Chapter 91: Too Much Information

Seeing him ask, Yan Chixia immediately grew animated.

“Master, the questions you have raised are all extremely important, and it will take me quite a while to answer them! I shall begin from the beginning…”

“Hold on!” said Rabbit Little Charm, her face alight with delight. “The story Brother Yan is about to tell must be marvelous! Master, I have a suggestion: let us not stand around listening. Why not all sit together in a circle beside that heap of multicolored spirit stones, activate one of them and place it in the center—then we can absorb spiritual energy while hearing the story, so it will feel as if we are truly there. What do you think?”

True Man Clear Void, Yan Chixia, Bai Xiaoyue, and Pinecone all agreed at once.

So they went together to the brilliantly colored heap of spirit stones and sat down around it in high spirits. True Man Clear Void picked up one of the multicolored spirit stones, struck it with his palm to awaken it, and placed it atop the pile. While they all delighted in the endless spiritual energy radiating from it, they listened intently to Yan Chixia’s tale.

In vivid detail and with unbroken flow, Yan Chixia recounted every experience he and She Mei'er had had on their journey to Desperate Valley. Bai Xiaoyue, Rabbit Little Charm, and Pinecone listened in suspense and alarm, and even True Man Clear Void could not help but be deeply moved. When Yan Chixia spoke of how, because he had not worn the life-protecting Sun Child pendant, he had been stabbed by Master Xuanyuan, Bai Xiaoyue cried out in fright and hurriedly took the Sun Child pendant from her robe pocket and put it around Yan Chixia’s neck.

When Yan Chixia came to the part where She Mei'er used the Wishful Divine Ark to bring him into Desperate Valley, True Man Clear Void suddenly understood and exclaimed in admiration:

“So that is how it is!”

At last, Yan Chixia said to True Man Clear Void with great excitement:

“Master, no wonder you went to Desperate Valley three times and returned empty-handed each time, unable to break that barrier. It was because that barrier was the Everlasting Bind personally set by the immortal Chisongzi!”

“What?!” True Man Clear Void turned pale with shock. “Danzi, how do you know this?”

“She Mei'er told me,” Yan Chixia answered. “Master, when I was standing with She Mei'er atop the multicolored spirit-stone mine pit, she said she had a tremendous secret to tell me. I asked what secret it was, and she said that about a hundred zhang beneath our feet there was an underground palace, and within it an ancient immortal was in seclusion. I asked her how she knew, and she said that when her master first brought her into Desperate Valley and she stood atop the mine pit, she inadvertently released her spiritual sense and glimpsed it. The ancient immortal in seclusion was none other than the only cultivator in this world who had reached the realm of the Primordial Grand Luo Golden Immortal, the immortal Chisongzi!”

“Truly?” True Man Clear Void’s voice trembled. “What makes you say so?”

Yan Chixia replied:

“Master, She Mei'er said that when her master used spiritual sense to peer upon the immortal Chisongzi’s true form, he found him sitting motionless. To his right lay a large slab of blue stone, a motto stone, on which were carved the words: peak realm, lonely beyond endurance, what more could one ask, secluded forever, doomed in this place, barrier in the valley, a message left by Chisongzi, fifth month of the first year of the Shang-Tang era.”

“Ah!” After hearing this, True Man Clear Void could not help but exclaim. “‘Peak realm, lonely beyond endurance, what more could one ask, secluded forever, doomed in this place, barrier in the valley, a message left by Chisongzi’—Danzi, the date on this motto stone is the same as the date on the bamboo slip left inside the Wishful Alchemy Furnace. It seems that the one in seclusion within the underground palace of Desperate Valley truly was the immortal Chisongzi! ‘Peak realm, lonely beyond endurance, what more could one ask, secluded forever, doomed in this place, barrier in the valley’—from his inscription, it is clear that Immortal Chisongzi intended to remain in seclusion forever, until life itself was extinguished. He did not wish to be disturbed, and that is why, before withdrawing, he laid the Everlasting Bind over Desperate Valley. Danzi, at last your master understands why that place is called Desperate Valley.”

“Master, why is that?” Rabbit Little Charm could not help asking. “Immortal Chisongzi’s cultivation had already reached the highest realm, invincible under heaven, free to range wherever he pleased. And yet why would he not live well, but hide away in Desperate Valley to wait for death?”

“Little Charm, you are still young. There are many things whose outward appearance you know, but not their deeper reason,” said True Man Clear Void earnestly. “Perhaps one day, your master too will be doomed in that place, sealed in that valley…”

“No!” Rabbit Little Charm suddenly said, tears welling in her eyes. “Master, I do not want you to be doomed. I want you to live with us forever!”

“Little Charm is right!” Yan Chixia, Bai Xiaoyue, and Pinecone all said at once. “Master, we want to live together forever!”

Hearing this, True Man Clear Void was deeply moved, his heart growing warm at once. He immediately replied:

“Very well! Master promises you that I will certainly live with you forever.” As he said this, his face suddenly reddened, and with some embarrassment he smiled. “Heh heh, your master spoke too strongly just now. In truth, with my talent for cultivation, even if I devoted my entire life’s effort, I fear I still could not reach the Primordial Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm. So I will never feel what it is to be ‘at the peak and lonely beyond endurance.’ Not even in the future—just look at now: for me to break through the bottleneck of the late Tribulation Crossing stage is harder than ascending to the heavens, and I nearly lost my life over it… alas!”

Seeing True Man Clear Void let out a helpless sigh, Yan Chixia hurried to comfort him.

“Master! Do not be gloomy. Soon your cultivation will break through the late Tribulation Crossing bottleneck and enter the Loose Immortal realm!”

“Oh?” True Man Clear Void was immediately roused. “Danzi, what makes you say that?”

Yan Chixia answered:

“Master, She Mei'er told me! She said her master recently discovered an ancient ruin. That ruin is no small matter; its seal is far too powerful. With her master’s Loose Immortal cultivation alone, it is certainly impossible to break it. Therefore, her master must seek another Loose Immortal with the same level of cultivation to join forces with her, and then wait for the right moment for the two of them to attack the seal together.

“When I heard this, I asked her whether that meant the ancient ruin was still intact. I also asked whether her master had found someone to work with yet.

“She said no.

“I said, yes, exactly! In this world, besides your master, I have never even heard of anyone else at the Loose Immortal realm.

“But She Mei'er said that, according to her master, another Loose Immortal would soon appear in this world.

“I said, is that true? She Mei'er, could it be that… the one your master spoke of is my master?

“She said yes—the Loose Immortal who was about to appear was none other than you, Master!

“Her master said that the reason you had previously risked your life to go to the Land of Barren Expanse was precisely to find heavenly uranium crystals in order to refine the Nine Suns Golden Elixir, because your cultivation had met a bottleneck. To break through that bottleneck, you would have to take the Nine Suns Golden Elixir.

“I said, She Mei'er, you are absolutely right! Unfortunately, my master’s journey to the Land of Barren Expanse not only ended in failure, it also left him afflicted with the incurable Tottering Burn illness. Luckily, now there is your master’s help, and she has given us the secret prescription for curing Tottering Burn. And there is you as well, volunteering tirelessly to go to Desperate Valley to seek the Heart Pill Fruit and the Revival Stone for my master.

“But She Mei'er said that she was going to Desperate Valley to find the Heart Pill Fruit and Revival Stone for your master not because she had volunteered, but because her master had arranged it in advance. The reason her master did this was not only to save your master’s life, but more importantly so that her master could join forces with you to break the seal and then enter that ancient ruin.

“I said, She Mei'er, hearing you say this, I am filled with anticipation for what is to come. But will things really turn out as your master predicts? For example, this time the two of us went to Desperate Valley, found the Heart Pill Fruit and the Revival Stone, returned to Clear Void Temple, and refined the Burn-Clearing Golden Elixir. After my master took it, his body would soon be healed. And then? He would not have the heavenly uranium crystals required to refine the Nine Suns Golden Elixir, so he could not make the elixir; the bottleneck in his cultivation would remain unbroken; he would be unable to enter the Loose Immortal realm. If that were so, my master would still be at the Tribulation Crossing stage. How could he join your master in breaking the seal on that ancient ruin?

“But She Mei'er smiled and said to me, Yan Chixia, you really do think of everything. Do you suppose my master is saving your master this time for no reason at all?

“I sensed there was more in her words, so I asked her, She Mei'er, from what you say, your master has long since held her elaborate plan in complete confidence and full expectation? She did not answer directly, but instead said very mysteriously to me: heavenly secrets must not be divulged. As for whether her master’s plan can be achieved, I should wait and see…”

“Ah!” Hearing this, True Man Clear Void became agitated beyond measure. “Danzi, are you saying that Lady Nine Heavens truly has a way to help your master break through the bottleneck and enter the Loose Immortal realm? And then join her to go to that ancient ruin and assault the seal? Hahaha, splendid! Danzi, the amount of information you brought back from Desperate Valley this time is so vast that even I am finding it a little overwhelming! Very well, Danzi, you all may do as you please here. Your master is going back to his room to calm himself and digest all this properly…”