Chapter 71: The Monolith

The transmission talisman went unanswered.

Following Zora's instructions, Vane used his spiritual power to activate the talisman for the third time, but there was still no response. Back at the sect, Song Zhihuai’s reply hadn't seemed overly panicked, but his current safety could not be guaranteed.

"Still no response."

Zora gave an "oh" and continued walking.

The youth followed her, tracing the fine lines of the transmission talisman, his eyes lowered as he weighed the various anomalies of Tao County.

The insect by Zora's side was now able to fly in a straight line. Having failed to catch the scent of Song Zhihuai’s sachet for a long time, it came to a slow rest on Zora's shoulder.

Then, Zora flicked it away. it spun several times in the air before stabilizing itself.

Insect: "???"

Zora possessed a strong sense of sharing burdens: "I'm still looking, too."

Don't rest; work harder.

It had originally intended to just fly away, its transparent, cicada-wing-like wings fluttering so fast they appeared still. But the moment it strayed a short distance from her, Zora turned her head, thinking it had found the way.

"Found it?"

No. Not at all.

The emerald insect had no brain; as soon as Zora asked, it flew back and resumed its post by her side, floating up and down.

Vane spoke: "Senior Brother Song said he entered a secret realm. That realm is composed of countless crystals with mirror-like facets, making one feel trapped in a labyrinth, unable to find their bearings."

He explained: "I heard of a similar secret realm while on a mission outside. If you don't take the correct path and instead crash into the crystals, you will enter another layer of illusion."

Of the two who entered the sect at the same time, Vane had already sprinted toward the direction of a knowledgeable "encyclopedia," far surpassing many senior brothers and sisters. Zora, meanwhile, was moving rapidly toward becoming an expert at utilizing said "encyclopedia."

Zora: "Meaning, he might have entered an illusion and mistakenly thought he walked out."

Vane: "Yes."

Zora took out a transmission talisman. These talismans were single-use items. Even an array master couldn't produce them limitlessly; for Yiling Ke, at her peak spiritual power and working without pause, she could produce at most twenty a day. Furthermore, they required the other party to possess an identical talisman. The restrictions were significant.

The talisman paper emitted a faint, shimmering light.

Zora asked: "Is he dead?"

Inside the December Sect.

Si Shaoyu glanced at Song Zhihuai’s soul lamp in the hall: "Not yet. His life force is very robust."

Zora: "What does that mean?"

Si Shaoyu: "He likely hasn't encountered any danger."

Zora: "Thank you."

Si Shaoyu let out a soft laugh: "No need."

The transmission talisman disintegrated, and the girl’s blunt, serious voice—which was endearingly earnest—vanished with it.

Inside the sect hall, Si Shaoyu flicked his fingers, and the ashes of the burnt talisman scattered. He paced toward the soul lamp. His heart was as still as water; he felt no excessive emotion regarding his biological son's plight.

The constraint he had set was to let Song Zhihuai do anything he wanted, but that didn't mean he had to revolve around him. The manifestation of the constraint was simply that when Song Zhihuai stated what he wanted to do, Si Shaoyu permitted it and provided advice and some help.

A Heartless Path cultivator’s focus remained on their own path.

He stopped looking at the soul lamp. Just as his robes stirred and he was about to head to his place of cultivation, a person stepped into the hall without any hesitation. It was one of the Immortals of the December Sect, the medicine cultivator Shu Ning.

She was very casual, her hands tucked into her long sleeves. "Immortal Si, the movements at Drunken Lu Bay are growing larger lately. You'd better protect yourself."

Shu Ning drawled: "Otherwise, once the seal breaks, we'll be the ones forced to fill the gap. The Sect Leader wouldn't want us to perish prematurely—or at least, we should contribute a bit of our remaining warmth before we go."

Si Shaoyu pondered for a moment and gave an acknowledgment.

"I understand."

Even those on the Heartless Path received the protection of the sect and a quiet environment for cultivation, saving them much trouble; naturally, it was a trade of one thing for another.

Shu Ning looked around: "By the way, your disciple's cultivation is decent. Remember to notify him not to take missions that are too dangerous lately."

His disciple has already gone missing.

Si Shaoyu nodded expressionlessly. The soul lamp was still there; once Zhihuai returned, he would just tell him then.

Shu Ning, who was making the rounds to recruit "conscripts," finally left and arrived at the Golden Wave Hall. She smiled and went straight to the point: "The world is changing lately. Has Immortal Jin prepared himself?"

Jin Chuyang was used to Shu Ning’s blunt nature. He nodded: "I am aware."

Shu Ning: "What about that girl's little shadow?"

Jin Chuyang: "..."

He had actually come to accept it well, with little inner turmoil. It was simply Vane’s own style; he was either outside or following behind Zora all day. They were already the subjects of much attention, and rumors about Zora and Vane had long circulated within the sect.

Jin Chuyang occasionally provided guidance on his cultivation, and Vane would come to ask questions—but the number of times was negligible. The young man's comprehension was extremely high; he would search for knowledge and scrolls helpful for cultivation while outside. He could understand eighty percent of basic problems just by reading books in the library. His role as a master was merely to give him a push at the corners of his cultivation to make him go a bit faster.

He wasn't like his previous two disciples, who asked about everything; they were truly raised by Jin Chuyang step by step... Recalling his disciples' deaths, Jin Chuyang’s lashes lowered before he looked up: "He should still be out on a mission."

"Oh? I see." Shu Ning accepted this with a smile.

Interesting. The rift between this master and disciple was actually so obvious. The master had a knot in his heart, and for some reason, the disciple maintained a certain distance. The master also indulged this, making no move to mend the relationship and directly abandoning part of his duties, treating it as free-range parenting.

By all logic, Vane was only a teenager when he entered the sect, and a kid of that age has such troublesome thoughts; a master should have provided more guidance. But Jin Chuyang didn't. He let the relationship drift to its current state, where the two were still quite formal with each other.

Of course, masters and disciples in the cultivation world aren't exactly parents; not knowing a disciple's whereabouts is quite normal. However, masters and disciples with as little affection as them were rare. Shu Ning didn't think much of it; she just liked gossip. Even gossip about families being destroyed or revenge-driven slaughters was something she enjoyed listening to.

Shu Ning: "Then I'll be off."

Jin Chuyang: "Safe travels."

She then walked to the Falling Rock Forest. Zhou Shijin was lying in a tree, the shadows of the leaves dappled over her as she slept with her eyes closed. Shu Ning looked up, her voice smiling: "How many more years can you live? Can you last until that girl reaches the Golden Core stage?"

Zhou Shijin flipped over to sit straight, also smiling as she looked down. "Only a few decades. As long as she breaks through her current stagnant bottleneck, then yes."

"What? She's hit a bottleneck? Didn't she just break through to the Fusion stage?"

"Zora doesn't understand affection. Once she's touched by it, she's unable to comprehend it, and so she's fallen into stasis."

Zhou Shijin spoke in a pleasant tone, as if it were a fun matter. Shu Ning laughed heartily: "It seems one really has to live long to encounter a disciple as endearingly strange as Zora."

Zhou Shijin tossed down a wine flask, which Shu Ning caught.

Flipping down from the tree, Zhou Shijin mused: "Waiting for her to have an epiphany could take forever. Instead of sitting and waiting for death, it’s better to head to a Great Master’s secret realm—a life-or-death gamble to seize an opportunity."

Zhou Shijin knew the bitterness of falling behind others. She believed her disciple would be unwilling to taste it.

Shu Ning said leisurely: "What if she dies?"

"Naturally, it depends on her choice," Zhou Shijin smiled. "But I do know that she will choose the secret realm."

As she spoke, she unfolded the reply her disciple had just sent her. That girl Zora was lazy enough to write the reply directly on the back of her master's letter.

—

There are countless Great Master secret realms known to me, but if one goes, one should go to the best. The first is Immortal Tu Wang's 'Medicine Ruin' realm, and the second is the 'Wave Husk' realm of the Immortal Xi Qu. The former is in the forbidden grounds of Floating Cloud Valley, while the latter is on the back of the Bright Mirror Sea. How do you choose? Comprehend it yourself, or take a gamble?

—

There isn't enough time. Instead of waiting for an epiphany that might never come, it's better to go to a secret realm.

Zhou Shijin smiled. She knew it.

...But what did she mean by 'there isn't enough time'? What time?

Naturally, it was the time of the plot points.

Zora and Vane were in a secluded corner of Tao County, planning to rendezvous with Yiling Ke. Yiling Ke hadn't arrived yet. Zora had just replied to her master's letter and put her pen back into her storage bag.

Vane didn't know what Zhou Shijin had written to her, and he wouldn't rashly ask. Zora glanced at the youth who was nearby, recalling information about the Crystal Secret Realm, then looked away expressionlessly.

Time was running out for the plot. In the early stages, the time the villain spent in the sect wasn't very long—at most a hundred years. Later, Vane would be taken to the Demon Realm, and the male and female leads would spend several hundred years in the cultivation world before reaching the "Savior" ending.

In other words, within those hundred years, she had to ensure she wasn't surpassed by Vane and also possess the ability to establish herself in the Demon Realm. Vane was one hurdle, and the high-cultivation demons of the Demon Realm were another.

Originally, given Zora's mindset, comprehension, and inherent talent, she was confident she could reach a certain level of cultivation before the plot point arrived. But now she had hit a bottleneck. Others could break through slowly; she absolutely could not.

However, Zora didn't feel much urgency in her heart—she never really had moments of extreme panic. Enter a secret realm, seize an opportunity. At most, it was death, but if she didn't go now, she would die later anyway.

The System was more anxious than she was: [But, but what if... Sigh, how about we think of something else? The villain can protect you in the Demon Realm; he's also a layer of insurance. He’ll definitely listen to you!]

While waiting for Yiling Ke, Zora replied with no ripples in her heart: "You're so stupid, placing your life on someone else."

"Besides, there's another possibility: once he enters the Demon Realm, the Master-Servant Oath will be dissolved, and he won't listen to me."

System: [But, but... Host, look at the villain now; maybe you can try to believe...] it was deeply conflicted: [I'm just afraid you'll die, Host.]

Zora felt perplexed. She didn't understand love, so she naturally couldn't see through his obsessed heart. Not perceiving his love, she naturally wouldn't develop any trust in their future.

Zora only said: "I want higher cultivation."

The System was silent for a long time.

[...Alright.]

[Host, are you going to the 'Wave Husk' secret realm?]

[The root of the arrays in the Bright Mirror Sea has a problem. No matter how it's mended, it can only delay things for a while; it is bound to break. At that time, the Wave Husk secret realm will manifest for an instant.]

[Drunken Lu Bay's massacre is due to the collaboration of internal moles and external demonic cultivators. Once you've dealt with the external demons, go to the Bright Mirror Sea.]

[Before the male lead swings his sword.]

"Mhm... thanks."

[It's nothing,] the System said.

It paused, then stated: [Great Master secret realms in the original work drive people to madness. Some corpses were drained of blood, some were hacked into pieces, and some were devoured by insects. All just for one wrong step. Host, if you fail, I will help by killing you directly.]

Zora said warily: "No, you want to kill me too?"

The sentimental System almost lost its composure: [...]

[This is to help the Host die quickly and without pain!]

Zora was extremely dissatisfied. She let out a sigh and deigned to explain: "No, you're really stupid. Even with torture, as long as you aren't dead until the final moment, even if you only have a head and a heart left, you can still turn the tables. Since I've chosen the secret realm, I will seize every opportunity. If I were someone who would choose suicide because I couldn't bear the pain, I might as well not enter and just slit my throat right now."

[...]

But no one can manage that in such extreme pain...

The System paused, remembering the moment before the Host died. At the instant it bound to her soul, it had captured her thoughts and emotions. She had desperately hoped her opponent would torture her as the audience said—that meant she still had a chance. Even when her head was smashed and caved in, before she died immediately, the girl was still thinking of how to counter-kill.

All fear of death and pain was transformed into a calm obsession with life, with not a sliver left behind.

...But she

was

afraid of death; she was. It was just that like a beast finally adapting to its natural environment, she had adapted to survival in the arena. Instinct and character helped her choose the best path.

The System entered hibernation with a complex heart. If it were before, the System would have mentioned that if the Host died, the villain would die too, but this time for some reason, it didn't even think of that point.

So-called "conquest" is about love. Love is the least logical thing, yet sometimes it is extremely logical. For example, the Host has begun to care about Vane, even if she hasn't realized it herself. She has begun to like his face, be satisfied with his work, notice his words, and be curious about that fleeting glimpse of love in his eyes.

But even so, she remains a determined, unwavering monolith. She is still advancing.

Vane has also never thought of making her change. He just follows, hoping to be qualified to accompany her. He doesn't care to share her joy; he only hopes to share her suffering.