Ch58 - You really want to try this?

No wonder Feng Ci felt like his meridians were pretty much healed. So it’s not because of Xiao Guo’s superb medical expertise, but rather three days have already passed, they would have healed by this time anyways.

Feng Ci: “……” 

The Sea of Awareness did not differ between day and night. There was no way of feeling the passage of time. Not to mention, the concept of reality and time becomes somewhat fuzzy in the Divine Conscious state.

Feng Ci understood all of these reasons.

But three days, plus one morning.

This was a little bit excessive. 

No wonder he felt practically drained.

Feng Ci looked towards Pei QianYue with a complicated expression. The latter actually still had a very nonchalant expression and said with utter earnesty: “Master is very amazing.”

……Looks like he no longer cares about his reputation.

Feng Ci withdrew his gaze and ignored him.

Pei QianYue then asked: “You promised to strengthen my Master’s physical body for him. How long does that need?”

Xiao Guo made a surprised noise: “I never said it’d be 100% successful, alright? But at least…… you have to give me 3 months.”

“3 months.” Pei QianYue pondered for a moment: “Okay.”

Xiao Guo looked at Pei QianYue. Then he looked at Feng Ci and said in bewilderment: “Why do both of you have such serious and solemn expressions? Is something going to happen during the Immortal Alliance evaluation? Is it related to the person that’s been exterminating the cultivation sects lately?” 

Xiao Guo still didn’t know that the person exterminating the cultivation sects was a puppet created from Feng Ci’s physical body, but he had a rough idea that Feng Ci’s extensive injuries were undoubtedly related to that mysterious true culprit.

Not answering, Pei QianYue only said: “This Venerable One will contact Xiao Que later to inquire about the precise situation. Many thanks for letting me know, Valley Master Xiao.”

Xiao Guo: “Hey, you—”

Pei QianYue: “Master still needs to rest. If there’s nothing else, you’re free to go, Valley Master Xiao.” 

“……” Xiao Guo said indignantly: “Fine. I’ll leave.”

Xiao Guo walked away, cursing profanities. The door of the room shut again. Pei QianYue helped Feng Ci lay down: “Master, get some rest first. I’m going to contact Xiao Que right now. If there are any news, I’ll let you know later.”

“No, don’t.” Feng Ci grabbed his sleeve: “Just talk here. I’m not tired yet.”

Pei QianYue didn’t reply. 

His hand groped over and pinched Feng Ci’s waist lightly.

“Hiss—”

Feeling an ache in his lower back, Feng Ci almost fell over.

“Pei QianYue!” Pressing a hand to his back, Feng Ci yelled flustered and exasperated. 

Whose fault was it exactly that caused him to end up like this anyways?!

If a certain someone is so capable, just wait until he recovers his original body and then try. See who’ll wane first then!

There was amusement at the corners of Pei QianYue’s lips, but he didn’t tease Feng Ci any further. He took out two pillows from the side and placed them behind Feng Ci’s back. Then he went to pour a cup of warm tea for Feng Ci.

“Master, don’t be angry. I will contact Xiao Que right here.” Saying this, he raised his hand, casted a spell, and summoned the watery mirror of light. 

It’s uncertain if the young man was currently busy with something; there was no response from the inside of the mirror for quite a while. Pei QianYue returned to the bed side and brought the tea over to Feng Ci.

The teacup used in the Shaman Valley was jade green. Held in Pei QianYue’s hands, the cup made those hands seem pale to the point of transparency.

Before today, Feng Ci has always loved Pei QianYue’s hands.

To say it more precisely, it was before three days ago. 

After he was tormented to death and back several times by those hands, all of his previous appreciation vanished without a trace.

Seeing them now, Feng Ci only wanted to chop those claws off.

The tips of Feng Ci’s ears burned slightly. He reached out to snatch the cup, but Pei QianYue evaded.

Feng Ci looked up and glanced at Pei QianYue. The latter nonchalantly placed the teacup next to his lips again. 

So clingy.

Feng Ci exclaimed silently to himself and lowered his head, taking a sip of tea right from Pei QianYue’s hand.

Coincidentally, the mirror lit up right at this moment. Inside the mirror, the young man didn’t even manage to finish saying ‘City Master’ before he realized what he was seeing; he swiftly cut off his connection to the mirror again.

Feng Ci: “……” 

Pei QianYue: “……”

Both of their expressions blanked for a brief moment. Feng Ci withdrew his gaze and said to Pei QianYue: “How are you the City Master? Even your subordinate is hanging up on your communication mirror. Take a good hard look at yourself and reflect on this.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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“This disciple has already pacified the other head leaders and notified them that the City Master has important business to deal with right now. Temporarily the situation is contained.” Bringing up serious business, the young man’s expression became subdued: “This disciple already made proper inquiries. This is all a result of the battle at Broken Sword Manor, which caused those sects not part of the alliance to panic and seek the protection of the Immortal Alliance anxiously. Therefore, they found their way to LingXiao Gate, hoping to start the evaluation as soon as possible.”

“In addition, the number of cultivation sects applying for this year’s evaluation has already surpassed the previous year’s numbers by several times. The sect leader of LingXiao Gates is worried this will affect the evaluation progress. That’s why he contacted other sects within the Immortal Alliance with the intention of cutting off registration early and also shifting ahead the evaluation time.” Xiao Que paused and then said: “Setting aside the Six Sects, 13 cultivation sects within the alliance have already signed the petition. Meanwhile, within the Six Sects…… LingXiao Gates, QingJing School, and WanFa Pavilion have already agreed.” 

Within the Immortal Alliance, there was no official requirement for petitions, but it has always been the custom.

Although Pei QianYue was the Leader of the Immortal Alliance and had absolute power in making decisions for the Immortal Alliance affairs, if other sects have suggestions or proposals regarding the Immortal Alliance affairs, they can submit suggestions and proposals to the Alliance leader via petitions.

If more than half the people agree, the proposal will most likely move forward.

The petition requesting for the advancement of the Immortal Alliance evaluation to an earlier date reached in LangFeng City and Shaman Valley simultaneously three days ago. 

But at that time, Pei QianYue was still playing with Feng Ci inside the Sea of Awareness. Xiao Guo couldn’t figure out Pei QianYue’s thoughts on this and was worried that if he agreed rashly, Pei QianYue might wake up unhappy and chop him down directly with a sword.

Therefore, he didn’t express his opinion immediately.

As for ZiZhu Dock… their Dock Master has been imprisoned here; naturally he couldn’t express an opinion.

But apart from these three sects, more than half of the alliance members have already agreed to this proposal. 

However, after Pei QianYue finished listening, he only gave an indifferent smile: “Do they really think that at this point, they can still use that to coerce this Venerable One?”

Xiao Que was stunned.

The young man didn’t reply for a long time. Pei QianYue then said: “Do you not understand… the meaning of this Venerable One’s words?”

“This disciple, this disciple understands! Then I will……” Xiao Que hesitated for a moment: “Then I will tell this answer to the other head leaders?” 

Pei QianYue said coolly: “Tell them, this Venerable One is the Immortal Alliance leader here. If some people can’t control themselves and want to stretch their hands too far, this Venerable One doesn’t mind regulating for them.”

When Pei QianYue got serious, Xiao Que naturally didn’t dare to disobey and only replied ‘yes’ repeatedly. It’s been a long time since Feng Ci has seen Pei QianYue so ice-cold in appearance. Seeing it again suddenly, there was actually a sense of novelty. Feng Ci enjoyed the view magnanimously for a moment. Unfortunately, Pei QianYue didn’t speak to Xiao Que any further. After receiving a reply, he waved his hand and dismissed the mirror.

After cutting off communication, Pei QianYue turned around and returned to his usual appearance in front of Feng Ci.

Feng Ci secretly said to himself ‘what a pity’ and then started smiling: “The City Master is so majestic and awe-inspiring. If I were those sect leaders, I’d definitely be terrified right now.” 

“Wasn’t Master the one who told me to take a good look at myself and reflect?” Pei QianYue said: “Thinking about it carefully, I haven’t returned to LangFeng City nor managed any of the Immortal Alliance affairs recently. If I still don’t seize the opportunity to establish my power, I might need to resign as Alliance Leader and let someone better take the position.”

Feng Ci feigned surprise: “So you also know that you’ve been ignoring your official duties for a long time.”

Pei QianYue put down the teacup and sat down at the bedside. He picked up Feng Ci’s hand and squeezed it: “Taking care of Master… doesn’t count as ignoring my official duties.”

“Oh, is that right?” Feng Ci thought briefly and turned around, lying flat on his stomach on the soft cushioning: “Then why don’t you hurry up and knead. My back is so sore.” 

Pei QianYue chuckled: “Okay.”

Slightly cold palms landed on Feng Ci’s lower back. Feng Ci hissed: “To the right, move a little to the right…… Yes yes yes, right there. Use some strength. Did you not eat?”

The person enjoying the service was creating all sorts of troubles and made things as difficult as possible, but Pei QianYue followed every single instruction obediently. Feng Ci tormented him for a bit before finally turning to talk seriously: “But I feel like your actions were correct. With the prior Immortal Alliance rebellion, you can no longer let the other cultivation sects feel like as long as there’s a lot of people, they can possess the power to make decisions.”

Those cultivation sects that weren’t part of the Immortal Alliance wanted the Immortal Alliance evaluation to start earlier, but they didn’t seek LangFeng City and instead went to LingXiao Gates. Although it’s unknown whether there’s some hidden plot in this, if Pei QianYue really agreed to the petition’s request, would those cultivation sects still listen to Pei QianYue after they join? 

No, they’d only feel deeply grateful towards LingXiao Gates.

This was a hidden catalyst that can repeat the Immortal Alliance rebellion all over again.

Feng Ci said his thoughts out loud. Pei QianYue replied: “This is also my way of thinking.”

When he first established the Immortal Alliance, Pei QianYue only wanted the Immortal Alliance to expand and grow. He gave the alliance members a lot of freedom, however, reality proved that doing this was completely meaningless. 

Now that the Immortal Alliance rebellion has occurred, he can’t be as tolerant and accommodating as before.

In terms of serving Feng Ci, Pei QianYue possessed a kind of proficiency that was self-taught. Gathering a bit of spiritual energy in his palm, Pei QianYue slowly pressed down on the youth’s back. Regardless of strength or placement, Feng Ci couldn’t pick out any faults at all. Pretty soon, the massage made him feel drowsy and sleepy.

He forced his eyelids open and said quietly: “However, moving the Immortal Alliance evaluation ahead of time… is not completely out of the consideration.”

Just get this thing over with early, and avoid the hassles of a long delay. 

Pei QianYue said: “But it still has to wait until after Xiao Guo strengthens Master’s physical body.”

“You……” Feng Ci pillowed his head on his arms and looked towards Pei QianYue: “Have you already guessed it?”

Feng Ci didn’t mention the Heavenly Principles’ plans to Pei QianYue, nor did he mention the task that the Heavenly Principles gave to him.

But Pei QianYue’s response…… 

“It’s not hard to guess.” Pei QianYue said: “After the battle at Broken Sword Manor, there were no longer any cultivation sects that doubted the strength of the mysterious murderer, nor anyone who dared to oppose him. If everything ended here and this was all, the puppet wouldn’t have vanished. You also wouldn’t……”

Feng Ci’s response to the Heavenly Principles’ dream that day, Pei QianYue remembered all too well.

Pei QianYue asked: “What does he want you to do? Wait until the puppet massacres all of the cultivation sects that fail the evaluation and then have you eliminate the puppet?”

Feng Ci silently turned his face away. 

Pei QianYue was really very smart. Despite having limited information, he was able to guess the Heavenly Principles’ plans so perfectly. He was truly worthy of being the person who had established the Immortal Alliance single-handedly and almost made the Heavenly Principles change its mind.

Trying to hide things from him was too hard.

Pei QianYue then said: “If Master wants to move the evaluation ahead of time, I will tell Xiao Que to make the preparations.”

Feng Ci fell silent for a long time before answering quietly: “Okay.” 

Pei QianYue deliberately waited a few days before sending a message back to LangFeng City, stating that he has decided to advance the Immortal Alliance evaluation, setting it in three months.

The procedure and content of the Immortal Alliance evaluations have always been a unified decision made through discussions between the Six Sects, but ultimately, the purpose of evaluation was to inspect the participants’ strengths. Competition and trials can’t be avoided. The Immortal Alliance evaluation has been held for so many years, all sorts of examination methods and framework have already been utilized in the past. Originally, there was no need to waste too much time and effort preparing ahead of time.

Unfortunately, there were a lot of people this year.

An excessive amount of cultivation sects was participating, so the quota for joining the Immortal Alliance has also increased accordingly. None of the evaluation procedures of the past were suitable and appropriate this time. 

Therefore, even Pei QianYue, who didn’t like to manage affairs, had no choice but to get busy for a period of time after the news of advancing the date of the Immortal Alliance evaluation was announced.

With Pei QianYue busy, the happiest was still Feng Ci.

Pei QianYue was someone who’s usually not very humane. Suddenly allowed to eat his fill, he became even more rampant and lawless than before. At his worst, he’d even sneak into Feng Ci’s Sea of Awareness during Feng Ci’s afternoon nap to pester him a bit.

This kind of life was really unbearable. 

As such, taking advantage of Pei QianYue’s busy schedule in the recent few days, Feng Ci finally gained some free time to get some fresh air outside.

With this breather outside, he ended up running into another person.

No, he should say, another cat.

During this time, Feng Ci was taking advantage of the good weather to stroll around inside Shaman Valley. Soon afterwards, he saw that little white cat on the roof of a building. 

The little white cat had curled himself into a small ball of fur and was currently sunbathing on the roof.

Feng Ci landed softly next to him. The little ball of fur opened his eyes.

“Saint Sovereign!” The little white cat waved his tail at Feng Ci, speaking the human language: “Why would you be here, Saint Sovereign?”

The weather of Shaman Valley in the last few days has turned even colder. Even sunbathing didn’t give too much warmth. 

The wounds and spirit energy of Feng Ci’s current body have pretty much recovered completely, but Pei QianYue still kept an extremely close eye over Feng Ci, practically not allowing him to go outside for too long.

As a result, this was actually the first time Feng Ci left the house alone since arriving in Shaman Valley.

“Have nothing to do, so I’m wandering around leisurely.” Feng Ci asked: “What about you? Why are you here?”

“I’m sunbathing here.” The little white cat stretched: “For once, Xiao Guo has been dragged away to deal with the Immortal Alliance evaluation and can’t harass me all day—” 

His voice stopped spontaneously.

Looking up and meeting Feng Ci’s gaze, the two of them saw the same complicated expression in each other’s eyes.

Feng Ci coughed softly and asked: “Aren’t you also one of the head cultivation leaders? How come you’re not there helping?”

“I tossed my duties to my disciple.” The little white cat said confidently and with conviction: “How can such a wonderful day be squandered on such meaningless things, what a waste.” 

Feng Ci: “……”

This person was actually even more of a slacker than Pei QianYue.

Feng Ci thought briefly and then asked: “So that rumor in the cultivation world, about how it’s been a long time since anyone has mastered the true Art of Soul Governance, that news is something that you had disseminated purposely?”

Not only the cultivation world, even the disciples of ZiZhu Dock focused their cultivation studies mainly towards the direction of merely raising spiritual pets. 

It’s because of this that caused ZiZhu Dock to gradually become uninteresting to others.

Li Jiu answered very calmly: “Of course.”

Feng Ci asked: “Why do that?”

“Concealing the blade.” Li Jiu explained: “The people of the world cultivate arduously, isn’t longevity what they seek? Putting aside the difficulty level of this technique, if the people of this world knew that mastering it was still possible, this would definitely lead to trouble. Just look at City Master Pei of LangFeng City, didn’t he get in trouble pretty recently?” 

The reason for the Immortal Alliance’s rebellion, ultimately, was because of the greed of mortals seeking longevity, through obtaining Dao and ascension.

“Longevity……” Feng Ci sat down on the roof and relaxed against the ridge, squinting slightly under the shine of the warm winter sun: “What’s so good about longevity.”

The little white cat also laid down again and waved his tail.

Feng Ci looked down at him: “Does the Dock Master think longevity is a good thing?” 

“Saint Sovereign can just call me Xiao Jiu.” Li Jiu said: “Since I mastered the technique, it’s only been 400-500 years. This can’t really be considered experiencing true longevity, right? However, I had once questioned this matter as well.”

“…… Before mastering the technique, I never even thought about it. At that time, I only focused on how short and momentary a mortal’s lifespan was. It felt like there was never enough time each day and I practically wished I could increase the speed of my cultivation even faster.”

“But the moment that I truly mastered the technique, I suddenly discovered I had a lot more time, so much that I actually didn’t know what to do with all that time.”

“Before that moment, I was doing the same thing my entire life. I had only one goal. Yet once I accomplished that goal and obtained unlimited time, on the contrary, I didn’t have anything to do. That kind of feeling……” 

“Is very lonely.” Feng Ci said softly.

How’s this not what he had experienced?

Suddenly possessing a lot of, a lot of time, but unable to find something he could do, unable to find the reason for living.

Traveling through thousands of worlds, but unable to find a place to return to. 

This was longevity.

“But now I feel pretty good.” Li Jiu continued to say: “If there’s nothing for me to do, I can just find something to do. This world is so big, there’s always someone or something that makes living worth it.”

Feng Ci heard the profound meaning within his words: “In other words, you found it now?”

“I……” The little white cat turned his head and waved his tail with a guilty conscience: “I want to conquer all the beauties in this world, of course!” 

Feng Ci laughed and didn’t expose him.

Li Jiu felt a bit embarrassed and changed the topic, saying: “Saint Sovereign, you’ve lived such a long time, did you find something?”

“I……” Feng Ci hesitated for a moment and shook his head: “I don’t need that.”

Li Jiu: “How could you not need it?” 

“Because I’ve already lived long enough.” Feng Ci looked up towards the sky and mumbled: “So long that…… death is like a release for me.”

It was a release that he had been seeking bitterly all these years without success.

Perhaps because Li Jiu also possessed a long and everlasting lifespan, when he heard these words, he wasn’t too surprised.

“3000 years… is indeed pretty long. I can’t even imagine how it’d feel living that long.” The little cat laid on the roof on his stomach and tilted his head: “However, isn’t this pretty good as well? You don’t even need a goal and can enjoy the rest of your days like it’s your last day, doing whatever you want.” 

Feng Ci nodded: “You’re right.”

Ever since returning to this world, this was indeed what Feng Ci did.

Spending every day here like it was his last day, acting impulsively without worrying too much.

He has indeed felt much happier these days than before. 

Li Jiu really started imagining over there: “If I were to end my life one day, I’d definitely enjoy the last of my days carefully, spend time with a few more beauties, switching to a new one every day until I get tired of them.”

“Switching to a new one every day?” Feng Ci laughed involuntarily: “Can you even handle that?”

Li Jiu: “It’s not like you’ve tried it. How do you know if you can or can’t handle it?”

To actually sound very confident and righteous. 

Like he has already forgotten fully that he had fallen into his current plight for being too lascivious and frivolous.

But Feng Ci can tell… that Li Jiu didn’t really feel like his current days were all that bad right now.

Otherwise, with his abilities, escaping shouldn’t be hard.

Worse comes to worst, he only needed to kill the person, who placed the parasite inside him, and the effect would naturally resolve. 

Another dishonest one here.

But Feng Ci didn’t expose him. Instead, Feng Ci agreed with dead earnesty: “En, I’ll definitely give it a try when the opportunity arises.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a burn to his ring finger.

A red string appeared. 

Pei QianYue’s voice spoke up in his head: “You really want to try this?”

Feng Ci froze and hastily looked around in all directions. At last, his gaze landed on the little bell dangling on the little white cat’s neck.

He grabbed the little cat and lifted him, opening the bell. A golden parasite flew out of it.

“Miao!” Li Jiu was clearly unaware of this thing’s existence. He was so shocked, all of his fur puffed up: “How could Xiao Guo put bugs on me!” 

“This seems like……” Feng Ci pinched the center of his brows and said feebly: “Like a Sound Transmitting Parasite.”

“Saint Sovereign, nice eyesight.” A voice spoke up from under the roof. Pei QianYue and Xiao Guo were standing on empty grounds in front of the building. The next second, Pei QianYue’s figure flashed and a slightly cold body pressed up against Feng Ci’s back.

“How……” Feng Ci felt so guilty, he didn’t dare to look at Pei QianYue: “How much did you hear?”

“Not much.” Pei QianYue, expressionlessly: “Just happened to hear Master say, you want to try switching to a new one everyday.” 

Feng Ci: “……”