An Encounter with the Tsundere Immortal Lady Chapter 38

Clearly, not long ago, she was still laughing and playing with her senior sister, but in the blink of an eye, they were already separated by two realms. The ways of the world are truly unpredictable. Who could have imagined that such an incident would occur at an ordinary birthday banquet?
What one should learn most in life is to cherish the present, I suppose.
Although she felt a pang of emotion, Lin Wuxi wasn’t one to get lost in memories. After a sigh, the green figure stood up again and walked out of the wooden hut. She had known for a long time that blind sorrow was useless. Sadness, despair, and grief would only, step by step, bit by bit, corrode one’s spirit, dragging those immersed in them into a dark abyss.
Those precious things, relying on sorrow alone, there’s absolutely no way to get them back.
Closing her eyes, she used her spiritual sense to observe inwardly. Following her senior sister’s own method, she tried to guide all her true energy towards another direction. There, where purple energy swirled in primordial chaos and spiritual energy flickered, was precisely the location of the Purple Lotus.
After thirty-six cycles, Lin Wuxi finally finished. When she opened her eyes again, she was already drenched in sweat, as if she had just been pulled out of water. Using it herself, it was indeed not as easy as when her senior sister did it.
But, she had finally succeeded.
Pushing open the wooden door, the corners of Lin Wuxi’s lips curved slightly. She had already composed her emotions. If I’m not sufficiently prepared, how could a mortal like me even speak of going to the Heavenly Realm and saving Senior Sister?
A cool breeze was blowing. Perhaps two or three qilin were leisurely strolling, or perhaps a group of qilin were gathered, excitedly discussing heaven and earth. In their midst were occasionally three shy and awkward humans. It was truly a harmonious and beautiful scene.
Wait, weren’t those three humans her own companions? Looking closer, their expressions didn’t seem shy and awkward, but rather like they were on the verge of tears and laughter, utterly helpless? Completely embarrassed? Moreover, among that group of qilin, there seemed to be several familiar figures. Thinking of their personalities, Lin Wuxi no longer had the heart to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the Qilin Forest, but instead strode forward, intending to rescue her companions.
“Excuse me, what are your respective relationships with Xixi? And why are you here with us? Please answer directly!” A qilin held a shiny, cylindrical object, desperately trying to point it at the faces of the three individuals. Looking closely, a sign hung from it, reading ‘Pure Gossip.’
Strange, what’s ‘gossip’? Is there some kind of formation like an eight-trigram array in there? Lin Wuxi quickened her pace.
“Excuse me, Miss Xixi, did you break up with the senior sister you were with last time? What was the reason for your breakup? Was it because of one of you three?” asked a qilin holding a cylinder labeled ‘Trendy Gossip.’
“May I ask what caused the rift between you? Was it a third party’s intervention, or due to societal pressure, or perhaps mutual agreement?”
Lin Wuxi halted her steps. Silently, she said in her heart, “My apologies.” Without hesitation, she turned and walked away.
But it was too late. A sharp-eyed qilin shouted, “The person involved is over there!” A horde of qilin immediately abandoned the three pitiful figures they had surrounded and, with wind at their heels, chased after Lin Wuxi.
The next day, the four of them, looking disheveled and dejected, arrived at the Qilin clan’s territory. They received the realm-crossing pills and, from afar, saw that group of qilin, shouldering their ‘long guns and short cannons’ of interview equipment, rushing over upon hearing the news. They were so frightened they didn’t even have time to say goodbye, practically jumping and leaping into the teleportation portal the clan had opened for them.
At the outskirts of Lianhen Mountain, the four, traveling on flying swords, looked back with lingering fear. Only after confirming that no one—no, no qilin—were chasing them did they finally feel completely relieved.
“To think that the divine beasts of legend are so… so unique.” Even the usually calm and composed Young Master Zhou Cheng’s neatly tied hair was slightly disheveled, and the folding fan in his hand didn’t sway as smoothly as before.
“Senior Sister Wuxi, those… those qilin are so strange,” Qi Chun whispered, tugging at Lin Wuxi’s sleeve.
Yuan Ying nodded in agreement.
Lin Wuxi didn’t know how to explain it to them. After all, the last time she was here, although these qilin were a bit eccentric, they weren’t as, uh, as unconventional as they were now. Could it be… a series of aftereffects caused by the long years of cultivation?
Regardless, after this stop, all preparations for the journey to the Immortal Realm were complete. Next, the biggest and most difficult problem was how to actually get to the Immortal Realm.
Speaking of journeying to the Immortal Realm, Lin Wuxi actually already had a plan in mind. Although she didn’t know if it was feasible, even if there was only a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Lin Wuxi wasn’t willing to give up.
Regarding the Immortal Realm, the only thing Lin Wuxi could recall related to ‘immortal’ was that underwater secret realm she had entered long ago with Chen Yuanyin and her senior sister. Not only had Lin Wuxi clearly heard the old man in that secret realm say the word ‘immortal,’ but just by inferring from the fact that the old man might be the master of the secret realm, it was highly probable that the underwater secret realm was connected to the Immortal Realm.
In fact, most secret realms in the cultivation world were related to the Immortal Realm. It was just that due to their ancient age and long periods of neglect, they were now almost entirely considered part of the cultivation world, having long since lost their connection to the Immortal Realm.
But the underwater secret realm was different. It had a master, and that old man was definitely connected to the Immortal Realm.
The teleportation array in Haoyue City glowed faintly, and Lin Wuxi’s group of four walked out. The sea breeze blew gently; this city was still as warm and cheerful as last time, and the commercial streets were just as bustling with people, prosperous and crowded.
Even if the ownership of this city had changed, for ordinary cultivators and the mortals of this city, life went on. The power struggles of cultivation sects had nothing to do with them.
There was no time to waste, nor was anyone in the mood to leisurely shop like last time. After a brief rest, the four of them each mounted their flying swords and flew towards the vast ocean.
Cultivators had their own ways of discerning directions, and the pitch-black seabed couldn’t hinder them much. After half a day, the group of four arrived at their destination.
The ancient, unadorned gate still stood in the depths of the sea. The passage of time had not caused it any damage; even amidst the powerful ocean currents, it remained completely motionless.
“This is the secret realm gate you mentioned?” Although the three had heard Lin Wuxi talk about it before, they were still astonished when they truly saw it. It looked far too plain and unremarkable. Even careful probing with their spiritual sense from their seas of consciousness revealed nothing. Who could have imagined that such a gateway concealed an elder of immeasurable power!
“How did you discern that this gate was different? It only has the simplest protective formations carved on it. Its carvings, decorations, and materials are not much different from ordinary secret realms. Even knowing it was extraordinary and probing it several times with my spiritual sense, I couldn’t find anything different about it. How did you know about it in the first place?” Zhou Cheng asked, truly unable to find anything unusual about the gate despite racking his brains.
“I also can’t prove its extraordinariness. Everything about it blends perfectly with its surroundings. If I had to point out something special, it would only be its form. It’s clearly made with the most common methods, styles, and carving techniques, but as a whole, it possesses an ancient, weathered quality that other structures are far from achieving. Even if only made of stone, it can express many indescribable things. Such a creation, one can imagine how outstanding its creator must be. How could a secret realm made by such hands be ordinary?” Lin Wuxi said. The gate’s extraordinariness had left a shocking impression on her when she first saw it.
Lin Wuxi respectfully walked to the gate, bent her knees, and knelt solemnly before it. She said in a clear voice, “Junior Lin Wuxi, this disturbance is truly out of necessity. If Senior has any blame, Wuxi will accept any punishment after the matter is resolved! Not long ago, my sect’s Disciple Yu Huang was taken away by a group of people in grey robes who are called ‘Immortals’. According to them, Senior Sister is actually an ‘Immortal Lord’ from the Immortal Realm. Wuxi doesn’t know if this is true, but Senior Sister has helped me greatly, and Wuxi absolutely cannot stand by and watch her be taken away by people of unknown identity without doing anything! Moreover, when Wuxi disturbed you last time, Junior heard Senior ask one of us, ‘How did you end up here?’ We didn’t answer then, but now I believe Senior was referring to my Senior Sister. With Senior’s qualifications, you must possess world-encompassing abilities. Therefore, Lin Wuxi specially implores Senior, hoping Senior can help Wuxi open the path to the Immortal Realm and find Senior Sister!”
Lin Wuxi’s voice, each word and sentence firm and resonant, echoed in the dark sea, spreading far into the boundless ocean.
“Junior Zhou Cheng, I hope Senior will grant this request.” Zhou Cheng knelt.
“Junior Qi Chun, I hope Senior will grant this request.” Qi Chun knelt.
“Junior Yuan Ying, I hope Senior will grant this request.” Yuan Ying knelt.
All four of them knelt before the gate with resolute gazes, their backs straight, as if they had turned into unyielding boulders.
The dark ocean neither rose nor fell. There was no light, no rain, no cool breeze, no sound, not even anything to mark the passage of time. Everything seemed to be still, except for thought.
How long had passed, who could say? Perhaps a day, perhaps a month, perhaps a year. In the silent sea, who could accurately know the time?
Until a sigh broke the long-standing tranquility. An ancient voice, unheard for a long time, echoed in the dark sea: “Go back. Even if there’s real danger, with your strength, you’d just be courting death. That place is one you can set foot in. If you’re worried about her safety, I can also tell you directly, she absolutely won’t be in danger. You can rest assured. Go back. Things are about to happen in the cultivation world. You still have many things to do. Don’t waste any more time here.”
Hearing this, Lin Wuxi stood up and asked, “Senior Sister really, as you said, will absolutely not be in danger?”
“Yes.” An expected, affirmative answer.
“Since that’s the case, and you all heard it,” Lin Wuxi turned around, her face expressionless, and said to Zhou Cheng and the other two, “let’s go back.”
“No way! How can we just leave like this? I must see Senior Sister!” Qi Chun said, puffing up her small face, huffing.
“She has already clearly refused. What else can we do?” Lin Wuxi retorted. “Are we going to force our way in with our flying swords?”
“But—” Qi Chun still wanted to say something, but Lin Wuxi interrupted her: “You and Zhou Cheng grew up in the Wan Hen Sect. You must have family there, right? Right now, in the cultivation world, the Wan Hen Sect is at the center of a vortex. Shouldn’t you go back and accompany them? What’s the point of wasting time here?”
“This…” At this point, both of them hesitated. They could disregard their own lives, but thinking of their elders, uncles, and aunts who usually doted on them, they felt a little reluctant to abandon them.
“I don’t have family, I can…” Yuan Ying started, but Lin Wuxi interrupted her: “You’re not even proficient with sword riding yet. If you go to the Immortal Realm, you’ll only drag Senior Sister down. If you want to go, wait until you’ve mastered your flying sword.”
“Let’s go.” Before they could say anything more, Lin Wuxi flew off first.
The three looked at each other for a good while before following Lin Wuxi and leaving this place. Thinking about it carefully, they knew she wasn’t wrong. They could only blame their own low strength, unable to control their own destiny.
Above the sea, watching the three departing figures, Lin Wuxi remained silent for a long while. From the beginning, she never intended to let them go to the Immortal Realm. Judging by the behavior of those grey-robed people at the Wan Hen Sect, one could imagine how low-strength cultivators were treated in the Immortal Realm. One misstep, and they would end up with their souls shattered and scattered.