Chapter 72

When he closed his eyes, the reach of his five senses became even clearer.

Gentle waves lapped at him, the green pool shimmering with ripples. The bamboo leaves reflected on the water surface swayed along with them, drifting to one corner of the hot spring where hazy mist shrouded the two figures.

The trickling sound of water filled his ears as his waist pressed against the stone wall warmed by the spring.

Shen Yu stretched his muscles. His lightly closed eyelashes were moistened by the steam, and a damp sheen clung to his smooth forehead. He slightly raised one shoulder, folded his arm, and rested his elbow on the edge of the hot spring, brushing against a layer of soft moss on the stone platform.

The movements on his back paused as he noticed Wen Liuhe’s distraction. Shen Yu smiled faintly. “Lost in thought? What are you thinking about?”

Wen Liuhe’s throat bobbed. He licked his dry lips and paused at Shen Yu’s words.

Mist intertwined with greenery. After a long moment without a reply, a hint of puzzlement entered Shen Yu’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

Seeing the man before him waiting expectantly for an answer, Wen Liuhe knew he couldn’t brush it off. His eyes darted around before he suddenly recalled the morning lecture from a few days prior. The youth lowered his gaze and swiftly changed the subject. “Does Master know about the Dawn-Dusk Clan?”

The Dawn-Dusk Clan dwelled in the Lunu Cloud Realm. Born at dawn, they died at dusk—their entire lives confined to a single day. Though their existence was fleeting, they possessed immense spiritual power and perception. From the moment of birth, they inherited their ancestors’ legacies and memories, continuing unbroken.

Shen Yu felt a bit puzzled. “Why ask about this all of a sudden?”

Wen Liuhe had anticipated the question and was prepared. “I heard Uncle Master Gu mention it during his lecture a few days ago. It piqued my curiosity.”

Shen Yu’s thoughts shifted as he recalled one of the few Dawn-Dusk Clan members he had encountered. He let out a sigh. “I once met one. We became acquainted during the day and had a pleasant conversation, but by night, he turned into mist and departed. It was rather regrettable.”

Wen Liuhe was taken aback. “Then doesn’t that make Master’s presence his entire life?”

“That’s twisted logic. Even if his life was short, I can’t claim responsibility for it. The sunlight he saw, the moonlight he encountered, the morning dew on the branches, the flowers and grass awakening beneath his feet—those were his life. I merely happened to pass by.”

Shen Yu opened his eyes and tilted his head back slightly, gazing at the vast expanse of daylight. He sighed again. “For them, life is still far too brief.”

After scrubbing Shen Yu’s back, Wen Liuhe set down the bath towel and sat cross-legged beside him. Propping his chin on his hand, he gazed fixedly at Shen Yu and said, “I feel that even if the human world lasts ten thousand years, life exists only in that fleeting instant. Most people might not live as freely and unrestrained as others in a single moment. For him to meet Master, that life was worth it.”

Shen Yu eyed him suspiciously. Receiving such approval from Wen Liuhe truly opened his eyes—it sounded strange no matter how he heard it, and hardly like a good thing.

Still, Shen Yu graciously accepted the praise. Recalling Gu Changqing’s words, he flicked his thumb and middle finger, splashing spring water onto Wen Liuhe’s unprepared face. “If you value that instant so much, what about the Sword Trial Assembly in three months—the once-in-twenty-years event? Are you going?”

Caught off guard by Shen Yu’s repeated trick, Wen Liuhe wiped the water from his nose and immediately changed his tune. “I take back what I said. Life isn’t about that instant; a steady trickle is better. As for the Sword Trial Assembly, it’s probably best if this disciple sits it out.”

“Didn’t you just want an apology gift?” Shen Yu leaned lazily against the spring’s edge and looked at him. “Prepare properly for the Sword Trial Assembly in three months. If you bring glory to our Question Sword Peak, you’ll get the apology gift—and a reward too.”

Wen Liuhe lowered his gaze, avoiding Shen Yu’s eyes.

In his view was a neck steaming with moisture, along with collarbones and chest.

Due to the man’s relaxed posture, his body sank slightly, and the pale line of his chest dipped below the green waves. But the spring water was clear. Even with the white mist blurring his vision, those two red points faintly appeared and vanished amid the green-tinted ripples.

Would it be cold?

The thought bubbled up in his mind before Wen Liuhe realized—this was a hot spring pool. No matter how cold, it couldn’t chill the man leisurely soaking in it.

Wen Liuhe couldn’t explain why he kept fixating on the man’s every move. He felt himself suddenly becoming strange, no longer like himself, constantly disturbed by another person.

His throat went dry, and on impulse, Wen Liuhe bowed his head and asked, “Then Master, would any reward do?”

“Of course—”

The tone rose high, but upon seeing Wen Liuhe’s eyes light up, Shen Yu immediately lowered it, his remaining words dropping softly. “No.”

Wen Liuhe’s eyes darkened. “…”

Shen Yu turned to face him. Warm ripples spread around his body, and the mist rose as the green waves radiated outward in layers centered on his snowy skin.

Facing Wen Liuhe, the man draped one smoothly muscled arm over the stone platform while propping his chin lazily with the other. His fingers, freshly soaked in the spring, still carried a faint pink hue, making them look as if he had just plucked a few damp pink petals from the water.

Shen Yu tilted his head slightly, a shallow curve lifting the corner of his mouth. “Of course, it has to be within what your Master can bear. If you ask for the entire Taichu at that time, this Master can’t provide it.”

By the end, a touch of feigned distress appeared on his face.

Wen Liuhe’s mouth twitched. “Who wants that?”

Shen Yu knew his heart wasn’t set on Taichu—it had just been a joke. He replied, “Insolent. It’s still the number one sect in the Cultivation World. Even if you wanted it, it might not be yours.”

If I want it, I’ll get it.

Wen Liuhe’s gaze flickered, his throat bobbing. In the end, he swallowed those overly arrogant words.

Dusk gradually settled, stars wheeling across the Milky Way. Boundless star clusters descended from the desolate horizon, linking heaven and earth into a starry tapestry.

By the time Shen Yu returned to his side chamber, the moon hung high over the treetops.

After soaking in the Spirit Washing Pool, his muscles and bones felt as if they had received a deep massage, an indescribable comfort spreading through his limbs.

Cultivators who reached a certain realm no longer needed sleep at night. Most replaced it with meditation, absorbing spiritual energy from heaven and earth to sustain their bodies during the process.

Shen Yu sat cross-legged on the bed and closed his eyes, entering meditation.

His vast divine sense, as usual, enveloped the entire Question Sword Peak.

However, with the Divine Sword protecting him, Shen Yu naturally had no idea that Wen Liuhe had already slipped out of Question Sword Peak.

Night had fallen, and the clouds and mist here were exceptionally thick, rolling like ocean waves in turbulent swells.

Gusts of wind carried the roar of pine trees. The undulating outlines of the peaks loomed faintly in the mist-shrouded moonlight. The serene moonbeams pierced the obstructions, blanketing the expansive Medicine Field cradled by the mountains.

Wen Liuhe changed into night travel garb and quietly followed the route to the Medicine Field.

Though Shen Yu was protecting him, the Medicine Venerable had insisted in the Tribunal that he had commanded a spirit beast to destroy the Medicine Field. Now both sides were at a stalemate, unable to advance or retreat.

Wen Liuhe knew better than anyone that without evidence to prove his innocence, the suspicion would cling to him forever—no matter if he was punished or not. It would always be a thorn in others’ hearts, no matter what he did later.

It would even affect Question Sword Peak.

Since it hadn’t been him, there had to be evidence of his innocence. After much deliberation, Wen Liuhe decided to investigate the Medicine Field that very night.

The air was thick with moist vapor laced with faint herbal fragrance. Wen Liuhe touched his feverish sword bone and carefully passed through layers of restrictions. Suddenly, he spotted two blurry black shadows.

The shadows stood behind a boulder, seemingly in conversation. Wen Liuhe narrowed his eyes. His senses were sharper than ordinary, and he quickly identified one by their aura—it was the Medicine Venerable.

Spotting the Medicine Venerable ignited a flash of malice in Wen Liuhe’s heart. He slowed his breathing and crept closer unnoticed, only to discover that the figure opposite the Medicine Venerable was wreathed in Demonic Qi, their aura impure. It was a demon.

Wen Liuhe was startled and immediately took out a Sound Retaining Stone, gripping it in his hand.

The two kept their voices low, locked in a heated argument.

The Medicine Venerable frowned and scolded in a low voice, “Ti Ying, this Venerable calculated everything, yet I never expected you to destroy my Medicine Field. Do you think the Demonic Possession Forbidden Drug is so easy to develop?”

The demon called Ti Ying sneered, his laughter harsh and grating. “This Seat sees your mind isn’t on this at all. I gave you so many rare herbs, yet you dragged this out. If I hadn’t destroyed your Medicine Field, would you even remember? Don’t forget who begged This Seat for those materials. Your current cultivation and status—who do you owe that to?”

The Medicine Venerable’s expression changed. “Are you threatening this Venerable?”

Ti Ying issued his final ultimatum. “This Seat sees that your drug is long ready. Why not find someone to test it? Don’t blame This Seat for breaking promises.”

The Medicine Venerable’s frown deepened as he growled lowly, “Do you think an Orthodox Immortal Body is so easy to find? If we don’t leave ourselves a way out, you’ll suffer too if it’s discovered.”

Waves of shock crashed through Wen Liuhe’s mind. Clutching the Sound Retaining Stone, he prepared to slip away quietly when Ti Ying’s nose twitched. Ever vigilant, he flicked a finger, sending a probe of Demonic Qi straight toward him.

The Medicine Venerable noticed the motion and frowned as well.

“Who’s there?”

Wen Liuhe’s heart pounded wildly. He stuffed the Sound Retaining Stone into his boot, summoned the Broken Sword, and prepared to flee when a pair of ghostly claws emerged from below, yanking him back to the ground.

Wen Liuhe’s eyes sharpened. He vibrated the sword spine and gripped it, spinning around to cleanly sever the claw. The black appendage dissolved into mist in the air.

Ti Ying frowned, thoroughly enraged. He flashed forward like lightning and seized Wen Liuhe’s neck, hoisting him into the air.

Oxygen cut off, blue veins bulged instantly on Wen Liuhe’s forehead.

Seeing Wen Liuhe’s wretched state, Ti Ying curled his lips into a cruel smile. “Not bad at fighting.”

The Medicine Venerable hurried over. Spotting Wen Liuhe, his face changed drastically. Ti Ying dropped Wen Liuhe and pinned him to the ground with a foot, asking the Medicine Venerable, “How to handle this thing? Kill it?”

The Medicine Venerable frowned and shook his head. “Can’t kill him. He’s Wen Family blood. Question Sword Peak’s only initiating disciple. If he vanishes, they might trace it back to me.”

Ti Ying suppressed Wen Liuhe’s struggles and said, “Question Sword Peak? Isn’t that peak lord a prime Orthodox Immortal Body? Powerful cultivation, ascension imminent. Doesn’t he owe you a favor? He even tested drugs for you before. Just have him test this Demonic Possession Drug now.”

Wen Liuhe’s heart sank.

Ti Ying scoffed coldly and pressed his foot harder on Wen Liuhe’s back. The freshly bandaged wound split open, blood seeping out.

The Medicine Venerable’s expression shifted. Though allied with the demon, he understood Question Sword Peak’s importance to Taichu. But he had no choice—the best solution lay with Shen Yu.

With the precedent of prior drug tests, summoning Shen Yu wouldn’t arouse suspicion. Given Shen Yu’s personality, though, he wouldn’t swallow the Demonic Possession Pill even on pain of death. It would need to be mixed with other drugs for cover, requiring more spirit herbs.

It serves you right for that favor you owed me back then. The Medicine Venerable pursed his lips, his gaze sliding over Wen Liuhe as he rasped, “Fine.”

A sweet, metallic taste surged in his throat. Wen Liuhe’s face paled. He clenched his teeth, swallowing the blood, and blurted out ahead of his thoughts, “I’ll do it. I’ll take it for him.”

Even Wen Liuhe himself was stunned the moment he said it. His eyes moved slowly before settling into calm acceptance.

With his Master’s rigid adherence to the righteous path, turning him demonic would be worse than killing him.

He, on the other hand, had always been unbound. Cultivating immortality or demonic path made no difference. Upon reflection, Wen Liuhe realized he was the perfect candidate.

The two exchanged odd looks at his words, glancing down at the youth on the ground.

Ti Ying’s face lit with interest as he chuckled. “Oh? You?”

Controlling his trembling limbs, cold sweat beading on his cheeks, Wen Liuhe forced a nonchalant smile. “Since I’ve stumbled on your scheme, you won’t let me off easy. Why not dose me with the demonic drug? My cultivation may not match Master’s, but I’m also an Orthodox Immortal Body. I can report back on the effects in real time, giving you extra assurance. Why not?”

The two were swayed. Ti Ying and the Medicine Venerable exchanged a glance and quickly decided.

The Medicine Venerable retrieved a porcelain vial from his medicine pouch, pouring out a pill radiating inky green Demonic Qi. He crouched, pinched Wen Liuhe’s chin, and sneered, “I always thought you were so proud, but you’re just a coward after all.”

Wen Liuhe’s beast-like eyes glared at him, burning with the desire to tear him apart.

The Medicine Venerable paused in his actions from the scare, instantly feeling embarrassed that he’d been so easily bluffed by a junior. Unable to hold back, he cursed under his breath and pinched Wen Liuhe’s chin to force the pill down.

Ti Ying raised a hand and suddenly spoke up. “Wait.”

Both of them looked toward him in unison.

Ti Ying met Wen Liuhe’s fierce glare and felt more and more that he was prime material for cultivating demons. He moved his foot off Wen Liuhe’s back, gave him a kick, and jerked his chin upward. “Let him eat it himself.”

Though the Medicine Venerable worried that Wen Liuhe might pull a trick, since Ti Ying had made the request, he had no choice but to stuff the pill into Wen Liuhe’s hand.

Wen Liuhe took the pill from the Medicine Venerable’s hand. It was an icy-cold pellet that, aside from the demonic qi swirling around it, looked no different from any ordinary medicine.

Wen Liuhe pursed his lips, lifted his eyelids, and frowned as he looked once more at the demon before him.

Ti Ying noticed his gaze, tilted his head, and grinned widely. “Don’t even think about trying anything. After you swallow that pill, if This Seat doesn’t detect demonic qi on your body, no matter who you are, I’ll kill you and feed you to the dogs.”

Wen Liuhe cursed inwardly, closed his eyes, and swallowed the pill.

He felt that single pellet drop into his body like a bomb. From his throat to his stomach, his five viscera and six bowels instantly burst into flames.

His sword bone flared hot in an instant, nearly burning him alive.

Wen Liuhe didn’t even have time to fully register the heart-wrenching agony before he blacked out. In his final moment of consciousness, he thought, damn it, it hurt so much—good thing it wasn’t Shen Yu suffering this torment.

The Medicine Venerable looked somewhat surprised. “What’s going on here?”

Ti Ying gazed at the sweat-drenched boy on the ground, his brows tightly furrowed, and curled his lips into a smile. “Demonic qi entering the body—a necessary ordeal. Your pill works well. Come check on him again tomorrow.”

Wen Liuhe’s consciousness kept sinking, sinking endlessly into a dark abyss. Those voices of conversation gradually grew distant, and then—

The voices faded away along with the mists in his dream.

The sound of trickling water filled his ears. Verdant bamboo leaves swayed, drifting down onto the emerald hot spring pool and spinning lazily atop the green waves.

The Spirit Washing Pool?

Wen Liuhe looked down and saw his own snow-white cloud shoes. He wore a clean disciple’s robe and walked along the winding, slick stone path. The hazy mists parted to reveal a white-clad immortal wearing only a pair of snow-white underpants, lounging lazily by the pool’s edge.

The immortal’s upper body was bare, his ink-black hair half scattered on the ground and half trailing into the water. The tips of his hair circled lazily alongside the bamboo leaves on the pool’s surface, like mischievous fingers.

He had just emerged from the water—even his underpants were soaked. The lines of his long, snow-white legs showed faintly through the damp fabric. His arms propped him up on either side as he leaned back slightly, and the steamy moisture on his body slowly condensed into droplets.

Shen Yu spotted the approaching youth and lifted his thick, curling black lashes, his voice rising lightly. “You’re here?”

Wen Liuhe lowered his head. A pool of water gathered in the immortal’s collarbone, and droplets rippled out from that tiny spring with every movement, trailing down his pale skin to his cool-white chest. They slid along the outer curve of his torso before regretfully dripping to the ground, nourishing the moss and green grass.

Wen Liuhe’s gaze paused, his eyes uncontrollably following those unfinished droplets downward to the narrow waist and abdomen.

Cool-white muscles blanketed the area like snow over a riverbed. Clear veins on his lower abdomen rose and fell with each breath, spreading like azure vines before calmly vanishing into the snow-white edge of his underpants.

It made one want to love him. Made one want to climb on top.

Made one want them to entwine with each other.

With a thunderous boom, powerful desire and love struck Wen Liuhe’s heart. His heartbeat pounded wildly, nearly leaping from his throat.

In that moment, as the demonic qi entered his body, Wen Liuhe finally realized the source of everything that had felt off.

Spring passion entwined the youth, and in a daze, love finally blossomed—he knew where his true heart lay.