Beyond the Divine States

Chapter 62 Go to the Peak and Become Immortal

"Changjiu, what should I notice in terms of cultivation?"

"Just follow the books."

"So simple? What if the books are wrong?"

"Xiaoling, it is quite good that you can think this way before you haven't started cultivating officially."

"So, what should I do?"

"If you think the books are wrong, you can ask me with the books and I will identify for you."

"Emm... Are you always right?"

Ning Changjiu took an indifferent look at her.

Ning Xiaoling sat up straight and nodded seriously, "Sure. You must be right!"

Zhao Xiang'er, wearing a black cloak and a ponytail tied up with the red string, listened to them talking and turned her head around quietly to rub her ears.

Lu Jiajia smiled resignedly.

"Changjiu, is it too late for me to begin cultivating at the age of 14?" Ning Xiaoling asked worriedly.

"No. There are lots of strange people and things in the world. It is said that an old farmer grew crops for more than 40 years. Then, as a drought happened, he reaped nothing at the harvest time. Worse still, the evil spirits went down the mountain for hunting. Out of anger, he carried a hoe and went out of the door. He killed a monster at the Immortal Realm alone and then got enshrined by a grand sect. Afterward, he kept elevating his cultivation level and finally reached the realm of Purple Court."

"But I am quite ordinary. I know nothing about crop growing..."

Ning Changjiu stayed silent for a while and then said, "I made up this story only to tell you that it is never too late to cultivate as long as you are talented enough. You may even catch up from behind."

"Oh..." Ning Xiaoling looked like taking a tumble with a glimmer of confidence flashing across her eyes.

Zhao Xiang'er couldn't stand their conversation anymore. She stroked her chest and walked out of the door silently.

...

The young girl wandered around outside and then leaped onto the roof to appreciate the sunset for a while in the crimson twilight.

The world was full of aura. The setting sun was also as beautiful as a well-preened beauty.

Zhao Xiang'er was recollecting what had happened these years. Looking at the direction of the sunset, she was recalling the scene of Roshfinch flying through the Three Thousand Worlds with her, fantasizing about the Western State. She was sure that what she had seen was only a small part of that beautiful world.

That was the destination she would reach one day.

Zhao Xiang'er suddenly reached out her hand. As her sleeve slid down, her fair-skinned wrist was shown. With her palm up, her fingers were naturally bent. She slightly closed her eyes and urged her consciousness. Suddenly, a burn-mark-like rune appeared in her palm and then a big black bird flew out of the shadow behind her, spinning around her.

It was truly dark black as if all the lights around were siphoned by it. Besides, it appeared like a bird but it didn't have three-dimensional organs. Its whole body even had no thickness, just like a real silhouette.

As Zhao Xiang'er twisted her wrist, the big bird danced around her body like a gust of wind.

That was her acquired spirit.

Zhao Xiang'er felt much better and then said smilingly, "I'll call you Jiuyu from now on."

As she urged her consciousness, Jiuyu spread its wings and flew around her. Zhao Xiang'er grinned and leaped on it. Jiuyu rose and flew away, hovering across the city that had gone through the calamity. The scenery in the world just flashed by like a microcosm.

Covering her heart, she still felt pain in there.

The sea of Qi in her Zifu couldn't be rebuilt within a short time.

In the inherent memory of Jiuyu, in order to rebuild the unique sea of Qi of Zifu, she needed to swallow a core of a big demon soaked in the mixture of Bailing Bones, leaves of Constant Cherry, Illusive Snow Lotus, but...

"How big does the demon has to be..." Zhao Xiang'er sat cross-legged with her chin rested on her hands. She was still feeble.

The sun set in the west and Jiuyu flew across above the imperial city, circling high.

...

...

To Zhao Xiang's surprise, when she came back from outside, Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling were still talking.

"Changjiu, I'm actually shy with strangers. What if I get bullied by the senior fellow disciples in the mountain?"

Lu Jiajia aside finally couldn't help it and said, "One of the rules of the Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect is that unreasonable internal strifes are not allowed in the sect. No worries."

Ning Xiaoling nodded and asked, "What do the immortals in the mountain eat?"

Lu Jiajia said, "The immortal mountain is full of aura with a bottomless pit of immortal fruits and juices. You'll know when you go up the mountain."

Ning Xiaoling didn't understand it for now but she was expectant.

"By the way, Changjiu, the old evil fox possessed my body before. Did 'I' do anything outrageous to you?"

"Outrageous? No, 'you' just wanted to kill me."

"Oh... Good," Ning Xiaoling asked further, "How did you defeat it then?"

Ning Changjiu said, "I grabbed the fox's neck and dragged it out of your body. Miss Zhao wielded her sword swiftly and killed it like butchering a chicken."

"Impressive..."

"Of course. Then a...big black ox came. An unknown chivalrous mister showed up and killed it with a s***h too. Then everything was settled."

"An unknown chivalrous mister? Very awesome?"

"Yes. I admire him very much. It's a pity that you were unconscious and failed to see how he wielded the saber."

"Then how long do I need to cultivate in order to become very awesome?"

"You need to ask Miss Lu about it."

Ning Xiaoling turned around and then looked at Lu Jiajia, her eyes glistening.

Lu Jiajia said with a smile, "What? You still remember I'm her future master? I think you are quite good at educating people."

Ning Changjiu pretended not to hear her sarcasm and then said calmly, "Xiaoling is my fellow disciple. It is my obligation to help and guide her."

Lu Jiajia heaved a sigh and said, "If you really tread on the road of cultivation by luck and get to have your disciples, I'm afraid that you will lead your disciples to the wrong path."

Ning Changjiu said, "I'm not interested in setting up my own sect."

Lu Jiajia was dazed. She was just saying randomly but she didn't expect that Ning Changjiu would actually think he was capable of setting up his own sect.

She said resignedly, "Good to know that. In that case, you won't harm the young generation."

...

...

Seven days passed.

At the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, leaves were withered and scattered about in the whole city. The banyan tree in the imperial city was standing there alone. The birds in the tree were its last leaves.

In the early morning, Zhao Xiang'er got up early. It was cold in the early winter. She was wearing a red cloak with fleece lining, which wrapped her curvy body up airtightly. Inside the cloak, she was only wearing a thin black dress. Below the cloak hemline, her fair-skinned feet were bare. She stepped on the cold bricks seemingly senselessly, leaning on the door in a trance.

Only within seven days, the sea of Qi in her Zifu was mostly rebuilt. Even though she was standing there quietly, breathing in and out, she could still feel the spiritual power was running smoothly through her body in an extremely mysterious manner. The Purple Court in the center of her sea of Qi had begun to take shape, which was crystalline and glittering.

When her Zifu was accomplished, she would be able to reach the realm of Purple Court.

After reaching the realm of Purple Realm, she must kill a big monster and swallow its core, which would advance the grade of her Zifu.

Now, what was restraining her last talent was the word Xiang of her name. She didn't dare to imagine what over-turning change would happen to her body when the seal of Xiang was broken...

"Good morning, Miss Zhao."

Outside the door, Ning Changjiu dressed in black waved at her.

Since they recovered more or less, surely they wouldn't reside in the same room. Zhao Xiang'er was also quite happy that she didn't need to listen to Ning Changjiu and Ning Xiaoling blathering.

She took an aloof look at Ning Changjiu, saying, "When are you leaving?"

Ning Changjiu said, "Today."

Zhao Xiang'er nodded. "Work hard on cultivation. Don't let me down."

Ning Changjiu slightly shook his head. "Actually, I'm not confident."

Not surprised at all, Zhao Xiang'er said, "Three years later, even Jiajia won't be able to defeat me, let alone you."

Ning Changjiu heaved a sigh, saying, "Nothing is absolute. Take good care."

Zhao Xiang'er said with a nod, "Okay."

"By the way," Zhao Xiang'er suddenly said, "don't tell others that you are my fiance. I never acknowledge that. If I hear any rumor about it, I will probably go to the Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect to beat you up."

Ning Changjiu said smilingly, "Your Highness, you don't need to care about it so much. After all, three years later, I will come to...break off the engagement."

Zhao Xiang'er rolled her eyes at him and rubbed her wrists, saying, "You want to die now?"

While they were talking, Ning Xiaoling walked out carrying a bag and then waved at Zhao Xiang'er.

Lu Jiajia, dressed in white, stood behind her. Now, her complexion was recovered. With her sword hanging at her waist, her figure looked quite stunning.

"Work hard on cultivation when you go to the immortal sect. I think you are much more promising than your fellow disciple," Zhao Xiang'er said with a smile.

Ning Changjiu said, "You don't have to worry about my fellow disciple. She looks a bit silly but actually, she is rather smart."

Ning Xiaoling rolled her eyes in secret.

Lu Jiajia was amused, saying, "What? You just can't bear to part from each other? Why the tit-for-tat quarrel at parting?"

With a snort, Zhao Xiang'er gathered the cloak around her and turned to walk back into her room.

Ning Changjiu took a look at her back and turned his gaze from her to Lu Jiajia, saying, "Let's go."

Lu Jiajia nodded her head. As she urged the consciousness, a blue-and-white sedan floated over and stopped before them steadily. Amidst the white gauze curtains, the blue sedan curtain billowed in the wind. The flowers were swaying beautifully.

...

...

There were a lot of desolate places in the world.

Even if human beings kept exploiting lands and establishing states, the barren mountains and forests still remained in most of the places in the world.

Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect was situated in the depths of the mountains in the South Continent.

The blue-and-white sedan went across several mortal cities and then reached the uninhabited mountainous places.

When they reached a place, in the originally transparent space, the visible spatial ripples were stirred up and a vast curtain hanging from the sky was opened quietly, exposing a corner of the immortal mountain. After a glimpse, the blue-and-white sedan flew into the space through the curtain.

The view of the desolate plain suddenly took on a new look. Suddenly, four extremely huge peculiar peaks appeared, steep and towering, which didn't seem like real peaks but some rock carving masterpieces of a superlative expert. Wreathed by the smoke and fog, the peaks were exquisitely well-spaced.

Outside the blue-and-white sedan, the immortal cranes flew by. Ning Xiaoling covered her eyes and felt a sense of panic for being at a height but she couldn't help looking carefully at the world she had never seen before.

Unmoved, Ning Changjiu just looked out of the window quietly.

The camouflage deceit that isolated the immortal mountain from the secular world was called peach curtain. Nothing could be seen from outside but one could see through the curtain from inside. It could conceal the truth about the immortal mountain and also gather the aura of the universe.

At the hillside, the blue-and-white sedan stopped slowly.

Lu Jiajia rolled up the curtain and got out of the sedan. After putting the sedan into the cave at the hillside, she said, "We need to walk for the road ahead."

Ning Xiaoling took a look at the mountain without any handrail cautiously. The crane's cry that suddenly came astonished her, which made her shrink back her head hurriedly and follow closely behind the two of them.

As they went up higher, the luxuriant trees and grass gradually disappeared, replaced by countless jagged and queer rocks and natural caves, which looked like standing ghosts and demons with their mouths wide open.

On the top of the mountain, the view was wide open. There were continuous lines of clean and tidy wing rooms, in the middle of which was a sword hall. On the sword hall, the four words, Chang Ting Di Lai, were written.

Outside the sword hall, led by a tall woman dressed in white, tens of disciples in white were practicing swordsmanship. Due to the advent of Lu Jiajia, the leading woman's eyes brightened and then she said in delight, "Jia...The deputy peak master is back."

Lu Jiajia smiled. "Yazhu, you are being too polite."

The woman named Yazhu looked behind her and stared at the good-looking young man and young woman, asking, "Are they...the newly recruited disciples of yours?"

Lu Jiajia said with a nod, "One of them will be an inner-door disciple and the other a name-recorded disciple. Make some arrangement and I will lead them to perform the ritual of acknowledging me as the master."