Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Chapter 523 - 259: Qi Yun Mountain Sect Leader! The Secret of Jia Sheng Gui Si (Part 2)

Yuan Ling Crown hadn’t yet finished speaking when Mo Rancun cut him off.

"I know—you’ll definitely give me a reasonable explanation."

"Old Mo, are you knocking me for something?" Yuan Ling Crown raised his eyebrows, sounding a little displeased.

Drifting between night and day, does one belong to darkness or to light? Sometimes, even he can’t tell himself.

People like him, after all these years, neither the night nor the day wishes to accept them at all.

"It’s just a well-intentioned reminder."

"The path woven from black nights and bright days—is always the hardest to see and the easiest to stray from," Mo Rancun said quietly.

"Human Xiao cannot die—at least, not yet..." Yuan Ling Crown let the matter drop and offered his own explanation.

"He hasn’t fully matured; alive, he doesn’t affect much—but the moment he dies, Li Cunsi’s thread is cut."

At these words, a contemplative look passed across Mo Rancun’s face.

"Li Cunsi, previous Lord of the Profound Palace, how many years has he been dead? I can’t even remember. But someone who cultivated Jia Sheng Gui Si—death does not come so easily, does it?" Mo Rancun replied blandly.

"All these years, we finally have a clue. Never thought his successor would end up being Human Xiao."

Concerning the Wuwei Sect, the Daoist Sect has gathered many important pieces of intelligence over these years.

"Unfortunately, I still can’t definitively identify Human Xiao’s actual identity, but his connection to Li Cunsi is almost certain. Otherwise, how could he have risen to such a lofty position?" Yuan Ling Crown said in a low voice.

Li Cunsi, Lord of Profound Palace, was the supreme master of the Wuwei Sect; he’d perfected one of the Nine Great Inner Core Techniques—Jia Sheng Gui Si.

Yet, later, he died suddenly—his death shrouded in strange mystery.

"Jia Sheng Gui Si—it’s not so easily cultivated. That kid also practices this technique: one birth, one death—its wonder is in inversion, dead yet revived, a cycle returning again and again." Mo Rancun intoned deeply.

Cultivating this technique, one can break the boundary of life and death; but undoing that boundary upends the order of Dao and creation—a certain tribulation naturally follows.

Therefore, from ancient times, this lineage has passed down a Life Separation and Death Replacement method to cope with the trials.

"Life Separation and Death Replacement!?" Yuan Ling Crown’s face betrayed surprise at these words.

"That’s right. Each person has only one life—using a single life to grasp the mysteries of life and death is a pipe dream. If you live, you cannot die; if you die, you cannot live—just like Schrödinger’s cat."

"..."

Yuan Ling Crown fell silent.

"But with two lives, it’s different: one lives, one dies—a perfect cycle. Separation of life to weather tribulation, cultivating the Great Skill together." Mo Rancun said gravely.

"Are you saying Li Cunsi taught his son the Life Sharing Technique, and now the two of them are cultivating Jia Sheng Gui Si together—when one lives, the other must die?" Yuan Ling Crown’s brows trembled, his expression growing stranger.

Though his own realm was high, and he’d plumbed the mysteries of Daoist subtlety, the wonders of the Nine Great Inner Elixir Techniques still stunned him into awe.

"You’ve handled this well; keeping that kid alive means we can fish out Li Cunsi, the big target..."

"Jia Sheng Gui Si—the White Crane Temple has also been searching bitterly for all these years."

Mo Rancun nodded, expressing his approval of Yuan Ling Crown’s reasoning.

"Qin Ming, Song Yunqi, and Ji Haisan—the three youngsters, how did they die?" Mo Rancun suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"That I don’t know; they were probably killed by Human Xiao." Yuan Ling Crown replied indifferently.

"Talented as they were, against Human Xiao, they still weren’t up to scratch; their deaths were only natural."

The new Human Xiao, even if not fully seasoned, is the very best among this younger generation—Jia Sheng Gui Si, Human Demon Aspect—enough to sweep his peers without equal.

"Only natural? But among them was a disciple of my Qi Yun Mountain." Mo Rancun said coldly.

"Old Mo, if you ask me, your sect’s eye for successors isn’t very good. That Qin Ming—anyone could tell he was born a traitor, a real white-eyed wolf. Give him Qi Yun Mountain? He’d flip the Ancestral Master’s coffin lid for sure." Yuan Ling Crown offered candidly.

Mo Rancun neither agreed nor disagreed, then abruptly switched topic: "That young man named Zhang Fan—is there anything suspicious about him?"

"Zhang Fan? Don’t know. I’m not familiar; just know he’s a disciple of Zhenwu Mountain." Yuan Ling Crown shook his head, expressing ignorance.

"Is that so?" Mo Rancun said nothing more, his gaze boring into Yuan Ling Crown’s face; after a long moment, he finally withdrew his eyes.

"Since when did Zhenwu Mountain produce such an outstanding disciple? How interesting."

"You’re curious about this youngster?" Yuan Ling Crown asked instinctively.

"That’s not your place to ask," Mo Rancun arched his brows, regarding Yuan Ling Crown with a meaningful look.

"Just asking, nothing more."

"A passing remark must be unintended—but intention lies before thought..." Mo Rancun said calmly, "Perhaps I’ll meet with him in person."

As his words fell, Mo Rancun did not wait for Yuan Ling Crown’s reaction, but continued to instruct: "For now, keep out of sight. Wait until I’ve settled your issue before showing yourself again."

With that, Mo Rancun patted Yuan Ling Crown’s shoulder and picked up a small box from the table nearby.

"This is your favorite peach-scone cake, I made it myself. Take it—have a taste."

"It’s been ages since I’ve had that." Yuan Ling Crown sighed.

"Little Yuan, take care of yourself."

Saying this, Mo Rancun walked out of the room.

The empty, desolate inn seemed to hold only Yuan Ling Crown now. He walked to the window and watched Mo Rancun leave the inn, his figure fading into the thick night.

Yuan Ling Crown raised his hand and casually tossed the peach-scone cake into the garbage bin beside him.

He leaned against the window, slouched there, eyes closed, resting in silence, humming some odd tune; the clock on the wall ticked slowly...

Half an hour later, heavy footsteps once again echoed down the deserted hallway.

Yuan Ling Crown snapped awake with a start.

In that moment, the door opened—a shadowy figure stood at the threshold, nested in the dim gloom, neither entering nor leaving, ghostlike, keeping its distance from both room and Yuan Ling Crown.

"Mo Rancun didn’t suspect you?"

At the doorway, a hoarse voice came, crackling like static—so much so that even the dim lamp began to flicker.

"On the surface, no—but behind the scenes, who can say." Yuan Ling Crown glanced at the door, his tone indifferent.

"That old fox!"

"Did you get to the bottom of it? Was Qi Yun Mountain involved in the massacre of South Zhang?"

Suddenly, the shadow at the door spoke again.

"Don’t know—so far, seems not." Yuan Ling Crown shook his head.

"Seems? How can something like this be judged by feeling?"

The shadow’s voice was cold and sharp.

"Li Cunsi’s death had Beizhang’s fingerprints all over it. That woman colluded with Beizhang; shame Zhang Lingzong happened to be embroiled in the third Great Night tribulation back then."

"Find the proof that Qi Yun Mountain had dealings with Beizhang, and you’ll be able to judge—back then, in the massacre of South Zhang, their shadows were present." The shadow at the door said flatly.

"Old Mo? Not likely, I heard..." Yuan Ling Crown hesitated.

"Heard what? That in the old days he was friendly with South Zhang? He and Zhang Lingzong’s father were sworn brothers—so what? True brothers stab each other; what’s a sworn oath worth?"

"The closer people are, the deeper the knife they drive in."

The shadow said coldly.

"I understand; I’ll keep digging into this." Yuan Ling Crown nodded.

"You’ve already shown your hand—keep out of sight for a while. From now on, let’s not meet again."

The shadow at the door warned.

Just as it finished, a wind blew gently past, setting the loosened door to creak and groan.

Looking again, in the doorway, the shadow had vanished—no trace of even a ghost. That phantom presence was gone from the silent, empty inn.

"Who am I, really?"

Yuan Ling Crown stared up at the ceiling, his eyes vacant, and let out a sigh from the depth of his soul.