CHAPTER 10 – QIAN MU
Qing Yun(青云) Peak – Dark Emerald Nation
A mountain so steep that no normal man could climb it points up at the sky like a tower piercing the heavens. From the base, the mountain’s top appears higher than the sky itself as the light green clouds which always surround it barely reach half way. The land beyond is thought to be a different world. However none of these average people have ever dared to dream of even reaching the height of the clouds.
It is rumored that the mountain above the clouds is the territory of a Divine Ranked alchemist who is unmatched under the heavens. Thus, many demonic beasts had been tamed as guardians.
It is precisely in an area beyond the clouds a teenage girl with smooth milky white skin but sharp accentuated features stands, staring into a vial with a golden liquid.
With scarlet hair which turns blonde towards the ends she is an absolutely stunning beauty despite only being a teenager. The charm she exuded was not that of a mature young woman but rather the playfulness and vigor of youth.
Currently she was concentrating on a small vial in front of her while molding her soul domain to control the reactions happening inside. Alarming her soul was the same light green color of a Divine Ranked Alchemist! Yet she was clearly no older than 17!
“What other ingredient did brother Hai use?” she mumbled as she steadied her breath. She slowly closed her eyes and tried to recall everything she had seen.
…
On the day the 21 sects raided the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Association.
The girl remembered waking up early, full of joy. She would finally get to meet Hai Yun again after nearly one and a half year. This time on her travels with her father she had collected a variety of strange medicinal herbs and planned to diligently study them together with him.
Since the only way for him to even look at her while she is talking is when she describes these herbs. Seriously, the only thing he cares about is alchemy she thought internally. However this did not sadden her in the least bit, because without his passion for alchemy, he would no longer be her Hai Yun. Indeed, this girl is Qian Mu.
However, just as she was walking towards the bay, she was awkwardly stopped by her father.
“Mu’er, father is so sorry,” he began with a solemn look in his eye.
Qian Mu frowned, “Father, what have you done to be sorry about. Also, why can’t we just discuss it on the way to the island, why do we have to stop?”
“Mu’er, father has something to confess to you,” Qian Mu’s father lowered his head. Then he slowly took out a scroll from his robe. The wax seal had been opened and it had clearly been read, as she examined the seal she was shocked. This was the seal Hai Yun always used when sending her letters!
She had gifted it to him a few years ago, saying that when he sends his letters using this stamp then she will know if the letter belongs to her, and that he can use the regular stamp when sending letters to her father. She even remembered explicitly asking her father to not peek at their “private messages” so why had this been opened? But even if it had been, was there a reason to look solemn while apologizing?
“Mu’er, I only wanted to check the relationship between you two, because you had been receiving his letter so frequently this time, but inside this letter… what I found…” Qian Mu’s father’s face became incomparably grief stricken. One could tell that this great Divine Ranked Alchemist was in quite the heart wrenching dilemma.
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“Mu’er, we can’t go to the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect today,” he said softly.
“Why father?” Qian Mu asked. Did brother Hai say something so inappropriate father doesn’t want me to continue meeting him or something?
“Because…” Qian Mu’s father gritted his teeth before slowly whispering, “Because… After today… the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect will no longer exist. As for Hai Yun, he will become the new toy for 21 of the continents peak powers…”
Qian Mu trembled violently. “Why?!?! What happened?!?!” She immediately became panic stricken as she tried to rush past her father, however a firm hand struck on the back of her neck, instantly paralyzing her nerves.
“Qian Mu, father is sorry. I had never planned for things to turn out this way…” he softly whispered into her ear as he lifted her limp body onto his shoulder and began walking away from the harbor.
Why? What happened? She constantly questioned in her head. Why did things turn out this way?!?!Although she was paralyzed, she still kept crying. The tears would well up in her eyes, but they would flow towards he eyebrows and slowly drip off her forehead onto the ground. In this position she didn’t even get to feel tears stream down her cheeks.
…
It was only later she found out, that in the letter Hai Yun had sent to her, he explained his greatest accomplishment so far. The Efficacious Nirvana, a pill which lets someone retain their memories through the cycle of reincarnation.
Her father, had wanted to make Hai Yun marry her and leave the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect, so he had planned to alert the 21 peak powers. He exaggerated the medicine as being an elixir with no side effects, the one to control it would be able to make their sect unstoppable. However, one of the ingredients required would only appear every 100,000 years, so if they didn’t act immediately, the Crystal Ocean Alchemy sect would waste it one of their about to die alchemists.
This had incited all of the sects to madly rush for the Crystal Ocean Alchemy Sect. He had expected them to attack tomorrow, when he would be in the island and could pretend to be the good person and defend Hai Yun. Then smuggle him away and trick him to marry Qian Mu so then he could formally have a reason to protect him.
However, this would also give him every right to access this divine pill formula! He would become eternal, and could break through the limit of Divine Ranked alchemist!
It should be known that a Divine ranked alchemist could live for at least 1,500 years. If they were also at the Spirit Sovereign level then 3,000 years wouldn’t be too difficult. He had already lived for nearly 2,900. However, despite living a good life with his parents, who had also been divine ranked alchemist, and his wife who had accompanied him for nearly 2,000 years he was still not content. He did not want to die yet, one could even say he was afraid of death, despite it being nearly 100 years away.
Thus he came up with this plan, to let himself be reborn!
However, the sects were faster than he had anticipated. Beginning a siege before he could arrive. If he went now, sneaking in and getting Hai Yun out would be too risky, as an all-out war had already started.
After Qian Mu found out about her father’s plan she became frozen in shock. Her knees felt incredibly weak and she wanted to do nothing more than collapse. This time, the tears streamed out of her wide open eyes, with her expression not portraying even a wisp of emotion. As if all the world had turned cold, and she could only indifferently gaze into an endless void.
Her father couldn’t even bear to look her in the eye after confessing all this on the mountain. He only quietly stood there and stared at her sadly. But to her, these were no longer the eyes of guilt, but rather they seemed like the vision of someone who had merely missed an opportunity. Yes, his eyes portrayed the sadness one feels when losing an toy, like the Efficacious Nirvana. That was the type of regret! Not the regret of losing his friends, or losing her trust! No it was merely as if he had only lost a commodity making his life somewhat inconvenient!
Even if he had truly felt regret at that time, she had become too blinded by rage to even want to begin siding with him.
But wasn’t she the primary cause for this whole plan. If she had not kept pestering Hai Yun to send her letters and threatened to not share research with him unless he wrote to her once a month would this have happened? If she had not asked him to do that, wouldn’t he still be living well?!?!
Now, she would never get to see him again! Even if he was alive and didn’t commit suicide, wouldn’t he become a pill making slave for some sect?!?!
Brother Hai… I am so… so sorry… Qian Mu killed you… and destroyed everything of yours…