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The rain and wind were dark and gloomy. In the midst of the dense forest was a narrow winding trail, its end far beyond sight.

This place had evidently been deserted for a long time. After being drenched by the heavy rain, the ground became muddy and much more difficult to tread.

A youth, about sixteen to seventeen years old, was helping an old man as they made their way through with great difficulty. Both of them were wearing raincoats made of straw, which barely served their purpose. After walking for most of the evening, they had been thoroughly drenched. The old man seemed to have some problem with his leg, so he couldn"t handle the cold well, and would occasionally stop to rub his aching knee.

He squinted his old eyes, struggling to look into the distance, and couldn"t help sighing.

Next to him, the youth complained, “What immortals? Nonsense! They"re always taking our offerings, but whenever we try to meet them, we"d suffer such difficulties. What use is there for the villagers, scrimping and saving on our own expenses to worship them?”

The old man was startled hearing those words and hurried to say, “Don"t speak out of line!”

The youth"s eyes were so wide with his glare that they seemed round, as if he were a little tiger. He continued in annoyance, “Am I wrong? They describe it so pompously as protecting us here, but did those immortals ever bless us with favorable weather? Whenever we encountered a great drought or flood, did they ever ask for any less offerings? When the King of Anping staged an armed rebellion, bringing disaster over Shiwu Town with bandits making a scene everywhere and driving people out of their homes, did they ever show their faces? Fine, even if these were all the affairs of the mortal world and beyond the immortals" care, then what about this time? There"s an evil spirit terrorizing the village, devouring people and bringing so much unrest, but they"re still acting oblivious, waiting for us to beg for their help?”

The old man"s leg hurt so much he couldn"t straighten his waist as he spoke, “Immortals cultivate in peace and don"t care about worldly matters. If we have anything to ask of them, of course we must seek them out ourselves! What nonsense are you spouting!”

The young man said in anger, “Oh, really? This trail is the only way to reach Mingming Valley, we need to endure so much hardship, and those who don"t have a sincere heart wouldn"t be able to withstand it all! When they send their people to claim the offerings, why don"t they come down step-by-step like this? But now they"re talking about sincerity…”

“Liulang, shut your mouth!” The old man forcefully jabbed his walking cane on the ground, “If you keep spouting nonsense, haul your a.s.s back home! Don"t bring harm to the people of Shiwu Town in front of the immortals!”

Seeing the old man blow up in anger, the youth"s face darkened. He didn"t dare to say another word. Only when his grandfather had turned around did he mumble his dissatisfaction under his breath, “Are immortals so great?”

Right then, a brutal lightning strike suddenly descended from the sky, falling only a short distance from them. The youth was caught off guard and immediately went pale in fear. He put aside his earlier pettiness and hurried to ask as soon as the thunderous sounds had subsided, “Grandpa, why is the thunder so unusual today?”

Before the old man could reply, numerous other lightning bolts had fallen continuously like raindrops, causing the entire night sky to turn white. Fear appeared on the old man"s face as he hurriedly pulled the youth into a kneel next to him, prostrating before the heavenly might. He murmured his prayers under his breath, too scared to move. The birds and beasts in the forest were so frightened they didn"t dare show their faces. Even the gra.s.s and the trees were quivering too.

They didn"t know how much time had pa.s.sed before the thunderous roars finally went away. There were some lingering aftershocks in the air, and the earth seemed to still be trembling.

For a long while, the youth couldn"t hear a single sound. He had been thoroughly shocked, and didn"t dare to make any insolent remarks.

Only when the shower had pa.s.sed, and the clouds had parted to reveal the hazy and gloomy moon, did the trembling youth finally move to help the old man up. They then continued their journey.

Liulang asked, “Grandpa, there must have been dozens of lightning strikes earlier, this… The Mingming Valley couldn"t have been demolished just like that, right?”

“Don"t speak out of turn,” the old man scolded in a low voice. As they made their way through the mud, the footsteps he left altered between deep and shallow due to his limp. He lowered his voice and said, “There must have been an immortal undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation.”

“Tribulation?”

“The immortals" path of cultivation isn"t easy, they must experience numerous calamities. I heard that among them, the Heavenly Tribulation is the deadliest. Countless immortals have lost their lives to the Heavenly Tribulation, but if they could survive it, their cultivation would increase greatly, and they would be a step closer to truly sharing their life with the heaven and the earth.” As the old man spoke, a hint of uncertainty pa.s.sed across his face, “I"d heard from my grandfather in the past, he had seen an immortal undergo the Heavenly Tribulation once. At that time, there had only been nine lightning strikes, but why was it so dangerous for this one… Could it be, the person undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation was a formidable master like the Valley Lord?”

As they spoke, the small winding trail suddenly came to a turn. The way ahead of them opened up to a clear s.p.a.ce, revealing the valley"s complete appearance.

The mountain valley was clear and bright under the moon, its vast expanse stretching into the distance. After the shower, flowers were blooming as far as the eyes could see. The moonlight was like a thin veil, casting an ethereal color over the valley, as if the place was a paradise within the mortal world.

The young man exclaimed in joyful surprise, “Grandpa, look, we"ve…”

Before he could finish his words, the entirety of his person had frozen in shock.

At the end of the flowery slope was a large plain, its surroundings marked with a circle of carvings that the common folk couldn"t understand. At the moment, the large open area had been burned black by the lightning strikes, making a stark contrast between the inside and outside of the circle — outside, the flowers were in full bloom; inside, not a single blade of gra.s.s was left.

But on the thoroughly charred ground, a person was standing perfectly upright.

That person"s long robes had been reduced to rags, the sleeves burned to shreds. Looking from behind, this person had a rather tall stature, so it was probably a man.

There was a hundred zhang in between them, but that person seemed to have heard Liulang"s voice and turned to look at them. Even though this person"s clothes were in tatters, his features were extraordinarily distinct and handsome. Under the pale glow of the moon, there was the impression that he was made of jade. His eyes seemed to contain a layer of frost that had been acc.u.mulated through the years — as soon as Liulang met his gaze, he immediately felt chilled from the top of his head to the tips of his feet, and became so frightened that he didn"t dare to move the slightest bit.

The next moment, Liulang was pulled by his grandfather and they both knelt on the ground. The old man repeatedly kowtowed toward that man, “Greetings to the immortal, this lowly one came from Shiwu Town outside the valley. We"ve come to ask for help this time, and harbor no malicious intention to intrude, please do not take offense.”

That man was stunned for a bit, but then he casually waved his hand. Liulang felt an autumn-like chill spreading around him. It was a bit cold, but not freezing. And then his body went light — both he and his grandfather had been lifted up by that chill.

This immortal was surprisingly good-natured. Not only did he not give them any trouble, he also spoke to them quite politely, “It"s alright, there is no need to be so courteous — the affairs outside the valley aren"t for me to handle, please wait while I summon someone for you.”

After he finished speaking, he snapped his fingers to produce a bolt of white light, which went straight toward the horizon. A moment later, a small ball of light, which seemed like a firefly, flew toward them at a high speed. When it came close, Liulang saw that it was a Daoist child flying on his sword.

The Daoist child put away his sword as he landed, respectfully making an obeisance to the man in tatters, “Elder Cheng, congratulations for surviving a Major Heavenly Tribulation, and for your cultivation going up another level.”

“There"s nothing to congratulate, I was almost scorched through,” the man replied mildly and pointed at the grandfather-grandchild pair behind him, “They came from outside, probably because they need help. Take care of them.”

After giving these simple orders, he gave Liulang and his grandfather a quick nod. Then his figure turned into a blur, quickly disappearing.

This heaven-defying ability had stunned Liulang. Even as the Daoist child came forward to invite them into the valley, his mind was still filled with the figure of that man, standing in the middle of the charred ground and casually turning back to glance at them.

Liulang off-handedly thought, that person didn"t seem to be much older than himself, but he was already an ‘Elder" in this Mingming Valley? He couldn"t help envying that person, but then he recalled that piercing, frost-like gaze, and quickly pushed that envy back down. A feeling of awe and veneration appeared in his heart, and he didn"t dare to think disrespectful thoughts anymore.

The Daoist child procured a leaf from his robe, placed it at his mouth, and blew out a disorderly little tune. From the skies, a neighing sound came in response. A white horse descended with a carriage attached to it, snorted in a demonstration of its might, and landed on the ground steadily.

The Daoist child said amiably, “If it weren"t for the blessing from you two, I might not have been able to speak to him today. Please get on.”

The two common folks anxiously got into the flying horse carriage. Liulang was young, so he said without much thought, “Immortal Brother, was that person an elder in the valley?”

The old man was worried that he would say the wrong thing and hurriedly tugged at him, saying in fear and trepidation, “Please don"t take offense, this child…”

“It"s alright, Sir,” the Daoist child steered the flying horse and spoke quite energetically, “There"s an icy lake in our Mingming Valley, it"s so cold that I don"t even dare to go near. It is said that any water that goes within one zhang of the lake would be frozen, but the mystical water within the lake never ceases its flow. That senior had started living there at some point, opening a cave at the side of the lake. He contained the coldness of the entire lake in that cave and continuously cultivated in that extremely cold place. Look, the valley can be so full of life now because he had subdued that icy lake. He rarely ever showed his face, we secretly call him the ‘Elder of the Ethereal Lake".”

Liulang was stunned by those words and couldn"t help saying, “How cold is that place, isn"t he scared?”

The Daoist child smiled, “Those who tread the path of cultivation should be able to withstand all sorts of difficulties. If they don"t have the determination, how could they achieve the Great Dao?”

As they spoke, the carriage had risen and descended a few times. After reaching the center of the valley, it slowly landed on the ground.

When Liulang got off and looked around, he saw that this place had all sorts of pavilions and buildings, with streams of water flowing freely. There was n.o.body in the tranquil silence other than the few cranes occasionally rising and descending. As they walked in, Liulang felt his body turn light. He looked down in surprise and saw that the mud and rainwater acc.u.mulated on his body through the entire night had completely vanished, and his body felt quite warm.

The Daoist child led them both into a small pavilion, and amid their endless grat.i.tude, poured them a cup of warm tea. Then he asked the reason for their visit.

The old man sighed, “This… Ah, this is a long story. The trivial matters of the common people shouldn"t have been burdened on the immortals, but in recent days, some sort of evil spirit had come to bring harm upon the village, specifically targeting the children. Only a little over ten days had pa.s.sed, but four to five boys had gone missing in the surrounding towns and villages. After a few days, their corpses were found in the wilderness, mostly eaten by the beasts. We"ve reported this case to the authorities, and they"d sent a few coroners over. The coroners said that those children had been drained of their blood before they lost their lives.”

When the Daoist child heard this, his smiling face turned serious, “What? Their blood had been drained? How old were those boys?”

The old man murmured ‘such calamity" under his breath before answering, “All of them weren"t even ten years old. Because something like this had happened, the adults kept guard outside for quite a few nights, and then… And then, on that day, we had all seen a white figure. From afar, it looked like white silk suspended in the air, but in a heartbeat, it was right in front of us. Before anyone could react, someone had screamed. When we looked, one of the men had a hole in his chest. Somehow, that thing had carved his heart out in the blink of an eye. Even the government agents were frightened, they said that the authorities can"t handle evil spirits acting up, so this old one has come to the valley to ask for help from you immortals.”

Hearing these, the Daoist child asked a few more questions in detail and said, “I have a general picture in my head now. Don"t worry, Sir. You and this young one can rest in the valley for the night while I report this to the seniors, we will give you an answer tomorrow.”

And so, the old man and his grandson stayed in Mingming Valley for the night. The wind was fresh in the valley and there was the faint scent of flowers in the air — it was a splendid place. But Liulang couldn"t sleep for some reason. The image of that young senior who had experienced the Lightning Tribulation refused to leave his mind. As midnight came around, he suddenly heard people speaking outside. They were very far away, so Liulang could only hear parts of their words.

A man"s voice spoke, “Yes, I"ve heard on my way here, but since it"s causing trouble in a village of common folks, it might not be a troublesome one… Hmm, let"s have Cheng Qian go to look on his way off.”

An older man"s voice also spoke up, “Alright. He has experienced seven Heavenly Tribulations, now he has basically regained his life through tribulations. It"s about time for him to leave.”

Liulang was originally unable to sleep, but when he heard these words, he suddenly felt drowsiness crawling on him out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, he had fallen asleep and could no longer hear anything.

Two men pa.s.sed outside his window one after the other, going toward the icy lake in the middle of the valley. The one walking in front was an old man whose face was youthful and energetic despite his fully white hair. He was so fat that his body was round like a ball, and when he smiled, you could only see his teeth and not his eyes. He was wearing an extremely gaudy set of satin robes, all sorts of ta.s.sels and pouches hanging from his waistband messily. His attire was extraordinarily garish, just like a counselor of the common folk — he was the Lord of Mingming Valley, Nian Mingming.

Behind Nian Mingming was a scholarly middle-aged man who had extremely gentle facial features. Looking closely, he seemed to be the primordial spirit that had escaped from the Spirit-Consuming Lamp back then, Tang Zhen.

Through some unknown methods, Tang Zhen had regained a physical body. But this physical body didn"t seem to be a very good one, vaguely carrying a deathly and sickly aura. It was unclear whether he had used body-possession or some other shady practices.

Tang Zhen was holding a white lantern in his hand. The lantern had no candle, but there was a gentle glow inside the paper. It seemed to be some kind of artifact. Tang Zhen said, “This idea was originally the wildest fantasy I have ever had, it was completely unheard of. Not even I had expected him to really succeed.”

Nian Mingming smiled, “His physical body had met an untimely end, so he had undergone the Tribulation of Man. But on the verge of death, he suddenly had an epiphany, so his soul was able to enter the Spirit-Condensing Jade. The Spirit-Condensing Jade was a celestial artifact which could gather the essence of the lands. It shouldn"t be possible for souls to enter the jade so easily, but at such a young age, this boy was able to keep his soul from dispersing and successfully maintained his consciousness, hanging on inside the Spirit-Condensing Jade for forty-nine years. With no physical body, he had somehow cultivated his primordial spirit in the jade, so he had also undergone the Earthly Tribulation. Forty-nine years ago, you brought the Spirit-Condensing Jade to my Mingming Valley, and with the Spirit-Condensing Jade as the base, continued to mould his body for another forty-nine years with the icy lake. Let"s not mention him withstanding the extreme cold, he had also experienced seven Heavenly Tribulations — ah, he is only a little over one hundred years old, but he has gone through the Three Tribulations of Heaven, Earth, and Man… This old one has lived for so many years, but I"ve never seen anything like this child"s unyielding resolution.”

As he spoke, Nian Mingming patted his own belly and spoke with a complicated look, “If this old one had half of his determination, I would"ve been an old man who still has a waistline.”

Tang Zhen, “…”

A formidable master of this old man"s level should have long since achieved inedia, but he couldn"t help his gluttony, so this fat body of his had been built through the years and had been tested by time.

After being left speechless for a while, Tang Zhenren said with a solemn face, “I haven"t thanked the Valley Lord for lending the icy lake.”

Nian Mingming waved his hand, “What are you talking about. With him to subdue the icy lake, those worthless disciples of mine don"t need to suffer from the cold, so we"ve also enjoyed comfort. Moreover, having someone like him be an ‘Elder" in my lowly Mingming Valley is such an honor, we would be grateful to benefit from a.s.sociation with him.”

“I owe this young one a favor, so when Wen Daoyou brought the Spirit-Condensing Jade to me back then, I had to figure out a way to help him,” Tang Zhen said, “But even if chances had allowed him to cultivate a primordial spirit in the Spirit-Condensing Jade, cultivating a physical body from the jade had truly never happened before, so I didn"t know whether he would succeed. I was worried that when too much time had pa.s.sed, he would grow anxious because of his worries, so I extracted his past memories. Now, he has experienced seven Heavenly Tribulations, and has successfully cultivated his body from the Spirit-Condensing Jade. It"s time for me to return what rightfully belongs to him.”

As they spoke, the two of them had reached the icy lake. When they approached, the cold became a bit unbearable for Tang Zhen, so he quickly made a seal with his hands, and the deathly aura on his face became heavier.

Moving further forward, they could hear the sound of splashing water. The master of this place had just finished bathing and was exiting the freezing lake. Nian Mingming said aloud, “Cheng Qian Xiaoyou [1], have we disturbed your peace?”

It wasn"t the first time this fatty had disturbed his peace. Everyone in Mingming Valley was very talkative and noisy for some reason, so Cheng Qian was used to it.

He didn"t feel any particular discomfort from their presence. He walked out from the misty lake of ice, picked up his robe — which had been frozen at the side of the lake — and draped it over his body. Within three steps, his hair, which had been covered in shards of ice, had completely dried. The robe on his body had also fallen around his body naturally. His cultivation, moulded through countless trials, had reached a stage where it could affect the surroundings soundlessly.

Cheng Qian nodded at them, “Valley Lord — Tang-xiong, I was planning to pay you a visit, would you like to come in? It"s a little cold here, though.”

It was midsummer, but there was no hint of heat in the lakeside cave. Walking in, one would be greeted with the sight of ice and frost mercilessly covering every surface. Even the chairs had been frozen in place, sheets of ice frozen over them. Cheng Qian moved his fingers in a slight pinching motion, producing a warm ball of fire at his fingertips. It settled under one of the chairs, immediately evaporating the ice over it without burning the chair.

Cheng Qian said, “Tang-xiong"s physique isn"t very good, please sit in a warmer spot.”

As for the Valley Lord, Nian Mingming, Cheng Qian paid him no mind. The old fatty had thick skin and fat, he could withstand the cold.

The water in the teapot on the table had long since frozen into cold, hard ice. Cheng Qian picked up the teapot and swayed it a few times. With the energy he sent toward it, the block of ice melted, and after a while, began producing steam. He poured each of his visitors a cup of warm water.

Tang Zhen received the cup to warm his hands and placed the lantern in front of Cheng Qian, “It"s time to return this to you. On this path of yours, you have regained another chance at life, which is a remarkable accomplishment. In the future, you need to be more careful.”

Cheng Qian wasn"t surprised. He clearly knew that Tang Zhen had extracted his memories of the past. He nodded, brought the small ball of light into his sleeve with a wave of his hand, and said solemnly, “I will remember Tang-xiong"s grace in helping me gain this physical body. If there is anything in the future that you need help with, Cheng Qian shall not hesitate to risk life and limb for you.”

[1] ‘Xiaoyou" The phrase used here is 「小友」, which literally means ‘young friend". It"s similar to ‘Daoyou", except it"s commonly used for younger fellow cultivators.

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