Chapter 181
Chapter 181: Yu Ruan Ruan’s Origins
Rong Shu had thought that getting news about the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower would take some time, but as it happened the black market had just the lead she needed, so she immediately spent spirit stones to buy the information: in one month, Wanderer’s City would host an alchemy conference, and the prize for the fourth-rank competition would include the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower.
After skimming the clue in her hand, she turned to Wu Hua in delight: senior brother, there’s finally a lead on the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower.
She continued, eyes bright: Wanderer’s City will hold an alchemy conference in a month, and the prizes include the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower.
She added, a touch of confidence in her voice: it just so happens I’m a fourth-rank alchemist, so I can enter and try to win the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower back.
Wu Hua nodded: very well, then we head to Wanderer’s City.
He spoke mildly: do not feel too much pressure; even if you fail to get it, it is fine, I will continue searching for you.
Rong Shu chuckled: if I really cannot win it, then I will have to trouble senior brother.
Just then, the black market’s information broker compiled the other two inquiries Rong Shu had commissioned at the start into a single jade plaque and presented it to her.
Rong Shu glanced over it; there was quite a lot recorded.
She looked up with urgency: senior brother, there’s no time to lose, let’s set out for Wanderer’s City first.
Wu Hua answered simply: okay.
With Wu Hua carrying her on his sword, they made swift time on the road, and Rong Shu began reading the contents stored in the jade plaque.
First, she looked at the information on Yu Ruan Ruan: before joining Heaven’s Evolution Sect, Yu Ruan Ruan had been a farm girl in a remote village.
She had been born into a family that favored sons over daughters; as the eldest sister, she had three younger sisters and one younger brother beneath her.
As for Father Yu, Mother Yu, Old Master Yu, and the Yu grandmother, those elders had eyes only for the little brother, holding him in their palms and cherishing him.
By contrast, toward Yu Ruan Ruan and the other children they were cold, driving them to do housework and farm labor and to tend to their little one, the youngest brother; if anything was done poorly, they withheld food and used the stick.
If nothing unexpected had happened, Yu Ruan Ruan would have spent her whole life in that out-of-the-way village, perhaps marrying into some other village when grown.
At age ten, Yu Ruan Ruan once ran away from home, then suddenly returned.
On returning, she was, of course, beaten and scolded.
Before she could rest from the beating, the Yu elders urged her into the mountains to pick a wild fruit her little brother liked to eat.
While she was in the mountains, a passing Demonic Cultivator set his sights on that village, using the lives of every villager as a sacrifice to raise his cultivation.
Thus, everyone in the village died.
When the wandering Jun Xiu Ran happened to pass by and discovered what had happened, it was already too late.
In the end, Yu Ruan Ruan, the sole survivor of the village, was tested by Jun Xiu Ran and found to possess a rare ice-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root, so he brought her back to Heaven’s Evolution Sect and accepted her as his personal disciple.
Rong Shu finished reading Yu Ruan Ruan’s mortal-world background and kept circling back to the phrase “Yu Ruan Ruan ran away from home at age ten.” In that span of time, no one knew where she went or what she did. Yu Ruan Ruan was three years older than Rong Shu; if Yu Ruan Ruan had been ten that year, then Rong Shu had been seven. Seven was the year Rong Shu fell from the cliff. [Could it really be such a coincidence?]
She shared her thoughts with Wu Hua: senior brother, does this feel strange to you?
Wu Hua had investigated these matters about Yu Ruan Ruan long ago, yet seeing Rong Shu working hard to uncover the truth, he had not barged in to disrupt her own pace.
He inclined his head: among mortals the chance of being born with a spiritual root is one in ten thousand.
He elaborated calmly: bloodline does matter; those cultivation clans that have produced cultivators across generations give their descendants a higher chance of awakening spiritual roots than ordinary mortals.
He concluded: that is why cultivation clans intermarry, to keep their cultivation bloodlines pure.
Rong Shu could not help thinking of her own clan. The Rong Clan was not a famed cultivation family, but their ancestors had produced a few cultivators; it was only in the last hundred years that they had declined, appearing outwardly like an ordinary mortal clan. That was an important reason why several in Rong Shu’s generation had tested positive for spiritual roots.
Wu Hua added, voice low: for more than a dozen generations Yu Ruan Ruan’s forebears were pure mortals, with no cultivator among them; unless her fortune defied the heavens and she was favored by the Dao of Heaven, she could not have possessed a spiritual root.
Rong Shu listened, then continued reading the jade plaque’s record of Jun Xiu Ran’s movements ten years prior: ten years ago, Jun Xiu Ran, who had long cultivated in seclusion within the sect, suddenly left, claiming that through a hint of destiny he had calculated a master-disciple affinity awaiting him in the mortal world. Thus, he entered the world, traveling while searching for that destined affinity. In the end, he found Yu Ruan Ruan and brought her back to the sect. Because Yu Ruan Ruan’s ice-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root was outstanding, the Heaven’s Evolution Sect seniors had no objections, and Jun Xiu Ran took her as his personal disciple.
Rong Shu frowned in puzzlement as she looked up: how strange… Immortal Venerable Ze Yu can cast divinations too, and knew he had a future disciple lost among mortals, so he entered the world on purpose?
Wu Hua explained with composure: it is not impossible; cultivators go against the will of heaven, and some can even catch a whisper of the Dao of Heaven, thus gaining foreknowledge.
Rong Shu blinked: that amazing? Then are such foretellings always true?
Wu Hua lifted his gaze to the sky: truth and falsehood mix; who can say for sure, yet most people would rather believe than not, especially when the murmur is from the Dao of Heaven.
Rong Shu half understood.
Wu Hua abruptly changed the subject: by the way, where is your little pet?
Rong Shu answered as she summoned it: oh, he’s asleep. With that, she released Little Hamster from the Han Chuan Cosmos Pearl.
Little Hamster lay in her palm like a soft meat pancake, sleeping in perfect comfort.
Rong Shu poked him: Yan Yan.
Little Hamster flipped upright and was about to coo something at Rong Shu when, glimpsing Wu Hua beside her, he shivered at once.
Wu Hua narrowed his eyes at the hamster curled in Rong Shu’s palm: this little thing looks different somehow… He paused, then decided: fatter.
Rong Shu weighed him in her hand; he was indeed heavier than when they first met.
She asked in all seriousness: senior brother, should we put Yan Yan on a diet?
Hearing that, Wu Hua’s look turned complicated; a little thing not even as big as a palm, on a diet? He shook his head with a wry smile: as you wish.
Was little junior sister unaware of this change in Little Hamster, or was she deliberately ignoring it? Wu Hua could not tell, but the most important matter at present was whether Rong Shu’s spiritual root had been dug out.
His smile faded and he asked quietly: Rong Shu, if in the end we uncover that Yu Ruan Ruan took your spiritual root, what will you do?
Rong Shu fell silent for a beat, then lowered her gaze to the Little Hamster rolling about and acting cute in her palm: nothing is settled yet, senior brother. If the final result really is as you say, then the justice that ought to be sought will be sought, and what ought to be reclaimed will be reclaimed.
Wu Hua recalled the Destiny Plate’s previous guidances; at the time, something had always felt off. Now, however, a bold guess flashed through his mind and he spoke softly: Rong Shu, have you considered that if your spiritual root had not been taken, the one Jun Xiu Ran entered the world to accept as a disciple back then might have been you?
Rong Shu started, stunned. Jun Xiu Ran would have taken “Rong Shu” as his disciple back then? Her senior brother’s conjecture was not without merit. As Heaven’s Evolution Sect’s foremost expert, Jun Xiu Ran could not have accepted a disciple simply because she was homeless; the key was that Yu Ruan Ruan possessed the ice-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root and the aptitude for cultivation.
That being the case, what Yu Ruan Ruan stole was not only a spiritual root, but “Rong Shu’s” very fate.
Rong Shu sank into deep thought, unaware that Wu Hua had turned his head to look at her, his eyes complicated. [Perhaps… perhaps little junior sister is the one he was seeking all along? Only her fate was stolen?] The thought shook him to his core. To steal another’s fate is a thousand times harder than gouging out a spiritual root. Back then Yu Ruan Ruan had only been ten; how could she have possessed such means? This person was exceedingly strange—there might well be a hidden black hand orchestrating everything behind her. [If little junior sister truly is the one he sought, that would actually be… quite good.] If so, he would not need to agonize over how to deal with Yu Ruan Ruan. Because his own senior brother’s fate was implicated, no matter how much he disliked Yu Ruan Ruan, he could not ignore her.
Just then, Rong Shu spoke again: senior brother, whether my spiritual root was dug out is still uncertain, and I have another doubt.
She furrowed her brow: if my spiritual root truly had been taken, the person who did it could not have been so kind as to leave me two Wind-Fire Spiritual Roots, right?
That point was what Rong Shu had never been able to figure out—if she had been “dug,” why did she still have spiritual roots at all?
Wu Hua nodded: it indeed does not add up. Only if you remember what happened back then can this doubt be resolved.
Rong Shu answered with a quiet hum.
Two days later, within the territory of Heaven’s Evolution Sect, on a small mountain less than five hundred li from the sect, a middle-aged man circulated his qi to activate a compass-like object before him, while a young man beside him yawned in boredom.
This time, the guiding needle above the compass slowly shifted away from pointing toward Heaven’s Evolution Sect. The middle-aged man started and said gravely: the person actually left?
He asked with deference: young master, the Destiny Plate indicates the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden is temporarily not within Heaven’s Evolution Sect; shall we go to the sect and wait for her there, or set out now to find her?
The young man stood, cast a glance at the Destiny Plate, and decided: we will wait at Heaven’s Evolution Sect.
He sneered a little: what even is this Heaven’s Chosen Maiden that the clan and my master value so highly that they had me, the young master, come in person to escort her back?
The middle-aged man could only explain yet again, helplessly patient: the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden concerns matters of great import; if our clan can seize the initiative and win her over, it will be all benefit and no harm. The Venerable also has your interests in mind, young master; if you can form a connection with the Heaven’s Chosen Maiden…
The young man cut him off, impatient: enough, Uncle Feng, who knows how many times you have said this already—aren’t you tired of it? Come, to Heaven’s Evolution Sect.
Saying so, he rose on his sword and flew off. Seeing this, the middle-aged man quickly put away the Destiny Plate and followed.
In the blink of an eye, the two arrived before the mountain gate of Heaven’s Evolution Sect. At the same time, on Sect Master’s Peak, Ming Xuan sensed their arrival; with a single flicker he appeared above the mountain gate.
Ming Xuan looked down at the visiting youth and middle-aged man, doubt stirring in his heart. The middle-aged man’s cultivation was beyond even his perception, while the youth’s cultivation was already at late Nascent Soul and seemed only a hair from breaking through to the Divine Transformation Stage—yet by his features he was strikingly young, likely under a hundred years of age.
Ming Xuan spoke first: may I ask what business brings the two of you to my Heaven’s Evolution Sect?
His sudden appearance drew the attention of the disciples near the gate: the sect master is here, look, who are those two, why are they here, which sect do they belong to?
The middle-aged man casually tossed out a round jade token. Ming Xuan caught it, ran his fingers across the surface, and six sigil-like characters emerged: Central State Heart’s Gaze Academy.
Ming Xuan’s heart jolted: from Central State?
He returned the token and bowed slightly: sirs who have come from afar, what important matter brings you here?
The middle-aged man replied: by order of the Academy, we have come to the Southern Wilds to seek heaven-favored geniuses to enter the Academy to study. We hope your sect can lend us lodging for a time.
Hearing this, Ming Xuan rejoiced inwardly. If disciples of his sect were chosen by the Academy, all of Heaven’s Evolution Sect would benefit. He smiled at once: easily done, please come in.
Rong Shu and Wu Hua spent several days on the road, then used the teleportation arrays between the main cities and arrived directly in Wanderer’s City.
With about a month left before the alchemy conference, they took rooms at an inn in the city and quietly awaited the start.
During this time, they inquired about the entry requirements and procedures. The conference was divided by alchemist rank into first through fifth-rank divisions, with alchemists of the same rank testing their pill-dao against one another. The Qingjue Six Spirit Flower that Rong Shu needed was among the prizes for the fourth-rank division. Only those who placed in the top ten of the division would receive prizes, and the higher the placement, the earlier one could choose, so if Rong Shu did not want the Qingjue Six Spirit Flower chosen by someone else first, she needed to place as high as possible.
As for how to enter: first, one had to register at the Alchemists’ Branch Guild in Wanderer’s City; second, to enter a given division, one had to pass the Branch Guild’s assessment. The assessment was not difficult—refine a single furnace of pills of the corresponding rank; for the first-rank division, one had to refine a first-rank pill.
Following the procedure, Rong Shu went to the Alchemists’ Branch Guild to register, passed the assessment, and smoothly obtained the qualification to compete in the fourth-rank division.
What remained was simply to await the start of the alchemy conference.