An Encounter with the Tsundere Immortal Lady Chapter 52

When Lin Wuxi arrived, the ruins left from the ancient battle were still there, but her Senior Sister was no longer present. The broken walls and remnants on the ground looked somewhat desolate against the azure sky.
In the vast sky, for some unknown reason, a gate a thousand meters across hung suspended in mid-air. It was dark and deep inside, seeming like a completely different place from the beautiful immortal world.
Senior Sister must be inside.
“Little Nine, put up your strongest protective barrier for me.” Lin Wuxi pulled the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon beside her and said, “Please, if possible, inform everyone in the immortal world that Immortal Emperor Si Yin is about to repair the Xuantian Secret Realm, and the immortal world will soon be restored to its original state.”
“You’re not thinking of going into that spatial current, are you?” the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon exclaimed, shocked. Is Lin Wuxi tired of living?
“Don’t worry, Senior Sister has opened a passage inside. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.” Lin Wuxi didn’t want to delay any longer. Once the Nine-Headed Demon Dragon had cast the protective barrier for her, she immediately flew on her sword towards the gate in the void.
“Time is short, go. Whether this succeeds or not depends on you now.”
The Nine-Headed Demon Dragon knew that matters had reached this point and they had no other choice. It glanced back at Lin Wuxi one last time and then had to fly towards the nearest major city.
Lin Wuxi, riding her Qingyu Brush, unhesitatingly passed through the gate connecting the immortal world and the Xuantian Secret Realm. The surrounding space had been reinforced by the Jade Pendant, unaffected by the external spatial fragments.
Senior Sister should be just ahead. Lin Wuxi accelerated, rushing through the spatial tunnel in the void until the sound of exploding spells came from ahead.
Her Senior Sister’s figure became clearer and clearer. The protective shield around Lin Wuxi also trembled due to the immense energy waves from ahead, but Lin Wuxi paid it no mind, instead speeding up even more towards the center of the waves.
“Senior Sister, I’m here! Come back with me, okay?” Lin Wuxi shouted towards the distant figure emitting intense light, hoping her Senior Sister would speak a few words to her.
“Is that Wuxi? Why are you here? Go, it’s dangerous here!” The figure turned back in shock, saw Lin Wuxi, and hastily pushed out with a hand. Lin Wuxi felt a force transmit over, and her body involuntarily retreated several steps.
“Senior Sister, I’m here! I have something to say to you.” Lin Wuxi was truly afraid her Senior Sister would just send her away; she didn’t have that much time to waste.
“Wuxi, perhaps you already know all this. But I’m sorry. Some things are destined from birth. I’m reluctant, but for the sake of the immortal world, I must do this.” The figure did not waver, only conjuring an ice wall in front of Lin Wuxi, preventing her from taking another step.
“Senior Sister, I know. I know you are a born Immortal Emperor. I know you were destined to ascend to the most revered position in the immortal world, destined to repair the Xuantian Secret Realm, and to restore the long-disrupted order of the immortal world with your own power.”
Senior Sister was born from jade, and it was also within jade that she overcame the greatest hurdle in her cultivation. Her life is deeply connected to jade. The ‘Jade’ in ‘Jade Reverses Heaven’ actually refers to Senior Sister.
“But Senior Sister, no matter how noble the reasons, no one is born to die. Even if Heaven gave you unprecedented talent since ancient times, and the greatest fortune in the history of the immortal world, it has no right to make you die. Senior Sister, your life should be yours to choose, not sacrificed for some so-called order of the immortal world.”
“Wuxi, it’s not that simple.” Senior Sister’s somewhat dejected voice came through. “From birth, I was born for this day. My cultivation since childhood has followed a predetermined path. Everything I’ve experienced until now was already set, just like going to the cultivation world, undergoing tribulations—all of these were fixed. I cannot control my own life. Since I have become an Immortal Emperor, I must bear this heavy responsibility. Only then will I not have wasted everything I’ve received.”
“No, it’s not. Perhaps there really is a Heaven, but Heaven can be defied, it can be changed. From birth, I was destined to die, placed in a tattered wooden basin and thrown into a raging river, but even so, I survived. My village suffered a calamity for no reason, and almost everyone, young and old, perished, but I miraculously escaped that disaster. My inner demons raged, hailed as a sure sign of death, but I am still alive now. Since a long, long time ago, I’ve known: Heaven does not tolerate me; it wants me gone, but I am unwilling. All these tribulations, which ordinary people see as certain death, I overcame them. And finally, I met you. Senior Sister, do you know? Only when I met you did I truly realize that perhaps I had really succeeded in changing my own destiny.”
“But do you think I can bear to abandon this responsibility to the immortal world? I was born for this, and I have always lived for this. If I don’t do it, then what has my life been for all this time? Wouldn’t it be as if I had lived in vain?”
“No, it’s not like that. Senior Sister, I met you. At least from the moment I met you, my path changed. I wasn’t supposed to survive in this world, and I wouldn’t have met you either. But since we met, my life is my own, and no one can take it away.” Senior Sister’s figure, at this moment, was moving further and further away. Lin Wuxi screamed hoarsely, wanting to call that figure back.
“It’s too late, Wuxi. Having you in my life now has been truly wonderful, even more wonderful than all the heavenly gifts I’ve received so far. Meeting you was my fortune; you brought different colors to my glorious but dull life, and even made me reluctant to leave this world. But it’s not enough. None of this is enough. I was born for this, and I should die for this.”
“Thank you, Wuxi. But… goodbye.” The spatial passage was already entering its final stages. Ahead was the central formation that supported the entire Xuantian Secret Realm. Forty-nine pillars surrounded a square platform in the middle, standing for a thousand years in the void filled with turbulent currents, yet they had never been touched by spatial fragments, which showed how powerful this formation was.
Unbeknownst to her, forty-eight small, differently colored specks of light had appeared on the Jade Pendant. Lin Wuxi recognized that each speck of light was a unique treasure. Forty-eight unique treasures… could they correspond to these forty-nine pillars? And the missing one… could it be her own Purple Lotus!
So the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace had been collecting unique treasures from all over the immortal world all these years, even willing to trade a favor from the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace for a unique treasure. It was all in preparation for this. But Senior Sister gave the Purple Lotus to her, so now one unique treasure was missing. How could this formation be activated?
But since Senior Sister had given her the Purple Lotus, she must have her own way to repair the Xuantian Secret Realm. Lin Wuxi saw Senior Sister raise her hand and wave. The Qingluan sword, which had always been with her in the cultivation world, appeared among the pile of unique treasures. The appearance of the Qingluan sword overshadowed all the light from the other unique treasures, shining alone around the Jade Pendant.
Even though Lin Wuxi’s cultivation was low and she couldn’t recognize the grade of the Qingluan sword, just a little thought told her that the Qingluan sword must be an immortal artifact far more precious than unique treasures. Senior Sister actually used it to trade for my Purple Lotus.
But this also showed that the repair of the Xuantian Secret Realm had reached its most critical juncture. When Senior Sister embedded all forty-nine unique treasures into the pillars, she would dissipate all her cultivation, sink into the platform in the center of those pillars, and Lin Wuxi would never see her Senior Sister again.
“Senior Sister, wait! The Nine-Headed Demon Dragon will be here soon! Can you wait a little longer?” Lin Wuxi softened her tone, almost pleading.
“Senior Sister, do you know? Although the order of the immortal world has been broken, perhaps it’s not such a terrible thing. Cultivators in the immortal world must rely on food to survive. As long as there is enough food, what’s so bad about that? Since I entered the Inedia stage, I could no longer eat the delicacies of the mortal world. For so many years, I had almost forgotten the taste of food. It was only when I came to the immortal world that I learned that living actually has other kinds of joy. Seeking immortality, pursuing eternal life—these are certainly our goals. But on this long road of cultivation, if we can’t enjoy the most precious gifts that nature bestows upon us, isn’t this path too dull and boring?”
“I still remember the first meal Old Man Sun made for me when I first arrived in the immortal world. Such ordinary food, yet eating it brought me an indescribable happiness. The path of cultivation, without it, what good is it?”
“You are Immortal Emperor Si Yin, respected by everyone in the immortal world. You were able to lead the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace to end the ceaseless fighting in the immortal world. I believe you can definitely ensure that the immortal world has enough good food. Isn’t that great? Let’s go back, okay?” Lin Wuxi reached out her hand towards the Jade Pendant, hoping it would take her hand, and they could leave this place together.
From far outside that gate, the faint sound of a crowd calling out to Immortal Emperor Siyin could be heard. Lin Wuxi looked over with joy. The Nine-headed Demon Dragon had finally arrived.
“Senior Sister, did you hear that? Those outside are other cultivators from the Immortal Realm,” Lin Wuxi said, looking at her Senior Sister. “Go and ask them, are they truly willing to live such devoted lives? Even if some among them are willing, what about the others? I believe there are definitely some like you, willing to lose something as wonderful as food in their long lives. Senior Sister, are you really going to deprive them of so much joy?” She hoped her Senior Sister would listen to the thoughts of those outside.
Yu Huang stopped and looked out the gate. She could clearly see several thousand residents of the Immortal Realm gathered there. Among them were accomplished immortals and ordinary cultivators who had not yet stepped into the immortal realm. At this moment, all of them, without exception, were kneeling outside the gate in the void. The dense, dark mass of people even covered the original signs of destruction on the ancient battlefield.
“Immortal Emperor Siyin, please retract your command! We want to return to our old lives, and even more, we don’t want to lose you!” The crowd knelt densely outside the gate, piously gazing at the gate in the sky. Ever since Immortal Emperor Siyin had appeared, she had been an existence they respected and looked up to. They could not accept her disappearing from the Immortal Realm just like that, no matter the reason.
“Food has been with us since birth. For so many years, we’ve never found its existence strange. Besides, the Immortal Realm spent a vast amount of time to finally research methods for cooking and cultivating food. Immortal Emperor, how can you bear to let all that be destroyed in an instant?” These people of the Immortal Realm had accepted the existence of food since they were young. Their love for food was simply deeper than Lin Wuxi’s, and even deeper than they themselves realized.
“Immortal Lord, please return to the Nine Heavens Immortal Palace to preside over the situation! We absolutely cannot lose you!” The earnest cries of the people from the Immortal Realm, who were continuously arriving, even moved Lin Wuxi a little.
But she didn’t speak. She knew her Senior Sister was making a choice, and this was not a good time to disturb her.
Yu Huang turned her head back and looked at Lin Wuxi again. In her clear eyes, there was hesitation and struggle. The unwavering faith she had always held suddenly crumbled at this moment. She didn’t know what was right and what was wrong.
What should I do? she continuously asked herself in her heart. But what answer could she have? Things had developed to this point, no longer following the originally set track. She, who had always followed the tracks of fate, was too unaccustomed to making choices for her own life. Even she herself didn’t know what she would choose.
But a choice ultimately had to be made; it wouldn’t disappear because of her hesitation. Yu Huang looked at Lin Wuxi, then at the crowd kneeling on the ancient battlefield. She turned, pushed Lin Wuxi into the spatial passage, and the gate that had opened in mid-air above the ancient battlefield also slowly closed. Everyone kneeling in the Immortal Realm was stunned.
Lin Wuxi stood there blankly, unsure why she suddenly found the Immortal Realm’s consistently warm sunlight a bit glaring.
Author’s note: This story is finished…