Chapter 9: Such Terrifying Might

“Diviner was the previous sect leader of the Xuan Yun Sect, and the master of the current seven peak lords. It's said he was, like the sect’s founder, a natural sword prodigy, but he practiced both the way of the sword and the way of the Buddha. Eccentric and mysterious, he was skilled in divination and strategy, never once erring in his calculations.

Oh, the master of Wanzhang Peak was his most cherished disciple, for both shared the same physique.

A hundred years ago, the master and disciple seemed to have quarreled. Since then, Wen Jinge has lived alone on Wanzhang Peak, while Diviner secluded himself at the Burning Heaven Gate until his death.”

“Master, are you still here?” The Azure Sand Beast tried to ingratiate itself with Wen Jinge.

It had no idea who this person was, nor where it was headed, but after causing such a commotion, it knew that if it didn’t follow this person, certain death awaited it.

“How trustworthy is your ability to read minds?”

“I’m barely at the fifth rank now, not yet fully formed. I can peer into the hearts of those whose grade is the same or lower than mine. Unless…”

“Speak.”

“Unless they are utterly detached, without desire or emotion.” The Azure Sand Beast suspected Wen Jinge was just such a person.

“Master.” Liang Si pushed open the door and ushered her inside. Before he could speak, he received a storage pouch in his hand. “What is this?”

“Game. It’s yours now.”

“M-master…” The Azure Sand Beast quivered inside the pouch, not daring to resist in the slightest, and could only hope that feigning pitifulness might soften Wen Jinge’s heart.

Wen Jinge opened the pouch, and just as the Azure Sand Beast glimpsed daylight again, a droplet of essence blood shot toward its forehead. “Didn’t I say I wanted a lot from you? Did you really think a few tears would suffice?”

“Two contracts, master?” The Azure Sand Beast and Liang Si froze at the same time. A cultivator could have multiple spirit beasts, yet a beast could only be contracted to one master.

But the Azure Sand Beast could clearly sense two contracts in its sea of consciousness.

It was overwhelmed; the shock of two contracts struck it so hard that its body stiffened and it fell straight into slumber.

Wen Jinge tied up the pouch, handed it to Liang Si, and said, “When you reach the fifth rank, it will be yours completely.”

“Master.” Liang Si recalled the earlier disturbance toward the outer mountains, remembered that his master and junior brother had gone out together, and now, with only a spirit beast returning and no sign of his junior, he wore an odd expression. “Could this be Junior Brother Qiao?”

Wen Jinge was drinking water. These words nearly made her choke to death.

“Liang Si, I know you’re an honest soul, but surely you’re not quite that imaginative!”

“I only wondered because Master has always been… unconventional.” Liang Si crouched behind the screen, looking embarrassed. “Master was favored by the founder and once lived on the best peak, Lingxiao. Later, since Uncle Ai’s legs were poisoned by demonic fire and couldn’t endure hardship, you switched with him.

Uncle Ai said that for fifty years, Master used a barrier to turn Wanzhang Peak into a world of her own. When it reopened, only the northern bamboo grove remained; the rest was filled with bizarre rocks, yellow sand, and not a blade of grass. Uncle Song, a spell master, once told Uncle Ai that many damaged arrays remained on Wanzhang Peak, and that sealing the mountain would have required more than one person. He also said Master’s abilities and mind had long surpassed ordinary understanding.”

“When did he tell you all this?”

“It wasn’t directly to me. When you didn’t want to take me as a disciple, Sect Leader Huo was instructing me in swordplay as usual, and Uncle Ai said that when you returned from the Burning Heaven Gate wounded, there might have been someone else with you—the one who helped set up the arrays on Wanzhang Peak.”

Seeing Wen Jinge had come out, Liang Si entered and picked up her discarded clothes. “Master, should I burn these?”

Wen Jinge was still pondering Liang Si’s earlier words when the question caught her off guard. She felt a little uneasy. “Did I used to make you do this sort of thing often?”

It was just that the boy seemed so practiced, it left her with no sense of security.

Especially just now, when she entered and saw another version of herself lying on the bed, she was so startled she thought it was the night of her soul’s return.

“This is the first time.” Liang Si thought for a moment. “When Uncle Ai and the founder were alive, they told me that, upon returning to Wanzhang Peak, I should defer to you in all things. Whatever Master does must have a reason. If you don’t speak of it, then the time isn’t right; if you do, I’d be endlessly grateful.”

“I really should sell you off,” Wen Jinge pinched his cheek. “Did anyone come by tonight?”

“Uncle Ai’s disciple came, asked if you were in danger. I lied to cover for you.”

Seeing him bow his head, Wen Jinge reassured him, “I know you didn’t fully hide it, so don’t blame yourself. Your Uncle Ai is an understanding person; knowing I wished to keep it secret, he’d help me keep it as well.”

“Yes.” He nodded. “So, should I burn Master’s clothes?”

“Go ahead.” Wen Jinge formed a seal, and the clothes turned to dust. “Get some rest.”

…

“Sect Leader!”

“Elder Brother Sect Master!”

Fan Zifan was the first to arrive. Since the day of the new initiates, he had been stationed near the outer mountains with his disciples to prevent any accidents. Years ago, he’d often been blown up by Wen Jinge in the Medicine Mountain, so at the first tremor, he was alert. The first quake was too brief and slight for him to pinpoint, but the second, everyone heard the strange sound, and it lasted long enough that even now, the mushroom cloud still hadn’t dissipated.

“What in the world…” Huo Yongfei gazed at the mountain, now split in two, inwardly shocked. What kind of expert could so easily tear apart a mountain in Xuan Yun Sect as if no one were watching?

“It’s an array,” said Song Huan, master of Sumeru Peak, his hand pressed to the ground. The more he searched, the deeper his frown. He cast Huo Yongfei a thoughtful glance. “Senior brother, I’ve seen this array before.”

He looked troubled, for he’d never met the one who set up the formation.

In the past, he could have climbed Wanzhang Peak and asked, but now, no matter how well Wen Jinge pretended, all their fellow disciples knew she had lost her memory after leaving the Burning Heaven Gate.

As for who had secluded themselves with her on Wanzhang Peak, studying formations together, there was no one to ask.

“Was it another two-person array?” Huo Yongfei asked.

Song Huan’s mouth opened in surprise. “One person. The array is too complex for me to replicate, but I suspect it was initiated gently. Senior sister knows a bit of formations, but if she deployed it, it would have been swift and ruthless. This person, it was certainly not Senior Sister Wen.”

“You call this gentle?” Shan Hongxing, who knew nothing of arrays, still recognized that such a mountain-splitting, sea-filling array was terrifying beyond belief.

“The activation was smooth, but the conclusion abrupt and hasty, as if interrupted, which resulted in this deadly formation!”

“I don’t follow,” Shan Hongxing interrupted. “Just tell us straight—could your formation reach this scale?”

“It could.” Song Huan gritted his teeth. “But with my weak constitution, I’d be bedridden for half a month.”

Bai Teng had already gone to look around, ordered some female disciples to move the charred meat, and returned with a grave expression. “There’s also the aura of a talisman master here. I can’t fathom when our Xuan Yun Sect produced someone who could combine spell and talisman arts so seamlessly.”

“Let me be clear—there’s not a trace of medicinal cultivation here.”

“Sword master’s aura…” Shan Hongxing instinctively added.

“Oh?” Everyone looked at him.

“It’s true. I found a trace over there.”

The crowd: …