From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 524 Before the Wind Rises

I stood on the bluestone platform at the main position. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the black ash remaining in the cracks of the stone was being swirled by the wind.

The gap in the sky had completely closed, like a patched-up rag, but the oppressive feeling of that black-robed figure still lingered on the back of my neck.

"Cold?" Wen Chen's cloak suddenly fell over him, carrying his usual scent of agarwood.

I then realized that I was trembling while clutching my sleeve—not from the cold, but from that feeling from just now, like a fine needle piercing the cocoon of my memory.

“You seem to know that person.” His voice was low, and his knuckles lightly touched my drooping wrist.

I looked down at my palm; the pale blue mark flickered with my heartbeat. "No, but he has a scent..." I paused, a metallic taste rising in my throat, "...just like the one I smelled the night I fell into the mass grave when I transmigrated here."

Wen Chen's fingers paused on my wrist pulse.

The Ice Heart Technique he cultivated should have been cool, but now it was shockingly hot: "Back then you said there were eyes watching you through the mist."

I gripped his sleeve tightly.

Scenes from seven years ago suddenly flooded back—white bones in a pile of decaying leaves, blood-soaked rags, and that gaze shrouded in black mist, exactly the same as when Blood Fiend stood before the crevice.

"Senior Sister Xiao!" Zi Ling's voice came from the direction of the array eye. The coral beads in her hair had been re-tied with red string at some point. She was standing on tiptoe to reach the copper bell fragment in Elder Qingfeng's hand. "Elder, look at this!"

Aren't the patterns and the earth fire veins on the spiritual vein map very similar?

Elder Qingfeng coughed twice, his knuckles turning white as he covered his mouth with his handkerchief.

He raised the copper bell higher with his other hand, and the morning light, filtering through the gap in the fragment, cast a diamond-shaped patch of light on Zi Ling's face: "Little girl, this is the core of the Soul-Locking Bell." He coughed twice more, "Those cultivators who suppressed the Blood Fiend back then, every one of them wore this."

Just as I was about to walk over, the Taoist robe of the ethereal immortal suddenly brushed past my feet.

He had changed into a plain white outfit at some point, and the previously cracked gold thread had been re-embroidered into star patterns. He was now standing at the closing point of the celestial rift, with a crystal ball hanging from his fingertip.

"Seven days." He suddenly spoke, and the blue light in the crystal ball went out with a "hiss."

Wen Chen and I turned our heads at the same time and saw his brows furrowed into a deep frown. "This seal can only last for seven days at most." He flicked the crystal ball with his finger, and cracks crept up from the bottom. "The spatial fluctuations were wiped out by someone using the Reverse Star Array, even the source..." He suddenly stopped talking and his gaze swept over the mark on my palm.

I instinctively hid my hand, but Wen Chen grabbed it.

His thumb gently traced the pattern: "Nine Luminaries Star-Guiding Pattern." His voice held a depth I'd never heard before. "I've seen it in the Ancient Books Pavilion; it was used by ancient star cultivators to locate void rifts."

Zi Ling exclaimed "Ah!" as the red string slipped from her fingers.

As she crouched down to pick up the coral beads, the ends of her hair brushed against Elder Qingfeng's shoe tips: "Senior Sister!"

Did the rubbing you made on the stone tablet the other day also have this pattern?

Elder Qingfeng's copper bell clattered to the ground.

When he bent down to pick it up, I saw that the bloodstains on his handkerchief were even deeper than last night—he had shielded me from three black daggers when the seal was being repaired.

"Young friend." The ethereal immortal suddenly reached out and tapped my mark with his fingertip.

A cool sensation seeped into my skin, and fragmented images flashed before my eyes: a dome with a swirling starry river, a stone platform engraved with the same lines as my palm, and a figure pressing a shimmering blue stone into a groove.

“That’s…” I grabbed his wrist, “that stone!”

"Star Stone." The ethereal immortal withdrew his hand, the golden light beneath his Daoist robe dimming slightly. "The inscription on the stone tablet, 'Only when the Star Stone returns to its place will the truth be revealed,' refers to this." He turned and walked towards the medicine hut, the morning mist automatically parting to create a path where his robe swept across. "I'm going to check the *Star Pivot Essentials*, you..." He glanced back at the direction of the spiritual vein, "...it would be best to go deeper now."

Wen Chen gripped my hand tightly.

The chilling aura of the Ice Spirit Lock from his sleeve seeped in, but it just happened to suppress my surging blood and qi: "Ziling, go and retrieve the Spirit Vein Map." His voice was like it had been steeped in a thousand years of ice, "Elder Qingfeng, you remain at the array's core. If there are any unusual movements..."

"This old minister understands." Elder Qingfeng tucked the copper bell into his robes and adjusted his protective goggles as he turned away.

I then noticed that the corrosion spots on his goggles had spread to his left eye. "My young friends, go ahead. This old minister could traverse the ley lines of this secret realm with his eyes closed."

When Zi Ling ran back, she was holding a half-rolled spiritual vein map in her arms, and her hair was still covered with ash from last night's fight: "I've put away all the fire talismans from the medicine hut!"

"And the poison-avoiding pills that Brother Wen gave me, I shared half of them in your brocade pouch..." She suddenly fell silent because Wen Chen was tying the jade pendant around my waist—it was carved by him from ice-soul stone, with our names engraved on it.

The wind suddenly picked up.

I gazed at the churning mist deep within the spiritual vein, the mark on my palm burning hot.

Zi Ling's fingers secretly hooked around my little finger, and the warmth of the fire talisman in her palm seeped through the fabric; Wen Chen wrapped his cloak even tighter, like an unyielding wall; Elder Qing Feng's cough came from the center of the formation, once, twice, mixed with the soft ringing of copper bells.

“Let’s go.” Wen Chen drew his Ice Soul Sword from his waist, the ice patterns on the scabbard creeping up his arm and sleeve. “I’ll go first.”

Just as we were about to take a step, Elder Qingfeng coughed behind us: "Young friend!" He held up a gleaming piece of copper. "I just picked this up from a crack in the ground. Doesn't it look like a star-attracting nail from a teleportation array?"

I took the copper sheet.

Sunlight pierced through the small hole and cast a five-pointed star on the ground—exactly the same as the mark on my palm.

Ziling suddenly tugged at my sleeve: "Senior Sister, look!" She pointed towards the medicine hut, where dozens of figures could be vaguely seen in the morning mist, carrying brooms and repair tools. "Those are Elder Qingfeng's disciples!"

Elder Qingfeng stroked his beard, his eyes crinkling behind his visor. "This old minister just sent word, asking the young men from the foot of the mountain to lend a hand." He coughed even more violently, yet smiled like a child. "We can't let the secret realm, which has just come back to life, become a filthy battlefield again."

Wen Chen gently smoothed the wind-blown hair from my forehead. "They'll take care of things here." His fingertips brushed against my earlobe. "We need to get on with more important matters."

I watched the figures sweeping away the soot and listened to their shouts—this was a sound of life that hadn't been heard in the secret realm for a hundred years.

But Zi Ling's hand, clutching the spirit vein map, was still trembling. The ice patterns on Wen Chen's sword sheath had already climbed up her shoulder. The mark on my palm was throbbing with the vibrations coming from the depths of the spirit vein, making my heart race.

The real trouble is just beginning to unfold.

The morning mist had mostly dissipated, and the black ash on the bluestone platform was swept into a pile, swirling in the wind, mingling with the scent of freshly turned earth and entering the nostrils.

I watched Elder Qingfeng's disciples tiptoeing to repair the array flags—the youngest of the little cultivators held up the repair tool, his little tuft of hair swaying with the movement, like a stubborn foxtail grass.

The fire-elemental cultivators on Zi Ling's side were using fire-starting talismans to burn the remnants of the Shadow Demon. The crackling sound carried the smell of burning. She squatted by the fire and searched around. The coral beads in her hair were reflected red by the firelight: "Senior Sister!"

This clump of black slag contains a piece of scales!

"Keep it." I replied, my fingertips unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at my waist.

Wen Chen's cloak was still draped over my shoulders. The scent of agarwood mixed with the smell of burning was a bit pungent, but it reminded me of the warmth of his fingertips brushing against my wrist when he tied the jade pendant to my wrist earlier.

The vibrations deep within the spiritual veins were still there, striking the star patterns on my palm again and again, like someone was sounding an alarm.

"Senior Sister!"

The sound of hurried footsteps came from the east.

When I turned my head, I saw a patrolling disciple in a blue robe stumbling over, the jade pendant at his waist clanging against the bluestone.

His forehead was covered in bits of grass, and his pupils were shriveled to pinpoints: "Southeast!"

"There's a horde of monsters!" He was panting heavily, his fingers gripping the communication talisman at his waist tightly. "I counted three waves, each wave had at least a hundred!"

Only ten miles away from the outer barrier!

My heart sank.

Zi Ling's fire talisman "snap" burned through the black slag in her palm, and sparks splashed onto the back of her hand, but she seemed oblivious to it, her hand trembling as she gripped my sleeve: "How could this be?"

The outer perimeter of the secret realm is protected by a beast-taming array set up by Elder Qingfeng, and hordes of demonic beasts...

"It's been broken." Elder Qingfeng's voice suddenly broke in.

He had somehow ended up standing beside the array's core. The corrosion spots on his goggles almost obscured his left eye, yet he still stared at the markings on the spirit vein map. "This morning, I examined the earth's veins. The spirit-gathering array node in the southeast..." He coughed, a dark red circle spreading from the bloodstains on his handkerchief. "It's been tampered with."

The turbulent flow of spiritual energy was drawing the demonic beasts here.

Wen Chen's Ice Soul Sword hummed as it was drawn half an inch from its sheath, and the ice patterns on the sword climbed up his arm and neck.

He reached out and placed his hand on the back of my neck, his icy palm pressing against my burning star-shaped markings: "Is it related to Blood Fiend?"

I closed my eyes.

The black mist of the mass grave seven years ago, the oppressive feeling of the bloodthirsty aura sweeping across the sky, and Elder Qingfeng's words about the Soul-Locking Bell Core—these fragments collided in my mind. "The Reverse Star Array erased the spatial fluctuations, and broke the Beast-Driving Array to lure out demonic beasts..." I gripped the copper piece tightly, the five-pointed star projection on the ground swaying. "They want to deplete our vital energy."

"Block the outer access routes!" I suddenly raised my voice.

Zi Ling was startled by me, then let go of my sleeve, took out a stack of fire talismans from her brocade pouch and handed them to the fire-type cultivator: "A Song, lead a team to guard the east side, and Xiao Tao, go to the south side!"

Remember to use the continuous fire formation, don't leave any gaps for the demon beasts! "That little cultivator was still clutching the repair magic tool, and when Zi Ling dragged him away, the little tuft of hair on his head tilted to his ear."

Elder Qingfeng shoved the spirit vein map into my hand, his knuckles tapping heavily on the southeastern mark: "This old minister is going to activate the mountain-protecting formation. The backup nodes on this map..." He coughed, bending over, his goggles slipping down to the tip of his nose, revealing deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. "Young friend, those who suppressed the Blood Fiend back then were worn down by the horde of demonic beasts."

My throat tightened.

The wind lifted a corner of Wen Chen's cloak, revealing the Ice Spirit Lock at his waist—it was forged from ten-thousand-year-old ice essence, specially made to suppress the chaotic energy within me.

At this moment, frost flowers were falling softly from the Ice Spirit Lock, like his surging emotions. "I'll guard the outermost perimeter." He withdrew his hand from the back of my neck, the Ice Soul Sword fully drawn. "You and Zi Ling guard the core of the formation, Elder Qingfeng..."

"This old minister has not reached the point where he needs your protection, young friend!" Elder Qingfeng wiped his mouth, the bloodstains on his handkerchief now even deeper, yet he still straightened his back and walked towards the array's eye platform. "I can recite the incantation for the mountain-protecting array with my eyes closed!" As he passed by me, the corrosion spots on his protective goggles brushed against the back of my hand, carrying the warmth unique to the elderly. "Young friend, that copper piece..."

“I brought it with me.” I tucked the copper plate into my collar, my fingertips touching the star pattern through the fabric, it was so hot it almost blistered.

An ethereal immortal stood before the medicine hut, the star patterns on his Taoist robe gleaming with a faint light.

Another crack appeared in the crystal ball in his hand, blue light flickering within the fissure: "Seven days ago, someone used a star stone to locate this place." His voice was like that of someone immersed in an icy pool. "The horde of demonic beasts, the blood fiends, are all pawns." He raised his hand and pointed southeast, the crystal ball suddenly shattering into dust. "The true player is waiting for the star stone to return to its place."

"Senior Sister!" Zi Ling's voice came from the east.

She stood beside the newly repaired array flags, the fire talismans crackling in her palms, her hair flying wildly in the wind. "The outer passage is sealed off!"

Elder Qingfeng's disciples are reinforcing the protective wall; Brother Wen has already gone to the front!

I watched Wen Chen's retreating figure.

He walked extremely fast, the Ice Soul Sword flashing coldly beside him, and wherever it passed, the morning mist automatically condensed into ice crystals and fell.

The wind whipped at the hem of his clothes, making them resemble a moving wall of ice.

“Let’s go.” I took Ziling’s hand.

Her palms were sweaty, and the heat of the fire talisman burned me through the fabric. "Go to the center of the formation."

When the azure light of the mountain-protecting formation rose from the array's eye platform, smoke and dust from the southeast had already spread over the mountain valley.

I stood on the stone platform at the center of the formation, watching the rolling gray-yellow mass—not the restlessness of an ordinary horde of demonic beasts, but rather as if pulled by an invisible thread, crashing into the barrier in unison.

At the very front was a three-tailed black leopard, its fur a sickly purple, its eyes lacking the cloudiness of a beast, more like...

“We’ve been manipulated.” Wen Chen’s voice came through the communication talisman.

His voice was icy, "Their intelligence has been sealed; they charge into battle purely on instinct."

Zi Ling slammed the last fire talisman onto the array flag, and sparks shot three feet high: "Then we'll burn through their instincts!" She turned to look at me, the coral bead shimmering as a small red dot in the sunlight. "Senior Sister, do you think Brother Wen might...?"

“He knows better than we do how to save our lives.” I interrupted her, pressing my fingertip on the southeast mark of the ley line chart.

Elder Qingfeng's cough came from below the array's core, one cough after another, as if he were counting the time.

The smoke and dust were getting closer.

I heard the roar of beasts mixed with the sound of claws hitting the ground, like thousands of knives scraping bones.

Zi Ling's fire talisman burned even brighter, making her face flush red; Elder Qingfeng's mountain-protecting array glowed blue, tearing open a path in the smoke and dust; Wen Chen's ice wall spread from the outside, and wherever it passed, the fur of the monsters was covered with white frost.

But at the end of that smoke and dust, I saw an even thicker black fog rising up.

It was heavier than the aura of bloodlust, and colder than the mass grave seven years ago.

It enveloped the horde of demonic beasts, pressing down on the barrier like a living mass.

“Quantity…” Zi Ling’s voice suddenly trembled.

She pointed into the distance, a fire talisman burning a hole in her palm. "Senior sister, that's not the third wave, it's..."

I squinted.

As the morning mist dissipated, sunlight shone on the dust, casting countless shadows—not a hundred, not a thousand, but a vast expanse of black dots, like a flock of crows blown away by the wind, pressing down from the sky.

The tremors deep within the spiritual vein suddenly intensified.

The star pattern on my palm was so hot it felt like it was going to pierce my skin, and the copper plate was digging into my chest inside my clothes.

Zi Ling gripped my hand so tightly it hurt, Wen Chen's communication talisman vibrated at my waist, Elder Qing Feng's coughing suddenly stopped for a moment, then rang out even more urgently.