snake demon’s vital point, I would not have had any room for the subsequent battle. The inner core is useful to me, so this martial nephew will shamelessly accept it. As for the rest, I am ashamed to receive it.”

Ji Wuyi refused cleanly. If he said he did not want it, then he did not want it. Liao Xilin silently remembered this favor and prepared to repay it another day.

That night, they gathered for a small meal. After several rounds of wine, Song Yuanxi finally asked about the thing he was most confused about. “Uncle-Master Liao, since that snake demon lived in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, why did it travel all the way to Wan’an City? Is there something strange about that village?”

Liao Xilin nodded and said, “During the half month I was trapped by the snake demon, I heard some of its words. It seemed to have some connection with the ancestors of that village. But I do not know the specifics. I intend to visit the village tomorrow and bring this matter to an end.”

Only a bastard would refuse to watch a spectacle. Song Yuanxi immediately raised his hand to express that he wanted to go along.

Liao Xilin naturally agreed. Thinking of something, he smiled. “You may sleep in a little tomorrow. We will set out after noon.”

Song Yuanxi’s cheeks immediately burned. Why did Uncle-Master Liao still remember his old habit of sleeping in from years ago? Especially in front of so many fellow disciples. It was really!

“Uncle-Master Liao, I’m very diligent. I’ll definitely get up early tomorrow,” he could not help muttering.

The next day, at noon, Song Yuanxi slowly woke up.

The flag fell as soon as it was raised!

Liao Xilin laughed heartily and happily took his little martial nephew out of the city.

On the way, the two chatted casually. Song Yuanxi could not help sighing with emotion. “Uncle-Master Liao, when we parted back then and now meet again, I didn’t expect seven years to have passed.”

Liao Xilin also sighed. “Indeed. When I left the sect, you were still at the first level of Qi Refining. Now you are already at the third level of Qi Refining. It can be seen that you have cultivated diligently in the sect and have not wasted your time.”

Song Yuanxi felt guilty. “Actually, I borrowed the east wind. When Yuanruo reached Foundation Establishment, there was a huge Foundation Establishment rain…”

When Liao Xilin heard that Song Yuanruo had reached double Foundation Establishment at the age of ten, he could not help freezing for a moment, but he soon felt relieved. A heavenly prodigy of the Song family, a mutated lightning spiritual root, and a talent value of ninety-nine. It was only proper!

“Fortune is also part of strength. Yuanxi, do not belittle yourself. Though you are not as good as Song Yuanruo, there are also precious things about you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In my eyes, Song Yuanxi is a unique existence. As long as you do not give up, your achievements will certainly be extraordinary.” Liao Xilin had always firmly believed that a disciple who could walk to the center of the Ice Spring at the first level of Qi Refining must have an unshakable and extremely powerful Dao heart.

The fact that Song Yuanxi had managed to reach it one step ahead of him proved this even more.

Song Yuanxi felt delighted inside. Uncle-Master Liao’s polite words sounded so comfortable. I’ll just take it that I’m a hidden genius.

They reminisced and chatted the whole way, and the two soon arrived at the village.

Liao Xilin directly went to find the village chief and asked about the snake demon’s origins. Seeing that the other party hemmed and hawed and still wanted to hide things, he said directly, “That snake demon has already been eliminated by us. The demon is dead. You need not be afraid. If you truly refuse to speak frankly, then this matter ends here. If there is trouble in the future, my Xuantian Sect will certainly no longer intervene.”

The village chief collapsed to the ground on the spot, his eyes full of disbelief. “D-dead?”

Song Yuanxi looked into the other party’s eyes. The regret that could not be hidden in that expression was hard to ignore, while the so-called lingering fear and relief were few and far between. Sure enough, there was a huge story here.

He looked toward Liao Xilin. The two exchanged glances, then quietly waited for the other party to speak.

The village chief was already dazed and absent-minded, his words incoherent. Song Yuanxi relied on his own understanding plus added context before finally piecing together the truth.

And the truth was both pitiful and hateful. Starting from their ancestors, this village had signed a contract with the snake demon. Every ten years, they would provide it with one hundred infants, and the snake demon would guarantee that immortal affinity would appear within three generations.

This year was another tenth year, but the snake demon had not followed the agreement and only demanded one hundred infants. The village chief was afraid, and only then had he entered Wan’an City to seek help.

Song Yuanxi was so angry that he cursed loudly, “Is your brain full of paste? The snake demon is a demon. You actually dared to believe a demon’s words?”

The village chief’s face turned bitter. “We did not dare not believe. For generations, everyone hoped to rise above others. We have stayed in the Canglan Realm for several hundred years, but immortal affinity never once favored us. If not for…”

“Do you truly think that a child with spiritual roots being born every three generations was the snake demon’s merit?” Liao Xilin asked calmly.

The village chief froze. “Immortal, what do you mean by this?”

Liao Xilin said, “Whether it is the three great sects or the four great forces, when they open their mountains and accept disciples, the Heavenly Dao inevitably supervises it. Children tainted with demonic and evil qi can never be selected.”

With only one sentence, he broke through the truth.

“So… so…” The village chief seemed to have lost his soul.

Before leaving, Liao Xilin left one final sentence. “Your village signed a five-hundred-year contract with the snake demon. Now that the snake demon is dead, the contract will backlash. For the next three hundred years, it will be impossible for anyone with spiritual roots to appear again. Staying in the Canglan Realm will only increase your suffering. It would be better to move to the mortal world as soon as possible. I hope you conduct yourselves well!”

When the two reached the village entrance, Song Yuanxi saw Yin’er again. The little child ran toward him on short legs, holding a bundle of wildflowers.

“Immortal! Immortal!” Yin’er stood on tiptoe and stuffed the flowers into Song Yuanxi’s hand, her eyes full of joy. “Immortal is so amazing! You chased away the monster!”

Song Yuanxi could not smile. He hurriedly said goodbye to Yin’er, then left.

Liao Xilin had not expected his little martial nephew to react so strongly. He could not help comforting him. “The cruelty of the cultivation world is far worse than this. Yuanxi, you…”

“I know.” Song Yuanxi nodded. “I’m just not used to it for the moment.”

In the end, he had not lived in the Canglan Realm long enough. His heart was still soft. Pity and sympathy seemed to be instinctive.

Liao Xilin said nothing more. Song Yuanxi had been too well protected in the sect and had experienced too little. Once he traveled everywhere in the future and saw more, his heart would grow numb sooner or later.

After resting and reorganizing for another two days, Song Yuanxi and Ji Wuyi said their farewells and left Wan’an City.

After that, they passed through several teleportation arrays and finally arrived in the Northern Lands.

Xuantian Sect was one of the three great sects of the Canglan Realm and held an extremely high position in the cultivation world. Its geographical location was also excellent. Spiritual qi was abundant, resources of spirit medicines and spirit plants were rich, and it was close to the largest entrance to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain… In short, it was in a state of sudden wealth.

As for the Northern Lands!

Song Yuanxi looked at the scene before him and immediately thought of a particularly famous line of poetry. “The scenery of the northern land: a thousand li sealed in ice, ten thousand li of drifting snow…”

After hearing this, Ji Wuyi thought for a moment and agreed. “Not bad. Our Northern Lands have a grand and majestic air, dignified and magnanimous. Beneath the sun, the mountains and rivers are wrapped in silver, unique in the Canglan Realm.”

Song Yuanxi’s mood also became carefree along with this vast horizon. This was something he could not feel in Xuantian Sect’s lush, birdsong-and-flower-fragrance, immortal-realm-like environment.

He liked the leisurely chirping of cicadas and slanting wind with fine rain inside the sect, and he also liked the Northern Lands’ howling fierce winds and swirling heavy snow.

Ji Wuyi had not expected his junior brother to have such an expression. He was completely in a state of enjoyment, another side of him that Ji Wuyi found very hard to understand.

He was from the Northern Lands, so naturally he thought his hometown was excellent in every way. But when cultivators from other parts of the Canglan Realm came to the Northern Lands, their first look was one of shock, followed by a subtle, indescribable look of disdain.

The Northern Lands were famously barren in the Canglan Realm.

As soon as Ji Wuyi reached the Northern Lands, someone from the Ji family reported it. The two had only just entered the city when a steward of the Ji family arrived, driving a four-horse flying carriage.

“Greetings, First Young Master. The family head is currently in seclusion. First Elder had us come to receive you.” The steward was very respectful toward Ji Wuyi, both because of Ji Wuyi’s identity and status, and even more because of his cultivation talent.

Ji Wuyi nodded lightly and introduced Song Yuanxi. “This is my fellow disciple, Junior Brother Song. He will enter my Ji family’s trial tower to cultivate. Arrange his residence near mine.”

The steward understood. A Xuantian Sect disciple who could obtain a place in the Ji family’s trial tower was either a cultivation genius or from a prestigious lineage. Presumably, this Fellow Daoist Song’s family background was quite prominent.

“Young Master Song, please board the carriage with First Young Master.” The steward was equally respectful toward Song Yuanxi.

The flying carriage sped through the sky for more than half a shichen before finally landing slowly.

Song Yuanxi followed Ji Wuyi into the Ji family and met the Ji family’s First Elder. After another round of polite, official greetings, he finally had some free time and was led by a servant to his residence.

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