Chapter 338

Chapter 339: Meeting an Online Friend

Early the next morning, Xuan Che arrived.

At a glance, Yu Sheng saw the mix of hope and nerves on his face.

“Relax, it’s just a Door Opening home,” Irene said from Yu Sheng’s shoulder to Xuan Che, “you’ll be there in a blink.”

“Though I saw it once, I still feel an expert’s methods are mysterious and unbelievable,” Xuan Che said, a bit tense but trying to relax. “To cross the stars and arrive with one Door Opening, no matter near or far. The Algladians’ Youth Form Gate still needs a stretch of travel in Hyperspace. To be honest, I’m curious what principle Mr. Yu’s Door works on…”

“I wish I could explain it,” Yu Sheng said as he slipped on his travel coat and reached into the air. “The Special Affairs Bureau has recorded lots of sample data, but they still haven’t figured it out. Are we all ready? If so, I’ll open the Door.”

“Ready~”“Benefactor, ready.”“Mm, okay.”

Yu Sheng smiled, took a gentle breath, calmed his heart, and began to build the Door to Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain. [This was his first time heading beyond the Borderland’s circle of civilization, so he was actually a little nervous.] [What would Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain be like?]

A Door with a faint, translucent edge took shape in his hand. With a soft click, the handle turned and the Door opened.

Yu Sheng opened it and saw, on the other side, misty fairy peaks, towering palaces, and a majestic Grand Hall.

“You go first,” Yu Sheng said to the wide-eyed Xuan Che with a smile, “I have to go last.”

Xuan Che bowed quickly, tidied his clothes, and stepped through the Door back to Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain.

The instant he crossed the threshold, his Borderland-style casual wear became a plain but clearly fine robe.

Yu Sheng stared for a moment, impressed by the Immortal world’s convenience, then sent Irene and the others through and followed after.

The view shifted in an instant, and they stepped into another land. Before Yu Sheng could take in the air of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, a familiar voice rang in his ear: “Master! Master! Eldest senior brother has been refined out of eldest senior brother’s Alchemy Furnace!”

A moment later, a gray-robed novice who looked twelve or thirteen ran past. He didn’t get far before Xuan Che grabbed his collar and lifted him: “You tattle all day and night! I reported my return to Master!”

Right then, a calm, old voice sounded from the Grand Hall, a voice carrying a smile: “Xuan Che, enough. Put Xuan Yun down. He knew you were coming back today and got so excited he didn’t know what to do.”

Yu Sheng looked toward the sound and saw, at the far end of the wide Grand Hall, an elder in a simple robe, white hair and beard, with the air of an immortal. A dozen male and female cultivators stood behind him. Behind them was a sweeping view of immortal mountains. The Grand Hall had no walls. Beyond a few great pillars, it opened straight to the sky.

Xuan Che set the little novice down, strode to the elder, bowed, and said: “Master, I am back.”

“Good. You did well,” Immortal Yuan Ling said with a smile and a nod. Then his eyes fell on Yu Sheng and the others.

He stopped there and did not move, staring without blinking as if he had gone into meditation.

Yu Sheng was not surprised. The first time Xuan Che saw him, he had the same reaction. People often drifted off when they looked at Yu Sheng, especially those with strong spiritual talent. He was used to it.

So he stepped forward with a smile to greet the elder: “An honor to meet you, Im… Immortal Yuan Ling.”

He almost said the man’s screen name, Wicked Disciple 4000, but he changed it at the last second.

Immortal Yuan Ling snapped back the moment Yu Sheng spoke. The immortal-boned elder straightened his expression and returned a salute with a level of solemn respect that made even Yu Sheng a little shy: “An honor. With sir’s visit, my mountain is blessed.”

Watching this, Xuan Che went a little blank. He knew his mentor and Yu Sheng were “friends” online and would exchange a few polite words in person, but the master’s reaction was far beyond what he expected. He wanted to ask something, but a glance from his master made him swallow the words.

Yu Sheng introduced Irene and the others, and everyone exchanged greetings. Then, feeling awkward about how formal Immortal Yuan Ling still was, Yu Sheng waved and said with a sheepish smile: “Just call me Yu Sheng, like when we chat on the Border network. All this formality in person makes me nervous. And really, you’re the elder. I’m the young one…”

He trailed off because the elder’s expression was getting stranger.

“You are too modest,” Immortal Yuan Ling said, “but since you insist, I will call you Yu Sheng.”

He waved to the people standing behind him: “Spread out, spread out. Back to your places. Inform the Immortal Dining Hall to prepare a feast.”

Then he turned to Yu Sheng again: “Those are my disciples. They heard an honored guest was visiting and just had to come watch the fuss. I will lead you to a place to rest, since you have come from far…”

He stopped halfway, sensed something was off, and looked at the Door-opening Xuan Che, then at Door-opening Yu Sheng, Irene, Foxy, and Luna. He stood there, thinking.

“…It wasn’t very far,” Xuan Che said carefully, “we only walked a few steps.”

Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard and kept thinking.

Yu Sheng couldn’t help smiling and waved: “No need to trouble yourselves so much. You don’t have to arrange rooms for us. My ability can toss me to the very edge of the universe, and going home to sleep is just one Door Opening away. I do want to discuss something else, though.”

Immortal Yuan Ling straightened and said: “Please speak.”

“We don’t need lodging. Do you have an open place where my house can sit?”

Immortal Yuan Ling blinked, kept stroking his beard, and thought again.

The road of Cultivation is long, and worldly wonders are countless. He believed he had seen much in his few hundred years. Yet now he felt short a few steps in how words should be put together.

Yu Sheng coughed and quickly explained: “It’s like this. My house is special…”

He told the “old immortal” about the special features of Wutong Road 66, keeping the explanation as simple as he could. Even so, Immortal Yuan Ling listened in a daze. Several seconds after Yu Sheng finished, the elder finally caught up and said in amazement: “Your cave dwelling can do Universe Transposition at your will?”

“That’s one way to explain it,” Yu Sheng said, not fully sure. “In my own understanding, it’s just resetting the building’s coordinates. I don’t know what you would call it here.”

But Immortal Yuan Ling seemed not to hear. He kept pinching his beard and thinking: “What could be the principle…”

Yu Sheng coughed again as a reminder: “I can’t explain the principle. About the ‘place to land,’ can you arrange it? If it’s not convenient, forget it. It’s not hard for me to Door home.”

“Not abrupt at all,” Immortal Yuan Ling said quickly with a smile, waving both hands. “I just do not know how much space your cave dwelling needs. My Spirit Infusion Peak has plenty of Open Ground…”

“Any spot is fine,” Yu Sheng said. “It doesn’t need much Open Ground. When it ‘lands,’ it will expand its own plot. It should just be a quiet place where it won’t be in the way.”

“A quiet place is easy. There is a Cloud Viewing Terrace on the back of my peak. The view is excellent, ordinary disciples and servants never go there, and there is a path that leads straight to this Grand Hall. Would that do?”

“That works,” Yu Sheng said with a nod.

“Good. I will have a junior disciple lead you there. I will check how the Immortal Dining Hall is doing with the meal. Once your house is settled, we will talk again.”

The little novice from before, Xuan Yun, came over, saluted, and said very properly: “Honored Immortal Elders, please follow me.”

As he spoke, he could not help sneaking looks at Yu Sheng, his face full of curiosity. When he noticed he had been caught, he grinned.

Yu Sheng and his group followed the boy.

Xuan Che watched them disappear behind the pillars. Only then did he hear his master let out a soft breath.

“Master,” he turned and finally had the chance to ask what was on his mind, “just now you…”

“Xuan Che,” Immortal Yuan Ling cut him off. His face was serious. “When you spend time with the expert, you have not been sneaking looks where you shouldn’t, have you?”

Xuan Che paused, then bowed his head and answered honestly: “No. Only the first time by accident, and I told you.”

“Good, no wandering eyes,” Immortal Yuan Ling seemed relieved, and then a smile returned to his face. “Good fortune. Yes, good fortune.”

“Master,” Xuan Che said, confused but sensing that his master could see far more than he could, “what did you see just now…”

“Xuan Che, have you ever seen the starlight of Taigu and Huijiao?”

“Taigu? Huijiao?” Xuan Che did not know why his master suddenly brought this up, but he answered quickly: “I have heard of them. They say those are the oldest two stars in the universe. Their light reaches the ends of the cosmos and goes back to the day when heaven and earth first opened and the new world began. Cultivators can gaze at the light of Taigu and Huijiao to understand the Dao. But my cultivation is shallow, and I have not yet seen their glow.”

“…I have,” Immortal Yuan Ling said softly. “Taigu and Huijiao, their light is so distant you cannot grasp it. When I saw them, that ancient and grand feeling left a mark I will never forget. Saying they were born when heaven and earth first opened does have some reason.”

“So…” Xuan Che began.

“Still younger than Mr. Yu,” Immortal Yuan Ling finished.

“…?!”