When Zhou You went up to the rooftop with shaved ice to visit Duan Yuxian, she was still practicing her swordplay, her form as agile and breathtaking as ever.
"Still, why is it always these same few forms?"
Zhou You wondered. He had visited the rooftop several times now and felt she was always executing the exact same moves.
Was it just an illusion, or was it a foundational sword art that required relentless repetition?
Zhou You was no sword cultivator and knew nothing about it, so he didn't dare judge carelessly.
As though she had overheard his quiet murmur of doubt, Duan Yuxian shifted her sword technique, turning erratic and tricky, a stark contrast to her usual style. Only after practicing for three to five minutes did she finally take notice of Zhou You's arrival.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, Duan Yuxian sheathed her sword and bowed in apology. "I was so engrossed in my sword practice just now that I didn't notice your arrival, fellow Daoist."
It wasn't that Duan Yuxian deliberately wanted to leave Zhou You hanging, but rather that if she didn't train for a good few minutes, she wouldn't work up a drop of sweat, which would look unnatural.
Zhou You returned the courtesy with a smile. "You have a spell duel with Fellow Daoist Su tomorrow, yet you're still working this hard, Fellow Daoist Duan. You should balance work and rest."
Duan Yuxian channeled the True Martial Breathing Technique to settle her guilty conscience. "Practicing more in daily life helps maintain my touch."
How had she never realized before that the True Martial Breathing Technique could be used like this?
The True Martial Breathing Technique was a guarded secret of the True Martial Great Hall, passed down to none but inner-sect disciples. Legend had it that it was handed down by the True Martial Great Emperor himself, capable of boosting cultivation, suppressing inner demons, and tempering the Dao heart, with boundless miraculous uses.
Master was truly something—when teaching the breathing technique, he only said it aided cultivation, never mentioning it could come in handy at times like this.
"Will you be coming downstairs today, Fellow Daoist?"
"Go right ahead without me, Fellow Daoist." Duan Yuxian politely declined. Yesterday's rain had been an accident; she definitely couldn't go to Zhou You's bedroom again today, or how could she face Su Tingxue tomorrow?
"This is shaved ice I bought at the school gate. It tastes pretty good. Give it a try, Fellow Daoist Duan." Zhou You handed Duan Yuxian a bowl of shaved ice. He had noticed that she broke into a sweat every time she practiced her sword, so something cold would be just right to cool her down.
Consider it a token of gratitude for his role model in diligent study.
"Ah, thank you." Duan Yuxian's pleasant surprise was genuine. Just now she had been so occupied with making up excuses to brush off Zhou You that she hadn't noticed he was carrying shaved ice.
Come to think of it, this was only the second time someone had treated her to shaved ice; the first time had been Su Tingxue treating her to a bowl piled high with toppings.
Once Zhou You left, Duan Yuxian sat on the edge of the rooftop with her spirit sword across her knees. The breeze stirred the tips of her hair, sending a stray black lock tumbling down, which she tucked behind her ear. Scooping up a spoonful of shaved ice, she slipped it into her mouth. The chilling bite sent a delightful jolt through her, making her swing her lower legs back and forth.
"It feels even tastier than the one Tingxue treated me to."
Zhou You opened the forum and first clicked on his private messages to clear the little red notification dots.
In the past, he would open his messages and quickly close them just to clear the red dots, terrified of reading the contents. Now, he had grown immune.
"Boring. Their flame game is weak," Zhou You curled his lip. Browsing posts was much more fun.
[Thanks for everyone's suggestions! Our cat cafe is officially open, and business is booming!]
"A cat cafe?"
Zhou You vaguely recalled seeing an earlier post where a few tiger demons and lion demons asked on the forum if they could open a feline coffee shop with actual lions and tigers inside. The comments section had been full of trolls who egged them on to start the business, clearly just watching the spectacle and egging on the chaos.
Zhou You tapped into the thread. The poster had shared several photos.
The first photo showed several members of the demon race gathered in front of the cafe to celebrate the grand opening. They were all handsome men and gorgeous women sporting animal ears and tails, dressed in server uniforms—incredibly eye-catching.
The second photo captured the packed cafe, where customers freely stroked the beast ears and tails of the demons, faces full of satisfaction.
The subsequent photos showed the thriving business, capturing either the packed interior or the long queues snaking outside.
The comment section was brilliant:
"Damn it, weren't you supposed to reveal your true forms? Who told you this was what a cat cafe meant?!"
"Where is your dignity as the demon race?! Is it appropriate to let mortals stroke your ears and tails as they please?!"
"Let me touch them."
Zhou You pondered for a moment and joined in the fun: "Let me touch them."
[Any literary Dao big shots willing to reply? Can someone with a public institution job pursue the path of a literary-path cultivator?]
[Short on cultivation resources, selling Master Xuanzang's Consciousness-Only Sutra at a premium. Enter if interested.]
"Didn't the Consciousness-Only Sutra disappear in the demonic calamity a thousand years ago? Is this authentic?"
"Pure scammer."
"Wrong section. This belongs in Heaven Market."
Zhou You didn't understand Buddhist matters; what caught his interest was that first reply: "The demonic calamity from a millennium ago?"
He had first heard about the demonic calamity from Su Tingxue, who mentioned that Chang'an might have been where the calamity came to its end. He hadn't paid much attention back then, but since then, he had frequently seen mentions of it on the forum.
"A good chance to ask Fellow Daoist Duan."
Zhou You climbed back up to the rooftop and saw Duan Yuxian, who had just finished the shaved ice. She had set the empty bowl aside and was humming a tune with her eyes closed, resting her mind and letting the summer breeze caress her face while dangling and swaying her feet, looking exceptionally carefree.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, is something the matter?"
Duan Yuxian had heard him the moment he opened the window.
"I ran into something while browsing the forum."
Duan Yuxian patted the spot beside her, gesturing for Zhou You to sit.
Zhou You sat down beside her to enjoy the breeze. "Fellow Daoist Duan, do you know what the demonic calamity from a millennium ago was?"
This time, it was Duan Yuxian's turn to be stunned. Wasn't this common knowledge in the cultivation world? Did Fellow Daoist Zhou not even know this?
Never mind, it was a good chance to review what she learned in class.
"That happened during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. While mortal dynasties were rising and falling, the cultivation world was likewise enduring an apocalyptic catastrophe.
"A fiend appeared out of nowhere in the cultivation world. No one knew where he came from, but he was incomparably tyrannical and bloodthirsty. Many senior figures of the cultivation world met tragic, untimely ends at his hands—and you should know, among those seniors were titans of the Creation stage.
"That fiend called himself Demonic Venerable Guiji and vowed to sweep across the cultivation world. Seeing his menacing momentum, numerous great cultivators had no choice but to join forces, setting an inescapable net to slay him.
"Yet that fiend's cultivation realm was unfathomably profound, suspected to have touched the threshold of the Ascension stage. Beyond anyone's expectations, he tore the formation apart with brute force and went on a slaughterous rampage.
"Too many cultivators died in that battle—so many that they couldn't even be counted.
"The foremost figure in the cultivation world at the time was White Rainbow Dao Lord. She was in closed-door death seclusion seeking a breakthrough, and only when her disciples' soul lamps extinguished did she realize the catastrophe outside. She forcibly broke her seclusion and engaged the fiend in a monumental battle.
"In the end, both White Rainbow Dao Lord and the fiend vanished, their whereabouts unknown."
"Unknown whereabouts?" Zhou You was puzzled. Did the demonic calamity really end so abruptly and inconclusively?
Duan Yuxian's expression turned solemn out of reverence for the sacrifice of White Rainbow Dao Lord. "According to records, the clash between the two dimmed the heavens and earth, blocking out the sun and moon. Many cultivators who tried to assist White Rainbow Dao Lord were shredded merely by approaching the battle's aftershocks. Even Creation grandmasters would be grievously wounded; attempting to help would only have held the Dao Lord back.
"During her fight with the fiend, the Dao Lord manifested countless incarnations, and even her lingering afterimages were engaged in bloody combat. Only when all the afterimages completely faded did people realize the battle had concluded.
"People speculated that the Dao Lord and the fiend perished together. Afterward, many searched for her remains, but to no avail. In the end, they could only erect a cenotaph to commemorate her.
"Though the demonic calamity was resolved, the cultivators who died and the ancient texts destroyed could never be restored. Thus, the demonic calamity became a dividing line, leaving much of history from a thousand years ago lost to time."
"So that's how it was."
Zhou You understood now. He hadn't expected the demonic calamity to be far more terrifying than he had imagined; without White Rainbow Dao Lord's sacrifice, the entire cultivation world might have ceased to exist.
Seeing that it was getting late, Zhou You bade farewell to Duan Yuxian and returned to his room, while Duan Yuxian crawled back into her tent.
Zhou You lay in bed playing on his phone for another half hour before finally bringing himself to go to sleep.
After lights out, without sharing a room with Duan Yuxian this time, his sleep quality improved, and drowsiness soon overtook him.
*Whoosh—*
Zhou You's ears twitched as he heard the window slide open. He frowned slightly, reluctant to open his eyes.
Warm breath brushed across his face, tickling his skin, and Duan Yuxian's nervous, uneasy voice sounded by his ear.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, I can't sleep. How about we rehearse the procedure for when we meet tomorrow?
"Do you think when I see you, I should act very enthusiastic right from the start, or start cold and warm up later?"
Chapter 75