Chapter 86 Pearls rise from the sky, turning into mud boats; rain falls, creating a bloody sea.
“There is indeed something unusual here.” Pei Yu also used the Peony Token and stood on the other side of Lin Feiran. She glanced over and said, “Don’t misunderstand, I just sensed some spiritual energy fluctuations here, that’s why I came here, not because I followed you.”
"That's not important."
Lin Feiran did not look at Pei Yu; she simply stared intently at the person opposite her, her gaze sweeping across the room.
Even though the rain was pouring down, she couldn't possibly fail to recognize Bi Qing and the others. If they weren't here, how could the arrow from earlier be explained?
As he was deep in thought, someone suddenly moved beside him. Lin Feiran immediately raised his hand to stop them and said to the side, "Don't make any rash moves."
The man replied, "Didn't you suspect there was one last hurdle? In my opinion, they are the last flower grower. If we don't act now, when will we?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Feiran withdrew her hand but did not step forward. She simply replied, "I don't think so."
If these cultivators are the final hurdle, does taking them down solve the torrential rain and the low-hanging sky? It's probably not that simple.
Pei Yu didn't even refute: "If they are the final link, how do you explain this strange phenomenon? Think before you act."
It was exactly what she was thinking? Lin Feiran couldn't help but glance over.
The cultivator disliked Pei Yu and whispered to Lin Feiran, "But they are closing in relentlessly. If we don't resist..."
Pei Yu scoffed at his attitude: "If they approach, won't you retreat? If they want to fight you, they'll come with their swords as soon as they leave Tianzhu, and you won't have time to say anything more."
After saying this, she took the lead and retreated to the roof ridge. Many people, seeing her move, also retreated to the eaves.
Just as everyone was about to take action, a commotion was heard from the side. The water, which was already up to their ankles, flowed by and was kicked up by people. The moon's reflection shattered into countless pieces, splashing like pearls in the night.
"I understand! This is the final test of the Plum Blossom Token!" A cultivator leaped out of a hidden chamber beside him, his face beaming with joy. He drew his sword and charged forward. "If we can beat this, we can get out! If we can beat this, we can get out!"
He charged forward as if in a frenzy, muttering incessantly, yet still retaining a sliver of reason. He circled halfway around, attacking a thin cultivator to the side, but before the blade could fall, he was sent flying and fell, half his face submerged in the water.
Pei Yu observed coldly. Apart from her, everyone present was silent. More than the absurdity, they felt a lingering fear. Who dared to say they still had the strength to fight their senior brothers and sisters?
The rain intensified, and the flower-themed game used earlier became outdated and began to fade away.
Many people, fearing the torrential rain, had to find a rooftop shelter to take shelter from the rain. The crowd that had followed them gradually dispersed, while the cultivators carrying their magical artifacts continued to move forward slowly.
The crowd heard several more loud thuds. The pillar had been crushed a few inches more, and the broken pieces of rock tumbled down, hitting the water up to their calves and creating a crashing sound like high waves.
Pei Yu examined the document carefully and suddenly said, "We don't have much time left. Instead of watching the spectacle here, we should take this opportunity to find Mei Ling and escape from here."
Lotus blossoms sprouted beneath her feet as she prepared to leave. Before departing, she inexplicably added, "Don't die before we draw our swords."
If I'm going to die, I'll die at her hands.
Those who heard this were suspicious and confused, but Lin Feiran glanced back and saw that her figure had disappeared before looking away.
As she stood there, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed in the rainy night. Without hesitation, she headed east alone and disappeared into a secluded wooden house not far away. The others assumed she had also chosen to lay low for the time being, so they scattered like birds and beasts.
A sharp, cold light led Lin Feiran there. She followed it, and as soon as she entered the secluded wooden house, she was immediately pulled to a corner and made to squat down.
She turned her head and, unsurprisingly, saw Xun Feifei and Bi Qing.
Bi Qing let out a long sigh and put away the arrow in her hand: "I told you you were sensitive to the cold light and would definitely be able to detect it. Xun Feifei even said that this method was useless and wanted to go and call you. If you really went, you would probably be riddled with holes."
Xun Feifei stood to the side with his arms crossed, his silver mask hanging at his waist, revealing his cold and pale face: "Now is not the time to be silly, Lin Feiran. To make a long story short, the situation is urgent. We need to break this anomaly, otherwise, we may all die in Chuncheng."
Lin Feiran frowned slightly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Biqing knelt on the ground, raising her hand to remove the blue jade pendant from her hair and wrist. Just as she was about to speak, Xun Feifei interrupted her: "We learned some things in the observation platform, such as the sky about to collapse and the rain flooding the spring city. They will not stop. If the flying flowers cannot end, the ending will be death, either dying from the collapse of the sky or drowning in the water."
When Lin Feiran and Hanshan Jun were engaged in a literary duel, Xun Feifei noticed something unusual in the viewing platform, such as the gradual decrease in the number of human disciples.
The Feather Clan had excellent eyesight. He noticed the disappearance of just a few disciples at first, so while everyone was focused on watching the literary battle, he quietly left his position, blended into the shadows, and looked around.
Just then, he spotted several sneaky human disciples in a corner. They were gathered in a circle, seemingly having discovered something, when in the next moment, they vanished from the spot.
He went over to take a look and discovered that it was actually a crevice in a secret realm. Through the crack, he could even glimpse the figures of cultivators passing by outside. Terrified, he then looked at the only remaining healer, who was still asleep, seemingly unaware of anything.
trap.
The trap was so obvious that he only looked at it from the side and did not step into it.
But humans are different; they are extremely curious. No one would care where such a simple crack is located, but it happens to be right under the Holy Spirit's nose.
Such an unusual place must be investigated. With this movement, the person was pulled out of the viewing platform and could never return.
Xun Feifei remained motionless, silently watching wave after wave of cultivators fall out. Later, the mirror image inside the viewing platform suddenly shut down, and as everyone was surprised, the Ancestor of Medicine slowly opened his eyes.
Biqing and I hid beside the crevice, but before we could hear the rest, the crevice suddenly started to shrink. Realizing something was wrong, we ran out together, but…
She pointed to the sky: "The Holy Spirit also said that the solution is in heaven."
At least some useful information was mentioned, which made Biqing feel much better.
With a loud bang, a bolt of extremely bright lightning struck outside, illuminating the area as bright as day and shining into Lin Feiran's thoughtful eyes.
A moment later, she looked up and asked again, "Where's Xuanzhen?"
Xun Feifei looked somewhat uneasy and coughed lightly: "When we got to the edge of the crevice, he was still engaged in a literary debate with you. Then, things happened suddenly, and he fainted on the viewing platform. Now, he's probably mixed in with that group of people from earlier."
Lin Feiran: "...There should be nothing wrong."
She drew out a peony-shaped token, shielding the two of them, then stood up and walked to the door, looking up at the sky, and said, "I already have a guess, but it needs to be verified now. Please wait here for a while."
Xun Feifei nodded, and Bi Qing pulled out an arrow and gave it to her: "This is a whistling arrow. If anything happens, just call us."
Lin Feiran nodded and accepted it, then disappeared into the rain.
A heavy sound of water hitting the roof ridge came from above. The thick tiles cracked as the water pierced the roof, and rain gradually fell in. The water that had accumulated outside flowed gently, making it hard to tell whether it was in a river or on the bank.
Xun Feifei stepped back to avoid it, and sighed, "I wonder how long the houses in the city can hold out."
...
After leaving the hut, Lin Feiran walked around to the back. After the cultivators who had come out of the Heavenly Pillar earlier gradually left, she walked to the foot of the Heavenly Pillar from the back.
She looked up and suddenly a lotus flower appeared. After reciting the poem, a lotus flower bloomed at her feet, carrying her up the pillar.
The closer they got to the sky, the more intense the pressure became, causing the lotus platform to move more and more slowly until it finally came to a stop.
So she sheathed her longsword, spun around and fell. In the process, she was about to hit the ground. In the moment of crisis, she drew her longsword again, the tip of the sword cutting through the water and touching the blue bricks. She used the move "Flowers Bloom Underwater" to make the sword bend in all directions, slowing her momentum and gently entering the water.
When she got up again, the peony charms surrounding her had completely dissipated. She didn't use them again, but instead took shelter under the eaves of the nearby corridor to avoid the rain.
"Hmm, excellent swordsmanship..."
A few murmurs came from the sound of rain. Lin Feiran looked toward the source of the sound and saw a person lying on a basket in the alley, seemingly fast asleep. On his body, a cold sword was constantly turning, shielding him from the rain and needles.
It's Li Changfeng again.
Lin Feiran couldn't help but take a few more glances, her gaze slowly falling on the cold sword.
If one could ride a sword to the heavens, one would surely be able to reach the sky. But why would Li Changfeng lend her his sword?
Lin Feiran stepped forward, ready to give it a try, but as soon as his left foot stepped out, the scenery around him changed drastically. The dark night and waterfall disappeared, replaced by a blood-red setting sun.
The setting sun cast long shadows on the horizon, the twilight deepened, and the fluffy white reeds swayed in the wind, drooping onto the wetlands.
Lin Feiran was suddenly struck by the sight and was momentarily stunned. As she closed her eyes, she heard a sudden gust of wind beside her ear. She immediately drew her sword to meet the attack. During the confrontation, a faint fragrance wafted past her nose.
After forcing the person back, she became familiar with the light and opened her eyes, saying, "Xunfang."
The woman before me wore her hair in a woman's bun, with three silver hairpins inserted diagonally. Her once lustrous hair was now streaked with white, and the ends were dry. Her beautiful face also showed the marks of time. Compared to the other cultivators, she always looked more like an ordinary woman.
If only there were no resentment in their eyes.
Lin Feiran frowned slightly, unwilling to say more to her, but Xunfang's brows were furrowed even more tightly: "How dare you call me Xunfang!"
"Why not? This is neither your Taoist name nor your Taoist title. It is just a pseudonym you used after you left the mountain. Do you really consider yourself an elder?"
Lin Feiran calmly stated the taboos of Daohe Palace, which angered Xunfang so much that her face turned ashen and her clenched fingers cracked.
The name Xunfang is said to be a nickname bestowed upon her by the previous head priest.
As a direct disciple, she should, like Zhang Chunhe, have "spring" in the center to represent her. And that was indeed the case. Her original name was Gu Chunyan, which means that all things grow and develop in their own way.
She loved and cherished flowers, and had seen all kinds of flowers, but she had never seen bamboo bloom with fragrance. Later, she met a mortal who gave her bamboo flowers, and she left the mountain with him to roam freely in the world.
Disciples who descend the mountain are never allowed to return, and their Daoist titles must be removed. However, she was the last disciple of the current abbot, raised from childhood. How could she be without feelings in her heart? Therefore, she adopted the name "Seeking Fragrance" as a substitute, based on her love and cherishing of flowers.
She was originally not allowed to return to the mountain or become an elder, but having nowhere else to go, she broke the precedent and could stay here, albeit as a rogue cultivator. As time went on, she tacitly became an elder.
No one in Daohe Palace mentioned this incident, yet everyone knew about it.
Lin Feiran did not want to get entangled with her any longer, and hearing several claps of thunder outside, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious. She picked out a Danruo flower, intending to destroy this little world, when she heard Xunfang say coldly.
"This arrogant and self-important nature, which makes you think you have the world on your shoulders, is just like your mother's."
Lin Feiran paused slightly and turned to look.
Seeing that she had stopped moving, Xunfang's furrowed brows suddenly relaxed, her face full of pleasure, and she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"I almost forgot, you said when you were little that your mother died from a serious illness. What a pitiful child, not only did you lose your parents at a young age, but you also completely misremembered how your mother died!"
With a deafening roar of thunder, the torrential rain from beyond the boundary somehow seeped into this small world, causing even the blood-red setting sun to shed tears like candle wax.
Author's Note: I've revised the ending of the last chapter.
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