Chapter 103: Returning to the Sect (1)

“Nothing much has happened. It has been a full eleven years since you fell into Blue Moon Lake. In those eleven years, Mu Baiyun, Wei Qiu, and the others who entered here with you have all broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. As for that Zhao Hu from your old village, he reached the Mortal Transcendence Realm seven years ago and entered the inner court. He is now a seventh-stage Mortal Transcendence body cultivator. It is said that among the disciples who joined the sect in the same year, apart from Mu Baiyun and Jiang Ping, no one has outshone him.”

“Also, over these eleven years, your master has come by the lakeshore every two or three years to look for you. That Zhao Hu boy has come often as well. Aside from those two, the one named Mu Baiyun and Wei Qiu have each come here twice. As for the others, I’m afraid they long ago forgot you.”

Little Gold shot Ji Mo a glance, then walked over to the grass beside her and sat down, briefly recounting what had happened in Moonwatch Sect over the years.

“Brother Zhao Hu has improved that much in just over ten years? Heh, that is certainly something to be happy about. But what did you just say? Jiang Ping? Has Jiang Ping’s fame already risen to the point where she can rival Senior Brother Mu?” Hearing news of Zhao Hu, Ji Mo felt genuine delight for him. Yet when Jiang Ping’s name came up, for some reason, a trace of unease rose obscurely in her heart.

“That’s right. That little Jiang Ping girl had an explosive rise after leaving this place, improving at a frightening pace. By now, like Mu Baiyun, her cultivation has also reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and the two of them have both brought their body refinement to the sixth stage of Mortal Transcendence. Last year, so I’ve heard, they even fought a match. It ended in a draw. Now Jiang Ping’s reputation in Moonwatch Sect is already beginning to press down on Mu Baiyun’s.”

“Why is that?” Ji Mo asked in surprise.

“Because in their duel, Mu Baiyun used a earth-rank spirit weapon, the Rainbow-Slicing Sword, while Jiang Ping used nothing more than an ordinary low-rank spirit weapon, the Rainbow Ribbon. The fact that Jiang Ping could fight Mu Baiyun, who was armed with the Rainbow-Slicing Sword, to a standstill with only a common low-rank spirit weapon already says quite a lot.”

“Yet you’ve been in the trial zone all this time. How do you know so clearly what is happening in the sect?” Ji Mo looked at it skeptically. Little Gold immediately shot her an irritated glare, turned its head away, and ignored her.

“Heh, I was only teasing you. Don’t be angry. Come here. Let’s go back to Thunder Peak together.”

Seeing that, Ji Mo laughed and patted her shoulder.

Little Gold hesitated for a moment before finally leaping onto her shoulder and settling there. Tilting its head, it said, “Ji Mo, you’re so pretty. Why do you always wear such dark, gloomy clothes? A full ten parts of beauty get crushed down to only five.”

What Ji Mo was wearing was still that pale-yellow protective robe embroidered with dark-gold phoenixes. Yet for some reason, after leaving the Crystal Palace, the color of the garment had grown very dim. At a glance, it looked like an old mud-yellow shirt, and the golden phoenixes on it had almost vanished completely. Against that robe, Ji Mo’s jade-like face had also taken on a faint, washed-out pallor.

“Am I really that good-looking?” Ji Mo asked in surprise. She truly did not know whether she was considered pretty. Over all these years, no one seemed to have particularly praised her beauty. Even when she looked in the mirror, she had never felt especially lovely. Of course, she was not ugly either. In her own view, Second Senior Sister Chu Qing, Jiang Ping, and the others were all much more beautiful than she was.

“Forget it. I’m not discussing this with you anymore. Though you’re no longer young, you have no sense at all for beauty or ugliness. Talking to you about this is no different from playing the lute to a cow.”

Little Gold was exasperated. Its whiskers trembled, its eyes rolled upward, and it withdrew its gaze.

“As a human, I don’t know how to appreciate beauty and ugliness, so you, as a beast, have better taste than I do?” Ji Mo glanced at it sidelong, half amused, and gave its forehead a sharp tap.

Little Gold flew into a rage. Just as it was about to bristle up, Ji Mo hurried to placate it. “All right, all right, I won’t tease you anymore. You’re the prettiest one. Let’s go back to Thunder Peak.”

With that, she strode toward the exit of Blue Moon Lake. Little Gold was the undisputed overlord of this entire region, and with its aura present, no beast dared come out and cause trouble along the way.

By the time Ji Mo walked from Blue Moon Lake to the southern exit, she had encountered several dozen disciples who had come here for training. She did not know a single one of them, and they seemed not to know her either. They simply passed by one another without a word. But when she reached the exit, one person standing at the gate saw her and nearly had his eyes pop out of his head. Clearly, he knew Ji Mo.

“Senior Brother, did I scare you?” Ji Mo could not help waving a hand in front of him, her tone carrying a hint of mischief. This man was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He must have seen her before, though Ji Mo did not know him.

“You, you—are you Junior Sister Ji Mo?” The man stared at her with bulging eyes, speaking with a slight stammer.

“That’s right, I am Ji Mo.” Ji Mo smiled in reply.

“You, you—you’re still alive?” His eyes widened even further, and Ji Mo worried for a moment that they might really fall straight out of their sockets.

“Yes, I was fortunate enough to keep my life. May I ask which peak Senior Brother belongs to, and how I should address you?” Ji Mo nodded and asked politely.

The man fell into a daze again, as if he had not heard her question at all. His mind was entirely occupied by a single thought: after falling into Blue Moon Lake, she had actually survived by sheer luck? Wait—this Junior Sister Ji Mo had not only come back, she had also broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm. Was this all just an illusion on his part? He could not help rubbing his eyes.

After steadying himself, he was about to look more carefully when he discovered that Ji Mo’s figure was already gone. Bewildered, he quickly grabbed a passing Qi Refinement disciple and asked, “You, did you just see a girl like this walk out of here?” He described Ji Mo’s appearance.

“Yes, I saw her. It looked like you were talking to her too. Is something wrong?” The disciple, only fourteen or fifteen years old, had joined the sect not long ago. To him, this Foundation Establishment cultivator was a senior, but the senior’s behavior now seemed rather abnormal. Could he be ill? The boy thought anxiously.

“Nothing. You may go.”

The man let go at once and hurried back to his own peak. Not long after, the news that Ji Mo had fallen into Blue Moon Lake eleven years ago and yet had returned alive to the sect spread like wildfire.

As for Ji Mo, when she left the southern district and saw that senior staring blankly at her, apparently hearing nothing she said, she had no choice but to leave. Once she was out of the trial grounds, she summoned the White Jade Flood-Dragon Whip, leaped onto it, and rode the wind toward Thunder Peak.

Just as she reached the sky above Thunder Peak, she suddenly saw a handsome young man flying toward her. His features struck her as oddly familiar.

While Ji Mo was still trying to remember who he was, the other man had already rushed up to her in great excitement. With a voice that held both delight and a trace of uncertainty, he asked, “Y-you are Junior Sister Ji?”

“Senior Brother Wei, what a coincidence. I never expected to run into you the moment I came back.” Hearing his voice, Ji Mo’s eyes lit up as she remembered at once. The handsome young man before her was Wei Qiu. That boy from years ago, who had still carried a hint of childishness on his face, had now grown into a strikingly handsome man. No wonder she had not recognized him at first glance.

“Y-you, Junior Sister Ji, is it really you?” Wei Qiu’s voice still brimmed with disbelief.

“Heh, of course it’s really me. Do I look fake?” Ji Mo laughed. She was not surprised by Wei Qiu’s reaction. If she herself saw someone who had fallen into Blue Moon Lake eleven years ago suddenly reappear, she suspected her expression would be much the same as his.

“No, no, that is not what I meant. It is wonderful to see you again. Right—you just got back and probably haven’t returned to the main peak yet. Hurry back. The peak master and your senior brothers and sisters have all been thinking of you constantly.”

Wei Qiu came to his senses and smiled at her a little awkwardly.

“All right. I’ll go see Master first. Senior Brother Wei, let’s talk again when I have time.” Ji Mo nodded, took her leave of Wei Qiu, and quickly flew toward Thunder Peak’s main summit.

But when she was only a dozen miles from Lei Wei’s peak, Ji Mo suddenly felt a touch of hesitation. A strange homesickness, sweet and timid at once, began to spread through her heart.

“Girl Mo, is that you coming back?”

Just as she stood there wavering, uncertain and tense about how to go in, a tall figure shot out from the summit, stepped into the void, and looked toward her. His voice was thick with joy he could barely restrain.

“Master, it is indeed me. Your disciple has been unfilial and has caused you worry all these years.” Driving the silver whip, Ji Mo instantly sped to Lei Wei’s side and dropped to her knees. Her voice was steeped in deep, aching bitterness.

“Get up, get up. Let Master have a look at you.”

Lei Wei was so stirred that even his voice trembled faintly.

In the blink of an eye, Ji Mo had already been lost to Blue Moon Lake for eleven years. During all those years, he had held onto a faint and luxurious hope that a miracle might still occur. From time to time, he would go to the lakeside to take a look, but Ji Mo never appeared. In the past two years, his heart had gradually grown cold, and he had thought he would never again see the little disciple he valued most.

The mysterious Blue Moon Lake was, to Moonwatch Sect, an absolute forbidden ground and a place of certain death. Since the sect’s founding more than a hundred thousand years ago, no living being that fell into it had ever been known to survive. Yet Ji Mo had truly come out of it alive. Faced with such an unexpected and joyous surprise, even Lei Wei, whose Dao heart was as steadfast as rock, could not suppress the surge of emotion in his chest.

“She has grown up, she has grown up. The little girl of the past has become a young lady—and such a beautiful one at that. Master is very pleased. Very pleased indeed, hahaha!”

Lei Wei studied her carefully for a long while, then finally burst into hearty laughter. The clear, unrestrained sound spread out in circles, soon echoing across all of Thunder Peak.