Chapter 59

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Chapter 59: The Tenth Peak

Shen Xinghai went surfing every day, and finally lived up to expectations by catching a basket of fish from the outer sea.

Shen Xinghai was very excited by this achievement. He immediately grabbed a lantern and dashed into the mist, eagerly went back into the sea, recited a majestic poem before leaving, setting the momentum like slaying a dragon for fishing.

On the magic boat, Wen Yun skillfully gutted and cleaned the fish, couldn’t help but ask Ye Shubai, "Why do these fish look so shabby?"

Without waiting for Ye Shubai to explain, she figured out the answer herself, "I know, because the fish in the outer sea have few predators and deep water, so they just grow haphazardly."

Even though the fish looked unattractive, two of them even seemed poisonous, Wen Yun, thinking as a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage, believed she wouldn’t be poisoned by fish. So, she enthusiastically brought out a barbecue grill, threw in some fire hemlock charcoal, set up various seasonings, and prepared for cooking.

Xu Wanfeng, who had just arrived, stared fixedly at the barbecue grill with his eyes twitching.

"Younger martial sister, this seems to be an alchemical furnace I looted from the Internal Affairs Hall."

How can something that catches the eye of a strong person like Xu Wanfeng in the Soul Changing Stage be ordinary? Yet this treasured alchemical furnace, half cut from the top, was forcibly transformed into a barbecue grill.

Wen Yun nodded and casually praised, "That’s right, even though none of us knows alchemy, using it for baking is not bad at all. The temperature is even, and what comes out is fragrant, crispy, and not easily burnt."

Xu Wanfeng really wanted to snatch the pill furnace back, but with a light glance from Ye Shubai, he instantly backed off.

Forget it, he was no longer the favored disciple of the master, he should be more self-aware and not vie for attention with the younger martial sister.

The three male disciples of the Tenth Peak were not skilled in cooking. Before Wen Yun arrived at the peak, the so-called kitchen was just for show. Yue Xingzhou didn’t even have fried peanuts to accompany drinking.

So at this moment, the three could only watch Wen Yun’s actions attentively on the side, waiting for the familiar process of preparing food.

As the Elder Martial Brother who cared for the younger martial sister, Yue Xingzhou didn’t forget to praise Wen Yun to the master, "Master, you must taste younger martial sister’s cooking; she is extremely skilled."

Blushing slightly, Wen Yun, who was good at making fried peanuts and salted peanuts, quietly shifted to the side, making way for the truly talented chef.

And so, the three disciples watched in awe as their master walked to the half-top alchemical furnace.

Under the amazed gaze of the three people, Ye Shubai calmly rolled up his sleeves and started grilling fish.

Flip over, brush oil, sprinkle salt, and spread sauce.

Those hands that were used for killing with swords surprisingly looked so beautiful while preparing food.

Xu Wanfeng and Bai Yushan were too scared to make a sound, while Yue Xingzhou felt a mix of emotions and let out a soft sigh.

He spoke very softly, "Junior brothers, do you remember when we first joined the sect, and because we were young and often hungry, our master would cook for us himself?"

Bai Yushan also recalled the deep bond between master and disciples, deeply moved by it.

"Our master knew we were hungry for half a month on the sea voyage, so he grilled fish for us himself!"

Only Xu Wanfeng was lost in thought.

Back then, Elder Martial Brother was obedient, Third Junior Brother was honest, and he was the most clever and had the best memory.

Xu Wanfeng remembered clearly that when they were young, Ye Shubai often prepared supper for them by taking a sack of sweet potatoes up the hill, throwing three into the bonfire every night for them to eat when they got hungry.

The fish was roasted so carefully that only the fish bones were left.

The three disciples eagerly watched as the fish was roasted, waiting for their master to share the fish after the fragrance spread out.

With the three disciples watching, Ye Shubai picked up the perfectly roasted golden fish and handed it to Wen Yun beside him, then casually pointed to the other three fish next to him, saying, "Eat."

Wen Yun hesitated before eating the meat, her eyes wandering. She thought the three fish looked ugly and possibly poisonous.

However, the three senior brothers were completely unaware and ate heartily, feeling grateful as they ate.

"This taste brings back memories of my childhood."

"Being able to study under our master is a great blessing in life."

"Master, you have worked hard."

The words of flattery weren’t finished yet, when a hearty laugh was heard, "Younger brother is late, didn’t get to clean up for the three senior brothers, so I bring a basket of fish and shrimp as compensation!"

While speaking, Shen Xinghai, who had returned from the sea, walked in quickly with a basket of fish, handed it to Ye Shubai with familiarity, and said with a smile, "Martial Brother Ye, you are the best at cooking. Come, these are for you to roast."

The three disciples were taken aback, "What do you call him?"

Shen Xinghai turned to look at the three strange fellow disciples and answered matter-of-factly, "Martial Brother Ye, isn’t he Elder Martial Brother of The Tenth Peak for you guys?"

"…"

Young man, you may have misunderstood a bit, this is our ancestor of The Tenth Peak.

Shen Xinghai had met Xu Wanfeng before, and if he was the direct disciple of The First Peak, it would have been possible for him to know the seniority of these three people. However, he was just a minor character in The First Peak, so he had no idea about the identities of these people.

The young sword cultivators were not as concerned about seniority as these hundreds-year-old monsters. As long as the gap wasn’t too wide, those with good relationships considered each other peers.

The problem was, this time the gap was really too wide!

This is not just a difference between Martial Uncle and nephew, it’s about your ancestors!

However, Ye Shubai didn’t try to stop them. He even told them not to reveal his identity. So, the three people had to stay silent, exchanging complicated glances at Shen Xinghai.

Before, people from the Wan family called Ye Shubai "Martial Brother". Now, this boy is also calling him "Martial Brother". It seems like that alias Ye Xiaobai was actually chosen by himself.

Why is the master acting so young now?

Since Shen Xinghai appeared, the three disciples saw this guy getting close and friendly with Ye Shubai every day. Every time they heard "Martial Brother Ye", their hearts skipped a beat.

What’s even scarier is that his two sniffling disciples started calling Ye Shubai "Martial Uncle Ye". This could cost them their more than five hundred year old lives.

Fortunately, this torment didn’t last too long. After sailing for half a month, the ghost ship finally started to emerge from the fog.

They had left the outer sea area and were now in the jurisdiction of Blizzard Island.

As they sailed further north, the spiritual power between heaven and earth became stronger. Several sealed cultivators felt their bodies becoming relaxed. Standing at the front of the ship, watching the sky gradually clear and turn deep blue, they felt a sense of rejuvenation.

Wen Yun led the frail A’hua grandmother outside the cabin, knowing her time was short and her spiritual power was fading, soon to return to the world.

"Grandmother, we have left the Demon Realm," Wen Yun whispered to her, pointing to a large island in the distance. "That is where ordinary people under Blizzard Island live, your homeland."

A’hua grandmother looked up at the sky, then at the clear blue waters, feeling a mix of joy and nervousness, as the saying goes, "nearby homesickness."

After a while, she called out to the other survivors in the cabin, "Come out, there’s no need to hide anymore!"

The children were already happily peeking at the unfamiliar surroundings from the side of the ship, but the adults hesitated slightly.

They had been living underground for so long that they had forgotten how to stand tall on the surface.

They were used to sneaking out of caves at night to find food, breathe fresh air. So when they first emerged from the fog, they hid in the cabin, afraid of the bright world that made them uncomfortable, as sunlight and freedom were things they longed for but were afraid to touch.

A’hua grandmother sighed and said shakily, "What are you afraid of? You’re all going home, and with the Immortal Master here, why worry about being captured by demon cultivators!"

Hearing the words Immortal Master, the uneasy survivors finally felt relief.

Yes, and Immortal Master is also here!

The two Immortal Masters led them to escape from the pursuit of the demon cultivator, crossing the sea to return to their hometown. What do they have to fear?

More and more people came out, watching the approaching island with increasing smiles on their faces, and they began to discuss boldly.

"I heard this used to be the royal city of a small island nation, and our ancestors were from this country."

"I’ve only heard of cities, never seen one before."

"Hey, who in our village has seen a city before? Let’s broaden our horizons this time…"

Wen Yun listened to their conversation and her mood became cheerful. Just as she was leading everyone off the boat, two figures dressed in pink suddenly flew in.

Unlike the swift sword cultivators, these two flew elegantly and gracefully, clearly using the Blizzard Island’s flight talisman that valued aesthetics.

Although this place originally belonged to the mortal world, it was still under the jurisdiction of Blizzard Island, so seeing them here was not surprising.

Wen Yun only had a grudge with the old thief Qianzhenzi, not involved with these ordinary disciples, so she didn’t plan to get involved, just wanted to send the person away, give some money and consider it over.

But to her surprise, when the two approached, they spoke before Wen Yun could explain, with a rather unfriendly attitude.

"Who goes there, daring to intrude upon our Blizzard Island! Leave quickly!"

The man in pink clothes who spoke held a formation plate, with a hint of caution in his eyes.

Wen Yun was puzzled, she knew it wasn’t right to barge into other sect’s territory, but this was a worldly island, why couldn’t they enter?

A’hua bowed tremblingly, explaining, "Esteemed Immortal Masters, this is the island where our ancestors lived, we have been wandering outside for many years, now we are returning home…"

Before she could finish, the man in pink clothes impatiently interrupted her, "What ancestors’ island, this is the jurisdiction of Blizzard Island, mortals are not allowed to enter."

The man arrogantly looked at A’hua, realizing she was just a dying Qi Refining Stage cultivator and the people behind her were mere mortals with no cultivation, like insignificant ants.

Several sword cultivators were standing behind, the disciples of Blizzard Island were unaware of the terrifying presence, and even if they had seen them, with their skills, they couldn’t gauge the strength of these individuals, as even the weakest among them, Shen Xinghai, was already in the mid Golden Core stage. As for Wen Yun, her cultivation was strange, with no spiritual power fluctuations, making her seem no different from an ordinary person to anyone who looked, unless a strong expert like Yue Xingzhou personally investigated.

Why bother being patient with these ordinary people? The two disciples of Blizzard Island impatiently waved their hands and shooed them away, saying, "Hurry, hurry, don’t dirty our sacred Blizzard Island."

As if casually, he directed a powerful energy towards the elderly A’hua in the front, showing no politeness at all.

The elderly A’hua was frail and could barely hold her ax steady, unable to defend against the sudden attack.

Just then, a gentle breeze blew, and Wen Yun, who was standing behind her, seemed to teleport forward and shielded A’hua from the energy. Wen Yun then calmly looked at the two above and said, "Come down and talk."

When her pure face lifted, the two figures in the sky were momentarily entranced.

Blizzard Island was known for its elegance and beauty in everything, aiming for perfection. The disciples recruited were famous for their beauty among all the sects.

When Wen Yun appeared, even the two who were used to beautiful women couldn’t help but pause, hanging in the air, momentarily forgetting to react.

Suddenly, a simple wooden sword flew from the crowd and without any special powers, struck the knees of the two figures, causing them to fall to the ground instantly.

The man in pink clothes in front quickly regained his senses and angrily said, "How dare you offend Blizzard Island!"

In the conversation, he quickly reached for his waist and took out a thick stack of talismans to throw towards this side without hesitation.

Wen Yun was about to act, but a figure in white gracefully landed beside her. Unable to see clearly how Ye Shubai moved, he simply waved his hand casually, causing the ferocious exploding talismans to suddenly change direction and fall towards the two people’s heads.

Without glancing at the two individuals, Ye Shubai pursed his lips and first assessed Wen Yun, carefully examining whether she was injured. He then remembered that she had stepped forward to shield Grandma A’hua from the attack.

Wen Yun understood his concern and immediately shook her head, saying, "I’m fine, they are just two beginners in the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Her gaze shifted to the two people lying on the ground, and she frowned, saying, "How did this become part of Blizzard Island’s territory? I remember there are rules in the cultivation world, where we can only accept offerings from mortals, and not arbitrarily invade their lands."

Wen Yun’s words were true, this was an established rule in the cultivation world.

There was a clear distinction between immortals and mortals. Although most geniuses nowadays came from prestigious cultivation families, with generations of cultivators in their lineage, there were also many cultivators who were originally mortals. Even if high-ranking cultivators looked down on mortals internally, they would not openly show it. They would not directly seize and enslave mortal cities, but rather use the guise of "offerings" to protect mortals and continuously gain benefits from them.

If all the living areas of mortals were swallowed up at once, many tasks in the cultivation world would be left undone. For instance, cultivating spirit grains or mining spiritual jade, these laborious tasks were not something cultivators would do, so they had to be left to the mortals.

The concept of slowly harvesting crops one by one instead of uprooting them all at once, probably applied here.

Blizzard Island has taken over the mortal capital now, no matter how you think about it, it’s a problem.

The two disciples below were so intimidated by Ye Shubai that they didn’t dare to move at all. In addition to being injured just now, their voices were shaky at the moment, but they still tried to save face for Blizzard Island, "Since both of you are fellow cultivators, you should know that this is the sacred land of Blizzard Island. How could mortals set foot here? We are just guarding the sect…"

Wen Yun glanced back secretly, only to see the group of refugees behind her, who were already nervous, now with red eyes, silently shedding tears.

Just then, Ye Shubai in front of her spoke in a cold tone, "Your so-called sacred place, was originally built by a few mortals. Don’t forget, you were also once mortals."

His eyes were extremely cold, as if without any warmth, standing proudly in front of the two, like an unscalable towering mountain.

The two people on the ground blushed, "We have long shed our mortal bodies and become cultivators…"

"Ridiculous." Wen Yun was angered, chuckling coldly, "From what you’re saying, did you crawl out from a spiritual jade? Stop babbling, tell me, why did you take over someone else’s island!"

Clearly, everyone was once mortal beings, but as soon as they gained cultivation, they began to look down on mortals. It’s despicable to the extreme!

Those two people couldn’t even muster the heart to argue back, quickly lowered their heads and explained, "This… senior, the soil here is fertile, perfect for planting snow sakura. The sakura trees on Blizzard Island were all transplanted from this island. We were ordered to guard here."

Upon hearing this, Wen Yun looked into the distance and indeed found that the island was covered with pure white cherry blossoms, just like Blizzard Island she had seen before, so romantic and beautiful that it was hard to look away.

"Where did the ordinary people who used to live here go?"

When Wen Yun asked, the two people below vaguely replied, "There are many islands in the sea, maybe they moved to other islands."

They certainly did not know that for Blizzard Island, these ordinary people were not as important as the cherry blossoms that adorned their main island. So, with an order from the immortal gate, those ordinary people had to endure the fate of being displaced, even if it meant shedding tears. Who would dare to disobey?

As for where these people went later and whether they lived or died in search of new islands, they were indifferent. Comparing their lives to those of ants, the most important thing for them was whether the cherry blossoms on the island were blooming well enough.

Granny A’hua looked anxiously at the island full of cherry blossoms. There were no houses or fields as they had imagined, not even a single person from their hometown, only these beautiful yet distant cherry blossoms.

The old woman, hunched over, whispered to Wen Yun, "My dear Immortal Master, perhaps we should find refuge on another island…"

She knew that it had not been easy for the Immortal Masters to guide this group of people, and she did not want to see Wen Yun facing more difficulties now.

Wen Yun did not retreat in response to Granny A’hua’s suggestion, but instead murmured softly, "When did flowers become more important than people?"

"There was never such a thing before, and there shouldn’t be in the present or future," Ye Shubai replied softly, taking a step forward.

As he spoke, he swung his sword, cutting the nearby cherry blossom tree in half.

Seeing the snow cherry tree he personally protected being destroyed, the two people below were shocked. They cried out in fear, "How dare you destroy something from our Blizzard Island! Who are you? I have already informed the elders on the island, we will seek justice!"

"No need to seek justice," Ye Shubai smoothly and elegantly sheathed his sword, his voice cold.

Then, he casually dropped a delicate Token on the ground. The Token was made of dark iron, with a solemn sword carved on one side and only the number "ten" on the other side. It was the Peak Lord Token of the Qingliu Sword Sect.

"From this day on, this place will be known as Qingliu Sword Sect’s Tenth Peak. If you seek justice, come here."