Vessel of Worlds

"Fairy Liu—I never expected to meet you again!" Andy waited until the pill-buying youth had left, then stepped into the shop and addressed the young woman.

This was none other than Liu Yingying, the alchemist he had met in the Drifting Cloud Mountain Range more than a decade ago.

The woman let out a long sigh. "No, I never imagined I'd see Fellow Cultivator Zhao again either. Congratulations—you've reached the tenth layer of Qi Condensation!" A thread of quiet melancholy ran beneath her words.

Andy felt a twinge of awkwardness. He smiled ruefully and said, "Your cultivation has advanced considerably as well, Fairy Liu. It's been nearly ten years since we parted at the Drifting Cloud Market. How did you end up here? Would you be willing to tell me what happened?"

The woman lowered her voice. "This isn't the place. I was about to close up shop anyway. If you have no other plans, why not come with me to Wangqing Mountain? There's a minor spirit vein there where you could stay for a while."

"That sounds fine." Andy nodded.

The moment they left Red Forest Market, Andy asked, "Fairy Liu, how far is Wangqing Mountain from here?"

"About three hundred kilometers to the southwest. If we walk quickly, we can make it before dark. Things haven't been entirely peaceful lately—cultivators at our level shouldn't be traveling at night."

"You're right. I happen to have a flying artifact that should do the trick." Andy produced a small boat-shaped artifact, which swelled in the wind to over a zhang in length. He had obtained this flying artifact in Dragon Descent Valley; which unfortunate cultivator it had originally belonged to, he had no idea.

"A flying artifact!" The young woman's eyes widened. She looked from the wooden boat to Andy with an expression of disbelief, then smiled. "You've done well for yourself these past years, Fellow Cultivator Zhao—owning something as valuable as a flying artifact. Come to think of it, I nearly forgot to ask: what brings you to the Kingdom of Tianwu?"

"It's a long story. In short, I inadvertently offended a power I had no hope of opposing, so I had to leave the Golden Flame Kingdom and come here to lie low. As for the boat—I've made some breakthroughs in talisman crafting over the years, which is how I could afford a flying artifact." Andy glossed over his reasons for coming to Tianwu as briefly as possible.

He stepped onto one end of the wooden boat and turned to her. "Fairy Liu, let's talk while we fly."

The young woman smiled faintly and stepped onto the other end. Then her expression darkened. "I never thought I'd share a flying artifact with anyone other than my husband," she said quietly.

"May I ask your esteemed husband's name? Is he also at Wangqing Mountain?" Andy asked without surprise. He had already deduced from her attire and hairstyle that she was married. He fed a modest amount of spiritual power into the boat, sending it southwest at a speed that was respectable but not eye-catching.

"My husband passed away over two years ago. I simply haven't dared let anyone outside know." Her voice dropped. Her nose twitched, and tears welled in her reddened eyes.

Andy didn't press. He knew she would continue on her own.

Before long, Liu Yingying gave a brief account of the nearly ten years that had passed since they parted.

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After the Foundation Establishment cultivator Lü Qiao of the Parting Fire Sect had tried to force her into marriage at the Drifting Cloud Market, she'd had no choice but to uproot her entire family and flee the Drifting Cloud Mountain Range. Somehow Lü Qiao learned of this and, furious at being spurned, pursued her all the way from the mountains. In desperation, Liu Yingying separated from her family, each fleeing in a different direction.

By some unknown means, Lü Qiao tracked her down directly, blocked her path, and attempted to take her back to his cave dwelling as a concubine by force. She refused even on pain of death, and he showed no mercy, subduing her and preparing to drag her away. At that critical moment, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Kingdom of Tianwu happened to pass through on his travels and intervened. The two men fought. Lü Qiao gained no advantage and even suffered a minor wound, so he retreated in frustration.

After that, having lost contact with her family and with nowhere to go, Liu Yingying followed the chivalrous cultivator to the Kingdom of Tianwu. Two or three years later, she married him, and they became dual-cultivation partners.

Her husband's name was Li Jin, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Azure Sea Sect. While he couldn't be called powerful or influential within the sect, he held a steward's position with an annual stipend of three to five hundred spirit stones. For several years after the marriage, the couple lived a quiet, loving life together. With her husband's support, Liu Yingying's cultivation had quickly advanced from the fifth or sixth layer to the ninth layer of Qi Condensation.

In a way, her misfortune had led to a blessing—a good marriage. But two years ago, while carrying out what appeared to be a routine, low-risk mission for the sect, Li Jin had the worst luck imaginable: the group encountered a rare high-level beast. Of the four Foundation Establishment cultivators and dozen-odd Qi Condensation disciples who had gone, only two Foundation Establishment cultivators made it back alive. Li Jin and all the others perished.

His death left Liu Yingying utterly alone. Her cultivation was unremarkable, and her only real skill was alchemy. She took the modest compensation the Azure Sea Sect provided and opened a pill shop in Red Forest Market to sustain herself and her continued cultivation.

Fearing that her beauty would attract trouble, she had maintained the pretense of still being married to a Foundation Establishment cultivator, never mentioning her husband's death. It kept the would-be suitors at bay—how long the deception would hold, she couldn't say.

Though she recounted these years in a few brief, understated sentences, the hardship and turmoil behind her words were plain. Andy listened attentively, privately lamenting her wretched fortune. Before fleeing the Drifting Cloud Mountain Range, this woman had made her feelings toward him subtly known. But his mind had been wholly consumed by the pursuit of the Dao, and he had never given a thought to matters between men and women. He'd feigned obliviousness and let the moment pass. If he had been honest about his own feelings then—if they had become dual-cultivation partners—what would today look like?

But questions like "what if," questions with no answers, only occupied Andy's mind for a fleeting moment before he set them firmly aside.

He had never been good at comforting people. He sighed along with her a few times and left it at that.

Conversation made travel feel shorter, and with both of them lost in thought, they hardly noticed when the wooden boat had carried them above a range of green mountains.

"Wangqing Mountain. We should walk from here, Fellow Cultivator Zhao. Several dozen cultivators live in this area—best not to draw too much attention." Liu Yingying wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and managed a smile.

Andy agreed. He guided the boat to a smooth landing on a hilltop, then stowed the artifact. The two continued on foot into the deeper reaches of the mountains.

After about half an hour's walk, they entered a dense forest. Andy swept his powerful spiritual sense across a radius of several hundred zhang and detected something amiss. His expression betrayed nothing, but his guard went up sharply.

They walked a while longer before Liu Yingying, too, sensed that something was wrong. She stopped and called into the trees: "Who's lurking out there? Show yourself!"

From behind a massive tree some thirty zhang away—so wide it would take several people to encircle it—a dark figure emerged. Spiritual light flickered across its body, and the moment it revealed itself, it charged toward them at tremendous speed.

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator!" Liu Yingying cried out in alarm, stumbling back several steps. She pulled out an iron-plate defensive artifact and held it warily before her.