Chapter 25

Lu Yan dreamed of that pure white space for the second time. Unlike the first time, the golden light flowing through the pure white space had grown paler and paler. It only flashed occasionally, then seemed to be suppressed by something and sank back into dimness.

The child in the red dudou lay weakly on his back in the space. His once-solid body had become somewhat illusory. Beneath him was an enormous golden array of extreme complexity. The child lay in its very center, and with each breath he took, golden light sank into his body, barely maintaining his physical form.

Lu Yan walked over. He crouched down and poked the child’s belly. “We haven’t seen each other in ten years. How did you end up like this?”

“It’s a tearful story.” The child did not move, nor did he bother with the finger poking his belly. His childish voice carried unconcealable vicissitudes. “I didn’t expect that thing to be so determined to kill me.”

Lu Yan did not ask what exactly “that thing” was. He patted the hem of his clothes, sat down beside the child, and asked, “How much longer can you hold on?”

The child laboriously lifted a hand and patted Lu Yan’s knee. “Relax. As long as you don’t go bye-bye, I should be fine too.”

Oh, he even knew the phrase “go bye-bye.”

Lu Yan pushed the child’s hand away and arranged him into a “peacefully deceased” posture. “What if I do go bye-bye?”

The child folded both hands over his lower belly and reluctantly opened his eyes a little wider. His head did not move; only his eyes slid sideways to look at Lu Yan. Expressionless, he said, “It’s fine. At worst, I’ll take the entire plane with me to be buried with you.”

That really had the flavor of “the weather turns cold, and the Wang clan goes bankrupt.”

“I couldn’t afford that,” Lu Yan said, gesturing for the child to turn his eyeballs back. It looked creepy. “I’m probably about to undergo my Nascent Soul tribulation soon.”

The child fell silent for a while. For some reason, his voice carried a trace of grievance. “I know. But I can’t protect you anymore.”

“You little brat.” Lu Yan snorted with laughter, then reached out and ruffled the child’s hair into a mess. He sensed that his own body was turning transparent. Perhaps he was about to wake from the dream. In the instant before he vanished, Lu Yan met the child’s eyes and said seriously, “Last time, you said you trusted me a lot. Next, keep reluctantly believing in me.”

After Lu Yan disappeared, the little child lay motionless. A long while later, he pouted and muttered softly, “You’re the little one. I’m older than both your lives put together.”

In the pure white space no one could set foot in, the profound golden lines regained vitality and shone again. The little child’s chubby hand slowly landed where Lu Yan had just been sitting, and a tiny smile curled on his lips.

“But I really do trust you.”

Lu Yan’s eyelids moved.

He had no idea who roared, “Lu Bupo! Lu Bupo, if you’re awake, then squeak!”

Lu Yan’s ears buzzed from the shock. “…”

Who was this thoughtless?

Then a flurry of footsteps sounded around him, and a rough hand landed on Lu Yan’s wrist.

“Martial Uncle, how is Junior Brother Bupo?”

“Valley Master, give me a straight answer. Do I still have to pay back my debt in the future or not?”

Ying Sanliang, what was with that uncontainably cheerful tone of yours?

Lu Yan opened his eyes. Unsurprisingly, he saw the Medical Valley Master standing by the bed, taking his pulse with a grave expression. Meng Ke had changed into a direct disciple’s Daoist robe and was squeezed in beside the Medical Valley Master. Yuan Chi held a small mountain of popcorn eagerly in both hands. He wanted to get closer, but after looking at his own huge build, he still shrank back and did not dare step forward.

Only Ying Sanliang wore a sleepwalking expression that said, “Am I about to be free?”

Lu Yan coughed twice. “One hundred and fifty years. Not a day less.”

Ying Sanliang guiltily rubbed his nose. “Then don’t scare people like this.”

Meng Ke let out a heavy breath. “It’s good that you’re awake. Junior Brother Bupo, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”

Lu Yan blinked. Spiritual power traveled once through his meridians, and he did not detect anything wrong. “I’m fine. What happened to me?”

Ying Sanliang recalled, “After that wolf king left, I suddenly couldn’t sense your aura. When I went into the courtyard to look, you had already collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Brother Meng Ke fed you a Clear Spirit Pill, but it didn’t do much, so I hurried as fast as I could and brought you to Medical Valley.”

After Xuncang left?

Lu Yan frowned. He had no memory of that period at all and could not remember why he had fallen unconscious. “How long was I out?”

Ying Sanliang said, “One day and one night.”

Lu Yan calculated the time. “Isn’t Senior Brother Kongqing’s succession ceremony tomorrow? I really woke up at the right time.”

Meng Ke did not know whether to laugh or cry. He turned to ask the Medical Valley Master, “Martial Uncle, can you tell what’s wrong with Bupo’s body?”

The Medical Valley Master’s Daoist name was Huaisheng. In his early years, no one knew what he had eaten, but a small flower had grown from the top of his head and could sense his mood. At that moment, the flower’s leaves were holding up its petals as if in deep thought. Huaisheng formed a hand seal with one hand, and a hazy green light enveloped Lu Yan’s body.

The green light carried a pure scent of grass and trees. It was warm and soothing. Lu Yan could not help taking a deep breath. In an instant, he felt his divine soul stir, and all the fatigue in his body vanished.

Huaisheng withdrew his power. The little flower on his head put its leaves on its hips. The white-bearded old man released Lu Yan’s wrist with a smiling expression and said slowly, “It should be due to overwork. A good sleep is enough.”

With the most authoritative Medical Valley Master delivering the final verdict, Ying Sanliang relaxed and muttered, “Thank goodness. Heaven knows if you didn’t wake up soon, I was going to go settle accounts with that wolf king.”

Yuan Chi also came bustling over and handed Lu Yan the popcorn packed in a cloth bag. “Bupo likes this.”

Lu Yan crunched down a small handful and gave him a thumbs-up. “Delicious!”

Yuan Chi was so happy that he abruptly raised his head and, unsurprisingly, hit a beam in the room with a loud bang.

He had grown used to hitting doorframes on the spirit boat and did not feel any pain. He rubbed his head and laughed honestly.

Meng Ke still wanted to say something, but Huaisheng stopped him with a look. Meng Ke understood and said, “Since nothing is wrong, we won’t disturb Junior Brother Bupo’s rest. Fellow Daoist Ying, Young City Lord, why don’t you come sit at my place?”

Ying Sanliang was not stupid and naturally heard the implication. He grabbed Yuan Chi and headed outside. “Then we’ll respectfully accept… Idiot, why are you so strong?”

After everyone left, only Lu Yan and Huaisheng remained in the room.

Lu Yan waited for Huaisheng to speak.

The little flower on Huaisheng’s head was wilted. His hair and beard were gray-white like an old man’s. This Valley Master, who had supported Medical Valley for several hundred years, had already reached his twilight years. He said, “Your eldest Martial Uncle was the only person in nearly a thousand years to step into Great Ascension and dare to challenge the final barrier.”

Lu Yan had not expected Huaisheng’s first words to be about the former sect master of Divine Creation Sect.

A hint of reminiscence shone in Huaisheng’s cloudy eyes. “At that time, Pei Zhan had already reached perfected Nascent Soul. He was only one step away from Spirit Transformation. Your eldest Martial Uncle believed there was someone to succeed him, so he answered the tribulation with no reservations. You should have heard what happened afterward. Your eldest Martial Uncle failed his tribulation. Your master and his fellow disciples exhausted all their strength to send his already shattered divine soul into reincarnation. Because of this, Yiwen fell from Spirit Transformation back to Nascent Soul.”

Lu Yan propped up a pillow and half leaned against the bed. After hesitating, he nodded. “I have heard of it.”

Daoist Yiwen’s fall back to Nascent Soul had been something Xuncang told Lu Yan. It happened to match what Huaisheng had said.

Huaisheng revealed a smile, and the reminiscence in his eyes vanished. “I did not dare undergo the Spirit Transformation tribulation. I feared that if I died, Medical Valley would have no successor. The things that happened afterward only strengthened my resolve not to undergo the Purple Abyss Lightning Tribulation.”

“Your eldest Martial Uncle never reincarnated at all.” Huaisheng spoke one word at a time, as though he was exhausting all the strength he had accumulated over several hundred years. In despair, he said, “His body died and his Dao vanished. Not even a trace of his soul was left behind. Even his physical body turned to ash under the lightning tribulation. Nothing at all could be found.”

Boom!

In a daze, it was as if a peal of thunder exploded beside Lu Yan’s ear. He quickly arranged the information he knew together. An invisible thread connected all the clues. The golden core in his dantian rocked restlessly, impatiently wanting to evolve limbs.

Lu Yan adjusted his breathing and asked, “Then why did Martial Uncle Yiwen regress to Nascent Soul?”

“I don’t know.” Huaisheng shook his head. These secrets had remained in his heart for a very long time, and now he could finally speak them aloud. “I only know that Yiwen later went to find the wolf king, Xuncang, and searched the entire cultivation world for heavenly bamboo. Later, when he returned to the sect, his realm had regressed and his eyes were blind.”

Wolf fur and heavenly bamboo.

Lu Yan could not help touching his chest where the Buwang Brush rested. His gaze sharpened, and he asked in a low voice, “I very much want to know why Martial Uncle Huaisheng is telling only me this.”

The petals of the little flower atop Huaisheng’s head spread open. Huaisheng’s face was covered in wrinkles. He looked at the Golden Core junior before him, who was only sixteen years old, with a solemnity and relief he had never shown before. “Of the Great Dao’s fifty, Heaven derives forty-nine, and one escapes through humanity. Perhaps you are that one.”

The aged Medical Valley Master prepared to leave. His back was somewhat hunched. Lu Yan watched him quietly, then suddenly said, “Martial Uncle Huaisheng.”

Huaisheng turned back.

Lu Yan tucked both hands into his sleeves. “Thank you for telling me, Martial Uncle. If some unexpected situation occurs tomorrow, I hope Martial Uncle will not take offense.”

That night, Lu Yan sat on the roof. A tiny hummingbird rested on his shoulder as he gazed aimlessly at the starry sky.

For some reason, Meng Ke walked to the place where Lu Yan was staying. After looking around for a while and not finding him, he was about to leave when he subconsciously raised his head and saw Lu Yan on the roof. “Junior Brother Bupo?”

Lu Yan temporarily cut off his connection with the hummingbird. “Senior Brother Kongqing, shouldn’t you be preparing for the ceremony right now?”

Meng Ke flew up and sat side by side with Lu Yan. Seeing that the hummingbird on his shoulder was fluffy and adorable, he asked, “What is this?”

“A hummingbird drone,” Lu Yan explained simply. “It counts as a magic artifact. It can be used for patrols, or it can be teased and raised as a pet for fun.”

Lu Yan moved his shoulder, and the hummingbird seemed to come alive. Its black-bean eyes spun around, its wings opened, and it hopped onto Meng Ke’s shoulder, rubbing his face with its soft feathers.

Meng Ke’s face itched from the rubbing, and he laughed brightly. “It’s so pretty. I can’t believe it’s a magic artifact.”

Lu Yan rummaged through his storage bag and took out a hummingbird with pure cyan feathers. “If Senior Brother Kongqing likes it, I’ll give you another one.”

Meng Ke loved it. After learning how to activate it, he put the hummingbird on top of his head and let its little claws hook around in his hair. He held his head in both hands, looked at the twinkling stars on the horizon, and said, “I’m a little nervous.”

Lu Yan asked, “Because you’re going to inherit Medical Valley?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps the night could stir up the most fragile side of a person’s heart. Meng Ke had always been the most outstanding one in Medical Valley. Whenever disciples or elders mentioned him, they would always say in a tone full of admiration and regret, “That child Kongqing is very good. Unfortunately, he has dual spiritual roots.”

“I don’t know whether I can support Medical Valley the way Martial Uncle has.”

Meng Ke tilted his head. Lu Yan’s profile under the night sky looked hazy, as though draped in a layer of radiance. He remembered the time in Baiqiu City, when every move Junior Brother Bupo made had been so firm and decisive. The disciples of Divine Creation Sect’s maintenance department had believed his every word without question and obeyed every order. He was the youngest, yet more reliable than anyone else.

Even Meng Ke himself believed this just as deeply.

Meng Ke had thought countless times: if there had been no Junior Brother Bupo this time, if he had not discovered the issue with the souls, if he had not refined the automatic pill furnace, if there had not been Divine Creation Sect disciples spread across Central Continent, could the strange illness in Baiqiu City have been cured in his hands? Even if it could have been cured, how many people in the entire city would have died? Would this strange illness have spread throughout all of Central Continent?

Then all living beings would have been plunged into misery, and not one in ten would have survived.

The more Meng Ke thought about these questions, the more he doubted whether he could truly watch over Medical Valley well.

In terms of age, Meng Ke was several rounds older than Lu Yan. In terms of thoughts, Meng Ke was as transparent as glass before Lu Yan, seen through completely.

Lu Yan said lightly, “No one is born knowing how to shoulder responsibility.”

“Senior Brother Kongqing, what you should be thinking about now is not how you will inherit Medical Valley, but how to make Medical Valley better after you receive the sect master’s seal tomorrow.”

Meng Ke was suddenly enlightened.

That was right. Why was he thinking about so many “ifs”?

Meng Ke laughed self-deprecatingly. “I was obsessed. Thank you for waking me up, Junior Brother Bupo.”

Lu Yan shrugged and took out a small storage bag. “This is the congratulatory gift I’m giving you. I should have given it to you tomorrow, but I’ll let you see it early today.”

Meng Ke opened the storage bag. Inside were three identical pill furnaces, along with a refining method and instruction manual. “This…”

Lu Yan said, “I saw that you liked the automatic pill furnace a lot. These three store six pill formulas and nine pill formulas respectively, and the remaining one is exclusively for Clear Spirit Pills. I’ve also given you the refining method and array. Does it suit your taste?”

“I like it very much.” Meng Ke tucked the storage bag into his robes. “Thank you, Bupo. In the future, I’ll give you a discount when you buy pills!”

Just as Lu Yan was about to say something, the door to another room in the courtyard opened. A cultivator looked up at them. “You two…”

Meng Ke whispered to Lu Yan, “The Sword Sect’s chief disciple, Duan Tongfeng.”

Lu Yan had not met this legendary chief disciple of Sword Sect since waking. He had heard that Duan Tongfeng’s talent in the sword path was extremely strong, but he could not beat his own Senior Sister Fuyi. Lu Yan became a little interested. “Senior Brother Duan?”

Duan Tongfeng nodded, with no sign of wanting to climb onto the roof. “You are Fuyi’s junior brother?”

Lu Yan did not go down either. “That’s right.”

Duan Tongfeng stood with his hands clasped behind his back. “You have Golden Core cultivation at such a young age. Very good.”

Lu Yan’s gaze turned subtle.

Why did those words sound like they had something behind them?

Duan Tongfeng stood perfectly upright and craned his neck without seeming to mind the ache. “Cultivation is not a matter of a single day or night. Fuyi is the same as you. Being too ostentatious is never good, especially for a female cultivator. What kind of propriety is there in all this fighting and killing? If I had not let her…”

“Wait, wait, wait.” This was the first time Lu Yan had seen this sort of person, and he found it novel. “Who are you insulting? My senior sister is one minor realm higher than you. She could beat you with one hand tied.”

Duan Tongfeng’s expression did not change. “You as well. At only sixteen, you’ve made such a splash. This is precisely the age when you should be cultivating properly. With such an impetuous mind, be careful not to stray onto the wrong path.”

Meng Ke’s expression was also indescribable. He said beside Lu Yan’s ear, “Ever since I came back, he’s been lecturing me for ages about how I shouldn’t have abandoned the succession ceremony to save mortals.”

Lu Yan cupped his hands. “If becoming a cultivator like Senior Brother Duan…”

Duan Tongfeng’s lips curved in satisfaction.

Lu Yan deliberately sighed. “Then I would rather sever my own meridians and reincarnate.”

How could Duan Tongfeng fail to hear the mockery in that?

“You!”

Lu Yan said farewell to Meng Ke, leisurely leaped down from the roof, and slammed the door, shutting Duan Tongfeng outside.

Tsk. No wonder Senior Sister Fuyi said that fellow Duan Tongfeng wasn’t much of a person.

He really wasn’t much of a person.

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