FIMA Ch172: Accusation

In the northwestern part of Canglan Continent lay the Blood-Colored Wasteland.

This was territory belonging to the Demon Sect, one of the three great powers of the demonic path. Ten thousand li farther ahead, it bordered the righteous Mingguang Immortal Sect.

Because of that, it had once been considered a busy and prosperous route, lined along the way with mountain strongholds, taverns, bandits, and horse thieves.

But since spring of this year, when the righteous and demonic paths officially went to war, most of the Demon Sect’s cultivators—as well as many of the lesser demonic factions and rogue cultivators under its rule—had been transferred to the northern frontlines.

The place that had once been boundlessly chaotic, full of lewd laughter and noisy revelry, now carried instead a strange kind of silent desolation.

Even so, on the plain not far away, a fierce battle was still underway.

A team of righteous-path cultivators, led by two Nascent Soul cultivators and having slipped silently into enemy territory, had at some point been completely surrounded by the Demon Sect’s remaining garrison forces. The Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators in the team had suffered heavy casualties, and even the two Nascent Soul cultivators could only defend themselves with difficulty.

Across the vast plain, smoke and dust roared skyward, blood splashed in every direction.

In an incredibly short time, countless righteous cultivators fell. Then their bodies were directly ground into fragments amid the furious fighting of their fellow cultivators and scattered on the wind.

At this rate, the whole team might well end in total annihilation.

The two righteous Nascent Soul cultivators fighting high in the air felt their hearts grow cold at the sight, and immediately sent an order down to a Golden Core cultivator below: “This mission is abandoned. We will do everything we can to get you out alive.”

For someone to be worth two Nascent Soul cultivators risking their lives just to escort away—how important must that person be? How noble must that person’s status be?

Whatever others might think, to the many elders and disciples of Taixuan Immortal Sect, this person was naturally of utmost importance.

Because he was the dao companion of Gu Siyuan, future sect master of the immortal sect.

Gu Siyuan was currently in the sect’s secret grounds, in seclusion while enduring the Nascent Soul heavenly tribulation. If anything happened to his dao companion, it would inevitably trigger karmic backlash between the two of them. If that caused his breakthrough to fail—or even drove him into cultivation deviation—the loss to Taixuan Immortal Sect would be utterly immeasurable.

Xie Xueyi’s long whip harvested another life, and the thunderfire bombs inside his spatial ring were nearly exhausted as well. Those were things Gu Siyuan had specially prepared for him before entering seclusion—there had been over twenty thousand of them.

Yet once one truly entered the battlefield, this flesh-and-blood meat grinder involving millions of cultivators on both righteous and demonic sides, then without careful conservation even a single frontal clash could consume all of them.

Watching one teammate after another keep falling at his side, Xie Xueyi again found himself missing Gu Siyuan beyond measure.

If Gu Siyuan were here, things certainly would not be this difficult. The situation definitely would not have deteriorated to this point.

The demonic cultivators, observing the subtle movements of their opponents, seemed to realize there was something special about him as well, and instinctively shifted most of their attacks onto Xie Xueyi.

Under such dense attacks, no matter how talented or battle-gifted Xie Xueyi was, he was quickly covered in wounds, his face pale.

The demonic leader watched the increasingly urgent changes in the expressions of the righteous cultivators and knew his guess had been correct. He immediately shouted, “Capture this pretty boy and take him back for soul-searching. We’re bound to find something interesting.”

Everyone’s hearts tightened.

At that exact moment, a great wind suddenly rose over the plain.

No one knew where the wind came from, but in an instant almost every cultivator found their minds wavering and their footing unsteady.

And after the wind, a brilliant streak of light shot in from the distance.

Its speed was so astonishing that only the four Nascent Soul cultivators battling above could barely make it out: that light was actually a person.

With the howl of the wind, the streak of light arrived before them in an instant. At the same time, a sword intent carrying the might of heaven and earth descended, as though a meteor had exploded, dividing into countless threads of starlit sword intent and raining mercilessly down below.

All the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators panicked at once. If that starlight sword intent landed on them, how could they possibly survive?

But very quickly, they realized that the starlight sword intent seemed to have eyes of its own—it struck only at the demonic cultivators.

Moments later, great swathes of Foundation Establishment and Golden Core demonic cultivators had fallen dead across the wasteland.

Everyone stared at the scene in utter shock.

And then, almost involuntarily, they all turned their eyes toward that streak of light and the tall figure within it.

Perhaps because he had only just learned this move, he had not yet fully mastered control over it. At this moment, he himself seemed like a drawn sword, sword intent coiling around his entire body and exposing its sharpness freely outward, to the point that others could hardly even look at him directly without pain stabbing their eyes.

But Xie Xueyi looked at that figure and could not bear to turn away no matter what.

Even as his eyes reddened…

“You’re staring so hard. We haven’t seen each other for a year—don’t tell me you don’t recognize me anymore?”

A familiar cool male voice sounded in Xie Xueyi’s ear.

A figure stepped out from the light.

As he walked closer to Xie Xueyi step by step, the sword intent around him that had been so sharp and overwhelming gradually withdrew, until not the slightest trace remained. All that was left was the familiar slender figure in green robes and that cold, handsome face.

Xie Xueyi blinked, and a dazzling light flashed deep within his pupils. Before the man had even fully approached, he threw himself at him. “Gege!”

“Mm.” Gu Siyuan wrapped him into one arm and let out a long sigh. “I missed you to death.”

Xie Xueyi’s body trembled, and his eyes reddened almost instantly.

A moment later, Gu Siyuan let him go and said calmly, “We can keep hugging later. I’ll first help the two elders deal with those two old fellows in the sky.”

With that, his figure flashed, and he went charging upward with sword in hand.

Xie Xueyi had just been about to say something.

Those were Nascent Soul cultivators up there—it was too dangerous…

But then his eyes suddenly widened.

Gu Siyuan had come out of seclusion. That heaven-shaking sword just now. So that meant Gu Siyuan was now a Nascent Soul cultivator as well.

His good gege had also reached Nascent Soul. He had truly stepped onto the peak of this continent—not in terms of talent or potential, not because of identity or background, but through pure cultivation and battle strength alone.

Gu Siyuan had always been someone who uprooted things completely once he acted.

No one knew how long later, but peace once more returned to the wasteland.

A flock of carrion hawks circled down to the area, only to discover that not a single corpse or bloodstain remained on the ground. Crying out angrily twice, they flew off in a group.

After Gu Siyuan and the others left the wasteland, they found a hidden place to rest for a short while.

The two Nascent Soul elders of Taixuan Immortal Sect finally had a chance to speak. “Siyuan, everyone truly judged you correctly. The moment you formed your Nascent Soul, your battle strength changed beyond heaven and earth.”

In the battle just now, those two demonic Nascent Soul cultivators had both been killed entirely by Gu Siyuan alone.

He had only just emerged from seclusion, newly advanced into Nascent Soul, and yet when he fought, he already seemed comparable to late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Calling it monstrous talent hardly seemed enough.

Excitement and pride were plain in both elders’ eyes and across their faces.

Gu Siyuan’s expression did not change. He only nodded and said, “These past days, the two elders have worked hard.”

“As we should.” The two of them smiled and shook their heads lightly.

After exchanging a few more casual words, Gu Siyuan and Xie Xueyi returned to the temporary cave dwelling they had opened for themselves to rest.

Traveling outside, many things were inconvenient.

After a simple session of dual cultivation—

Xie Xueyi still clung tightly to Gu Siyuan without letting go, lying limp and lazy over him, his head resting by his neck and shoulder while his pale fingers traced patterns across those firm chest and abdominal muscles.

Gu Siyuan endured it for a while, then caught his fingers. “Enough.”

Xie Xueyi raised his chin and leaned close to his ear, his breath soft and fragrant. “Gege, why are you so easy to tease?”

Gu Siyuan held his chin and gave a derisive laugh. “Who’s easy to tease? Who was biting his teeth together just now and didn’t dare make a sound because he was afraid the elders resting nearby might hear?”

Xie Xueyi puffed out his cheeks and gave an unconvinced little huff. “That’s only because you were deliberately bullying me.”

Gu Siyuan’s voice dropped low. “Then be good now.”

“Oh…” That one low line made Xie Xueyi’s heart go weak and tingling, and he gave a soft hum.

But not long after, he could not help asking curiously, “Right, gege, how did you happen to arrive just in time today?”

Gu Siyuan stroked his slightly damp black hair and answered softly, “I asked the elders of the immortal sect. They said you were carrying out a secret mission, so I followed the trail all the way here.”

Speaking of that, Xie Xueyi nodded gloomily. “It is a secret mission, but there still hasn’t been much progress…”

“But now you have me.” Gu Siyuan got straight to the point. “Your mission—is it to find the Lingting secret realm where the Xiao family from the Spirit Realm is hiding?”

Xie Xueyi’s eyes widened. “Gege, you know?”

“I can more or less guess,” Gu Siyuan said thoughtfully.

If it had not been something like this, then no matter that Xie Xueyi was his dao companion, Taixuan Immortal Sect would never have allowed him to be placed in danger before Gu Siyuan had successfully formed his Nascent Soul.

Unless it was exactly this kind of mission: critically important, yet at the same time one that uniquely required him.

By now the war between righteous and demonic paths had inflicted heavy losses on both sides.

But for both sides, this was a war over life and future. Neither was willing to end it first, because afterward they would either have to live tens of thousands of years in fear or submit themselves in humiliation.

And if they wanted to bring it to a faster victorious end, then the best method was, of course, to capture the king first.

One path the righteous side was currently exploring was to destroy the Lingting secret realm directly, wiping out the Xiao family from the Spirit Realm in a single stroke and uprooting them completely.

Since Xie Xueyi came from the Lingting secret realm, one could say that among all the righteous cultivators, he understood that force best.

And because of his special envoy constitution, and because he had once cultivated some of Lingting’s techniques, once he came within a certain range of the secret realm, he would feel a strange sort of resonance.

Therefore, a special team had been formed around him, focused solely on locating the enemy’s nest.

But the secret realm was suspended in the void, and its position constantly changed and shifted.

It was like the Xianling Secret Realm—each time it appeared in the world, the location of its entrance was different, drifting across the east, south, west, and north of the continent in turn.

So for all these months, they had found absolutely nothing.

Xie Xueyi rested his pointed chin against Gu Siyuan and gloomily shook his little head.

“Even if progress has been poor so far, you should have collected and prepared a lot of information related to that Lingting secret realm, right? Let me see it.” Gu Siyuan pinched his chin and spoke calmly.

Joy flared in Xie Xueyi’s eyes. “Gege, do you have a way to find it?”

Gu Siyuan said, “It’s worth trying.”

“Good. It’s all in my spatial ring. I’ll give it to you now.” Xie Xueyi said excitedly.

At first, Xie Xueyi had assumed Gu Siyuan had refined some new kind of tracking artifact or talisman specifically for searching.

But over the next few days and nights, all Gu Siyuan did was look over those jade slips, images, and records, writing and drawing on paper. And the things written on those papers were all things Xie Xueyi did not recognize at all. They did not look like the writing of Canglan Continent either, but rather like tadpole-like strange symbols and odd little diagrams.

“Gege, can this really find it?” Xie Xueyi asked while lying next to him with a spirit fruit in hand, biting into it as he spoke.

Gu Siyuan looked at his crimson lips moistened by the juice of the fruit and answered softly, “Your luck is good. I’ve just about determined the general range.”

Xie Xueyi immediately bounced upright into a seated position and stared until his eyes blurred at the stack of papers on the stone table.

After a long while, he asked slowly, “You mean this pile of paper? And all these weird symbols and weird little drawings?”

Gu Siyuan pinched his face. “Little illiterate.”

These were physics formulas.

From the information Xie Xueyi had provided, one could roughly determine the geographical environment inside the secret realm, as well as the size, mass, and other characteristics of the entire secret realm space.

Then, combining that with the possible places where the secret realm had secretly appeared over the years—

little by little, Gu Siyuan was able to sketch out the approximate movement path of that secret realm and derive a rough operating formula. That way, he could calculate its future trajectory and likely locations in advance.

Of course, because of many influencing factors, the formula might not be perfectly precise. But they were cultivators now, with extremely fast flying speed. Even if the prediction was a little off, it would not matter much. It was still far better than having no clue at all and wandering blindly across the continent, only to wander straight into an enemy trap.

Thinking this, Gu Siyuan asked again, “When I came out of seclusion, I found the place where Ruan Li had been imprisoned was empty. Did you bring him with you to the frontlines?”

Xie Xueyi replied at once, “Yes. Didn’t you say he might still be useful later? Even though everyone already knows he has ties to the demonic path, the brains of people like Ji Jinghuan are all abnormal. I was afraid that after you went into seclusion and I came to the frontlines, with the mountains high and the emperor far away, Ji Jinghuan might release Ruan Li. So I simply kept him with me. Right now he’s imprisoned in Fort Number Three, the nearest battle fortress to this place.”

Gu Siyuan nodded lightly. “Mm. Then let’s head back there. Even though you can sense the secret realm, I’m afraid that to make it fully reveal itself in the end, we’ll still need to borrow his bloodline.”

“Mm, bloodline? No, wait. Only the bloodline of Xiao family members from inside the secret realm can make the secret realm gate reveal itself, right?” Xie Xueyi frowned, then after a while froze and grabbed Gu Siyuan. “Hey, I remember… Ji Jinghuan’s junior brother—or lover—was called Xiao Xinchi, right? Xiao? Could he have some connection to the Lingting secret realm? And he and Ruan Li are cousins, aren’t they?”

Gu Siyuan pinched his cheek. “That brain of yours turns quickly.”

Xie Xueyi’s eyes went wide. “Damn, so it really is true? I knew it. Why else would those demonic spies target him specifically and not someone else?”

Gu Siyuan said nothing.

Earlier, Xie Xueyi had already told him quite a lot about Lingting, and among those things there was one piece of Lingting gossip that had left a deep impression on him.

The Xiao clan members of Lingting had been in Canglan World for nearly ten thousand years.

But in Canglan World, it was impossible to reach the Divine Transformation stage. Without entering Nascent Soul, one’s lifespan was only about two thousand years; at most perhaps three thousand.

Which meant that aside from the old monster Gu Siyuan had swallowed, the Xiao cultivators currently living in the Lingting secret realm were no longer the original people who had descended all those years ago. They were their descendants, carrying on the mission of their forebears.

But even among cultivators, one could never guarantee that every child born from their union would possess a spiritual root and the ability to cultivate.

Naturally, the Xiao family was no exception. And given their madness, any clan member without usefulness—someone who would only occupy the secret realm’s spiritual energy—would naturally be considered trash.

An ordinary family might merely expel such people.

But in Lingting secret realm, those people would be killed outright, because the existence of the secret realm had to remain absolutely secret.

Still, now and then there would always be one or two parents with rare parental love.

The ancestors of Ruan Li and Xiao Xinchi had been exactly such a case. Their ancestral line had begun with twins born of the same mother. The elder brother had spiritual roots; the younger did not. So their parents concealed the existence of the child without spiritual roots and secretly sent him away, sparing him from death.

That was also one of the reasons why, in the original plot, after decades of war, the male lead and the love interest were ultimately able to join hands, defeat evil, save the continent, and become the final victors.

After all—boundless hatred, boundless love, and fate all tangled together.

…

Gu Siyuan’s group each used their own means to hurry toward a giant city in the northwest.

After the great war between righteous and demonic paths began, the whole frontline region had been divided into four major war zones. For the convenience of support and command, the righteous side had built a giant fortress-city in each corresponding war zone.

Xie Xueyi currently belonged under the command of War Zone Number Three, so whether to report back or simply to rest and reorganize, he had to return once to Fortress Number Three.

The enormous fortress-city lay crouched upon the earth. Around it stretched endless plains, and as the sun set low, dim yellow light poured down from the horizon, adding a sense of broad desolation to the scene.

At the city gate stood five teams of fully armed cultivators checking the identities of those entering and leaving, with Golden Core cultivators leading and Foundation Establishment cultivators assisting. And seated deeper within the gate, eyes closed, was a Nascent Soul ancestor.

Gu Siyuan and the others stepped forward and handed over their identity tokens for inspection.

“Taixuan Immortal Sect, disciple of Qingchen Mountain, Gu Siyuan. Identity checks out.” The Golden Core captain in charge nodded, then suddenly his eyes widened. “Gu… Gu Siyuan, you’ve come out of seclusion.”

For ordinary cultivators, the great war between righteous and demonic paths was a disaster.

But for those heaven’s favored talents with extraordinary battle strength, it was in some ways also an opportunity.

In order to let cultivators fight with their full strength, the righteous sects had practically taken out all the treasured reserves they had accumulated over the last ten thousand years and used them as rewards for heroes.

By now, amid this tempering through blood and fire, countless young prodigies had emerged, their cultivation and combat strength advancing by leaps and bounds.

Among those of Gu Siyuan’s generation—people like Yin Xiaojue, Ji Jinghuan, Zhao Tianzong, and the rest—each of them had gained fame across the land, achieved dazzling military merits, and received vast rewards in resources.

And at times like this, people naturally began thinking of Gu Siyuan too—this man whose combat strength had surpassed all his peers, yet who had never gone to the battlefield and had not earned a single war merit. There had even been more than a few voices of doubt.

Only when Taixuan Immortal Sect announced that Gu Siyuan was in closed-door cultivation attempting Nascent Soul did those voices gradually quiet.

In their place came overwhelming shock. Gu Siyuan was only a few decades old, wasn’t he? To attempt Nascent Soul so young was almost unimaginable. If he succeeded, he would likely be the first in all the history of Canglan Continent…

And now, here he was, standing right in front of them.

At that moment, a steady voice suddenly rang in the Golden Core captain’s ear. “Foolish thing. How dare you be so rude? You should address him as Senior Gu.”

The Golden Core captain froze.

That was the voice of the Nascent Soul martial uncle stationed deeper within the city gate.

Senior?

If that was what he meant, then Gu Siyuan had really succeeded in forming his Nascent Soul. And so quickly too…

His mind was still reeling in shock, but his body reacted even faster. He immediately returned the identity token with both hands and bowed respectfully. “Senior Gu, please proceed.”

Gu Siyuan gave the faintest nod and led Xie Xueyi into the city by the hand.

Just then, a few people happened to be coming out of the fortress. They wore special hooded law-robes that concealed both aura and appearance, making their forms and faces impossible to see clearly.

As they brushed past the two of them, they even seemed to deliberately quicken their pace.

Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes.

But Xie Xueyi only tightened his grip on his hand and took the initiative to pull him forward, as if nothing at all had happened.

Gu Siyuan understood immediately. His expression did not change, and he kept walking without pause.

Only after a while, once those people had completely vanished beyond the range of his divine sense, did he stop. With one hand he caught Xie Xueyi by the chin. “What was that just now? Those people were obviously suspicious.”

Xie Xueyi stuck out his bright red tongue and licked the web of his hand. “That was Ruan Li.”

Gu Siyuan raised a brow. “So he escaped after all. It seems that even bringing him all the way here with you still wasn’t safe enough.”

“Yeah, truly depressing.” Xie Xueyi shrugged, then flashed him a radiant smile. “But gege, luckily I have you. That tracking artifact you refined before was incredibly delicate and useful, so before bringing Ruan Li to the frontlines, I secretly planted it inside his body. No one can detect it. And look, it really paid off.”

The corner of Gu Siyuan’s lips lifted as he pinched his cheek. “Smart baby.”

Xie Xueyi froze, and the tips of his ears instantly flushed red as blood.

How had Gu Siyuan become this good at talking after just one period of closed-door cultivation…

Gu Siyuan continued walking with him and asked, “You didn’t expose Ruan Li just now and deliberately let him leave. What are you planning?”

Xie Xueyi gave a heavy snort. “I want revenge.”

At once, Gu Siyuan narrowed his eyes, and the aura around him turned cold in an instant. “While I was in seclusion, someone bullied you? Was it Ji Jinghuan?”

“Mm. Him, and also that Xiao Xinchi, whether he’s junior brother or lover or whatever.”

Xie Xueyi immediately began rattling off complaints with his little mouth. “Even though I’m not afraid of fighting, and even though the two of them still can’t out-argue me even together… still, I was all alone by myself, while they kept showing up in front of me in pairs. That kind of thing speaks louder than words. They were clearly just showing off in front of me that they had a partner. Tell me, how could I possibly stand that kind of grievance?”

“…” Gu Siyuan.

Why do I feel like what you actually resent… is me?

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