Chapter Ninety-Six: The Purple Bamboo Grove

Mother!”

Yuan He cried out as Madam Wang’s eyes flew open and she slowly collapsed to the ground.

His legs went weak, and he sank down beside her. He reached out to check beneath her nose, but there was no breath left in her at all.

Yuan He turned to glare at the man in black. “What did you do?!”

The man said nothing. With a flick of his hand, a black banner flew from within his sleeve and landed before Yuan He.

“Pick it up.”

Anger surged in Yuan He’s chest, but he dared not voice it. He could only reach out and pick up the banner at his side.

The moment it touched his hand, he felt a powerful force surge from the banner into his body.

“This...”

He was shocked and delighted in equal measure, trembling as he sensed that formidable, cold aura.

Then he saw a wisp of white smoke rise suddenly from his mother’s corpse. It drifted upward, hovering in the air, before being drawn into the banner in his hand.

The man in black smiled faintly. “You said you would pay any price. This is a Soul-Calling Banner. To awaken it, the user must use the soul of a close blood relative. Once awakened, its power is boundless. All you need do is keep killing and absorb more souls. With every soul it takes in, the banner grows stronger.”

“You want revenge? On your own, you would never catch up to them, not in ten thousand years. But now I’ve given you a shortcut. Decide for yourself.”

With that, his figure blurred and gradually vanished from where he stood.

Yuan He sat numbly on the ground, looking from Madam Wang’s corpse to the Soul-Calling Banner in his hands, his gaze distant and unfocused.

After a long moment, as if he had finally made up his mind, he slowly got to his feet, seized the banner, and walked out the door. His expression had turned cold and empty.

He stepped outside without looking back, drew a fire-lighter from his chest, and threw it behind him.

Not long after, the Starlight Manor was engulfed in roaring flames. Yuan He walked on without once turning his head. The firelight behind him cast his shadow long across the earth, swaying and unsteady.

Banner on his shoulder, he went step by step into the burning light...

“Shi Qi! Wait for me!!!”

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Ten days later

Shi Qi rode his Hundred-Mile Sword, drifting slowly above East Province. By now he was not far from Cloudpurity Gate.

He had not hurried at all. During these ten days, he had deliberately slowed his pace, traveling and sightseeing at the same time. Whenever he passed somewhere interesting, he would land to sample the local delicacies. In this leisurely fashion, it had taken him ten days to make his way from Cloud Province to Cloudpurity Gate.

Looking at the endless mountain range before him, he could not help but sigh that the peaks he had seen before were truly nothing beside Cloudpurity Mountain.

Cloudpurity Mountain was ancient and towering, the highest mountain in East Province, with countless subsidiary peaks and ridges stretching beyond the eye could see.

The whole slope was a lush expanse of deep green, verdant enough to drip. Mist and immortal aura wound around its waist in pale, elegant ribbons.

Shi Qi passed gently through Cloudpurity Mountain’s barrier. This was the first layer of protection around Cloudpurity Gate: a simple illusion array. Its purpose was not to keep out cultivators, but to divert mortals. If an ordinary person accidentally entered Cloudpurity Mountain, they would lose their sense of direction and eventually find themselves back at the entrance.

This was mainly to avoid the many mortals who came in hopes of praying to the mountain and seeking divine favor.

After all, becoming a cultivator was no easy matter.

Different sects all had their own standards for selecting disciples.

Cloudpurity Gate, for example, was extremely strict. Once every three years, it held disciple-recruitment ceremonies in major cities. First came the test for cultivation aptitude, eliminating those with insufficient talent. Then, among those who passed, only the young and virtuous were chosen.

Cloudpurity Gate consisted of Four Sects and One Grove: Skywalk Sect, Earthwalk Sect, Hidden Immortal Sect, Orthodox Sect, and Purple Bamboo Grove.

Each sect had a fixed quota of disciples, and the number could be less but never more. Based on the final results of the recruitment ceremony, the various sects would choose the disciples they preferred.

Aside from the recruitment ceremony, each sect could also take in exceptionally gifted children they encountered by chance during their travels.

Cloudpurity Gate was a true and proper righteous sect. The guiding principle of its disciples’ journeys throughout the Twelve Provinces was to do good. As a result, during their travels, Cloudpurity Gate disciples resolved many injustices, and afterward there were often orphans or homeless mortals left with nowhere to go.

Thus Cloudpurity Gate had a tradition: in such cases, exceptionally gifted disciples could be taken in by a sect master of their choice, while mortals of lesser aptitude or with nowhere to stay would be settled in many villages built at the foot of Cloudpurity Mountain. There they lived self-sufficiently, under Cloudpurity Gate’s protection, and in safety.

To avoid questions from the gate disciples and the trouble that might cause, Shi Qi sent a message to Sun Fanbai with his jade ruyi as soon as he entered the barrier, then waited in place.

Before long, Sun Fanbai descended slowly from the mountaintop in a robe of white.

“Brother Shi!” Sun Fanbai greeted him with a bow.

Shi Qi returned the salute.

“It has been many days since we last met,” Sun Fanbai said with a smile. “I can feel your presence becoming ever more unfathomable. It seems you have improved again.”

Shi Qi waved it off. “Brother Sun flatters me. Only after coming to Cloudpurity Gate did I realize what true foundation means. This Cloudpurity Mountain rises straight into the clouds; it is truly the foremost mountain of East Province.”

Sun Fanbai laughed. “Come, I’ll take you to meet my master, and afterward I’ll show you around Cloudpurity Gate.”

“Second Senior Brother!!”

As he spoke, a clear voice rang out from behind Sun Fanbai.

Shi Qi looked ahead and saw a young woman in pink drifting down slowly from the mountain before landing beside them.

He recognized her at once as Shen Ling’er, who had gone with Sun Fanbai to Cloud Province that day. After the matter of Bai Yuxin, the two had once met briefly.

Sun Fanbai turned back and said softly, “Junior Sister, why did you come down the mountain?”

Shen Ling’er said, “I went to Skywalk Sect to look for you. They said you’d just gone down the mountain, so I came down too.”

Sun Fanbai asked, “Do you need something from me?”

Shen Ling’er murmured, “Of course I do. Have you forgotten? In a few days, it will be time for Purple Bamboo Grove to open.”

Sun Fanbai thought for a moment and replied, “That’s right. If Junior Sister hadn’t said anything, I would have forgotten all about it.”

Shen Ling’er bounced on her toes. “Hmph, I knew you’d forget, so I came specially to remind you! All right, I’m leaving now.”

With that, she turned and walked away, not forgetting to glance back and remind him, “It’s in five days. Don’t forget!”

Sun Fanbai smiled and nodded, watching her figure slowly disappear from sight.

Shi Qi stepped forward and tapped his shoulder. “Hey, that girl’s interested in you.”

Sun Fanbai immediately replied, “Brother Shi, please do not jest with me.”

Shi Qi pointed at his face. “Look at you. You’re blushing and still denying it.”

Alarmed, Sun Fanbai hurriedly turned around and touched his own cheeks with both hands. Then he suddenly realized that cultivators had no such thing as blushing, and understood that Shi Qi had tricked him again. He quickly turned back.

Seeing Sun Fanbai make a fool of himself, Shi Qi also laughed. “All right, I won’t tease you anymore. I’m a little curious, though. What exactly is this opening of Purple Bamboo Grove?”

Sun Fanbai said, “Our Cloudpurity Gate is divided into Four Sects and One Grove, and Purple Bamboo Grove is made up entirely of women. The cultivation methods of the Four Sects and One Grove each have their own specialties. Unless there is some special reason, they are not allowed to interfere with one another. Cloudpurity Gate does not forbid marriage or children, but to prevent men and women from becoming entangled in romance and disturbing their cultivation, Purple Bamboo Grove is a restricted area of Cloudpurity Gate. The women there may come out, but outsiders may not enter.

“Purple Bamboo Grove opens once every five years. Single men and women may meet there, and if two people take a liking to each other, they can report to the sect master and then cultivate together in dual cultivation.”

Shi Qi nodded. “So it’s basically an internal matchmaking fair.”

Sun Fanbai: “...That is one way to put it... All right, let’s not talk about this anymore. Brother Shi, come with me first to pay respects to my master.”

Shi Qi nodded and followed Sun Fanbai as they flew toward the mountaintop.

Sun Fanbai led the way, though he did not forget to glance sideways in the direction where Shen Ling’er had disappeared.

After leaving the two of them, Shen Ling’er flew straight back to Purple Bamboo Grove.

Inside the grove, a woman had already been waiting for a long time. Seeing Shen Ling’er return, she hurried over.

“Ling’er, how did it go?” the woman asked anxiously.

Shen Ling’er smiled. “Senior Sister Kong Bing, rest assured. I’ve already reminded Second Senior Brother. Five days from now, he will definitely come to the Purple Bamboo Grove gathering. Then you give him the sachet, and I’ll help you bring you two together. Wouldn’t that settle it?”

At Shen Ling’er’s words, Kong Bing lowered her head shyly.

With five days left before Purple Bamboo Grove opened, the grove had already begun to bustle. All the disciples were busy tidying the grounds and decorating the bamboo forest. The Purple Bamboo Grove, usually so quiet, had already begun to fill with lively voices.

Dual cultivation was a complicated matter. Records of it could already be found as far back as the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, but for the sake of decorum there was no need to dwell on it. In short, in ordinary terms, dual cultivation was akin to marriage between husband and wife. From the perspective of cultivators, it carried an additional meaning: the harmonizing of yin and yang, mutual complement and mutual support, greatly benefiting both parties’ cultivation and realm.

Some pursued it as the union of a beautiful lady and a worthy gentleman. Some wanted a warm bedfellow. Some, with bellies full and clothing warm, turned to desire. Others merely regarded it as a means to improve their level of cultivation. In any case, the younger generation had all begun to busy themselves: grooming their hair and ordering new clothes was a must. Some even bought gold hairpins and jade ornaments to use as tokens of affection. A few disciples had even been cramming a few lines of poetry at the last minute.

Inside Purple Bamboo Grove, the young women had begun embroidering sachets. On the appointed day, if they found someone they liked, they could take the initiative and present the sachet as a sign of affection.

Seeing Kong Bing clutching her sachet and lowering her head in silence, Shen Ling’er murmured, “All right, Senior Sister. Who doesn’t know how you feel about Senior Brother Sun? Do you think I don’t know?”

Kong Bing slowly raised her head and asked, “Then what about you, Ling’er?”

Shen Ling’er pulled a pink sachet from her chest and blinked. “Of course I have someone I like too.”

Kong Bing pressed on, “Who is it? Who is it?”

Shen Ling’er hurried off with a laugh. “Hmph, I’m not telling you.”

Kong Bing said, “Ling’er, you really are mischievous!”

The two of them laughed and playfully chased one another as they entered Purple Bamboo Grove...

At the same time, in Hidden Immortal Sect:

A man in gray sat cross-legged on the ground. Tiny points of golden light emerged from his forehead and shot straight into the sky.

“Jiang Wei.”

At the call, the man slowly opened his eyes. He was none other than Jiang Wei, the last inheritor of the Divine Channeling lineage of Heaven Origin Sect.

“Senior,” Jiang Wei said, rising and bowing in the direction of the voice.

“Jiang Wei, your talent is excellent. Though you still refuse to take me as your master, you may be considered half a disciple of Cloudpurity Gate. Five days from now, Purple Bamboo Grove will open. You should go and take a look as well. Perhaps you may chance upon a companion.”

Jiang Wei shook his head. “Senior, I, Jiang Wei, studied under Tong Pu. Though I have already been expelled from Heaven Origin Sect, please forgive me for being unable to change masters or sects. I hope you will understand. I bear a blood feud and am unqualified to become a disciple of Cloudpurity Gate. I only wish to borrow Cloudpurity Gate’s peaceful place to cultivate more diligently, so that one day I may avenge my master. As for the opening of Purple Bamboo Grove, forgive this junior for having no such intentions.”