Chapter 69 Part 2

By the time Jiang Yiguang stretched and returned to the room, Fu Juan, leaning against the sofa, had fallen asleep with her eyes closed. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, her brow tightly furrowed, her body trembling involuntarily, as if fallen into an endless nightmare. Jiang Yiguang lowered her eyes and mused inwardly, If only Bo Qi were here, he could devour nightmares. She wanted to wake her, but for Fu Juan to fall into a dream amidst such noise, she must have been utterly exhausted. She… should she pull her out of the nightmare?

Her unconsciously raised hand was already lightly touching the tightly furrowed space between Fu Juan’s brows.

Before Jiang Yiguang could think it through, Fu Juan abruptly jolted awake from the nightmare. She seized Jiang Yiguang’s wrist. Those dark, deep, abyss-like eyes were utterly cold and chilling, like an eternal night capable of sucking in all light. Yet such coldness lasted only an instant. The edges and sharpness vanished, her eyes gradually becoming like a pool of warm spring water, faintly harboring a relief as if having survived a catastrophe.

But she didn’t let go.

The force gripping her wrist was strong, far beyond what someone tormented by endless illness should possess.

Jiang Yiguang lowered her eyes, looking at the blooming redness where skin touched skin. It was clear without thinking: five vivid finger marks would be left on her wrist.

“What did you dream about?” Jiang Yiguang softened her voice.

“Sorry.” Coming back to her senses, Fu Juan released her hand. She rubbed her forehead, a trace of confusion flickering in her eyes. In that bizarre, dazzling dreamscape, she had traversed clouds, seas, and waves alone, arriving at a place no predecessor had ever reached. But when she looked around, only utter solitude remained. Wasn’t this the future she’d envisioned countless times? Yet why, when the dream was so vivid it felt real, would she resist that loneliness?

“Jiang Yiguang.” Fu Juan murmured the name of the person before her.

Jiang Yiguang gave an “Mm,” her puzzled gaze falling on Fu Juan. At this moment, she could actually glimpse some genuine emotions in Fu Juan’s expression, even sense a rare vulnerability. She couldn’t laugh. She just quietly sat beside Fu Juan, waiting for a sequel that almost certainly wouldn’t come.

After a long, long silence, Fu Juan spoke again.

She asked, “Do you like this kind of life?”

Jiang Yiguang didn’t speak. She kept her head down, watching the finger marks on her right wrist slowly fade. They were like Fu Juan herself: leaving a deeply etched mark, then silently retreating and disappearing. Perhaps, in the end, nothing would remain. She slowly exhaled a breath of impure energy and answered irrelevantly, “My attitude toward many things is ‘none of my business.’ What I want to do is find my mother. And becoming stronger is the only way.” She smiled and continued, “By then, I can just lie flat again.”

Fu Juan said calmly, “But with the great tribulation of the Mountains and Seas, Aunt Jiang won’t stay out of it.”

How could Jiang Yiguang not know this? She blinked: “What do future matters have to do with me right now?”

“Not right,” Fu Juan retorted. But meeting Jiang Yiguang’s smile-filled eyes, she abandoned the search for logical loopholes in Jiang Yiguang’s words. After thinking for a moment, she asked again, “This time, do you absolutely have to go to the Mountains and Seas Realm?”

“Yes.” Jiang Yiguang nodded without hesitation. She abruptly stood up, crossed her arms, and looked down at Fu Juan curled on the sofa. She raised an eyebrow and smiled, “You change your mind quickly. I remember in the military formation we met in Jiang City, you wanted to teach me how to fight enemies. Why is it different now? ‘You can only rely on yourself’—wasn’t that what you wanted to express before?”

Fu Juan was speechless.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to explain.

Reaching up, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. She cleared her throat and said softly, “Then let’s go together.”

–

The group returned smoothly from Takamagahara.

The Dao Court cultivators went back for a meeting. Jiang Yiguang, relaxed, took a car home.

The Jiang Grand Residence: the formation hadn’t been triggered, and the living room no longer presented the utter chaos that made Jiang Yiguang’s heart stop. The room’s layout had slightly changed. Tushan Yi and Bai Ze each occupied a separate armchair, locked in a game battle on their phones. Clearly, these two had switched to a relatively civilized, and less wallet-draining, mode of conflict.

Jiang Yiguang breathed a sigh of relief.

Grabbing a can of Happy Water from the fridge, she contentedly settled back onto the sofa, emptying her mind completely.

It wasn’t until a round ended that Bai Ze and Tushan Yi, after glaring at each other, tacitly moved closer to Jiang Yiguang.

Tushan Yi’s eyes curved alluringly, a coquettish smile hidden in her moist gaze. She couldn’t wait to ask, “How was it? Success?”

Before Jiang Yiguang could answer, Bai Ze, bonelessly nestled in the sofa, answered in a lazy tone, “Otherwise, the ones returning would be missing limbs. Not like this.” Pausing, she asked excitedly, “I heard you humans are researching thermobaric weapons capable of damaging divinity? How’s the progress? With foreign divinity to study this time, you should be able to jump a level, right? Give me one later; I want to use it against Taotie!”

Jiang Yiguang eyed Bai Ze suspiciously.

Tushan Yi interjected coolly, throwing a bucket of cold water over Bai Ze: “Don’t doubt it. He’d swallow you together with the Mystic Weapon.”

Taotie, born from the untalented son of the Jinyun Clan. Greedy for food, covetous of wealth, the embodiment of the glutton. His experiences could be summed up in one sentence: eating, or searching for something to eat. Among the Four Evils of the Mountains and Seas, Taotie was the most reckless. He held immense interest in the only Bai Ze between heaven and earth, once ordering his subordinates to capture her, just to stew her and taste the flavor. Those demon beasts and mountain gods at odds with Taotie, upon hearing this, not only didn’t defend Bai Ze but even said things like “share a cup of the broth.”

Tushan Yi, recalling Bai Ze’s dark history, laughed heartily. After a moment, under Bai Ze’s furious, murderous glare, she stifled her laughter. Covering her mouth and clearing her throat, she straightened her face and asked, “So, have you made preparations to enter the Mountains and Seas?”

Jiang Yiguang smiled freely: “Of course.”

–

Xuanzhen Dao Court.

After offering sacrifices to the Yin spirits dispersed over Takamagahara, the divine power from Dongying was all sent to the research department.

However, after a brief meeting, the Dao Court still hadn’t released the cultivators who had gone to Takamagahara. Instead, they used various instruments to probe the divine power on their bodies, ensuring they hadn’t been contaminated by Dongying’s divinity.

“Weren’t they intimidated by the Ancestral Dragon’s arrow? How could they be contaminated?”

“Is the Dao Court making a mountain out of a molehill?”

“With the Water God’s Seal, Jiang Yiguang could go back and rest.”

Exhausted sighs rippled through the crowd. The cultivators were slumped everywhere, utterly lacking the transcendent aura of lofty masters. This wait lasted half an hour. Tao Junran, emerging from the research lab, didn’t look well. His sharp gaze swept over the disciples below, and he announced loudly, “Wang Xuanming, Fu Juan, remain.”

“Hm? Could there really be a problem?” The drowsy Zhao Sujie, hearing Fu Juan’s name, instantly jolted awake. She fished out her phone, quickly sent a message to Jiang Yiguang, and then turned, leaving with the crowd.

“Alchemist, is there a problem?” Wang Xuanming glanced at Fu Juan, his tone urgent.

Tao Junran looked at Wang Xuanming with a complicated expression. Extending a hand and tapping, several Spell Talismans flew out, transforming into golden chains that bound Wang Xuanming. Under the other’s incredulous, stunned gaze, Tao Junran stroked his beard and sighed, “It’s not Dongying’s divinity, but there’s an unfathomable force that even the Six Jia Arcane Gates couldn’t calculate. Before confirmation, Xuanming, you’ll have to stay at the Dao Court.”

Wang Xuanming spoke, stunned, twisting his body as the Tai’e Sword on his back emitted a low hum: “What thing? How could it be?” Seeing Tao Junran’s gaze darken, he fell silent for a while, then could only accept this outcome dejectedly. But… what about Fu Juan? Thinking this, he asked aloud.

“She’s fine.” Tao Junran said gently. He looked at Fu Juan with affection and said slowly, “She ought to know about this matter.” The incident eight years ago had misplaced everything. Now, Fu Juan had stood up again, showing signs of improvement. No one was more suited for that position than her.

Fu Juan understood Tao Junran’s meaning, but she had no sense of belonging to the current Dao Court. Like a blade falling, cleanly cleaving her life in two. Even if the wound healed, the scar remained. Lifting her eyes to meet Tao Junran’s gaze, she spoke to her parents’ old friend: “I need to go to the Mountains and Seas Realm again.”

Tao Junran’s eyelid twitched violently. He said urgently, “Azure Hill hasn’t agreed to let the Dao Court team enter.” The Dao Court’s elite squads were still deemed inadequate in the eyes of Azure Hill.

“Mm.” Fu Juan said calmly, “So I’m going myself.”

“No, this is too dangerous!” Tao Junran flatly refused. The Mountains and Seas Realm was not Takamagahara. Whether the Four Evils, Azure Hill, Kunlun, or others, in the Great Wilderness, every faction possessed power that could crush Takamagahara. “Although we succeeded in that endeavor, we must still act prudently.”

“Will we just wait until the Mountains and Seas completely overlap the Human Realm?” A dark fire seemed to burn in Fu Juan’s desolate eyes. Her lips pressed into a line. She didn’t yield an inch under Tao Junran’s suddenly erupted imposing aura. She said, “Alchemist, I have a reason I absolutely must go.”

Tao Junran frowned: “Speak.”

“Fire Baleful Energy.” Fu Juan lifted a smile toward Tao Junran, her eyes glittering like starlight. “If it’s not eliminated, the Dao Bone will forever be suppressed.”

Tao Junran: “Then let Fellow Daoist Shenxiao go with you!”

Fu Juan said lightly, “But what if another Mountains and Seas Rift appears in the Mortal Realm? Another Bingyi calamity? The Mystical Families have already fallen. The Mortal Realm lacks top-tier strength.”

“If I don’t personally cross the Mountains and Seas, how can I stand upon its peak? If my mother were here, she wouldn’t stop me either.” Fu Juan’s voice was soft, yet carried a firm, unyielding power. “Alchemist, one may hear the Dao in the morning and die in the evening, content.”

Tao Junran was silent for a very long time. He raised his hand, his broad palm landing on Fu Juan’s shoulder. He sighed, “Be careful.”

Fu Juan nodded.

After listening to countless earnest words of instruction, Fu Juan finally left the Dao Court with slow steps.

Night had fallen.

Light fell upon her, casting an extremely long shadow. Her expression was mostly hidden in the darkness. In the blink of an eye, those starlight-filled eyes turned a cold, bleak gray.

What Dao was she seeking? She was repaying a debt of gratitude.

Jiang Yiguang wanted to wander the Mountains and Seas without restraint, to see all the spring scenes of the four seas. Then she would use all her power to clear the Mountains and Seas. Only that.