Chapter 214 – Melancholy
Wang Lin’s gaze became serious. Elder Li, disciple of the Luo He Sect from the Huo Fen Country… These two words floated through his mind as a name suddenly appeared in his mind.
“Impossible…” Wang Lin silently thought. How could such a coincidence exist in this world? Could the girl from back then have become an elder of the Sky Cloud Sect?
Wang Lin smiled fakely and thought he was overthinking it.
With a regretful tone, Cheng Xian said, “Elder Li was a genius of his generation. Back in the country of Hou Fen, he was already famous. The country of Hou Fen was invaded, causing the Luo He sect to collapse and all its followers to scatter. If not for that, Elder Li would not have come here.”
Wang Lin nodded, but did not speak as he continued walking forward.
Cheng Xian blinked a few times and immediately followed Wang Lin. He asked, “Senior Brother, when are we going to the west courtyard?”
Wang Lin looked up at the sky and said, “After I meet with Master, I’ll take you to the west courtyard. But, as I said before, I don’t know that girl. I don’t even know her name. If it doesn’t work out, then so be it.”
Cheng Xian was stunned. Then, he averted his gaze and said, “It doesn’t matter, I know her name. All you have to do is ask to see her. Brother, I trust my intuition. That girl will definitely come to see you.”
Wang Lin said nothing more as he continued walking towards the south courtyard.
Throughout the journey, Cheng Xian spoke almost nonstop. It was clear he was a man of many words. He recounted all the news, gossip, and rumors concerning the Sky Cloud Sect.
Her speech was almost too passionate, so Wang Lin didn’t feel annoyed listening to her. Just like that, the two of them arrived at the southern courtyard.
“It must be said that Elder Li hasn’t been in this sect for long. He’s only been here for about 100 years, but his alchemy skills are extraordinary. I heard that back then, Elder Li competed with two rank 5 alchemists in the Sky Cloud Sect. He wasn’t inferior to them in the slightest and successfully refined a rank 5 Demon Cultivation Pill, which is one of our sect’s three treasures.” When he spoke of the pill, Cheng Xian revealed a look of admiration.
“Demon Cultivation Pill?” Wang Lin was stunned. The name of this pill was too strange. Could it be that if you consume this pill, you can transform into a demon?
Cheng Xian saw Wang Lin’s expression. He immediately smiled proudly and said, “Hehe, that pill does have a strange name. When the pill was being made, the ancestor asked Elder Li to think of a name. After thinking for a while, Elder Li came up with this name. Although the pill’s name is Demonic Cultivation, it has nothing to do with cultivating demons.”
“What effect does this pill have?” Wang Lin felt strange. This pill was called Demonic Cultivation, and Elder Li was from the country of Hou Fen and the Li Hui sect. There must be a connection there.
“This pill’s effects are great, but I don’t know exactly what it is.” Cheng Xian shrugged and said, “With my position, how could I know what it is? It’s considered one of the three great treasures of our sect.”
Wang Lin didn’t mind. He nodded his head. After a while, the two arrived outside the southern courtyard. What appeared before Wang Lin was an arched bridge with water flowing beneath it. The water emitted waves of spiritual energy.
In the water there were lots of 7-colored goldfish swimming leisurely in it.
Cheng Xian stopped in front of the bridge and smiled. “There’s another rumor about the Demon Cultivation Pill. Would you like to hear it?”
“I’m ready to listen.” Wang Lin’s eyes followed the bridge into the courtyard, but there was a barrier preventing him from looking too deeply. He could faintly see the elegant surroundings within. It was like a garden of Eden.
Cheng Xian said proudly, “Rumor has it that Elder Li lived in the Sea of Devils for some time. The name of the pill is related to the events he experienced there. Of course, this is just a rumor. In fact, there are many rumors about Elder Li in the Sky Cloud Sect. We’ll talk about them later.”
After Wang Lin heard this, his expression remained calm. He clasped his hands towards Cheng Xian and walked toward the bridge.
Cheng Xian immediately shouted, “Brother Wang Lin, I’ll wait for you here. Don’t forget that we still have something to do after this!”
Wang Lin didn’t answer. He walked across the bridge.
After entering the southern courtyard, the fog grew thicker. He couldn’t see anything more than three feet in front of him. If Wang Lin’s main body were here, it wouldn’t bother him at all. All he had to do was spread out his divine sense and he would be able to see everything.
However, currently, Wang Lin’s avatar was only at the 8th layer, so he could only walk forward slowly.
The deeper he dove, the thicker the fog became. His visibility gradually decreased from 3 feet to 1 foot.
A voice floated out of the mist.
“The south courtyard is a restricted area. If an outer disciple does not have a token, you are not allowed to enter.”
Wang Lin stopped. He replied, “Wang Lin’s disciple came to greet the teacher from the teacher, Elder Li.”
The voice pondered for a moment, then the fog before Wang Lin parted as if a pair of giant hands had parted it. A path leading deep into the southern courtyard appeared.
“Follow this path and you will arrive at Elder Li’s residence. Go now.” The voice appeared again, and Wang Lin could hear a hint of envy in its voice.
Wang Lin followed the path without a word. The sound of musical instruments could be heard in the distance. Soon, Wang Lin arrived at the end of the path, where a building awaited him.
Looking out the window, Wang Lin saw the figure of a woman. A zither was in front of her. However, due to the thin layers of curtains, Wang Lin couldn’t see what the woman looked like.
As Wang Lin appeared, a song came out of the building and entered Wang Lin’s heart like a flowing river.
Wang Lin didn’t say a word, but stood there and listened to the song. After the song finished, an elegant voice came from the building. “Are you Wang Lin?”
When the voice entered Wang Lin’s ears, he was stunned. His face showed a look of disbelief, but he quickly recovered. After a moment of contemplation, he replied, “Yes, that’s right.”
As her voice left the room, a sudden popping sound was heard from inside as the woman snapped a string on her sitar. Then, the window suddenly opened. Her appearance could make anyone’s heart beat faster.
Her face was as beautiful as a flower and her skin as smooth as jade. It could be said that her appearance was like a flower, her voice was like a songbird, her soul was like the moon, and her skin was like jade.
The woman’s gaze fell on Wang Lin. After staring at him for a moment, she revealed a hint of sadness. She lowered the curtain and regained her elegant composure.
Wang Lin’s expression remained as calm as still water. The moment the woman spoke, he already knew her identity. He never expected that, after so many years, she would become an elder of the Heavenly Cloud Sect.
Although Wang Lin’s avatar’s cultivation wasn’t high, he still possessed keen instincts. He could tell that this woman was at the early stage of Core Formation. In other sects, it would be strange for a master and disciple to have the same cultivation level, but it wasn’t unusual in the Sky Cloud Sect.
The inner courtyard measures a person’s worth based on their alchemy skills, not their cultivation.
As a result, within the inner courtyard of the Sky Cloud Sect, there were many cases where masters had lower cultivation levels than their disciples. This was because the Sky Cloud Sect had a different kind of scale compared to others.
Of course, some pills require a certain level of cultivation to be refined. Therefore, for certain pills, one needs to increase their cultivation.
In this world, there were only a few people like Li Muwan, who were able to concoct a tier 5 pill that normally required one to be at such a high Nascent Soul stage to refine.
Wang Lin took a deep breath. This was how time passed. 200 years wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either.
She was several times more beautiful than before. Two hundred years ago felt like just yesterday. However, there was still a vast gulf between the two, a gulf that Wang Lin would not easily cross.
Wang Lin had no plans to show himself. His appearance was also different from when he first met Li Muwan, so she wouldn’t have known it was Wang Lin from his appearance.
“What’s wrong?” Li Muwan’s voice was still filled with a hint of sadness.
Wang Lin took a deep breath and smiled bitterly in his heart. He said, “Disciple…disciple…” Facing an old friend, Wang Lin could barely utter the word “disciple.”
When Li Muwan heard Wang Lin’s voice again, her body shivered. She waved her hand and a purple veil appeared on her head. She walked out of the building and looked at Wang Lin.
Wang Lin’s expression was calm. He said slowly, “The disciple’s pill furnace has been destroyed.”
Li Muwan stared at Wang Lin for a moment. She showed a complicated expression and asked, “Are you from the state of Chu?”
Wang Lin pondered for a moment and then nodded.
Li Muwan sighed. Her mood returned to normal. She said, “The pill furnace breaking must have been because your cultivation level increased too quickly, and you couldn’t control the spiritual energy in your body well enough to direct the fire. This is very common. All you have to do is keep practicing, and it will resolve itself.”
“Since you’re Zhou Lin’s disciple, I’ll give you this pill furnace. This pill furnace will prevent you from breaking 100 times. If after 100 times you still can’t control the fire, then it means you have no talent in alchemy and you should give up and go to the outer sect.”
After Li Muwan finished speaking, she took out a pill furnace and it floated in front of Wang Lin.
Wang Lin immediately put the pill furnace into his storage bag. Although his expression was calm, he had extremely complicated emotions swirling in his heart. Every second he spent here, he felt like he was suffocating. He clasped his hands and turned to leave.
Li Muwan suddenly said, “Ma Liang…”
Wang Lin showed a surprised expression. He turned around and looked at Li Muwan with a confused look.
Li Muwan took a deep breath and said, “You may leave. If you have any questions, you can come and ask me.” After that, she returned to her residence and the sound of the zither began to come from within the building again.
This time, there is a slight nuance of melancholy and loneliness in the song.
Wang Lin showed a complicated expression. He stared thoughtfully at the people inside the building. He silently sighed and turned to leave.
Inside the building, Li Muwan put down her instrument. She pondered for a moment, then looked into the distance through the window. After a long time, she frowned and said, “Something’s not right. How could two people sound so similar? Even if that were true, there’s no way their expressions could be exactly the same. Furthermore, Wang Lin’s expression was too calm. A normal person wouldn’t be able to do that.”
A light flashed across his eyes, and he pointed to his brow. A drop of blood dripped from his forehead. The blood was red and emitted a destructive aura.
This was a gift Wang Lin had given her when he left. This drop of blood contained a hint of the Ji Realm. Wang Lin had given it to her to protect her for the rest of her life. If not for this drop of blood, Li Muwan wouldn’t have been able to escape the destruction of the country of Hou Fen.
“If it really is him, why doesn’t this blood react to him?” Li Muwan bit her lip and sighed.
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out from outside the building. “Senior apprentice-brother, could you come out for a moment?”
Li Muwan frowned slightly and opened the door. She saw a handsome middle-aged cultivator walking towards her with a warm smile on his face.
When he saw Li Muwan, he revealed a sincere expression of love and said softly, “Little sister, a few months ago, I heard that you needed a Long Yan Zhi. I searched all over the country of Chu and finally found it.” With that, he took out a jade box. Inside the jade box was a whole purple zhi that was the size of an arm.
Li Muwan’s expression was listless. She didn’t even look at the jade box and said, “Many thanks for Senior Sun’s kindness, but I’ve already found a replacement and refined the pill. Brother Sun should just keep it.”
The middle-aged man smiled warmly. He placed the jade box aside and said gently, “Little sister, the ancestors meant well. After all, you are not a direct disciple of the Heavenly Cloud Sect. If you wish to acquire better alchemy techniques, then you should choose a direct disciple to cultivate with. You and I have known each other for a long time. I’m sure little sister understands my feelings for you.”
A cold glint flashed across Li Muwan’s eyes. She stared at the middle-aged man and said word for word, “Don’t ever bring this matter up again!”
The middle-aged man silently stared at Li Muwan. After a long time, he calmly said, “Little sister, if it weren’t for me saving you when the Fen Hou Country was attacked, you would have died. How have I treated you these past few years? I wonder why you are so against this.”
Li Muwan pondered for a moment. A figure involuntarily floated into her mind. She stopped the thought and said, “There’s no reason…”
The middle-aged man sighed. His voice was still gentle. “Little sister, the ancestor has already made his own orders. Everything has been arranged, so please reconsider.” After that, he gave Li Muwan a sharp glance, then turned around with a bitter smile and left.
Li Muwan stood silently outside her house for a while, then turned to go back in. Her back looked so sad and lonely.
Wang Lin left the southern courtyard with mixed feelings. As he walked across the bridge, he saw Cheng Xian waiting for him. Cheng Xian immediately approached him and asked, “Big Brother, how is he?”
Wang Lin looked at him and said, “Let’s go.”
Cheng Xian had been waiting for this sentence. He smiled and said quickly, “Senior, the day is almost over, so we must move quickly. Wait a moment, and I’ll summon two mounts.” After that, he put two fingers into his mouth, and a sharp whistling sound spread into the distance.
Shortly after, several beast roars were heard in the distance. Wang Lin looked up and saw shadows, large and small, rushing toward their location.
Soon, the shadows drew closer. When they reached 10 feet from Cheng Xian, Wang Lin could clearly see that they were two monkeys. The larger one was one and a half meters tall, while the smaller one was one meter tall. Both monkeys’ eyes were red. They let out a shrill roar at Cheng Xian.
Cheng Xian coughed slightly and said, “I’m just borrowing something from you guys. We’ve known each other for over a dozen years. Alright, take us to the west courtyard and I’ll return it to you.”
The two monkeys breathed heavily and shouted at each other for a while. Then, one of them grabbed Cheng Xian.
Cheng Xian didn’t dodge and let the hand grab him. The larger ape grabbed Cheng Xian’s clothes and pulled him onto its back. They immediately ran and jumped into the distance.
The smaller ape glared at Wang Lin, its eyes filled with anger. It grabbed Wang Lin, but Wang Lin dodged the claw and jumped onto its back. The ape didn’t seem to mind and quickly chased after the larger ape.
The apes were extremely fast. Riding them was like riding on clouds. Cheng Xian seemed to be very used to this. After shouting a few times, he took out a bottle of wine and took a swig. He then laughed and said, “Riding a spirit ape to the west courtyard. In the entire Sky Cloud Sect, only I can do this! Haha!”
Wang Lin smiled wryly. Although Cheng Xian was very naughty, he wasn’t annoying. Even though he was wasting Wang Lin’s time, Wang Lin didn’t really care. In fact, because of Cheng Xian, Wang Lin’s dislike of interacting with others had lessened somewhat.
Cheng Xian threw the gourd back to Wang Lin. Wang Lin caught the gourd and looked at it for a moment. He thought about Li Muwan’s expression and took a deep sip.