Chapter 84
Yu Sui quietly gripped the Wind-Listening Ruler in her hand, showing some confusion and obedience as she looked at Mei Liangyu, quietly waiting for him to regain his composure.
She could sense Mei Liangyu's unusualness, but found it difficult to explain.
Mei Liangyu was recalling the fragmented scenes from his dream. They flashed too quickly, but the emotions from that time seemed to return doubled.
The manor he had never seen before, the city trampled by cavalry.
Those people who wanted to kill him had used different Nine Schools Arts.
The purple-robed woman blocking in front of him was his mother.
Realizing this, Mei Liangyu seemed trapped in frozen time, staring unblinkingly at some point in the void, indifferent yet somewhat hollow.
It seemed his mother was a very formidable Nine Schools Arts practitioner.
The final Yin-Yang technique was something Mei Liangyu had never seen before. It could control all raindrops between heaven and earth in an instant, then convert their power. The control over Five Elements Energy was so precise it was beyond reach.
Black and white fish often appeared together with certain specific Heavenly Mechanism Arts of the Yin-Yang School or Taoist School.
The power of heaven and earth's Yin-Yang Five Elements was often classified as one category, but within different schools, it would be subdivided further.
Whether Yin-Yang or Five Elements, both could represent all things in heaven and earth, the meaning of endless life.
To achieve materialization and then devour an entire city's Five Elements Energy, a Nine Schools Arts practitioner of this level would definitely be no lower than Thirteenth Realm.
Those black and white flames, due to their rapid rotation, looked like two enormous swimming black and white fish.
Such peculiar flames were also somewhat familiar to Mei Liangyu.
He had once seen Gao Tianhao self-immolate with Strange Fire at Five Elements Water Field.
Black flames arrogantly and wantonly devoured everything.
Taiyi Academy's Five Elements Water Field had a layer of shallow sea covering the ground, water level only reaching the ankle, but with thick Five Elements Energy surrounding it. It was originally also a trial ground with large amounts of Nine Schools Arts and different formations.
When Strange Fire, which primarily burned Five Elements Energy, erupted here, it faced greater resistance than elsewhere. Because it prioritized devouring Five Elements Energy, then devoured the Nine Schools Arts and formations within. Though it was only an instant, it was enough for Gao Tianhao to die, and the Strange Fire couldn't spread too widely.
Mei Liangyu occasionally wondered whether Gao Tianhao had deliberately chosen Five Elements Water Field because he didn't want Strange Fire to cause too many casualties.
But if he didn't want to cause too many casualties, why did he use Strange Fire to self-immolate instead of other fire?
In that situation, Gao Tianhao had countless ways to die cleanly and efficiently, yet he chose the most feared and dangerous method.
The black and white flames summoned by the purple-robed woman's Yin-Yang technique in his memory, though somewhat similar to the Strange Fire he saw that night, were not Strange Fire.
Neither in power nor form were they the same.
If it were Strange Fire spreading across the entire city on such a large scale, everything would cease to exist, including him and the purple-robed woman.
Mei Liangyu's mind was constantly turning, deeply contemplating countless details, with various strange thoughts and speculations completed in an instant.
Before this year, he had never recalled anything from before age fourteen.
That seemed like non-existent time. His life began from the moment he woke up in Ghost Way Saint Hall and saw Saint Chang Gen in the portrait.
But now it seemed that wasn't non-existent.
Rather, it was unforgettable and most important not to forget.
Mei Liangyu had always hesitated whether to recover his lost memories. If he chose to recover them, Master would intervene.
Therefore, he couldn't tell anyone or show signs of memory recovery.
Master hoped he would be like Military School Saint Leng Rouyin, born at Taiyi Academy, dying at Taiyi Academy, never leaving for a lifetime, never going to the world beyond Taiyi Academy.
……
Mei Liangyu contemplated with a cold expression. After a moment, his peripheral vision caught Yu Sui sitting up straight with an obedient yet bewildered expression. She looked at him, wanting to speak but stopping, not daring to interrupt, gripping the Wind-Listening Ruler in her hand tightly.
A bit like a cat startled and bristling because of him.
Even though her eyes were filled with bewildered helplessness.
Mei Liangyu suppressed his angry emotions and destructive desires, slowly looking up at Yu Sui. The murderous aura had completely restrained itself in this instant, returning to his usual lazy casualness.
Only then did Yu Sui feel the tense atmosphere finally ease.
"What are you holding the Wind-Listening Ruler for?" Mei Liangyu asked casually, his voice slightly hoarse.
Yu Sui's thumb lightly rubbed the surface of the Wind-Listening Ruler, obediently answering: "Although I can't send messages, I can still record information. I want to write down all my experiences in Dragon Slaying Cave. It might be useful for cultivation. There really are many things here I've never seen before."
His Junior Sister who never missed any cultivation-related opportunity, diligent and studious.
Mei Liangyu listened and pressed his lips, seeming to smile yet not smile.
He said: "Then you'd better record your heroic and impressive Senior Brother in Dragon Slaying Cave properly. Don't forget to write about him."
Yu Sui heard that Senior Brother wanted to change the subject. It seemed he didn't want to explain what had happened when he just woke up.
Mei Liangyu continued: "You can't send messages here. Whose inscription frame are you using to record?"
"My Second Brother," Yu Sui said.
Mei Liangyu was somewhat surprised: "Your Second Brother is in Qingyang?"
Yu Sui nodded: "Yes!"
Mei Liangyu said: "Then you can't send messages even after leaving Dragon Slaying Cave. Why don't you send them to me? If there's anything you don't understand, I can explain it for you."
Yu Sui put away the Wind-Listening Ruler and said: "Senior Brother, if there's something I don't understand, I'll ask Master first. If Master can't answer it, I'll definitely come ask you."
He inexplicably got competitive and insisted on competing with Master: "Some things even if you ask Master, he can't answer. Only I can."
Mei Liangyu appeared mysterious and inscrutable. Yu Sui curved her eyes and laughed innocently: "I know. That would definitely be something related to Senior Brother. But since it's something Senior Brother doesn't want to tell even Master, I definitely won't ask about it either."
Mei Liangyu: "......"
If Sheng Hao ever dared say his sister was stupid again, he would gouge out Sheng Hao's useless eyes.
Yu Sui hesitated, then probed: "But just now I felt Senior Brother you..."
Before she could finish, Mei Liangyu interrupted: "I just broke through to Tenth Realm. My Five Elements Light Core upgraded to Divine Soul Light Core, so there were power fluctuations."
From Ninth to Tenth Realm, from Five Elements Light Core to Divine Soul Light Core, was a watershed in the cultivation path.
Yu Sui was stunned, thinking: Breaking through causes such dangerous murderous intent to leak out?
This statement was half true, half false.
But since Senior Brother had given an explanation, Yu Sui knew she couldn't ask further. Even if she did, there would be no other answer.
She accepted this answer and said sincerely: "Then congratulations to Senior Brother. Senior Brother is truly amazing."
Mei Liangyu casually pointed at the Wind-Listening Ruler on her with his gaze, saying: "Write it down properly."
Yu Sui couldn't help laughing, her words also half true, half false: "I'll properly record Senior Brother's impressive breakthrough scene in Dragon Slaying Cave."
Mei Liangyu lightly raised his chin, indicating: "Then write it. I'll watch."
Yu Sui gradually accepted Senior Brother's occasional childishness and petulance. Reluctantly, she picked up the Wind-Listening Ruler again, opened Second Brother Su Feng's inscription interface, tapped the character grid with her five fingers, recording Mei Liangyu's advancement to Tenth Realm in Dragon Slaying Cave in front of him.
After Mei Liangyu finished reading, he was finally satisfied and squinted his eyes.
Yu Sui looked at the message she sent to Su Feng, somewhat helpless, and laughed: "If only I could break through by sleeping like Senior Brother."
"What nonsense. I was stuck at the bottleneck for nearly a year, fighting day and night for three to five days." Mei Liangyu gestured a number toward Yu Sui with his hand, his expression serious: "It wasn't obtained by sleeping."
Yu Sui blinked.
Mei Liangyu: "What does blinking mean?"
Yu Sui said: "I want to cultivate by sleeping."
Mei Liangyu said decisively: "Keep dreaming."
Yu Sui's eyes filled with laughter as she looked at him.
Mei Liangyu watched, then asked: "Are you still First Realm now?"
Yu Sui nodded: "Yes."
Mei Liangyu found this somewhat strange.
Advancing cultivation below Fourth Realm was relatively easy. Even those with poor talent could achieve it through effort.
He felt this Junior Sister was sufficiently diligent.
Junior Sister even went to challenge Fifth Realm Military Formations every night. Fifth Realm Military Formations were nothing to him, but for a First Realm Junior Sister, it should be as difficult as reaching the sky.
Moreover, she had even practiced Soul Control to the third level. First level was considered successful entry, while third level was already remarkable and could rival Fifth Realm Ghost Way School practitioners.
Based on her cultivation mindset and effort level, she shouldn't still be First Realm.
That incomplete Breath Soil would at most compete with her for Five Elements Energy, but wouldn't limit her cultivation advancement.
Unless something else was dragging her down.
Mei Liangyu watched Yu Sui unobtrusively for a while. Breath Soil was an Agricultural School supreme treasure. For disciples cultivating Agricultural School Nine Schools Arts, it was a treasure, but this half piece of Breath Soil only brought harm to Yu Sui, no benefits, and harmed her considerably.
He even suspected that when Breath Soil was split in two under those circumstances, there was no possibility of restoration.
The Agricultural School's supreme treasure Breath Soil might have been destroyed long ago.
However, this was only his speculation. Mei Liangyu stopped thinking about Breath Soil matters and told Yu Sui: "You cultivate diligently, challenging Fifth Realm Military Formations every night, and have reached Soul Control third level. Your control over Five Elements Energy is already stronger than most First Realm practitioners. By rights, you shouldn't still be First Realm. If you don't advance during our time in Dragon Slaying Cave either, I suggest asking Master when you return."
Perhaps she would know better herself.
But since Yu Sui was unwilling to say, Mei Liangyu wouldn't think deeply about it.
Casually prying into others' secrets wasn't good either, and knowing too much wasn't necessarily good.
Yu Sui did take his words to heart and also felt something was wrong.
Senior Brother thought she was challenging Fifth Realm Military Formations at night, but actually she was challenging special-grade Military Formations, which were countless times more formidable than Fifth Realm Military Formations. The evil spirits chasing her inside were more than Fifth Realm level.
Although in Special-Grade Military Formation: Asura Hell, Yu Sui successfully figured out how to use Divine Mechanism: Heavenly Eye, she had other gains too.
The evil spirits' swordsmanship in Asura Hell also improved her reaction speed considerably, taught her many sword techniques, and increased her combat experience.
Yu Sui also wondered why she was still First Realm.
The dim sky brightened in the blink of an eye.
Yu Sui rubbed her eyes. Mei Liangyu stood up and said: "Sleep for a while. See if you can advance in your dreams."
The rain outside continued falling.
Yu Sui lay on the large stone beside her, closing her eyes to take a brief nap.
Mei Liangyu stood at the cave entrance, watching the outside light for a while, then turned sideways to look at Yu Sui lying on the stone.
She still frowned even with her eyes closed.
It seemed Junior Sister's practice of using almonds to train Five Elements Energy control at Ghost Way Saint Hall wasn't wasted. At least when she cast techniques and fought, she protected the jewelry on her head, neck, wrists, and clothes very well, not letting any of it get disheveled.
Yu Sui sensed Mei Liangyu's gaze. She didn't speak but directly raised her hand to cover her face, her wide sleeves covering her face as she turned further inward.
Mei Liangyu smiled at this.
Seeing Yu Sui determined to cover her face and not let him look, Mei Liangyu walked toward the cave entrance, entering the continuous rain curtain.
White mist rose in the mountain valley. Mei Liangyu's body ignited with golden protection, isolating the fine rain. Ahead was the rushing river channel, the forest on the opposite bank hidden in white mist.
The rain threads were fine, connecting into water lines invisible to the naked eye.
Mei Liangyu closed his eyes, using Soul Control third level to frame out a range similar in size to his memories. From the Divine Soul Light Core, a strand of golden Five Elements Energy flowed out. His technique casting speed was several times faster than before.
He calmed his mind, carefully sensing everything around him: every breeze brushing past his face, the mist that had appeared in his vision, the subtle sounds caught by his ears, coming from far away and from his side.
The Five Elements Energy flowing from the Divine Soul Light Core was like graceful, spirited, slender golden threads. They leisurely shuttled back and forth within the light core, distinguishing different Nine Schools Arts, choosing to materialize in different power forms. At a certain moment, countless golden threads were connected by some force.
When Mei Liangyu opened his eyes, raindrops between heaven and earth instantly stopped. After golden light flashed and exploded in the raindrops, the white mist in the mountain valley briefly dispersed and the rain curtain disappeared.
However, he could only achieve this within his field of vision, unable to encompass an entire city like the purple-robed woman.
At Mei Liangyu's feet, black and white flames burned with him as the center, rotating at high speed like two slender yin-yang fish, but far from the shocking sight of encompassing an entire city in his memory.
Mei Liangyu looked down at the flames that vanished in an instant, forming an idea.
It was Yin-Yang School Nine Schools Arts.
But if his mother could also use multiple schools' Nine Schools Arts like him, guessing her school would be very difficult.
Mei Liangyu walked back to the cave entrance, patiently keeping watch, his gaze casually observing the outside sky.
What he remembered was still too little, the scenes too fast. Currently, it wasn't enough to confirm anything.
He needed to remember more.