Chapter Ninety-Seven: Moonshadow Dunes

The woman sat down directly across from him and said, “Senior Brother Morning Wind, the disaster that was bound to come is finally upon us. Are we really unable to escape it?”

The handsome young man said thoughtfully, “Junior Sister Charming Chu, as the leader of the Celestial Star Sect, am I not supposed to stand in the way of calamity for the sect? Why should I hide?”

Charming Chu said with concern, “This time it is different. The enemy’s strength is beyond what we can contend with. Why not you and I wander the world together, leave for another continent, live under false names, and spend the rest of our lives in obscurity?”

Morning Wind shook his head. “We have discussed this same question for nearly a thousand years, and my answer remains unchanged: while I live, the Celestial Star Sect lives; if the Celestial Star Sect falls, then I fall with it.”

Charming Chu closed her eyes, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Then I will ask you one last time: which matters more, the sect or your own happiness?”

In truth, this question had been asked a thousand times before, and the answer had always been the same. Yet every time she saw Morning Wind, she could not help asking again.

“My life was saved by Master, so I must fulfill my duty,” Morning Wind said with iron resolve. “The passage to the Spirit Realm vanished long ago. There are no more cultivators of longevity in this world. In my lifetime, I may not have brought the sect to greatness, but I will never allow its legacy to die in my hands.”

Charming Chu let out a long breath. “My divination says the Celestial Star Sect cannot avoid this tribulation. And yet it will be saved by a man with three heads and six arms. Of course, omens are elusive and uncertain, but I believe this may truly happen.”

Morning Wind trusted her divinations deeply. “Can you determine who that man is?”

Charming Chu shook her head and took out a jade pendant split into two halves, laying them before Morning Wind. “My Mystic Gate Escape Jade has shattered, and I can no longer divine anything. This happened when I was foretelling that person’s fate; I was suddenly struck by a backlash, and the jade broke.”

Morning Wind stared at the pendant, his heart heavy. He reached out and picked up one half. “I will keep this half, Junior Sister, as a memento. I order you to take all the elite disciples of the Celestial Star Sect and leave Black Tortoise Continent at once. Go to Vermilion Bird Continent and train them in secret, so that our sect will still have a foundation left.”

Charming Chu fell silent for a moment. “You do not need to send me away. You know my heart. Even if we die, we will die together. I feel that this person has deep ties to our Celestial Star Sect. He may even be one of our own. And from the signs, this calamity will not descend anytime soon. At the very least, it should still be hundreds of years away.”

“If that is truly the case, then all the better,” Morning Wind said. “I will issue the order at once and have every disciple investigated to see whether anything strange has happened recently.”

“That is the only way,” Charming Chu said with a nod.

The Celestial Star Sect immediately began the greatest investigation in its history.

At that very moment, in a vast mountain range far away, the sky suddenly split open with a tear. An ordinary-looking young man fell from the crack and crashed into a giant tree. He smashed through the dense canopy and dropped to the ground below, unconscious.

A green skin-like membrane on his body sank back into him, and a small gourd transformed into a wisp of yin energy and slipped into his nostrils.

Just then, a girl of seven or eight appeared from nowhere. Her hair was tied into two upright pigtails, and her large watery eyes were black and bright like grapes, alert and sparkling, full of mischievous cleverness.

She hurried to the young man’s side, sniffed him with her little nose, and muttered to herself, “I saw something fall from the sky from far away and thought it was some kind of treasure. Turns out it’s a dying piece of trash. Boring. Wait—his body is actually healing itself little by little. Now that makes things more interesting.”

At that moment, the young man woke up and, opening his eyes, saw a little girl of seven or eight crouching beside him, studying him with curiosity.

“Little sister, what place is this?” he asked with a slight smile.

The girl’s eyes reddened. “How should I know? Our village was hit by a tornado that only comes once in a hundred years, and it blew me all the way here. I haven’t eaten in three days.”

As she spoke, her stomach rumbled loudly.

The young man sat down cross-legged and silently circulated the Calamity Body Art to repair his wounded body. This had truly been a brush with death. He had never expected Cui Yun to have encountered such a fortuitous chance and to have connected with some God of Fate. From this, it was clear that the legends about countless realms existing between heaven and earth were real. As for what fate truly was, he would not think about it for now.

When he reached that level one day, he would naturally understand. This was not the time to touch upon it and invite disaster.

While healing, he took out a bottle of Grain-Repelling Pills and handed it to the girl. “These are Grain-Repelling Pills. Take one and you won’t feel hungry anymore. By the way, what is your name?”

The girl took the medicine bottle, sniffed it, and said, “You eat this? It tastes awful. I would rather go hungry than eat such garbage. Oh, and my name is Moonshadow Dune. Remember it.”

“What does a child know?” he said. “These are Grain-Repelling Pills. You cannot buy them in the mortal world. Big brother is an immortal cultivator, understand? I can fly like a bird. Do you get it?”

“You’re a god? Then I must be a fairy too!” Moonshadow Dune said defiantly. “Go on, fly one for me and let me see.”

The healing power of the Calamity Body Art was indeed formidable. This level of injury, compared with the tribulation of the metal calamity he had survived, was nothing at all. After taking a few Essence-Gathering Pills, his spiritual power recovered by nearly a third. Of course, this time he owed most of it to the little tree. Without it, he, Morning Wind, would have had only one path: death.

All the way through the cultivation world, Morning Wind had lived in constant fear, fighting and killing, trapped in plots and schemes, his mind taut every day like a drawn bow. Now, seeing this clever little girl from the mortal world, he felt genuinely happy.

He flicked out a top-grade magic sword, lifted the girl into his arms, and rode the sword toward the mountain peak. “Now do you believe me? Am I not an immortal cultivator?”

The girl let out an excited scream. “I want to cultivate immortality too. Is that okay? To be able to fly like you, to go wherever I want?”

“Yes, you can. I am now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and I can also be considered an elder of the sect. Taking in a disciple would not be opposed by anyone. I’m afraid your parents and relatives were all swept away by the wind, so you must already be an orphan. Come back with me to the Celestial Star Sect. I will take you to the highest Celestial Star Peak to watch the sunrise and sunset.”

Having escaped death, Morning Wind felt in high spirits, and the girl’s sudden appearance before him seemed like a matter of destiny.

Moonshadow Dune smiled and looked at him curiously. “Big brother, would you be willing to carry me and fly forever like this?”

“When you can fly on your own, you will no longer want me to carry you. How pleasant it is to roam the sky alone.”

As they spoke, Morning Wind brought the girl down upon the mountain peak.

Moonshadow Dune pouted, as though burdened by some heavy worry.

Morning Wind commanded the flying sword to carve out a large pit in an instant. Then he took out a jade slip, placed it gently inside the pit, and said solemnly, “Senior Brother Du Tao, thank you for your Three Harmony Foundation-Solidifying Art. It is because of you that I slowly achieved what I have today. Although you have vanished completely and will not enter the cycle of reincarnation, you will always live in my heart.”

After speaking, he filled in the pit with soil and erected a stone tablet, on which he wrote: Tomb of Senior Brother Du Tao.

Moonshadow Dune looked at Morning Wind in confusion, wondering why the dead had to be buried. So many unfamiliar things in this world made her deeply curious.

Morning Wind turned around, and his scalp went numb.

Not far away from him and the little girl stood a burly man in a black robe. His aura was unfathomable, and his eyes were as cold and severe as the depths of winter.