From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 505 Public Opinion Troubles

The threshold of the main hall was higher than I remembered. Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable's wide sleeve swept across the gilded beast-head door knocker, and the crisp sound like a copper bell startled the discussion inside the hall into a sudden pause.

I looked up and saw that the dozen or so heads of the immortal sects kneeling in the hall had stopped drinking tea. The flames on the gilded candlesticks cast shadows on their faces, making them look like a group of puppets that had been put on pause.

"Immortal Venerable Xiao has arrived." Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng's voice, like jade soaked in a cold pool, struck the center of the hall with neither too loud nor too soft.

The Grand Elder of the Cangwu Sect, seated at the head of the table, set down his teacup, the celadon base clattering against the sandalwood table with a loud "thud." He asked, "Fairy Xiao, a disciple of my Cangwu Sect witnessed you resonating with the remnant soul of that thunder beast. Did you truly borrow the divine soul of the Goddess Yue Li?"

I feel a tightness in my chest.

Three hundred years ago in a dilapidated temple, I was wrapped in a tattered, leaky cotton quilt and listened to the street children cursing the "jinx." I felt just as stifled then as I did now. I had no spiritual roots, but now I have become a celestial being. Yet, those knives hidden in my sleeves still stabbed at my most vulnerable spot.

“Elder.” I took two steps forward, my boots crunching over the dust on the blue bricks. “The divine soul of the Moon Goddess was sealed in my sea of ​​consciousness three hundred years ago. In this battle, she willingly lured the remnant soul of the Thunder Beast into her body to protect me.” I paused, my throat tightening. “Her divine soul… has already scattered into stardust.”

The hall was so quiet that you could hear the soft popping of the candle wick.

The Valley Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Valley at the west end twirled the green snake talisman between his fingers, the rustling sound of snake scales rubbing against the talisman paper was particularly grating: "What about the forbidden technique of the Immortal Venerable Lingyun?"

Have we heard that you deliberately provoked him to use the evil magic of the ancient battlefield?

"Forbidden techniques require the lifeblood of one's own body as a catalyst." I reached up and pressed my hand against the jade pendant at my waist, a heart-protecting jade personally carved by Wen Chen, which was now burning hot against my chest. "If I could truly provoke him to use a forbidden technique, how could I allow his thunder beast to backfire on me?"

Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable suddenly raised his hand, and half a charred scale floated out from his sleeve—it was left behind by the remnant soul of the Thunder Beast. "The incantation on this scale matches the fragment of the seal from the ancient battlefield three hundred years ago." He slammed the scale onto the table. "The Immortal Alliance will thoroughly investigate the matter of Lingyun Immortal Venerable's unauthorized unsealing."

As for Xiao Yao… “He turned to look at me, his gaze like a sword piercing through three hundred years of wind and snow, “If she had truly used unorthodox methods, the one standing here right now would be a corpse.”

Whispers arose again in the hall.

As I gazed at the referee's token swaying at Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable's waist, I suddenly recalled the voices from the viewing platform earlier—it turns out that some things are sharper than the fangs of thunder beasts, specifically targeting the weakest points in people's hearts.

"Xiao Yao," Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable's voice softened, "you should go back first."

These words will eventually be believed by someone.

As I left the room, I caught a glimpse of Elder Cangwu still staring at the scorched scales, his fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of his teacup, as if he were counting something.

The wind outside the hall was cooler than inside.

Wen Chen leaned against a vermilion pillar, moonlight filtering into the lines between his brows. Seeing me emerge, he straightened up, his long, dark sleeves cascading down like a waterfall: "How was it?"

"Those who say I used divine powers to cheat, those who say I incited people to use forbidden techniques..." I tugged at his sleeve, my fingertips touching the calluses on his wrist, "...it's not much different from what they said on the viewing platform."

He suddenly grasped my hand, the warmth of his palm seeping through the jade pendant: "The grievances you've suffered over the years are ten times greater than this." His thumb brushed against my knuckles, where the red mark from when he gripped the jade pendant still remained. "But this time is different."

"What's the difference?"

“I’m here this time.” He looked down at me, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes softened by the moonlight. “They said you used tricks, so I wrote a biography about how the Moon Departing Divine Soul protected you for three hundred years; they said you provoked people to use forbidden techniques, and Elder Wu’s battle report included the timeline of the Thunder Beast’s backlash—” He suddenly paused, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I was just afraid…”

"Afraid I'll be upset?" I tiptoed and touched his nose, just like three hundred years ago in the dilapidated temple when I wrapped myself in his robe and said, "I'm not afraid." "Wen Chen, the reason I rose from having no spiritual roots to becoming a Celestial Venerable was never because others believed in me." I pulled out the invitation from my pocket, the one Fairy Mingyue had insisted on giving me earlier. "But this time... I want them to believe."

He took the invitation, a corner of his dark robe fluttering in the wind, revealing an embroidered double lotus flower on the inside—one I had embroidered myself last year. "You want to hold a public meeting?"

"The innocent will clear themselves" is a lie to children. I looked at the crowd that had not yet dispersed from the viewing platform in the distance, and a few figures were looking this way with binoculars. "They want evidence, so I laid out the evidence in the sun."

Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng said he would come to testify, Elder Wu agreed to compile the battle report, Fairy Mingyue... "I turned to look behind me, and Fairy Mingyue was running over from the side gate, her handkerchief twisted into a rope again, "She just said she was going to borrow the Soul-Revealing Mirror from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to reveal the sealing incantation within the remnant soul of the Thunder Beast."

Wen Chen suddenly smiled, the fine lines at the corners of his eyes smoothing out: "My Ayao always knows how to fight the most beautiful battle." He carefully tucked the invitation into his sleeve. "What do you need me to do?"

"Help me pick a day." I pulled him towards the side hall. "It has to be an auspicious day—"

“Tomorrow?” he interjected. “Tomorrow is the full moon, the moonlight will be brightest, and the Soul-Revealing Mirror will shine clearly.”

“Okay.” I looked up at him, the lanterns under the eaves casting a warm glow in his eyes. “Tomorrow.”

When Fairy Mingyue caught up with us under the eaves, we were standing in front of the moon gate.

She was panting heavily, and her handkerchief was stained with vermilion ink—she must have just run out of the Immortal Alliance's document pavilion: "Fairy Xiao!"

I've borrowed the Soul-Manifestation Mirror, and Elder Wu also asked me to deliver the draft battle report. He said...

"Yunlai Palace will be extremely lively tomorrow." Wen Chen took the Soul-Manifesting Mirror from me; the mirror still carried the warmth of Fairy Mingyue's body. "Ayao, we should go and prepare."

As I gazed at the bulging invitation in his sleeve, I suddenly recalled the hesitant glances I had just received in the main hall.

How many eyes will be watching Yunlai Palace tomorrow?

How many people will change their story after seeing the evidence?

But it's okay.

I turned to Fairy Mingyue and smiled, "Please inform Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng that I will meet him at Yunlai Palace tomorrow at 9:00 AM."

A few peach blossoms were swept by the wind and landed on the Soul-Revealing Mirror. The mirror reflected my shadow and Wen Chen's shadow, which were intertwined like two lotus flowers with their roots tightly entwined in the soil.

tomorrow.

What is supposed to come will always come.

The glazed tiles of Yunlai Hall shimmered silvery-white in the morning dew. I stood at the foot of the hall steps, looking up at the gilded plaque that read "Upright and Bright," and a sudden taste of rust rose in my throat—three hundred years ago, when I knelt and offered incense in a dilapidated temple, I also clutched the hem of my clothes and listened to the old temple keeper say, "A righteous heart has nothing to fear from a crooked shadow." But back then, my shadow was trampled into the mud.

"Ah Yao." Wen Chen's wide sleeve brushed against the back of my hand; the warmth of the teacup he had just warmed for me lingered in his palm. "Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng has already gone inside, and Fairy Mingyue is adjusting the Soul-Manifesting Mirror in the side hall." He rubbed his fingertip against the jade hairpin in my hair, which he had polished from a piece of jade from his own sword. "I'm right beside you."

I took a deep breath, and the soft sound of a bronze chime came from inside the hall; it was time to begin the ritual.

The sandalwood in the Yunlai Hall was lighter than that in the main hall, mixed with the scent of peach blossoms in the morning mist.

As I stepped onto the steps, a hundred or so pairs of eyes pierced my gaze simultaneously—the Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable at the very head of the table was flipping through the battle reports compiled by Elder Wu, the Cangwu Grand Elder's teacup had been replaced with a celadon ice-crack pattern, and the Valley Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Valley had his Green Snake Talisman coiled into a ring on the table, the snake-tongue-shaped talisman trembling slightly.

"Immortal Venerable Xiao," Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng pushed the battle report onto the table, "Please provide a detailed account of the entire battle."

I took off the jade pendant from my waist and placed it on the table. The jade still carried the warmth of my heart: "Three days ago, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM), I made a duel with Immortal Venerable Lingyun at Thunder Marsh on Cangwu Mountain."

He used the remnant soul of the Thunder Beast as a catalyst, intending to employ a forbidden technique from the ancient battlefield… “I paused, then summoned the Soul Manifestation Mirror, its surface shimmering with a ghostly blue light,” I continued, “These are the incantations sealed within the Thunder Beast’s remnant soul, perfectly matching the fragments of the ancient battlefield sealed by the Immortal Alliance three hundred years ago—”

“Fairy Xiao,” Elder Cangwu suddenly spoke, tapping the timeline on the battle report with his fingertips. “The report says the Thunder Beast’s backlash occurred at 3:45 AM, but according to my disciples, you were enveloped in golden light at the time, very similar to the divine soul imprint of the Moon Goddess.” He raised his eyes, his brows furrowed low. “You said the Moon Goddess’s divine soul had dissipated; how do you explain that golden light?”

A series of soft gasps filled the hall.

As I gazed at the floating incantations in the Soul-Manifestation Mirror, I suddenly recalled the snowy night three hundred years ago, when fragments of Yue Li's soul first lit up in my sea of ​​consciousness—it was also with this same golden light—she said then, "Little good-for-nothing, I'll protect you."

"That's a protective aura I activated with three hundred years of cultivation." I touched the Spirit-Locking Ring on my wrist, engraved with three hundred spirit-gathering arrays calculated for me by Wen Chen. "When I had no spiritual roots, I relied on it to accumulate spiritual energy. After becoming an Immortal Venerable, it became the medium for me to resonate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth." I took off the Spirit-Locking Ring and placed it on the table. The ring had a warm luster from years of wearing it. "If you immortal elders don't believe me, you can ask the seniors of the Weapon Refining Sect to examine it. There isn't a single trace of divine soul imprint on the ring."

The Valley Master of Ten Thousand Poisons Valley suddenly flicked the Green Serpent Talisman, the paper rustling softly: "Even if the Spirit Locking Ring is fine, your provocation of Ling Yun using forbidden techniques..."

"Forbidden techniques require the lifeblood of the user as a catalyst, and the 'Nine Netherworld Thunder Incantation' must be recited seven times consecutively," Elder Wu suddenly spoke, adjusting his crystal glasses and clicking the abacus in his hand. "The battle report records that Immortal Venerable Lingyun bit his fingertip at 1:15 AM, began reciting the incantation at 2:45 AM, and the thunder beast suffered a backlash due to the incomplete incantation at 3:45 AM—" He tapped the abacus with his knuckles, "If Immortal Venerable Xiao could truly provoke him to use forbidden techniques, how could he have miscalculated the time difference of half an incense stick?"

Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng suddenly laughed, and a piece of charred scale armor floated out from his sleeve: "I just had Master Mo from the Weapon Refining Sect examine it, and the incantation on this scale is indeed missing the last three lines." He slapped the scale on the table, "What's missing is precisely the part that the Immortal Alliance deliberately erased back then to prevent the forbidden technique from going out of control."

After a moment of silence in the hall, a shrill voice suddenly came from the west side: "Even if all of this is true, Immortal Xiao is just lucky!"

She became an Immortal Venerable even without spiritual roots back then, who knows if it's true...

"Enough." Wen Chen's voice was like a sword dipped in cold iron. He suddenly grasped my hand, his fingertips grinding heavily against the calluses on my palm. "Back then, she knelt incense in a dilapidated temple for three days and three nights, praying for spiritual roots; she soaked in the icy pool until her fingertips rotted while practicing physical techniques; she was cleaved in the Thunder Swamp, her skin torn and bleeding as she drew spiritual energy..." His Adam's apple bobbed. "These things, can luck buy?"

As I gazed at the reddened corners of his eyes, I suddenly remembered how he had helped me organize the battle reports last night, the candlelight reflecting off the white hair at his temples—it turns out that three hundred years really does go by so quickly, so quickly that I had forgotten how far he had come with me.

"Immortal Venerable Xiao," Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng's voice softened slightly, "are you willing to accept the Immortal Alliance's test?"

My heart sank.

test?

Back when I had no spiritual roots, they said, "Those without spiritual roots are not worthy of cultivating immortality." When I reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they said, "Wild cultivators are unlikely to achieve great things." When I reached the Deity Transformation stage, they said, "Opportunities and shortcuts will not last long." Now that I have become an Immortal Venerable, they still want to test me.

“I accept.” I was startled as I uttered the words; Wen Chen’s hand tightened suddenly in my palm. “But not the test from the Immortal Alliance.” I gazed at the peach blossoms drifting in from outside the hall, recalling that snowy night three hundred years ago, when I, wrapped in tattered cotton, told Wen Chen, “I want everyone to know that even a useless person can become an Immortal Venerable.” “I will set my own test—in the Thunder Marsh of Cangwu Mountain, in front of all the immortal sects.”

A murmur of discussion erupted inside the hall.

Elder Cangwu's teacup clattered onto the table, and Wen Chen's thumb gently rubbed the back of my hand, as if to say, "I understand."

"Does Fairy Xiao know of the dangers of Lei Ze?" Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng frowned. "Even if you are an Immortal Venerable, you may not be able to escape unscathed."

“Back then, even without any spiritual roots, I could draw spiritual energy from Thunder Swamp. Now…” I took out the protective jade from my bosom; the jade still retained the warmth of Wen Chen. “Now I have something more important to protect.”

The meeting ended close to noon.

Wen Chen draped an outer robe over my shoulders, the dark hem brushing against the fallen flowers on the steps: "The test you mentioned earlier..."

“They don’t want evidence, they want conviction.” I looked at the throng outside the hall, where several figures with binoculars were peering this way. “Conviction requires reverence—the tribulation of lightning in Lei Ze is the best form of reverence.”

He suddenly smiled, a smile playing on his lips, like peach blossoms in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes: "Need me to accompany you to Leize?"

“Of course.” I pulled him toward the side hall, the wind whipping his wide sleeves across my face. “You have to calculate the time of my tribulation, and you also need to prepare medicine for my injuries…”

"Okay." He lowered his head and kissed the top of my head. "I'll do whatever Ayao wants to do."

In the side hall, Fairy Mingyue was tiptoeing to place the Soul-Revealing Mirror on the table. Seeing us enter, she twisted the handkerchief in her hand into a pretzel: "Fairy Xiao, Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng asked me to pass on a message, saying he will help arrange the trials..."

I stared at the half-exposed map of Thunder Swamp peeking out from Wen Chen's sleeve, and suddenly remembered what he had said last night: "I'll be here this time."

This time, I want everyone to know—

A useless sword is never wielded by luck.

Raize's tribulation was just another, even more impressive battle.