Chapter 283-284 On How to Conquer System Fairies and Make Them Your Wives 283-284 |
A new trading company suddenly appeared in the cultivation world. It was called the Ten Thousand Fragrance Pavilion.
It quickly gained popularity, its unique and innovative products captivating both cultivators and mortals alike. People attributed its success to the business acumen of its founder, the Venerable Wan, unaware of the true source of its merchandise.
However, Immortal Yu Ling was often seen visiting the Pavilion.
No one knew what she did there.
—
Twenty years later, Yu Ling left Ephemeral Mountain and never returned.
No one knew what became of the mountain.
A legend began to spread throughout the cultivation world.
They said that Immortal Yu Ling’s self-created cultivation technique, the “Forgotten Everlasting Heart Sutra,” not only granted incredible healing abilities but also eternal youth.
A wave of fervor swept through the cultivation world, some seeking to steal her technique, others hoping to become her disciple.
But Yu Ling never took a single disciple.
And those who tried to harm her vanished without a trace.
Gradually, no one dared to provoke her. She became a legend, a myth.
—
Thirty years later…
Atop Mount Buqi, seven or eight cultivators stood, their faces grim, their gazes fixed on the sky.
Among them were Elder Wangzhe, now the most respected elder in the cultivation world, and several sect masters and elders from the most powerful sects.
They were the strongest cultivators in the world.
A shimmering light appeared in the sky above Mount Buqi, and Yu Ling’s figure materialized, her beautiful floral dress slightly dusty, her eyes calm and serene.
“Fellow Daoist Yu Ling, how is it?”
“…It’s over,” she said softly.
Elder Wangzhe and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
“Last Triennial Day, we ignored your warning and tried to enter the dimensional passage. We lost almost ten Grand Clarity Realm Immortals. If it weren’t for you, Fellow Daoist, we might not be here today.”
Yu Ling ignored his flattery. “You don’t have to worry so much. The Triennial Day only targets Chosen Ones. The only ones in danger are those with Heavenly Dao Fragments. You should be more concerned about the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation, a thousand years from now. That is the true threat. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to save you next time.”
Elder Wangzhe and the others chuckled wryly.
“…Thank you for your service, Fellow Daoist Yu Ling.”
“Our sects have formed an alliance, to prepare for the next Triennial Heavenly Tribulation. We would be honored if you would lead us, Fellow Daoist Yu Ling.” Elder Wangzhe’s eyes were filled with a hopeful anticipation.
Yu Ling was silent for a long moment.
She wasn’t interested in alliances.
Humans were inherently selfish. Hoping for unity and cooperation in the face of such a distant threat was probably wishful thinking.
The alliance would likely crumble within a century, its members turning on each other, their greed and ambition consuming them.
And the cultivators of the future would forget.
The Triennial Day and the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation would become footnotes in ancient texts, forgotten by all but a few.
But that didn’t matter to Yu Ling.
She didn’t care about their petty squabbles.
She had made a promise, to guard this passage, to prevent another tragedy like the one on Mount Buqi.
—
A century passed.
Everything unfolded as Yu Ling had predicted.
The alliance crumbled, the sects retreating into their own territories, their self-interest overriding any sense of unity.
Elder Wangzhe and the others reached the end of their lifespans, and fewer and fewer people remembered Immortal Yu Ling.
She rarely appeared in public.
She wandered the world aimlessly,
Occasionally stopping at a tavern for a drink,
Returning to Mount Buqi to guard the dimensional passage during the Triennial Day,
Or visiting the Ten Thousand Fragrance Pavilion, using its vast intelligence network to search for traces of the Feng Clan.
But most of the time, she was lost in memories.
Memories of her time with Chen Yin.
The flower field on Ephemeral Mountain.
The lantern festival in Ziqing Province.
The first snow on Mount Buqi.
Each memory a precious fragment, a brushstroke on the canvas of her long life.
She revisited every place they had been together,
Then returned to the wooden hut at the foot of Mount Buqi, to the graves of her friends.
She suddenly felt weary.
She wondered if she should cry, like she had before, her tears falling on their graves.
Perhaps someone would appear, holding her close, whispering words of comfort.
But no one came.
—
One hundred and fifty years later, in Qinglian City…
Yu Ling sat on a cliff, sipping peach blossom wine, Qingmei Niang, the fox demon, beside her.
“Why are you so gloomy lately?” Qingmei Niang asked, pinching her cheek playfully. “You just come here to drink now. You don’t even want to fight anymore. That’s not like you.”
Yu Ling looked out at the scenery below, her voice quiet.
“Mei Niang, have you… ever been in love?”
Qingmei Niang blushed and looked away awkwardly. “O-of course not! We fox demons don’t need… that… to have children. And besides…” she lowered her head, “I’ll be guarding the seal soon. I’ll be gone for five hundred years. By the time I return, everyone I know will be gone. If I can’t be with the one I love, then it’s better not to love at all.”
Yu Ling’s eyes lowered slightly, her legs swinging gently.
“You’re lucky,” Qingmei Niang said, putting her arm around Yu Ling’s shoulder, “if you’re truly immortal, I can still visit you in five hundred years. At least we won’t be alone then.”
Yu Ling smiled faintly, her youthful face so radiant that it seemed to eclipse the surrounding scenery.
Qingmei Niang looked at her, then quickly looked away, a strange expression on her face.
“What about you? What will you do after I’m gone?”
“Me?” Yu Ling smiled, her gaze distant, as if looking beyond the horizon, a hint of longing in her eyes.
“I’m going to find someone.”
—
Seven hundred years later…
Qingmei Niang emerged from the seal, but Yu Ling was gone.
The cultivation world had changed drastically.
The most powerful sect was now the Mist Spirit Sect, its leader hailed as the strongest cultivator in the world.
And Yu Ling had become a legend, a myth.
One day, as the Mist Spirit Sect’s ancestor was meditating, his door was kicked open.
A young girl in a flowing floral dress stood before him.
“I want that mountain of yours.”
No one knew what they discussed,
But afterward, the Mist Spirit Sect announced to the world that Immortal Yu Ling was not a myth, but a living legend, who had joined their sect as an elder, claiming a mountain for herself and establishing a branch sect.
The Mist Spirit Sect’s prestige soared, solidifying its position as the number one sect in the world.
A wave of aspiring cultivators flocked to Mount Yu, hoping to become her disciples.
But Yu Ling took no disciples.
She spent her days alone in her cave, doing only one thing.
…Planting flowers.
Unique flowers, called Mist Yu flowers, that only bloomed on that mountain.
A thousand years later…
In a bustling city…
A dirty, ragged boy was being beaten up by a group of well-dressed children in a dark alley.
“Beat him to death! That little thief! Stealing our food!”
“Kick him! That little bastard! He has no parents!”
The boy curled up on the ground, protecting a half-eaten cake.
After they were done, they spat on him and left.
The boy didn’t say a word, his eyes dull and lifeless.
He slowly got up, his body aching, and wondered where he could steal some medicine.
He prayed he wouldn’t get caught and beaten up again.
As he nibbled on the dirty cake, he noticed a figure standing at the entrance of the alley.
He quickly hid the cake behind his back, his eyes wide with fear and suspicion.
“Who… who are you?”
Yu Ling looked at him, her eyes filled with the weight of a thousand years, her youthful appearance a stark contrast to the ancient wisdom in her gaze.
…Time was a cruel and beautiful thing.
From her vantage point, at the end of a thousand years, all that remained were fragments.
Fragments of memories that had once haunted her, that had made her question the meaning of her existence, that had made her cry herself to sleep countless nights.
But seeing this boy, those wounds had healed,
Replaced by the gentle blossoms of the Mist Yu flower.
Behind her, a young girl, her hand in Yu Ling’s, asked timidly,
“Master…?”
“Who is he?”
Yu Ling realized that she hadn’t spoken a word, her thoughts and emotions trapped within her heart, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
She looked at the boy for a long time,
Her gaze memorizing every detail of his small, thin frame.
Finally, as he shifted nervously, about to run away,
She spoke, her voice a mixture of annoyance and affection, a familiar echo of countless whispered conversations.
“You little brat.”
“You’re filthy.”
“…Come with me. You won’t go hungry anymore.”
And you won’t be alone anymore.
Spring turned to autumn, and an unknown amount of time passed before Chen Yin slowly opened his eyes.
His surroundings were both familiar and foreign.
It was his cultivation cave on Mount Yu,
…yet it felt like he had been gone for years.
He sat there for a long time, memories of his time on Mount Yu flooding his mind.
He remembered Master scolding him for being dirty, then gently washing him in her favorite bath. He remembered her gentle touch on his forehead when he woke from nightmares, the playful spankings she gave him when he misbehaved, her soft, mumbled words as he carried her drunken form back to the mountain, the sweet fragrance of the Mist Yu flowers, her favorite wine, the Eternal Light Sword in her treasure vault…
And the memory that saddened him the most…
…was the look in her eyes when he left for the main sect, a look of unspoken sadness and resignation.
He rushed out of the cave, towards Master’s dwelling.
—
“Big Sister… Master!” he called out as he entered, his voice echoing through the empty rooms.
But there was no answer.
He searched everywhere, but the entire place was deserted.
A sudden fear gripped his heart.
Had he made a mistake? Had his journey to the past changed something?
He frantically searched the entire mountain, then rushed down to the hut at the foot of the mountain.
“Master! Mas—”
He burst into the back room,
And froze.
Nan Xiaoxiang sat in the bath, her eyes wide with surprise, her skin as smooth and white as milk, her ample breasts barely concealed by the steamy water.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Finally, as Nan Xiaoxiang’s face turned crimson, her eyes flashing with anger, Chen Yin coughed awkwardly.
“Ahem… well, well, Miss Nan, enjoying a midday bath?”
“You know I love baths,” she said, her gaze fixed on him. “But you, Young Master Chen, seem to have developed a new hobby. Peeking at women while they bathe.”
…I didn’t know you were in here! Chen Yin thought, annoyed.
He didn’t bother arguing with her. “Where is everyone?”
“Oh, good timing. I was just about to tell you. They’re gone. Yu Ling asked me to tell you not to bother looking for them.”
“Why?” Chen Yin’s heart sank.
Had he returned too late?
Had the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation already happened?
Had something happened to Master…?
“She said she stole all your girls and is now enjoying their company every night. She told you to wear your cuckold hat with pride and forget about them.”
Chen Yin: “…?”
…What the hell?
“Tell me the truth!”
“Those were her exact words.” Nan Xiaoxiang shrugged. “Being cuckolded by your own Master… that’s a new one. You really are—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Chen Yin jumped into the bath, splashing water all over her.
“What are you doing?!”
Nan Xiaoxiang shrieked, covering her chest and sinking deeper into the water, her eyes wide with alarm.
Chen Yin grinned mischievously.
“Since you’re in such a good mood, Miss Nan, I’d be happy to… scrub your back.”
“I don’t need your help! Get out!”
“There’s no one else here. I can do whatever I want,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
Nan Xiaoxiang’s eyes widened in panic.
…Is he serious?!
She was completely naked and vulnerable, and there was no one else on Mount Yu.
Chen Yin’s hands moved towards her waist, his touch sending shivers down her spine.
One hand moved up,
The other down.
Nan Xiaoxiang’s face turned crimson, and she blurted out, “They went to Luo Luo’s! She sent a message, asking for their help with something, so Yu Ling took Shen Shuanglian, Yu Xiang, Qingying, and Luo Luo with her.”
Chen Yin’s hands stopped just short of… dangerous territory.
“That’s more like it, Miss Nan.”
He smiled, but his hands lingered on her waist, his touch sending shivers down her spine.
Nan Xiaoxiang’s body burned where he touched her. She took a deep breath, her voice filled with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. “I was just delivering a message. Why are you tormenting me?”
“I just enjoy watching you squirm, Miss Nan, especially when you’re trying to be clever.”
…He knew she was lying. Nan Xiaoxiang was too perceptive. Even if Master had tried to hide their destination, she would have easily extracted the information from Luo Luo or Qingying.
He just enjoyed teasing her.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to let go, his hands still roaming freely across her skin, Nan Xiaoxiang said, her voice slightly strained,
“Chen… Young Master Chen.”
“Hmm?”
“I already told you… can you… remove your hands now?”
“But they feel so nice. Can’t I enjoy them a little longer?”
He patted her playfully.
“Ah!” A muffled moan escaped her lips.
Nan Xiaoxiang glared at him, her cheeks burning. She bit his shoulder hard.
“Let go, or we’ll both die here!”
“Oh really? Show me how you’re going to kill me.”
“I’ll… I’ll bite you to death!”
“Bite harder. Did you skip breakfast?”
Nan Xiaoxiang finally let go, defeated, and sank deeper into the water, her eyes narrowed playfully.
“Just kill me.”
“That would be a waste. Life is too short, Miss Nan. Let’s have some fun first.”
“Never!”
“Then how about… after you’re dead? I can still…”
Nan Xiaoxiang: “?”
Once again, Chen Yin had won their verbal sparring match.
But he was relieved to finally know where they were.
…They had only been gone for a week.
He still had time before the Triennial Heavenly Tribulation.
As Nan Xiaoxiang scrambled away from him, her eyes filled with a playful suspicion, Chen Yin removed his clothes and settled into the bath, a relaxed smile on his face.
Many of his questions had been answered.
He now knew what he had to do.
…The Triennial Heavenly Tribulation.
He wondered if he would see that Jiazi again.
Or perhaps something even more dangerous.
But his mind felt heavy, the memories of his time in the past weighing him down, his body exhausted as if he had lived through years in just a week.
He closed his eyes, the warm water soothing his tired muscles, his eyelids growing heavy.
Soon, he was fast asleep.
Nan Xiaoxiang, hearing his soft snores, initially thought he was faking it, trying to trick her.
But seeing him sleeping so soundly, a small bubble forming at the tip of his nose, she relaxed.
Then, her curiosity getting the better of her, she quietly approached him.
She poked him gently, but he didn’t react.
She leaned closer, her eyes fixed on his face, her heart beating slightly faster.
…You rascal. She smiled faintly.
You’re actually quite handsome when you’re not being a pervert.
She couldn’t resist poking the bubble on his nose.
It popped with a soft sound.
Chen Yin stirred in his sleep and, mistaking her for a pillow, instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
“…Mmm!” Nan Xiaoxiang’s face turned crimson.
Her back pressed against his chest, the warmth of his skin radiating through her body, sending shivers down her spine.
“Chen Yin! Are you awake?! Are you doing this on purpose?!”
“Wake up! Let go of me!”
“Something’s poking me! What is—?!”
“Aaaaagh! Chen Yin, you bastard!”