Chapter 12: Journey to Canglang

The Spirit Tomb lay within the ancestral hall where the Ying clan had worshipped their forebears for generations.

Beneath the hall was a stone chamber, containing a single coffin shared by Nan Xinjiu and Xu Qingru. Outside the coffin was a spirit-gathering array.

The coffin was crafted from Heaven-tier Repose Wood, capable of preserving the body from decay.

Thirteen years earlier, after Nan Xinjiu extracted his Golden Core, the lifeforce of both him and Xu Qingru faded within moments.

Ying Shan had guessed that the life energy of bodies cursed with the Shared Fate Spell would dissipate rapidly, but she hadn’t anticipated it would be so fast that even she and Sect Leader He were helpless.

Thankfully, she decisively retrieved the Repose Wood coffin prepared for herself and placed Nan Xinjiu and Xu Qingru inside.

Bodies afflicted by the Shared Fate Spell decayed swiftly. Ying Shan’s use of her secret treasure was merely to allow Huai Sheng, once awakened, to see her parents one last time with dignity.

After fusing the core and awakening her spiritual awareness, Huai Sheng remained unconscious for five full months. By then, Chuxu and Song Mu had been sent to Yajian Mountain, while her parents lay motionless inside the coffin.

Upon awakening, she found herself utterly alone.

Huai Sheng did not cry. She lay quietly beside her parents' coffin for three days, curling into a small ball like a lost creature without a home.

For three days she neither ate nor drank, her consciousness gradually fading.

At a certain moment, she suddenly heard her mother’s voice and saw her parents.

Inside the secluded cave residence at Yunyin Manor, she saw Xu Qingru gently touching her slightly swollen belly, gazing at the gloomy sky outside the window, resolutely saying: “Senior Brother, I have decided to venture to Buzhou Mountain. I cannot bear for Huai Sheng to be born into a world so lacking in spiritual energy and fraught with danger. The Canglang Realm has no sun or moon; I want to take her to see the azure sky and the brilliant sun, moon, and stars.”

Nan Xinjiu embraced her from behind, his handsome face lit with a bold smile. Full of youthful spirit, he declared: “Very well. We shall take her together.”

In a flash, the brightly lit chamber transformed into a simple, dilapidated room.

Within the room lay bodies strewn about—members of the Xu clan with either low cultivation or none at all.

Xu Qingru lay among broken limbs and corpses, her face as pale as gold paper, blood gushing beneath her.

Before her stood a mysterious figure shrouded in black mist, stepping in a pool of blood, fingers spread wide, viciously reaching for her abdomen.

She tightly shielded her swollen belly and demanded fiercely, “Who exactly are you?!”

Just as the stranger’s palm touched her, a sudden surge of azure light burst from her abdomen, repelling the hand.

The stranger’s palm instantly became mangled and bloody, wounds seething with sharp sword qi. Yet he seemed oblivious to the pain and struck again toward the azure glow. Then, withdrawing, a small, clear light fell into his palm.

Seizing this moment, Xu Qingru successfully cast the Ruyi Golden Bell Array.

Perhaps aware this array was difficult to break, or perhaps hearing Nan Xinjiu approaching, the stranger glanced down at his palm and vanished instantly.

By then, Xu Qingru’s Golden Core had shattered, venomous energy rampaging through her body, her spiritual veins fracturing bit by bit.

She tried to gather spiritual power, but her body was like a broken vessel, incapable of retaining even a trace.

Her life was rapidly slipping away.

In despair, the venomous energy within her suddenly ceased its assault on her spiritual veins and instead surged through the long umbilical cord into the fetus in her womb.

At this moment, the unborn child stirred gently, her tiny feet pressing faintly against her mother’s belly as if to comfort her—“I’m alright.”

This slight movement gradually rekindled Xu Qingru’s will to survive.

“Forgive me, Huai Sheng, your mother was useless,” she whispered.

With her last strength, she grabbed the Qing Shuang horizontal sword and slashed open her belly, forcibly extracting the infant.

The tiny baby, purple-blue all over, lay motionless beside her.

Xu Qingru reached out with icy fingers, gently grasping her daughter’s blood-stained tiny fist, waiting silently until a feeble cry broke the silence, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Her tears fell to the ground, transforming into a mist of light that dispersed.

The dream scene shifted again to the fragrant alchemy hall, candles flickering softly.

Xu Qingru, her hair streaked with silver, held Nan Xinjiu’s hand, both wrapping their fingers around Huai Sheng’s small hand.

She moved her lips, trying to say something, but life slipped away too quickly. She only managed to gaze once more at Huai Sheng before passing.

Yet this time, those unspoken words echoed one by one in Huai Sheng’s ears—

“When your mother was carrying you, she had a dream. In it, a giant tree came from the east and entered her womb. The tree quickly transformed into a wooden sword, on which were carved the words ‘Huai Sheng.’ Upon waking, your mother felt these words were fitting and thus named you so. She only hoped that no matter what hardships you face in life, you would always ‘carry hope in your heart.’

“Remember, Huai Sheng, you are the treasure your mother and father longed for—a precious gem sent from Heaven. You were never a burden. Your enlightenment was our wish. Your parents lived over two centuries, entered sects, apprenticed under great masters, met good companions, formed blessed unions, and realized the Dao through sword cultivation—they did not waste a moment of their time, and this life was without regret.

“Please do not blame us for forcing open your immortal fate. We brought you into this world because we could not bear to see you suffer only illness and pain. We sought to carve out a chance for you to witness the world’s wonders. Yet the path of cultivation is thorny and treacherous, not smooth. Only you can know its true taste. We fear we cannot accompany you on your journey. I leave Qing Shuang with you to accompany you in our stead. May you one day comprehend the great Dao and roam freely across heaven and earth.”

Awakening from the dream, Huai Sheng’s tears streamed down her face. She vaguely understood that this dream was her mother’s last lingering attachment.

They say mother and daughter share one heart.

Though she had no consciousness at birth, she clearly heard Xu Qingru’s words, “Your mother was useless.” She knew her mother always felt guilty, so she never cried or even complained.

Knowing Huai Sheng considered herself a burden, Xu Qingru repeatedly told her she was their treasure, the pearl they prayed for from Heaven.

These words were said countless times. Even in her final breath, she wanted to say them once more, one last time.

Thus, a single thought became an obsession, lingering around the corpse for long.

“Mother, I heard you,” Huai Sheng opened her arms, embracing one side of the coffin, letting tears fall freely, “I heard you, Mother.”

The stone door creaked, and a faint light accompanied by a spring breeze swept away the dust, caressing Huai Sheng’s face with the warmth of her mother’s palm.

In this moment of dust clearing and light arising, it felt as though her mother was bidding her farewell.

Ying Shan stepped calmly into the stone chamber and said to Huai Sheng, “Come out. Your parents gave up everything to open your spiritual awareness, not so you would perish with them. I will not disturb this Repose Wood coffin. Whenever you miss them, you can come here.”

Huai Sheng had not yet fasted to cultivate, and her body was frail. Ying Shan lifted her from the chamber with little effort.

Having been devoted to alchemy since childhood, Ying Shan had never touched worldly delicacies. Yet that day, she personally prepared Huai Sheng’s favorite Cloud Milk Peach Blossom Cakes.

With swollen, red eyes, Huai Sheng silently finished all the cakes without crying or fussing.

Ying Shan took a handkerchief to wipe the crumbs from her lips and said, “The venom in your body has not yet been fully cleared. You forcibly fused the core and opened your spiritual awareness. Should your body fail to withstand the spiritual power inside the Golden Core, it will burst. For now, you must stay by my side. I will help purge the remaining poison and assist you in absorbing the core’s power.”

Huai Sheng remained by Ying Shan’s side for thirteen years.

During those years, except for occasional trips to repair the Qian Kun Mirror, she stayed in the alchemy valley day and night cultivating.

Last year, most of the venom had been cleared. She could have left Qingyang Commandery for Yajian Mountain to cultivate. Yet she clung to her parents, delaying her departure until the mountain gate was opened.

“Father, Mother, tomorrow I will go to Yajian Mountain,” Huai Sheng said quietly, sitting beside their coffin. “I remember all the things you told me. Don’t worry—I will cultivate well and live well.

“As for Chuxu and Song Mu, one is the Sect Leader’s final disciple, the other a direct disciple of the Sword Master; both hold high positions at Yajian Mountain. Don’t fret for them. Even though Ci Ying has yet to awaken, Master Yu says his old injuries have healed, and the damage to his Spirit Platform is stable. He will awaken sooner or later—don’t worry about him either.”

After a long string of words, Huai Sheng fell silent and glanced toward the dark corner at the chamber’s upper right.

Then, she solemnly kowtowed three times before the coffin and left the chamber.

The dim room returned to silence.

After a long while, a voice tinged with amusement came from the dark corner:

“This little one… interesting.”

—

On the ninth day of the third month, Yajian Mountain officially opened its gates. Usually, those sent to escort new disciples were Foundation Establishment cultivators, but that day a Pill Refining stage cultivator came to the alchemy valley.

His name was Zhou Pi, his pale, youthful face giving him a friendly appearance.

Accompanying Huai Sheng to Yajian Mountain were eight Ying family disciples. The eldest was Ying Ru, the girl who once fed Huai Sheng the “Seven Fruit Cloud Clothes Candy.”

Ying Ru was six years older than Huai Sheng. By twelve, she had opened both spiritual orifices and could have gone to Yajian Mountain ten years ago. But obsessed with alchemy, she stubbornly refused to learn sword cultivation there.

Unfortunately, her talent in alchemy was poor. After destroying countless pill furnaces, the Grand Elder of the Pill Hall finally gave up and decided to send her away.

“Grand Elder, how can you be so cruel? Ying Ru is devoted to alchemy and only wants to stay in the valley to refine pills for life!”

The Grand Elder’s white eyebrows twitched fiercely as his voice boomed like a bell: “Yajian Mountain also refines pills. If you want to cause trouble, go trouble their pill furnaces!”

…

Waiting silently, Zhou Pi looked up at the sky and thought the Ying family’s Grand Elder really didn’t treat him like an outsider.

Seeing the elder unmoved, Ying Ru cast a pleading glance at Ying Shan behind him.

Ying Shan was leading seven other Ying disciples around twelve or thirteen years old, all the best talents the family had produced in the past decade.

After escorting them out, she beckoned toward the Pill Hall: “Ying Yun, come say goodbye to your sister.”

A girl with twin ring buns in her hair, dressed in Ying family disciple clothes, hurried out clutching two palm-sized mustard seed pouches.

“These are Seven Fruit Cloud Clothes Candies for you and Huai Sheng,” Ying Yun shyly handed over the pouches.

She was Ying Shan’s direct disciple, Ying Ru’s full sister, and about the same age as Huai Sheng. As the Ying family’s best alchemy talent in centuries, she had long been by Ying Shan’s side.

Unlike the boisterous Ying Ru, Ying Yun was sensitive and reserved, rarely socializing except with Huai Sheng and Ying Ru.

When her younger sister appeared, Ying Ru stopped crying and whispered to Ying Yun, “Sister will be back soon!”

“Set off early; don’t waste time,” Ying Shan instructed coldly, her gaze passing over Huai Sheng before adding thoughtfully, “You nine are all disciples from our alchemy valley. If anyone bullies you in the sect, fight back. If you can’t win, find Master Ying at Tangxi Peak to help. Half the pills at Yajian Mountain come from our valley; we have your backs.”

Zhou Pi tensed slightly as he stepped forward to salute.

Though known for his cold and taciturn nature, this was the first time he had been lightly reprimanded by Ying Shan. Well, who could blame her when half the pills at Yajian Mountain were controlled by the alchemy valley?

Thinking this, Zhou Pi showed respectful demeanor and said, “Master Ying, rest assured, Yajian Mountain will not let new disciples be bullied.”

Ying Shan glanced at him indifferently and said no more, handing over jade tokens to Huai Sheng and the others before turning with Ying Yun back into the Pill Hall.

Zhou Pi smoothly received the new disciples and flew on his sword toward Huaiyuan City.

Huai Sheng had lived thirteen years in the alchemy valley; these disciples were all familiar to her.

The youngest, Ying Ziyang, blinked and asked, “Sister Huai Sheng, why can you go to Yajian Mountain with only one spiritual orifice open? Mother said only those with both orifices open can become sect disciples.”

This question had been asked more than once. Many cultivators in Canglang sought to enter Yajian Mountain with only one orifice open, but few succeeded.

Huai Sheng gave her usual answer: “Maybe because I’m exceptionally gifted.”

Ying Ru, eating a candy made by her beloved sister, nodded in agreement, “Exactly. Little Huai Sheng can fight so well with only one orifice open. Once the ancestral orifice opens, she’ll be unstoppable. Ziyang, you better learn from her! Among the nine of us, you’re the weakest. Don’t disgrace the Ying family of Qingyang.”

Ying Ziyang recalled the many seniors Huai Sheng had beaten to tears in the valley, nodding in understanding. So even if you’re less talented, as long as your fists are strong, you can enter the sect.

Zhou Pi standing at the front of the flying sword shook his head slightly.

Children are so easily deceived.

South Huai Sheng was right—she could indeed enter Yajian Mountain as an outer disciple with only one orifice open. But it wasn’t because she was strong; it was because her parents were.

Thanks to her parents, she obtained the privilege of being a protégée and was accepted into Yajian Mountain.

Brother Nan and Sister Xu had once been the most outstanding disciples at Yajian Mountain, a celestial couple envied by many.

When Zhou Pi joined, Xu Qingru and Nan Xinjiu were at their peak and had once inspired his admiration, hoping to become such cultivators one day.

Yet decades later, things had changed beyond recognition. Sister Xu’s core was shattered, her veins broken, forever severed from the Dao. Brother Nan’s cultivation regressed, and he was expelled from the Nan family.

Thirteen years ago, after sending South Huai Sheng to the alchemy valley, they vanished without a trace.

Even Zhou Pi, well-connected, could find no news of them.

No one knew if they would ever return to the sect when South Huai Sheng entered Yajian Mountain.