Chapter 580 - 284: New Year’s Eve
For practitioners, festivals are not common, but it’s hard to suppress the mundane desires in the hearts of most disciples.
On New Year’s Eve, the Profound Sky Sect was already bustling. The disciples would spontaneously organize some activities, and the elders or overseers would not dampen the mood during this annual moment; on the contrary, many also found joy in it.
This profoundly dignified major sect of the immortal family was now adorned in red, bringing a touch of festive cheer from the mundane world below.
You Su sat by the fire in the courtyard, waiting for nightfall to arrive.
Under his supervision, Ji Lingruo reluctantly practiced her sword dance, as You Su’s reason was that even though it was New Year’s Eve, lessons couldn’t be skipped.
"Not bad, you’re increasingly showing the style of a little Sword Immortal."
You Su squinted his eyes in praise, while Ji Lingruo wiped the fragrant sweat off her forehead, snorting at her senior brother’s compliment.
"I’ll reward you by taking you to Henggao City for the lantern festival tonight."
"Really?!"
You Su’s words successfully stopped Ji Lingruo from her imminent complaint.
The young girl, still flushed from her earlier activity, now had shining eyes that looked immensely adorable.
"Of course it’s true. Henggao City is the largest and best city in the Zhongyuan Continent, and naturally, its lantern festival is the most beautiful, at least a hundred times better than Chuyun City’s."
Ji Lingruo’s eyes also showed a yearning expression, and she immediately began looking forward to the evening.
Right at that moment, an unexpected guest visited Lotus Peak, none other than the elder with crane-like white hair and a wizened face.
You Su hurriedly saluted, and after Ji Lingruo saluted, she sensibly withdrew, leaving the space for the two of them.
"I heard you made contributions again in Brocade City?"
The elder settled by the brazier, seemingly unperturbed by the cold or heat, yet he too brought his hands closer to the fire like a mortal.
You Su felt that the elder’s once vibrant voice was now somewhat weary.
"That evil spirit was weak, not worth mentioning."
"The less noteworthy, the more dangerous."
The elder’s tone was long and drawn out, rubbing his hands together, truly like an elderly man warming himself by the fire, "The evil spirit that even your senior sister almost couldn’t handle, you easily dispelled. This is the best way to slap those people’s faces."
You Su hadn’t thought that far, but after the elder’s words, he realized a lot. Many in the Exorcism Bureau acknowledged Wangshu’s status as the Divine Maiden, but doubted You Su’s identity as the Divine Son. Yet, the facts proved these two roles were complementary, indispensable.
"I just saw an evil spirit and dealt with it easily, didn’t think too much. So, Elder, did you have any success tracking that Evil Cultivator?"
You Su was more interested in the origins of Cailing and that faceless person, but the elder shook his head, appearing helpless at these words.
"Some filth is hiding even deeper than I expected. When I found that jade pearl, guess where it was?"
"Where was it?"
"It was in a well in Xining City, and the water in the well was salty."
The well water is salty?
While on the mountain, You Su learned about the geography of the Five Continents, and he knew Xining City was a city in the west of the Zhongyuan Continent.
"Could it be a well dug all the way from the Western Sea to the inland..."
"You guessed right. Digging such a well required unimaginable human and financial resources. They even spent a great deal of resources maintaining the well, only to allow sea-dwelling evil spirits to stealthily enter the mainland through this shortcut."
As the elder spoke, he was full of concern, watching the sparks that fleetingly extinguished in the air, as if seeing the fate of the living beings of the Five Continents.
"By the sea, there are Divine Radiance Stones, and cultivators sent by the Divine Mountain guard day and night, so how did something like this happen silently?"
"Such filth is reaching out to even the pure Divine Mountain."
The elder spoke with implication, and You Su couldn’t hide his shock, yet another question suddenly arose:
"But..."
"What do you want to say?"
"Why would the Evil Cultivator leave the jade pearl there? I always felt it seemed a bit too deliberate. If she sensed the elder was tracing her through the pearl, she could have taken the pearl and fled further, rather than exposing such an important secret passage..."
"You think she left it there on purpose, to allow us to destroy that nest?"
"It’s possible."
You Su boldly speculated, feeling the mystery surrounding Cailing and the people behind her.
The elder’s grave expression suddenly broke into a smile, his gaunt wrinkles piling up together:
"I’ll investigate thoroughly, you needn’t be frightened by my words, have a good New Year. Your task and your senior sister’s is dealing with evil spirits, the rest, leave it to us."
He stood up, patting You Su’s shoulder:
"Where’s your senior sister?"
"Still in seclusion, breaking through to the Middle Feather Transformation Realm."
"Really fast...it’s as if she just broke through at a word..."
The elder sighed, his aged eyes flickering as he looked toward Wangshu Fairy’s room, then he stroked his beard and nodded:
"But I observed the Qi spinning around her is already stable, logically she should have succeeded in breaking through."
You Su was somewhat surprised, "Then why hasn’t my senior sister come out of seclusion?"
The elder pondered for a moment, then smiled knowingly, "Maybe she wants you to go call her, perhaps, today is New Year’s Eve, take her to see the world."
With that, the elder slowly descended the mountain.
You Su was thoughtful about the elder’s departing words, then he pushed the door open and entered his senior sister’s room.
He crouched in front of her, slowly opening his black pupils, observing the quietly meditating Wangshu.
The lower right corner of her Jade Rabbit Mask had a small crack, but nothing could be seen, the only thing visible above the exposed eye socket was a slender white lash.