Memories of Praying for Love (Part 1)

"Dad, Mom, I want to eat this." The little girl held the hands of a couple and looked at the stall selling candied hawthorns.

Meng Yan gently patted her head, her eyes overflowing with tenderness: "Okay. Whatever Wei Shuang wants to eat, Mother will buy it for you."

She playfully punched the man beside her: "Hey, Bai Moyu, aren't you going to buy it?!"

"Alright, alright, you wait here, I'm going now." Bai Moyu wasn't angry at all, he just said reassuringly.

"Mother, aren't you amazing?" Qi Yuan asked, looking up at him.

“Yes. Your mother and father are both Mahayana cultivators. Wei Shuang is still young, so it's okay if she doesn't understand. But if any bad people come, we will protect you,” Meng Yan said gently.

"I don't want my parents to protect me, I want to protect them! Mine! The Great Ascension stage is the most powerful cultivation level, and I want to reach the Great Ascension stage too!" Qi Yuan patted her chest and said earnestly.

Meng Yan chuckled, "Alright. You'll definitely become someone even more powerful than your parents." She half-squatted down, "But, Wei Shuang, you can't let anyone know you have a Heavenly Spiritual Root, and you can't let anyone know about your parents' cultivation level either."

"Why? Isn't a Heavenly Spiritual Root a good thing?" Qi Yuan asked, bewildered. "They all say that people with Heavenly Spiritual Roots are geniuses. I want to be a genius."

"No. Rather than seeing you become a celebrated star, your mother hopes you can live a peaceful life." Meng Yan placed a string of red beads on her wrist. "This is an important thing your parents want to give you. Don't lose it."

"I won't! I absolutely won't take off the bracelet!" Qi Yuan shouted loudly with her eyes tightly closed.

"Coming, coming. Which ones do you want? Since you didn't say, I bought one of each kind." Bai Moyu ran over quickly, holding various candied hawthorns in his hands.

Qi Yuan pointed to the unusual paper bag and asked, "What's that? I want to eat it."

"This is osmanthus cake, it's sweet and especially delicious. There was one for sale right next to me, so I bought it." Bai Moyu squatted down and smiled, handing over the paper bag.

"It's delicious," Qi Yuan said.

"The beads have already been given to Wei Shuang. Do you... still want to keep looking for him?" Meng Yan asked, frowning.

Bai Moyu was uncharacteristically silent for a moment, then grinned and said, "Of course. I will do everything I can to protect her."

"Hmm... that person probably hasn't discovered Wei Shuang yet, right?" she said seriously.

“No. If we are discovered, we will leave this place, change our names, and move elsewhere.” His expression was solemn, and his tone was deep.

"good."

Qi Yuan tugged at Meng Yan's sleeve: "Mother, what are you saying? I don't understand."

“That’s right, Wei Shuang will just say to outsiders that her parents are ordinary rogue cultivators, okay?” Bai Moyu smiled and bent over.

“Sure,” she said.

At this time, Qi Yuan was eight years old.

Life was peaceful for a while. But after some time, things took a turn for the better.

Meng Yan anxiously grabbed Qi Yuan's hand and shouted to Bai Moyu across the way, "Hurry up, it's too late!"

Looking up at the familiar scene, Qi Yuan asked, "Mother, are we moving again?"

“Yes. Wei Shuang just needs to protect herself,” Meng Yan said. Qi Yuan obediently stopped talking and watched quietly.

Bai Moyu, drenched in sweat, shouted, "Alright! Let's go!"

He had just run to Meng Yan's side when the door was kicked down and a man burst into the room. White light shone brightly outside the courtyard, indicating that a barrier had been placed there.

"Ruan Yiyun! What exactly do you want?! We've already made concessions. If you push your luck any further, don't blame us for taking you down with us!"

Bai Moyu gritted his teeth and stood in front of Meng Yan, while Meng Yan stood in front of Qi Yuan.

Ruan Yiyun chuckled softly, revealing a mocking expression as she said disdainfully, "I've already found a better spiritual root, and I don't even look down on your daughter's spiritual root now."

"Then what are you going to do!" Meng Yan gripped Qi Yuan's arm tightly, taking a step back warily, but there was nowhere to escape.

"Me...you all know who I am. I just want a good disciple. The three of us have known each other for many years, so don't be so formal." Ruan Yiyun's smile deepened, her tone carrying a hint of threat.

"Get lost!" Bai Moyu delivered a heavy blow, but Ruan Yiyun dodged the spiritual energy by tilting her head. She then moved closer and said, "I'm also very sad that you treat me like this. Believe me, I won't do anything to Wei Shuang. I just want to nurture her properly. Maybe she can become the next sect leader of the Silver Bamboo Sect."

"I already told you to get lost! Hmph, what disciple? You're just a backup spiritual root. You beast, how dare you mention the Silver Bamboo Sect? This position never belonged to you!" Bai Moyu said viciously.

“Of course. After all, I only have three spiritual roots, and you all look down on me.” Ruan Yiyun’s face darkened.

Bai Moyu was exasperated: "We..."

"Stop wasting your breath on him! This madman won't listen!" Meng Yan sneered. "Ruan Yiyun, I have a Heavenly Spiritual Root. Take what you want, but don't touch my daughter!"

"Don't think I don't know! Her spiritual root is far superior to that of a Heavenly Spiritual Root! You two keep calling her your daughter, do you really consider her your own flesh and blood?" Ruan Yiyun's hand condensed into an increasingly larger black sphere.

"Don't go!" Bai Moyu shouted to Meng Yan, "We can't beat that thing on him."

Bai Moyu knelt on the ground, his back ramrod straight: "Please. Let them go, I'll do anything you ask."

"You're dreaming. I'll only say this once: hand over the sealing crystal and Qi Yuan! If you do, you might still have a chance to live." Ruan Yiyun narrowed her eyes, her expression growing increasingly cold.

"Dream on!" Bai Moyu roared, then turned around and said, "Ayan, you go break the barrier, I'll hold them off..."

"Moyu!!"

"father!!"

Before Bai Moyu could finish speaking, a strange black line pierced his chest, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

"I...I'm fine!" He pressed his chest tightly, forcing himself to speak.

"Not bad, not bad. As expected of someone in the mid-stage of Mahayana cultivation, Black City didn't die suddenly after coming into contact with my true form." Ruan Yiyun smiled with satisfaction.

“You are really… beyond saving! Black City is the most dangerous of the ten forbidden techniques!!” Meng Yan gritted her teeth, her eyes bloodshot.

Ruan Yiyun remained unmoved: "So what? That person is no longer here."

She turned around, cupped Qi Yuan's face in one hand, and whispered, "Take care of yourself."

As Meng Yan pierced through the heart in the Black City, she drew her sword and slashed at her own neck.

Her head rolled to the ground.

Her body, pierced by the black city.

Qi Yuan's pupils dilated in shock. Trembling, she stood in front of Ruan Yiyun, her voice filled with sobs and hatred: "Get out!! Don't touch my parents!"

“They are dead.” Ruan Yiyun looked down at her, her gaze more like that of someone looking at an ant.

"Give me back my parents!!" Qi Yuan's body heaved violently as she charged forward, sword in hand.

Ruan Yiyun chuckled and knocked the girl unconscious.

He hoisted Qi Yuan onto his shoulder, looked at the two corpses with disdain, and with a flick of his finger, the bodies turned to ashes and drifted away in the wind.

"Thank you. I will find the sealing crystal." Ruan Yiyun said provocatively to the ashes floating in the air.

He opened the barrier and said to his servants, "Let's set off. Back to... Silver Bamboo Sect."

*

Qi Yuan's eyelids were so heavy she could barely lift them, and she could vaguely hear two indistinct voices, which she couldn't make out clearly.

"Are you sure you've erased her memories of those two people? Will she question the original owner when she wakes up?"

"...What do you think?"

"Alright. What about the other boy? Is he dead?"

"Of course... I made sure he was completely dead."

"Okay. You can go now, she'll wake up soon."

"Okay. Don't bother me unless it's absolutely necessary."

After an unknown amount of time, Qi Yuan opened her eyes, feeling utterly exhausted, as if something was missing from her mind.

She slowly sat up, her head throbbing with pain: "Who are you? Where am I?"

Yun Xingjun gently stroked her hair: "Wei Shuang, you are an orphan. Your master took you in. From today onwards, you are my disciple."

"Is that so...?" Qi Yuan finally managed to utter two words after a long silence.

She vaguely remembered that her name was Qi Yuan, her courtesy name was Wei Shuang, she was eight years old this year, and there was something about cultivating immortality...?

"So what am I supposed to do?" she asked calmly.

"Call me Master and cultivate immortality with me. You will undergo four years of secret training before you turn twelve," Ruan Yiyun said.

Qi Yuan hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Master, Venerable Master."

Ruan Yiyun, with her sharp eyes, noticed the red bead in her hand: "What is this?" She then reached out to take it.

For some reason, Qi Yuan protected the beads with her right hand, feeling a strong desire to prevent anyone from touching the bracelet: "I won't give it to you!!"

To appease her, Ruan Yiyun withdrew her hand, forcing out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Fine, fine. I won't touch you then."

His tone was tinged with resentment: "Listen carefully. For the next four years, you are not allowed to leave the places where I allow you to move around. If you can endure these four years, I will announce that you are my personal disciple."

Seeing her seemingly understanding look, Ruan Yiyun sighed: "Forget it! You wouldn't understand even if I told you!"

At Ruan Yiyun's request, Qi Yuan began two years of training. From flying to diving, she endured a lot of hardship, but she gritted her teeth and persevered through it all.

She successfully formed her core when she was ten years old.

She became the first genius in history to achieve the Golden Core stage at the age of ten, a once-in-a-millennium achievement.

Qi Yuan reached a height that some people can never achieve in their entire lives, but she only took two years.

On the morning of the second day after Qi Yuan formed her elixir, a flood of memories rushed into her mind—memories of her parents and her past.

She couldn't accept it for a moment. Just then, a man entered her field of vision and said to her, "Qi Yuan. You now know that it was Yun Xingjun who killed your parents."

"I...I..." she stammered, tears welling in her eyes, her nails digging deep into her palms.

"I haven't erased your memories. I've merely sealed them away; you can unseal them when you reach the Core Formation stage," the man chuckled. "I only have one question for you: do you want to remember these memories?"

“…I think so.” Qi Yuan calmed down a bit and answered according to her inner thoughts, her voice trembling.

The man chuckled: "You're still too young. You probably can't keep things to yourself."

"Then... what should I do?" she asked softly.

"I'll give you two years. I will seal your memories again. If you can reach the late Golden Core stage within two years, I will come to see you," the man said.

"But this is not fair! If you seal my memories, how will I know about your existence and this request for the next two years?! I... I really want to, really want to remember!" Qi Yuan choked up, her eyes reddening.

She grabbed the man's clothes and yelled, "Please! I will, I will definitely hide it well!!"

The man's eyebrows curved into a smile, and he said softly, "No, that won't work. If you have the will, two years is enough. You have a mutated Heavenly Spiritual Root, and with your own efforts, you can do it."

"Goodbye." He tapped Qi Yuan's head with his finger, and the girl rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed.

Her life is back on track.

But Qi Yuan herself could sense that she seemed to be cultivating even harder than before, as if it were some kind of obsession.

Two years later, Yun Xingjun revealed her identity.

The cultivation world learned of her existence. Qi Yuan, twelve years old, an orphan, possessing a Heavenly Spiritual Root, is the eldest disciple of the Silver Bamboo Sect.