Chapter 9

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For Su Xue to speak to Xie Zhefeng in such a manner was nothing short of insolence.
Let him be angry then.
He would not tolerate it.
An Wuxue shifted his gaze, waiting for Xie Zhefeng to lash out.
But Xie Zhefeng’s expression flickered slightly, and he nodded almost imperceptibly.
He murmured, "...You are not him."
Lost in thought, as if recalling something, he took a few steps back in a daze.
He even forgot to control his spiritual energy, which spilled out coldly around him, shattering the small spiritual array set by the disciples of the Falling Moon Peak around An Wuxue.
An Wuxue, puzzled by the lack of further reaction, looked up.
A sword-pattern resembling a snow lotus briefly appeared on Xie Zhefeng’s brow.
A sword pattern!?
The sword technique practiced by the Falling Moon Peak disciples gathers the spiritual energy hub at the brow, intertwined with the sea of consciousness. Only those transcendent in the sword path could manifest such a pattern.
Although An Wuxue had a heavenly bestowed jade-like body in his previous life, his comprehension of sword techniques was indeed inferior to Xie Zhefeng’s.
In the generations of Falling Moon Peak, only one had ever exhibited such a sword pattern.
When Xie Zhefeng broke through to the Great Mastery stage, the sword pattern appeared on his brow.
At that moment, both Nan He and he understood that the next Immortal Lord was likely decided.
The sword pattern relates to the flow of spiritual energy within Xie Zhefeng and rarely manifests outside of battle.
Had his eyes deceived him...?
Just as An Wuxue intended to look again, Xie Zhefeng’s gaze suddenly grew resolute, he concealed all expression, and swiftly walked toward the door.
His spiritual energy swept open the door, and in the blink of an eye, he left with Kunkun.
An Wuxue exhaled deeply.
Yun Zhou strode over: "The Immortal Lord has left? He really comes and goes as he pleases. I didn’t dare move a muscle outside just now."
He glanced inside, "My goodness, why is it suddenly so cold? The warmth arrays are all broken? Wait, Su Xue, aren’t you cold!?"
An Wuxue did not respond.
"Young Master Su?" Yun Yao arrived late and began resetting the warmth arrays. "Aren’t you cold?"
Only then did An Wuxue realize they were calling him.
He looked down and found frost coating his hands, though he had not summoned spiritual energy to keep warm.
The pain was too widespread to discern its origin.
"It’s okay," he smiled faintly, "…I’m used to it."

—

Among the pine forest of the Frost Sea.
Xie Zhefeng held Kunkun in his arms, seated upon the lotus platform.
The faint snow lotus sword pattern that had just appeared now fully manifested, flowing with a subtle black aura.
Kunkun’s miasma beast spiritual energy once again enveloped Xie Zhefeng’s soul, aiding him in suppressing the demons within his sea of consciousness.
From all directions, fierce winds rose, overturning frost and snow.
Within the span of a tea-break, the entire pine forest was blanketed in white, obscuring sun and moon alike, leaving nothing visible.
A transparent barrier descended, enclosing the entire forest.

—

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In the following days, the Falling Moon Peak remained calm.
The mountain sealing order was still in effect; Xie Zhefeng’s whereabouts were unknown, and Kunkun never reappeared.
Xuan Fang did come by once.
At that time, An Wuxue was resting in the courtyard. His divine sense detected Xuan Fang’s arrival, but feeling lazy to move, he pretended to be asleep, eyes closed.
Strangely, Xuan Fang said nothing, paused at the doorway to look at him for a while, then left.
Besides this, it seemed only An Wuxue, Yun Zhou, Yun Yao, and a few other disciples came and went in the Frost Sea.
Though Kunkun hadn’t returned, having the leaf from the soul-nurturing tree greatly improved An Wuxue’s rest.
Without those chaotic dreams, he would sometimes sleep through the night, waking to the familiar scenery outside his window, feeling that the thousand years his soul had wandered felt like an endless dream.
Until one day, as he stepped outside, he saw Yun Zhou practicing swordsmanship in the yard. Sword light shattered frost on the pine and cypress, blades cutting through wind and snow. Hearing his footsteps, the youth sheathed his sword and turned: "Su Xue, you just woke up!"
That day, An Wuxue was momentarily dazed by those words, then nodded: "Yes, just woke."
"But… you’ve actually been awake for a while."
"Huh?" Yun Zhou didn’t understand again.
An Wuxue didn’t explain: "Just taking a walk, clearing my mind."
Yun Zhou grumbled, "Always clearing your mind, haven’t seen you train…"
He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying, and turned toward the Frost Sea entrance.
Indeed, he had been ‘clearing his mind’ every day—for at least that’s what he told Yun Zhou and Yun Yao.
After Xie Zhefeng left, still unwilling to give up, he used the excuse of clearing his mind to approach Xie Zhefeng’s room.
But Xie Zhefeng had placed a barrier around the room; he couldn’t get close.
Where else could there be a spiritual treasure imprinted with Xie Zhefeng’s aura?
An Wuxue began eyeing the soul bell hanging at the Frost Sea’s entrance.
Both the soul bell and the Faraway Symbol were communication treasures using divine sense, but differed slightly.
Once activated, the transmission talisman carried the user’s divine sense to the other party, exposing their identity.
The soul bell, however, only rang “ding-ling ding-ling” within the owner’s sea of consciousness.
Moreover, soul bells were common—everyone in the cultivation world had one. No one would steal such a worthless item, so no restrictions would be placed on it.
If he secretly took the soul bell and used it when Xie Zhefeng was out, even if Xie Zhefeng heard the ringing, he would likely think someone was visiting the Frost Sea. By then, Xie Zhefeng might have already been gone for some time.
Walking to the entrance with this plan, An Wuxue saw two women standing in a place usually deserted.
One wore the attire of a core disciple of Falling Moon Peak—the same female disciple who had helped place him in the Frost Sea that night for Xie Zhefeng.
The other woman was clearly not from Falling Moon.
Tall and slender, clad in an ink-black robe bordered with golden thread, her thick black hair seemed to merge with the robe. She wore no hairpins or ornaments; her long hair fell over her shoulders down to her waist.
Her eyes were covered with a black silk band, as if she were blind.
The blindfolded woman seemed to sense An Wuxue’s approach and slightly turned her head.
But she said nothing.
An Wuxue abruptly stopped.
...It was her.
An old acquaintance.
One who, perhaps like Xie Zhefeng, wished for him to vanish without a trace.
His long-dormant headache returned.
The golden leaf hidden in his sleeve emitted a warm sensation, a soothing feeling enveloping his soul, nourishing it and slightly easing the pain.

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He heard the female disciple say: "Lord Shangguan, it’s not that I’m unwilling to let you pass, but... the Immortal Lord issued an order a few days ago: except for disciples responsible for comings and goings, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Frost Sea."
Snowflakes fell on Shangguan Liaoliao’s long hair, black and white mingling.
She tilted her head as frost snow fluttered down. "Oh? A few days ago, I sent a message to the Immortal Lord requesting to visit Falling Moon, and he permitted me to enter the peak despite the mountain sealing order. Why now that I’m here can’t I find the Immortal Lord?"
The disciple’s expression turned difficult.
She said nothing and did not step aside, clearly unwilling to negotiate.
"Fine, I won’t make this hard for you." Shangguan Liaoliao nodded. "I didn’t come to Falling Moon just to see Xie Chuhan. Lately, I’ve been plagued by nightmares, always dreaming... dreaming of my mother and some old events from the Immortal Calamity, and I cannot find rest. I heard that the Immortal Lord found a soul-nurturing tree centuries ago. I wish to borrow some of its essence to calm my spirit."
"Please ask Xie Chuhan if he will lend it."
An Wuxue frowned.
...Is she having trouble sleeping?
At the door, the disciple nodded, formed a magic seal, and threw out a Faraway Symbol.
But the symbol trembled in place without flying away, no other response followed.
The disciple sighed: "The Immortal Lord did not reply."
So borrowing it was impossible.
Shangguan Liaoliao pondered for a moment, shrugged, and turned to leave.
Seeing her about to go, An Wuxue stepped forward and called out, "Lord Shangguan, wait."
She stopped.
Having lost her sight a thousand years ago, she relied on divine sense to move about, unlike ordinary people who would turn and look back; she simply faced away.
"Before I came to Falling Moon, I heard that Xie Chuhan unexpectedly raised a furnace cauldron. It’s a pity I cannot see it, otherwise, I would like to know what kind of appearance can make ice bloom."
She disliked opportunistic dependence on others; An Wuxue knew her temperament but could only smile helplessly, not responding to that remark.
He took out the golden leaf given by Kunkun from his sleeve.
"This is a branch from the soul-nurturing tree. Its veins shine gold; it’s not an ordinary leaf but one growing beside the essence of the soul-nurturing tree," An Wuxue handed it to her. "Though it’s not as effective as the essence itself, it should be enough to calm the spirit and purify the mind."
Even someone like him, whose soul had wandered for a thousand years, could be soothed by it. It should easily counter some nightmares.
Shangguan Liaoliao seemed puzzled.
"What do you want in exchange?"
An Wuxue shook his head.
He looked at the black silk covering her eyes.
He knew what lay beneath that veil.
During the Immortal Calamity, Shangguan Liaoliao’s mother, the Beiming Immortal Lord, was one of the corrupted Immortals who brought vast miasma into Beiming City, battling Nan He in the Underworld Sea.
Beiming wished to bring her daughter into corruption; the miasma entered Shangguan Liaoliao’s eyes. On the battlefield, she gouged out her own eyes with her hands, using her blood and eyes to help Nan He locate the Beiming Immortal Lord hidden in the Underworld Sea.
With Beiming’s fall, Shangguan Liaoliao inherited the command, the city was reformed, and an alliance with Falling Moon was forged.
A thousand years passed in a flash. Looking at the woman before him, he quickly blinked, closed his eyes to dispel the dryness, and smiled softly: "I come from the mortal realm, and have long admired Lord Shangguan for her righteousness in sacrificing kin during the Immortal Calamity. It is my honor to offer this humble leaf to you with no expectation of return."
"…I only hope that tonight you find peaceful sleep."
Shangguan Liaoliao was stunned.
She did not refuse, turning sideways to accept the golden leaf, but still placed a pouch of spirit stones in his hand, saying: "I do not accept favors without reason. You are only at the granary stage; magical artifacts won’t help you. Take these spirit stones and buy what you need."
Before the words fell, her figure vanished into the boundless snow of the Frost Sea.
The female disciple hurried after her, calling: "Lord Shangguan, the Falling Moon mountains are many; please allow me to guide you."
The two walked one after another, leaving An Wuxue alone at the entrance, holding the pouch filled with spirit stones.