Chapter 138: Fragments of the Ink Treasure

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The journey to Changping had been hurried from beginning to end. Elder Yu’s magical power was profound as well, and they had made almost no stops along the way.

Now, however, everyone was in a far more relaxed mood on the return journey to the sect, Xu Ziqing included.

Whenever they passed through a famous market town, Xu Ziqing would discuss it with several elders and arrange for the sect’s disciples to go down and take a look around.

On the one hand, they could trade with one another and purchase some distinctive spiritual items that were difficult to find in Feng’an Prefecture.

On the other, it gave them a chance to unwind.

The path of cultivation required both tension and relaxation.

After remaining on edge for so long in Changping, these younger disciples needed to let their minds ease.

They traveled in fits and starts: three days on the way there, and five days on the way back.

At last, high above the clouds, the group of cultivators caught sight of the mountain gate of the Dongyuan Sect.

Xu Ziqing descended with the flying artifact and set the disciples down safely outside the mountain gate.

The two disciples guarding the mountain had evidently received word in advance and hurried forward to greet them.

“Elders and senior brothers, you must have had a tiring journey. The mountain-protecting formation is already open. You may pilot your spirit vessel directly into the sect…”

Xu Ziqing waved a hand. “Now that we’ve returned, most of the disciples live on Greenleaf Peak or Lotusdeep Peak. They’re not far away.”

“Yes.”

Normally, after returning to the sect, one had to visit the Mission Hall to hand in the mission and inform the sect of one’s return.

But the journey to Changping had been unusual.

It had been a large-scale collective mission, and therefore the remaining procedures would be handled together by the elder in charge of the operation—the resident chief overseer, Xu Ziqing.

“You may leave on your own.”

After bringing the cultivators to the Dao-Entry Terrace, Xu Ziqing said, “Elder Huang and I will enter the mission records and sect contributions for all of you.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

“Thank you, Elder.”

The cultivators bowed in gratitude.

Xu Ziqing and the other elders summoned their respective escape lights and flew toward Taiping Peak.

The cultivators had long been unable to contain their impatience. As soon as the elders departed, they hurried toward their own caves.

News that the matter of the demonic cultivators in the borderlands had been settled had spread long ago, and naturally it had reached every corner of the Dongyuan Sect.

With the gloom dispelled, the faint oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the sect vanished all at once.

Familiar disciples chatted and laughed together, and an air of peace prevailed.

Song Yan even heard his own name mentioned by several passing outer-sect disciples.

“I heard that the last group of disciples stationed in Changping returned today…”

“Oh? Has Senior Brother Song Yan returned as well?”

“Song Yan? Isn’t he… a murderous lunatic?!”

One of the female disciples stammered, “Is… is he?”

Li Qingfeng and Junior Sister Xiao Cen, walking behind Song Yan, heard the conversation as well.

The two exchanged a glance and covered their mouths, laughing quietly.

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At the eastern side of the Dao-Entry Terrace, they had to part ways.

“Senior Brother Song, we owe you much for your protection during this trip to Changping. Qinghe is deeply grateful.”

Junior Sister Xiao Cen’s name was Cen Qinghe. She was an utterly ordinary female cultivator of the outer sect.

In truth, apart from stepping forward to help Li Qingfeng and her out of trouble when they had first arrived in Changping, Song Yan had not shown them any special consideration.

Even on that occasion, he had acted mainly because of Fatty Li.

They were all cultivators of the Dongyuan Sect, and ordinarily addressed one another as friends.

“May I ask where your cave is, Senior Brother Song? When you have leisure in the future, Qinghe would like to pay you a visit.”

Song Yan waved his hand. “Junior Sister Xiao Cen, there’s no need to stand on ceremony.”

“My cave is on Sword-Washing Peak, Earth Rank, Number Twenty-One.”

He said this to Li Qingfeng as well.

Before Song Yan had entered the inner sect and moved into his new cave, Fatty Li had already gone to Changping, so he had not known where Song Yan lived.

“If you have the time, you two may come to my residence to discuss your cultivation insights. I shall certainly welcome you with all due courtesy.”

Song Yan placed deliberate emphasis on the words “junior brothers and sisters,” and Fatty Li’s face darkened.

“Damn it. Just wait until I enter the inner sect…”

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the three went their separate ways.

The little snake in Song Yan’s arms had been urging him on without pause, and he hurried back to Sword-Washing Peak.

He made his way toward his cave.

After passing along the mountain path, the courtyard of his cave appeared before the man and the snake.

Spiritual power circulated at his fingertip, and the restrictions opened. The sparse shadows of bamboo branches before the fence slowly parted.

“We’re home~”

With a whoosh, Xiao He shot out.

They had been gone for more than half a year, yet the courtyard was not particularly dirty or disorderly.

Only fallen leaves lay scattered across the flagstones, covering the courtyard in a thick layer.

It gave the place a uniquely tranquil air.

A flash of spiritual light passed through the cave, and its stone door swung open.

Xiao He had already slithered inside. Song Yan followed, and the stone door slowly closed behind him.

Although the cave’s dust-cleansing formation kept the floor clean, a fine layer of dust had still settled over the tables, chairs, and various ornaments.

Xiao He had returned to her own private territory and begun fiddling with her little toys.

Being cooped up in Changping had driven her half-mad. She had obediently cultivated for more than half a year.

Now that she was finally home, was she not entitled to relax for a couple of days?

Song Yan, meanwhile, activated a dust-cleansing spell and gave the entire cave a rough cleaning.

Only then did he have time to rest.

By then, night had fallen.

He removed his Daoist robe and sank into the warm pool.

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Wisps of spiritual energy drifted through the pool, mingling with the hazy steam.

Turning his head past the wooden window beside the pool, he gazed out at the immortal scenery of Dongyuan. The star-filled night stretched completely before his eyes.

Beneath the night sky, moonlight poured down.

The spirit mountains along the gorge towered into the clouds, while several streaks of escaping light moved through the sky and between the mountains like falling stars.

“Phew…”

The journey to Changping had left his mind taut and his body exhausted.

Only now had he finally been able to relax.

Yet he did not fall asleep beside the pool. Instead, he reached for a piece of dark jade resting near his hand.

He had not deliberately placed any night pearls in the cave. By the clear light of the moon, he carefully examined the object in his hand.

That day, when the Ghost Domain dispersed, the ink treasure of the Divine Transformation cultivator had shattered, transforming into dozens of scattered black fragments.

One of them had become the jade tablet in his hand.

He could not tell what it was, but it gave him a faintly familiar feeling.

“…”

He turned it over and over in his hand. Then, in a sudden flash of inspiration, he remembered.

Earlier, when he had explored the tomb of Senior Lin Qinglong together with the Wu and Rong couple and several others, the cultivator named Che Ning had taken out a similar jade tablet before entering.

“A Friendship Jade?”

After returning to the sect from Cloud-Covering Spire, he had consulted several ancient texts.

An item such as the Friendship Jade was, in essence, a token personally fashioned by certain seniors.

Only those with whom the master of a cave shared the closest and most unreserved bond could receive such an object.

In the boundless years of cultivation, there was no telling when one’s parents, elders, relatives, and friends from the mortal world might, after an entirely ordinary seclusion, become forever divided by life and death.

The Great Dao was lonely. Thus, whether it was a confidant who would share life and death, or a dual-cultivation partner with whom one was perfectly suited, such bonds were extraordinarily precious.

The Friendship Jade was prepared for precisely such people.

It meant: I have no defenses against you whatsoever. You may come and go freely in my residence.

In a cultivation world rife with deceit and treachery, where the human heart was dark and dangerous, it represented absolute trust.

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