Chapter 18

The mountains were shrouded in deep night, with cold winds and treacherous paths.

Dark clouds blotted out the sky, leaving no stars or moon.

Though cultivators could see in the dark, the chill and baleful qi were heavier at night. If they didn’t encounter Ruin Spirits, it was better to hide first.

Feng Qing was still struggling with the map, while Li Ruoshui checked messages in the Tianyan Mirror. The Dharma Realm was already buzzing with discussions about the incidents on the Path of No Return. The Taiyi Sect Master hadn’t spoken up, but Xiang Yingshou, the Vice Master who usually handled Taiyi’s miscellaneous affairs, had come forward to explain. Taiyi had already dispatched disciples to the Path of No Return to resolve the matter and urged the cultivators there not to act rashly.

There were a few complaints, but they didn’t erupt into widespread resentment. Everyone who came to the Path of No Return understood that crises and opportunities coexisted. The major sects guarded the Return to Ruins Gap out of a sense of duty. After all, cultivators who found good things in the Return to Ruins Gap wouldn’t “pay tribute” to the guardians.

“The Fellow Daoists in the Dharma Realm are still keeping their cool,” Li Ruoshui said, raising an eyebrow.

Feng Qing seized the chance to snark, “After all, they’re not like that bunch from the Empire.”

Li Ruoshui pondered for a moment, her gaze falling on the busy Yao Changliu. She asked, “Fellow Daoist, what are you sprinkling?” The cave’s insects and snakes had already been driven out, and the bed and tea table were set up—only a coral treasure tree was missing. Were all medical cultivators this particular?

“I refined some medicine from the Ruin Spirits’ corpses. It emits their scent and can mask our auras,” Yao Changliu said with a gentle smile.

Li Ruoshui’s eyelid twitched. She exchanged a glance with Feng Qing, who had tossed aside the map. Internally, it was all “wow.” Though not from Medicine King Mountain, she was a disciple of Yao Wuming with top-tier talent. They’d struck gold! The two women’s suddenly fervent gazes startled Yao Changliu. She shrank back a little, trying to minimize her presence.

“Fellow Daoist, did you run into danger?” Chen Buyan’s question pulled Li Ruoshui from her thoughts.

Li Ruoshui replied, “We did!” Now safe, her description came with artistic embellishment, painting a vivid picture of dire peril. A Golden Core Realm Ruin Spirit—and they’d been lucky to escape.

“Luckily, Taiyi’s Fellow Daoist arrived in time, so we didn’t need her to collect our corpses. But speaking of which, the Tianyan Mirror suddenly lost its connection before the incident. Didn’t the Cave Heaven guardian of the Path of No Return sense anything beforehand? Or did she think, like me, that it was just a temporary network glitch?”

Chen Buyan said, “Ruin Spirits have varied divine abilities. A Cave Heaven one could slip past a peer’s senses.”

Li Ruoshui thought about it and found Chen Buyan had a point. There was still something big brewing in the Return to Ruins Realm. Lian Rusu was the top figure in the Nine Provinces, right? Yet she still fell in the Return to Ruins Realm. Li Ruoshui casually remarked, “I wonder who the guardian of the Path of No Return is.”

Unexpectedly, Chen Buyan had an answer: “Taiyi Vice Master Chu Jiangkuo.”

Li Ruoshui: “Ah?” She leaned back sharply.

That name appeared in the plot! But her debut was after Lian Rusu’s fall, when Taiyi Sect suffered heavy losses from those two’s love-hate entanglements. Chu Jiangkuo had emerged from Taiyi’s forbidden area. She was Sect Master Lian Rusu’s third senior sister, imprisoned for some mistake. She tried to turn the tide, forging a sword from her own bones after her dharma sword broke, but ultimately failed.

Was she imprisoned because of a disaster on the Path of No Return? If so, could things return to normal after the Tianyan Mirror was restored?

Li Ruoshui’s heart pounded wildly, like a shrill whistle blaring in her ears.

Chen Buyan continued, “Chu Zhenren has already slain the Cave Heaven Realm Ruin Spirit that emerged from the Return to Ruins Gap.”

Li Ruoshui doubted, “She really killed it all? What if there were two?” It was just a guess, but as soon as she said it, she sensed a profound, mysterious force in the void. Now even her hair stood on end. She quickly added, “I was just talking nonsense.”

Chen Buyan: “…” Such nonsense carried an air of “inauspiciousness.” “You mentioned the Taiyi Sect Master earlier—”

Li Ruoshui thought Chen Buyan was into gossip and eagerly explained, “Oh, that… Taiyi basically picked up a treasure and paid the price of ‘misfortune clinging to them.'”

Chen Buyan: “Has Fellow Daoist Shangshan cultivated a heaven-peering divine ability?”

Li Ruoshui was honest: “No.”

“Then how did Fellow Daoist know about future events? Was it a Tianyan omen?”

“I did some finger divination. I mean, suppose Cang Lang from Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace is hiding in Taiyi Sect—could the demonic path stay peaceful for fifty years? If the Return to Ruins Realm’s guardianship rotation fails and it falls, what would happen to the Nine Provinces?”

“Does Fellow Daoist Shangshan mean to change the old system? After the immortal sects’ guard duty ends, instead of handing it over to the demonic path, they continue bearing the responsibility?”

Li Ruoshui hurriedly denied, “I didn’t say that.” Adding a century of workload to the major sects—she’d be hunted down! Chatting idly with Chen Buyan relaxed her, and her thoughts jumped, shifting the topic back to Chen Buyan: “Fellow Daoist, you’re very concerned about the Nine Provinces and Return to Ruins matters?”

Chen Buyan: “The rise and fall of the world is our generation’s responsibility.”

Li Ruoshui felt deep respect. Compared to Chen Buyan’s righteous grandeur, she just wanted a safe haven when the great calamity came. “Fellow Daoist has ambitions for the world. Maybe pay attention to two people.”

Someone who could guide many Fellow Daoists in the Dharma Realm was probably at Nascent Soul Realm. Xie Chaosheng and Cang Lang were both at Heart Fixing Realm now. By the time they advanced, Fellow Daoist Chen Buyan could probably step into Cave Heaven too. Then she could slap each of those lovebrains.

Chen Buyan: “Who?”

Li Ruoshui: “Xie Chaosheng and Ji Canglang.”

The pure becomes purest, the turbid most turbid; pure and turbid unite, heaven and earth return to origin.

A moment later, Chen Buyan asked, “Why not Fellow Daoist?”

Li Ruoshui was shocked: “You want to care about me?” She was just an ordinary little cultivator. Was this inexplicable investment falling on her now?

Chen Buyan: “Mm, I care.”

Even from a mere “netizen,” such straightforward words made one’s heart flutter, bringing a soothing satisfaction.

Li Ruoshui was still smiling when Feng Qing, on the side, couldn’t take it. She threw a small pebble at Li Ruoshui.

Li Ruoshui: “?” She suppressed her smile and kicked the pebble back.

This quick mood swing gave Feng Qing goosebumps. She rubbed her arms: “Fellow Daoist Shangshan, can you not smile so—” Under Li Ruoshui’s seemingly murderous gaze, Feng Qing swallowed “disgusting” and opted for a milder word, “creepy.”

Li Ruoshui turned to Yao Changliu: “Did I smile?”

Yao Changliu hugged her pill cauldron and shrank back, nodding silently.

Li Ruoshui said calmly, “You’ve eaten too many mushrooms and are hallucinating.”

Feng Qing: “?” When did they eat anything? And what were mushrooms?

Taiyi Sect.

Lian Rusu pondered the information Li Ruoshui had let slip in bits and pieces.

Chaosheng was a rare prodigy in the past century. As for the demonic path’s Cang Lang, what was worth noting? After Demonic Prison Heavenly Palace, did she leave the demonic palace and hide in Taiyi’s mountains?

Lian Rusu grew alert and shared the scattered clues with Xiang Yingshou.

But Xiang Yingshou didn’t reply.

Half a quarter-hour later, a streak of escaping light shot across the sky like a meteor, landing at Nanhua Dojo in a few flashes. A figure in green stepped out from the glow—it was Taiyi Vice Master Xiang Yingshou.

Xiang Yingshou asked urgently, “Junior Sister, where did you get this information?” The leaders of the Immortal Dao Seven Sects and the demon, devil, and ghost paths usually contacted her directly. This involved both Return to Ruins and the demonic path—headache-inducing.

Lian Rusu said softly, “Tianyan Mirror.”

Xiang Yingshou fell silent for a moment, then sighed, “Junior Sister, were you tricked by someone in the Dharma Realm?”

She’d wanted to mention it earlier—she’d even seen her junior sister throw down 100,000 Spirit Jade Pills to join a bet!