Chapter 1.1 - Zhanyue Mountain

There was a strange herb growing at the top of the cliff in the distance.

At first glance, it looked like the Seven Luminaries Herb used to make Qi Supplementing Pills, but those herbs typically only grew in dark and moist places whereas it was shining bright here.

“Shenglan, thank you for saving my life just now.” The speaker was an elegant, handsome, and greatly respected man. He was none other than He Buming, the son of the Qin Sect’s sect leader.

It was a pity that his good-looking appearance paled in comparison to the man in blue robes standing next to him.¹

The blue-robed man was called Du Shenglan and was barely in his twenties. It was currently afternoon, and the light shone down on his eyes. It caused his pupils to take on a lighter color and look slightly coquettish.

The moment Du Shenglan tilted his head up slightly, tiny fragments of light gathered in his eyes. The delicate and beautiful flowers nearby drooped slightly. It was unsure if they drooped because of the wind or from the shame they felt from being inferior to his beauty.

One could tell that the gods had favored this youth. Not only for his bewitching appearance but also for his unparalleled talent. Du Shenglan was acknowledged by the cultivation world as the top genius, and he had broken all the records set by his seniors one by one in these years.

After swallowing a Blood Coagulation Pill, Du Shenglan waved his hand around, signaling that it was no big deal.

He Buming caught sight of the bloodstain left on Du Shenglan’s shoulder while he was saving him out of the corner of his eyes. His gaze flickered indecisively.

Du Shenglan failed to notice his good friend’s expression changing as he was focused on the plant.

He Buming pursed his lips and changed the topic, “What’s so special about this herb?”

“This is an Ice Flame Fruit.”

He Buming was startled. He quickly took a closer look and observed the plant on the cliff once more, “It is said that an Ice Flame Fruit is transparent and has 16 long leaves.”

However, the one they were looking at clearly only had seven.

“You’re talking about a normal Ice Flame Fruit. This one is a 10000-year-old Ice Flame Fruit.”

He Buming was deeply shocked.

Du Shenglan: “A 10000-year-old Ice Flame Fruit looks very similar to the Seven Luminaries Herb. Its roots and stems are extremely strong, to the point where it can even withstand strong and violent winds.”

Of course, places with such rare and special plants would generally be guarded by powerful monsters. There was an irregularly raised stone above the cliff which would wriggle a little occasionally. Du Shenglan recognized it.

It was the Rock Armour Serpent’s disguise. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t dare to provoke this monster unless they’re already at the Demigod Stage.

Du Shenglan was the cultivation world’s youngest Nascent Soul level cultivator while He Buming was only a Core Formation level cultivator. Logically, neither of them would be a match for the Rock Armour Serpent even if they cooperated, yet it could be seen from Du Shenglan’s eyes that he was itching to fight.

It seemed like he was very confident.

“Wait here, I’ll go to the Rock Armour Serpent.”

Before the other party could even process his words, the sword flew off to the cliff.²

He Buming became even more conflicted, but when he saw Du Shenglan take the upper hand with just his sword, he finally stopped hesitating. He took down the zither behind him and plucked the strings gently.³

Zheng!

The zither’s music integrated with the soft sounds from the surroundings perfectly, and with the effect of heavenly powers, the sound waves rushed towards Du Shenglan violently.

Du Shenglan sensed danger was approaching, but due to the Rock Armour Serpent attacking him frenziedly, he could only tilt slightly and mobilize his qi to break up part of the zither’s attack.

Even so, Du Shenglan had forcefully endured three-tenths of the zither’s power and he could taste something sweet and metallic in his mouth. His blood slowly seeped out of the corners of his mouth.

Taking advantage of Du Shenglan distracting the Rock Armour Serpent, He Buming flew to the cliff and took the Ice Flame Fruit.

Du Shenglan ignored the blood in his mouth and only asked, “Why…”

He had intended to share this 10000-year-old Ice Flame Fruit with He Buming in the first place.

He Buming didn’t dare to look at him directly. He gritted his teeth and said, “I didn’t mean to betray you, but if I had helped you, it would be the same as offending two big cultivation clans.”

He swiftly turned and left after saying that.

The Rock Armour Serpent went into a violent rage upon seeing that the Ice Flame Fruit was taken away. It roared and tunneled into the ground before breaking through it in a blink of an eye, coiling around Du Shenglan’s body in an attempt to squeeze him to death.

Du Shenglan retaliated and swung his sword at the serpent’s tail.

The Rock Armour Serpent endured the pain and tried to bite his head, but Du Shenglan’s sword was faster and stabbed the monster’s dantian.

The Rock Armour Serpent, who had been guarding the treasure domain for a long time now, fell dead to the ground with a heavy thump.

The sun could be seen behind the clouds, but the wind was chilly at the top of the cliff. Du Shenglan stood there, his messy black hair blowing in the wind.

He Buming was long gone. He could only hear the wind howling in his ears. After a long time, Du Shenglan lowered his eyes, went down the mountain, and left.

Two months later, at Fallen Star City.

A few rogue cultivators⁴ were relaxing at a pavilion.⁵

The cultivation world was particularly devoted to the word ‘strife’. People were trying to scheme and deceive each other every day, and any spare time would be spent cultivating. But things involving Du Shenglan were an exception. Once there were any changes about him, it would instantly be the center of public discussion.

“Du Shenglan was betrayed by his good friend in the secret realm, lost possession of the Ice Flame Fruit, and was even injured from the zither attack.”

“As the Qin Sect’s young master, He Buming is noble and benevolent. It’s expected that others would fall out over the Ice Flame Fruit, but it doesn’t make sense when it comes to him.”

“It’s possible that the Du Clan was the one playing tricks behind the scenes…”

The person who said that gradually stopped talking halfway through his sentence.

A sigh could be heard in the silence, “Du Shenglan’s natural talent and aptitude can be said to be once in a thousand years. No, once in ten thousand years. Why would he get in such trouble with his family?”

“There are many unknown secrets in big clans. And besides, he’s a genius…”

Everyone looked at each other, some shaking their heads and some smiling bitterly.

The last ascension of a cultivator was already 300 years ago. No one has been able to endure the final lightning tribulation ever since.

It was universally acknowledged that there were seven people closest to ascending, and they were the Du Clan’s clan leader Du Qingguang, Pei Clan’s clan leader Pei Jiuxing, Mo Clan’s clan leader Mo Cang, and the Pan Clan’s clan leader Pan Tianhe. In addition to the four big clans, the rest were Zhanyue Mountain’s Zhu Mo, Jinchan Temple’s Monk Wu Yun, and Qin Sect’s sect leader He Changke.⁶

Recently, there was a rumor that He Changke’s closed-door cultivation has met with some problems. Whether it was true remains unconfirmed.

What’s interesting is that half of them have a direct relationship with Du Shenglan. Du Qingguang is his biological father, Zhanyue Mountain’s Zhu Mo is Du Shenglan’s master, and He Buming, the son of Qin Sect’s sect leader He Changke was Du Shenglan’s best friend just half a month ago. Unfortunately, they fell out and became enemies in the treasure domain because of the Ice Flame Fruit.

In these 300 years, talents have emerged left and right like bamboo shoots after the spring rain. At the same time, there were many late bloomers. Unless Du Shenglan could ascend immediately, it wasn’t worth it for a big clan with deep foundations to bow down for him, even if he had outstanding talent.

The crowd sighed and a busybody commented, “Du Shenglan is a person who seeks revenge for the smallest grievance. He Buming has much to worry about in the future for his betrayal this time.”

“All of you may not know this, but He Buming’s cultivation improved greatly after taking the Ice Flame Fruit. He passed the tribulation successfully last month and is now at the Nascent Soul level, the same as Du Shenglan.”

Just when everyone thought that Du Shenglan would storm up to the Qin Sect to seek justice, he changed into his stealth wear and on a random dark and stormy night, calmly set fire to his clan’s ancestral hall.

The cultivation world went into an uproar as soon as the news was released.