CH 26

Translator’s Notes: Important changes to the previous chapter that I just edited. After some additional research, I figured it should be Tianxiu, not Tiansu. Yes, I messed up, again  The word has 2 different pronunciations, “su” being the most popular one. But there is also another pronunciation as “xiu”, which in this case is the translation for a cluster of stars in the sky. In Ancient China, they separated the sky into 28 different sections, and each section is known as a “xiu”. Another thing I changed is that instead of the nails on Xiao Fuxuan’s ear, they should be known as ear cuffs. Hopefully that gave you an “ah ha, so that’s what it is”. Sorry please forgive me for all the misunderstands I might have brought and please enjoy this chapter >…<

— —

The Lingtai is not simply a palace or just a tall platform.

It was twelve colossal mountains, connected by jade corridors. Each of the Lingtai Twelve Immortals had its own, and the tallest one belonged to Mingwu Hua Xin.

Each mountain also had a place used to issue punishments, and each had its own torturous methods.

Yun Hai was unarmed, walking on the path of punishments. By the time he got to Hua Xin, though he was still standing, he could barely take another step. His clothes which used to be intertwined with celestial energy were now dripping with blood. There were even flares on him remaining from one of the punishment platforms.

He would forever remember the look Hua Xin had at that time. He was certain that in his dark and gloomy eyes, there was a hint of pain.

Even though Yun Hai was dripping with blood, he still gave a smile.

“Yun Hai!” Seeing his smile, Hua Xin grew even more furious, “You—”

This was the first time Yun Hai angered his master to the point where he became speechless. After all, his master has always been very reasonable — He was a calm and nice person, who would never go too far in anything.

The world is full of tasks and stresses, and it is no different in the Immortal Capital. But nothing has ever been as troublesome for Hua Xin as this.

I’m such an asshole.

Yun Hai thought.

“On the day you entered the Immortal Capital, what oath did you make on my Lingtai? When you accepted the Heavenly decree to ascend, everything was written clearly on what you can do, and what you must not do. Do you think that was just a piece of trash?” Hua Xin scolded.1

“I do not,” replied Yun Hai, “Master, I remember. I know the consequences.”

Before Hua Xin said anything, Yun Hai continued, “But I got my revenge.”

“I got my revenge,” repeated Yun Hai, “I can’t let those scumbags live a happy and healthy life in the mortal world. You know what I’m like, they have no right to live a long time, it doesn’t make sense.”

With that, he walked to the punishment platform.

Twelve mountain peaks, and twelve punishment platforms, each with its own tormenting methods.

Hua Xin silently watched him walk up the chain-tied platform, and then turned around after a very long time. He said with his back towards Yun Hai, “There are many things in the world that are unreasonable. After you take care of one thing, then you’ll have to go take care of all the other matters in the world. Sooner or later…”  

Yun Hai knelt down on the stone platform, waiting for Hua Xin to continue. But what he waited for didn’t come, as Hua Xin gave a pause, and then went silent.

The reason was beyond obvious — He didn’t want his words to accidentally become a prophecy, afraid that his disciple might really “sooner or later…”, so he stopped there.

Yun Hai understood this and became happy.

With a wave of Hua Xin’s sleeve, the stone door of the punishment platform fell.

Seeing his back disappearing outside of the door, Yun Hai stopped smiling and lowered his head, sinking into silence.

Lingtai’s punishments were very excruciating. Even if one was an immortal, even if one had the most stubborn personality, after going through all twelve punishment platforms, they would still end up being barely alive and their spiritual powers significantly weakened.

When Yun Hai regained consciousness, he was at Hua Xin’s residence.

The wounds on his body had already been treated with spiritual medicine, and had almost healed. His weakened spiritual powers have also been restored. Although he could never be as before, at least it wouldn’t have a significant impact on him.

He knew who did all this for him without even thinking.

The first thing Yun Hai did after waking up was to look for Hua Xin. But in the large palace, Hua Xin was nowhere to be found. A few servant boys told him: “Novice Official, Immortal Leader said that after you wake up, you can leave by yourself.”

He has long been given an immortal title, so technically, he shouldn’t be called “Novice Official” anymore. But since he was a funny guy who would often tease them around and confuse them, they’ve always been calling him “Novice Official”.

Only Hua Xin called him “Yun Hai” every time. He was closest to him, and would often add “My disciple” in front.

“What if I don’t leave?” Yun Hai asked that servant boy, “Did the Immortal Leader tell you to force me out?”

The boy shook his head, “He did not.”

“Immortal Leader hasn’t been here recently. If you feel uncomfortable, you can live here for a few days longer.”

The boy said this very friendly, which made him feel even warmer in his heart.

Yun Hai sat beside the bed for a while, then shook his head and smiled. “It’s okay, I’ll leave now. Tell him…”

He was silent for a moment, before continuing, “Thanks for the medicine and spiritual powers, and sorry for the trouble.”

The boy was stunned for a second, and before he knew it, Yun Hai already left.

Ever since, he has slowly gone astray.

He didn’t do it on purpose, but it was just as Hua Xin had said. Countless unreasonable things existed in the world. At first, he only wanted to care about that one thing and then never meddle with the mortal world again. But he soon found out that he couldn’t; he had no choice but to start caring about a second thing…

Because this second thing was caused by the first thing he interfered with.

The story wasn’t that complicated.

He was in charge of sorrow and joy, so naturally, he has seen all sorts of happy gatherings and reunions, and some not-so-happy separations.  Sometimes, a person would have a happy marriage, and then a few days later, have an unfortunate death.

He often sighs, but he wouldn’t intervene when he shouldn’t. After all, these are all the norm. Even immortals couldn’t avoid parting and reuniting, and occasionally, some immortals even get banished back to the mortal realm.

But one day, he saw a little girl kneeling in front of his divine statue.

The girl was only in her mid-teens. She was supposed to be pretty, but was already dead.

What was in front of his statue was the girl’s ghost that refused to go away. She was wearing a wedding dress with some talisman embroidered on it. She probably just had a ghost marriage arranged for her.

Her skin was pale, and her eyes were hollow, dripping with bloody tears. Her lips were sealed so she couldn’t speak – that was a way some folks would use to avoid the dead from snitching.

She carried a strong murderous intent. Others could probably understand what she wanted without her even having to speak.

People like her often had a ruined family. No one to take care of them, and then kidnapped to become a yin bride. The only thing she wanted was probably for her kidnappers to die a terrible death.

She, like many others who shared the same fate, could only ask for her assailants to suffer the same pain as she did, or if possible, more. Her eyes were gouged out, and the people who did so should receive the same suffering. She died a tragic death, and so should them.

But this was not possible, as karma didn’t work this way.

According to the rules of the god of sorrow and joy, Yun Hai had the right to intervene, but only to a certain extent. He must stop before things go too far. That was what he originally planned to do as well, even though usually, “stopping before things go too far” wouldn’t get many results out.

It was until he traced back a few years before the little girl’s tragic death…

He found out that the reason her family perished and she was left with no one was because when she was very young, her parents were murdered by their haters. 

And that hater was none other than Yun Hai himself.

Her parents were two of the people who framed Yun Hai’s family back then.

Now, even if he didn’t want to, he had to take care of this matter. Otherwise, he would become the “unreasonable and unjust” person in the little girl’s eyes.

But that was only the beginning.

……

Later, countless times, every time Yun Hai came back from the mortal realm, he would lock himself inside his residence.

He finally understood what Hua Xin’s unfinished words were—

Of those vast and complicated things, if he interfered with one, he would have to continue. The second one, the third one, onwards. Eventually, creating a whole chain effect of things. One person’s enemies might be another person’s saviors. A person that he wanted to kill might be the same person someone else wanted to protect. Things would only get more and more entangled and complicated. Eventually, his existence would become the biggest “unreasonableness”. 

From the moment he killed those thirty-one people, this day was already destined to come —

He repeatedly violated the Heavenly rules of Lingtai. Hua Xin received numerous Heavenly decrees to banish him over and over again. From the God of sorrow and joy, who received the most offerings and worshipers, to the God of Valley of Great Sorrow, a place that no one cared about.

In addition, the number of offerings and incense in the mortal realm also seemed to affect the Immortal Capital. As he started to receive less of those, he slowly became desolated in the Immortal Capital as well.

Yun Hai was a sensitive person. At first, he thought that even immortals could not escape snobbery. Perhaps there were some, but he soon realized that it was the Heavens making others forget him.

When other immortals regularly meet him, they would naturally know who he is. But for some reason, if he’s not seen, others wouldn’t be able to remember him at all. The only person who didn’t seem to be affected by that was Spirit  King.

Not long after he entered Immortal Capital, he asked Hua Xin, “Tianxiu is in charge of punishment and forgiveness. Then what is Spirit King in charge of? I rarely hear others talk about it.”

At that time, Hua Xin thought about it and replied, “He is in charge of things that immortals can’t handle. But I don’t know the specifics either.”

At the time, Yun Hai was very puzzled. There were so many immortals that almost every corner of the world could be covered. Was there anything that even troubled immortals?

He always felt that it was a lie just to praise the Spirit King. Later, he realized that perhaps that wasn’t a lie, nor was it something said just to praise him higher.

For a while, Yun Hai was always uneasy, so he often went to Spirit King’s place, as he was one of the few people who still remembered him. But after all, it was right beside the abandoned immortal-abolishing platform. So later, the places he would go to most frequently were the Lingtai and Huaxin’s residence most of the time.

Of all things, what he was afraid of the most was that one day, even Hua Xin wouldn’t remember that he had a disciple named Yun Hai.

***

Rumors say that there was a mysterious Heavenly Bell located in the Immortal Capital. None of the immortals could see it, yet occasionally, one could hear the faint ringing of the bell. 

Every time the bell rang, it meant that another immortal had been banished to the mortal world. 2

Yun Hai had heard it a few times, but he still couldn’t find where the bell was.

Until one day, he saw it with his own eyes.

It was a rare long night in Immortal Capital. He sat by his window, looking at the thick fog, and suddenly wanted to go see Hua Xin.

The thought came out of nowhere. He was stunned for a moment, and then planned to close the window and leave his Yao Palace. As soon as he held onto the window lattice, he heard a soft sound, as if the pendant around his waist or the sword collided.

Did someone come?

Yun Hai hastily turned around and saw Spirit King.

He was wearing a white jade crown as well as his mask with some silver threads. He stood tall with cold fog around him, just like how Yun Hai met him for the first time back at the entrance of the Immortal Capital.

Only at that time, he was covered with bright light. This time, there was only the darkness of the night.

Yun Hai looked at him and was startled. He asked, “Why are you still wearing a mask when visiting friends?”

The Spirit King seemed to sigh lightly, “Do you think I look like I’m visiting friends?”

True.

Not only did he not look like he was just here to visit, but he also didn’t bring his servant boys either. He even didn’t carry his sword, which he loved dearly.

Yun Hai stood stiffly, and at that moment, there was almost a sense of confrontation between the old friends.

The Spirit King didn’t move and didn’t speak.

In the end, Yun Hai spoke first, “Spirit King you… are here to bring out a Heavenly decree.”

Spirit King gave an “mm”, then continued, “Since you’ve guessed that far, then you should know what I’m here for.”

Yun Hai smiled bitterly, “So, it’s time for me to return to the mortal realm?”

Spirit King didn’t reply, which could be counted as a yes.

Yun Hai: “I thought all I had to do was jump off the immortal-abolishing platform.”

He has always thought that to be banished back to the mortal realm was just simply standing on the immortal-abolishing platform and then jumping down. It was until this night, when Spirit King came with a Heavenly decree, did he find out that things were not as simple as he had thought.

First, his spiritual powers had to be removed and all his connections with the Immortal Capital had to be cut.

The process was extremely fast, only lasting for a blink of an eye. But due to the painfulness, time seemed to be stretched indefinitely long. Under unbearable pain, he saw Spirit King hook something on his finger.

It seemed like it was a white jade-colored bell, he couldn’t see clearly, but heard a bell ring.

He suddenly understood where the mysterious bell in Immortal Capital was. It was not hung under the eaves of some corridor, but was carried by Spirit King this whole time.

“Heavenly Bell…” Yun Hai said hoarsely.

Spirit King shook his head, his voice was vague and distant to him, “The immortals spread this rumor out of nowhere. This isn’t a Heavenly Bell, it’s called a Dream Bell.”

Dream Bell…

Yun Hai curled up, subconsciously repeating the name.

He heard Spirit King continue, “The mortal realm isn’t that bad really. There’s a place called the Falling Flower Mountain Market. It’s really lively there, much better than the Immortal Capital. After I shake this bell nine times, you will fall into a deep dream. After you leave the immortal-abolishing platform and wake up, you will forget everything in the past century. You won’t feel so bad then.”

His entire past. All of that would be gone after he opened his eyes again.

Was this why there would be the sound of a bell every time an immortal was banished back to the mortal realm?

They would forget everything.

They would forget everyone.

Without spiritual powers, the body of an ordinary person could not last very long in Immortal Capital.

Yun Hai was already losing consciousness, but he was still fighting to stay awake. When the white-jade bell rang, he gathered his last bit of immortal power, as well as half of his soul, to try and block it.

Throughout his life, he would never give up unless he must, and even if he must, he still wouldn’t give up.

He didn’t want to forget everything.

***

In the few years when Yun Hai just returned to the mortal realm, nothing much happened.

Although he tried desperately to block the powers of the bell, the bell still took an effect. He still forgot everything that happened in the past century, and only vaguely felt like he had a dream. He dreamed of himself breaking a leg and getting blinded in one eye. When he was starving and dying, an immortal carried him onto the back of a deer.

He had mentioned that dream to many people, but every time he talked about it, he would always miss a lot of details, and could only try and quickly end it in a few sentences.

He couldn’t describe any of the settings, but for some reason, he was certain that it was a cold mid-winter night. He was shivering, and that immortal’s hand was the only source of warmth in the endless coldness.

Because of that inexplicable dream, he started to attempt to learn spiritual powers, trying to get closer to the immortal from his dreams.

He had begged many cultivation sects, but not a single one officially accepted him. They all said that he was born with flaws, that he couldn’t condense internal energy, that he couldn’t form a core, and that he wasn’t suitable to cultivate.

Later, when the world fell into chaos, he wasn’t even strong enough to protect himself. He could only hide and live like a refugee.

One night, he encountered a scavenging devil. Unable to defeat it, the devil took over his body.

The feeling of his soul being devoured was no different from other physical pain. He screamed in agony.

When he curled up on the ground in pain, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

There seemed to be another time in the past when he was also curled up like this, fighting with all his might. It seemed to be against… a bell. 

This had to be the world’s most painful and ironic thing—

When he was about to die, he remembered the forgotten hundred years. He remembered that the immortal and the white deer were not from an empty dream. A hundred years ago, there really was such an immortal who gave him help.

He remembered that the immortal took him as his disciple, praising him that he was extremely talented. He remembered himself being the youngest person to ever ascend as an immortal, and that he became in charge of mortals’ sorrow and joy.

On his last day in the Immortal Capital, he really wanted to see that person again.

He didn’t get to do so yet, he couldn’t die just like this.

***

Later, Yun Hai thought that he probably did have some good talent. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat the devil and absorb it just by thinking: “I can’t die like this”.

Cultivation sects all said that he couldn’t condense spiritual powers and form a core. That wasn’t the case. It was just that he couldn’t condense spiritual powers, but he could with devilish powers.

While being in a terrible state and desperately absorbing the devil’s energy, he suddenly thought of the scene from a century ago — He was hiding in the cave and Hua Xin came, illuminating the winter night. 

……

From then on, no more immortal would come to save him.

He barely survived, but he might not see that person again until he dies.

—

Translator’s note: I don’t think I made it too clear here. Basically, he discovered that he could practice devilish cultivation as well, and absorbed that devil who tried to devour him. From this point on, he is basically a devil.

Additional FAQs: 

Q: Is the immortal capital accessible by mortals or is it closed off / impossible to reach? 

A: For the average mortal, they shouldn’t even know the existence of the Immortal Capital. For those who are cultivators, they can only enter the Immortal Capital once they have ascended to an immortal. Hence, the majority of cultivators never make it up here.

Q: Is Que City important to the plot or does it only appear in Wu Xingxue’s dream?

A: I wonder if the author really went that far to create such a place just for it to be in a dream? Hmmm, you’ll find out sooner or later 

Q: Do you have to cultivate to become an immortal or can you be born an immortal?

A: I’m actually not too sure. I used to think that all beings are born as a mortal and you must cultivate to become an immortal. But what if two immortals have a child?? I assume the child will be a mortal and will have to cultivate its way up, only that with immortal parents, his or her path of cultivator might be much easier. The book never really talks about it, it’s up to you to decide!

Q: Can a demon animal be a devil?

A: Don’t worry about demons in this book. Animals that cultivate don’t appear in this novel (as far as I’ve read). To answer the question, I don’t think so. Demons and devils are separate categories. Animals and beasts cultivate the demonic path, while devils cultivate the diabolic path. An evil human would be a devil, and an evil beast would be… well just an evil demon xD