Chapter 713 - 660: The Person in the Portrait

Chapter 713: Chapter 660: The Person in the Portrait

As dawn broke, Jiang Yuebai stepped outside for some fresh air.

Muttering to herself, "Liar, said we’d meet again and still calls me Little Bai, yet didn’t say a word to me."

Jiang Yuebai stood under the tree, peeling off the bark, complaining with each piece she pried off, feeling disgruntled all the same.

At that moment, the old shopkeeper from the Mountain and Sea Building walked from the outer hall to the backyard, seeing Jiang Yuebai almost stripping the tree bare, he was both amused and exasperated.

"True Monarch, please don’t peel any more, the tree won’t survive if you continue."

Only then did Jiang Yuebai come back to her senses, finding a patch of the tree bald. With a casual Transformation Demon Technique, she absorbed the vitality from the surrounding plants, urging new bark to grow on the old tree.

The old shopkeeper approached Jiang Yuebai, holding a scroll in his arms, "The matter True Monarch asked to investigate this afternoon has yielded some result."

Jiang Yuebai’s eyes widened, "It’s not even half a day, and you’ve already found something?"

Regarding the person who appeared at the end of the Taixuan Stele’s dream realm, Jiang Yuebai initially suspected Shen Mingjing’s meddling, since both the Taixuan Stele and the Dream Demon were his doing.

But after careful thought, she felt her absorption into the Taixuan Stele was an accident, and it was impossible for Shen Mingjing to have predicted everything and set this inexplicable trap for her.

So, the jerk who married her in the end, even insisting on pulling off her veil so she could remember him, must be someone else entirely.

The old shopkeeper carefully unfolded the ancient, yellowed scroll, revealing a man in blue, standing with a sword, facing sideways on the mountain peak. Beneath the bright moon and clear wind, his demeanor was unparalleled.

Even with just a profile, Jiang Yuebai’s eyes twitched, confirming it was indeed him.

"Who is this?"

"Sword Monarch Zhufeng of the Guiyuan Sword Sect!"

"Who did you say?!"

In her surprise, Jiang Yuebai’s voice broke as she snatched the scroll, scrutinizing every inch of it, wanting desperately to pull the man out and see his face.

The old shopkeeper explained, "Sword Monarch Zhufeng was a hero of the same era as your sect’s forefather. There aren’t many surviving portraits. Hongyan Building’s storage held just this one scroll. If not for an old man guarding the storeroom, who once was a Guiyuan Sword Sect disciple, recognizing the portrait of the Sword Monarch at a glance, we wouldn’t have found out so quickly."

"Are you saying that the Guiyuan Sword Sect might still have other portraits of Sword Monarch Zhufeng?"

The old shopkeeper nodded, "Guiyuan Sword Sect and Vajra Platform are the two oldest major sects in the Earth Spiritual Realm. Vajra Platform forges statues for monks who ascend from this realm, and Guiyuan Sword Sect also preserves portraits of ascending Sword Monarchs."

Jiang Yuebai clutched the scroll tightly. Meeting Lu Xingyun when she was younger was already bizarre enough, and now she encountered Zhufeng too?

Weren’t they supposed to have ascended to the Immortal Realm?

Why are they appearing in the Earth Spiritual Realm and the Upper Realm?

Are they amusing themselves by teasing her?

Jiang Yuebai was utterly confused. Closing the scroll, she decided to visit the Guiyuan Sword Sect immediately to find out the truth about Lu Xingyun and Zhufeng’s entanglement.

From the back room came a noise, and Jiang Yuebai turned to see Lv Ying standing at the door, mouth open as if to call out to her, but no sound came.

The old shopkeeper nodded at Jiang Yuebai before leaving first.

Jiang Yuebai placed the scroll into her storage ring, temporarily suppressing her chaotic thoughts, and asked Lv Ying, "Have you thought it over?"

Lv Ying nodded, "I want to send Xia’er to the Extraordinary People Country to find her father. If possible, I’d be grateful if you could secure a place for Tao Nian at the Heavenly Interence Sect. Perhaps the people from the Mountain and Sea Building have already looked into this for you. Tao Nian is a descendant of Tao Fengnian, and meeting me must be fate."

"I understand. Even without you mentioning it, I would have helped Tao Nian find a good place. As for the Extraordinary People Country, I have some connections with the Fufeng Mountain Master, and I’ll arrange for someone to send Lv Xia’er to him. He is also a very skilled medical cultivator and can teach Lv Xia’er how to control the toxins in her body. What about you? Are you going to the Extraordinary People Country with Xia’er, or returning to the Heavenly Interence Sect?"

Lv Ying took a deep breath, finally raising her head to look at Jiang Yuebai, "I’m sorry, I overestimated myself. I thought after all these years, reuniting with you wouldn’t find a thorn in my heart, that I could still see you as a childhood playmate. But I realize I am the same as before."

"There’s nothing to apologize for." Jiang Yuebai said softly.

Lv Ying clutched her clothes, "Even though I am over seventy now, my damned pride hasn’t diminished one bit, and I really can’t change. I am too ordinary, so ordinary that there’s nothing outstanding about me that could give me a bit of confidence."

Jiang Yuebai was taken aback, reflecting that it seemed to be true. Among those she knew, if only considering aptitude and background, Shi Xiaowu was also quite ordinary, but he excelled in the Math Dao, which brought him confidence and achievement.

Jiangg Ziying was ordinary too, but later she found her expertise in the path of planting. Learning the art of spirit plant grafting, she flourished with it in Huaxi Valley, which became her source of confidence.

Yun Shang excelled in Beast Taming, Xie Jingshan was wealthy, Lu Nanzhi’s swordsmanship was unparalleled, and Ge Yuchan and Hee Wangchen—each had a specialty that made them proud.

Only Lv Ying was a true, average person among the commoners.

Lv Ying continued, "I don’t belong on the same path as you and your kind. Our encounter was merely an accident and a cruel joke from the heavens. I can only be an unnamed applauder behind you legendary figures."

"Now, what I can’t understand, I don’t want to ponder anymore, and what I’m unwilling to accept, I can only resign myself to. After living so long, a simple and ordinary life suffices, and what’s left is just fatigue."

Jiang Yuebai’s heart trembled, "What do you want to do?"

Lv Ying smiled bitterly, "To go along with the Heavenly Dao’s arrangement, no more fighting; just return home to be a wealthy patron and end this life. If there’s a next life, maybe I won’t be so ordinary."

This thought lingered in Lv Ying’s heart for many years, realizing through repeated failures in Core Formation that some hurdles could never be overcome, that it was her fate!

She wasn’t without effort, but effort sometimes meant nothing before innate talent, nothing but futile struggle! For her, changing destiny against the heavens would not happen, nor did she want to cling to others like a burden.

Hence, she resigned to fate. That’s why, even with a Lifespan Extension Pill, she never took it.

If not for unintentionally adopting Lv Xia’er, she would have closed her shop and returned to her hometown long ago.

Now Jiang Yuebai had appeared, arranging for both Lv Xia’er and Tao Nian’s future, freeing her of concerns.

Jiang Yuebai clenched her fist. Lv Ying and Shi Xiaowu were different; Shi Xiaowu still had hopes, so she could help him pass the Core Formation barrier.

But Lv Ying truly saw through life and gave up; even with heaven-defying abilities, she couldn’t extend her life.

The Golden Crow rose in the east, its radiant glow casting long shadows in the courtyard.

"Very well, I have matters requiring a visit to the Guiyuan Sword Sect. I’ll draft letters for the sect and the Fufeng Mountain Master, asking the Mountain and Sea Building to send someone to escort you."

After saying this, Jiang Yuebai turned to leave.

"Little Bai!"

Lv Ying suddenly called out, but Jiang Yuebai stopped, without turning back.

She remembered Lv Ying once said, when they met again, she would call her Little Bai, and if she didn’t respond, she would broadcast her childhood mischiefs far and wide.

"Mm..."

Jiang Yuebai hummed in acknowledgment, yet didn’t turn around.

Lv Ying, with tears in her eyes, "I’ve never regretted knowing you. Boasting about knowing you is my life’s greatest pride. Just don’t look back, keep walking straight ahead."

Jiang Yuebai’s fists clenched and loosened, a sourness in her nose.

"Alright!"

With that, she strode out of the courtyard.

Everyone has their destiny, and sometimes giving up takes more courage than holding on. At least Lv Ying dares to face death, something Jiang Yuebai could not do.

She respected Lv Ying’s choice and wished her, in the next life, to have her dreams fulfilled and start anew, to become an exceptionally brilliant genius.

As for her, Jiang Yuebai, she sought nothing in the next life; she only strived in this one!