FIMA Ch171: Forming the Nascent Soul

Below Lie Demon Abyss, dust and smoke were everywhere.

After watching the fireworks, Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi did not linger where they were. Hand in hand, they began making their way upward out of the abyss.

There was no need to remain here any longer.

The abyss was ten thousand zhang deep, and there was not a trace of spiritual energy within it.

Gu Siyuan was still only at the Golden Core stage, so even for him, getting back up required the help of a flying artifact and took quite a bit of effort.

All around them were sheer cliffs, hidden from daylight, while the cold wind and demonic energy howling past their ears carried a distinct kind of sinister chill.

Sitting on the flying artifact, Xie Xueyi suddenly felt alarm rise in his heart and grabbed Gu Siyuan’s sleeve. “Gege, something feels wrong…”

At that exact moment, a thick stream of black energy shot straight toward Gu Siyuan and drilled directly into the center of his brow.

“Ah—” Gu Siyuan cried out in pain.

The flying artifact beneath them immediately became unstable. Gu Siyuan had been the one controlling it the entire time.

“Damn it…” Xie Xueyi had no time to think. He hurriedly seized control of the artifact by force. Otherwise, the two of them would have crashed into a pile of flesh.

Once the artifact stabilized, he turned anxiously to look at Gu Siyuan.

And what he saw made his face sink at once.

A man who was normally unmoved by anything, whose expression never changed, now had cold sweat beading layer upon layer across his forehead, while his features shifted unpredictably. It was as if the left and right sides of his face, and even his two eyes, belonged to different people.

One side looked cold and stern.

The other looked sinister and eerie.

Two words immediately appeared in Xie Xueyi’s mind:

Possession.

And very likely, it was that old monster Gu Siyuan had just blown to pieces.

Otherwise, given the sheer strength of Gu Siyuan’s divine sense and soul, no ordinary person could possibly invade his sea of consciousness, much less contend with him there like this.

He gripped Gu Siyuan’s hand tightly, lacing their fingers together. “Gege, hold on…”

“Gege, you have to kill that old monster…”

“Gege…”

Xie Xueyi kept talking to him on his own.

No one knew how long passed, but they could already see the top of the abyssal cliff above.

Suddenly, Xie Xueyi clenched his teeth and made up his mind. “Gege, if you lose, then I’ll make this flying artifact self-destruct immediately. Worst comes to worst, we all die together. That old thing won’t get to take advantage of anything!”

At that moment, a light pain suddenly came from his cheek, and a familiar low magnetic voice sounded beside him. “Shidi sacrificing yourself for love moves me greatly—but there’s no need.”

“Gege…” Xie Xueyi’s eyes flew wide open, and he jerked his head up, joy overflowing across his entire face.

Gu Siyuan pulled him into his arms and gave a soft hum of assent. “Mm. You’ve worked hard.”

Xie Xueyi clutched at his sleeve. “That’s great, gege…”

Then all of a sudden his expression changed. He shoved Gu Siyuan away and stared hard into his eyes, full of suspicion. “Are you really my gege?”

Gu Siyuan nodded. “If not, then who else would I be?”

But Xie Xueyi still looked unconvinced, his eyes gleaming with the light of so-called wisdom.

Amusement stirred in Gu Siyuan’s heart, and he raised a brow. “Then what do you suggest?”

Xie Xueyi rolled his eyes, cleared his throat a few times, and thickened his voice as he said, “I’m going to ask you a few questions.”

Naturally, Gu Siyuan did not refuse. “Go ahead.”

Xie Xueyi licked his lips. “Where was the first time we dual cultivated?”

Gu Siyuan raised a brow. “In the cave inside the Xianling Secret Realm.”

Xie Xueyi nodded and asked again, “How many days?”

“Four.” Gu Siyuan answered without hesitation.

Xie Xueyi continued, “When we dual cultivate, what do you like hearing me call you most?”

Gu Siyuan reached out and caught his chin, his voice low. “Master.”

Hearing that intentionally lowered, drawn-out, magnetic answer, Xie Xueyi’s face immediately flushed red.

There didn’t seem to be any problem…

This really was Gu Siyuan.

Seeing how adorable he looked, Gu Siyuan could not help lowering his head to kiss him lightly several times on the cheek and lips. “Shidi, so these are the things you think about every day?”

The tips of Xie Xueyi’s ears turned red, and faintly, he also began to feel that something was off.

Other dao companions spoke of carrying swords together through the world—so why was it that whenever the two of them talked, it was always about these kinds of things?

Wasn’t that a little too abnormal?

Still… that kind of thing really did feel good.

When Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi left Wind and Snow City, an immortal boat from Taixuan Immortal Sect was already waiting outside.

And on the boat stood someone Gu Siyuan knew very well.

“Shifu,” Gu Siyuan called.

Xie Xueyi also froze. “Mountain Lord?”

Qingchen Mountain Lord spread his hands and said listlessly, “The sect master told me to come pick you up. Who knows what in the world you two have been up to?”

Gu Siyuan nodded lightly. “Thank you for your trouble, shifu.”

But the moment he finished speaking, he could not help coughing again.

“Gege…” Xie Xueyi immediately helped him to one side to sit down.

Qingchen Mountain Lord stared at Gu Siyuan for a while. “Disciple, your condition doesn’t look quite right. What kind of aura is this on you? Also, while I was outside the city just now, I heard a huge noise from in there. Don’t tell me that had something to do with you too?”

Gu Siyuan lifted his eyelids slightly. “Just swallowed an old ghost that tried to possess me.”

“Ah…” Qingchen Mountain Lord’s eyes widened. Only after a long moment did he withdraw his gaze. “My disciple has grown capable. Digest him properly, then.”

“Mm.”

Gu Siyuan did not say any more. He simply sat down right there and began meditating to recover.

Although his divine sense was naturally powerful, forcibly swallowing the soul of a mighty cultivator who was half a step into the Divine Transformation stage was still no easy thing. He had to digest and sort it out as quickly as possible, or else if there were any backlash later during tribulation, it would be disastrous.

…

The three of them hurried back at top speed. With Qingchen Mountain Lord escorting them, nothing unexpected happened along the way.

Only after they re-entered the gates of Taixuan Immortal Sect did Qingchen Mountain Lord dump the two of them off and send them to report to the sect master.

Gu Siyuan had been quite exhausted these past days, and originally planned to take Xie Xueyi back to the Waterside Pavilion to rest first, then go pay respects to the sect master afterward.

But just as they reached the foot of Qingchen Mountain, they were intercepted halfway up the road.

It was the two protagonists they had not seen in a long while: Ji Jinghuan and Xiao Xinchi.

Ji Jinghuan looked at Gu Siyuan, narrowing his eyes. A strange dark light flickered there, as though something he had never wanted to believe had turned out to be true.

Gu Siyuan, however, behaved as if he had not seen the two of them at all. Without even acknowledging them, he simply moved to walk past.

Their last meeting had not been a pleasant one.

Now that they had left the secret realm, even for the sake of Ziji Mountain he could no longer directly kill them. But Gu Siyuan had no intention whatsoever of giving this man a pleasant face.

At that moment, however, Xiao Xinchi somewhat anxiously tugged at Ji Jinghuan’s sleeve. “Senior Brother Ji…”

Ji Jinghuan came back to himself, raised a hand to stop Gu Siyuan’s steps, and said without expression, “When everyone learned that Senior Brother Gu was still alive, we were all very relieved. It is good that Senior Brother Gu is safe.”

Watching him, Xie Xueyi could not help bursting into laughter.

How was this man even more fake than he was?

In your heart, weren’t you probably cursing Gu Siyuan to die outside eight hundred times a day?

Gu Siyuan cast Ji Jinghuan a cold glance and said bluntly, “If you have something to say, say it.”

Ji Jinghuan’s expression stiffened slightly.

But Xiao Xinchi’s eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, “Senior Brother Gu, I heard you’ve imprisoned my cousin? Is that true? Is there some misunderstanding here?”

“It’s true. There is no misunderstanding.” Gu Siyuan’s expression remained calm, his voice perfectly clear.

That day, after leaving the Xianling Secret Realm, Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi had encountered Ruan Li and his two followers at Taixuan Tower in Xuanling City, and by chance discovered that one of them might be a spy from the demonic path.

After returning to the sect, Gu Siyuan had secretly detained them all.

Later, it was also from that very demonic-path spy that Gu Siyuan extracted information that the demonic side had recently made some major move in Wind and Snow City. It was only after reporting that matter to the sect master that he decided to go there in secret and investigate what lay behind it.

Now, however, because of what happened in Wind and Snow City, the news that he was not dead had already spread.

And since Ji Jinghuan had spent many years in Taixuan Immortal Sect, he naturally had some forces of his own. That he was able to investigate and learn that Ruan Li had fallen into Gu Siyuan’s hands was not surprising.

Still, Xiao Xinchi was completely blocked for a moment by how direct and confident Gu Siyuan’s answer was.

Several seconds later, he finally glared angrily at Gu Siyuan and said, “Senior Brother Gu, don’t you think your actions are improper? Even if you’re the sect’s da shixiong, you still can’t imprison a junior disciple just because of a disagreement in a tavern, can you? Do the other junior brothers and sisters know that your character is like this?”

The moment those words came out, Gu Siyuan himself showed little reaction—but Xie Xueyi was instantly enraged and practically jumped on the spot.

“A disagreement in a tavern? Who told you that?” His cold gaze swept over Xiao Xinchi’s face like some cold-blooded creature. “You haven’t even figured out the full story, yet you dare come speak to my gege like this? What exactly do you think you are? Get lost.”

Ji Jinghuan had long regarded Xiao Xinchi as one of his own people. Seeing Xie Xueyi’s attitude, his face immediately darkened. “Xie Xueyi, is it your turn to speak here? You think that because you’ve climbed onto Gu Siyuan you’re something special? But there are some people you still can’t afford to offend.”

“He is Gu Siyuan’s only dao companion. In all the world, who is there that he cannot afford to offend?” Gu Siyuan’s gaze turned icy, his voice heavy. “As for the two of you—get out of Qingchen Mountain now.”

Hearing this, Ji Jinghuan froze for a moment. He had not expected that Gu Siyuan had actually developed real feelings.

But Gu Siyuan’s next sentence immediately filled him with anger. “Gu Siyuan, don’t push things too far. People of my Ziji Mountain—unless they’re involved in betrayal of the sect—even if something really happened, it still wouldn’t be your place to handle it.”

“Correct.” Gu Siyuan gave a cold laugh, saying each word one by one. “It is about betrayal of the sect.”

Ji Jinghuan and Xiao Xinchi both froze together, utterly disbelieving. “How is that possible?”

Xiao Xinchi exclaimed, “There must be some misunderstanding.”

Ji Jinghuan reacted more directly. He stared at Gu Siyuan and sneered, “Gu Siyuan, wanting to deal with me and dragging my fiancé into it is one thing. But to make up such an absurd excuse? You are despicable and sinister to the extreme. You are unworthy to—”

“Go screw your father’s egg!”

Before Ji Jinghuan could finish speaking, a furious, rough curse cut him off.

And in the very next instant, a fiery-red whip shadow lashed toward him. Ji Jinghuan’s heart jolted, and he immediately dragged Xiao Xinchi aside to dodge.

That whip had clearly been struck with full force. The stones and flowering trees lining both sides of the mountain path collapsed and snapped apart, making it obvious what kind of effect it would have had on a human body.

Earlier in the secret realm, Xie Xueyi had always stayed by Gu Siyuan’s side, so he had not had many chances to fight. Everyone had thus treated him as if he were some pampered little lover.

But now, seeing him strike, Ji Jinghuan was shocked to the extreme. His strength was actually not far below his own.

Having just stabilized himself with Xiao Xinchi in his arms, he immediately lifted his head and shouted angrily, “Xie Xueyi, are you insane?!”

Yet Xie Xueyi’s anger was even greater than his. Holding a fiery-red long whip in hand, his face was full of frost and his presence ferocious. “Ji Jinghuan, what are you? How dare you insult and slander my gege? When he was out there shedding blood and risking his life for the sect and for the continent, what were you doing? You were being selfish. You were drowning in petty romance.”

“I’m warning you—if I hear that kind of bullshit again, I’ll take this whip all the way up your Purple Peak myself!”

As his words fell, his arm shook and another razor-sharp whip shadow smashed down.

As the saying went, the longer the weapon, the greater the advantage.

A whip was the sort of long-range weapon that was incredibly difficult to deal with in battle unless one either got close at once or had completely overwhelming strength.

For example, right now Ji Jinghuan’s strength did not suppress Xie Xueyi enough to strike him down in one blow. And getting in close to attack was even less possible, because Gu Siyuan stood beside Xie Xueyi with folded arms and a cold expression. The moment Ji Jinghuan tried to advance, Gu Siyuan might very well smack him straight into the ground. That would be losing both face and position.

So for a while, Ji Jinghuan could only keep dodging and shifting around while dragging Xiao Xinchi with him.

The disturbance was not small. Very soon, disciples from Qingchen Mountain living nearby were drawn over.

“What’s going on?”

“They’re fighting? Da Shixiong’s little lover is fighting with Senior Brother Ji from Ziji Mountain?”

“My heavens, Da Shixiong’s little lover is actually pretty strong!”

“No, wait, isn’t Senior Brother Ji being a bit too outrageous? He actually dared come all the way to our Qingchen Mountain to make trouble?”

Hearing all those chaotic voices, Ji Jinghuan’s anger only deepened, and at the same time he felt humiliated to the extreme.

Gathering all the spiritual power in his body, he directly carried Xiao Xinchi and flew off into the distance, leaving only an angry voice scattering through the wind: “Gu Siyuan, Xie Xueyi, this matter is not over!”

Xie Xueyi flicked his wrist lightly, withdrew the whip, and looked toward the two disappearing figures, then gave an unconvinced huff. “Tch. Ran pretty fast. If you had the guts, don’t run!”

“Clap, clap…”

A clear sound of applause rose beside him.

Excitedly, Xie Xueyi turned his head.

Gu Siyuan stood there at his side, tall and elegant, slowly clapping his hands. “Young Hero Xie is truly impressive.”

“Pfft…” Xie Xueyi burst out laughing. He remembered how he himself loved using that exact phrase to tease Gu Siyuan, yet now it had been handed right back to him.

His fine brows lifted, his expression radiant. “I’ll be the one protecting you from now on!”

Gu Siyuan nodded immediately, utterly cooperative. “Then this Gu can only thank Young Hero Xie for his favor.”

At that moment, another round of applause also rose from the mountainside behind them.

It came from the gathered junior brothers and sisters who had been watching.

Xie Xueyi’s smile only became brighter.

The two of them returned together to the Cliffside Waterside Pavilion.

After resting for a night, they went together to Taixuan Mountain to pay respects to the sect master and told him everything that had happened in Wind and Snow City.

The sect master was greatly shocked to learn that the demonic path actually had an old monster who was half a step into Divine Transformation, and he gave both Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi a full round of commendation. Otherwise, when the great war between righteous and demonic paths arrived in the future, they would have found themselves in an extremely passive position.

In the days that followed, the two of them no longer left the sect. Their life became quiet once more, just as before—at the Cliffside Waterside Pavilion they practiced swordsmanship, brewed tea, admired flowers, and dual cultivated…

Yet as more and more immortal boats passed overhead above Taixuan Immortal Sect, and with the banners of other righteous sects appearing as well, it became easy for everyone to sense the increasingly tense atmosphere.

The conflict between righteous and demonic paths was on the verge of breaking out.

On this particular day, the sky was bright and clear.

At Cliffside Waterside Pavilion, spring reigned all year round.

After one thoroughly satisfying session of dual cultivation—

Gu Siyuan, black hair loose over his shoulders and robe half-open, leaned lazily by the window in full contentment. As he sipped a little post-affair wine, he watched the clouds roll and unroll along the cliff edge.

Suddenly, a realization rose within his heart, flowing through him like clear water.

He straightened up and reached out to pat Xie Xueyi’s head. “For the next few months, behave yourself.”

Xie Xueyi had his head pillowed on Gu Siyuan’s lap, idly playing with his sash, his voice carrying the soft lazy sweetness unique to the aftermath. “What is it, gege? Haven’t I always been very well-behaved?”

Gu Siyuan’s fingers slowly slid from the thick, soft strands of Xie Xueyi’s hair, to the faintly reddened corners of his eyes, then over the small straight bridge of his nose, and finally came to rest at those crimson lips. “After this, I won’t be able to keep watching over you all the time. Don’t slack off in your cultivation.”

Xie Xueyi instantly reacted. His bright moist eyes widened as he looked up at him. “Gege, what is it? Are you going somewhere? Take me with you…”

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes slightly, his voice low. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s just that I’ve more or less digested everything, and I think I’m more or less ready.”

Ready?

At first Xie Xueyi froze, then very quickly he understood. His face lit with astonished joy. “Gege, could it be… could it be you’re about to…”

“Mm.” Gu Siyuan nodded calmly, his tone and expression as ordinary as if he were talking about eating or drinking. “I’m about to form my Nascent Soul.”

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