Chapter 15: The Fourteenth Day After Transmigrating Into a Book

The sky had suddenly taken on a strange appearance.

After a moment of panic, the Fengyun Sect disciples turned to Chu Wuyue, as if looking to him for guidance.

Shan Jingfeng wasn’t one of these newly initiated disciples. He knew that the beam of light reaching from the earth to the heavens meant someone had tampered with the Devil Realm Seal. The disturbance was considerable, and the seal was likely damaged.

He furrowed his brow. “Grand Martial Ancestor, what should we do?”

Chu Wuyue was puzzled, too. Whoever had done this must have been remarkably capable to bypass the restriction he’d left behind.

A restriction was a spell containing a thread of its caster’s spiritual sense. The instant anyone disturbed it, the caster would know.

Venerable Xuanji had left a restriction on the barrier around the Devil Abyss. Chu Wuyue had left one, too, after repairing the seal.

In the original story, Qin Feiyuan had triggered the restriction when he broke the Devil Realm Seal. That was how Venerable Xuanji found out and activated Fengyun Sect’s protective formation. Unfortunately, Lin Yu was a spy. He dismantled the formation from within, bringing about the tragedy in which the entire Fengyun Sect was massacred.

With the System’s quest fresh in his mind, Chu Wuyue considered the matter for a moment.

“You should take the disciples back to Fengyun Sect. I’ll go alone.”

Shan Jingfeng’s eyes filled with disapproval. He was about to protest when Chu Wuyue spoke in a cool voice.

“With a disturbance this great, the sects and families all across Xianzhou couldn’t possibly pretend they hadn’t noticed. There’s no need to worry.”

That silenced Shan Jingfeng. He answered reluctantly, “Grand Martial Ancestor, please be careful. The Devils are cunning. They may have some sort of scheme in mind.”

Chu Wuyue gave a slight nod to show he understood.

He summoned Frost Descent, intending to fly there on his sword. The silvery-white blade glimmered as it hovered in midair. But before Chu Wuyue could move, a hand gently caught his sleeve.

Chu Wuyue: “…” He’d almost forgotten about the male lead.

He lowered his head and turned to find Qin Feiyuan looking up at him. His dark eyes were bright with hope, but he seemed a little nervous, too.

“Shizun, can I come with you?” Qin Feiyuan asked, his voice plaintive and hopeful.

Chu Wuyue wanted to take him along, but something about it made him uneasy. In the original story, Qin Feiyuan had been thrown into the Devil Abyss—and the seal was right above it.

He glanced at Qin Feiyuan again. The boy looked innocent and obedient, his face young and fair, but already hinting at the peerless beauty he would grow into.

This is the male lead I created with my own pen.

Chu Wuyue lowered his eyes, hiding his thoughts, then turned him down in a stern, icy voice.

“This matter is too important. Don’t be reckless.”

The light in Qin Feiyuan’s eyes dimmed. He lowered his head, dejection written all over him.

Chu Wuyue: “…”

The male lead looked so pitiful. Maybe he should bring him along? But he’d already said no. How could he take it back?

Then he felt his sleeve tugged again, tentative and gentle.

“Shizun, I’ll be good. I won’t cause you any trouble…” Qin Feiyuan insisted softly.

When he finished speaking, he lifted his eyes cautiously to meet Chu Wuyue’s. He looked like a kitten afraid of being abandoned.

From Chu Wuyue’s perspective, Qin Feiyuan had looked hopeful, then fallen into dejection when rejected, only to force himself to rally and ask again if he could come along.

How could anyone have such an obedient disciple?

Chu Wuyue made himself stay calm. After pretending to consider it for a moment, he let out a faint sigh and said, as if giving in, “Very well. You ought to see it for yourself.”

Qin Feiyuan was stunned. He had already braced himself for Shizun to refuse again, but instead… Shizun had relented.

Something shifted inside him. He felt a strange, almost wondrous sense that he mattered. The light returned to his eyes. He was delighted, yet uncertain.

Chu Wuyue thought that changing his mind so suddenly might look like breaking character. He came up with an excuse and said, expressionless and cool, “The seal is close to Yucheng. I’ll take you there, and you can spend some time clearing your head of worldly attachments.”

Qin Feiyuan obediently nodded, but deep down, he felt a sudden aversion to Yucheng. He lowered his eyes and pushed the feeling aside.

Chu Wuyue told Shan Jingfeng that Qin Feiyuan wouldn’t be returning to Fengyun Sect with them. Shan Jingfeng looked at Qin Feiyuan differently at once.

The boy had only just joined the sect, and he’d already managed to change the grand martial ancestor’s mind. How had Shan Jingfeng never managed that? Was it because they hardly saw each other?

After all, Qin Feiyuan was the grand martial ancestor’s disciple. By seniority, he was also Shan Jingfeng’s junior Shishu, so it made sense that he was closer to the grand martial ancestor.

Still, Shan Jingfeng was more than a little envious. When he finally left with the new disciples, his expression was tinged with jealousy and resentment.

Only after Shan Jingfeng and the disciples were gone did Chu Wuyue take Qin Feiyuan’s hand and step onto Frost Descent, still hovering in the air. Then they flew toward the beam of light in the distance.

Deep in the Xianzhou Dense Forest, a barrier surrounded the Devil Abyss. The area was known as the Extreme Lands.

To be safe, the ancestors had divided the barrier into two layers. The outer layer separated the Extreme Lands’ dense forest from the mortal world.

The inner layer covered the area around the Devil Abyss, concealing it from view. After all, the Devil Abyss was a long, sheer chasm with no visible bottom. The Extreme Lands were dangerous, but they also held many spirit fruits and herbs. Some powerful sects and families brought their disciples there for trials.

In the original story, Qin Feiyuan had been thrown into the Devil Abyss during a trial. The disciples who did it had been eager to earn credit. Two of them came from families renowned for their formation work. They were skilled in arrays and carried spirit treasures. Thinking the inner barrier must be hiding something valuable, they had joined forces and barely managed to break a small opening in it. That was how they had entered the inner barrier.

They hadn’t known that it concealed the Devil Abyss, a place of deadly danger. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have dared to lure evil spirits and monsters near the chasm. That had drawn the troublesome Ghost Devils, leading to heavy casualties and setting off Qin Feiyuan’s descent into darkness.

Both the outer and inner barriers were solid and tightly secured. If those two disciples hadn’t been skilled in arrays and carrying spirit treasures, they wouldn’t have managed to open even a tiny hole. They would have been lucky to escape being struck back by the barrier.

Chu Wuyue was the only person in the world who knew how to open the barriers. Any other sect or family that wanted to hold trials in the Extreme Lands had to ask his permission first.

Now, a beam of light shot up from the center of the Extreme Lands, reaching straight into the sky. As they approached, the golden Sanskrit script surrounding it seemed to grow larger, and its sacred grandeur became all the more imposing.

The beam glowed a blue so pale it was nearly white, intertwined with golden script. It was a striking sight.

A crowd had gathered outside the outer barrier. They stood packed together, staring at the light shining from within, their faces grave.

After exchanging greetings again and again, the elders fell silent, their expressions heavy. They sighed one after another.

The juniors who had been brought along sensed the tension and didn’t dare joke or make a scene. They could only whisper to one another through voice transmissions.

When Chu Wuyue came flying in from the distant sky, everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Greetings, Venerable Xuanji!”

As he neared the barrier, Frost Descent dissolved into specks of light and returned to his sea of consciousness. Chu Wuyue held Qin Feiyuan’s hand and floated before the gathered crowd. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at everyone with an air of detached serenity.

“Everyone’s here?”

“Yes. Most of the sects and clans have sent representatives. Three of the Four Great Families are here. The Tian Family may have been delayed on the road.” A white-haired, white-bearded elder leaned on his cane as he spoke, his manner calm and dignified.

Then again, he only looked old. Chu Wuyue might have been older than him in actual years…

Chu Wuyue looked over the packed crowd and felt a sudden weight on his shoulders. Everyone here was one of the best in their field—a sect elder or leader, a family head or young clan head.

Only now did Chu Wuyue understand the weight of being the Leader of the Righteous Path and the number one cultivator in the Cultivation Realm.

He felt a little nervous and uncomfortable. He pressed his hands together behind his back, his face blank.

“We’ve kept you waiting. Let’s go in first.”

He formed a seal with one hand and swept his sleeve, opening the barrier. Repairing the seal would take more spiritual energy than he could provide alone. The sects and families must have realized as much, which was why they had hurried over as soon as they sensed the disturbance.

Qin Feiyuan stayed at Chu Wuyue’s side, watching his Shizun. Then he noticed the long, pale hand hidden behind Chu Wuyue’s back. The thumb rubbed lightly against the forefinger. A moment later, the hand curled into a fist, as if its owner were nervous.

Qin Feiyuan: “…” He wondered if he’d seen it wrong.

He blinked and looked again. Shizun’s jade-white hand wasn’t moving at all.

Qin Feiyuan: “?”

He was puzzled.

Everyone entered the barrier.

The beam of light was tolerable from outside, but once they passed through the barrier and entered the Extreme Lands, the light streaming from the inner barrier grew painfully bright. The closer they got, the worse it became.

Some of the less powerful cultivators couldn’t take it. They turned away and covered their eyes, which wouldn’t stop watering from the glare.

Chu Wuyue’s cultivation was high enough that the light didn’t affect him. He hadn’t considered what it might do to the others. The moment he realized some of them couldn’t bear it, he remembered that Qin Feiyuan’s cultivation was even lower.

He couldn’t let the boy go blind.

He swiftly raised his wide sleeve to shield Qin Feiyuan. When he turned to look, Qin Feiyuan was standing with his head lowered, lips pressed tight, and eyes shut. Even so, the light had cut his eyes badly enough that a tear of blood trickled from the corner.

Chu Wuyue’s mind went blank. He took Qin Feiyuan’s hand and immediately began channeling spiritual energy into him, guiding it toward his eyes to ease the pain. When Qin Feiyuan’s expression finally relaxed, Chu Wuyue pulled a white handkerchief from his spirit pouch. He folded it into a strip about two fingers wide, wrapped it over Qin Feiyuan’s eyes, and tied it behind his head.

Then, sounding more upset than usual, he asked, “If you couldn’t bear it, why didn’t you say so?”

His voice was as cool and detached as ever, but Qin Feiyuan could hear the anger beneath it—the concern he had always longed for.

“Your disciple didn’t want to cause Shizun any trouble,” Qin Feiyuan said dazedly.

“Don’t be foolish. Do you want to go blind?” Chu Wuyue’s words were as cool as ever, but beneath them was a hint of lingering fear.

In that instant, an image flashed through Qin Feiyuan’s mind. It was something he had never experienced, yet it felt impossibly real—

His clothes were in tatters, his body covered in wounds. He lay on the ground, barely alive, surrounded by disciples in Fengyun Sect’s robes. After beating and humiliating him, they swaggered off.

Not long after they left, a figure with the luminous grace of the moon emerged from among the trees. The face turned toward Qin Feiyuan was filled with cold disgust.

He asked, “Shizun… why won’t you teach me, or even look after me? Why…?”

The man answered without emotion—

“You’re not worthy.”