Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Shen Sang Ruo’s Secret and Senior Brother Feng He Yun

Among several storage pouches, one was far better than the rest. It had been sealed with care and looked like it had not been opened for a long time. Shen Sang Ruo scanned them, then lifted her hand and opened that pouch without hesitation.

Inside lay cultivation manuals, pills, and a map she had gathered in her last life.

Shen Sang Ruo carried a secret in her heart: she remembered two lifetimes.

In her previous life, she was a helpless orphan who, by chance, became a rogue cultivator. Because her talent was only average, she barely stepped into the Golden Core realm in that entire life. She had entered several Secret Realms with other cultivators, but could only pick up scraps behind them.

Her greatest chance in that life was the pouch in her hand, called the Cosmos Pouch. She had thought it was just an ordinary storage pouch, never expecting that, bound by a spirit pact, it would follow her into reincarnation and return to her side.

Most of the manuals and pills inside were low grade. But to her now, with her cultivation dispersed and a desire to leave the Flying Cloud Sect, it was a timely gift.

Once she rebuilt her cultivation, she could search for better arts later.

She picked up the map. It marked places where treasures in various Secret Realms could be found. She had drawn it in her last life with all her strength. Some spots were so hidden that only rumors gave a rough location, and some were too dangerous to set foot in. She had thought that when she grew strong one day, she would follow the map and search. In the end, even on the last day of her life, she never used it.

In this life, she was born with a Single Fire Spiritual Root and excellent talent. She hoped this map could finally be put to use. Fate let her live again with her memories, gave her talent far beyond her last life, and even sent the Cosmos Pouch back to her. Perhaps it was to fulfill her old obsession when she could reach only Golden Core.

Yet for the past two years, she had poured her heart into people who did not deserve it and neglected her own cultivation. Because she had lived alone in her last life, she cherished those bonds all the more in this one.

She let out a faint sigh and said: “Forget it.” [If I can’t hold on to something, I should let it go.] [I never regret what I do.] [All the true care I gave them over the years, all the chasing after them these two years, I do not regret.] [Let it count as fulfilling the stubborn wish of my last life.] [Now that I am giving them up, I will not regret it. I will not look back.]

She put the map away and murmured: “I wonder how many of these marked places have already been discovered after hundreds of years.”

Then she told herself: “That isn’t what I should think about right now. Choosing a suitable manual from this pile matters more.”

Shen Sang Ruo riffled through the stack of manuals. There were arts of every element; in her last life she had stuffed them all into the Cosmos Pouch. She pulled out the fire manuals, removed the ones that were far too low in grade, and was left with only two or three. From those she picked what suited her best. In the end, thankfully, one remained.

She studied the manual and muttered: “Fan the Flames Technique?” [What a careless name, and it doesn’t even sound like a proper art.] [It can’t compare to the Profound Fire True Dragon Art I learned from Master Ling Xiao, but it’s the best choice for now.]

She sat cross-legged on the stone bed, swallowed several pills, circulated her spiritual power, and sank her mind into the technique.

Three days later, still immersed in cultivation, Shen Sang Ruo was awakened by a paper crane wrapped in spiritual power. Thanks to everyone’s attention being fixed on Bai Mu Mu, not a single person had disturbed her in three days. She had already comprehended the first layer of the Fan the Flames Technique, and her cultivation had broken through to the first layer of Qi Refining. With her Single Fire Spiritual Root, she matched the technique well and cultivated at a decent pace. But the technique’s ceiling was low; at this rate, even if she grasped all nine layers, it would carry her at most to Foundation Establishment. She needed to find a better, more suitable art soon.

Using her hand as a fan, she gave a light wave and fanned out a small whirlwind of fire. Then she drew back her aura and looked at the crane. It was a message from Master Ling Xiao. She tapped the crane’s head, and Master Ling Xiao’s unhurried voice sounded: “Today, one quarter into the Si hour, go find Wen Xuan for treatment.”

She flicked a flame and burned the paper crane. [Bai Mu Mu must be almost recovered if Wen Xuan can finally spare time for me.] [I don’t want any more dealings with Wen Xuan, but Master Ling Xiao has spoken, and I can’t refuse.] [As long as I am still Master Ling Xiao’s disciple and remain in the Flying Cloud Sect, I can’t avoid them.]

Walking toward Wen Xuan’s cave dwelling, she thought about how to leave the Flying Cloud Sect in the days ahead.

The area near Wen Xuan’s cave was covered in warding seals. As the sect’s most gifted healer, he grew many rare spirit herbs around his cave. To prevent theft, only someone with a specific jade token could pass through the seals. Not seeing Wen Xuan anywhere, she couldn’t enter.

She had expected this. Without a ripple in her eyes, she sat on a boulder to rest with her eyes closed. After waiting a quarter of an hour, she still did not see him. So she left a note saying she had come and turned to leave. [I used to wait here from sunrise to sunset more times than I can count. Now I have no time to waste with Wen Xuan.]

She tightened her grip on the Darkwood in her hand. Since the day it saved her in the Confinement Chamber, the divine sense on the Darkwood had never appeared again. The only clue her Benefactor left was a mountain called Nine Azure Peak. Yet across two lifetimes, she had never heard that name. [Maybe my benefactor met trouble and had to fuse a strand of divine sense into the Darkwood to seek help from a fated person.] [I should find my benefactor as soon as possible. Even if it takes my whole life, I will help them.] [If they are safe, I should find them and thank them face to face.]

So she went down the mountain to look for clues.

The Flying Cloud Sect was one of the greatest sects under the heavens. Many merchants camped nearby, forming a bustling market where skilled people gathered and news spread fast. Perhaps someone there had heard of Nine Azure Peak.

Sadly, after searching most of the day, she found nothing. Seeing that it was getting late, she decided to return to the sect. [Wen Xuan has probably remembered me by now.]

Just as she was about to leave, a voice thick with wine drifted to her ears as it drawled her name: “Shen… Sang… Ruo.” She didn’t need to think to know the speaker was her free and easy senior brother, Feng He Yun. Without a moment’s pause, she stepped past him as if she hadn’t heard. She had even worn a veil down the mountain, yet he still recognized her.

He flashed in front of her in white, his robe hanging loose, black hair spilling over his shoulders. He tipped back a wine jar for another swig, looked at her with bleary eyes, and said with a teasing slant to his mouth: “Well now, Fifth Junior Sister, your temper has grown in just a few days, hasn’t it? Could it be you don’t recognize your senior brother anymore?”