Although the boundless sea lay between them, Rovi could naturally perceive Xunzi's presence. More than that, he could see the other man saluting him, so returning the salute was only natural.
This was not perception, but a god's response to one who invoked his divine name.
He had existed in this world for an extremely long time. Yet in that other world where he had first existed, many people here were, to him, his "forebears."
Even if they were perhaps only similar and not the same, they shared the same origin in the end.
It was under such extraordinarily complicated emotions that Rovi straightened his robes and crown and bowed.
It was a gesture of respect, and even more, a way to set himself upright.
Across this vast other world, after so many twists and turns.
I am still of Yan and Huang.
Because this was an origin that could not be brushed away, an imprint on the soul that would not disperse.
No matter how he laughed, cursed, joked, or raged, Rovi could never forget that Huaxia had always been a land of robes, rites, and civilization.
And so Master Xun froze for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"How strange, how strange!"
The last remaining great sage of Confucianism of that era faced the sea wind barefoot, stroking his beard. "In all my decades of life, I have never heard of such a sacred being saluting a person!"
"Master, you..."
"It is nothing. This old man was merely moved and spoke from the heart!" Xunzi swept his sleeve and turned around. "Let us return!"
"This journey has left this old man fully satisfied. Now I shall go back and await the arrival of my Mandate of Heaven!"
"This old man shall return to the yellow earth. Yet a thousand years from now, though I am dead, I shall endure as the Master does!"
"That is enough. More than enough!"
Master Xun swept his sleeve with free and easy grace. Regarding his own approaching death, not only was he neither grieving nor sorrowful, he even seemed rather happy.
What Confucianism sought was the human way, not the immortality of Daoists and the Yin-Yang School, who lived together with heaven and earth.
The Way of Heaven had neither beginning nor end, but the human way had comings and goings. It did not seek the eternity of the flesh, nor the everlasting survival of life, only the brilliance of the spirit, and the supreme principle of cultivating oneself, ordering the state, and bringing peace to all under heaven.
To be able to die was itself completion.
That was why, even though Xunzi was a great Confucian sage and in some sense had already reached a realm equivalent to immortals and gods, he would still die like a mortal after the passing of several decades.
The methods of the Hundred Schools had always sought different things.
"Yes, Master!" The person following beside Xunzi answered respectfully. He looked out at the boundless sea and felt only a magnificent, clear atmosphere pressing toward him. But when he looked again, he could see nothing at all, as if it were no different from usual.
He could not understand Xunzi's open laughter, much less the wild joy contained within his words.
But after taking two steps, Master Xun suddenly paused. Beneath his feet, the tide rose and fell, yet it seemed to ripple with many strange waves. He abruptly raised his head and looked south, toward Chu, toward the lands of Jingchu...
"What is this?" Master Xun's brows and beard drew tight, his expression turning grave.
An inexplicable fright appeared in his eyes.
He sensed that there seemed to be some violent change appearing there.
The "heaven" over that place was showing an abnormality.
He could sense it, but could not see it clearly.
Only terror surfaced, like an ant looking up at the sky and discovering the heavens had collapsed. He could see nothing, only feel instinctive dread.
Because of that violent fluctuation—
"I finally found it!"
The blazing sun shone upon a secluded, divine valley. Amid lush, verdant grass and trees, a temple stood.
Though it had long since been covered in moss, the roof of its halls still rose like towering mountains, enough to show how grand this place had once been. And from the dust accumulated there, one could also see its decline. No human footstep had entered for a very long time.
Only at this moment, that long-settled dust was stirred up and scattered as it drifted. Nine golden, furred tails gleamed with brilliant flowing light beneath the sun.
After sensing the appearance of "Donghua," the nine-tailed fox who had gathered her different "selves" and was locked in a struggle over Authority with Rovi had searched all the way here and finally found this place.
A slender, fair hand lifted from beneath her deep blue robe. "Tanggu, another place of sunrise in ancient myth."
One of her tails spoke. "So this is the dwelling place of Donghuang Taiyi, the supreme god of Chu?"
The nine-tailed main body swayed her tails in reply. "It is somewhat regrettable. The ancient gods changed in succession, and ever since Taiyi handed over his authority, this place has no longer served as the land where the sun rises and sets."
"But fortunately, some residual Authority still remains here. My pursuit all the way here was not wasted."
"Then hurry up and begin~"
"Exactly, exactly. This lady can hardly wait..."
"What is the rush? Let this lady prepare first..."
"Self" conversing with "self" seemed to have become an unconscious action.
Her orange-red hair fell loose around her. Her beautiful, graceful figure stood elegantly before the nine tails. The nine-tailed fox waved a hand and gazed at the palace before her. Then she gently turned her hand, and countless invisible talismans were engraved into the air. They spread layer upon layer, opening outward, and transformed into a giant wall.
WHOOOOOOOOSH!
A wild wind blew through this former land of sunset from myth.
As though something were gathering.
It was the remnant sun Authority of Donghuang Taiyi, the supreme god of Chu who had once dwelled here.
But under the guidance of countless talismans, what appeared was not a radiant, brilliant blazing sun.
It was a piercing "black."
The nine-tailed fox inverted the Authority of the "primordial sun," reversing its concept.
Here, she transformed it into a surging mass of pitch-black chaos.
A black sun opposed to the sun itself.
A yin sun.
A sun of "evil."
"Absorb the endless malice of evil in this world, then battle that 'Donghua.'"
Though it was a struggle over Authority, the nine-tailed fox had never intended to personally make the first move.
She preferred to hide behind the scenes.
To create a "doll" and have it confront that man, that god.
To test his power, and test his limits.
"Go!"
Her nine tails swept, and the black "sun" shot into the sky in an instant.
A light that devoured all things, the source of evil that drew all things in.
It rapidly swelled and expanded...
...
In the East Sea, the tides continued as before.
Rovi straightened.
"You... who were you saluting?" Yu Mei-ren tilted her head, stood, and walked to his side. She looked around, but likewise saw nothing. "Mm..."
It couldn't be something else she couldn't see, could it? Like those evil gods from before...
"Are you afraid?" Rovi withdrew his gaze from the distance and glanced sideways to ask.
Yu Mei-ren instantly denied it. "How could I be!"
"Really not?"
"Annoying. I said I'm not, so I'm not." Noticing Rovi's expression becoming increasingly playful, Yu Mei-ren grew irritable again.
"Don't worry. There's nothing there!" Rovi laughed aloud. "And besides, fear is nothing shameful. Even primordial gods have things they fear—"
"Really?" Yu Mei-ren froze, her vermilion eyes widening. She had thought this man before her was afraid of nothing...
"Of course that was a lie."
Yu Mei-ren: "..."
I really want to hit him, but what do I do when I can't beat him!?
Rovi raised his hand, and the Pure Yang Sword suspended at the top of the Fusang Tree fell into his palm. He grasped the hilt and pressed it behind his back with a reverse motion. As light flowed, a dark red scabbard formed on its own.
Rovi stood with the sword on his back, his dark robes stirring in the sea wind, his clothing and crown proper. The feeling brought by ancient mystery gave him an ethereal air.
But the moment he spoke, a thoroughly worldly presence came rushing over, making him seem anything but distant. "Still, being afraid of something really isn't disgraceful. Or rather, only by holding fear in your heart can you recognize your own inadequacy and regression."
Are you saying you're flawless?
Yu Mei-ren glared, belatedly realizing the implication.
"I'm going out over the sea to take a look. What about you?" Rovi asked casually.
Yu Mei-ren instinctively wanted to reply that there was nothing worth seeing about the sea, but suddenly remembered the sight of him gathering all living things as his vanguard and paused.
She pondered for a moment, then turned her vermilion gaze aside and looked at the enormous swaying tree behind her. As if thinking, she said, "Should I... really go out and walk around?"
"You should ask yourself, not me." Rovi also let out a breath. "If you want to go and see, I can take you out."
"I don't need you to... Fine. Then—then I'll trouble you!" Yu Mei-ren's lovely face deliberately put on a "fierce" expression. "But don't misunderstand. I'm not traveling with you because I want to be with you!"
"You're only my tool."
"Yes, yes." Rovi smiled. He felt that teasing this planetary Elemental, whose true age might not be any less than his own, was rather interesting.
Nor did he dislike this sort of simple exchange. Since he had come to Huaxia and become an immortal god, it was only natural that he should also have an immortal's drifting freedom and ease.
To move as the heart willed, to act as the heart wished.
Moreover, as a native immortal, Yu Mei-ren knew many secrets that were very important to Rovi.
Building a good relationship with her was a necessary matter.
"Pure Yang Sword, rise!"
Rovi swept his sleeve. Behind him, the Pure Yang Sword, which had just entered its sheath, hummed with light. In an instant, it rose into the air, transforming into a brilliant stream of fire. Like the sun hanging in the sky, pure yang flames rushed toward them.
To ride the flow of sword-light and fly upon a sword.
To Rovi, this kind of technique was almost instinctive. He did not even need to learn it.
He extended a hand toward Yu Mei-ren. "Let's go."
Yu Mei-ren froze for a moment, then pursed her lips. "I'll reluctantly accept your invitation."
"But you are not allowed to move around!"
Rovi answered with perfect seriousness. "Don't worry. I definitely won't let you move around."
"I'm not going to move around..." Yu Mei-ren muttered softly. But when she thought of what she had done earlier, her face could not help reddening slightly.
I really must have gone mad... But in that moment, my state of mind did change.
It had even affected her now.
Yu Mei-ren raised her hand. Her soft palm fell into his, her slender fingers closing slightly. Rovi laughed brightly, still keeping that distant space between them without drawing closer.
In that instant, the wind rose!
The sea wind brushed their faces, and the Pure Yang Sword transformed into fiery light that wrapped around them both.
When one flew by sword, what one controlled had never been the sword itself, but the light the sword unfolded.
Yu Mei-ren froze. Before she could recover, the next second, she suddenly felt her vision shake and sway. Her feet left the ground, and in an instant, they rushed toward the sea.
Having never experienced "sword flight" before, she was so startled that she instinctively tried to hug Rovi's arm to steady herself, only to be blocked by an invisible current of air.
"You said it yourself. To stop you from moving around." Rovi spoke leisurely, his robes filled by the wild wind, long sleeves opening like drifting wings. He turned his gaze aside and laughed aloud. "As you wished."
Yu Mei-ren instinctively felt stifled, but she was at least a planetary Elemental. Though her own scale was not great and she was not particularly suited to battle, she had still seen many sights of the mortal world. So after swaying for a moment, she quickly stabilized herself.
That airflow was not only blocking her, but also wrapping around her.
Protecting her from the turbulence.
Yu Mei-ren let out a breath. The fur on her capelet fluttered and her coat billowed. Her exposed, pale body was wrapped in flowing light, yet from here, she could see the scenery outside.
It was the sight of sea and sky.
The vast, magnificent ocean. The blue, distant heavens.
There were birds in the sky, and swimming fish in the sea.
Kun from the North Sea cried out one after another. Peng arriving from the South Sea spread wings that hung from the sky.
In an instant, flowing light flashed past, and faint starlight blurred.
The myriad living creatures that had long since been summoned followed close behind.
Clouds, rain, rivers, lakes, and seas. Vast water vapor gradually gathered around the sword-light.
Amid that boundlessness, it felt as though they had fallen beneath the deep sea. Curious, Yu Mei-ren reached out to touch the faintly glowing things on either side.
Were these plants?
Was this place...
The sword-light abruptly rushed upward, breaking through the sea surface and rising!
Only then did Yu Mei-ren suddenly realize that they truly had entered the depths of the sea just now and seen the scenery beneath it.
The sights on both sides retreated in order, joining into a single band of light and shadow.
Amid the overturning of heaven and earth, Yu Mei-ren only gripped Rovi's hand tightly, a peaceful smile appearing on her lovely face where no one could see it.
She suddenly felt that this was not bad.
This feeling of racing forward.
This feeling of being behind someone else.
There was no denying that the light and shadow of this instant were a sight she had never seen in all her life.
"This time, I'll reluctantly not be angry with you." Her toes lightly pointed, and as her hips and limbs swayed, Yu Mei-ren opened her other hand, feeling the wind slip across her palm.
As if she wanted to embrace this brilliance.
And even more as if she wanted to embrace the person before her.
The feeling of this instant was extraordinarily warm, warm enough that she did not want to leave.
And in this moment, she suddenly understood something in a daze.
As a born planetary Elemental, Yu Mei-ren was called a "celestial immortal" by the people of Huaxia. She truly was worthy of that title, but in the end, there was an essential difference between her and those immortals who cultivated their way to immortality. A spirit born from the planet itself should never have had a body in the present world. Yu Mei-ren, incarnated by accident, had always felt that she was an anomaly.
And because of her special nature, most of those who first approached her had done so with ulterior motives. They either sought the mystery within her that came from nature itself, or perhaps the secret to ageless and deathless life.
So Yu Mei-ren naturally rejected them. Naturally grew sick of them.
That feeling of drifting without a place to belong had never gone away. One could imagine the frustration that had accumulated in her heart over all those long years.
And so she grew trapped, weary of the world, sick of it all.
But now, for the first time since she had come into being, Yu Mei-ren somehow felt something called "belonging."
The person before her was one of her "kind," an innate existence likewise born from the stars.
Being certain of that left Yu Mei-ren especially at ease.
She closed her eyes slightly and emptied herself.
And Rovi smiled as well.
Naturally, touring the sea could not be mere sightseeing. He was using the circulation of seawater to absorb what he had been unable to sweep clean all at once: countless deposits of brutality, fury, greed, rage, and more resting on the seabed... taking all that endless malice into himself.
Chaos flowed within his heart, surging ever more vigorously.
Like an indescribable mist, without beginning or end, boundless and impossible to name.
In this process, the sword-light wrapping around him also became increasingly pure and translucent as it gathered water vapor. The color of Pure Yang began to turn transparent.
It was absorbing pure "water vapor."
Water belonged to yin, while the Pure Yang Sword was originally pure yang. Yin and yang overlapped, sun and moon revolved, and as they cycled, it was as though the sword had undergone tempering again and again.
Yes. As Rovi purified this sea at an even deeper level, absorbing malice to nurture the "chaos" within his body, he was also tempering a sword.
Tempering a sword of mutually arising yin and yang, of life and death cycling together—a sword with the chance to kill him.
---
T/N: hmmmmmmm lowkey my interest did die down for ascend when it went to norse then china so you cant say im racist! my interest died down since the last arc anyway ill have a vote i guess do we continue tling? or nah? ill continue if vote says yes, im like on the fence tbh
patreon voted yes
bonus chaps
100 stones -> 1 chapter
200 stones -> 2 chapters
300 stones -> 3 chapters
and so on
hehe every 100 followers on either instagram or twitter is 5 bonus chapters...? (for all tls ongoing)
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