Chapter 85: Who Knew There Were Two at the Bier?

　　Shen Lian asked, “When should I get moving?”

　　Zhang Ruoxu extended his index finger. A gray current flowed out of his finger until it got to Shen Lian. The current then fluctuated into different shades – darker shades and lighter shades. The lighter shade looked just like the waves. The darker one, however, was static and looked like Flying Celestial Sword.

　　This was Zhang Ruoxu’s Dao technique. It displayed the geography of Flying Celestials Island. It was more effective than oral communication or showing physical maps.

　　Then Zhang Ruoxu informed Shen Lian of the bearing of the island, which Shen Lian memorized immediately.

　　It seemed that he meant for him to move as soon as possible. Shen Lian had not been active for a while but he was willing to do so.

　　The evening mist blew onto his face. Shen Lian walked out of the door of Mount Qing Xuan and when he got to the beach, someone called for him, “Brother, please wait for a moment, the headmaster still has some orders for you.”

　　The one who spoke was Jingqing. Shen Lian knew that for a monster to transfigure into a human, he had to reach a similar level as a human cultivator in being able to go through Huandan. Jingqing looked harmless, but if he was left outside, he could easily be one of the devil kings.

　　Shen Lian found it amusing for Jingqing to call him brother.

　　He turned around and saw that Jingqing landed from the sky. He transfigured into human and stood in front of Shen Lian. He said, “The headmaster said that the journey is going to be long, and due to special circumstances, you are allowed to choose a flying instrument to help you commute. You just have to return it after you come back.”

　　Shen Lian laughed. The headmaster would never forget such a menial thing. It was just a test to see how far he had improved since he broke into the state.

　　Jingqing looked at Shen Lian and he felt that compared to the beginning when Shen Lian just joined, he was a lot different from before. He looked inscrutable by just standing there. It was not because Shen Lian reached an unimaginable height but it was the morning mist, and the Qi from heaven and earth seemed indistinguishable from Shen Lian at that moment.

　　In reality, Shen Lian had yet to reach the state where he became an integral part of nature but since he had the mold, he was working toward it.

　　His brows relaxed and replied in a peaceful manner, “Please help express my gratitude to the headmaster. It is just another sea region. It is no big deal to me.”

　　A wind blew all of a sudden. Shen Lian took out his sword and started to gesture several runes. The runes gathered Qi in no time and his body lifted like a paper crane which then went with the wind. Shen Lian was in the midst of Qi which when landed on the waves, his body looked faintly discernable.

　　This was part of the runes in the Cloud and Thunder Seal Script. Shen Lian formed a few random combinations. While not extremely powerful, it was sufficient to carry his body and enable him to travel through wind and waves without using much of his mana.

　　This could be considered the Dao of Talisman, or Dao technique. It utilized the Qi in heaven and earth to be able to travel through wind and waves.

　　Shen Lian never tried it before but he managed it the first time. He was not surprised at all as he had a conscious awareness of his ability.

　　Jingqing just stared into the shadow left behind by Shen Lian in the beautiful sunset. The waves rose and subsided again, playing a beautiful rhythm.

　　He sighed, “I guess I am fortunate to have met two of such weirdos when I am alive.”

　　Jingqing was ready to return to the mountain until he saw a beautiful lady on the rock. She looked dreamy with her purple silk robe in the sunset. Occasionally when the wind blew, the bell on her waist would ring and it was a pleasant sound.

　　Jingqing was shocked. Snakes were fundamentally cold-blooded and hence relatively unstartled by whatever that was happening around them. However, he felt that he sweated profusely and he dared not to leave at that instant.

　　“Little snake, what are you afraid of? I don’t have anything to do with you today.” Her voice was even more melodic than the bell. It carried with it an undertone of sighing, which would break a heart.

　　Jingqing stopped his steps and the lady in purple who was looking at the sea on the rock then stood in front of him.

　　Jingqing put on a smiley face. “I just didn’t want to disturb you when you were admiring the scenery.”

　　The purple-clothed lady said, “You don’t need to be afraid of me. Since I entered the Absurd State, I do in fact occasionally act out of nature, but it doesn’t change my fundamental, or else you would have become a snake stew that day.”

　　Jingqing paid close attention to the purple-clothed lady. She did not look violent at all. He also understood that since she practiced martial exercise and entered the Absurd State, she had turned bipolar.

　　Sometimes she would be cold and uncaring of worldly matters like how she was behaving. Sometimes she would be temperamental and would want to kill anyone or anything that came in her way. It was only because there was a Daoist master in Qing Xuan that could moderate her and a treasure she possessed which could control wicked, that nothing bad happened so far.

　　Even so, he was once a victim of that personality.

　　The purple-clothed lady was aware of the two personalities but she did not have a say in how to control it. It was a behavior exhibited by the Absurd State.

　　The purple-clothed lady then said, “By staying in Qing Xuan, it is impossible for me to break through absurdity again. Hence, I need to enter the world. I wanted to leave immediately initially because I was too lazy to say goodbye to anyone. I am not sure whether the headmaster guessed that I will be leaving soon and asked you here to send me off, or it was merely coincidental. Anyway, tell him that by the time I come back, I hope he is not dead. By the time I return, I will enter the celestial land again, and I will also bring the dead body of that person.” Her voice was cold and murderous. Jingqing felt that the world was covered by thin ice.

　　Following a purple ray that went across the sky, by the time it almost disappeared, a green light appeared – the coldness of it froze the sunset.

　　…

　　The ancestor of Flying Celestials Island was a cultivator with the surname Xiao. When Qing Xuan felt that he had no hope for longevity, he traveled in the human world. When he came across this island which looked like Flying Celestial Sword, he decided to stay and accepted a few students.

　　The Xiao cultivator took on a few students and the Xiao family had always been the owner of Flying Celestial Island. Soon after, it branched into Guiyun peak.

　　One was located on land and the other on sea. They helped each other. At the same time, they managed to accumulate an uncountable wealth and a lot of rare resources.

　　Flying Celestials Island knew that with the fortune it had, it could be difficult to defend itself when evil forces were to attack. Hence, it consistently paid its tribute to Qing Xuan.

　　Those tributes were insignificant to Qing Xuan but due to the relationship, those items were not turned down.

　　In Flying Celestials Island, there were people who occasionally entered Qing Xuan because of the relationship. However, this time around when the door was opened, none of them managed and this situation had lasted a hundred years. Consequently, the chance of this relationship to end soon was not to be neglected.

　　To be able to enter Qing Xuan from the upper house, at the very least he had to be an elder who achieved Huandan. In the beginning, there was one descendant from the Xiao family who obtained an elixir by chance and entered Huandan. However, the tragedy that happened to Qing Xuan a hundred years ago killed many of the talented celestials and the Xiao family descendant was one of them.

　　

1. 入妄－short for 入虚妄 (to enter the state of Xuwang). Xuwang is the state of absurdity. In the previous chapter, 虚妄 was translated as ‘Xuwang’ as a name in a series of cultivation states. For a more direct translation, here it will be referred to Absurd State.