Chapter 37 Spiritual Branch

At dusk, it started to rain heavily.

The raindrops were so dense that they formed one white curtain after another, but none of the Qingyun Sect's disciples took shelter from the rain in the house.

They hung snow-white silk hangings on every eave of the outer gate to commemorate those disciples who unfortunately died in the secret realm.

There are twelve people in total, five from the Sword Sect, two from the Law Sect, three from the Formation Sect, one from the Talisman Sect, and one from the Weapon Sect.

The snow-white paper burned in the heavy rain, and the white silk fluttered in the wind.

Only one house remained the same, with nothing hanging or displayed.

Because the owner of the house was no longer outside the door before the heavy rain fell.

…

Sword Sect, buried in the snow valley.

Nan Wang sat outside the mansion given to him by his senior sister, staring blankly at the snow flying in the sky.

A snowflake was blown by the wind and landed on his face. The hexagonal ice crystal took dozens of seconds to melt.

He sent the letter but received no reply.

He didn't know whether the senior sister had received his letter, or whether she would keep the appointment, but he could only wait here. He had no other choice but to wait like this.

I don’t know how long it took, but a familiar figure appeared in the snow.

Nan Wang's eyes gradually regained some spirit. He slowly raised his head, and a few flakes of snow fell from his eyelids.

He opened his mouth: "Master Sister..."

Du Xueling said: "I'm sorry."

This apology made him freeze in place.

Why apologize? He clearly didn't say anything.

Du Xueling said:

"In order to monopolize resources, Xuanqing Sect concealed the number of times the secret realm was opened. The current situation of the Fairy Fox Secret Realm is unclear and full of dangers. Until the elders return, Qingyun Sect will no longer provide any assistance to the Northern Territory."

Nan Wang stared at Du Xueling blankly, like a lifeless sculpture.

Qingyun Sect, are you not preparing to go to the Northern Territory for battle?

Then...what about the spiritual branch?

What to do with the spirit branches trapped in the secret realm?

In the original novel, the Fairy Fox Secret Realm is neither the most difficult secret realm nor the most complicated secret realm. It is just a welfare secret realm that exists to provide resources to the male protagonist who is still weak in the early stage.

In the comments section of the original novel, 99% of the readers thought that the death of Zhan Chenming in Qingyun Sect was pure nonsense, and that the author had deliberately arranged a plot killing in order to give the protagonist an iron-boned plug-in.

Nanwang also thinks so. He has always thought so.

So he naturally thought that as long as the person who went to the Northern Territory was not the Third Senior Brother, the Fairy Fox Secret Realm could be successfully conquered. Even if the secret realm still failed to be conquered, the conquerors should be able to return safely like in the original book.

...was he wrong?

Was he thinking too simply, or was his time travel a joke from the beginning to the end?

His arrival triggered too many butterfly effects. His butterfly dropped Yingying, and his butterfly dropped Chu Qingya... These are all good things.

Where there's good, there's bad, right?

The secret realm collapsed, all the attackers were killed... Was this also the Butterfly Effect he brought about?

Nan Wang gritted his teeth and said frankly with the determination to atone for his sins: "Grandmaster Sister, I have a way to rescue the spirit branch. I know the secret realm——"

Du Xueling interrupted him and said, "Even if you know everything about the Fairy Fox Secret Realm, the sect's decision will not change. Not only you, but any disciple of Qingyun Sect cannot participate in the Fairy Fox Secret Realm. I have already sent the letter of refusal."

“…No, no, wait.”

Nan Wang tried hard to clear his mind of the plot, and he didn't even care about exposing his identity. His voice was trembling, with a faint cry:

"Xuanqing Sect, by the way, the Northern Region Xuanqing Sect was deceived by the demons and hid the time of the secret realm. They are also victims. Moreover, even if they are wrong, the wrong things done by Xuanqing Sect cannot be sacrificed at the cost of the spiritual branch..."

"The soul lamp of the spirit branch has gone out."

Du Xueling said.

Every Qingyun Sect disciple has a soul lamp of his or her own.

The soul lamp is directly related to the strength of the disciple's consciousness. As long as the soul lamp is not extinguished, even if only a flame is left, it means that the disciple is still alive in the world, or that there is still a trace of consciousness that has not dissipated. On the contrary, once the soul lamp is extinguished, that means - the consciousness is scattered and there is no existence in this world.

"The soul lamp of the spirit branch is extinguished? This is impossible, this is impossible..."

Nan Wang shook his head unconsciously and forced a smile:

"Grand Sister, how could the soul lamp of the spirit branch be extinguished? It's not like she...she has the Seven Secrets Linglong Heart. The Seven Secrets Linglong Heart is a treasure from the upper realm, it should be indestructible."

He had read the original novel and knew that the spirit branch could be resurrected after death.

He also knew that Lingzhi was not a mortal at all. She was a living creature of flowers and trees, and her true body resided in Qiluo Linglong Heart. As long as Qiluo Linglong Heart was not dead, she would not die.

Hearing this, Du Xueling smiled.

Her laugh was completely different from Nan Wang's self-comforting laugh. It was a kind of laugh that made Nan Wang feel creepy - as if he had heard some great joke and couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Since you know the Seven Secrets of the Linglong Heart, it will be much easier. The Seven Secrets of the Linglong Heart is indestructible. You are right."

Du Xueling drew his sword from its sheath and cut through the wind and snow with one blow.

"Come on, I'll take you to see the spirit branch."

"…What?"

Nanwang didn't understand why.

Du Xueling said nothing more and flew away with his sword, taking Nan Wang with him.

The way she used the sword to lead people was completely different from the spirit branch. Even though Nan Wang was not standing on her sword, he still soared into the air with her.

There was nothing under Nanwang's feet, but he felt as if he was stepping on something.

He was lifted up by an invisible force, standing steadily in the air, following behind Du Xueling.

This is not some profound technique, it is simply because Du Xueling's control over the sword has reached perfection. Anything in her hand can be a sword. Glaze is a sword, convincing people with reason is also a sword, the wind is a sword, the snow is a sword, everything is a sword.

Du Xueling brought Nan Wang to Qi Sect.

This was Nanwang’s second time entering the peak of Qi Sect. The first time was when Lingzhi asked him to come and see the senior sister having fun.

Qi Zong still looked the same as he remembered, but the Fifth Junior Sister who would run out to greet him with a smile was nowhere to be found.

Du Xueling asked: "Did you see it?"

Nanwang tried hard to utter "what" from his throat.

"flower."

Du Xueling brought Nan Wang down a little, pointed at the bushes on the side of the road in Qi Zong and said.

The heavy rain had stopped, but the sky had not yet cleared up and there was no one in Qi Zong Square.

Nan Wang looked towards the ground.

Flowers, flowers...flowers.

"I, I saw it, little yellow flowers."

There are low shrubs everywhere in Qi Zong, and the shrubs are full of tender yellow flowers. Heavy raindrops hang from the petals, which are crystal clear, delicate and lovely.

The last time I came, the Weapon Sect was already full of these small yellow flowers, but Nan Wang didn't pay much attention to them.

Now that we meet again, I feel that everything has changed and everything is over.

"That's the yellow cicada flower. You may have heard of its other name, the heartless flower."

Du Xueling's voice was extremely calm and her tone was extremely relaxed, as if what she was talking about at the moment was just a casual anecdote after dinner, and not a secret that only true disciples knew:

"The Seven-Demon-like Heart is immortal and depends on the host to survive, but the Seven-Demon-like Heart cannot be placed on a living being with a 'heart'. Only the Yellow Crocodile Flower, which has no 'heart', can accommodate the Seven-Demon-like Heart. There are such Yellow Crocodile Flowers everywhere in the Qingyun Sect, but the environment of the Weapon Sect is warm and humid, which is most suitable for the growth of Yellow Crocodile Flowers. The last 'Spiritual Branch' that gave birth to spiritual consciousness was born here."

"…What?"

Fear gradually appeared on Nanwang's face.

He seemed to know every word that the senior sister said, but when they were put together, he couldn't understand a word.

What is yellow cicada flower and what is seven-secret exquisite heart?

What...spiritual branch?

Lingzhi is his fifth junior sister, and they had eaten pig's trotters together a few days ago.

Lingzhi is a living flower or tree. She is the only living flower or tree in the world...right.

What are these yellow cicada flowers that bloom all over the fields and are almost cheap?

Nan Wang's eyes were so hot and painful, as if they were burned by the beautiful scenery of the sea of ​​flowers after the rain.

Du Xueling smiled slightly, and that smile was so calm that it made people feel sad: "The Seven-Demon Exquisite Heart is the sect's treasure, and it will not be destroyed in the secret realm. Once the secret realm ends, the Seven-Demon Exquisite Heart will return to Qingyun Sect. It won't be long before a new 'Spiritual Branch' will be born."

"New...spiritual branch? New spiritual branch?"

Nan Wang's tears fell unexpectedly.

When he learned that the Fairy Fox Secret Realm collapsed, he did not shed tears.

He thought, it doesn’t matter, the Fairy Fox Secret Realm collapsed once in the original novel, so collapsing once more wouldn’t be a big deal.

Knowing that the soul lamp of the spirit branch had gone out, he did not shed tears.

He thought, it doesn’t matter, Lingzhi is not an ordinary person, Qishu Linglong Heart is indestructible, and the Lingzhi in the original book also came back to life from the dead.

Until this moment, until now, until he heard about the "new spiritual branch".

New spiritual branch.

He was wrong. He thought he knew everything, but in fact he knew nothing.

Just like the road to success that he could only look up to, everything before his eyes - these little yellow flowers swaying in the wind and rain - were the cruel truth that was never mentioned in the book.

Qi Liao Ling Long Xin will not die, only the spirit branch will die.

The same is true in the original book.

What dies is a spiritual branch, and what is resurrected is also a spiritual branch.

It’s just that it’s a new spiritual branch.

The genius weapon refiner whose name shook the world was not the Fifth Sister's spiritual branch that Nanwang knew, but the next branch that the Seven-Divine Exquisite Heart attached to, the one that gave birth to spiritual intelligence - the Yellow Crocodile Flower Branch.

"Wuwu Senior Sister..."

Nanwang choked up and spoke incoherently and illogically:

"Big Sister, I, Wuwu... Fifth Junior Sister, Fifth Junior Sister still has ten or twelve drawings of mine in her hands. When the time comes, will she still remember, will she still remember the drawings I gave her? Will she still remember the Wuwuwu pancake stall we agreed on?"

Du Xueling answered irrelevantly: "The drawings can be redrawn. Every Seven-Divine Linglong Heart... is a master of weapon refining."

“…”

Nanwang was speechless and could only shake his head unconsciously.

He thought of the drawings he and Lingzhi had agreed on.

He recalled that cool yet hot afternoon when Lingzhi vowed that he would become the youngest leader of the Qi Sect.

He seemed to see the wind blowing towards him, and when it fell on his face, it turned into heavy rain.

The fresh scent of weeds instantly turned into a rich floral aroma, and the yellow cicada flowers all over the mountains swayed and hummed in the wind.

Du Xueling said, "I know how you miss your fifth junior sister. When the new spiritual branch is born, I will ask the Immortal Venerable to entrust the spiritual branch to our Sword Sect and you will take care of it. Is this okay with you?"

"No……"

Nan Wang finally collapsed. He shook his head desperately. If he had not been in the air at this moment, he would have knelt down to Du Xueling.

"Please, Senior Sister, please save Lingzhi. She is only nine years old. It is because of me that she... We agreed. My drawings and my pancake stand are all in Lingzhi's hands. Please, Senior Sister, please..."

"It has nothing to do with you. Fifth Junior Sister's accident was not anyone's fault. If you must say, it was the fault of Xuanqing Sect. I will definitely get back on Fifth Junior Sister's behalf."

Du Xueling reached out her hand and patted Nan Wang's shoulder comfortingly, her tone extremely gentle:

"You have supernatural powers and can see the secrets of heaven. This is a gift from heaven. Don't let it become a burden on your path to immortality. On the path of immortality, others are just passers-by. Some come and some go, and that's all normal."

Nan Wang was crying so hard that he was hiccuping. He could no longer hear Du Xueling's words. He could only shake his head frantically: "Senior Sister, please, please let me go. I will go alone and will not implicate others. I can destroy the secret realm. I will bring Fifth Junior Sister back. Fifth Junior Sister's original form is a flower branch. Only fire is her natural enemy. Fairy foxes are forbidden to use fire. Not even a spark can burn her. She may still be alive..."

"By the way, Junior Brother, I haven't congratulated you on refining your Qi yet."

Du Xueling suddenly interrupted Nan Wang and asked an incredible question.

Nan Wang nodded with tears in his eyes and made a few sounds while sobbing.

Du Xueling sighed softly, her eyes filled with sorrow:

"Congratulations on refining your Qi, Junior Brother. From now on, you have the qualifications to enter the secret realm."

"In addition to the Qi Refining skills, if you want to apply for the qualification to enter the secret realm in Qingyun Sect, you must also pass the first level of the Sword of Protection test, because the location to enter the secret realm is not on the ground most of the time."

"I believe that with Junior Brother's talent, within half a year, he will be able to wield the sword as easily as walking on flat ground."