Chapter 182 Reaching the Cool Cave "So... the Transmigration Contract..."
"So... what exactly is the trigger for time travel?" Sang Zhitao sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her palm with a puzzled expression.
"It can't be because of my cultivation, can it? If that's the case, does it mean I can only go back twice?"
As she was thinking, a knock sounded on the door, and Qingyan's voice came from outside: "Taotao, come out, we're about to pass through the gale."
"Hey, I'm here." Sang Zhitao straightened her clothes and quickly walked to the door and opened it.
Qingyan changed into a red dress today, and her elaborate hairstyle was gone. Instead, her loose long hair was simply held in place by a jade hairpin.
“You…” Sang Zhitao looked her up and down, feeling that there was something different about her, but couldn’t find anything unusual for the time being.
However, Qingyan, who is now somewhat overweight, looks quite dashing in this red outfit.
"What's wrong?" Qingyan rolled up her sleeves, looked herself up and down, and was puzzled as to why Sang Zhitao was looking at her like that.
Sang Zhitao paused before saying, "No, I see that you are dressed like this and you are not as fat and lazy as before. You actually have some of the handsome and dashing style you used to have."
Qingyan raised her eyebrows smugly: "I have always possessed such an ethereal beauty."
Sang Zhitao ignored her boasting and strode forward, saying, "Didn't you say you were going to cross the gale? Let's hurry up."
Qingyan assumed that his little apprentice was a little embarrassed to see him like this, and didn't think much of it. He whistled smugly and followed behind Sang Zhitao.
Sang Zhitao couldn't help but roll her eyes.
The two left the cabin and found Qinglan already standing on the deck.
"Lord Qinglan!" Sang Zhitao quickly took a few steps.
“I already said, Tao Tao should just call her Master Qing Lan, there’s no need to be so formal,” Qing Yan couldn’t help but say from behind.
Qinglan turned her head and gave her a warning look, but only after sensing her current cultivation level did her expression soften as she looked at Sang Zhitao: "Don't pay any attention to her, just call me Senior Sister Qinglan."
"Hey! This is messing up the seniority! She's my apprentice!" Qingyan exclaimed in dissatisfaction.
Qinglan glanced at her sideways: "I already sent a message to Elder Qing and the Spirit Clan yesterday, and I will accept disciples on behalf of my master."
Qingyan's face stiffened when he heard the names of Elder Qing and the Spirit Clan. He stopped arguing, silently touched his nose, and walked to the side to lean against the railing.
Qinglan ignored her and instead looked at Sang Zhitao: "Stay behind me and don't run around, or the strong wind will blow you away."
Sang Zhitao obediently agreed.
Seeing this, Qinglan didn't say much. She sat down cross-legged and said to Qingyan, "You will also act as a protector."
Qingyan shrugged and obediently sat down next to Qinglan.
Qinglan's hand seals were somewhat complicated, and it took her quite a while to build a light membrane barrier around her and Sang Zhitao.
Qingyan's actions were simple. After seeing Qinglan protect her and Sang Zhitao, she waved her hand and a beam of azure light slowly protected the ship.
The location of the gale is a canyon that is more than 200 meters wide.
However, Sang Zhitao, sitting inside the barrier with Qinglan and Qingyan as her protectors, felt nothing at all.
As she passed through the middle, she couldn't help but lie on the barrier and look at the canyon with curiosity.
But she saw nothing unusual, nor did she see any violent winds; the entire canyon was as quiet as if it had been frozen in time.
Just as she was about to ask Qinglan and the other person out of curiosity, she saw an animal that looked like a sheep rush into the canyon not far away.
Suddenly the animal paused in mid-air, then silently shattered into millions of pieces, instantly turning into a blood mist and disappearing into the canyon.
Sang Zhitao's eyes widened in shock, and she even subconsciously took two steps back.
Seeing her like this, Qingyan couldn't help but laugh and tease, "Scared already? You haven't seen a cultivator accidentally fall into a gale, that's..."
"Ahem!" Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Qinglan's warning cough.
"Don't scare the child," Qinglan warned.
"I understand..." Qingyan shrugged, pursed his lips, and made a few hand gestures towards the ship.
She didn't finish her sentence, but Sang Zhitao wasn't a real child. She had heard all sorts of cruel and bloody stories on Earth, so she naturally imagined the scene.
Seeing her frowning, looking nauseous but unable to vomit, Qinglan couldn't help but glare at Qingyan.
"Don't believe your senior sister. Every cultivator knows about the gale, and no one has ever accidentally entered it."
Hearing her say that, Sang Zhitao's expression softened.
Qingyan couldn't help but chime in, "Who said there wasn't? I..."
Qinglan suddenly raised her hand and slapped her on the back, making her slump forward: "If you scare Junior Sister again, I'll throw you in."
Qingyan obediently shut up, but her low rebuttal still reached Sang Zhitao's ears: "I'm a divine beast and I'm not afraid of the gale, so just throw me away."
Qinglan naturally heard this, but she was too lazy to pay any attention to her.
The Gale Canyon passed quickly, and the two withdrew their barrier.
"Since we can protect the ship, why don't we stay inside?" Sang Zhitao looked at the Gale Canyon behind them with some curiosity.
Qinglan didn't wait for Qingyan to reply, after all, who knew what that mischievous person would say next, so she simply explained herself: "Gale has some characteristics. When cultivators pass through gale, they must use their own magic power to resist it. They cannot use any shields, otherwise something bad will happen."
"What could happen?" Sang Zhitao asked, even more curious.
"You'll die." Qingyan suddenly leaned closer.
Sang Zhitao ignored her and looked directly at Qinglan.
Qinglan nodded silently, which was considered as agreement with Qingyan's statement.
Seeing her like this, Sang Zhitao stopped saying anything.
After flying for about an hour, a towering mountain peak appeared before them.
There was a big tree on the mountainside. Sang Zhitao couldn't recognize what kind of tree it was, but it looked somewhat like a maple tree on Earth, its red color bright and fiery.
Only when she got closer did she see that even the trunk of the tree was red. However, compared to the bright red of the leaves, the trunk had a Chinese red feel, which was more calm and profound.
Under the tree was a stone table carved from jade, with red patterns on it that seemed to dance and swirl like dragons, emitting a faint light.
Behind the big tree was a huge cave, with several words carved above the entrance.
These characters were unlike any she had ever seen before, yet she could tell that they read "Qingliang Cave".
An elderly man with white hair was waiting for them at the entrance of the cave.
The white-haired old man's figure was slightly transparent, and one could vaguely see the unfinished chessboard inside the cave through his body.
"Elder Qing." Qinglan and Qingyan bowed to the old man at the same time.
Upon seeing this, Sang Zhitao quickly followed suit and bowed as well.
Old Master Qing nodded slightly to the two of them, then looked intently at Sang Zhitao: "Yes, yes."
As he spoke, he flew to Sang Zhitao, his eyes filled with tears: "Found it, finally found it."
Sang Zhitao felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze and subconsciously looked at Qingyan.
Qingyan was also completely bewildered and turned her gaze to Qinglan.
Qinglan sighed, first giving them a reassuring look, then looking at Elder Qing: "Elder Qing, let the child rest first, there's no rush, we can talk slowly."
"Yes, yes." With a wave of his hand, Old Qing's jade table under the big tree suddenly became several sizes larger, and there were also several more jade stools. There was even a lot of delicious food on the table.
After everyone sat down around the jade table, Elder Qing said to Qinglan, "Go and inform the Spirit Clan, the Demon Immortal Clan, the Dream Clan, and the sect leaders of each cave to come to the ceremony."
After agreeing, Qinglan walked to the edge of the platform and performed a few hand seals.
Sang Zhitao thought she would go directly, but found that the other party returned after casting a hand seal.
Seeing her looking at her like that, Qinglan smiled and patted her head, explaining, "If I were to go to them one by one, wouldn't that take up too much time? I sent my disciples instead."
Sang Zhitao nodded, but still asked curiously, "Aren't your disciples here in the cave?"
Qinglan pointed to several mountain peaks not far away: "Some are on other mountain peaks, but most are in other places."
“Everyone cultivates a different path, and the blessed lands they need are also different, so there is no need for them to crowd together.”
“But since we are from the same sect, we naturally have our own way of contacting each other. I have notified a few disciples who live near these sect leaders and clans, and they can go and invite them.”
"I see." Sang Zhitao nodded after hearing this.
"Elder Qing, what did you mean by what you just said?" Sang Zhitao asked curiously, recalling what Elder Qing had just said.
Old Qing smiled and stroked his beard: "Qinglan should have already told you, you are the savior of the world."
"Me?" Sang Zhitao pointed to herself. "You want me to kill that genius from the demon realm?"
Elder Qing shook his head repeatedly: "Although we don't approve of the cultivation methods of the demon realm, since the Heavenly Dao allows them to exist, there must be a reason for it. Why should we interfere with them like this?"
“But…” Sang Zhitao realized that what Qinglan had said before shouldn’t be like this.
Elder Qing continued to explain, "In fact, we have also thought about this method, but no one is a savior, no one knows how to save the world, and what kind of world-ending crisis this world is facing."
“We dare not intervene, nor do we dare to do anything, for fear that we might be the catalyst for the world’s destruction.”
"Then what should I do?" Sang Zhitao frowned, somewhat worried that she might have to merge with the Dao herself.
Old Qing shook his head: "We don't know either."
Seeing Sang Zhitao's furrowed brows, he couldn't help but smile and comfort her, "It's alright. Even if you can't save the world, it's alright. This is just the fate we are destined to face."
As he spoke, he glanced into the distance and said, "There's nothing much to do here. Let Qingyan take you to explore the area. We'll talk about it when the others arrive."
He gathered the food on the table into a food box and pushed it in front of Sang Zhitao: "Take this to eat on the road. My food may not be as good as the Sparrow Fairy's, but it's not bad either."
Before Sang Zhitao could answer, Qingyan stood up, picked up the food box, and pushed Sang Zhitao out, not forgetting to turn back and greet Elder Qing: "Then I'll go first, I'll be back later."
With that, he grabbed Sang Zhitao and flew away from the mountain peak.
At this point, Sang Zhitao finally had time to think about the reason why she had time-traveled.
Just then, I caught a glimpse of Qingyan changing out of her red dress: "Why are you changing your clothes?"
Looking at the mountain peaks not far away, Qingyan explained helplessly, "There is a kind of beast on that mountain that hates red the most, and it can also breed. I don't want to cause unnecessary killing, so I might as well change my clothes to avoid trouble."
Sang Zhitao nodded, but then her expression suddenly froze when she caught a glimpse of the other person's waist.
"You..." She frowned slightly and asked tentatively, "Have you lost weight?"
Qingyan raised an eyebrow, somewhat smugly: "That's right, how about that? I'm the type of person who can lose weight whenever I want."
Sang Zhitao suppressed her urge to punch the other person, and a thought suddenly came to her mind.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Then can you stop losing weight?"
Qingyan was somewhat surprised by her question, but didn't think much of it: "That's fine, but I need to cultivate diligently and then stop pouring so much cultivation into the Heavenly Dao rules."
"Why don't you give it a try today?" Sang Zhitao began to slowly encourage the other party.
Qingyan's eyes flickered, recalling how Qinglan had forced him to cultivate yesterday, and he said with a smile, "Alright, but what's in it for me?"
Sang Zhitao frowned: "I don't have anything to give you."
Qingyan smiled slyly: "I don't need you to give me anything, how about you tell me a secret?"
Sang Zhitao hesitated for a moment, but her idea of a research opportunity had finally taken hold, so she nodded in agreement.
Seeing that she agreed, Qingyan was somewhat smug.
He was clever enough to meet Qinglan's requirements and also extract secrets from Sang Zhitao's mouth—a double win.
As they spoke, the two landed on the mountain, and Sang Zhitao also saw the animal that Qingyan had mentioned hating the color red the most.
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