Chapter Ninety-Three: Arrival

As the afterglow of the setting sun vanished completely beyond the edge of the sky, Shen Yu opened his eyes again.

Two children stood beside him, one boy and one girl.

The boy had a large bundle strapped to his back. He stared at Shen Yu with wide, dark eyes, while the little girl behind him was shy and timid, a little younger, clutching the hem of her clothes and too afraid to lift her head.

Yun Qing stood quietly behind them.

"Are you Shen Yu?" the boy asked in a tender, childish voice.

Shen Yu turned to look at the woman in green standing behind them.

Yun Qing watched coldly and said lightly, "Some children from around the immortal sect wanted to meet you."

Shen Yu gave a soft sound of acknowledgment.

"Are you really that incredibly, unbelievably powerful Shen Yu everyone talks about?" the little boy began chattering on without pause. "These past few days, everyone in the village has been saying you're a heavenly immortal, that breaking through is as easy for you as drinking water. They said the people from the immortal sect offended you a few days ago, and then a lot of immortals came down from the heavens! They also said the immortal sect was destroyed because they provoked you, and then you smashed this place to pieces with one palm."

Yun Qing rolled her eyes.

The little girl who had been keeping her head down suddenly brightened and added, "My auntie also said you're very, very good-looking, just like the people in paintings, and she said she wanted to..."

"Go on, go on. A girl like you knows nothing."

The boy cut her off with a wave of his hand and said with affected maturity, "Women really don't know much."

Hearing this, the girl put her hands on her hips and said angrily, "Du Shenyan, if you keep this up, I won't play with you ever again."

The boy froze, then hurriedly turned and said a few placating words. Only after coaxing the little girl out of her anger did he suddenly drop to his knees with a thud.

Du Shenyan said loudly, "I, Du Shenyan, yearn for the Dao. I beg the immortal to accept me as a disciple."

Shen Yu looked at the scene and said nothing.

Yun Qing ignored them completely; she'd seen far too many things like this, and was tired of them to the bone.

How often had ordinary folk knelt before the gates of the Guiyun Immortal Sect? And yet the sect had never made an exception for any one person.

Those who cultivated the Dao valued above all else the matter of destiny. Without that destiny, everything was in vain.

The scene grew quiet.

Du Shenyan still remained in that full kowtow, not daring to make a sound.

But the little girl was already red-eyed, as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

The boy kept his head lowered and said earnestly, "I only beg the immortal to teach me cultivation. I am willing to work like an ox or a horse to repay the great kindness of the immortal master."

Shen Yu shook his head. "I do not accept disciples."

"But... but if Du Shenyan can't cultivate, then my father will give me away to someone else."

Tears brimming in her eyes, the little girl clutched the hem of her clothes and said sadly, "My father says he wants to arrange a childhood betrothal for me, and then Du Shenyan won't be able to marry me anymore."

The little boy turned around and said angrily, "What's there to fear? Worst comes to worst, we'll run away together. When we have children later, we'll come back. I don't believe he'll be able to beat me to death."

Yun Qing shook her head, seeming utterly speechless at the sight.

Shen Yu suddenly spoke. "It isn't impossible for you to become my disciple."

The poor boy turned around in delight. "Really?"

Shen Yu nodded and continued, "But you cannot return for a hundred years."

"A hundred years?"

Du Shenyan froze, then his face went pale as he asked, "If a hundred years pass, won't everyone be dead already?"

Shen Yu said, "Of course. Since you have chosen the path of cultivation, then worldly love, your parents and kin, and the little girl behind you must all be set aside."

When the girl heard this, she immediately began to cry, tugging at Du Shenyan's sleeve as she said, "Don't go. If you go, I'll never speak to you again!"

Du Shenyan sat there in a daze, wavering and unable to decide.

Shen Yu said calmly, "In three days, tell me your answer."

The young boy and girl left.

Yun Qing said calmly, "That boy's talent is mediocre. He isn't suited to cultivation."

Shen Yu asked lightly, "Are you called Yun Qing?"

The woman in green turned her head.

Shen Yu said, "You, on the other hand, are very well suited to cultivation."

Yun Qing curled her lips. "Mocking me?"

Shen Yu shook his head.

Though they had only met briefly a few times, Shen Yu's opinion of her was indeed very high.

Among the women Shen Yu had encountered in this life, Yun Qing might well have been the one most suited to the path of cultivation.

Decisive in killing, adept at scheming, and blessed with exceptional talent.

A woman like that could usually go very far on the road of cultivation.

"You should be more concerned about yourself."

Yun Qing gave a cold laugh and asked, "Li Yi will be here very soon. What do you plan to do?"

This was a question many people had already asked him. Shen Yu was somewhat impatient and said, "I don't know."

...

Li Yi of Azure Emperor City emerged into the world and publicly declared that he would come to settle accounts with Shen Yu.

One was the Azure Emperor's eldest disciple, the other the direct disciple of the Dao Sect's master. The spectacle was more than enough to draw attention.

Li Yi made no attempt to hide the matter, so it spread from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, until by the end, half the province was waiting to witness this clash between the two sacred lands.

And naturally, this also drew the attention of the two great sacred grounds of Eastern Ancestor Province.

In a certain part of Eastern Ancestor Province, where a sea of clouds veiled a range of towering mountains, a streak of light descended vertically above the palaces at a terrifying speed, without the slightest hesitation.

The figure plunged into the sea of clouds, then traveled forward through the mist before finally seeming to reach his destination, where he dropped abruptly.

Boom!

The rainbow light came to a sudden halt several dozen yards above the ground, and the spiritual energy all around trembled with it.

It was a young Daoist with sharp brows and a swordlike gaze, standing suspended in the air in Daoist robes, his bearing transcendently refined.

Soon after, another figure drifted in from afar. Unlike the young Daoist, who moved like a sudden gale, this woman was surrounded by multicolored radiance, flowing gently like a spring breeze.

Her expression was tranquil, and the cinnabar mark between her brows added the perfect finishing touch, making her seem like an immortal maiden.

It was none other than the Holy Maiden of the Jasper Pool, He Pianpian.

The two landed together atop a mountain peak.

The young Daoist looked toward the vast ruins in the distance and said indifferently, "I didn't expect you to come as well."

His voice was as cool as water, carrying not the slightest trace of emotion.

The Holy Maiden said, "Of course I had to come and see such a thing."

The Daoist asked, "To see Li Yi of Azure Emperor City, or Shen Yu of the Dao Sect?"

He Pianpian suddenly thought of their previous meeting, and shook her head. "I've seen Shen Yu once before, but I misjudged him. So I wanted another look. What about you, Wan Jianyi?"

The Daoist favored by the Kunlun Sacred Ground said lightly, "I'm here for the strongest. Naturally that's Li Yi of Azure Emperor City. Shen Yu of the Dao Sect has only been cultivating for too short a time; his realm is too low."

Suddenly.

The two of them turned to look into the distance at the same time.

That plain, unremarkable black cloud was moving slowly forward.

Wan Jianyi's expression gradually turned grave, and a blaze of fighting spirit surfaced in his eyes, causing the air around him to seem to still.

He Pianpian of the Jasper Pool said calmly, "Did you fight him once back then?"

"Back then I was still young, only just barely crossing the threshold of cultivation."

Wan Jianyi said frankly, "But I still lost, and was beaten very badly."

He Pianpian was somewhat surprised—not by the fact that he had lost, but by Wan Jianyi's frankness. It seemed that he, who had always looked down on the world, had already let go of that knot in his heart.

The black silhouette in the distance kept walking step by step forward. As it passed not far from them, it turned its head and glanced once, then continued on.

Both belonging to Daoist sacred lands, He Pianpian said lightly, "Can you beat him?"

The young Daoist shook his head. "If I were confident I could win, I would already have made my move."

...

Winter had arrived.

Shen Yu felt somewhat hungry, so he went to the Guiyun Immortal Sect's kitchen. Under the shocked gazes of countless servants, he made himself a bowl of noodles and carried it to the lakeshore. But before he could even eat, he turned his head and looked at the figure that had suddenly appeared.

It was an utterly ordinary man, wearing the rough cloth garments of a commoner, his skin dark and his feet bare.

He had a simple, honest face, and his build lacked the imposing height of Li Chan, nor did he give off any oppressive aura. Instead, he looked like a laborer accustomed to manual work.

Ordinary.

Yet with his arrival, a golden monkey vanished from above the head of the Buddha statue at Guiyun Immortal Sect and appeared by the lakeshore.

Dozens of Dao Sect enforcers appeared there at the same time.

Jiang Zhouyao appeared in the distance holding a half-open ancient book, and Yun Qing stood beside him.

Even Mu Changqing, the Grand Elder of Guiyun Immortal Sect, who had long remained hidden from the world, appeared here as well.

Countless cultivators converged here in an instant, and the atmosphere in the area grew heavy and tense.

The man in coarse clothes paid no heed to the surging winds and clouds around him, and only asked, "Are you Shen Yu?"

Shen Yu took a bite of noodles and nodded. "I am."