In the days that followed, Duan Mingyu frequently conversed with one of the disciples Qu Zhanmeng had assigned to watch over him. The other guard caught them a few times, but as the two were merely speaking at a normal distance, the matter was never reported.
Zhai Bairong’s former relationship with Duan Mingyu had once been common knowledge within the Yingyue Sect, and the fact that the two had completely severed ties was now equally well-known. The fellow disciple standing across from Duan Mingyu stared blankly as the youth smiled and spoke, his mind having long since drifted to the nine heavens. He had only ever seen Duan Mingyu from a distance before; now that he was so close, he truly realized how heart-stirring it was to have such a beauty by his side. He thought it a true wonder that Senior Zhai Bairong could give this one up to form a union with someone else.
"Senior Brother is gone, and Master is bullying me... You’re the only one still willing to talk to me," Duan Mingyu lamented with a sigh.
As he spoke, the heart of the man across from him instantly tightened, followed by an uncontrollable thumping in his chest.
"Senior Qu is truly... he is too harsh on you. You aren't even thirty yet, and you're already a Golden Core cultivator at such a young age. There is no need to be in such a rush to cultivate." Only a few days ago, he had been saying that Qu Zhanmeng was acting for Duan Mingyu’s own good; now, he had already changed his tune.
Duan Mingyu blinked at him with uncertainty, asking tentatively, "He even took my storage bracelet and put it in the sect’s storehouse. He said he won't give it back until I reach the Great Circle of the Golden Core stage... Could you help me get it? I want to take out a few things I’m used to using daily..."
"This..."
Seeing the man hesitate but clearly finding it difficult to refuse, Duan Mingyu gazed at him expectantly for a long time. When the other still did not respond, Duan Mingyu sighed. "I’ve put you in a difficult position. I’m sorry..."
"Don't apologize to me! You're the one being treated harshly. I... I’ll find an opportunity to try," the disciple said hurriedly, waving his hands in a panic.
"Really!" Duan Mingyu exclaimed in surprise. Realizing his voice was a bit high, he shrank back like a startled small animal and lowered his voice gratefully. "Thank you so much! I’m counting on you, then."
"Ha... haha... It’s nothing." Seeing Duan Mingyu’s joy, the man rubbed his nose sheepishly, his expression becoming irrepressibly cheerful.
*There really are many good people in the world,* Duan Mingyu thought with relief.
Two days later, Duan Mingyu got his storage bracelet back as he had wished.
He could not wait to check the contents; nothing was missing. He heard that the item had been locked in the Yingyue Sect’s storehouse, and that his fellow disciple had pulled some strings to find a chance to enter, bringing a bracelet of the same style to swap it out at the right moment.
The items inside the bracelet were secondary; Duan Mingyu was desperate to retrieve his communication crystals. Sure enough, after all this time, the two men who had previously not responded had both sent messages. Moreover, because he had been silent during this period, both had repeatedly asked what his current situation was.
Upon learning that Xu Yehua and Rong Lü had only been in seclusion and thus failed to respond in time, Duan Mingyu, who had been feeling somewhat dejected, immediately cheered up. Xu Yehua had discarded his previous occasionally impatient attitude and was urgently asking why Duan Mingyu suddenly wanted them to come pick him up. Rong Lü was even more of a man of action; after receiving no reply to his first inquiry, he had simply rushed toward the Yingyue Sect. Not long ago, Rong Lü told Duan Mingyu that he had arrived in the vicinity, but remembering that Duan Mingyu’s master disliked his association with them, he was currently lingering at the foot of the mountain.
Duan Mingyu was deeply moved. He immediately cast the "new friend" in the neighboring room to the back of his mind, thinking only of leaving quickly to reunite with the two. As for why Qu Zhanmeng had uncharacteristically placed him under house arrest, he planned to investigate that later.
Duan Mingyu first replied to Xu Yehua, saying he was grounded by Qu Zhanmeng, but fortunately, Brother Rong Lü had already arrived. He sensed something was wrong and prepared to leave the Yingyue Sect immediately, hoping Xu Yehua would also come to find them.
Xu Yehua did not respond for the moment. Duan Mingyu waited a while and decided to find a way to sneak out of the sect first. Now that his storage bracelet was back in his hands, as long as he could evade the disciples guarding him and mount his flying sword, he could fly down the mountain to find Rong Lü.
After considering his options, Duan Mingyu turned his gaze back, deciding to suppress his conscience and go speak with that fellow disciple once more.
***
Meanwhile, in Yunqing Pavilion, Nie Shiyun finally finished repairing the two Soul-Summoning Banners and delivered them to Shen Yan.
"Your reputation is well-deserved." Shen Yan turned the two banners over and over, inspecting them. Not only were the holes skillfully patched, but the materials used had merged seamlessly with the original fabric. He extended his divine sense into the banners; none of the remaining yin spirits had dissipated, and all were resting safely inside. Repairing spatial tools was extremely difficult; a single mistake could cause the original compression arrays to malfunction, crushing the contents. This was why storage jewelry and spirit beast bags were all considered first-grade spiritual tools and were often quite expensive.
"The arrays carved into spatial artifacts are often profound. Those who refine them do not want others to discover their secrets, so they often set up illusions to prevent others from seeing the arrays that actually do the work. If one simply tries to copy the surface without understanding, it is common to end up destroying the original array instead," Nie Shiyun explained.
Shen Yan nodded. "That makes sense. I know a bit about arrays myself, and I’ve tried my hand at artifact refining, but unfortunately, I have no talent for it."
He had stayed at Yunqing Pavilion for about ten days, and his attitude had improved considerably compared to when he first arrived. Firstly, it was because of Nie Shiyun’s higher-than-expected skill and diligence; secondly, staying here meant he wouldn't be found by the people from the Soul-Summoning Valley, which served as a refuge. Shen Yan was grateful for this.
"Mastering one craft is already quite good," Nie Shiyun said with a smile.
Shen Yan glanced at him. Had Nie Shiyun’s smile not been so sincere, he would have suspected the man was deliberately showing off. For most cultivators, mastering even one craft was as difficult as ascending to the blue heavens, yet the man before him was a living exception who handled both arrays and artifact refining with ease.
"Anyway, thanks. It’s rare to see an orthodox cultivator willing to help refine such 'wicked' things." Shen Yan tucked the items into his storage ring.
Nie Shiyun didn't care much about that and waved his hand. "To put it bluntly, tools are just tools; they are things used by people. Orthodox weapons kill people just the same. After a person dies, their soul dissipates. Even if reincarnation truly exists, they won't retain any memories. Unless one can seize a body for rebirth, in my view, whether one is driven as a corpse or summoned as a soul, or turned into a pile of ash, there is essentially no difference."
"You certainly see things clearly," Shen Yan said, slightly surprised. "However, if you were to go out and preach such words, and those who call themselves 'righteous' heard you, they would surely denounce you."
"I’m not stupid; I understand that much."
Today, the two were completing the transaction in Nie Shiyun’s cave dwelling, so Zhai Bairong and Meiqiu were also present. Shen Yan felt a bit of pressure. Just by sitting there, Zhai Bairong exuded an aura that was completely incompatible with someone like him. However, Zhai Bairong merely sat to the side drinking tea, quietly listening to the conversation and nodding occasionally without offering any opinions.
The other child, however, looked over from time to time with a complex gaze, appearing curious yet somewhat indignant. Shen Yan couldn't figure out how he had offended the boy and simply chalked it up to having stolen the attention of the boy's elder.
"Xuan Yang." Nie Shiyun also noticed Meiqiu’s gaze was too blunt and gave a low-voiced reprimand. Fortunately, he remembered to use the boy's formal name this time, preventing a repeat of the previous comedy.
Meiqiu turned his gaze away resentfully, thinking that he would soon be able to take his fifty thousand stones.
"Though it’s an aside, I’ve been curious for a while. Is this child yours? You’re inseparable, even bringing him into the secret realm," Shen Yan asked directly.
"I am not!" Meiqiu huffed.
However, if compared to that scumbag bird in the Upper Realm who mated everywhere and never took responsibility, Meiqiu felt that perhaps he was more willing to see Nie Shiyun as a father figure.
Of course, he wouldn't say that out loud.
Nie Shiyun said calmly, "He belongs to a distant relative. They entrusted me to take good care of him."
This sounded like a casual brush-off, and Shen Yan naturally didn't believe it. Since Nie Shiyun wouldn't say, he wasn't interested enough to press further. However, he subconsciously felt that for a child to be kept so close by Nie Shiyun, he definitely wouldn't be as simple as he appeared.
Having finished the transaction, Shen Yan was in no mood to sit and chat. He stood up to leave.
"As I mentioned before, I think you might be interested in this news. I’ll tell you now." Shen Yan glanced at Zhai Bairong and Meiqiu. Seeing Nie Shiyun make a "please continue" gesture, he knew there was no need to avoid the two, so he went on.
"You likely know that the Soul-Summoning Valley is a den of dragons and snakes, where many demonic and rogue cultivators frequent. It’s where rumors spread the fastest. They say that twenty-eight years ago, there was a celestial phenomenon. I wasn't born yet, so I don't know the details clearly. But I heard that for the first time in thousands of years since the path to the Upper Realm was closed, this cultivation world experienced a phenomenon where dense spiritual energy gathered."
"I know of this." Zhai Bairong nodded. Knowing that Nie Shiyun’s memories before coming to the cultivation world were vague, he took over the conversation. "I was very young then, but I heard the seniors in the sect say that it was a sign of Heavenly Luck descending. Unfortunately, everyone thought the closure of the cultivation world would change after that, but the phenomenon vanished immediately, as if nothing had happened."
Twenty-eight years—that was exactly Duan Mingyu’s age. Previously, Zhai Bairong had never connected the youth to the phenomenon. As he spoke, he suddenly thought of something and glanced at Nie Shiyun. The latter nodded slightly, exchanging a look of affirmation.
"There are a few charlatans in the Soul-Summoning Sect," Shen Yan frowned. "The things they calculate are usually ambiguous; eight out of ten divinations are inaccurate. You don't have to believe it entirely, but someone calculated that this year is an important time for Heavenly Luck to reappear in the world, and a precious treasure will manifest..."
Nie Shiyun’s heart skipped a beat; he did not want the matter of the Immortal Tool to become public knowledge.
Shen Yan continued, "The rumor is of a Strange Fire. Not a remnant soul of a Strange Fire, but a true, genuine one. A small number of demonic cultivators heard this news and, preferring to believe it might be true, have gone out to travel and search for it."
Nie Shiyun’s heart, which had been worried about the Immortal Tool, settled back down.
In the original novel, there was indeed such a Strange Fire, named the Vermilion Bird Strange Fire. At that time, Duan Mingyu’s Heavenly Yin Physique had already been exposed, and he was on the run. Just as his body could no longer withstand the cold, the group had stumbled into the cave dwelling where the fire was located by a stroke of luck. After a battle with the fire and help from "Meiqiu," the Vermilion Bird Strange Fire was subdued by Duan Mingyu, just like the Green Lotus Strange Fire remnant before it. From then on, the cold defect of his Heavenly Yin Physique was completely cured; it could be said he found a blessing in disguise during his flight.
The news Shen Yan provided was indeed precious information for now. However, for Nie Shiyun, it was information he had known for a long time. Being told now only served to give him a rough idea of where the plot had progressed.
He was just a bit puzzled. Duan Mingyu was currently stuck in the Yingyue Sect, unable to move; would the plot still proceed this way? Wouldn't that mean the Strange Fire might fall into the hands of some unknown demonic cultivator? He had thought that since Duan Mingyu wasn't on the run, the news of the fire wouldn't be known to outsiders, but Nie Shiyun realized he had likely miscalculated.
Seeing Nie Shiyun fall into silence, Shen Yan asked, "Well? Are you going?"
"I’ll have to consider it. After all, Yunqing Pavilion is here, and Bairong’s side still involves the seniors of the Yingyue Sect. It’s not easy for us to just up and leave," Nie Shiyun said vaguely.
"Sects are truly inconvenient," Shen Yan lamented. "Although I sold this news to you, I will also be searching for it. If we run into each other on the road later, it’ll be every man for himself."
Meiqiu had been listening from the side, only half-understanding, but he grasped the gist. Hearing this, he couldn't help but shout, "You’re being hunted and you still want to go look for a Strange Fire? Do you have a death wish?"
Shen Yan slanted a glance at him and said casually, "Wealth is found in danger. You’re so small, you don't need to understand these things."
"..." Meiqiu felt disdained and ground his teeth.
Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong exchanged a look.
Regarding the Vermilion Bird Strange Fire, Nie Shiyun had mentioned it when the two of them had discussed the original plot. But later, because the timing was so far off and they had relaxed their guard, it hadn't been put on the agenda. Now that it was mentioned again, the matter needed to be discussed carefully behind closed doors.
Having made this decision, Nie Shiyun and Zhai Bairong escorted Shen Yan halfway down the mountain, to a point already outside the boundaries of Yunqing Pavilion.
"In that case, I wish you a smooth journey," Nie Shiyun said.
Shen Yan waved his hand and left Yunqing Pavilion without looking back.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 朱雀异火 | Vermilion Bird Strange Fire | A powerful legendary flame mentioned in the original novel's plot. |
| 天运 | Heavenly Luck | A destiny or fortune bestowed by the heavens, often linked to world-changing events. |
| 照葫芦画瓢 | To draw a ladle according to the gourd | An idiom meaning to copy something mechanically without understanding the underlying principle. |
| 梨花带雨 | Pear blossoms bathed in rain | An idiom describing a beautiful woman (or person) weeping piteously. |
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Transmigrated into a Total Shou Novel as a Cannon Fodder, but Ended Up 1v1-ing the Male Lead | Chapter 109 | A Prophecy of Fire | Novela.app | Novela.app
