Chapter 215: Supreme Forgetfulness Dao
Lu Xian returned to the Small Bamboo Forest and saw Lu Yun sitting cross-legged at the doorway.
“Master,” Lu Yun noticed him returning and stood up to bow, saying: “You’ve gone to see the Sect Master, haven’t you.”
“How did you know?” Lu Xian asked strangely.
“By my calculations, Master shouldn’t have left Lu Ward, so he probably didn’t go anywhere else.” Lu Yun said softly: “Did Master go for the matter of the Treasure?”
“Mm.” Lu Xian nodded and glanced at him, saying: “You’re asking so carefully; do you have some scheme?”
“Nothing can be hidden from Master.” Lu Yun smiled shyly: “I wanted to say, could Master take me along to broaden my horizons?”
“You?” Lu Xian sized him up and said: “A burden.”
“Disciple’s cultivation has already recovered; I can fight anyone below Grandmaster.” Lu Yun was somewhat unconvinced.
“Still a burden.” Lu Xian snorted: “Regardless of whether the rumors are true or false, this time it will draw out a nest of Grandmasters; your bit of kung fu isn’t enough to watch.”
“That’s why Disciple wants to follow and broaden his horizons.” Lu Yun brought out his skills in soft persistence: “Seeing so many Grandmasters make their moves will definitely help Disciple’s progress.”
“That’s true.” Lu Xian thought for a moment and finally relented: “We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”
“Thank you, Master!” Lu Yun’s smile was very brilliant.
.
North foothills of Mount Mang, forty li outside Luojing City.
At the foot of the mountain beside a rarely traveled path, an ordinary-looking carriage was parked, with over ten warriors in tight-fitting clothes standing solemnly like statues around it, protecting the Saintess and her little maidservant beside the carriage.
The Saintess was still in a black skirt and black veil over her face, her pair of black gem-like eyes gazing calmly ahead without ripple, clearly waiting for someone’s arrival. The little maidservant’s expression beside her was somewhat uneasy, as if filled with awe toward the person about to arrive.
The mistress and servant waited quietly for more than half an hour, and finally as the sun slanted westward, they saw a Daoist priest wearing a five-colored cloud Dao robe, with landscape sleeves and cape, head adorned with the Primordial Treasure Crown, holding a Purple Gold Fly Whisk, drifting over from afar. He walked at an unhurried pace with small steps and not-fast frequency, yet in the blink of an eye he was before the Saintess, just like Shrink Ground into Inches.
Seeing that Daoist priest’s figure, a flash of joy passed through the Saintess’s eyes, and she quickly stepped forward to greet him, calling crisply: “Master!”
The little maidservant and all the guards prostrated themselves on the ground, saying in unison: “Respectfully welcoming the Sect Leader!”
“Haha, Yingxiu, long time no see!” That Daoist priest was the renowned number one expert of the Left Dao, Taiping Dao Sect Leader Sun Yuanlang. He had rushed all the way from Liaodong, yet was still full of energy and spotless. Seeing the Saintess come to welcome him, Sun Yuanlang was very gratified, smiling fully as he said: “These past few months have been hard on you.”
“Not hard at all; being able to share Master’s worries makes Yingxiu very happy.” Su Yingxiu said with a gentle sigh: “I’m just afraid of messing up the assignment and ruining Master’s big matter.”
“Ah, you’ve done very well, holding your own against those old cunning things without falling behind, which gratifies Master greatly.” Sun Yuanlang laughed: “These past few months, actions against our Taiping Dao across the lands have nearly ceased, and our sect has entered an unprecedentedly relaxed environment; this is all Yingxiu’s merit!”
“If Master says so, Yingxiu will get proud.” Hearing Sun Yuanlang’s praise, Su Yingxiu was very happy, her beautiful eyes curving into crescent moons with her smile.
“Be proud then; my, Sun Yuanlang’s, disciple should naturally be so!” Sun Yuanlang burst into hearty laughter.
“Master is so good.” Su Yingxiu smiled squinted and stepped aside deferentially: “Please get in the carriage, Master; we’ll talk in the carriage.”
“Good.” Sun Yuanlang smiled and nodded, boarding the carriage as instructed. Although for him, riding was far less quick than walking, once they crossed Mount Mang they would enter Luojing territory, and if people discovered he, Sun Yuanlang, had come, Luojing City would definitely explode.
The Saintess also boarded the carriage, while the little maidservant followed outside, together with those dozen-plus guards, escorting the carriage as it slowly headed south.
.
In the carriage, Sun Yuanlang looked at the Saintess with gratification: “Yingxiu, for you to discover the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal is truly not easy. How is it; any new progress?”
“Disciple has already confirmed that the one who assassinated Xiahou Lei back then and stole Disciple’s Imperial Seal was likely some young expert hidden in the Lu Clan.” The Saintess said somewhat helplessly: “However, Heavenly Master Dao has targeted Disciple and sent the Heavenly Maiden of Heavenly Master Dao to Luojing to deal with me, leaving Disciple unable to continue the investigation.”
“Heavenly Maiden?” Sun Yuanlang pondered for a moment, seeming to fall into recollection, but soon said breezily: “From what Yingxiu means, she seems not easy to deal with.”
“Yes, she appears about the same age as Disciple, yet her martial arts is already Earth Rank, truly inconceivable.” Su Yingxiu was slightly frustrated; she was Taiping Dao’s heavenly proud daughter, raised meticulously by Sun Yuanlang since childhood, always looking down on others with eyes above her head. But first she was tricked by that masked young man, then steadily suppressed by a Heavenly Maiden of similar age, which really didn’t let her be happy.
“Is that so?” Sun Yuanlang was also somewhat shocked upon hearing this, but quickly reacted and comforted the Saintess: “Yingxiu need not belittle yourself; your aptitude and talent are one in ten thousand, being surpassed by that Heavenly Maiden is only temporary; you will certainly overtake her later.”
“Master need not comfort Disciple; from what Disciple has seen, that Heavenly Maiden’s aptitude is in no way inferior to Yingxiu’s. As I progress, she will too, and I’m afraid in the future the gap will only widen.” Su Yingxiu said wistfully.
“Hahaha, you this girl.” Sun Yuanlang had watched the Saintess grow up and knew her little thoughts clearly, yet felt no displeasure, instead saying with a face full of indulgence: “Wanting to extort Master’s bottom-of-the-box kung fu again, right?”
“Master, Disciple is also thinking for our sect.” The Saintess, having her thoughts seen through, felt not the least embarrassed, and wheedled to Sun Yuanlang: “If Taiping Dao’s Saintess is outdone by Heavenly Master Dao’s Heavenly Maiden, it won’t look good on Master’s face either.”
“That’s true.” Sun Yuanlang nodded and sighed: “But Master has no way.” He then explained to the disappointed-looking Su Yingxiu: “Still that same point: that Heavenly Maiden being able to temporarily surpass Yingxiu is not because her aptitude is too good. No matter how good her aptitude, can it be better than Zhang Xuanyi, hailed as the number one in three hundred years? Even Zhang Xuanyi was twenty-one when he opened the Ren and Du Meridians, yet the Heavenly Maiden became a Grandmaster at sixteen or seventeen; if not the effect of the cultivation method, then what?”
“What cultivation method is so powerful?” The Saintess asked in surprise.
“《Supreme Forgetfulness Dao》,” Sun Yuanlang was thoroughly knowledgeable about Heavenly Master Dao’s cultivation methods: “This is Heavenly Master Dao’s supreme ultimate art, and our Taiping Dao’s lost 《Supreme Profound Void Technique》 are the yin and yang aspects; the Heavenly Maiden must have cultivated Forgetfulness Dao to progress so rapidly!”
“If our sect’s Profound Cave Skill hadn’t been stolen, it would be good.” Before Sun Yuanlang, Saintess Su Yingxiu showed a rare girlish demeanor: “If Disciple cultivated Profound Cave Skill, she definitely wouldn’t be my match.”
“Even if the Gui Scroll were still here,” Sun Yuanlang shook his head: “You still couldn’t cultivate 《Supreme Profound Void Technique》, because it’s a cultivation method only men can practice.”
“Oh…” Su Yingxiu sighed lightly in disappointment, then asked: “Why can that Heavenly Maiden cultivate it?”
“Because exactly opposite to 《Supreme Profound Void Technique》, 《Supreme Forgetfulness Dao》 can only be cultivated by women.” Sun Yuanlang laughed: “Otherwise Zhang Xuanyi would have cultivated this cultivation method long ago; how could it be his female disciple’s turn.” As he spoke, something seemed to stir in Sun Yuanlang’s heart, a flash of bone-deep sorrow in his eyes as he said: “That beast Zhang Xuanyi actually let someone else cultivate this cultivation method; how many more women does he want to kill before he stops!”
“What?” The Saintess was greatly shocked: “The Heavenly Maiden will die because of cultivating 《Supreme Forgetfulness Dao》?”
“Yes.” Sun Yuanlang’s tone grew heavier, as if he didn’t want to continue, but unable to bear disappointing the Saintess, he vaguely said: “Solitary yin does not give birth, solitary yang does not grow; those who cultivate either of these two cultivation methods alone will all perish in their prime.”
