Martial Cultivator

Watching the woman walk into the tent, the young martial artist sat down heavily on a rock with a dark expression. He turned his head away, refusing to look at the young daoist.

The young daoist glanced cautiously at Chen Chao, his lips moving slightly. There were words on the tip of his tongue, but he didn’t know how to say them at this moment. It felt as if the words just wouldn’t come out.

After a long while, he finally spoke softly. “I didn’t mean to... Who would’ve thought you’d be here...”

Before he could finish, the young martial artist lifted his head in anger, glaring coldly at the young daoist before him. “What, is this how you’ve been cultivating the Dao all these years?”

The young daoist sighed helplessly. Some things, once stumbled upon, really couldn’t be explained. But then again, who told him to stumble upon it?

“What the hell do you want?”

The young martial artist’s face was full of impatience. It wasn’t that he was upset about the young daoist seeing something he shouldn’t have; he just thought his appearance was terribly ill-timed. He clearly had a next move planned, but before he could act, this brat showed up and completely ruined it. Who could Chen Chao even complain to about that?

After sitting down, Yun Jianyue thought for a moment, then spoke softly. “Speaking of which, there actually are some dual cultivation methods in the temple. Not those evil ones about harvesting yin or yang, nothing vile like that. They’re proper methods that benefit both people in cultivation. Next time we meet, I’ll bring you two manuals as compensation.”

As he spoke, Yun Jianyue felt his face grow hot. Matters between the sheets weren’t entirely foreign to him, but to say such things aloud was still too much for this young abbot of the Infatuation Daoist Temple.

Still, he was in the wrong this time, so he had no choice but to say it.

Chen Chao shot him a cold glance. “In your eyes, am I that kind of person?”

Yun Jianyue instinctively replied, “Otherwise?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Yun Jianyue realized it was inappropriate. But he couldn’t help cursing inwardly. You were doing that kind of thing in broad daylight, and you’re telling me you’re not that kind of person? Say that out loud and see if anyone in the world would believe you.

Chen Chao let out a cold laugh. “Since that’s how it is...”

“Then pick a few good manuals.”

Chen Chao stared at the young abbot before him, but quickly looked away in embarrassment. The two of them were both now renowned throughout the world, their cultivation nearly equal, but when it came to such matters, the two just stared at each other blankly. Who could possibly teach the other any experience?

They were both blockheads!

Yun Jianyue nodded lightly and said softly, “I’ll go back and pick carefully.”

Chen Chao couldn’t be bothered to waste more words on this matter. He got straight to the point and asked bluntly, “What are you doing in the desolate north?”

Yun Jianyue didn’t try to hide anything and replied, “I originally planned to come and lend a hand, see what I could do. But halfway through, I ran into a demon lord. Judging by his demeanor, he seemed to be heading somewhere, so I stopped him. We got entangled for a few days, and because of that, I missed what happened here. I’m guessing there was a great battle on your side?”

Hearing this, Chen Chao gave Yun Jianyue a strange look. Back when Autumn came to the desolate north looking for trouble with him, she had also first run into Yun Jianyue. At that time, Yun Jianyue hadn’t known where Autumn was going or what she was planning to do, yet he had stepped in to stop her.

It could be said that if Yun Jianyue hadn’t intervened back then, Autumn at her peak strength meeting Chen Chao would have been disastrous for him.

At the very least, Chen Chao wouldn’t have been able to leave unscathed, since he had already been gravely injured at the time.

And now, it was the same situation all over again. Back then, the Demon Emperor had already been an extremely difficult opponent. If another demon lord had shown up, Chen Chao figured his corpse would have long been devoured.

In that case, Yun Jianyue would have only been able to look upon Chen Chao’s bones.

“The Demon Emperor came. I almost died.”

Chen Chao said it concisely, and it made Yun Jianyue break out in a cold sweat.

He naturally knew what kind of existence the Demon Emperor was. For such that Demon Emperor to personally appear in the desolate north this time was truly unexpected. But what was even more shocking was that Chen Chao had survived an encounter with him.

“How did you manage that?”

Yun Jianyue was quite curious. Though he knew Chen Chao had some means, the Demon Emperor should have an existence that surpassed Nepenthe - something Yun Jianyue had faintly sensed after reaching the end of Nepenthe, and this trip to the desolate north had only confirmed it.

“It’s too complicated to explain, but I owe you thanks. If you hadn’t made a move, I’d probably be dead.”

Chen Chao rubbed his brow and, after a moment of hesitation, added, “Thanks aside, I still expect what you promised.”

Yun Jianyue’s mouth twitched, but he quickly grew serious again and said, “After I saw that demon lord leave, I met someone.”

Chen Chao teased, “You’re sure it was a person, and not a demon?”

But Yun Jianyue looked at Chen Chao with utter seriousness and said, “A person, and one who came to kill you.”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak, Yun Jianyue continued, “I saw my martial uncle. He didn’t die in the Immortal Sea.”

Yun Jianyue likely had more than one martial uncle, and more than one might have gone to the Immortal Sea, but there was probably only one person who could fit this situation.

Chen Chao asked, “He took another step forward?”

Yun Jianyue nodded lightly and said softly, “When I confronted him, I could clearly feel that Martial Uncle’s aura had become far heavier than before. He was like a mountain, pressing down so hard that I could barely breathe.”

For someone like Yun Jianyue who had already reached the end of Nepenthe to feel suffocated, it went without saying what level Daoist Wuyang had reached now.

Chen Chao gave a bitter smile. “That sounds like serious trouble.”

“He came to kill me. If he had really arrived, I probably wouldn’t still be alive. How did you stop him?”

Chen Chao knew very well that if Yun Jianyue hadn’t held back Daoist Wuyang for him, he would have had to face the man himself. That opponent had already been one of the most powerful figures in the world years ago, the leader of the entire Daoism. Even if he hadn’t advanced another step, Chen Chao wasn’t sure he could defeat him now. And since Daoist Wuyang had indeed advanced further, what could he do if they met?

Run? But could he even get away?

Probably not. No, definitely not.

“No, wait. He’s your martial uncle after all. Why did you stop him? From your relationship with him, there’s no reason you should help me instead of him. Unless... he already knows you and I joined forces to kill Yinli, and no longer sees you as a junior?”

Chen Chao rambled on, but after saying quite a lot, he finally looked at Yun Jianyue with a strange expression. “A’Yue, oh A’Yue... how did you end up taking a different path so easily?”

Yun Jianyue replied calmly, “I never thought of taking that path. I’ve only been wondering which path is truly the right one. And after seeing it over and over again, I realized that the path you’re walking is the Great Dao. If I don’t follow this one, which other path should I take?”

Chen Chao smiled without saying anything more. He simply reached out and patted the young daoist beside him.

At this point, some things no longer needed to be said. Just like what the Great Liang Emperor had done over the years, and what Chen Chao himself had done, though many still didn’t understand and many still feared them, there were also those who had come to understand, accept, and even walk alongside them.

The very fact that Yun Jianyue had come to the desolate north said one thing. The fact that he had stopped Daoist Wuyang said another.

“From now on, we’re good brothers.”

Chen Chao patted Yun Jianyue’s shoulder, then said regretfully, “A shame there’s no wine. Otherwise, we should be drinking to this.”

Yun Jianyue sneered. “Stop talking nonsense. Martial Uncle wants to kill you, shouldn’t you be thinking about how to deal with that?”

The Demon Emperor might want to kill Chen Chao, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to do it; it would only be incidental. Moreover, the Demon Emperor would never pursue someone all the way to the Divine Capital.

But Daoist Wuyang would.

Chen Chao rubbed his brow and muttered to himself, “Just causing trouble for me? I don’t believe it. You’re thinking like that now, and you’re the temple master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple, wouldn’t he be afraid you’d ’lead the temple astray’?”

That hit the mark.

Yun Jianyue didn’t hide it and said plainly, “Indeed. Martial Uncle was very disappointed in me. It was obvious he didn’t want to see me continue like this.”

Chen Chao clicked his tongue. “Looks like I can already see a fellow-disciple slaughter between Martial Uncle and his martial nephew. Oh, seems it wouldn’t be the first time.”

Yun Jianyue was unbothered and said softly, “Chen Chao, you know that right now, neither you nor I can kill him.”

Chen Chao frowned, puzzled. “You really want to kill him?”

“I know Martial Uncle very well. He looks easy to talk to, but he isn’t. Once he decides to do something, no one can dissuade him. If he wants to take back the position of temple master, everything you’ve done will be for nothing.”

Yun Jianyue said it calmly: “Daoism has been walking the wrong path under him for so many years. I don’t want to watch him lead it further astray.”

His voice was low, but it carried weight.

He could have left and said nothing, but now he had returned and would once more steer the Infatuation Daoist Temple and Daoism in the wrong direction.

Chen Chao nodded and sighed, “A’Yue, you really have guts now. Looks good, this is getting interesting.”

Yun Jianyue smiled. “I said those things to drag you into dying with me.”

Killing Daoist Wuyang, there was no chance as someone at the end of Nepenthe. Two at the end of Nepenthe probably had no odds of winning either, but it was clear Yun Jianyue could hardly find anyone else.

Chen Chao in front of him was the easiest ally to find.

Chen Chao laughed, “If Yu Xiyi had trained his sword hard and become a great sword immortal, we could count him in.”

If that had been the case, the three of them would have reunited, an echo of past stories.

“But if he hasn’t, then it’s the two of us.”

Chen Chao patted Yun Jianyue’s shoulder and said softly, “Going to kill your Martial Uncle again, kinda awkward.”