Chapter 554: Yao Xingzi's Entrustment, a Promise Made with the Sword

Destroy the Celestial Wind Sect, suppress the Fengli Sect, stand among the thirteen qi planets, and challenge the North-River Sword Sect alone. I have to do all that in thirty years! That does not sound easy.

After parting with Huai Jing's group and returning to the Xinghai Sect, Wang Sheng found his emotions in constant turmoil. Whenever he thought about his senior sister being at his side in thirty years, excitement surged in his heart. However, a trace of unease was mixed with it.

He had yet to carve out a truly stable environment for himself. Although he had secured his footing in the Xinghai Sect, the sect itself remained under pressure from the Celestial Wind Sect and Fengli Sect.

It would be difficult for him to break through to the middle stage of the True Immortal Realm in that time span. Even if he somehow managed it, there was no guarantee that he could escape safely against powerful Heavenly Immortals.

If his senior sister arrived here at that time, she might only be able to do what Huai Jing and the other two had done: hide in Xinghai City to cultivate in seclusion.

That was the most reasonable and safest option, yet Wang Sheng could not shake his sense of dissatisfaction.

He considered when to harass the Celestial Wind Sect again. Now, he once more felt the weakness and exhaustion of being a challenger standing before an established immortal order.

"I only regret that I am not an immortal emperor, descending upon the four directions to guard what is in my heart."

Carried by the effects of the wine, Wang Sheng sighed softly. He briefly hesitated whether to go to Yao Xingzi's residence or Lishang's residence, but he eventually chose the former to report the few strategic suggestions he and his friends had come up with.

Yao Xingzi nodded repeatedly as he listened. Well-versed in divination arts, he recorded every word of Wang Sheng's advice.

As Wang Sheng had said, even if Earth's cultivators had never read

Zuo Zhuan,

Spring and Autumn Annals,

or

Book of Documents,

they had certainly at least heard of or read

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Thirty-Six Stratagems,

or

Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The last one seemed a bit off, but that was not important.

Although clashes between immortal factions differed from military warfare, strategic thinking was universal, highlighting the importance of a cultural foundation.

After their discussion on Xinghai Sect's development, Wang Sheng thought for a moment. He then asked, "Sect Master, why did you and Senior Linyuan stop the vice sect master from going to her race's homeland to cultivate?"

"My divination has simply revealed a great calamity."

Wang Sheng frowned. "I don't understand divination, but the reason Senior Linyuan gave was far too forced. Even if ferocious beasts had occupied the vice sect master's homeland, Senior Linyuan was able to enter it and bring her out. Now, the vice sect master is as strong as Heavenly Immortals. It really doesn't make any sense, Sect Master."

A trace of sorrow appeared on Yao Xingzi's aged face. He raised his hand and activated the soundproof arrays around the quiet room. He then admitted, "Elder Linyuan has repeatedly requested not to let Lishang return to her homeland, but I'm not sure why myself. I've only found a vague part of the reason through divination. Do you wish to hear it?"

Wang Sheng hesitated slightly. He knew that Yao Xingzi was presenting him with a choice. If he chose to listen, he would likely become involved in this matter. If he chose not to, he wouldn't lose anything, and he'd remain unrelated to this.

At that moment, he thought of his senior sister, who would be arriving soon. If Lishang could reach the Heavenly Immortal Realm, her racial ability would make her an expert that no one among the thirteen qi planets could afford to provoke. She would be a strong enough deterrent to keep the Xinghai Sect safe even if its growth was slow.

He had always been decisive. After weighing the pros and cons, he nodded. "Please enlighten me, Sect Master."

From the very first time Wang Sheng saw the way Yao Xingzi's Daoist name was written, he had already vaguely felt that Yao Xingzi was an expert in divination. After all, "Yao" represented the interweaving of heaven and earth, the transformation of all things, endless generation, and the very foundation of divination arts.

The Old Man of Xinghai bestowing him such a Daoist name made it evident that the teachings he had passed down were related to divination.

Linyuan had once told Wang Sheng that the Old Man of Xinghai possessed profound knowledge and extensive connections, but the Great Dao abandoned him because he divined too much for others and revealed too much of heaven's secrets. He had sufficient aptitude, experience, and knowledge, yet the Great Dao forcibly blocked him, preventing him from stepping into the realm of immortality.

Taking that into consideration, Yao Xingzi's devotion to cultivation and his reluctance to use divination arts before others became understandable. He simply did not wish to repeat the tragedy that befell his master.

Yao Xingzi slowly said, "Lishang wasn't the only one Linyuan saved. Her race's homeland has always drifted within the endless space. There were many legends about it in the past, claiming that it contained secret treasures from the Ancient Era. Hence, cultivators of all paths were drawn to it and hoped to find their fated opportunity there.

"Her homeland drifts unpredictably, which makes it extremely difficult to locate, but my late master once studied this matter and discovered that each time it appeared, it matched the progression of a divination art from the Ancient Era. He recorded this discovery in a collection of miscellaneous notes.

"About fifteen thousand years ago, before our sect moved to Fengmo, Linyuan came to seek my guidance on this matter. I divined the location of Lishang's homeland for him."

Wang Sheng frowned involuntarily. "Could it be..."

"Ten years later, a disciple disturbed me from my cultivation. When I came out, I saw Linyuan covered in wounds and carrying an unhatched egg. He then suddenly knelt before me.

"He had originally been at the peak of the True Immortal Realm, and breaking through to the Heavenly Immortal Realm wouldn't have been difficult. However, the injuries he suffered then were far too severe. I used a lot of spirit medicines to save him, yet I still failed to mend his ruined Dao foundation. Not only did his realm fall to the mid-stage of the True Immortal Realm, but he couldn't even advance half a step.

"A palm strike with an extremely strange force had shattered his Dao foundation. And at the time, several scales of the egg were covered in clotted blood."

Yao Xingzi shook his head and sighed softly.

Looking as though he was reminiscing, he whispered, "Linyuan nurtured it with spirit medicines. Three years later, it hatched into a baby girl with a human torso and a serpentine tail, bearing the likeness of the Ancient Era's Empress Nuwa. That child was Lishang."

Bloodstained scales...

Wang Sheng, who hadn't expected Lishang's origins to be so twisted, couldn't help but raise a hand to his forehead. She had not been rescued from her race's homeland at all.

Linyuan had taken her by force.

"Linyuan treated Lishang as his own child, raising her with the utmost care. No matter how large or small it was, he fulfilled her every request with all his strength. Over the years, he gave her everything he possibly could.

"However, when Lishang reached the True Immortal Realm a thousand years ago, she began wishing to visit her homeland. Linyuan outright refused; he even asked me to use divination to intervene and dissuade her."

"Does any of Lishang's kin still live there?"

"By reasonable deduction, they probably aren't there anymore. Linyuan should be telling the truth when he said the place is now filled with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts. Not only was he at the peak of the True Immortal Realm at the time, but those who accompanied him to explore the place were all True Immortals or Heavenly Immortals as well.

"Lishang's kind is born with a powerful divine ability, though. Had their numbers been greater, Linyuan likely never would have returned. Considering he did, she probably wouldn't find any of her kin there."

With a trace of helplessness in his eyes, Wang Sheng softly reasoned, "The vice sect master is completely innocent in this matter. The mistake has already been made, and covering it up won't solve anything. How long can such a reason stop her from returning to her homeland?"

Yao Xingzi closed his eyes as he slowly answered, "Linyuan has only six or seven thousand years left. You're wise and resourceful, Elder Pi. How should this matter be resolved?"

"That's..."

For a moment, Wang Sheng wasn't sure how to respond.

Linyuan was probably the only person who could answer what truly happened back then. However, if he and the sect master were right, then Linyuan was likely the one who had slaughtered Lishang's kin. Should she return to her homeland, the scene that'd greet her would inevitably plunge her into immense pain.

The lie had lasted tens of thousands of years. It hid the fact that her enemy was her teacher and father figure, who exuded a sense of atonement as he used the few years he had left to compensate her.

Moreover, she was already regarded as the hope of the Xinghai Sect and even its future sect master. If she returned to her homeland and learned the truth, they would likely lose her.

Wang Sheng also considered his plan to borrow the sect as a shell and the efforts that he had made in the sect over the years. However, he soon smiled bitterly and shook his head. Since when had he started instinctively thinking of his own interests first? Those who benefited from harming others were no different from the villains who killed and burned for wealth and life.

"In this matter, I am merely an outsider," Wang Sheng said, his gaze gradually regaining clarity. "Even so, Lishang should still know the truth. A lie will always remain a lie. If Elder Linyuan is allowed to carry it to his grave, how could it end well for anyone?"

Yao Xingzi's mouth twitched as he slowly nodded. "It seems I didn't misjudge you, Elder Pi. Our sect certainly owes her.

Haaaa.

"

A sharp divine light bloomed in Yao Xingzi's eyes as he suddenly stood up and bowed toward Wang Sheng in a Daoist salute.

"I have a request, Elder Pi."

The sudden gesture from the sect master, who was clad in loose robes, caught Wang Sheng off guard. He stood up as well and hurriedly replied, "There's no need for you to go this far, Sect Master. Whatever it is, just give the order."

"After Lishang came to the sect, she devoted herself wholeheartedly and never showed the slightest negligence. Yet the sect has always been indebted to her. To obstruct her own breakthrough and her return to her homeland at this time is neither reasonable nor proper.

"Linyuan already committed a mistake back then; I shouldn't repeat it. Though we now stand amid storms and peril, we cannot confine Lishang here for selfish reasons." Yao Xingzi smiled bitterly. "Still, my earlier divination for her journey wasn't just a mere show. If she leaves the sect and goes to her homeland, calamity will descend, and there's a ninety percent chance that she won't survive.

"You're strong enough to toy with the Celestial Wind Sect, Elder Pi. Please lend her a hand and escort her safely back to her homeland."

"If she goes and never returns—"

"That is also fine."

"And if she wishes to personally settle her vendetta?"

Yao Xingzi smiled with a hint of unrestrained ease. "As the sect master of the Xinghai Sect and the senior brother of Linyuan, I am willing to face death with him."

"Very well," Wang Sheng said solemnly as he cupped his hands and returned the Daoist salute. "As long as my sword does not break, I, Fei Yu, will surely escort Lishang safely to her homeland."

"In that case, I can finally set aside one worry. You seem to have revealed something, though, Elder Pi."

Wang Sheng froze for a moment, then laughed awkwardly.