Chapter 2: The Mysterious Heavenly Sect

Ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

“Girl, I promised your grandfather that I would raise you up, and now that you’re eighteen, it’s time for me to leave…”

Ten years had gone by. Wang Yuyan was now eighteen, blossoming into a graceful and beautiful young woman. Qin Changsheng, however, still looked like the twenty-year-old he was a decade ago.

Wang Yuyan was washing the dishes when she heard those words. Her hand froze, and tears suddenly streamed down her face.

“Brother Changsheng… I want to go with you. Is that alright?”

Standing there, she didn’t look like his granddaughter at all; she resembled more a partner of his path.

For ten years, they had depended on each other, living simply and quietly. Wang Yuyan obeyed him in everything, hardworking and eager to learn, managing the household with utmost care.

Meanwhile, he spent his days sitting in the courtyard, watching the clouds drift by.

He yearned for the world beyond but was also lost in uncertainty.

Today, his expression was complicated.

“Everyone’s journey is different. Being able to walk together for a while is already a great blessing. After this, we each must go our own way.”

“…”

“But we haven’t finished this part of the journey yet. I think we could walk together for a very long time…”

Wang Yuyan hesitated, then bravely looked at Qin Changsheng.

“Brother Changsheng, I…”

“Yuyan, I belong to your grandfather’s generation…”

She didn’t finish her sentence before Qin Changsheng interrupted her.

Ten years of reliance had brought them close. The young girl’s first stirrings of love were clear to him.

But how many people had she truly met?

If that counted as love, it wouldn’t be fair.

Wang Yuyan fell silent but did not give up. “When grandfather asked you that day, I was nearby. He said he owed you, and that I would marry you to repay that debt.”

Qin Changsheng’s expression faltered, and he sighed softly.

“Don’t take your grandfather’s confused words seriously!”

“There are many good young men in the village. I’ll find a few for you in the next few days…”

Wang Yuyan responded with a soft “Hmm.” “If Brother Changsheng can find me a husband as good as you, then I’d be willing to marry.”

The next day, Qin Changsheng wandered through the village, looking for a suitable match for Yuyan.

Having promised the little black-haired boy, he couldn’t go back on his word. Besides, after all these years with Yuyan, he had grown fond of her and wished to see her find a good home.

A mortal’s life is but a hundred years; one should not waste it chasing after vague illusions.

He didn’t want to watch Yuyan grow old and then die.

Though, looking at Wang Yuyan’s face—more exquisite even than Qinghe’s—he did think about what kind of partner would be fitting for her.

But Yuyan was, after all, the girl he had raised.

And having awakened as a member of the grandfather’s generation, he had no inclination or impulse in that regard.

Qin Changsheng searched the entire village and even neighboring villages but found no one suitable.

Wang Yuyan was too beautiful and intelligent; it was truly a pity to keep her in such a small place.

For ten consecutive days…

Qin Changsheng failed to find a worthy suitor.

“Brother Changsheng, Wang Xiaohui from the next village was chosen by an immortal recently and joined the Xuantian Sect far away. I want to try as well…”

Wang Yuyan rushed in, nervously looking at Qin Changsheng.

“Are you sure?”

“I want to live longer, like you, Brother Changsheng. That way, we can travel together for longer…”

Qin Changsheng’s expression faltered, words caught in his throat.

Wiping away tears from the corner of her eyes, Yuyan forced a smile.

“I’ve known for a long time that you’re no ordinary person. After all these years, you still look as young as you did ten years ago; you were even an old friend of my grandfather…”

“Grandfather said you were born wise and that your appearance never ages…”

“Yuyan knows that to walk with you, I must become like you.”

“So I’ve made up my mind. I don’t want to be trapped in this small mountain village like my grandparents. I want to leave. Brother Changsheng, will you take me to the Xuantian Sect for the assessment?”

She looked at Qin Changsheng with hope, tears gleaming like pear blossoms in spring rain, heart-rending.

“Mortals cultivating immortality face countless dangers. Why insist on this path?”

Qin Changsheng sighed deeply.

The Changsheng Technique, a legacy he carried, could not be passed down by word of mouth. He could not assist Yuyan in cultivation.

Though he had some cultivation now—still at a rudimentary Qi Refining stage—and had mysteriously reached the 300th layer after decades of slumber…

But the breakthrough of cultivators often took centuries or even millennia; such rapid progress was unheard of.

“I just want to cultivate! Brother Changsheng, I want to join the Xuantian Sect. When you have seen enough of this world and grow weary, I hope you will come back and see me… so that I am still here, not lying cold in a grave like grandmother…”

Her gaze was resolute. It seemed that even if Qin Changsheng refused, she would go on her own.

“Very well, if you want to go, I will take you. I also want to see what cultivators in this world truly look like.”

Qin Changsheng agreed. Yuyan let out a joyful cry and threw herself into his arms without a care for decorum.

“Then let’s start packing…”

Unspoken between them was the fact that a few days earlier, an immortal had come, choosing two people: Wang Xiaohui and herself.

She wanted to seek Qin Changsheng’s consent, saying she would go on her own.

The next day, they looked back at the place where they had lived together with complex feelings.

Qin Changsheng wanted to burn the house down, but Yuyan insisted on preserving it for future visits. In the end, they simply locked it up.

“Once we leave, we may never come back.”

Qin Changsheng sighed.

He did not go to see Qinghe.

After all, she was part of the past. Decades had passed, and he could no longer recall her face clearly. Thinking it over, perhaps she was much like Wang Yuyan—equally beautiful, equally intelligent, equally gentle.

Together, the pair left the village called Pine Forest Village.

Qin Changsheng originally wanted to buy a horse for a faster journey, but Wang Yuyan wished to experience the scenery and customs along the way and wanted to walk.

A journey of a thousand miles on foot would at least take a month.

Qin Changsheng sighed and did not refuse.

Having spent so much time together, Wang Yuyan feared that if they traveled too quickly, their parting would come too soon. Along the way, she found all sorts of excuses—to shop, to cook, to admire the scenery.

What should have been a month’s journey stretched to nearly three months.

Qin Changsheng understood the young girl’s feelings but did not expose them.

They traveled by day and lodged in small towns by night.

Yuyan said they didn’t have enough money and insisted on renting only one room.

She then skillfully slipped under Qin Changsheng’s blanket.

At first, he reminded her that she was grown now and that there should be boundaries between men and women. But when she persisted, he relented.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and they were finally approaching their destination.

Once again, Wang Yuyan slipped under Qin Changsheng’s blanket.

“Brother Changsheng, I want you to massage my stomach like you used to when it hurt.”

She took his hand and placed it on her abdomen.

Over the years, Qin Changsheng had occasionally used some spiritual energy from his body to help her ease discomfort. Slowly, Wang Yuyan developed a spiritual root and showed remarkable potential.

But Qin Changsheng was a novice in cultivation, barely at the Qi Refining stage, despite his decades of strange slumber that pushed him to the 300th layer.

He felt inadequate and had no intention or knowledge to teach Yuyan cultivation.

The Changsheng Technique could not be passed down verbally, and he had no other contact with cultivation methods.

When the immortal came to Pine Forest Village seeking a successor, only when the pure immortal energy reached Wang Yuyan did the immortal marvel and take her as a disciple.

To conceal this, the immortal also took on another disciple named Wang Xiaohui.

The warmth of energy from her abdomen continued, and Wang Yuyan hummed happily. She looked up at Qin Changsheng nearby, her expression one of infatuation.

“Brother Changsheng, will you join the Xuantian Sect with me? I don’t want to leave you…”

After all these years of close companionship, a strange and wonderful feeling had blossomed between them. But Qin Changsheng, because of Qinghe, had never reciprocated her feelings.

Today, knowing that their parting was imminent, she was afraid.

Afraid that she might never see Qin Changsheng again.

She held his hand and slowly moved downward…

Then, passionately, she kissed him.

Feeling the warmth in her hands, Qin Changsheng was startled and hurriedly stood up.

“Yuyan… this cannot be.”