Chapter 1614: Bai Shuyue's Path to Immortality
Chapter 1614: Bai Shuyue's Path to Immortality
Bai Shuyue possessed a genuine talent for the art of mystification. After successfully "predicting" the natural disasters that would occur over the next few years, her standing in the Prince's manor grew with each passing day.
Furthermore, she barely concerned herself with worldly affairs, losing herself in a sea of books day after day, only offering a few words of guidance at the most crucial moments.
This reserved demeanor only deepened Prince Langya's trust in her.
More importantly, this enigmatic figure had one fatal weakness.
Her nephew, frail and perpetually confined to his bed.
Prince Langya saw how deeply Bai Shuyue cared for Li Fan. With the resources of the Prince's manor, supporting one Li Fan was a trivial matter; they could have provided for a hundred, even a thousand, for their entire lives without issue.
Thus, he had a garden estate specially built to accommodate Li Fan.
One day, Prince Langya came to ask Bai Shuyue about his future.
"To do more is to err more."
Prince Langya pondered this for a long time before bowing and withdrawing.
Three years later, an imperial edict was issued from the capital. The Emperor, just before his death, had passed the throne to the unassuming Prince Langya, who had always kept a low profile.
The various factions stirred, undercurrents of turmoil surging beneath the surface.
But Prince Langya, forewarned by Bai Shuyue, was already prepared.
While everyone was still searching for him in Langya Commandery, he himself had already taken three hundred elite soldiers and appeared within the imperial palace.
With lightning speed, before any of the factions could react, he successfully secured the throne, taking the reign name Xuanjing.
The world praised Emperor Xuanjing for his decisiveness, which allowed him to seize power without bloodshed and avert a crisis of civil war.
Only a select few knew the truth: that the enigmatic woman in the Prince's manor—now the imperial palace—was the true architect behind it all.
"Though you have ascended the throne, the realm is not yet settled. Disaster lurks in the shadows; you must not let down your guard."
Bai Shuyue handed a slip of paper to Emperor Xuanjing.
Emperor Xuanjing used the list on the paper to launch a secret investigation and indeed uncovered signs of traitors plotting rebellion. Thus, before they could make their move, he struck first, unleashing a ruthless purge and nipping it all in the bud.
Emperor Xuanjing's bloody methods thoroughly intimidated the imperial court.
And the existence of the enigmatic Bai Shuyue, rumored to command supernatural powers, finally became known to all the court officials.
Hiding their subversive thoughts, the court grew temporarily stable.
As for Bai Shuyue, she could finally dedicate herself wholeheartedly to finding a cure for Li Fan's strange illness.
Just as in the last life, Li Fan's mysterious illness struck right on schedule.
Despite her preparations and having read countless medical texts, Bai Shuyue could find no way to cure her nephew. RA`N0B(ES
She could not even alleviate his suffering and could only watch helplessly as Li Fan wasted away, day by day.
When Emperor Xuanjing heard of this, he summoned the imperial physicians to consult on Li Fan's case.
But they were all powerless to help.
Just as in the last life, Bai Shuyue witnessed Li Fan's death with her own eyes.
Only this time, she had slowly grown accustomed to it.
Her hair did not turn white overnight; she simply prepared his body for burial in silence.
After losing her nephew, Bai Shuyue no longer had any attachment to worldly affairs. She devoted herself entirely to the study of medicine.
Even later, when Emperor Xuanjing repeatedly consulted her on supernatural matters, Bai Shuyue would only claim ignorance.
Even when the increasingly furious Emperor Xuanjing threatened her with her own life, she calmly refused.
Emperor Xuanjing was at his wit's end, but in the end, he did not take her life.
Instead, he ordered the palace where she resided to be completely sealed, barring all outsiders.
As long as she had her medical books, Bai Shuyue didn't mind.
The palace gates closed, and thirty years passed.
Thirty years later, Bai Shuyue was nearing the end of her life.
One day, the long-sealed wooden doors opened once more. Emperor Xuanjing, his own hair now completely white, slowly approached Bai Shuyue.
After dismissing all the servants, Emperor Xuanjing looked at the aged and frail Bai Shuyue. The life-extending methods he had come to ask for—he found he could not bring himself to ask.
"You understand the ways of gods and spirits, yet you end up in the same state," Emperor Xuanjing said with a bitter smile.
Bai Shuyue remained silent.
"Did you find a cure?" After a long silence, Emperor Xuanjing gazed at the countless medical books stacked like mountains around them, yet still neatly arranged, and asked.
"Mortal methods, perhaps, cannot cure his affliction," Bai Shuyue finally spoke, her voice somewhat hoarse.
Emperor Xuanjing stared at her, full of expectation, waiting for her to continue.
"But the secret arts of immortals... how could a mere mortal ever know them?" Bai Shuyue said, her tone tinged with despair.
Emperor Xuanjing was stunned. He let out a few bitter laughs, waved his hand, and turned to leave.
This time, the palace gates were not sealed.
However, Bai Shuyue had no intention of leaving.
Sensing that she was about to reach the end of her life, Bai Shuyue felt utterly calm. She lay quietly on her bed and lost consciousness.
"Return to Truth!"
The Saint Creation Plan, fourth lifetime.
This time, Bai Shuyue no longer confined herself to conventional medicine.
Instead, she turned her attention to all sorts of folk remedies and esoteric sorcery.
Since conventional methods couldn't cure Li Fan, Bai Shuyue decided to try a more unorthodox approach.
"Li Fan, be a good boy. Listen to your aunt and drink this medicine." Bai Shuyue held out a bowl of black, foul-smelling "medicine" before Li Fan.
Li Fan pinched his nose and drank it.
Half a day later, his face turned a deathly blue-black, and he died bleeding from all seven orifices.
Bai Shuyue stared blankly at Li Fan's body, a flicker of remorse in her eyes.
"Return to Truth!"
"The progress is too slow. She is, after all, only a mortal. It seems I'll have to find a way to speed things up."
The Saint Creation Plan, fifth lifetime!
This time, Bai Shuyue took a multi-pronged approach. Combining the strengths of various schools of thought, she developed a method that could successfully extend Li Fan's life.
Using Prince Langya's power, she gathered many strong, healthy young men.
She extracted their vital blood essence and transfused it into the ailing Li Fan.
The blood essence of these robust men was all carefully selected by Bai Shuyue to ensure it wouldn't clash with Li Fan's fate. Nourished by it, Li Fan's complexion indeed improved.
This was a historic breakthrough! Bai Shuyue was overjoyed.
However, keeping Li Fan alive required a constant supply of blood essence from healthy young men. Although procuring a few strong men was a simple matter with Prince Langya's power...
using the drawn blood of living people for treatment was a truly shocking and horrifying affair. For some unknown reason, word of this leaked out and became public knowledge.
The common people were in an uproar, the court officials were filled with righteous indignation, and the Emperor was furious.
Left with no choice, Prince Langya had to hand over Bai Shuyue to take the blame.
Fortunately, Bai Shuyue was vigilant and had long ago placed spies throughout the Prince's manor. She received news of this in advance and hastily fled with Li Fan.
Although she wasn't caught, she had become known throughout the Great Xuan as a "monster." She could only hide in the depths of the mountains and forests.
With Bai Shuyue's medical knowledge, accumulated over several lifetimes and spanning a hundred years, the two of them wouldn't have trouble surviving.
But the conditions in the wilderness were harsh. Without the life-extending blood essence transfusions, Li Fan's relatively stable health slowly began to deteriorate.
"It seems I'll have to learn my lesson for next time. I need to build my own power base and not place all my hopes on others." After giving Li Fan a dose of medicine, Bai Shuyue thought to herself as she watched her nephew drift off to sleep.
Bai Shuyue no longer expected him to last much longer, so she gave up on the idea of treating him.
She simply traveled with Li Fan, enjoying the mountains and rivers, living a life completely different from before.
She had thought that Li Fan would soon succumb to his illness and she would begin her next cycle. But one day, the two of them stumbled upon a cave.
"Aunt, I feel a bit better staying here."
Li Fan's words astonished Bai Shuyue.
This was a situation that had never occurred in any of her previous lifetimes, so she immediately began to inspect the cave carefully.
It appeared to have once been someone's dwelling, but not much had been left behind.
Only half a stone that emitted a peculiar aura and a jade slip.
Bai Shuyue, who prided herself on her vast knowledge, found herself bewildered by the two objects before her.
Although she didn't know what the stone and jade slip were, she was certain they would be helpful for her nephew's condition.
It was as if she had found a glimmer of hope. Bai Shuyue decided to settle down in the cave.
She would try to unravel the mysteries of the jade slip and the stone.
Unfortunately, by the time Li Fan passed away, she had discovered nothing.
She cremated Li Fan's body and carried his ashes with her. Bai Shuyue carefully stored the two items and traveled the world, hoping to find someone who knew what they were.
But her search was fruitless.
Just as Bai Shuyue was nearing the end of her life in this cycle, a sensational rumor reached her ears.
Immortals had come from the east, unleashed heavenly punishment, and the capital, Xuanjing, had been reduced to ruins.
The casualties were countless!
Bai Shuyue was shocked to hear this. In all her lifetimes, nothing like this had ever happened!
"How could this be?"
At first, Bai Shuyue was confused, but then realization dawned.
"My lifespan this time, for some reason, is far longer than before?"
"This year is..."
"Fifty years later?"
"Without even realizing it, I've lived this long?"
Bai Shuyue was stunned and quickly took out the strange objects she carried with her.
The jade slip was unchanged.
But the stone...
It seemed to be smaller than when she first found it.
A guess immediately formed in Bai Shuyue's mind.
Next, she headed toward Xuanjing City, trying to find out more about the immortals, while also wanting to further "absorb" the stone.
Unfortunately, before she could return to the capital...
her life came to an end.
"Return to Truth!"
The Saint Creation Plan, sixth lifetime!
In this life, Bai Shuyue, now with a clear goal, was no longer lost.
Before her nephew fell ill, she went deep into the forest and retrieved the jade slip and stone.
She gave the stone to Li Fan to wear close to his body.
As for herself, she continued to study the jade slip.
"If I'm not mistaken, these two items... belong to immortals."
Bai Shuyue toyed with the jade slip in her hand, musing to herself.
"Perhaps I'll have to wait fifty years to learn more from the two immortals when they descend."
Suddenly, Bai Shuyue's expression tensed slightly.
For some reason, she felt that the jade slip in her hand was somehow different from the last lifetime.
But she couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different.
But Bai Shuyue was certain it wasn't her imagination!
With the strange stone extending his life from an early age, Li Fan lived longer this time than in any previous life.
Bai Shuyue was greatly relieved.
But Li Fan still didn't live to see the immortals descend; he succumbed to his illness.
Only then did Bai Shuyue begin to study the small piece of stone that remained.
"It seems... there's some kind of strange energy inside it."
Closing her eyes, Bai Shuyue could feel the peculiar substance contained within the stone. It seemed she could...
Draw it out?
After hundreds of attempts, Bai Shuyue actually succeeded in drawing the spiritual energy from the spirit stone into her body.
Just an instant later, Bai Shuyue's appearance aged rapidly.
The little lifespan she had left was burned away in a flash.
Bai Shuyue died in stunned disbelief.
"Return to Truth!"
"Still too slow!"
"But I can't be too hasty. The path to creating a saint, a samsara of ten thousand lifetimes, cannot have a single flaw."
"Otherwise, I will fail at the final moment, just before dawn!"
Li Fan's voice echoed in the darkness.
Seventh lifetime!
Because of the horrifying experience at the end of her last life, Bai Shuyue was now wary of the immortal's belongings.
But to save Li Fan's life, she ultimately chose to continue her research.
She temporarily gave up on touching the spirit stone.
Instead, using the same method she had used to draw out the energy from the stone, she tried to activate the jade slip.
At that moment, Bai Shuyue suppressed the fear in her heart, prepared to age and die in an instant once more.
But the disaster she expected never came. Instead, a passage of text appeared in her mind.
"I tried this before. But back then, the jade slip didn't respond."
"It seems my feeling was correct."
Although she didn't know what the changes in each cycle meant, from the looks of it now, it seemed to be a good thing.
Bai Shuyue carefully read the contents of the jade slip.
Her expression gradually turned to shock.
"Small Five Elements Art?"
"What in the world..."
Bai Shuyue took a deep breath, first calming her emotions. Once she was completely calm, she continued to study it.
To Bai Shuyue, who had read voraciously, although some of the terms in this cultivation technique were unclear, it was, on the whole, not difficult to understand.
"The spiritual energy of the five elements of heaven and earth can all be absorbed into the body to strengthen the internal organs..."
"In medical texts, there is indeed a classification of organs by the five elements. But five-element spiritual energy?"
Bai Shuyue frowned slightly.
"Spiritual energy, spiritual energy..."
She thought of that spirit stone again.
"According to the technique, to cultivate, one needs spiritual energy."
"But from my previous experience, it seems that spiritual energy is a deadly poison to me..."
Bai Shuyue was completely baffled.
In the end, she could only pin her hopes on the two immortals who would descend in fifty years.
Time flew by.
One day, two shooting stars streaked across the horizon.
A thunderous voice resounded through the world.
"Dao Xuanzi! You've gone too far!"
...
Bai Shuyue watched from a safe distance outside Xuanjing City, gazing at the two figures in the sky, feeling an inexplicable excitement.
This was the first time she had ever truly seen immortals.
But she didn't rush forward to greet them; she waited patiently.
Bai Shuyue knew that these two immortals were about to engage in a fierce battle.
That would be her chance to make an appearance.
"I hope this works."
Bai Shuyue's gaze swept furtively across the outskirts of Xuanjing City.
In fifty years, she hadn't just been waiting.
(End of this chapter)
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