Chapter 234: Sword Ancestor, Snow Qiong Ten Thousand Spirits
On the horizon, the rising sun poked its head out.
The faint sunlight illuminated a twilight line dividing day and night.
Beneath the mountain rocks where Qiong Peak’s Snow Dragon Cave was located, lava continued to spew from the cracks, and scalding flames continuously consumed the snow-capped peak, which was white year-round.
Wearing a cloak given by Pei Lianxue, Ye Anping flew on his sword in the sky, explaining the mountain’s past to her like a tour guide:
“This place was originally a frequently erupting volcano. Thousands of years ago, Yun Jian Shang Xian achieved Deity Transformation here, drawing spiritual energy into qi and enduring the Heavenly Tribulation. The spiritual energy of lightning happened to suppress the earth’s fire, thus this volcano became the snowy peak it is today. A thousand years later, his son, Yun Tianchong, imitated his father and came here to achieve Deity Transformation, but his tribulation was insufficient, causing the Heavenly Tribulation to break through the earth vein. As a result… this Qiong Peak snow top became a barren land of chaotic spirits.”
“Mhmm…”
Pei Lianxue nodded, seemingly understanding but not entirely. She didn’t know why Senior Brother wanted to tell her this, but she decided to just remember what Senior Brother said.
Seeing her expression, Ye Anping felt a bit helpless and asked:
“Can you guess where Senior Brother is taking you?”
“Mhmm… I don’t know.”
“Senior Brother is going to sell you.”
Pei Lianxue was silent for a moment, then twisted her eyebrows and retorted: “…I don’t believe you.”
“Why don’t you believe me?”
“Senior Brother wouldn’t bear to do that.”
This girl…
Ye Anping looked melancholic, shook his head, and stopped talking altogether. He smiled bitterly and diligently flew his sword towards the clouds.
Entering the clouds, Ye Anping followed his sense of direction and memory. After circling for a while, he then used Spirit Taming to envelop himself and his Junior Sister with a spiritual barrier, breaking through the clouds and emerging.
In the blink of an eye, the dilapidated mountain peak and the falling snow from before disappeared. In their place was a boundless expanse of clouds and a cone-shaped rock platform suspended above them.
On the rock platform stood a small, octagonal pavilion, and beneath the pavilion was a stone tablet. Around it were bookshelves holding wooden slips with scrolls.
The two people landed on the rock platform on their swords and walked to the stone tablet in the pavilion.
Ye Anping reached out and wiped the dust off the stone tablet, revealing five characters: “Yun Jian Bu Zhi Gui” (Yun Jian Knows No Return). He then stepped back and said:
“Junior Sister, use your Sword Art to strike it.”
“Okay!!”
Pei Lianxue responded with a nod, quickly summoning her Spirit Sword. At the same time, Ye Anping also took out his Spirit Sword and stood beside her.
The two raised their swords, gathered their spiritual energy, and took half a step back together.
Clang—
Two streams of spiritual light, one golden and one ice blue, merged into one. Eleven sword shadows instantly struck the center of the stone tablet, but the tablet, which looked like it was made of ordinary rock, remained completely unmarked.
Pei Lianxue was stunned for a moment, thinking that Senior Brother hadn’t told her to stop, so she raised her sword again.
However, just as she was preparing to swing her Sword Art for the second time, a young, childlike voice came from behind them.
“Did I provoke you?! Ah?! You’re swinging with so much force, do you want to betray your ancestor?”
?!
Pei Lianxue was startled and instinctively turned, swinging the Spirit Sword in her hand behind her. However, the youth who had suddenly appeared behind her merely raised his left hand and firmly stopped her Spirit Sword in mid-air.
The golden-haired youth was wearing a golden-white Daoist robe. He was barely as tall as Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue’s chests, but his immortal aura was undeniable.
Ye Anping quickly stepped forward, pulling his Junior Sister back, and cupped his fists in greeting:
“Junior greets Yun Jian Shang Xian.”
Seeing her Senior Brother greet him, Pei Lianxue quickly retracted her sword and nodded her head:
“…Greetings.”
Yun Jian Shang Xian pouted, scanned them from side to side, and seeing that their hair and eye colors were not those of his descendants, a hint of disappointment appeared in his eyes.
“Tsk, I didn’t expect the first person to summon this seat to be an outsider, not a descendant. That Yun Tianchong brat is truly disappointing, tsk tsk tsk…”
Yun Jian Shang Xian clasped his hands behind his back and walked to the edge of the rock platform, gazing out at the endless clouds ahead, and sighed:
“Ages ago, I made a bet with Granny Si. She gambled that my Moon Shadow Sword Sect would surely perish, and asked me to pass my Moon Shadow Sword Art to her so she could find a successor for me. I split my Moon Shadow Sword Art into Yin and Yang sword manuals, copied two sets, and entrusted her to deliver them to my descendants… So, you two are the ones she found?”
Ye Anping cupped his fists in reply:
“We two juniors coincidentally obtained those two sword manuals in your former cave dwelling, Honored Immortal.”
“Oh~” Yun Jian Shang Xian raised an eyebrow and said, “Former cave dwelling?”
“Yes, the cave dwelling in Donglin Mountain, Western Regions.”
“Uh— that was likely placed there by Granny Si. I knew it… your aptitude is ordinary, and this girl here is of a pure water constitution, a maddeningly difficult constitution to cultivate. How could she catch Granny Si’s eye?”
Ye Anping pursed his lips, speechless.
“Yes…”
“So, it turns out you’re just two juniors with good luck, tsk… Speaking of which, what year is it now?”
“Immortal Calendar 2110.”
“Oh~ Then I’ve been dead for almost…”
Ye Anping interjected speechlessly: “Two thousand and twenty-three years.”
“Oh! Right, right, right… it’s been that long.” Yun Jian Shang Xian’s eyes showed surprise. “Tell me, boy, how is my son doing?”
“Yun Tian Shi…”
“Hammer Tian Shi, calling him Tian Shi, that unlearned little scoundrel.”
“…Senior Yun is now at the late stage of Deity Transformation and will prepare for closed-door cultivation to break through the void in a few days.”
“Really? He’s at late Deity Transformation? How can I believe that?” Yun Jian Shang Xian twisted his eyebrows, waved his hand to usher Ye Anping and Pei Lianxue into the pavilion to sit, and then conjured tea. He said, “Boy… tell me the truth, I won’t get angry. What is his cultivation level?”
“Late Deity Transformation.”
*Slam*—
Yun Jian Shang Xian banged the table forcefully: “Tell the truth!”
“It really is late Deity Transformation.”
“… …”
Yun Jian Shang Xian pouted, looked at Ye Anping silently for a while, then waved his hand in an unclear manner and said:
“Late Deity Transformation is late Deity Transformation, that’s probably his limit. I bet he won’t break through the void. It’s already good that he reached Deity Transformation, breaking through the void? Then what about my grandchildren?”
Ye Anping felt a bit tired, and sighed:
“They are doing alright.”
“…What do you mean ‘alright’? Tell me, what are my grandchildren called? Male or female? What spiritual roots do they have? What is their cultivation? I think *you* are just alright.”
Ye Anping was silent for a long time and stated: “Yun Yuecheng, male. At twelve years old, while practicing flying swords, he unfortunately fell off a thousand-foot cliff and died on the spot. Yun Wuyue, female. At three years old, she was poisoned by someone and died prematurely. Yun Siming, female, dual spiritual roots. At twenty-one years old, she died at the mouth of a Level Six Demonic Beast…”
“Stop!”
“What’s wrong? You asked me to tell you.”
“Do I have that many grandchildren?”
“Quite a few. Unlike you, Honored Immortal, Senior Yun has over thirty wives and concubines, almost all of whom gave birth to a child for him.”
“Tsk, that little scoundrel…”
Upon hearing this, Yun Jian Shang Xian gritted his teeth. He believed Ye Anping without any doubt; in fact, he had always felt that Yun Tianchong would be extraordinary when he grew up.
He twisted his eyebrows and looked at Pei Lianxue and Ye Anping again. Feeling distressed, he asked:
“Are there none with good aptitude, and who are still alive?”
“Only Yun Kunwu should be able to enter your eyes…”
Seeing Ye Anping’s melancholic expression, Yun Jian Shang Xian understood and asked:
“Your tone… there’s a ‘but’?”
“Yes, but Yun Kunwu’s Dao heart turned evil. He committed a great mistake, and even publicly insulted the Sect Masters of Xuan Xing Sect and Taibai Sect. In the end, Senior Yun destroyed his physical body with his own hands, and his spirit is imprisoned deep within the Sword Tomb.”
“… …”
Yun Jian Shang Xian was silent for a long time after hearing this, then said earnestly:
“Boy, to be honest, it’s not that I look down on you and this girl beside you. Although I said it before, I still want to pass on my legacy to my blood descendants. My apparent age is similar to yours, so let’s be open with each other. Tell me the truth, how is the Moon Shadow Sword Sect now?”
“It’s about to be destroyed.”
“Is that so…” Yun Jian Shang Xian shook his head and sighed at the sky, “What a sin! What a sin! I, the dignified Sword Ancestor Yun Jian, have no descendant who can uphold the name of Yun Jian. There’s even one who turned evil? Granny Si actually calculated correctly. I concede defeat, sigh—”
His childlike face furrowed slightly between his brows. Then, he stood up, hands behind his back, and walked out of the pavilion.
“Boy and girl, I’ll give you the sword embryo. Remember to pass on my name as Yun Jian Xian.”
The childlike voice gradually faded. Yun Jian Shang Xian’s figure turned into scattered specks of light in their eyes and dissipated. In the next moment, a four-chi long sword, entirely made of mysterious ice, appeared before the stone tablet.
“This sword is named, Xue Qiong Wan Ling…”
