FIMA Ch152: Heartless [Arc 9]

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”

“Everyone be careful! The demonic path is attacking!”

“New disciples, hide in the spirit vessel! Disciples of every mountain, raise your swords and meet the enemy!”

Amid the vast and tranquil mountain ranges, sharp cries suddenly rang out one after another. Countless birds and strange beasts shot up from the forest, startling the sky above.

Between the branches of a dense, towering tree, a tall figure sitting cross-legged slowly opened his eyes.

Gu Siyuan looked at the sea of green before him and felt the abundant, fresh spiritual energy all around him. He lifted a brow with interest.

Perhaps because this was a cultivation world, the sea of consciousness and soul of this body had been tempered enough to be especially strong. Even though he had just transmigrated and absorbed a flood of information, he felt no discomfort at all.

He opened his palm, and green spiritual power flashed. A snow-white longsword instantly appeared in his hand.

The next moment, his green robes fluttered in the wind.

Gu Siyuan dropped to the ground below like a diving falcon.

“Qingchen Shan disciples, follow my command. Form the Stellar Array.”

“Da Shixiong!”

At the sound of his voice, several young disciples in matching green robes turned back with delight.

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained cold and indifferent. Using his sword light as command, he said, “You, to Qian Nine-Two…”

“You, to Tun Six-Three…”

“…”

“I’ll support from the outside. Move!”

As each of his orders fell, the nearly twenty green-robed disciples quickly moved into position. Before long, an airtight starlight sword formation silently took shape.

Dozens of bright sword rays crisscrossed upward, like scattered stars descending into the mountains and forests, sweeping across the wilderness.

Any demonic cultivators who approached and reacted too slowly were mercilessly sliced through by the interwoven sword intent, like useless rag dolls being torn apart.

Gu Siyuan himself remained outside the formation to direct support.

On one hand, he continuously adjusted the formation according to the enemies’ attack directions. On the other, he wielded his sword alone against the cunning stragglers who slipped through.

Since the original owner of this body was the da shixiong, his strength naturally surpassed the others by a fair margin. Wherever his sword reached, another demonic cultivator wreathed in black energy fell to the ground.

A moment later, most of the attackers on Qingchen Shan’s side had already been slain.

Everyone’s pressure eased, and they all secretly relaxed.

This was all thanks to Da Shixiong…

Just then, from the corner of his eye, Gu Siyuan noticed a red-clad figure in the distance being pursued by several demonic disciples.

That person in red was already exhausted. In an instant, he was struck by an attack, and his thin body flew backward like a leaf caught in the wind.

Spiritual power flashed under Gu Siyuan’s feet. He halted sharply in midair, swept out his left arm, and directly caught that frail scarlet figure in his embrace.

Xie Xueyi let out a breath and turned his head to look at the face behind him, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

…It was actually this guy?

Gu Siyuan’s expression stayed cold and stern. With one slash of his sword in his right hand, imbued with fierce sword intent, the three demonic enemies chasing him were instantly forced backward.

He landed steadily on the ground with the person in his arms.

Xie Xueyi found his footing and looked at the man before him with a strange expression. “Thanks. You…”

But Gu Siyuan didn’t even look at him. He only said coldly, “A new disciple leaving the spirit vessel without permission—return to the sect and await punishment.”

With that, he shoved him into Qingchen Shan’s Stellar Sword Array.

He himself continued moving around outside the array. In the blink of an eye, several sharp green sword lights flashed across the field, and several more attackers fell.

“…” Xie Xueyi.

Understood. This was someone he couldn’t beat for now.

A short while later, all the enemies on their side had fallen.

The Qingchen Shan disciples crowded around Gu Siyuan.

“Da Shixiong, da shixiong, when did you learn formation arts?”

“Da Shixiong, are you alright? I have pills here to replenish spiritual power.”

“Da Shixiong, thanks to you, otherwise we would’ve suffered heavy losses…”

“Da Shixiong…”

Gu Siyuan glanced at them and said coldly, “Those who are badly injured, heal on the spot. The rest of you, come with me to support the shimei of Hongling Shan.”

Everyone froze for a moment, then nodded firmly. “Alright.”

After the last Taixuan Grand Competition, da shixiong had become gloomy and terrifying beyond compare.

But after what they saw today, not only had his pure-hearted nature not gone cold, he had even somehow cultivated in formation arts as well.

Gu Siyuan used his movement technique and sped toward the Hongling Shan disciples. From beginning to end, he didn’t spare Xie Xueyi a single glance.

The other green-robed disciples quickly followed.

Although the five mountains of Taixuan Xianzong usually competed fiercely with one another, they were still disciples of the same sect in the end. And since Hongling Shan was made up entirely of female disciples, there wasn’t much conflict between them and Qingchen Shan.

Xie Xueyi looked at Gu Siyuan’s icy back and pouted unhappily.

But for some reason, his heart still stirred slightly, and he silently followed behind.

No one knew how much time passed.

After the chief disciples of each mountain finally brought out the holy protective artifacts the sect had given them, the demonic attackers were at last forced into retreat.

The disciples of all five mountains gathered in one place.

Yan Miaomiao, the chief senior sister of Hongling Shan, was the first to clasp her fist toward Gu Siyuan. “Many thanks to Gu… many thanks to Da Shixiong and all the Qingchen Shan junior brothers for your aid.”

Among the five mountains of Taixuan Xianzong, Hongling Shan was the weakest in strength, yet this time only three of their people were lost. The credit for that went without saying.

At the side, Ji Jinghuan, the chief senior brother of Ziji Shan, glanced at Xie Xueyi leaning against a tree and also said to Gu Siyuan, “Thank you, Shixiong, for saving Xueyi-shidi.”

Gu Siyuan lifted his eyes slightly and looked at the man before him with cool indifference. “No need.”

The disciples from the other mountains all stared with wide eyes, watching Gu Siyuan and Ji Jinghuan with interest and quiet speculation.

At the previous Taixuan Xianzong Five Mountains Competition, Ji Jinghuan of Ziji Shan had been late, so Gu Siyuan of Qingchen Shan had won without a fight, thereby becoming the da shixiong of the entire immortal sect.

But because of that, all kinds of gossip had followed, saying his victory had been unearned and so on.

After all, before that, Ji Jinghuan had always been the stronger one, and also the more popular among the junior brothers and sisters.

Later, both of them entered seclusion.

Today was the first time the two had stood together since then.

Although everyone praised Ji Jinghuan’s extraordinary bearing, now that they saw them side by side, it seemed Gu Siyuan’s cold and detached air inspired more instinctive awe…

And on top of that, Senior Brother Gu also understood formation arts and had saved so many of them.

“This demonic attack was far too precise. I fear there is an insider helping them from within. They simply didn’t know that each of us five carried a holy artifact to guard the spirit vessel…” said Ren Jiutian, chief senior brother of Moyun Shan.

Halfway through, he gave Gu Siyuan an interested look. “Nor did they know that Da Shixiong was actually proficient in formation arts. Otherwise, we likely would have suffered heavy losses.”

Yi Qianqiu, chief senior brother of Baiqing Shan, also nodded. “Once the junior brothers and sisters have finished treating their injuries, we should return to the sect as soon as possible and report this matter. Those demonic vermin dared to ambush Taixuan Xianzong—we must make them pay a heavy price.”

As he spoke, he instinctively glanced at Gu Siyuan.

Gu Siyuan nodded coldly. “Mm.”

Half an hour later, a snow-white spirit vessel rose from the forest, cut through clouds and wind, and sped toward the southwest.

A falcon flying overhead saw that this enormous thing was somehow moving faster than itself. Shocked, it widened its eyes and tried to chase after it, only to lose sight of it an instant later.

Aboard the spirit vessel, Gu Siyuan sat in meditation with eyes closed while sorting through the information of this world.

This was a xianxia world. Of course, the “xia” part was only decoration; the true focus was the entangled love and hatred between the main gong and shou, a story of choosing love even at the cost of the world.

The main gong, Ji Jinghuan, and the main shou, Ruan Xinchi, were both born into cultivation families. Their mothers had been close friends, and while pregnant they arranged a marriage between the two children.

However, when Ruan Xinchi’s mother went into labor, evil cultivators happened to be causing chaos. The city where the Ruan family lived was occupied by demonic cultivators, and the entire clan was wiped out.

Only the newborn Ruan Xinchi escaped, protected at the cost of a servant’s life, and was taken to the home of an aunt in another region.

Several years passed, and the two protagonists gradually grew up.

Ji Jinghuan possessed extraordinary cultivation talent, an elegant bearing, and noble birth. He was the direct grandson of the mountain lord of Ziji Shan in Taixuan Xianzong. His reputation spread across the continent, and he was unquestionably one of heaven’s favored.

Once, while exploring a secret realm, Ji Jinghuan was attacked by a demon beast and badly injured. He fled to a remote cave to heal, where he unexpectedly encountered Ruan Xinchi.

Ruan Xinchi brought him food and water every day.

At the time, Ji Jinghuan could barely move and his consciousness was hazy, so he never clearly saw the face of his savior. When he recovered, all he saw was that person’s departing back and a jade-token keepsake hanging from his waist.

He himself possessed an identical jade token. His mother had once told him that he had had a fiancé.

With both a prior marriage arrangement and a life-saving debt between them, Ji Jinghuan decided after recovering that he would marry that person as his wife.

But naturally, things would not be that simple.

At the time, Ruan Xinchi was living with his aunt’s husband’s family, the Xiao family, a small cultivation clan.

After learning that Ji Jinghuan was searching for someone carrying a particular jade token, the Xiao family drew the truth out of Ruan Xinchi.

Then, invoking the debt of raising him, they asked Ruan Xinchi and his cousin Xiao Li to exchange surnames. Ruan Xinchi became Xiao Xinchi, while Xiao Li became Ruan Li.

So by the time Ji Jinghuan found the Xiao family, both his savior and his fiancé had become Ruan Li.

However, when Ji Jinghuan took Ruan Li away, he accidentally discovered that Xiao Xinchi’s spiritual roots were unusual: mutually conflicting water and fire dual roots, yet perfectly suited to cultivating the unique technique of a shishu from Ziji Shan. So he brought Xiao Xinchi away as well.

After returning to Taixuan Xianzong, Ji Jinghuan genuinely treasured Ruan Li for a while because of their supposed past bond.

But Ji Jinghuan was the chief senior brother of Ziji Shan, grandson of the mountain lord, a single fire-root genius, and unquestionably the top figure among the younger generation of the five mountains. He was the most admired senior brother in the whole sect.

The chief disciples of the other four mountains all fell slightly short of him.

Ruan Li, on the other hand, had only average cultivation talent, merely an ordinary three-root cultivator. On top of that, he was an impostor, so he felt guilty at heart. Whenever he saw the beautiful and gifted junior brothers and sisters in the sect, he felt intensely threatened.

Once, merely because Ji Jinghuan exchanged a few extra words with a beautiful maidservant in the residence, Ruan Li had the maid beaten to death.

That maid happened to be the daughter of a trusted expert of the Ji family, so Ji Jinghuan was quite enraged.

At times, he even began to suspect that this Ruan Li was not the same kind and gentle person who had cared for him in the cave.

As time passed, more and more of Ruan Li’s sharp-tongued cruelty and pettiness came to light.

Though Ji Jinghuan still indulged him on the surface because of the marriage contract and the debt of gratitude, inwardly he became less and less willing to spend time with him.

Instead, he found Ruan Li’s cousin Xiao Xinchi quite talented and perceptive, with a much gentler and kinder temperament, more like the person from the cave.

Especially after the two of them once went out together on a sect mission and survived hardship side by side, Ji Jinghuan began to develop a faint affection for Xiao Xinchi.

And all these changes only deepened Ruan Li’s fear and guilt.

Because of this, he quarreled with Xiao Xinchi, accusing him of pretending to be righteous, saying he claimed he would hand over the marriage contract but still refused to stop getting close to Ji Jinghuan.

That quarrel happened to be overheard by Ji Jinghuan’s younger half-brother, Ji Lingbao.

The next morning, the Ji family discovered that Ji Lingbao had died the previous night from cultivation deviation.

Although Ji Lingbao was born of a concubine and was a five-root cultivator with poor talent and weak cultivation, his birth mother had died early, and he had been raised under Ji Jinghuan’s mother. He was innocent and lovable, and he and Ji Jinghuan were very close.

He had never liked cultivation in the first place. Usually, just a little hardship was enough to make him complain of being tired. There was no way he would suddenly cultivate himself into qi deviation.

Ji Jinghuan was furious and ordered the entire mountain searched for the murderer.

Taixuan Xianzong had strict restrictions. Even a demon lord would have trouble sneaking in unnoticed. The Ji residence also had layers of formations. This could only have been the work of someone inside.

After harsh questioning, someone finally said they thought they saw Ruan Li go to Ji Lingbao’s courtyard during the night.

Ruan Li immediately denied it in panic, claiming that his cousin Xiao Xinchi had come to him that night, and that the two of them had talked by candlelight all night long without him stepping out even once.

Although Xiao Xinchi knew something was wrong, when he saw Ruan Li’s pleading gaze and thought of the Xiao family’s years of raising him, he still gave false testimony.

At this point, Ji Jinghuan was already deeply in love with Xiao Xinchi. Hearing sworn testimony from the person he loved, he chose to believe him.

However, the unnatural expressions of both Ruan Li and Xiao Xinchi still caused one of Ji Jinghuan’s trusted aides to grow deeply suspicious.

That trusted aide was none other than Xie Xueyi, Gu Siyuan’s target in this world.

Xie Xueyi had been born into an unremarkable ordinary cultivation family in the mortal world, but when a special physique awakened in him at age ten, he was abducted by a demonic sect.

He spent several years among the demonic path before stealing one of their treasures and escaping.

During his flight, he happened to run into the five mountains of Taixuan Xianzong while they were recruiting new disciples, so he directly dispersed his demonic cultivation and slipped into the selection group.

Xie Xueyi’s special physique could remain hidden. On the surface, he also appeared to be an ordinary three-root cultivator. Because of that, his engagement had even been broken off in childhood by the family of a single-root fiancé.

For that reason, he deeply admired Ji Jinghuan’s devotion to Ruan Li. So even a single-root genius could truly love a three-root cultivator. Combined with an accidental life-saving favor on the journey back to the sect, his good opinion of Ji Jinghuan deepened further, and he began following Ji Jinghuan around.

Because he admired Ji Jinghuan’s devotion to Ruan Li, he also liked to observe the two of them in daily life.

And the more he watched, the more clearly he saw as an outsider. Naturally, he began to suspect that there was something off about Ruan Li. Especially compared to his same-aged cousin Xiao Xinchi, the difference in their character was like heaven and earth.

At once, Xie Xueyi formed an astonishing guess.

Then—had Ji Lingbao been killed because he accidentally discovered the truth?

After arriving at the Ji residence, Xie Xueyi had also become very close with Ji Lingbao, treating him like a real younger brother. A boy as harmless and lovable as Ji Lingbao—other than being silenced for learning a secret by accident, no one would dare risk offending the Ji family to harm him.

Because of that, Xie Xueyi specifically went to Xiao Xinchi to verify things.

Xiao Xinchi was first shocked, then stiffened his neck and refused to admit anything.

But who was Xie Xueyi? From that very first reaction, he knew his suspicions were correct.

Ruan Li saw Xie Xueyi and Xiao Xinchi meeting in private, panicked, and immediately went to question Xiao Xinchi about what he had said.

Xiao Xinchi tactfully advised him to be more careful in the future. His identity had already aroused Xie Xueyi’s suspicions.

Ruan Li was horrified.

Still, though he was a talentless and vicious fool, he was Ji Jinghuan’s fiancé, and around him had gathered some cultivators seeking wealth and status or harboring ulterior motives.

So he decided to simply go all the way. He would get rid of both Xie Xueyi and Xiao Xinchi. Dead people could never speak.

During the attack, Xiao Xinchi was rescued in time by the main gong Ji Jinghuan, while Xie Xueyi was gravely wounded and died.

After the failed murder attempt, Ruan Li knew nothing could be hidden any longer.

He no longer dared remain there, so he fled to the demonic side.

Because Ruan Li had spent so long at Ziji Shan of Taixuan Xianzong, he knew a great deal about the sect and even had loyal followers left behind.

As a result, during the later war between the righteous and demonic paths, the information he provided caused enormous losses to Taixuan Xianzong.

But in the end, evil could not overcome righteousness.

With the combined efforts of the main gong and shou, the righteous path finally defeated the demonic path. Ji Jinghuan became sect master of Taixuan Xianzong and held a dao companion ceremony before the whole world with Ruan Xinchi, who had regained his original name.

As for Xiao Li, he too was eventually dragged before them. Ji Jinghuan originally intended to grind him to dust, but under Ruan Xinchi’s tearful pleas, he only abolished his demonic cultivation.

In the end, Xiao Li and the Xiao family all reflected deeply on their mistakes, apologized to Ruan Xinchi, and then vanished into anonymity with the spirit stones and pills Ruan Xinchi secretly gave them, returning to the hard life of ordinary wandering cultivators.

…

As for this whole story, Gu Siyuan’s response was that it sounded completely absurd—roughly speaking, just three lunatics thrown into one pile.

His spiritual energy completed one circulation through his body.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and he barked coldly toward the window, “Come in.”

The window slowly opened just enough to leave a narrow crack, and a red-clad figure lightly jumped inside.

Gu Siyuan stared at him. “What do you want?”

Xie Xueyi crouched in front of him with puffed cheeks. “Why are you so fierce?”

Gu Siyuan’s expression remained icy. “Don’t act cute.”

“Haha…” Xie Xueyi suddenly burst into laughter. Resting his chin in one hand, he said with delight, “Oh? So you do know what acting cute means. Weren’t you just an idiot who only knew how to cultivate?”

Gu Siyuan gave him a glance and said coolly, “And yet that idiot still saved your life.”

Xie Xueyi withdrew his smile and sat cross-legged across from him. “Gu Siyuan, is that how you talk to your husband?”

Gu Siyuan lifted a brow. “You remember?”

Xie Xueyi curled his lips and glared at him. “So you remember too. Hmph. Then why are you still treating me like this? How can you be so heartless? You broke off our engagement and abandoned me when we were little, and now that we’re grown up, you still treat me with this attitude? When did you recognize me? Did you know it was me at first sight?”

Gu Siyuan fell silent.

Yes.

In this world, his identity was not only the chief senior brother of Qingchen Shan in Taixuan Xianzong—

He was also that heartless former fiancé who had broken off the engagement because he disliked Xie Xueyi for having three spiritual roots.

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