Nightfall

People looked up into the high sky and praised the kindness of Haotian. However, no matter how diligent and clever they were in cultivation, they never dared to think of flying into the sky. Because they knew, no matter how steep the way was, it could not be harder than going to heaven. No one had ever made it because the way from the earthly world to heaven was filled with difficulties.

The Divine Hall of Haotian was in West Hill, which was self-crowned as the only bright school that could understand the doctrine of Haotian in the world. However, no one ever heard that some Great Divine Priest could ascend to heaven and become immortal to be one of the members of Haotian.

There was a magic pill called the Heavenly Power Pill in West Hill. From only its name, the value of the magic pill could be known. It was deeply hidden in some unknown place, therefore it could hardly be seen in the world.

At this time, there were two Heavenly Power Pills in the china bottle in Chen Pipi’s trembling hand.

“They all call me the genius of practice that they’ve never met in hundreds of years, and gave me three Heavenly Power Pills when I entered into the sect. In the end, the old monks held a meeting for three days. Anyway, Brother Ye only had one pill that year. One I ate, one is for saving my life, and the last one is left for helping my Senior Brother enter into the next state. How could I simply give it to you like this?

“The Heavenly Power Pill can’t help people to ascend to heaven, but it can increase people’s life by 10 years and maybe make a cultivator enter into the next state directly. If I gave these two pills to the King of Great River Kingdom, he would give me at least 30,000 virgins in return, or even give his throne to me. If I gave the pill to the leader of the Devil’s Doctrine, perhaps he would gladly betray his school and join in West Hill.

“How valuable the Heavenly Power Pill is! I should give it to you just for healing?”

If dying Ning Que needed ordinary gold or treasures, or even his Psyche Power, Chen Pipi would never hesitate. But these pills were very important, and they were the most valuable pills in Haotian Taoism. If they were found outside Haotian, no one knew how many conflicts would be provoked, so he hesitated and struggled.

Drastic mental struggles lasted for a long time in his head. Then without notice, the fat lad, looking at Ning Que in a coma, sighed bitterly and said, “Those monks always said it was more important to save a life than building seven-story stone towers. Although I don’t know what importance there is in building those ugly stone towers, I believe that sentence makes some sense. However, I still think your life is not more important than this pill. Anyway, the pill can’t speak, and moreover, you just rascally entrusted your life to me before you passed out.”

That so-called reason was just an excuse to persuade himself. Chen Pipi opened the sparkling china bottle cap, and carefully dropped one pill into his palm with a sad face, then put it into Ning Que’s mouth.

The pill looked a little brown, with no gloss nor strange smell, which did not even induce hundreds of birds to celebrate. It just spread a slight herb smell, and looked so common.

“If you died earlier, the Heavenly Power Pill would be saved. If you didn’t come to the Academy, this pill would also be saved. If… you were not that boring to leave a message on the paper, I wouldn’t know you and this pill could be saved as well.”

Chen Pipi put the pill into Ning Que’s mouth, gave him some water, and helped him to disolve the pill while he pressed on his chest, complaining the entire time with a sad, pitiful look on his face.

“You are so smart and have good perseverance, moreover, you also have good comprehension. However, all the acupoints in your Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow are unactivated. You are so poor, or you are a lad that is cursed by Haotian.”

Ning Que still had his eyes closed, but his pale face quickly turned red. Chen Pipi just looked at him blankly and sighed. “Today, your Snow Mountain was damaged and then rebuilt. Perhaps, you really could have some acupoints activated. You were injured so badly that only the Heavenly Power Pill could cure you, and then you met me, who was the only one that had the pill, and I couldn’t help but save your life. Therefore, you are actually a lad that Haotian cares about.”

…

…

The melted and collapsed Snow Mountain was rebuilt by the cold power. It seemed like magic, but the structure of the Snow Mountain was unstable and could collapse anytime. The internal glacier and dangerous holes were scarred and battered, and most of the holes could not connect with each other, so it made the Snow Mountain fragile like a wooden pillar that was hollowed out by termites.

The valuable Heavenly Power Pill was melted by water, and slowly permeated his body via his throat, then its efficacy worked before it reached Ning Que’s stomach. The radiance that was shining like stars dissipated in his viscera.

Under the radiance, the distant mountain rose high suddenly instead of collapsing again. It just stood under the firmament silently, as sacred as a saintess and as firm as a warrior. It slowly melted, wetting the wild dry land.

A smell of life permeated that strange world, which was not from the sun in the sky, but from the essence of the world. Day alternated with night, and a cold trickle was slowly flowing, then there was other grass growing on the side of the trickle, spreading to the grassland.

Flocks of sheep were jumping happily on the grassland, and some field mice were cheerfully nibbling at the grass roots under the ground. In the depth of the grassland, pleasant green trees were growing up.

…

…

The pill’s potency was very slow, but it was very fast for people to absorb it. When Ning Que absorbed all of the pill power into his Ocean of Qi and Mountain of Snow, he woke up. At that time, it was dawn outside of the old library.

He leaned against the wall sluggishly, squinting at the twilight outside of the east window. He slightly opened his mouth and murmured in a barely audible voice, “Everything has cause and effect, and has a reason to exist. Haotian, you have your reason to bring me to this world, and I know you won’t just indifferently watch me die.”

“Not Haotian, it is me who can’t indifferently watch you die.”

Chen Pipi leaned against the wall near Ning Que, and rubbed his tired eyes, mumbling, “You’re a guy that stepped one foot into the dead world, but you can’t figure out who saved you once you have become sober.”

Ning Que smiled tiredly, and quietly saw his big round face. He never thought Chen Pipi, who had left his messages for a long time, would have had such an appearance. Then he asked, “How did you cure me?”

Chen Pipi moved his fat body, rubbed his back against the wall, stood up hard, and stretched his numb body with his hands on his waist. He smiled slightly with a wave of his hand, saying, “I’ve told you so many times, I am a genius that has been hardly seen in the world. If an ordinary doctor saw your wound, you would have died. But for me, it was just a tiny thing.”

The fat lad always took himself to be the genius that had not been seen in 100 years, so he always demanded himself to act like a real genius. He adored his Senior Brothers’ manner, so he did not like to mutter things.

Last night, to cure Ning Que, he gave him a very valuable pill that was hardly ever found in the world. But it was so worldly to emphasize this because he already gave it to him. Besides, it totally did not fit his taste, so he did not explain the details, but just shook his sleeves to show that he did not care about it.

Of course, if someone had stood in front of him, they would see his fat face slightly trembling because of his pity and regret.

Chen Pipi restored calm when he turned around, and looking into Ning Que’s eyes, he made a request, “Can I see your big black umbrella?”

Ning Que said after he went silent for a while, “I don’t have the strength, do it yourself.”

It made Chen Pipi lose his mind. He frowned and looked at Ning Que for a while, bent down his body with difficulty, and grabbed the handle of the black umbrella.

He felt a little bit cold when he held it at first. The wood that made the handle seemed to be ground from an ordinary tree in the northern part of the empire. He did not know what was smeared on the black umbrella, for it seemed a little oily. Except for that, you could see nothing strange.

Chen Pipi looked at the black umbrella in his hands for a long time, and found nothing. He put it back down at Ning Que’s side, saying, “Last night, I inquired about something.”

“What?” Ning Que asked tiredly.

“Yesterday, the Vermilion Bird woke up.” Chen Pipi stared at his eyes.

Ning Que frowned slightly, thinking of the feeling when he passed out on the street due to serious injury, and his fear that appeared for no reason when he walked with Sangsang and held the black umbrella several months ago. But he really did not know the portrait of the Vermilion Bird woke up at that time, so he only shook his head.

Chen Pipi did not find any problems, so he paused before he continued, “Last night, a Sword Master was found dead in Chang’an.”

Ning Que went silent.

Chen Pipi looked at him with a forced smile, saying, “You have many wounds made by swords. Although you don’t bleed now, your wounds were burned by fire, rather than being old wounds.”

Ning Que smiled, and lifted his head saying, “What on earth are you trying to say?”

“You were wounded very much, however you didn’t go back home to lie down but came to the Academy by carriage. It only shows that you were injured by the sword in the morning. At that time, the Chang’an Local Government chased you very close, so you couldn’t go back home, but escaped to the Academy. The Chang’an Local Government wouldn’t dare to block a carriage going to the Academy, not to mention search you here.

“Yesterday morning, the Sword Master died, the portrait of the Vermilion Bird in the street woke up, and you were very badly injured by a sword yet without a trace of blood, and your wounds were cauterized by an invisible fire, which only means one thing.”

Chen Pipi looked at him and frowned, saying, “You are the person who killed the Sword Master, and the person who annoyed the Vermilion Bird. But what confuses me all this time is that you did all of this and you are just an ordinary person.

“I admire you. Your first name could be Fu, then Mine could be Hua.”

Ning Que leaned against the wall tiredly, saying, “The problem is that you struggled so hard to save me, so I believe you won’t take me to the government. Then why do you bother to ask all this?”

Chen Pipi lifted his eyebrows, saying proudly, “Because I, the genius, want to prove to you that nothing can be hidden from me!”

Ning Que smiled at him, and said suddenly, “There is no such big family in West Hill as what you said in your messages. There is only one place that can influence cultivation and the common world and make the Academy fear—the Haotian Divine Hall.

“You are not some inheritor of a big family, but the selected inheritor of Haotian Taoism. I don’t know who your master was when you were a child, the hierarch of Haotian Taoism or some Great Divine Priest? And what confuses me most is, as a genius given great hopes by the Haotian Divine Hall in West Hill, chosen by the hierarch as the inheritor and received by the Academy… why you are so fat?”

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…(To be continued. If you like this novel, welcome to qidian.com to give recommended votes and monthly pass. Your support is my greatest motivation.