He gently laid Chen Liushang down, looked at her sleeping form with a worried yet helpless gaze, then turned around, picked up his sword, and slowly walked out of the hall.
Biluo glanced at the sleeping Chen Liushang, a look of reassurance on her face as she gently pulled a small blanket over her, and then also slowly walked out of the hall.
It was a waning crescent moon, and the Xiuxian Continent was steeped in silence. In the middle of the night, Chen Liushang suddenly woke up. She slowly opened her eyes, and tears fell involuntarily from them.
In her mind appeared the faces of a handsome man in cyan robes and a woman with a gentle smile like moonlight. Filled with a sense of sadness, she murmured, "Liuxian, Qingchan, where on earth are you?"
Suddenly she seemed to lose her focus, shaking her head as she recalled how she had once again gotten drunk and thrown a drunken tantrum. She did not know how many times she had gotten drunk like this; she felt a sense of loss, a touch of loneliness, and troubles that weighed heavily on her heart.
"How many days has it been since I came here?" A sudden panic seized her. Thinking carefully, it had probably been a few months and more. The image of a woman in black flashed in her mind, glaring fiercely at her. She involuntarily patted her head, feeling a wave of throbbing pain. It was all because of the disaster she had caused a millennium ago, which had caused this woman to lose the love of her life—none other than the man in cyan. Ever since then, that woman had pursued her relentlessly, swearing to kill her, avenge him, strip away her cultivation, and hack out her Glazed Bone. Everywhere she went, countless living beings died unjustly. Although she possessed the power to bring them back to life, she could not endure such endless repetition.
Recalling Biluo's and Ming Xuan's considerate care, she felt that if they too were to perish because of her, she would be frantic with anxiety and overwhelmed with shame.
"This hatred can fall upon me, but it must not touch the living earth I awakened." Her eyes widened suddenly, transforming into a pair of Glazed Pupils, glinting with a trace of resentment.
Her face darkened as she pondered, clutched her hands, and grew somewhat worried. Given her formidable cultivation, she feared her enemy might have already colluded with the Demon race. The Demon race had always been bellicose, born from a shred of the Origin God's demonic Primordial Spirit. With immense ambition, they always sought to harvest all territories for themselves, and in the end, she feared even this Xiuxian Continent would be stripped bare to the last inch.
With this thought, she took a worried sip of wine to drown her sorrows.
"This is all my fault," she muttered with self-deprecating, powerless mockery. Recalling how she once possessed an entire set of Glazed Bones and commanded the spirits of the Ten Thousand Realms under the title of Spirit Lord, she never imagined she would also know days of fear and anxiety.
She touched her forehead, growing even more melancholic at the thought. She did not feel she was entirely innocent, but she knew the living beings she had unintentionally awakened were truly innocent. If they were to be destroyed because of her, that was something she was ten thousand times unwilling to see.
After pondering for a long moment, she sorted through her thoughts.
Slowly, she rose to her feet and made up her mind.
"It is time. If she has truly colluded with the Tainted Immortal Clan, given her temperament, she will surely track me down and bring the Demon Immortal Clan along to destroy these living beings as well. When all is said and done, these are sins of my own making. Now that my Glazed Bone is no longer as complete and flawless as it once was, and I have lost the memory of how I misplaced the core of my Glazed Bone, I can no longer wield the Art of Myriad Spirits to summon the myriad spirits to protect myself and all of you. You were born because of me, but I do not want you to die because of me. I might as well fight to the death."
At that moment, her gaze turned icy and sharp like a drawn sword. As she stood up, the hem of her skirt swept downward, and the entire floor shone with the radiance of Liúlí Light. Suddenly, she seemed like a completely different person.
She walked straight toward the Great Elder's room.
"Clatter, clatter, clatter." With three knocks, she arrived at the Great Elder's bedside.
"Old man, wake up at once."
She gave a casual slap with her small hand, landing squarely on the Fourth Elder's peaceful, sleeping face.
Startled by the sudden sharp sensation, the Great Elder muttered groggily, "Mmm... what?"
"Get up quickly. I have something to discuss."
Only then did the Great Elder grow somewhat more alert. He took one look at Chen Liushang and immediately sat up, saying, "Immortal, what are your orders?"
"How do you think I would do as the founder of the Xiuxian Continent? I can teach all of my Immortal Technique to your disciples so that you can save some face."
Holding a bottle of Glazed wine, her face flushed and half-drunk, Chen Liushang spoke with a solemn air.
Looking at her flushed, slightly intoxicated face and assuming she was still half-asleep, the Great Elder probed cautiously, "Immortal, are you speaking the truth?"
"True, true!"
"When the time comes, you'll still be my Great Elder, hahaha."
She gave the Fourth Elder a heavy slap on the shoulder, throwing her head back in a flushed, unrestrained laugh.
Struck as if by a bolt of divine lightning, the Fourth Elder became exceptionally alert, his face beaming with joy.
"If the Immortal is willing to teach us some Immortal Technique, that is precisely what we pray for! Haha."
"First we'll do this... and then this..."
One half-drunk and the other half-mad, the two chatted crazily until dawn. Radiant with joy, Chen Liushang walked unsteadily out of the Fourth Elder's bedchamber, clutching her small wine jar while casually walking off with a handy sword she had pilfered.
She stumbled all the way into the bedchamber of Young Pavilion Master Ming Xuan, where she collapsed straight onto the floor in the center of the hall.
At noon the next day, the sunlight shimmered brilliantly, and the Xiuxian Continent was a picture of vitality.
She opened her shimmering Glazed Pupils, held her jar of wine, and with a flick of her sleeve vanished from Ming Xuan's hall, leaving behind only a fading afterimage of Liúlí Light as she sped directly toward Qianchen Pavilion Master Ming Shaofan's hall.
"Pavilion Master, hahaha! Guess what the Immortal in white told me yesterday? She said she would help our disciples with their cultivation! At last, we can bring glory to our Xiuxian Continent!"
Laughing heartily, the Fourth Elder stroked his beard and walked into Ming Shaofan's hall with a beaming smile, eager to share this magnificent stroke of unexpected good fortune.
"Splendid, splendid! Xuan'er, Biluo, and all the other disciples are truly blessed."
Ming Shaofan dropped his usual stern and grave expression, a smile breaking across his face as he paced back and forth across the dais, his joy entirely evident.
"Let us invite the Immortal quickly then. I wonder how her immortal body is holding up these days?"
"Bi..."
Suddenly, a gentle breeze drifted into the hall, and Chen Liushang's voice arrived before her person.
"No need."
With an empty-air flash, Chen Liushang appeared abruptly inside Ming Shaofan's hall. The hall was instantly suffused with the vibrant scenery of a flourishing springtime and the refined air of a scholarly household.
Gone was her usual drunken demeanor; Chen Liushang now possessed an ethereal, transcendent grace. Dressed in pure white robes, her sleeves fluttered in the air, and she was enveloped in a radiant glow of seven-colored Liúlí Light that instantly made the entire hall shine with dazzling brilliance.
Her face was cold and clear, her skin like piled snow, encircled by a faint layer of Liúlí Light. Her gaze was transcendent and detached, her Glazed-colored eyes half-closed. Her posture was poised and graceful, her glazed hair drifting around her, and her small braids were gone. An ethereal, divine music drifted through the hall—a sound as clear and remote as a mountain spring, drifting from some ancient forest, supremely rare, unique, and standing proudly independent of the world.
Her lips did not move; instead, this peerless, transcendent melody issued entirely from the inner qi within her chest, its resonance as mighty as rolling thunder.
Both the Pavilion Master and the Fourth Elder were struck with profound shock and awe. They never imagined the Immortal's cultivation could be so unfathomably deep—surely unmatched by anyone—and they hurriedly bowed in reverence.
"You... are Pavilion Master Ming Shaofan?"
"I am."
She paused for a fraction of a moment, then suddenly burst into loud laughter and vanished in a flash of light. The hall remained filled with auspicious splendor, leaving behind only the dumbfounded figures of the Fourth Elder and Ming Shaofan, along with a lingering afterimage of her Liúlí Light.
"The Immortal is always coming and going like a ghost. Pavilion Master, are you alright?"
Ming Shaofan slowly rose to his feet, his body trembling slightly, unsure what to make of Chen Liushang's parting laughter.
The Fourth Elder wore a wide smile, thinking to himself that Chen Liushang certainly knew how to pick her moments—usually unserious, she was remarkably clear-headed when it mattered most. Beaming with joy, he could not resist praising her:
"This... Pavilion Master, I have a request. The Immortal discussed this with me; she intends to personally serve as the Great Elder of our sect. I do not know if the Pavilion Master will permit this? I fear—"
"Quick, quick, quick! Make arrangements for the Immortal at once!"
"Yes, yes, Pavilion Master."
With lingering shock, Ming Shaofan agreed wholeheartedly, wishing only to help her establish this Xiuxian sect without delay.
Offering a respectful reply and unable to conceal his overflowing joy, the Great Elder quickened his pace as he strode out of the spring-filled hall.
"Haha, how did I do, old man? My acting was quite good, wasn't it?"
With a flash, Chen Liushang reappeared, took a sip of wine, flushed red, and slapped the Fourth Elder on the shoulder, laughing as she boasted of her "exploits."
"Hurry, hurry! Come with me to pick out the most outstanding disciples and grand-disciples."
Beaming with a delicate smile, her small braids swaying back and forth, she grabbed the Fourth Elder's hand and hurried toward the Cultivation Hall.
"Spirit Ancestor, please slow down, slow down."
At that moment, Liúlí Light illuminated half the sky over the Xiuxian Continent. Falling blossoms and auspicious signs filled the entire realm. Dragging the Fourth Elder by his dark-colored sleeve, Chen Liushang strode quickly toward the Cultivation Hall, her heart full of joy as she drank from her wine jar and laughed out loud.
"Hahaha, my good grand-disciples, I have arrived!"
"Senior Sister, look! Why is Master dragging a woman along?"
Standing before the Cultivation Hall, Fendai gazed into the distance at the shimmering white figure of Liúlí Light and the familiar silhouette of her master.
Zheyue looked on with a cool gaze, her brows like distant painted hills, and said in a soft, gentle voice.
"I suppose it is just another disciple Master has picked up somewhere along the way."
A look of doubt crossed her face as she spoke softly.
"Fendai, let us wait right here for this new junior sister."
"Fine."
Fendai twirled the pink-glowing braid hanging beside her head, her expression one of impatience.
She pouted her little lips, looking as though she had no desire to pay attention to anyone.
"Senior Sister, she is so pretty! The Liúlí Light on her is so gorgeous. I have never seen such a wondrous person."
Suddenly dropping the braid in her hand, Fendai's eyes sparkled with fascination. Filled with a tinge of envy, her small hand gently tugged at the sleeve of Zheyue's purple silk dress.
Coming clearly into view was none other than the wine-loving Chen Liushang, who, holding her Glazed wine bottle, came brightly dragging the Fourth Elder right up before the two of them.
Her cheeks half-flushed and her eyes hazy, she gazed at the pink and purple figures before her. Suddenly, she lunged straight toward them in a grand embrace. Caught completely off guard, the two of them met her light, graceful form mid-air right in front of the hall.
"My good grand-disciples, my good grand-disciples!"
"Hahahaha."