Leaving the training room, Yun Wuji did not walk for long before Shenwu Youluan and Shenwu Qing appeared. Both of them looked hurried and even somewhat panicked. "Wuji, High Priest Ling Xian came looking for you!"
They had every reason to panic. Ling Xian rarely left the Pure Land. She was the High Priest who left it the least, largely because she was a Divine Beast. Beasts were far more susceptible to abyssal dust than humans. In the Abyss now, aside from the Ancestral Dragons, she was the only beast remaining.
The fact that she personally came to seek him meant she was here for the Primal Flame Crystal. More importantly, it likely meant she had come to take revenge for her servant who had been humiliated by Yun Wuji.
"I know," Yun Wuji answered calmly. He patted their backs and continued on his way.
"What should we do?" Shenwu Qing looked very worried. "How about we send her away, saying that you are in secluded cultivation and can't receive guests?" No one could blame her for thinking like this. Since the beginning of the Abyss, the Pure Land had stood at the apex of this world and ruled it haughtily. Countless heroes, prodigies, and Divine Regents were born and died, but the High Priests and the Abyssal Monarch remained the same.
They were literally as old as the records, if not older than the oldest existing records.
Their might and authority were deeply integrated into every citizen's heart. No matter how much strength Yun Wuji had displayed, in Shenwu Qing and Shenwu Youluan's minds, the High Priests and the Abyssal Monarch possessed power that was deep and immeasurable. This was the result of the Pure Land's authority, long ingrained in them.
Not only them. Most of the citizens would think the same.
Pa! Pa!
"Someone who can make me evade them isn't born yet," Yun Wuji chuckled as he shook his head. He brought both hands down and slapped their butts, saying, "This is your punishment for doubting me."
"I told you many times that there is nothing in this world that can harm me. Not this Ling Xian, and certainly not that Abyssal Monarch."
"Ahn~!... Sorry!" Shenwu Qing whimpered and lowered her head in apology, her face flushed red.
Shenwu Youluan, on the other hand, remained silent and followed behind him. Even after hearing his words and seeing his confidence, she couldn't put her heart at ease.
They did not walk for much longer when the beautiful figure of Yun Wuying coalesced from grey smoke, appearing before them without warning. With a casual look and an even more casual tone, she spoke as if commenting on the weather, "Do you want me to deal with that woman for you?"
Her power already rivaled the strongest of True Gods, and since she had recovered a decent portion of her peak strength after countless negative distance exercises with Yun Wuji, she did not take Ling Xian seriously at all.
"No, I have something to discuss with her; you can relax," Yun Wuji answered as he shook his head. He deliberately provoked and spanked Su Shang precisely to provoke Ling Xian and force her to come for him. However, a long time had passed since then, and she made no move at all, which led him to believe she would not be coming for him after all.
Now it seemed that perhaps his plan did not completely fail.
"Alright," Yun Wuying gave him a long look before turning around and leaving.
...
"Limitless Divine Regent, it seems the news about you did not do you enough justice." When Yun Wuji reached the guest hall where Ling Xian and Su Shang were waiting, the former greeted him with a kind smile on her aged face. "Your appearance is far more impressive than what they said."
She spoke, her voice gentle like a spring breeze brushing through willows. Her face was etched with deep wrinkles, like the rings of an ancient tree, the lines around her eyes and brows carrying the marks of countless years. Her eyes, though cloudy with age, still held a soft smile, one that seemed able to smooth the world's unrest into clear autumn water.
"Yeah, that is the natural reaction anyone would have." Yun Wuji waved his hand at the nervous maids, dismissing them, then casually took the main seat and spoke. "I heard that the Spiritual Immortal is usually uninterested in the secular world... I am curious where you heard about my appearance." As he said the latter part, he glanced at Su Shang with a smirk on his face.
This was the first time he met Ling Xian, but he had seen her picture in the memory images Shenwu Youluan had given him. Her appearance was exactly the same as in Shenwu Youluan's memories. It was strange that she had not changed at all. People in this world really should learn to change their style from time to time.
Contrary to his expectations, Su Shang showed no trace of anger or shame. She stood behind her master with her head bowed. No matter how much fury or humiliation churned inside her at that moment, she would rather swallow it than tarnish her master's dignity or make a scene like a shrew.
"You are indeed an interesting lad." Ling Xian did not seem offended by Yun Wuji's attitude. Her face still carried the same kind smile, and her eyes held the same calm look, as if nothing in this world could make her change her expression.
Yun Wuji stopped messing around with Su Shang and turned his attention back to her master. With the gentle smile he always wore when he was about to scam someone, he asked, "May I know why you came to grace yourself with my presence?"
"..." Su Shang.
"..." Even with Ling Xian's mental fortitude tempered over millions of years, she could not stop her cheeks from twitching. The longer you lived, the more you realized there were all sorts of people in the world.
However, she was, after all, a High Priest, and she quickly recovered her composure. "I think that you, as the Eternal Light Divine Kingdom's Divine Regent, must have learned about the disappearance of the Star and Moon Divine Kingdom's Divine Regents, as well as the Owl Butterfly Divine Kingdom's Divine Regent."
Her tone was slow. "The Abyssal Monarch is very concerned about this matter and has assigned me to investigate it." Mo Su was indeed concerned, especially since the Owl Butterfly Divine Kingdom, which he cared for a tiny bit, was involved. As for her claim that he assigned her this role, that was a lie. She had taken it on herself.
Just as there are male simps, though far rarer, female simps exist as well, and this Vermillion Bird, Ling Xian, was one of them.
A long time ago, because of her impure bloodline and her naturally different body, which possessed the power of wind and thunder, she was often looked down upon by the Vermillion Bird clan. Fed up with being scorned and in a rebellious phase, she ran away in a fit of pique and fell into a poisonous swamp, nearly dying. Fortunately for her, Mo Su happened to be passing by and saved her.
Because of that hero-saving-the-beauty scenario, she fell in love with him. To him, what he did was just a casual act done in passing, but for her, it became the beginning of her lifelong devotion.
However, since he was the Heaven Punishing Crown Prince while she was just a young, rootless bird who had run away from her clan, she could only look up to him longingly, until the day she heard the news of him being thrown into the Abyss of Nothingness.
At that time, she felt that her life had become hopeless, that all the light in the world had been extinguished. She lived in a daze for decades. In the end, she chose to fall into the abyss and follow him.
However, when she thought she was going to die and return to Nothingness with him, he once again saved her life. To her, it felt like a blessing from heaven. She believed her chance had finally arrived, but when she met him again, she discovered that he had completely changed. He was no longer that gentle person. He no longer smiled, and his spirit no longer carried that soul-stirring charm.
It was as if he had long since died and was nothing more than a walking corpse.
Since then, her wishes changed again and again through the long years and torment. From hoping he would accept her feelings, to wanting to dispel his heartache, to wishing she could persuade him to let go of his obsession, and finally… only wanting to see him smile again.
When she heard that the Star and Moon Divine Regents had gone missing and realized this could hinder his plans to return to the Primal Chaos, she decided to take the mission and investigate on her own, hoping to help him even if only slightly.
"Yes, I have indeed heard about this," Yun Wuji nodded calmly. As the culprit, of course, he knew more than anyone else. "Why are you seeking me if that is the case? Shouldn't you go to the Owl Butterfly Divine Kingdom or the Star and Moon Divine Kingdom to investigate?"
"It is nothing important. I would like to stay here for a while and see if that culprit targets you as well," Ling Xian said, shaking her head faintly before answering his question.
Yun Wuji glanced at her intently, his trademark gentle smile still in place as he asked, "This cannot be the only reason, right? There are other Divine Regents besides me. Why come to me specifically?"
'Hurry the fuck up and say it!'
Su Shang lifted her lowered head and glared at Yun Wuji. This ungrateful bastard. Her master had clearly come here out of goodwill, yet this bastard acted as if he were the one doing her a favor instead.
Ling Xian nodded frankly, her wrinkled face turned toward him with calm composure. "Indeed, I also came this time because my little disciple over there has some complaints about you."
"Master," Su Shang spoke.
"You mean that old woman behind you? Indeed, last time she rudely tried to extort my precious Primal Flame Crystal, I had no choice but to teach her a lesson." Yun Wuji stood from his seat, stretching out his hand, and a flaming crimson crystal suddenly appeared in his palm.
"Let us not beat around the bush. I can give you this Primal Flame Crystal and apologize for my offense, but I have one condition."
"⟨ꐦ৲`⌂´⟩!" Su Shang's face darkened. She was clearly still youthful and young, barely twenty thousand years old!
Ling Xian stared at the Primal Flame Crystal for a moment, her eyes betraying no hint of desire for something that could ease the constant pain caused by the unstable elements within her. She turned her gaze back to Yun Wuji and asked, "What is it?"
Swoosh!
Brilliant golden flames erupted from Yun Wuji's body, surrounding him like a blazing halo. He declared, "I want to try your Vermillion Flame. Fight me. If I lose, I shall give you the Primal Flame Crystal and apologize to you and your disciple."
...
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