Living Up to You - Chapter 2

CHAPTER 02 - ENTRY 
 

All that was left in the world was nothingness. That pair of eyes, as if a crack in the sky, overlooking the mortal realm; that faint blue glow, as if isolated from all the suffering of this world. Under that faint light, all the coldness, screaming, and fear seemed to quietly go away.

The little demon girl just blankly stared into that pair of eyes, at that moment all thoughts and feelings have been cast away.

So... beautiful...

The faint blue glow, it was like the morning mist at the break of dawn. She reached out with her hand, wanting to get closer, wanting to take it in the palm of her hand, as if it was naturally supposed to belong to her. It gave her an intimate feeling, like what she felt for her gege, an unusual familiarity, an unusual calmness.

She was like in a trance, that faint blue glow filling her entire heart and eyes. Without knowing, she let go of gege, going towards that pair of eyes. The pair of eyes stared at her, still without any trace of warmth, welcoming her small hands to reach closer. The faint blue light wavered slightly, gradually getting thinner and the pair of eyes also getting darker and heavier.

Small black footprints appeared on the snow-covered ground. As the blue glow got lighter and lighter, more and more footprints appeared at increasing speed. The little demon girl was only short of throwing herself at that thread of blue light. The moment it was within reach, the last thread of that faint light had been swallowed by darkness, the pair of eyes that had formed suddenly was shredded up, again replaced by countless teeth and sharp claws.

The little demon girl woke up from her daze, only thing she could feel was the deafeningly sharp noise that seemed intent on piercing her ears. As the murderous atmosphere that crushed down on her from above wanting to push her into the abyss, she cried out loudly "Gege!"

She wanted to hold onto her gege, but realized that he was no longer by her side. In her panic, she sprinted back towards the direction she had come. Blows came at her from every direction, each one carrying murderous intent, pierced her until her chest throbbed in pain. She fell onto the ground, spitting out a whole mouthful of blood.

Facing that mass of bloody mouths, all open and emitting blood-curdling laughter, all rushing towards her, she turned to look in the direction of her gege hoping against hope that he could somehow save her. The darkness before her suddenly became overtaken by a blinding silver flash of light.

The silver light was like a sharp blade slicing the night air, creating a large rift in the darkness, bringing with it a blinding brightness coming directly at her. Somehow, it also brought with it a breath of gentleness and warmth.



Though her eyes were shrouded in the bloody mist, behind the white light she could vaguely make out what looked to her like a white-robed figure drifting towards her on a wisp of cloud.

White snowflakes fell upon strands of hair that were like ink, melted, became waterdrops and slid down landing in the palm of her hands, making a gentle splash. She raised her head up, surprised to actually see a robe that was white like snow, and also a face... even more beautiful than her gege's.

He was like someone who had stepped out of a painting, untainted by the dust of the earth nor disturbed by the noise. A clean and pure aura pushed back the disgusting bloody smell from before, dispersing it until it didn't leave any trace. Even the soundless snowflakes falling around them seemed to bloom into white lotuses, giving off a subtle fragrance.

Dark clouds gradually dispersed, giving way to a refreshing stream of moonlight.

He appeared like a God, standing before her, bending down slightly and holding out his hand to her.

His hand was like jade.

This thought drifted into her mind, in the those moments of life and death that she would undergo in the future, it would revisit her countless times, until it leaves a heartwarming mark at the bottom of her heart, unfading with time.

At this moment, she raised her head to meet his eyes, confusedly asked him "Are you a... xian?"

Without waiting for a reply, also without taking that hand, her eyes went dark. She passed out.

......

The existence of Cang Jia Shan, for all these thousands of years has always been just a myth written between the yellowed pages of books. What everybody knows is that it is a barrier in the farthest east, keeping out wind and rain, it's high peak extending into clouds. However, the myth of so-called immortals living there has never been confirmed. Either those that ever attempted to climb it had given up half-way after knowing the difficulty, or they simply disappeared.

Because of this, this "myth" is exactly what people will see it as: a myth.

All this was up until these recent ten years, unceasing war, natural disasters, human calamities seemed to be frequent occurrences. Wherever there are people in destitute, surely there will be a few strange people appearing at exactly the right time, rescuing them from those miserable situations. These people all call themselves "cultivators".

What the common people don't know is, this group of "cultivators" are actually a group of "xian cultivators", and they just happened to come from that mythical peak, Cang Jia Shan. Furthermore, what the common people have never seen is, aside from the main peak, there are actually seven main peaks scattered in picturesque disorder.

Tian, Di, Jin, Mu, Shui, Huo, Tu, according to the type of elemental method in cultivation, each of the seven peaks are home to Cang Jia cultivators of various shapes and colors. The youngest could be a five year old child that possessed exceptional wisdom, just entering into the cultivating path. The oldest could be already close to a hundred years old, but has not achieved much in cultivation. The entirety of Cang Jia Shan, perhaps not yet ten thousand in count, but to say there are eight thousand cultivators searching for the path here would not be boastful.

On a usual day, cultivators would simply practice the methods of their respective elemental cultivation as instructed by their Elders, refraining from questioning about worldly affairs. On this particular day though, upon hearing the zhangmen's Cang Ming Bell ringing, almost half of the cultivators had gathered at the Cloud Pavilion of the main peak.

At the very center of the hall, the miserable and unsightly child from last night had already cleaned up, hair brushed, and changed into a dark blue dress. She could not conceal her shock, her eyes sweeped over the Cang Jia disciples standing in orderly rows. She swallowed.

Up until this age, she had never seen so many people. Even if she had seen this many people, she had never seen this many all adorning the same color robe, all with their hair up in the same style, behind them even carrying the same large rod of metal, apparently all looking directly at her.

She couldn't help but swallow again, her hand unconsciously tightening her grasp on the long white sleeve besides her, shrunk behind that person's back, wanting to hide herself from sight.

But that person suddenly took her hand and, with a gentle tug, had caused her to take a few steps forward instead.

"Feng Shu, you brought this child up with you from the mortal realm. What is your purpose in this?"

The elder seated at the end of the hall had white beard and hair, reaching all the way to the waist. When he talked, his words carried no emotion, but in his eyes one could perhaps see a ripple of kindness as he carefully observed the child that was also at this moment watching him with curiosity.

"Shifu, please take her as your disciple." Feng Shu held onto the child's hand, still haven't made any movements of courtesy, his eyes downcast and voice soft-spoken.

When hearing this, the elder raised his eyebrow. The disciples standing in the hall all held their breaths, eyes converging on the same person. It was quiet as if they didn't exist.

Feng Shu being the highest disciple, has the utmost favor of Cang Jia's zhangmen, Cang Yu. Although he is cold, and one can even go as far as to say he is arrogant, still all the disciples respected him immensely. He has not appeared at the Cloud Pavilion for almost fifty years. No one could expect that when he finally appeared, it caused zhangmen to sound the Cang Ming Bell, furthermore making a request that was nothing short of impossible.

Under Cang Yu's personal mentorship are four disciples, the youngest was Qing Nian who was already close to a hundred years in cultivation. Qing Nian was also exceptionally gifted, a prodigy for cultivation. What he could cultivate in a hundred years would be equal to what an average cultivator could achieve in five hundred years. Now Feng Shu casually brings a mortal child up the mountain and he wants the zhangmen to personally take her into his mentorship?

Zhangmen Cang Yu stared intently at the child, his gaze gradually sharpening to a point.

The child felt that this gaze made her entire body cold, she raised her eyes to glance at the "xian" besides her, "I want to see Gege, can you... can you bring me to go see Gege?"

Feng Shu lowered his head, smiling as he patted her on the head.

This smile, it made Cang Yu's eyebrows crease together even more tightly.

"Impossible." Cang Yu didn't make a sound, however one of the zhanglao sitting on the side, Cang Hai, spoke up. Staring directly at the child he said, "Her mind is congested, her consciousness still sealed, even becoming a disciple under the Di Mai peak is unthinkable, how can she enter under Shixiong's name?

Those under the Di Mai peak are mostly new disciples that had just recently started cultivating. This also includes those disciples that are only average in potential, cultivating for decades and still have yet to see any achievements. Even with one glance, Cang Hai could tell that there was something wrong with this child. Putting it pleasantly, her consciousness has yet to be opened. In actuality, she would be what the mortal realm considers a fool. For her, cultivating in itself is wishful thinking, forget about becoming one of the immediate disciples of the zhangmen!

"Feng Shu is requesting shifu to take her as a student." Feng Shu stated in a calm tone. The underlying meaning in his words, it was Cang Yu's decision to grant it or not. It was far from Cang Hai's turn to speak out.

Sounds of intaken breaths permeated through the hall. Even if Feng Shu had always been unbridled in his actions, even if he had never shown much regard for the zhangmen, but in the face of thousands of Cang Jia Shan disciples, this was undoubtedly much too direct. Cang Hai was, out of the seven zhanglao, the the one with the hottest temper.

"No respect for elders!" Sure enough, Cang Hai became so angry that he almost sprung up, finger pointing in Feng Shu's direction, his entire face red with rage.

Feng Shu just lowered his gaze, never once giving Cang Hai a direct glance.

"You... You..." Cang Hai couldn't stand that arrogant air he was giving off, but he could not find any other faults. With Cang Yu sitting there, furthermore in the presence of all these disciples, he cannot loose his measure and personally teach him a lesson!

"Calmness Shidi, Calmness!"

In frame of a simple sentence, the interior of the Cloud Pavilion became overflowing in the scent of alcohol. Yet another one of the zhanglao had left his seat, this one for a change was young and rather handsome, with thick eyebrows and ebony hair. Although he addressed Cang Hai as Shidi, he appeared to be younger than him by over fifty years. Only thing was, as soon as he got up, he almost lost his balance, nearly falling onto the floor.

"Be careful Cang Qu zhanglao!"

Some young disciples could not help it, shouting out in concern, but what they saw instead was Cang Qu making a back flip in mid-air and with a loud laugh, swayed down the stairs. "Let me have a look, what exceptional quirks could this little runt possibly have..."

As he said this, he made his way towards the child, half walking half staggering.

When the child saw him coming closer, she wasn't afraid. On the contrary, she actually took a few steps forward. This smell, she remembers. Gege told her before, it's wine. In the past, gege would often drink with the moon while she, she would be laying on his shoulder inhaling the thick and mellow fragrance of the wine and fall asleep when she got drowsy.

Cang Qu's drunken face got closer, taking her left hand and feeling her pulse, nodding slowly. "Kid's head really isn't in good shape..." He switched to her right hand, "Wait, without ever having cultivated before, at this young age, she already has an open heaven's eye..."

Cang Qu let go of her wrist, placing his hand on her forehead, "Previous lifetime... this lifetime..."

He was originally drunk and looking the part, talking in a drunken slur. Suddenly his eyes opened wide, the alcohol clouding his mind suddenly dispersed by half. While his words were still unfinished sentences, his hand hurriedly reached towards the back of her head.

The child originally felt a sort of closeness with him due to the familiar scent, letting him feel her pulse was not much, but when his hand connected with her forehead, she felt a surge of turbulent pain released from some unknown corner, spreading out towards her entire body. When that hand came to the back of her head, the pain increased tenfold, becoming sharp and stinging, all the blood in her veins suddenly transformed into thousands of blades, wanting to pierce and escape from her body. She let out a sharp scream, stumbling backwards a few steps and then started crying.

Cang Qu's drunkenness had gone already, standing firmly at the center of the great hall, hands together at his back, concentrating his gaze on her, "Little girl, you can't possibly be..."

"What?" Cang Hai quickly asked.

"She..."

"Enough!" Cang Yu who had been quiet all this time suddenly spoke out, breaking off the end of Cang Qu's sentence. With his Qing Xu staff in hand, he slowly got up, his eyes only looking at Feng Shu, he asked, "You truly want to keep her here?"

Feng Shu's eyes also converged with his, "Yes."

"There is no way I can accept her."

"Then Feng Shu will leave Cang Jia Shan with her."

Inside the Cloud Pavilion, it was abnormally quiet.

There were a few thousand disciples present, but every one of them held their eyes down, held their breaths in.

This was the highest disciple, their Da Shixiong, it would be hard to find another like him in a hundred years. Nobody knows when he had actually entered Cang Jia Shan, but there was something they all knew. No matter how arrogant or rash he was, how isolated he made himself to be, how much their zhanglao tolerated him, how much their zhangmen let him get away with, there was a reason to everything.

In the four corners of Jiuzhou, Cang Jia Shan is the youngest of the cultivating sects. However, it happened to occupy the mountain that had the highest amount of Yin energy. Sixty years ago, the remnants of the Muo realm attempted to revive their Muo Zhun. The other sects were all occupied with protecting themselves, turning a blind eye to the precarious fate Cang Jia Shan was faced with. When all thought Cang Jia would surely fall, Feng Shu singlehandedly drove out the Muo army, returning the rekindled Muo Zhun seal back into silence. Ever since then, it's been speculated that Feng Shu's cultivation, perhaps the only other person with a cultivation that could par would be Dong Hua shangxian of Dong Hua Shan.

Therefore, his status in Cang Jia Shan, certainly is not as simple as Zhangmen's highest disciple, nor everyone's Da Shixiong.

Cang Yu's dark eyes seemed to cloud over with waves of unreadable emotions. After a long while, he finally closed his eyes, sighing as he replied "Tomorrow she will go to cultivate at Di Mai peak, if after three years she can pass the Sword Trial, Weishi will personally take her as my disciple."

"No, she must stay at Tian Mai peak."

Cang Yu's expression became cold.

"Shixiong already took a step back, don't be insatiable." Cang Hai couldn't help but step in when he saw Cang Yu speechless. "Only those disciples of Zhangmen's direct line can ascend to Tian Mai Peak, it's not your call who stays or not."

Feng Shu continued waiting on Cang Yu's reply, as if he had not heard what Cang Hai said.

"An entry disciple immediately ascending to Tian Mai Peak to cultivate, it's unheard of." Cang Yu sighed.

Feng Shu calmly spoke, "Born in the mortal realm, grew up in the mortal realm, only ten years in age but has already opened a heaven's eye, that's unseen of."

“Xian cultivation is dependent on fate, if you are acting like this it's no different from uprooting a seedling, instead of helping it grow you are killing it."

"She met me, I saved her, that is fate enough."

"If she ultimately can't bear the blessing, even if we change the course of her life..."

"Life death fortune misfortune, naturally are decided by fate!”"

Inside the Cloud Pavilion, the smoke from the incense burners curled upwards into the air, veiling the expression on Cang Yu’'s face from being seen clearly. A light gust of wind came out of nowhere, slicing through that wisp of smoke, causing the bells on the Qing Xu staff to give off a soft chorus and sweeping away the silence that suppressed the hall.

“"On Tian Mai Peak, who will teach her?”"

On the Tian Mai Peak, the only ones cultivating there are his three remaining disciples. The three can certainly tell that Cang Yu does not want to keep this child, so they all kept quiet.

Feng Shu however, said "“Naturally I.”"

Feng Shu is a prideful person, his way of getting things done is apathy. He has always been solitary, cultivating alone on the main peak. At this instance, for this child, he is willing to break his code time and time again. Cang Yu smiled bitterly, "“If this is your choice, I will not add any more obstacles.”"

Hearing this, Feng Shu smiled softly, lowering his head to glance at the child who had been by his side the entire time, seeing her teary eyes, he bent down on his knee to help her wipe away her tears, “"Do you remember what I told you yesterday?”"

The child looked blankly into his eyes, which seemed to be smiling.

"“I remember.”" She replied after a while.

"“Are you willing to stay at Cang Jia Shan?”"

She blinked, trying very hard to process his question in her mind. Yesterday after she was saved by this xian, she had been wanting to see her gege. He had told her that only if she stayed here could she see her gege again.

“"Yes."” She nodded.

He smiled at her again, getting up. Taking her hand, without sparing another glance at those around them, he turned around and left the Cloud Pavilion with her.

She looked down at the hand that was wrapped around hers.

His hand was like jade.

Warm like jade.

“"Do you still not remember your name?”"

“"Gege never told me before.”"

“"Then... From now on your name will be Ling Xi. How is that?”"

"“Okay.”"

A chilly breeze passed by, causing Feng Shu’s white robe to swirl around him. Cang Jia’s disciples quickly got out of their way, leaving a spacious aisle in the center of the hall. The voices of the two drifted on behind them as they left, becoming fainter and softer, along with their silhouettes disappearing under the setting sun, they too could no longer be heard.

Cang Yu'’s gaze narrowed, watching them as the setting sun stretched out their shadows. In his bright and translucent eyes, there slowly stirred a trace of tiredness and helplessness.

Ling Xi Ling xi, how long has it been?