Chapter 380

Chapter 380: Brush Past

Even with Wen Zhi Lao Ren’s extraordinary knowledge, his eyes widened, and he froze upon hearing Lou Yun’s words. Only after a long while did he draw a deep breath, cautiously asking once more, "Brother, are you saying you, Elder Leng, and Elder Bei are sworn brothers?"

"Mhm!"

Wen Zhi Lao Ren’s mind instantly went blank. In his eyes, Lou Yun suddenly seemed to tower before him. The identities piled up—Third Brother to Leng Cangqiong, the White-Haired Reaper, and Beichen Ming, the seventh-grade skilled weapon maker; the little brother of the Five Great Masters like Ao Wushen and Wu Yang… With these combined, Lou Yun could practically walk sideways across the Spirit Weapon Star without anyone daring to lay a finger on him!

Lou Yun smiled faintly. "Elder Brother, didn’t you say you wished to meet my eldest brother? I have a suggestion. Why not leave here and head straight to my Divine Weapon Island? My eldest brother, second brother, and all the others are there. The environment is excellent, and the island is protected by a great formation, making it relatively safe too. Cultivate whenever you wish, undisturbed. What do you think?"

The invitation stemmed from Lou Yun’s desire to make amends for his guilt. After all, he was the one who had brought the murderer, Duan Wentian, to Wen Zhi Lao Ren, causing him to lose treasures collected over many years and nearly lose his life. He hoped to offer some compensation. Of course, Lou Yun also had a selfish motive: if Wen Zhi Lao Ren stayed on Divine Weapon Island, he could conveniently seek his wisdom whenever he encountered the unknown, avoiding the arduous journey back to the Great Snowfield.

Wen Zhi Lao Ren paused momentarily at Lou Yun’s offer before his eyes sparked with eagerness. "I… I can go? Elders Leng and Bei… Won’t my presence disturb their cultivation?"

"Of course you can go! Haha, you joke Elder Brother! Besides my eldest and second brothers, my entire Lou Family resides on the island, along with my other friends. Nearly a thousand people live there! Your arrival certainly won’t disturb them!"

Two beams of light shone from Wen Zhi Lao Ren’s eyes. Lou Yun had called it ‘his’ Divine Weapon Island, and now mentioned a thousand inhabitants. They couldn’t all be ordinary folk; most must be magical weapons masters. Owning such an island in the sea implied immense power and influence. If he went, he might meet the legendary Elders, and at the very least, his safety would be assured.

Thinking of Lou Yun’s standing across the Spirit Weapon Star, Wen Zhi Lao Ren hurriedly nodded. "I want to go!"

"Splendid! Divine Weapon Island is in the Eastern Sea. I worry about you traveling alone, Elder Brother. Let’s set off now, and I’ll take you to the island directly."

"Isn’t that too much trouble, Brother? I’ve traveled nearly everywhere on Spirit Weapon Star—you needn’t fear I’ll get lost! Just tell me the approximate location, I’ll find it. Don’t trouble yourself to escort me. Besides, you need to search for the rootless tree. The Northern Sea is closest from here—it’s the perfect starting point!"

Lou Yun’s insistence on accompanying him stemmed from concern about an ambush by the Nine Clans. With Wen Zhi Lao Ren’s Earth level cultivation, being a five-star magical weapons master, facing them would be dire. But he couldn’t reveal this truth. "It’s no trouble. My flying speed is swift, the round trip won’t take long! Besides, the island’s perimeter is veiled by formations. Without me guiding you in, Elder Brother, you genuinely couldn’t set foot ashore."

Wen Zhi Lao Ren truly understood nothing about formations, so this reason, albeit flimsy, managed to appease him. He no longer insisted on going alone.

Lou Yun swept his gaze once more over the underground retreat. He almost asked Wen Zhi Lao Ren to pack his belongings but swallowed the words, seeing nothing remained worth taking. "In that case, let’s depart immediately."

"Alright!"

Though decided, Wen Zhi Lao Ren couldn’t help but cast a final, lingering look around the place he’d inhabited for so many years. He sighed heavily before stepping onto the staircase.

Lou Yun recalled his Illusory Wolf Heavenly Fire spirit companion, took Xia Zhilan’s hand, and followed.

Wen Zhi Lao Ren seemed reluctant to leave this place quickly and moved at a leisurely pace. As they walked, he said, "Brother, this time you sought me out, yet I’ve been of little real help. I feel deeply ashamed. The Night Spirit Flower… Sigh. I knew about both the Day Spirit Flower and the Night Spirit Flower in theory, but never laid eyes on either!"

"Elder Brother, you’re too humble. My gains here have been immense." Lou Yun replied offhandedly, "I actually found a Day Spirit Flower. Only the Night Spirit Flower remains elusive!"

Hearing this, Wen Zhi Lao Ren stopped abruptly in front and wheeled around, staring intently at Lou Yun. "You found a Day Spirit Flower?"

Luckily Lou Yun reacted swiftly, halting before colliding with him. Yet, the old man’s sudden intensity puzzled him. He nodded. "Yes, quite recently."

"Where?"

"On an island in the Southern Sea. Oh, right, a volcano stood there. I found it beneath the volcanic magma, deep inside."

Wen Zhi Lao Ren’s expression turned profoundly peculiar. He studied Lou Yun for several long moments before sighing ruefully. "Brother… The Southern Sea has only one island with a volcano. It’s called the Southern Sea Volcanic Island…"

His words instantly made Lou Yun’s face mirror the strange expression. Lou Yun scratched his head. "Elder Brother, if my memory serves, you previously mentioned the fire surname clan resides near the Southern Sea Volcanic Island, didn’t you?"

"Indeed!"

A helpless, bitter smile spread across Lou Yun’s face. Back then, he’d been single-mindedly focused on cultivation. He’d assumed no one could live near such extreme volcanic heat and hadn’t bothered to investigate the island’s inhabitants afterward. So the very clan whose surname was ‘Fire,’ the ones he needed to find, had been right there beside him—and he’d passed them by without a trace.

Well. Another trip back to the Southern Sea Volcanic Island now beckoned.

Wen Zhi Lao Ren also shared a commiserating smile. "It’s alright now. Since you know the location, going again is straightforward. It’ll just cost some time, that’s all."

It was the only solace he could offer.

"True. But Elder Brother… why did my finding the Day Spirit Flower provoke such a big reaction from you?"

"Because the Day Spirit Flower and the Night Spirit Flower—in their properties, flowering periods, names, and habitats—are complete opposites. If we know the growing place of one, we can likely deduce the habitat of the other!"

"Oh!" A flash of hope appeared in Lou Yun’s eyes. "So if the Day Spirit Flower grows beneath volcanic magma, deep within the earth near extreme heat… then the Night Spirit Flower must grow in…"

Both men fell silent, minds racing independently. Before either could formulate the answer, Xia Zhilan, behind Lou Yun, spoke softly, "Beneath volcanic magma… that’s the extreme heat near the earth’s core. Since the Night Spirit Flower grows in the opposite environment, it must exist only in the ultimate cold."

Her words jolted them both back to awareness. The three exchanged glances and blurted out the same three words in unison.

"The Great Snowfield!"

The coldest place on all of Spirit Weapon Star was the Great Snowfield—the very land where they stood.

Snow fell almost year-round over the Great Snowfield. Its temperatures perpetually plunged low—damp, frigid, and harshly cold. The snow blanketing its surface felt ancient, layered over thousands upon thousands of years.

Upon shouting “The Great Snowfield,” excitement bloomed on both Lou Yun and Xia Zhilan’s faces. Lou Yun rejoiced at the unexpectedly swift discovery of the Night Spirit Flower’s likely location, right here in the snowy wastes. Xia Zhilan’s happiness mirrored his own, purely born out of her joy for him.

Lou Yun thought wryly, Just as well Wen Zhi Lao Ren happened to mention the nature of the Day and Night Spirit Flowers now. Had he waited until after we’d left this place, I’d have brushed past the Night Spirit Flower as surely as I missed the fire surname clan on that volcanic island.

His jubilation, however, proved fleeting. He quickly realized the vastness of the task: knowing the Night Spirit Flower might be somewhere on the Great Snowfield was a start, but the snowy plain’s expanse rivaled an ocean. Finding a single flower here would still be like hunting for a needle in that ocean, just as challenging as his earlier searches here for the Rainbow Begonia and Wen Zhi Lao Ren himself.

Lou Yun’s spirits plummeted once more into gloom. Wen Zhi Lao Ren, though, spoke once more. "While the Great Snowfield is intensely cold, a plant as extreme as the Night Spirit Flower must inhabit not just the cold, but the coldest heart of the frozen waste. Heh… I think I know where."

This wild roller-coaster of emotions was almost overwhelming for Lou Yun. He asked urgently, hope surging back, "Where?"

"It must be… within the Ice Ruins!"

"The Ice Ruins? What place is that?" Even as he asked, Lou Yun mentally pictured the Great Snowfield map Duan Wentian had given him earlier. He recalled no such location marked as ‘Ice Ruins.’

"The Ice Ruins… imagine something like an ice cavern, but vastly larger in scale. It’s where the ultimate cold of the entire Great Snowfield concentrates!" As he spoke, Wen Zhi Lao Ren suddenly frowned.

Lou Yun knew instantly that besides the extreme cold, something else must be amiss with this Ice Ruins.

His suspicion proved right. Wen Zhi Lao Ren continued. "Only… an ancient, unreasonable eccentric dwells within the Ice Ruins. A rash intrusion would guarantee an attack. His cultivation level, while perhaps not top-tier, involves a most peculiar technique. Practitioners of the same level find him nigh invincible; even those a step higher rarely dare provoke him!"

This strange individual immediately piqued Lou Yun’s intense curiosity. Lou Yun himself embodied this disparity—currently at human level cultivation, capable of advancing to Earth level, yet even Earth level magical weapons masters, Heavenly level foes, even king rank opponents might not be his match. So he asked, intrigued, "What exactly is strange about his cultivation technique?"

"He doesn’t cultivate by absorbing spiritual energy like the rest of us…" Wen Zhi Lao Ren paused significantly, "…He cultivates by absorbing freezing cold energy!"