Chapter 137
Chapter 137: Senior Brother Wu Hua Becomes the Imagined Rival
Outside the Peach Blossom Grove, a man in a scarlet brocade robe, his features tinged with an alluring, androgynous softness, was about to step beneath the peach boughs.
He had taken only a few steps when the forest guardian at the entrance barred his way; the forest guardian cupped his fists in salute and said: “Young Valley Lord.”
The androgynous man cast the forest guardian an indifferent glance, then spoke lightly: “Move aside, I want to see Ancestor.”
But the forest guardian did not yield as the man had expected; instead he continued: “Young Valley Lord, Ancestor is receiving a guest and has no time at present, please come again later.”
At that, the man’s brows arched as he asked: “Receiving a guest? What guest?”
“I do not know,” the forest guardian shook his head, then lowered his voice and said: “But everyone around Ancestor has been dismissed, so it must be an esteemed guest.”
“All dismissed?” The man looked a little surprised. Even when the sect masters of the four great sects had all come to the Peach Blossom Grove not long ago, Ancestor had handled them with ease and scarcely taken them to heart. But this time…
Thinking thus, his curiosity only deepened. He waved a hand with open displeasure and said: “Move. I am the Young Valley Lord; even if I go in, Ancestor will not say anything. At worst, I will stand to the side and watch. I will not disturb him.”
The forest guardian still hesitated and said: “This…”
The man’s eyes suddenly turned cold; a flicker of killing intent crossed his face, and the seemingly frail air about him became at once terrifying and fierce. The forest guardian’s heart jolted; he lowered his head in a hurry and said: “Yes.” He could not keep blocking after it had come to this, and could only pray in silence: [Please let Ancestor be in a good mood later; please do not punish me.]
Inside the grove, Ancestor Yun Xie and Wu Hua faced one another across the drifting petals.
Hearing Ancestor Yun Xie’s rebuttal that was nearly slipping his composure, Wu Hua smiled with interest and said: “Lost means lost, Senior. You are already a giant among regional powers. I take it you are not so small as to be unable to accept defeat.”
“If Senior truly refuses to accept it, then I will, on behalf of my senior brother, ask Senior for a pointer or two.” As he spoke, the Snow Sword in his hand rang twice, as if issuing a challenge. Sword following the master’s will, that was indeed Wu Hua’s intention.
In the Southern Wilds, someone at Void Refinement is already a hegemon. If such a figure were to come out and stir up the winds, it would be no good thing for the Southern Wilds.
“Heh…” Ancestor Yun Xie gave a cold laugh and said: “Back then this old man had only just entered Void Refinement, my cultivation not yet steady. In a moment of carelessness I fell into Cold Bright Mirror’s scheme. Now five hundred years have passed. Did you truly think this old man has not advanced an inch?”
Wu Hua’s eyes stayed flat as he said: “Enough nonsense. If we are going to fight, then hurry. I am short on time.”
“Then let this old man see what you can do.” As Ancestor Yun Xie’s words fell, the countless petals whirling through the grove suddenly turned razor sharp, like weapons ready to take a life at any moment. In an instant, the rain of soft petals gathered into a huge tornado that rushed toward Wu Hua’s position.
Seeing this, the Snow Sword in Wu Hua’s hand became a streak of icy light as sword qi surged like wave upon wave, sweeping out in all directions. In midair an invisible longsword hung, faintly seen and unseen. With a single stroke, it cleaved cleanly through the onrushing petal-tornado. Petals were shredded to scattered fragments in a heartbeat and drifted down to the ground.
Ancestor Yun Xie extended a hand through the air and clawed hard toward Wu Hua. The aura of his Void Refinement cultivation revealed itself without doubt. Wu Hua showed no fear; still one man and one sword, he slashed down toward Ancestor Yun Xie.
That strike seemed to carry the vast, upright sword qi of heaven and earth. Boom. A deep sword scar split the earth and kept spreading. Ancestor Yun Xie’s expression changed; with a few flashing steps he rose into the air. Looking down, he saw that the spot where he had arranged a small banquet had been blasted to ruins, the nearby peach trees hewn down in a single cut, leaving only bare stumps.
“Cur!” Ancestor Yun Xie was furious. Though he himself had not been harmed, seeing his Peach Blossom Grove ravaged by Wu Hua still left his chest seething.
Wu Hua ignored his rage. He formed a seal with both hands; the Snow Sword hanging in the air began to emit a faint white glow. At the same time, the clear sky above slowly became overcast, smothered bit by bit by black clouds.
Rumble. Thunder rolled within the dark clouds as if brewing something. Seeing this, Ancestor Yun Xie’s expression turned like ice as he said: “The power of heaven and earth… this is Heavenly Thunder.”
What surprised him was not that Wu Hua could draw upon the power of heaven and earth. Any cultivator who has advanced to Nascent Soul can, more or less, sense a thread of that power. But Wu Hua’s case was different. He was far too at ease, as if with a mere lift of the hand he could summon it. And that sweeping might of heaven and earth was such that even a Divine Transformation cultivator would be somewhat inferior.
“Cold Bright Mirror’s junior brother… yet another prodigy…” Ancestor Yun Xie’s gaze hardened; with a sweep of his sleeve, a powerful current of air surged forth. The wind spiritual qi between heaven and earth gathered around him, forming enormous tornadoes that churned the world.
A faint ripple moved in Wu Hua’s eyes; he curled his lip in a smile and said: “So you are getting serious.”
“Thunder Speed.” As the words fell, the Snow Sword bathing in thunder turned into an almost imperceptible afterimage and slashed toward Ancestor Yun Xie. Midway, Wu Hua’s eyes tightened; he lifted his hand and grasped as he said: “Ten Thousand Thunder Slash.”
The single lightning-born sword-shadow split into two, two into four… and in a blink the entire sky was woven with tens of thousands of sword gleams.
“Good. Come!” Ancestor Yun Xie did not budge, staring straight at Wu Hua as the tornadoes around him shifted and condensed into a Wind Palace of towering presence that covered him entirely. The myriad sword gleams arrived together and slashed upon the Wind Palace.
Boom. For a time, heaven and earth dimmed. Thunder and gale intertwined within, tearing and striking without cease. On the earth ravaged by storm and thunder, dust billowed; a drift of peach petals rose and scattered, swirling midair.
When all grew quiet again, Ancestor Yun Xie and Wu Hua faced each other across the way. In the end, Ancestor Yun Xie spoke slowly and said: “It seems you really are Cold Bright Mirror’s junior brother.” A monster indeed.
Wu Hua did not answer that, but said: “As for the agreement from five hundred years ago, Senior would do best to keep it for another five hundred years.” With that, he sheathed his sword and flew off.
Ancestor Yun Xie did not try to stop him. He knew that with Wu Hua in the Southern Wilds, he could not act. If he forced matters and killed Wu Hua, he could not guarantee he would remain unscathed. He had tasted the terror of Cold Bright Mirror’s formations five hundred years ago. When cultivations are not too far apart, it is very difficult for an ordinary cultivator to break a formation and kill their foe. And if such a thing were done, it would be no different than declaring war on the Central Continent, inviting reprisal and suppression. It might even enrage that genius, Cold Bright Mirror. Ancestor Yun Xie now had a vast household and high honors; he could not afford the wager, nor could he bring himself to discard his present station and drift about, hunted.
As Wu Hua was about to fly out of the Peach Blossom Grove, he paused, his sharp gaze sweeping toward a certain spot, sword qi coiling about him, ready to strike. But when he sensed it was only a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, he immediately withdrew his aura and continued on his way, until his figure vanished at the horizon.
Wu Hua did not know that this casual act of disregard dealt someone a heavy blow.
In the grove, the androgynous man braced himself against a peach tree, face pale, a bead of cold sweat sliding down his brow; he murmured as he looked toward where Wu Hua had disappeared: “Who is he…”
A fierce light followed hard upon his features. No one had ever dared to look at him with such dust-scorn in their eyes. Even someone as strong as Ancestor Yun Xie treated him with patient instruction and regard. “That man looked young, yet he bore the aura of Divine Transformation…” The androgynous man had always prided himself on his gifts; not yet thirty, he had already entered Golden Core and was now pressing hard to break through to Nascent Soul. He did not take even the favored geniuses of the orthodox sects to heart. But now… [No matter who you are, since you dared to look down on me like that, one day I will trample you beneath my feet.]
“Come here, Wu Ya.” Having returned to his seat, Ancestor Yun Xie called toward the place where the man was hiding.
At the summons, the man drew in his expression, approached with utmost respect, and stood before Ancestor Yun Xie as he said: “Ancestor.”
Ancestor Yun Xie asked: “What business brings you to this old man?”
Yun Wu Ya stated why he had originally come to the grove and said: “The recent stirrings of the four great sects have been considerable. Even while in seclusion, I have heard some of it. Just now, I feel I have met a bottleneck, so I thought to go out in search of a whetstone and temper myself.”
Ancestor Yun Xie thought for a moment, then nodded slightly and said: “Very well. Then go.”
He snorted coldly right after and said: “A yellow-haired brat wants this old man to remain in the Northern Frostlands, but he never said that the disciples of Xie Xin Valley could not go out into the world.”
Yun Wu Ya naturally knew that Ancestor Yun Xie’s last words were not aimed at him. Thinking of the white-robed man he had glimpsed in passing, Yun Wu Ya weighed his thoughts, then ventured: “Ancestor, forgive me for being presumptuous… who was that just now, and why did he come here?”
Ancestor Yun Xie’s gaze was keen as a torch; he looked straight at Yun Wu Ya and saw through the small thoughts in his heart. He chuckled and said: “What is it? Do you want to surpass him?”
Seeing no trace of anger in Ancestor’s face, Yun Wu Ya felt easier and continued: “He seemed not old, yet he already had the air of Divine Transformation, while I have not even broken through to Nascent Soul. I could not help feeling some gap in my heart…”
“Hahaha…” Ancestor Yun Xie shook his head and laughed as he said: “He is only at early Nascent Soul.”
Yun Wu Ya’s face showed surprise as he said: “Nascent Soul? But the aura he released just now was clearly Divine Transformation.”
“That was the effect of a formation, letting him possess the strength of Divine Transformation for a short time,” Ancestor Yun Xie explained.
Hearing this, a look of bafflement flashed through Yun Wu Ya’s eyes as he said: “What sort of formation can raise a person’s cultivation by a whole major realm, and seemingly without side effects…”
“Perhaps it is not only the formation,” Ancestor Yun Xie said quietly. In their brief exchange, he had sensed something amiss. When one’s cultivation is forcibly raised by formation, there is always some hollowness to it; it should not be possible to wield it so freely, without the slightest rejection. But that junior calling himself Wu Hua had shown no concern at all, as if he truly were a Divine Transformation cultivator. And from the trail of corpses he had left behind, he must have used that formation many times to elevate his cultivation. That was wholly unreasonable.
“Cold Bright Mirror…” Ancestor Yun Xie repeated the three characters in his heart. As expected of formations devised by you; truly unheard-of.
He looked Yun Wu Ya over anew and said: “If you want to defeat that man, you cannot keep shrinking within Xie Xin Valley, building a carriage behind closed doors. It is time you went out and broadened your horizons.” [Back then, I really could not beat you, Cold Bright Mirror. But my grand-disciple’s talent may not be any worse than your junior brother’s.]
“His high cultivation is nothing but the backing of the Central Continent and its deep foundations. Cultivators from a small place like the Southern Wilds are fundamentally unable to compare.”
At those words, Yun Wu Ya clenched his fists. “Ancestor, one day I will definitely defeat that man.”
Ancestor Yun Xie felt comfort in his heart and said: “Very good. That is the pride a future sect master of Xie Xin Valley should have.”
“Ancestor, one last question,” Yun Wu Ya said, a thin cold gleam in his eyes. “Who is he?”
“His identity is not yet known to this old man. He should be a heaven-favored genius raised by a major power in the Central Continent,” Ancestor Yun Xie said after some thought. “His name is Wu Hua. He has a senior brother, Cold Bright Mirror. If, one day, you can crush that man, then not to speak of the Southern Wilds, even in the Central Continent you will have a place.”
Yun Wu Ya’s heart surged; he cupped his fists and said: “I understand. I will not fail Ancestor’s expectations.”
Elsewhere, several dozen li from the Peach Blossom Grove, Wu Hua descended.
No one was around, and no living thing moved. He lowered his head and coughed lightly twice, then took out two healing pills and placed them in his mouth. He could have chosen a steadier way of fighting, but that would have cost him momentum and lacked ferocity. If he revealed even a hint of decline, Ancestor Yun Xie would never sit obediently in the Northern Frostlands.
[Once I leave the Southern Wilds and return, I should remove the formation’s restrictions.]
Ever since advancing to Golden Core, Wu Hua had carried this formation. Outsiders who did not know believed he relied on it to raise his cultivation again and again for a short time and defeat stronger foes. In truth, the opposite was the case: the formation restricted him. Because it existed, even Wu Hua himself did not know what his true cultivation was now.
When he finished adjusting his breath, Wu Hua set out again. Looking back the way he had come, he thought: [Now it is time to go back and find Rong Shu.]