Chapter 363: 210, Enter Crane Zhe Nation, Kill Gold Jiao (8k6 Big Chapter)
"Some are strangers even when white-haired; others become like old friends after a chance meeting."
Scholar Su thought of these two allusions.
"Senior Brother Su is wrong. It’s not that Mengyun loves fame and fortune. It’s just that in the Cultivation World, one cannot survive without employing some means."
Ji Mengyun pursed her lips and forced a smile.
Being seen this way by an old acquaintance, even with her thick skin, she couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened.
"When Emperor Tiande first joined the Sect, he was an Immortal Genius, and later became part of the True lineage. If he hadn’t defected to the Flying Feather Immortal Palace, he might already be the Sect Chief by now."
"Although Senior Brother Su was originally a mortal, he found a good Master. He seemed to have ordinary aptitude, yet his future prospects are much better than those of many Cultivators..."
Ji Mengyun played the Yaoqin, expressing her feelings through the music.
Her music rang out, clear and sharp, like a silver vase suddenly shattering.
She played the martial air of clashing arms and warhorses, a sound of slaughter.
"As weak women, if we don’t employ some schemes, would you, Senior Brother Su, take the initiative to help me? In the past... would Senior Brother Xu have taken the initiative to help this concubine even that one time?"
Ji Mengyun spoke her mind.
Her almond eyes welled with tears as she lamented, "The Cultivation World values striving; wherever one goes, it’s all about striving. If this concubine doesn’t strive, it’s hard to forge an Immortal Base, and even harder to form a Returning Core."
In the Pavilion, the Maid serving the two lowered her head, sealed her divine sense, and dared not look or listen further.
"You’re not wrong."
"When your father left the Capital back then, you said that phrase, and I deeply agreed: ’Marry a general in troubled times, marry a scholar in prosperous times.’"
Scholar Su nodded. "If you hadn’t taken the initiative, the Miss Mengyun of today wouldn’t exist. To each their own path."
He was very perceptive. Ji Mengyun had opened her heart at this time. Putting himself in her shoes, he didn’t think she was wrong. Just as when he and Xu Xing had chatted in the Restaurant, both believed that Ji Mengyun, capable of such words at sixteen, was an extraordinary woman. How could mortals be as detached from fame and fortune as Immortals? A little favor, a little old friendship... If not actively brought up, neither he nor Emperor Tiande Xu Xing would likely take the initiative to help Ji Mengyun through her difficulties.
With that said, Scholar Su stood up, slightly tidied his clothes, then patted the front of his lower robes and prepared to step out of the Pavilion.
"Senior Brother Su... are you really so heartless?"
"Does our past connection mean nothing to you?"
Ji Mengyun was taken aback. Her slender, jade-like fingers, plucking the instrument, suddenly stilled, her face filled with astonishment.
She had known Scholar Su since childhood.
She remembered with perfect clarity how much Scholar Su had doted on her.
Today, it was just a small favor...
"Ah, right, I forgot to pay for the tea."
Scholar Su stopped at her words. He fumbled in his sleeve robe for a moment, took out five Storage Bags, and walked to the tea table where he had been served. He placed the five Storage Bags on the table one by one, then strode briskly out of the Pavilion.
Shaoqing later, only Ji Mengyun and the serving Maid remained Inside the house.
Neither of them tried to stop the Scholar who had just left.
It would be acceptable to stop him once.
But stopping him a second time would be a breach of etiquette.
"White-haired acquaintances still grasp their swords; early arrivals at Vermilion Gates laugh and flick their caps..."
Ji Mengyun walked to the tea table, glanced at the poem left on the scroll, shook her Qiufu, and mumbled.
After reciting it, she seemed to lose all her strength and slumped onto a round stool beside the tea table, her jade-like face utterly dejected.
Although Scholar Su had left her a poem,
It was a mockery of her.
It seems he hasn’t forgotten what happened back then...
Ji Mengyun sighed.
After being taken away from Fengxi Country by the Emissary of the Flying Feather Immortal Palace, she had returned several times. She did so to take care of her elderly father, waiting for his End of Life.
During this time, Scholar Su had visited her home several times. After all, the disappearance of the former Prime Minister’s daughter was a significant event...
But at that time, she had instructed her family
To hide her whereabouts from Scholar Su...
Of course, this concealment was largely due to the separation between immortal and mortal beings; Cultivators could not reveal the secrets of the Immortal World. But in the end, it was because she considered herself an immortal while Scholar Su was a mortal, her mindset lofty and superior.
What goes around, comes around.
Once Scholar Su stepped onto the Immortal Journey, the lies she had so carefully woven before could no longer deceive this ’immortal’ who was now his Fellow Daoist.
"Little Bottle, help me with my toilette. I’m going to the Godslayer Sect..."
Several hours later, Ji Mengyun recovered. She walked to the dressing table, sat down, and looked at herself in the bronze mirror before instructing her Maid.
Since Scholar Su couldn’t be relied upon,
She had no choice but to choose another path: to use her beauty to serve others in exchange for opportunities for further Cultivation.
Uncle Su Shi... Pan’an used to like you too. Father once thought of betrothing me to you, as a replacement string, but alas...
Ji Mengyun touched her cheek, looking at her exquisitely made-up reflection in the mirror as if at a stranger.
The Butterfly Phoenix Body would molt once every thirty years.
Her current appearance was the result of molting four times.
Among the numerous congenital physiques, the Butterfly Phoenix Body ranked in the middle to lower tiers.
However, this physique had a unique advantage: through continuous metamorphosis, it could make a Female Cultivator increasingly beautiful.
Ji Mengyun was merely her stage name; her true name was Ouyang Pan’an.
Female Cultivators of the Red Dust Pavilion would not easily reveal their true names.
「...」
After the Red Dust Pavilion feast, Xu Xing, his belly full, returned to the Deck of the Sea-Crossing Flying Boat to continue his journey.
He leaned against the boat railing, the better to view the scenery outside.
When the Flying Boat traveled the lower and middle reaches of the Fengxi River, the banks on both sides were quite prosperous. As the Flying Boat moved into the middle and upper reaches, the signs of habitation gradually dwindled, leaving only a few scattered cities.
One month later, the Flying Boat reached the North Wilderness. As the Cultivators gazed into the distance, Snow Valleys and Ice Mountains seemed to fill their entire field of vision.