Chapter 666: Yu Jingfeng's Revelation
In the blink of an eye, another month had passed. Mo Wuji had failed to advance in cultivation and pill refining. The lack of immortal spiritual energy in this place rendered his cultivation futile.
Cultivating in the Undying World was a possibility, especially with the heaps of immortal crystals Mo Wuji had with him. However, there was a downside to this: the five elements were incomplete. At low levels of cultivation,the side effects of cultivating in such an environment would be minimal, whereas at high levels, doing so would interrupt the flow of his dao.
In addition to this, Mo Wuji had advanced to the level of Grand Luo Immortal in a short span of time. Even though he had not sensed any destabilisation in his fundamentals yet, it was not a bad time to take a step back and gather his thoughts instead of cultivating.
In these recent months, Mo Wuji had been rigorously conducting research on smithing. He possessed the book on Equipment Dao, as well as the Guide To Smithing and the Knowledge Of Smithing given to him by Xu Suren.
Mo Wuji had obtained the book on Equipment Dao long ago, but never had the time to study it. If not for the serious injuries he took this time around, in addition to the destruction of Da Huang, it was quite possible that he would never have researched smithing, as his goal for researching it was to restore Da Huang.
One thing that offered Mo Wuji some solace was that even though Lian Yingxian was a Grand Luo Immortal, she hadn't caused any trouble after living here. Mo Wuji didn't even seen her cultivate either. Every day, she would only assist Yu Cheng in cleaning the fish that Yu Jingfeng caught. Occasionally, she would also leave Divergent Immortal Village with Yu Jingfeng to trade and exchange goods.
Whenever Mo Wuji conducted his research on smithing, no one would ever bother him. It was almost as if they knew that immortals did not like to interact with mortals.
Due to his frequent refining of array flags, which bore some resemblances to smithing, Mo Wuji already possessed a strong foundation in smithing. The more complex array flags were arguably even harder to refine than some high grade immortal equipment. In addition to this, Master Pu Zi had imparted to him many smithing techniques in the Half Immortal Domain.
In actuality, as an immortal array master, Mo Wuji was very self-aware that if his smithing did not improve, his Array Dao would definitely be adversely affected.
In the Gods Tower, one Immortal Sealing Array could seal countless experts. After suffering in the shackles of the Immortal Sealing Array, Mo Wuji's belief that he needed to rigorously research Array Dao was further fortified.
Within a month, Mo Wuji could refine and create Grade 4 immortal equipments. Although they were the simplest of that level, it did show that there was certain improvement.
Mo Wuji attributed much of his progress to Xu Suren, who gave him the the Guide To Smithing, and provided many valuable insights into smithing, which hastened his research tremendously. The most complex issues in smithing were all virtually explained by Xu Suren in the book of Equipment Dao. One could say that this book was even more precious than Grade 9 immortal equipment.
One day, while Mo Wuji was refining a Grade 5 immortal long sword, Yu Jingfeng, who usually did not disturb him, knocked on his door. Yu Jingfeng was a young man of good character and morals. After knowing that Jingfeng was the one who saved him, Mo Wuji had even considered accepting him as his disciple. However, Mo Wuji hesitated, as he did not know whether imparting techniques to Yu Jingfeng would benefit him or harm him instead.
After staying at Divergent Immortal Village for so long, Mo Wuji had begun to understand the lives of Yu Jingfeng and his grandfather. They could not cultivate to become immortals, but led fulfilling lives without any boring days, frequently encountering surprises in the Extreme Glade Sea.
If he allowed Yu Jingfeng to cultivate, it could very well disrupt the peace and balance in his life. Moreover, after he leaves the village, Yu Jingfeng might perish while gathering resources for cultivation. In comparison, leading a simple life may not have been that bad after all.
The good thing was that Yu Jingfeng had never inquired about the matter of immortal cultivation, which gave Mo Wuji time to take his mind off the issue, until this day, when Jingfeng had come to Mo Wuji's doorstep.
"Jingfeng, you're looking for see me?" Mo Wuji asked as he kept his half-refined long sword. At his current level of skill, abruptly ending the refinement of this long sword was equivalent to wasting the effort he had put into refining it to this point. This however, did not concern Mo Wuji as he had a vast amount of low grade smithing materials in his ring, much more than the amount of immortal herbs.
"Yes, brother, I have something that I've always wanted to speak to you about, but grandfather didn't let me bother you for no reason, so I kept it to myself up till now. He is out with sister in law now, which is why I had the chance to come and talk to you in the first place," Jingfeng said in a flurry as he stood at the door.
"It's only been a month, but you've grown quite a bit" Mo Wuji remarked as he invited Jingfeng in. Yu Cheng and Lian Yingxian were indeed not at home. Even though Jingfeng often said that he admired and idolised Mo Wuji, Wuji himself felt that the admiration was a result of Yu Cheng's teachings.
Wuji no longer shrouded himself with the caution that he once did, as after such a long time, he felt that the differences between immortals and mortals were insignificant.
"Hey, I'm already 14, and seafaring helps me train my physique as well," Jingfeng replied as he earnestly rubbed his own head.
"Where have your grandfather and sister in law gone to?" Wuji asked as he gestured for Jingfeng to sit.
"They've gone to Extreme Glade City to get the Thousand Fusing Rice. It's the harvesting season for it now," Jingfeng said without a second thought.
Mo Wuji knew about Extreme Glade City - In the region of the Extreme Glade Sea there were many villages similar to Divergent Immortal Village, between these villages, there needed to be a set location for the purpose of trade, which led to the formation of Extreme Glade City. Everyone in the villages would come here if they needed to buy anything, and the immortal energy in the air here was as scarce as it was in the other parts of the region.
Even though Ji Ke City was a City for mortals in name, there were some cultivators here as well, as the city was, in reality, co-inhabited by low level immortals and mortals. However, the immortals here were either talentless, or were severely limited in their ability to cultivate.
The Thousand Fusing Rice could only be planted in areas near Extreme Glade City, and was the rice ate by most of the regular beings. Every time harvesting season came, all the people living around Extreme Glade City would bring the unique produce from their respective villages and exchange them for Thousand Fusing Rice.
"Jingfeng, your sister in law is gorgeous, I don't think there are many in this village who can compare to her beauty," Wuji suddenly said while grinning.
Perhaps having sensed Wuji's relaxed disposition, Jingfeng eased into the conversation. At this point of time, he had completely forgotten that his grandfather once told him that Wuji was an immortal cultivator, and that there were taboos that they could not violate.
"Big brother, it's not only Divergent Immortal Village, not anyone in Extreme Glade City could match up to my sister in law's beauty. Have you perhaps fallen for her? But... she has no spiritual roots, it would be impossible for her to cultivate."
Mo Wuji hurriedly leapt to his own defence. "No no no, you're overthinking, it was just a passing comment. Speaking of which, what happened to your elder brother?"
In his heart, Mo Wuji deeply admired Lian Yingxian, as he did not know how what cultivation technique she used, and what means she had to disguise her cultivation level. Had he not used his spiritual eye, he wouldn't have been able to assess her cultivation level, which meant that from an outsider's point of view, Lian Yingxian was a completely ordinary person, which added that much more credibility to the prowess of her concealment technique.
This was different from himself. Apart from a few top-notch cultivators, most cultivators would not be able to asses her cultivation level as he cultivated with the Immortal Mortal Technique, which was unique in that the more one cultivated in the technique, the more ordinary the user would seem.
A memory flashed across Jingfeng's mind, and after a moment of silence, he said,
"10 years ago, when I was three, my brother came back from the sea and said he had felt some immortal spiritual energy. Afterwards, he sneaked out and went to Extreme Glade city to buy a few books about cultivation, and told me that he had discovered the hidden spiritual roots within him. However, my grandfather refused to even entertain the possibility of him becoming an cultivator, leaving him lost and helpless. He eventually married my sister in law under the insistence of my grandfather.
Less than 3 months after sister in law came, my brother left a letter behind and left the village to join a sect, stating that he had to become an cultivator no matter what. Another few years passed, and people in the village were saying that something bad had happened to my brother while he was out venturing. When the rumours proved to be true, my grandfather allowed sister in law to go home, even giving her the liberty to decide whether she would remarry or not. She has been very kind to us, often dropping by to visit us because she's worried for grandfather."
"What about your parents?" Wuji asked.
Jingfeng got a little teary.
"Not long after I was born, they got into an accident at sea and never returned."
Mo Wuji sighed.
No matter how safe the Extreme Glade ocean was, it was still a sea in the immortal world, and seafarers would inexplicably face some form of danger.
"What happened to your aunt then? Has she always lived in Divergent Immortal Village? Was she older or younger than your brother?" Wuji asked.
In reality, Mo Wuji was only asking this much for one sole reason - to find out more about Lian Yingxian's background and history. In his opinion, a Grand Luo immortal, even a genius at that, had to train for a few hundred years before achieving such prowess that Yingxian possessed.
Jingfeng grinned and chuckled, " Big brother, my sister in law is not even thirty yet, if you indeed have feelings for her, my grandfather would definitely approve, I would be happy if you married her!"
Wuji sneered in his mind.
He knew that it was not possible.
"We'll talk more about his next time, don't get the wrong idea. Before this, I even thought she was at least 40!"
Still forgetting the fact that Wuji was an immortal, Jingfeng hastily refuted.
"Impossible! What poor judgement you have big brother, my parents and her's were the best of friends, when she was born, my parents even went to congratulate them!"
Wuji was taken aback by this fact, could it be possible that a person, not even at the age of thirty yet, could reach the later level of Grand Luo Immortal? Even with possession it would seem absurd.
"It must be a mistake on Jingfeng's part," he thought to himself.
Wuji did not plan on inquiring further, and without even asking about her parents, he decided to change the subject.
"So, Jingfeng, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?"
It was only at this moment Jingfeng recalled why he was here. Patting the back of his head, he revealed,
"Uhm.. It goes like this big brother, a month ago I caught a Red Herring, and today I went back to the place I caught it in search for more, but before I even got close, a blinding ray of white light rose from the depths of the ocean. Several white lights emerged, and an object shot out from within them, eventually landing in my boat."
While speaking, Jingfeng took out a bunch of broken pieces and passed them to Wuji.
"This is it," Jingfeng said.
Array flag? Mo Wuji knew what they were once he received the pieces from Jingfeng. These pieces were as old as time, and even Wuji didn't know when they were made.