Martial Cultivator

The mad daoist walked toward the island shrouded in mist ahead, but at this moment, his gaze was clear, without any trace of madness.

He walked a long way along the beach, and finally arrived at the edge of the mist. Standing there, the mad daoist did not move forward but just looked for a long time.

The mist here was somewhat like the white fog that had once covered Rongshan Sect, but it was much lighter, giving the feeling of mist rising on a mountaintop after the rain.

“I want to leave.”

After standing here for a long time, the mad daoist suddenly spoke, saying only this one sentence.

Back when he had crossed that Immortal Sea and arrived here, he had stayed for a long time. Now he wanted to leave and return to the place he had been before.

”What’s the hurry?”

A voice came from the mist. ”There are still many good things here you haven’t seen. Aren’t you tempted?”

“I just feel that something has happened over there. I want to go back and see.”

The mad daoist spoke slowly. Since coming here, he had cut off all contact with the outside world. Aside from knowing just now that his valued junior Yun Jianyue had become an existence that achieved the end of Nepenthe, he knew nothing else about the outside.

“According to your calculations, those two emperors are already dead after infliction mutual injuries on each other. Now that someone from your temple has become a great daoist sage, what changes do you think will happen over there?”

The voice in the mist was very calm. In fact, it was less calm than emotionless; it was utterly indifferent. It was as if speaking about something trivial, incapable of stirring any emotion.

“I just feel uneasy. Although Chen Che and the Demon Emperor are dead, that one who uses a sword is still alive. After I leave, he has almost no equal. Even Ah Yue is no match for him.”

The mad daoist spoke softly. “Although he is wholly immersed in the sword path and does not concern himself with worldly matters, I still feel uneasy. Moreover, there is that old monk as well.”

People who leave home always worry about those left behind, especially when even the simplest letters no longer arrive.

The voice in the mist remained silent for a long time, then slowly spoke, “It seems you are not worried about them.”

The mad daoist was silent for a long time upon hearing this. Finally, he said, “Indeed, I am not worried about them. That old monk has not done much in recent years and naturally will not act now. As for the one who uses the sword, even if he breaks through his cultivation realm, he will only pursue higher levels of the sword path and will have no impact on this world. What I am worried about is Chen Che’s nephew.”

“A young man.”

The voice in the mist said calmly, “Only a few years have passed. What can he do?”

Clearly, a few years meant nothing to the existence in the mist. It was like seas changing into mulberry fields and mulberry fields into seas; trivial and insignificant. Even for the mad daoist, a few years were barely worth noting. But for an ordinary person, or for that young man, or for Yun Jianyue, a few years still made a difference.

“Ah Yue can reach the end of Nepenthe, so naturally he can too. Although I have no fondness for him, considering the potential he has shown and the fact that he is Chen Che’s nephew, I cannot help but worry.”

The mad daoist’s eyes were deep and thoughtful. He did not know why, but after learning that Yun Jianyue had became an existence at the end of Nepenthe, he could not stop worrying.

“You mean that young man has only cultivated for a few years and has already become an existence at the end of Nepenthe? Even so, he is only one person. How can he possibly change the world?”

The voice in the mist rose slightly in tone, but only a little, not much.

Something appeared in the mad daoist’s eyes. He looked at the mist ahead and recalled past events. Back when that Great Liang Emperor ascended the throne, people said that even if that feudal prince rose up to seize the Divine King and become emperor, Great Liang would still be controllable. What could one person do with his strength alone?

But in reality, just a few years later, Great Liang was no longer the same as before. That Great Liang Emperor ruled for over a decade, changing the country greatly.

People had misjudged once, and now again, the mad daoist did not want to let things become truly uncontrollable.

“All in all I have to go kill him.”

The mad daoist was very resolute. Regarding this matter, he was determined to go through with it.

“You must understand, even if you have reached this realm, you may not be able to leave that sea. And once you do leave it, you can never return.”

The mist flowed slowly, and the voice became strange. “Over many years, very few have been able to come here. Those who come here have no desire to leave at all. The end of Nepenthe is merely another beginning, and in this world, only in this place can one see the path ahead.”

“The end of this path is called eternal life.”

Eternal life.

The goal of a cultivator’s cultivation was nothing more than these two words. For these two words, countless people have spent their entire lives here.

“After you arrived, I advised you to enter, but you never did. And now you want to leave. Truly strange.”

The voice in the mist shifted slightly with emotion, asking curiously, “I really want to know what you are thinking.”

“Thinking a lot.”

The mad daoist said, “If I were only thinking about eternal life, I would have entered long ago.”

“I did not come here specifically to seek eternal life. I was forced to travel this way with no other choice. But now, I am going back. Farewell.”

After saying this, the mad daoist turned and prepared to leave.

The person in the mist seemed as if they wanted to say something. But in the end, he said nothing, only a sigh drifting out softly.

The mad daoist returned to the beach and looked at the sea for a long time.

Indeed, just as the person in the mist had said, even though he had already broken through the end of Nepenthe and reached a new realm, he still could not be certain of leaving here.

Entering was a matter of life and death, and leaving was even more difficult.

But since he had decided to leave, the mad daoist would see it through.

Those who come here originally have little attachment to the mortal world and seek only eternal life. Once they arrive, no one thinks of leaving. Over all these years, the only one who has tried to leave is him.

But he was different. He did have attachments. In his heart, a daoist temple still resided.

It was his place of peace.

Thinking of this, the sea beside the beach suddenly slowly surged, gradually forming into a small boat. The mad daoist stood at the bow, looking ahead, and then moved forward.

The boat traveled several dozen feet forward, and the mad daoist suddenly spoke softly.

”Fuyun.”[Yes, it’s the same Fuyun as Fuyun Sect. Fuyun also means 扶云 Supporting Cloud]

This word seemed ordinary, but they were not.

Because this was the name of the realm above Nepenthe.

And in the world, very few people even knew this word, which represented the realm beyond Nepenthe.