novelraw Chapter 462: Go Play Off to the Side for Now
Chapter 462: Go Play Off to the Side for Now
Yu Zhao smiled and said: “Then I will thank you in advance, Ancestor.”
The way Ancestor Sui Bian looked at Yu Zhao had turned so soft it was practically dripping; he swept his sleeve and said: “Come, I will first help you deal with that lousy jade pendant on you, then introduce you to that bunch of old fogeys. This concerns the entire Cultivation World, so we cannot let you carry it alone.”
Because they and Nangong Yin were merely ships passing in the night, Ancestor Sui Bian naturally could not reveal their true destination to her, so he deliberately chose a desolate little planet as a transfer point.
He led Yu Zhao flying west, explaining as they went: “The exit Teleportation Array is hidden in a ruined temple to the west. After that we will transfer twice more, then we can meet the person.”
Yu Zhao’s expression shifted as she asked: “Ancestor, you have not yet told me who the senior we are going to meet is.”
He chuckled awkwardly and said: “Ah, I did not say it, did I? I thought I had told you everything already.”
Seeing this, Yu Zhao suddenly remembered that in the Land of Divine Remains he had shown a similar guilty look. She thought a moment, then deliberately probed: “Could the senior be Immortal Maiden Qun Fang? Or Immortal Maiden Qiong Lan? Or perhaps Xiu Yu?”
Ancestor Sui Bian all but lunged to cover her mouth as he blurted: “Stop, stop!”
Yu Zhao looked at him with a half smile; he scratched his cheek and admitted: “You really cannot be fooled. The senior I am taking you to meet is indeed Qun Fang, but it is not what you are thinking between me and her. When you see her, you must not talk nonsense.”
Yu Zhao drew out her tone on purpose and said: “Oh.”She made no promise. Once she saw the person, she would know how to behave.
After an hour of swift travel, they stopped before a ruined temple in the mountains.
Ancestor Sui Bian strode in like an old hand and quickly found a Teleportation Array hidden in the back courtyard.
Because the spiritual power here was thin, opening the array required time. While they waited, Yu Zhao looked the temple over and remarked offhand: “Ancestor, the aura of this Small World is even thinner than in the Cultivation World. We barely saw any cultivators along the way.”
He answered without concern: “This Small World is heading toward decline, so its aura is being used up.”
“Heading toward decline?”
Yu Zhao’s mind flashed with a string of thoughts.
Ancestor Sui Bian continued: “Yes. Only after I ascended to the Middle Thousand World did I learn that every world has a fixed allotment of fate, just like a cultivator’s lifespan. When lifespan is exhausted, the person dies. When fate is exhausted, the planet perishes.”
Yu Zhao’s pupils trembled as her fists tightened. [Is the Cultivation World also suffering dwindling aura because its allotted years are almost over? If so, does that mean that even if my seniors and I exhaust ourselves repairing the Heavenly Ladder, we still cannot stop the Cultivation World from heading toward extinction?]
She stared at a withered tree in the back courtyard, her eyes briefly going blank.
After a while the Teleportation Array’s spiritual power gap finished filling. Ancestor Sui Bian was about to call Yu Zhao over when he noticed her gazing at the dead tree and asked curiously: “What are you looking at?”
Yu Zhao came back to herself; the daze in her eyes had already vanished as she said: “Nothing.”
She did not wish to share her suspicions with Ancestor Sui Bian. Ever since ascending to the Middle Thousand World he had been thinking about the Cultivation World. To tell him now what the Cultivation World might be facing would be a heavy blow. Besides, it was only her conjecture and could not be taken as fact. [Even so, if I cannot find a way back, I must go try my luck at the Great Thousand Alliance’s selection. Even if the chance is tiny, I have to take it.]
Ancestor Sui Bian failed to read her mind and did not take it to heart. He set spirit jade into the array and channeled spiritual power.
The world reeled. In the next instant they stood in a bustling market district.
When they stepped out of the Teleportation Array, Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian felt countless gazes fall on them, but those eyes quickly slid away again to watch the array’s comings and goings.
Yu Zhao clicked her tongue in quiet amazement and said: “The Earth Clan’s bounty has really stirred up half the cultivators in the Cultivation World.”
What they certainly could not guess was that the Earth Clan’s other precious treasure was also in her hands. Thanks to the bracelet on her wrist, she had avoided a lot of trouble.
Without lingering, the two of them boarded another Teleportation Array bound for a different Small World.
After three consecutive transfers, Yu Zhao thought they would finally be seeing the person, but then they got on a fourth. Ancestor Sui Bian’s explanation was that he feared being tailed.
They spent the rest of the day shuttling among different arrays, back and forth.
After an unknown number of transfers, Ancestor Sui Bian finally took Yu Zhao away from the Teleportation Array hall and into a tranquil valley.
The valley was a riot of blossoms in every color, gorgeous and fragrant.
Yu Zhao swept the valley with her Divine Sense; her eyes grew brighter and brighter. No wonder the senior who excelled at Formation Arts lived here. She could not detect the slightest ripple of spiritual power, the concealment was too perfect. Her eyes had been strengthened with a special ability, and even the tiniest trace rarely escaped her notice, yet the Formation Arts in this valley were as natural as breathing, without a single flaw, like an ordinary valley made perfect.
She could hardly wait to meet Elder Qun Fang.
Just as excitement surged through her however, Ancestor Sui Bian failed to act, and for a long moment at that.
Puzzled, she turned her head, only to find him bent over with his rear sticking out, picking through one flowerbed after another while muttering: “This color is no good, no, no, this one’s bloom is not perfect.”
Yu Zhao was speechless and called tentatively: “Ancestor?”
Waving her off without looking up, Ancestor Sui Bian said: “Can’t you see I am busy? Go play off to the side for a bit.”
Only then did Yu Zhao realize this was not Elder Qun Fang’s residence at all, just an ordinary, unremarkable valley. The reason Ancestor Sui Bian had brought her here first had only one purpose.
He meant to pick flowers for a beauty.
Half helpless, half amused, Yu Zhao glanced at him picking with gusto, then followed her own taste and gathered a selection of fresh blooms. Back when she studied Incense Crafting with the He Huan senior, she had received no small amount of guidance. She had made some progress not only in Incense Crafting, but also in her eye for aesthetics. In no time, a bouquet of clean and elegant flowers lay in her arms.
Ancestor Sui Bian took one look and sniffed: “Yu Zhao, your eye for this is lacking.”