Chapter Four: Transplanting Blossoms, Grafting Trees

You guessed right. When the Peach Blossom Gentleman first appeared, I had already noticed it. Unfortunately, it was a male body. I never imagined it would also have a companion demoness.

Xueer, your utterly yin physique finally has hope of salvation. The Peach Blossom Demoness, manifested in Peach Blossom County of the East Sea, is none other than the dark wood power of the Azure Dragon, and the peach essence within her body is a living force of vitality.

So what? What does that have to do with me? Chu Linfeng cut off Li Xiaoxue’s train of thought. And you still have not answered my question. Why did we only see Shen Luoxi that day, and not you or your father?

Because Father’s target was not the flood whale, but the Peach Blossom Demoness. The essence within her body was the suppressing force against my utterly yin physique. At the final four words, Li Xiaoxue spoke each one with slow, heavy emphasis.

It all seemed to fit. In Chu Linfeng’s memory, he had only seen the flood whale, and not the brother or the demoness; they must have been dealt with by Li Tiangang. But the more he pondered, the more he felt something was missing.

Then that day, were you with your father capturing the flower demon, while Shen Luoxi was sent ahead to help me hold off the flood whale? As soon as he spoke, Chu Linfeng shook his head repeatedly. No, that is not right. Shen Luoxi is your father’s prized disciple; this is common knowledge in the academy. Since your target was the flower demon, and I had no acquaintance with either of you, there would have been no reason for your father to let Shen Luoxi take such a risk. The academy could not possibly have issued such an order.

At this moment, Chu Linfeng only wanted to untangle the threads one by one. He had to ask everything clearly; not a single detail could be overlooked.

It was me. I was the one who begged Sister Shen to help you.

At those words, Li Xiaoxue seemed slightly agitated.

Begged? I do not understand. We did not know each other then. Chu Linfeng was at a loss.

Ten thousand vine branches severed at the waist, peach boughs falling like rain, blossoms filling the sky. The war god danced by chance in a glorious arc; who could have known that an immortal would stir to mortal love?

From the day her father showed her the video of the Peach Blossom War God, Li Xiaoxue had watched it over and over, more than a hundred times in a single night, unable to sleep, her heart already secretly surrendered. Who could have imagined that this infatuation would later bring harm to Shen Luoxi, and even greater harm to Chu Linfeng.

Li Xiaoxue sighed. Believe it or not, that is the truth. Take it as my childish innocence and tender-hearted foolishness at the time.

Fine. I will believe you for now. I suppose it was your father who successfully obtained the flower demon’s essence and infused it into your sea of qi, which healed your cold constitution. Then when you fought the flower demon, did you see my younger brother? He was about ten years old, with a red birthmark between his brows, very easy to recognize. Chu Linfeng grew tense and asked in haste.

Li Xiaoxue shook her head. I did not see him. That day I only saw the flower demon.

Chu Linfeng instantly deflated. His expression dimmed as he muttered to himself, Flower demons are skilled at stealing souls and charming hearts. I suppose my younger brother has already perished in the East Sea...

After a long while, Chu Linfeng steadied himself and asked again, Then after you destroyed the flower demon and came to find me, what happened to my sea of qi? Do you know how it was lost?

Do you truly not remember that process? Li Xiaoxue asked softly.

I only remember falling into the mouth of the flood whale with Shen Luoxi. After that, I know nothing.

Hearing this, Li Xiaoxue let out a breath of relief. If he does not remember, that is best. I should tell him my part of it, then. Consider it a way to ease my heart and stabilize my dao heart.

That day, Father did indeed destroy the flower demon successfully, but something unexpected happened when he tried to take the essence... That demoness was exceedingly cunning. She left behind a strand of remnant soul within the essence. When Father extracted it, the essence instantly fled toward the flood whale. By the time Father arrived, you and Sister Shen were already inside the whale’s belly.

And after that? Chu Linfeng tensed. The brilliant flash that had shot into Shen Luoxi’s body in his memory must have been that flower demon’s essence.

Afterward, Father dived into the sea to hunt down the flood whale, then cut open its belly and saved the two of you. But by then, the flower demon’s essence had already entered your dantian sea of qi, and your soul had also been enchanted. To save you, the essence had to be removed, and to remove it, the sea of qi had to be shattered.

Wait. No. That is not what happened. In Chu Linfeng’s memory, the flower demon’s essence had entered Shen Luoxi’s body. How had it become him now?

At Chu Linfeng’s rebuttal, Li Xiaoxue’s slender body gave a violent shiver. Chu Linfeng caught every bit of it, and his conviction that his memory was correct only grew stronger.

In the depths of his mind, he began to piece everything together.

If Li Tianqian and Shen Luoxi were both there, then since Shen Luoxi was a young woman, when she was injured and brought back that day, it should have been Li Tianqian who carried her home. There would have been no need for her to be carried back by Shen Luoxi and soil her own reputation. Unless that person was Shen Luoxi’s partner or husband. And Li Tianqian had not mentioned a single word about anyone being present at the time, as though deliberately avoiding the matter. After they were rescued, Li Tianqian and Li Xiaoxue both came to visit him, yet Shen Luoxi, their lifesaving benefactor, never appeared again. She, too, seemed to be deliberately avoiding me.

The essence clearly entered Shen Luoxi’s sea of qi, so how did it become mine? Li Xiaoxue said that removing the essence would require shattering the sea of qi, but Shen Luoxi’s cultivation was still intact. Could there be some other way to transfer the essence?

Chu Linfeng paced back and forth, countless doubts entangling in his mind like a knot of disorder. He had to connect every event before he could move forward.

The Peach Blossom Demoness steals souls and charms hearts, her enchantment throwing all emotions into chaos.

Chu Linfeng suddenly understood. How had he not thought this through earlier? It was clear now. Everything was clear.

Li Xiaoxue, why do you always deliberately omit Shen Luoxi? Why never speak of her? Chu Linfeng struck straight at the heart of the matter. Li Xiaoxue felt as though thunder had exploded beside her.

Ah, n-no...

You are nervous, aren’t you?

No, I am not. I am talking about your business. Why bring up Sister Shen at all? As she spoke, Li Xiaoxue only felt her ears burning.

Your face is red all the way to your ears, and you still say no. Since you will not speak, I will speak for you.

Chu Linfeng was now certain his guess was correct and saw no reason to press her any further. Better to lay out his own theory.

According to the Demon Beast and Devil Records, the Peach Blossom Demoness, with her companion essence, is exceedingly rare in the world. When water is abundant, it may be resolved; when ice is cold, it may be melted. One force subdues another, and at the ultimate yin extreme it can grow and thrive. Other bodies cannot withstand it. If a man receives it, his mind becomes clouded and his six senses depart from him. If a woman receives it, she burns as though in fire and becomes steeped in spring desire. With grafting and transfer, it may be reborn; by fully ruining the sea of qi, it can be expelled.

Chu Linfeng recalled a book on demon beasts he had read as a child. The text was ancient, and not everything was perfectly remembered, but it was close enough.

The part about the ultimate yin extreme matches your utterly yin physique. So now that you have absorbed the essence, not only are you unharmed, it has actually strengthened your foundation. Grafting and transfer, and destroying the sea of qi, are the two ways to break the essence. You already said the latter. As for the former, grafting and transfer, it must refer to the union of man and woman.

Chu Linfeng. I have never heard such nonsense from you, and I do not want to hear it now.

Li Xiaoxue tried to interrupt his deductions. Some things could not be pursued any further.

You do not want to hear it? Then I will say it anyway.

The story had already unfolded, so Chu Linfeng might as well pour out the whole basin.

The final memory I have is of the essence shooting into Shen Luoxi’s body, not mine. Shen Luoxi and I, with the essence’s poison in her, fell together into the belly of the flood whale. When your father dove after the whale, Shen Luoxi must have been overcome by spring desire inside that whale’s stomach. And I, already fighting at the point of exhaustion, was trapped in the beast’s digestive fluid with nowhere to retreat, forced into... into...

Enough! Enough! Please, stop saying it.

Li Xiaoxue covered her ears, her face scarlet, voice breaking in a shrill cry.

Chu Linfeng did not care whether she listened or not and continued coldly, When your father cut open the whale’s belly, it was already too late. Shen Luoxi had already undergone the grafting, and I had become the one transferred in. At that point, your father had no choice but to find another way to extract the essence. The best method would be to perform grafting again. In that way, the essence could be absorbed smoothly while preserving my cultivation.

Ha... ha ha ha!

At this point, Chu Linfeng threw his head back and laughed toward the sky.

The mighty righteous qi that suppresses the Gate of Heaven, the heroic heart and gallant courage that settle Mount Kunlun. The praise of the True Martial Ranking in the Immortal Inquiry and True Martial Ledger has long branded your father’s image into the bones of the world. And yet at that moment, after sacrificing his cherished disciple Shen Hekui’s body, if he were to offer up his daughter’s innocence as well, would he not become a laughingstock under heaven and slap the face of the True Martial Ranking itself?

I am sorry. Chu... Lin... feng, please believe me. When they were going to destroy your sea of qi, I tried to stop them... but my father, he would not agree...

By now, Li Xiaoxue had collapsed to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes. All the former power of a cultivator at half-step void flight was gone.

Your father would not agree? Did your father ever ask whether I agreed? What did I do wrong? Did I covet Shen Luoxi, or did I covet you, Li Xiaoxue? Why destroy my sea of qi and scatter my cultivation?

As he spoke, Chu Linfeng strode forward and seized Li Xiaoxue by the wrist. Your half-step void-flight cultivation was probably stolen from my sea of qi too, was it not?

Li Xiaoxue was choking on sobs, her whole body trembling, unable to say another word.

She had thought that coming clean to Chu Linfeng today would suffice, because he had been poisoned by the essence, and her constitution happened to be able to bear it. In helplessness, they had destroyed his sea of qi to save his life. She had never imagined that Chu Linfeng would remember Shen Luoxi’s poisoning, then derive the entire process with such exacting detail, even knowing the method of grafting and transfer. In one blow, he dragged both her father and Shen Luoxi into the mire.

Seeing that Li Xiaoxue still would not answer, Chu Linfeng sneered again. Heh. Thinking about it, that makes sense. Compared with grafting, with Li Tianqian’s heaven-reaching cultivation it would not be difficult to seize my sea of qi whole and by the ladleful. Afterward, he could send true energy into my brain and sever my memory. He preserved his prized disciple’s innocence while letting you have your cake and eat it too: repairing your utterly yin body and gaining the cultivation of a prodigy! No wonder you lowered your realm. No wonder Li Xiaoxue’s name was absent from the Prodigy Ranking. Even a courtesan would be too ashamed to hold a grand banquet for the shameful business of one woman marrying two men.

Pfft—

Li Xiaoxue’s chest convulsed, and a mouthful of blood burst from her lips. At once, the surrounding true energy began to swirl and then slowly recede. Any cultivator would know what this meant.

Her dao heart had shattered. Her realm had fallen.

Poor Li Xiaoxue. She had meant to “confess” in order to steady her dao heart, only to make things worse and break through her own realm instead.

Chu Linfeng had once cultivated himself, so he could naturally see that Li Xiaoxue’s dao heart had been broken by his poisonous tongue. Just moments ago, he had been filled with boundless fury, ready to curse heaven, earth, and the empty sky alike, but now that force had drained away. He stared at Li Xiaoxue wiping the blood from her lips. Beneath her tear-streaked, snow-white face, blood had stained her red lips. She looked like a blossom rising from the water, a lotus opening from twin leaves in a pond, delicate and moving. How could one bear to cut down such a fragile beauty?

Forget it. It is not her fault. Let it be as though I owed her in a past life, and now I have paid that debt in this one.

Chu Linfeng let go at last, unable to continue forcing her.

Near dusk, the moon shone bright in the starry sky, and a light breeze brushed his face with a faint chill. Chu Linfeng looked up at the heavens and muttered, Zhang Zhengdao said that beneath the Purple Star comes the emperor, and beneath the Canopy Star comes the immortal sovereign. I wonder which star I am beneath...

With that, he turned and walked toward the courtyard gate.

Chu Linfeng! Cough, cough! Where are you going? Do not act rashly. With no cultivation now, it is dangerous for you outside. This capital academy is, at the very least, a place of shelter. You can still cultivate here.

With no sea of qi, what is there left to cultivate?

Believe me, there must be a way to repair the sea of qi. I will find it with you...

Forget it. I do not trust you, and I do not trust the righteous academy’s mighty true qi either.

Even if the sea of qi cannot be restored, learning dao arts would still leave you with a skill to rely on.

Heh. Zi Ping, the Eight Gates, the Great Six Ren? Purple Star, Supreme Unity, and the Seven Luminaries? What am I supposed to learn them for? Set up a fortune-telling stall? Ha ha ha...

Chu Linfeng, I beg you, come back!

Ha ha ha... heroic and righteous Li Tianqian... half demon, half immortal... ha... ha... ha...

Chu Linfeng! Do not... go... please...