Chapter 837 - 468: The Meaning of Liking the Stars (Part 2)

Li Zhibai: "...?"

She felt Zhu Pingniang’s intense gaze and found it even stranger.

What’s with this girl?

Li Zhibai initially thought that after not seeing each other for a long time, Zhu Pingniang, who became Tong Jun, would be angry and that her words would carry a sting.

In reality, Zhu Pingniang’s words indeed carried a sting, but... Li Zhibai wasn’t blind, could she not see the flickering light in Zhu Pingniang’s eyes?

In fact, at the first glance exchanged with Zhu Pingniang, Li Zhibai met with a pair of dark, mist-filled uneasy eyes, the woman’s pure and hot-hearted infatuation had already been communicated to Li Zhibai.

Li Zhibai felt as if the woman behind her wanted to rush up and embrace her at any moment.

However, faced with such emotions, Li Zhibai felt helpless and had no intention of responding.

She was still thinking about how to correct this ’problem sister’s’ gradually pathological, distorted reliance.

But... if Zhu Pingniang really liked her, then why the sting in her words?

Li Zhibai had just thought Zhu Pingniang had become straightforward, yet now she was inscrutable.

"If you have something to say, say it. Don’t make me guess." Li Zhibai turned around, thinking if she guessed wrong, this girl would get angry again.

The moment Li Zhibai turned around, Zhu Pingniang almost wanted to cover her face and scream, "Don’t look at me."

But she held it back, maintaining her feminine reserve.

"I have nothing to say," Zhu Pingniang huffed, vaguely turning her half-makeup face towards the wall, her gaze focused on the Inner Realm, "Watch Ah Li more, she’s really amazing... My Glazed Dharma Body can’t hold on any longer."

Previously, Zhu Pingniang wished Li Zhibai would look at her more and less at Wen Li.

But now with her strange leftover makeup... better not to look, it’s too embarrassing.

The key is that she couldn’t just wipe off the makeup, otherwise, it would expose that she forgot to remove it...

Zhu Pingniang told herself that she intentionally kept the makeup, wanting to show Li Zhibai that her appearance disturbed her application.

Li Zhibai frowned slightly, "I really can’t understand you."

"I already said don’t look... No. It doesn’t matter," Zhu Pingniang turned her head, "Watch Ah Li."

"...Okay." Li Zhibai, still puzzled, acknowledged that she should indeed observe the Inner Realm.

At this moment, the mutual probing between the two in the Inner Realm was about concluded, reaching the point where real action was needed.

Behind Wen Li, the sky was full of stars, and the full moon was like a disc.

"So beautiful..." Zhu Pingniang murmured.

At midnight when the sky opens, the starry river dazzles the eyes.

Even the Celestial Bright Peak of the Chaoyun Sect, known to be closest to the stars... couldn’t witness such a romantic night sky.

Of course, the most captivating was the longsword in Wen Li’s hand, the Sword Qi, a plain Second-Grade Longsword in Wen Li’s hand, slashes out not filled with Star Moon Scroll, it harbors a terror greater than the stars across the sky.

"Ah Bai, tell me... was this girl’s sword always the Star River Sword? Or does she just like watching stars?" Zhu Pingniang couldn’t help asking.

"I don’t know either," Li Zhibai replied, her eyes serious.

Sword Qi surrounded Wen Li, under the refraction of the rippling light, the myriad stars and the bright moon on the plate all reflected around her, so radiant, so real.

Even ’Zhu Tongjun,’ who was about to rush over to Wen Li’s side, appeared momentarily distracted by the sword.

In a daze, she thought she had arrived among the stars.

"This is not a power someone from the Lower Realm can wield," Zhu Pingniang said.

"Have you seen someone from the Upper Realm?" Li Zhibai was taken aback.

"Isn’t there Chang’an?" Zhu Pingniang shrugged, "What he doesn’t know, people from the Upper Realm shouldn’t either."

Li Zhibai’s tone halted.

At this moment... still in the mood for jokes.

Disregarding the teasing Zhu Pingniang, Li Zhibai carefully observed the Sword Intent Wen Li manifested, like an endless ancient starry path, like a galaxy dividing the starry sky in two, more like a world only in fantasies.

So...

This Star River was originally born from Wen Li’s mind, indeed what she fantasizes, yet coincidentally such a fantasized sky echoes with the translucent star-moon disk behind Wen Li, creating a power that astonishes even Li Zhibai.

"So, the direction of Ah Li’s cultivation... is upwards?" Li Zhibai’s eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Pingniang also realized something and became more earnest.

"How do you usually perceive that girl’s Sword Intent?" Li Zhibai asked.

Zhu Pingniang thought for a moment and said, "Ah Li... very heavy? Yes, it’s steady."

Everyone who sees Wen Li feels an immense and steady Sword Intent, as stable as a mountain, as thick as a foundation, it’s suffocating.

"I used to think so too." Li Zhibai quickly jotted down in her book.

Undoubtedly, Wen Li is like a sword.

And to describe Wen Li, many suitable words exist, such as the gentleman conceals his light, virtue carries might.

Many believe Wen Li, when cultivating Sword Intent, envisions the [Earth], after all, Wen Li’s sword, even when killing, carries no hint of killing aura, everyone who battled her shares a similar sentiment.

That is they are not facing a person, but the majestic force of a mountain, with a single sword strike the incoming isn’t Sword Qi, but the majestic peak, the boundless earth, under such might, all the nefarious plots have nowhere to hide, all insidious schemes and devious paths are thoroughly suppressed.

Wen Li’s sword is never flamboyant, it usually is a simple draw and sheathing, Returning to the Essence.

Yet now, Wen Li’s performance made Zhu Pingniang realize they were all wrong.

Not flamboyant?

Simple and plain?

Returning to the Essence?

Zhu Pingniang felt like dragging Master Wen Li’s old face over, pointing to the Zhu Tong spider web-like circulating Heavenly Star River besides Wen Li, and sternly questioning.

How is this plain?

Sword light interwoven, stars slowly move, the grandeur and might are visible to the naked eye.

"So, what Ah Li envisions is not the earth, but the starry sky... isn’t it." Zhu Pingniang frowned with some regret, "Why... How did I not realize earlier?"

In Wen Li’s cultivation with the sword, everyone maintained a respectful distance, as nobody could truly aid her.

Nonetheless, the nature of Wen Li’s Sword Intent had been speculated upon.

Immense and boundless, naturally leads to solid earth.

Indeed, the feeling of Wen Li’s Sword Intent as extremely heavy isn’t false, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the earth.

What else in the world could be more ’heavy’ than the vast boundless starry sky?

Given Wen Li’s innate gift and character, how could she not pursue the stars scattered above, instead envision the soil beneath?

Wen Li’s sword is no mountain, it is clearly the most flamboyant, most mysterious, most terrifying Star River silver thread.

Zhu Pingniang shook her head, unable to refrain from saying, "Clearly such simple logic, how... how has nobody thought of the stars... all assumed her Sword Intent was based on the earth."

Li Zhibai did not reply, only counter-questioned, "Tong Jun, what do you think?"

The answer was obvious, they both knew.

"Because... the starry sky is out of reach." Zhu Pingniang sighed.

Yes, the more one finds the starry sky beautiful, with age one understands more its illusory nature, those ever-spinning above the Frosty Heaven stars are the most unseen things...

Thus, in the Cultivation Realm, envisioning stars not only brings no benefit, it is precisely a symbol of aiming too high.

In contrast, the earth is virtuous, ever present underfoot.

Hence, envisioning stars should be utterly laughable, like watching the moon in the water, aiming too high.

Only by being grounded can one stand atop peaks, coincidently Wen Li is that most grounded person, who would think she would naively aspire to the stars, to those unseen, untouchable things, and base her Sword Intent upon them?

"How could this be?" Zhu Pingniang frowned.

Does Wen Li liking the starry sky mean she doesn’t know its false nature?

If you can’t touch it, it’s not yours, this truth... how could Wen Li not understand?

A naive girl?