Chapter 66

That is enough.

Su Zhen thought to herself. There were not many people in this world whom she cared about, and they all cared about her in return. Though in different ways, that was already enough.

"Senior..."

The arrow condensed from spiritual energy was nocked onto the bowstring.

Given her current strength, she actually did not need the assistance of a magical treasure to shake the entrance of that realm from afar.

However, she did not mind using this one at all.

"...If I fail, there is no need to start any second cycle. Even though I do not know how you managed it, you must have paid a heavy price. I do not want you to be hurt for my sake anymore."

Su Zhen smiled faintly. "Time and fate dictate this. To have this single opportunity and the fortune of knowing you is already enough. Should I leave, you must ascend."

The arrow of light roared through the void, plunging into the clouds like a shooting star and vanishing among the dark, coiling serpents of electricity.

Xiao Yu seemed to have said something, but it was drowned out by the distorted tide of spiritual energy.

Without hearing a reply, she was once again swallowed by darkness.

Su Zhen stood beside the pool of water, looking down at her own reflection. The gloomy, cold pool was entirely calm, without a single ripple or wave, reflecting a face that similarly showed neither sorrow nor joy.

The third trial had begun.

She opened her eyes in a daze, feeling only weakness throughout her body and a heavy, dizzy head. Against the side of her face was the soft, embroidered brocade bedding, and the scent of wine permeated the air everywhere.

Su Zhen sat up sluggishly. The carved-post bed was draped with woven-brocade canopy curtains, hung with silver hooks on both sides. In the room stood high stands, square tables, and round-cornered cabinets, all crafted from carved pearwood. In the corner stood a square stove, the fire within burning brightly, next to which was a celadon, painted incense burner with a jade-green gemstone lid, set atop a string-bell incense box, exuding a rich and lingering fragrance.

Looking around, it was a scene of great wealth and luxury.

She stumbled down from the bed, picked up the brass kettle from the stove, rummaged through the cabinet for a tea cake, and brewed a pot of tea with trembling hands.

The tea liquor was tender green and bright, clearing the lungs and soothing the throat. Without time to savor it properly, she gulped down two cups, then staggered toward the window, pulling aside the curtains and propping open the window panels.

Outside was a bustling and clamorous night market.

The streets were filled with colorful banners and tall buildings, brilliantly illuminated by lights. By the river stood misty willows and painted bridges; along the lanes were beaded curtains and embroidered windows. The streets were crowded with pedestrians and carriages, shoulder to shoulder.

Between the elevated corridors and carved railings, fragrances of clothing and hair mingled with flickering candlelight, and laughter rose one after another.

This should have been a very familiar scene.

Yet she felt a sense of unfamiliarity. It was not that she had never seen it before, but rather that she had few related memories; she had only wandered through it a few times for leisure before losing interest.

No.

This building was her own relatives' property, and she was extremely familiar with this place.

The door to the bedchamber was pushed open by a young servant carrying a tray, who started in surprise upon seeing her. "Third Young Master, you're awake?"

Su Zhen turned back, her vision still slightly blurred, and instinctively rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

The man hurried over to wait on her, wiping her face while chattering away. "The young master drank far too much yesterday. It's already past the hour of *Xu*, and both Hongxiao and Bitiao have already taken the stage..."

Su Zhen hazily realized that they were a pair of twin brother and sister in the tavern, as fair as peaches and plums, gifted in both song and dance, whose single performance could fetch a thousand pieces of gold.

"Is the young master still going?"

"Going!"

Su Zhen felt a slight ache in her head. "How could I not go!"

Wait.

What was she going to do?

Su Zhen remained dazed for a moment, realizing that she was still muddled from drinking and not yet fully sober.

She was the nephew of the owner of this Yufeng Tavern, and ever since childhood, she had loved playing the zither and singing. Thus, she often hung around here for amusement. Her elder brothers and sisters took care of the family business, and her parents paid little attention to her. As she grew older, her appearance became increasingly striking.

Consequently, she began to take the stage to perform, enjoying the attention of thousands and the infatuated, fanatical gazes directed at her.

At this time, she was merely seventeen years old, already renowned throughout the capital. In terms of skill, she was slightly inferior to the top headliners, but in terms of appearance, she was even three parts superior.

Having finished speaking, the servant hastily turned and left, returning with a group of people carrying costumes, accessories, rouge, and powder, who all crowded around her.

Su Zhen looked at her reflection in the mirror and smiled with satisfaction.

By the time she regained her senses, she was already standing on the stage, holding a jade flute in her slender fingers.

The entire hall was silent, the candlelight bright. Millions of rays of light converged upon her. People gazed at her, their eyes filled with infatuation or appreciation, greed or scrutiny.

The youth was draped in shimmering, iridescent robes. Her cheeks bloomed like frost and snow flushed with rosy clouds; her dark eyebrows resembled distant mountain ridges, and her green temples were like spring mist. Every glance stirred ripples like autumn water.

She lowered her gaze slightly.

In the packed hall, the sound of the flute suddenly rose.

Abrupt and unpredictable, rising and falling in endless repetition, it drifted and spiraled through the ornate lanterns and draped curtains, sounding like weeping and pleading, mournful and grieving, like withered leaves falling to ruin or desolate mist descending upon a mast.

All the guests in the hall were moved, the applause rising like a tide, wave upon wave, seemingly endless.

Unable to make a graceful exit, she had to signal the musicians on both sides to change the tune. Twirling on the stage, she flung open her cloud-like water sleeves and raised her voice in clear song.

That voice was like jade shattering in Kunshan Mountain, or hibiscus weeping with dew; like the wind stirring the autumn osmanthus trees, or orioles singing among spring vines.

On both sides of the stage, zithers and flutes played in unison, stringed and woodwind instruments harmonizing. Her singing voice floated like rootless willow catkins, lifted by all the instruments to soar into the high heavens, riding the clouds away.

She sang for a very long time, changing costumes several times, portraying talented scholars and beautiful ladies, princes and generals, and even starving disaster victims, servants, and menial laborers.

With each change of identity, she seemed to be reborn, her entire aura and posture shifting completely.

The applause grew more enthusiastic, and gold and silver rained down in front of the stage, clinking and clattering together.

The servants' trays caught pearls, jade, rolls of silver banknotes, and even priceless spiritual stones.

...Spiritual stones?

Su Zhen turned her head to look at a young servant holding a tray. Seeing this, the servant hurriedly approached. On the tray lay a five-colored jade-dew crystal amber, enshrouded in a hazy, colorful mist of light.

She furrowed her brows in bewilderment, unable to understand why she could recognize such an object.

"Who sent this?"

The servant named the room, and Su Zhen nodded. The tavern owner nearby loudly announced the guest's insignia, drawing a chorus of regretful sighs from the hall.

Su Zhen returned to the backstage to change her clothes and headed straight for that room.

The private chamber was fragrant with curling incense, featuring painted beams and carved pillars. The inner side had no wall, separated only by vermilion railings, offering a direct view of the stage below.

Two people were leaning against the railing, drinking. Both were dressed in luxurious garments, wearing jade pendants in their ears, possessing extraordinary bearings and gazes as sharp as lightning.

When they looked over, their piercing sights seemed to penetrate her body and soul.

"What did I say?"

The person on the left laughed. "Senior Sister acted so generously; how could she fail to move the beauty's heart?"

The person on the right also laughed. "What Junior Sister gave was hardly lacking. That youth-preserving pill is worth a thousand pieces of gold; it's just that my gift was a bit more flamboyant."

Su Zhen lowered her gaze slightly. "Many thanks to the two Immortals."

The two of them paused in their speech, both staring intently at her with playful gazes.

The one on the right looked at her. "...Does the gentleman call all cultivators Immortals, or did you perceive that both of us sisters are at the Seventh Realm of cultivation?"

Su Zhen looked back in confusion.

In fact, she herself did not quite understand what was happening; the form of address had simply slipped out of her mouth.

The two of them examined her for a moment and did not pursue the matter further.

The one on the left smiled. "I heard that the famous performers in this tavern only sell their art, not their bodies, unless they are willing of their own accord..."

Their gazes fell upon her face once more.

Su Zhen was also staring at them, and the more she looked, the more something felt amiss.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?"

She stared at the person on the right. "Immortal Venerable..."

The person on the right was startled, then burst into laughter. "What are you saying? Calling me Immortal as a courtesy is one thing, but as for Immortal Venerable, I am still far from that."

Su Zhen did not know what was wrong with her. Perhaps because the effects of the alcohol had not yet worn off, she had begun talking nonsense.

She drank with the two of them once more. Both were well-informed, humorous, and proficient in the arts of melody. The three of them conversed quite happily.

After three rounds of drinks, someone pounded on the door outside, announcing that two elders from the Fushan Sect had arrived in the adjoining room and wished to invite the gentleman over for a drink.

Su Zhen sneered inwardly in her heart.

Mere Fushan Sect—their sect leader was not even worthy of carrying her shoes.

Hm?

Why would she think such a thing?

With a loud bang, the door was shoved open, and an arrogant newcomer strode in. "If you refuse to show respect—"

Before he could finish his sentence, he caught sight of the other two occupants in the room. His legs instantly went weak, and he dropped to his knees on the spot.

"What is the meaning of this?"

The two elders in the next room could no longer sit still either. Walking over and peering into the room, they all dropped to their knees as well.

"I-I did not know Immortal Qin and Immortal Lu were present—"

The two guests—the senior sister surnamed Qin and the junior sister surnamed Lu—exchanged a glance without even putting down their wine cups.

Immortal Qin remained motionless, then suddenly let out a cold snort.

The group of people instantly clutched their throats as if strangled, their complexions turning blue and purple in a flash as they collapsed to the ground trembling.

Immortal Qin looked up. "They disturbed the gentleman. How does the gentleman wish to deal with them?"

Su Zhen lowered her gaze and glanced briefly.

...Kill them, or cripple them.

This thought suddenly surfaced in her mind, and she felt a sense of strangeness. After all, she couldn't even bear to watch a chicken being slaughtered; why would such a lethal thought suddenly pop into her head?

Su Zhen shook her head.

Immortal Qin waved her hand casually. "Then get lost."

Those people practically scrambled away on all fours.

For some reason, Su Zhen was not surprised by this.

By the late hours of the night, the three of them had almost stopped drinking and were merely sitting and talking. She sang a few tunes, and as the alcohol went to her head, she mustered the courage to grab Immortal Qin's hand.

Immortal Qin smiled. "Has the gentleman changed his mind?"

"I..."

Su Zhen pulled at her in a daze. "Immortal, I have seen you before..."

With that, she let go of her hand, staggered a few steps, and nearly tumbled against the table, only for Immortal Qin to catch her.

"Such a pretty face—what would we do if it got bruised?"

Immortal Qin said leisurely, "Be careful, gentleman."

Immortal Lu laughed aloud as she watched them. "Tsk tsk, if it gets bruised, just heal it. Senior Sister, you really..."

Su Zhen slumped over the table and fell into a deep sleep.

She did not wake up until past noon the next day. The two of them had already left, and she was once again lying in bed, fully clothed, with a box placed by her hand containing various medicinal pills.

She never encountered them in the tavern again.

Su Zhen groggily climbed out of bed and was escorted home by two servants, where she was greeted by a lecture from her parents. She merely nodded along out of habit, letting the words go in one ear and out the other.

"Your younger sister is back," her mother said, "and she brought her sect mates with her. What kind of sight do you think you're making, looking like this?"

Only then did Su Zhen recall that she had a younger sister who had entered the nearby Yuhua Sect, a second-rate sect in the Eastern Region. Though the sect possessed a few experts, it fell far short of the Tianyuan Sect.

...Tianyuan Sect?

What on earth was the Tianyuan Sect?

And besides.

Wasn't the Yuhua Sect destroyed two thousand years ago?

Su Zhen massaged her brow. "I drank too much, Mother. I'm going back to rest."

Her mother tapped her head in exasperation. "You child, our family hasn't fallen short on your upkeep. Go play and amuse yourself if you must, but drinking like this all day—what use is earning all that money? If your body can't handle it..."

After enduring a round of nagging, Su Zhen felt her head ache even more intensely and hurriedly scurried back to the inner courtyard. On her way through the garden, she bumped into a few people standing on the Nine-Bend Bridge.

"Third Brother!"

A youth dressed in a brocade skirt approached her with a joyful face. "I'm back!"

The other party possessed bright eyes and white teeth, bearing a resemblance to her between the brows, though far more lively.

As she spoke, she pulled the person beside her over. "This is my Second Senior Sister. Thanks to Senior Sister, I was able to guide the spiritual qi into my body and officially become a cultivator. It took me three months, and everyone says that's already quite fast..."

*I think that's a bit slow.*

Su Zhen thought to herself, but she still smiled and nodded. "Many thanks to the Immortal for taking care of my younger sister."

The cultivator who had been pulled over looked somewhat embarrassed. Casting a single glance at her, she averted her gaze slightly, her cheeks turning red.

"There is no need for such courtesy; it was only what I ought to do," the cultivator said softly.

For some reason, Su Zhen also felt she looked slightly familiar.

Yet it was truly only slightly, unlike the previous Immortal Qin. She had probably never seen this Second Senior Sister before; perhaps she had merely seen a portrait of her somewhere.

...What was a portrait?

And why did she think Immortal Qin looked familiar? Wasn't that just an illusion from being drunk?

"This is my Fourth Senior Brother."

Her younger sister looked toward another cultivator. This person's expression was far from friendly; he frowned as he sized her up, his eyes holding a hint of disdain and lingering hostility.

Su Zhen was not entirely certain how she had offended him, so she offered a proper greeting and excused herself, claiming she felt unwell, before heading to the inner courtyard to rest.

That evening, a banquet was hosted in the estate to entertain the Fourth Young Sister's sect mates and Immortals.

The Second Senior Sister possessed a shy and introverted personality and cared little for speaking.

The Fourth Senior Brother, however, loved to show off. Gesticulating wildly, he spoke boastfully, showing utter disdain in his words for the singers and actors of the tavern.

The Second Senior Sister frowned upon hearing this. "Is Fourth Junior Brother perhaps drunk? Professions have no distinction of high or low; how can one regard—"

"They're just given a bit of money and let anyone ride them till they're ruined!"

The Fourth Senior Brother sneered. "Yesterday, he entertained the disciples of the Master of the Wuri Palace..."

"Junior Brother!"

The banquet came to a chaotic and abrupt end.

The days that followed were utterly mundane. Su Zhen never encountered any interesting people again; occasionally she met cultivators, but they paled entirely in comparison to the two she had shared night-long conversations with.

She frequently looked in the mirror, gazing at that carefully maintained face.

While there were many masters of music and instruments, her appearance was the finest, which was why she grew increasingly famous in the city. Beyond her skill, she still relied on this face.

This face...

Even Immortals liked it.

Not long after, their entire family traveled to a neighboring city to visit relatives, only to encounter a pack of demonic beasts on a mountain road. Her parents and siblings perished one after another in a gruesome manner.

Su Zhen dragged her broken leg to flee for her life, pursued closely by the demonic beasts. Desperate, she plunged into a dense forest, but before she had run far, a flash of sword light flew toward her head.

She screamed as she fell to the ground, followed by excruciating pain in her limbs as her tendons and ligaments were severed.

"A mere mortal, a lowly singer..."

The Fourth Senior Brother stepped out from the forest, killed the demonic beast with a slash of his sword, and drove the blood-dripping tip of his blade into her cheek.

"What on earth does my Senior Sister see in you? Writing letters and sending gifts to you time and again—if I hadn't intercepted them..."

The blade slowly flicked upward, leaving deep gouges in the tender white skin as blood flowed like a gushing stream.

"Relying on nothing more than this face..."

The Fourth Senior Brother's handsome face distorted completely. "Filthy, shameless wretch!"

The tip of the sword pierced the youth's eye socket, then slashed violently sideways, tearing the entire facial skin apart. A scream pierced the forest instantly, startling flocks of birds into flight.

Su Zhen watched him with her remaining left eye. The world in her vision was filled with blood, distorted and blurred.

For some reason, she felt only fear and grief in her heart, without a shred of anger, let alone any inclination to resist.

Right.

She was inherently that kind of person.

...Was she?

The Fourth Senior Brother grabbed her leg and dragged her deep into the forest like a corpse, heading toward a murky lake shrouded in black and purple mist.

Su Zhen was dragged all the way, her clothes practically shredded away, revealing her battered and bruised body.

The moment she was thrown into the miasma, she saw her own face.

The face that had once rivaled frost and snow and bloomed like a peach or plum was now completely ruined.

Because most of the facial skin had been sliced away, her flesh and bone were exposed. The empty eye sockets were terrifying to the extreme, the high bridge of her nose had been sheared off, and her lips had been split open to her ears. Crisscrossing wounds covered her face, obliterating any trace of its original contours.

Su Zhen froze.

To be honest, the visual impact of this scene on her was quite limited, because she had experienced countless battles, and at her worst, half her head had been shaved off.

What was mere facial disfigurement by comparison?

The injury was restricted entirely to her face, after all.

At the same time, however, she felt a wave of shock and anger.

No.

Those were not her own emotions.

They belonged to the singer and musician who knew only fear and sorrow—the cowardly soul who had gazed at her own reflection and yearned for a reunion with the Immortals.

At this very moment, a towering fury ignited in his eyes, a blazing fire fueled by a bone-deep hatred.

"My face!"

He shrieked, his piercing voice echoing mournfully over the lake. "My face—"

The foul miasma over the lake surged and swallowed him entirely.

The Fourth Senior Brother watched this scene with an expression of gratification, waiting for him to transform into a demonic entity. When Second Senior Sister and the others arrived shortly, they wouldn't be able to recognize what this fellow used to be either, and would simply execute him on the spot.

However, in a mere instant, the youth—whose limbs had been utterly crippled—stood up from the water's edge, his hideous visage twisted in a ferocious expression, and lunged forward with a roar.

The veins across his body glowed with a bluish-purple hue, and all his wounds writhed, sprouting countless tumors that burst open in mid-air, showering the ground with pus and blood.

The Fourth Senior Brother nearly vomited in disgust.

*How can it happen this fast?!*

Shouldn't it take at least a quarter of an hour for a mortal to transform into a demonic entity?!

Since the other cultivators had not yet arrived, the Fourth Senior Brother hastily prepared to kill him. To his shock, the opponent moved with such blinding speed that before he could even draw his sword, the two of them were locked in close combat.

*—Tear off his face! Tear off his face! Tear off his face!*

Su Zhen felt as though she had been split in two.

One half wanted to destroy the face of the man beneath her hands, while the other half merely wanted him to die in agony.

Enduring the torment of this internal division, her blood-stained arms gradually hardened, transforming into thick wooden vines that ultimately snapped the opponent's neck.

And then she ripped off his head.

Su Zhen collapsed to the ground.

The world before her eyes shattered like a broken mirror, fragmenting into pieces in an instant.

Entering spectator mode, she watched as the master of these memories killed the Fourth Senior Brother and every subsequent cultivator who arrived, stripping the skin right off their faces.

Only the Second Senior Sister remained, unconscious on the ground with a breath still lingering and free of injury.

The master of the memories collapsed in agony, his body swelling incessantly while the tumors along his wounds writhed, forming twisted human faces.

Everything that followed proceeded logically.

Su Zhen regained her consciousness and watched as that entity went on a killing spree.

The foul miasma over the lake grew increasingly dense, churning like a sea of fog, as one broken corpse after another was swallowed by the black and purple mist.

The miasma lingered and drifted across their skin, sinking deep into flesh and blood. Those mutilated limbs and torsos swelled and deformed accordingly, tumors sprouting from their wounds. The tumors grew rapidly in size, their surfaces gradually smoothing out before faintly revealing the contours of facial features.

Those faces remained in a blurred state, lacking sharp lines, resembling statues that had been merely roughed out without careful carving.

These newborn demonic entities quickly scrambled to their feet, rushing forward in waves toward the master of the memories.

Like tributaries flowing into the ocean, the moment they touched him, they merged into his body, causing his form to expand ever larger.

Several more waves of reinforcements arrived later. Initially they were all Yuhua Sect cultivators, and soon members of other sects appeared as well, but all of them were slaughtered cleanly.

He continuously absorbed the newly transformed demonic entities, his massive body swelling until it filled most of the lake's surface.

Upon his body surfaced one face after another—large and small, ferocious or serene, terrified or despairing. From blurred to distinct, they shockingly belonged to the victims who had just perished.

The murky lake water was stained black and red with blood and filth, countless severed limbs and fragments of flesh floating on the surface. The air gradually warped as the figures of demonic entities materialized, attempting to devour the scraps.

Initially terrified of the colossal entity on the lake, they kept their distance, but soon realizing it made no move, they mustered their courage and approached.

After a while, a demonic entity set its sights on the sole living person on the shore.

The Second Senior Sister still lay there unharmed, save for her white outer garments, which were spattered with trails of blood like red plums fallen upon snow, vivid and dazzling.

The moment the demonic entity lunged toward her, the master of the memories moved.

His massive flesh posed no hindrance to his speed. In a flash, he rushed to the water's edge and smashed the demonic entity into pulp.

The Second Senior Sister finally regained consciousness, the foul, fishy pus of the demonic entity still smeared across her face.

She reached out to steady her head. "What..."

Her voice cut off abruptly.

She looked clearly at the entity before her—or rather, the newborn demon—and the bewilderment in her eyes gradually transformed into sheer terror.

Even without understanding what had transpired, such a form alone was enough to make the vast majority of humankind feel deeply repulsed.

The master of the memories slowly turned around and approached the distant rift.

"Third Brother!"

Someone came running from afar, panting heavily.

A vibrant young girl stood by the lake, gasping for breath as she shouted, before finally collapsing out of exhaustion into the pool of blood. "Third Brother, is that you—"

Ultimately, she was only at the Body Forending realm; running this far had exhausted every ounce of her strength, and soon she couldn't even shout anymore.

Simultaneously, the Second Senior Sister rose to her feet, called out the name of the memory's master, and gritted her teeth as she gave chase.

The world of memories shattered completely.

Su Zhen sat by the pool, clutching her head as she reviewed what had just happened. After hesitating for a moment, she stepped out from the space and found Xiao Yu waiting outside.

"Not bad, not bad. Senior didn't go missing," she said with a fair bit of relief. "It really turned out as I guessed: my temperament is still vastly different from his, and I'm not particularly proficient in melody—"

Though she still understood a little.

"I can only strum a few tunes, so I can appreciate his skill to some extent."

Su Zhen paused. "Besides, I'm currently in a relationship, so I could empathize a little with his feeling of adoration, even though what he felt at best amounted to a one-sided crush."

It wasn't even quite a one-sided crush; it was mixed with ineffable sentiments, such as a mortal's worship of an Immortal, or the joy of finding a kindred spirit.

She had personally experienced that sensation; there was no trace of mortal carnal desire. What the memory's master yearned for and cherished was merely the appreciative gaze of the Immortals.

After she finished giving a general account of the experience, Xiao Yu's expression turned quite peculiar.

"...So I almost slept with Immortal Venerable Yinfeng, and perhaps her junior sister as well."

Su Zhen laughed amusedly. "Still, if I had actually tried to do anything with them, straying drastically from the original development of the memories, I probably would have woken up instantly."

Xiao Yu's complexion became utterly indescribable.

Two seconds later, he slowly nodded, his brow relaxing. Although a hint of reluctance remained in his eyes, he agreed, "That's true."

Su Zhen had only been joking to tease him, and seeing his reaction, she was rather surprised.

Xiao Yu gave a wry smile. "If you had woken up sooner and returned to spectator mode, you wouldn't have had to endure all those hardships within the memories, and you wouldn't have been disfigured at the end..."

He spread his hands. "As long as you suffer less, nothing else really matters at all."

"Senior."

Su Zhen let out a long sigh. "You always find a way to leave me speechless."

Xiao Yu wore a complicated expression. "Actually, I often feel like I have no right to be jealous. After all, you're so formidable, and yet you're willing to date me—for me, it's the greatest fortune of three lifetimes."

Su Zhen furrowed her brows as she looked at him. "I know you really mean that, but I'm also curious: setting aside talent, process, and time, just looking at the final result, isn't your cultivation realm much higher than mine at this point?"

"Huh? Your merits aren't limited to that alone! If I used that as my standard of judgment... uh, just imagine what it would be like if I dated other Saint-realm cultivators."

Su Zhen shuddered violently. "...Why must you torture me like this!"