After the young Lord Warden Commander went up the mountain for the second ti, the Subli Bright Sect was declared destroyed. Though not every cultivator on the mountain perished, they were forced to relocate their daoist grounds, which in essence was no different from destruction.
Subli Bright Mountain was then taken over by Great Liang and several major sects. A few years ago, quite a few cultivators ca to explore the ruins of that ancient sect. But as ti went on, both the imperial court and the foreign sects had more or less finished their investigations. In recent years, neither side had sent anyone.
The place had grown desolate.
The morning sunlight did not reach the mountains shrouded in white mist.
Two figures arrived at the foot of the mountain, one tall and one short, a man and a woman.
The man was tall and imposing, draped in emperor robes that clearly marked his noble status. The girl beside him looked young, more like a maiden, dressed in pure white garnts. She looked like a goddess descended from the heavens.
Standing at the base of the mountain, looking at the words Rongshan Sect, the man was silent for a mont before asking, “Was it here that the boy found you?”
The girl nodded and smiled. “Though I was muddle-headed for so years, in the last few I had begun to show signs of awakening, enough to perceive the things around . He stumbled into this place by accident, and my heart softened for a mont and saved his life. Otherwise, he would've been completely wiped out by the white mist.”
“Chen Che, if I hadn't saved him back then, the story would've gone down a very different path.”
The Great Liang Emperor was silent for a while, then said decisively, “That child owes you his life. We will repay it on his behalf.”
The girl in white scoffed. “You already owe a life yourself. This is the second ti, how many lives do you have to pay back?”
The Great Liang Emperor remained silent.
The girl in white stepped through the mountain pass gates and walked along the mountain path, speaking to herself, “You've done everything you can to keep him out of this matter, but you must understand, if we fail to accomplish this, then with the speed at which he's cultivating now, sooner or later, he'll reach the end of Nepenthe and see what lies above the end of Nepenthe. By then, whether he's willing or not, he'll be swept up in it. Since that's how it's bound to be, why bother stopping it? You might as well accept it openly. Who knows, when the ti cos, the two of you, uncle and nephew joining forces might beco a fine tale in itself.
The Great Liang Emperor walked slowly with his hands behind his back, still unwilling to nod his head. As long as he lived, he wanted to be the mountain behind his nephew, supporting him. So things had to be handed to Chen Chao to handle, but for more dangerous matters like this one, he would block them if he could.
“Chen Che, you must understand, even if the world you want to change does change, if we fail to accomplish that matter, it's all aningless.”
The girl in white sneered, “This world is full of the heartless. They don't care about the lives of common people. Do you really think everyone is like you?”
The Great Liang Emperor said no more. Perhaps he felt there was no point in saying anything further, or perhaps he thought she was right.
“A thousand years ago, Rongshan Sect's status wasn't necessarily higher than that of the Infatuation Daoist Temple now. But the world back then was different. Even so, Rongshan Sect still had two immortal dicines in its possession. As for the Infatuation Daoist Temple, it doesn't even have one, at least on the surface.”
At this point, the girl in white paused, then smiled and said, “But I've figured sothing out, last ti, there must have been others like who slipped through the net. They hid themselves. So this world is definitely not the way we see it.”
The Great Liang Emperor said, “Sothing must be done. Everyone has their thods, and everyone wants tricks up their sleeves, and everyone must possess ans.”
The girl in white murmured, “Of Rongshan Sect's two immortal dicines, one ended up in his hands, but I ate it in the end.”
The Great Liang Emperor smiled. “Then he no longer owes you anything.”
The girl in white narrowed her eyes and grinned. “Chen Che, with calculations like that, it's hard not to hear the abacus in your head.”
The Great Liang Emperor said nothing, only smiled faintly.
“Though that immortal dicine did co from his hands, I passed him the entire secret art of the white mist. And I let you observe it as well. You two, uncle and nephew, owe far more than just one immortal dicine.”
The girl in white looked at the Great Liang Emperor. Over the past few days, as they spent ti together, she had co to see another side of this human world emperor, not just the side he showed to the world.
The Great Liang Emperor smiled and said, “It doesn't seem like you were a disciple of Rongshan Sect either. That secret art doesn't belong to you either, right??”
The girl in white let out a cold snort; considered to be an acknowledgnt, but not an admission.
The Great Liang Emperor fell into silent thought. The origins and background of the girl before him remained a mystery. At present, aside from knowing she had already crossed the end of Nepenthe and had lived for more than a thousand years, there was little else he truly understood about her. Since she never brought anything up on her own, the Great Liang Emperor would not take the initiative to ask. So matters were simply like that and not sothing to be forced.
When they arrived at the forr dicinal garden, the girl in white said softly, “Both of the immortal dicines have developed sentience, they're only one step away from becoming divine dicines. But it's actually fortunate they didn't reach that stage. Otherwise, let alone the one that escaped from here, even this one that remained would never have stayed all the way here.”
The Great Liang Emperor suddenly asked, “Can an immortal dicine save a life?”
The girl in white understood what he ant. She replied calmly, “If their heart's blood is completely dried up, it can't save them. At most, it can extend their life by a few years. But for you, that should be enough. If you truly want to restore soone entirely, becoming a divine herb is necessary. But sothing of that rarity, among ten thousand immortal dicine, maybe one has a possibility. It's nearly impossible to find in this world. And more importantly, the person you want to save is no longer here.”
A trace of sorrow flickered across the Great Liang Emperor's eyes. He asked, “Then, can it awaken mories of a past life?”
The girl in white raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Do you think she would have a next life?”
After death, unless one had an intense obsession, there was no such thing as reincarnation. Without a resilient enough divine soul, facing the three calamities and six tribulations was nearly impossible to survive.
The notion of reincarnation was a privilege for only a rare few.
The Great Liang Emperor sighed. “It's hard to say.”
He wished that the woman he had loved might have a next life, that he might et her again in this one. But thinking about her temperant, it was hard for him to believe she would truly have a next life.
What sort of obsession could she have had?
A woman like her, even when facing death, had always seed so indifferent.
The girl in white suddenly said, “Legend has it that there's a type of herb called Soul-Returning Herb. It's said that if you eat it, you can recall mories from a past life. But it's just a legend, I've never seen it before as well. I only ca across a ntion of it in an ancient book when I was very young.”
The Great Liang Emperor said, “It seems the world We see is truly just the tip of the iceberg.”
The girl in white did not follow his lead, instead continuing on her own, “That immortal dicine that escaped from here, if it wasn't eaten by soone, then it must have taken on human form. An immortal dicine that's hiding sowhere in the world might be the one with the best chance of becoming a divine dicine in this world. If I could find it and consu it, I wouldn't need to be so cautious anymore.”
That might be so, but once an immortal dicine developed sentience, it was exceedingly difficult to find if it wanted to hide. In the past, sects that cultivated such herbs not only tended them with extre care but also laid down layer upon layer of formations to trap them within the dicinal garden. After all, the maturity of an immortal dicine was often tied to the birth of intelligence, and if humans knew to seek benefit and avoid harm, how could immortal dicines be any different? At that stage, no immortal dicine would willingly allow itself to be consud.
If one did not forcibly keep them in place, not a single one would wait around to be harvested.
So in hindsight, the fact that Chen Chao managed to obtain that immortal dicine was already a stroke of incredible fortune. If Rongshan Sect had not prepared in advance and maintained a thod that remained effective for a thousand years, Chen Chao would have never stood a chance.
However, the girl in white speculated that the two immortal dicines must have matured one after the other, allowing the latter to escape unscathed. Perhaps Rongshan Sect had never considered the possibility of two immortal herbs growing in that garden, and thus only left behind one thod of containnt.
But it was all speculation. What was certain was that the second immortal dicine had escaped and was now nowhere to be found.
In the vast world, it would be nearly impossible to track down.
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