Chapter 22: The First Quarrel

On the same night, under the same sky.

In Zhongzhou, at the Xishan Sect, there was a cliff halfway up Taishan, the highest peak.

This was the very place where the portrait Ding Nan had seen was located.

A woman dressed in a fine silk skirt looked up at the sky.

In the night sky, the moon was a crescent hook, far from being full.

‘Master… are you doing well?’

The woman murmured to herself.

As the night wind blew, the tassels of the hairpins in her purple hair fluttered.

She pursed her lips and held a piece of paper against her ample chest.

Moonlight spilled down, passing through the clouds and pines to cast mottled light upon her face.

Her eyes suddenly shimmered with light, her expression filled with profound sorrow and loneliness.

However, after a moment, she lifted the paper and examined it in the dim light.

It was a rubbing of a portrait depicting a youth roughly ten years old.

The boy in the picture wore a black, rounded Wushi Amulet around his neck.

This youth was none other than an immature Ding Nan.

Yet, even on that youthful face, there was a mature steadiness that the woman found familiar.

Her cheeks began to grow hot, turning a vivid red that was particularly noticeable under the white moonlight.

She liked it when her Master wore high-collared clothes because he looked cool, and messing them up provided a unique thrill.

After all, that was how Qianlin had come to be.

“Mother, it’s so late. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Hearing the voice, the woman turned to see a girl dressed in white.

The girl had slanted eyebrows and fox-like eyes that curved inward and tilted outward.

Despite the shape, they held no trace of coquetry.

Below her left eye was a beauty mark.

This girl was Ji Qianlin, the woman’s daughter.

And the woman, who looked more like the girl’s older sister than her mother, was Ji Lanruo.

“Even though we can go for long periods without sleep, Mother, we both follow the Earth Immortal Path. We must let our physical bodies rest,” Ji Qianlin said with concern.

“I just couldn’t sleep,” Ji Lanruo replied.

“What about you? Why are you still awake so late?”

“I just finished processing the new student admissions and returned from Nanyang Academy.”

Ji Qianlin paused before asking, “Mother, I heard you recently granted an audience to Li Qihua?”

Li Qihua was a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage.

She had gained a bit of fame when she was only at the Golden Core Stage by slaughtering three enemies who were also at the Golden Core Stage.

Later, to earn Spirit Stones, she took up the trade of a matchmaker.

It was said she was quite popular among matchmakers; initially because her own daughters lived peaceful and fulfilling lives, and later because the marriages she arranged were highly successful.

Ji Qianlin had a bad premonition.

Her mother was a dominant force in Zhongzhou, and the Xishan Sect was filled with Nascent Soul practitioners.

Why would an outsider of Li Qihua’s strength be allowed to meet her mother based on power alone?

“Is there a junior brother or sister who is getting married?”

Ji Qianlin asked.

Hearing this, Ji Lanruo’s face flushed.

She stammered for a long time before blurting out a sentence that hit Ji Qianlin like a bolt from the blue.

“Your father… he is coming back.”

This seemingly non-sequitur sentence from Ji Lanruo made Ji Qianlin feel dizzy.

Looking at the familiar rubbing held against Ji Lanruo’s chest, Ji Qianlin felt a wave of regret.

There were three ways to be admitted to Nanyang Academy.

One was to apply as a rogue cultivator with a good reputation.

Another was to pass the entrance exams from a primary academy.

The final way was through the Nanyang Academy recruitment teams during their tours; students who met the criteria would be registered.

If they were of age, they would be enrolled immediately; if not, their files would be archived until they reached the appropriate age.

Over a month ago, while processing the files for students of age to enter Nanyang Academy this year, Ji Qianlin had seen Ding Nan’s student record.

Ding Nan was a very interesting student.

Years ago, during his exam, the fixed essay topic was

“The Meaning of Life” —

Where does life come from, and where does death lead?

Ding Nan had written a piece titled “Towards Death, We Live,” which argued that one must understand death to truly live.

Such an article was incredibly rare in a Cultivation World that craved eternal immortality.

After learning that the author was just a young boy, he had caught the attention of the recruitment team teachers.

Ji Qianlin had the privilege of being one of his interviewers.

Ding Nan’s answers were sharp, his logic was clear, and his temperament matched his writing style, proving that he had indeed written the essay himself.

Thus, Ding Nan was admitted — out of the hundreds of thousands of people in Qingquan City, only three had met the requirements.

Because of this, all the teachers on the recruitment team were concerned about his loss of Spiritual Qi.

However, among the three thousand members of the team — ranging from Foundation Establishment to Spirit Severing — not one could identify the reason for his condition.

His body was healthy, and he had no physical ailments; he shouldn’t have lost his Spiritual Qi.

Ding Nan had solemnly requested that they inspect the Jade Tablet he carried.

The Jade Tablet was ordinary, made of low-quality jade, and possessed no mystical properties.

Yet, he insisted on the check — a display of a child’s stubbornness.

The result was that they found absolutely nothing.

Ultimately, they could only tell him to go home and observe his condition further.

However, as of over a month ago, he was still at the Body Tempering Realm Level 3.

Curiosity had led Ji Qianlin to discuss this with Ji Lanruo upon her return to the Xishan Sect.

The moment Ji Lanruo saw the portrait in the student file, she became entranced by Ding Nan.

Within a day, she had rushed to the Western Barrens to visit a small clan named Shangguan.

Upon her return, she met with Li Qihua.

Since then, she was often seen sighing and acting like a lovesick maiden while clutching the rubbing of Ding Nan’s portrait.

Now, what did she mean by suddenly saying, “Your father is coming back”?

‘Ding Nan is my father?’

Ji Qianlin had seen him personally, even touched him.

How could a youth in his teens be her father?

Seeing Ji Lanruo’s infatuated expression, Ji Qianlin clenched her fists.

“Mother, has something gone wrong with your cultivation?”

The bashfulness on Ji Lanruo’s face vanished.

She looked at Ji Qianlin and asked, “You don’t think he is your father?”

Ji Qianlin paused.

“Mother, I am over four hundred years old.”

Hearing this, Ji Lanruo sighed.

“Yes, over four hundred years old… It has been over four hundred years.”

Ji Lanruo cradled the rubbing of Ding Nan, her expression turning vacant.

“Mother?”

Ji Qianlin called out.

Ji Lanruo did not answer. It wasn’t until Ji Qianlin’s sixth call that she snapped back to her senses.

“Qianlin, you might not believe it, but Ding Nan really is your father. Your biological father,” Ji Lanruo said.

“What? How?”

Ji Qianlin’s expression turned grim.

“Your father follows the Heavenly Immortal Path. His soul is incredibly resilient, and he was dwelling within that Jade Tablet.”

“The Ghost Immortal Path… the Heavenly Immortal Path… that’s impossible!”

The Heavenly Immortal Path was a method of soul cultivation that focused on the spirit body.

Because of this, the ancient terms for Heavenly Immortals were Ghost Immortals or “Gods.”

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Stage, a cultivator could not exist as a spiritual entity; before the Spirit Severing Stage, the spiritual entity could not exist independently of the host body.

Therefore, one could not walk the Heavenly Immortal Path before the Nascent Soul Stage because the soul’s strength was insufficient.

Ji Qianlin countered, “If that’s the case, why does he have no memory?”

A soul entity should retain its memories.

For a cultivator on the Heavenly Immortal Path, losing one’s memory was the ultimate taboo.

Furthermore, if the spiritual entity was destroyed, it meant true soul extinction and the end of one’s path.

“How could there be a resurrection?”

“Mother, you must have been deceived! He cannot be my father!”

“Your father’s situation is special. He began his ghost cultivation back when he was at the Foundation Establishment Stage. That is why he is like this today.”

“How could someone practice ghost cultivation at Foundation Establishment? He didn’t even have a soul body!”

Ji Lanruo faltered — she truly didn’t know how one could practice ghost cultivation at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

“Mother, have you been bewitched?”

The Soul-bewitching Technique was a common trick.

“How could that be?”

Ji Lanruo let out a soft laugh.

“I am at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.”

The strongest beings in the Cultivation World were at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

A low-level method like the Soul-bewitching Technique could only be used against those whose mental strength was weaker than the user’s.

Although she followed the Earth Immortal Path and did not specialize in soul cultivation, her soul strength was still that of a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse.

To control such a person with a Soul-bewitching Technique, one would have to surpass the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.

But in this world, no such being existed.

To surpass Tribulation was to enter the Immortal Realm, shedding mortality to become truly immortal.

Cultivators, even those at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage, still had a lifespan.

To have a lifespan was to be mortal.

This was a universally accepted hypothesis in the Cultivation World.

Therefore, Ji Lanruo was confident she wasn’t being influenced by any technique.

Besides, how could she mistake that face or that Jade Tablet?

Her Master had always been low-key.

Almost no one, not even her, his eldest disciple, knew everything.

It had taken her a long time to piece together the clues and uncover his unique abilities.

“It’s difficult for me to explain right now. Your father always liked to carry everything on his own shoulders. He is a very private person.”

“So, he isn’t willing to tell you his secrets either?”

Ji Lanruo was stunned.

Her expression shifted to one of hesitation, and a trace of resentment rose in her heart.

‘It’s true… he never told me these things. Why? Is it because a forced melon isn’t sweet? Or is it because his heart already belongs to someone else?’

Seeing the change in Ji Lanruo’s expression, Ji Qianlin felt her mother was finally sensing something strange.

She stepped forward and took Ji Lanruo’s arm, saying worriedly, “Mother, let’s just do a checkup.”

“You don’t believe your mother?”

Ji Lanruo’s eyebrows shot up.

“A checkup is for the best.”

Indignation began to surface on Ji Lanruo’s face.

Her Master didn’t trust her, and now even her own daughter didn’t believe her.

She pulled her arm back, her small fists clenching as her sleeves fluttered.

She turned her back to Ji Qianlin.

“Mother…”

Looking at her mother’s back, Ji Qianlin suddenly felt as if she were looking at a stranger.

“We’ll leave it at this for today. When he returns to the Xishan Sect, I will have my own ways to distinguish the truth,” Ji Lanruo said, her tone filled with displeasure.

A moment later, Ji Lanruo’s figure blurred and vanished.

—

Ji Qianlin was left standing alone.

In the darkness, she clenched her fists, her eyes flashing with a sharp light as she gritted her teeth.

It was obvious that Ding Nan couldn’t be her father.

She was convinced that some petty person had bewitched her mother.

“It has to be that!”

Ji Qianlin muttered.

But those words couldn’t soothe the anger in her heart.

She had grown up without a father; her mother had raised her alone.

Every time she saw others being loved by both parents, she saw how her mother had to maintain the Xishan Sect while struggling to find time to love her.

One person had played the role of both father and mother, enduring hardships to raise her.

“Where was her father then? Where was her mother’s husband?”

He was nothing more than a heartless man.

“Why come back now? To take her mother away?”

‘Mother only needs me!’