Immortal Sword Master

Chapter 108: Chapter 105: Forsaking the Nine Heavens, Forever Falling to the Mortal World, Just to Be With You

「February 2nd, Baiquan Town.」

After the Ning Family’s annual meeting concluded, Ning Jiang left the family. In the face of his departure, everyone in the Ning Family was filled with regret.

But they all understood that they were the ones who had personally driven him away.

「Crescent Island.」

Ning Jiang had taken up temporary residence here.

The island had originally been the Song Family’s territory. But in an effort to curry favor with Ning Jiang, they had directly gifted it to him. They even posted guards around Crescent Island to keep unauthorized people from entering.

As for this celebrity of Luoyang City, the man at the top of the Famous Family List, the Song Family was sparing no effort to build a good relationship with him.

’She really did come back.’

At night, Ning Jiang gazed at the night sky.

In recent days, two major pieces of news had shaken Cyan Cloud. The first was his ascension to the top of the Famous Family List.

The other was that three Innate Limit Strong Persons from the Yi Family had been killed. This major event spread throughout the Jiangnan Region in just a few days, and was now making its way across all of Cyan Cloud Country.

To the Martial Artists of Cyan Cloud Country, this was incredibly shocking news.

Every individual at the Innate Limit was a top figure in Cyan Cloud Country, not to mention that two of them had been experts on the Innate List, figures as mighty as dragons.

Figures of this caliber were capable of founding a First-Class Noble House and commanding a region. Their status was venerable, yet they had been killed overnight by an unknown party.

Who could have done it?

「Tonight.」

The moon was like a silver plate, and the starlight was brilliant.

With a moon and stars like these, who was there to point them out to, and who was there to watch them with?

”CAW—”

A crow’s cry drew Ning Jiang’s attention. It was pitch-black and spread its wings, circling before him. In its eyes were cyan and red, overlapping Heavy Pupils.

”Chenyu,” Ning Jiang uttered her name.

The crow dipped its body and flew straight into the distance.

Ning Jiang followed, making his way off Crescent Island.

He walked upon the water. The night breeze blew gently, and ripples spread across the surface, leisurely drifting away.

He stopped.

Ahead was a small wooden boat. A silver-haired girl sat on its bow, her delicate, snow-white feet dangling in the water, idly kicking back and forth.

She was cold and serene, without a trace of worldly air about her. Ethereal and dreamlike, her temperament was unparalleled. She seemed like a Goddess who should only exist in dreams, never to manifest in the Human World.

Flowers, wine—it seemed all the beautiful things in the world existed only as metaphors for her.

”Chenyu,” Ning Jiang called out.

”I came back this time partly for my mother’s affairs, and partly to see you.”

Ye Chenyu’s voice was exceptionally clear and sweet, indescribably pleasant to the ear. ”I have no attachments left in Cyan Cloud Country and will be leaving soon, but you are the only one I can’t let go of.”

She looked at the empty spot beside her, a place she had saved for Ning Jiang.

Ning Jiang walked over and naturally sat down next to her.

Ye Chenyu removed the veil from her face, revealing her peerlessly beautiful features. The clear lake water reflected her world-toppling countenance.

A few fish beneath the surface saw her reflection and, as if captivated by its beauty, forgot how to swim and slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.

”Do you blame me for leaving without a word all those years ago?”

Ye Chenyu rested her cheek on Ning Jiang’s shoulder, sitting peacefully beside him as they gazed at the beautiful starry sky together.

The human aura about her was growing fainter and fainter, replaced by an ethereal Immortal Qi that was out of place in the mortal world.

”I know you left back then because you were worried I’d get dragged into the Yi Family’s affairs and get hurt.” Ning Jiang smiled faintly. ”At the time, you thought I was going to die. You cried so hard that you awakened your Heavy Pupils.”

Ning Jiang recalled the past. The scar on his chest was from that very incident.

Back then, the Yi Family had sent people to kill Ye Qingyi and her daughter. At the moment of Ye Chenyu’s mortal peril, he had shoved her aside and taken the fatal blow for her.

He still remembered how utterly heartbroken Ye Chenyu had looked.

It was the first time he had ever seen the always-strong Ye Chenyu show such a sad and vulnerable side.

He remembered the sound of her sorrowful cries—as if she had fallen into a lightless, eternal despair; as if she had lost the one thing she cherished most; as if her blood had frozen and her breath had stopped, a sharp knife plunging viciously into her heart, inflicting a pain worse than death.

And it was in the throes of that heart-rending grief that Ye Chenyu awakened her Heavy Pupils!

”I remember losing too much blood. Just as I was about to die, you used the Power of your Double Pupils to infuse your blood into my body, and that’s what ultimately saved me.”

Recalling that soul-stirring memory, Ning Jiang felt no fear. Instead, a smile touched his lips.

His body contained his own blood, and Ye Chenyu’s blood as well.

They had long since become the most intimate people in the world to each other.

Even if separated by thousands of miles, even if they hadn’t seen each other for years, the bond of their blood could not be severed.

”We promised when we were little that we’d survive together. You nearly broke that promise and tried to leave me all alone. How could I let you have your way?”

Ye Chenyu blinked, her long eyelashes fluttering gently.

Ning Jiang smiled. He knew that back then, Ye Chenyu would have saved him even if it cost her own life.

”I remember a few times when I was little, I’d get bullied and complain to you about it. The next time I saw those kids, they’d be all black and blue, and they’d run the moment they saw me. That was all your doing, wasn’t it?”

Ning Jiang smiled. This girl had always been silently protecting him.

Whenever he was bullied as a child, this quiet, reserved girl would find out and silently stand up for him, but she would never say a word about it.

Even leaving without a word that one time had been to protect him, for fear of him getting involved in the Yi Family’s affairs.

”Have you been well all these years out there?” Ning Jiang asked.

”No.”

Ye Chenyu answered immediately, without a second thought. No longer content with just leaning on his shoulder, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

A thousand words and a million phrases all melted away in that moment, becoming a single, heart-wrenching sentence: ”I’ve been thinking of you constantly!”

How could she have been well, when she was tormented day and night by the pain of longing for him?

Ning Jiang gently stroked the girl’s silver hair. A faint, pleasant fragrance drifted from her.

In this moment, Ye Chenyu seemed like nothing more than an ordinary girl.

”When are you leaving?”

”In the morning.”

”Do you have to go?”

”I want to stay with you, I want to be with you. But I joined the Moon God Palace, and the Sect chose me to be the Saintess. I only have a few days for this trip.”

Ye Chenyu hugged Ning Jiang, lightly sniffing his scent as if to commit it to memory forever.

”Saintess? That’s a good thing. It means the Sect values you greatly and has high hopes for you.”

Ning Jiang said calmly, ”Your innate talent is already very high, not to mention you have the Heavy Pupils. Cyan Cloud Country is too small for you; it’s just a mire. It’s not right for you to stay here. This place will only hold you back. A Phoenix should soar in the Nine Heavens. Leaving Cyan Cloud Country is the right choice. I support you!”

”A Phoenix should soar in the Nine Heavens? But if you’re not there in the Nine Heavens, then I’d rather not be there at all.” Ye Chenyu’s pupils, dark yet as bright as a field of stars, gazed at Ning Jiang’s face.

’I would forsake the Nine Heavens and fall to the mortal world forever, just to be with you.’

”Hahahaha! Chenyu, you don’t need to worry about me. While you soar high in the Nine Heavens, how could I possibly remain mediocre? Do you think I won’t be able to catch up to you?”

Sensing the girl’s devotion, Ning Jiang laughed heartily, his presence seeming to swallow the sun and moon. ”The Moon God Palace, is it? One of the Seven Great Super Sects of the Six Eastern Provinces, right? Within ten years—no, just five. I’ll come find you at the Moon God Palace within five years!”

Ye Chenyu froze, looking at Ning Jiang in astonishment.

”Chenyu, we made a promise when we were little. We said we’d become figures who could shake the heavens and the earth. We’d leave the Six Eastern Provinces, see the Endless Sea Region, explore the legendary Life Forbidden Areas, search for the Land of the Ruins buried deep beneath the sea, witness the Sky Island that appears once every ten thousand years, and visit all sorts of incredible places. Don’t worry. Not only will I do all of that, but I will also reign supreme over the entire Great Thousand Realms!”

Ning Jiang declared his grand ambition.

To an ordinary person, such words would sound like an ant declaring it would become a divine dragon in the heavens.

But Ye Chenyu didn’t laugh. Her disposition was elegant and transcendent. Her smile was like a lotus emerging from the water, her voice like a chorus of a hundred birds, and her beautiful eyes were brimming with a smiling light. ”I believe you!”

The small boat drifted aimlessly.

The two of them sat on the bow, reminiscing about the past and enjoying the quiet time together.

In this moment, Ning Jiang was not the Venerable from a hundred thousand years ago, but the inexperienced youth he once was.

With the memories of two lives merged, he was both the Venerable of the past and the Ning Jiang of the present.

”By the way, what’s the deal with you and Young Master Soaring Dragon?”

Ning Jiang asked. He had already guessed that the mysterious girl who fought Young Master Soaring Dragon was likely Ye Chenyu.

”That man is very domineering. When he saw me, he wanted to make me his woman,” Ye Chenyu said indifferently. ”But I wasn’t injured by him. I couldn’t be bothered to get entangled with him, so I just shook him off.”

”That makes sense. With your Heavy Pupils, even a few Young Master Soaring Dragons wouldn’t be enough for you to kill.”

Ning Jiang said calmly. Things like the Heavy Pupils were extremely rare, even a hundred thousand years ago.

A person who possessed such eyes could be called a Natural King.

What was a King?

The cultivation Realms were divided into the Qi Cultivation Ten Heavens, the Postnatal Realm, the Innate Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Primordial Spirit Fourth Tribulation Realm, the Earth Martial Realm, the Heaven-Reaching Realm, the Celestial Martial Realm, the Saint Martial Realm, Venerable, and Great Emperor.

Ning Jiang had previously been at the Venerable Realm, but his combat prowess was heaven-defying. He was a legend of his generation, able to stand on equal footing with a Great Emperor.

Once one’s Realm reached the Celestial Martial Realm, they could be called a King.

A Celestial Martial Realm King could live for ten thousand years. To them, three thousand years was a spring, and three thousand years was an autumn. The long ten thousand years was but a single cycle of seasons.

An expert of this level was strong enough to found a Great Sect that could last for ten thousand years without falling. Even in the entire Great Thousand Realms, they would be a regional overlord.

A place like Luoyang City could be annihilated by a Celestial Martial Realm King with a flick of his finger.

Upon reaching the Saint Martial Realm, one could be called a Saint. They could grasp Space Power, shatter the void, travel between worlds, and destroy Cyan Cloud Country with a single move.

As for a Venerable, they could open up a Little World. With a flick of their finger, an expert of this caliber could sink an entire province.

What was a province?

The region where Cyan Cloud Country was located was called Qing Province.

The entirety of Qing Province was incomparably vast, containing dozens of countries like Cyan Cloud Country. Cyan Cloud Country was merely one of the smaller nations; there were also some much larger and more powerful countries.

Qing Province, Lei Province, Yun Province, Yue Province, Liang Province, and Ning Province, together, formed the Six Eastern Provinces of the Eastern Domain.

And Qing Province was the weakest of the Six Eastern Provinces.

Beyond the Six Eastern Provinces lay the Endless Sea Region.

In addition, the Southern Domain, Western Domain, and Northern Domain all had continents of their own.

There was also the Central Domain, regarded as the center of the Great Thousand Realms. It was even more powerful, and living beings from all over the world liked to gather there.

The Central Domain was filled with chosen geniuses and monstrous talents; the number of experts was simply countless.

Beyond that, some Little Worlds also existed within the Great Thousand Realms, and these worlds sometimes had their own various life forms.

This was the Great Thousand Realms.

A magnificent world so boundless that not even a Venerable could fully explore it!