Chi Buzi was exceedingly quick-witted. His gaze lingered briefly on the other man's face before drifting down to his teacup, and he said softly,
"In any case, I must thank you and Senior Yuanshang for stepping forward this time. Otherwise, there would have been no turn for the better."
Now that Penglai had been drawn in, Fuxuan understood that Chi Buzi no longer harbored secret doubts about whether his own sect's True Person Yuanshang had perished, and his words carried clear acknowledgment. Yet facing Chi Buzi's thanks, Fuxuan did not offer an answer.
Though Fuxuan was not as fiercely intolerant of evil as the two juniors of his clan, and having known Chi Buzi in earlier days still retained a shred of sentiment toward him, old grievances lingered in his heart after all. Unwilling to cross the line he had privately drawn between righteous and evil, he merely closed his eyes and took a sip of tea.
Yet the cyan-eyed man paid it no heed, sitting upright in his seat, quietly holding his cup.
"Whoosh..."
The wind began to howl through the courtyard, passing through his sleeves and rustling his green robes as the pitch-black bead at his waist swayed gently.
The hair at Fuxuan's temples stirred in the breeze. He snapped his eyes open, looking toward the final empty seat beside the table.
Drifting wisps of clouds, purple condensation of magical light, surging yin qi, flowing silvers and whites—all manner of anomalies coalesced over the seat, flaring brightly before vanishing into nothingness. Sleeves draped like avian plumage swept across the table, and a jade-like hand lifted a cup.
A handsome man of feminine grace, his phoenix eyes vibrant with charm, had already manifested.
Chi Buzi kept his gaze lowered, sipping his tea, yet the wind in the courtyard died down swiftly. With a hint of a smile in his voice, he spoke:
"Master Wei."
As the words fell, a wild tempest swelled violently. Swimming Water, cyan like a deep abyss, spread out beneath the three of them. The dripping of water echoed in their ears amid pervasive gloom and rising mists, enshrouding them in all directions as though they had departed the hall entirely and now drifted above a heavy, secluded pool.
Within this darkness resembling the netherworld, the androgynous man smiled faintly, his voice clear and bright:
"Brother Buzi."
Pale yet somber, waves of Jueyin rolled forth, emitting the crisp clatter of colliding pearls. Wei Xuanyin sat upright facing the north as all light in the courtyard fell toward him. Behind him, a circular folding screen seemed to unfold, its edges faintly revealing needle-thin leaves and furry branches.
*Weng!*
In the frenzied clash between Jueyin and Swimming Water, only one spot remained serene, like bright moonlight pouring upon the earth, slowly drawing a circular boundary. Without anyone noticing when, Fuxuan was already cradling his sword in his arms, his eyes closed in silence.
The divine abilities touched and instantly parted; all anomalies vanished in the blink of an eye. The colors in Wei Xuanyin and Chi Buzi's eyes faded together, and not a single ripple stirred across the teacups on the table, which remained sitting undisturbed before them.
"Fellow Daoist Chi, I trust you have been well since we last met!"
Wei Xuanyin smiled faintly, a trace of emotion surfacing in his gaze.
"I long knew you were a figure of the first rank, yet I never imagined you would cross into Violet Palace so effortlessly!"
Chi Buzi watched him quietly, assuming a detached, aloof demeanor, and said softly,
"Master Wei, coming all the way from the north amid your many duties, I imagine you did not come merely to make small talk."
Wei Xuanyin's smile gradually receded, and he said somberly,
"You know well in your heart why this matter had to be settled at the Eastern Sea. Over the years, our Lord has never let slip a single shred of the Feathered Serpent's golden nature—even the Underworld Court has refrained from interfering much on that front. Do you understand the stakes involved?"
Chi Buzi looked calm.
"Otherwise, I would not have come here."
Wei Xuanyin took a jade box from his sleeve and placed it lightly on the table, resting his jade-white fingers atop it. Chi Buzi narrowed his eyes slightly and asked,
"How is Sui Guan?"
Wei Xuanyin replied with interest,
"He returned to Luyu Heaven and was concealed by our Lord with Chougui Cang. Having severed karma, he has fallen into the dark recesses... beyond anyone's divination."
A glint of irony flashed in Chi Buzi's eyes, and he smiled.
"It is not the first time."
Wei Xuanyin smiled as well. He gently opened the jade box, revealing a small, pale-golden seal inside. Two fingers wide and three fingers tall, a fierce and majestic feathered serpent coiled atop it, its two wings draped over the flanks of the seal.
This feathered serpent seemed possessed of a strange allure, making it impossible for the three of them to look away for a long time. Chi Buzi did not reach out for it. Instead, he slowly shifted his gaze and said deliberately,
"I still have one question for Master Wei."
Wei Xuanyin smiled.
"Please."
Chi Buzi spoke faintly,
"Chougui favors concealment, holding restraint within water. Since our Lord can conceal... since He could even hide the origin and status left by the Feathered Serpent to its descendants—concealing it so thoroughly that the Feathered Serpent was stripped of wings and lost the three hooks upon its tail..."
"Knowing full well that golden nature might reside within this seal, why not take it into custody instead of letting it drift abroad?"
His eyes fixed steadily upon the other man.
"If you say someone was meant to retrieve it—when even a True Monarch could not draw it out, how could I?"
Wei Xuanyin glanced at Fuxuan, whose face had grown pale, and clapped his hands.
"You are formidable indeed, Fellow Daoist!"
He stood up, his tone somber and deep.
"The Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal is a token of command of the Feathered Serpent. Legend has it that it was once among the choices the Feathered Serpent prepared as a dharma treasure. Later, the Feathered Serpent chose Pingtan Guang, and this item passed into the hands of Snake Lord Mixuan."
"Back when True Chi swallowed the Swimming Water and ushered in antiquity, the Swimming and Joining waters shifted in resonance. Snake Lord Mixuan fled, and Dongfang Riju—head of the nine sons, Dragon King of the Eastern Sea, who considered himself the foremost of the Chi lineage—sensed something was amiss. Unable to locate him, he went to ask the Dragon King of the West Sea, Dongfang Yuezhu, yet even their joined efforts could not divine his whereabouts."
"From that moment onward, various cultivators secretly suspected that a golden nature lay within the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal, serving as the Feathered Serpent's hidden trump card."
His expression gradually shifted, turning solemn:
"As a Great Sage who attained the Dao in the primordial age, True Chi naturally would not exert effort in vain. Back then, He was actually confident. But it was an unprecedented undertaking, and in the end He perished. Antiquity granted the merit of vain attainment; though He fell, His achievement was no lesser than theirs. With the tale of transforming Swimming into Joining, the two seats of Swimming and Joining became fundamentally different."
Magical light rippled faintly in Wei Xuanyin's eyes as his divine ability operated of its own accord, seemingly invoking some concealment art to evade the karmic retribution of speaking recklessly on matters of antiquity.
"Snake Lord Mixuan cultivated in silence, unwilling to settle for an intercalary or surplus seat. Secretly aided by the Master of Kanshui, he reincarnated three times, purging his spiritual essence and taking human form, intending to covertly seize the seat of Swimming Water. Yet within Ji, he crossed paths with the Master of Yuzhen before the latter attained the Dao, and his life was taken."
"From then on, the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal fell into the hands of the Yuan Palace."
Wei Xuanyin paused. Seeing that Chi Buzi remained impassive, he knew the man already understood much of this and was merely seeking confirmation. He continued softly:
"Not until True Person Donghua appeared did this item finally re-emerge in the world. He gifted it to Ning Tiaoxiao, who cultivated Swimming Water. Rumor has it that Chi Wei secretly leaked the secret that this object had been refined by moon essence, forged into a profound divine wonder that could catalyze and enlighten Swimming and Joining. If the golden nature still remains, the profound implications require no explanation from me."
"And the Feathered Serpent is not watched by our Lord alone; the dragons watch it, and all cultivators watch it."
Wei Xuanyin smiled and said:
"The world today has undergone earth-shattering changes. Our Lord possesses brilliant methods and sits firmly upon the Swimming seat, while the dragons are overbearing, suppressing the Feathered Serpent. Both sit securely in their positions, unfazed by a mere sliver of golden nature. To both our Lord and the dragonkind, whether they can claim it for themselves or not, destroying one of His backup plans is always beneficial. In this regard, their interests aligned—they were merely waiting for Ning Tiaoxiao to break through, to see what sort of hidden contingency would be triggered."
"And so Ning Tiaoxiao secretly grasped the crux of the matter, swearing never to cultivate divine abilities..."
"Incorrect."
Chi Buzi's expression was calm as he cut him off quietly, replying:
"If that were true, how could our Lord have permitted him not to cultivate? How could the dragonkind have permitted him not to cultivate? Do not tell me they simply did not care; I know our Lord better than you do."
Wei Xuanyin's expression froze for a moment. Re-evaluating him, he said softly:
"I asked Master Sui Guan that very question."
"The moment the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal appeared, it was brought back to Qingchi, and our Lord inspected it."
An elusive look surfaced in his eyes:
"There was indeed a finding: it was the work of the previous occupant of Yuzhen, who had left behind his divine wonder of uniting with truth... According to Master Xue's deduction, the golden nature ought to be inside that Yuzhen master's cave dwelling. When the seal's owner broke through, it would link with it and descend into the mortal realm."
Chi Buzi understood completely now. He laughed:
"At the time, none of you wished to disturb him, nor did anyone want to hold this hot potato that linked directly to the former master of Yuzhen. Thus, what you spoke of earlier was merely the first layer of truth passed down—you, I, the Three Yuans, the Two Violets, all trapped within it. Ning Tiaoxiao would rather die than serve as nourishment for our Lord, unaware that those in the heavens were coldly watching all along, wishing nothing more than for him not to cultivate, letting him die kept in the dark by that single layer of deceit!"
He rose gently to his feet, his tone light and airy, tinged with the clarity of sudden realization:
"So Chi Wei's death was not unjustified after all, and his failure to attain gold was predetermined! Since the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal could help its owner stir the golden nature and draw the former master of Yuzhen's attention, he was bound to be a latent threat. The severing of the Swimming Water lineage was more than half due to the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal, which also extinguished the ambitions of those who originally sought to cause trouble for our Lord."
A chilling cold filled his eyes:
"And as for the other layer... when True Monarch Shangyuan attained his Dao, confirming that the renowned former master of Yuzhen had already departed beyond the heavens, Ning Tiaoxiao—deprived of that deterrent protection and having no hope of breakthrough—met his certain death at once! Only then did the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal promptly vanish, smoothly turning into a chess piece that several lords could pick up and tuck into their pockets."
Wei Xuanyin looked at him with a smile and answered:
"The object back then... was given to my Guanxie by people of the Great Sun lineage, buying their clan the qualification to stay out of the fray today. Even though they intervened several times from start to finish, and someone interfered at the final juncture, they could still be let off lightly—and this was the very reason."
Beside them, Fuxuan was shaken to his core, looking at him in disbelief. Chi Buzi, however, showed no surprise, letting out a couple of cold chuckles:
"I knew it was him!"
Only now did Chi Buzi turn his gaze upon the Xinyou Swimming Marsh Seal, his expression turning deeply calculating as he murmured,
"...Putting an end to divided motives on both sides, whether it is our Lord or the dragonkind, both now hope I will draw out this wisp of golden nature..."
The implication of the other's words was that his own Dao path lay with one of these two sides!
Sure enough, Wei Xuanyin nodded with a smile and said:
"You cultivate Swimming Water, so you must understand these matters even better than I. The matter of Swimming dissolving into Joining Water came first, carrying karma heavier than heavy. If you dissolve your cultivation to take up Joining Water, combined with your peerless talent, you would surpass over ninety-nine percent of people! Not to mention that your cultivation would surely advance by leaps and bounds!"
"That assumes one can make the transition!"
Chi Buzi retorted, to which the other smiled:
"As long as the dragonkind is willing to help you, there will naturally be an opening. Dissolving your cultivation to switch to Joining Water aligns with the principles of the Dao path, offering a promising future. Or, turning to our Lord... you could also try to seek a surplus seat. It is up to you to decide."
It was hard to say how much of his words were in jest, yet the message was crystal clear: only two roads lay before him, and both were premised on extracting the golden nature—either siding with the dragons, reincarnating to cultivate Joining, or siding with Swimming to seek surplus.
Chi Buzi's features grew increasingly grim and cold as he stared at the small golden seal for a long time, unable to tear his eyes away:
'Though Joining Water favors intercalary, would the dragonkind ever yield it to me? Our Lord's heart is unfathomable; how could Swimming Water tolerate a surplus! Neither is an easy path...'
'Furthermore... is attainment something achieved merely because one wishes it? Whence come the principles of the Dao path? And where is the method to seek gold!'
Yet Fuxuan's earlier words still echoed in his mind, and his previous assessment of Ning Tiaoxiao's plight now extended to himself:
'How could our Lord permit me not to cultivate? How could the dragonkind permit me not to cultivate? When certain opportunities arrive, one cannot ask where they came from, and even more, one has no choice but to use them!'
He could only quietly put away the jade box before him, his gaze fixed calmly on Wei Xuanyin.
"My thanks to Master Wei!"
"Think nothing of it!"
Wei Xuanyin's smile faded as well. For figures like them, with their divine abilities nearing perfection and standing a chance to vie for a fruit status and attain an intercalary or surplus seat, which among them was not bartering their lives in the torrent of the era for a chance at the Dao?
'Whether myself or Chi Buzi, or the older generation like the two Violet Palace elders, Yuanshang and Yuandao... even Ye Gui! At best, we have some room to maneuver, unlike that Li Zhouwei... No matter how exalted his fate, he must wait for death like cattle and sheep pen-bound!'
At this moment, feeling a sense of shared plight, he ceased teasing him and watched as Chi Buzi dissolved into Swimming Water and drifted away.
Once Chi Buzi departed, Fuxuan's gaze turned intricate. He knew not whether to envy Chi Buzi for being able to stand amidst the rushing torrent of great trends and make a choice, or to marvel at the acuity that granted him the ability to stand there with his eyes half-open. He murmured with feeling:
"Now I finally understand why Master could tell Xiao Jinzhou was a seed of the Dao! Such people truly exist."
"Forged by circumstance, he was an ambitious figure to begin with," Wei Xuanyin remarked, before adding:
"He certainly has no desire to bow beneath others, though where his final divine ability will land is anyone's guess. In any case... it is most unlikely to be the orthodox seat of Kanshui, which is ill-suited to his breakthrough."
"As for the remaining options—Joining, Swimming, Fushui, and Female Water—our Lord already has methods planted within his soul. Joining Water is blatantly aligned with the dragons, while Swimming Water will certainly not come from nowhere; even if it did, he would not dare cultivate it, for any suspicion of borrowing draconic power to plot for the Swimming Water fruit status could result in sudden death. Perhaps he will choose Fushui, which is close to Swimming Water, to seek a surplus seat, or choose Female Water, which is good for preserving life, and reincarnate!"
Wei Xuanyin's cultivation and insight were exceptionally profound; in a few deft strokes, he sliced to the marrow and laid the matter out with absolute clarity. His earlier probing had quite possibly been an attempt to test Chi Buzi's final divine ability. Now, he finally turned his gaze to Fuxuan, saying with some helplessness:
"You did not hesitate to personally step into the arena to help me bring this matter about with all your might... presumably for that single reason..."
"Master Wei is perceptive!"
Fuxuan's eyes were calm, his voice clear:
"The Great Sun lineage is my fellow sect after all... Today, both branches have secluded themselves in the mountains and forests, taking no further action. I ask that you all spare them a path... and refrain from hunting them to utter extinction!"
"Hunting them to utter extinction..."
Wei Xuanyin merely said:
"Utter extinction is not our doing... If you seek an answer, you should take it up with the Underworld Court!"
Fuxuan lowered his gaze and said:
"I beg Master Wei to point out a way forward!"
Wei Xuanyin rose and drifted away on the breeze, leaving behind only a single remark:
"Cease meddling in worldly affairs. Had you adhered to the rule separating immortals from mortals back then, rather than controlling territories and carving up the State of Yue, how would it have come to this today!"
Characters Appearing in this Chapter:
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Fuxuan [Mid Violet Palace]
Chi Buzi [Late Violet Palace]
Wei Xuanyin [Late Violet Palace]
Chapter 959