Chapter 60: Emerging from Seclusion Part 2

Lian Rusu got no response from Li Ruoshui. Seeing her dazed and absentminded, she stood and drew closer.

“Junior Sister?” Lian Rusu called gently again.

Li Ruoshui’s wandering soul settled at the sound of Lian Rusu’s voice, but the sudden closeness startled her too.

Shock and joy mingled; flustered, she pressed the book to her chest, as if that could steady her pounding heart.

“I’ve only read a little; it’s not suitable to discuss the storybook’s charms with Junior Sister,” Lian Rusu said slowly, a touch of frustration. She could extrapolate from Daoist manuals, but storybooks failed to spark interest—probably because leisure pursuits were not for her.

Seeing Li Ruoshui silent, Lian Rusu lowered her lashes and said softly, “If Junior Sister is willing to tell me, that would be wonderful. If not, no matter—Junior Sister has important matters.”

The lingering tone was like a caressing breeze, leaving one entranced. Li Ruoshui nearly lost herself, her inner voice clamoring to agree.

Biting her tongue, Li Ruoshui snapped back and said helplessly, “But I really… haven’t read a single one!”

Fortunately, Lian Rusu had no desire for a long chat about storybooks and pivoted the topic to the “Feather Kingdom.”

The Feather Kingdom lay three thousand li east of the Merfolk Kingdom, comprising seventy-two sea islands and thirty-six sky-floating islands, with the Feather Sovereign’s palace known as Tiandu. Unlike water clans, Feather Kingdom folk preferred land and sky; besides Feather Folk within its borders, many beast clans lingered.

The rift bringing disaster to the Feather Race lay in Tiandu. If unresolved, the Feather Kingdom might face all thirty-six floating islands crashing into the sea—a tragic end.

“Outside Heavenly Capital Island in the Feather Kingdom lies the Incessant Wind; ordinary flying boats can’t approach. We’ll go to Lower Heavenly Capital Island first, where the Feather Race receives guests, then take their flying boat to Tiandu,” Li Ruoshui said.

The Feather Kingdom was one of her destinations. Before arriving at the Origin Sea, she had already gathered information. After obtaining a more accurate sea chart from reliable merfolk, she had even planned her route to the Feather Kingdom. Now, she could navigate around the underwater reefs and whirlpools with her eyes closed and arrive smoothly.

Lian Rusu let out a soft “Mm,” allowing Li Ruoshui to take the lead.

Li Ruoshui said, “There’s no time like the present—let’s set off right away!”

She had underestimated Yue Shenlin’s collection. She had no idea what other strange storybooks Yue Shenlin still had. If any more ended up in Lian Rusu’s hands, that would be trouble.

As expected, the little merfolk who engaged in scams as soon as they reached the Nine Provinces was no pushover.

True to her word, Li Ruoshui bid farewell immediately. Cave Heaven True Persons rarely showed their faces, and affairs on Penglai Island were handled by Yue Shenlin’s eldest sister, Yue Guanxing.

Since they were all on the same island, it wouldn’t do to just leave a message in the Tianyan Mirror. Li Ruoshui excitedly ran over to Yue Guanxing and explained her intentions in a few words.

Yue Guanxing had known they would leave and didn’t try to retain them. She only said that once it was over, they could return to Penglai Island as guests.

Li Ruoshui readily agreed. Before departing, she quietly reminded Yue Guanxing, “Now that travel between the Origin Sea and the Nine Provinces mainland has increased, it’s easier to circulate banned books from the Nine Provinces in the Origin Sea.”

Yue Guanxing smiled gently and appropriately, then said with a chuckle, “Very well.”

Li Ruoshui then went to bid farewell to Yue Shenlin.

Yue Shenlin desperately wanted to go to the Feather Kingdom with Li Ruoshui, but her mother and elder sister watched her closely and wouldn’t allow her to go out.

“You all go out for training one by one, leaving me here all alone, cold and desolate, utterly miserable,” Yue Shenlin said pitifully, gazing at Li Ruoshui in hopes that she would plead on her behalf.

Li Ruoshui vaguely knew the reason.

Yue Shenlin’s wayward Heavenly Blessing Dao might be related to the curse of the Eye of the Return to Ruins. Although the Thunder Spine Shark incident had concluded, vigilance in the Origin Sea hadn’t relaxed. How could the merfolk let her venture out?

“You can wander around in the Tianyan Mirror just the same—for example, you could try the new Heavenly Competition,” Li Ruoshui comforted her.

Yue Shenlin completely ignored the second half of Li Ruoshui’s words. She clapped her hands and grinned. “I had a friend from the Heavenly Craft Workshop bring me some books. In the Tianyan Mirror, you can only see the titles and not the contents.”

Li Ruoshui’s eyelid twitched. She stared fixedly at Yue Shenlin, barely holding back from warning her about the “bad luck.”

On the day of departure, the sky cleared after snow.

Outside Penglai Island, a luxurious sea vessel was moored.

Li Ruoshui and Lian Rusu boarded the sea vessel. Amid the crashing waves, they waved to their merfolk friends on the silver sand beach.

The merfolk were warm, hospitable, and generous. She would definitely come back next time.

Only after Penglai Hall faded into the distance did Li Ruoshui withdraw her gaze. Then Lian Rusu gazed at her and asked, “Does Junior Sister like making friends?”

Li Ruoshui thought for a moment and nodded vigorously. “I do.”

Toxic friends had their uses, and enemies had their ways of being dealt with. In the end, they were all paths to wealth and prosperity.

The more people she knew, the fuller her purse became.

Lian Rusu said, “So was Senior Sister right? People should travel around?”

“Not necessarily.” Li Ruoshui met Lian Rusu’s gaze, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. “Do what feels comfortable—there’s no need to go against your nature.”

She had to scramble through the mortal world, but she liked seeing Lian Rusu seated high on her lotus pedestal.

Lian Rusu’s gaze softened like spring stream water after ice melted. She lifted her eyes to the distant clouds and sky, where a few birds streaked by like flowing light, vanishing in an instant.

She responded softly, but suddenly felt that leaving the Nanhua Dojo wasn’t as difficult as she had imagined.

The sea vessel cut through wind and waves, still some distance from the Feather Kingdom.

Rather than seizing the time to meditate and cultivate, Li Ruoshui indulged her addiction to the Tianyan Mirror. She sprawled crookedly on the couch, scrolling through it.

“Where are you? Can you come back?”

“Fellow Daoist Shangshan, take me with you!”

The name seal flashed—it was Yue Shenlin’s wailing lament.

Li Ruoshui: “?”

Yue Shenlin whined pitifully: “My elder sister confiscated my storybooks and placed new restrictions on my Tianyan Mirror.”

Li Ruoshui nearly burst out laughing. “That’s rough.”

Yue Shenlin: “Yeah. Once you’ve seen the flowery world, how can you endure the boredom of Penglai Hall?”

Li Ruoshui: “What flowery world? The dishwashing realm?”

Yue Shenlin’s name seal dimmed, and she angrily went offline.

Li Ruoshui propped up her legs and laughed gleefully. When a knock-knock came from outside the cabin, she finally stopped laughing, suppressed her smile, took out a mirror, and tidied herself up to look presentable.

The door creaked open.

Bright moonlight dazzled her eyes.

Yet night had not yet fallen.

In a daze, the smile Li Ruoshui had just suppressed curved up again uncontrollably, blooming silently even brighter.

“It’s Senior Sister,” Li Ruoshui remarked.

She knew the only one who would knock on the cabin door was Lian Rusu, but she still had to say it.

“Did I disturb you?” Lian Rusu held the artifact Li Ruoshui had given her, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Li Ruoshui shook her head repeatedly. “No.”

She had grown rough from traveling outside and hadn’t thought to decorate the opulently furnished sea vessel cabin to her own tastes. As Lian Rusu stepped inside, Li Ruoshui’s eyes darted around: the vase was empty, without a single spring flower; the bronze censer was still, without a stick of incense lit.

Li Ruoshui sighed in regret and followed Lian Rusu into the room, her expression inexplicably bashful.

“I forgot to tell you earlier—I already promised Fellow Daoist Wu to embed it into the Tianyan Mirror.” Lian Rusu raised the artifact in her hand and sighed. “The Tianyan Sect fellows refined it, but I never truly used it.”

There had been one chance for them to play together, but it had been interrupted by sudden events.

After that, neither had brought it up.

Li Ruoshui was stunned—she hadn’t expected Lian Rusu to mention it. She laughed. “Then let’s play!”

Battling one-on-one wasn’t that exciting, and its benefits for cultivation were about the same as playing a game of go. Although it projected their consciousness into the artifact, not all divine abilities could be used; they were restricted by the game rules. Li Ruoshui enthusiastically played two rounds with Lian Rusu, realizing the fun wasn’t as great as in Heavenly Competition.

She was about to suggest inviting Lian Rusu to Heavenly Competition when she heard her say, “The Heavenly Competition in the Tianyan Mirror isn’t far off, but there are many areas for improvement.”

“Gaining power boosts through answering questions is a good idea, but the topics need more discussion. The Three Thousand Great Daos differ, but one thing is common: for Daoists, the most important are how to pass through the bottlenecks of Shedding Mortality, Heart Fixing, Core Formation, and so on.”

“The inauspiciousness from the Return to Ruins Realm grows ever stronger, while the primal qi of Tianyan grows denser—it’s the perfect time to advance cultivation amid the tribulations. Some methods originally passed only from master to disciple could be opened to the public at the right time.”

“There are many free Daoist texts in Langhuan, but because they’re easily obtained, some people look down on them. Perhaps they could be incorporated into Heavenly Competition.”

“By the way, the terrain in Heavenly Competition is too simplistic. Cultivators’ battles emphasize timing, geography, and harmony—perhaps we should reflect the leylines of the Nine Provinces into it.”

…

Li Ruoshui stared at Lian Rusu in astonishment.

No wonder she was the Sect Master. In an instant, she had elevated the game to the level of a trial secret realm, not much different from Wu Hanfeng’s ideas. No surprise the game had smoothly integrated into the Tianyan Mirror.

Was Wind Moon Heartless Sect the only crooked one among the Immortal Dao Seven Sects?

It turned out she really was the only one who just wanted to play games.

It was rare for Lian Rusu to say so much. She glanced at Li Ruoshui’s expression, fell silent for a moment, then added, “No wonder Heaven chose Junior Sister this time.”

Junior Sister Shangshan had vowed to stabilize the Return to Ruins, but what she did went far beyond that. Though she took the Emperor Sword, she didn’t disrupt the Empire; instead, she gave it a chance for change. No wonder the Shanyue True Form Chart and Emperor Sword followed her. The Human Emperor Dao—who said it had to be about becoming emperor?

Li Ruoshui pointed at herself. “So I’m the chosen one?”

Lian Rusu nodded. “Teaching through entertainment—Junior Sister is truly gifted with both talent and character.”

Li Ruoshui’s face flushed red. She cleared her throat and, thickening her skin, admitted, “I saw that cultivation is so arduous and wanted a slightly easier way to learn the Dao in this world.”

Although she wasn’t that kind of person, since her close friend said so, then that was that!