Chapter 74.2 Kunlun
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This was the first time they had seen each other again since returning to Yunxiao.
Pei Jing was somewhat surprised, but since Ji Wuyou would be his future disciple, he took a step forward and asked, “What are you doing here?”
Ji Wuyou was stunned. If his previous feelings towards Zhang Yiming were admiration, closeness, and gratitude, now that he knew his true identity, his emotions became complex—changing from awe to unfamiliarity, from familiarity to helplessness. Even the ridiculous thoughts they once shared had dispersed.
He stammered, “Brother Zhang… Senior Brother Pei… Sect Master.”
Pei Jing could sense Ji Wuyou’s emotional shift towards him. Shu Yan had indeed told him, but it was for the best.
Suppressing his smile, Pei Jing asked, “Are you also participating in this Outer Peaks Grand Competition?”
Ji Wuyou pursed his lips and nodded.
The chubby boy from the past had transformed into a slender youth, just like any protagonist from a fantasy novel, with a pair of resolute, jet-black eyes.
Pei Jing said, “Alright, do your best. I have faith in you.”
Pei Yuzhi’s encouragement made Ji Wuyou feel a hint of timidity, but then that feeling was overcome by the desire to become stronger. The crazy and fearful emotions from the strange village gradually faded away, and he regained his clarity. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, “Senior Brother Pei, what exactly happened that day?”
Pei Jing replied, “You don’t remember?”
Ji Wuyou lowered his head and said, “No.”
However, the current protagonist was still too young and his lies were full of holes. Pei Jing knew that he still remembered, but he didn’t expose him. “Nothing much happened. You were just under the control of that demon, losing your consciousness. Now that you’re out, there’s no need to dwell on these things.”
Ji Wuyou’s voice grew even softer as he replied, “Mmm.”
Pei Jing: “What’s your number?”
Ji Wuyou: “Number seven.”
Pei Jing: “Then hurry to the arena.”
Ji Wuyou nodded and said, “Alright.”
He was a frail and weak youth with thin clothes. After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back.
Pei Jing thought to himself that he had truly grown a lot. From the naive and foolish child he once was, he had become a youth who could hide, probe, and anticipate. Pei Jing held a flower in his hand, their gazes met, and he smiled. “Is there anything else?”
Ji Wuyou apologized. “I’m sorry.”
His voice scattered in the wind, and Pei Jing understood. He said, “Perhaps, I should apologize on behalf of Yu Qinglian.”
Ji Wuyou smiled shyly and palely but remained silent.
As he turned around, his smile gradually faded. On the path to the arena, against the wind, with cool misty clouds, he heard the woman’s carefree and amusing laughter echoing in his mind.
“Why do you have to do this?” the divine maiden asked.
Ji Wuyou ignored her in his heart.
The divine maiden said, “On that day, you truly wanted to break free at all costs, even if it meant sacrificing their lives. Tsk, those who have not awakened as a Celestial Demon are selfish beings.”
Ji Wuyou tried to justify himself, “I just wanted to stay alive.”
The divine maiden smiled with a profound meaning.
Ji Wuyou slowly clenched his fist and said, “In that world, no one would help me. I just wanted to survive.”
The divine maiden sneered, “Yes, you’re right. Every person has their own reasons for being self-centered. People will do anything for their own sake, even if it means the destruction of heaven and earth.”
Ji Wuyou looked at his thin, almost skeletal hand, with the blue veins carrying dormant blood, and repeated softly, “At that time, I had no other choice. I just wanted to survive.”
The divine maiden seemed to glimpse his future and casually said, “You’re right—the path of cultivation is cruel. Fate is fickle, and you will truly face situations where it’s either you die or I survive. Masters and disciples become enemies, husbands and wives turn against each other, and many other things happen. The key is to survive and become stronger.”
Ji Wuyou pursed his lips.
He didn’t blame Yu Qinglian—
However, from now on, he would never trust anyone again.
With the divine maiden’s words coming to an end, her thoughts turned to other matters. She appeared as a phantom, sitting gracefully and elegantly on a cloud. Her robes were as blue as water, flowing like waves in the deep sea. Her slender fingers twirled her long hair, but her gaze was fixed deeply in Pei Jing’s direction. The corners of her red lips curled up, revealing a smile tinged with a hint of malevolence.
It seemed like she… caught a familiar scent.
Pei Jing swiftly defeated his opponent in just three seconds. Facing the envious and resentful gazes of everyone present, he leaped down from the arena. The scene was filled with Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters, but none of them were happy for him. Only Xu Jing, who was preoccupied with worry for his money, felt relieved whenever Pei Jing won a match.
“Who’s your next opponent?”
Pei Jing replied, “How would I know?” He just wanted to finish the fights.
Senior Brothers who disliked him were making sarcastic comments nearby.
One of them deliberately raised his voice. “Have you heard about the matches at the Zhongnan Peak? It seems that as soon as Senior Brother Chang entered the stage, his opponent surrendered and fled within a breath’s time.”
“That’s right. And there’s someone even more formidable, Senior Sister Bu Heng…”
Since it was an internal trial, the Elders and Sect Masters did not attend. Instead, it was organized by several older Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters. Being advanced in age and having no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, they harbored jealousy and enforced strict rules, ensuring fairness in every aspect.
However, because the Sect Masters were absent, the disciples ran wild and rumors were flying around. The most bizarre speculation was about his relationship with Chen Xu. Some said they were distant relatives who had no connection, while others believed it was merely a casual acquaintance with minor favors. Of course, the most ridiculous one was the notion that he was Chen Xu’s cauldron.
Naturally, this dark theory was met with violence, and the person who proposed it was silenced after being beaten up.
Pei Jing listened to their gossip and couldn’t be bothered to respond.
It was just a small trial for now. He was waiting for the disciple from Zhongnan Peak.
He returned to the room prepared for them in Xuanyun Peak.
Suddenly, Pei Jing felt a chill at his neck. He took out the necklace, and after a dazzling burst of azure light, the girl who had been asleep for only a day awakened. It was the first time that Pei Jing truly saw the appearance of this young leader of the Azure Bird Clan.
She was young and petite, with delicate white arms covered in wounds. There was no trace of the Azure Bird Clan’s ferocity and brutality. On the contrary, her azurr pupils were clear, her lips pale, and her black hair fell on the side of her face, making her look weak.
“How did you wake up?”
Qingying was awakened by a disturbing aura that made her tremble like being trapped in an abyssal nightmare. But now she had managed to calm down. The wound in her throat hurt more as it healed, rendering her voiceless. So she used her fingers to convey her thoughts to Pei Jing in the air. Her nails were broken, and her hands were fractured in several places, appearing quite gruesome. Blood stains slowly floated in the air.
The handwriting was faint.
“Queen Mother of the West, Chang Wu, Zhongnan Peak.”
“Kill her, she won’t die, the mask.”
Pei Jing could guess her meaning, “Is the Queen Mother of the West behind Chang Wu from Zhongnan Peak?”
Qingying shook her head, “Inside.”
Pei Jing understood, “She is inside Chang Wu’s body. She is immortal. To eliminate her, we need to use the mask?”
Qingying nodded in agreement.
It matched Pei Jing’s speculation. He didn’t want Qingying to exert too much effort, so he asked, “After the extinction of the Azure Bird Clan in West Kunlun, did you escape together with her? Did she control you to commit murders for her?”
Qingying closed her eyes and shook her head.
“She controlled Chang Wu? Making Chang Wu kill for her?”
Qingying nodded.
“Why did she kill people and extract their organs?”
Qingying’s expression showed hidden pain, and a deep sorrow flickered in her eyes. “Consumption, secret technique.”
“She consumes those organs to cultivate her secret techniques. At the same time, she cultivates elixirs to stabilize your soul?”
Qingying remained silent for a long time, but eventually nodded.
Pei Jing found it intriguing. “So she also helped stabilize your soul? Feng Jin mentioned that you had a good relationship back then.”
Qingying chose not to speak.
“But she is the one who exterminated your clan, right? The Azure Bird Clan of West Kunlun perished at her hands. She helped stabilize your soul and controlled Chang Wu to cultivate elixirs for you to consume. However, you managed to break free from her control and awakened the consciousness of that elixir. Taking advantage of the situation, you fled to the main hall of Zhongnan Peak and injured Chang Wu, using it as an opportunity to reveal how to deal with the Queen Mother of the West.”
However, later on, Chang Wu retaliated against the Queen Mother of the West and didn’t spare her either. Perhaps Qingying knew all along and sought a mutual destruction.
Pei Jing paused for a long time and softly asked, “Peng Mountain in Kunlun, the Queen Mother of the West once had a close relationship with the Azure Bird Clan, and their alliance was regarded as a beautiful tale. The Divine Maiden in my memories was not like this. Feng Jin mentioned that in one lifetime, the Queen Mother of the West had no spiritual roots and died young. Does it have any connection to your Azure Bird Clan? Why would she target the Azure Bird Clan?”
His words hung in the air.
Qingying slowly closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, mingling with the traces of blood.
Overwhelming nausea surged.
Within the mist-covered Peng Mountain, the pedestrian path glistened with morning dew. In the murals, the elegant and noble Queen Mother once smiled with the innocence and purity of a young girl. Amidst the forest, strolling with flowers, her water-blue dress fluttered in the Kunlun spring. Green plum, white porcelain bowl, and plum blossom wine in the snow—a friendship forged through numerous lifetimes, intertwined and understanding in this current life.
In the end, they couldn’t withstand the capriciousness of fate and the treacherousness of human hearts.
In the endless darkness of the night, the wind blew fiercely, unsettling her mind. She hurriedly dressed and went to the palace to search for her. Even before arriving, she caught a whiff of the scent of blood. Standing on tiptoes, the young clan leader peered through the window.
That scene, even now, made her limbs turn icy cold, filled her with panic and despair, and caused her head to throb in excruciating pain!
She saw the rivers of blood flowing.
She saw the chilling formation.
She saw the bound hands and feet of the high and mighty young girl.
She saw pain and ferocity on her face, along with anger, boundless hatred, and agony.
In the midst of a raging storm in the Western Kunlun, with flickering lights casting shadows of several colossal birds on the walls, their madness and greed evident.
She saw the clan elders, transformed into giant birds—feasting on divinity.
Trembling, she reached out her hand.
In the air, Qingying wrote word by word.
“Eating, secret technique.”
“Deity… Ming.”
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