Returning to 4.5 Kilometre Street
“Mu Yu, I know you’re about to create a frenzy somewhere, and it’s a pity I can’t be there to see it. If you need me for anything down the road, just say the word, nonetheless,” offered Cai Lie, noticing Mu Yu was out of character.
Smiling, Mu Yu responded, “I’ve helped you extract the wood residue in you. I hope you’ll be a level six alchemist the next time we meet.”
“Hahaha, consider it done. Not even Senior Brother Lian Tianyou is anywhere close to my level. I’m the future of Pill Cauldron Sect, bro,” replied Cai Lie, prior to flying away.
Mu Yu exhaled toward the sun in the east.
“Mu Yu, where are we going next?” Xiaoshuai queried.
“I’m going to make a trip of Twenty-Five Kilometres South Garden. If I’m correct, Cheng Yan has picked up Kongkong and Miaomiao since he wouldn’t want to leave them there now that Shifu is gone. I want to check up on the two before I continue.”
Mu Yu arrived at 4.5 Kilometre Street a few days later. Daoist Qing Song was meditating in the courtyard, so Mu Yu cast an invisibility formation to walk past the former. The two kids were already Golden Core Realm cultivators, but they were still playful, whispering to each other how many knots to tie the beard on Elder Xun, who was asleep in his chair, into.
“You two better not prank Elder Xun,” warned Lan Ling’er, coming out from a room and shooing the two brats off.
Qing Mei watched the trio from afar and, once the two devils ran off, peered into the sky and murmured, “Why are they still not back yet.”
“I hope they bring Mu Yu and Xiang Nan back. I hope Mu Yu doesn’t get hurt in his match,” expressed Lan Ling’er.
Mu Yu thought about telling his senior he was safe. On second thought, though, was his definition of “safe” the same as what his senior brothers would define it as?
Noticing someone’s presence by the phoenix tree, Mu Yu crept over to discover Xiang Nan sitting on a branch and hiding behind the leaves. Xiang Nan stated, “I know you’re there. I just wanted to check on them before I depart.”
Mu Yu entered the phoenix tree and re-emerged behind Xiang Nan, putting them back to back.
“Same here.”
“You could say that Twenty-Five Kilometres South Garden is the most peaceful place in the world of cultivation thanks to the restriction on fighting here. For that reason, everyone here will be safe,” opined Xiang Nan, watching Lan Ling’er tend to orchids.
“Have you gone back to Moyun Mountains?”
“I went back to check on Shifu when Celestial Prison was defused, but I was too late. If I’m right, Third Heaven Palace have kidnapped Shifu and Uncle An. Unfortunately, I still don’t know where Third Heaven Palace is located. What are you plans from here? According to Hou Tu’s memories, the only way to disrupt Nine Heavens Demon Sealing Formation is via murder. Do you want to commit a massacre?”
Mu Yu brushed the leaves, allowing the rustling to calm his racing mind. “No. I intend to find somewhere quiet and focus on raising my cultivation level to remove the formation. Since Dad is also one of the guardians of Celestial Prison, perhaps he knows more about Third Heaven Palace.”
“Murder is the only option, isn’t it?”
“No. Having learnt formations, I know how to dismantle it. My only hurdle is my lagging cultivation.”
“Plenty of people in this world don’t deserve to live. For instance, Celestial Star Sect, Ghost Gate, Life and Death Sect, Shadow Syndicate and more all deserve to die,” asserted Xiang Nan, in a voice so calm that Mu Yu felt as though he had to get acquainted with Xiang Nan all over. “I want to avoid killing as much as possible to avoid feeding Third Heaven Palace. Hou Tu informed me that your dark herb’s death qi can absorb the remains of the dead, including their soul energy. The only one among us who can give purpose to murder is you.”
“Are you encouraging me to kill?”
“Do you really think I want to see cultivators die? My point is, some people will die, but dying to you is different to dying to anyone else. Once Third Heaven Palace announces war between humans and elemental demons, countless lives will be taken, while they can sit back and harvest an abundance of soul energy without being in the field. That will be when they are in their prime, All I can do is control more cultivators to reduce the number of deaths…
“Cheng Yan has never liked to kill. Since he grew up alongside Shifu, Shifu’s beliefs have flourished in him and taken root. Lie Shang is the most violent of us; he likes to kill the most but holds back to respect Shifu’s wishes. I don’t like to kill, either, particularly because I know what those who the dead leave behind will have to go through. Sadly, just because you despise something, doesn’t mean you can avoid it. I must take these steps in order to pull Third Heaven Palace down from their throne. Again: I don’t want those under my control to die; I merely want to avoid letting them die.”
“They will be left with permanent damage after the fiend souls attach to them, though, won’t they?”
Once “Mind Control” was cast on a cultivator, they could never go back to the life they used to live and would continue to only take orders and lack emotions. To counteract that, fiend souls were installed. The issue was the remedy to the problem caused another problem – severe damage to the cultivator.
“This is war. This war impacts humankind and elemental demons, our vengeance directed toward Third Heaven Palace and our fates. We have no way to showing them the true nature of Third Heaven Palace. Humanity will never have a future unless we dethrone Third Heaven Palace. Sacrifice is an inevitable part of war. Every soul energy we can take from them is an increase in our chances of winning.”
Elder Xun woke up during the brothers’ conversation and started raking the leaves falling from the phoenix tree after he undid the knots the two devils put in his beard. Right when he wiped his sweat to wrap up, he noticed there were still leaves waiting for him to rake. Suddenly, he jerked his head up to the tree top and circled around. “Strange. I know I detected a formation just now.”
Elder Xun walked over to the rake again. All of a sudden, the leaves he was going to rake swirled and drifted toward the tree. He looked down, side to side and up. In the end, he still couldn’t work out how the leaves seemingly came to life.
Mu Yu smiled bitterly and bid farewell silently.
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