635: A Different Path

A Different Path

Reading it, she raised a brow at its contents, finding it slightly hard to believe. 1

"An elder of a tribe from the Beast Continent wants to speak with me?" she muttered to herself, "It hasn't been long since that place has revealed itself."

She was quiet for a bit, thinking about this letter, thinking about her options.

"What are the chances that they haven't found out about this? No, if those people are there, they must be trying to contain the information as much as possible. Still, no communication from the original branch, the others will notice sooner or later. It is a risk but... it's better than nothing. It's probably safer there than here. There would be plenty who are after my head if they found out that I'm still alive so I should leave as quickly as possible."

Her eyes shifted around as she placed the letter into her sleeves and stood up. 

"I need to find a way to make contact with them but for now, I'll stay hidden." 

Bai Meng was still feeling weak, her clothes were a mess, and worst of all, she had lost nearly half of her cultivation. However, this was just a setback, she just needed time, and that was it. She walked into the depths of the valley, vanishing into the mist. 

Meanwhile, Han Xin and the others did not find her. They weren't even sure if it was a person or just some passing beast. Their report was the same as what Xuan Yin had said, Redmist Sancturay was no more. 

And such news could only be contained for so long but by then, Ming Yue's preparations had been done. 

In the coming weeks, Luan City slowly transformed, returning to the lively city it once was. And even the tea shop saw more business as people felt that it had become safe again. 

On one of these days, three guests came, dressed in cloaks and their faces covered by hoods. They casually looked around, before walking towards the back of the store where Elder Fei was. He could hear a knock on the doorframe looking up at them with a surprised face before cupping his fists and bowing. 

"She told me quite a lot about you three, please follow me."

Elder Fei led them all further back into the courtyard where Ming Yue could be seen sparring with Rou'er. Hongyu sat at the sidelines watching with Xiao Yin, Hei Yue, and Liang Wei, stroking their fur as they all basked in the shade. Even Xuan Yin was there, relaxing while tending to her bow. 

Ming Yue glanced over at who had come, parrying Rou'er's next strike before lowering her sword. The pair suddenly stopped their fight as the cultivator walked towards the three figures all of whom took off their cloaks. 

"Elder Shen, Elder Hua... Elder Xiang."

Cupping her fists and bowing, she looked up at the three Elders that had taken good care of her during her time at Heaven's Gate. As for the three elders, each of them had differing expressions. 

Elder Shen had a small smile, it was joy or elation or excitement but a smile of relief. His snow-white beard was adorned with a clip, keeping it nice and tidy. 

"When I received the notice from Ou Fenhuang, I couldn't believe it. To hear that you were alive but then you sent a letter to us, asking us to come." 

Suddenly, Elder Hua stepped forward, giving Ming Yue a big hug before looking at her. She was getting teary-eyed but smiled knowing that she was alive. Despite the visage of a beautiful woman, Ming Yue could tell that it was the same Medicinal Elder from before, an old, wrinkly woman. 

"Truly, when the news came, we three were devastated, knowing that you died to end that war. It was a sacrifice that shocked many of us. You know, there's a memorial of you at Heaven's Gate", she said to her. 

"I... yeah, I was told about that, it was something that I didn't expect to see." 

Ming Yue knew about it but she hadn't seen it yet. Even then, she felt a bit of hesitation, not wanting to know what awaited her. Still, Elder Hua revealed quite a lot about it. 

"Yes, the Grand Elder had believed that a memorial was in place for all those of Heaven's Gate who sacrificed themselves for this fight. Your name was etched at the top and they're the largest one too. Elder Xiang was the one who carved it into stone, using his own sword."

The Sword Elder suddenly coughed when she said this little tidbit of info. She turned around and grinned at him. 

"Oh stop it, of all of us you were the saddest one and the happiest when you received the news!" she said. 

Elder Xiang glared at her. 

"And I would've liked to have kept that knowledge to myself, not shouted out to the whole world. Now, are you done?" he asked, sounding very annoyed and impatient. 

Elder Hua just hugged Ming Yue tightly before pouting at him. 

"Of course not, I haven't seen my pupil in a year! She was declared dead I'll have you know!"

But after that, the elder let go of her before walking off, looking at Elder Xiang defiantly but almost in a teasing way. 

The Sword Elder looked back before sighing, stepping up to Ming Yue. Upon seeing her, his face softened up, changing from a sharp and stern gaze to almost a smile. When she looked back at him, her eyes trailed down to the rest of his body. 

Without the cloak, she could see that his sword arm, the right one and his right leg were replaced with wooden ones. They didn't seem to be ordinary but to see the wooden limbs still pained her. And while his face had not changed, the scars from taking on Dai Mian's Heaven's Bolt still crept up his neck, barely poking out of his clothes. 

He noticed her gaze and chuckled. 

"Ahahah, the one that's supposedly dead is worried for me. Stop with it, it's already been a few years and I've gotten much used to this now. Besides, it's not as if I can't carry out my duties as an Elder." 

Elder Xiang made light of his situation whilst turning the focus back on her. 

"Look at you, it's only been a few years since we've last seen you and now you're at the Sky Realm. Not quite our level but you could probably defeat a few of the elders at Heaven's Gate", he said. 

Ming Yue merely smiled and lowered her head. 

"I'm still far from it, I have to be stronger, much stronger."

Hearing such a response, the Sword Elder chuckled before taking a seat in the courtyard and grabbing a jar of wine from his spatial ring. 

"In any case, we were disturbing your little sparring session. Why don't you finish it?" 

He took a swig of his drink before looking at her and at Rou'er. Ming Yue looked at him, in an instant, she knew what Elder Xiang wanted. 

He wanted to see how far she had grown in the Sword Sage Path. 

She nodded before looking at Rou'er, switching from a wooden sword to a simple branch. 

"Alright, only sword skills, don't use anything else." 

Hearing this, Rou'er nodded, wielding her real sword against Ming Yue's branch. The other two elders joined in the audience watching with interest.

The two fighters gazed at each other as Rou'er honed in her senses and focused on Ming Yue. As always, the young girl made the first move, thrusting her sword forward! 

But it was a feint as her wrist turned and the blade turned horizontal, changing it from a thrust to a slash. It was a simple move but quick and decisive. If it were someone of her level, there would be little time to counter but for Ming Yue, things were different. 

Not moving from where she stood, the branch moved forward, right in front of the attack. It would've snapped in half but it didn't, rather Rou'er's attack was parried. A real sword thrown out of her hands by a thin branch. 

In one move, the spar was decided. 

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