Master Tianyue

"A traitor of the Xuantian Palace... I wonder what this person actually did..." Turning to Master Feng, the swordsman in black asked, "Brother Feng, you have broad connections and are well-informed. Have you caught any wind of this?" "None," Master Feng shook his head. "A Nascent Soul cultivator defecting from the Xuantian Palace is such a scandal—why would the Xuantian Palace broadcast it far and wide? Besides, the Boundless Sea lies between us. Even if rumors made it across, there is no telling how long they would take or how distorted they would become." The white-robed scholar chimed in, "Brother Feng speaks the truth! What this person did is of little importance; what matters is what secrets he holds. According to the demon rat, a cohort of Xuantian Palace experts pursued him into the Demon Realm and refused to let up. It is said they only withdrew in frustration when they nearly alarmed Great Sage Tianpeng. The traitor likely possesses a paramount treasure brought out from the Xuantian Palace, but the demon rat didn't state plainly what it was. It is unclear whether it didn't know the truth or was concealing something." The female cultivator in the phoenix crown arched her eyebrows with alluring charm. "A treasure revered as paramount by the Xuantian Palace..." The swordsman in black looked at Master Feng. "The demon rat has been slain, but the opponents still outnumber us. Should we invite some reinforcements?" Master Feng pondered for a moment. "Not long ago, I contacted our fellow daoists in the Star Sand Archipelago. The demon race appears menacing on the surface, but they have taken no substantive action. Bi Fang doesn't seem to want a war either; it is merely putting on a show of strength to conceal its true objective. There is no need for us to make a big fuss and invite too many people, lest word leak out and stir up even greater trouble." Pausing, Master Feng added, "I have already instructed people to spread word to invite that mysterious fellow daoist. Let us wait a bit longer and see." The white-robed scholar asked inquisitively, "Could that person be from the Star Sand Archipelago? In the middle Nascent Soul stage and proficient in the Thunder Escape technique—it is impossible for someone like that to be a complete unknown!" Master Feng shook his head. "I have already inquired. No such person exists there!" Just then, a streak of flowing light suddenly flew into the hall. Master Feng caught the light. After reading it, he smiled. "Speak of the devil, and he appears! I shall head back first to meet him. You all continue investigating." *** Mount Fengyang. Qin Sang sat cross-legged in the quiet chamber. Suddenly sensing something, he opened his eyes. Immediately afterward, the ward of the quiet chamber stirred. Chu Huanqiang's voice came from outside to report, "Senior Mingyue, Master has returned to the mountain and awaits Senior in the grand hall." Qin Sang stepped out of the quiet chamber and followed Chu Huanqiang to the mountain summit, where he met Master Feng. Both were old monsters of immense experience. Following a round of warm pleasantries, Qin Sang thanked Master Feng for helping frighten off Bi Fang, while Master Feng shared common indignation against their mutual foe. Before long, they were speaking with the ease of old friends who had known each other for years. "Forgive Feng for being presumptuous, but might I ask where Fellow Daoist Mingyue hails from?" Master Feng did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point, asking about Qin Sang's origins. "Given Fellow Daoist's cultivation and divine abilities, you are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in the entire North Sea. Feng is ill-informed, yet I had truly never heard of you before." Qin Sang hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell the truth. He said calmly, "This poor daoist hails from the outer realms." If he were merely at the early Nascent Soul stage, claiming that he had been in bitter cultivation somewhere and broke through by luck—thus explaining why he was unknown—might still be plausible. However, an immortal cultivator who did nothing but bitter secluded cultivation could never attain the middle Nascent Soul stage. If Master Feng took the trouble to investigate and found not the slightest trace of him in the cultivation world, suspicion would inevitably arise; a lie would not hold up for long. Besides, Qin Sang had no fear of revealing his background. It was inconsequential. "The outer realms?" Master Feng was taken aback. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something and gasped in shock, "Fellow Daoist is from the Beichen Realm?" Qin Sang smiled faintly. "Brother Feng is truly erudite and knowledgeable, hitting the mark on the first guess. Could there be other fellow daoists who traversed the storms from the Beichen Realm?" Cultivators of the Beichen Realm knew of the Three Realms of the North Sea. This proved that the two domains had certainly communicated in the past. There were bound to be legends of the Beichen Realm within the Three Realms of the North Sea as well. It was entirely normal for Master Feng to know about the Beichen Realm. Qin Sang was sounding him out indirectly. To his surprise, Master Feng shook his head repeatedly. "Legend has it that thousands of years ago, the foremost expert of the Beichen Realm, Master Tianyue, crossed the sea alone. With one man and one sword, he defeated every powerhouse of the North Sea and warned the cultivators of the Three Realms of the North Sea never to take half a step into the Beichen Realm. From then on, all contact between the two domains was severed. Fellow Daoist Mingyue is the first cultivator from the Beichen Realm that Feng has ever encountered in his life!" As he spoke, Master Feng looked at Qin Sang with undisguised astonishment, as if examining some rare curiosity. His expression did not seem feigned. Qin Sang thought to himself, *It seems Chen Yan and the others never showed themselves at Mount Fengyang, or perhaps they deliberately concealed their tracks.* *Rogue Cultivator Tianyue.* With a shift in Qin Sang's thoughts, he recalled this person's background. This was the Beichen Realm's last great cultivator prior to Old Demon Ye! It was said that Master Tianyue was a rogue cultivator who kept an exceedingly low profile throughout his life. Leaving behind no descendants, he vanished without a trace quite suddenly, which was why rumors regarding him were scarce. Qin Sang had only learned of him when overhearing other Nascent Soul cultivators discussing the past. "One man and one sword, defeating every expert in the North Sea..." Qin Sang was lost in reverie. Never had he imagined that Master Tianyue, whom only a handful of people in the Beichen Realm still remembered, had left such illustrious renown in a foreign land. When Master Feng had spoken of Master Tianyue just now, his expression was solemn, showing immense reverence for him. *No wonder there were so many experts in the North Sea, yet only Chen Yan's master had ever gone to the Beichen Realm—someone had been quietly guarding it all along.* Qin Sang felt a wave of admiration. Regrettably, he knew far too little about Master Tianyue's deeds. It was said that this man had emerged from the desert—a genius of peerless natural talent, aloof from worldly desires, like a wild crane among idle clouds, wandering far and wide with unfettered freedom. Master Tianyue had never proclaimed his attainment of the great cultivator realm. It was only when he accidentally encountered other fellow daoists that the fact became known and spread, but soon after, he vanished into obscurity once more. Opinions varied regarding Master Tianyue's ultimate fate. Some said Master Tianyue had perished in some secret realm. Many ancient secret realms in the Beichen Realm were fraught with perils, places where even great cultivators dared not let down their guard. Others said Master Tianyue might have quietly broken through to Deity Transformation, crossed the Storm Belt, and wandered off into distant lands. Given his disposition, that was entirely possible. Gathering his thoughts, Qin Sang felt somewhat curious. So much time had passed; if Master Tianyue had failed to advance to Deity Transformation, he must have perished long ago. Aside from Chen Yan's master, had no one else ever thought of going to take a look? Just then, Master Feng said, "Back then, Senior Tianyue planted his sword at the Cape of Heaven and drifted away. From that moment on, not a soul dared take half a step forward, including the Xuantian Palace. Later, as the demon race grew ever stronger, they swallowed more than half of the Star Sand Archipelago, and the Cape of Heaven was likewise seized by them. Having lost the path through the Cape of Heaven, even if we wished to go to the Beichen Realm, our strength fell short of our desires. Feng once entertained the thought, but after a single attempt where I encountered an utterly chaotic turbulence of storms and nearly lost my bearings, I had no choice but to turn back. We unworthy descendants do not even know if the sword Senior Tianyue planted still stands there..." Master Feng gave a bitter smile. The Cape of Heaven, situated in the north of the Star Sand Archipelago, was a corner where the barrier jutted out toward the Storm Belt. It was said that a safe path led from there to the Beichen Realm, but that was only relative; it was by no means absolutely safe, and it placed extraordinarily high demands on the cultivation of anyone who dared intrude.