The end of the Eight Winds Cliff trial was much the same as the original.
Jun YanZhi waited for a day in front of the exit array before Liu QianMo and the rest finally arrived. Everyone released the weight in their hearts and rejoiced that no mishaps had taken place. When Li Shu, Gu JinPing and the others saw the eerie scene at the mouth of the tunnel they turned pale and almost vomited.
After everyone calmed down, Wen Jing sketched out what had happened over the past few days.
Ninth disciple Bai Xiao, who was ordinarily timid and rarely spoke, was somewhat amazed at this moment: “We found the profound wood spirit stone?”
Jun YanZhi took out the spirit stone. The only difference about it that could be seen was that it was slightly larger than a girl"s earring and it gave off a strong spiritual energy. Holding it up to the sun, the spirit stone seemed to shimmer with a faint green color.
The disciples of Hui Shi peak rarely came across nice things. Liu QianMo wasn"t the kind of person who put on airs and wasn"t at all small-minded. A few younger people glanced over to look and sighed with deep feeling.
Li Shu smiled and said: “That we really found this spirit stone could be considered to be something to take pride in.”
Liu QianMo felt a little bitter at heart: “It"s a pity that Master is in seclusion once again. Even if we win the inheritance law for Hui Shi peak he would have no way of knowing.”
Gui XinBi curled his lips and said in a low voice: “Even if he knew what difference would it make? He probably wouldn"t place much importance in it.”
Peng Shao quickly responded: “Don"t talk nonsense.”
Everyone fell silent.
Gu JinPing spoke up: “Now that we"ve found the “profound wood”, either Senior Brother Jun or Junior Brother Mo will inherit the 《Restoration Sutra》. Who will it be granted to?”
Liu QianMo glanced at Mo ShaoYan and said softly: “We should discuss this after we return.”
Mo ShaoYan wordlessly returned his look then dropped his eyes in silence. He knew that since the “Profound Wood spirit stone” had been found by Jun Yanzhi, the “Restoration Sutra” would most likely be inherited by senior brother Jun. Moreover, the disciple who obtained the inheritance would most likely become the next peak master. Senior brother Jun"s ability, wisdom, and cultivation were all much better than his own. He certainly held no expectations for himself.
Even if he had little hope from the beginning and knew he wasn"t suitable to be the successor, he still entertained a few thoughts and hoped for a moment of glory. Now his fantasy was shattered and although he was happy for senior brother Jun on the surface, at heart he still felt a little bitter.
Li Shu put his arm on Mo ShaoYan"s shoulder and sighed as he said: “It"s not ours so forcing the issue is useless. I"ve already realized that in this life I"ll never be able to build my foundation. I will spend my time raising spirit gra.s.s as idle as a wild crane. Isn"t that also a kind of life? We will live for a hundred years. In the human world this would be considered a long time.”
Mo ShaoYan laughed: “Don"t let eldest senior brother hear you"re being lazy and not working on your cultivation. Isn"t the peak examination next year?”
Li Shu said: “We"re here just to make up the numbers. When the time comes, just have fun.”
Gui XinBi said with an odd expression: “Eldest senior brother, a disciple of Hong Xiu peak once said that our master already pa.s.sed on his inheritance scroll. Did this really happen?”
Wen Jing raised his head slightly to look at him.
Duan Xuan had already pa.s.sed on his inheritance scroll? Why hadn"t this been mentioned in the novel?
Liu QianMo frowned: “You shouldn"t listen to what other people say.”
He Ling asked: “What"s going on?”
Li Shu responded: “When we pa.s.sed the eternal spring valley, we met a disciple of Hong Xiu peak and there was a dispute. One of the disciples said: ‘Your master inherited an ancient scroll in his early years but couldn"t keep it! Now you"re coming to s.n.a.t.c.h this from us?" That disciple was promptly reprimanded by on his senior brothers to shut up.”
He Ling creased his brow: “You didn"t fight with them?”
Liu QianMo said angrily: “You and fourth junior brother were not there. It was only myself and one of them had built his foundation. What fight? Don"t tell me you wanted us to come back with broken arms and legs?”
Gui XinBi said: “I just want to know if our master ever pa.s.sed on this inheritance scroll before?”
Liu QianMo looked at him coldly: “If you want to know you"ll have to ask master, how should I know?”
Gui XinBi pursed his lips and didn"t respond.
Gu JinPing asked with curiosity: “After the integration of the inheritance scroll and the cultivator"s consciousness, would anything be left behind?”
Peng Shao said: “……I don"t know. But since the disciple from Hong Xiu peak said something like that, then there must be something to it.”
Gui XinBi said softly: “I"m afraid that it might have been the master of Hong Xiu peak that could have said something in private to his disciples. Those who talk behind people"s backs are extremely vile.”
He Ling was silent.
Liu QianMo felt bitter and said softly: “Even if was true, it would have been a long time ago. We should practice our cultivation regardless of what others say.”
Wen Jing: said” “Senior uncle has a strong-minded disposition. Regarding the 《Restoration Sutra》, he is determined to win. I think his disciples are probably very miserable. Now that they won"t be able to win the profound wood spirit stone, they will probably be punished.”
Smoothing things over, Peng Shao said: “Right, right. What more could you ask for at this point? We found the profound wood spirit stone. Right now"s the time that we should be celebrating yet you"re worried about other people getting upset? Enough with that discussion……”
As the mood gradually eased, Wen Jing handed the profound wood spirit stone to Jun YanZhi: “Senior Brother?”
Jun YanZhi was meditating while gazing at a pile of bodies in the distance. Hearing Wen Jing speak, he turned his head to look at him. Returning to himself after a while he responded: “……Mm.”
Wen Jing raised an eyebrow: “……Mm what?”
Jun YanZhi bowed his head. His shoulders quivered faintly as he collected the spirit stone and stood up.
467 lives……
The majority of them had indeed died at their own hands……
The rumors were not wrong. He truly was a coldhearted monster.
Without further ado, Liu QianMo"s group of disciples departed. Returning to the Qing Xu sword sect they reported the disaster at Eight Winds Cliff. Upon hearing the news, Xi Fang promptly sent a person to Water Moon Palace to pa.s.s the message.
Within a few days, all the disciples that had gone to Eight Winds Cliff for their trials had returned downcast. Upon finding out that Hui Shi peak had found the “profound wood spirit stone”, they couldn"t even close their mouths from shock. The disciples of Hong Xiu peak were almost at the point of tears from frustration.
Ancient scroll inheritors often had higher cultivations than the others in the same sect, thus they commonly became peak masters. But occasionally their character wasn"t suited to the position and so someone else would become the peak master and they would a.s.sist from the side or serve only as a deterrent instead.
In a flash, the news spread throughout Qing Xu sword sect that Jun YanZhi would most likely become Hui Shi peak"s next master.
The first thing that Wen Jing did when he returned home was to take out the demon beast fruit that he had collected. Pulling the large tortoise over, he fed one to it. He had originally thought that the python would come. He didn"t expect that even after waiting until the middle of the night he still wouldn"t see a trace of him. Putting the demon beast fruit on the table, he went to bed.
In a half asleep daze, he vaguely felt the bed suddenly dip down as something very large crawled onto it.
A smooth flexible body crept into the quilt. Slowly it curled and wrapped tightly around him.
Wen Wing lightly patted its head: “……You"re……” what happened to being cool and elegant?
Tongue extending to occasionally brush Wen Jing"s neck, the snake"s head rested on his inner wear while its tail looped tightly around one of his thighs.
“……How do you expect me to sleep like this?”
The big snake"s head lay on Wen Jing"s chest as it calmly flicked its tongue out again, then finally, it released his body.
Wen Jing rubbed its head: “I"ve been asking you for such a long time. When will you become my demon beast?”
“(hiss) ーー” the snake twisted on Wen Jing"s body.
“What are you hesitating for? “Are you shy?”
“(hiss)ーー”
” ‘Hissing" is that a yes or a no?”
“(hiss)ーー”
Wen Jing stroked its head: “Sleep then.”
“(hiss)ーー” The large serpent looked for a comfortable position and once again wrapped itself around Wen Jing.
Tired after many days of hard work, Wen Jing finally fell deeply asleep.
There was no chapter t.i.tle so I left that spot blank. This is the first of the VIP chapters and honestly, I felt a little traumatized looking at the size. It"s three times larger than a normal chapter so I"m going to have to split it up to give myself peace of mind. Don"t ask me why since I"m not on a schedule, it"s more like a denial of reality thing.
I"ve switched to a new job so that"s a relief but I"m also used to being super lazy now so it"ll be hard to translate again. As a reminder, if you feel you can do it better an faster, have at it. Just let me know so I can go back to being lazy.
Does anyone have a good recipe for Vietnamese Egg Meatloaf (Cha Trung Hap)? My local place went on vacation for a month and I really miss it. I can look up recipes but it"s hard to know if they"re reliable since they"re not popular enough for anyone to comment with their thoughts like normal recipe sites.