Chapter 5 Part 1
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This chapter is edited by Bakhtawar Kakar. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 5: People Cannot Be Generalized (1)
Making such a choice is a tremendous challenge for anyone.
For Ying Shi, it’s especially difficult.
As someone who cherishes peace, making such a decision feels anything but safe.
In her pursuit of stability, Ying Shi willingly stepped down from her role as the Saintess of Yaochi Holy Mountain.
Although the position wasn’t exactly fraught with danger, there were no guarantees of absolute safety either.
To be frank, the role itself wasn’t as stable as it might appear on the surface.
Ying Shi’s unease stemmed from a traumatic experience in her childhood.
When she stood at the center of attention, admired by countless people, showered with flattery, she couldn’t shake the fear that one day a madman would capture her, bind her with ropes, and pierce her body from head to toe with a red-hot iron rod.
That nightmare remained etched in her mind, a horrifying memory she could never escape.
Most vivid of all was the image of her elder sister, cruelly killed, her blood spraying into the air like bolts of crimson lightning. That sight burned itself into Ying Shi’s heart.
The pressure of the tragedy swept through her, tearing at every fiber of her young being, leaving a scar that would never fade.
Ying Shi found herself perpetually falling.
It was an endless abyss—winding, dark, damp.
No matter how deep she fell, no matter how long she remained immersed, she could not find even a flicker of happiness in that darkness.
All she found was pain.
The anguish was like a rift carved deep into her heart, one that no amount of time could ever fill.
The only reason this trauma didn’t evolve into an internal demon was the intervention of a “kind” senior.
This senior, too, had once been a Saintess of Yaochi Holy Mountain.
Under her guidance, Ying Shi learned that not everyone in a position of power met a fiery demise.
Some were instead dismembered.
Others were simply beheaded.
Of course…
The senior would smile softly and pat young Ying Shi on the head, saying, “Some of them do pass away peacefully. And when they do, countless people will mourn their loss, and many more will gather to send them off.”
“What about you, Senior?”
Gazing up at the radiant stars above Yaochi Holy Mountain, the senior murmured, “Me? I’m just a forgotten person.”
Ying Shi held the senior’s withered hand and gently shook it, whispering, “Senior, I will always remember you!”
“Yes,” the senior said, chuckling warmly. “You remember me.”
That gentle smile became Ying Shi’s final memory of her senior.
Only half a month later, the senior passed away.
Her age had caught up with her, and her cultivation base had reached its limit. Even life-extending medicinal pills could no longer stave off the inevitable.
Ying Shi was stunned.
On the day the senior passed away, the wind howled relentlessly outside the window.
And the Saint Lord, who had been instructing Ying Shi in her cultivation, seemed struck by a bolt from the blue.
Clap, Clap, Clap
Bamboo slips fell to the ground.
Yet the Saint Lord seemed oblivious, taking a long moment before forcing a strained smile.
“The wind makes this house sway,” she murmured.
With trembling hands, she braced herself against the bedside rail.
Though many years have passed, Ying Shi still vividly remembers the fleeting thoughts that crossed her mind at that moment.
The Saint Lord looked ten years older.
No matter how advanced magic might be, it cannot mask the wrinkles that form at the corners of one’s eyes.
After that day, everything changed.
Everyone at Yaochi Holy Mountain donned white robes.
White robes paired with a ceremonial crown—a symbol of mourning.
On the Ascending Roof of Yaochi, countless disciples stood in two solemn rows, braving the howling wind.
At the forefront, young Ying Shi stood silently by her master.
The coffin drifted slowly past.
The Saint Lord remained silent, presiding over the highest honor of a sky burial for the departed senior.
“Master?”
Ying Shi’s master glanced down and said, “The Holy Lord and the senior… they were sisters.”
Together, they had entered Yaochi Holy Mountain, trained side by side, and grown together.
There’s a saying:
People cannot be generalized.
No matter how much effort the Holy Lord put in, she could never match the senior’s cultivation speed.
In the eighteenth year of their initiation, the senior was chosen as the new Saintess of Yaochi Holy Mountain.
The moon has two faces.
The senior became a beacon of light, admired by the world.
Meanwhile, the Holy Lord receded into the shadows.
Things took a turn after the former Holy Lord discovered a spiritual treasure capable of aiding cultivation.
It was expected that the treasure would go to the senior, enabling her to condense her [Field] and achieve a breakthrough into the later stages of the Transcendency Stage.
However, on the very night the treasure was offered, the senior made an unexpected decision.
She refused it.
Despite the former Holy Lord’s persistent urging, the senior remained firm, refusing to yield even a single step.
What had once been a harmonious relationship between master and student erupted into a heated argument.
In the end, the former Holy Lord stripped the senior of her Saintess title, accusing her of violating the laws of the Holy Mountain.
The new Saintess became the current Saint Lord, and the spiritual treasure changed hands accordingly.
Young Ying Shi had been puzzled.
“Why did the senior argue with the former Holy Lord?”
Her master sighed deeply.
“She once said to the former Holy Lord…”
‘Because you are better than me. I have talent, but I lack determination. Only you can ascend to the Immortal World. Only you can uphold the glory of Yaochi Holy Mountain.’
Ying Shi had been stunned.
“That’s all?”
Her master nodded.
“That reason is enough.”
As you grow older, you begin to understand what it means to let go, what courage truly entails, and what it takes to know yourself.
Not every soldier is destined to become a general.
And the soldier who charges headfirst into the enemy ranks, bloodied and unyielding, is still a great soldier.
That night, Ying Shi sought out the Saint Lord.
After a brief conversation, she formally and gracefully resigned from the position of Saintess.
Perhaps it was because her words struck a chord with the Saint Lord—words that felt all too familiar.
“I cannot erase the scars on my heart. I am unfit for the position of Saintess, let alone the role of Saint Lord. In my current state, I lack the ability to uphold the splendor of Yaochi Holy Mountain.”
The heart flows like water.
Once it’s gone far away, it becomes impossible to bring back.
The Saint Lord appointed her younger sister to the position of Saintess.
Ying Shi understands.
It’s not just because of her sister’s extraordinary talent; it’s also because the Saint Lord has high hopes for her.
Come back.
This place is reserved for you.
But…
Ying Shi sighed softly to herself.
Some things can never return to how they once were.
No—more precisely, she should never have been in that position in the first place.
Saint Lord, I’m sorry, but now, I am the White Emperor Bai Lian.
Since her close encounter with White Emperor Bai Lian in Qingxu, Ying Shi couldn’t shake the image of that lance from her mind—even in her dreams.
It was simply too awe-inspiring!
At that moment, Bai Lian shone as brilliantly as the sun.
No matter how fierce the wind, how dense the clouds, or how heavy the rain, nothing could dim that radiance.
Ying Shi faintly remembered…
Bai Lian embodied the very ideal she had once aspired to be.
Last night, after hours of wind howling around the Moon Tower of Yaochi Holy Mountain, Ying Shi made a momentous decision.
This time, she was no longer seeking stability.
She wanted to reach out and touch the unknown—even if it burned her.
At least this time, she would step into it.
