Chapter 151 – Battle Inside The Mind

“Big brother, here are pills sent by the sect leader. Also, these packets here are herbs for an herbal bath. And these two maidservants will be in charge of taking care of your daily needs.” Shuang’er emptied a whole pile of expensive and precious items from her storage ring like they cost nothing, pointing each item out as she explained what they were to Gu Suihan.

“Why are they taking such good care of me?” asked Gu Suihan in a steady voice, his expression as emotionless as a pool of still water. He was no longer as depressed as before, and he was now working toward taking revenge on the Youthful Clarity Sect, but until now, he was unable to face Shuang’er and Jingjing like before.

Over the past few days, he had focused entirely on cultivating and practicing. He didn’t have anybody to guide him, yet he had been able to increase his capabilities by leaps and bounds purely because of his aptitude. But even though he had improved very quickly, he was still a young man who didn’t have any experience in killing, fighting, or even scheming against others. He thought that the sect would just treat him like an ordinary disciple. He didn’t expect them to treat him so well.

All these things made him think that something was up.

“I heard that in a few years’ time, we will have the inter-sect exchange that occurs only once every century. The sect leader intends to groom you with everything we have so that you can show off during the exchange and put our sect in a position above the rest,” explained Shuang’er with some difficulty. She was still young, and being able to explain this much despite knowing so little was already not bad.

“I see.” There was a look of enlightenment in his eyes for just one second before his gaze became indifferent again.

“Just put the things here.” He waved the two maids to come closer, looked them over, then said flatly, “From today onwards, you two will be called Taohua and Lihua.”

Immediately after he said those words, his face stiffened up. Those words had tumbled out of his mouth without thinking, as though it was just instinctive. This made him feel goosebumps all over.

All these signs made him all the more suspicious that he had definitely forgotten something. Something very important.

“So…big brother, I’m off!” Shuang’er looked sadly at Gu Suihan as she remembered how he had been such a gentle and bright young man who took care of her and cooked for her in the forest. She felt rather depressed when she saw how he now exuded an icy and unfriendly air. She pouted and walked out of his courtyard reluctantly.

“Young master, we will bring your things in. If you need anything, please call for us.” Taohua tugged at Lihua, cautiously bowed to excuse themselves, gathered all the things that Shuang’er had brought, and walked into another room.

“What have I forgotten?” Gu Suihan wasn’t paying attention to them at all, and he had a perplexed look on his nearly perfect face as he fell into deep thought.

Several months later, back inside the Ethereal Court’s headquarters high above the clouds.

The sect leaders had gathered again.

“I just got the news that Rolling Clouds Temple has been destroyed.” The sect leader of the Ethereal Court’s eyes were half closed, and his expression was stern as he said, “Apparently, there was some ghost qi left behind.”

“Ghost qi?” The other sect leaders raised an eyebrow as though they immediately connected this fact to something else.

“According to what I learned from the Upper World, the reason why Qingming had to escape was that he had snuck into the kingdom’s workshop,” said Zhou Yunjian of the Vast Sky Sect.

“Are you saying that the Rolling Clouds Temple incident has something to do with Qingming?” asked the cultivator dressed in the gray robes of a nun from the Wonderful Sound Sect.

Zhou Lingfeng had a solemn look on his face, and his gaze flickered as he said, “This world is very small.”

“That’s why there aren’t many sects.”

“The Rolling Clouds Temple was set up by a wandering cultivator who was only at Origin Core. But that cultivator cultivated in ghosts and the like. How did it get destroyed by a ghost?”

“Legend has it that the workshop of the kingdom has always had something to do with creatures from the nether world.”

“Are you saying that Qingming snuck into the workshop back then, took something out from it, and when the kingdom found out, that tyrant flew into a rage, and that’s why he ordered all the worlds under his rule to search for Qingming?”

“It seems like that’s what happened.”

“If that’s the case, then the Rolling Clouds Temple incident definitely has something to do with Qingming,” said Zhou Lingfeng slowly. The formidable sword will he normally exuded actually faded a little after he said these words.

The thought of having a Divine Soul cultivator in their world was simply too intimidating. It felt like a mountain was weighing down on their heads, making it almost impossible to breathe.

“In any case, we’ve got to investigate thoroughly. We have to find Qingming no matter what it takes. Otherwise, if we allow him to have time to plan and slowly recuperate, we’re all going to die,” said the Ethereal Court sect leader with a pale face and a trembling beard.

“The Rolling Clouds Temple…is pretty close in proximity to the Youthful Clarity Sect, isn’t it?” said Zhou Yunjian in an insinuating voice.

The sect leader of the War Demon Sect grinned gleefully but dropped his smile and put on a solemn expression again when he spotted the scowl on Zhou Lingfeng’s face. “That’s right. We’ll have to count on you then, Sect Leader Zhou. If you discover anything, you must send us a jade slip to notify us, and we’ll go over to attack him at once. Given Qingming’s capabilities right now, I don’t think he’d be able to hold up against us if we combine forces.”

“Alright then.” Zhou Lingfeng tasted bitterness in his mouth, but the invisible pressure from the other sect leaders forced him to agree to this.

The mountains keep no record of time, and a thousand years pass before long.

Without realizing it, another half a year ticked by, like water trickling through the gaps between one’s fingers.

“Perfect…Physical Realm!” Gu Suihan let out a mouthful of filthy air and smiled as he felt the surging energy in his body.

He had no idea how his aptitude had turned out this good. He had barely joined the sect, but he had herbal baths daily and access to many pills, so he had reached the Perfect Physical Realm very quickly. Moreover, when he scanned the inside of his body, he noticed that there were some strange lines on his bones that were getting deeper with time, and they gave off a powerful aura.

Three months later, his meridian channels had become fully connected.

After using large amounts of pills and spiritual stones to refine his meridian channels, they turned into spiritual meridians a month later.

“Foundation Establishment!” Gu Suihan chuckled as he brandished his sword all by himself in the middle of the night.

His sword qi soared into the air like a dragon and were like sharp knives as they reduced the courtyard to rubble as though the structures were made from bamboo.

“I don’t have much time,” murmured Gu Suihan to himself. A frosty glint appeared in his eyes that gleamed like black gemstones.

Just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head that seemed to pierce through his very bones.

“Not again!” He dropped his sword, and he leaned against the table, clutching his head so tightly that he crushed his hairpiece without realizing it. The crushed pieces stabbed into his palm, and his black hair flew in the wind. He seemed like a demon as he unleashed a terrifying murderous qi that seemed ready to gobble someone whole.

“I…I am Gu Suihan. No, not THAT Gu Suihan. I…I am me. Nobody can replace me.”

“Earth? What place is that? The Way of Heaven? Master? Who? A piece of animal hide? Demonic script from the past? The truth…the truth of the Way of Heaven?”

His clothes were soaked with sweat as he collapsed weakly on the stool, his expression fierce and twisted, yet confused and lost. His gaze was filled with so many complex emotions.

“I…I am myself!” he roared in a low voice as though he was trying to confirm this fact. His features were so contorted he looked more like a vengeful ghost now.

Even though the owner of the body had sealed himself up, the owner’s obstinate nature remained as resilient as ever.

That tiny crack in his consciousness had become even deeper now. It was now twice as wide as compared to when it first appeared.

And in proportion to the growth of the crack, the indifferent and lofty gaze that hid behind the crack had become more and more obvious.

Whenever he refined his physical body and curiously observed the strange lines on his bones, this sort of thing would happen to him.

The more he cultivated, the more he felt like he was hiding the shadow of some great person within his subconscious.

After he reached Foundation Establishment, these excruciatingly painful headaches occurred even more frequently than before.

“It’s happening to Young Master again.” Taohua and Lihua were trembling with their hands cupped over their mouths in a small room of the house as they watched Gu Suihan transform into a completely different person through a crack in their window.

“The last time this happened was at the beginning of the month. This is happening half a month earlier than expected,” Lihua whispered into Taohua’s ears in a trembling voice.

“Who’s there?” Gu Suihan suddenly turned his head. His hair was drenched in sweat and stuck to his face, covering his empty stare.

But even so, his gaze was able to see through the gaps between his hair and through that crack in the window to stare straight at the pale faces of Taohua and Lihua.

The two maids cupped a hand tightly over each other’s mouths, held their breaths, and ducked under the windowsill like a pair of frightened rabbits. The moonlight that shone in illuminated their terrified gazes.

“I…am myself!” muttered Gu Suihan once more, as if to confirm this fact one more time. He turned away, then collapsed onto the ground as he lost consciousness.