Bao Gu returned to the Shadow City Envoy Residence. She cross-checked every book and canonical text recovered from the Xuantian Sect against the holdings of the Xuantian Library, filling in the missing pieces. She then compiled a list and used it to prepare four complete sets of the collection: one for Technique-Transmission Elder Yu Mi, one for Sect Master Yu Jianming, one for her mantle heir, Bao Nianhui, and one for the Xuantian Sect’s library, so the sect’s disciples could study them.
The Xuantian Library’s collection was vast. Bao Gu buried herself in it and spent ten full years copying all the books. She read the collection once while checking the texts recovered from the Xuantian Sect, then three more times while copying the other three sets. By the time all four sets were complete, she could not claim to have memorized every text perfectly, but she remembered seventy or eighty percent of it. Many of the classics had been collected by the Xuantian Patriarch while he was in the Upper Realm, and quite a few recorded the affairs of other realms. They greatly broadened Bao Gu’s horizons. The cultivation arts, in particular, combined the strengths of many schools, benefiting her cultivation enormously.
She had done all the copying herself. It was not that she could not find someone to help; she simply did not trust anyone else.
It was one thing for others to guess that she would leave cultivation manuals to Yu Mi, Yu Jianming, Bao Nianhui, and the Xuantian Sect. It was another thing entirely for outsiders to personally witness her leaving behind four complete sets. While she remained in this world, there would naturally be no problem. But if she ever left, people would inevitably covet the Xuantian Sect’s collection. By then, their eyes would naturally be fixed on the publicly known library of the Xuantian Sect or on Zi Tianjun of the Xuantian Sect. No one could prove whether Yu Jianming or Bao Nianhui actually possessed any cultivation manuals. Mere guesses were not enough to make them risk everything to seize techniques that might not even exist.
Though Yu Mi could enter the Xuantian Library, she was not a book lover. She also spent very little time in the sect, so she might not have the time, inclination, or opportunity to quietly read through its collection. Bao Gu was unwilling to let Yu Mi miss out on something so beneficial to both cultivation and knowledge. She prepared a set for Yu Mi to keep in a portable storage artifact, so she could take it out in her spare time or consult it whenever she encountered a difficulty. Moreover, as the Xuantian Sect’s Technique-Transmission Elder, Yu Mi ought to possess the sect’s most complete set of cultivation arts. This was also a precaution against the sect’s techniques being lost if the sect master, who held the highest arts, suddenly met with an accident.
Bao Gu took out some of the divine metal she had received from Qing Ying and returned it to her, then gave her a large quantity of other refining materials. She had Qing Lao forge Yu Jianming a treasure modeled after the Xuantian Library for use as a book repository.
After borrowing Bao Gu’s Xuantian Library for several days to study it, Qing Ying found Bao Gu, tossed the library back at her, and said:
“Wait. Once I’ve finished forging it, I’ll let you know and have Yu Jianming come collect it.”
By the time the book-storage treasure that Bao Gu had asked Little Martial Aunt to make for Bao Nianhui was finished and delivered into Bao Nianhui’s hands, Qing Ying’s treasure had not even appeared. Bao Gu asked about it once, and Qing Ying gave her only one reply:
“Wait!”
Bao Gu waited—and then heard nothing more.
Eight months later, one day, Bao Gu had just returned from breakfast outside with Yu Mi when she suddenly sensed something strange high above. She looked up and saw the dazzlingly blue sky torn open by a blinding flash of lightning. A massive bolt, resembling a true dragon bursting from the sea, descended from the heavens and slammed straight toward the rear courtyard of the Envoy Residence.
Bao Gu and Yu Mi were stunned.
What was going on?
A tribulation was supposed to form thunderclouds before sending down lightning, wasn’t it? Was this some kind of lightning-summoning spell? Even if it was, it would merely gather the lightning scattered throughout heaven and earth, and there would be some fluctuation as the power gathered. Besides, there was not a single cloud in the clear daylight. Who could summon lightning this powerful?
The two of them rushed through the Envoy Residence’s gates toward the rear courtyard almost simultaneously. There they saw the Old Tea Tree standing far away from the lakeside where it had been rooted in place for years, looking thoroughly traumatized.
At the lakeshore, the Shuiying Palace where Qing Ying lived had been reduced to a smoking, dust-covered ruin. Qing Ying emerged from it in a fury, wearing divine-metal battle armor and carrying a cauldron forged from divine metal that shimmered with divine radiance from top to bottom.
Bao Gu and Yu Mi stared at Qing Ying in astonishment. They both wanted to ask the same thing.
“What did you do? How did you get struck by such a bizarre bolt in broad daylight?”
Yu Mi asked:
“What happened?”
She looked Qing Ying up and down, her eyes full of curiosity. Had the lightning actually blasted Qing Ying’s protective armor into visibility?
Qing Ying shot Yu Mi an irritated look and snorted heavily before saying to Bao Gu:
“Have Yu Jianming come collect the cauldron! The divine-metal storage treasure you asked me to forge for him is finished! It can hold things and stew food, too!”
Bao Gu’s gaze fell on the divine-metal cauldron in Qing Ying’s arms. She could clearly see the charred patterns left by the lightning. The marks had fused seamlessly with the divine-metal treasure, making it obvious that the bolt had been aimed at the cauldron.
She immediately understood. Qing Ying had probably been forging it when the lightning struck. A cauldron was a weighty artifact and extraordinarily difficult to shape in the first place. With such exceptional materials, and with Qing Ying—an Imperial Daughter—personally forging it, it was certainly no ordinary treasure. The moment the cauldron was completed, Qing Ying had been holding it in her arms. The Heavenly Dao had sensed it and sent a bolt of heavenly lightning crashing directly into it, striking Qing Ying as well.
Bao Gu had lived for nearly six hundred years and had never seen thunder strike on a clear day. She studied the lightning patterns curiously and asked:
“What kind of tribulation lightning was that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Qing Ying gritted her teeth and shouted:
“If I find out who was undergoing Immortal Ascension, I’ll slap him to death! No, wait—I’ll stew him! Couldn’t he have undergone the Immortal Ascension Tribulation at any other time? Why did he have to choose the exact moment I finished forging my cauldron?”
Bao Gu gave a puzzled hum.
Yu Mi exclaimed:
“An Immortal Ascension Tribulation? Someone in this world became an immortal? Who? How could anyone’s cultivation have advanced that far so quickly?”
Qing Ying glared and said:
“If I knew, would I still be standing here sulking?”
Bao Gu asked:
“How can you be sure that someone was undergoing an Immortal Ascension Tribulation?”
Qing Ying pouted angrily. She was furious, but she could not even find the newly ascended immortal to vent her anger on, which made her feel stifled.
Bao Gu drew out a curious:
“Hmm?”
She looked at Qing Ying.
Qing Ying said:
“I could sense immortal spiritual power within that bolt of lightning. It was the unique immortal force condensed as the cultivator’s spiritual power transformed into immortal qi and their body underwent a complete rebirth after successfully passing the Immortal Ascension Tribulation.”
Bao Gu asked:
“Then why did it strike you?”
Qing Ying pointed at the cauldron in her arms.
“This cauldron. I fused a drop of true blood from my imperial bloodline into it. It wasn’t an immortal treasure yet, but when that person began his Immortal Ascension Tribulation, he tore open this realm’s spatial barrier. Heaven only knows what realm he connected to. He dragged a bolt of lightning in from beyond the realm, and it struck me.”
No wonder Qing Ying was so angry. This was a calamity that had come out of nowhere—she had actually been struck by someone else’s Immortal Ascension Tribulation from outside the realm.
Yu Mi nearly burst out laughing. She fought to hold it in for a long while, but eventually failed and said:
“Congratulations. In a realm where becoming an immortal is so difficult, you actually forged an immortal treasure in one stroke.”
After laughing, she grew curious.
“Who exactly was undergoing the Immortal Ascension Tribulation? Could it have been someone over in the Demon Domain? The highest cultivation among all the factions is currently only at the late Tribulation Transcendence stage. If any faction suddenly produced a Mahayana cultivator, it would publicize the news throughout the entire cultivation world. Could it have been Little Martial Aunt?”
Qing Ying rolled her eyes at Yu Mi.
“Canglong Mountain is only a few hundred li from here. If the little flood dragon were undergoing a tribulation, do you think I wouldn’t notice?”
Yu Mi said:
“Don’t be angry. I’ll send someone to find out!”
Qing Ying pointed south.
“The lightning came from that direction. It was very far away—far beyond the reach of my divine sense!”
Yu Mi said:
“I’ll send people to investigate immediately.”
She turned and left.
Bao Gu looked at the freshly forged divine-metal immortal cauldron.
“Did you forge this cauldron for Yu Jianming? That’s awfully generous.”
Qing Ying held the cauldron and sighed worriedly.
“I don’t know whether he’ll be able to use it!”
A Void Tearing cultivator could control a half-step immortal treasure without any trouble, but that single bolt of lightning had immediately advanced this cauldron to the immortal level. Qing Ying was close to tears. If Yu Jianming could not use it, then in the future, having him cook would still require her to bring out her own Heaven-Refining Cauldron and sit there tending the stew herself. What kind of arrangement was it to hire a chef and still have to cook personally?
She had planned to use the materials her master gave her to forge Yu Jianming a fine pot. Then she could leave all the cooking to him and simply wait for him to finish and bring her the food. But who could have expected this? Eight and a half months—she had spent a full eight and a half months forging the cauldron. If it had suddenly become an immortal artifact that Yu Jianming could not control and could not use for stewing food, just thinking about it made her heart ache.
Bao Gu said:
“If the cauldron has an artifact spirit and recognizes Yu Jianming as its master, or if he refines it into his natal treasure, he should be able to use it.”
Qing Ying’s eyes lit up.
“That’s right! I’ll go find him!”
She went straight to the rear mountain of Lingyun Peak in the Xuantian Sect. In the herb garden there, she found Yu Jianming with his sleeves and trouser legs rolled up, a small medicinal hoe in hand as he carefully examined high-grade spirit plants and precious herbs.
She called out to him:
“Hey!”
She gripped one of the cauldron’s legs, raised her arm, and waved it.
When Yu Jianming saw Qing Ying, he quickly wiped the dirt from his hands, leaped out of the herb garden, and stood on the mountain ridge with a smile.
“Oh, Junior Sister Qing Ying. Out of seclusion?”
He took a bowl-shaped storage artifact from his own storage treasure.
“One of my disciples brought me the meat of a Deity Transformation-stage beast yesterday. I roasted it and saved half for you.”
He also produced a gourd of seventh-grade Monkey Wine.
“I traded for some Monkey Wine from the little monkeys and saved you a gourd.”
Qing Ying shoved the divine-metal immortal cauldron into Yu Jianming’s arms, accepted the bowl and the Monkey Wine, and sat down beside the garden ridge.
“Master asked me to forge this storage treasure for you. She said you could use it as a library! What a waste to use it only as a library. It should be like my cauldron—able to hold things and stew things, too.”
She stopped and looked at Yu Jianming with a troubled expression.
“Unfortunately, right when it was finished, some fool was undergoing an Immortal Ascension Tribulation and broke through the spatial barrier between realms. No one knows what realm it connected to, but it dragged a bolt of heavenly lightning in from outside and struck the cauldron. It forcibly turned a spirit-treasure cauldron into an immortal-treasure cauldron.”
Yu Jianming was delighted. He held the cauldron and turned it over and over, instantly unable to put it down.
“I’ve heard that cauldron-shaped treasures are the hardest to give form to. Even my Little Martial Aunt—your master—with all her strength, can’t forge a cauldron-shaped treasure. And my Little Martial Aunt Ancestor, despite her formidable mastery of formations, can only forge low-grade cauldron treasures. Anything even one grade higher shatters on the spot!”
He sent his divine sense into the cauldron and felt the extraordinary aura within. The newly forged immortal treasure had been tempered by heavenly lightning into an immortal cauldron. The aura and resonance contained within it made anyone who touched it feel subtly nourished, and faintly allowed them to brush against the profundity of the Dao.
Qing Ying was very pleased by the roundabout compliment.
“See if you can use it to stew things.”
Yu Jianming thought for a moment before smiling.
“Give me some time to nourish it with my natal true blood. Then I’ll fuse a wisp of my soul consciousness into it and forge an artifact spirit. After that, I should be able to use it. Whatever you want to eat—as long as the ingredients are available—I’ll stew it for you.”
Qing Ying cheerfully nodded.
She tossed the roasted beast meat and the Monkey Wine Yu Jianming had given her into the cauldron, rose from the garden ridge, and said:
“I’m leaving.”
Yu Jianming called after her:
“Junior Sister Qing Ying.”
Qing Ying turned back and arched a brow.
“What is it?”
Yu Jianming said:
“Don’t you have the Fire Spirit Stones you obtained from the Saintly Path Sect? A market has opened at the eastern foot of the mountain. Rogue cultivators from nearby and disciples of the Xuantian Sect do a little business there. If you want to stroll around and buy snacks or something, you can go there. There’s a shop called Treasure Pavilion, and one of my disciples runs it. If there’s anything you want, give him enough spirit stones and have him send people out to find it for you.”
Qing Ying looked sideways at Yu Jianming.
“You’re not afraid I’ll frighten them?”
Yu Jianming asked:
“Why would I be afraid of that? You’re not going there to fight.”
Qing Ying thought it over.
“You told me to go. If I frighten anyone, that’s not my fault.”
Yu Jianming said:
“Go without worry. The Xuantian Sect is my territory. If you frighten anyone, I’ll stand up for you. Even if Little Martial Aunt blames me afterward, I’ll take responsibility.”
Qing Ying snorted softly.
“I don’t need you to take responsibility for me!”
She narrowed her eyes and headed straight for the eastern foothills. After searching around, she finally found a small market consisting of only two streets.
The market was tiny, but it was bustling. Many Xuantian Sect disciples lived scattered throughout the mountains or gathered in small villages nearby, and many rogue cultivators came and went. The streets were a little over ten feet wide, with shops and residences on both sides. Stalls filled nearly every space beneath the eaves. They sold all kinds of things.
Qing Ying landed at the edge of the market and first swept her gaze around. Once she saw that no one was paying attention to her, she caught the especially enticing smell of food. She looked up and spotted a small restaurant about four zhang ahead, with a stove set up at the entrance and something delicious cooking right on the street.
Pursing her lips, Qing Ying ambled over. She peeked inside and saw only a few cultivators sitting at two tables, noisily slurping long strands of noodles.
Noodles? That seemed to be what they were called. They smelled delicious, and the diners looked like they were enjoying themselves.
The cultivator who served as both proprietor and waiter turned around and saw Qing Ying standing in the doorway. He was so startled that his mouth fell open.
Qing Ying pointed inside.
“May I come in? I’d like a bowl of whatever they’re eating.”
The man stared blankly at her and rubbed his eyes.
Qing Ying immediately grew nervous. She was afraid that once he recovered, he would start screaming and scare away half the people in the street.
The man took a deep breath. Qing Ying was just preparing to run when he asked:
“Do you have spirit stones?”
Qing Ying nodded.
The man nodded as well.
“One low-grade spirit stone per bowl of noodles. Adding monster meat or spirit herbs costs another ten low-grade spirit stones!”
He pointed to a sign beside him.
“The prices are clearly marked. No cheating.”
Qing Ying hesitated.
“You’re not afraid of me?”
The man looked her over again, then chuckled.
“I’m from Lingyun Peak, too. By seniority, I should call you Martial Aunt Ancestor. I’ll give you twenty percent off!”
Qing Ying said:
“Oh.”
She took out a low-grade spirit stone and looked at it, then at the man.
“If I’m eating only one bowl of noodles and you’re giving me twenty percent off, can you chip a corner off this stone and give it back to me?”
The man ushered Qing Ying inside and showed her to a seat.
“I can’t make change for that. You can just leave it as a tip, and we won’t need to worry about change!”
With that, he went to cook for her.
Qing Ying looked down on the monster meat and spirit herbs the man normally added to his noodles. She took out one leg of the beast meat Yu Jianming had given her, along with more than a dozen seventh-grade spirit herbs, and asked him to cook them into the noodles.
One bowl was far too small and would never be enough, so she gave him the rest of the beast meat as well, had him slice it up and add it to the noodles, then added dozens more spirit herbs and told him to cook a huge pot and bring it out.
The early Core Formation disciple had no storage artifact specially refined for serving food, so he could only carry the noodles out in several basins used for kneading dough, each a full two feet in diameter.
Qing Ying sat primly at the square table, holding her chopsticks and daintily picking noodles from the enormous basin brimming in front of her.
Several Foundation Establishment cultivators nearby saw the pretty little girl eating from a huge basin and were so shocked that their eyes went round.
One of them sighed with a blank stare:
“There are always people beyond people and skies beyond skies! How can that stomach possibly hold all of it?”
Another, who considered himself well-informed, said:
“I dare say this young lady is definitely at the Nascent Soul stage! She isn’t actually young at all. Didn’t you hear the noodle-shop owner call her Martial Aunt Ancestor? That tells you how high her seniority is!”
The Lingyun Peak disciple who had cooked the noodles brought out three basins in succession and asked Qing Ying:
“Martial Aunt Ancestor, would you like the noodle broth as well?”
Qing Ying glanced at the shopkeeper.
“What am I supposed to do with noodle broth?”
Her face was full of disdain.
The Lingyun Peak disciple asked:
“If you don’t want the broth, may I pack it up?”
Qing Ying nodded.
The Lingyun Peak disciple immediately broke into a wide grin and raced back as fast as he could. He pulled out a low-grade gourd used for storing spirit wine and carefully poured the broth from most of the large pot into it. The broth had been cooked with dozens of high-grade spirit herbs and meat from a Deity Transformation-stage beast.
He turned back, practically beside himself with excitement.
“Martial Aunt Ancestor Qing Ying, this meal is on me. If you want noodles again, come to me anytime. I’ll cook as much as you want, and I won’t charge you a single coin.”
A large bag of mortal flour worth less than a tael of silver had been exchanged for a huge pot of broth made from dozens of high-grade spiritual delicacies and high-grade beast meat. Happiness had arrived far too suddenly.
Qing Ying said:
“That won’t do. Master said I mustn’t take advantage of people.”
She waved her hand and tossed two hundred low-grade spirit stones to him.
“The extra is your tip.”
The disciple held the spirit stones Qing Ying had thrown him and was so happy he nearly fainted.
Who said a drought demon was scary? She was a living ancestor!
Qing Ying finished eating her noodles and left. As she casually turned her head toward the shop beside the restaurant, she saw its owner waiting at the entrance, smiling broadly and calling out:
“Great Martial Aunt Ancestor Qing Ying, please come in!”
He eagerly tried to usher her inside.
Qing Ying asked:
“Are you from Lingyun Peak, too?”
“Oh, no. I’m a disciple of Xianyun Peak. Great Martial Aunt Ancestor, please look around. I’ll give you half price.”
Qing Ying asked:
“I have to spend spirit stones just to look? You’re cheating people! That’s not how business is done!”
She glared at him in displeasure, turned around, and walked out. As soon as she stepped outside, the shopkeeper across the street welcomed her in as well. Unfortunately, the treasures he sold were all too shabby and the pills far too inferior, so Qing Ying left with a look of disdain.
Yu Mi sent the Shadow Pavilion to investigate the newly ascended immortal. It took three days for news to return. Based on the timing Yu Mi had provided, they could only determine that an unusual phenomenon had occurred in the depths of the South Sea at that time. They could not tell whether anyone had undergone Immortal Ascension, but speculated that it was most likely an ocean demon cultivator or a rogue cultivator living somewhere in the outer sea.
The ocean was unfathomably deep and enormous, with countless demon races. To cultivators, it was even more dangerous than the Demon Domain. No cultivation-world faction had a foothold there, making it nearly impossible to gather information, and any investigation might provoke the sea’s demon factions and cause unnecessary trouble. After telling Bao Gu the results, Yu Mi ordered the Shadow Pavilion to stop pursuing the matter.
Two days later, just after noon, Yu Mi suddenly heard the gate steward report that a man calling himself Nanshan Yijian wished to see the manor’s master. As soon as she heard the name, she hurried to the entrance.
There, she saw Nanshan Yijian standing before the gate in a blue robe. He looked about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, and his white hair was tied up with a jade crown. A man was slung over his back, his face hidden from view, but the aura coming from him was terrifying. A casual sweep of her divine sense over him was enough to make Yu Mi’s heart turn cold.
She clasped her hands and bowed.
“Greetings, Senior Nanshan. Please come in.”
She quickly ushered Nanshan Yijian into the Envoy Residence and led him to the reception hall.
Nanshan Yijian placed the man in a chair.
Only then did Yu Mi realize that he was unconscious. His face looked very young, but an aura she could not see through faintly coiled around him, and it filled her with instinctive terror. She immediately used a voice-transmission jade talisman to contact Bao Gu and ask her to come.
When Bao Gu saw Nanshan Yijian, she was overjoyed. She clasped her hands and bowed.
“Greetings, Senior Nanshan. It has been several hundred years since we last met. How have you been?”
Nanshan Yijian nodded lightly.
“I have come today without warning because I need to ask you for a favor.”
As he spoke, he raised a hand toward the unconscious man lying in the chair.
Bao Gu had noticed the man when she entered, but now that she looked at him again, he seemed strangely familiar. Then she remembered.
Wasn’t this Jun Ye from the Jun Residence in Xuanyue Ancient City?
After Bao Gu destroyed the Jun Residence, Jun Ye had found her. He had possessed more than enough strength to kill her, yet had inexplicably spared her. When he left, he had taken one light step and appeared a hundred zhang away, leaving a profound shock in Bao Gu’s heart.
She asked:
“Is that Jun Ye of the Jun Residence in Xuanyue Ancient City? What happened to him?”
Nanshan Yijian said:
“Five days ago, Brother Jun underwent the Immortal Ascension Tribulation and attained a True Immortal body. Yet two days ago, he suddenly fell unconscious. The aura throughout his body became chaotic, and he even showed signs of collapsing. I could not determine the cause. Seeing how dangerous his condition was, I thought of your Upper Realm inheritance and your broad experience. Perhaps you might have a way to help him, so I brought him here to seek your aid.”
As he spoke, he raised his arms, intending to bow deeply to Bao Gu, but Bao Gu lifted a hand and stopped him.
Bao Gu said:
“Senior, you have shown both the Xuantian Sect and Bao Gu tremendous kindness. If there is anything Bao Gu can do, I will give it my all. There is no need for this.”
She paused, then asked:
“Do you mean Senior Jun underwent the Immortal Ascension Tribulation five days ago?”
Nanshan Yijian said:
“After attaining the True Immortal realm, he showed no abnormalities. But two days ago, he suddenly became like this.”
