Crack, crack, crack…The faint sound of cracking was endless. The sky above seemed as though it had been sliced into pieces, ready to fall at any moment. Although it was still daylight, stars began to appear in the sky.
“Stars in daylight…” Li Che muttered. By now, few things could unsettle him, but the scene unfolding before them was simply too bizarre.
Meng Qi slowly lowered her eyes. The appearance of the stars in the broad daylight was clearly the leakage of the spiritual aura, which was said to be quite common in the Demon Realm..
Yan Xuan, lying on the ground, withdrew his gaze from the sky and exchanged a look with Meng Qi. His eyes gradually became clear from the confusion when he just woke up.
For a moment, the stars shone in the cracked sky before the fissures started to close up. The stars soon disappeared without a trace, and the sky returned to its original deep blue, leaving no traces of the phenomenon. “…The Big Dipper…” Meng Qi murmured quietly. She hadn’t been mistaken; among the stars that appeared, the Big Dipper had flashed in the sky, pointing north for just an instant.
“I…” Yan Xuan raised his left hand.
“Shh,” Meng Qi signaled him to stay quiet. The handful of spirit stones in her grasp, having lost their luster and become dull, were still pressed against Yan Xuan’s body.
In Three Realms, spirit stones were special minerals capable of storing aura—the higher their grade, the more pure and abundant the aura they contained. Sometimes, cultivators would also draw aura directly from spirit stones like Meng Qi had done, but using profound-grade spirit stones for such a purpose was extravagant.
In no time, the spirit stones in her palm turned to powder, falling in a soft rustle.
Yan Xuan sat up abruptly, eyes wide with disbelief. “You?!” Even he couldn’t hide his astonishment as he stared at the young medical cultivator before him.
Meng Qi remained seated cross-legged, her simple blue robe fluttering as strands of hair were lifted by the breeze. She calmly withdrew her hand and met Yan Xuan’s gaze, as if she hadn’t just accomplished a miraculous feat.
“How did you do it…” Yan Xuan muttered.
“Right timing, right location, and right personnel,” Meng Qi said, pointing to the sky, then the ground, and finally to herself and Li Che. She gave Yan Xuan a slight smile before quickly pulling out a jade slip and recording the procedure in detail.
Cultivators could record swiftly, but to her surprise, the jade slip in her hand suddenly emitted a soft, gentle glow—signaling the birth of a new legacy.
Meng Qi’s expression was dazed. Not everything recorded could become a legacy. Only those records that could be passed down through generations, recognized by Three Realms as worthy of preservation, could be called a true legacy.
Meanwhile, Yan Xuan placed a hand on his abdomen, his eyes filled with disbelief. My shattered core has been fully restored?!
Directing his focus, a strand of aura soon surged from his spiritual sea, gathering in his palm in an instant. A crescent moon appeared by his side, casting a gentle glow. The moon, initially a slender arc, became full in the blink of an eye, round as a silver plate, before fading away.
The fallen expression on the face of the once-brilliant young master of Jingyuetian disappeared, replaced with vigor as he leaped to his feet.
Meng Qi looked up and saw Yan Xuan jump a few steps away. The crescent moon appeared by his side once more, swiftly turning into a full moon, spilling silvery moonlight that enveloped her as well.
The heavy, somber air around Yan Xuan had dissipated without a trace, replaced with an almost mischievous, childlike demeanor. Moonlight danced across his handsome face, now regaining its youthful vigor, casting intertwined shadows and lights. “Hahaha…” A burst of pure, joyful laughter escaped him as he leaped into the sky, the full moon rising beside him, following his ascent.
No one likes being a cripple, no matter how much praise, admiration, or indulgence others offer.
Since he had been gravely injured and his inner core shattered beyond repair, the cautious deference from his peers and the looks of regret on the elders’ faces whenever they saw him had only made Yan Xuan feel worse.
Jingyuetian, with its legacy spanning millennia, could easily afford to support a useless person. They did not despise him for being a cripple, nor did they hold any animosity that the young prodigy, once the pride of their sect, had turned into an aimless, powerless Yan Xuan, forever stuck at the Qi Condensation stage.
They might not mind, but he, Yan Xuan, minded!
Since his injury, countless thoughts had plagued his mind. In his darkest, lowest moments, he yearned desperately to continue cultivating. Even if he could no longer be seen as a prodigy, he would willingly accept being an ordinary cultivator, struggling just to form a core by the end of his life, so long as it meant no longer enduring the sympathetic glances of his peers and elders…
Yan Xuan took a deep breath, feeling the vastness of the world and an uncontainable joy in his chest. Without warning, countless unfamiliar images suddenly flashed through his mind. As he landed lightly on the ground, the strange images began to feel familiar. In those visions, there was Meng Qi, Jingyuetian, the Three Realms, him cultivating, his injury, the shattered core that left him crippled for life…
Strangely, some of those scenes matched reality, while others differed. They appeared abruptly in his mind, simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar.
“Meng… Qi…” Yan Xuan subconsciously looked up at the girl standing not far away.
“Hmm?” Meng Qi responded, turning to look at him.
Even in her simple blue robe, her beauty was undeniable. Her hair was tied up simply, and her gaze was clear and cool, just as it had been in the visions that had just transpired.
“Nothing.” Yan Xuan shook his head. In the images he had seen, Meng Qi had also healed him, but not in this place. It was strange—why were the events and people the same, yet the time and place different?
Yan Xuan lifted his head and observed the surrounding environment. The sky was changing, the blue fading away to reveal towering peaks like swords piercing the heavens. They had returned to the rugged mountain path, no longer standing on the soft grass by the riverbank.
“We made it out,” Meng Qi said. The joy of Yan Xuan’s recovery diluted the lingering sadness, causing the Seven Emotions to collapse on their own.
She glanced at her hands. Without realizing it, her medical cultivation had advanced, breaking through to the next level.
Indeed, dangerous places are also the most suitable for cultivation.
“Let’s keep moving,” Meng Qi said, but in her mind, the voice of the man who had spoken earlier lingered.
’The Big Dipper… following the natural order… going against the heavens…’
’Going against the heavens!’
Who was going against the heavens, and for what purpose? There was a nagging feeling deep inside her, as if she should know more, and the person who spoke to her had to be someone she knew very well—a very close person. Otherwise, why would he talk to her about the essence of cultivation?
Even a master would not discuss the essence of personal cultivation with their disciples. Such a topic was extremely personal, not something one would just talk about with another person—unless they were performing dual cultivation.
“Huh?” Yan Xuan’s gaze passed over the peaks and landed on the horizon.
“Hmm?” Meng Qi followed his gaze but saw nothing.
“Spiritual aura is surging over there, with stars appearing…” Yan Xuan pointed to the horizon, then added, “That’s the aura of high-level demons. Is it the Demon Realm? Are they fighting over the Demon Monarch’s Order?”
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Translator’s Note:
So, this is the final available chapter. Thank you for following us through this journey! We will still continue translating THDP as the new chapter comes out (at the current rate: once or twice per year), but starting today, this title will be marked as Hiatus and no longer has a regular schedule. If you haven’t, please check out our other cultivation novels: Daughter of the Dao and Devil Venerables and Wake Up Male Lead You Belong With the Female Lead!
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Thank you so much for translating up until now! I’m glad we’re pausing on such a hopeful moment. I’ll definitely be checking out your other titles since I trust this site for HW translations. Happy holidays to the aerialrain team
Thank you too! Happy new year!
Such a good translation😭😭😭