CHAPTER 30 Presently, the only one you can trust, is me.

Fu Changling was the last one to walk into the Forbidden Lands of the Spiritual Mountain. After he’d gone inside, Yun Yu came up and greeted Qin Yan and Xie Yuqing and reported, “Reporting back to Dashixiong and Xie Shijie, all the examinees have entered through.”

Qin Yan acknowledged it and turned to Xie Yuqing, saying, “I will go to the back of the mountain.”

Dangerous areas would require someone to monitor them to prevent the examinees from entering carelessly.

Xie Yuqing looked into the distance. “I will remain here to keep watch.”

Qin Yan said nothing. He flew on his sword to the rear of the mountains. Yun Yu watched Qin Yan as he worriedly said, “Shijie, all the beasts in the rear of the Forbidden Mountains are all high-levelled ferocious beasts. With just Shixiong alone…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Xie Yuqing spoke. She lifted a hand to draw a circle with an iron talisman following her movements. After a while, the energy barrier around the Forbidden Lands of the Spiritual Mountains once again closed up.

Fu Changling heard the commotion and turned around just in time to watch the energy barrier closing up.

The energy barrier of the Forbidden Lands of the Spiritual Mountains in the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng was deployed by Ye Lan in person. After thousands of years, it remained one of the strongest energy barriers in Yunze.

After Fu Changling briefly observed the energy barrier of the Forbidden Lands of the Spiritual Mountains, he walked forwards.

All the examinees had already rushed in front, going deeper into the dense forests.

There were spiritual plants all over the Spiritual Mountains. It was impossible to have their final points calculated via the number of these spiritual plants. If these were the rules, he could just squat at the entrance and dig the entire mountain up.

So, the schema for their scores, in reality, would be determined by the ranks of those spiritual plants. The higher their rank was, the more marks they would be getting. Most times, high-ranking spiritual plants would be guarded by some sort of spiritual beast. So that although they were only tasked with gathering spiritual plants, this was also one type of test among many others. They didn’t only have to be able to tell those spiritual plants apart and the right way to harvest them, they would also need to have enough capabilities to battle those spiritual beasts. Other than that, no snatching was permitted among the examinees. However, tactful deception wasn’t prohibited. Or perhaps, they could also obtain those spiritual plants from their enemy’s corpses after a battle. Stacking all of these up together, one could say that this sector tests their physical prowess the most among all other sectors.

Fu Changling wasn’t in a hurry to look for spiritual plants. First, he knelt, then he fumbled the earth as well as the spiritual plants at his feet. After he found a wilted leaf, he crushed it and watched as it fluttered into the wind.

“What is he doing?” Yun Yu curiously asked.

Xie Yuqing quietly watched and explained, “He’s trying to determine.”

“Trying to determine?”

“Different spiritual pulses give off different spiritual air and the spiritual plants that grow would also be different. The growth of spiritual plants forms its own geographical pattern. He is trying to determine what spiritual plants or beasts exist in the spiritual mountain and where they are located.”

The type of spiritual plant would most certainly have its own corresponding spiritual beast.

Fu Changling looked into the direction the wilted leaves had fluttered into and mumbled, “Red earth, frost flowers, and Southeast wind.”

He looked around him and estimated that there would be some spiritual plants here. After picking all the most valuable ones within it, he chose to take the path leading to the Northwest.

This Spiritual Mountain operated on a spiritual root belonging to the ice element. In normal circumstances, ice elemental spiritual plants would be growingly more predominantly northwards. However, this place was covered in red earth, which belonged to the spiritual roots of the fire element. So Fu Changling guessed that there are two spiritual roots under this Spiritual Mountain. The ice elemental one ran deep within while the fire elemental one covered the surface; to have ice as its core and fire as its skin.

The ice spiritual root headed due north, while the fire spiritual root headed due west. Finally, Fu Changling picked the path heading northwards and proceeded.

He walked cautiously into the dense forest, but he was quick in telling the spiritual plants apart. He was also familiar with harvesting them. After only a while, he’d filled a bag full of them.

After going into deeper terrain, he felt the surveillance of the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng on him weaken. At the same time, he also felt the breathing of a beast coming from the path ahead.

Fu Changling knew that he was approaching the location where the most valuable spiritual plant of this examination was located: the Heavenly Fire Herb[12].

This herb was guarded by an ice crystal beast. They were a third-grade beast and they were as powerful as core formation cultivators. Qin Yan must’ve not expected that any disciples would be finding their way here. As Fu Changling approached the ice crystal beast’s territory, he realized that all the surveillance on him had vanished.

This was an extremely brilliant opportunity.

Fu Changling rubbed his hands in his heart.

If he could kill the ice crystal beast before dark, then he had an entire night’s time to hurry into the rear of the Spiritual Mountain and gather the Moonlight Herb, then rush to the gate before the sky brightened again; it wouldn’t bring too many questions with the Heavenly Fire Herb in his hand.

Fu Changling was determined. He stopped stalling for time and scanned his surroundings with his spiritual consciousness to ensure that no one was around. He then walked straight into the ice crystal beast’s cave. Upon seeing such a huge person entering, the ice crystal beast let out a howl. Fu Changling’s little golden fan slipped out of his sleeve into his palm and with a gesture, a gust of sharp wind spun its way towards it, hurling the beast against the cavernous walls. The ice crystal beast groaned and walked towards Fu Changling. A force as strong as those of an ascension stage cultivator came its way. With every step he took, the ice crystal beast took a step back. A body as big as a tiger curled up into a ball, retreating its way so far back against the wall that it practically made a hole in it. It clasped its claws on its head and whimpered softly.

Fu Changling walked up to it and eyed the ice crystal beast for a while, then he bent down and harvested the Heavenly Fire Herb. Seeing that the beast was still shivering, he somewhat helplessly said, “Alright, I’ll not kill you then if you could be a little smarter.” Fu Changling knelt, tilted his head and smiled. “Don’t let someone discover that I’m no longer here, understood?”

The ice crystal beast stole a glance between its paws and, upon seeing Fu Changling’s smile, it frantically nodded its head.

Fu Changling patted its head, picked up the Heavenly Fire Herb, put it into his spiritual pouch, then walked out of the cavern.

After he’d walked out of the cavern, he looked around for the direction and instantly ran towards the rear of the mountain.

Fu Changling used a Concealment Spell on himself and soundlessly slipped through the dense forest with nothing else on his mind. And so, most of the high-level ferocious beasts hadn’t noticed him. Just as he was making his way towards the Moonlight Herb, Qin Yan was also heading into the same direction.

He walked very slowly as if he was searching for something while he was on the way.

He would occasionally pull aside some tree branches and flip them around, closely examining the flowing waves of spiritual energy.

It was a place he was looking for.

From memory, the Moonlight Herb should be located here.

He slowly searched and suddenly felt himself bathe in moonlight. He lifted his head and saw that everywhere around him were dense forests. In front of him, a seemingly circular empty space seemed to have appeared. This empty space was surrounded by the forest and there was nothing shielding the moonlight from falling upon it. In this place, Moonlight Herbs grew to as tall as their knees and when the wind billowed, they swayed and danced in it with gentle ripples.

A few scenes flashed through his mind. In his previous life, he had fallen onto a bed of Moonlight Herbs when he was heavily wounded.

He had used his spiritual consciousness to survey them and realized that there was spiritual energy flowing between these Moonlight Herbs. He placed a hand on his sword and carefully moved forward.

An energy barrier soundlessly spread from his perimeter. Qin Yan focused all his attention onto the flowing of spiritual energy and as Fu Changling hurried towards the direction of the Moonlight Herb, he gradually realized that something was amiss.

He lifted his head and furrowed his brows, “An energy barrier?”

Just as he finished speaking, an explosion of spiritual energy happened not far off. More than a dozen spiritual energies with the power of nascent souls hurled at Qin Yan. Fu Changling was momentarily frozen on the spot. He lifted his head to take a look and watched as sparks of flames ignited from a battle of swords in the distance, creating sounds like grinding mountains and shifting lands.

Though, these sounds were all isolated from the rest of the world by the energy barrier. Fu Changling lifted his head to look at the energy barrier and after confirming that there was nothing he could do about it at this moment, he instantly ran towards the battlegrounds.

He came at an extremely fast speed. After he’d reached, he saw a dozen people surrounding Qin Yan. Qin Yan was held up in the centre for only those brief moments, but he was already wounded.

The people surrounding Qin Yan were all wearing black robes, their faces unclear. From where they stood, Fu Changling could tell that these people had sealed Qin Yan up inside an array.

Fu Changling’s breath froze as he hid himself on purpose. These people, he observed, were all in their nascent soul stages. They must have been fighting in a group together for a long time. Even an immortalization stage cultivator wouldn’t dare take them lightly.

If he rushed out now, it would only mean that he was delivering himself to the tiger’s mouth.

“Who are you people?” Qin Yan spoke. Fu Changling hid in the darkness. He drew a line across his palm with his fan and quickly drew an array around his feet.

“Qin Yan,” the cultivator who was standing east, wearing a black robe with red patterns, spoke with pity in his voice. That person’s voice was obviously altered, because it was difficult to tell whether they sounded male, female, old, or young, as if they were many voices blended in together. “Why would you, the first disciple of the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng living his best life, come to get yourself involved in such muddy waters?”

“You are people from the Avici,” Qin Yan resolutely said.

As Fu Changling listened to them speak, he discreetly moved and placed the array under those people.

“Even you know about the Avici?” That cultivator sighed, “And I even thought that Yunze has forgotten about us.”

“How did you people come to Yunze?” Qin Yan tightly gripped his sword. “The seal of the Avici has not been opened. How did you people make your way here?”

“You know quite a lot. Who told you?” The cultivator lightly said, “Was it that little daoist cultivator called Fu Changling?”

When Fu Changling heard these words, he couldn’t help lifting his head.

His movements didn’t stop, his gaze fell upon the person who was speaking.

He always wanted to know why the Avici had set their gazes on him. How was the Avici’s seal related to him? That the Avici needed to plot such a huge scheme to make him break the seal.

Qin Yan seemed to have also thought of this question, so he said, “Why are you people so keen on him?”

“Qin Yan,” The other person sighed. “Everything about you is good, except for being too smart.”

“What’s different with his blood pulses?”

The other no longer spoke, and Qin Yan said, “How many of you are within the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng?”

“Qin Yan,” the other person spoke again, their voice cold. “How much do you know?”

“What I know is more than you think.”

Qin Yan surveyed his surroundings; when his gaze fell upon Fu Changling’s direction, he briefly paused. Withdrawing his gaze, he continued to say, “For example, I know that three months ago, you sent Xie Shijie and me to carry out different tasks so that I would kill Master Daoist Lingxu. But in reality, it was not that daoist who fell into the demonic path and that he had to be removed. You were only trying to lure me away.”

“Lure you away?” The other person smiled. “Who are you that we would need to lure you away on purpose?”

“Only you people know the answer.” Qin Yan glared at them. “The reason you people are here… you know very well, why.”

As Qin Yan was speaking to them, Fu Changling finished drawing the final array. He lifted his gaze and observed these people.

This array wasn’t strong enough to use against so many nascent soul cultivators. If they really were to fight, it would only suffice to make them struggle for a while. Presently, the best plan was to avoid a fight.

Fu Changling gave it some thought. He quickly fished out a robe from his spiritual pouch, changed into the clothes of the Fu Clan and put on a casual mask. After he’d put the Soul-gathering Pagoda in his sleeve, his little golden fan in his hand and prepared all the relics in his Zhenlong Ring, he leapt onto a tree branch.

His movement alerted the enemies immediately. The cultivator wearing red patterns barked, “Who!”

As he spoke, everyone lifted their heads to nervously look around.

Qin Yan stood in the middle, his expression unchanged. He held his sword firmly, prepared to lash his sword out at any time.

“Come out.” A cultivator loudly shouted, “Nameless little rat, why are you hiding? Come out, if you dare!”

After that cultivator asked, a vibrant and glorious voice came from the dark forest: “An emerald fashioned into a jade-like tree[13],”

This voice appeared to be coming from all eight cardinal directions and following that voice, the trees began to grow longer. Everyone present gradually became alert as they looked left and right.

“Thousands of verdant branches drape like silk ribbons.” That voice seemed to bring a smile. All the trees began to cower like long willows.

“Who was it who tailored your leaves so thin?” The voice got quieter and everyone became more alert, though they only heard a sigh, “The spring winds of February… fall like a thousand knives[14].”

The moment those words were dropped, all those leaves shot out like knives with the force of an ascension cultivator! Everyone couldn’t help raising their hands to block this horrendous wind. As soon as they covered their eyes with their sleeve, pained cries came from all around.

After some time had passed, everything had died down. As green leaves fluttered to the ground, everyone lowered their sleeves and upon raising their heads, they saw a young man leaning against a tree branch.

There was a golden guan on his head and he was wearing a set of inner white robes and outer black robes with sewn patterns of golden chrysanthemums unique to the Fu Clan. His inner white robes were almost the same colour as his skin and moving upwards, it was a perfectly elegant chin, peach-coloured lips, the high bridge of a nose, and then a silver mask covering half of his face, leaving behind only a pair of peach blossom eyes with thick eyelashes. Those eyes alone looked extremely vibrant and dashing.

Compared to his elegant choice of attire, his movements were extremely nonchalant. He was propping his head up with one hand and loosely gripping his little golden fan with the other. The little fan was propped against the surface of the tree trunk. His eyes were half-lidded, seeming to be asleep. Following his movements, ink-black curls of his hair poured down like flowing waterfalls along the edges of the branches as if touching the hearts of people, leaving a tingling sense like the rippling surface of disturbed waters.

Everyone was shocked by him. Until the sound of a person collapsing came from the side did everyone turn their gazes to the source of the sound. Yet, what they saw was that the cultivator who had previously insulted the mysterious person and called him a ‘nameless little rat’ had already fallen to the ground. Not a single handful of flesh was left on his body, leaving behind only a bloody skeletal corpse that easily made one’s skin crawl.

“It appears to be Senior Fu.”

The cultivator who was standing on the eastern position raised his hand in alertness and bowed in greeting.

If one were to ignore the insignia of the Fu Clan that Fu Changling was wearing—a black robe and golden fan—the only people under the skies who were capable of murder by simply reciting a poem were none other than members of the Fu Clan.

The lead cultivator watched Fu Changling up and down and didn’t dare attack. He bowed respectfully and said, “Dare I ask what is Senior Fu doing in a place such as this?”

Fu Changling said nothing as the force of an ascension stage cultivator unleashed itself, all its strength directed to the cultivator who spoke. That cultivator was forced into a state of breaking into cold sweat. Their spiritual prowess were too far apart and finally he couldn’t hold on, falling into a single bent knee before he felt that force dispersing. He panted laboriously as Fu Changling’s eyelids fluttered open, impolitely speaking, “Take your things and scram.”

“Leader…”

The cultivator from the side was driven furious. He wanted to attack but the leader stopped him. He pinned his gaze onto Fu Changling and Fu Changling quietly looked back at him. A pair of eyes who had seen the bloody seas and mountains made of knives, who had once seen the world fade into extinction, looked back searchingly at him. As both their gazes met, none of them took a step back.

Fu Changling’s heart was rapidly beating, but he knew that he couldn’t offer leeway.

His golden core was in a state of pain that he felt like twitching in agony, but he was already used to the pain and patiently endured it, wearing a surface as calm as the sauntering clouds.

After a long time, when that cultivator failed to tell how high Fu Changling’s cultivation was, he didn’t dare risk it here and finally ordered, “We are leaving.”

“Leader…”

The other cultivators appeared to have something to say, but the other person raised a hand in silence. He withdrew his attacks and a vortex began swirling up from the centre of the Moonlight Herb patch, finally contracting into a tiny ball into his palm.

The other person hadn’t said anything. He took his people and left. After they left, Fu Changling finally couldn’t stand it any longer and vomited a mouthful of blood, falling right off the tree branch. He hit the ground, holding his stomach, sprawling on it as he agonizingly took in mouthfuls after mouthfuls of air. He had been using the Soul-gathering Pagoda to forcibly alleviate his cultivation just a moment ago and once again injured his golden core.

Qin Yan grabbed a handful of Moonlight Herbs and hurried to his side. Just as he wanted to transfer them to him using spiritual energy, Fu Changling snatched them and wrapped a hand over his shoulder, lending his posture to help him get to his feet and tremble as he said, “Let us go immediately.”

Qin Yan didn’t delay the time. He carried Fu Changling as the both of them quickly left the place.

Cold sweat poured like little streams down Fu Changling’s forehead. He wolfed down on the Moonlight Herbs and swallowed them down while he used his spiritual energy to deliver the nourishments of the Moonlight Herbs into his golden core.

As he did all of these, his movements didn’t slow down. The both of them finally arrived in a cave. Qin Yan set up a prohibition array and placed Fu Changling onto the ground. Holding his sword, he half-knelt as he said, “What can I do?”

Fu Changling gritted his teeth and said, “Apply medicine to your own wounds.”

Qin Yan was taken by surprise, dumbfoundedly looking at Fu Changling leaning against the wall, gritting his teeth, as he breathed with his eyes closed.

The effects of the Moonlight Herbs were different between ingesting it with force and transferring its effect with spiritual energy after it was being processed. To apply the effects of the Moonlight Herbs onto a golden core that had just sustained injury in this manner was equivalent to splashing salt onto a wound. It had caused Fu Changling so much pain that he’d curled into a ball.

As the medicinal effects took place, the more Fu Changling felt himself in pain.

Qin Yan swiftly applied medicine onto his own wounds and knelt on one knee next to Fu Changling, unsure of what to do.

He didn’t want to get himself entangled with anything concerning this person, but regardless of what had happened, he was now wounded because of him. By sentiment and by reason, he could not abandon him at this moment.

Qin Yan furrowed his brows and as he watched Fu Changling roll on the ground in a cramp, he quickly helped him up, afraid that he’d rammed against a rocky area. Fu Changling gritted his teeth tightly and the moment Qin Yan came into contact with him, he finally couldn’t hold it back and pulled him into his arms, hugging him tightly.

“I’m sorry.” He panted as he spoke with difficulty, “Just a moment. Let me for just a moment.”

“Let me hug you.”

Qin Yan was taken aback. Hugging him, Fu Changling felt that he didn’t hurt so much when this person was in his arms.

He closed his eyes, hugging Qin Yan and refusing to let go, but at the same time he was afraid that he was causing him pain from using too much strength. His entire person was trembling, his teeth lightly gritting as he emitted barely audible sounds.

“Say something,” Panting, he said with difficulty, “Say something.”

Qin Yan concernedly gave it some thought. He wasn’t skilled in speaking, but after a long time, he could only say, “They seem to have left with the Hidden Realm of Xuanji.”

“They did.”

Fu Changling closed his eyes as he regulated his spiritual energy. Trying to divert his attention, he explained, “It was the Hidden Realm of Xuanji that was lying in the centre of the Moonlight Herb patch just now. I always thought that the Hidden Realm of Xuanji was located in the Golden Light Temple, but it seems not. This was the location where the Hidden Realm of Xuanji was being operated from.”

“They were operating the Hidden Realm of Xuanji inside of the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng,” Fu Changling swallowed. “They used the Shangguan Manor to summon the array and therefore, summoning us in as well.”

“Why?”

Qin Yan furrowed his brows.

Fu Changling could not answer him. He leaned against Qin Yan’s shoulder and smelled his scent. As he hugged Qin Yan, he didn’t know why he was thinking of something else in the midst of the pain.

He suddenly wanted to tilt his head to the side to give that person’s face a kiss and leave a trail of kissies down towards his earlobe.

This series of thoughts surprised him. He was so astonished by it that he turned his head to the other side and asked a question instead, “You knew who I am?”

After a moment of silence, Qin Yan quietly said, “That mask you were wearing… It’s the same one you bought in the Hidden Realm of Xuanji.”

Fu Changling couldn’t help smiling, “How is it that you recognize me everywhere you go?”

Qin Yan said nothing.

The medicinal effects of the Moonlight Herb gradually balanced itself out inside of Fu Changling’s body. It had begun healing his golden core and this made him feel a lot better. He finally relaxed and Qin Yan noticed this change in him. Without moving, he said, “Feeling better now?”

His voice sounded urging, Fu Changling could tell. He momentarily froze before slowly getting up and quietly said, “I’ve disgraced myself.”

Qin Yan stood up, “Take a rest. I will take my leave first.”

“Qin Yan.” Fu Changling couldn’t help feeling strange upon hearing that he wanted to leave. “Don’t you… have anything that you want to ask me?”

“Aren’t you…” Fu Changling somewhat hesitated, “Curious how I managed to pass myself off as an ascension stage cultivator?”

“It has nothing to do with me,” Qin Yan answered calmly.

Fu Changling couldn’t help smiling, “Aren’t you curious whether I’ve been possessed?”

“It has nothing to do with me,” Qin Yan repeated again.

Fu Changling looked at the colour of the sky. He counted the time when the energy barrier of the Forbidden Lands of the Spiritual Mountains would begin again and knew that he didn’t have much time left to spend with Qin Yan, and so, he reached into his lapels and pulled out two empty paper talismans and quickly drew two incantations on them before walking up to Qin Yan and giving them to him. “In the future, if there’s something you need, use these two talismans. Anything below the ascension stage would not be able to nullify them. Use them to call for my name and I will hurry here as quickly as possible.”

“There is no need.” Qin Yan cut him off clearly, “These are my own matters…”

Qin Yan said nothing. Fu Changling quickly stuffed those talismans into Qin Yan’s palm, paying him no attention, then he turned around and returned to where he originally sat and said, “I know you hate me, but as these matters concern Yunze, I hope you will be prudent about it. I will not interfere in your daily life but if it’s related to the Hidden Realm of Xuanji and danger comes to you… I cannot back out from this responsibility.”

Speaking, Fu Changling raised his hand and meditated, then he coldly said, “There are spies of the enemy within the Heavenly Palace of Hongmeng. It’s unclear who they are now that they could so soundlessly operate the Hidden Realm of Xuanji within these grounds. I fear they must be someone of considerable status. When it comes to matters concerning the Hidden Realm of Xuanji, presently, the only one you can trust, is me.”

“One can be unreasonable during normal times, but when a grander scale of things is in place, I hope Fellow Cultivator Qin can opt for prudence.”

Qin Yan, “...”

[1] 心魔 (lit. heart demon) most times, a heart demon is born in a person when their desires are impure.

[2] 万法行事，皆循所因；万物所行，皆由所果；山河绘笔，借我乾坤 is translated very literally.

[3] 抱元守一，静心凝神 another incantation, translated literally, albeit not very important to the novel.

[4] 青铜灯looks like this.

[5] 天命 here actually means fate but I’m using foresight to fit into the context.

[6] 循、序、渐、进 these words makes an idiom that means take everything slowly and watch for progress. I changed it a little bit to keep the tone Fu Yushu was using in the raws.

[7] In the raws, Daddy Fu actually said ‘长陵啊’, which translates to just ‘Changling ah’ but with an exasperated tone (like he gave up on him) so it’s tled into ‘My dear Changling’ with the same energy.

[8] 天灵根 in cultivation novels, spiritual roots are classified into different qualities. There are usually 单灵根 (single spiritual root), 双灵根 (twin spiritual root), and 三灵根 (three spiritual roots), where single spiritual root is usually the ‘best’ quality. It’s sometimes called 天灵根 (heavenly spiritual root) like in this novel.

[9] 大师姐 (lit. Eldest Shijie/Eldest martial sister)

[10] 大师兄 (lit. Eldest Shixiong/Eldest martial brother)

[11] 儒 actually directly refers to Confucianism, but since this is an original world, I’m going to make some assumptions that it refers to just moral teachings.

[12] The translation is a slightly butchered version of the original, which is 离火乾坤草, where 离火 refers to the fire element of the five elements, and 乾坤 refers to the universe or 天地 a.k.a. Heaven and Earth, which can be a mouthful even if tl-ed literally.

[13] Fu Changling is reciting lines from the poem “The Willow” by He Zizhang.

[14] In the last verse, the original was ‘二月春风似剪刀’ (The spring winds of February resembles a scissors), but Fu Changling had changed them slightly from 剪刀 (scissors) to 千刀 (thousand knives).