Chapter 32

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Chapter 32

The chick, originally a Green Phoenix, gradually turned entirely black from consuming the worm essence, making onlookers believe it to be a sinister creature.

It suddenly lifted its head, its expression still pure and innocent, and upon seeing Ji Yang drawing a spiritual bond, it hopped over excitedly.

For nearly a hundred days, the phoenix egg had been under the constant care of his spiritual energy, and it had already submitted.

Once the spiritual bond was formed, Ji Yang softly cautioned it not to fly too high, lest it attract the pursuit of the Demon Servant.

The young man held the worm core, pondered for a moment, and then tilted his head back to swallow it.

While it was still relatively safe, he had some room to transform and adapt.

The Thousand-Year Worm Core was smooth and cold, like swallowing a gold pearl, weighing heavily in his throat and intestines.

Ji Yang closed his eyes, bracing himself for the onset of demonism.

As it entered his abdomen, countless frenzied screams erupted, like a crimson hurricane sweeping toward his Spiritual Sea!

“It hurts, it hurts!!”

“What kind of monster are you? Don’t eat me!!”

“Worm, it’s a worm, a worm!!”

The sandworm had devoured countless beings over a thousand years, and their lingering pain and grievances, mingled with the Demonic Energy, were now concentrated within the core.

There were desperate howls, cries of anguish and resentment, as if even the common birds and beasts, right before death, screamed in anger, now frantically rebounding upon his spiritual platform!

If it weren’t for the recent fortification of the Path of Emotionless within him, his spirit would have crumbled under such a heavy blow, fracturing into pieces, ultimately losing sanity and becoming completely mad.

Ji Yang stood calmly with his divine consciousness deep within the Spiritual Sea, able to see the countless lingering souls screaming in torment above, yet he remained serene and unbothered.

The tidal wave of vengeful spirits seemed to miss him entirely, and at that moment, their hatred intensified, wanting to rip him apart!

The young man slowly raised his eyes.

Since he has entered the Path of Emotionless, why should he be moved?

The overwhelming spiritual energy from the worm core continuously poured into him, lifting his physical body as if with immense force, as the Techniques the giant worm had devoured were beyond what a common person could endure.

Ji Yang took a steady breath, allowing the turbulence of numerous skills to flow within him, floating in mid-air as his hands formed seals to contain the vast spiritual energy spilling around him.

Even if he cannot retain it today, he must ensure some remains.

He needed to live to find Little Wu and bring her home.

Even the Young Phoenix paused in surprise, dragging its long Phoenix Tail to fly into the spirit master’s embrace, joyfully chirping as if it were taking a bath, stretching its wings in the abundant spiritual energy to catch this endless treasure.

A twenty-year-old mortal body trying to accept such an immense amount of Cultivation could only forcefully balance and consume, trying to retain as much as possible.

Before he could establish his own Magical Formation, he had already risen from ninth rank to well over sixth rank, simultaneously suffering severe losses while quickly absorbing more.

For a moment, he had to stabilize various details while also protecting his internal organs, ensuring they wouldn’t collapse or dissolve under the repeated shocks.

In an instant, the mournful cries of demons pierced through the Spiritual Sea.

“I am so miserable!!”

“My life is so full of suffering!!!”

There were the wails of infants, the howls of men, and the piercing sounds of sandworms crunching the bones of corpses, breaking them inch by inch.

Ji Yang remained clear-headed, appearing calm and composed as he lowered his gaze and took a breath.

With his heart steady, the long banner remained unmoving.

The countless mournful inner demons howled past him, turning into nothing but a wisp of smoke.

The young man slightly lifted his eyes to see the young black phoenix swirling in the chaotic spiritual wind before him.

The strange energy on its body was very faint; if he continued to purify his heart for a while longer, it would dissipate almost entirely.

The impact and test brought by the worm core gradually stabilized.

There was no sudden descent into madness, nor loss of mental clarity, as his Cultivation had swiftly risen by several ranks, all due to his connection with the Path of Emotionless.

If he had emotions, he would likely be overwhelmed by sorrow and perish by now.

But Ji Yang still remembered deeply how she had died beneath his sword on that fateful day of grief.

“…I’m afraid I’ll need to cultivate here for several more days.”

The young man’s long hair flowed gently as he breathed steadily and spoke softly, “Thank you for staying here with me.”

The chick was absorbing the overwhelming spiritual energy within the barrier, its size now larger than when it had hatched, doing the same as Ji Yang.

“Let me give you a name,” Ji Yang said, his hands swiftly forming several seals to stabilize the spiritual formation, allowing him to think of other things as well. “Your little leopard is called Flower Orange; I’ll call you Xuan Zhi, okay?”

Little Zhi landed on his shoulder, responding obediently.

The young man and the bird hid in the darkest depths of the Demon Realm, their spiritual traces scattered and erased by the winds and sands.

Coincidentally, inside the Mysterious Void Cave, Gong Wu also spent long and monotonous months.

Her master wrote a letter each month informing her of the details, and she occasionally replied.

Most of the time, she either helped Hu Fengyu with acupuncture and healing or practiced meditation alone to solidify the vast Cultivation she had rapidly gained after numerous life-and-death encounters.

Hu Fengyu not only suffered from atrophied legs, requiring a wheelchair to move around, but his entire body was also weak to an unreasonable extent.

Recovering from a state of near death to a point where he could speak and smile again was a great achievement.

Yet he was also afraid of pain and could hardly tolerate any degree of forceful pulling.

Gong Wu initially taught the little foxes how to perform health-restoring techniques, but they were all too timid to touch him. Even the Fox Ancestor knelt quickly, repeatedly apologizing as soon as Gong Wu frowned.

…What kind of recovery is this?

Gong Wu was merciless with this Fox Ancestor, daily guiding his arms in circular motions to unblock his meridians, but as soon as she started, the beautiful fox would furrow his brows and cry out in pain.

“I haven’t even applied any force,” the little girl said calmly. “Your shoulder’s blood flow is blocked; do you not want to recover?”

Hu Fengyu floated like a delicate flower, saying softly, “Could you be a bit gentler?”

Her techniques for dispersing blood stasis were taught by Cheng Ji, who, despite looking like a gentle big sister, could make an old man cry out in pain with just a mention of bones.

…I’m already being very gentle.

Gong Wu was about to adjust his arm again when the Fox Ancestor grimaced and pleaded, “Be gentler, it hurts, it hurts, ow… take it slow.”

“Then I won’t treat you,” Gong Wu said, letting go. “Just stay like this.”

Hu Fengyu lowered his long eyebrows, reluctantly placing his arm back into her hands.

The little girl assumed a horse stance, gathered her energy, and thrust her elbow into his arm.

“It hurts, it hurts, ow ow ow!!”

“Just push it to this point!” Gong Wu pressed down on his shoulder and twisted again, frowning, “It’ll only hurt for a moment!”

Then came a sharp crack, and both the man and the fox froze in a tense standoff.

Gong Wu: “…!”

“It’s broken,” Hu Fengyu glanced at her from the corner of his eye and said softly, “You did this.”

Is your arm made of paper?!!

She struggled to treat him, watching as the light outside the cave shifted from dawn to dusk, time slipping away.

On November 7th, for the first time, she could only receive a letter and a gift from her master.

As she unrolled the bamboo tube, eight pieces of butterfly candy tumbled out.

Gong Wu turned her back, clutching the candy and staring at it for a long, long time.

February 15th next year was her senior brother’s birthday; she still didn’t know if she would get to see them.

Her days felt as bland as plain water, and the Fox Ancestor wasn’t faring much better.

After being suspended and punished for over two hundred years, he might as well have sought rebirth through a lotus flower like Nezha, the Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Both the man and the fox were enduring their days in hardship, sometimes reminiscing about the past when they grew weary from their training.

Whenever the Fox Ancestor grew nostalgic, he would only ever miss one person.

His deceased wife, He.

The celestial fox’s lifespan was far too long, and gradually, he even forgot the faces of his parents.

He and his wife had practiced cultivation together in Rainbow Ridge, but she had stopped at the Jade Balance Realm, living for three to four hundred years before passing away.

Meanwhile, he continued to ascend, alone nurturing the entire Hu Clan at Rainbow Ridge, guiding their lineage onto the rightful path of seeking immortality and enlightenment.

In the end, though he had grandchildren around him and guests as numerous as clouds, it seemed he was the only one left—a white-bearded fox.

Whenever Hu Fengyu mentioned his late wife, all the foxes in the cave would listen quietly, honoring the love and grace of their ancestral matriarch.

Beyond that, he reminisced about the grass, trees, flowers, and birds of Rainbow Ridge, and all the peaceful, tranquil moments from the past.

As he grew older, the old fox would often ramble on about the trivial matters of the past few hundred years.

He occasionally asked Gong Wu who she was thinking about.

Gong Wu smiled and always replied the same.

“I’m thinking about my senior brother.”

“Tell me about him.”

She nodded, grinding herbs with a mortar and pestle, and softly began to recount stories from her childhood.

The year Master secluded himself for a retreat, she was ten years old, and her senior brother was fourteen. Before departing, Master had instructed them that this retreat would last at least three years, possibly up to twenty, and they must take good care of each other until his return.

The little girl, with tears in her eyes, watched as Master entered the inner palace. Even after the bronze door closed, she lingered, unwilling to leave, standing steadfastly before the door.

Master Donglu came to coax her, and Palace Lord Miande tried to soothe her, but she remained resolutely in place, refusing to budge even as darkness fell.

"Children," Hu Fengyu remarked, visibly moved, "can be so stubborn, beyond reason."

"My senior brother didn’t come to see him off that day," Gong Wu recalled. "He was probably brooding in silence."

She waited and waited, standing in the deep of the night until Ji Yang arrived with a lantern.

Ji Yang didn’t attempt to persuade her; instead, he brought two rolls of bedding and lay down beside her in front of the inner palace.

Quietly, he simply stayed by her side.

"Later, I realized I knew Master wouldn’t emerge."

"Then why did you keep waiting?"

Gong Wu looked down at the mortar and pestle, pondering for a long while before responding, "Perhaps it was just a child’s way of expressing sorrow."

The children of Moonfire Valley were precocious, understanding that tears and tantrums would yield no benefits.

Suddenly faced with a prolonged separation from her closest companion, all her fears and anxieties had no outlet.

That night, as she lay at the palace door, she remained awake, clutching her senior brother’s hand tightly.

Ji Yang’s hand was always warm.

The days that followed were not easy.

There was no bullying or ostracism among the disciples; all the masters treated everyone equally, without favoritism.

Moonfire Valley was impoverished, and everyone endured the hardships together.

The valley’s livelihood was sustained partly by voluntary payments from patients and partly by cultivating medicinal herbs and selling elixirs.

From the elderly with gray hair to the six or seven-year-old children, anyone who could walk had to work, much like farmers.

"I remember the toughest times were during the New Year."

Hu Fengyu, while meditating, listened to her recount the past and murmured, "Was it so dire that you didn’t even have dumplings to eat?"

Gong Wu, moved by the memory, replied sorrowfully, "No, that year… Master Ancestor shared half a pig with us."

It was more than half a pig, so large she could barely carry it!

The first New Year after Master left, Moonfire Valley had just cleared all its old debts and celebrated joyously.

Not only were the Six Palaces adorned with lanterns and decorations, but they also distributed the fattened mountain pigs and fish, nurtured with herbs, allowing each palace to enjoy a prosperous year.

The herb-drying courtyard temporarily became a bustling hub for distributing New Year goods, with the bookkeeper summoning each palace’s steward to collect their allotted shares of grain, fish, meat, and other provisions.

Although morning practice and lessons were still held on New Year’s Eve, most young disciples couldn’t contain their excitement; they eagerly rushed to the herb-drying courtyard to help carry the goods and meat, chatting and laughing merrily throughout.

The little girl finished her morning lesson early at Miande Palace and joined the senior brothers and sisters from other palaces at the herb-drying courtyard.

The bookkeeper had just tallied Liu Jia Palace’s portion and, stroking his beard, declared, "Your palace is allotted sixty-eight mountain flower pigs, three hundred herbal fish, and other items as listed; no taking more!"

The senior brothers and sisters from Liu Jia Palace, overjoyed, acknowledged with cheers and hurried back to gather their people.

“Not enough! We can’t handle all these pigs; call a few dozen more people to help!”

“Senior Sister Aoshuang, we have hundreds of people in our palace. Will that be enough to eat?”

“Of course it will! Last year we only shared twenty pigs, and you ate a whole bowl!”

Gong Wu huffed, feeling as cold as a little chick, looking around the crowd for Ji Yang.

“Oh, you’re from Tianhua Palace, right?” The bookkeeper surprisingly spotted her among the crowd and smiled. “How old are you this year?”

“Nine, oh no, ten years old!” Gong Wu, feeling a bit shy since she still hadn’t seen Ji Yang, replied, “I came to collect the New Year goods list!”

“Where’s your senior brother?”

“He… he is still at the morning lesson,” the little girl said pitifully, “I can’t find him.”

“Come here, you take this first, and make sure you don’t lose it,” the bookkeeper said, signing the list before tearing off the goods voucher for her. He smiled, adding, “Twenty fish, half a pig, and quite a few mountain goods like walnuts—enough for you two!”

Gong Wu stood on her tiptoes to take the list when someone suddenly patted her shoulder.

“Little Wu!” Lin Qixue exclaimed with a smile. “You should hurry; we need to go to Master Ancestor’s feast at noon!”

“According to the rules, the midday meal is a grand banquet for the whole palace, and we’ll have our own meals in the evening,” Lin Aoshuang chimed in cheerfully. “How about you join us in Liu Jia Palace tonight? I’ll make you some delicious Four Happiness Meatballs!”

Gong Wu felt a rush of excitement but also wanted to maintain some pride for Tianhua Palace, so she politely declined.

“I’m going with Brother Jiangjiang! It’s fine!”

“Okay, Ji Yang is the same,” Lin Aoshuang glanced off into the distance. “Even during the New Year, he’s still training hard. He has the best talent and won’t slack off for a moment.”

Moonfire Valley was bustling with activity, with masters calling their disciples to kill pigs and gut fish up front, while villagers, who had received kindness over the years, brought fruits and treats, inviting them to dine outside the valley.

Not only was there a clamor of voices in the palace courtyard, but disciples were also busy pasting red decorations, spreading red paper in the training courtyard to write blessings with brushes, and counting firecrackers for the evening celebration.

Gong Wu followed behind the crowd, clutching her goods list, glancing back while waiting for her senior brother to finish his morning lesson.

However, when she finally arrived at the goods collection area, the unpleasant smell made her cover her nose; her senior brother still hadn’t come.

Disciples from the other palaces had already started driving pigs back with bamboo sticks, but Ji Yang hadn’t finished his lesson yet.

The woman in charge of dividing the pigs spotted Gong Wu looking around and called out, “Child! Which palace are you from? Did you get separated from your senior brother and sister?”

Gong Wu gathered her courage and approached, handing over the goods list. “I’m from Tianhua Palace; I’m here to collect the goods!”

The woman let out a cry of surprise, chopping her knife on the chopping board. She wiped her hands on her apron and examined the list.

“Very good; you two can get more than half a pig.”

“Come, it’s just killed and piled over there,” she gestured, adding, “The grain and flour are in the rice barn next to it, and the fish have been tied up for you; take them with the pig.”

Gong Wu looked in the direction she pointed and turned pale.

Half a pig was taller than she was.

She had come late, and all the familiar disciples were bustling away with New Year goods, leaving her all alone in the gradually emptying field.

Seeing her worry, the woman said, “You can call someone to help carry it. I have things to do and need to leave soon.”

“How about this, I’ll keep an eye on this half a pig while you take the smaller items back?”

So the little girl set off with her medicine basket, making two trips to bring back walnuts, mountain chicken, pastry, and millet, one by one.

Her senior brother left for his morning lesson at two hours past the tiger, and usually wouldn’t return until three hours past the snake.

But if they delayed any longer… they would miss Master Ancestor’s grand feast!

She kept glancing at the sun, her heart filled with anxiety and exhaustion.

By the time it was exactly the hour of the snake, the field was deserted, and all the fish had been taken.

Only the woman remained beside the half a pig, looking somewhat troubled as she asked when her senior brother would arrive.

The little girl’s eyes welled up with tears, and she choked back her emotions, saying, “You go ahead; I’ll keep waiting here!”

“Oh, no, no, it’s fine,” the woman rubbed her hands, shivering from the cold, “I can’t just leave this Child here alone!”

At that moment, time seemed to stretch endlessly, as if she had been waiting for Ji Yang for years.

The half a pig lay exposed nearby, its warmth long gone, now looking rather eerie.

The woman even gave them a pig’s head as a gift, claiming that the meat was particularly tasty.

Gong Wu couldn’t bring herself to look at the meat or meet the pig’s gaze. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she stomped her feet to ward off the cold.

Just as she was about to forget to keep an eye on the sun, the woman called out.

“Hey, is that Child up ahead your brother?”

She had expected someone at least in their twenties or thirties, but instead, it was just a half-grown boy!

Honestly, were there no adults in this palace?

Ji Yang hurried over, calling from a distance, “Little Wu!”

The little girl turned around abruptly, relieved to see him finally arriving, and quickly swallowed her tears.

“Hurry up!!”

“Ji Yang!! Come here quickly!!”

She stood on her tiptoes and shouted, “It’s already the first quarter of the hour of the snake! I’ve been waiting for you forever!!”

The young boy ran toward her, his figure bathed in sunlight.

The woman called her husband, the butcher, to help tie ropes around the half a pig.

Disciples from other palaces usually carried their New Year goods this way, but these two Children… seemed to struggle.

Ji Yang pulled out the sword left by his senior sister, enlarging it enough to carry the pig meat, though it was clearly a strain.

The woman watched, her heart heavy with emotion.

“What a shame to use such a fine sword like this… Make sure to clean it properly later.”

“Oh, and there are ten pairs of fish; I’ve tied them by the gills. Do you want to hang them up too?”

Ji Yang checked that his spiritual energy could still bear the weight, then stepped forward and bowed, “Thank you for looking after Little Wu.”

“Your sister is truly well-behaved,” the woman said softly, “She waited and waited for you without shedding a tear and carried as much as she could on her own.”

She helped them hang the fish on either side of the sword and casually added two strips of her own cured meat.

“Eat more; you two Children are far too thin!”

Once they confirmed that the sword could lift all the New Year goods into the air, the woman finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Be careful on your way; I won’t see you off!”

“Old man, let’s head home to celebrate the New Year too!”

The young boy and the little girl slowly made their way back home, carrying a pile of New Year goods. They passed through Yuncang Palace, where the constant crackling of firecrackers filled the air, and then Liu Jia Palace, where the lively sounds of Mahjong and laughter echoed around them.

They walked along a long path adorned with festive decorations, heading home together.

The load was heavy, and even the sword seemed to struggle under the weight, swaying slightly as they moved.

Ji Yang supported the sword with one shoulder, peering through the gaps in the fruit basket, and saw Gong Wu also straining under her burden.

“Senior brother, will we still make it in time for the grand feast?”

“We’ll make it.”

“I want to paste New Year pictures too.”

“I’ll cut them for you.”

“And I want to write the character for fortune.”

“Okay.”

She paused for a long moment, carrying the heavy load and sweating, finally feeling warm despite the cold.

Now, she wasn’t worried about how to store all these things or how to divide such a large pig.

Ji Yang was back, and with him around, everything felt manageable.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at the front of Tianhua Palace.

Here, there was no trace of New Year’s festivities, making it feel cold and desolate compared to the other palaces.

Gong Wu looked up at the plaque inscribed by Master and suddenly said, “I don’t think I waited for you too long today.”

Ji Yang looked at her, his smile gentle.

“It’s my fault for coming back so late; I’ll try to return earlier next time.”