Chapter 91

Su Song and Xiao Yu originally thought they were very lucky. Just imagine, two outer sect disciples who had just entered Shangxuan Sect and were unknown, suddenly got promoted and were allowed to serve a Core Formation cultivator. This kind of honor was not something every outer sect disciple could have.

But now, this glory had turned into gloom.

The two sat on a small bench outside the courtyard, bored out of their minds.

The worst part was, due to the restrictions set by that Core Formation cultivator, they couldn't even enter the courtyard. But they didn't dare to just abandon their duties, so they could only endure like this.

Xiao Yu sighed for the hundred and first time, "I heard Liu Ren and the others are in a similar situation as us. That Elder Yun also said he didn't need them to serve him and sent them back."

Su Song also sighed, "But at least they can still enter the courtyard. We can't even do that."

Xiao Yu said, "What's the point of entering the courtyard? Just seeing Elder Yun's cold face scares me, let alone them."

Su Song smiled bitterly, "But our Elder Zhou isn't much better. Those fellow disciples heard we came here and were all very envious, asking all sorts of questions when we returned. But what could I say? I'd rather switch places with them now."

Xiao Yu glanced at him, "Then you go back. I believe where there's a will, there's a way. As long as we are sincere enough, maybe Elder Zhou will agree to let us stay."

He suddenly recalled the scene when that person first appeared before them. Even though he wasn't wearing white, his graceful bearing and looks made everyone feel he was an immortal banished from heaven.

Su Song gave a hollow laugh, "Brother, I was just joking. Why so serious?"

The two were making the best of their misery by bantering with each other when Xiao Yu suddenly stood up and turned to look at the courtyard.

"You..." Before Su Song could even ask in surprise, he also let out a startled "Ah!"

A powerful spiritual energy rushed out from the courtyard, seemingly tightly constrained by the courtyard's defensive formation, unable to fully manifest. Even so, the pressure was so immense that the two almost couldn't help but kneel and prostrate themselves in submission.

Correspondingly, there was a rumble in the sky, the wind and clouds changed color. One moment it was clear skies, the next moment dark clouds pressed down as if about to crush mountains. Lightning flashed and thunder roared like crashing waves and a hundred-ton crossbow firing. The sky was pitch-black, as if it would collapse at any moment, making onlookers tremble in fear.

"What...what's going on?" Su Song barely managed to squeeze out this sentence while struggling to endure. His face was deathly pale and cold sweat kept flowing. He finally couldn't hold on and fell to his knees.

Xiao Yu had no time to answer. He gritted his teeth and held fast to a shred of clarity between his brows, avoiding losing his composure like Su Song.

Just then, the power of the defensive formation seemed to suddenly increase. That oppressive spiritual energy abruptly vanished. The two felt relieved but collapsed to the ground, looking at each other in shock.

In the distance, the dark clouds still churned, but the earth-shaking momentum gradually subsided. It took a long while to calm down, but for an entire day, the sunlight never peeked out from the clouds again.

They didn't know how many people were alarmed by this celestial phenomenon. Due to the formation, no one knew everything was related to the small courtyard before them. The only eyewitnesses were Xiao Yu and Su Song.

Limited by their cultivation and knowledge, no matter how vivid Xiao Yu's and the other's imaginations were, they couldn't conceive what was going on. From the moment they set foot on the path of cultivation, every cultivator yearned to have the power to summon wind and rain and dominate the world. Xiao Yu and Su Song were no exception. But only at this moment did they truly witness how astonishing such power was.

Unforgettable for life.

The two glanced at each other. They weren't sure if there was a connection between the celestial phenomenon and the spiritual energy that suddenly erupted from the small courtyard, but this didn't prevent their reverence for Elder Zhou from deepening further.

In fact, both the spiritual energy and celestial changes had nothing to do with Zhou Yin.

He was in closed-door cultivation to break through to the middle stage of Core Formation. Oblivious to outside matters, Zhou Chen was bored with seeing but not having, so he simply went into seclusion with him. To be safe, he personally set up another layer of protective barrier on top of the formation.

Zhou Yin's Core Formation realm was already stable. After dual cultivation, his meridians were reforged and marrow washed. The chances of success were almost guaranteed. Even so, he wasn't the slightest bit impatient or arrogant, and still stabilized his mind to enter deep meditation.

Heaven and earth were divided, the three realms set in place. Humans were in the middle, with the five elements gathered in the body. When energy was abundant and the spirit stable, that was called attaining the Dao.

What was the Dao?

The Heavenly Dao, the Dao of Earth, the Dao of Man. The five grains, plants and trees, and all living things also had their Dao.

Humans had the seven emotions and six desires - love and separation, seeking but not obtaining, resentment from meeting.

Human nature was undoubtedly selfish. For their own interests, they could harm the interests of others without hesitation, and even do things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.

Just like Cloud Dream City before, the Upper Realm saw the weakness in human nature, so it created such a place. As long as you couldn't resist temptation, you would be trapped forever. And those who were trapped, in order to prevent others from leaving, spared no effort to set traps and repeatedly scheme.

The many cultivators walking the continent, many did not die to demon beasts or tribulations, but at the hands of their own kind.

This was the darkness in human nature.

As the saying goes, if not of my race, their hearts must be different. In fact, being of the same race was sometimes even more terrifying. This referred not only to humans, but the Upper Realm, demons, and even demon beasts were all the same.

Therefore, if Heaven had feelings, it too would grow old.

Like a withered tree, a dead heart, no feelings, no desires - the epitome of detachment.

Cultivating was just the emotionless Dao.

Zhou Yin was immersed in an indescribably profound state of near-meditative wandering, naturally unaware that he was currently frowning slightly, his face pale. Obviously, an obstacle blocked his path, difficult to surmount.

From somewhere, a few rays of light seemed to flash by. He quickly grasped them.

They were just two utterly ordinary people. They had no spiritual powers and were not officials or nobles. They lived in a village, growing old with the passage of time.

These two people seemed to have been long forgotten by him, yet never truly forgotten.

They would save the best things for their children, and endure the pain of sending them away for their children's future, even if it meant having no one to take care of them in their old age, without any complaints.

It seemed that for them, if one day, Zhou Zhang and Zhou Yin could cultivate to become immortals like those they had seen, that would be the best consolation.

The grave of the Zhou couple in the Zhou family's village was, day after day, overgrown with weeds, desolate and deserted.

Suddenly, the scene before his eyes transformed into another face.

Brows like chiseled blades, hair like inky dots, handsome and elegant, dazzling and radiant. In front of him, the corners of his mouth were always slightly upturned, as if forever carrying the smile of spring willows, never fading. Even if his actions were no longer unruly, this person...

The great Dao is ruthless, the sun and moon traverse the heavens, the rivers and streams flow across the earth.

The great Dao is compassionate, nurturing all things, cherishing all living beings.

In his previous life, he was alone, unencumbered and unattached. However, in this life, the Dao he cultivated was not the heartless one.

His heart felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, suddenly clear, and then enlightened.

The advancement was complete.

Zhou Yin slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

Upon awakening, he saw the stormy sky outside.

Turning his gaze to the person sitting cross-legged beside him, he couldn't help but be startled.