TY Chapter 35: Summer on the Mountains

By evening, the remains of Elder Xu Yunhe had been taken away by the Thousand Autumn Doors. The disciples of the Thousand Autumn Doors, however, did not retreat. Rather, they continued to search through the village thoroughly. In the end, they were unable to find any suspicious figures. After all, most of the people here had multiple years of history in the village. Thus, they could only depart bitterly.

This wasn’t a small matter, and it would surely generate billowing waves within Thousand Autumn Doors. This was the first time the low profile Three Realm Demonic Cult acted against modus operandi in the span of the last ten years, taking revenging for one of their own in such a savage matter. When, the Thousand Autumn Doors informs the Immortal Alliance on the matter, the orthodox sects of the central continent could possibly begin moving in the shadows.

However, to the villagers of the Clear Stream Village, who were just ordinary mortals, these matters were too distant from their minds. After personnel from Thousand Autumn Doors retreated, Clear Stream Village quickly reverted to its tranquil state. The only one who raged indignantly was the unlucky fellow who had the roof of his hut smashed. However, as he had not dared to mention it before the Thousand Autumn Doors, the incident could only end inconclusively.

Just that, in the views of a few villagers, it seemed that a slight change had occurred in this peaceful village, and that this tranquility is different from the one it had experienced before.

Just like many others, there wasn’t any changes to Lu Chen’s daily life. He continued to stroll around the village daily with a harmless smile hanging on his face. He looked like a youngster who looked forward to cultivating, but was unwilling to toil, and thus, was prepared to idle his life away.

He treated others kindly and had a harmonious relationship with most people in the village. Everyone knew him and liked him, but if one were to look into it carefully, it seemed that there wasn’t a single one of them who was an intimate bosom of his.

Throughout the years, he had kept an amiable but distant relationship with most of the people as he quietly spent his life in the village.

When the sky darkened, he would always walk lonesomely back to the foot of the mountain, returning to the forlorn-looking straw cottage.

For inconceivable reasons, Lu Chen did not feel any aversion to the dark, unlike most of the other people. Instead, he seemed to prefer the dark. The night, as he lied within the straw cottage, seemed to be the time he felt the most carefree.

In the depths of the shadows, one’s thought would always end up wandering endlessly. One could reminisce their past, or conduct clandestine activities.

That night, from his dantian spirit sea, the reborn Five Element Divine Compass appeared once again. Although this divine compass, that was reforged by the final drops of vitality-bestowing water in the mysterious tree hollow, was of exceedingly inferior quality, such that even a sect like Thousand Autumn Doors would shut its doors on him upon seeing such talent roots reflecting on the Immortal Discerning Mirror, Lu Chen was nevertheless delighted. That was, if only the Five Element Divine Compass did not have another side to it.
Dantian: A point in the lower abdomen where practitioners store their Qi energy

Along with the silent rotation of the divine compass, the black side revealed itself. After a period of adaptation and experimentation, Lu Chen verified that the Curse of Black Flames that had been plaguing him in his spirit sea had completely vanished. It seemed to have been extinguished along with the water of vitality during the clash between the two. However, for incomprehensible reasons, bizarre changes occurred in the reborn Five Element Divine Compass within him.

On the normal side of the divine compass, in the four directions, north south east west which represents water, wood, metal and fire, the divine pillars of the four element did not appear. At the center of the compass, the point which represented the earth element, an extremely short pillar with the lightest color could be seen.

This meant that even though Lu Chen still possessed the physical body of a mortal, he had the roots suitable for cultivation once again. Only that, the talents of his roots were substandard, allowing him to only be able to cultivate earth element cultivation techniques. Furthermore, his progress in learning the mystical arts would be incredibly slow.

However, to Lu Chen, this wasn’t something to get too depressed over. It was already a blessing for his divine compass to be reforged. However, what was unexpected was that there would be another side to the divine compass, a dark side.

In this world, at least based on Lu Chen’s memories, such an incident had been unheard of since immemorial times. Firstly, there had never been the concept of inversion for the Five Element Divine Compass. Secondly, there had never been a black and barren Five Element Divine Compass before.

Sitting in the darkness, he stared silently at the black Five Element Divine Compass, as well as the small but familiar spark of black flame burning right at its center. Then, he held his breath and slowly tried to stir the flames.

Using his spiritual consciousness as a rope, he slowly approached the flames. In the surreptitious darkness, silence loomed over the surroundings. At a certain moment, his eyes shot open suddenly and there was neither pain nor emotion reflected. However, in his tranquil and stern eyes, two flickers of black flames seemed to have flashed across.

By the seventh month, the weather became warmer and warmer. However, due to the presence of a clear stream, that seemed that it would never dry out, flowing through the village, the residents of Clear Stream Village still lived far more comfortably than others elsewhere.

On a day nearing the end of the month, someone suddenly knocked on the door to Lu Chen’s straw cottage. He opened it and saw Ding Dang standing outside.

Under the sunlight, she looked ever so beautiful, even with her flushed face and the beads of perspiration vaguely visible on her forehead. Upon seeing Lu Chen, she smiled and waved to him.

Lu Chen smiled as well and invited her in, “Why would you suddenly think of coming to find me, is there something up?”

“Un.” Ding Dang seemed like she was in a good mood, as if something great had just happened to her. Facing Lu Chen, she asked, “Can you do me a favor?”

Lu Chen glanced at her. Ding Dang suddenly flushed red, as though she was suddenly reminded of something. Slightly distressed, she smiled sheepishly, “Keng, I haven’t gathered sufficient Spirit Stones yet. Is it alright if I repay you after some time?”

Lu Chen shrugged casually and said, “Don’t worry too much about it, I am not in urgent need of money. So, what do you have for me today?”

Ding Dang replied, “Bring me to the Dragon Lake at the back of the mountain.”

“Dragon Lake?”

“Yes!” Ding Dang nodded her head forcefully and smiled radiantly.

“Why would you want to go to the Dragon Lake?” Lu Chen was bewildered. “The road there is steep and long, and mountainous paths aren’t that easy to walk on. No one would be there on normal days, so why would you want to go there out of the blue?”

Ding Dang chuckled. She seemed to be unable to suppress the joy that could be seen between her brows, and she seemed like a proud chicken who had just laid an egg and couldn’t wait to brag about it.

However, in the end, she suppressed the urge. Even so, the happiness continued to ripple in her eyes. To Lu Chen, she gently said, “I’ve heard that the scenery there is incredible, so I wanted to go over to take a look.”

She shrugged helplessly and continued, “I have been living in Clear Stream Village for a few years now, but I have never been to the tea mountain. I have heard that the mountainous paths are confusing, similar to a labyrinth. So, after thinking about it, you seem to be the only one who can help me.”

…

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Ouch, did he just got issued the 好人卡 (friend-zoned)

Anyway, still recruiting an editor~