Chapter 336: The Wordless Jade Slip

Chapter 336: The Wordless Jade Slip

This jade slip was the mysterious cultivation technique that she and Reverend Karma had obtained in a secret realm.

The technique itself had no name. The fancy-sounding title was just something she and Reverend Karma made up—to keep up appearances, of course.

They had originally planned to pass this technique to Zhang Yibai as well, but Zhang Yibai refused, saying his life was solely dedicated to the Sword Dao. Their efforts turned out to be completely unnecessary.

Only those who practiced the jade slip could see the words on it.

And before cultivating it, both she and Reverend Karma had undergone the same experience—they had seen an Immortal.

A real Immortal.

That aura of nobility and celestial detachment was impossible to fake.

Just as no matter how much a cultivator disguised themselves, there was always a clear distinction from ordinary mortals.

They didn’t know the Immortal’s name. They only knew that the wordless jade slip was a cultivation method left behind by him.

Back then, the Immortal had relied on this very technique to resist the tribulation lightning and ascend to immortality. Following in his footsteps—even if one didn’t have their own Dao—at the very least, one could still become an Immortal, right? That was the idea behind all the schemes she and Reverend Karma had cooked up.

Now, she was at a dead end—completely out of moves.

In just one day, her cultivation had dropped again, falling from the Ninth Realm of Void Fusion to the Eighth Realm. The fear of this decline made her too afraid to leave this hidden place.

Because Immortal Yuyao knew—

It wasn’t just Reverend Karma who wanted her dead. The elders of the Sacred Land of Yaoxi Pool did, too.

Every one of those elders had been part of her plan.

They all longed for immortality.

Once her cultivation fell and her authority crumbled, they would undoubtedly swarm in to tear her apart. Every time she thought about it, Immortal Yuyao shivered from head to toe.

So now, she had only one option left—to seek help from the Immortal again.

The end of the wordless jade slip recorded a method of contacting the Immortal.

She needed to use her blood essence as a medium and burn her divine soul.

The Immortal had once warned her that he didn’t wish to be disturbed. Frequent contact could draw the attention of the Heavenly Dao and prevent her from becoming an Immortal in the end. That was why—until now—this was the very first time Immortal Yuyao had dared reach out.

As she chanted the incantation, a wisp of pure air soon floated out from the jade slip, condensing above her head into a figure in white robes with white hair. The face was blurred, but the noble aura was unmistakable.

She didn’t know if it was just her imagination,

but seeing this Immortal again, Immortal Yuyao felt a strange sense of familiarity.

It was as if she had seen him somewhere before.

“Junior Yuyao greets the Immortal,” she said, immediately lowering her head in respect and kneeling.

“Speak.”

The Immortal’s voice was cold and indifferent—just a single word, yet it felt like a mercy.

“I am grateful for the Immortal’s grace. This junior has practiced the jade slip for one full year and gained much. I’ve also followed its instructions to gather resources and refine the vessel... but recently, there was an accident. The vessel was stolen by a thief, and I was schemed against and gravely injured. Poison is rampaging through my meridians, and my cultivation is continuously falling.”

Yuyao’s heart was filled with bitterness. Tears of resentment brimmed in her eyes as she kowtowed and pleaded,

“This junior dares ask the Immortal for a way to break the impasse... I... I want to become an Immortal! Maybe that’s the only way I can save my Senior Sister. She cultivated supreme virtue and still got struck down by Heavenly Lightning—reduced to a wandering immortal. I want to help her... and help myself!”

The Immortal remained silent.

Yuyao didn’t dare say another word either.

She trembled in place, waiting in fear. At last, she heard a disdainful snort.

“Ants will always be ants. I paved the road, cooked the meal, even put it in your mouths. All you had to do was swallow. And yet you still screwed it up! Useless!”

Yuyao’s face turned even paler.

In the Cangyun Realm, she was the exalted leader of a Sacred Land.

But in front of the Immortal, she was nothing more than a dog—one that didn’t even dare bark when kicked.

“This junior knows her mistake! Please, Immortal, have mercy...”

The Immortal paused in thought. Yuyao could feel that majestic gaze fall upon her. After a moment, it seemed he softened slightly, and finally let out a sigh.

“Very well. Then This Venerable One shall show you a new path.”

At those words, Yuyao’s face lit up with joy. She was just about to thank him when she heard:

“The original path I gave you and Reverend Karma, while harmful to the natural order, had limited consequences. But now that you’ve backed yourself into a corner, you have no choice but to walk an even more extreme path.”

As the words fell, the jade slip began to emit the sound of countless insects crawling.

Out of the corner of her eye, Yuyao saw dense lines of tiny text emerging on the surface of the slip.

“This Venerable One grants you this method. Whether you practice it or not is up to you. Before you step into the Three Tribulations, you will have no chance to contact me again. I won’t respond. That is all.”

With that, the Immortal’s figure dissipated into a wisp of clear smoke.

Yuyao looked up at the fading image and kowtowed once again.

“Junior Yuyao thanks the Immortal for this gift of instruction.”

Her trembling voice echoed through the cave, gradually fading away into silence.

The moment the Immortal vanished—

All the flattery and humility on Yuyao’s face vanished with him.

She frowned, staring at the direction he had disappeared, and slowly came to a realization.

“Why did that Immortal look… kind of like the Sword Pavilion Ancestor?”

The thought only existed in her mind for a split second.

That Immortal couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the Sword Pavilion Ancestor.

She could clearly sense the Immortal was a spell cultivator. His cultivation method had no alignment, neither righteous nor evil.

Unlike that Sword Pavilion Ancestor—his entire being radiated sword intent.

He also carried a noble, righteous aura within his core, the bane of all demons.

Yuyao shook off the chaotic thoughts and carefully picked up the jade slip to study it.

The first page recorded the method to prevent her cultivation from declining any further.

The following pages detailed the path to immortality—so horrifying that her pupils dilated and her back turned cold.

After a long while, Yuyao closed the slip and let out a bitter laugh.

“If I really follow what this jade slip says… then I’d be no different from a demon cultivator… But then again, how am I any different from a demon now?”

She stared at the dim ceiling of the cave, stunned and lost in thought.

Her mind wandered back across the past few thousand years.

To the many ancestors of the Sacred Land of Yaoxi Pool who failed their ascensions and died under heavenly tribulations.

Her Master.

Her Master’s Master.

The elders who had trained alongside her Master.

Many of them had watched her grow up.

But now, they were all gone—souls scattered, gone forever.

After a long silence—

The confusion in Yuyao’s eyes disappeared.

“Even if I’m condemned as a demon, even if I bear a name of eternal shame—so what? History is written by the victors! My ancestors in Yaoxi Pool died under tribulations one after another—how can they have died in vain?!”

She stood up, gripping the jade slip tightly.

Her cold gaze rose to meet the sky—as if locking eyes with the Heavenly Dao.

“If you won’t let This Venerable One ascend…”

“Then This Venerable One will ascend in spite of you!”

BOOM—!

A thunderclap exploded above the Sacred Land of Yaoxi Pool.

Lightning lit up Yuyao’s face, casting it in an eerie white glow, but she showed no fear.

Faced with the awe-inspiring might of heaven—

She didn’t even blink.

…

Guixu.

In a peach grove, petals drifted like rain.

The “Immortal” who had just granted Yuyao a divine technique stood beneath a peach tree, holding a feather fan and dressed in flowing robes. His gaze was cool and distant as he looked up at the falling blossoms, the contempt he showed earlier completely gone.

“Everyone thinks Guixu is a land of death.

Little do they know such beauty exists within it…”

A sultry voice drifted from behind—a woman, seductive and teasing:

“Sword Sovereign, where have you been bewitching people today?

Any gains?

If not… how about gaining something from me, hmm?”

She approached barefoot like a fox on the hunt. The gauzy robes on her body slipped off her shoulders, revealing a sinuous figure. Nine fluffy fox tails unfurled like clouds. A faint fragrance intertwined with the scent of blossoms in the grove, weaving a web of sensuality.

Anyone caught in that web would go mad with desire.

But all she got in reply—was the ring of a sword.

“Scram—!”

The man in white didn’t turn around. He didn’t even draw his sword.

Yet the petals in the entire grove were swept up by invisible sword qi, torn into a storm of flower rain.

“Nine-tailed Fox, reel in your seduction. Otherwise, This Venerable One won’t mind turning you into a fur coat.”

As the words fell, thousands of sword lights shot down from the swirling blossoms.

They shredded the woman into dust.

Unbeknownst to him, that woman had only been an illusion. A spirit fox’s shadow appeared briefly on a branch, then vanished in a few quick bounds.

In the peach grove, only the sound of tinkling laughter remained, like silver bells.

…

…