"Truly, the world is vast and full of wonders. So it turns out our Yunxia Sect exists solely because of your karma, kid."
Even now, recalling the words Ancestor Zhuxia of the Bingxuan Sect had spoken to him, Huode couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
Gu Qingfeng had heard from Wei Qing that Zhuxia was also one of the Seven-Color Envoys who had followed Yun Nishang back in the day. Yun Nishang had reincarnated via her bloodline, leaving Zhuxia to preside over the Bingxuan Sect and manipulate this karmic game. It wasn't strange that she knew about his karma with Yun Nishang. The only thing that puzzled Gu Qingfeng slightly was why Zhuxia had chosen to tell Huode about this.
"That old woman didn't say it outright, but I'm no fool. I could more or less grasp her meaning."
Huode drank by himself. Perhaps finding Gu Qingfeng's personal Taixu Cup too miraculous, he couldn't resist having a few extra cups. Grinning, he said, "Her meaning was for you and Leng Yanqiu to become Dao companions, only...
Heh, that old woman knows your identity and is a bit afraid of you, so...
she came to me, taking a roundabout way to have me come persuade you."
"Have you come to persuade me?"
Gu Qingfeng lay reclined in his chair, legs crossed, squinting at Huode with a smile. "Become Dao companions with that Leng Yanqiu from the Bingxuan Sect?
What for?
To graft karma?"
"Exactly!
She said it was precisely to graft karma."
Huode scratched his head, shaking Gu Qingfeng's exclusive Taixu Cup while carefully recalling Zhuxia's words. "That old woman Zhuxia said something about how three thousand years ago, the founding ancestor of the Bingxuan Sect, Yun Nishang, divined that she had an extremely terrifying karma with you. Said it was a kind of ill-fated bond, also a kind of sinful fruit."
He paused, picked up the Taixu Cup, and drained the Water-Cloud Wine inside in one go. Instantly, a fiery, painful sensation spread through his internal organs, his blood feeling as if it were burning. Even his forehead broke out in sweat. He took a deep breath of cool air before continuing.
"To rid herself of this ill-fated, evil fruit, the Bingxuan Sect's founding ancestor Yun Nishang laid out a scheme spanning three thousand years. She left behind the Bingxuan Heart and the Yanyang Heart to serve as karmic branches. Then she used some bloodline reincarnation to escape the Bingxuan Heart. As for you, first become Dao companions with Leng Yanqiu, then fuse with the Yanyang Heart. After dual cultivation, pass the Yanyang Heart on to someone else. That way, the ill-fated, sinful karma between you and Yun Nishang could be grafted away."
Perhaps the Water-Cloud Wine, transformed by the Taixu Cup, was too potent. Huode couldn't quite handle it. His insides felt like raging rivers and seas, sometimes shivering with cold, sometimes burning with heat. He couldn't sit still, couldn't stand still, his whole body uncomfortable. Grinning awkwardly, he said, "All this talk of karmic branches and grafting... I don't understand it, but that old woman Zhuxia said you would."
Gu Qingfeng did understand. He had long since guessed Yun Nishang's purpose.
But could karma really be grafted?
He had asked the old monk residing within the Silent Extinction Bone Jade. The old monk said he didn't know either.
Gu Qingfeng pondered. If the old monk didn't know, Yun Nishang herself probably didn't know either. Otherwise, she wouldn't have buried her own soul within Ouyang Ye's bloodline. It seemed she lacked confidence, hence choosing permanent escape.
"I say, kid, what the hell is this cup of yours forged from? The kick is way too strong!"
Huode had thought about using Gu Qingfeng's Taixu Cup for a few more sips, but on second thought, he decided against it. Those two cups he'd just drunk had nearly cost him his old life. He didn't dare torment himself further.
Gu Qingfeng smiled faintly but said nothing.
"That old woman Zhuxia's meaning is for you to consider it. Whether you agree or not isn't important; everything should follow your own thoughts. She also said that whatever requests you might have, just give the order. They'll definitely do what they can, and for what they can't, they'll find a way."
Gu Qingfeng poured himself a cup of wine, took a sip, and asked softly, "And then?"
"And then?
There is no 'and then'!
Oh right, that old woman also said the Bingxuan Sect is holding an Inheritance Grand Ceremony in a couple of days. She asked me to inquire if you have time, if you'd be willing to grace them with your presence."
"That's it?
Nothing else?
?"
"Nothing else!"
Gu Qingfeng nodded, then fell silent, lying in his chair as if contemplating something.
"Kid, what's your take on this?"
Gu Qingfeng glanced at him, snorted a laugh, and couldn't be bothered to respond.
Huode had enough self-awareness to know this matter wasn't simple. He didn't press further, asking instead, "This dual-cultivation Dao companion business, you think it over yourself. I don't understand it, and I don't dare spout nonsense. But as for the Bingxuan Sect's grand ceremony, why not go join the fun?"
"Oh?
You have some thoughts on this?"
"Heh!"
Huode grinned widely, quickly picking up the wine pot to pour a cup and hand it over. "Nothing much, really. It's just... I want to bask in a bit of your glory, kid. With you presiding over Yunxia Sect now, I'd like to have some glory too. Seize this chance to open the eyes of those bastards who look down on our Yunxia Sect."
Gu Qingfeng looked at him and said, "Before, when you were thinking of Yunxia Sect, I could understand. But now you know Yunxia Sect's existence from the very beginning was part of someone else's scheme. Why are you still messing around?"
"I know, but the key is, me knowing is useless!
Tu De and the others still don't know. I can't just go and tell them, can I?"
"Why not?"
"Good heavens, Ancestor, you say it lightly! Think how much Tu De and the others have given for Yunxia Sect over the years. If they found out Yunxia Sect's existence was Yun Nishang's doing from the start, wouldn't they be heartbroken to death? How utterly despairing that would be! Me, I'm thick-skinned and heartless, so forget about me. But they're different. They're more traditional, influenced by our master since childhood, their heads full of Yunxia Sect's legacy."
Huode spoke with complex emotions. "You have no idea how deep my senior brothers' feelings for Yunxia Sect are!
Originally, with you back, we were hoping you'd help us glorify Yunxia Sect. But you, kid, ended up wiping our Yunxia Sect out of existence in one go..." Remembering the days spent in seclusion at the mountain villa recently, Huode felt both like laughing and crying.
"Those days you hid Yunxia Sect away, you didn't see it. Tu De and the others were like they'd lost their own fathers. Completely dumbstruck. Felt they'd failed their founding ancestors, failed our master's dying wish. But they didn't dare say it out loud, afraid of offending you, kid! Crying secretly every night, snot and tears all over...
No matter how I tried to console them, it was useless. Only now, seeing Yunxia Sect reappear, have they eased up a bit."
Gu Qingfeng chuckled in disbelief. "Is it really that exaggerated?"
"You, kid, grew up wild. You can't possibly understand what a sect means to us. Regardless of Yunxia Sect's original purpose for creation, it was still passed down generation by generation by our master, our grandmaster. It represents not just the efforts of several generations, but also carries the weight of our several hundred years of cultivation, us senior brothers! To us, Yunxia Sect is a home!"
"We know we have no hope of achieving immortality, so we've placed all our life's hopes on Yunxia Sect, this home. If the home is gone...
what meaning is there left in living?"