Fu Li Immortal Realm, Cloud City of the Eastern Continent.
Thousands of floating islands, large and small, faintly appeared amidst the clouds. Continuous buildings were scattered across the islands, resembling a mortal province city. At the highest and most central point was an immense island that stretched beyond sight. Endless towers and palaces stood majestic and magnificent. Sunlight cascaded down, radiating boundless brilliance, creating a grand and splendid atmosphere. This was the Cloud City Immortal Palace, renowned as one of the Four Great Powers of the Immortal Realm.
A flying carriage pulled by exotic beasts currently traversed the swirling clouds. In just a few breaths, it arrived before a dark, somber grand hall. In front of the hall sat two bronze beasts, and on the plaque above, the three large characters “Senluo Hall” were inscribed. Sword energy overflowed, inspiring dread in anyone who looked upon them. The exotic beasts stopped, raised their forelegs, and neighed loudly.
Soon after, a fair, slender hand slowly lifted the carriage curtain, and a young, beautiful white-haired woman emerged from inside. She wore red clothes, covered by a black, wide-sleeved cloak embroidered with cranes. Her every glance radiated dazzling brilliance and vibrancy. However, upon closer inspection, her eyes were exceptionally desolate, like a pool of still, dead water.
Outside Senluo Hall, there were no guards or attendants. Only when the woman slowly walked to the main hall did a white-haired steward rush out to greet her. He bowed, but before he could speak, he saw the woman place a finger to her lips, gently shushing him. He paused in a daze, then silently retreated. Cloud City had countless palaces, large and small, but Senluo Hall was famous far and wide, used to imprison Cloud City’s criminals. However, the Cloud Sovereign was lenient by nature and rarely used torture, so Senluo Hall had been empty for a long time. After the great change in Cloud City, and the Cloud Sovereign’s death in the Abyssal Vortex, everything became different. A major upheaval in the upper echelons meant that more than half of the former elders and stewards were killed or wounded. The rest were all thrown into Senluo Hall, including the only son of the former Cloud Sovereign, Yun Dansu.
Outside the hall, the sunlight was bright and vibrant, but inside, a chilling wind blew, making the wall-mounted candles flicker precariously, as if they would extinguish at any moment. Wailing, curses, and the clanking of chains dragged across the floor echoed one after another, but the woman paid them no heed. She walked until she reached the end of the hall’s prison, and only then did a faint glimmer appear in her desolate eyes.
The person imprisoned here was indeed Yun Dansu. The once refined and elegant Young Master Yun now had a white robe covered in stains, his flesh clung to his cheekbones; long gone was his former dashing handsomeness. His meridians had been crippled, his leg bones shattered. He could only lie collapsed on the ground like a dead dog, letting chains of various sizes pierce through his flesh and blood. He had initially been very quiet, his head bowed, as if already dead. But upon hearing footsteps, he abruptly raised his head, his gaze filled with intense resentment and rage fixed on the person entering the cell. From between gritted teeth, he squeezed out three words heavy with hatred: “Luo Lingfeng!”
“Have you thought about where the item is?” Luo Lingfeng gazed at Yun Dansu with a calm expression, her voice clear and crisp like the water of a mountain stream.
Yun Dansu spat fiercely, then burst into maniacal laughter, “You’re dreaming!”
Luo Lingfeng frowned, “Do you think I dare not kill you?”
Yun Dansu looked at Luo Lingfeng with full scorn and coldly said, “You could ambush and kill your own Dao Companion with whom you shared a bed, let alone us? To think, they had underestimated Luo Lingfeng! They thought this person, Wei Yunshu’s bedmate, was merely a dodder flower clinging to others. Who would have thought she was ruthless and vicious, and her cultivation wasn’t at the Nascent Soul realm as others believed! She had clearly reached the Cavern Heaven realm! They had painstakingly schemed for the Cloud Sovereign’s position, wanting to use Luo Lingfeng’s hand to kill her… Wei Yunshu indeed had her soul scattered in the Abyssal Vortex, but this woman suddenly went utterly mad, killing many elders and stewards! How hateful that they ultimately made wedding dresses for others!
Thinking of this, Yun Dansu squinted his eyes. He stared fixedly at Luo Lingfeng, and a strange, “hoarse” sound squeezed from his throat. He said, “Didn’t you also look down on that beggar, Wei Yunshu, just like us? What? Feeling guilty and uneasy after killing your bedmate? Having nightmares every day? So you’re collecting Wei Yunshu’s relics everywhere and even inviting people who resemble her into Cloud City? Afraid you’ll miss her soul’s temporary vessel? But her soul is already scattered, there’s no chance of rebirth for her! This display of deep affection you’re putting on, who is it for, anyway?”
What Luo Lingfeng wanted wasn’t some secret treasure, but “Commentaries on the One Qi Orthodox Sutra” and notes that Wei Yunshu had written for the disciples of Cloud City. The “One Qi Orthodox Sutra” was a common basic Daoist scripture found everywhere in the Fu Li Immortal Realm, holding no real value. Yet, Luo Lingfeng was obsessed with it simply because Wei Yunshu had authored the commentaries, continuously inquiring about it for three years, clearly having developed a mental obsession. Yun Dansu had once hated Wei Yunshu the most, but now that hatred had entirely transferred to Luo Lingfeng, who had destroyed his foundation and his dreams. He simply didn’t want Luo Lingfeng to get her way! Chains tugged at his flesh, tearing open fresh scars. Gurgling blood stained his white robe. Yun Dansu looked at Luo Lingfeng, filled with malice: “Even if Wei Yunshu has the ability to reincarnate and re-cultivate, can she still reconcile with you? Will she forgive you for your ‘overnight white hair’ for her sake? Truly ridi—”
Before he could utter the word “culous,” Yun Dansu was sent flying by a powerful gust of wind, crashing against the wall with a loud thud. Luo Lingfeng flicked her sleeve, watching him expressionlessly. Only when she heard Wei Yunshu’s name did extremely suppressed and terrifying emotions churn in her eyes, like a storm at sea. Amidst Yun Dansu’s malicious curses, Luo Lingfeng let out a cold laugh, shattered his hand bones with a slap, and then turned and left.
After walking out of Senluo Hall, her demeanor returned to normal. She slightly raised her gaze to see a communication paper crane flying through the mist. She extended a hand, glimpsed a line of small characters on it, and her expression instantly changed.
Abyssal Vortex.
This place was about a thousand li from Cloud City, a desolate, inauspicious land devoid of spiritual energy. After Cloud Sovereign Wei Yunshu fell into the Abyssal Vortex, people from Cloud City had extensively searched the abyss once. Only when Sovereign Consort Luo Lingfeng personally went and brought out Wei Yunshu’s corpse did all the Cloud Sect disciples stationed there return.
But after the abyss had been silent for three years, an ethereal figure, like a wisp of cloud, walked out from it. She wore white clothes like snow, with golden threads on her hem embroidered with lively, soaring cranes. On her head was a Taiji lotus Daoist crown, and in her hand she held a whisk. Her eyes shone like stars, full of radiant spirit. After walking out of the desolate place, she looked back at the abyss, shook her head, and chuckled softly: “From now on, there is no more Wei Yunshu in the mortal world.”
Three years ago, Luo Lingfeng asked her to help pick a flower. She had always valued Luo Lingfeng greatly, never entrusting matters related to her to others. Who knew that an ambush awaited her? Her senior brothers and martial uncles were discontent with her, believing she was merely a beggar who had fortunately entered the immortal path and became a Cloud Sect disciple, and should never have coveted the position of Cloud Sovereign. But she never expected that even her Dao Companion was plotting day and night to kill her. That final, perilous zither melody took not only her life but also her heart. She finally understood that everything had simply been her wishful thinking. Her Dao Companion, whom she cherished, valued, and loved, felt only hatred for her.
If her death could appease Luo Lingfeng’s hatred, it would be a way to settle their childhood karma and repay her life. However, the heavens did not let her die. She cultivated the supreme treasure scripture of Cloud City, “The Grand Supreme Three Luminaries Jade Scroll,” using the Three Luminaries of sun, moon, and stars to condense sword energy and manifest myriad constellations. After her soul was scattered, a fragment of her spirit coincidentally attached itself to vegetation. Borrowing the “Three Luminaries,” she was able to continue cultivating, and it took three years for her to re-condense into human form. However, as she was merely a spirit fragment and primal soul, the Dao of longevity sought complete spirit, complete energy, and complete body. In her current state, she couldn’t progress far on the Daoist path.
Wei Yunshu was not of a melancholic or overly thoughtful disposition. Being alive was already a blessing for her. With a swing of her whisk, she smiled freely. Chanting grand Daoist verses, her mind immediately felt clear and unburdened. She had no intention of returning to Cloud City. Since she had already abandoned her past self, there was no meaning in revisiting old places. She looked forward and walked as she pleased. Half a month later, she arrived at a majestic, fortified city. Without needing to look up at the plaque, Wei Yunshu knew this place was Funeral Heaven Pass, a territory belonging to Cloud City, located near the Evil Miasma Land, the Corridor of Sins. It was a fortress city designed to block demonic cultivators.
Although the Immortal Sects of the Fu Li Immortal Realm had Four Great Powers, they did not fully occupy the four continents of the Immortal Realm. Cloud City dominated the Eastern Continent, Luoshui Divine Palace was in the south, Buzhou Peak was in the west, and the remaining Dustless Sea, due to most of its cultivators being of aquatic descent with demon beast bloodlines, had its territory in the oceanic region. The Northern Continent on the mainland had long become a stronghold for demonic cultivators, known as the Corridor of Sins. No one knew where the primordial demonic cultivators within came from. For thousands of years, they had been endlessly purged. Almost every year, immortal sect disciples were lured by demonic cultivators and fell, becoming evil cultivators.
Outside the fortress city.
Wei Yunshu glanced at the sky, then looked at the city gates, which had closed early, and her brows furrowed slightly. City gates usually closed in the early evening, forbidding entry and exit, but now they had closed before late afternoon. Could something have happened within Funeral Heaven Pass? After pondering for a moment, Wei Yunshu rode her donkey towards the village outside the city. According to the immortal sects’ rules, whenever a major incident occurred, the villagers outside the city would be temporarily moved inside. Although the area was barren due to its proximity to the Corridor of Sins, she had still seen scattered villages when she arrived, with at least dozens of households.
The donkey trotted reluctantly, kicking its hooves. Wei Yunshu patted it with her whisk, chuckled and chided it, then tossed out a spiritual pill. This donkey was one she had seen on the way here. It possessed a hint of nascent spiritual intelligence, and was quite ferocious. Cultivators looked down on it, while mortals couldn’t control it. In the end, she spent some silver to buy it as a mount. After all, the ancient sages said, a grand landscape can be traversed on a donkey. “Ah Mang, hurry,” Wei Yunshu quietly instructed.
This fellow, sufficiently intelligent and motivated by the spiritual pill, let out a loud bray and galloped off like a gust of wind, speeding towards the front. Before long, they arrived at the nearest village. Coincidentally, they encountered a young girl panic-stricken and chased by an evil cultivator. Before Wei Yunshu could act, a blade aura came from behind, instantly piercing through the evil cultivator.
The girl, who had fallen to the ground, clutched her chest, tilted her head slightly, and exclaimed in surprise, “Immortal Senior!” Wei Yunshu tapped her still-excited foolish donkey, urging it to step aside, allowing the “Immortal Senior” the girl had called out to emerge.
This person wore blue and white cultivation robes, a wine gourd hung from their waist, and their long hair was tied into a high ponytail. On their back was a blade wrapped in cloth strips. Although they weren’t wearing an identification token, one glance at their attire was enough to determine their origin – Buzhou Peak.
Wonder what kind of backstory FML have to kill her dao companion 😱