Chapter 1154: That Which Separated the Two... Was Time

There were two different worlds, one beneath the lake, one above it.

The figures were still on the move. There was no sound. Everything seemed like black and white. It was hard to describe. Hard to explain.

There was a fearless wind that came from somewhere, perhaps heaven or perhaps earth, blowing across the water. It stirred the hair of the ‘four’ people. The hair danced. The water rippled. No one spoke. The Immortal Lord said nothing. Xu Qing said nothing.

Eventually, when the sun’s brightness filled the sky, illuminating everything and causing the frost to shimmer.... Atop the water, a father and son reached the middle of the lake.

Immortal Lord Aurora stopped there. “Here we are. Presumably you recognize this place?”

Actually, Xu Qing did not recognize it. But the memories of Young Lord Aurora did. Images immediately popped up in his mind. This was the Nineshores Grotto-Heaven! It was the location of Immortal Lord Nineshores’ immortal palace.... He was the Immortal Lord of the current epoch, which was going to end in a month!

Of course, it was very different from the Aurora Immortal Palace. To mortals, the Nineshores Immortal Palace looked like a frozen lake. It lay quietly up in the mountains, like an exquisite jewel nestled amongst silver cloth. The mirror-like surface of the lake reflected the surrounding snow and the clouds. And it reflected the heart.

Beneath the surface of the lake, the currents flowed, and as multicolored light shone from heaven, dream-like illusions would appear, sinking into the heart to transform into numerous secrets.

It was like Immortal Lord Nineshores’ dao.

Secrets!

All people bear secrets. And every bit of history also had secrets hidden in it. Even a mountain or a river will contain unknown things. All secrets within the Fifth Star Ring had a source that could be controlled.

And that was... a canon of secrets, which was how Immortal Lord Nineshores had achieved his dao! Therefore, when people walked on the icy surface of the lake, their secrets would be reflected beneath them.

Occasionally, unusual bubbles would appear in the lake. They would rise up, but when they hit the ice, they would pop, leaving behind beautiful little circles. They could not get past the ice. It was as if the ice protected secrets.

“On your knees!” Immortal Lord Aurora said quietly.

Xu Qing bowed his head. It was as if this body actually wasn’t under his control, because as soon as the Immortal Lord spoke, he found himself on his knees on the ice.

The moment that happened, a sigh drifted out, though whether it came from high in the sky or deep below the ice, it was impossible to tell.

Aurora’s expression was the same as ever as he softly said, “Daoist Brother Nineshores, I’ve brought my unfilial son here.”

The ancient voice which responded came from beneath the lake. “Aurora, there’s no need to worry so much about the affairs of the younger generation.”

The voice was hoarse, and seemed to contain an indescribable melancholy. As the voice spoke, the water beneath the ice rippled, and Xu Qing could see a majestic figure like a god. He was enormous, taking up the greater part of the lake, with indistinguishable facial features, as if a veil obscured them. As for the eyes in that face, they were like suns casting silver light.

Looking down at the figure in the lake, Immortal Lord Aurora shook his head somberly. “He’s responsible for everything that happened, from beginning to end. Half a year ago, I simply asked him to come here to work on his cultivation. I had no idea what my unfilial son was really thinking. He wasn’t interested in cultivation at all, Daoist Brother. Instead, he was interested in your lovely daughter.

“Thankfully, the interest seemed to be mutual, and there was no force involved. But despite how they got along, eventually they had a misunderstanding. Of course, it’s not good for us elders to interfere blithely. Furthermore, though my unfilial son has made mistakes, he does have a sense of responsibility. Therefore, Daoist Brother Nineshores, I’ve brought him here today to formally propose marriage.

“I hope that these two young ones can journey forward together as daoist partners and close companions. Since they both pursue the dao, I think both you and I can agree that they will eventually become immortals together. I think that would be a good ending to the story.”

Before Immortal Lord Aurora’s words finished echoing in the area, he waved his right hand. Four items appeared out of nowhere.

“Here are four betrothal gifts,” Immortal Lord Aurora said calmly. “First is the collected blood and marrow left behind when the two gods Lohn and Menghin perished here in the Fifth Star Ring. It includes a bit of thēir future discarnate wills, as well as thēir secrets. I know that you’ve longed for this item for a very long time, and I managed to secure it for you only a few days ago.”

His words were very humble, and they downplayed his own importance. It could only be imagined the astonishing price that would have to be paid for an item that an Immortal Lord longed for. When the item was produced, the silver eyes of the face behind the veil glittered.

“Second is a pair of empty jade slips formed from my own soul blood. The first one is waiting to be filled out by you next month, Daoist Brother Nineshores. Inscribe it however you wish, and it will be considered an order from me.

“As for the other jade slip, Daoist Brother Nineshores, you can inscribe it with any item in my immortal palace. As soon as you do, all karma on that item will be erased, and ownership of it will be transferred to you.”

Xu Qing was visibly moved. The first item surpassed his comprehension. But the set of jade slips were incredible. The one which could be inscribed with orders was essentially like an imperial edict. After all, in a month, Aurora would be succeeding Nineshores and taking over the throne. The future era would be that of Aurora, so to leave behind a blank imperial edict was profoundly significant. The same held for items in the immortal palace. And what was even more significant was that there was no time limit attached to either item.

These gifts showed an immense amount of sincerity! At the bottom of the lake, Nineshores opened his mouth as if to speak.

Before he could, Immortal Lord Aurora kept talking. “The fourth gift is of little value. It is my son’s birthdate characters.”[1]

Immortal Lord Aurora waved his hand, and a red piece of paper flew out, upon which was written eight characters. Xu Qing looked over and confirmed that it was the birthdate of his host. All of these things combined suddenly filled him with a deep sense of paternal love.

Having accomplished these things, Immortal Lord Aurora clasped hands and bowed deeply to the lake.

Considering the gifts, the status of the person involved, and the bow, Nineshores felt compelled to speak, and could not remain at the bottom of the lake. A sigh echoed out, which turned into innumerable threads that rose up through the water.

They were made of the secrets of the world, intangible as they pierced through the layer of ice. After coming through the ice... they transformed from incorporeal to corporeal. A middle-aged cultivator stood there now, clad in a blue daoist robe, pulsing with the demeanor of a transcendent being.

He stood right in front of Aurora and looked him in the eyes. He nodded. Then he extended his right hand. The blood, the jade slip that was the imperial order, and the piece of paper with the birthdate all flew up to him. He put them away. As for the jade slip that could be filled in with an item from the immortal palace, he flicked it to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing caught it.

“In a month, you’ll marry my daughter. Going forward, you will no longer be the son of Aurora. You’ll be the son-in-law of Nineshores.”

Xu Qing inclined his head, clasped his hands, and bowed deeply.

Immortal Lord Aurora smiled as if an immense weight had been lifted off his shoulders. A rare smile appeared on his face. He looked at Nineshores, who was in fact his lifelong friend. They had grown up together, furthered their cultivation together, fought enemies together, and faced death on numerous occasions. The mixture of steel and blood had caused a deep friendship to form....

Each would have died for the other. And the truth was that when they were young, they had laughed about what it would be like when they had children in the future. Maybe those children would be like brothers. Or maybe they would become daoist partners.

Mind filled with such thoughts, Aurora quietly clasped hands, then turned to leave.

Xu Qing got to his feet, bowed, and left, a complicated expression on his face.

Nineshores stood there quietly as he watched the two of them walk away into the distance. Eventually, he sighed in his heart.

I know you’re going to do something that will shake heaven and earth.... Aurora. Oh, Aurora. You can truly be called a filial son to the Immortal Paragon. And to that child, you are a compassionate father!

But for you to be stuck in the middle must be pure bitterness. Perhaps from the moment Lanxi perished, you no longer wished to linger in this world.

[2]

Nineshores sighed softly, then blurred, turning again into countless threads that passed back through the ice and sank to the bottom of the lake.

***

After leaving the Nineshores Grotto-Heaven, father and son continued on through heaven and earth. A gentle breeze stirred Immortal Lord Aurora’s hair, and did the same to Xu Qing’s host. Neither of them spoke.

Xu Qing wasn’t sure if it was a misperception or not, but it seemed to him that the wind was taking away some of Immortal Lord Aurora’s coldness. His apathy seemed to be slowly fading away. And it had all started... when Immortal Lord Nineshores nodded. The weight which had lifted off him at that moment must have been immense.

Xu Qing soon realized they weren’t going back to the immortal palace. Instead, they were getting closer and closer to a location familiar to Xu Qing.

Eventually, a vast sea of golden sand appeared ahead. It looked like an actual sea, full of dazzling waves, shining gloriously in the sun. It seemed like a dream or an illusion.

Xu Qing had been to this desert before. However, he had seen a version that existed countless years later. This version was from much earlier in the timescape.

That which separated the two was the name of the desert itself.

Time.

“When you were little,” Immortal Lord Aurora said softly, “you always asked me about your mother.”

As they walked out over the desert, the Immortal Lord didn’t seem like an immortal anymore. Apparently, this desert was profoundly significant to him. Now that he was back, he suddenly seemed a lot older.

“I never told you much. But you’ve grown up and are about to get married. Soon you’ll have your own wife. Therefore... I brought you here. This is the spot where your mother’s soul faded away. This is the only place that has anything of her left.”

1. Birthdate characters are a combination of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches that describe the time, date, month, and year of a person’s birth, primarily used in fortune-telling. And since I’m sure some of you will want to go back and check, we did recently come to find out about a set of eight characters that clearly described a specific date and time. That was in

chapter 1146

, with a detailed explanation of calendar-related stuff in

1147

. As of now, we don’t have enough information to determine if the date mentioned back there is the same as the one here, but it seems highly likely. ☜

2. Lanxi: This is a given name without a surname. Lan means “orchid” and Xi means “evening tide.” ☜