Chapter 135 — Feng Tianche
Go meet him at the top floor of the Library Pavilion

“Has no one been sweeping the Three Thousand Immortal Steps lately?”

Lian Mu brushed the crystalline blue leaves off her clothes as she followed the path toward Fragrance-Attracting Peak.

“I remember there were always a few outer disciples at the foot of the mountain. At this hour, they’d be scrambling for a chance to earn a meal.” She suddenly thought of Shen Si, who used to sweep the steps with her, and his little gang.

Back then they were even more diligent than she was, fighting to do the chores every day.

Ji Mingyue walked beside her and asked, “I’ve never seen any outer disciples in Returning Immortal Sect.”

“I remember one named Shen Si — he still owes me a lot of money.”

The senior sister leading the way chuckled. “There did used to be outer disciples who handled the cleaning, but ever since the Sect Master came out of seclusion last time, he dismissed them all. The Three Thousand Immortal Steps don’t need special cleaning anymore.”

“By the way, junior sister knows Shen Si?”

Lian Mu said, “Not really.”

“He was a real piece of work — wouldn’t leave no matter how they chased him off. In the end, the Sect Master had to personally step in to get rid of him.”

Lian Mu raised an eyebrow. “The Sect Master had that much free time?”

Ji Mingyue: “…”

She was about to remind Lian Mu that this sounded ambiguous, but the senior sister said, “Junior sister must be new to the sect and hasn’t met the Sect Master yet. He’s kind-hearted — even towards outer disciples, he’s always patient.”

Lian Mu recalled that the last time the Sect Master emerged was before the Immortal Sect Grand Competition — that was when Shen Si was finally driven away. Now she had no one to collect that debt from.

Fortunately, she’d made it into Returning Immortal Sect this year. Otherwise, she would’ve been dismissed too.

When she came back to herself, she noticed the senior sister was still watching her. “Senior sister, why are you staring at me?”

The senior sister said, “You’re Lian Mu, aren’t you? I’ve heard of you. Half of the ranking our sect won at this Grand Competition was thanks to you. The elders on the main peak mention your name all the time.”

“Senior sister flatters me.” Lian Mu smiled faintly, her face giving away nothing.

“I’ll leave you two here,” the senior sister said, stopping. “Take care.”

The two of them said goodbye. Ji Mingyue glanced back, feeling puzzled. “It’s not like we don’t know where Fragrance-Attracting Peak is. That senior sister’s an artifact refiner — why’d she come lead me, an alchemy cultivator, around?”

Lian Mu said, “Have you noticed the sect feels emptier?”

Ji Mingyue looked around. “At this hour, there’s usually disciples running back and forth for meals. Today, there’s hardly anyone.”

“Stop standing there.”

A man’s voice came from up ahead. Both turned at once — Ji Mingyue immediately recognized him.

“Master,” she said.

It was the Peak Lord of Fragrance-Attracting Peak.

He beckoned to them. “You’re back quickly. I forgot to tell you: the sect’s on lockdown lately. No disciples can leave freely, so they’re all staying in their quarters.”

“You were gone too long. Some things happened in the sect, but we didn’t inform you so you wouldn’t get distracted before the competition.” The Peak Lord said, “Actually, not long after you left for Vermilion Bird South, the seal on the deep pool at the mountain’s base was tampered with again.”

At that, Lian Mu remembered. Beneath the Three Thousand Immortal Steps lay a forest, and beyond that a deep pool that sealed away a fish-shaped demonic beast.

“Why not just kill it instead of sealing it there?”

Ji Mingyue said, “How do you even know that…”

She didn’t even know about the pool herself.

“That demonic beast was once the mountain’s guardian spirit beast. It was corrupted by foul qi and turned monstrous. The Sect Master couldn’t bear to kill it after it protected Hidden Guest Mountain for centuries, so he sealed it in the pool instead. Unfortunately, demonic remnants from the demon race have kept trying to get at it, causing trouble for Returning Immortal Sect again and again.”

The Peak Lord’s eyes fell on Lian Mu. “Don’t overthink it. We kept you back for the sect’s safety. The demon remnants are trying new tricks — we must be cautious.”

He didn’t say more but turned to go. “You two, follow me.”

Whatever was left was clearly not for them to know.

Lian Mu snapped out of her thoughts, glanced at the Peak Lord already ahead, and followed.

The Returning Immortal Sect was bitterly cold; only after passing through Fragrance-Attracting Peak’s protective barrier did they feel some warmth. The Peak Lord led them to the main hall, surrounded by flowers in full bloom — despite being in the Black Tortoise North, it was as lush as Vermilion Bird South in spring.

“I heard Sect Master Shen re-tested your spiritual root in front of everyone, and the result was surprising.” The Peak Lord poured tea and pushed the cup toward Lian Mu. “Have some hot tea to warm up — I’ll test it again in a bit.”

The main hall doors were open, giving them a view of the landscape outside.

Lian Mu took the tea, sipped it, and said, “Yushan blossom tea?”

The Peak Lord raised an eyebrow. “You can tell? Aren’t you the famous pauper among this year’s disciples? Yet you recognize such expensive tea?”

Ji Mingyue nearly spat out her sip. “…Master, that’s a bit blunt.”

“Someone once asked me to sell this tea for him — too pricey, no one could afford it, so I had to drink it myself.” Lian Mu set down the cup. “But I don’t like it. No need for pleasantries, Senior — let’s get started.”

“Fine. I’d hoped to get to know you a bit more.” The Peak Lord smiled. “I’m Yi Zifei. I’m sure you’ve heard of me from Ji Mingyue. Murong sent word about you — I didn’t believe it at first, but seeing you today, I’m convinced you’re extraordinary.”

He too had a Heavenly Spiritual Root. When he gathered spiritual power, a green glow shone at his fingertips.

Lian Mu felt something shift underfoot — a vine burst from the ground, wrapping around her ankle and climbing up her leg.

As the fast-growing vine coiled around her, she felt part of her spiritual power drain away.

Once it did, three small flowers bloomed on the vine, each a different color.

“How odd.” Yi Zifei frowned slightly. “You do have three roots — and the spiritual power matches an ordinary triple root. Are you suppressing it?”

Lian Mu replied honestly, “No, Senior.”

Yi Zifei: “…Speak properly, don’t use that strange tone.”

Lian Mu: “I am speaking properly, Senior.”

Though her tone sounded aggravating, she was born this way — nothing to be done.

“That sword strike in the illusion — you really made it?” Yi Zifei stood and circled her. “But in every aspect, you’re just an ordinary triple root.”

Ji Mingyue said, “Master, she’s a reforged root cultivator. She just lacks spiritual energy right now.”

Yi Zifei said, “I knew that — Murong told me. I’m talking about the spiritual energy traces. Even if your dantian is damaged and you’re low on spiritual power, the traces shouldn’t lie.”

Lian Mu asked, “What do you mean?”

“You’re a sword cultivator — some things are too technical for you to follow.” Yi Zifei gathered spiritual power in his hand, and a red lotus bloomed in his palm.

“See this flower? Even if there’s only one, not enough to make a whole garden, it’s still a flower — not a stone or a tree.”

“The spiritual power leaking from you doesn’t reach the threshold for a Heavenly Spiritual Root at all.”

“The world uses spiritual roots to judge talent. One’s innate root determines their cultivation path. But you are an exception.” Yi Zifei said, “You seem to have escaped the normal limits of roots.”

“Before you rebuilt your root, did you cultivate at all?”

Ji Mingyue interjected, “Impossible — without a root, you can’t cultivate.”

Lian Mu was silent for a while.

In her previous life, she had been a sword cultivator too, but the cultivation methods in that world were different — one could cultivate normally without relying on spiritual roots.

But that was her past life; things were different now. Besides, she couldn’t easily reveal her true origin.

“No,” Lian Mu answered calmly.

Yi Zifei said, “Are you sure? You hesitated just now.”

Lian Mu replied, “To be honest, I don’t know myself. I once had a serious illness, nearly died, and after barely surviving, I lost part of my memory. Senior Brother Guan Huailin can vouch for this.”

“I see.” Yi Zifei seemed thoughtful. “You’re quite fortunate. Murong told me there was an accident when you reforged your spiritual root. Who refined the pill you took?”

“I did it myself,” said Lian Mu.

Yi Zifei froze for a moment. “You… know alchemy?”

Ji Mingyue said faintly, “Master, do you remember someone sneaking into your alchemy room? That wasn’t me — it was her.”

“You…” Yi Zifei was speechless for a while, then unexpectedly laughed.

“Anyone daring to follow in his footsteps must have some skill. How did you find the Heavenly Spiritual Root manual?”

Lian Mu briefly explained the events, then added, “Our sect’s library pavilion is a bit unreliable.”

Yi Zifei said, “It was probably an accident… Feng Tianche destroyed all books on reforging spiritual roots in the Returning Immortal Sect back then, keeping only one copy for himself. What you found in the library pavilion was likely the sole surviving copy.”

Lian Mu fell silent.

So that Feng Clan’s Secret Method was something Feng Tianche had deliberately left like that?

“The complete Feng Clan’s Secret Method shouldn’t have been in the lower floors of the library pavilion. But Feng Tianche died suddenly back then and didn’t have time to deal with it. His leftover books were all collected by disciples and stored in the library pavilion. The damaged one you found was put on the lower floor because it was incomplete. It’s not your fault — you’re a victim too.”

“Your condition is too complex for my current level to fully explain,” Yi Zifei said. “If you truly have three unique Heavenly Spiritual Roots, then sooner or later… you’ll end up like him — dying an early death.”

Ji Mingyue said, “Master, even you can’t do anything?”

“You’re called Lian Mu, right?” Yi Zifei looked toward the distant peaks. “People who defy heaven like you never last long. Feng Tianche couldn’t last even a hundred years — and you say you have three Heavenly Spiritual Roots.”

“Centuries ago, the Heavenly Dao suppressed Feng Tianche. It will suppress you too. You’re just lucky that, for now, the Heavenly Dao doesn’t want you dead yet.”

“Though there are methods to repair the dantian, the Heavenly Dao cannot be defied. You might escape for a while, but never forever.”

Yi Zifei lowered his gaze, expression unreadable. “To prove oneself, only to end up like this — what’s the point?”

It sounded like he was asking Lian Mu, but also as if he were speaking to someone long gone.

“You went to the library pavilion and by chance refined the pill to reforge your Heavenly Spiritual Root — even after hundreds of years, that counts as fate.”

Yi Zifei pulled out a jade token carved with a white plum blossom and pushed it in front of Lian Mu. “Go to the top floor of the library pavilion and meet him. Mingyue, you stay here. Let her go alone.”

Ji Mingyue was stunned: this was her master’s token — why give it to Lian Mu…

“Meet who?” Lian Mu asked.

“My master — the very man whose method you learned — Feng Tianche.”