Chapter 24

The Starry Sea of the Floating Pagoda

As our carriage stopped at the Tongtian Terrace, the guards who had initially made way for us suddenly drew their weapons and pointed them at us. I was completely confused when I caught a glimpse of a cold light flashing from the corner of my eye. When I turned around, I found that the tiger bone raised by Hua Zixiao was standing behind me.

It was bound by an invisible water spell, its wings spread wide and unable to move. It was Yin Ze’s doing. His actions were incredibly fast, even faster than my reaction, and it was a stark reminder of the hierarchy in the world. If it weren’t for Yin Ze, I would have been sent to this ghostly place countless times.

Yin Ze said, “Your master has already sent us away. Why are you attacking Luo Wei?”

The tiger bone couldn’t speak, it just trembled and seemed to be “looking” at me, or rather, it was “looking” at Xuan Yue behind me. For Xuan Yue, an old tiger skeleton was as terrifying as a human skeleton would be for us.

It hid behind me, looking at the tiger bone pitifully, its claws digging into my shoulder painfully.

However, after a short while, it suddenly relaxed its grip and called out tentatively, “Aw...aw!”

The tiger bone’s wings trembled again. Xuan Yue flapped its wings and flew towards it, but it was accidentally knocked back by Yin Ze’s spell and rolled on the ground several times. It then stretched out its little paws and ran over, standing up and resting its forepaws on the spell, stretching its neck to look up at the tiger bone.

Yin Ze was silent for a moment, then said, “Luo Wei, isn’t your tiger cub a Snow Peak Heavenly Tiger? Why does it recognize Qiongqi?”

“This...” I fumbled around in my pocket, unable to say a word.

Of course, Yin Ze was no ordinary person, and no one could play tricks in front of him. Before I could answer, he pointed at Xuan Yue, and Xuan Yue’s fur instantly turned crimson. Now I was in trouble. I tiptoed and hid behind my brother. Yin Ze said, “Luo Wei, come here!”

“Yes, yes...” I hung my head and returned to Yin Ze’s side. “You dare to secretly raise a ferocious beast and try to deceive everyone, you’re so bold.”

“Xuan Yue is not a bad child...”

“If you make that face again, I’ll freeze your lower lip.”

I quickly retracted my pout.

Fu Chenzi stepped in to help me, “Master, Weiwei didn’t mean it. At first, she didn’t know Xuan Yue was a Qiongqi...”

Yin Ze said, “Even you’re lying for her?”

“It’s all my fault. I was foolish at the time and didn’t recognize that it was a Qiongqi, so I bought it for Weiwei.”

“Since you admit it, go back and kneel facing the wall for three hours a day for two months.”

“Yes, disciple understands.”

Good job, I made my brother take the blame again. Master is such a strange person. The one who first turned Xuan Yue into a white tiger was him in the illusion, and now he’s blaming us for deceiving everyone. However, the more I got to know him, the more I was sure that it was just an illusion.

The Yin Ze in the illusion was so gentle, he would give me golden lotuses by the river, create fireflies, and guide me when I fell. The current Yin Ze was a night demon wrapped in a beautiful skin. However, fortunately, he was powerful and confident enough, so when he saw Xuan Yue and Qiongqi staring at each other for a long time, he released the binding spell.

After that, Xuan Yue immediately ran to Qiongqi’s feet, crying like a baby, and rubbed its forehead against Qiongqi’s bone claw. Qiongqi also lowered its head and nuzzled Xuan Yue.

Fu Chenzi said, “Could it be that this Qiongqi is Xuan Yue’s mother?”

Yin Ze walked forward, examined Qiongqi’s body, and asked doubtfully, “Where did you adopt Xuan Yue?”

Fu Chenzi said, “In our homeland, Suzhao, north of the celestial realm.”

“Strange. Qiongqi is a descendant of Gonggong, and its spiritual energy is ten percent water. The north is the land of Xuanwu, and Xuanwu controls the earth. There are many natural enemies of Qiongqi in the northern land. Qiongqi is very intelligent, and it should not casually enter the north. A mother Qiongqi with a cub should avoid going there even more. But why...” Yin Ze touched the Qiongqi’s spine, “This wound is clearly caused by the ‘Collapse of Xuanwu’.”

I asked, “What does ‘Collapse of Xuanwu’ mean?”

“It’s a high-level earth-type immortal technique that can only be used within the land of Xuanwu. With the power of the Dust Mountain God, it has immense destructive power.” Fu Chenzi thought for a moment, “Does this mean that this Qiongqi died in the northern land?”

Yin Ze said, “Adult Qiongqi are very fierce. If you fight them in other places, even immortals wouldn’t dare to take them lightly. But if they are hit by the ‘Collapse of Xuanwu’ in the northern land, they will definitely die.”

“Then why...” I looked at Xuan Yue in confusion, and it waved its paws at me, looking anxious. I squatted down and said, “Xuan Yue, do you want to say something?”

Next, Xuan Yue performed a series of bizarre actions: it bit a bunch of grass, spread it on the ground, opened its mouth wide, slowly walked onto the grass, and lowered its head to place something on the ground. It lay on the ground, rolled happily, and jumped around. Suddenly, it turned around, looking terrified. Then, it jumped to the right and calmly scratched its chin with its paw. Then, it jumped back to the left, cried out in fear, and while wailing sadly, jumped to another piece of land. It looked up at the sky, propped itself up on a stone with both paws, suddenly twisted its head, looked back in the direction it had come from, and waved its paw. Finally, it ran back in that direction, tensed its shoulders, roared like an adult tiger, looked up at the sky, seemed to be struck by something on its back, let out a long howl, swayed twice, and lay on the ground, turning into a small tiger skin rug.

I was suddenly enlightened and gasped, “So that’s how it is!”

Xuan Yue looked at me with wide eyes, seemingly expectant. I slapped my forehead, “You changed back to your original color today, regained your masculine dignity, and were so happy that you almost wanted to eat vegetarian food to accumulate virtue. But you’re allergic to grass, so you fainted. It’s okay, Xuan Yue, as long as you follow me, you’ll still have meat to eat.”

Xuan Yue stuck out its tongue and collapsed on the ground. I smiled gently and stroked its head like a mother, but a force opened my hand.

I looked at my hand in astonishment and quickly realized it was Yin Ze who did it. I turned around and looked at him aggrievedly, “Why did you hit me?”

Yin Ze gave me a “you’re hopeless” look and said, “Don’t pretend you don’t understand.”

“If Xuan Yue can survive until now with this kind of communication, it shows that the Qiongqi’s survival ability is indeed strong.” Fu Chenzi shook his head and said, “Xuan Yue’s mother must have been taking it for a walk in the grass when it was captured by a long-bearded immortal. Its mother chased after it to save it but was hit by an earth-type immortal technique that fell from the sky, so it died.”

“...Is that so?” Men nowadays are all so scary. They know more about animals than young girls.

Of course, the scariest thing was that Yin Ze didn’t stop there. He actually went to the King of Hell, checked the Book of Life and Death, and found out the cause of Xuan Yue’s mother’s death. Sure enough, as Fu Chenzi had said, it was an immortal who was skilled in earth-type spells who had killed Xuan Yue’s mother, and he was also closely related to me - Ru Yue Weng.

After confirming all this, Yin Ze’s eyes, which were accustomed to seeing through the world, looked at us again.

Fu Chenzi and I exchanged glances and knew that we couldn’t hide it anymore, so we had to honestly explain everything.

After listening, Yin Ze was not too surprised. He simply said calmly, “Tell me. Why did you hide it from me?”

I said, “I... we didn’t want to cause any trouble for Master.”

“Are you saying that backwards?” Seeing me lower my head more and more, Yin Ze looked away, “Forget it, this matter is probably not as simple as you think. Moreover, since Suzhao has been hidden, it must no longer be in its original location. It will take more than a day or two to find it. Come back with me first, and we’ll discuss it later.”

Xuan Yue was sealed again and was very sad to be separated from its mother. It was unusually quiet and lay quietly in my arms, not making a fuss at all. I felt sorry for it and secretly vowed to myself that I would let it have plenty of meat to eat in the future.

After that, we returned to Qinghong Mountain. Yin Ze asked several immortals to find Ru Yue Weng, and then greeted my master, Gaoyang Lingren, and my senior brother, Xu Xing Tianjun, saying that he wanted Fu Chenzi to take me back to my room. Then, he used a spell to leave Qinghong Mountain himself.

My master never expected that I would become a disciple of Divine Lord Yin Ze, and he regretted it so much that his guts turned green. Like everyone else, his attitude towards me improved a lot.

Rouli was still quite arrogant and glared at me, “So what? I’ll move to Shao Wei soon, don’t think that the third senior brother is yours.” Then, she continued to pester Fu Chenzi, smiling innocently and asking endless questions.

Fu Chenzi and I only stayed in Qinghong Mountain for half a day before going to a neighboring city, boarding a roc, and setting off for Tian Shi City.

When we left, it was already late, but there were still many people going to Tian Shi City. Along the way, we passed countless cities in the immortal realm, and soon, the backs of the huge roc were filled with various immortals. The roc soared into the sky, riding the wind. This was the first time I had ridden such a large flying beast, and I was so excited that I kept walking from the head of the roc to its tail.

Roc was a famous beast in the six realms, and because it was so huge, it could only stop at the stations in the major cities. Moreover, its final destinations were only four: Tian Shi City in the East Dragon Heaven, Tai Wei City in the South Suzaku Heaven, Shao Wei City in the West White Tiger Heaven, and Zi Wei City in the North Xuanwu Heaven.

Divine Lord Yin Ze’s largest residence and the academy he established were both in Tian Shi City.

I was both nervous and excited to go to such a prestigious place, but because I moved around too much, Fu Chenzi scolded me and I had to sit down obediently.

Fu Chenzi said, “When we see Master again, if he doesn’t mention the matter of Suzhao, you must not bring it up either. If he does mention it, don’t let him get involved.”

I nodded and said, “I definitely won’t mention it. After all, it’s our own business.”

Fu Chenzi said, “It’s not that simple. I heard that Master has a tense relationship with the Heavenly Emperor, which is why he has been living in the immortal realm for a long time and doesn’t return to the divine realm unless summoned by the Heavenly Emperor. Master is the supreme god of the Suzhao clan, and in fact, the Heavenly Emperor is insignificant to the entire Suzhao. If he gets involved in this matter and helps us get rid of Kai Xuan Jun or Ru Yue Weng, if someone with ulterior motives reports this to the Heavenly Emperor, he might be accused of forming a private clique, and his situation will be even more embarrassing.”

“I see... But why are they so tense?”

“I think it’s because of Master’s personality. You’ve noticed it too, he has a bad temper.”

“Hahahahahaha...” I couldn’t stop laughing, “You think so too? I thought I was imagining things.”

“No way, his temper is famous throughout the world, even the Demon Emperor knows about it. Every time there’s a war, the Demon Emperor would provoke the Heavenly Emperor and your Master. But the funniest part is that the Heavenly Emperor couldn’t refute him.”

It’s not a good thing to talk bad about your master behind his back, but we both found it amusing to discuss the personality of Divine Lord Yin Ze, enough to pass the flying time.

Apparently, Yin Ze’s personality hasn’t changed at all.

After Pangu created the world, his body collapsed and disintegrated. His head became the heavens, his feet became the earth, the front of his skull became the divine realm, and the back of his skull became the demon realm. The two worlds were parallel and opposite, connected by the largest rift between heaven and earth: the Divine-Demon Abyss.

With this passage, it was destined that the two realms would not be at peace. Gods and demons have waged countless wars throughout history, and each side has formed their own alliances: the gods govern the immortals, the demons govern the demons, the ghost realm minds its own business, responsible for collecting the garbage from both sides, such as the former immortal, now Hua Zixiao. As for mortals, the benevolent become gods and immortals, and the evil become demons.

Among the divine generals who made great contributions in the first few wars between gods and demons, there was Divine Lord Yin Ze. In the early days, the Heavenly Emperor valued him the most, but the Heavenly Emperor was a man of many affections, while Yin Ze was cold and decisive. The two of them did not get along well in both political affairs and personal relationships.

And the God of Wind was tactful, the God of Earth was kind and honest, and the God of Fire was enthusiastic and loyal. With this comparison, the scales in the Heavenly Emperor’s heart gradually tilted. Coupled with some people stirring up trouble, the current situation arose. There are even rumors that the Heavenly Emperor has plans to cultivate the next Cangying God.

My mother has always told us that being a person is very important, and this is indeed true.

When we arrived at Tian Shi City, it was already late at night, and the whole city was brightly lit. I found that this place was truly a treasure, because there was water everywhere, even in the stars, where silver fish swam, like drifting stars, and luminous petals. Cangying Mansion was built on a fairy mountain outside the city, and I finally got to fly on my own using the water manipulation technique.

When I arrived at the mansion, the steward said that the Divine Lord had gone to the Floating Pagoda Star Sea and asked us to rest in our rooms first and find him the next day. But thinking that my brother was going to take me around Tian Shi City the next day, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep, so I went out for a walk. After chatting with the servants, I learned that the Floating Pagoda Star Sea was not far from Cangying Mansion, and I could reach it by climbing over a mountain.

So, I took a pot of tea and climbed over the mountain to find my master.

At first, I thought that the Floating Pagoda Star Sea was just a beautiful name, but when I climbed over the mountain, the sight in front of me almost blinded me. It was literally a sea made up of stars!

I had read various descriptions of the Milky Way in books before, but none of them could describe the ethereal beauty of this place.

Here, I couldn’t tell where the sky was and where the earth was. All I saw was an endless stream of stars above and below.

On the fairy mountain, under the moon, and among the clear clouds, celestial water poured down, and a jade flute played a mournful tune, I don’t know where it came from.

A long cliff extended into the star sea, and a solitary figure stood on it. Several feet behind him, there was a jade table with a wine jug and a half-finished chessboard.

It seemed that my master was enjoying solitude tonight, playing chess and drinking alone, and monopolizing this beautiful scenery.

Seeing him looking out at the distant star sea, I quietly landed behind him and approached him carefully.

However, halfway there, I heard him say, “Why aren’t you sleeping at midnight and coming here?”

Does he have eyes on the back of his head? I smiled and poured a cup of tea on the table, knelt down behind him with both hands cupped, and said, “Master, thank you for taking me in as your disciple. Luo Wei is here to serve you tea.”

“Aren’t you tired from running all day?” He still had his back to me, but he turned his head slightly, “Do you know how far Qinghong Mountain is from Fang Su?”

I always felt that it was wrong for a god to maintain a youthful appearance. When Yin Ze turned his head, although I only saw his profile, his snow-like nose bridge, his ink-like eyebrows and eyes, and his long black hair, all framed by the bright stars of the Floating Pagoda Star Sea, made my heart flutter.

Master, you’re so old, is it really okay to look like this? Compared to how my master looks, I would rather my future husband look like this.

I took a few deep breaths and adjusted my inner breath, calmly said, “Master, I know how far it is, but as a disciple, I cannot neglect the etiquette of serving tea on the first day.”

Yin Ze said, “Who offers tea to their master in the middle of the night?”

I smiled, “It’s okay, Master, if you think it’s not proper to offer tea at midnight, I’ll offer you another cup tomorrow! Oh, no, no, no, that’s wrong, I should say, I’ll offer you tea every day from now on.”

“You have a glib tongue.” Although he said that, Yin Ze turned around, took the teacup, and took a small sip.

Seeing him finish drinking, I smiled and took the teacup back, put it on the table, and moved the chair over and placed it behind him. “Master, you’ve been standing for a long time, you must be tired. Let me help you sit down.”

After saying that, I held his arm and helped him sit down on the chair, then knelt on the ground and massaged his legs.

Yin Ze snorted coldly, “What do you really want? Just tell me.”

“If you say that, it will hurt your disciple’s feelings. I saw that the wind was blowing and the dew was cold here, and I thought that my master must be tired, so I came to massage your legs.” I scratched my head and said, “I was originally just a little water spirit, and now I’m an orphan. I’ve been bullied a lot in this vast immortal realm. Except for my brother, only my master is truly kind to me. Master’s kindness is so great that I will probably never be able to repay it in my whole life. I can only follow you and serve you like a cow or a horse, whatever you command me to do.”

Yin Ze looked at me silently for a long time, then sighed softly, “Get up.”

“Yes! I’ll massage your shoulders for you!”

“No need.” Yin Ze stood up and pointed to the distant star sea, “Do you want to go over there?”

“Yes, yes!” I replied quickly, but then I was confused, “Why...”

Yin Ze picked up the sash on his robe, held it with his index finger and thumb, and drew a line of light on it. He handed it to me, “Hold this.”

I nodded, took the sash, and was a little confused. Then, he flashed and in an instant pulled me to the center of the star sea. I screamed in fright and immediately covered my eyes with my hands, but I fell down.

Yin Ze quickly reached out and pointed downward, using mist to support me, and then pointed at my hand. The sash automatically wrapped around my wrist. He said, “Don’t untie it, or you’ll have to fly slowly on your own.”

I nodded vigorously. Then, he took me and flew across countless stars. In just a moment, the mountain we were standing on had disappeared from sight. He flew very fast, and the cold wind brushed against my face, ruffling our robes and long hair. It was both cold and refreshing.

At first, I was so scared that I couldn’t even hum, but as I gradually adapted, I finally squeezed out a sentence, “So flying as an immortal feels so good...”

Yin Ze said, “This is just the flying technique of immortals. Gods can traverse mountains and rivers in an instant, without the need to fly on clouds. But I can’t take you like that. If you travel that fast, your physical body will disintegrate.”

“Disintegrate... that’s so scary.”

He flew steadily and quickly, giving me the constant illusion that we were controlling the entire star sea. Compared to the water-climbing technique, our Suzhao clan seemed so pathetic.

I said, “Master, is it possible for me to learn this flying technique?”

“It’s impossible if you remain a spirit.”

“Then can I cultivate to become an immortal?”

“I’ve told you, it’s difficult to gather pure energy, but it’s easy to gather turbid energy. The probability of a spirit becoming an immortal is almost zero.”

“After saying so much, you mean I can’t learn to fly at all.” I puffed out my cheeks and sulked for a while, then started to act spoiled, “Aren’t you a god, Master? Gods can do anything, just teach me. Flying is so cool, I want to learn.”

“There’s no way to turn a spirit into an immortal. If you really want to learn to fly, there’s only one way, and that’s to gather turbid energy, transform into a demon, and then become a demon. Demons not only can fly, but they can also move without a shadow, which is more powerful than gods.”

I waved my hands repeatedly and said, “No, no, no, I don’t want to. I don’t want to be a demon, I always get killed by immortals. Besides, I’m your disciple, and I don’t want to be a villain.”

“Then practice the water-climbing technique well, and you can speed up when you get proficient.”

I nodded vigorously, “Yes!”

At that moment, I answered with great enthusiasm, but my heart was not so happy.

When you think about it, osmanthus flowers wither in autumn, mayflies live only for a day, and morning dew dries up at dawn, yet they have no complaints or regrets, so they do not understand the sorrow of parting or the melancholy of spring.

Mortals have a lifespan of only a few decades, and we still laugh at their short lives. Although I can live for three hundred years, I have no attachments in this world. However, every time I have such a conversation with my master, a faint sense of regret arises in my heart...

Looking around, the sky and the earth were filled with stars. This place was so vast that we had been flying for a long time, but we still hadn’t seen the border. It was truly worthy of the name “Floating Pagoda Star Sea.”

Finally, we saw a small stall on a cloud. A sign hanging above it read “Honest Fortune-telling.”

An old immortal with white hair and a spherical bun sat on a donkey, wearing a yellow robe that was washed white.

He had been dozing off, but when he saw us approaching, he pulled out a pair of silver-studded boots from under his stall and waved to us, “Star-chasing boots! Star-chasing boots! If you’re tired from running, come and buy a pair of star-chasing boots! With these magical boots, you can roam freely in the Floating Pagoda Star Sea!”

Yin Ze originally didn’t intend to pay attention to him, but I was curious and shouted, “Old immortal, aren’t you a fortune-teller? Why are you selling boots now?”

Seeing us start talking, Yin Ze also stopped in front of his stall.

“You can get your fortune told too. This is my old profession, especially...” The old immortal looked at us both, leaned in closer, and squinted his eyes, whispering, “Romance.”