An unseen undercurrent pushed it, slowly drifting outward.
In the distance, the lake turned into a frozen river.
Sun Fuling caught hold of him and hurried up to the nearest high bridge, where many people were already standing.
Looking down from here onto the dimly lit lake, only the translucent lotus petals of the small lantern caught the candlelight, gleaming with a warm glow.
Anyone by the lakeside who saw the lantern would pause in silence, offering quiet prayers.
He Lingchuan turned around and saw three or four other lotus lanterns drifting upon the river, their solitary candle flames carrying the yearnings of the living.
Sun Fuling pressed her palms together as well, whispering prayers with the same devotion as everyone else.
These lotus lanterns could only stay lit until they drifted beyond Panlong City; after that, their journey was left to the myriad mountains and rivers of the Chipa Plateau.
The same held true for people.
"Now that you've sent off the lantern, let this matter rest," Sun Fuling said, her words grounded and sensible. "The dead are gone; the living must still strive on."
In the days ahead, their chances to come release lanterns here would hardly be few.
Coming to terms with it early spared one further pain.
Once the lotus lantern drifted into the distance, He Lingchuan spoke softly to Sun Fuling once more. "Let's head back."
"Mm."
Upon opening his eyes, He Lingchuan stared blankly at the tent roof for a while.
This time, he had stayed in the dream even longer—a full seven days. He had even slept twice during that span, thinking he would wake up in reality, but he hadn't.
Those seven days had passed comfortably and productively. Aside from studying the secret scroll of the gold-armored bronze automaton, training diligently, and practicing archery, he spent his time chatting with Sun Fuling.
Once they grew more familiar, the girl didn't even bother using the door anymore. She often leaned over the wall to talk with him, and whenever she came to tend to the sparrowhawk, she vaulted right over the low wall with a single hand, her movements remarkably nimble.
Meals, however, had become a major problem. True to her word, when Sun Fuling said she couldn't cook, she truly couldn't. Both were used to having food brought to them, so they had no choice but to go foraging for food outside together.
It sounded like intimate companionship where affection advanced by leaps and bounds, but He Lingchuan felt none of that pleasure. Sun Fuling didn't care that she was on winter break; she constantly dragged him into doing something universally abhorred:
Remedial tutoring!
His progress in learning the ancient immortal language was far too slow, and Teacher Sun expressed great dissatisfaction, even subjecting him to pop quizzes.
By the end of the quizzes, the characters turned entirely into tadpoles swimming around in his head.
His aversion to studying was etched into his subconscious; it wouldn't change just because he had switched bodies or worlds.
So much so that when Liu Tong came to notify him of an outside mission, He Lingchuan felt as though he had received an imperial pardon.
When he opened his eyes, He Lingchuan could not tell illusion from reality for a moment, but the shouts of men and neighs of horses drifting from outside reminded him that he was currently in a military camp.
Why was the time spent in the dream growing longer and longer? Was it because the Fusheng Saber had been fully restored?
He Lingchuan sat up and rubbed his face. Just then, a guard came to announce:
"Elder Liang has arrived."
He Lingchuan was thoroughly surprised. Elder Liang of Chuanyun Pavilion had always maintained a politely aloof attitude toward him. Furthermore, the man practiced a Silence Incantation, loathing to speak at all costs and only staring wide-eyed at people. What had brought him running here now?
He had just finished getting dressed when Elder Liang entered the tent.
After they exchanged courtesies, Elder Liang's disciple spoke on his master's behalf:
"Young Master He, my master wishes to discuss a matter with you."
With the guard hurrying off to boil water, He Lingchuan, looking bleary-eyed, nodded. "Please, go ahead."
Unexpectedly, Elder Liang's disciple produced a folded sheet of stationery and presented it with both hands. "It cannot be explained in just a few words, so my master has committed it to writing for your perusal."
Oh? A lengthy dissertation?
He Lingchuan took the letter and unfolded it. After just a few lines, he was completely engrossed.
Elder Liang never visited without good reason; today he had come specifically for the strange red medicine in He Lingchuan's possession. Just yesterday, the medicine ape Lingguang had tested only a single drop of the liquid, yet it spawned an aberrant parasol tree, ultimately leaving both banks of the river locked in a tense standoff.
Elder Liang had kept silent, but he watched the entire incident unfold and took note of the medicine, wanting to ask for a few drops to take back and experiment on.
It so happened that he had also recently clashed with Dong Rui's demon puppets, and the ghost ape had left a deep impression on him. Coupled with the sudden event from the previous evening, Elder Liang noted in the letter that Dong Rui's demon puppets bore a striking resemblance to a monster recorded in Middle Ancient secret texts.
This monster was known as a ji beast.
Speaking of Chuanyun Pavilion, its history ran long and deep, tracing back to the Qingyun Sect of ancient times—a bona fide immortal sect that had produced many world-shaking figures of immense power. Following the Heaven-and-Earth Calamity, immortal sects grew progressively weaker, and the Qingyun Sect inevitably declined, eventually splintering into several Daoist orders, of which Chuanyun Pavilion was one branch.
Thus, though Chuanyun Pavilion currently focused its roots in Xiazhou, its ancestry belonged to a major sect rich in history, heritage, and prestige. Even though thinning spiritual qi had decayed the vast majority of heirloom treasures, several scrolls of texts from ancient and Middle Ancient times had survived intact to this day.
If nothing else, one could always make transcribed copies.
The Middle Ancient secret scroll Elder Liang mentioned was *Records of Strange Phenomena of Lanshan*, authored twenty-seven hundred years ago by an elder from before the Qingyun Sect's split. He had chronicled several grueling, desperate battles he took part in, the two most important of which occurred near Mount Lanshan, located within present-day Xianyou Kingdom.
The period from the Heaven-and-Earth Calamity to the complete disappearance of immortals was known as the Middle Ancient Era.
After the Heavenly Fiends departed the mortal realm, the world enjoyed over two hundred years of peace.
Unfortunately, good times did not last. Monsters and demons rose again to stir up trouble everywhere, not only devouring common folk at will but also ambushing disciples of immortal clans. Many descendants of prominent figures were slaughtered.
The immortal sects were naturally furious and clashed fiercely with the demon race.
The demon race cried foul repeatedly, insisting that the bastards wreaking havoc were not sent by them.
How could the immortal sects listen?
Few monsters had good tempers to begin with, and after taking enough beatings, they inevitably struck back. Thus, the bosom buddies who had joined hands against common enemies in ancient times turned against each other in the blink of an eye.
Later on, however, the immortals began to realize something was amiss. The bizarre beasts they had slain, strange in both appearance and ability, did possess various formidable powers, yet they truly did not seem like the mortal realm's native monsters.
At the very least, their intellect fell far short, making normal communication nearly impossible.
Could a demon without awakened intelligence even be called a demon?
Upon deeper investigation, the differences in these creatures grew increasingly pronounced. People then gave them a new name:
Ji beasts.
Unfortunately, by then the relationship between the immortal sects and the demon race could no longer return to what it was. Coupled with their struggle over the ever-dwindling spiritual qi of heaven and earth, the rift escalated into outright hatred, adding one blood debt after another.
The author of this secret scroll had personally battled ji beasts and dissected no fewer than a hundred of them. Building on previous research, he finally proposed a new hypothesis: these creatures were all modified demons, and the most crucial substance in the process was still derived from the Heavenly Fiends.
It was secret medicine left behind by the Heavenly Fiends that induced unpredictable mutations in demon beasts' bodies.
Moreover, the Qingyun Sect had captured several creators of ji beasts, all devout cultists directed by the Heavenly Fiends.
In other words, though the Heavenly Fiends had departed, they still cast a dark shadow over this world.
Later, with joint crackdowns from both immortals and demons, and with the passage of time, the number of ji beasts dwindled, until they largely vanished from the long river of history.
Having read to this point, He Lingchuan looked up and asked Elder Liang, "You want five drops of the liquid?"
"Indeed, and Governor-General He has already approved."
He Lingchuan smiled. "This is my spoil of war; the old man has no right to dispose of it. However, if Elder Liang is willing to find me a beast soul and clear up some questions for me, I'd be more than happy to share."
Elder Liang agreed almost without hesitation.
He Lingchuan then asked, "You believe the medicine Dong Rui possesses is the Heavenly Fiend secret medicine?"
Elder Liang nodded.
"Yet the demon puppets he refines can hardly compare to the ji beasts of the Middle Ancient Era, can they? At best, they are a weakened version." He Lingchuan had never seen a Middle Ancient ji beast in person, but immortals existed back then. If even immortals had trouble defeating them, how could they not be vastly superior to Dong Rui's demon puppets?
Elder Liang gestured with his hands, and his disciple translated:
"Even if it is Heavenly Fiend secret medicine, its potency would likely degrade after sitting for over two thousand years."
Meaning the liquid had been stored for too long and passed its expiration date? Hmm, very scientific, very reasonable.
Elder Liang then indicated, "The decline of spiritual qi in the Middle Ancient Era likely affected the ji beasts as well."
"Then why didn't the Heavenly Fiends create ji beasts as helpers while they were rampaging across the mortal realm, instead of using them to stir up trouble only after leaving?"
This Young Master He certainly had plenty of questions. Elder Liang patiently gestured. "That remains unknown. Perhaps the Heavenly Fiends were driven out of this realm just as the secret medicine was developed."
He Lingchuan pondered for a moment before voicing a long-held doubt: "Elder Liang, did the ancient Heavenly Fiends become the deities of later generations?"
After the Heavenly Fiends disappeared, deities appeared. Though unable to descend in person, their presence flickered throughout the entire human epoch.
It was hard not to connect the two.
Yet interestingly, He Lingchuan had never been able to find a definitive answer, even in the library pavilion of Panlong City.
This matter seemed perpetually vague, draped in a concealing veil.
Elder Liang stared fixedly at him for quite some time before speaking through his disciple: "The ancestral teachings and records of the Qingyun Sect repeatedly admonish us never to forget the insidious nature of the Heavenly Fiends or the cruelty of the Calamity. As descendants of the Qingyun Sect, we firmly believe the Heavenly Fiends never truly left—they merely transformed into the high-and-mighty deities! Sadly, by now, the world has long forgotten the countless scars the Heavenly Fiends inflicted upon this world, refusing to believe the Calamity even took place, much less that the deities are the Heavenly Fiends."
He let out a heavy sigh. "Even many Daoist sects and demon clans worship the deities alongside the common folk. Truly, they have forgotten their ancestry—ignorant, fearless, and utterly devoid of reverence!"
"Why?" *Isn't your propaganda work far too abysmal? The Heavenly Fiends are separated by an entire world, yet they did a better job hoodwinking people than you did.*
"That history is far too distant, and mortals have lives far too brief. Young Master He should understand that so-called inherited memories can be tampered with." Elder Liang seemed somewhat agitated, his hand motions rapid, causing the translating disciple to stumble over his words a bit. "Of course, in the final analysis, we cultivators are far from being as powerful as our forebears. Without the might to cleave mountains and split the earth, we lack the credibility to convince the people."
In an era where immortals and fiends walked together, humble, ordinary mortals only needed to look up and worship.
Chapter 285