[Desert Scene]
A solitary plume of smoke rose faint and distant across the vast desert. She rode an aging mare from Mount Xiping, ambling slowly through a world of glittering golden sand and stone. Smoothing a few strands of white hair, she said, "Chen Donghe, I have grown old."
The middle-aged man descended upon the wind. His face was no longer young either, yet remained patient and gentle as ever. Gathering her hair and looking at those drifting white strands, Chen Donghe said softly, "Let me pluck them for you."
"No need. I am afraid of pain."
Li Jingtian gripped the reins with pale fingers while Chen Donghe led the aging horse. She sat lost in thought as yellow sand blew across heaven and earth, turning them into two black dots in the vast expanse, one large and one small.
1. In her childhood, Li Jingtian had often dreamed a dream. In it, she was extraordinarily exceptional, walking through water and fire, commanding thunder and lightning, soaring above rainstorm clouds with hands clasped behind her back. This dream had once filled her with hope—until it was shattered in her sixth year.
"Lacking a spirit aperture."
Only later did Li Jingtian realize this was far more fatal than any denial of temperament or natural talent. Incompetence was final; she had no chance to prove herself. Thus, she rarely slept deeply again, terrified of returning to that unrealistic dream. Of course, that dream never came again.
Later, Li Jingtian lost her father. Her elder brother, Li Xuanxuan, took charge of household affairs. When Li Xuanxuan asked if she could marry Chen Donghe, Li Jingtian only then remembered there was such a person.
Back then, Li Jingtian had leaned against a window one morning, dressed in her favorite white dress, smiling brightly and clearly. Of course she knew just how lovely she was.
She was no longer a little girl. Every intelligent beauty, upon reaching the proper age, came to understand her own power through the astonished gazes of others. Perhaps relying on beauty would fail the first few times, but after learning from those lessons, one only grew more powerful.
Perhaps those boys would wake up sooner or later, but in their teenage years, she was their ruler. Li Jingtian possessed great talent in this regard; she knew that as long as she remained calm as water, her natural looks and pretty almond eyes would conquer her enemies for her, even if it were a youth approaching with utmost deference.
He fears my family's power; that is all the better.
The youth's gaze had darted about evasively, lingering with ceaseless longing. It was Li Jingtian's first time wielding such power, yet it felt as if it had been innate since the womb, effortlessly exercised. He was not ugly; in fact, he possessed a certain magnanimity. When a girl is adored with an unblinking gaze by a youth, she cannot help but feel a touch of vanity; attracting attention was human nature, while whether anything came of it afterward was another matter entirely. Chen Donghe.
Li Jingtian's emotions had stirred for only a fleeting instant. He was a nobody, cast out of her mind at will. Dusk in the desert was suited for dreaming; the various spiritual auras in the sky radiated colorful light as numerous cultivators shuttled through the air. She lay quietly amidst the warm sand. Chen Donghe.
Her father passed away, and as expected, her eldest brother became the family head. Li Jingtian began to feel he had grown unfamiliar. Once Li Xuanxuan took that seat, he seemed to turn ruthless all at once. His former smiles were gone, his eyes filled with nothing but cold anxiety. He still called her sister as usual, yet Li Jingtian could tell something was amiss: He no longer cares about anything... He doesn't even care about himself, so how could he care about a sister like me?
In her hazy daze, the scene before her gradually grew clear. Her second brother, Li Xuanfeng, with fierce eyes and brow, hoisted that youth into the air, blue veins bulging on his muscular arms as if he would tear him to pieces in the next second.
Unwilling to recall, Li Jingtian rolled over. The dream blurred and sharpened once more—it was her younger brother, Li Xuanling. Li Xuanling held a scroll in his hands, his steady face bearing a close resemblance to Li Tongya. Dressed in white, he sat quietly in the grove, reading what was in his hands and seemingly pondering it in depth.
Just as Li Jingtian called out, another figure emerged from the woods behind her—looking only seven or eight years old, yet bearing a very mature expression—gripping her hand tightly.
Li Jingtian looked down, only to hear the child say fiercely, "If it truly comes to that, I will kill you first, then kill myself!"
A tightness gripped Li Jingtian's chest, and both figures vanished into thin air. Only a cold, dead snake fell, landing on her chest, icy and slimy, giving her a shudder of fright.
She soon woke up, her throat stinging, dizzy and parched. Chen Donghe sat quietly beside her, cultivating cross-legged. Only then did Li Jingtian realize: My life is almost at its end.
3. The desert wind whistled loudly. Li Jingtian always had Chen Donghe take her traveling everywhere, yet she had little interest in appreciating the sights, often dozing off on the camel's back.
She remembered carrying that blood-stained bedsheet to see her mother, intentionally choosing a time when she would run right into her eldest brother, Li Xuanxuan. The sheet in her arms vindictively revealed a corner stained with blood.
Li Xuanxuan had not dared to look at her, pausing slightly on the spot as though he had almost jumped. She, too, had quickly gathered the sheet as if feeling guilty, burying her head as she went inside.
At times, Li Jingtian felt some resentment toward him, yet in the end, she was powerless. She knew that her elder brother Xuanxuan differed greatly from her younger brother Xuanling, and that in some matters she had to fill in the gaps for him. But seeing Li Xuanxuan sitting in the patriarch's seat sleepless day and night, plagued by restlessness and anxiety, Li Jingtian could no longer muster any ill feelings toward him. Later on, even that tiny urge for revenge vanished entirely; she only found him pitiful.
"Besides, with Yuanxiu around, it is better that Eldest Brother holds the position; let younger brother focus on cultivation."
That was what she had thought back then. Back then, she had watched Yuanyun closely. This child likewise lacked a spirit aperture, and was equally proud. At that time, Qinghong had held a bamboo pole, poking at jujubes with him. Brother and sister had sat smiling beneath the tree, and Li Qinghong had sat quietly beside him, feeling so very content.
Soon, Qinghong rode upon thunder, commanding lightning and thunder to become the pillar of the family. Yuanyun trembled in fear, not daring to make a single mistake under the watchful, predatory eyes of the clan elders, his smiles vanished.
Li Jingtian had felt a deep suffocating ache in her chest, especially upon hearing that oath of Li Qinghong that astonished everyone in the clan: "This junior harbors no desire for romance, nor do I wish to be any man's wife or concubine... Though a daughter is not born a son, she still possesses the ambition to refine the Six Wheels and forge divine abilities, to pursue immortality and slay demons, to guard the realm and protect the people!"
Later, she pondered those words twice over, feeling utterly unsettled.
4. As for Chen Donghe?
Li Jingtian dreamed for a long time before catching sight of him at the edge of her vision—a cold gaze, and white clothes discarded on the ground. Jingtian felt irritated, thinking coldly to herself, Why bother?
She never believed she would become deeply infatuated just because someone had taken something from her, as happened in stories. She knew she was stubborn, and would never bargain over what had already been taken away.
She was clever, and unwilling to yield herself to another. His one-sided efforts were futile in truth. She understood his intentions, yet had not the slightest interest in this game of conquest and submission. Yet the more she ignored him, the more she could sense his desire slipping out of control, gradually becoming something she could manipulate at will. Li Jingtian had once tried hard to accept it, but the outcome remained icy cold. She could only say darkly within her heart, "I am sorry, but I cannot."
Yet Chen Donghe was powerful; with a slight movement, he could crush her to pieces. This disparity made her ever calmer, and ever more unable to accept it. A proud person only walked further down her own path.
What was more... what was more, she felt not the slightest attraction to his bearing or his face, finding it only awkward. The composure he had learned looked inferior before her family elders. In truth, his head was a bit too large, making him appear clumsy in a woman's eyes.
Although his face was passable, it lacked that certain boldness. When calm, he was tolerable to look at, but when animated, he appeared unsightly. That face was later passed down to Qingxiao; both looked decent when calm and dignified, but rather unappealing when relaxed.
Perhaps this man, this physique, was fine in the eyes of other women, yet with her, it could evoke no feeling whatsoever. In truth, she preferred men who were more well-proportioned and radiant.
Who was at fault?... Surely not I.
5. But she aged quickly—far faster than she had ever imagined. The beauty that had been so effortless in her youth was now like clouds hanging at the horizon, impossible to touch no matter what.
Those beautiful almond eyes swiftly sagged, and her hair grew sparse. Her skin wrinkled, revealing the bones beneath, her complexion haggard, appearing all the more withered in the desert wind.
Chen Donghe remained much the same, his cultivation having progressed even higher. The years only lent maturity to his appearance. An imperceptible reversal seemed to occur in their standing; those things Li Jingtian had once relied on as a shield had unwittingly fallen into another's hands.
Yet she did not care. As she grew older, she gradually lost her attachment to such things, yet that impassable barrier of indifference remained, permanently frozen in her heart.
The confidence Chen Donghe thought he was gradually gaining was, in truth, completely worthless before her. Chen Donghe did not speak of it, and neither did she.
She watched with cold detachment as they tormented each other. She found Chen Donghe's self-punishing behavior merely childish; more than that, she even felt somewhat annoyed. Swallowing the word "childish" back down her throat, she simply watched on coldly.
6. That night, she kept dreaming of dead snakes, cold and sticky, writhing around her neck. Chen Donghe's face surfaced before her. The man could finally restrain himself no longer, asking again and again, demanding an answer.
Li Jingtian did not give a clear answer. She knew it would leave a deep shadow over the man, whether light or heavy, and there was no remedy for it now. Chen Donghe merely asked, "When you were young... was that a joke?" An illusion suddenly rose in her mind—walking through water and fire, soaring atop the peaks of thunder. She wanted to laugh, but her senses were gradually fading away.
She knew what the man before her was talking about. If Li Jingtian truly harbored affection for him, she would never have spent the rest of her life tormenting each other; yet in this matter, she would never yield. Li Jingtian said coldly, "As true as iron."
As true as iron!
Faintly, she seemed to see the man's face crumble before her, his eyes slipping beneath his mouth as glistening tears fell. Soon, she sank into her own dream.
In the deep darkness, she vaguely dreamed of an expanse of white. She was still dressed in white robes, leaning quietly by the window, holding a white cat in her arms. Footsteps echoed outside the door. Before the youth outside could enter, Li Jingtian slowly rose and said softly, "Father, I shall take my leave."
Side Story Note
When he said this, Li Qinghong was truly shaken.
The Duruo Spear was the first Foundation Establishment magical device their family had obtained, and it suited her remarkably well. Having been in Li Qinghong's hands for so many years, it had never proved inferior to any magical device wielded by an enemy.
No name had been inscribed on this spear. When Li Tongya obtained it back then, he had been unable to use it, nor did he know...
Chapter 534